Given a blessing and curse, werebeasts are shapeshifting humanoids capable of great feats of strength and recovery and destruction. They are blessed with power and cursed with supernatural ferocity.
A werebeast shapeshifts to take on the features of a specific animal in order to gain their strength and to enforce the commands of nature. See, werebeast are vassals to the concept of nature, and must carry out its desires should they wish to maintain control of their sanity and humanity.
Unfortunately, the concept of nature is vague, and few werebeasts see it as the same or hear the same commands. To some, the commands are instinctual and moral; there are no spoken words, only a moral compass and internal conscience to guide their path. To others, the concept is more literal, a spirit or near-god like entity which physically appears to give direct orders. The varying nature of their patron and its commands breeds distrust between werebeasts, preventing many from gathering in more than a small pack.
The LARP variation of this legacy can be found HERE
Playstyle
A werebeast must balance their overwhelming strength against their ferocity. With a loss of control, a werebeast can suddenly become the greatest threat to their allies and society. Furthermore, a werebeast is never in full control of their life, as they must choose when to follow the commands of their patron and when is ok to lose control.
Play a werebeast if you want to shapeshift into a fearsome creature of the wild. Play a werebeast if you enjoy characters who can lose control and whom may lash out at any threat or prey nearby. Consider a werebeast if you want a patron with influence over your transformations and who pushes their own agenda.
References: Werewolves, Weresharks, Tanuki, Hulk
Visual Identity
Werebeasts have at least three distinct forms to consider; humanoid, monstrous, and animal. Consider what colors and mannerisms are apparent while in each form. What subtle animalistic features stand out while humanoid? What mannerisms make you stick out from other animals? How monstrous is your bipedal, animalistic form? What does your transformation between forms look like?
Signature Ability: Wildshape
Werebeasts get their namesake from the predatory animal imbued within their spirit. When creating a werebeast, choose a single predatory animal to act as your Animus. It will act as the foundational theme for all of your werebeast abilities.
When encountering their animus in the wild, a werebeast will find themselves welcomed without any hostility, as long as no hostility is given, and even if the animal is normally solitary. The werebeast can even command their animus to take detailed actions, though those actions must still be within the creature’s mental and physical capacity to perform.
Werebeasts have 3 base forms they can actively take an action to change between:
- Hominal: As it sounds, the humanoid form with minimal animalistic tells. While in hominal form a werebeasts does not need to cut when resisting bestial frenzy.
- Loup-Garou: Mark to change to this form; an 8-10 ft tall, bipedal beast with an animalistic head and hulking body covered in the fur or scales as part of their animus. Make a resolve check to resist taking a level of frenzy. While in loup-garou form, gain supernatural strength OR supernatural speed, as though with the brute strength or celerity merit. If you already have the brute strength merit, actions that use your brute strength now treat glances as hits. If you already have the celerity merit, actions that utilize your speed treat glances as hits. Furthermore, loup-garou can spend an esoteric to instantly recover 1 marked box on any werebeast merit.
- Amarch: The animal-form of a werebeast, letting them blend in with others of their animus. While in amarch form, when using this merit for any action checks based on perception or movement that could utilize the animus’s abilities, treat glances as hits. Remove 1 mark on this merit’s track each hour maintained in this form.
When a werebeast transforms, only their esoterics transform with them (remaining accessible). Other worn items and gear do not transform and must be physically dealt with.
Wildshape can provide a bonus to any action checks that would utilize the natural agility or senses of the chosen animus, regardless of which form the character is currently in.
Disadvantage: Silver Rage
Werebeasts have a vulnerability to harm from crafted silver. The simple touch of it actively harms them – dealing 1 mark of harm per 10 seconds touched.
When a werebeast is injured or takes harm from silver they take a level of bestial frenzy that pushes the them into violent, reckless actions with less and less regard on complexities like friend and foe. If pushed into a frenzy due to harm from silver, they can attempt a resolve check to avoid the frenzy level. A success with a glance prevents the frenzy but increases the cut for any future resistance checks within the scene by 1.
Bestial Frenzy
A werebeast’s frenzy alters their immediate and highest priority goal to a survivalist one that depends on what form they were in when they entered the frenzy. Higher frenzy levels increase their loss of self-control. A bestial frenzy lasts until the werebeast has successfully accomplished their goal, if the werebeast is killed or knocked unconscious, or after 1 full hour.
- If in hominal form, the werebeast can pick a single goal to focus on.
- If in loup-garou form, the goal is to fight any potential aggressors.
- Lastly, if in amarch form, the goal is to flee and avoid any potential aggressors.
