Synthesis:
Maybe you can explain that one to me because I found Beast inscrutable after reading it and I'm still not sure why it exists or what it does that another line doesn't.
I don't know if this is the thread for it, but i'd be
more than happy to do so. Lots of people wrote Beast off and it was such a massive tragedy because it's a friggin' amazing game. But in short (this is all my opinions and fanboy gushing): Beast is the game where you actually get to play a monster without a pre-defined morality meter telling you in what exact ways you can be monstrous (or not) and no uber-society policing your behavior. Beast is the CoD game that's lets you be the monster looking at both humans and the other monsters as a being who gets both an is a part of both.
All of this is important because of the main external conflict Beasts have to deal with: Heroes. Those usually-unhinged, obsessive superpowered Beast-hunters who believe that they are the stars of the show, the protagonists sent to slay the dragon, lay low the giant and kill the kraken.
Which brings me to another point: Beast is the game hat lets you be the monsters from the 'other' category. Not a vampire, werewolf, wizard or faerie or a magitek cyborg; you are a monster, with your own awesome nightmarish lair and the power to back it up when you say 'I am a dragon'. And before you go 'but Changelings can do that too!'...
No, no they cannot. They can be humanoids with draconic features who can do magic that emulates fire breath and flight. But they're not dragons. A Beast whose Horror is a dragon...is a dragon that can fly, breathe supernatural fire so hot it can annihilate even things that normally just won't burn, and has scales like armor plating. And that dragon will have a real fiery volcano lair that you can actually go to, with a treasure hoard. You aren't a fairy who is a dragon-person. You are a dragon a kraken, a giant or whatever your Horror is.
Nextly, Beast is without a doubt the best WoD/CofD crossover game ever made before or since. Beasts interact with the other supernaturals as a matter of course. They intentionally and actively seek out their supernatural cousins and join in their various struggles, because those other supernatural beings are family. All of them (Except the Unchained). And this is a beneficial relationship for all involved because having a being as powerful as a Beast on your side is an advantage only an idiot would pass up, especially since they can naturally and innately boost other supernaturals' powers with minimal effort. Individual Beasts will naturally tend to favor certain kinds of supernatural kin; for example, my blank-faced identity-stealing Inguma Ravager (inspired by the Noppera-bo) is an ideal partner for a vampire and even certain Changelings (once they get past the similarity to their former Keepers), but would be a poor fit with a werewolf pack.
Whereas my friend's Anakim Tyrant, who is a classic mythological giant including massive size and earth-shattering inhuman strength would probably fit in fine wit that same werewolf pack; he's large and in charge, able to hunt and fight with the wolves as an equal (and maybe even better than any of them; Beasts are
very powerful). My wife's Ugallu, whose horror is a city-sized avian monster that summons storms with every flap of her wings and leaves destruction in her wake made fast friends with a Sin-Eater who was ironically killed in a natural disaster she (my wife's Beast) created when she was first Devoured and was learning to use her new abilities
Anyway, i'll cut this short because it's getting way too long, but to sum it up: Beast is CofD without rails. The key thing is Beasts represent a specific fear, a specific type of monster, and feeding from that particular fear via their preferred means while solidifying their own legend and subverting and eventually transcending the Hero/Villain monomyth is at the core of it. A Beast can also just be a character in a game primarily about another supernatural splat seamlessly and mostly downplay the Beast-specific elements to give an outsider's perspective while still having the supernatural 'oomp' to be a useful contributor, unlike mini-splats such as Ghouls or Wolf-Blooded who are straight-up outclassed by their 'main' splat.
Come to think of it, maybe i should do my part and run a Beast game here on RPoL. In fact, i believe I will.
This message was last edited by the user at 03:47, Fri 03 May 2019.
