History TabletopGame / BeastThePrimordial

''Beast: the Primordial'' is the tenth game line in the TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness, and the first to be released since it changed its name from "New World of Darkness". You play a Beast, sometimes also known as the ''Children'' or ''Begotten''. [[HumanoidAbomination An embodiment of humanity's primal nightmares]], your soul has been replaced by a primordial nightmare monster known as a Horror possessed of a deep-seated hunger. However, your hunger needn't manifest as direct hunger -- it can be something like hoarding, or making someone understand they're prey. You must manage your hunger with care, choosing whether to satiate yourself and become more focused, or go hungry and become more dangerous. However, if you don't fulfill your hunger, your Horror will rampage through the collective dreamscape, disrupting people's lives and inducing intense nightmares, which will cause [[KnightTemplar Heroes]] to awaken, hunt you down, and try to kill you.

The 99% complete public preview can be [[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7FqViticwNuOGZvcHh3V19rSms/view found here]]. It was released as part of [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/beast-the-primordial-prestige-edition the Kickstarter for a deluxe edition]], which was fully funded in under a day. It went through multiple re-writing before the final version was released.

* BrokenAesop: The main book's explicit assertion that the Begotten are not evil is supported by the assertion that they (at least, those who take up any justification for it) terrorize, hurt, and/or kill people [[ForYourOwnGood For Their Own Good]], and/or because their behavior was [[TemptingFate Asking For It]]. UnfortunateImplications is putting it lightly. (The text on the Eshmaki, for instance, cites the example of throwing societal "elites" off of balconies or cutting their brakes, to remind them "luck cuts both ways.") While called out in a few places, like the sidebar on page 64, terrorizing humanity is generally characterized as a grim but noble duty, certainly undeserving of human retaliation. The book also points out that Heroes are automatically cast as the "good guys" in the conventional hero-versus-monster story because the narrative is inherently sloped in their favor... in a book whose narrative inherently slopes in favor of the Begotten to justify their behavior.

* YourWorstNightmare: One subset of Beast powers are literally called Nightmares, and draw from common fears that haunt the human subconscious, especially in dreams. For instance, one sample Nightmare is called All Your Teeth Are Falling Out, and centers on making the target physically decrepit.

** TabletopGame/{{Hunter|TheVigil}}s: Hunters stride too closely to Heroes for Beasts to like them much, and are usually too human to form Kinships, although it isn't impossible, particularly for Hunters whose Endowments are drawn from their bloodline, such as the Lucifuge. Hunters don't typically like Beasts either, but can still pull an EnemyMine against a greater threat and Heroes are far too extreme for any sane Hunter to team up with. Disturbingly, Slashers ''do not'' have the aforementioned limitations on forming Kinships.

** Beasts do ''not'' like TabletopGame/{{Hunter|TheVigil}}s, since there is little difference between a Hunter and a Hero in the minds of the Begotten (when, in fact, a Hero is the person a Hunter [[HeWhoFightsMonsters is afraid of becoming]]).

''Beast: the Primordial'' is the tenth game line in the TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness, and the first to be released since it changed its name from "New World of Darkness". You play a Beast, sometimes also known as the ''Children'' or ''Begotten''. [[HumanoidAbomination An embodiment of humanity's primal nightmares]], your soul has been replaced by a primordial nightmare monster known as a Horror possessed of a deep-seated hunger. However, your hunger needn't manifest as direct hunger - it can be something like hoarding, or making someone understand they're prey. You must manage your hunger with care, choosing whether to satiate yourself and become more focused, or go hungry and become more dangerous. However, if you don't fulfill your hunger, your Horror will rampage through the collective dreamscape, disrupting people's lives and inducing intense nightmares, which will cause [[KnightTemplar Heroes]] to awaken, hunt you down, and try to kill you.

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* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Beasts are embodiments of primal human nightmares, descended from the very first primal nightmares. This creates an odd connection to ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming'', whose main characters are embodiments of primal human dreams. The specific ''kind'' of fear determines a Beast's primary splat, their Family -- the corebook Families are Anakim (Powerlessness), Eshmaki (Darkness), Makara (Depths), Namtaru (Revulsion) and Ugallu (Exposure).

