Hunter Book: Avenger was released almost at the same time as the Hunter rulebook, and was the first individual Creedbook to be published. On many levels it made sense for the Avengers to be the first Creed to be covered in their own book. Being the most violent and anti-supernatural among the Creeds in their stance (at least until Waywards were introduced), and given the idea in the Hunter rulebook that only recently has the truth of the world been made known to the Hunters, it makes sense that those whose first instincts would be to violently oppose their supernatural oppressors would be first covered. Unfortunately, I've met several World of Darkness fans who looked at Avenger when Hunter was first released, and decided it was going to be nothing more than a hack n' slash game. That is very sad, as Hunter is so much more than that, and Avenger is an excellent book, in writing if not in art and production values.
The book opens with a nine-page excerpt from Firelight, the website/mailing list by Avengers and for Avengers. This section not only provides an excellent insight into Avenger activity and beliefs, it also is an exquisite player handout. After perusing this section one of my players, a long-time Vampire gamer, became convinced that holy water did indeed harm vampires. Even after field testing of the idea failed (and he survived only because his fellow Hunters had high-caliber weapons) he wanted to try holy water again, convinced he had screwed up somehow. Any player aid that honestly causes a player to doubt the rules he learned in other Storyteller games is worthy of praise.
Next up is the prologue fiction. Apparently staring Cop90 (though it's not expressly stated) the story is the starter of the ongoing debate on whether or not Kinfolk show up to Second Sight-this story sides with not-and its ending honks you off, leaving you wondering exactly how the protagonist explained to the authorities what happened, or how he escaped before his fellow police officers arrived.
Fortunately, Chapter One quickly springs into the high level of quality found throughout the rest of the book. In Chapter One we're introduced to the three Avengers whose viewpoints fill the majority of the book. There's Memphis68, a black (not African American, I noticed; a noted departure from White Wolf's usual political correctness) 50 year old housekeeper, Crusader17, a religious zealot who, contrary to stereotypes, is very accepting of others beliefs (even if he thinks they're wrong), and an excellent writer, a start contrast to most depictions of feverant Christians in RPGs as bible-beating lunatics, and Soldier91, perhaps the most perceptive of Avengers with regards to the need for various Creeds to work together, even though his view on the Messengers is very...different than other Hunters. The authors of this book have made these and all the other characters found in Avenger seem like real, three dimensional people, something that White Wolf has failed to do in all the non-Hunter books I've read. You can understand these characters motivations and beliefs, and see why they think the way they do.
I'm saddened that authors of later Hunter books have turned Memphis into a more vocal, less actual action when it comes to despicable behavior, while turning Crusader into a stereotypical Christian fanatic, hated by most other Hunters. Quick question to you, the readers of this review: would you be more accepting of an incredibly angry-seeming person who respects life and the innocent (Crusader), or someone who admits to planting bombs on someone and using them as unwitting suicide bombers, not to mention being suspected of being involved in inciting a race riot (Memphis)? According to later writers for the Hunter series the answer is that Memphis is the more socially acceptable of the pair. Myself and many of the other Hunter fans I've spoken with feel the hose job given to Crusader in later books is a backlash to him being Christian, in response to all the times in the real world that ministers and other religious folks denounced RPGs as tools of the devil. That's ironic, as I think the Crusader sections of this book would be the perfect thing to show those worried about a "Satanic Influence" in RPGs that role-playing games are not anti-religious by any means.
Okay, I'll get off the soapbox and get back to chapter one. Theories are given on Hunter origins and the nature of The Enemy, with perhaps the best reasoning regarding vampires and their weaknesses I've ever seen. This is an excellent read, the only flaw being the religious Crusader17 being so accepting of Doctor119, since in the Hunter rulebook it was established that those on Hunter.net have learned Doc is an abortionist. There's also a bit on the "Does Second Sight work through television?" debate, with this bit seeming to weigh on the side that it does.
Chapter Two, "The Hunt," goes over the do's and dont's of hunting. Both in and out of gaming I've been described as anal when it comes to planning, and I often get mad when people miss what seem to me to be obvious things. Therefore I was overjoyed when I read this section and found it to be well-written, covering all sorts of major and minor details, and even getting me to laugh out loud as the various characters describe in total deadpan fashion some very surreal encounters with the supernatural, along with methods of dealing with The Most Dangerous Game.
Chapter Three, "Hunter Ties," is just like it sounds, covering viewpoints on other Creeds by Avengers. An excellent read.
Chapter Four, "Our Future," covers some ideas of how Avengers perceive how the Hunt will progress, and what will need to be done. Again, a very enjoyable read.
Chapter Five covers new rules and related materials. There are new Archetypes, Abilities, Backgrounds, and Derangements in this section, in which only a few flaws can be found. Most notable is the introduction of "minor" Derangements, which are to be assigned before a Hunter reaches level seven in a Virtue, which is the usual time that madness manifests. Only a few Hunter Creedbooks have such "minor" Derangements in them, meaning some Creed can rack up additional Derangements and other won't; this is unfair, and I feel "minor" ones should be assigned as normal Derangements when seven is reached in a Virtue, and not in addition to them. The Talent Fast Draw is introduced, though the bonus of having a specialty for it is pointless----having a specialty means a reroll on a 10, and if you've already gotten a 10 that's the best you can do (Fast Draw works on the principle that the highest possible number you can roll, not number of successes, is important, something I've never sen with any other White Wolf Ability). There's also a Background called Pawn, where your Hunter is a minion to a supernatural creature, something that a player isn't going to be keen on investing points in, unless they're interested in being the chump of the creatures they're fighting. Some nice new Edges are introduced, along with rules for Avengers being able to build weapons that can survive being used with Cleave---this is the Avengers unique power, with each Creed getting their own special ability in their respective Creed book. There's also some demolitions rules for buildings-I was unimpressed by them, but I believe in finding a target and killing them face-to-face, not dropping a house on them and hoping it works.
Chapter Six has some pregenerated Hunters for players to run. Hunter has the distinction of being the only White Wolf game to have pregenerated characters I found cool enough to play; all of those in this book are top notch. I want to express my amusement that so many Hunter fans are offended by the Operative template, feeling a government operative is too far removed from Hunter's tone to be a proper player character. First of all, the Messengers are imbuing people of all races, creeds (pardon the pun), and colors, along with socio-economic status. Second of all: If you don't like the Operative, don't play him! On a disturbing note, the picture of the Contractor template looks exactly like an anti-gay protestor who was in my town a few months ago, sans tool belt, who made enough of a ruckus to be interviewed and photographed in all the local papers and get on TV. That disturbs me on many levels.
The book rounds out with an overview of several notable Hunters, such as Crusader17 and Soldier91. Soldier91's history regarding the Citadel Juarez story is contradicted slightly in later Hunter books, but that's acceptable, given the time and number of writers between when this book was published and later books.
The writing on this book is exquisite, and worthy of a 5 Substance rating. However, it does have two big points against it. The art is okay overall, but a few pieces look as though the artist didn't erase his pencilwork before inking it, making it appear very amateurish. Also, look for several pieces ripping off movie and video game characters. The big thing, though, is the printing. I've looked at three copies of the Avenger book, and all of them suffer from sporadic lightening and darkening of the text ink, so that on multiple occasions I was unable to tell the difference in fonts that indicated which text belonged to which characters. I don't know if all copies of this book suffer from this, but it's the reason I gave it such a low Style score. But as long as you can get past these points you're in for an exquisite read. Avenger is worthy of inclusion in any Hunter fan's collection.
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