Beast
Beast
As the High Umbra expands ever further, the Bygones of old feel their connection to the world and to their legend dwindling by the Day. Some of these Bygones divine a way to enter the world once more by donning a man's skin and attaching a part of their soul to the Material plane as their Den. They then seek to rebuild their legend so they may be the terrifying beast they once were yet again. Beasts rules are covered by spirit lore though all lores have some notion of beasts, and are affected by any power that calls out spirit lore specifically, but similar to geist and wraith, beast ward must be cast separately from spirit ward.
Beasts aren’t Human, never were and are bad at it much like Demons are. They don't have virtues, for any power that would cause a beast to make a virtue test they use their legend instead. Beasts cannot use items or weapons of man, they often don't need to. They each have an anathema which is a special weakness that causes them to lose satiety, or take more damage.
They have Legend. Which is the beast’s innate desire for its name to be known and for its story to be spread. Legend is a double edged sword. Higher legend means access to more powerful Atavisms and Nightmares. But also causes more and more people to know who and what they are. They add their Legend directly to their Trait, Satiety, and Willpower caps. Legend is out of 10.
They also have Satiety, a Value which is spent to fuel powers. If the Beast’s Satiety gets too low they must avoid a hunger frenzy described below. Refilling Satiety requires eating a Human or inflicting a specific kind of psychic torment on them. Eating a human always refills a beast's satiety to max. Inflicting torment on Hunters is especially filling(Doubly so). The type of torment is based on the Beasts Family. A Beast uses a Satiety each night just to stay active in the world, a beast must spend 1 satiety to enter the world outside their lair. Satiety starts at 10 and increased with legend.
The Hunger: Whenever Satiety is below half the Beast must make a virtue challenge against diff 3 using their legend, to avoid partaking in their hunger, if they fail they must out a human to kill to refill their satiety. If they are affected by any kind of frenzy power they will also seek out a human to eat this way, in addition to any effects the frenzying power might have.
Beasts have base Willpower 10+Legend.
Beasts have base Health 10+Legend.
Beasts have base Satiety equal to 10+Legend.
Beasts max traits are determined by their family but no beast even in human form has any max trait total lower than 12
Families
A beast's family determines its starting atavisms,anathema and traits.
True Form
All beasts have a true form, where they discard their human flesh and assume their legendary form. Doing so grants them immense benefits but also
Lairs
Lair: The lair is the Beast's little piece of home in the natural world. It is a part of the primordial dream carved out of human nightmares into the real world. Multiple beasts can share an interconnected lair. It must have a physical door in the real world.
Outside of their Lair, the Beast must maintain their Human form or risk being torn apart by the collective disbelief of humanity ( paradox pulls them limb from limb when they are around dreamers. Within the Lair they can always take on their True form. If a Beast takes on its true form outside of its lair, it suffers 1 unsoakable Ag every round it stays in sight of humans. It takes the beast a full 5 minutes to reassume their human face.
Atavisms
Atavisms are the beast’s super powers. They have a True form effect, a Lair effect and a lesser effect while in human form. A beast can only use the level of their atavism they meet the conditions for, human level powers can always be used, true form powers can only be used while in their true form, lair levels can only be used in the beast's lair. They cost 1 Satiety to use outside of the Lair.
Nightmares
Nightmares are the weaker of the powers but don’t cost Satiety to use. They are a form of mind control/ Illusion magic that preys on a being’s deepest fears. They have no bonus effects outside the lair. Nightmares all attack virtues if a target fails a virtue check against a nightmare the the nightmare takes effect. Nightmares all take an action to inflict on the opponent and each opponent can only be affected by 1 nightmare of each of their virtues per scene. The beast gains satiety even if the target succeeds at their virtue test if the target spent a willpower for a retest, and gains if they spend a permanent virtue as well. Creatures lose ties on virtue challenges against a beast's nightmare, unless they have a power that allows them to win ties on virtue challenges.
