Zeal demands dedication, unswerving loyalty and purpose. Defenders aspire to these qualities and seek to see horrors destroyed. Yet, followers of this primary path recognize the need to protect the people, places and things that must survive the war. If nothing remains when the battle is done, what was it fought for?
Defenders protect the normal people, but not with the heedless abandon of some Martyrs. Defenders tend to be thinkers and strategists who know they can't take the fight to the enemy if their flank is exposed. Destroying the enemy is pointless if they die in the process, or if they can achieve a "victory" only by ruining what they hope to save.
Defenders tend to be optimistic. If a situation looks bad, they make an orderly retreat and live to fight another night. If the enemy brings the fight to their doorstep, Defenders struggle to the last drop of blood.

 

O      WARD
Whether through sheer determination, monsters' fear, or some invisible barrier, a Defender can keep supernatural creatures at bay. They cannot approach her unless she allows it or their will is stronger than hers. A character using Ward sees and feels a crackling energy radiate from her body. Creatures making contact with her aura spark a static charge; no damage is done, but monsters' limits of approach are demarcated.

System: Roll Stamina + Zeal, difficulty 6, when this power is activated. The number of successes achieved must be exceeded in a Stamina roll for each monster to approach your character. The distance that creatures are held at bay is one yard in radius for each point of Zeal your character possesses. A monster already within that area when this power is activated receives a Stamina roll immediately. If it succeeds, the creature is unaffected. If the roll fails, the monster staggers back to the power's perimeter.
Ward persists for the remainder of the scene. Each creature is allowed one roll to penetrate it. A Willpower point must be spent for a creature to allow it another attempt. Investing Conviction in a Brand roll increases your Zeal dice pool. The edge does not affect other hunters or normal humans, and those people may take shelter in your character's proximity.
A Defender doesn't have to concentrate on this power for it to persist; she can fight and perform other actions while warding. However, the power fails if your character is Incapacitated, and it does not interfere with incoming ranged attacks. If a creature is ever forced back and cornered by a character using this edge, the monster may end up inside the
Defender's perimeter if the character approaches too close. The monster "breaches" Ward automatically as a result of the Defender's exuberance.

 

O O      REJUVENATE
Defenders are remarkably hard to put down for good. Minor injuries (slight abrasions, bruises) close up and heal visibly. Strained joints stop swelling on their own and pop back into place spontaneously. Even broken limbs straighten out, lock into place and heal within days or sometimes hours. Perhaps even more miraculous, Defenders can impart some of their healing upon others.

System: Your character's health levels lost through bashing damage heal at a rate of one every 10 minutes. Lethal damage heals according to the following chart. These rates supersede normal recovery times, but are still cumulative. (It takes 21 hours to recover fully from Injured, for example.)

 

Health Level                   Recovery Time
Bruised                                  Three hours
Hurt                                         Six hours
Injured                                    12 hours
Wounded                              One day
Mauled                                  Three days
Crippled                                 One week
Incapacitated                      Three weeks

 

The Defender lays his hands upon a subject to heal the injuries of another. Spend Conviction to restore a subject's most severe wound (her "lowest" lost level). One Conviction must be spent to restore a level lost to bashing damage. Two Conviction must be spent to restore a level lost to lethal damage. That health level is restored in the same time it takes a Defender with this edge to recuperate, as indicated above - 10 minutes for a level lost to bashing damage, one day for a Wounded level lost to lethal damage, for example. Healing can be applied to other imbued, humans and even willing supernatural creatures that possess bodies.
Destroyed is destroyed, of course, no matter who the recipient of this power is. Conviction cannot be used to enhance this edge; its effects occur automatically. Rejuvenate applies to healing health levels only; the edge does not increase recovery time from drug or alcohol abuse, or counteract poisons that do not reduce health levels, for example. Likewise, the edge does not cure any long-term illness such as cancer or re-grow lost appendages.

 

O O O      BRAND
Your character's hand crackles with energy and, when laid upon a supernatural creature, can burn a mark on it. This sign isn't just skin deep; the brand smoulders through any clothing that covers it. Sturdy coverings like armour aren't burned through, but do become tremendously hot, possibly enough to damage the wearer.
The brand is about the size of a palm and can be in the shape of any symbol in the hunter image language ”Monster" or "Corruption" are commonly used. The sign is visible to everyone - even mortals who aren't hunters. Furthermore, the brand can be seen even if the target becomes invisible to normal sight or changes appearance (the brand can still be seen by hunters for whom second sight is not currently active).
Defenders use this power to mark the enemy for their fellows to see, and to alienate victims from their own kind (Brand does not affect objects, normal people or other hunters). Although a visible brand doesn't expose a shapechanger or bloodsucker as such, it certainly sets him apart as the one-time opponent of another hunter, and therefore as a possible threat to protect against. To the uninitiated, such as normal people, a brand seems like a disturbing - even ominous - tattoo.

