Introduction; Hey! My name is Chapstxcks and I have been playing Werebeasts since just about when they came out. But steadily playing a Werebeast for nearly three months now, and a greater Werebeast for about just as long. Through my time in the community I’ve heard and seen a lot of conflicting things from the player base on how to portray a Werebeast’s mentality. So, in hopes to remedy any misconceptions and further explain away confusion I’ve created this guide! This guide will explain more in-depth the various mental traits and what they further mean for you and your character, along with random other bits of information and clarification thrown in. This guide is created based off of tickets I’ve made along with the base lore. I try to personally speculate as little as possible, though of course there will be some. So, let’s start with overall mentality; Werebeasts have a constant hunger for Soul Essence, and a desire to drain non-Werebeast. This hunger can become so great that they will involuntarily transform into their Soul-Hunger form. Additionally, if a large amount of Soul Essence is used or discharged near them (essentially any Soul Essence-using ability) they automatically go into Soul-Hunger form and thirst for Soul Essence. Due to the strength of this desire and the overwhelming nature of the Werebeast affliction the character’s hunger for Soul-Essence overrides their usual morals. Isldar Racial Spells, Qadir Soul Shot, activated White Core Clockwork, and the 8th Soul Dragon Ritualism ability all force a Werebeast to shift. While shifted, even when forced into such, you remain fully functional and you do not fall victim to any more of an animalistic mind than you did previously. A shift is simply that, a shift, not becoming an actual animal. (Though personal flavor is entirely allowed if you wish to portray more animal-like habits). If you drain from only animals you will turn feral. While there is no well defined meaning of this word in lore you have limited functions, and act purely on instinct. You no longer have the mental capacity for smart decision making or risk assessment. You simply act on what you think. Love and friendship changes from something unconditional and protective into something more possessive and objective. A Werebeast can still love a non-Werebeast, but their love takes a different tone of a jealous, "You are my property" attitude. Similarly, in friendships, Werebeasts become exclusively taking as opposed to giving or taking. A Werebeast might still go drinking with their friends, but insist that one of their friends pay for them, as that is the price of friendship with them. They might also attempt to convert their friends and family into being a Werebeast so that they might enjoy the gift with them. This point is rather well worded though I’ve been asked to delve in a bit either way! Essentially you lose your sense of ‘love’. You would no longer go, ‘I protect you because I love you’ in your mind. Instead, it would be ‘I protect you because you’re mine’. They grow possessive, and likely more of a cage than a lover. Werebeasts consider themselves superior due to their gift, even if prior to the infection they saw Werebeasts as equal or lesser. Make sure to factor this into interactions. When spreading the infection they do not see it as wrong, even if they are forcing the infection on an unwilling person. They see it as passing on the gift. Though, they may still feel guilt if the person is someone they cared for and they got hurt in the process. Obsession with hedonism and the ambition to live life the way they want it without any regard for other people, their emotions, or their well being. Werebeasts hold no respect for religion, family, state or culture, instead developing their own Werebeast codes and societies. This is not barring you from interacting and following cultures. But, you will no longer have the appreciation for culture as you did before. You can still enjoy holidays, though for the festivities instead of the religious or cultural meaning. You can still adhere to a culture’s dress code, though for the simple fact of wearing clothes instead of tradition. So on and so forth. Werebeasts are more inclined to break the law or go against the social norm due to their lack of respect for such things. This further works to obscure their sense of right and wrong. Werebeasts are not concerned for the safety or well-being of mundane individuals unless they are attached to them in some manner. Simply put, a Werebeast could kill a stranger and not think about it again. The exception to the religion point is for Uthurenn, who have developed a respect for older religions such as the Pagan faiths. While it is mentioned that the Velheim “borderline-worship the physical changes” of Ursarr this is not a claim to religious sanctity, nor is the act returned. Werebeasts after infection develop a pack mentality, and sometimes even incorporate animalistic behaviors while hunting, such as erratic body movements and head gestures, claw scraping, sniffing, growling and stalking. While you adapt various animal-like behaviors you do not lose any humanity/sanity. You remain fully functional and have full capacity as you would as a mundane. Refer to later on the page where individual Soul-Line mentality is looked into for explanations on pack mentality. Werebeasts are fully incapable of casting any forms of magic, including sorcery, unless a specific mutation allows it. Sorcerers lose access to their Sorcery Abilities upon infection, while Mages cannot be infected This is self explanatory and requires no further explanation. Werebeasts absolutely despise Vampires and cannot stand to be in their presence. They automatically believe these creatures to be corruptive leeches that should be eradicated from the world, and have a strong natural inclination to make them suffer, or to fight them into submission and chase them out as revenge for years of enslavement. There is no reason that a Werebeast should get along with a Sanguine. You should torment them, attack them, torture them, or any other cruel act but you should never attempt to befriend them. Wanting to work with Sanguine to ‘manipulate’ them doesn’t work either, as their presence alone is unbearable. Manipulating a Sanguine