Systems
Atavisms are not magic spells. They are inherent abilities and require little to no conscious effort on the part of the Beast who possesses them. Their effects are straightforward, physical, and typically confined to the Beast herself. A dragon can breathe fire, for example, but has no control whatsoever over existing flames.
A handful of Atavisms, such as Shadowed Soul or Storm Lashed, draw down aspects of the Beast’s Lair and project them onto her environment. They create a temporary convergence between the mundane and the nightmarish landscape of the Primordial Dream, similar to imposing the Environmental Tilts of her Lair Traits, but with augmented or unusual effects and greater control over how those forces play out.
The one thing Atavisms cannot do is directly control someone’s mind. A Beast can leverage heart-stopping beauty (Alien Allure) or prey upon victims’ natural curiosity (Siren’s Treacherous Song), but she cannot control what they think. Hence, resistance rolls — including supernatural resistance — rarely apply. Direct emotional and mental influence is the realm of Nightmares, not Atavisms.
Many Atavisms resemble Merits in that they have persistent effects that need not be activated, such as modifying other actions or dice pools, or they confer abilities that are available at no cost, such as a special attack form. Dice rolls are rarely required. When they are, they are usually reflexive and folded into another action such an attack. An Atavism’s dice pool always consists of an Attribute plus a Skill.
Atavisms have three levels of effect, depending on the Beast’s Satiety:
• Normal Effect: This is the Atavism’s default effect and is available whenever the Beast’s Satiety is 4 dots or higher. Normal effects never cost Willpower or other resources to use. Such an effect may be overtly supernatural, like superhuman speed or blasts of wind, but the Beast still looks human while doing so.
• Low Satiety Effect: The Atavism has a modified effect when the Beast’s Satiety drops to 3 dots or less. This is often an enhanced version of the normal effect, such as extra damage or an increased bonus, and gives the Beast an edge when her back is up against the wall. However, it may come with risks as Hunger increasingly sways her behavior.
• Satiety Expenditure: The Beast unleashes a powerful effect by spending a dot of Satiety. Doing so is a reflexive action unless otherwise specified. These effects are often dramatic and obviously supernatural as the Primordial Dream overrides the material world, threatening panic.
Different levels of effect are cumulative as long as the Beast meets the requirements for each. The Beast could combine the normal and Satiety expenditure effects, for example, or the low Satiety and Satiety expenditure effects if spending the dot of Satiety would reduce his current rating to 3 or less. This is particularly true when the Satiety expenditure effect is an enhanced version of the normal effect and not a separate ability. Each Atavism’s description states whether effects can be combined this way.
Lair Resonance
Atavisms are easier to use in locations that resonate in some way with the Beast’s Lair. For example, a dragon whose Lair is a fiery volcano, with the Extreme Heat Trait, finds her Atavisms come more naturally inside a burning building or in the middle of a desert wasteland. Canny Beasts use this to their advantage whenever possible, fighting on their own turf or in environments manipulated either by mundane means, other Atavisms, or directly imposing Trait Tilts on the area (see p. 101).
When an area resonates with a Beast’s Lair (including when the Beast has merged with her Horror), the Beast’s Atavisms are more dangerous. She can use the Satiety expenditure aspect of her Atavisms by spending a point of Willpower, rather than Satiety. She can do this once per scene per dot of Lair.