So you want to be a Hunter?

"We all got into huntin' somehow"--Bobby Singer

Ok, so some evil monster/demon/vampire/werwolf/whatever killed your wife/girlfriend/parent/child/loved one and you're itching for a little payback. Congratulations, you've just taken your first step into a darker world.

First, don't get any illusions. Hunting is pretty much the farthest thing from glamorous. It's a river of crap that would send most people screaming to the nuthouse. What most people run away from, you charge right into, and it's NOT going to end pretty. The life of a hunter is one that's most likely going to end bloody and even IF you manage to beat the insane odds and live to a ripe old age it's probably not going to be in one piece. The experienced ones aren't Mr. and Mrs. Sociable. Hunters are loners, by nature. They rarely work with more than one partner on a regular basis. but they're used to not having backup. Which is fine by them. Most Hunters are nuts that way.

Don't worry. You'll get that Thousand Yard Stare just like everybody else soon enough.

But what about the life itself? I'll tell you. The life is exactly that. It's not a job, it's a life. A complete commitment. You're either all in or not at all. If you choose this path, get ready to sever all connections to your previous life. Not only is it bad for you, but it's bad for the people you care about. Any monster who wants to get to you needs only to get to someone you love. Admittedly, plunging a silver knife into some slimy son of a bitch's heart is satisfying, but it's not always going to be like that. The things you hunt aren't human. They'll often be older, faster, stronger, smarter and a hundred times more deadly than you. You will need to rely on knowledge of the lore of your enemy, your weapons and your wits. Your choice of weapons can and will save your life. And you WILL need weapons. Lots of them. Many of the monsters you'll be hunting can only be killed a certain way, so knowledge is power. Knowing what you're up against and knowing how to kill it WILL be the difference between whether you walk out of that creepy old house in the woods or the monster does.

Also, get used to playing the unsung hero. Hunting is a thankless job. You're saving people from things they can't even imagine and they don't even know it. If it's glory and recognition you're after, you're in the wrong line of work because here, you won't find either. Besides, if people know your face it often makes it more difficult to do your job. Maybe you'll get lucky and the pretty girl you save will take you home and thank you properly...but that's the most you can expect.

Hunters often act as vigilante investigators, and since they often work outside the law they find themselves often at odds with the law. Honest jobs don't suit the life-- and it IS a life, not a job -- you'd better get comfortable with lying, cheating and stealing. Almost all Hunters are fluent in bullshit. A Hunter must be a soldier, a detective and a con artist all rolled into one. If this is a problem, then Hunting isn't for you. Would you rather save peoples' lives or be a law-abiding citizen? Always remember that the cops are most often NOT on your side, and don't think about settling down either. You can have a home base, but the monsters won't be coming to you. You'll be spending most of your time on the road, living out of cheap motels and eating in greasy spoons. and since Hunting doesn't pay very well and unless you're already rich, hustling your way across the country and committing various petty crimes like credit card fraud for gas, food and lodging money. Most Hunters rationalize this by believing that the lives they save and the evil they vanquish make up for the petty and not-so-petty crimes they commit in the process...as long as nobody gets hurt.

Or maybe you were born into the Life, huh? Mom or Dad were Hunters and they trained you your whole life to follow in their crazy obsessive footsteps. You probably didn't have much of a childhood growing up. When most kids were doing Little League, you were sawing off shotguns and learning how to smelt iron on a stove to make bullets. Your idea of father/son bonding time were digging up graves with dad. Since Hunting requires mobility, you're used to going to school at one place for a little while, then going somewhere else when Dad packed you up to go to the next job. Rinse, Lather, Repeat. But you have an advantage, you know the tricks of the trade already. You knew what a Rugaru was before you knew who discovered America. It doesn't make the life any easier, you're just better prepared for it.

No matter how you got into the Life, whether you chose it or were born into it, you'll need a car. You'll be traveling long distances all the time, and you'll need some way to get from one job to the other. Most Hunters prefer muscle cars. They're fast and have lots of trunk space (not to mention they look cool), which you'll need for all the tools of the trade you'll find yourself using. Weapons, fake IDs, extra clothing, salt, shovels, etc. Buy one, steal one, it doesn't matter. A car to a Hunter is both transportation and shelter. You won't be very effective without one. And it helps to learn how to keep your baby running! Mechanics aren't cheap and the last thing you want to do is break down 100 miles from nowhere because you didn't know where that knocking sound was coming from.

If the constant travel schedule is a little rough for you, the good news (if you can call it that) is, not all Hunters are active in the field. There's big demand for support. People with connections who know all kinds of lore and can tell other Hunters exactly what they're dealing with. Someone who can be a voice on the phone to pretend to be the Deputy Director of the FBI (or whatever else is required) in case some of our buddies run into a cop that gets way too inquisitive.You're still saving lives, but doing it with your knowledge, and the things you know also make you dangerous. You know exactly how to trick a demon to walk right into a Devil's Trap. You know exactly what monster you're dealing with and how to kill it. Researchers, Psychics. They're the unsung unsung heroes, and they're every bit as important to an active Hunter as a sawed-off shotgun. In a life where most of the things that go bump in the night are a lot stronger than you, brains always trumps brawn.

If you STILL want to be a Hunter, maybe you're crazy enough for the Life, such as it is. Are you scared yet?

You will be.

You've got work to do.