Guide
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Intro
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Homid
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Metis
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Lupus
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Ragabash
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Theurge
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Philodox
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Galliard
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Ahroun
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Black Furies
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Bone Gnawers
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Children of Gaia
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Fianna
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Glass Walkers
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Uktena
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Kinfolk
Renown, Ways & Gifts
Just as Garou learn to survive by watching the natural world, they learn supernatural strength from the spirits of the supernatural world.
- Every Garou has innate access to different Ways, depending on their Breed (e.g., Homid, Metis or Lupus), Auspice (e.g., Ragabash, Philodox, Ahroun, etc), and Tribe (e.g., Bone Gnawers, Glass Walkers, Uktena, etc).
- Every Breed, Auspice or Tribe has three different Ways associated with it, each of which are based on principles of Glory, Honor or Wisdom (as each interprets such concepts) and consisting of ten sequential, increasingly powerful Gifts. This means that every Garou will have access to nine possible Ways during chargen.
- Every Garou starts with three dots of Renown to be distributed among the Glory, Honor and Wisdom Traits. This is the threshold that separates a Cliath that has completed their Rite of Passage, from a Cub. They can put a dot in each Renown trait (e.g., Glory 1 | Honor 1 | Wisdom 1) or two dots in one (e.g., Glory 2 | Honor 1 | Wisdom 0) or three dots in one (e.g., Glory 3 | Honor 0 | Wisdom 0).
- The player should then pick one Way that corresponds to each dot of starting Renown, as shown below:
Breed | Ways |
Homid | Mark of the Wolf (Glory), Dominion of Man (Honor), Master of Fire (Wisdom) |
Metis | Primal Anger (Glory), Know Your Place (Honor), Form Mastery (Wisdom) |
Lupus | Eye of the Hunter (Glory), Pain of the Land (Honor), Trapper's Bane (Wisdom) |
Auspice | Ways |
Ragabash | Pathfinder (Glory), Weakest Link (Honor), Liar's Face (Wisdom) |
Theurge | Spirit Knife (Glory), Blood Life (Honor), Spirit Speech (Wisdom) |
Philodox | Fangs of Judgment (Glory), Truth of Gaia (Honor), Moonlight's Reflection (Wisdom) |
Galliard | Wyld's Call (Glory), Echoed Accord (Honor), Firelight's Shadows (Wisdom) |
Ahroun | Spirit of the Fray (Glory), Grim Resolve (Honor), Empathy of Hatred (Wisdom) |
Tribe | Ways |
Black Furies | Bacchantes' Rage (Glory), Stoking the Soul's Fire (Honor), Wisdom of Athena (Wisdom) |
Bone Gnawers | Shadow of the Rat (Glory), Guise of the Hound (Honor), Another's Treasure (Wisdom) |
Children of Gaia | Unicorn's Arsenal (Glory), Higher Purpose (Honor), Peaceweaver (Wisdom) |
Fianna | Spear Dancing (Glory), Song of Battle (Honor), Fair Fortune (Wisdom) |
Glass Walkers | Hands of Thunder (Glory), Well-Oiled Running (Honor), Weaver's Eyes (Wisdom) |
Uktena | Patience of the Earth (Glory), Shadows at Dawn (Honor), Wisdom of the Ancients (Wisdom) |
- Every Way consists of one to ten levels of powers (or Gifts, as it were). You can only raise a Way to as high level as the Renown Trait that it is associated with. If you had Glory 3, for example, you could raise any Glory-based Way (Such as Guardian's Fortitude or Spirit Knife) to three.
- IC NOTE: The names of the Ways and of their constituent Gifts are there to streamline mechanical understanding. In-universe, every tribe (and often geographical regions) have their own take on such things. Rather than analyzed in conversation, much of a Garou's growth is reflected in their actions, and how their increasing attunement with the spirit world allows them to act in ways that others cannot. Gifts are a part of Garou, not a list of powers they keep track of and deploy like a Pokémon deck. No one in the Garou Nation talks about 'raising the Way of the Spirit Knife' to 3. It's there to help illustrate to players on a MUSH the kind of journey and the spirits or teachers one must seek out, when attempting to live by the tenets of Glory as the Auspice of Theurge understands it.
Example #1: Morena Moon is a Homid Uktena Theurge. For her first three Renown dots, she puts one in each Renown Trait (resulting in Glory 1|Honor 1|Wisdom 1). She could pick Mark of the Wolf (Glory) from the Homid Gift Paths, Wisdom of the Ancients (Wisdom) from the Uktena Gift Paths and Spirit Knife (Glory) from the Theurge Gift Paths. However, if she wanted, she could instead pick Spirit Knife (Glory), Hear the Silence (Honor) and Spirit Speech (Wisdom) all from the Theurge Gift Paths, etc.
Example #2: Morena Moon is a Homid Uktena Theurge, still. For her first three Renown dots, she puts all three in Wisdom (resulting in Glory 0 | Honor 0 | Wisdom 3). Since she only has Wisdom Renown, she could only choose from the Wisdom-based Ways. In the event, she puts all three dots into Spirit Speech, giving her Spirit Speech 3. She does this because the level three Gift for the Way of Spirit Speech is 'Mother's Touch', which she wants.
- Ways can be increased for a flat 7 freebies per level in CGEN. Renown Traits cannot be increased with freebies. They can be raised with experience, however.
