Stat Changes to the Bastet

By Ron Cusumano (ron_pt@juno.com)

Author's Notes

I feel that the Bastet sourcebook was a great example of what a source book should be. It was filled with a fulfilling variety of new character types painted within the type of compelling and expansive mythology that made White Wolf burn up the fantasy role playing market. However, I feel that changes are desperately needed to the shapeshifting stats. I made these changes for three reasons. First, there is no real reason to give every Bastet tribe their own shapechanging stats, thereby making the game mechanics more complicated then they need to be. Second, the stat changes in the book were distributed in a way that did not follow the type of tribes presented. For example, a Khan/weretiger (the main warriors of the Bastet) should not receive less physical change bonuses then the Pumonca/werecougers. Third, the smaller cat tribe receive so few physical change bonuses, that it isn't worth changing. Why should they be left out of the battle fest?

In the spirit of simplicity and equality, I made the stat changes for the Sokto, Crinos and Chatro forms the same. The stat changes for the feline forms are different and based on the size of the cat. Lions, tigers and jaguars count as large cats. Panthers/leopards and cougars count as medium cats. Lynxes and the cats that the Ceilian and Bubasti came from are small cats. Cheetahs get their own stats. I also feel that the Ajaba should use the same shapeshifting stats as the Garou to play up their alienation from the other Bastet and hyenas are very dog-like.

Sokto, Crinos and Chatro

	Sokto	Crinos	Chatro
Strength	+1	+3	+3
Dexterity	+1	+2	+3
Stamina	+2	+3	+2
Manipulation	-1	-3	-3
Appearance	-1	0	0

Feline

	Large	Medium	Small	Cheetah
Strength	+2	+1	+1
Dexterity	+1	+2	+2	+4
Stamina	+2	+2	+1
Manipulation	-3	-3	-1	-3