Review of The Book of Hunts

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Mortals corrupted and surpassed by Architects scheming in the dark Dreams of Humanity...

The Book of Hunts; a the title conjures images of fell things being sought and found out by brave stalwarts; is actually a series of Hunts for The Whispering Vault RPG put out by Ronin Publishing. This is their first product for The Whispering Vault game and setting.

Over a year in the making the depth of the book shows the care and concern that Neal Darcy and crew have for the setting.

Well a bit more about the supplement now. It is 92 pages of expressive and interesting scenarios for The Whispering Vault RPG. Consisting of 6 separate Hunts spanning the past, near present and a possible future. Each Hunt comes complete with vile Beasts or Architects to overcome, aided by their minions and other Shadows. The first Hunt, Life Abundant, written by veteran Lester Smith, could be used to help in bridging the other hunts. The Book of Hunts introduces a new concept for the setting. The Crossroads. This is where the Domains of the Stalkers, in a particular Circle, all touch together forming a common ground for drawing them closer together. Overall a good concept and one that with a minor amount of work in detailing the specific Crossroad created by the Circle by the Narrator could add a lot to their campaigns.

Now onto talking a bit about the Hunts in this book. They are in order of appearance in the book; Life Abundant by Lester Smith, Let's All be Frank by Julie Heverson, Bumpy Toad by Todd Miller, A Thousand Pounds of Flesh by Brian E. Kirby, The Sword of Allah by Chris Pramas and the last one is Playground of the Damned by Neal Darcy. Along with the Introduction and the details on the new element, the Crossroads, it is a well-outfitted supplement.

My favorite of the six is Bumpy Toad by Todd Miller. Dealing with an errant shadow named Bumpy Toad and his ideas of what makes a child happy the call goes out from a young girl whose brother was kidnapped by the nasty Mr. Fox. I mean with wonderful names like that the Hunt had to be going places. It does with a vengeance. The Land of Quay, where Bumpy Toad lives, is filled with whimsically dangerous creatures and beings. If this was not set up for The Whispering Vault I could see it as the basis of an entire RPG setting all by it's self. . The other hunts are all of similar high quality as the first one.

Each of them can be used sequentially or as segues to your planned series of hunts each allowing for character development and interaction with mortals and each other. The tone and mood for each Hunt differs greatly from the Cold Mechanical aspects of the Outer Space Future hunt The Sword of Allah to the twisted and tormented Splatterpunk Circus Sideshow of Playground of the Damned.

For sheer scope of time and space this is a wonderful sourcebook to help a fledgling Narrator get started with ideas of Hunts and the infinite variety possible in Awakened terrors to combat. Overall all 6 hunts provide for a variety of Enigmas and decent Shadows and other Awakened beings to deal with and interact with. Possession of the source book Dangerous Prey is very useful, as there are several references to it in new Disciplines and Minions that are encountered in the course of the entire book.

As to the playing of the Hunts. I found that they flowed well. Not at all horridly linear. The Life Abundant Enigma was not at all obvious to begin with. The floating discoloration was overlooked rather handily.

But the character interactions that are available in Bumpy Toad was what made the use of The Book of Hunts so memorable. Reminding me of a twisted Muppets adventure, I drew upon my love of the movie Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal to assist me in invoking the mood of the dark and forbidding Land of Quay.

The Hunt I felt was weakest was Let's All be Frank. Mostly as I have a difficulty evoking the feeling of FDR that was needed in this hunt. If you can do impressions and find some old TV footage than more power to you and it should be a wonder and a treat. But really there are no complaints that I have with the quality or quantity of the product.

At a price of $14.95 and with excellent interior art by 7 different artists, including Bradley McDevett and cover by Tom Baxa it is money well spent if you are into Horror and a superb value for those of us interested in The Whispering Vault.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)