HUNTER: THE RECKONING RPG (1999)

Hunter: The Reckoning was the flagship game of White Wolf's Year of the Reckoning and the second gameline released by Renegade Game Studios for World of Darkness' 5th edition. In this, the first edition, the player characters are Imbued, chosen by mysterious powers to protect humanity against the monsters of the night.

Hunters in both their forms were explicitly ordinary people who faced a moment of crisis; in this moment, they briefly viewed the world as it really was - that monsters like vampires, werewolves and wizards existed and preyed on humanity. At that point, given the choice to flee or stand and fight, a Hunter chose to act. If this revelation was brought about via direction from the enigmatic Messengers, the individual became Imbued. If it was brought about by simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the individual awakened their Drive. The "action" then taken could be anything: attack, defend, negotiate, evacuate innocents, or even simply resolve to act when they're better equipped to do so—anything but passivity or retreat.

Each Hunter is part of a creed (the types available being determined by what kind of Hunter they are), and the Imbued also possess three virtues: Mercy, Zeal, or Vision, with which their own creeds are associated. Each creed has a distinct outlook on the world and the ideal methods of the Hunt, ranging from exterminating monsters, to protecting communities, to redeeming monsters. The nature of that initial action taken at the moment of their revelation determined their creed- a Hunter who made a violent choice, attack or defense, might come from a Zeal creed or be a Martial Hunter, whereas a Hunter who chose to evacuate or attempt to "talk it down" might come from a Mercy creed or be an Inquisitive or Entrepreneurial Hunter.

Unlike the other World of Darkness games, Hunter specifically emphasized the plebeian and ordinary elements of the characters. Players were encouraged to play ordinary joes who were suddenly thrust into a world gone horribly mad and with few resources. Many hunters (especially the Imbued) are at least a little bit insane, and continually reminding oneself of the reasons for why one continued with such an unrewarding and awful lifestyle forms the backbone of most of the gameline's instances of personal horror.