BurgerSlave/BeastMen

Beastmen Templates

This is a listing of beastmen templates suitable for use in any Exalted campaign. Unless otherwise noted, these beastmen carry no commensurate cost other than their listed point value. All beastmen should be generated using the Half-Caste template in the Exalted Player's Guide. Any of these characters may begin play as Exalts, following the standard rules on pages 85-86 of the Exalted Player's Guide. If a beastman's player begins play with the Merit: Awakened Essence, then he may only become a Lunar Exalt. Beastmen without this Merit may be Chosen by any of the Celestial gods. While a particularly daring and audacious Deathlord might offer the bargain of Abyssal Exaltation to any beastman, the usual rules apply for cross-type Exaltation. For more details, consult the Exalted Player's Guide.

Bearmen

These burly humanoids trace their lineage to the Full Moon Lunar Brunor Frostbeard. While the majority of them live in the Ice Bear tribe's lands, they have spread throughout the North and even into the East over the centuries. Most of them are decended from ice bear stock, but forest-dwelling bearmen in the East have bred with the black bears of that area. The Ice Bear tribe is one of the largest tribes in the North, competing with the Icewalkers and the Haslanti League for influence and prestige. Lately, it has begun to intermarry with the White Stag tribe, and has recently allied itself with the Mammoth Icewalker tribe, joining its warriors with the Bull of the North's forces. Many bearmen in the East are friendly with the Kingdom of Halta, owing to the large number of intelligent animals in the Haltan nation.

The typical bearman stands seven and half feet tall, with thick muscle and a shaggy pelt of white fur. Those of Brunor's lineage breed true, able to breed freely with bears, humans, or their own half-breed kind. Indeed, those bearmen of the Ice Bear tribe live freely and harmoniously with their human tribemates, freely intermarrying and forming families with them. While most bearmen are savage warriors, a number become shamans, particularly those who awaken their Essence.

Bearman Template

Mutation: Large, Sturdy, Thick Skin (as shaggy fur), Claws; Unusual Appearance, Diet (Northern bearmen are strict carnivores; those in the East live on nectar and honey). Those of Brunor's lineage must take Dynasty of Inheritance and Breed True. Due to their mutations, bearmen gain +2 Strength, +1 Stamina, one -0 health level, and one -2 health level, and soak lethal damage with half their Stamina. Many bearman warriors have the Berserker mutation as well. Bearmen of Brunor's Get begin play with Inheritance 2, and have may up to Inheritance 3, representing one of Brunor's many pairings with one of his God-Blooded descendants (Storyteller's option). Most bearmen who awaken their Essence learn Lunar soak-type Charms. Those of Brunor's Get prefer to learn Lunar healing Charms. God-Blooded Ox-Body is also common. It costs 12 bonus points to begin play as one of Brunor's Get, or 8 points to begin play as an Eastern bearman.

Character Concepts: savage warrior, den defender, surrogate mother, medicine woman, wise shaman, raider
Common Natures: Architect, Bravo, Caregiver, Critic, Gallant, Visionary

Foxmen

No-one can be sure where foxmen come from, but one thing is clear--of all the beastmen that inhabit Creation, foxmen are the most daring and cunning of them all. This is a reputation well-deserved, for foxmen inhabit the Blessed Isle itself. However, their affinity for cleverness and deceit is such to the point that they, like the forgotten Lunar that spawned them, are little more than myths and legends. Many are the tales perpetuated by the Immaculate Order about evil fox spirits that come in the night to steal babies out of their cribs while the parents enjoy dinner the next room over. Other stories tell of stolen shadows, thieved memory, and riddles that confound anyone who hears them to the point of madness. Other stories bespeak of wives who have risen in the morning to find a poisoned knife buried in their husbands' throats, with notes attached to the blade's handle listing off a litany of sins and signed with a stylized picture of a nine-tailed fox. This symbol has been adopted as the calling-card for many covert shinobi families operating througout the Realm, adding to the foxman mystique. For their part, the foxmen remain silent and enigmatic as silver shadows.

Foxmen in their natural form are small and quick, rarely taller than six feet tall. On the Blessed Isle, they are known as 'kitsu', or Fox Ghosts. Part of the legends that work against the foxmen is their allergy to salt. It is said that sprinkling blessed salt in a foxman's shadow binds that kitsu to perform three deeds for you. This, of course, is bunk, but the fact remains that all foxmen are horribly allergic to the substance. All foxmen have an alternate form that they may assume, which allows them to pass for human on the Blessed Isle. Many of them gather into large clans in the hinterlands, passing information and stories to each other, which often find their way to the Silver Pact. The kitsu rarely know of their Lunar grand-aunts and granduncles, but revere them as gods in defiance of the Immaculate Philosophy.

