"It is a man," the voice repeated. "He comes to live with us?"
It was a thick voice with something in it, a kind of whistling overtone, that struck me as peculiar, but the English accent was strangely good.
The Ape Man looked at me as though he expected something. I perceived the pause was interrogative.
"He comes to live with you," I said.
"It is a man. He must learn the Law."
H. G. Wells
-The Island of Dr. Moreau
in a way, role-playing settings are defined by the races players can assume. The elves and dwarves of the typical AD&D setting put those worlds in the mold of fantasy. The unusual aranea and tortles of the Savage Coast emphasize the exotic nature of that land. The mighty half-giants and sturdy muls of Athas demonstrate the harsh lands under the Dark Sun. The fantastic tieflings and modrons of Planescape put the majesty of the multiverse into the very hearts of its players.
Although the populace of Ravenloft is largely human, or at least appears to be so, the lands of Mist have their special player races, too. Up to now, players have been given guidelines for playing characters with Vistani blood; the Requiem set has offered rules for playing the undead; there have even been guidelines for player characters trapped in the bodies of the Created. Previously, I wrote "Beasts at Heart" to give players the option of playing as lycanthropes. All of these races reflect the dark, gothic nature of the Demiplane of Dread, and now another has asked to join the ranks of the Races Macabre.
Broken Ones are twisted abominations, painfully unnatural meldings of man and beast. They are base animals forced to assume the appearance and responsibilities of man, or men reduced to the status of animals. They are objects of both horror and pity. Most Broken Ones spend their tortured existence in the vain hopes of pleasing the cruel master which created them, but some are lucky or brave enough to escape or outlive their tormentors. These special few may travel the Land of Mists, perhaps seeking a remedy for their condition, perhaps simply seeking to survive. These Broken Ones may become player characters.
Like the Requiem rules, this simple system can be used to create a Broken One player character from scratch, or may be used to convert a pre-existing hero into one of these miserable creatures. If the hero is being made from scratch, there is a good chance that the Broken One was created from a natural animal (or perhaps some giant version of an otherwise normal beast). If the hero is being converted, he was obviously changed from a "normal" person into his current state. The choice is up to the player, and does not effect these rules.
All Broken Ones, at their best, are assumed to be obviously inhuman in appearance, best hidden from public view. That said, they have a bipedal stance, the ability of speech, and the use of (near-)human hands. They range in height from 4' to 7' tall, and their actual appearance varies widely from individual to individual. (In fact, the appearance of an individual may change with the passage of time, as you will learn below.) Their dietary requirements will be determined by the species of animal used to create them. (Some Broken Ones may be entirely vegetarian, others entirely carnivorous.)
Ability Scores
If the character is being created from scratch, roll 2d10 for Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. Roll 2d6 for Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.
Optionally, the Dungeon Master may allow players to roll 3d10 and 3d6 respectively, dropping the lowest die in each roll.
If the Broken One is being created from a pre-existing hero, use the following system. The change into a Broken One is a drastic one both in body and spirit, so roll for new ability scores as above. However, the ability scores the hero previously had will affect these new scores. For each ability, consult the following list. The first number is the previous score, while the second number in paranthesis is the adjustment.
Previous Score: 3 (-4), 4 (-3), 5 (-2), 6 (-1), 7-14 (0), 15 (+1), 16 (+2), 17 (+3), 18 (+4).
Find the character's previous score for each ability and apply the listed modifier to the new score. Even after applying modifiers, neither Strength, Dexterity, nor Constitution may be higher than 20. Neither Intelligence, Wisdom, nor Charisma may be higher than 12. No score may be lower than 2. As an optional rule, the Dungeon Master may allow Broken One heroes the chance to be able to pass for human, equal to 10% per current point of Charisma. For Example: Skar was once human, with a 15 Strength and a 6 Charisma. For his new scores, he rolls a 16 for Strength and a 5 for Charisma. Applying the correct modifiers, Skar's new, final scores are 17 Strength and 4 Charisma. Skar has only a 40% chance of passing himself off as human.
Base Movement Rate: 9
Hit Dice: As Class.
