Inglorious Monsters:Beast Innate Abilities

Kinship Abilities

Family Ties (Condition, Persistent)

Your character has become closely bonded to a Beast and finds great (if sometimes grudging) strength in that connection. While in his immediate presence, she may use the Beast’s relevant Resistance trait value instead of her own when defending against supernatural powers. In return, both she and the Beast receive a +1 on any rolls made to directly assist each other, or as part of teamwork actions undertaken together. You may have this Condition with multiple Beasts simultaneously.

Possible Sources: A Beast.

Resolution: Your character severs her association with the Beast.

Beat: Your character encounters trouble with others of her kind or forsakes an important obligation to her supernatural culture, due to her connection with the Beast.

Thicker Than Water

Unless she acts in a hostile fashion, treats the target poorly, or abuses their relationship, your character is considered to begin with at least a good impression for the purposes of Social Maneuvering when it comes to other supernatural beings, including other Beasts. Thicker Than Water applies to fundamentally human types such as mages and psychics as well, but only bestows an average impression instead of a good one.

Family Resemblance

A Beast instinctively senses another Beast on sight and can intuitively sense the shape of her Horror. This recognition is automatic and requires no roll, unless the other Beast is using some kind of supernatural ability to conceal her nature, in which case it becomes a Clash of Wills. Detecting a vampire, werewolf, changeling, or other full-fledged supernatural being is relatively easy for a Beast and happens reflexively if the Beast is physically in their presence. Success is automatic unless the target is hiding her nature supernatural means, in which case the Beast must win a Clash of Wills before using Family Resemblance. Each Beast processes the sensation of recognition differently — as scents, as sounds, as visual phenomena, etc. — but each creature type is always distinctive. A Beast might taste ashes in her mouth for vampires, for example, smell freshly turned earth around Sin-Eaters, and hear a single discordant chime for changelings.

Individuals who are fundamentally human but still wield supernatural power — such as mages, psychics, and mediums — are harder, though not impossible, to detect. Some Beasts claim these talents must stem from a tie to the Dark Mother somewhere in the target’s ancestry, no matter how distant, while others claim it is simply the Horror stirring in the presence of supernatural ability. Regardless of the reason, a Family Resemblance roll is still reflexive. If the individual has not used any supernatural abilities in the same scene as the Beast encountered him, subtract his Integrity rating from the roll as well as Composure. If he does not have an Integrity score, its analogue may be substituted instead.

It is important to note that while Family Resemblance does identify creature type with a fair degree of specificity — “vampire,” “mage,” “werewolf,” etc. — it does not explain anything more about that creature type, their organization, their strengths or weaknesses, and so on. That is for the Beast to learn, but at least she won’t be starting completely in the dark.

Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Lair – target’s Composure

Action: Reflexive

Dramatic Failure: The target is aware that he is being observed and takes an instant dislike to the Beast. He is treated as hostile to the Beast for the purposes of Social Maneuvering. While he won’t necessarily act violently, he regards the Beast with deep suspicion and generally assumes the worst about her intentions.

Failure: The Beast learns nothing about the target.

Success: The Beast is aware of the type of creature she is looking at, as well as his approximate power level (expressed by their Supernatural Tolerance rating) She is also roughly aware of how “well fed” the creature currently is, in terms of his current power currency reserves (Blood, Glamour, etc.). With regard to another Beast, this extra scrutiny allows her to identify her target’s Family as well as a rough idea of his Satiety level.

Exceptional Success: As above, plus the Beast instinctively knows the general nature of the target’s most powerful supernatural talent: “gifted at mind control,” “extremely hard to injure,” “transforms physical matter with ease,” etc. If the target has several equally powerful talents, the one used most recently is detected. This heightened insight into the target’s nature also removes two Doors on the next Social maneuver the Beast makes against the target. If the target is another Beast, the user learns his Hunger and receives a brief vision of the appearance of his Lair, including how many Chambers it contains.

Mother's Kiss

Having the blood of the Dark Mother in their veins isn’t just a blessing for Beasts — they can also exploit the primal power it contains to boost the capabilities of other supernatural creatures (but not other Children). Beasts call this ability “Mother’s Kiss,” and its potency is often enough to sway dubious supernatural allies — not to mention terrorize their common enemies.

