Age of Dragons: Beast Unbound

Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> Age Of Dragons: Lifepaths -> Beast Unbound

Overview

The Old Ways Survive

The pack wheeled overhead as the herd of aurochs mournfully bellowed their alarm and fear. Claws-Unsheathed roared for his kin to dive, and the Hunter Dragons fell like thunderbolts amongst the beasts. Firebreath deployed to keep the herd panicked and packed tightly, while claws and teeth opened arteries and jugular veins with a placed precision at odds with the apparent fury of the assault.

One auroch dropped, then another, then another. One of the Hunter Dragons foolishly overextended himself, and caught a bull-horn in the ribs for his carelessness. A blast of flame from Claws-Unsheathed drove the angry auroch back, affording the stripling drake time to extricate himself. The rest of the dragons continued their careful hit and run strikes, harrying the aurochs and dropping two more of them before their alpha roared for them to withdraw.

They circled back into the sky, and let the rest of the herd stampede away to safety. Enough aurochs had been killed to feed the pack for a week, and it did not pay in the long run to kill more than they needed to. Already several of the hungry drakes and dragonesses were showing their anticipation of the feast with exuberant puffs of flame, as well as fighting out for a place in the feeding order by pecking and nipping at each other's wingtips.

Any casual observer would have thought that these dragons had devolved into dumb animals, and abandoned their intellect and intelligence. Claws-Unsheathed knew better. He knew that these were brilliant minds and vibrant souls who had simply chosen to live as beasts, and who were revelling in the vitality and joy of the experience. These were dragons who could have had their meals brought to them spiced and prepared by a legion of mortal servants, and who could be sleeping in jewelled palaces if they wanted to. But they chose this life - to hunt and kill for their own food, to sleep in natural lairs open to the sky, because this was the way that dragons were always meant to be.

Civilisation shackled instinct and dulled the soul. These were Beasts Unbound.

The Beast Unbound Lifepath

The Beast Unbound is a lifepath rejected as primitive by many Breeds, yet seen as sacred by others. To be a Beast Unbound is to set aside the trappings of civilisation (be they material, intellectual or moral) and to exist on a simpler, purer level.

That is not to say that all Dragons on this path remain in it forever. Some will visit the Lifepath only for as long as it takes them to "connect to the Beast within", and will return to civilised lifepaths afterwards. Likewise, some come to it late in life, when they have tired of civilised society. Regardless, once the beast within has been unbound, it can never truly be caged again.

Edges

Skills

Tooth and Claw

This Lifepath Skill adds the Dragon's Arete in Beast Unbound when calculating Technique for the following types of tasks:

• Attacking in combat with natural weaponry (that is tooth and claw, but not weapons or magic).
• Defending in combat with natural weaponry, or with natural agility or toughness.

This should be considered a core skill for Beasts Unbound as a Beast that cannot fight will be a liability on the hunt, and likely relegated to being the runt of the pack.

Alpha's Dominance

This Lifepath Skill adds the Dragon's Arete in Beast Unbound when calculating Technique for the following types of tasks:

• Establishing dominance in the pack.
• Effectively coordinating pack's under your command.
• Intimidation, either through physical means or through growls and raw animal power.
• Cowing prey animals, or scaring off other predators.
• Laying strong scent to mark your territory.
• Roaring loudly.

Hunter's Instinct

This Lifepath Skill adds the Dragon's Arete in Beast Unbound when calculating Technique for the following types of tasks:

• Recognising the Alpha in your own and other packs.
• Recognising the territorial markings of others.
• Tests of perception of the physical environment.
• Tests of animal instinct or bestial courage.
• Finding prey or other creatures through scent or through tracking techniques.

Beast of the Wilderness

This Lifepath Skill adds the Dragon's Arete in Beast Unbound when calculating Technique for the following types of tasks:

• Knowledge of how to survive in the wild.
• Demonstrating resilience when dealing with environmental hazards, weather, disease, hunger or thirst
• Predicting the weather, assessing the lay of the land.
• Recognising things within nature (edibility of animals, movement of herds, plants, etc.)
• Knowledge of wild lands around the dragon's territory, for example knowing where fresh water is, etc.

Heart of the Wolfpack

This Lifepath Skill adds the Dragon's Arete in Beast Unbound when calculating Technique for the following types of tasks:

• Defending your packmates against physical attack.
• Bolstering the morale of your packmates.
• Tests of perception or empathy when dealing with your packmates.
• Subtly influencing yout packmates.
• Showing courage or determination to support your pack.
• Demonstrating loyalty to your pack.

Powers

Physical Conditioning

With time spent living the life of a Beast Unbound the Dragon naturally grows hardier, physically conditioned by the harsh realities of wilderness existence. Some dragons even begin to physically change, becoming more animalistic in appearance and growing in bulk and power.

• Arete 1+: Conditioned Muscles

The Dragon permanently adds +5 to his Soma sphere.

• Arete 21+: The Wicked Edge

The claws and teeth of the Beast Unbound become serrated and considerably tougher and more vicious than those of their contemporaries. In physical conflict, the Beast Unbound gain a +5 effect modifier to Finisher attacks made with their bare claws and teeth. Note that this is cumulative with the Hunter Dragons' Mark of the Predator birthright.

• Arete 31+: Hardened Scales

The scale-plates of the Dragon thicken, making him a lot tougher. This gives a -10 debuff to Effect for physical Finisher moves against this Dragon in approproate circumstances.

• Arete 41+: Power of the Beast

The Dragon permanently adds a further +5 to his Soma sphere.

Suspires

This Lifepath does not have any special Suspires associated with it.

Techniques

This Lifepath does not have any special Techniques associated with it.