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  1. Abilities

Alien Allure

Atavism

Not all Beasts are monstrous in appearance. Mermaids and sirens are renowned for their terrible beauty, enchanting sailors and leading them to drown or smash their ships on the rocks. Likewise, Native American legends are replete with cannibalistic monsters with two faces, one beautiful and one hideous, who hypnotize victims with their looks. While this Atavism does not go that far, it does prey upon the instinctual urge to please those we find attractive.

Action: Reflexive

Normal Effect: The Beast is aglow with false charm that is often at odds with her actual behavior. She may exude stimulating pheromones, speak in honeyed and dulcet tones, or adopt mannerisms calculated to appeal to a specific someone, unconsciously gauging their reaction and adjusting to fit. She adds her Lair dots as a bonus on all Social rolls in which looks or attractiveness could give her an edge, such as first impressions, seducing someone, talking her way into a VIP area, or luring someone away from the safety of a crowd. This bonus is cumulative with the Striking Looks Merit.

Furthermore, the Beast always starts with a good first impression using the Social maneuvering system (see p. 161). If the Beast has previous caused harm to the target, she must avoid him for at least a day to gain this benefit. When she sees him again, all is forgiven. Heroes are immune to this effect.

Low Satiety: Beauty takes on a sinister edge as Hunger dominates the Beast’s interactions. Sometimes urgency pays off. Any Social roll involving appearance counts as an exceptional success with three successes or more. Furthermore, so long as she avoids Hard Leverage, opening all Doors imposes the Charmed Condition on the target of her Social maneuvering. However, she sometimes repulses people instead as she slips into the uncanny valley. A dramatic failure changes her impression level to “hostile” with that person for the rest of the chapter, and imposes a penalty to Social rolls against that target equal to the Beast’s Lair.

Satiety Expenditure: Drawing the Horror into her flesh, the Beast radiates supernatural allure for the remainder of the scene. People treat her as if she has the Fame or Status Merit, as appropriate to the situation, equal to (10 – her Satiety dots, maximum 5). People fawn over her and are receptive to her wishes. They are under no compulsion to obey, however, but do feel their job, position, or social standing is at stake if they refuse.

Furthermore, the Beast ignores penalties up to her Lair dots when forcing Doors with the Social maneuvering rules, and failure to force Doors does not preclude further Social maneuvering (since the Beast can just leave for a day and come back, all smiles).