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The prologue of the book continues a storyline from Hunter: First Contact, following Carlton Van Wyk as he goes to Europe to escape the manhunt for him in the United States. Teaming up with European Hunter Warden, Wyk agrees to infiltrate the Hunter cult originally introduced in the Avenger Creedbook. Things go badly for Wyk, very bad.
I was very surprised by how disappointing this chapter of the book was. I believe the author was trying to portray Wyk as a man horribly shaken by all that has happened to him since he became imbued, losing some of his calm veneer and his self-confidence. Unfortunately Wyk's behavior and actions in the tale seemed less like a man undergoing a major change in his worldview, and more like an RPG character being run by someone because the regular player couldn't make the game, but still wanted his character to get experience points. It's hard to reconcile this version of Wyk with the version that has shown up in his previous appearances.
Additionally, this chapter continues the idea of the level one Visionary power Foresee as being some sort of precognition power, which is supposed to be the purvey of the level five Visionary edge from the main rulebook. I've had too many players try and use Foresee as a precog munchkin power after seeing it depicted as such in various Hunter fiction, so seeing used that way again didn't sit very well with me.
This is one of those rare times that mention has to be made of the Introduction chapter, as not only does it warns of the horrors to be found later in this book, but in the future of the Hunter line as a whole; it is the information introduced here that has led to most of the complaints I've heard about this book. In the first paragraph of the introduction the question is brought up of how much of an effect Hunters can truly have in making the world a better place. Do Hunters have any chance of ever freeing humanity from its supernatural oppressors? To quote the second paragraph of the introduction:
"The short answer is that most can't. Despite their glimmering awareness and desperate efforts, the world's few scattered imbued barely make a ripple in a sea of otherworldly entities. These people thrash about and may scream their discoveries at the top of the their lungs, but their efforts go unfelt and unnoticed in the grand scheme of things. It may be due to the general apathy and disbelief bred into the human masses, to the sheer weight of the supernatural's influence over the world, or to the passing efforts of the creatures themselves to keep any resistance quashed. As a result, although hunters' efforts to strike against monsters or reconcile with them are valiant and may achieve some minor success, those efforts leave the greater World of Darkness largely unaltered."
Wow, here I was attracted to Hunter by its idea that humanity can make a difference, that it can throw off the yoke of its oppressors and some day in the far future actually gain control of their destiny from their inhuman foes. Now I find out that basically I'm playing Call of Cthulhu where the investigators have kewl powers, and by the end of the day Hunters can do nothing that will truly make the world a better place in the end.
I'm sure that some of you are thinking that "of course Hunters can't do anything about monsters; if they did White Wolf would have to stop publishing their other game lines." I understand that fact and respect it, but did they really have to go and say that all your Hunter characters activities are pointless in the big picture? Why am I playing if not because I like the concept of actually making a difference in the legendarily icky World of Darkness? It seems to me that the Garou's struggle against the Wyrm is as equally pointless as the Hunters' struggle, but I can't recall ever seeing a Werewolf release that says "your players' Garou are wasting their time. The Wyrm will win. Please keep buying our products anyway."
What truly confuses me is that, in the official World of Darkness, Hunters can't unite and work together in unison for anything other than the most minor of goals. After all, vampires have their Camarilla and Sabbat, the mages have their Technocracy and Traditions, and the werewolves have their Garou nation. All of these supernatural agencies have learned to work together in their respective groups, and while certainly they don't have a "we're all a big happy family that gets along" vibe going for themselves, they do manage to work together against common problems reasonably well. Considering that humanity is the parent species to mages and vampires, and many Garou are raised human for many years before discovering their true nature, I find it odd that Hunters are seen as being unable to even begin to coordinate and form a somewhat united from against the supernatural. It's as though only supernaturals posses the necessary social skills to have such large organizations, which is just wrong on many levels.
You'll note that I threw in the phrase "in the official World of Darkness" in the last paragraph. That's because this section goes on to say how Hunters will never organize, as Hunters are "assumed to remain fractious and disparate. That's the ‘official' status quo for the calling as portrayed in these books..." So we can safely assume that in no point in the future we will be seeing Hunters wise up and start uniting against their common foes. However, this book is designed to give players and storytellers ways of having Hunters unite, "but for your chronicle only" (and yes, it is in italics in the book just like that). So basically White Wolf is saying that Hunters will never become more than a group of disorganized folks in the official game line, but they're throwing you this book as a bone if you're one of those crazy folks who likes the ideas of Hunter banding together and making a difference.
That's right: Utopia's just a "What If" book, not truly tied into the official campaign metaplot. With the exception of the Prologue, everything in here is non-canonical and has no tie-in to other Hunter books. In a sad note, there is a one-paragraph summation in the Introduction on how van Wyk escapes the horrible fate that befalls him in the Prologue, and apparently that is all we shall ever see of his amazing recovery and escape from his little own piece of hell. But, for some reason, the non-canon version of his escape is found in later chapters of this book.
