17 thoughts on “Is there anything like a Feral Playbook?”

  4. The Transformed can be feral but it’s not its core feature.

    I was thinking something along the lives of X-23 or Sousuke Sagara (who has absolutely no super powers but has been an active participant on battlefields from the age of about 8)

  6. Again the Bull could be interpreted that way but it is not core to the concept and there are Bull concepts that aren’t Feral at all (Princess from the Tim Allen movie Zoom for instance)

    Several of the base Playbooks can be used to create a feral character but they’re not focused on that type. I’m wondering if there are any Ferals in the stretch goals or fan made content. If not i might try to whip one up.

  7. If you focus on the idea that your power is based on losing control (and how that relates to being a teen), there’s plenty  to work with! I would reread the stretch goals and if it’s not there, go for it.

  8. What is core to the Feral concept? Wolverine and X-23 are the definition of the Bull. And people like Beast and Sabertooth or Timberwolf are the Transformed. Are you delineating Playbooks by power theme rather than personality/role?

  9. It may be the art chosen, but I tend to equate the Bull with the person of vast physical power. Wolverine certainly fits, but not necessarily.

    One particular character of mine that would heavily fit the Bull is Naiki Semezou from some of my stories. She’s mostly a happy, go lucky super strong person who gets a kick from getting into difficult fights. She’s prone to leaping before thinking and causes a lot of damage from being a well-meaning but reckless ball of energy.

    When I think of Feral I think of a character that tends to be animalistically cautious and suspicious of things around them. Someone not used to having ever had a safe place. Having triggers that turn them into engines of destruction certainly, but usually when cornered. Also, not necessarily physical power sets. One particular character played by a friend of mine in a WoD game was a teen mage by the name of Ferral who thought of the spheres as her friends, gave them names like The Traveller (Space..may be wrong) and referred to casting spells as playing with them. She lived in a burned out husk of a building and used magic to open up small worm holes so that she could use her knife to slash things from a distance usually birds. She thought birds were evil and use another ritual to swallow their souls to gain Quintessence and prevent them from coming back to life. (Bird shifters killed her parents). Everything about her personality was wild animal but her power set was Mind, Space and Prime spheres mostly.

    Passion and emotion are not always present in someone feral either. Very often they will be cold or emotionless in situations the average person feels warrants heavy emotion. So the Outsider sort of fits to represent that mismatch. But again the mismatch of character to society is not necessarily expressed as being feral. It’s one of several options to portray the Outsider just like its one of several ways to portray the Transformed or Bull.

    Likewise Sousuke Sagara clearly has sophisticated skills being able to pilot (and program) mecha, use complex tactics, analyze battles and so on. But he is still feral in that his attentions and attitudes are primed for seeking out danger to himself or others. His reactions to daily situations range from disturbingly stone faced to violent overreaction and people not knowing where he gets it from wouldn’t be able to understand why. He could be done as a Bull or an Outsider (despite being an unpowered earth-born human) depending on whether he focused on his destructive potential or his mismatch with society.

  12. I would use the Bull for that.

    From the Upcoming Playbooks, you could probably use the Newborn for a Jungle Kid/Caveman brought to the present. That would be about learning how to behave in society and how to be a modern person. 

    There is one Playbook about a past hero coming to the present and seeing what they will become so while this is “coming from the past” it doesn’t really help you there.

    The Bull is probably your best choice. 

  13. I think I’m getting the gist. There are elements of the Bull, the Transformed, and the Outsider that come together to make the Feral type of character. I would recommend adding some moves to a playbook that emphasize what you’re going for rather than creating a new playbook. For example, the Bull can be Wolverine OR Colossus. The Outsider can be Miss Martian or someone form Atlantis or Gorilla City. It depends on how you emphasize the characters and the moves you take.

  14. Indeed. But coincidentally I did just finish a draft of a Playbook.

    General stuff:

    Abilities: choose two tags to describe what sort of predator you are: primal, ambush, adaptive, trap-making, eldritch, relentless, stalking, quick, powerful, skillful.

    Environment: choose one to describe your experience: child soldier, supernatural incident, lost in the wild, unethical experimentation/lab rat, cracks of the city, amnesia, Trapped in Mindscape, Future Apocalypse, Mental trauma. (Thinking of just leaving this to one of the backstory questions. There are so many interpretations)

    Labels: +1 Freak, +2 Danger, +1 Savior, -1 Superior, -1 Mundane

    When your team first came together it took some effort to act in sync. What did it take for you to cooperate smoothly the first time?

    You think _______ is either in danger or a danger. You haven’t figured out which.

    ______________ often corrects you on how to behave around people.

    Choose one:

    You behave in a curious and outgoing way that conceals your predatory nature. Give influence to two team members.

    You behave in a stand-offish or aggressive way that conceals your gentler nature. Give influence to nobody.

    Fitting in: choose three problems you have fitting in with people: language issues, emotional mismatch, paranoia, animalistic, tech confusion, blind to social cues, overprotective, no culture.

    If a non-combat situation occurs that hits one of these issues roll +Danger.

    On a 10+ choose 1: you make huge scene and embarrass or frighten a large number of people or someone very important. Give this group or person Influence; you want to leave the situation entirely either leave physically or shut down entirely for the duration of the scene; two options from 7-9 list.

    On 7-9 choose 1: you attract ridicule or anger from someone. Give them Influence; you are put off balance by the situation. Mark a condition; you offend someone you thought understood you. Lose influence over them.

    On a miss you handle the situation with minimal problems. Mark a potential and explain how you get past the issue.

    Choose three moves:

    Hunter’s Solace: you have access to a training ground, patch of wild, pocket dimension or other place where you can go and be yourself with no problem. Choose two positive aspects and two negative.

    Positive: secure, easy access, calming beauty, vent for frustrations, friendly residents, useful resources

    Negative: no security, difficult to access, difficult to leave, lose track of time, dangerous secrets, feeds your darker nature

    Clever Girl/Boy: In dangerous situations you can roll +Danger to Assess the situation instead of +Superior

    Primal Empathy: you have an instinct for when someone in your circle is out of sorts. If you have time to show a teammate you care in your own weird way, you can spend 1 Team to clear 1 condition from them.

    Watcher: as long as you have not been established to be somewhere else at the time, you can spend 1 Team when a team member is in danger to say that you were following them. Give them influence for following them. If any personal secrets were revealed before the danger you gain influence over them.

    Herding Tactics: when you successfully engage a threat you can choose to add 1 to Team as an option.

    For the Pack: at the start of a battle you can suffer 1 condition to prevent the removal of 1Team as if you were the leader. If you were already the leader you can choose a -1 ongoing for the scene rather than take a condition to prevent the removal of 1 Team.

    Advances

    Feral move

    Feral move

    Other Playbook

    Other Playbook

    Permanently lose influence +1 label

    Rearrange labels +1 label

    Unlock moment of truth

    Remove a fitting in problem

    —–

    Create second character

    Unlock moment of truth

    Change Playbooks

    Adult move

    Adult move

    Lock label. +1 label

    Retire/become paragon

    Moment of truth. (Summary – my laptop just went to sleep and I’m on the phone). Your instincts overlap exactly with the situation. You know exactly what needs to be done and can solve a problem without hesitation. If only the actions involved were always an appropriate solution.

    Team move.

    Celebration – let your emotions out in some primal way. If the other person rolls with it clear a condition. If they react in confusion or otherwise poorly have them choose Danger or Freak that label goes up and another label goes down.

    Vulnerability. Show submission somehow. If the other person treats you as an equal, mark potential. If they treat you like a subordinate clear a condition. Either way add 1 Team.

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