Hunter-Book Judge details (obviously) Judges, those followers of Zeal who attempt to determine the good and evil of they encounter, both human and monster, before deciding their subjects fate. I'm going to say right now that the book is a superb read and excellently presented, certainly one of the best Hunter books out there, and worthy of inclusion in any Hunter fan's library.
The book starts with a picture of a webpage those of the Judge creed use to find one another outside of Hunter.net, followed by the short story "Best Judgement," which stars Dr. Carleton Van Wyk, A.K.A. Doctor 119. I won't spoil any of this quality story for you, which takes place before the story in the Redeemer Creedbook, but suffice it to say that it alone is worth the price of the book.
The Introduction is next, with the usual overview of book chapters, recommended source material, and "Why Creed A is not like Creed B" bits found in all Creedbooks. Nothing noteworthy.
Chapter One is entitled "Hunter Origins," and according to the introduction it is meant to cover "the nature of monsters, the Messengers and Judges, and seeks to explain why the imbued received their gift--or curse." Well, there's very little of that in this chapter. Instead we're introduced to the three Hunters whose thoughts and comments will take up most of this book. First there is Justme, a character that the Hunter line editors should hang their head in shame for. I say that because Hunter books often try to beat into your skull that all Hunters should be real people, not two-dimensional facimilies and stereotypes. Well, Justme is a cross between what was called a Valley Girl in my day and a mallrat, blending the most stereotypical traits of both. We learn of her imbuing and her contact with ghosts. Next up is Solomon, a wealthy Hunter whose imbuing involved his vampire brother, and who has not liquidated all his assets and lives on the street, where he continues the hunt. Finally there is Warden, a character first mentioned in Hunter-Book Avenger, a prison warden whose imbued allies come from the ranks of both his guards and his prisoners. Just as White Wolf should be condemned for Justme they should be praised for Warden and Solomon, viable and intelligent opposites to the usual "Working Class Hero" style of Hunter. Don't get me wrong, the Working Class Hero is one of Hunter's big draws to me, but it strikes me as idiotic that some players and writers think the Messengers don't recruit anyone from above the middle-class socio-economic spectrum.
Chapter Two, "The Hunt," gives views and opinions on the various monsters Hunters face, along with the further exploits of Solomon and Justme. One especially nice touch about this section is that at several points it alludes to events in previous Hunter books in such a way that even if you don't have the other books you can easily enjoy the one you are currently reading. I like the way the characters in Hunter grow and evolve book to book, and major events unfold, unlike many other World of Darkness books (Milwaukee by Night or Dark Colony, anyone?) Where major plot points were introduced, only to be touched briefly upon in second edition version of books, (if one is ever produced), and never in any of the other game lines. It occurs to meas I write this that such lack of growth per book in other World of Darkness games mirrors the creatures featured in them. Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, their respective societies are slow to change, having existed for centuries. Hunters, meanwhile, are new on the scene, frantically working to carve and niche out for themselves and figure out what is going on, hence their constant evolution.
Okay, enough philosophizing, and onto Chapter Three "Hunter Ties." Unlike other Creed books, when each Creed is listed along with opinions on each, here we get stories from the three main Judge characters, detailing their interaction with other Creeds. A nice change, plus a Wayward is introduced, though sadly she doesn't last very long.
Chapter Four ties things up, with Justme getting her just desserts, while Solomon comments the very same as he finds a new course for his life. Two noteworthy points of this chapter are the excellent reasoning that makes it seem as though Pentex is a good thing (read it yourself: I won't spoil it) and the fact that the holier/wiser-than-thou attitude of a fellow Hunter lead him to his new calling in life---let this be a lesson to monster hunters who get to preachy with their comrades-in-arms.
Chapter Five contains new game mechanics. There are some nice Backgrounds introduced here, though the Steel Nerves Background is only really effective if your Storyteller is the kind who likes to slap insanities on you on a regular basis, and if she is that type I doubt she will really pay attention to this Background while she determines how best to screw with your character. While Steel Nerves can be used to stave off certain madness-inducing powers, so would a point of Conviction.
The new Edges and Judge special power introduced in this book feel, for the most part, like they were recycled. The new Level Two Edge is a toned down version of the Level Three Edge for Judges listed in the rulebook, the Level Five Edge introduced is a beefed-up version of the Level Two Edge for Judges from the rulebook, and the Judge-power of marking a monster as "good" or "evil" is very similar to the Defender Edge known as Brand, to the point that a small section is actually devoted to explaining how the powers are different! There's a little section on surveillance technology. Despite being another blip on the radar for the "Does Second Sight work through a video relay" debate (Defender, Avenger, and Innocent say "yes," while Innocent, the main rulebook, and this book say "no") the section is good enough that after reading it my players were inspired to work more on their investigation of targets, relying less on simple shoot and hope it kills them tactics. The new Judge-specific power allows a Judge to mark a monster as "good" or "evil" so subconciously other Hunters can know whether or not it needs to be put down.
The last chapter has some pregenerated Hunters for play, none really noteworthy, and write-ups of several notable Hunters. Doctor119, Warden, and Solomon are written up--Doc's write-up nicely filling up some holes in his background. A hunter named Shophet is also included, and judging by a numbered footnote which lacks accompanying text I believe the character may have been part of a proposal that was canned and later merged with the Wayward Creedbook., where Shophet next appears (about two years after this book was published). Also, the characters' hands are prominent in each character portrait, just like in Hermit; it's a different artist in each book, so I have no idea why this is so.
I should go on record as praising the high quality of artwork found throughout this book. Until this book I was consistently disappointed with the level of art in Hunter books. This book bucked that trend, and proved that White Wolf can produce quality art throughout a Hunter book. Why several later books have such horrendous art I do not know. In Judge you see the detail, the realism, and you know that the artists actually were taking their time to produce work worthy of publication, unlike other artists who seem to doodle out whatever they feel like for White Wolf and get it published. Mike Danza, Langdon Foss, and Brian LeBlanc are listed as the interior artists for this book, and I take my hat off to each of them for their quality work.
As I said at the beginning of this review I recommend this book. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.
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