Editing Inglorious Monsters:Beast Innate Abilities (section)

=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.