Advantages
This is a quick and simple guide to all the advantages in Beast, from both a player's viewpoint and then a ref's overview
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Physical
Double jointed (1 point) - You are very supple, you gain one additional point in the sub-domain agility, this may help you in many situations where flexibility is required.
For 1 point an extra point in a subdomain is not bad, a moderatly useful advantgage and very under-rated.
Eat food (1 point) - Okay so everyone can eat food but you can eat well ANY food and not suffer much of a drawback (except people staring at you and saying "How can you eat that?!")
This is the advantage which just rocks for only 1 point you can eat animal chow and not even blink, very useful.
Resist poison (2 point) - You have a slightly increased immunity to poison, you are not quite able to swallow raw nightshade but you don't suffer that many drawbacks from being poisoned.
Vastly depended on the setting, poison is very nasty so this is a good advantage to have if you know there will be poison in the game. Ref's loath this merit, but remeber it's not Stop poison, just resist.
High Endurance (3 point) - You have the physical capability to regain fatigue much quicker then most, just by sitting quietly you can regain almost all fatigue levels in minutes. To do this pass a mediate skill check or a Psi check to remove any fatigue you currently have.
What?! This is just fantastic! For a mere 3 points you have a good chance of recovering ALL fatigue. Ref's be very careful when allowing this, it is very good.
Huge size (3 point) - Stunt double for Frankenstien? You might have been in the past! You have an incredibly large bulk and have an additional point in the sub-domain Stamina. Additionally people tend to trust you more for some reason you also have an additional point in the sub-domain charisma.
Again for just 3 points this time an extra point in two sub-domains is well worth it. This you can however use to your advantage, because of the HUGE SIZE, it is hard to fit into small crawl spaces.
Mental
Common sense (1 point) - You have a large amount of practical, everyday, wisdom and are able to judge what will happen if you follow a path of action. This is in effect a way of figuring out if it would be "A good idea" to follow a specific action.
Personally I give this to all players for free, this advantage is basically the most useful in the whole game without any doubts.
Lightning Calculation (2 point) - Your brain is a mental calculator you can add, subtract multiple and divided incredibly quickly. (For role-playing purposes you can solve any simple sum instantly)
Mostly this is a roleplaying advantage, being able to solve a sum instantly is useful but in very limited situations
Concentration (3 point) - You can focus clearly on what is happening around you, when you would normally gain one focus you can instead gain two.
At first this sounds really great, it's not. Yes focus is good but as gaining focus is quite hard this is nothing fantastic.
Empathy (3 point) - You can feel emotions and how people will react to you, pass a Psi at +2 to "feel" how something will initially react to you. This will give you more then just their standard Reaction, telling you how exactly they feel about your presence.
Again mostly a roleplaying situational advantage, Empathy at least gives you a real proper advantage.
Photographic memory (3 point) - There is a strong chance that, no matter what, you can remember specific parts of information. To achieve this you must make both a Look and a Capacity check to recall EXACTLY what it was you saw.
Quite neat, enabling to remeber specific information often comes in very handy. From a ref viewpoint the look and capacity cheks should be made secretly, have a prepared sheet of what the player actually saw and what they think they saw if possible.
Quick Thinking (5 point) - You can change the action you wanted to do immediately before it happens. However you will receive a heavy penalty to your dice roll and check dice. (Ref's will probably not allow this to work all the time...)
Useless, completly and totally useless. Ref's tell your players not to take this advantage, it's completly and totally useless.
Psychological
Moral code (1 point) - You have a code that you follow and adhere to, this can be a annoyance during the fall but does allow you to start on one more focus then you normally would.
As well as a neat roleplaying aspect this does give you a point of focus for cheaper then normal so no complaints. It does however mean you have to come up with a moral code to follow...
Computer Aptitude (1 point) - You are able to "talk" to computers this gives you the aptitude of Computing for "free"
See Expert driver below.
Expert driver (1 point) - Maybe in a previous life you where an F1 racing driver but just now you find you are able to drive with expert skill. This gives you the aptitude of Driving for "free"
This with computer aptitude are great, effectivly 6 points (12 if you take both!) for the price of 1 (or 2) just great! Ref's you will have noticed this, it's fine to say no to either and force the player to spend the points.
