Friday, March 17, 2023

The Lore of Beasts

Lest you become one

Animals are indifferent to you. Even the fiercest creature will allow you to...

  • (1 Secret) ...walk past unharmed
  • (2 Secrets) ...feed and caress them
  • (4 Secrets) ...lead them about with a string
  • (8 Secrets) ...slaughter them for meat

Secrets of Beasts

  1. Vermin boil out of every crack and crevice for [SUM] paces around you.
  2. [DICE] beasts that can see your eyes go from a state of calm to a state of agitation, or vice-versa.
  3. Fashion a small totem out of the flesh and bone of an animal. For the next [SUM] days, whoever possesses the totem is hated by that kind of animal.
  4. When you would be surprised by danger, you have a [HIGHEST]-in-6 chance of noticing at the last instant.
  5. Let loose a primal roar. Foes who have never heard you roar before have a [HIGHEST]-in-6 chance of panicking, and allies who have heard you roar before have a [HIGHEST]-in-6 chance of being inspired with savage courage.
  6. Receive answers to [SUM] questions from one animal. Beasts remember things broadly and by their nature; a predator and a grazer will recount the same event in different ways.
  7. You take a deep sniff and scent the emotional state of those within a handful of paces. You can detect...
    • (1 die) ...fear
    • (2 dice) ...lies
    • (3 dice) ...intentions
  8. When you fail to track a creature, you have a [HIGHEST]-in-6 chance to pick up the trail instead. Alternatively, those tracking you have a [HIGHEST]-in-6 chance of losing your trace.
  9. Kill a beast with your bare hands and ritually skin it. You can don the hide for a [SUM]-in-6 chance of taking the beast's form. You must make use of this Secret again to change back.
  10. At dawn, bind a beast to you until the next sun rises. You must have once subdued it with your bare hands. As long as the creature remains within [SUM] miles, it obeys you to the best of its understanding. If maintained on the same beast for a year and a day, the effect becomes permanent.
  11. Strip nude and daub yourself with beast-blood sigils: your skin turns blades like thick hide. The next [SUM] mortal blows against you bounce off. Ends if you don clothing.
  12. Lock eyes with a beast that has consumed a drop of your blood each dusk for a year and a day. When you die, your mind and spirit will be transferred to that beast. The animal may be as large as a...
    • (1 die) ...wolf
    • (2 dice) ...bear
    • (3 dice) ...wyvern

Marks of Beasts

  1. Your face elongates into a muzzle.
  2. Your legs become back-jointed.
  3. Nature falls silent at your approach. Birdsong ceases, dogs stop their barking, and cattle will not low.
  4. Teeth and nails grow long, sharp, and iron-hard.
  5. Tough feathers sprout painfully from your skin.
  6. Your feet become claws or hooves.

Dooms of Beasts

  1. Madness besets the creatures around you. If you linger too long, horses will throw their riders and dogs savage their masters.
  2. Each dusk, you lose all higher reason and turn feral until dawn.
  3. The Ur-Predator catches your scent. It will pursue you to the edge of the world. If you kill it, the pelt lets you transform into any beast that hunts for prey.

In Praise of Trophy Gold