Beast's Appreciation Thread

[Cinder]

I'd like to hear more about him..

Well, if that's the case, for starters there's this thread, which is basically a story where he's an important character. I use their Brood and the setting I created around them both as testing ground for ideas and as a setting for CoD fiction. That story is the first one, more are planned. Then again, I should probably write them as Ready-Made Characters and share them. More practical and fair, gonna do that too.

[ArchonAres]

I've been running a particularly crossover heavy Beast for a few months now PbP. The things all my players love seem to be (in no particular order): Building a Horror, Building your Lair, and the Crossover shenanigans.

I particularly enjoy the Crossover shenanigans myself.

[21C Hermit]

Surely I must not be the only one to love Beast in both of its incarnations, both pre-revision and revised?

Oh, and...

I've occasionally thought about making a minor splat that's a human with a Chamber as a soul rather than a Horror

Pray, tell us more

[SunlessNick]

Cinder: As the one who wrote around here about that 'History teacher who is really a serpent of ruin in a desert of broken civilizations', I'm glad that idea had an effect on you. It's my best Beast character, means a lot you appreciated him.

I'd like to hear more about him.

[b]Yossarian:[b] I think Lair is the coolest power stat in any CofD (or WoD) game ever. And I like that you play the *villain*, and the conflict of what your character does with that.

I love Lairs, and that they're part of the character's spiritual makeup - having a world in your heart is at least as evocative as the monster itself. (I've occasionally thought about making a minor splat that's a human with a Chamber as a soul rather than a Horror). I love for that for all its outre protagonists and families of monsters, the game lends itself just as well to a life within the mortal sphere - that most of the behaviours that feed the Hunger are ordinary human actions makes it a vehicle for exploring how threads of hunger, evil, and abuse can lace into everyday life. And yet I love the outre at the same time, and the whole feel of the Primordial Dream. I love the heartbreaking nature of Heroes - that they should be something glorious, but time, noise, nature, and story have conspired to make twisted what should be admirable. (Though if I put Melanie in a scenario, I confess it would be with the opportunity to get her out of her predicament). And same as Cinder said, it resonates with my mental health issues.

[Dusksage]

Well, in that case I'll definitely make one. Thank you all for the support.

The Chronicle in question was a subversion of the classic camp horror story, and it went down as probably my finest hour as a ST. I'll get to work on the Actual Play tonight.

[Cinder]

I'd sure appreciate it. Actual Plays are indeed always good

Edit: While we're at it, I made a complete Brood around that History teacher, essentially my Ready-Made characters. Somebody would like to see them?

[Second Chances]

You know, I was actually giving some thought to writing one about the game after postin last on here. Would that be something people would be interested in?

Actual Play posts are always a welcome thing. Especially for the lines that not everyone has run a game in yet.

[ajf115]

You know, I was actually giving some thought to writing one about the game after postin last on here. Would that be something people would be interested in?

I would be, for one. I've been meaning to start a Beast chronicle for a while now, but I'm not really sure where to start.

[Dusksage]

You know, I was actually giving some thought to writing one about the game after postin last on here. Would that be something people would be interested in?

[Teatime]

I love Beast, spend way too much time talking shop about Beast while working the closing shift at my old job with one of my best friends, and had the privilege of having my very first 100% successful Chronicle be a Beast the Primordial game. I love the crossover potential it presents, and how it allows for characters and concepts meant to subvert and dissect core elements of the other gamelines so the players are left asking meaningful questions about the game world and the real world. And above all I love the way Beast, like a true nightmare, reflects the world of darkness and what makes it so fascinating to explore trough roleplay.

That sounds amazing. Have you written an actual play or a game summary that you're willing to share? We don't get enough examples of Beast in play.

[Dusksage]

I love Beast, spend way too much time talking shop about Beast while working the closing shift at my old job with one of my best friends, and had the privilege of having my very first 100% successful Chronicle be a Beast the Primordial game. I love the crossover potential it presents, and how it allows for characters and concepts meant to subvert and dissect core elements of the other gamelines so the players are left asking meaningful questions about the game world and the real world. And above all I love the way Beast, like a true nightmare, reflects the world of darkness and what makes it so fascinating to explore trough roleplay.

[Cinder]

Ok, my boss stopped giving me extra work hours for the week, let's talk.

I'll start with what I like from a general, Storyteller's/myth enthusiast side:

As you can guess, there's a lot of I like about Beast. Starting from the rawest, let's admit Beast's powers are cool. Atavisms are awesome, Nightmares are incredibly versatile. As other said, Lair is probably one of the coolest power stats ever: not only is something that gives you power, but also something deeply tied to your character in a way other power stats just aren't. It offers roleplay hooks, flavor and extras in delightfully horrifying package. Having the option to play a mythical monster is something I never expected to happen, but Beast does so in a a way that's both fulfilling and original. I also belong to the crowd that had no particular problems with the Kickstarter draft and had some issues with the changes, but I think the process improved the final product and showed us more of the great potential we have within our hands. I can't wait both for the Player's Guide, which will explore more the nature of Horror and what means to be a Beast, and the Storyteller's guide, that I expect to tell us something new about Heroes, the Primordial Dream and the Dark Mother. Beast unlocked a completely new side in the CoD's universe and its flavor is something that I shamelessly enjoy.

