Giants are not the only ones renowned for their size. Dragons, rocs, and kraken are all orders of magnitude larger and stronger than any human being, the cube-square law be damned. Beasts with this Atavism need not be especially tall, though most are significantly above average, but they are always intimidating, inspiring dread disproportionate to their height.
People take notice of them and immediately stand aside. Dice Pool: N/A
Action: Reflexive
Normal Effect: The Beast’s actual height and weight are unchanged, but his effective Size is raised by (his Lair dots). Greater Size produces a commensurate increase in Health.
People instinctively react to the Beast’s effective Size instead of actual Size. A Beast with 2 dots of Lair registers as being Size 7, the same as a grizzly bear, so people immediately notice and cower he walks into a room. Demonstrating his real height only compounds the strangeness of the experience. Disquiet settles over those in the Beast’s shadow, granting him the rote quality on Intimidation rolls. Furthermore, the successful application of Hard Leverage opens one more Door than usual when using the Social maneuvering system, as people rightly fear his wrath.
Low Satiety: A hungry giant is a monster terrible to behold. He inspires fear in those around him, to the point that they quake at the thought of attacking him. Any opponent whose Size is less than the Beast’ effective Size (as indicated by the normal effect of this Atavism) suffers a penalty to all attacks against the character equal to half the Beast’s Lair, rounded up. This is in addition to the Beast’s Defense and any armor he might have.
Also, after any successful attack, the Beast’s player can choose to make a reflexive Presence + Intimidation roll (with the rote quality), contested by the target’s Resolve + Composure. If the Beast wins, the target gets the Beaten Down Tilt (p. 327).
Satiety Expenditure: Onlookers suffer vertigo as the Beast’s presence is dramatically amplified. When he stretches and stands up straight, he seems to tower over everyone even though his actual height remains unchanged. The Size bonus from the normal effect is doubled, meaning the player adds (Lair x 2) to the Beast’s effective Size.
Additionally, his greater height accommodates a longer stride, making the species factor for the Beast 15 rather than 5 (meaning Speed = Strength + Dexterity +15). Many dead Heroes made the mistake of assuming Giants are as slow as in stories, and thus assumed they could outrun an angry giant.