Unlike other Primals. First
People cannot choose their aspects freely.
They tend not to have the flashy, obvious powers and their Aspects are
not always as obvious as it might seem. Nonetheless,
the legends do tend to agree on certain points. The First People
As the collective belief of human worshippers changed the Old Gods everywhere, some of these elemental beings who descended from the Sephyr were changed more than others. Vastly different cultures across the globe viewed those responsible for the creation of the world differently.
The people populating ancient North America did not necessarily view the Titans as the creators of the world; most believed that the world simply was, had always been, and would always be. The powerful, primal beings that had helped shape it to its current form were viewed much the same. The First People were the antecedents of all human and animal life. Everything, therefore was related… any animal you might encounter was no more or less than a distant relative, all descended from the same roots. The First People were accorded great reverence and respect. Their favor could bring great fortune, and their wrath could bring disaster. They didn’t only live in temples and such, rather they wandered the world, enigmatic and often sly. Being collectively the progenitors of all races, they could wear any shape they liked… for example, any crow one encountered could very well have been one of the Crow People. And since they were rumored to sometimes spend entire lifetimes living as humans, anyone you might meet could have the Blood of the First People in their veins.
Unlike most of the ancient Titans, the First People never abandoned Earth for Netzach. They have been with us all along, mostly minding their own business. Unlike the gods that most Titans became, the First People don’t need to run the show. The world does as it does, and they follow suit. The way they see it, they’ve been here forever… they don’t need to be in any hurry to get anywhere.
The offspring of two of the First People will always be one of the First as well. If the parents are two different breeds, the child will be one or the other, never both. When one of the First mates with a normal human or an animal of the same type, then the offspring carries the Old Blood.
The Old Blood
The First People may be ancient, but they are still people, and still feel all the emotions that people feel. It is therefore no surprise that over millennia, they have produced many offspring by pairing with humans as well as with animals. Possessing the Blood of the First People had varying effects, according to how many generations removed from the source of Old Blood a person is.
Blooded humans are often Gifted. Even those who are not possess at least a rudimentary supernatural sense, and almost all are deeply creative, gravitating toward artistic pursuits. Wanderlust is often a factor in their blood as well. Animals with the Blood are unusually intelligent and dominant (a Blooded wolf will invariably be the alpha of their pack), and are nearly always filled with the wanderlust typical of the Blooded. As a result they generally do not take well to domestication unless their human companions also have the Blood, and even they will always seem half-wild.
Those with the Old Blood will often feel a strong kinship to each other, even if they never realize why. An untamable horse might consent to let a Blooded human ride it, for no apparent reason, or the meanest stray dog in the neighborhood may come to the defense of a bullied child. A chance meeting with a stranger you have nothing at all in common with develops into a lifelong friendship or a passionate romance… this kind of thing often happens when those with the Blood encounter each other.
First People Common Powers and
Vulnerabilities
Aspects
Unlike other Primals. First
People cannot choose their aspects freely.
They tend not to have the flashy, obvious powers and their Aspects are
not always as obvious as it might seem. Nonetheless,
the legends do tend to agree on certain points.
All First People have the Beast Aspect. They can choose among the numerous powers contained therein, but all automatically have the following: Animal Shape (1 specific species only) and Animal Speech (one specific species only, the same species their Animal Shape transforms them into). If they choose Animal Control, it will also only apply to that one species. Animal Speech, even the 2-point version, allows them to talk to all animals that have the Old Blood, even if it is a different species. Also, regardless of their Aspect, all First People have the following powers: Enter Dream Realms (Dreamer) and Unseen & Unknown (Thievery).
First People may choose additional Aspects appropriate to their animal affinity and the common associations thereof: Crow and Coyote People tend to have the Trickster Aspect, for example. Many Aspects are simply never seen in the First People, and many of them possess certain abilities typically tied to an Aspect while having none of the others, leaving them free to choose from the following powers in addition to those in the Beast Aspect:
Battle Rage
Discernment
Dreamer
Earth’s Bounty (with the exception of Tree Shape)
Fortune
Judgment
Love
Magic
Nimbleness
Psyche
Thievery
Vitality
Essence Manipulation and Recovery
The First People use Essence to activate their Aspects. This Essence is recovered at the rate of 2 points per Willpower level every minute. Inheritors can use as much Essence as they need, without the limitations normal humans have.
Rapid Healing
The First recover very rapidly from injury. Any Life or Endurance losses are regained at the rate 1 point per Willpower level every turn. If any limb is severed, it is regrown when Life Points are fully restored.