Now that that's been said, let's get to themes. Family is interesting and ripe with conflict, both from a singular or crossover focused perspective. The choice between embracing your monstrous nature, defying expectations or striving to find balace gives me so many ideas I could not possibly list them. The fact you have the potential to just fight against what the world expect from you while at the same time accepting you're made the way you are is something I find extremely stimulating. The morality that comes with Beast lies completely in the hands of the players and the fact the book makes no excuses about it is refreshing; Beasts are monsters. That's the starting point. We can argue that's correct for all the CoD games, but Beast does it in a way that brings up the fundamental conflict to the surface in a way the other games do not. Beasts can be bad, and the book never shies away from that. But they can also be something else: it's up to them. The choices you make, the way you deal with the Horror, and how you see other monsters is the whole point of Beast. It's not the only one, of course, but I'd argue it's the main one. You're a monster: now deal with it.

There's also the fact that you're not merely a monster. You're the stuff of legends. You're a nightmare that reflects the fears of mankind. A dark mirror that reflects the nature of man. You know the book suggested in the introduction, "On Monsters"? Bought it, read it, it's great. Beast lets you play as a myth, but a myth that has a chance to break the cycle of monomyth., to subvert a pattern as old of the human race. Or embrace it and forge a new legend. How cool is that?


Then, in order to be totally honest, I'll get personal. It kinda is embarassing, but I still feel like doing that. It can explain why I like this game so much. I have a mental condition. It's something that haunts me and causes me many problems, but I can't deny it. It also makes me hurt people. Not in a physical way, don't worry (I'd rather hurt myself), but sometimes it gets the best of me and I can't help it. I'm scared, angry and I say things. People get mad and/or hurt. Lost so many friends because of it, because of anxieties and fears I can't always keep in check. I know how weird and pathetic this might sound, but Beast resonated with me. I do consider myself a monster from time to time (not a dragon, but I think you get my point). I know what it means having to costantly struggle with yourself in order to be a good person and not unleash something bad on others. Hating yourself and your nature too, at times. The conflict that's at the core of Beast is, a way, similar to the one I have with myself. Totally aware the things are different, I'm not delusional, but, then again, it just struck a chord. Saying otherwise would mean to lie. At one point, you just have to accept you're made the way you are and that, if you want to be a certain kind of person (both for yourself, the others and the whole world), you'll have to work hard while also being honest about your nature. It won't be easy, you'll make mistakes and you might eventually give up and fail, but it is still worth trying.

I used Beast as a therapy tool and it helped me in some quite grim moments. All the compliments to the writing, themes and gameplay aside, I don't think I can say more than that in order to show you how much this game means to me.

[Charlaquin]

I still haven't read Beast, but I've seen the hate for it and I always take it with a truckload of salt. They always seem extremely uncharitable, like people are determined not to like it, and that really bothers me. Glad to see a thread like this.

I dragged my feet a bit on the Kickstarter, and before I got around to chipping in, I started hearing about the critiques. They sounded pretty overblown to me. Then I heard there were going to be some changes made to it in response to the critiques, so I decided to hold off until I heard more about what was changing. And everything I heard sounded like a really cool idea that had to be changed for one reason or another. Overall the game still sounded like a cool concept, but the last-minute changes kind of took the wind out of my sales, like Aiden said. So I didn't end up kickstarting it, and by the time it got to PDF I had lost momentum.

I still think Beast sounds like a cool concept. It saddens me to see folks hating on it. Eventually I plan to get the PDF and read through it, and even if I end up not liking it, I think the work and the fans deserve respect.

[Second Chances]

I actually just wrote a blog post about Beast that is meant to highlight some of the neat storytelling plothooks it supplies.

http://dailyplanescape.tumblr.com/po...es-of-darkness

I love how Beasts have the opportunity to interact and ally with both the protagonists and antagonists from other splats. Liars are definitely one of the coolest powerstats ever, and the way Lair blends roleplaying with statistics and worldbuilding. Beast has tons of innovative ideas that have made a welcome addition. I'd also like to add that while the criticism of Beast was a painful process, it demonstrated why I love OPP; they are willing to listen to their fans and make changes to their projects. They show commitment to improving the world, even if their audience is small. That's what Beast reminds me of every time I crack my book's spine. It's worth its weight in gold.

[ajf115]

I have to say that I love many things about Beast, while others get my goat a little, but on the whole I love it far more than I dislike it. The idea of not only being a monster, but an archetypal monster, the kind from legends and stories, not just a thing of flesh, is a fascinating thing for me. it reminds me a lot of one of my favourite anime of all time, Fate/Zero and its Heroic Spirits, except Beasts come from the opposite direction. I love the way that the game makes it so that the only price for being an actual monster is that you, as both a player and a character, feel guilty about it. I will make no pretences at liking morality meters. Sanity meters are nice, but I feel like quantifying the morality of a character just so you can see when you're being nasty takes away from the visceral nature of the thing, putting up a barrier of numbers between the player and their actions. Beast doesn't do that, and I love that fact that if I want, I can play a truly evil character, can feel that catharsis, without being punished for it other than the possibility of being Gorged.

The idea that 'monsters have a place in the world' is a very interesting one, and subverts much of the way that people generally think about such creatures. The way that humans make their own predators is also a rather profound theme, as the good crapcarp pointed out above.

I will admit that Beast is quite special to me, as it was the first of the CoD games which I really engaged with, and thus I may be biased, but I honestly think that its virtues far outweigh its flaws. Heroes are one of those flaws (love the concept, not the execution), but I truly think that Beast as a whole is worth more than many give it credit for.