** The ''Player's Guide'' adds two more Families: Inguma (Xenophobia) and Talassii (Confinement).

* BrokenAesop: The main book's explicit assertion that the Begotten are not evil is supported by the assertion that they (at least, those who take up any justification for it) terrorize, hurt, and/or kill people [[ForYourOwnGood For Their Own Good]], and/or because their behavior was [[TemptingFate Asking For It]]. UnfortunateImplications is putting it lightly. (The text on the Eshmaki, for instance, cites the example of throwing societal "elites" off of balconies or cutting their brakes, to remind them "luck cuts both ways.") While called out in a few places, like the sidebar on page 64, terrorizing humanity is generally characterized as a grim but noble duty, certainly undeserving of human retaliation.
** The book also points out that Heroes are automatically cast as the "good guys" in the conventional hero-versus-monster story because the narrative is inherently sloped in their favor... in a book whose narrative inherently slopes in favor of the Begotten to justify their behavior.
* BroughtDownToNormal:

* CardCarryingVillain: Deconstructed. All Begotten know they're the villains of the tale, the monsters Heroes hunt, and to be frank, it's [[EvilIsCool fun being the bad guy]]...''but'' they don't really have a choice, and that "evil" can be directed to positive ends. Not to mention, they're actually a lot more respectful of the good guys than the designated good guys are of them...and the "good" guys are psychotic [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]] more often than not.

* EnemyMine: Though Heroes are often a danger to everyone they come across, whether human or Beast, they are willing to join forces with other supernaturals they come across, to varying success. That's not to say they won't try and fight another supernatural as practice, but if it isn't a Beast, it's a potential ally or resource. That said, they will ''never'' accept or request the help of a Beast.
** Vampires aren't propositioned to any real degree, mostly from vampires' self-policing and Heroes generally unable to tell a vampire from a normal human.

** Mages and Heroes are surprisingly similar in terms of stubbornness, and can become allies or grant magic weapons if convinced a certain Beast is a danger. However, unless the Mage was already related to the Beast in some way, they generally don't meet, and they can just as easily turn on a Hero if they plan to attack a Beast the Mage is studying.

** Prometheans baffle Heroes, more from their quest to become humans than anything else; to a Hero, a Promethean is [[SuperiorSpecies better than human in any conceivable way]], ([[BlessedWithSuck which should probably tell you how disconnected Heroes are from reality]]). [[AxCrazy Relations inevitably degrade when Disquiet settles in, though...]]

** Mummies don't really care for a Hero's quest, an opinion Heroes reciprocate, though Heroes are greatly interested in gaining a Mummy's magic, especially the ability to come back from the dead. Mummies feel that a Hero would be the absolute ''last'' person they'd give that kind of power to.

** [[TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem Vampires]]: Relationships tend to be tense, since A: vampires tend to place a lot of importance on holding onto the delusion they're still human, B: Beasts can be competitive over precious prey or influence, and C: vampires are naturally arrogant and manipulative, which doesn't tend to sit well with Beasts. Still, of all the splats, vampires can best understand the aching, burning Hunger that drives Beasts, and this breeds understanding between the two.
** [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken Werewolves]]: Though Uratha can get competitive over who's the better hunter, their urge to hunt means that there's almost no difference between werewolves and Predator Beasts, making them one of the most common allies if they can put their egos aside.
** [[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening Mages]]: Though pride can be a dividing line between the two, since Beasts are "rogue elements" in mage eyes, they can form a fairly strong bond. At the very least, Banishers remind Beasts far too much of Heroes for them to not step in if one emerges.
** [[TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated Prometheans]]: The Created puzzle Beasts, but there's no real hostility between the two, particularly since Beasts are immune to Disquiet. Prometheans on the Refinement of Silver can even study the Children as a way to discover how they differ from humans, whereas exploitative Beasts can take advantage of the Disquiet Prometheans make. Beasts can often become violently protective of the Prometheans they form Kinships with, and their Lairs are safe places for Prometheans to stay.
** [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil Hunters]]: Hunters stride too closely to Heroes for Beasts to like them much, and are usually too human to form Kinships, though it isn't impossible, particularly for Hunters whose Endowments are drawn from their bloodline, such as the Lucifuge. Hunters don't typically like Beasts either, but can still pull an EnemyMine against a greater threat and Heroes are far too extreme for any sane Hunter to team up with. Disturbingly, Slashers ''do not'' have the aforementioned limitations on forming Kinships.
** [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost Changelings]]: Beasts see plenty of kinship between themselves and the Lost, though the fact that changelings are made rather than born fascinates them. In return, the Lost tend to be leery of Beasts, especially because of how they sow nightmares in their wake, though as Beasts tend to stand on equal footing with the Gentry, even shaping the Hedge by their very presence, they may overlook this fact for an alliance.

