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10AnimalisticFeatures V1.1
10AnimalisticFeatures V1.1
by Travis Legge
2 10 Animalistic Features
“Your ears you keep and I’ll tell you why. So that every
shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness shall be yours
to cherish—every babe that weeps at your approach, every
woman that cries out ‘Dear God, what is that thing?’ will
echo in your perfect ears.”
- William Goldman, The Princess Bride
Credits: Special Thanks:
Written By: Travis Legge Daniel “Can I have a Marsupial Pouch?”
Developed By: Travis Legge McDorman whose Gangrel, Omar, was the
Edited By: Sarah Scharnweber inspiration for this book.
5
Animalistic
Features
“Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and
kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close!
I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?”
- William Golding, Lord of the Flies
6 10 Animalistic Features
a grayish color, and is clearly not human skin. In
some cases, the hide is covered by a thick layer of fur. Hooves
Whatever the case, it is clear that the vampire with Gangrel who develop this feature find their feet
this feature is anything but human. replaced with animalistic hooves, which sprout from
Gangrel who suffer from this animalistic feature the end of their ankles. These hooves can be cloven
receive a natural Armor Rating of 2, with a Penalty or single, both functioning the same way.
of 0. This stacks with any armor worn by the Kindred. Apart from the inability to wear normal footwear
and the obvious issues with appearance, the hoof
Horns causes no real inconvenience to the Kindred. Having
Gangrel suffering from this unfortunate animalistic hooves makes little difference to the walking speed,
feature develop an obvious set of horns. These horns movement, or mobility of the vampire.
may take any of an array of appearances. Common horns Gangrel who develop this feature deal Strength +2
include deer or moose antlers, ram horns, or goat horns. damage with a kick. If the Kindred knows the Protean
Kindred with this deformity gain a gore attack. In power Wolf Claws, she may spend one Blood Point in
order to attempt to gore an opponent, the vampire must order to cause the damage from her kick to become
roll Dexterity + Brawl (difficulty 7). The gore attack aggravated. Once activated, this causes the hooves to
deals Strength + 3 damage. If the Kindred knows the deal aggravated wounds for the remainder of the scene.
Protean power Wolf Claws, she may spend one Blood
Point in order to cause the damage from her gore attack
to become aggravated. Once activated, this causes the Marsupial Pouch
horns to deal aggravated wounds for the remainder of This animalistic feature is extremely utilitarian,
the scene. if a little bizarre. The Kindred develops a pouch on
If the Kindred uses a gore attack, she suffers a +1 their abdomen, which is of sufficient size to conceal
Difficulty to all Dodge rolls on the following turn due any item that could be concealed in a pocket. This is
to being unbalanced. extremely useful for vampires looking to smuggle things
like a small ancient relic, a DVD with incriminating
evidence, or a pistol.
7
Under most circumstances, this feature will pose no
real issues for the vampire, but pulling a Glock out of Spines
a slit in your stomach is definitely what most Princes Gangrel with this feature develop sharp spines like
would consider a breach of the Masquerade... a porcupine or echidna. These spines make physical
contact with the Gangrel a dangerous proposition, as
merely brushing against the spines can cause injury.
Permanent Claws Anyone making physical contact with the Gangrel
Kindred who develop this animalistic feature grow suffers one level of damage, which may be soaked
long, bestial claws from their fingertips and toenails. normally, as spines rip and tear at the flesh of the poor
These claws are not long enough to negatively sap that touched the Gangrel. This includes even the
affect manual dexterity, but they are annoying most casual social contact.
and inconvenient outside of combat situations. The Gangrel may also use the spines as a weapon,
Furthermore, these are clearly not human nails, and any raking them across a victim’s flesh, dealing Dexterity +1
mortal seeing the claws will likely find them unnatural. damage with such an attack. If the Kindred knows the
Upon developing this feature, the Gangrel has a claw Protean power Wolf Claws, she may spend one Blood
attack, which deals Strength +2 damage. If the Kindred Point in order to cause the damage from these spines
knows the Protean power Wolf Claws, she may spend to become aggravated. Once activated, this causes the
one Blood Point in order to cause the damage from spines to deal aggravated wounds for the remainder
these claws to become aggravated. Once activated, of the scene. These spines cannot be retracted.
this causes the claws to deal aggravated wounds for the
remainder of the scene. These claws cannot be retracted.
Tentacles
Gangrel who develop this feature sprout a number of
Prehensile Feet slimy tentacles from their torso. Most of these tentacles
are vestigial, but a few function, granting the Gangrel
Gangrel who develop prehensile feet are able to grab
+2 dice to any rolls made to initiate or maintain a
and manipulate objects using their feet with dexterity
grapple. These tentacles also reduce the difficulty of
rivaling that of their off-hand. This allows the Kindred
any checks made to swim or maneuver underwater by 1.
to make virtually any Dexterity-based check that they
would make with their hands, instead using their bare This animalistic feature is Masquerade shattering.
feet. Tasks performed in such a fashion suffer a +2 Gangrel who develop it often retreat to the sea, where
difficulty. their inhuman appearance will not place them in
perpetual danger. At the Storyteller’s discretion, these
Prehensile feet fit into normal footwear with very
tentacles may be concealed under a trenchcoat, but
mild discomfort. If a mortal sees the Gangrel using their
Kindred doing so do not benefit from the bonus dice
prehensile feet, they may think it is strange, unique,
to grapple.
unusual, or down right creepy, but they are unlikely
to view it as anything supernatural.
Whiskers
Prehensile Tail Whiskers are long, stiff hairs that grow from the
face, arms, and upper torso of the Kindred. These hairs
This feature manifests as a thin, three-foot-long tail
are tactile and contain extensive nerves allowing the
extended from the lower back. This tail allows the
vampire to perceive additional information about her
Gangrel to manipulate objects and exert force. The
surroundings. Gangrel who sprout whiskers gain an
tail has no fingers, so is useless for fine manipulation,
entirely new set of sensory data which reduces the
but is perfectly capable of lifting and wielding a melee
difficulty of all Perception checks by 1.
weapon. Any rolls involving precision with the tail
(including attacks) suffer a +2 difficulty. Whiskers cannot be concealed short of wearing a
mask, and are considered by most Princes to be a flagrant
Concealing the tail is possible, but painful. The
threat to the Masquerade. Gangrel with whiskers must
tail can be restricted in a simple pair of pants, but
take precautions when concealing them under a mask
doing so imposes a -1 penalty on dice pools due to the
or cloth, as binding the whiskers results in distracting
constant nagging pain in the lower back that results
discomfort (-1 die penalty to all actions).
from squeezing the tail at an unnatural angle. The
tail can easily and comfortably be concealed beneath
a trenchcoat.
8 10 Animalistic Features