Kinship Horrors

[Gellydog]

Hello there! Inspired by some discussion from a few weeks ago, I thought it would be fun to come up with a series of Horrors based around the idea of Kinship with a particular monster from the CofD. Beast is often talked about as "the crossover splat," but that's often done in a... sort-of side-by-side way. Where each splat exists in its own bubble, alongside the other splats, and the Beasts kind of bounce around between them.

But what if we took it further? Rather than creating a generalized Beast and then having them encounter other creatures of the dark, what if we started from the idea that they were intimately connected to whatever supernatural terror they were going to be involved in? Horrors spring from the Primordial Dream, and the Dream is shaped by the fears of the people living in a particular area. So one type of monster is prominent in the region, it stands to reason that the local Horrors, and local Beasts, would be a reflection of that fear.

So the idea here is to come up with some Horrors that might spring forth from that situation. I'll start off with vampire-themed ones, since I'm most familiar with VtR. These deliberately won't talk much about the human half of the Beast; the idea is that you could "slot" them in to a character as needed. And please, if you feel inspired, let us know about your ideas for Kinship Horrors!

(I have to go to work soon, so I'll just start off with this one, but I wanted to finally get things rolling)

Anakim

Anakim is an interesting challenge for a vampire-themed Beast, since the Kindred tend to be far more subtle than your typical Giant. But I think there's a real opportunity to highlight something that tends to get glossed over when it comes to vampires: they're walking corpses. Oh, sure, we talk about things like having no pulse or being cold to the touch, but what it really means is that their bodies can be pushed far beyond that which would irreparably damage a living being. How many horror movies feature scenes of the villain being repeatedly shot, only to shrug it off and keep going? Or get buried underground for 10 years, only to emerge ready to continue their reign of terror? That's the horror of an undead being. That's the Revenant.

The Revenant

• Family: Anakim
• Horror: Undead Hulk - The Revenant is a massive mountain of cold, dead flesh. Tattered clothes hang from its grey and half-rotted form, and it is covered in scars and mementos from the many attempts (and failures) to put it in the ground for good. (think: bullet holes, arrows still sticking from its flesh, maybe chains wrapped around its arms that were snapped when it broke free)
• Hunger: Transgression - The Revenant seeks to push others beyond their limits, and then delights in the damage they cause to themselves. Think of the personal trainer who encourages his clients to lift a little more, run a little further, and then watches them stumble. Or the daredevil stunt junkie who feigns concern when people are hurt trying to replicate her accomplishments, but secretly is smiling. The feeding has two requirements: The victim attempts something they know is physically beyond them, and they fail.
• Atavisms: Cyclopean Strength, Looming Presence, Unbreakable, Terror's Friend
• Nightmares: Run Away, Everything You Do Is Worthless
• Lair: The Revenant's Lair is, fittingly, a graveyard full of the remains of those it has trampled in the dust. Shattered tombs and disturbed graves litter the fog-shrouded landscape, and there's plenty of rubble and gnarled trees for the Revenant to hurl at intruders. Traits: Fog, Jagged, Disruption

[Master Aquatosic]

What is Terror's Friend? I can't seem to find it anywhere

[ArcaneArts]

What is Terror's Friend? I can't seem to find it anywhere

Beast's Player's Guide, Chapter 3. It's one of the two new Anakim Atavisms, and it's pretty dope.

[Master Aquatosic]

Beast's Player's Guide, Chapter 3. It's one of the two new Anakim Atavisms, and it's pretty dope.

It is pretty darn cool and appropriate for this Beast, but I can't help but feel like it seems more like a Nightmare-style effect

[ArcaneArts]

It is pretty darn cool and appropriate for this Beast, but I can't help but feel like it seems more like a Nightmare-style effect

Admittedly.

[Daigotsu Max]

Subscribing and I might provide some Promethean and Werewolf-based Horrors

[Deinos]

Its not really canon (as far as I can tell) but I definitely like the idea of other supernatural creatures often, indirectly, spawning horrors in their image. I don't think horrors are spawned anything like chambers are, but I definitely like the idea anyway. Maybe every apex, at a minimum, winds up with their own goetic analog, a funhouse mirror version of themselves.

[SunlessNick]

I could see this approach working with phenomena as well as creatures. Like the famous Swimming Hole might produce a Makara Horror with a Hunger for Secrets - pulling you ever deeper into its orbit, drawing out your hidden hatreds and desires about the others in your community, and either exposing them or taunting you over them. And probably with an interesting relationship with the Beast who's guarding the actual Hole per the core book.

(ETA: I'll add a bit more detail when I'm not a the library )

[Gellydog]

Sorry for the delay! I got through work last night as was tiiiiired. Thank you for your responses so far. Here are some more vampire-themed Horrors!

