Self-designation Terms for Different Monster Hunter Teams in the World

[Ashtagon]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

OK, that is pretty odd. On the other hand, 'thunder' has more than five letters, so maybe you made a weird typo that the software thought was rude?

Testing: Thundercats. Apparently that works, so I'm guessing typo, I'm just not sure what typo.

It's possible I may have typed a group based on a cartoon whose lead character is cat-themed and called Josie. Certainly I had both cartoons in mind when making that post.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Maz

Troldejægerene (danish for The Troll Hunters). The danish military special operations force (similar in many ways to the US rangers) is called Jægerkorpset (the hunter corps). And it would make sense that a group of Monster-hunters would draw inspiration from them, or maybe be directly organised under them if part of the military.

It could also make some modern mythology sense to classify most monsters as "trolls".

..although they might NOT pick it to not be mixed up with popular children show of the same name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trollh...les_of_Arcadia ;)

Ah, good idea!

In my campaign, the Siriuspatruljen has probably required military assistance from SOKOM, including the Jægerkorpset. After all, the closest Vile Vortex to Denmark is the North Pole and most Places of Power and ley line confluences within Danish territory are likely in Greenland.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Suicidal adrenalin-junkies!

No, wait - that's what their friends and family call them.

Dangerous delusional sociopaths!

Un, no - that's what the psychiatric community calls them.

Crunchy and good with ketchup!

Um, uh-uh - that's what the monsters call them.

Boy, this is tough ...

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2

Suicidal adrenalin-junkies!

No, wait - that's what their friends and family call them.

Dangerous delusional sociopaths!

Un, no - that's what the psychiatric community calls them.

Crunchy and good with ketchup!

Um, uh-uh - that's what the monsters call them.

Boy, this is tough ...

Quite true.

Made even worse by the fact that 'evil spirits', i.e. invisible entities whose influence stimulates negative emotions, instability and violence, seem drawn toward those who spend any time around the ocfult and esoteric. Add to that the psychological stresses of secret murders and vigilante behaviour, usually without access to psychiatric care who are aware of the truth, and those who fight monsters have a very hard time to avoid turning into them.

[Icelander]

Here are some ideas floated for the PCs private group of Monster Hunters, funded by an eccentric centenarian Texas billionaire with a colourful history; including WWII service in the French Foreign Legion, alleged mob ties in the 50s and 60s, decades of adventurous investments in natural resources in various exciting parts of the world and the like.

These Monster Hunters travel by yacht and patrol the Caribbean and parts of the US Gulf Coast, driven by either the visions or whims of the ancient Patron.

Stewards. Despite the potential for confusion with the actual stewards on board the yacht Penemue, the connotations of responsible management and caretaking are very much what I want to convey. The men who go into the Vile Vortex and prevent Things from Beyond from sundering the veil between worlds, they are clearly Stewards, of the Caribbean, of the Gulf Coast and the entire US, of Humanity and the world.

Wardens. For much the same reasons, as well as the connection with Fish and Game Wardens. They're Creepy Critter Wardens and they're there to ensure that everyone bags the limit. A negative factor is that the Dresden Files feature paramilitary wizards with an analogous task that were called the Wardens, which makes it unfortunately unoriginal.

Roughnecks. From the beginning, Kessler has employed people he knows and their families, friends and trusted comrades. At the start, that meant basically two things. Former French Foreign Legion (and/or mercenaries with African experience) and Texans. And to Texans, working for Kessler and carrying a gun has many similarities with working oil rigs and the same sort of man might be drawn to the work.

Filibusters. Probably too obscure, but private warriors working for an anti-authoritarian Southern gentleman with limited respect for legality and engaging in adventurous violent endeavors abroad in defiance of official US policy?

Wild Bunch. Because fictional characters also consume media and are aware of tropes.

Legion of the Lost. Kessler wouldn't sing the Whiffenpoof song, but he was a Legionnaire, as were many of the mercenaries he had a working relationship with when he started this. Maybe even have the real Old Guard refer to it with the French version, 'Légion des perdus'. After all, Kipling could be a sentimental favorite with pretty much anyone, right?

Cohort of the Damned. Alternative to above, same original source (Kipling's 'Gentleman-Rankers').

Les Boudins. If we really want to lean into the origins, though I'm skeptical that influence from the older mercenaries and former Legionnaires would be enough to retain a name that only makes sense to French-speakers and only resonates with former Legionnaires, at least once US citizens start making up the majority of the teams.

Chasseurs de monstres. Or just Chasseurs, as it's a lot more plausible retaining a one-word name in a foreign language than a clumsier title, especially if all conversation is in English. And as every character created so who speaks French also having good English, but some of the Anglophones being monolingual, it's probably going to be the case that English is the language everyone speaks together.

[dcarson]

For Greenland I'd expect monster hunters to come from the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol. A group that can spend 4 months with just a pair on the northern ice is bound to run into the weird. Since Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark served in that unit in the mid 90s apparently the Danish government might be more in the now then most.

The Crown Prince participated in an expedition to Mongolia in 1986.[60] In 2000, the Crown Prince participated in "Expedition Sirius 2000", which was a four-month and 2,795 km dog-sledge expedition in the northern part of Greenland. The expedition Sirius marked the 50-year anniversary of the Sirius Patrol. Prince Frederik was part of the polar expedition as a film photographer, whose job was to ensure an optimal coverage of this event.[61][62][63]

Just what were they really looking for?

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Stewards. Despite the potential for confusion with the actual stewards on board the yacht Penemue, the connotations of responsible management and caretaking are very much what I want to convey.

