The Hunt

Hunting

Vampires need blood to survive. However, getting the blood they need is generally socially unacceptable, and they must be careful in how they go about it, lest they wake up with a stake in their chest in time to see the ax descending on their neck.
If they want to maintain absolute secrecy, they have to hunt carefully, lure potential meals away from spectators, take what they need but not enough to endanger life, then somehow hide the fact of what they've done from the mortal as well.
Some vampires are blessed with powers of the mind to accomplish this, others have to rely on subterfuge and wits to get by. If they DO kill their victim, there's the question of disposing of a bloodless corpse.
A particularly active vampire may have to spend half the night just in the hunt, since their Hunger demands more than what just one victim can provide. For this reason some vampires will keep 'herds', groups of people kept solely for the purpose of feeding. This raises its own problems, because the vampire needs to house these people somewhere and ensure their silence. No matter how they do it, the quest for Blood, for survival, becomes the driving force in a vampire's every waking hour.


Hunting Systems

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On LAmush Blood and Hunting are coded systems. Vampire players need to remain on top of their character's bloodpool. Blood is burned with every sunrise, every wound an sometimes with power-use. Lack of blood may result in frenzy and torpor. The main way for your character to get new blood is via coded Hunts.

The Hunting code provides three valid hunting methods. Each considers different powers, attributes, and abilities in how difficult and successful a hunter will be when they employ that technique. Some disadvantages such as stigmas and beast traits can also impact both difficulty and success. A brief overview of the methods:

DONJUAN You seduce someone into being alone with you, at which point they believe the encounter is romantic/sexual.
PREY You stalk a human, then attack them (like a mugging) and force yourself on them.
ANIMAL Like PREY but animals (rats, cattle, dogs, cats, etc.)


Huntinggrounds

A vampire that wishes to hunt will need an area to hunt in. Some huntinggrounds are more bountiful than others. Indeed, some are downright poor, depending on the prey-type a vampire is looking for. Huntinggrounds only provide a limited amount of hunting-opportunities per hunting-type and if too many vampires hunt at one place (a grid) too frequently, the huntingground becomes drained of prey and cannot be used for a while.

We provide additional 'menu'-lores that reflect your character's IC knowledge on what huntinggrounds are best for what hunting-method. The good spots are of course the most popular ones and likely to be claimed as territory by the most powerful vampires on the block. The predatorial nature of vampires makes them very possessive about their territory. Indeed, the social systems of the Camarilla focuses heavily on who owns what amount of territory (Standing), and subsequently; who gets to control which vampire may hunt where.

Those that do not hold territory of their own may want to negotiate huntingrights with a landholder. Those that hunt without permission are called 'poachers' and may find themselves hunted down in turn.


Questions and Answers

Q: I would like to use another hunting tactic than the three provided by your system. What do I do?
A: The hunting system is already incredibly complex, factoring in all sorts of +sheet-based advantages and disadvantages. Please choose the method most closely resembling your method, and note any differences you'd like staff to be aware of in your secret background.

Q: Can I be given some guidance on how to get better at hunting?
A: We intentionally obscure exactly how the system works because we do not want people to min/max. However, we suggest you build up the skills that fit your style (e.g. Animal Ken surely helps ANIMAL method). Also hunting closer to midnight is easier than hunting at Twilight, etc.

Q: I need blood badly, and I'm willing to take risks to get it. I've used up my +hunt - what're my options?
A: This will require staff involvement and discretion (you might be flatly refused.) Be prepared to propose (via +feedback) precisely the manner with which you are getting the blood and how you are dealing with the consequences (disposing of body, witnesses, police investigation, etc.) This will require an Inhumanities test per 3BP gained, with possibility of IC consequences as well. This should be a last resort.


Botched Hunts

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"One thing vampire children have to be taught early on is, don't run with wooden stakes."
Jack Handy

Sometimes Hunting goes wrong. This is called a 'Botched Hunt'. Something happens that causes your PC to drastically failed their +hunt.

Q: Well, ok. Code says I botched my hunt. Now what?
A: A +job is automatically created and transferred to staff, who figure out how to handle the botch.

Q: Handle?
A: Botches are ICly Bad Things. Luckily, they're usually fun roleplay too.

Q: But that's impossible for something Bad to happen- I took X, Y and Z precautions.
A: It's a botch. Something Bad did happen. There are no precautions to take that can negate the botch. Those precautions have already failed. During botches, it is fully expected that one's powers may not have worked correctly (or at all) or one's strength may have failed them, or their intelligence had an off day, or that any other number of completely inexplicable, unforeseen or unplanned circumstances occurred.

Q: But why did it happen at all?
A: There are many, many reasons; a few are hunting close to sunrise or sunset, hunting a method that doesn't work for your character or possessing traits that aren't conducive to getting your food to stay still.

Q: This sucks. My vampire is way too smart/strong/stealthy/etc to have done that.
A: You know the old saying.. ;)


Hunting Commands

Commands Usage
+hunt <hours> Hunt as set in default (E.g.: +hunt 2 = Hunt for 2 hours)
+hunt/here <method>/<hours> Hunt in present location by <method> (E.g.: +hunt/here prey/2). If desperate: +hunt/here reckless/<hours>
+hunt/access Lists locations to which you have been granted hunting permission.
+hunt/info Gives hunt information about current location plus current character settings
+hunt/recent Shows recent hunt info for your character

Hunting Configuration:

Command Usage
+hunt/default <method>/<grid> Sets up default for +hunt <hours>. (E.g.: +hunt/default donjuan/a1)

METHOD options: PREY, DONJUAN, or ANIMAL
GRID must be a valid grid location (e.g. A1) and that location will determine both ease of hunting by different methods as well as how strong a pool is supplied by that location.

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Original Work is licensed under a CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 US License.