Ugallu

There has to be a giant bat Horror, right? So let's get it out of the way with the traditional "big flyer" Family, the Raptors. One challenge I had here was keeping from overlapping the Eshmaki themes. Ugallu are Nightmares of Exposure, but "wide open spaces and bight lights" are about as un-vampire as you can get. And the dark is the realm of the Nightmares of Darkness... So I tried to go in a slightly different direction, while still keeping to both the Raptor ideal and the themes of the Kindred. Instead of sight, we focus on the bat's best sense- sound. And instead of a vast field or lofty mountain, this Horror lairs in a bottomless borehole mine. When I think of "exposure" and "vampires," I think what comes to mind is the idea that you don't see them, but they see you. They know all your secrets, and so does... the Deep Caller.

The Deep Caller

• Family: Ugallu
• Horror: Monstrous Bat - The Deep Caller takes the form of an immense black bat, twisted and feral. Its leathery wings are tattered and torn, but no less effective. It's milky-white eyes stare in odd directions, and its large ears are constantly flitting about, searching for the tell-tale sounds of potential prey.
• Hunger: Punishment - Secrets are meant to be kept. The Deep Caller hungers to punish those who tell secrets, whether large or small. The corporate underling who sells information to a competitor; the "best friend" who is entrusted with knowledge of her neighbor's abortion, and betrays that trust; the government official who leaks word of a senator's affair to the press. All are targets for this Horror. The nature of the secret doesn't matter; only the revelation. (I see this Hunger almost as an embodiment of the Masquerade - tell our secret, and there will be consequences)
• Atavisms: Eye of Heaven, Wings of the Raptor, Siren's Treacherous Song, Lightning Strike
• Nightmares: Fear is Contagious, Flying and Falling, The Walls Have Eyes
• Lair: The Deep Caller makes its Lair in a deep, sheer pit mine. It is a bottomless hold, bored through the rock, heading straight down into the earth. Spiraling down the walls are precarious walkways and scaffolding, giving visitors a place to walk...if they dare. Occasional side-tunnels appear in rock, which are Burrows leading to other Chambers.Traits: Echoing, Unstable, Bottomless

Eshmaki

Speaking of the Lurkers... Vampires are urban predators. Our modern conception of them almost always places them in cities - where prey is plentiful, cover is everywhere and the nightlife is always pumping. Eshmaki are a great fit to hammer home that theme, since "Nightmares of Darkness" gives us a lot of leeway. The city lights may be bright, but they cast deep shadows... To start with, I wanted to connect vampires with other urban predators and the idea of feral, dangerous creatures lurking in the familiar. This Horror is all about danger lurking just out of sight, around the corner. Of taking a wrong turn, of walking down a strange alley, and coming face-to-face with... the Dogs of Dis.

The Dogs of Dis

• Family: Eshmaki
• Horror: Shadowy Dog Pack - The Dogs of Dis is a collective Horror, one being in many bodies. It takes the form of a feral dog pack of indeterminate breeds that seem to be formed out of living shadows. They are pitch-black, except for their glowing orange-red eyes and frighteningly white teeth. The pack moves and hunts as one; separating one out (if it's even possible) would simply cause it to dissolve and be replaced.
• Hunger: Ruin - You think you're safe, here in your concrete jungle? The Dogs of Dis represents what was thought to be domesticated and humanized returning to a wild and dangerous state. As such, the Dogs crave the destruction of that sense of safety, the illusion of control that most humans have. "We are separate from nature." "We have mastered the world, and moved beyond it." Those are the sentiments that the Dogs seeks to pierce. That may take the form of "random" muggings, teaching residents of a neighborhood that they're still part of a food chain. Or it may be about protecting and growing the populations of vermin and feral species, letting them spill out into the streets and showing the humans that, even in their paved and manicured realities, they're still subject to competition.
• Atavisms: From The Shadows, Limb From Limb, Needs Must, Death Of The Light
• Nightmares: They Are All Around You, You Cannot Run, You Are Not Alone
• Lair: The Dogs of Dis makes its Lair in an abandoned, decaying, half-finished construction site in the heart of a great city. It is dark, with rubble and debris everywhere. In addition to the Horror itself, there are many smaller animals nesting in the Lair - great rats, feral cats and crows. These pests stand ready to swarm intruders, or to quickly block off exits or even weaken the floor beneath an enemy's feet...Traits: Maze, Poor Light, Minions, Decayed

Its not really canon (as far as I can tell) but I definitely like the idea of other supernatural creatures often, indirectly, spawning horrors in their image. I don't think horrors are spawned anything like chambers are, but I definitely like the idea anyway. Maybe every apex, at a minimum, winds up with their own goetic analog, a funhouse mirror version of themselves.

