HBC
Hedge Beast Companions
HBCs are mundane animals with a minor cosmetic quirk of some kind.
Maybe their fur is made of shadows. Maybe they have feathers instead of scales. Maybe they're smaller or larger than a typical example of their mundane species would be. You will never see a cat with wings, or a dog with gills.
Some of them can talk like humans do. When they do, anyone can hear them, however, so be careful chatting around mortals!
They are never, however, strong and powerful beasts. If you wanted to have a wolf, it would be missing a leg, or would have some other handicap which kept it from being a fully competent fighter, for example. They are with you because they need protection and you can give it.
Check the section on AN p.132 for more details, but as a general guideline:
• Attributes 15 points total, Skills 18 points total, Merits up to five points, two dots of Contracts, Wyrd 1 •• Attributes 18 points total, Skills 21 points total, Merits up to seven points, four points of Contracts, Wyrd 2 ••• Attributes 21 points total, Skills 24 points total, Merits up to nine points, six points of Contracts, Wyrd 3
- HBCs must still meet all prerequisites for merits.
- HBCs may have any Universal or Seeming Contract.
- HBCs may NOT purchase any dots beyond the first in Court Contracts other than Entropy, which is open to everyone.
- HBCs may not have Potential at all, as Dawn's Contract is forbidden to anyone without Dawn Goodwill or Mantle.
- HBCs may not have Goblin Contracts.