In order to bestow Mother’s Kiss, a Beast must be in the presence of her target — the two can be separated by walls but must be in the same immediate area. (Distance and barriers may impose penalties on the roll, however, at the Storyteller’s discretion.) The Beast must shed some of her own blood as she says the target’s name. Any amount of blood will do — a bitten lip, a scratched arm — but it must be shed as the name is spoken.

If Mother’s Kiss is successful, the target feels a sudden rush of power. Each individual perceives it a bit differently, but whether it’s an electric surge on their skin, a swirl of light, the sound of a great beast roaring, or some other sensation, the effect is always pronounced and unmistakable.

A target may only be under the effect of one use of Mother’s Kiss at a time. He cannot receive another use until he has expended the dice from the current usage. Any unused benefits from this ability are lost at the end of the scene — they cannot be “banked” for later.

While still potent, Mother’s Kiss has notably less effect as its target grows more powerful. Explanations for this vary, but it seems as though the more “established” the target has become in his monstrous nature, the less the raw power of this ability is able to affect him.

Cost: 1 Willpower

Dice Pool: Stamina + Satiety – target’s Supernatural Tolerance. If a target of Mother’s Kiss has the Family Ties Condition with the Beast, the Beast adds three dice to her pool.

Action: Instant

Dramatic Failure: The Beast not only fails to boost a target’s powers, but loses 1 Satiety as her Horror rebels against being ordered about in this fashion. In addition, the target suffers a dramatic failure on the next use of a supernatural power this scene (the target receives a Beat when this happens). He may not receive another use of Mother’s Kiss until after this failure occurs.

Failure: The Beast fails to augment the target’s powers.

Success: The target gains a pool of dice equal to the player’s successes. For the rest of the scene, he may add these dice to any roll for a supernatural power. Dice must be allocated before a roll is made; they cannot be added afterward. Once dice are used, they are removed from this pool. If a power does not require a roll, the Storyteller may allow it to receive a narrative benefit based on the number of dice expended — the more dice spent, the greater the benefit potentially generated.

Exceptional Success: As above, plus the target immediately refreshes 1 Willpower point, plus an additional Willpower point for every success above five. This may take her over her normal Willpower maximum. Any Willpower points in excess of her maximum rating are lost at the end of the current scene.

Passing Resemblance

A Beast must have Family Ties with a supernatural creature of the type she wishes to resemble and spend 1 Willpower point to activate Passing Resemblance for a scene. During that time, her appearance does not change, but she is detected as a supernatural creature of that type by any applicable powers or senses. This ability may be ended at any time as a reflexive action, but cannot be used again until the next scene.

Passing Resemblance automatically fools passive abilities that identify creature type, such as a vampire’s instinctual recognition of another vampire. If the Beast is actively scanned with a supernatural power that could potentially reveal the deception, it becomes a Clash of Wills. Note that the power must specifically identify creature types to qualify. A werewolf sniffing the Beast with heightened senses would not necessarily have a chance to break Passing Resemblance, unless he can normally detect supernatural creatures by scent with that power.

If a Beast has a high Satiety rating (7+), this deception also includes superficial but convincing illusory elements such as turning pale and appearing not to breathe while imitating a vampire, for example, or even projecting a crude fae mien (based on the Horror) to pass among changelings. These changes are entirely illusory and convey no real benefit — the Beast may not appear to breathe, for example, but she still requires oxygen. The Storyteller has the final say on what sorts of changes are allowed, but these changes will never disguise the Beast’s basic appearance or project radical changes to her size and shape.

Family Dinner

In order to use Family Dinner, a Beast must accompany a supernatural being as he hunts, feeds, or both. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a vampire thirsting after blood, a werewolf stalking an intruder in his territory, or a changeling feeding on human emotions, so long as he is actively tracking prey and/or taking sustenance from a hunt. The Storyteller has the final say on whether or not an activity counts, but it must involve a monster’s supernatural nature or appetites directly; mundane hunting or feeding does not invoke Family Dinner.