True love (2 point) - Out there somewhere is someone you have loved (and maybe lost) but the fact they are waiting for you (you think) inspires you. You can never have more then 5 points in Urge.
A very dodgy merit, often your true love will be kidnapped and other such nasty things, the limit on Urge can come in handy but is not essential.
Adaptation (3 point) - You have a great force of will that enables you to accept any situation more freely then most would. In effect this allows you an additional point in the Spirit sub-domain and also gives you two points less then normal in acceptance.
Adaptation does give you a huge bonus from both the spirit sub-domain and the acceptance bonus, there is not much wrong with it. Ref's are advised to work out some reason why they are so adaptable.
Force of will (5 point) - There is a large amount of "sleeping" energy with you. Your spirit is almost unshakeable and given the time and focus or energy you can achieve almost anything. When you use a point of focus for energy you may subtract four to dice rolls.
Vaugly useful if you want to burn focus, which you don't. Force of will is not great.
Furry (6 point) - You are already at least part animal, or at least can imagine what it would be like. As a result you start with four less acceptance then normal but have a compus mentus rating of 2 at the beginning of the game.
This roleplaying advantage has a good reason for costing so much, it's seriously useful, the acceptance rating of four less is inconsequential, the fact you can understand and even accept your animal nature is. Ref's are warned this advantage is very potent.
Dedication (7 point) - If they need something done people will come to you for advice on how to get it done. You always know exactly how to work and what to do sometimes even how to talk to people. The dedication advantage results in no loss of Compus Mentus, no matter how far you fall.
Dedication should be enforced by ref's if you start messing up and saying the wrong thing you may lose this advantage, it's no loss of Compus Mentus is fairly usless as well.
Other
Ally (1 point) - Somewhere you are trusted by people, the ally advantage allows you to call in a small favour from your allies during the game. You may have to repay the favour at some time.
A good roleplaying item and additionally a handy cheap advantage, the ability to have the favour repaid counters abuse.
Contact/Influence (1 - 3 points) You have made friends in high places, you can call in on them for help during the game but as you do this your contact or influence diminishes.
Again a good roleplay item and also a handy advantage, with time and use the contact or influence will dimish.
Danger sense (2 point) - There is supposed to be a sixth sense, you may posses it. The danger sense advantage allows you to "feel" if something is wrong in the area.
Can be brilliant at times, annoying at other times. Generally as a ref I abuse this danger sense and have it like a magic ring, if you are in trouble you feel the intensity of that trouble, as mundane life is quite dangerous it's normal always intensity red.
Magical (3 point - 8 point) - Depending on the world you are in the magical ability enables you to use magical powers, how effective and powerful these are depends where you are.
Magic sucks, it's great if you want an advantage over everyone else but this can really spoil game play.
Star (3 point) - You are famous or maybe even infamous, people recognise you and it carries great weight. On the street many people that recognise you may bend over backwards to help you, as you fall your Star "influence" becomes weaker.
A dangerous merit, people will recognise you and even miss you if you vanish for even a short period, the ref will use this to it's full advantage.
Animal Empathy (4 point) - The exact same as empathy but with animals and you can also "tell" what the animal is currently feeling.
Again mainly a roleplaying thing, not greatly useful.
Pet (4 point) - You have a normal or a once fellow human as a companion during your fall they may be able to help you giving advice or even aid.
This merit was much mis-understood, you can have a pet without having the pet merit. Having the pet merit means your pet is semi-intelligent and will help you out, if you can communicate with your pet it will even give you advice.
Know Fallen (5 point) - You have fallen at least once before but you have eventually managed to crawl your way back to humanity. Those in the know will treat you better then usual and may even offer aid. Don't count on this however…
Eeesh, a deadly merit. If your ref offers it, refuse instantly. Very good as a story element and with not much of a advantage really...
Mentor (5 point) - You have an instructor to aid you and support you, they may also be falling or they may not (it is up to the REF.) but they will try and help you at almost all costs to themselves.
Like ally and contact/influence this roleplaying advantage is quite useful, having someone to turn to that is helping you is always good.
Supernatural charm (5 point) - You are protected from harm, perhaps you have been blessed or the devil looks after his own. The supernatural charm advantage allows you to ignore all triple six rolls.
Um, this is like good, if you ever roll three sixes you can reroll the dice.