Alignment
Affected by their bestial natures and the cruel conditions set by their masters, most typical Broken Ones are Neutral Evil. Broken One heroes may be of any alignment, although most will be Neutral in some aspect.
Available Classes
Fighter, Avenger, or Thief. The unimaginable pain of the procedure which created them leaves Broken Ones too simple-minded to wield spells, they lack the social skills needed to be a bard, and as unnatural abominations they do not make acceptable paladins or rangers.
If the Broken One is being created from scratch, the character has a level limit of 12 in any available classes. If the Broken One is being created from a pre-existing hero, use the level limits for that hero's original race.
Broken Ones may be neither multi-classed nor dual-classed.
Weapon Proficiencies
Broken Ones may wield any weapon allowed by their class. All Broken Ones also have a natural attack form. While the exact nature of this attack (be it bite, kick, claw, sting, etc.) will be determined by the character's animal half, the damage done is standard for all: 1d6. The character must spend a weapon proficiency slot on this attack form or suffer the non-proficiency penalty of his class.
This damage can be increased by allocating additional weapon proficiency slots. If a total of 3 weapon proficiency slots are spent on the attack form, the damage done is 1d8. If a total of 5 slots are allocated to this attack form, the damage done is 1d10. This is intended to represent not only an increase in skill, but fangs, claws, etc. which are physically larger and more lethal than those of their kin.
Special Abilities
All Broken One heroes have one special ability in common: Only the most fit specimens can survive the surgical process of their creation, and that very process heightens their healing abilities. Thus, all Broken One heroes share the ability to regenerate 1 hit point of damage per round. This ability cannot regenerate damage caused by acid or fire, and the Broken One will not continue to regenerate if killed (taken down to 0 hp, or -10 hp if you use the Death's Door optional rule).
Each player may also pick one salient ability from the list below for their Broken One hero. These are abilities granted by the Broken One's animal side. Unless otherwise noted, there are no limits on how often these abilities may be used. If you know what sort of animal your Broken One is melded with, you should pick a power which reflects that species. If you don't know what sort of beast the character is yet and are feeling a bit chaotic, you could just roll 1d20 to select a power and choose a species which would reflect that ability.
1: Armored Hide. Be it thick and leathery skin, a chitinous exoskeleton, or an actual shell, the hero has a natural Armor Class of 7.
2: Beastspeak. The character has learned to communicate with the type of animal it was carved from. (Thus, a Broken One created from a bear could communicate with bears.)
3: Berserk Frenzy. When injured, the character goes into a frenzied rage. It can continue to fight until reduced to -7 hp. (All other Death's Door rules still apply.)
4: Charging Attack. If the character can move at a run straight at its opponent for at least 40', it can make a charging attack with its natural attack form. This may be in the form of horns, antlers, a form of trampling, etc. Further rules for charging attacks may be found in the Dungeon Master's Guide.
5: Gills. Obviously created from some manner of aquatic creature, the character can breathe underwater without difficulty. This ability does not help in cases of poison gas, being buried alive, or other suffocating situations.
6: Glide. Stunted wings or large skin flaps give the character the ability to fly 2' forward for every 1' dropped.
7: Gnawing Teeth. The character can use its large, strong teeth to chew through 1' of wood every 2 rounds.
8: Heat Sensing Pits. Most likely grafted from some manner of serpent, these organs give the character an ability effectively identical to infravision with a 60' range.
9: Keen Hearing. The character has particularly sharp ears. It receives a +2 bonus against being surprised.
10: Keen Smell. The character was created from a species which relies on scent. The hero effectively has the Tracking non-weapon proficiency. However, since the character tracks by scent, the only modifiers which need be applied to Tracking rolls are those stemming from time and/or water.
11: Keen Vision. Thanks to hawk-like eyes, the hero's vision ranges are effectively doubled. (These ranges are listed in the Dungeon Master's Guide.)
12: Mighty Leap. Likely created from a great cat or some manner of giant toad, the character can jump 10' straight up or 20' forward from a standstill.