The first four chapters of the book detail three separate Hunter groups. Since not all of the groups survive until the fourth chapter I will be summarizing the fiction chapters by each story, rather than critiquing each individual chapter.
The first story involves the last writings of a man belonging to a cell of Hunters whose actions have led him into a conflict with the police and federal government., summarizing the beginnings of the group he belongs to and how he ended up with such a terrible fate. I'm of two minds of this story. While parts of it are well-written, the attitudes and behaviors of the Hunter narrating the tale and his allies makes them come off as weak-willed fools who can't think for themselves, and who should have met a horrid end long before the events depicted here. Those feelings were magnified when descriptions of the leader of the Hunter cell began. While later in the story the charisma of the leader shines through, so you can understand why his followers might be willing to serve him despite his insane requirements and activities, when he is first introduced he comes off as being just as inept as those Hunters he will later lead. I could honestly not understand why it was that they decided to follow him in the first place, given his initial behavior during their first months of working together.
Also, this chapter again brings up the idea of whether Hunters can detect monsters via photos, reflections, and television images of them, answering yes in this case. Just a minor note, since White Wolf still hasn't answered one way or another on this matter and it seems to vary from author to author.
In terms of being able to read this story and garnering information on how to run a Hunter group I can't really recommend it, unless you're interested in running a campaign where most of the characters have at least one Mental Attribute at a rating of 1.
The second story (set in Pennsylvania, as was the first one) covers the tape recordings of another Hunter, as he becomes imbued and teams with other imbued. I must say that this story is excellent, and the best section in terms of both reading enjoyment and being able to pick information out for use in a campaign. I was particularly impressed at how it depicted how an alliance between Hunters and supernaturals might come about, and how it might work out. All of the characters are realistic and intelligently portrayed. My only real complaint of it is that again the writer takes liberties with some of the rules systems of Hunter, some of which seem to be done to speed the story along, and others so that the Hunters will be dependent on one of their number, even though they could do the same thing he can. In particular the idea that the Hunter power Discern extends to mundane as well as supernatural things rears its head again, despite the main rulebook saying that it does not. Luckily it doesn't affect the main plot of the story much, but it was still annoying.
On just an odd "I live in Pennsylvania so it seemed funny to me" note, there's a side comment regarding how illegal activities by motorcycle gangs seem odd in Pennsylvania. I'd love to know if the author was serious about that, or if it was a bit of sly humor referring to the big Amish/Hell's Angel's drug ring that operated in Philadelphia a few years ago.
I think this story is a good read, both in terms of entertainment value and on how to run a Hunter group that has a specific goal in mind.
The third story is the writings of a follower of the woman responsible for Van Wyk's fate in the Prologue of the book. While this section is very well-written, I found myself very disappointed with it, as the story vastly embraces the idea that this is a "what-if" type story, with VERY different views on how Edges, Second Sight, and other Hunter rules systems work. This is especially problematic, as in some cases very important parts of the story hinge on these altered portions, the characters doing things totally impossible for imbued in a normal Hunter chronicle. I really don't see this section as being a good reference text for those wishing to run a goal-based Hunter campaign, since so much of the things shown here are not allowed in Hunter.
For example, the very beginning of the tale chronicles the imbuing of the Hunters who would form the nucleus of the cult. For some reason, their power of Second Sight is unknown to all of them, save for the character who eventually becomes their spiritual figurehead and leader. Why she is set above the others like this, or the reason for this rule change is never addressed in the story. It is as though the author couldn't think of a way for this character to be embraced by the others as a leader, so he just arbitrarily changed the rules the RPG world has so they would be dependent on her, and thus have to make her their leader.
Later on several Edges are shown as being different than portrayed in the Hunter rulebook. In at least a few occasions this could be written off to the fact that the old White Wolf standby of an unreliable narrator is being used, but this doesn't explain all the changes. For example, use of the Edge Respire (which heals only physical damage) in this story calms normal people who have gone loopy due to the delirium that affect people who see supernaturals in the Hunter game.
What's really amusing in this chapter is the embracing of a rules concept that has been ignored in all Hunter releases, even though it's long been established in White Wolf books. Those familiar with the Hunter rulebook know that all supernatural creatures in Hunter induce a Delirium-like effect in those who encounter them, even those creatures such as vampires who would need a special power in their own game line to invoke such an effect. Those who buy the other game lines may know that in some supplements rules have been introduced allowing those mortals who have repeated contact with the supernatural to build up resistance to such supernatural manipulations of the mind. Well, in this tale it seems that the concept of normal humans being able to build up their tolerance to the supernatural is finally being introduced to the Hunter line. For that matter, Bystanders are also able to build up a tolerance as well.