I really like this idea! You could create some really interesting and unique supernatural ecosystems this way. Like, if a particularly powerful and successful Uratha has been the Apex of an area for long enough, more and more of the new Beasts in that region start to reflect werewolf-y Horrors.

I could see this approach working with phenomena as well as creatures. Like the famous Swimming Hole might produce a Makara Horror with a Hunger for Secrets - pulling you ever deeper into its orbit, drawing out your hidden hatreds and desires about the others in your community, and either exposing them or taunting you over them. And probably with an interesting relationship with the Beast who's guarding the actual Hole per the core book.

That's really cool! I hadn't thought about the idea that certain locations in the real world could attract Horrors in the Primordial Dream. You could create some really interesting and localized Beasts around stuff like that. Like, the old prison has a reputation of being haunted. Maybe there's a tour that lets people sleep in the cells there, and of course a lot of people have nightmares. So the nightmares affect the Primordial Dream there, attracting Horrors that might Devour some of the dreamers... (a Chronicle where a group of teens spends the night there on a dare, and wake up as Beasts!?)

[Nyrufa]

Anakim is an interesting challenge for a vampire-themed Beast, since the Kindred tend to be far more subtle than your typical Giant.

Over in the character idea thread, I posted an Anakim Tyrant who had established themselves as mayor. They were a giant in the sense of casting a 'long shadow' over the city they controlled.

[Vent0]

So what about "Vampire as Lord of the castle"? Tyrant or Collector, obviously, but Family? Namtaru, for creepiness? Inguma, for the "strange customs"? Or Talassii, for the threat of being kept a prisoner/blood-bank?

[Gellydog]

So what about "Vampire as Lord of the castle"? Tyrant or Collector, obviously, but Family? Namtaru, for creepiness? Inguma, for the "strange customs"? Or Talassii, for the threat of being kept a prisoner/blood-bank?

Good ideas! I'd actually, uh, forgotten about that theme of vampires. This actually helps complete an idea I had already, too, for one of the remaining Families. I'm at work and can't take the time for full write-ups right now, but here's the quick versions if anyone's interested or want to jump ahead:

• A Talassii Collector themed around the idea "Vampires are Sexy but Dangerous." They'd be some sort of half-human, half-serpent monster that lures people in with their beauty and then keeps them essentially as pets.
• A Makara Tyrant themed around the concepts of "Vampires are Eternal" and "Vampires are Rulers." (thanks for that one, Vent0!) I like the idea of the Leviathan tapping into the "Abyss of Time" to fulfill its Nightmares of the Depths. That is, the endless nature of it is frightening; a mortal tyrant will age and die - this king rules forever. Think "Skeleton King."
• A Namtaru Whisper themed on "Vampires are Gross." A giant leech/mosquito thing that sucks out your secrets like blood. (and also your blood)
• An Inguma Predator themed on "Vampire Walk Among Us." Still working on this one...

[SunlessNick]

A Talassii Collector themed around the idea "Vampires are Sexy but Dangerous." They'd be some sort of half-human, half-serpent monster that lures people in with their beauty and then keeps them essentially as pets.

Hoard depends on having it so someone else doesn't. So a Collector of people has to be feeding on the resentment of those the people are taken from - which means parading around with your entourage, who hang onto your every gesture even as everyone else wonders why the hell they put up the scraps of attention you pay. Or perhaps, the people who wish they were in your entourage instead.

And making it Talassi puts an interesting spin on captivity, since Hoard demands the captives be out in the open with you. What do you hold them with? Allure? Dependence? Drugs? Reward?

[Vent0]

One could also easily go Inguma Enticer for certain *cough*Carmilla*cough* reasons.

[Wormwood]

Makara could be a "Depth of the Night" themed Vampire. How about one that actually participates in the All Night Society?
As a Whisper, Vox Noctem is part of the Cacaphony, and can read the city like no other. What makes them so powerful in Kindred society is the fact they seem to always know everything about you - and if they don't, they will coerce it out of you. Many Kindred lost face when confronted by them, reduced to trembling or even frenzy with nary a whispered word. Killing them, however, is not done - just think of the POWER it would give you if you could make them share the secrets they gathered...
Vox Noctem has a secret themselves, though - they are not Kindred.

Nightmares: You must obey, We know all your secrets, You deserve this
Atavisms: Siren's Treacherous Song, Eye of Heaven, Alien Allure, Enemy Within
Horror: Lamprey-style Vampire, e.g.

or

Lair Traits: Darkness, Maze, Currents, Freezing Cold