The Bygone Bestiary is a sourcebook that details the reality of mythological creatures and their role in the World of Darkness throughout history.
Summary[]
From the White Wolf catalog:
- Here Be Dragons!
- In the modern world, the walking legends known as Bygones are considered mythology. To those who stand beside them, however, such beasts are very, very real
- ...And Unicorns and Gryphons and Other, Darker Things.
- See the world through the eyes of a beast in this crossover book of mythological creatures.
An essential tome for dark fantasy games, The Bygone Bestiary includes:- Descriptions, folklore, roleplaying hints and systems for dozens of creatures, both magical and mundane.
- Character creation rules, new Traits, and Storyteller suggestions.
- Suitable for Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade, Mage: The Ascension, Changeling: The Dreaming, and Vampire: The Dark Ages.
Chapters[]
Prelude: Death Dance[]
A girl has an encounter with mythological creatures that changes her life. By Sian Kingstone.
Introduction[]
Suggestions for putting mythological beasties into campaigns in both the modern World of Darkness and the Dark Ages.
Chapter One: The Greater Beasts[]
Details on the cockatrice/basilisk, the dragon and its many varieties such as the drake and wyvern, the feng-huang (Chinese phoenix), the ghul, the gryphon, the harpy, the hippocampus and kelpie, the hippogryph, the homunculus, the manticore, the pegasus, the peryton, the phoboros, the roc, the seabishop, the sea serpent, the shadhavar, the simurgh, the umkovu, the unicorn, the vodayany, and the wilde beast.
- Cockatrice
- Dragon (Drake, Wyrm, Wyvern, Lindworm, Amphiptere, Sphinx/Dragon-Cat, Fu Guardian)
- Feng-Huang
- Ghul (Ghilan)
- Gryphon
- Harpy
- Hippocampus and Kelpie
- Hippogryph
- Homunculi
- Manticore
- Pegasus
- Peryton
- Phoboros
- Roc
- Sea Bishop
- Sea Serpent
- Shadhavar
- Simurgh
- Umkovu
- Unicorn
- Vodayany
- Wilde Beast
Chapter Two: The Lesser Beasts[]
Information on less powerful, more common animals, how they have played into mythology and stories from around the world, and how they can be incorporated into a game.
- Alligator/Crocodile
- Ape/Monkey
- Bat
- Bear
- Boars and Swine
- Cat
- Cow/Bull
- Crow/Raven
- Deer/Stag
- Dog
- Dolphin
- Fox
- Frog/Toad
- Goat
- Goose/Swan
- Horse
- Lion
- Owl
- Raptor (Eagle, Falcon, Hawk)
- Sheep/Ram
- Snake
- Tiger
- Wolf
Chapter Three: The Beast Comes Alive[]
How to create your own beast to play as a character.
- Traits
- New Talents
- Awareness
- Empathy
- Flying
- New Skills
- Elusion
- Foraging
- Hiding
- Wild Hunting
- New Knowledges
- Animal Speech
- Beast Lore
- Backgrounds
- Allies
- Treasure
- Years
- Merits and Flaws
- Cast-Iron Stomach (1 PT Merit)
- Loyalty (1 PT Merit)
- Acute Senses (1/3 PT Merit)
- Fearlessness (1/3 PT Merit)
- Homing Instinct (2/4 PT Merit)
- Perfect Balance (3 PT Merit)
- Soothing Voice (3 PT Merit)
- Offensive to Animals (1 PT Flaw)
- Shy (1 PT Flaw)
- Speech Impediment (1 PT Flaw)
- Alien Appearance (1-5 PT Flaw)
- Bizarre Hunger (2-5 PT Flaw)
- Compulsion (2-4 PT Flaw)
- Vulnerability (2-5 PT Flaw)
- Mute (3 PT Flaw)
- Weak Spot (3 PT Flaw)
- No Dexterous Limbs (4 PT Flaw)
- Thaumivore (5 PT Flaw)
- Special Advantages
- Acute Smell (2-3 PTS)
- Armor (1-4 PTS)
- Bond-Sharing (4-6 PTS)
- Chameleon Coloration/Shadow-Walking (4/6/8 PTS)
- Claws, Fangs or Horns (3/5/7 PTS)
- Deadly Demise (3 PTS)
- Elemental Touch (3/5/7/10/15 PTS)
- Enhancement (Variable)
- Extra Heads (3 PTS per head)
- Extra Limbs (3 PTS per limb)
- Extra Speed (Variable)
- Feast of Nettles (2-6 PTS)
- Flexible (2 PTS)
- Hazardous Breath (Variable)
- Healing Lick (3/6 PTS)
- Hibernation (2 PTS)
- Human Speech (1 PT)
- Immunity (2/5/10/15 PTS)
- Information Font (3 PTS)
- Intangibility (8/10 PTS)
- Mesmerism (3/6 PTS)
- Musical Influence (3 PTS)
- Mystick Shield (Varies)
- Nightsight (3 PTS)
- Rapid Healing (Variable)
- Regrowth (2/4/6 PTS)
- Shapechanger (3/5/8 PTS)
- Shared Knowledge (5/7 PTS)
- Size (3/5/8/10 PTS)
- Soul-Sense/Death-Sense (2/3 PTS)
- Spirit Travel (8/10/15 PTS)
- Spirit Vision (3 PTS)
- Tunneling (3 PTS)
- Unaging (2 PTS)
- Venom (Variable)
- Wall-Crawling (4 PTS)
- Water-Breathing (2/5 PTS)
- Webbing (5 PTS)
- Wings (3/5 PTS)
- New Talents
Character Sheet[]
Background Information[]
- Ads at the back of the book include, Vampire: The Masquerade Revised (Deluxe Edition) and Vampire: The Masquerade Revised (Oct. 98; Guide to the Camarilla: Jan. 99; Guide to the Sabbat: Feb. 99, and Vampire Clan Novel Series: Jan. 99).