** [[TabletopGame/MummyTheCurse Mummies]]: Similarly to Sin-Eaters, Beasts wonder at how close the link is between themselves and the Arisen, suspecting that the Arisen may actually be a lost Family that has been artificially enslaved since the dawn of humanity. Their relatively similar dichotomy between their souls and bodies can also form the basis of strong relations, even if the Arisen are generally and willfully ignorant of other supernaturals.
** [[TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent Demons]]: The exception. Unchained do not trigger Kinship, which really freaks the Beasts out, and Demons are disturbed by how pacts automatically fail with the Children. Both parties are able to sense each other through whatever disguises they have, and though a Demon may see a Beast as a more-trustworthy-than-average asset, these relationships never last without significant work. Demons are ''not'' kin.

** Beasts do ''not'' like [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil Hunters]], since there is little difference between a Hunter and a Hero in the minds of the Begotten (when, in fact, a Hero is the person a Hunter [[HeWhoFightsMonsters is afraid of becoming]]).

* PowerOfTheVoid: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Void]] Insatiable...[[SubvertedTrope do not embody this]]. Rather, they embody fears of AlienInvasion and the fundamental hostility of the environments of alien planets and cosmological phenomenon. Such Insatiable have more to do with the methane seas of Titan and the sheer destructive power of gamma ray bursts than the cold, empty vacuum.

* YourWorstNightmare: One subset of Beast powers are literally called Nightmares, and draw from common fears that haunt the human subconscious, especially in dreams. For instance, one sample Nightmare is called All Your Teeth Are Falling Out, and centers on making the target physically decrepit.

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Beasts can work towards an Inheritance, one of three "end-game goals", all based on leaving their vestigial humanity behind and becoming something more... monstrous.
** The Retreat is closest to the letter of this trope; a Beast pursuing this Inheritance literally divorces themselves from humanity and the mortal world, retreating into the Primeval Dream and discarding their human identity to become what's called an Unfettered; a free-roaming ephemeral being, a Soul without a human consciousness or the need for a fleshy body. This is an involuntary Inheritance; a Beast can be forced to become an Unfettered, as all it takes to become one is for the Shell to die whilst the Soul is separate. In game-terms? Any Beast who dies at Satiety 10 becomes an Unfettered. That's it. That's all it takes.
** The Merger is when a Beast decides they want to truly embrace the physical world, desiring it so badly that they force their Soul into their body and contain it in its totality. Such a fusion is inherently imperfect and unbalanced; the Beast's Soul is crushed and constrained, squashing all that's left of their humanity and warping their body, leaving behind nothing but a physical monster that exists only to pursue their Hunger in the simplest, basest form.
** Finally, the Beast Incarnate requires mastering a Beast's "Story", turning it from a mere Legend about how a Beast terrorizes humanity until slain by a Hero into a Myth about a true monster. Only the strongest of Beasts, those who can effortlessly slay Heroes and reduce them to mere footnotes in ''their'' Myth, can become an Incarnate; though divorced from their former humanity to the point of losing their Life trait, they otherwise retain all of their human knowledge and self, becoming a true fusion of mortal essence and monstrous Soul.

** The Insatiable introduced in Conquering Heroes are less anthropomorphic Personifications of primordial elements; Fire (Molten Earth), Ice (Frozen Hell), Earth (Clashing Faults), Water (Primordial Sea) and Space (Void).
** The Player's Guide adds two more Families: Inguma (Xenophobia) and Talassii (Confinement).

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Beasts are made to view seeding fear and apprehension as a ''good thing'', so that humanity can rise above it. One outsider view from a vampire talks about how the relationship between two Beasts seems to go from flirtation to engagement to one killing the other's sister over the course of the month, and they still seem to be relatively cordial. That said, this is subverted with some beasts, who are honest with themselves about what they are doing.

** The book also points out that Heroes are automatically cast as the "good guys" in the conventional hero-versus-monster story because the narrative is inherently sloped in their favor... in a book whose narrative inherently slopes in the favor of the Begotten in justifying their behavior.

