W20 - Changing Breeds.pdf

LOST BREEDSAS PLAYER CHARACTERSStorytellers can even allow players to createLost Breed characters, if it suits their game’s storyline.Such characters will be a challenge for anyplayer, especially if they are playing characters whohave spent hundreds — or even several thousands— of years in Umbral stasis. Imagine living in aworld not only before the Internet, automobiles,and telephones, but before the advent (for manycultures) of mathematics, literacy, science, or cities,and then reemerging into the modern day.Lost Breed characters cannot possess the KinfolkBackground; even if they were born to dilute bloodKinfolk, any actual Kinfolk culture would have diedout soon after the original Breed. As well, unlessthey are newly changed, modern characters, theyare unlikely to have high levels of modern Abilitieslike Drive, or Backgrounds related to connectionsto the modern world (such as Contacts).battle-ready warriors for Gaia’s cause, but could be anequally interesting path to explore.A third option — albeit one with more of the Weaver’staint — involves the recreation of a long-extinct speciesthrough scientific methods. Real-world scientists are attemptingto bring back a number of species, includingthe auroch. By using DNA from teeth and bones of theancient animals as a “map”, they hope to use selectivebreeding of the offshoot species to eventually “unevolve”the genetic line to its original state. With a little helpfrom the supernatural creatures available in the Worldof Darkness, such an experiment could surely be successful— and the long-term ramifications of the Weaverbringing back the Lost Breeds holds a whole range ofstory possibilities.Regardless of how they come back, the number of anyof these Breeds that survive should be relatively small;perhaps as small as a single new birth, but definitelyless than one hundred. However, especially in the daysbefore the Final Battles, the arrival of even a single newChanging Breed could make a significant difference inthe characters' efforts to save the world.CHAPTER FOUR: THE LOST BREEDS229