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The Beasts Of Transcendant Virtues

In the late days of the Shogunate, a Lunar elder that was looking forwards to the future embarked on a new, strange plan, one designed to help societies evolve and expand using proxies, rather than his own nature. His goal was to create four races of noble creatures, whose mere presence would inspire mortals to greatness. By living near these beings, human societies would expand and becoming greater, and thus become pure.

The experiment was not entirely successful, however. While the beasts could easily and successfully inspire their own Virtues, they did so at the cost of two others. Each of the races, therefore, wound up actually becoming more dangerous to people, as they tilted societies that encountered them signficiantly away from a balanced existance. The Lunar, uncertain of how to solve the problem, dithered on it, until his efforts were abruptly and unceremoniously ended by the Balorian Crusade, which he died in battle against. Left to their own devices, the four breeds escaped into the wild, forming their own retreats scattered across the East. Two of them have since perished, leaving only two of the four breeds intact.

The Bears Of Charity

The first of the two breeds are the Bears of Charity, who have made their homes in the Northeast. In form, they appear to be bears of a variety of unusual shades, with individual colours usually denoting family lines. Small for their species, they have soulful faces and stunted claws. Those who look closely can see the tattoo patterns that are faintly formed across their bodies, but anyone who gets that close is likely already snared. The Bears live an idyllic existance, served by a host of cheerful and friendly beings. When invaders threaten, they turn their powers against them, ideally enslaving them through a devastating gaze attack.

Bears of Charity are sentient, but only slightly. Their intellect is not unlike a human child's.

Statistics

Strength 6, Dexterity 3, Stamina 5, Charisma 4, Manipulation 1, Appearance 4, Perception 3, Intelligence 1, Wits 2

Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Dodge 2, Martial Arts 1, Performance 4, Presence 4 (Gaze Attack +3), Resistance 4, Survival 2

Compassion 5, Conviction 3, Temperance 1, Valor 1

Willpower 7, Essence 3, Essence Pool 30, PDV 2, DDV 4, Soak 7B/4L (Thick Fur 2B/2L)

Health Levels: OK x2, -1 x3, -2 x3, -4, Incapacitated, Dying x5

Supernatural Effects:

Aura of Kindness: Those who come near a Bear of Charity find their wills instantly begin to change. Anyone who approaches within 10 yards of a Bear, and who has an MDV lower than the Bear's Essence + Presence (7), has their Compassion temporarily increased by one. If their Compassion is already at 5, they instead may not fail Compassion checks or spend Willpower to resist Compassion checks. If multiple Bears are present, each additional bear increases the total radius by 10 yards, and increases the effective Essence + Presence of the aura by 1. Typically, the Bears of Charity travel in groups of five to ten at all times.

Gaze of Pity: As a Speed 5, DV -1 Simple action, a Bear of Charity may spend 10 motes and charge the full power of their aura as a mental attack against any target who they can see. This causes the baer to roll Charisma + Presence + Essence (14 dice) against the target's MDV. If they succeed, the target's Valor and Temperance drop to 1, and her Compassion increases to 5. Each week, a mortal target can roll Willpower at difficulty 3; if successful, her Compassion drops by 1 pt (down to its original rating) and her Valor or Temperance recover a point (up to their additional rating). Mortals may test until they have failed a total of three times, or botched once. Exalts and other magical creatures have their Compassion reduce by 1 at a rate of 1 per day, and recover one Valor and Temperance each day. The Exalt's player may choose to spend XP or go into XP debt in order to forestall this event, and may recover XP for lost Temperance or Valor instead of losing it (this XP must be spent on increasing Compassion; any extra is lost). An Exalt who has Valor or Temperance as a Great Curse Virtue only has it drop to 3.

If multiple Bears of Charity unleash the Gaze on the same tick, roll only once, adding one automatic success for each additional Bear present.

Finally, it is worth noting that the Bears consider the Gaze and Aura to be beneficial, and do not have to test against Compassion to use them on unsuspecting mortals.

The Steeds Of Prudence

Far to the east, the Steeds of Prudence encourage a lifestyle of quiet contemplation, taking joy in simple pleasures without going out of their way to find more. Those who serve them are encouraged to act in moderation in all things, fighting only to defend their homelands and eschewing strong attachments to others.

Steeds of Prudence are small horses, though they could be ridden by most humans. They, like the Bears, have a variety of family colorings, which are often little connected to the actual colours of horses, and faint tattoo patterns cover their sides. Reclusive and shy, they prefer not to interact with those who are not of the small barbarian clan that takes care of them - a clan thoroughly inured to their ways.

Statistics

Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 6, Charisma 3, Manipulation 1, Appearance 3, Perception 4, Intelligence 1, Wits 2

Athletics 3, Awareness 4 (Gaze Attack +3), Dodge 3, Martial Arts 3, Performance 3, Presence 3, Resistance 4, Survival 3

Compassion 1, Conviction 1, Temperance 5, Valor 3

Willpower 7, Essence 3, Essence Pool 30, PDV 4, DDV 5, Soak 7B/4L (Supernatural Skin 1B/1L)

Health Levels: OK x2, -1 x3, -2 x3, -4, Incapacitated, Dying x5

Supernatural Effects:

Aura of Restraint: Those who come near a Steed of Prudence find their wills instantly begin to change. Anyone who approaches within 10 yards of a Bear, and who has an MDV lower than the Steed's Essence + Awareness (7), has their Temperance temporarily increased by one. If their Temperance is already at 5, they instead may not fail Temperance checks or spend Willpower to resist Temperance checks. If multiple Steeds are present, each additional horse increases the total radius by 10 yards, and increases the effective Essence + Awareness of the aura by 1. Typically, the Steeds of Prudence travel in groups of five to ten at all times.

Gaze of Restraint: As a Speed 5, DV -1 Simple action, a Steed of Prudence may spend 10 motes and charge the full power of their aura as a mental attack against any target who they can see. This causes the baer to roll Perception + Awareness + Essence (14 dice) against the target's MDV. If they succeed, the target's Compassion and Conviction drop to 1, and her Temperance increases to 5. Each week, a mortal target can roll Willpower at difficulty 3; if successful, her Temperance drops by 1 pt (down to its original rating) and her Compassion and Conviction recover a point. Mortals may test until they have failed a total of three times, or botched once. Exalts and other magical creatures have their Temperance reduced at a rate of 1 per day, and recover one Compassion and Conviction each day. The Exalt's player may choose to spend XP or go into XP debt in order to forestall this event, and may recover XP for lost Compassion or Conviction instead of losing it (this XP must be spent on increasing Temperance; any extra is lost). An Exalt who has Compassion or Conviction as a Great Curse Virtue only has it drop to 3.

If multiple Steeds of Prudence unleash the Gaze on the same tick, roll only once, adding one automatic success for each additional Bear present.

Finally, it is worth noting that the Steeds consider the Gaze and Aura to be a proper act, and do not have to test against Temperance to use them on unsuspecting mortals.

Other Beasts

Once, there were two other races - the Lions of Bravery, which increased Valor by their presence, reducing Conviction and Temperance, and the Wolves of Duty, which increased Conviction, lowering Compassion and Valor. Both of these races have long since died, but Storytellers are encouraged to design exact statistics themselves.

Comments

I don't know what your original inspiration was, Friv, but the first things that popped into my mind were the Care Bears and the Care Bear Cousins.- Ambisinister

Care Bears and My Little Ponies, actually. The idea popped into my head and refused to leave until set down. Very sad. (The Lion thing was very loosely care bear cousins, so that works. Wolves I just threw in because I needed a fourth animal). - FrivYeti