13: Natural Camouflage. Thanks to the character's natural body coloration, if it remains motionless against natural settings others must succeed at an Intelligence check to see it.
14: Night Vision. Created from a nocturnal creature, the character can see well in darkness. It may apply a +2 bonus to offset any penalties stemming from low light.
15: Pack Animal. Perhaps created from some manner of hoofed animal such as an ox or mule, the character can measure its encumbrance as if its Strength was 2 points higher than it actually is.
16: Padfoot. The character can move with catlike stealth, applying a -3 penalty to opponents' surprise rolls.
17: Powerful Lungs. Likely created from some sort of aquatic mammal or reptile, the character can hold its breath for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution.
18: Quills. Most of the hero's body is covered in stiff, sharp spines. Any creature which successfully attacks the character with natural weapons (bites, claws, etc.) takes 1d2 damage itself. This does not reduce the amount of damage done to the character in the original attack.
19: Special Movement Form. The hero can move through one special terrain condition at its normal movement rate. This could be climbing, swimming, swinging from tree to tree, etc.
20: Venom. Created from some manner of poisonous reptile or insect, the character's natural attack form (either bite, sting, etc.) injects venom. The victim must save vs. poison or suffer an additional 1d6 points of damage.
Special Penalties
The most obvious drawback in being a Broken One is that the character is, in a very true sense, a monster. Their misshapen bodies are pained, unnatural mixtures of man and beast. They are caught between two worlds, and belong in neither. Broken Ones will have difficulty finding clothes or armor which fit properly (doubling the costs of armor would be appropriate), and any clothing found will be ill-fitting and uncomfortable, but this is the least of their problems.The folk of Ravenloft are a suspicious lot. If they encounter a Broken One, they may think it some sort of monster or fiend; a fear or horror check may be called for. If the player character was once (demi)human, even his former comrades may be forced to make horror checks when they discover what dire fate has befallen their companion.
Be warned! The fear and loathing of others is not the only difficulty a Broken One faces! Their most persistent threat comes from within; the threat of regression.
Regression
Can you imagine language, once clear-cut and exact, softening and guttering, losing shape and import, becoming mere lumps of sound again? And they walked erect with an increasing difficulty. Though they evidently felt ashamed of themselves, every now and then I would come upon one or other running on toes or fingertips, and quite unable to recover the vertical attitude. They held things more clumsily; drinking by suction, feeding by gnawing; grew commoner every day. I realized more keenly than ever what Moreau had told me about the "stubborn beast flesh." They were reverting, and reverting very rapidly.
H. G. Wells
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Broken Ones are trapped in half-human bodies, to be sure. But even more important than the body is the mind. A Broken One retains his humanity only so long as he strives to do so. If the Broken One behaves like a beast, a beast he will become. If the character was originally a simple animal, this is simply the forces of nature trying to restore his original shape. If the hero was originally human, then the catastrophic change into a Broken One has unleashed the powerful influence of primal instincts. The animal and the man are struggling to claim body and soul, and the animal is stronger.
The player rolled up scores for Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma above. These scores will change, and change often. Indeed, the player should not think of the numbers he rolled as the actual scores for his mental abilities; instead, he should think of them as maximums. The actual numbers will be in a constant state of flux.
The system to measure this fluctuation is quite simple, although it does require a wee bit of paperwork for the Dungeon Master. Below is a list of "Beastly Behaviors," which are opposed to "Human Habits." These are suggestions of what sort of actions define an idealized man or animal. The Dungeon Master must keep a running tally of the character's behavior. The simplest method would be to simply divide a piece of paper into two columns, one for each category. Whenever the player of a Broken One has his character perform something beastly, put a mark in that column. When his character behaves in a human manner, note that in the second column.
At the end of each game week, the Dungeon Master should add up the number of marks in each column and compare the totals. If the character behaved more beastly than human, he has regressed. Regression means that the hero's Intelligence and Wisdom scores each drop by one point. This symbolizes the softening of the mind, as human reason is slowly replaced by primal instincts.
Charisma also drops by one point; this represents the hero's physical reversion into an animal. Its shape will become less human; walking on two legs will become ungainly; and the physical act of speech will become more difficult.