But don't rejoice yet. You see, while this concept is introduced in this story, NO attempt is made to explain it in the game rules section. There is not even a reprint of the rules from other White Wolf books about the hardening of the human mind to the supernatural, or even a Delirium-style chart from Werewolf to measure how humans react to the supernatural; heck, there's not even a reference to buy one of the other White Wolf products that has the rules! It's strange that even in a "What If" book where Hunters might be able to start an uprising against the supernatural that rules for this are not included, even though it shows up in the fiction section.
There are some nice moments in this chapter, such as seeing how a fanatical believer may interpret the ruthless behavior of their own cult, and the use of intelligence the Hunters gathered on monsters. It's also fun for those who like to find subtle references to other game lines. But as a whole its dependence on rules modifications to keep the story moving doesn't allow it to inspire a lot of ideas in the reader for their Hunter campaigns, unless they wish to make some major changes to the Hunter rule system for their individual campaign.
Chapter Five is devoted to the rules portion of this book, and it seems the authors were fearful that the reader may have missed the notation in the introduction that Hunters can't possibly make a difference, as the first six paragraphs of this chapter are about reinforcing that idea, and how it's only in a non-official campaign is such a thing possible. Actually, the eighth paragraph of the chapter also reminds the reader that Hunters can't make a difference in the big picture. And on page 105 there's a whole sidebar once again reminding us that Hunters being able to work together in a unified front and able to piece together some truths about their enemies is, again, not in continuity with the official White Wolf line, and that it will only happen in an individual Storyteller's campaign. Then on page 107 there's a sidebar about how in your non-canon Hunter campaigns you shouldn't shoot for too lofty goals, because you'll be moving too far away from the "common man" idea of Hunter; never mind we've already moved into unofficial continuity that White Wolf seems to poo-poo by having Hunters being able to make a difference, we're still to follow their established guidelines for the game.
For God's sake, we understood in the Introduction that Hunter is not a Storytelling Game of Righteous Fury, as listed in the main rulebook, but the game of You Can't Make a Difference! It was this repeated gloom and doom message that was the main source of venom for many of the people who I talked to who did not like this book, and I can see why they got so angry. Recently on rpg.net's forums an individual commented his problem with the metaplot of the various White Wolf game lines was that it felt like the authors were trying to be the GM's to individual Storytellers, trying to force them to run the game like the authors wanted, rather than providing a text that a gamemaster could use and easily tailor to his own campaign. It wasn't until this book that I could understand why he felt that way.
With that out of the way, onto the meat of this chapter. A good portion of it is devoted to a checklist of sorts when it comes to Hunter groups wishing to devote themselves to a specific cause. How the Hunters initially meet, the scope of their operations, that sort of thing. I was amused by this section, as the only thing that is given a thumbs-down by the author in this section is a bad cliche, which my players took up when they first started playing Hunter and turned into a viable concept. Also included in this section are tips on what the Storyteller has to do to insure a campaign devoted to a specific goal works out well.
Those with little or no gaming experience will find this chapter useful. Established Storytellers, and by that I include those who have been running a Hunter chronicle for only a few months, will find this chapter largely unnecessary, as many of the problems and concepts that are detailed here are things that most Hunter Storytellers will have already encountered and worked out in normal play of Hunter, long before they begin a large-scale campaign.
Following this is some optional rules, in which Hunter groups gain special powers based upon the Creed of the leader of the group. These abilities vary widely in power level, and in two cases I wonder how well the author read the Hunter rulebook or supplements. For example, one of the powers an Innocent leader provides says "followers may not be affected by berserk rages that can be caused by an Avenger's approach."
Excuse me? An Avenger can, in no way, shape, or form, cause those who lead or work with them to suffer from berserk rages (unless, of course, they take the Wayward Edge Enrage, which is discussed in Utopia) according to anything published in any Hunter book so far, including the Utopia book. Perhaps the author skimmed through the Avenger Creedbook, saw the Berserk Background, and somehow thought it allowed an Avenger to incite violent rages into those around him. Also, those who follow a Martyr are able, under certain conditions, able to ignore the Bruised, Hurt, and Injured dice pool penalties. Too bad Bruised doesn't cause any dice penalties to be ignored.
As I said, the power levels vary widely, with some providing an extra die to certain stats at all times, while others only provide bonuses while acting toward the group's main purpose. The bonuses are all very minor to begin with, and in the course of using them during play my players felt that the way some powers had more limitations then others was rather unfair.
The last two pages of the book outline a small Hunter group seeking to ferret out supernaturals from the Catholic Church. While this book is about Hunters with long-ranging plans and goals, the group described here seems no different than Hunters in other books who've allied themselves together.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the artwork of the book. I was very impressed with the level of quality found throughout the book, with only a quartet of illustrations that I found wanting. I was especially pleased to see work by Brian LaBlanc, or LaBlank as he is credited in this book, again producing art for the Hunter line.
In the end I can't recommend Utopia as a sourcebook for Hunter groups working together for a greater purpose. Paying good money to have someone tell you "you're efforts mean nothing in the big picture" and picking out the nuggets of useful information from the Elseworlds-style fiction is not something I can endorse at its cover price.
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