Welcome, fans of the Hunter: The Reckoning console trilogy!
2002’s Hunter: The Reckoning (GameCube/XBox), 2003’s Hunter: The Reckoning – Wayward (PlayStation 2), and 2003’s Hunter: The Reckoning – Redeemeer (XBox) are classic console action games and make a great introduction to Hunter: The Reckoning and the wider World of Darkness setting. The Hunter video games are based on the tabletop RPG first published in 1999.
If you’re interested in transitioning to the tabletop material, this page should be a guide to help you find the material which most interests you.
In order to play, the primary material you need is the Hunter: The Reckoning core rulebook (1999). Since Hunter‘s been around for over 20 years, bear in mind that the supplements listed here only scratch the surface, and are intended as a way to get you started rather than as anything comprehensive.
A new edition (2022) of Hunter: The Reckoning is also available from Renegade, but does not feature the Imbued hunters seen in the video games.
General Interest
Characters like Bookworm55, Witness1, and elements like hunter-net.org and the Word (Hunter glyphs) can be found throughout the Hunter line, but are all introduced in the Hunter rulebook linked above.
Hunter Apocrypha is a book about the ramblings of a man who was touched by the Messengers, his Imbuing perhaps a little too strong. He describes the ancient history of hunters, their present, and the impending apocalypse.
Creeds
Although most of the creeds are summarized in the core rulebook, they all receive detailed treatment in their own books as well:
- Avenger — The creed of Spenser “Deuce” Wyatt (biker365): Hunter Book: Avenger (2000)
- Defender — The creed of Samantha Alexander (cop380): Hunter Book: Defender (2000)
- Judge — The creed of Father Esteban Cortez (priest316): Hunter Book: Judge (2000)
- Martyr — The creed of Kassandra Cheyung (raver620): Hunter Book: Martyr (2000)
- Redeemer — From HTR Redeemer, the creed of Kaylie Winter: Hunter Book: Reedemer (2000)
- Wayward — From HTR Wayward, the creed of Joshua Matthews (god45) and Devin (fanatic656): Hunter Book: Wayward (2002)
- Bystanders are those hunters who were shown the supernatural, but did not take the opportunity to act. They’re “cursed” to see the supernatural all the time, but have no other Edges.
- Rounding out the nine creeds, are Hermit, Innocent (a term used for regular humans in the console games), and Visionary.
Enemies
The zombies (“rots”) like the Shamblers, and other animated undead creatures are found in Hunter: The Walking Dead (2000). Carpenter is a Risen, a more intelligent kind of Walking Dead, something like Eric from The Crow.
Before they got trapped in bodies, most Shamblers were ghosts, like the spectres you can find starting in the Ashcroft graveyard. Ghosts are also capable of possessing inanimate objects, like the gargoyles. These undead had their own gameline where you could play as one of the ghosts: Wraith: The Oblivion.
Stranger flesh creatures like the Skitters and chain-whirling guys are “szlachta,” servitors created by a vampire fleshcrafting a human. Vozhd like the massive creature found in front of the school are similar, but are created from multiple humans fleshcrafted together.
Vampires like the women in the catacombs, Warden Jeffrey Degenhardt II, and Dr. Hadrian are found in Hunter: The Nocturnal (2002). Vampires also have their own game line, Vampire: The Masquerade.
Werewolves like Nathaniel Arkady and the werewolf pack from Redeemer are covered in Hunter: The Moonstruck (2002). Like wraiths and vampires, they also have their own game line in the form of Werewolf: The Apocalypse.
Witches like those from HTR Wayward and HTR Redeemer can be found in Hunter: The Spellbound (2003), and in their own game line, Mage: The Ascension.
Other Stuff
If you’d like to try Hunter in a different time period, try Dark Ages: Inquisitor.
There’s a number of excellent Hunter: The Reckoning fiction products available from White Wolf.
A collection of Hunter: The Reckoning merch is available for purchase from our RedBubble store.
The original Hunter: The Reckoning video game is currently available via the XBox Marketplace! Models and UI are rendered in HD (although the textures themselves haven’t changed). Even without any other changes, the game has never looked better and we highly recommend it.
If you like watching streams via Twitch, we recommend following the Hunter game categories: Hunter: The Reckoning, Hunter: The Reckoning – Wayward, and Hunter: The Reckoning – Redeemer. If you’d like to catch tabletop games in the World of Darkness, including Hunter, follow World of Darkness.
If you’d like an alternate take on hunters, the Chronicles of Darkness is sort of an alternate universe version of the World of Darkness. One of its game lines is Hunter: The Vigil.