If the character behaved more like a human than a beast, then 1 point is regained in each of the three scores. This represents the character clawing its way back toward the ideal of humanity, an ideal it can sadly never fully attain.
In the off chance of a tie, the ability scores remain as they are. Once the totals have been tallied and ability scores altered, the columns are emptied and the character gets to start the next week with a fresh slate.
A few special notes:
If either Intelligence or Wisdom drops to 1, the Broken One has effectively lost the struggle and becomes an NPC, a simple-minded beast. The other two mental ability scores will automatically drop to 1, each at the rate of one point each week. When all three scores have dropped to 1, the Broken One has reverted entirely into an ordinary animal, although its mind and body will always bear the scars gained during its fiendish creation.
At any time that a Broken One looks like he is going to lose the struggle of his humanity and doesn't trust himself to stop the process, he can always turn to a much more drastic method of regaining his humanity. A surgical method. Markov and the illithids of Bluetspur are only the most notorious of those who mingle the natures of men and beasts. There are others, less feared but no less wicked, who possess the skills of vivisection necessary to impose the human template on an animal's flesh. If one of these individuals, perhaps even the character's very creator, could be coerced to help the hero, then the problem becomes one of "modern medicine."
If the Broken One hero is subjected to the knife again and succeeds at a saving throw vs. death magic, then all three mental abilities are restored to their maximums (the original scores rolled). If the saving throw is failed, the pathetic creature does not survive the procedure. Perhaps that is for the best, since most Broken Ones react to the threat of the surgical tables with abject terror. (It is recommended that Broken One characters be subject to a horror check whenever presented with any sort of surgical procedure.)
Another important point: if any of the character's mental ability scores drop to 1, the simple animal mind will no longer be able to retain any semblance of the skills or identity of the "man" which existed before. Even if restored to full scores through the above procedure, they will have no memories of anything before their "creation." They must be re-taught all their skills, and begin again as 1st level characters. Only the cruelest of "friends" would impose such a rescue on their companion; better to leave him a beast and let him roam the wilds forever.
Beastly Behaviors:
Killing Men or Animals
Eating Flesh or Fish
Chasing Men
Succumbing to "the Passions"
Going Without Clothes
Going on All Fours
Sucking Up Drink
Clawing the Bark of Trees
Baying at the Moon
Slurring Speech and Growling
Human Habits:
Defending Men or Animals From Harm
Eating Plants
Rational Debate
Marriage
Wearing Appropriate Fashions
Dancing
Using Proper Etiquette
Engaging in Proper Grooming
Singing Proper Songs, with Proper Melody and Proper Lyrics
Reading and Writing with Proper Grammar
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Beasts at heart edition 2- beastmen
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The Doom of the broken ones
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Special Abilities
All Broken One heroes have one special ability in common: Only the most fit specimens can survive the surgical process of their creation, and that very process heightens their healing abilities. Thus, all Broken One heroes share the ability to regenerate 1 hit point of damage per round. This ability cannot regenerate damage caused by acid or fire, and the Broken One will not continue to regenerate if killed (taken down to 0 hp, or -10 hp if you use the Death's Door optional rule).
Each player may also pick one salient ability from the list below for their Broken One hero. These are abilities granted by the Broken One's animal side. Unless otherwise noted, there are no limits on how often these abilities may be used. If you know what sort of animal your Broken One is melded with, you should pick a power which reflects that species. If you don't know what sort of beast the character is yet and are feeling a bit chaotic, you could just roll 1d20 to select a power and choose a species which would reflect that ability.
1: Armored Hide. Be it thick and leathery skin, a chitinous exoskeleton, or an actual shell, the hero has a natural Armor Class of 7.
2: Beastspeak. The character has learned to communicate with the type of animal it was carved from. (Thus, a Broken One created from a bear could communicate with bears.)
3: Berserk Frenzy. When injured, the character goes into a frenzied rage. It can continue to fight until reduced to -7 hp. (All other Death's Door rules still apply.)
