Hey, this is Ken Cliffe, Hunter Developer. I don't usually post to forums very much, allowing folks to discuss the game freely without my interference. Obviously, there's a lot going on in the World of Darkness, however, so I wanted to offer insider input on how things will unfold, and what's going through WW's head.

It's a scary and fun time. The end of the World of Darkness. I've been here for 12 years and it's stunning to type a sentence like that. The time has come, though. We've been promising Gehenna, the Apocalypse, Ascension and The End from the very beginning. We've teased at it, egged it on and alluded to it for years, and we feel that the time has finally come. Letting the WoD ride indefinitely doesn't give the story an end. At some point you have to shit or get off the pot. If we just let the setting drone on and on, the vitality of books would diminish. Subjects would get more and more specific. Fewer and fewer reveals would be possible. It would all grow utterly dull. We don't want that to happen. Some of the best TV shows call it quits when they're popular and riding high rather than tired and forgotten. We want to do the same.

So here we are. In terms of Hunter, my favorite line for obvious reasons, all this means major developments. Hunter has to end with a big finale. Anything less would invalidate the purpose and calling of the imbued. Sure, lots of them die and go insane before the curtain closes, but their collective effort tells its own story.

Hunters "inherit the earth" as part of the "World of Darkness: Time of Judgment" supplement, available in March, 2004. The line wraps up with information and story and chronicle ideas that run the gamut. At no point (across all WoD lines) do we tell you how your game must end. (In fact, it doesn't have to end if you want to keep playing in the setting you've always known.) We give you all kinds of ideas on the fate of the world. The one you choose is up to your Storyteller and troupe. Scenarios for Hunter are proposed along Virtue lines, with goals appropriate to imbued of those followings. By no means are, say, Zealots proven right all along or rewarded. Adherents of all creeds and Virtues have roles to play in all the scenarios. Expect opportunities to go toe to toe with the supernatural in a world that no longer requires deception, chances to offer sweeping salvation to monsters, and the possibility of finding new directions or realms for humanity and creatures.

Don't assume that it's all mind-blowing or world-altering stuff, though. Hunter's focus is the everyday person, the man and woman on the street. We don't forget those roots. Personal, intimiate stories for characters are focused on, too. We actually create and encourage opprtunities to resolve an ongoing feud with a brother or to offer a final explanation to a divorced husband. No one can ignore the big picture, but we take pains to make room for individual characters' stories.

With earthshaking changes afoot, expect all the rules to change, too. The very fabric of the imbuing as hunters know it can unravel. Edges and second sight might intensify or disappear completely. Bystanders may emerge as the true champions and heroes. Extremists may turn out to be saviors rather than the dangers that they once seemed. The end is nigh, but it's an environment that characters can adapt to achieve goals thought impossble before. Hope may not necessarily be lost. Salvation and destruction teeter in the balance, with individual hunters having the power to tip the scales.

This is the kind of ending that the game demands. I wouldn't change it one bit. In fact, the timing couldn't be better. The Hunter line is extensive at this point. Just about all the highlights of the game have been hit. All the tools you need to create a complex and complete chronicle are available.

The last Hunter supplement is written by line veterans Chuck Wendig and Patrick O'Duffy. They were instrumental to books such as Fall from Grace, Wayward and Utopa. Those are some impressive credentials.

So, Hunter comes to a close along with the World of Darkness in early 2004. It's a chance to tell some powerful stories about the imbued, or to carry on with the game you already enjoy. No matter what turn your chronicle takes, you're in store for an epic.