Foxman Template

Mutation: Enhanced Smell & Hearing, Fur, Tail, Concealed Form; Unusual Appearance, Allergy (salt). It costs 13 bonus points to play a foxman. Foxmen may only begin with Inheritance at the Storyteller's option. They will most likely be Terrestrial Half-Caste, being the children of a powerful Dynast and a disguised kitsu ('Seduce The Dragon' being a game the foxmen never tire of playing) unless the player has a brilliant backstory to justify some other heritage. Many foxmen awaken their Essence and master a few basic Lunar stealth-type Charms. Some kitsu have even infiltrated the Immaculate Order, and may justify being awakened to Terrestrial martial arts as a result. At the Storyteller's option, the player of a Lunar Exalt may justify one dot in Cult representing worship by a kitsu clan. It should be noted, however, that if a kitsu character is ever discovered, he will gain the Known Anathema Flaw at 3 points without recompense. The Wyld Hunt does not tolerate the presence of evil spirits on the Blessed Isle, and when (not if, when) they capture the character, he can expect a quick and brutal execution. Players of rambunctious kitsu have been warned.

Character concepts: kitsu clan spy, stealthy ninja, common pickpocket, Immaculate infiltrator, Dynastic concubine, patrician gold-brick
Common Natures: Bravo, Conniver, Gallant, Jester, Rebel, Thrillseeker

Catmen

In the deserts of the South, one may encounter the Obsidian City, a place far from the cosmopolitan metropoli found on the coast of the Inner Sea. It is the stronghold of an ancient and wise No Moon Lunar, Bast, and her brood of children, the catmen. The majority of catmen are descended from lion stock, but there are also tiger-men, panther-men, and leopard-men as well. Catmen are cunning, vain, proud, and ruthless. They are also an insular lot, and tend not to be trusting of outsiders. They worship their patron as a goddess of the night and of magic, for Bast does not appear during the day, out of her defiance and contempt for the Unconquered Sun. A number of pyramids have been built in homage to her, which form a large and complex network of Manses. Catmen often take their leave of the Obsidian City, seeking adventure and glory that they may offer in praise of their goddess. It is known that the catmen venerate the dead, and view the Abyssal Exalted as blasphemy against the sacred order of life and death.

Catmen are no larger than men, and are lithe and quick. They tend to be quite sensuous, and are fastidious bathers. Lion-men form the majority of the catman race, with males sporting thick, luxurious manes. Tigermen are also common, with distinctive red-and-black striping. Panther-men are often thought to be touched by Bast herself, and form the priesthood of the Obsidian City. Leopard-men are the rarest of the catmen, and are among the stealthiest and most cunning warriors. Catmen are quite vain, and enjoy adorning themselves with silver jewelry and trinkets. They tend to be very mercurial, their moods and opinions shifting and quicksilver. They enjoy riddles, and like coming off as more mysterious than they really are. While 'civilized' men may consider the catmen to be barbarians, catmen are actually quite civil and cultured. The opinions of lesser beings do not matter to them.

Catman Template

Mutation: Claws, Fur, Tail; Unusual Appearance. It costs 7 bonus points to begin play as a catman. Note that a catman's mutations allow him to do lethal damage with unarmed attacks; he also gains +1 to his lethal and bashing soaks, +1 Survival dice, and +2 Athletics dice. Lion-men and tiger-men tend to be the warriors and leaders of the catmen, while leopard-men are stealthy and ruthless assassins. Panther-men often awaken their Essence and study thaumaturgy. Catmen have a natural affinity for the arts of summoning, warding, and banishment. Due to their reverence for the dead, it is not uncommon for some catmen to be Ghost-Blooded. These rare beings are considered blessed, and act as intercessionists between the catmen and their departed ancestors. Others are Exalted by Luna. Bast does not reproduce often anymore, but her Half-Caste children tend to learn Lunar spirit-type and stealth-type Charms. God-Blooded Ox-Body is also common.

Character concepts: relic hunter, pride leader, pyramid architect, ghost-tamer, autocratic ruler, Lunar cultist
Common Natures: Architect, Bravo, Conniver, Gallant, Hedonist, Thrillseeker

Commentary?

Do you have to take Dynasty of Inheritance and Breed True? Breed True is just a better Merit that's only available to Beastman Moon-Born. - Malikai

It says you do, but I think that's crap, really. I love your Foxmen, Burger. - Telgar

I didn't even notice that....I really need to learn how to friggen read, I guess I need to fix the write up I did for Crinorak. I love both these templates too!- Malikai

Aww. *^_^* I'm glad you like 'em. No, bearmen don't have to take Breed True, unless they're of Brunor's Get. Which is mostly applicable only to my own campaign. 'Average' bearmen only pay 8 points to begin play. --BurgerSlave