If the Beast witnesses a successful hunt — one that results in taking down the intended quarry, either literally or figuratively — she immediately regains 1 Satiety. If she observes a successful feeding, she also gains 1 Satiety. These benefits are cumulative, so a hunt that also results in a feeding nets 2 Satiety total. The actual number of creatures involved in the scene does not matter. The Satiety gained is based on the acts witnessed, not the number of participants.

Note that the Beast does not need to make her presence known to the other supernatural being in order for Family Dinner to apply. Viewing the act directly is sufficient. Each successful use of Family Dinner removes one Door on an effort to place Family Ties on a target, to a maximum of the Beast’s Composure rating. When it comes to getting to know someone, few methods are better than seeing how he chooses to sate his appetites, after all.

If the Beast has the Family Ties Condition with at least one monster involved in Family Dinner, she adds 1 Satiety to the overall total gained from the experience. A Beast may choose to regain fewer points of Satiety from a hunt than the possible maximum, if she wishes to “stay hungry” for the scene.

As potent as this ability is, it does have certain key restrictions. Tame targets such as vampiric minions who willing allow themselves to be “hunted” do not qualify as proper targets for Family Dinner; the hunt must be genuine. In addition, remote observation or watching recordings after the fact does not carry the necessary visceral connection for this ability to function — the Beast must be physically present, even if hidden.

Primordial Path and Lair Abilities

Open the Primordial Pathway

Dice Pool: Wits + Resolve

Action: Instant

Cost: 1 Willpower

Dramatic Failure: The attempt goes badly wrong and damages the Lair. The Chamber used for the Pathway loses all of its Burrows, isolating it from the rest of the Lair until the Beast can redefine them.

Failure: The Pathway does not open.

Success: The Pathway successfully opens and lasts for the opening character’s Resolve in turns.

Exceptional Success: The Pathway successfully opens and lasts for the rest of the scene.

Imposing Lair Traits

When a Beast finds himself in a situation outside the Lair where one or more of his Lair Trait Tilts is already in effect, the location is resonant with his Traits. While resonant, he may impose the effects of as many more of his Lair Trait Tilts as he wishes, up to the limit granted by his Lair rating within a single scene. At Lair 1, this limit is 1, so a starting Beast character may use the presence of either of her Tilts to cause the other.

Beasts may — and often do — create the initial Tilt through guile and manipulating the terrain, or capitalize on the powers of other supernatural beings. For example, a Makara with the Lair Trait of “downpour” may set off a sprinkler system to then use the resonance in order to impose her other Traits.

At the end of the scene, or when the Beast imposing them wishes to stop, the imposed Lair Traits vanish, though their aftereffects remain. For example, if a Namtaru whose Heart resembles the digestive tract of a gargantuan creature imposes the Corrosive and Flooded Traits to fill a room with acids, the damage to everything in the room remains when he stops imposing the Traits, without any trace of the corrosive liquid that caused it.

Skeleton Key

Given their instinctive connection to the Primordial Pathways, Beasts are capable of opening otherworldly gateways they come across. Whether it’s a secret door to the Hedge, an Avernian Gate to the Underworld, or a verge into the Shadow, a Beast can make use of any gateway.

While it does not damage the portal, the use of Skeleton Key is definitely not normal to those familiar with the typical workings of a particular gateway. An almost palpable sense of overwhelming force being applied ripples through the area, as though some great presence was close to tearing the door off its hinges right before it opened. Even if a portal resists being opened in this fashion, the frustrated rage of the Horror resonates through both worlds, leaving its mark on the Beast instead. It is immediately evident to any beings familiar with the gateway’s routine operation that it is not functioning normally.

Note that the Beast has no innate capacity to sense the presence of a gateway, so he must locate it some other way: research, observation, even social manipulation. Once he knows where one exists, however, he may make use of this ability even if he lacks the owner’s permission or any other typical safeguards. This ability functions on either side of the gateway — the Beast may return to the mundane world just as easily from the other side, provided he can find a doorway.

Finally, the Beast can use Skeleton Key to force a supernatural gateway to open to the Primordial Dream, even if it normally connects to another realm. The Horror casts a shadow across all realities — just like in a nightmare, no matter what path a victim takes, he might wind up walking into the monster’s hunting ground.

