You are the Weird.
The Cryptid Domain allows you to play monstrous characters: the things that go bump in the night, the pair of eyes shining in the darkness, the beast in the stories that parents tell their children.
The monstrous, by their very existence, are a disruption to the status quo. They represent the Other, the Unknown that civilization easily interprets as threat. Are you among those who conceal their true nature at all cost, or those who embrace it?
Playing a monster
Players can swap one of their class’ two domains with the Cryptid domain to give it a supernatural twist, for example:
- Combining Cryptid with Grace for a Siren flavored Bard
- Combining Cryptid with Blade for a Lycan flavored Warrior
- Combining Cryptid with Dread for a Bogeyman flavored Warlock
- Combining Cryptid with Midnight for a Poltergeist flavored Rogue
- Combining Cryptid with Sage for a Banshee flavored Druid
The Masquerade
A monster only exists if something is there to fear it. The truth of your nature coming to light is not trivial. What happens when you let the mask slip?
The Cryptid Domain also includes a new Revealed condition, guiding Players and GMs through the themes that accompany monstrous characters. This condition represents the character leaning into (and exposing) their monstrous side. The player describes how this manifests, and how their appearance changes, if at all. At times, you choose to become Revealed to gain the upper hand. But occasionally, the GM may cause you to roll to resist becoming Revealed, when the situation calls for it, or when control slips away from you.
Transformations big and small
While the Cryptid Domain can work in tandem with the Transformation cards from the Hope & Fear expansion, it was envisioned as an alternative option for the players who want to play characters whose monstrous side is a core part of their identity.
The GM may also choose to use the Cryptid Domain cards as "mini transformation cards", handing them to a player to represent a worrying change within them, a boon awarded to them by a strange creature, or a curse progressing.
