Editing Exsect (section)

=Premise=

ExSect

A Spycraft Campaign

Premise: A secret organization dedicated to combating occult evil, The Vigil is the only thing standing between the monsters of legend and world domination. The PCs are the ExSect division, the front line soldiers in the shadow war.

Setting: The setting of ExSect is a 21st century world much like ours but with a hidden history of war between mankind and supernatural bad guys. The demonic Malefactors have broken through to begin plans for a mass invasion. In response, the agency known as The Vigil has been recently formed from the uniting of several orders of monster hunters. 

Theme: The primary theme of ExSect is heroism in the face of evil. The agents will confront nightmare creatures that reflect man’s capacity for wrongdoing. In so doing they will embody mankind’s potential for good and the courage of the common man. A secondary theme of ExSect is the necessary cost of defending those ideals against fear, doubt, and hate. The agents’ adventures may require them to sacrifice much that they might otherwise take for granted. The final theme is a refusal of the nihilism and misanthropy commonly found in contemporary horror stories. People are not sheep, they aren’t easily destroyed, and they will resist when what they care about is threatened. While their victory is not guaranteed, neither is their doom. 

Tone: ExSect is an action-adventure with elements borrowed from horror stories, mythology, comic books, and super spy movies. While any one of those elements may take center stage for a while, the focus is primarily on action movie heroics.

Atmosphere: The world of ExSect is one of heightened reality, with exaggerated but familiar attributes. Those that gain special focus are grittiness, high contrast, and cinematic style. The grittiness comes from texture and background rather than documentary-style realism, with a certain “lived in” quality to the world. The high contrast refers to a great deal of shadows, powerful light, and general variety and conflict. In terms of cinematic style, ExSect is just as often about what looks or sounds cool as what is actually effective; drama and narrative are preferred over rules and logic.

Roles: The player characters will be agents of The Vigil’s elite ExSect division. Exceptionally well trained, well armed, resolute, and cunning, they are the best defense mankind has against their monstrous foes. They can come from anywhere on the globe but should have a strong personal motive for confronting supernatural evil. Given the action orientation of the game, as well, they should exhibit some martial and physical ability beyond the norm. While stealth and subterfuge can be useful, as well, subtlety isn’t the Vigil’s forte; it’s more interested in results than secrecy.

Inspiration: 

The following sources had some impact on the creation of the ExSect setting. 

Blade, Blade II: Wesley Snipes shoots, kicks, and slices bloodsuckers by the bucketful as the comic book half-vampire hunter. His buddy Whistler is a particularly good model for what some of the older members of The Vigil could be like. 

Dracula: The famed Abraham Van Helsing is Vlad’s polar opposite and a worthy nemesis. A man of enlightenment, a man of moral strength, and a man who kicks vampire butt, he is the very personification of the ExSect hero.

Ghostbusters: A classic sci-fi horror comedy blockbuster, but also an illustration of the central ExSect conceit; with some know-how and guts, even a bunch of wacky screw ups can find a way to face off against Things Man Was Not Meant To Know and come out on top. 

Hellboy: Comic or film. A demon turned good guy monster killer works for a secret division of the FBI, jumping out of planes and cracking wise whilst struggling to find his humanity. 

Hellsing: Anime about people fighting vampires with big guns. Haven’t seen much of it, be enough to know its ExSect-ish.