horror stalker discipline question

[galafrone]

Can an horror marked namegiver become an horror stalker ?
i have read the discipline description and the point is, do they accept him/her if he is already marked ?
or they want "virgins" that later on with the help of their talents can accept and live with a mark to be more deadly against an horror that they want to destroy ?

[rasmusnicolaj]

[ManDrake]

I think you need to look at the problem in a different way. Would a Horror allow a Marked Character learn a discipline dedicated to the destruction of Horrors? The obvious answer is no. The Horror Mark gives the Horror direct access to a players plans and plots, so it's a lot more likely that the Horror would make it impossible to learn a new discipline or cause the player to try to do harm to the teacher.

That being said, if you can make a Horror Stalker aware of your situation, most of them would probably lend you a hand trying to free yourself. Since they have specialized experience fighting Horrors, they are the most likely to actually help a horror marked player free themselves. They are the special forces of the Earthdawn world. The Horror Stalkers in my games have special talent knacks that make them more prone to helping free people from the Control of Horrors.

[galafrone]

i appreciated both answers.
in my campaign the players have met and fought an horror, with the help of a spirit of a namegiver tied to that horror by a long story.
The horror was defeated in the physical combat and the horror escaped in the astral, followed by the allied spirit.
But he was able to mark 1 player before being defeated.
They arent sure of what happened in the astral, maybe the spirit was able to destroy the horror, maybe not.
Still the marked player is unsure of his status. The horror never contacted him after that fight.
When they came back to throal, with the help of a wizard, he was able to understand he was still marked
They have learned from dreams and study that the horror is still alive and is possible that it will come back.
so his first thought was "i need to be prepared and so which thing is better than follow the steps of the horror's stalkers" ?

so the problem is now this: i have misunderstood the effects of the horror mark ?
the horror mark gives me the chance (playing the horror) to "use" the namegiver or object marked, but i am not obliged to do this if i dont want or i cant.
also, is the namegiver marked already a "drone" simply being marked ? it dont seem so.
any suggestion is appreciated

[ManDrake]

Well a Horror Mark is a gateway for the Horror. If they are within 10 miles of the player they can cast any spell and use any power they have to affect the marked player. Additionally a dual natured Horror like the one you are dealing with has the ability to convert the player into a Horror Construct from the same ranges. At a range of 100 miles the Horror can use powers that don't do damage, like curse luck. Not to mention just annoying things like distracting the character by talking to them while they are trying to deal with the regular world. That being said a Horror can just wait if they want. That is a true statement. It will all depend on the particular Horror's vector of attack. Most Horrors don't spend more than a couple of months toying with a Namegiver before they get bored and move on after destroying them.

[The_Gun_Nut]

If I'm not mistaken, they can start converting the character into a Horror construct from 100 miles away, since it doesn't do direct damage.

[galafrone]

thanks for the contribution. i have read the passages and i am building the story so the group have this poor fellow marked AND they are trying to find out where the horror is gone.
They will found out that the horror mark will vanish in 1 year and 1 day, so is actually very probable that the horror will come back IN TIME to claim his victim.
this will prompt a rush for to find out the relevant informations about "him" so to be able to defeat him properly when he will came back.
i will give the player the option to become an horror stalker if discussing with some HS teachers he will be truthful and will tell about the horror and the mark.
if he lies or isnt really honest, they will find out the mark and refuse him the teaching under the suspicion that he is actually working for the horror.

[ManDrake]

Galafrone in my games there were several Bear Mark Talent knacks that I added because the Horror Stalkers were a lot more integral to my story lines. This was during first and second edition days, so I'm not even sure if Bear Mark is still a discipline talent for them in 3rd Edition. If it is, in my games I added several talent knacks to help protect victims of Horror Marks that the Horror Stalkers could use. Because 99% of the time, they were never actively marked by Horrors themselves. They almost always were investigating some victim and hated being helpless to provide any sort of relief and really lacked any talents that would allow them to track that particular Horror. Now once again some of this may have been resolved in later releases. But remember with NPC's you've got a little wiggle room. But something to allow the Horror Stalker to isolate the mark for a short period of time and then having the players travel with him so he can track the mark back to the original Horror would be useful in this case.

[galafrone]

bear mark is still a talent (3rd circle).
there is some debate in the group if the already marked character can use it (in case he can reach the 3rd circle in time) if he will be accepted as horror stalker.
i am thinking about a positive answer, that means "yes he will be able to use it, if the horror "use" him as conduit" that is as if he failed on the BM use.
but there is an player that is dissenting about this, and says that horror stalkers will never accept an already marked in their ranks, for fear to be betrayed or infiltrated by marked ppl acting on behalf of active horrors.
this player thinks that the BM talent cant be used if you reach the third circle and get the talent AFTER being marked.

[ManDrake]