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[Cinder]

Ok, sorry it took a little, bu this reply needed something more practical than a phone to get written.

The similarities between several aspects of Beast and Vampire are there for sure. In fact, I think that the a Kindred and a Begotten have the best chances of "getting" the struggles of the other. A flawed understanding perhaps, but easily the least difficult among all the crossover options. Consequently, it's also easy for Vampires and Beast to support and motivate each other (which can be a good or a bad thing, obviously). The story told in the chapter fictions of the...

[Cinder]

I took a day off from everything and went to visit the Acquarium of Genoa and the Galata Museum of the Sea. It's something I do from time to time, especially when I need to relax and chill for a while. Living in a sea town not far from Genoa and with both sides of my family having connections to it, I grew up loving the ocean and that's a big reason why I consider both of the Acquarium and the Museum two "happy places" of mine.

As it always happens when I go there, today was a good day.

[Cinder]

Gotcha. Well, nothing wrong with that and it's not an issue to make it work. There was a creature back in Pangea that made war against Helios and Luna and then ripped her heart out in pain and changed herself, becoming the Obsidian Butterfly. The exact nature of that creature before that is not clear, so we can make it Bat without any problems (and since she threw what made her "Bat" into the depths of the Earth, it makes sense for the Bat Host to spawn from there).

Might be even better than having her and Bat being two separate beings, now that I think about it....

[Cinder]

Oh, don't worry about that. That was ages ago, before plenty of new Werewolf material and lots of discussions about Pangeans, Hosts in 2nd Edition and such (not to mention I lurked and disappeared quite a bit back then). I tried to salvage the connection between my idigam and my Host as it was made back in 1st Edition, but nowadays I'd rather have Bat giving birth to the Bat Host (which I'm still fond of, don't get me wrong) and have the Obsidian Butterfly as an idigam unrelated to them. I like her too, but to keep that relationship between idigam and the Bats causes problem to both and keeps...

[Cinder]

Agreed, that's what makes these CoD translations fun after all. So many options!

Likewise, Mr. King is a firm believer in the doctrine of not explaining too much about your monsters and keeping some things unknown, so that also gives us plenty of freedom.

Not saying that Tessie is wrong, of course: there are absolutely some remarkable parallels between IT and some Beast mechanics and themes, if one decides to pick that route....

[Cinder]

Oh yes. The movie is focused on the kids and alters/updates/changes several things. I think it's a good movie and a cool adaptation: there are elements of the book that don't work well in a movie, some more controversial than others (one above all, which I admit I'm not a fan of either. Those who read the book will guess it easily), and while I'm not ok with all the changes, I think it still delivers.

Still, in the movie you don't get to see the size of the threat that IT really is, nor get a chance to understand how far its influence spreads and what its true nature is. They said...

[Cinder]

It seems the forum bug where I can't edit my OP has struck again, so please forgive the errors and editing mistakes that are there for sure

EDIT: Ugh, I can see them but can't correct them no matter how many times I try. It hurts!

The most glaring is that IT should have the Discorporate Manifestation, which I forgot to add to the section

[Cinder]

I had a couple of free hours, wanted to write something easy and have some fun. This is the result. I had this in my system since some months before the most recent IT movie: I had to get it out eventually.

It's nothing special, both in writing and mechanics, and it's obviously not original, but sometimes a fan needs to do this kind of stuff too. I said this before, but with Stephen King being my go-to source of CoD inspiration along with Hellboy, this pretty much is a natural consequence of things for me

I'm satisfied with the results, feel like making Pennywise an idigam...

[Cinder]

Nothing major here, I prefer to keep my mouth shut when preparing games since I have the tendency to spoil things and I still have lots of work to do in that sense, but there's been some talk of a trip to Florence with some friends next month. It's been a while, it's not that far but not around the corner either.

If that happens, expect some reference picture for us to use

[Cinder]

No, they're general and in fact I was indeed thinking about a "social" perk for the Inguma, but my mind failed me there. Thanks for the good suggestions there, I think those are exactly in the direction of what I was looking for about the Inguma...

[Cinder]

I'm trying to come up with a list of immunities/perks that are thematically related to each Family and I'm in one of those moments were I could use opinions that are not mine and just have some conversation in general.

So feel free to expand or fill the empty spaces in the following list:

Anakim: not damaged by debris or rubble, immune to the conditions of the ground such as sand, mud or earthquakes
Eshmaki: can see perfectly even in total darkness, smoke and predators won't attack it unless provoked
Namtaru: immune to poison and diseases, can find nourishment...

[Cinder]

I don't like where my country is right now, what its leaders are doing nor especially the current atmosphere and where it might lead. The more I look at the evidence and signs around me, the more I hate it.

[Cinder]

Hey there, welcome to the forums!

[Cinder]

It's really late around here and I'm gonna pay the price tomorrow at work, but there was "A Straight Story" on TV and I tried to find and watch that movies for ages. Finally.

I don't have many words to spend about it but it was beautiful. Just beautiful.

[Cinder]

Don't worry, if I have spare time, I usually don't mind answering. I mean, one of the reasons I write these is to encourage discussion and if someone cares enough about my opinion to ask, the least I can do is to give it.

Fact is, we're discussing this from the perspective of someone that has access to the books while knowing more about the nature of monsters than average characters in-setting and that the attitudes among supernatural varies wildly. To talk about is tough because it's hard to not fall into generalizations (or at least, I personally find it tough). While we can compare...

[Cinder]

Thank you very much.

You mean relationship with those supernatural that were "thrown into it" more than others?

I imagine lots of it would depend on the attitude of the Begotten and supernaturals involved, but generally I find the section about the various gamelines in the Storytelling chapter to be on point and think it provides excellent guidelines to handle the crossover relationship.

Just to add some comments to that:

With vampires, I think the attitude all parts involved have towards their humanity is an important factor. On one...

[Cinder]

Thanks! I do try my best. The "casual chat between friends" tone I use in the essay series can be a hit-or-miss, so I'm glad this turned out well....

[Cinder]

Feel you here. I believed in the E3 about this for a second, but was not much surprised nothing happened...

[Cinder]

We're all simple people who love simple, cool things ...

[Cinder]

Wrapping it up

Core themes or not, Identity and Family aren’t the only weapons in Beast’s arsenal. There’s plenty more to explore: Hunger, Lessons, daily life as a monster, myths, dreams, ambition and several others. The moral side and weight that being a Beast implies. Also all kinds of aesthetics that mix with those of other gamelines and local flavors. Some I talked about in other essays, others I might discuss in the future.

But hey, core themes are core themes: it’s from their coordinates that you move around, explore, experiment and subvert. Believe it...