Available at RPGNow.com ^[1]

The first time I reviewed one of White Wolf’s ready-made character collections (Slaughterhouse V ^[2]), I wrote a bit about experimentation and the benefits of pre-made characters.

Now that I’m reviewing my second character collection–this time a group of Hunters–I’ll blur right past that noise. This collection shows that none of the White Wolf lines gets special treatment as the Hunter: the Vigil supplement receives its own supplementary material. In this twenty-six page (no ads) PDF, a five-person group of relative strangers band together after a notas- dead-as-they-thought party girl ends up fusing their lives together.

The layout to the PDF is amazing. Sometimes I feel the borders in games are a little hit and miss; however, the borders to this character collection fit perfectly. Angst-driven artwork works as a header and alternates between every other page. The side and bottom borders are a nice green-grey color keeping in synch with other releases in this line. I’m always a fan for “printer-friendly” versions of White Wolf material, but it’s harder to argue with such nice work.

The artwork in this collection shows an improvement in the collections. Artwork is expensive, especially for smaller releases; nevertheless, the artwork in this collection remains solid throughout. The artwork merely depicts the characters and, when appropriate, their compacts or conspiracies.

The Keepers’ writing is what won me over for this PDF. There are a handful of players in my group that would have decade-plus buttons if I were inclined to issue them. One fella, we’ll call him Court, has always been the master of ruining the plans or ending the lives of everyone else’s characters. He doesn’t start out evil, but ends up on par with Arvin Sloan before a campaign runs out. Why am I bringing up my friend? Simple. This group of Hunters are a few secrets away from either serious enlightenment or destruction. No group will play this quintet the same and therein lies the amazing thing about these character collections. I’m fairly sure if I ran a one-shot with these well-tailored characters that everyone at the table would have
just another reason to distrust Court.

Another two things. One, Court would be playing the character of Tommy Lansetta. Two, you’ll have to read the PDF to know what that means.

Scores for The Keepers are:

Layout: Four out of Five Dice (You can’t get a five without an option to print friendly).
Artwork: Three out of Five Dice (Good for the supplement, but would be lacking in a full
release)
Writing: Four out of Five Dice (Great characters with a direct link. Wonderful means for
role-playing opportunities)
Overall: Four out of Five Dice (At $4.99, this inexpensive fix saves a night of making characters and just permits busy gamers a quick way to jump into the game)

Review by Todd Cash

^[3]