4: Charging Attack. If the character can move at a run straight at its opponent for at least 40', it can make a charging attack with its natural attack form. This may be in the form of horns, antlers, a form of trampling, etc. Further rules for charging attacks may be found in the Dungeon Master's Guide.
5: Gills. Obviously created from some manner of aquatic creature, the character can breathe underwater without difficulty. This ability does not help in cases of poison gas, being buried alive, or other suffocating situations.
6: Glide. Stunted wings or large skin flaps give the character the ability to fly 2' forward for every 1' dropped.
7: Gnawing Teeth. The character can use its large, strong teeth to chew through 1' of wood every 2 rounds.
8: Heat Sensing Pits. Most likely grafted from some manner of serpent, these organs give the character an ability effectively identical to infravision with a 60' range.
9: Keen Hearing. The character has particularly sharp ears. It receives a +2 bonus against being surprised.
10: Keen Smell. The character was created from a species which relies on scent. The hero effectively has the Tracking non-weapon proficiency. However, since the character tracks by scent, the only modifiers which need be applied to Tracking rolls are those stemming from time and/or water.
11: Keen Vision. Thanks to hawk-like eyes, the hero's vision ranges are effectively doubled. (These ranges are listed in the Dungeon Master's Guide.)
12: Mighty Leap. Likely created from a great cat or some manner of giant toad, the character can jump 10' straight up or 20' forward from a standstill.
13: Natural Camouflage. Thanks to the character's natural body coloration, if it remains motionless against natural settings others must succeed at an Intelligence check to see it.
14: Night Vision. Created from a nocturnal creature, the character can see well in darkness. It may apply a +2 bonus to offset any penalties stemming from low light.
15: Pack Animal. Perhaps created from some manner of hoofed animal such as an ox or mule, the character can measure its encumbrance as if its Strength was 2 points higher than it actually is.
16: Padfoot. The character can move with catlike stealth, applying a -3 penalty to opponents' surprise rolls.
17: Powerful Lungs. Likely created from some sort of aquatic mammal or reptile, the character can hold its breath for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution.
18: Quills. Most of the hero's body is covered in stiff, sharp spines. Any creature which successfully attacks the character with natural weapons (bites, claws, etc.) takes 1d2 damage itself. This does not reduce the amount of damage done to the character in the original attack.
19: Special Movement Form. The hero can move through one special terrain condition at its normal movement rate. This could be climbing, swimming, swinging from tree to tree, etc.
20: Venom. Created from some manner of poisonous reptile or insect, the character's natural attack form (either bite, sting, etc.) injects venom. The victim must save vs. poison or suffer an additional 1d6 points of damage.
Special Penalties
The most obvious drawback in being a Broken One is that the character is, in a very true sense, a monster. Their misshapen bodies are pained, unnatural mixtures of man and beast. They are caught between two worlds, and belong in neither. Broken Ones will have difficulty finding clothes or armor which fit properly (doubling the costs of armor would be appropriate), and any clothing found will be ill-fitting and uncomfortable, but this is the least of their problems.The folk of Ravenloft are a suspicious lot. If they encounter a Broken One, they may think it some sort of monster or fiend; a fear or horror check may be called for. If the player character was once (demi)human, even his former comrades may be forced to make horror checks when they discover what dire fate has befallen their companion.
Be warned! The fear and loathing of others is not the only difficulty a Broken One faces! Their most persistent threat comes from within; the threat of regression.
Regression
Can you imagine language, once clear-cut and exact, softening and guttering, losing shape and import, becoming mere lumps of sound again? And they walked erect with an increasing difficulty. Though they evidently felt ashamed of themselves, every now and then I would come upon one or other running on toes or fingertips, and quite unable to recover the vertical attitude. They held things more clumsily; drinking by suction, feeding by gnawing; grew commoner every day. I realized more keenly than ever what Moreau had told me about the "stubborn beast flesh." They were reverting, and reverting very rapidly.
