[ericthered]

I'm starting up a Monster Hunters campaign. It will have a lot of Dresden files influence, but with even less lovecraft.

Heroes motivations should be such that they hunt down supernatural atrocities because that's what they do. Foes will consist mostly of fae and other spirit monsters, vampires, creations of curses, rouge humans, and powerful ancient undead called immortals. Supernatural organization is fairly high: many slain creatures will be noticed if slain, and evading detection and suspicion is an important element. Government involvement in the supernatural is non-existant, at least organizationally. Individuals can and will be wise to the supernatural, from detectives who specialize in the right kinds of serial killers to congressmen who leverage supernatural skills to maintain worldly power.

All the characters should live in the same city (Portland) and many adventures will be centered there, but the plot will range all over the united states, and possibly the world. Gates will be provided for travel. 'Other Dimensions' will focus mainly on faerie and pocket dimensions, but Heaven and Hell are around (for 20 energy, not 10) and its worth remembering that faerie is a BIG place.

Cursed Humans:
Curses are not contagious, though they can be hereditary. They also don't have to be purely negative, nor maliciously granted. They do have to have aspects that are difficult to control or have dehumanizing supernatural aspects. The classic version is turning into a wolf at the full moon (other werewolf aspects may or may not be kept -- except contagion, which is not). A 'positive' example would be a man cursed to die only of old age: he has regeneration, regrowth and immunity to metabolic hazards, but using them puts him in extreme agony and gives him bestial for a while afterwards, or is conditional on consuming the liver of another. Or someone who can read the mind of another, but aquires some of their personality traits in doing so.

The Fae:
Fae are powered by human concepts and emotions emotions. Some require specific emotions or environments to survive, but most only crave them. They are usually fairly simple-minded creatures, focused on their one driving force. Most of the time mortal causalities are bystanders caught in crossfire or the result of faeries hired as thugs. The fae have a large variety of shapes, forms and motivations. Examples include , trolls that try to stake out gateways and control supernatural access to them, and invisible creatures obsessed with finding out secrets. Fae generally are either subtle in getting what they want from mortals ('Cupids' thrive on romance [not lust or sex, romance] setting up couples), do not need mortals directly (an elf lord who gets his sustanance from commanding other fae, a fire spirit who merely wants to relax in the local power plant), or are not able to enter the mortal realm on their own (Battle fae consumed with blood lust).

Immortals:
Former humans how have gained immortality by living off others in some way. While similar to vampires, immortals are unique, tend to have more varied weaknesses, are typically much better at blending with humans, wealthier, and harder to keep dead -- most of them have unkillable 3 of some sort or the other. Mummies and liches are typical immortals. Every Immortal is a cold blooded murderer.

Vampires:
There are many different strains of vampires, and none of them are the default. Almost all of them require the life energy of intelligent beings -- pig's blood doesn't cut it. Each bloodline has its own method of feeding. While each kind has its own weaknesses, very few require staking and while sunlight tends to reduce their powers or even cause damage most of the time its not deadly. Vampires are reasonable social creatures and recognize each other as kin, but tend to associate with their own blood lines and never forget the other side is competition. All vampires can intentionally create more of their own kind, though the processes differ.

Angels,Devils, Gods and Demons:
These are quite rare. Gods and devils will always act through agents, and most of these will be mortal. Devils must be invited into the mortal world and even then have difficulty taking overt power. An angel is used only when a mortal won't work, and even then the angle will usually remain in the background. Any Angel, Devil, or God is a foe to be feared if they appear in their full form. Demons are a different matter. Demons are a subset of the fae with a cruel and nasty streak. They can't get to the mortal world on their own, and thus require help. They may be used much as in monster hunters.