Last updated: April 2023
All applicants are required to have a basic understanding of Werewolf the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition as well as the setting’s history before creating a character. Additionally, it is recommended to have read the Revised edition book for the tribe that you are applying as.
Note: there is no detailed +census tool or population metric available. When it comes to the five Auspices and the five core Tribes, the only request made of a player is to play the concept that they personally want to play. PCs are not responsible for maintaining the canonical balance of the Sept’s competing populations.
All Incentive XP awards are dependent on review of the final application.
Incentivized Concepts
Children of Gaia, Bone Gnawers, Glass Walkers, Uktena, and Black Furies are detailed extensively in the Sept’s History and Present Day. Click here to read more. Both the Glass Walkers and the Bone Gnawers possess significant, mutually hostile sub-factions in our narrative.. The Uktena maintain a population of roaming packs in the eastern half of Los Angeles County (off-grid). And the Black Furies and Children of Gaia largely arrive from the friendly sept to the north, connected via moon bridge, sharing a deep history with the Smiling Angel. These tribes enjoy the full support of their Tribal Totems and spirit broods, and have hundreds of supporting Kinfolk present in the background.
Homid Garou are the most common Breed in Los Angeles, accounting for over 90% of the population. This is owing to several factors; Los Angeles is an urban caern nearly a thousand miles from any wolf kinfolk, and it is dominated by Tribes who are known for having less brothers and sisters of the four-legged variety among their ranks than most.
Tier III Incentive XP is offered to any Homid character of these Tribes.
Uncommon Concepts
Metis are ‘uncommon’ solely because of their numbers; over 90% of the Sept’s population are Homid. Metis concepts are always welcome; however, only Metis of the Bone Gnawers, Glass Walkers, and Children of Gaia will receive Incentive XP.
Compared to other Septs, the Metis population in Los Angeles is numerous for several reasons. Los Angeles is dominated by Tribes that are culturally and canonically more receptive to Metis among their ranks than most; The Sept of the Smiling Angel is also chronically short of ‘wolfpower’ to deal with its many threats, such that almost any Garou, even the most blasphemously deformed Metis, could find themselves potentially welcomed as another body for the meatgrinder. However, Metis numbers are kept in check by the fact that many of them dislike urban hellholes for the same reason most all Garou do, and are often even more uncomfortable in human society than among the disdainful Garou they grew up with.
Silent Striders are often attracted by LA’s notorious shadowlands, haunted locations and modern cults of the dead where shrines to deceased celebrities and murder victims litter roadsides and cemeteries alike. However, they are subjected to the same wanderlust as the rest of their Tribe, and tend to not remain in one place for significant amounts of time.
The Fianna, Get of Fenris, and Shadow Lords have no significant or organized presence in Los Angeles in the present day, and are lacking in both Kinfolk and access to the spirit broods of their respective Tribal Totems. Concepts for these tribes undergo more scrutiny to ensure they fit within our game’s narrative, and require an understanding of their tribal theme to be approved. Contact a Director before applying as one of these tribes. There is no Incentive XP offered to characters of these Tribes. Characters of these Tribes have a minor increase in cost when purchasing Renown.
The Silver Fangs had a historical presence within Los Angeles (see +bbread 10/10 & 20/33) but their role has diminished almost entirely over the last 60 years. At present, NPCs are involved in the sphere’s metaplot and require careful integration to be considered. Contact a Director prior to creating a concept.
Compounding the issue, is that the Sept of the Smiling Angel, despite its optimistic sobriquet and more egalitarian views, is an increasingly violent and depressing destination dominated by territorial locals who are ever suspicious of ‘transplants’. The next closest caern via moon bridge to the north, is the far more pleasant Sept of the Western Eye, located to the north of San Francisco in the Muir Woods. The next closest caern by way of moon bridge to the south, is the extremely small and isolated Sept of the Roadrunner, located in the cartel-plagued desolation of the Sonoran Desert.
Discouraged Concepts
Red Talons, Wendigo, and Stargazers clash significantly with the setting of Liberation MUSH. Contact a Director prior to creating a concept; it would take an exceptional application and appropriate integration into the game’s theme in order to even be considered. It is strongly recommended to have a different character concept in mind. There is no Incentive XP offered to characters of these Tribes. Characters of these Tribes have a moderate increase in cost when purchasing Renown.
The populations of these Tribes are diminished severely even in their home septs; there is no presence of them in Los Angeles whatsoever. Their tribal philosophies are not only different to the Nation as a whole, but for one to even consider coming to this Urrah city would be extraordinary, let alone actually arriving and staying for any significant length of time.
Lupus characters require an extremely convincing application to play, and a higher standard of roleplay is expected from them; permission to play a Lupus may be retracted if the player is unable or unwilling to portray them in a thematically appropriate manner. Lupus characters should NOT focus on ideals like blending with or interacting in human society, and it is strongly recommended to read the Lupus chapter in W20 Changing Ways in its entirety (also recommended is Ways of the Wolf, the previous edition Lupus sourcebook). There are restrictions on Backgrounds, Skills, and Knowledges they can take in character generation, and are more scrutinized when it comes to attempts to raise them in play. There is no Incentive XP offered to Lupus characters.
Lupus are extremely rare to begin with, and are always transplants to the region. Every Lupus in Los Angeles is noteworthy enough, that all of them are well-known by the Sept (there are no background Lupus NPCs). More so than any other area, a Lupus is not able to pass as a dog in the streets, and even if they possess one of the few Gifts that allows them to, are often overwhelmed by all of their senses in an attempt to process the hive city.
Restricted Concepts
Cubs: All Garou player characters must have completed their Rite of Passage, attained the rank of Cliath, and possess enough of a foundational knowledge of Garou society—a basic understanding of Werewolf 20th and Liberation MUSH’s story—to be able to account for their own actions.
The City of Angels is no place for the uninitiated. On the frontline of the war against the Wyrm (and the Weaver), every Garou is a precious resource that should not be risked before their time. As such, many cubs are sent away to a more traditional (read as: safer) sept to learn the ways of the Garou; the Sept of the Western Eye north of San Francisco participates in a mutual exchange program, sending down their Rited warriors seeking renown in return.
Ronin: All Garou player characters must strive towards active membership within the Sept of the Smiling Angel—either as one who declares it home, or as a resident guest (Anruth) who aligns with the Sept—upon their arrival in Los Angeles.
A wolf who hunts alone is easy prey for the forces of the Wyrm. While there are roaming ‘gangs’ of Ronin that do not maintain ties with the sept, in areas such as Anaheim and Newport Beach (outside of our game’s grid), it is considered a fringe ideology and one that should not be emulated. For most who turn from the sept, only death awaits.
Nuwisha: Though there is the trope of a Nuwisha posing as a Ragabash within Garou social structures, it is a rare occurrence and never a long-lasting one (ie: suitable for a tabletop narrative with changing locales, but not a MUSH environment focused on one area). Nuwisha concepts will not be allowed to integrate with the Garou Sept, and will be based in attitudes similar to that of other Fera Breeds.