would require prolonged exposure around said Sanguine, which just wouldn’t be achievable. I’ve seen many ‘what if's and ‘what about’s from people trying to make Vampire x Werebeast rp a thing. Simply put, don’t. The two are sworn enemies with ingrained mentality, stop trying to fight this. With the overall Werebeast mentality out of the way we’ll now look into the individual Soul-Lines; Ursarr An Ursarr does not share the standard pack mentality bestowed upon Werebeasts. Instead they will isolate themselves and at most work around a singular Raprann, likely thanks to their knowledge. Their lack of pack mentality goes far enough to dislike even family members and children. As the Ursarr are created by the Arken of Revenge they have a more hostile outlook on life. Their hatred for Sanguine could be considered stronger than the other Soul-Lines, and they’ve even developed a hatred for Ailor due to their involvement in the killing of Werebeasts. Ursarr are very full of themselves and often times want other people to hear about their accomplishments. They value themselves over others and consider other people with far less value. Ursarr consider being a Werebeast as a blessing to the point where they will only infect those they consider worthy, instead of infecting simply to spread the infection. Ursarr tend to stick to lowly populated areas. Raprann Raprann seek out packs and other Werebeasts to be around due to having a pack mentality. Raprann do not enjoy the presence of other Raprann and should 2 be in a pack they are likely to create a toxic dynamic where each one tries to prove to the pack that they are the better and the other is unneeded and should be removed. Raprann are very vain and self-caring. While they do not brag or gloat like the Ursarr they do become obsessed with looking nice for the public eye and their own. Raprann consider other Soul-Lines as barbaric, and raise themselves on a moral pedestal due to their role in helping other Werebeasts escape from captivity. Raprann think of themselves as a weapon against Sanguine thanks to their knowledge, which they often seek out in large cities. Talanark Talanark fully embrace the pack mentality and look for all Werebeasts to join their pack, though they specifically will seek out Raprann. Talanark are prideful and arrogant, seeing themselves as the true leaders of Werebeasts, as that’s what the Arkens created them for. They refuse to follow the command of other Werebeasts and prefer to lead themselves, going so far as to even seek out powerful positions in mundane society to attain authority. Scorrico Scorrico have a pack mentality though only for other Scorrico. In their minds they consider themselves an entirely different race than other Werebeasts, and hold no connection to them. Scorrico hold a hatred for Raprann, considering them their enemy. Scorrico are prone to develop physical and possibly even mental quirks. Certain actions can become repetitive, obsessive. One of these quirks that most Scorrico have is their agoraphobia. Scorrico are often in their own little communities, hidden away in caves and swamps. Uthurenn Uthurenn have the strongest sense of pack mentality, generally creating the strongest and most loyal packs. Uthurenn can get along with all other Soul-Lines, though have an inclination to bond with their own kind, usually always following one of their own, a Manebeast, or a Talanark. Uthurenn become very excitable and energetic easily, being playful in nature with one another. Uthurenn naturally are comfortable around one another and are eager to bond. Uthurenn have the unique mentality of not wanting to fight one another. Even if two Uthurenn are meant to face off on opposing sides of a battlefield they oftentimes won’t and will seek other resolutions. Uthurenn also possess the capability to respect and pay attention to the older Pagan religions, instead of outright ignoring them as other Soul-Lines do. Uthurenn create internal pack structures, both as a way to organize things but also for competition between Uthurenn to raise up. Capradeim Capradeim do not make use of a pack mentality, and further dislike everything and everyone, including other Werebeasts. This is not a hatred, but an inclination to distance or dissociate themselves from others. Capradeim develop a kleptomaniac personality for bones specifically, desiring to collect bones, no matter if it means digging up graves or wandering in the wilderness. Capradeim are less controlled, being violent and dangerous while interacting with non-Werebeasts. They are more likely to attack others out of self preservation than other Soul-Lines would. Silver Skinwalker Silver Skinwalker mentality is fully explained on the wiki in an easy to understand manner! But no, you may not have Werebeast x Sanguine rp either. Well, there we have it. My guide to Werebeast mentality! Thank you to the players and staff who gave me the information to put this together, and thank you to the Lore Staff team for creating enjoyable lore that has sparked much roleplay and much more to come. Spoiler: Disclaimer The descriptions of the individual Soul-Lines are generalized to offer an understanding of the Soul-Lines as a whole. I can not account for how every played Werebeast acts or interacts, so please do not come at me with "Well I don't do that, so its wrong". Additionally, I am not Lore Staff nor do I claim to be. Lore in general, including Werebeast, is constantly changing and this page could be invalid in a matter of days, or stay relevant for months. I am also liable for making errors, as I do not have the same mind as Lore staff. This guide is simply the best I could do as a player who has made countless tickets on the matter, read over the Werebeast page time and time again, spoken with various other Werebeast players, as well as having had interacted with the Werebeast community for months.
After having now read through my guide I offer a prompt to be answered in the replies! What would YOU want to be seen changed about Werebeast mentality to make the lore and affliction more appealing? I am not asking you to discuss changes to mutations/abilities, Soul-Lines, or anything like that. I only want to hear what you would propose to staff if you got the chance to tweak Werebeast Mentality.
