Heart's Blood
As written, the Heart’s Blood background assumes lunars are idiots. Rather than the paltry handful of forms provided by the default rules, it is more likely that a lunar would spend a good portion of time after exalting eating everything in sight. These rules change the focus of Heart’s Blood to represent how much opportunity the lunar has had to consume new forms. This is assumed to be a function of how well-traveled the lunar was before the game begins.
For the purposes of this background, forms come in three varieties:
- Standard forms are mundane, generally non-threatening animals such as crows, mice, salmon, cows, etc. Standard size birds of prey (owls, hawks, eagles) are considered standard forms.
- Premiere forms are animals that take skill to fight. This includes most predators, sharks, large herbivores with good defenses or aggressive natures (e.g. mammoths, bears, boar, etc.)
- Exotic forms include extremely powerful animals, such as tyrant lizards, hybroc, river dragons, etc. Humans are considered exotic forms. Extremely rare animals may be also considered exotic.
Each level of Heart’s Blood allows the lunar to take the form of certain numbers of each of these three varieties, constrained by those available in a certain geographic area (see below). Creation is divided into several regions, with each level of Heart’s Bood increasing the number of regions the lunar has hunted. When a lunar has hunted more than one region, it is assumed the regions are contiguous unless the player can come up with a good story to explain why it is otherwise.
Specific forms can be bought from “out of region” by “trading” in-region forms. You may “combine” forms into greater forms or “split” forms into multiple lesser forms by using any of the following conversions in either direction:
| 1 in-region premiere | = | 1 out of region standard |
| 2 in-region premiere | = | 1 out of region premiere |
| 1 in-region exotic | = | 4 in-region premieres |
| 1 in-region exotic | = | 2 out of region premiere |
| 3 in-region exotics | = | 1 out of region exotic |
Note that the storyteller has the final say on converting between types. Use common sense here. Storytellers may also want to use Intelligence + Survival (or similar) tests for Lunars to remember forms they have not used in a while.
| x | You have not bothered to hunt at all, knowing only your totem animal. |
| • | A hunter of opportunity, you know any standard forms you care to know in your home region. |
| •• | You have spent significant effort in gaining new forms and have not been afraid to hunt more dangerous prey. You know any standard forms you care to know from your home region and two bordering regions. You also know five premiere forms from your home region. |
| ••• | You are a master hunter in your domain. You know any standard forms you care to know from your home region and three bordering regions. You know ten premiere forms from these four regions, as well as one exotic from your home region. |
| •••• | You have taken gathering new forms to obsessive levels. You know any standard forms you care to know from your home region and four bordering regions. You know twenty premiere forms and three exotic forms from these five regions. |
| ••••• | You have hunted the entirety of Creation. You know any standard or premiere form you care to know, as well as twelve exotic forms from any region. At this level, rules for trading forms (see above) and urban regions (see below) cannot be applied. |
The following lists the regions of Creation and a sample of the animals of each type found in that region. Each region is meant to indicate the wild areas within the geographical area. Lunars interested in city hunting must choose one or more Urban regions (see below).
North Central
Mountains and tundra.
Standard: Female elk, hare, rodent, mosquitoes, yeddim, snowy owl, fox
Premiere: Male elk, mammoth, polar bear, wolverine
Exotic: Sabre-toothed cat, human
Northeast
Coniferous forests and taiga.
Standard: Female elk, wild horse, rodent, snow monkey, lynx, wrens, duck, mountain goat, owl, falcon, eagle
Premiere: Male elk, snow leopard, mountain lion, wolf
Exotic: Stryx, human
Central East
Temperate forests and swamps
Standard: Weasel, horse, goat, deer, rodent, snake, thrush, woodpecker, badger, skunk, porcupine, beaver, bat, monkey, sloth, mospid, ration, raccoon, hummingbird, owl and other birds of prey
Premiere: Wolf, boar, alligator, leopard, tiger, bear
Exotic: Tyrant lizard, hybroc, human
Southeast
Savanna and rain forest.
Standard: Auroch, antelope, rodent, hyena, snake, gibbon, zebra, vulture, parrot, kangaroo, chameleon, frog, giraffe, gecko
Premiere: Lion, cheetah, panther, anaconda, elephant, gorilla, hippopotamus, giant wolf spider, rhinoceros
Exotic: Tyrant lizard, river dragon, human
South Central
Primarily desert, with small amounts of rocky hills and grasslands along the coast.
Standard: Camel, snake, lizard, armadillo, rodent, rabbit
Premiere: Austrech, sand swimmer
Exotic: Human
Southwest
Rocky desert moving to swamp on the coast.
Standard: Auroch, coyote, hares, rodents, heron, flamingo, pelican, dog, snake, manatee
Premiere: Crocodile, giant boa
Exotic: River dragon, human
Central West
Deep ocean and tropical island
Standard: Fish, fish, fish, mollusk, albatross, parrot, rodent, octopus, turtle, ray, urchin
Premiere: Shark, dolphin, whale
Exotic: Siaka, giant squid, human
Northwest
Cold arctic sea with rocky coastlines
Standard: Salmon, tuna, crab, lobster, seal, walrus, penguin, seagull, goat
Premiere: Shark, dolphin, whale, polar bear
Exotic: Siaka, human
Blessed Isle
Largely domesticated farmland
Standard: Cow, goat, sheep, llama, mountain goat, weasel, rodent, ration, swallow, bat, birds of prey
Premiere: Bull
Exotic: Human
Scavenger Lands
Grasslands, farmland and river valley
Standard: Horse, cow, goats, sheep, ferret, prairie dog, weasel, rodent, ration, swallow, bat, otter
Premiere: Bull, buffalo
Exotic: River dragon, human
Urban
Lunars who choose urban as a region have spent time hunting prey within a specific city. Lunars must select one urban region for each city in which they wish to hunt.
Standard: House cat, dog, pigeon, rat, monkey, snake
Premiere: Lunars choosing an urban as one of their regions may take human typical to the city as premiere forms.
Exotic: Humans atypical for the region