Copurus Humanus (10 point) - You are blessed by someone or something to never lose sight of your true self, you can not have more then six points in any feature, additionally you can not have more then 3 points in fall.
A 10 point advantage?! Shame it's not that great, read it carefully. You are limited to no more then 6 points? That's rubbish! Six points is 60% on any feature. The 3 points in fall is also not tha great, accumulating 3 points of fall is a major task in itself.
Physical
Light Step (2 points) - You are extremly dainty on your feet, when sneaking you are very hard to notice and you gain 2 points in Agility to boot.
Good for thiefs and such, otherwise a pretty cheap and happy merit.
Night vision (2 points) - You can see in the dark to some degree, not very well and everything is black and white, but it sure beats tripping over the couch just watch out for that cat...
Pretty much pointless if you are going to be wondering around in the dark, buy a torch.
Thermal vision (3 points) - You have additional sensory input from _somewhere_ that enables you to see heat, this is in addition to your normal vision. No more tripping over the cat at night, just have to watch out for that couch...
Slightly more useful then night vision but again, just buy a torch or make one out of some sticks...
Kama Sutra Master (4 points) - Um, well you've read the book and written your own chapter on love, you gain 3 charisma, 3 appearance and 3 etiquette as well as 1 point in social however you do gain 2 points on the Urge tracker.
The 2 points on urge do counter the instant appeal of this, however for so many additional increases can you really say no?
Action Man [Or Women.] (5 point) - You are just always ready for adventure so much so that in addition to being extremely hard to surprise you have an extra Init (or initiative) score in combat. This also gives you a slight fatigue and fitness bonus as well as two other bonuses that the gamesmaster will assign.
... Well it's obviously not the best worked out advantage, the extra init score (how much extra init? Well 1/2 of thier current init works for me, this gives the character a silly initiative...) The "slight" (read as +1) bonus to fatigue and fitness is quite good, the two other bonuses (also of +1) can be abused by evil gamesmasters but hey, ALL THIS for only 5 points, why are you still considering this, why don't you have it already??
Dodger (5 points) - You are able to get out of the way of pretty much any object coming your way so much so that you gain an extra 1 point in Dexterity, 2 extra points in Dodge AND Dodge as an aptitude.
Well there's a lot of points going down there, worth considering if you are going to be involved in combat.
Pretty (6 points) - You are just slightly more attractive then Jo Public, somehow you always have one more Appearance then anyone you meet.
This is the most fantastically silly advantage, you always always better someone at Appearance, that means even if (somehow) someone with an appearance of 20 walks in (that's like completly perfect in everyway) you still look better then them.
Fast Healing (6 points) - Your bruises don't stay bruised, your cuts don't stay cut and broken bones heal in days rather then weeks. With this you can spend 1 focus to heal 1 physical damage, just like that.
A must for fighters and warriors, just keep track of your focus and it won't be a problem.
Action Hero! (10 points) - You can kick butt and chew bubble gum, even if you are out of both... Action hero enables you to effectivly "max out" Strenth, Stamina, Fitness, Wits, Spirit, Run, Jump, Dodge and Agility 5 (YES FIVE) times during a chronicle.
What?! Who let that in?!! Far far far too silly, five times during a chroncile you can have 9 sub-domains at 11. WHAT?!?!!
Mental
Awareness (3 point) - Not only are your perception sub-domain scores increased by 1 but you gain the talent "Scan" which enables you to spot things out of place at a quick glance.
For a extra point in a sub-domain and a free talent this is a quite neat cheap advantage, it also enable the Gamesmaster to provide a lot of small hints in the game.
Healer (4 points) - You have a grasp of primative medicine, you are able to ground herbs and apply various poulticies to help in recover. This gives you the "advanced" aptitiude (May subtract 1 from the dice total, may add 3 to the check digit) Healing.
At last! The actual ability to heal people!! Good for someone to have but not as good as doctor.
Fixit (4 points) - You are able to repair simple and complex machines in next to no time, in fact for game purposes to fix a simple machine, *foom* it's done and to fix a complex machine it only takes 30-(Intelligence+Agility) minutes!
Very useful, it's up to the gamesmaster on what a simple and complex machine is, it's worth noting that very complex machines (cars for example) can take several complex machines to fix (for example a normal car would consist of 3 complex machines)
Negotiator (4 points) - You are able to sit people down and get them talking, this increases your manipulation by 2 and gives you the aptitude Diplomacy.