H. G. Wells
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Broken Ones are trapped in half-human bodies, to be sure. But even more important than the body is the mind. A Broken One retains his humanity only so long as he strives to do so. If the Broken One behaves like a beast, a beast he will become. If the character was originally a simple animal, this is simply the forces of nature trying to restore his original shape. If the hero was originally human, then the catastrophic change into a Broken One has unleashed the powerful influence of primal instincts. The animal and the man are struggling to claim body and soul, and the animal is stronger.
The player rolled up scores for Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma above. These scores will change, and change often. Indeed, the player should not think of the numbers he rolled as the actual scores for his mental abilities; instead, he should think of them as maximums. The actual numbers will be in a constant state of flux.
The system to measure this fluctuation is quite simple, although it does require a wee bit of paperwork for the Dungeon Master. Below is a list of "Beastly Behaviors," which are opposed to "Human Habits." These are suggestions of what sort of actions define an idealized man or animal. The Dungeon Master must keep a running tally of the character's behavior. The simplest method would be to simply divide a piece of paper into two columns, one for each category. Whenever the player of a Broken One has his character perform something beastly, put a mark in that column. When his character behaves in a human manner, note that in the second column.
At the end of each game week, the Dungeon Master should add up the number of marks in each column and compare the totals. If the character behaved more beastly than human, he has regressed. Regression means that the hero's Intelligence and Wisdom scores each drop by one point. This symbolizes the softening of the mind, as human reason is slowly replaced by primal instincts.
Charisma also drops by one point; this represents the hero's physical reversion into an animal. Its shape will become less human; walking on two legs will become ungainly; and the physical act of speech will become more difficult.
If the character behaved more like a human than a beast, then 1 point is regained in each of the three scores. This represents the character clawing its way back toward the ideal of humanity, an ideal it can sadly never fully attain.
In the off chance of a tie, the ability scores remain as they are. Once the totals have been tallied and ability scores altered, the columns are emptied and the character gets to start the next week with a fresh slate.
A few special notes:
If either Intelligence or Wisdom drops to 1, the Broken One has effectively lost the struggle and becomes an NPC, a simple-minded beast. The other two mental ability scores will automatically drop to 1, each at the rate of one point each week. When all three scores have dropped to 1, the Broken One has reverted entirely into an ordinary animal, although its mind and body will always bear the scars gained during its fiendish creation.
At any time that a Broken One looks like he is going to lose the struggle of his humanity and doesn't trust himself to stop the process, he can always turn to a much more drastic method of regaining his humanity. A surgical method. Markov and the illithids of Bluetspur are only the most notorious of those who mingle the natures of men and beasts. There are others, less feared but no less wicked, who possess the skills of vivisection necessary to impose the human template on an animal's flesh. If one of these individuals, perhaps even the character's very creator, could be coerced to help the hero, then the problem becomes one of "modern medicine."
If the Broken One hero is subjected to the knife again and succeeds at a saving throw vs. death magic, then all three mental abilities are restored to their maximums (the original scores rolled). If the saving throw is failed, the pathetic creature does not survive the procedure. Perhaps that is for the best, since most Broken Ones react to the threat of the surgical tables with abject terror. (It is recommended that Broken One characters be subject to a horror check whenever presented with any sort of surgical procedure.)
Another important point: if any of the character's mental ability scores drop to 1, the simple animal mind will no longer be able to retain any semblance of the skills or identity of the "man" which existed before. Even if restored to full scores through the above procedure, they will have no memories of anything before their "creation." They must be re-taught all their skills, and begin again as 1st level characters. Only the cruelest of "friends" would impose such a rescue on their companion; better to leave him a beast and let him roam the wilds forever.
Beastly Behaviors:
Killing Men or Animals
Eating Flesh or Fish
Chasing Men
Succumbing to "the Passions"
Going Without Clothes
Going on All Fours
Sucking Up Drink
Clawing the Bark of Trees
Baying at the Moon
Slurring Speech and Growling
Human Habits:
Defending Men or Animals From Harm
Eating Plants
Rational Debate
Marriage
Wearing Appropriate Fashions
Dancing
Using Proper Etiquette
Engaging in Proper Grooming
Singing Proper Songs, with Proper Melody and Proper Lyrics
Reading and Writing with Proper Grammar
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