Tavern Tales Wikia
Theme.Beast

Survival of the fittest: in the wilderness, this is the one and only law that matters. There are no morals, no civilized values -- only the strong and the dead, the predators and the prey. The wilderness is the ultimate crucible, forging beasts over millions of years into perfect killing machines. Their claws are sharper than swords; their scales are thicker than plat armor. What warriors spend decades training to master, predators already know by instinct. Their advanced adaptations -- gills, wings, and enhanced senses -- ensure that no prey ever escape their constant hunger. You are the product of countless generations, a finely-honed creature crafted by mother nature herself to do one thing: survive. It is now your turn to survive the trial of blood and fang. Will you be the hunter, or the hunted?

  • Given sentience by a druid, an intelligent wolf hunts the human trappers who butchered his pack.
  • A shaman draws power from her spirit animal, an ethereal bear that has protected her bloodline for generations.
  • A naga, a terrifying hybrid of man and serpent, raids coastal fishing villages to secure blood sacrifices for his shark-toothed god.

Combat

Envelop

Theme
Beast
Category
Combat
Effect
You can put a smaller creature inside of you. They can't escape until you're defeated or you let them, and they gain the condition "Crushed" or "Digested" (your choice) while inside of you. However, physical conditions that they inflict on you are much worse than normal
Lore
Describe
Swallowing someone whole, wrapping with tentacles, constricting them with your snake-body
Extra


Fight or Flight

Theme
Beast
Category
Combat
Effect
Collaborate on what constitutes being close to death. When you are close to death, increase all rolls to fight or flee (choose one) until you're safe
Lore
Describe
Acting like a cornered beast, running on instinct, becoming feral, doing whatever it takes
Extra


Fling

Theme
Beast
Category
Combat
Effect
You can fling a creature that's smaller or lighter than you a close distance
Lore
Describe
Knocking them aside with horns, slamming into them, biting them and flinging them into the air
Extra


Gorgon's Gaze

Theme
Beast
Category
Combat
Effect
You can set someone (max 1) under your gaze. While under your gaze, they move half as fast as normal and have the condition "Turning to Stone"
Lore
Describe
Your serpentine eyes, freezing them with your baleful gaze, poisoning their mind and muscles
Extra


Rend

Theme
Beast
Category
Combat
Effect
You can attack someone to give them the condition "Bleeding Out"
Lore
Describe
Going for the jugular, ripping their flesh to shreds, anti-coagulant venom, disemboweling them
Extra


Trample

Theme
Beast
Category
Combat
Effect
You can charge more or less in a straight line, moving through other creature's spaces. Melee attack each creature you move through
Lore
Describe
Crushing them underfoot, bull rushing past them, turning ghostly and ripping through their souls
Extra


Tooth and Nail

Theme
Beast
Category
Combat
Effect
Give your body 5 item traits. These don't affect the cost of future item traits for your body
Lore
Describe
Glossy chitin armor, thick scales, serrated teeth, curved talons, a tail with a barbed stinger
Extra


Exploration

Burrow

Theme
Beast
Category
Exploration
Effect
You can slowly burrow through the earth. If you like, leave behind a 1-space tunnel
Lore
Describe
Digging with heavy claws, slithering through soil like a worm, pushing apart rock with your mass
Extra


Cheetah's Swiftness

Theme
Beast
Category
Exploration
Effect
Collaborate on how you're much faster than normal, and how traveling like this exhausts you
Lore
Describe
Sprinting at top speed, running in leaps and bounds, charging across the open plains
Extra


Enhanced Senses

Theme
Beast
Category
Exploration
Effect
Collaborate on an enhanced natural sense that you have
Lore
Describe
Studying others with slitted cat-eyes, sniffing the air or the ground, your ears perking up suddenly
Extra
Senses: Bat-like echolocation, wolf-like sense of smell, cat-like night vision, rabbit-like sense of hearing


Kaiju

Theme
Beast
Category
Exploration
Effect
Collaborate on how you're bigger or smaller than normal
Lore
Describe
Tiny frame, high-pitched voice, massive size, shaking the earth with each step, booming voice
Extra


Spin Web

Theme
Beast
Category
Exploration
Effect
You can produce sticky or non-sticky web strands that are stronger than steel chains. If sticky, they powerfully stick to everything they touch other than you
Lore
Describe
Spinning a deadly web, dangling strands from the ceiling, platinum strands that glimmer faintly
Extra


Swarm

Theme
Beast
Category
Exploration
Effect
You can disperse into a swarm or reconstitute around one of your component pieces. At the GM's discretion, losing parts of your swarm may harm you
Lore
Describe
Falling apart, vanishing in a cloud of creatures, scattering into holes and cracks, dispersing
Extra
Swarm of: Rats, bats, snakes, ants, bugs, leeches and worms, flies, motes of light, woodland creatures, birds


Wall Climbing

Theme
Beast
Category
Exploration
Effect
You can adhere to any solid surface, including ceilings
Lore
Describe
Holding on with powerful claws, adhering with sticky feet, attaching with webbing or sticky goo
Extra


Interaction

Awaken Beast

Theme
Beast
Category
Interaction
Effect
You can give an animal human-like intelligence and the ability to speak. Collaborate on its personality. Its disposition toward you significantly improves
Lore
Describe
Unlocking its mind, giving it a fragment of your consciousness, accelerating its evolution
Extra


Alpha

Theme
Beast
Category
Interaction
Effect
When you defeat a beast, you can force it to become your minion with the contract "________ will loyally serve you in exchange for indulging its instincts"
Lore
Describe
Holding your teeth to their neck, staring them down, integrating them to your pack, a battle of will
Extra


Beast Master

Theme
Beast
Category
Interaction
Effect
You can communicate with animals
Lore
Describe
Growling and grunting, reading each other's minds, understanding the animal's chittering as words
Extra


Call of the Wild

Theme
Beast
Category
Interaction
Effect
You can cause all animals in the region to follow a basic instinct of your choice
Lore
Describe
Unleashing a primal roar, provoking their instinct, starting a stampede, releasing pheromones
Extra
Instinct: Stampede, gather around a certain location, calm down, flee the area, protect this territory


Gift of the Pack

Theme
Beast
Category
Interaction
Effect
You can give all of your far allies one of your traits (max 1) as a temporary trait as long as they're in your presence
Lore
Describe
Leading your pack, spreading a hive mentality, having monkey see monkey do, moving as one
Extra


Hive Mind

Theme
Beast
Category
Interaction
Effect
Collaborate on which creatures are in your hive mind. Creatures in a hive mind share consciousness; when one learns something, everyone else in the hive learns it as well
Lore
Describe
Sharing your consciousness, ruling as the hive queen/king, forming a primal bond
Extra


Play Possum

Theme
Beast
Category
Interaction
Effect
You can look convincingly dead for as long as you like
Lore
Describe
Going limp, your skin taking on a ghastly hue, exaggerating your wounds, slowing your heartbeat
Extra


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