Resistances
First People need to eat, sleep and breathe, although their supernatural constitution allows them to do without far longer than normal humans. Narcotic and irritant poisons affect them, but cannot kill them. Corrosive poisons retain their full force. Disease affects them, but cannot kill them, unless the disease is supernatural in origin.
Restricted Supernatural Abilities
The First People cannot develop any other supernatural abilities not governed by their Primal powers. They may only learn Invocations if they have the Magic Aspect, although all First People can learn Ritual Magic.
First People receive +3 to any two Attributes of their choice, and +1 to a third. These bonuses may not be stacked.
The following formulae determine the Inheritor’s Secondary Attributes (Speed uses the normal formula):
Life Points: ((Strength + Constitution) x 5) + 40
Endurance Points: ((Constitution + Strength + Willpower) x 3) + 30
Essence: Sum of Attributes +30.
First People can sense large concentrations of Essence, and the presence of supernatural beings, by passing a Simple Perception Test.
Unaging
The First People do not grow old, although they can appear to be any age. They have been around for many thousands of years, and do not die unless killed and may therefore purchase Age as a separate Quality. Their great age is not always readily apparent as many First People are bound by their perceived role in the cosmology, and is therefore not a requirement. Some, especially Trickster types, act (and look) more like irresponsible teenagers than wise, millennia-old archetypical beings.
Special Shape Shifting Powers
While it is relatively uncommon for a First Person to have True Mimicry, they all have a limited ability to modify both their human and animal forms. While they are restricted to the a single species of animal, they can make changes to such details as size and coloration so long as the details remain consistent with animals of their species. They cannot change gender, although with some care they can alter their form enough to pose as the opposite gender. For example, a female Cardinal Person could turn her feathers bright red without actually changing her gender.
These kind of changes can also be applied to their human form. The general appearance can be changed, including hair and eye color, skin tone, even height and weight. Attributes do not change. The changes take only time and concentration, requiring the character to spend the better part of a day thinking about what they want their new appearance to be. When complete, the change will stick until they decide to change it again; each First Person has only one animal and one human form at a time. Another First Person or Blooded will be able to recognize them even after the change by a Difficult Perception check with a +2 bonus.
They can also mix their forms if it is desirable to do so; commonly this results in a humanoid body with an animal head. This can combine some of the animal form’s advantages (like Heightened Senses) with the bipedal form, but usually runs counter to the First Peoples’ general policy of keeping a low profile. When in the Dream Realms, the First often take such a form involuntarily.
To be one of the First People is a 30-Point Quality.
Old Blood Common Powers and Vulnerabilities
Those with the Blood of the First People are a kind of sub-variety of Inheritors, although how much of the First People’s abilities carry from one generation to the next is far less predictable. A large percentage of those with Old Blood are Gifted and even more are True Dreamers (see The Book of Hod), even if they show no other outward signs of their heritage. All of them have unusually strong Essence pools and an innate ability to sense the supernatural.
Humans with Old Blood receive a +3 to Willpower. Animals receive the same bonus, plus a boost to Intelligence, whatever is needed to bring them up to Intelligence 1 (Human).
The following formula determine the Inheritor’s Essence Attribute (All others use the standard formula):
Essence: Sum of Attributes +30.
People with Old Blood can sense large concentrations of Essence, and the presence of supernatural beings, by passing a Difficult Perception Test with a +2 bonus.
Old Blood Optional Powers
Bestial Powers
Old Blood offspring sometimes inherit their ancestors’ dual nature. This gives such a character the option to purchase the Primal Powers of Animal Control, Animal Shape, and Animal Speech. Like the First People, their powers are limited to a single species. Sometimes, when the Old Blood comes from two different breeds, the character may display traits of both, but the Bestial powers much be purchased twice to reflect this.
Like their First People forebears, the Blooded can use Animal Speech to communicate with any Blooded animal, regardless of its species, but they cannot use the Special Shape Shifting Powers to which the First People have access (see above).
Unseen and Unknown
Many of those with the Old Blood inherit their forebears’ ability to hide in plain sight by keeping quiet and minding their own business. This is the most common optional power for the Blooded to display, but it cannot always fool the First People. One of the First will spot a character hidden in this way if they pass a Difficult Perception Test. This is the same as the Primal Power found in the Thievery Aspect.
Enter Dream Realms
This is the same as the Primal Power found in the Dreamer Aspect.
To possess the Old Blood with no optional powers is a 10-point Quality. Optional powers are priced as per the Armageddon core book.