** A Beast whose Satiety reaches 10 sees her Horror falling asleep, causing her to lose all her abilities and become functionally human. The process is reversable by awakening the Horror again, though.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Played with. On the one hand, it ''is'' evil, because Children need nightmares and violence to remain sane...and by feeding those Hungers, most are trying to pose ''less'' of a danger to their human friends, and they're actually quite ambivalent about their roles as the villains of the story. Indeed, some fifteen game lines later based on being the "creature," White Wolf has arguably come back around to the concept that started it all: "[[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade Monsters we are, lest monsters we become.]]"

* DesignatedHero: Invoked InUniverse for the Heroes. Being based on the fact that, A: the heroes of mythology can easily be constructed as violent, self-centered assholes anyway, and B: the purpose of the game is to flip the narrative, then naturally Heroes are pretty much nothing of the sort. What really ticks Beasts off about this trope is the fact that they, at least, can try to challenge the role that "the Story" attempts to force upon them, but Heroes will ''never'' try and do that.
* DesignatedVillain: InUniverse, the Beasts themselves. They know from the beginning that they're pure evil, creatures created to terrorize humanity and ultimately be killed. Needless to say, they're not very happy about this, although they do eventually come to a certain acceptance of it, and still they don't intend to roll over and die just because everyone else says they should.

** In fact, Heroes themselves technically have one; once they have fallen into the role, they can't leave. They simply can't restore Willpower effectively unless they're willing to embrace their Legend - the Hero archetype they try to live up to - and in fact going without living up to their Legend for a ''day'' leads to horrific nightmares that just keep getting worse and worse, compelling them to get back out there and resume hunting monsters.
* EnemyMine: Though Heroes are often a danger to everyone they come across, be it human or Beast, they have a willingness to try and join forces with other supernaturals they come across, with varying degrees of success. That's not to say they won't try and fight another supernatural as practice, but if it isn't a Beast, it's a potential ally, or resource. That said, they will ''never'' accept or request the help of a Beast.
** Vampires aren't propositioned to any real degree, mostly from Vampires policing themselves heavily and Heroes tending not to be able to tell a Vampire from a normal human.
** Werewolves can't stand Heroes, due to the fact that Heroes can't get along with others, nor work as a team, nor even accept when something is their fault, everything that a pack does ''not'' need.
** Mages and Heroes are surprisingly similar in terms of stubbornness, and can make for allies or grant magic weapons if convinced a certain Beast is a danger. However, unless the Mage was already related to the Beast in some way, they generally don't meet, and they can just as easily turn on a Hero if they plan to attack a Beast the Mage is studying.

** Changelings are a calculated risk for Heroes to approach. A Changeling skilled in dream combat is a great ally to have, but could become just as big a threat if they refuse and join the Beast.
** Prometheans baffle Heroes, more from their quest to become humans than anything else; to a Hero, a Promethean is [[SuperiorSpecies better than human in any conceivable way]] ([[BlessedWithSuck which should probably tell you how disconnected Heroes are from reality]]). [[AxCrazy Relations inevitably degrade when Disquiet settles in though...]]

** Mummies don't really care for a Hero's quest, an opinion Heroes reciprocate, though Heroes are heavily interested in gaining a Mummy's magic, especially the ability to come back from the dead. Mummies feel that a Hero would be the absolute ''last'' person they'd give that kind of power to.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Though it depends on how evil a Beast is in practice, one thing that most Beasts prioritize is the concept of Family, be it other Beasts, their supernatural cousins, or even the normal human family they are a part of. One way of ''royally'' pissing a Beast off is to deliberately harm them, which is a tactic some Heroes indulge in whether or not said family member is a Beast.

** [[TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem Vampires]]: Relationships tend to be tense, since A: Vampires tend to place a lot of importance on trying to hold onto the delusion they're still human, B: Beasts can be competitors over precious prey or influence, and C: Vampires are naturally arrogant and manipulative, which doesn't tend to sit well with Beasts. Still, of all the splats, Vampires can best understand the aching, burning Hunger that drives Beasts, and this breeds understanding between the two.
** [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken Werewolves]]: Though Uratha can get competitive over who's the better hunter, their urge to hunt means that there's almost no difference between Werewolves and Predator Beasts, making them one of the most common allies if they can put their egos aside.
** [[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening Mages]]: Though pride can be a dividing line between the two, since Beasts are "rogue elements" in Mage eyes, they can form a fairly strong bond. At the very least, Banishers remind Beasts far too much of Heroes for them to not step in if one emerges.
** [[TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated Prometheans]]: The Created puzzle Beasts, but there's no real hostility between the two, particularly since Beasts are immune to Disquiet. Prometheans on the Refinement of Silver can even study the Children as a way to discover how they differ from humans, whereas exploitative Beasts can take advantage of the Disquiet Prometheans make. Beasts can often become violently protective of the Prometheans they form Kinships with, and their Lairs are safe places for Prometheans to stay within.