Even with the aptitude it's not really worth it that much, there is better. Good if you want to be a diplomat however.
Pathfinder (4 points) - By looking at a map or area photograph you can mentally figure out the quickest or most direct route to any location, what's best is you know the exact route to get there.
A must for any explorer or anyone with the curiosty flaw.
Doctor (5 points) - You have a grasp of modern medicine, you are able to provide first aid. This gives you the "advanced" aptitiude (May subtract 1 from the dice total, may add 3 to the check digit) Healing.
A better version of healing in that you can also use hospital equipment, this also implies that you have a doctorate in medicine.
Educated (5 points) - You have attended a well respected educational establishment and as such have far more skills then the average person, you gain a additional aptitude, talent and two more abilities.
If you can take this and Action Hero! You are sorted, these free abilities are well worth the five points.
Swift learner (5 points) - When reading any book you can make a capacity check to assimilate that knowledge as a new Ability
Just make sure you can get a library card... Learning things as an Ability without having to spend lots of EXP is worth it.
Medic! (6 points) - You have a grasp of emergancy medicine, you are able to treat wounds on the spot and help out in all sorts of medical ways, this gives you the aptitude Medic which with a Wits roll can actually remove all physical damage from a person as long as this is done within the same round of combat.
Can and probably will save some characters from death, it's good and worth considering taking with Doctor.
Comprehension (6 point) - This awesome merit enables you to attempt any skill as if it was a talent, any skill at all. There is a slight problem with comprehension, whilst yes you can attempt to understand particle physics and Comprehend it, your understanding my not be complete. Knowledge doesn't imply understanding.
As mentioned this is an awesome merit, you can attempt ANYTHING without a modifier is a major deal. What the disclaimer is saying at the end is for Gamesmasters, yes you can certainly attempt to say deactivate a nuculear bomb it doesn't imply you know how you to do this again.
Other
Married (1 point)- You have a spouse, this is a combination of True Love and Ward really...
... ... ... Aren't True Love and Ward both flaws? Married can be taken for free if you clear it with the Gamesmaster first.
Mysterious stranger (4 points) - There is someone watching over you, sometimes they even show up but only when you really need them. This slightly odd advantage means that a stranger will show up during combat and help you out, then they vanish again. It is up to the GM who this stranger is, why they help you and most importantly when they show up.
Heh, this is a fun advantage to play around with it can quite easily form the backbone of a good adventure or five simply finding out about your mysterious stranger.
Presence (4 points) - People turn and look at you when you enter a room, you are larger then life. When first meeting people or when addressing a group your Charisma (almost) automatically stuns.
Not all that great unless you are a public speaker in which case it's a must.
Cult of Personality (5 point) - You may not be famous but people seem to flock to you like a beacon in the dark, exactly why people do and how long they may trust you is as yet, unknown…
This weird 5 point merit is great for roleplaying, it is of course however completly useless.
Karma Beacon (6 points) - Your Karma is unstoppable! You have a almost phyiscal presence that will knock down any dogma that dares get in your way. To all intents and purposes when talking to someone your Charisma and Manipulation (almost) automatically impress Additionally you gain -1 acceptance and -2 Balance but we don't know why...
The balance loss is not huge, um loss automatically passing charisma and manipulation is worth it again if you are a public speaker.
Here and Now (6 points) - You always seem to be in the right place at the
right time, so much so that if things are going badly wrong that once per
a chronicle you can either;
a) Tell the gamesmaster you need help "Here and Now" and help will arrive
in the next turn of combat or right away.
b) Tell the gamesmaster that you are "Here and Now" what? To be given a direct
hint of what you should do now. Sadly Here and Now is not culmative, use
it or lose it.
Here and now can be extremly useful if you are in a tough campaign, additionally it can be of great use to new players.
Champion (7 points) - You are a hero in the eyes of the people, you are trusted and liked by most (the folks that you killed to become a hero are obviously upset...)
By being named a champion you are pretty much above the law and so respected that you will never have to work again, except at being a hero of course...
Just a phase (10 points) - You aren't really falling, it's just a bad phase you are going through, you'll get better, some day. For just now enjoy the ride all the way and know that it won't last forever.
The whole point of the game being of course to avoid falling, this makes it a certaintity.