- Words from the Wolf mentions that Mage developer Phil Brucato has married Wendy Blacksin, his longtime partner.
- Medieval Bestiary (1991) from Ars Magica obviously inspired the concept for the book.
Memorable Quotes[]
(...)
Characters[]
- Prelude: Death Dance
- Mary Prior - Mage
- Longshanks - Mary's Wolf Familiar
- Kestral - Mage
- Saint Winifred - Unicorn
- Chapter One: The Greater Beasts
- Modus
- Ellisere - Modus' Daughter, Goddess of Inspiration and Invention
- Ynnis Wythren
- Caduceus - Dragon opposed to magick, ally to the High Artisans
- Wan Ko - Metal Celestial Dragon
- Han Qwa Shen - Metal Celestial Dragon
- Bakhati Rugitti Sokto Pathor Rhyane Akkallah Rez - Gryphon
- High King David
- Ban'ha Rajmach Ka Hala Ben 'Ibmn Ha - Gryphon
- Cleophemus - Horse
- Lady Alcina the Enchantress - Mage
- Lord Blackwelder - Mage
- Hieronymous deToit - Cosian House of Olympus, Order of Reason Mage, Died
- Paracelsus
- E'toro, El Toto Blanco - Phoboi
- Chalanda - Phobori
- Ika-hai - Phobori
- Faruq al-Hadim - Batini Master, Mage
- Peri Saiamuk - Dreamspeaker Mage
- Shadow Tracker - Garou, Past Hero
- Feinelli - Cosian, Order of Reason Mage, Died
Terminology[]
Africa, Ahl-I-Batin, Americas, Arcadia Gateway, Arcane, Ascension, Asia, Awakened, Balam, Banes, Batte of Flames, Beysta (Dragon Lair), Black Furies, Blight, Blood Oath, Bygone, Cainite, Cantrip, Celerity, Celestial Choristers, Changeling, Changing Breeds, Children of Bat, Children of Gaia, Chimera (CTD), Chimera (WTA), China, Concordia War, Corax, Cosian (House of Fire, House of Books, House of Olympus), Courts of Silence, Cray, Daedalean, Dark Fantastic, Dark Medieval, Djinni Plague, Doissetep, Dragon River War, Dragonsites: The Boneyard (Isle of Lamentations, Sea of Dust, Sighing Stones), The City of Brass and Flame; Dreaming, Dreamspeaker, Ecstaics, Egypt, Ethiopia, Europe, Euthanatoi, Fae, Familiars, Fianna, Fortitude, Gaffling, Gaia, Gangrel, Garou, Gauntlet, Get of Fenris, Gift, Glamour, Greece, Griffin, Gurahl, Hellhole, High Artisans, Hippocratic Circle, Horizon Realms, Hrossheim (Otherworld Sanctuary), Incarna, India, Infernalists, Inquisitors, Iran, Ireland, Jaggling, Japan, Kindred, Kithain, Legendary Realm, Librium Draconis by Ynnis Wythren (Tome), Libya, Lion, Lupine, Madrid, Mage, Magick, Malfeas, Mediterranean, Middle East, Midrealm, Minoa, Mists, Mount Meru, Mount Qaf, Mythic Age, Necronome, Nosferatu, Order of Hermes, Order of Reason, Otherworlds, Pack, Pegasus, Pentex, Penumbra, Protean, Proteria/Proterus (Dragon Sanctum), Potence, Quintessence, Realm, Red Talons, Rio, Rome, Scourge, Shattering, Shrewsbury, Siberia, Simba, Solificati, South America, Spain, Spirit, Step Sideways, Tapestry, Tass, Tellurian, Texas, Thaumaturgy, Thaumivore, Toreador, Totem, Tremere, Tribe, True Fae, Tzimisce, Uktena, Umbra, Umbrood, Underworld, Unicorn, Urge Wyrm, Vampire, Veil, Ventrue, Voivode, War of Rage, Warsaw, Werewolf, White Howlers, Wyrm,
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