Beast: the Ravaging – Officium

In Beast: the Ravaging, your beast may belong to an Officium.  Officia are the guilds of battle.  Each Officium is tasked with a role that enables the warmongering hordes of the Beasts to conquer their foes in battle.  From ranged archers to frontline defenders, each Officium dedicates itself to a specific style of combat.  In every horde. each Officium is led by a Taskmaster, who directs the training and deployment of troops under his command.  The Taskmasters report to the Warlord of the horde, which is usually the biggest, meanest son of a beast around.

Membership in an Officium grants access to the specialized Aptitudes of their role in battle.  These Aptitudes allow members to execute extraordinary powers that allows the invoking Beast to ravage his enemies on the field of battle.

Artillery

The Artillery of a horde may consist of boulder throwing Giants, Javelin wielding Kobolds, crossbow wielding goblins, or mix of Beast and ranged weapon.  The role of the Artillery is to pin down enemy units and destroy their vanguard before they can reach the front lines.

Beasts of the Artillery Officium are usually deployed behind Soldiers and Brutes and shower death and destruction upon the enemy.

Brute

The largest and most power specimens of Genos usually find their way to the Brute Officium.  Brutes excel in punishing the enemy with devastating attacks.  However, Brutes are often slow and are thus easy to strike themselves.  Even so, it is a long grind to bring down the hordes’ Brutes.

Beasts of the Brute Officium are usually deployed to shield the leaders, Controllers, and Artillery of the horde.

Controller

Beasts of the Controller Officium are master manipulators of the battlefield.  The method Controllers use to exert their influence over the battlefield may include casting spells or merely employing clever tactics to turn the terrain against the enemy.

Controllers are usually deployed behind front line combatants, but should the need arise, they have no qualms against entering the fray themselves.

Lurker

Lurkers strike from the darkness and quickly withdraw, eliminating the enemy’s commanding officers, controllers, and destroying their moral.  Most Lurkers are deadly assassins that keep to the shadows, however some from this Officium merely disguise themselves as unlikely opponents.

The Lurker Officum is the wildcard for the hordes.  They are deployed anywhere on the battlefield where their services would prove most effective.  This usually means behind enemy lines.

Skirmisher

Skimishers use their speed and maneuverability to flank the enemy.  They move in and out of the melee, distracting and harry their opponents where they are vulnerable.  Mobility is the strength of this Officium.

Skirmishers are deployed on the battlefield to work in concert with Brutes and Soldiers.  They attack once the enemy is engaged with the frontlines.

Soldier

The Beasts of the Soldier Officium are the mainstay of the hordes.  Soldiers make up the bulk of the horde’s fighting force and are usually first to engage the enemy, at least after the enemy has moved through the storm of death rained in by Artillery.

Soldiers are deployed so their numbers are concentrated in the front and center the horde, though tactical minded Warlords often hold large units of Soldiers in reserve to crush their opponents when the oppportunity arises.

Aptitudes

So what cool powers do the Officia have to offer?  Can you smash your enemies with a boulder?  Or cleave them with brute strength?  Well you’ll have to wait until the next installment of Beast: the Ravaging to see.

Listening to: Marilyn Manson – Eat Me, Drink Me – Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)

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