It would probably be a good idea to have the name be some group that might plausibly belong on the yacht, in case someone accidently uses it within hearing of outsiders. So "stewards" is good, as is "cleaners" or "navigators," but "roughnecks" or "wardens" sounds wrong.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

It would probably be a good idea to have the name be some group that might plausibly belong on the yacht, in case someone accidently uses it within hearing of outsiders. So "stewards" is good, as is "cleaners" or "navigators," but "roughnecks" or "wardens" sounds wrong.

While ideally, no one would ever mention anything suspicious out loud, that's not all that practical. As cover, Kessler's Monster Hunters formally belong to one or more Private Security Company, are security staff aboard his yacht and/or work for some connected companies. However, while they are technically supposed to refer to what they do only in terms of cover identities, in practice, most of the contractors talk about what they actually do, among themselves, when they are certain they are safe and unobserved.

For one thing, it would be psychologically devastating for them to have to live cover identities constantly, without ever letting their guard down among friends. Their profession is every bit as dangerous as their former careers as US Navy SEALs or other US SOF, French Foreign Legion commandos or other elite military assignments, if not more so, while also being much more psychologically traumatizing.

As Monster Hunters, they operate around dark spirits that manipulate emotions, see sights that would shake the sanity of almost anyone and must sometimes execute unarmed civilians whose only crime is having dabbled in occult forces that drove them to dangerous insanity. So while perfect OpSec would dictate that they never speak about their work except in coded, oblique references, in practice, they are encouraged to unburden to trusted friends, clergy and mental health professionals in on the secret. Not doing so has been proven to have negative operational effects and can lead to becoming psychological casualties or even open the way to possession by dark spirits.

For another, given that briefings require frank discussion of mythology, folklore and legendry as part of the intelligence and planning phases, the use of a collective term for themselves is frankly only one of numerous things that could sound odd to outsiders. If you're speculating whether a killer is a fae from Indigenous folklore, ultraterrestial aquatic predator, dead body animated by a dark spirit or an occult criminal using dark forces and discussing means of killing or destroying the threat, it's really immaterial if you refer to yourselves as 'Stewards', 'Wardens' or 'Monster Hunters', from an OpSec point of view.

Thirdly, many of those who actively fight against supernatural threats have personal experience with how normal people seem to rationalize away even face to face encounters with the supernatural. Due to the Facade (Pyramid #3/97 'Mask of Humanity' by Christopher R. Rice), nine out of ten people who saw a werewolf in hybrid form tear someone to pieces would eventually convince themselves they saw a crazy guy in a fur coat kill someone with a knife or machete. Even showing someone evidence rarely convinces them, unless they are predisposed to believe already or belong to that rare confraternity of people who accept the world as it is*.

So, most people who heard Monster Hunters openly discussing their job and planning to destroy a nest of vampires would probably rationalize that they were talking about their computer game, a TV show or that they were gamers talking about their campaign. Considering that there is an active RPG gaming group aboard Penemue, that's not even far fetched.

Granted, the people who organize groups of Monster Hunters tend to be a lot more paranoid about OpSec, but for those in the field, it seems less and less important. In 2004, it seemed impossible to the few truly informed observers that the official authorities would not become aware of the truth within five years. In 2009, the Shadow Court, Vatican and a few other groups daily expected the thunderbolt of exposure and spent most of their efforts on planning for the world post-reveal, where they would play a leading role.

Somehow, however, the reveal never happened and by 2014, numerous attempts by various informed individuals and groups to force a reveal had conclusively failed. Now, as 2019 is starting, there are many among those in the know who believe that the supernatural actively resists disclosure, and that no matter what happens, mainstream society won't accept it.

Kessler's group seems to have adopted the apparent fact that most authorities will never officially accept supernatural explanations into their operational framework. From what the PCs can tell, experts on Kessler's payroll are adept at manipulating the conscious or unconscious official coverups to allow their organization to operate in the cracks those who won't believe refuse to look at too carefully. As those who don't believe are actively looking for an alternative explanation without the paranormal, they are very vulnerable to even an implausible cover story introduced through the proper channels. With some individuals who resist the Facade inside most every agency or department, Kessler's organization can find fellow travelers almost anywhere.

The Shadow Court and the Vatican are extremely security conscious, given the high profile of their patrons and the importance of good PR to them. To Kessler, however, as long as none of his me are actually convicted of crimes, he doesn't consider rumours about his own supposed shadowy activities nearly as important as the threat the supernatural poses to the world in the near future.

After all, Kessler has had a lifetime of rumours told about him, his supposed mob ties in the 50s and 60s, alleged involvement in CIA sheninigans in Latin America in the 60s and 70s, supposed mercenary connections and involvement with various factions in numerous African civil wars for several decades, etc.

*In game terms, sky-high Will and/or traits that give partial protection from the Facade.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by dcarson

For Greenland I'd expect monster hunters to come from the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol. A group that can spend 4 months with just a pair on the northern ice is bound to run into the weird. Since Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark served in that unit in the mid 90s apparently the Danish government might be more in the now then most.



Just what were they really looking for?

Indeed, the Siriuspatruljen were specifically mentioned in the post on Denmark and are absolutely the group in Denmark most likely to have had supernatural experiences.

As you note, the fact that Crown Prince Frederik served with them in the 90s makes it plusible for him to be aware of the existence of the supernatural. Of course, like in the UK, the royal family doesn't wield direct political power and the elected government certainly denies the existence of magic and monsters, but Prince Frederik could be quietly providing his influence and connections to help a small group of former and current Siriuspatruljen members who call themselves Troldejægerene.