Cost: 1 Willpower

Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult + Lair vs. Supernatural Tolerance of the gate’s creator or current owner, whichever is higher. If no such rating readily exists, the Storyteller should assign a rating based on how well-used the gateway is, with very active gates being easier to open. If the gateway has a security rating of some kind, add that to the resistance roll.

Action: Instant

Dramatic Failure: The Beast not only fails to open the gateway, but it slams shut on her, causing a psychic backlash. Roll the gateway’s Supernatural Tolerance — the Beast suffers one level of bashing damage per success on this roll. In addition, the owner of the gateway, if any, is immediately alerted to the fact that someone who is not one of his kind attempted to force the crossing.

Failure: The Beast fails to open the gateway.

Success: The gateway opens, allowing travel between worlds for a number of turns equal to successes rolled or until the Beast wills it closed as a reflexive action. This applies even if the gateway is normally open for a much longer or shorter period of time. A gateway can only be connected to one realm at a time — either its normal destination or the Primordial Dream. If the Beast wishes to switch the destination, she must end the current use of Skeleton Key and activate it once again.

Exceptional Success: As success, but using this particular gateway does not require a Willpower point for the rest of the story — the shadow of the Horror lingers on the portal, removing some of the difficulty in crossing between worlds for the Beast. A roll is still required as normal.

Under the Bed

Cost: 1 Satiety

Dice Pool: Presence + Satiety vs. Integrity. If the Beast is a blood relative, she adds 3 dice to her roll.

Action: Instant

Dramatic Failure: The Beast is unable to enter the Primordial Pathways through the target’s nightmares, and the resulting psychic turmoil reverberates through the Primordial Dream. Any Heroes in the same region feel the reverberations and can track the Beast’s location.

Failure: The target’s mind shrugs off the Beast’s efforts to infect them with a suitable nightmare; no travel to the Primordial Pathways occurs.

Success: The Beast is able to step through the target’s nightmares into the Primordial Pathways. She cannot bring others along — this passage is an expression of her connection to the target, and the passage itself reflects a distorted version of the events in the target’s mind as a result. The target gains the Spooked Condition regarding the Beast and that night has terrifying nightmares involving the Beast and her Hunger. While the target may not wake up assuming that the Beast is actually a supernatural being, he will likely be a bit wary around her for a while, even if he can’t exactly explain why. The Beast gains no Satiety from this dream, however, as the Horror doesn’t linger in the dream.

Exceptional Success: An especially potent connection to the Primordial Dream is created; the Beast may make a number of additional trips equal to her Lair rating before rolling again, and the target does not need to be asleep for the Beast to use this ability. The Beast must still be in close proximity to her target and spend Satiety for each trip. Unfortunately, a nightmare this powerful is very hard on the target’s mind — he suffers a breaking point as a result of the intense nightmares. Even if he successfully wards off Integrity loss, the target awakens with absolute certainty of the Beast’s true nature; if he was already aware of it, he sees the worst possible aspect of the Beast. He is considered hostile to the Beast for the purposes of Social Maneuvering, requiring tremendous effort to repair relations.

Hold the Door

A Beast may choose to grant an outsider one-time access to their Lair. She must be at an entrance to her Lair and grant her express consent. If she does so, any target so named is able to enter the Lair along with the Beast. If the Lair is shared by a brood, the other members instinctively know when outsiders are given access through this ability. If the other brood members have met the invited individual before, they know exactly who has been allowed in. If the brood members have not met the new guest, they receive an image of the individual and will recognize them if they cross paths, unless the guest changes her appearance.

Both mortals and supernatural beings may be granted access using Hold the Door. However, this permission does not grant special protection from what the target may find on the other side. Mortal visitors might suffer a breaking point for entering the Lair, though they should receive bonuses on the roll if the Beast has prepared them for the experience or they have visited in the past.

A Beast may be bullied, bribed, or coerced into granting this consent, but outright supernatural domination cannot force it from her — it must be given of her own free will, however grudgingly.

Be My Guest

Permanent version of Hold the Door.