Hunted Flaw, how do you play it? Options

[HMHVV Hunter]

I've used the hunted flaw in various ways for several characters. In my opinion, it doesn't always represent someone wanting to kill the character, just wanting to get their hands on him for whatever reason. I base the point value on the power and size of the organization after him, not on their motivations.

For instance, my psionicist character that I'm playing in the "Earth's Dawn" game here on DS has Hunted at -2, representing the UCAS Army. He went AWOL from them after a really traumatizing run-in with a blood spirit. For this guy, they just want to bring him in, preferably alive so they can court-martial him.

However, my cyber- and bioware-equipped character I'm creating that I based off The Punisher has Hunted at -6, representing several organized crime families and a bunch of street gangs. In this case, they will almost assuredly be trying to kill him, seeing that his mission in life is to wipe them all out or die trying.

In my opinion, it all depends on the story.

[The White Dwarf]

Yea at level 6 the enemy involved should be a serious threat to the runner. Threat doesnt mean death sentence though. In the above example, simply capturing the punisher-esque character could provide one crime family with an edge over its competitors, as he surley has information on all the families activities. Maybe theyre willing to capture him, interrogate him, and even let him go as long as he doesnt attack them. He still gets to fight crime, they get a leg up on the competition. That threatens the characters operation, and probably reputation since striking a deal with the enemy wont be smiled upon. And not that any of that would happen with the personalities involved if theyre close to the characters theyre based upon. But its *one way* of turning the above into a non-death-sentence scenario that has some plausibility. Im sure there are others. Simply assuming level 3 hunter is a deathsentence is bad form.

[hahnsoo]

[DrJest]

Typically, if I pick a hunted flaw, I will sketch out the nature of the hunting enemy and their motive, but I'll leave the actual stats to the GM - I know there are guidelines, and I trust the GM to be reasonable about it (and before you say that's foolish, any GM who can't be trusted to be reasonable about the level of opposition isn't a GM I would want to play with).

Example: In the character I just submitted for Tisoz' new forum game I took the Hunted flaw at -2 (more looking towards the extended game he was discussing). I described this person as Elisa DuPont, the protege and lover of a traitorous UCAS Intelligence officer that my character helped bring down, who is looking for vengeance on the person who did it. I've left the stats to Tisoz, along with enough variables (I feel) that it could make a good story. Does DuPont know who I am yet, or will I get clues that someone is coming after me by her investigations? What kind of Intel agent was she? Will she come after me in person or will she pull strings to get me targeted? How will the Hunted flaw interact with the UCAS Intel contact I have?

I appreciate plot hooks in a PC, and put them in when I'm designing one. The Enemy/Hunted flaw is a classic, imho.

[Critias]

[durthang]

I think the need here is not for a hard mechanic for everyone to follow, but for the player and GM in question to both understand what is meant by the flaw in that particular game.

As a player, I also like to give my GM plot hooks from my character background. One reason is I think it makes for a more interesting and realistic character. Another is that my GM may not feel the need to come up with his own evil ideas if I’ve provided some.

As a GM, if a player doesn't give me enough information, I always give them a chance to tell me more. Should they still leave things vague, or tell me Ares is their enemy, I let them know that "bad things" will happen. That way no one is surprised when they come home after a particularly bad run and find the cyber-zombie sitting in their favorite chair.

[Ed Simons]

In a previous game, I was one of four PCs who were Hunted. Three of us took 2 point enemies.

The shapeshifter was being hunted by a lone, but highly skilled big game hunter who wanted an awakened tiger pelt on his wall.

My physical magician was being hunted by some former Tong members, who in turn were being hunted by their former Tong. My PC still moved from Hong Kong to Seattle.

The voodoo mage was being hunted by the Haitian secret police, which is why he had moved from the to Seattle.

In all cases, our Hunters wanted to kill us (though that may have been optimistic on my and the voodoo mage's part), but due to our PCs actions and the way we'd defined our Hunters, their odds of finding us were small, and the numbers they could bring against us were small.

One player took a 4 point Hunted Ares and Dark Secret. He was a former Ares black ops type who had faked his death and disappeared, knowing a lot of things about various illegal ops they had done.

But with 7 points of flaws that could kill him, this PC was doing less than any of the rest of us to avoid our 2 point Hunters. Even though he had green skin, horns, fangs, and a tail he decided to lay up in a nice High Lifestyle apartment after taking 9 boxes of damage on the last run. The run where said highly subtle character had been spotted by Ares, so they knew he was alive. And he didn't bribe building security to not notice him or even check who building security was. :eek:

Knight Errant was so pleased he'd offered himself on a silver platter. :D

[hahnsoo]

I personally think the Hunted flaw needs to be addressed as a personal issue in the gaming group, to predefine what the flaw means and the implications for the game. The way we interpret the Hunted flaw, the GM has the right to bring the Hunter in on a gaming session at any time during any session. This definitely throws a monkey wrench into the works, and probably will make the Hunted character unpopular in the group the first time a run is screwed over because of the Hunter. Both of the characters who had the Hunted flaw (mind you, for good background reasons) ended up dying before they hit 50 Karma, so I guess the point is moot.

[FrostyNSO]

If any GM has a 1 or 2 player game out there, give this a try:

Start with the points system, using high-level rules from MJLBB.

Make sure the player grabs:

-Hunted 3
-Dossier on File
-Borrowed Time
-Mysterious Cyberware

Throw in a buxom corporate secretary (would have to be second player :) ), and if that doesn't make for a high-action spy flick waiting to happen, I don't know what will.

[Paul]

I agree with Arethusa, most of the hunted flaw can be handled with out actual mechcanics. I also contend, and I think he'd agree, that the game mechcanics are guidelines-not carved in granite rules. They're to help you as a game master be "fair". (Relatively, obviously.)

I handle Enemies and Hunted a lot differently than any game masters I know personally. (Which are few to be honest.) I have the player outline what happened, and his side of the why, and the rest is up to me. A rating 2 enemy may easily evolve into something more if it makes sense-which is the guideline I use, it has to be acceptable at face value.

And I'd like to say both FrostyNSO and hahnsoo have great ideas here.

[Lady Door]