Frenzy Levels
- Any actions the frenzied werebeast takes must take them a step closer towards their goal.
- The werebeast is unable to plan more than 2 steps into the future and their definition of aggressor broadens towards anyone taking a hostile action towards anything (regardless of alliances).
- The werebeast is unable to identify individuals beyond their capacity for aggression. If a creature appears capable of aggressive actions that can harm the werebeast, then they are considered an aggressor.
Separately, as magical creatures, werebeasts cannot cross a threshold uninvited.
Merits
Merits represent the core characteristics, traits, gear, and companions that a character has at their disposal. Merits Tracks represent a form of character health, merits help make actions easier to perform, and many merits provide unique powers and abilities for a character to take advantage of.
Each legacy has 1 signature merit (underlined below), a powerful and complex merit that provides the core ability characters within that legacy are known for. Signature merits can be further enhanced with the meta merits of the same legacy, up to the number of Meta Slots the signature merit has (see the following list after regular Merits). Werebeasts may also select supernatural merits.
| Signature Merit | Effect | Track | Meta Slots |
| Wildshape | You can use an action to change between the following forms:
|
4 | 2 |
| A werebeast’s body changes between the forms as the beast chooses. | |||
| Werebeasts Merits | Effect | Track |
| World Whisper | You can speak with animals | 3 |
| A fog which lives within your mouth and lungs, translating the words in your breath to instinct. | ||
| Monster Eater | Spend 1 esoteric to retain and repeatedly reuse an ability that could otherwise be provided by that esoteric. The ability is replaced when you use this merit again. | 3 |
| An iron stomach that is not simply resistant to upsetting materials, but finds a way to repurpose them. | ||
| Fearsome Roar | Mark to unleash a deafening roar that triggers a trauma response in all nearby creatures; flight, fight, freeze, or fawn. Each creature must use their next action towards the pursuit of one of those trauma responses in relation towards you. | 5 |
| A thick neck and broad chest. | ||
| Exit Signs | Spend an esoteric to find the nearest exit within your location. | 4 |
| Your ears, nose, and eyes are especially adapt at noticing shifts in the environment that lead to a change in location. | ||
| Wild Form Necklace | Spend an esoteric to transform into a small animal. Gains any special abilities appropriate for the animal (flight, gills, poison, sensory abilities, etc.). While in this form, taking a single mark of harm will knock you back into one of your werebeast forms (your choice) and any remaining harm will carry over to other merits (your choice). | 2 |
| A necklace with small animal parts -claws, feathers, scales – hooked onto it. | ||
| Industrial Salts | You can easily smell and locate the direction of industrial crafts within 5 miles of you. | 3 |
| Description TBD | ||
| Nature’s Veil | Burn to become immune to the effects of a specific technology until you next use this merit. You do not gain immunity to similar but natural effects. Examples: (photography, steel, electricity, flame-throwers, etc) |
2 |
| Description TBD | ||
| Bond Breaker | If you are ever forced to take an action due to supernatural or emotional manipulation, mark to completely resist and end the effect. | 3 |
META Merits
Meta Merits alter or enhance a legacy’s signature merit and automatically extend that merit’s track with their own. Meta merits are unique to their legacy and cannot enhance any merit other than the signature merit of the same legacy.
| Meta Werebeast Merits | Effect | Track |
| Juggernaut | When transforming into a loup-garou, mark an additional box to grow into a Huge creature for the remainder of the scene. While huge, attempts to harm creatures and mundane structures smaller than you have a major effect. Each time you cause major harm, make a resolve check to resist bestial frenzy. |
– |
| Peak Physique | While a loup-garou, you gain both supernatural speed and strength (instead of only 1) and your Physique score counts as 4. | – |
| Cloth Keeper | When you transform from hominal form into another, you can choose for your worn gear and items to disappear into a pocket realm. They will reappear when you transform back into your hominal form. | – |
| Wild Howl | While in amarch form, mark to summon wild, local animus to your location. | – |
| Moonlighter | While in amarch form and acting non-hostile, strangers in public and social environments (clubs, restaurants, parks) will treat you as a known and welcome animal. | – |
| Mostly hominal form | TBD | – |
| Mostly amarch form | TBD | – |
| Calming Form | TBD: you have another condition which can reduce your frenzy level by 1. | – |
| Walking Witchgate | When you transform into an amarch or loup-garou, mark to alter the nearby landscape to become more hospitable and better resemble the habitat of your animus. | – |
Alternative Concepts
A werebeast may take the form of a living weapon or legendary beast. The concept can also be flipped on its head, with the a cursed beast of industry commanding unnatural monsters; weak to ore and wild woods; seeking the destruction of the natural world.