** [[TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost Changelings]]: Beasts see plenty of kinship between themselves and the Lost, though the fact that Changelings are made rather than born fascinates them. In return, the Lost tend to be leery of Beasts, especially because of how they sow nightmares in their wake, though as Beasts tend to stand on equal footing with the Gentry, even shaping the Hedge by their very presence, they may overlook this fact for an alliance.

* EvilVersusEvil: Heroes vs. Beasts. Yes, Beasts are living nightmares who are well aware that they're monsters -- even a Beast often instinctively thinks of herself as the villain by nature, however much he tries to minimize the harm he causes. However, Heroes are just as dangerous; the phrase "gibbering, gore-spattered maniacs whose obsessive quest to destroy the Beast twists their minds and makes them dangerous to everyone around them" is used to describe the worst of them. In fact, Beasts are actually the [[ALighterShadeOfBlack morally superior side]] in most cases, because to them, it isn't personal; Heroes are attempting to stop a self-admitted monster from spreading nightmares across everywhere.
* FallenHero: The post-revision version of ''Beast'' posits that, in the modern day, most Heroes have "fallen" from the original ideal. Where once they were brave and wise individuals going into the dark places and finding the wisdom lurking behind the shadow of the unknown, now they've become vainglorious broken individuals who believe that ''they'', not the wisdom they bring, are what society truly needs.

** Beasts do ''not'' like [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil Hunters]], since there is little difference between a "hunter" and a "hero" in the minds of the Begotten (when, in fact, a Hero is the person a hunter [[HeWhoFightsMonsters is afraid of becoming]]).
** They're also not fond of [[TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent the Unchained]], seeing them as "pod people" who ''look'' like them, but aren't. It doesn't help the two are utterly incompatible in kinship or pacts, nor that a Beast or Demon identifying the other puts Frightened Conditions on at least one of them, leading to meetings between Beasts and Demons that are often violent. The two ''can'' work together, but not without significant work and trust on both parts.
** Heroes, naturally, attract all of a Beast's hate and scorn. It's partly because, like Beasts, Heroes are forced into the role that "the Story" says they should fit, but unlike Beasts, Heroes get the "good role" and never ''ever'' question it. It's mostly because Heroes are obsessive, violent maniacs who relentlessly seek Beasts to kill them; that doesn't tend to engender very positive feelings, after all. The revised version has softened this up - Heroes receive a measure of scorn from Beasts, but they also receive a measure of pity. They've both been called into a transcendent human narrative of fear and enlightenment, but the Heroes have lost the plot and made it all about being the shiniest light in the darkness.

** Averted in that Heroes are willing to work with any of the other supernatural races if they can, though that doesn't stop them from trying the other supernaturals as target practice. However, most other supernaturals don't return the sentiment. Werewolves in particular find Heroes insufferable and Mummies, although eagerly courted for their help, are pretty much united behind the idea that Heroes are the very '''last''' people they would ever want to see being able to use their magic. ''Especially'' the Rite of Return.

* GeniusBruiser: Anakim are the reborn myths of Giants, and they have unabashedly physical abilities reliant on raw strength. The reborn ''ancient'' myths of giants (like the [[UltimateBlacksmith Cyclopes]] and the sorcerer [[TricksterArchetype Utgard-Loki]]), which also means they embody raw intelligence and intuition as well; one of their core Atavisms is Mimir's Wisdom, which gives them a perfect memory and LivingLieDetector powers at higher Satiety, and SuperIntelligence at lower levels.

** Beasts can heal themselves at an accelerated rate if they can retreat to their Lair and are willing to spend Satiety points to do so. They get quite a deal; one point of Satiety can completely heal every last point of Bashing damage they have, a few points of Lethal damage, or a single dot of Aggravated damage -- no other Splat can heal Aggravated damage so easily.