System: To use this edge, your character must touch the target, which may require a Dexterity + Brawl roll if the target resists (no brawling damage can be done; punches are insufficient to place a brand). Then roll Zeal, difficulty 6. The number of successes achieved determines how long the brand remains.

 

Successes           Duration
1-2                            One day
3-4                            One week
5-6                            One month
7-8                            One year
9-10                         Forever

 

If no successes are rolled, the sign doesn't take.
A brand is a constant source of irritation for a creature. A target suffers one lethal health level for each success achieved in your Zeal roll. That damage can be soaked if possible for the creature in question (but at least one lethal health level is always inflicted). Al but one level of any damage can be healed, and that last level passes only when the brand fades. The sign persists no matter what form a creature takes. It even marks disembodied spirits that your character passes through. A brand can be removed prematurely, but only by the hunter who placed it.
Investing Conviction in a Brand roll increases your Zeal dice pool.

 

O O O O      CHAMPION
Sometimes, the best way to protect someone or something is to make the monster come to you. A Defender uses this edge to force his foes to confront him instead of others.
Calling the enemy out is always a calculated risk. The Defender doesn't want to sacrifice himself - he's not a Martyr, after all - he simply draws attention to himself in hopes of preserving another person or thing, and with the intent of winning the battle. Indeed, Defenders this far advanced along their path may acquire this edge because they finally have the power to confront the enemy one-on-one, as opposed to when they were newly imbued and kept creatures at bay with Ward.
When this edge is activated, a monster has difficulty focusing its attention on anything but your character, because the Defender appears to be the weakest "prey" among the flock, the most compelling challenge, the most fun to toy with or the most imposing danger. Your hunter's "appeal" is determined by the motives or intentions of the offending creature. This edge is often triggered by feigning weakness or stupidity, or by a simple taunt: "You don't look so tough!" or "Pick on someone your own size!"
By diverting creatures, this edge presents tactical possibilities that Defenders are quick to exploit. It can allow others to slip past monsters unnoticed or lure monsters into well-prepared ambushes.

System: A monster must have continuous and direct line of sight to the Defender for this power to work. Spend one Conviction point and roll Appearance + Zeal, difficulty 6. The Storyteller rolls the monster's Wits, difficulty 6, in a resisted action (if a night-creature is truly ancient or powerful, Willpower may be rolled, instead). If your roll wins, the monster focuses its attention on your character alone and disregards others in the area, despite even its better judgment. If the monster receives more successes, it may behave normally and address whomever it wishes.
Each point of Conviction spent after the first in a single use of this power causes Champion to affect two additional monsters (one point affects one creature, two points can affect up to three creatures, three points can affect up to five monsters). A resisted Wits roll is made for each creature, in turn, against your single Appearance roll. An individual monster may overcome Champion (i.e., win the resisted roll) without disrupting the effect upon its fellows.
Champion can be used against each creature only once per scene. If an effort fails, another attempt cannot be made against the same target that scene. If a monster has no intention of attacking anyone in a situation, activation of Champion doesn't force the creature
to attack the user. The creature might simply focus its dialogue on your character alone, disregarding others in the area. If the creature does intend harm but finds it impossible to attack the Defender - say, the hunter is out of reach - then the effect ends immediately. Thus, you cannot combine this edge with Ward or Burden (the level-two Judgment edge). Neither could your character invoke Champion and then race for concealment. The Defender must stand his ground and be prepared to receive attention or an attack, or remain visible and be accessible to the monster.
The effects of Champion persist until the Defender deactivates the edge (and he may choose to do so at any time), until the hunter is rendered Incapacitated, or until someone else attacks the supernatural. A monster regains control when any of these situations occurs. However, a creature can also make a conscious effort to break away while Champion still applies. Make another resisted Wits roll against the hunter's initial Appearance + Zeal successes. Each such attempt costs the creature a Willpower point. One attempt is allowed per turn and costs an action.

   

O O O O O       BURN
When this edge is activated, your character is infused with a searing energy. Visible to all hunters and supernatural creatures alike, this energy looks like a seething, red-yellow glow, almost as if your character has lava running through his veins. Touching (or being touched by) a hunter in this state is painful and damaging.

System: Roll Stamina + Zeal, difficulty 6, and spend two Conviction points to activate this edge. Burn lasts one turn for each success rolled. During that time, when anyone touches or is touched by your character, roll lethal damage dice equal to the number of successes you achieved. If your character strikes someone barehanded, burn damage is added to your brawling damage pool (and the whole attack is considered lethal).
Burn does not damage inanimate objects (such as clothes or tools) but can hurt any animate creature, including normal people and disembodied spirits through which your character passes. Burn can be deactivated at will, or ceases after your successes run out or your character is Incapacitated.