* HopeCrusher: This is the true Hunger for Ruin: A Ravager doesn't just want to destroy, they want to remind you that there is no such thing as perfect safety or stability. Can be heroic subversions, though: One example Ravager mostly eats by [[PokeThePoodle throwing bricks through the windows of rich people]], and "sense of ruined stability" could easily be "VillainousBreakdown from a thwarted DiabolicalMastermind."
* HorrorHunger: Your character's personal measure of Integrity for this line is Satiety, representing how well you have fulfilled a particular Hunger, and which can vary wildly during a game session. Hungers serve as the secondary splat for the game -- the corebook Hungers are Power, Punishment, Prey, Hoard and Ruin.
* InterspeciesRomance: Somewhat; though Beasts prey on humans and have a different flavor blood from them to Vampires, they are still born from humans, largely have the same identities as them and can form the same romances as normal people can. Some even work to help their loved ones open up their own "inner beast" so they can join in on the Brood, which offers a connection between Beasts' souls. It's rather romantic, in an odd way.
* ItsAllAboutMe: The driving force behind a Hero, and why they are ''not'' "the good guys" the way that Hunters technically are, is because the very foundation of their reason to hunt is because they have [[WrongGenreSavvy fallen into the delusion that the world is a story in which they are the protagonist]]. Subsequently, they are virtually incapable of working together with their own kind; their sheer ego leads to constant squabbling and jockeying over bruised pride, the right to claim the glory of the kill, etc. Furthermore, they look down on normal humans and consider them fundamentally unimportant - if the Hero is TheHero, than everyone else around them is some kind of SpearCarrier. This particularly sours Hero/Hunter relationships, since Heroes literally see hunters as nothing more than CannonFodder and too prone to getting caught in "minor sidequests". In fact, a good comparison to the Hero mentality is Lex Luthor and his "justifications" for fighting Franchise/{{Superman}} -- the real reason Luthor fights Superman isn't because Supes is "selfish" or "ruins humanity" (as Luthor claims), but a combination of projection of Luthor's self-hatred & delusions of powerlessness mixed with sheer ego. Heroes hate Beasts not so much because Beasts are "evil" as because, when they saw the Beast's Soul, they saw -- and rejected -- the reflection it cast of the Hero's own soul.

* NeverBeHurtAgain: Part of the theme of Anakim. Anakim are nightmares of hopelessness, of inferiority against superior power. The Anakim will never be weak or hopeless again, and will force the world to obey ''him'' - and thus inflict that nightmare on others.
* NeverMyFault: Heroes in general have problems with accepting their own faults and laying the blame for everything wrong with their lives on those around them. Indeed, this kind of attitude tends to mark a potential candidate to ''become'' a Hero in the first place. It's particularly pronounced with those Heroes created by Tyrants; laying all the blame for their failures on their underlings is a universal trait of theirs.
* NobleDemon: Beasts ''can'' find beneficial methods for feeding their Horror, or at the very least find the least harmful way of indulging in them, and come down ''hard'' on those who abuse their family. "Family Dinner" also allows them to feed their Hunger by being entirely passive, and watching one of their cousins feeding their own respective "hunger", such as a Changeling gathering Glamour.

* OurGiantsAreBigger: The Anakim Family is associated most strongly with the mythology of giants, ogres and Nordic trolls -- great, big, ugly brutish behemoths that overpower everything in their wake. The Anakim nickname is thusly "the Giants".
* OurSoulsAreDifferent: The very premise of the game. A Beast has always been subtly "different", but it wasn't until their Homecoming when they "woke up". A Beast is a dual creature, at one and the same time a living nightmare, a monstrous astral entity, and a human being dwelling in the material world. Furthermore, the nightmare isn't just a monster, it's also the Lair the monster dwells in. Their powers work by forcing their spirit through into the world; Nightmares (which work better when Satiety is high) are ephemeral manifestations of their essence, whilst Atavisms (which work better when Satiety is low) physically reshape their body to more closely match their soul. Also, their soul and consciousness can function independently, as mentioned under EnemyWithin; a Beast's soul will literally wander off to terrorize the dreamscape if the Beast doesn't Sate their Hunger.

** Interestingly, this trope is averted in relation to Changeling - Beasts have the same power to shape the Hedge with their presence as high Wyrd Changelings and even the Gentry themselves. Beasts even consider the Gentry to outright ''be'' Beasts, but with power and abilities that a Beast can only dream of discovering and having. This often leads Changelings to see some unfortunate implications when they look at Beasts - the desire of becoming a True Fae, the thing that Changelings hate and fear the most.

* PokeThePoodle: Beasts do have to cause fear (or at least be near those who are afraid) to survive, but it's emphasized that there's a lot of ways to do this, and it doesn't make a Beast necessarily a bad person. For example, one sample Ravager (driven by a Hunger for Ruin) embraces his monstrous nature and sates himself by... breaking the windows of rich people. Mildly ParanoiaFuel inducing, yeah, but hardly harmful. Another sates it by picking locks and collecting them, which he can do by having a job as a professional safecracker.
* PowerOfTheVoid: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Void]] Insatiable...[[SubvertedTrope do not embody this]]. Rather, they embody fears of AlienInvasion and the fundamental hostility of the environments of alien planets and cosmological phenomenon. Such Insatiable have more to do with the methane seas of Titan and the sheer destructive power of gamma ray bursts than the cold, empty vacuum.

* TomatoInTheMirror: Most Beasts experience a series of nightmares wherein they're pursued by some great monster stalking them through the darkness. A key part of their Homecoming, the process of becoming a Beast, is accepting that this monster is ''they''.
* VanHelsingHateCrimes: The point of Heroes. Whether dealing with a serial killer, petty vandal, or crusading lawyer, the only good Beast is a dead Beast as far as Heroes are concerned.

* WrongGenreSavvy: InUniverse, Heroes believe that the world is a classic "hero slays a monster" narrative story writ large. And that ''they'' are the protagonists of said story. They're technically right about the former, but it's the unshakable conviction in the latter idea (combined with their attendant belief in ProtagonistCenteredMorality) that makes them little better than Slashers. The revised edition expands on this. The Heroes are correct, in that they are ''meant'' to be the Heroes of traditional monster-slaying narratives - the individuals who go into the darkness, defeat the fear that the Beast represents, and brings knowledge back to the people about what it all means. The problem is, due to certain shifts in the global narrative surrounding "heroes," they've come to believe that killing Beasts is ''all there is'', and make it the only thing they really focus on.

** Finally, the Beast Incarnate requires mastering a Beast's "Story", turning it from a mere Legend about how a Beast terrorizes humanity until slain by a Hero into a Myth about a true monster. Only the strongest of Beasts, those who can effortlessly slay Heroes and reduce them to mere footnotes in ''their'' Myth, can become an Incarnate; though divorced from their former humanity to the point of losing their Life trait, they otherwise retain all of their human knowledge and self, becoming a true fusion of mortal essence and monstrous Soul

* NotSoDifferent: Beasts and Heroes are both living archetypes from the Primeval Dream that have manifested in the mortal world. Also, to humans, both are pretty monstrous; Beasts ''have'' to Feed, and this does hurt people, but Heroes are capable of any atrocity in the name of "the greater good". Furthermore, Heroes have personality...quirks... directly relating to the Hunger of the Beast that created them. Heroes born to oppose Tyrants become natural leaders who [[NeverMyFault blame any and all failure on the efforts of the underlings that flock to them]]. Heroes born to oppose Collectors become insatiable kleptomaniacs, obsessed with collecting things -- their hatred is born of the fact they ''want'' what the Beast has. Heroes born to oppose Predators become wild, frenzied fighters, easily misled into attacking innocent bystanders. Heroes born from the actions of a Nemesis become convinced of their own purity and disdainful towards their "sinful lessers". And a Hero created by a Ravager is a totally detached utilitarian; everything and every''one'' else is disposable to them.

''Beast: the Primordial'' is the tenth game line in the TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness, and the first to be released since it changed its name to TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness. You play a Beast, sometimes also known as the ''Children'' or ''Begotten''. [[HumanoidAbomination An embodiment of humanity's primal nightmares]], your soul has been replaced by a primordial nightmare monster known as a Horror possessed of a deep-seated hunger. However, your hunger needn't manifest as direct hunger - it can be something like hoarding, or making someone understand they're prey. You must manage your hunger with care, choosing whether to satiate yourself and become more focused, or go hungry and become more dangerous. However, if you don't fulfill your hunger, your Horror will rampage through the collective dreamscape, disrupting people's lives and inducing intense nightmares, which will cause [[KnightTemplar Heroes]] to awaken, hunt you down, and try to kill you.

One of the most notable features in this game is how {{Crossover}}-friendly it is: all previous entries in the ''New World of Darkness'' were built with the possibility of being compatible, but ''Beast'' is the first explicitly designed to encourage it, giving the Begotten an entire set of powers known as "kinship" specifically designed to make them interact with other supernatural templates and dedicating an entire section of the book to explaining how they would interact with the protagonists of the other gamelines: the Begotten believe all supernatural beings (except [[TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent Demons]]) are related to them, and as such treat them as kin.

* EvilVsEvil: Heroes vs. Beasts. Yes, Beasts are living nightmares who are well aware that they're monsters -- even a Beast often instinctively thinks of herself as the villain by nature, however much he tries to minimize the harm he causes. However, Heroes are just as dangerous; the phrase "gibbering, gore-spattered maniacs whose obsessive quest to destroy the Beast twists their minds and makes them dangerous to everyone around them" is used to describe the worst of them. In fact, Beasts are actually the [[ALighterShadeOfBlack morally superior side]] in most cases, because to them, it isn't personal; Heroes are attempting to stop a self-admitted monster from spreading nightmares across everywhere.

* LightIsNotGood: An example of the [[DesignatedHero "Heroes"]] who hunt Beasts brought up in the Gen Con 2014 panel is...[[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston.]] In the corebook, it's explicitly stated that those who become Heroes are broken, degraded individuals; the kind of weak-souled person whose self-image is so frail that they psychologically ''need'' to attribute all their failings to some great enemy rather than accept their own faults, a need that leads to them latching obsessively onto the Beast as a convenient target for this purpose. Mechanically, to ''become'' a Hero, you need to have an [[SanityMeter Integrity]] score of ''4 or less'' (the human average is 7), emphasizing how only the clearly unstable become Heroes.

* MoralMyopia: This is one of the mental problems that bedevils Heroes and helps emphasize the Designated aspect of that title. Beasts realize that their feeding hurts people, accepts that it's natural that this will provoke people, and can choose to find less harmful ways of feeding it. Heroes don't '''care''' what happens to anyone else so long as they get to kill the Beast. Heroes can send unwitting CannonFodder to their doom against the Beast without a qualm, effortlessly rationalizing it as "my men would gladly die for me", set off explosions and fire and chemical leaks in populated areas as a "necessary sacrifice", and murder people who stand in their way because "they're agents of the Beast". The idea that they might be responsible for their own problems is unthinkable to them.

* CardCarryingVillain: Deconstructed. All Begotten know they're the villains of the tale, the monsters Heroes hunt, and to be frank, it's [[EvilIsCool fun being the bad guy]]...''but'' they don't really have a choice, and that "evil" can be directed to positive ends. Not to mention, they're actually a lot more respectful of the good guys than the designated good guys are of them...and the good guys are psychotic [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]] more often than not.

* DesignatedVillain: InUniverse, the Beasts themselves. They know from the beginning that they're pure evil, creatures created to terrorize humanity and ultimately be killed. Needless to say, they're not very happy about this, although they do eventually come to a certain acceptance of it, and still they don't intend to die just because everyone else says they should.

** Demons may not get along with Beasts, but they have just as little interest in helping a Hero along. They may provide some aid [[YourSoulIsMine in exchange for a Hero's signature]], which the Hero is generally okay with, seeing it as a HeroicSacrifice for the greater good. Angels also often make use of Heroes for the sake of the God Machine, which Heroes are just as open to.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Beasts are embodiments of primal human nightmares, descended from the very first primal nightmares. This creates an odd connection to ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming'', whose main characters are embodiments of primal human dreams. The specific ''kind'' of fear determines a Beast's primary splat, their Family -- the corebook Families are Anakim (Powerlessness), Eshmaki (Darkness), Makara (Depths), Namtaru (Revulsion) and Ugallu (Skies).
** The Insatiable from Conquering Heroes are less anthropomorphic Personifications of primordial elements; Fire (Molten Earth), Ice (Frozen Hell), Earth (Clashing Faults), Water (Primordial Sea) and Space (Void).

** The Insatiable are less anthropomorphic Personifications of primordial elements; Fire (Molten Earth), Ice (Frozen Hell), Earth (Clashing Faults), Water (Primordial Sea) and Space (Void).

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Part of what makes Heroes the true villains as opposed to Beasts is that they not only think that ''they'' are the protagonists, but also that this trope applies. One developer playtest describes a Hero sneaking into a PC's law firm and murdering one of her employees, instinctively writing them off as being "her evil minion", when there's no evidence the employee even know the PC is a Beast.

* TomatoInTheMirror: Most Beasts experience a series of nightmares wherein they're pursued by some great monster stalking them through the darkness. A key part of their Homecoming, the process of becoming a Beast, is accepting that this monster is ''them''.