- The first dot of a Renown Trait (such as buying Glory, Honor or Wisdom from 0 > 1 costs 10 XP in play. Every subsequent dot 2-10 costs (New Rating * 5). As such, raising Glory 1 > 2 would cost 10 XP, and raising Glory 2 > 3 would cost 15 XP and so on.
- Every newly purchased Renown dot brings with it a free increase in one of your innate Ways. It can raise any Way associated with that Renown Trait, although the most XP efficient choice would be to choose your highest Way in order to maximize the return on your investment.
- You can raise other Ways associated with that Renown for New Level * 3 XP, up to the level of your Renown Trait.
- Roleplaying-wise, increasing a Way involves tracking down various spirits (or seeking enlightenment/instruction from other werewolves), that can help you advance your understanding of your Gaia-destined role in Her service. There is a bit more of a focus on self-discovery and self-realization, vs bargaining for tricks. (And this is because a couple Directors can't run vision quests or Gift chiminage quests for 50+ people). At the same time, it's not necessarily handwaved. These increases won't be approved if it seems like a character has no interest in putting any thought towards how to evoke their character's evolution and growth as a Garou of their tribe and auspice.
Example #3: Continuing from Example #2, Morena Moon would need to pay 10 XP to raise her Glory Renown from 0 > 1, another 10 XP to raise her Glory Renown from 1 > 2, and then 15 XP to raise it from 2 > 3. She would receive a free increase to a Way for each purchase, so she ends up with Spirit Knife 3. This gives her a total Renown of (Glory 3 | Honor 0 | Wisdom 3) and both the Way of Spirit Speech and Spirit Knife at 3.
Example #4: Continuing from Example #3, Morena Moon notes that she has the Way of Spirit Knife 3. This is a Glory-based Way which gives her the powers (i.e., Gifts) of Spirit Knife, Airt Perception and Umbral Tether. Since she is a Homid, she also has innate access to Mark of the Wolf (Glory). She doesn't need to increase her Glory Renown to improve Mark of the Wolf, since it's at 0, and her Glory is already at three. She can simply pay 3 XP to raise Mark of the Wolf to 1, then 6 XP to raise Mark of the Wolf to 2, and then 9 XP to raise Mark of the Wolf to 3.
- In order to increase a Way that doesn't correspond to your Breed, Auspice or Tribe, you first require a Garou teacher, a month's time, and then pay New Rating * 5 XP.
- IC NOTE: Garou don't look around for other Garou, go up to them and say something like, 'Hey, teach me Luna's Armor. It's a really cool Gift!'. Instead, they notice what other Garou are capable of, and they seek to be mentored by them, to learn their secret ways and strive to conduct themselves similarly. There is always a subtle element of dishonor in this. What homid would want to emulate a metis? What Black Fury would want to approach the world like a Bone Gnawer? What Ahroun would focus more on learning what the spirits expect of a Theurge? There are of course, some tribal and cultural exceptions; the Uktena tribe for example, encourages their members to seek after mystical knowledge wherever it leads (and it usually leads to Spirit Speech). Similarly, there's very few Get Philodoxes or Galliards that would be faulted for seeking a mighty Ahroun's instruction. Regardless, keep in mind that you're not just asking for a shiny new power, but to incorporate some element of that Breed/Auspice/Tribe's philosophy into your life on a very real, spiritual level.
- Renown gets expensive at the higher end. Fortunately, you can qualify for Renown discounts by performing truly exceptional deeds.
Appendix
Homid Gifts involve humanity’s skills and abilities, not only as toolmakers and cultural beings, but also as conquerors of nature. Mankind’s struggle to dominate the natural world has given humans great control over their environment, but also alienated them from the world they live in, producing a disquiet of the soul. Because humans have become strangers to the world of spirit, many homid breed Gifts are taught by ancestors rather than by nature spirits.
Mark of the Wolf (glory)
Description: The werewolf marks those she comes in contact with, leaving them to carry the same aura of the predator the Garou does. This subtle curse can wreak havoc in a target’s private or professional life, and is a favorite of many homids looking to provoke discord in the ranks of the enemy.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: The Garou selects a target that has had some interaction with the Garou during the scene (even something as simple as light conversation in an elevator counts), then rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). The target inherits the Curse (see W20 Core p. 262) as though she had a Rage rating equal to that of the Garou for one day per success.
Description: Also known as “Climb Like an Ape” in non-Urrah septs. Humans are creatures of the city, raising their steel and glass nests high into the sky. This Gift allows a homid to easily scale the concrete canyons and navigate the tangled back alleys and rooftops of the urban landscape.
Often taught by: ancestor- and urban city-spirits.
System: The Garou spends a point of Rage. For the rest of the scene, the character may climb urban features at her full movement speed, and the difficulty of all Athletics rolls to navigate through cities (running down cluttered alleys, climbing the side of buildings, leaping from rooftop to rooftop) is reduced by two.
Description: Also known as "Beat of the Heart-Drum" among the Uktena and Wendigo tribes (and many other names besides). Humans are among the most successful hunters that have ever evolved - tracking and running down their prey and slaying it with fire-hardened spears for hundreds of thousands of years. With this Gift, the werewolf becomes an inescapable hunter, drawn ever onward by the beat of his prey’s heart until that heart grows still.
Often taught by: wild dog and ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou must have an object belonging to his target, a piece of the victim (a blood sample, a lock of hair), or must have tasted his quarry’s blood in the past. He then spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Perception + Survival (difficulty 7). The werewolf can hear his quarry’s heartbeat for one day per success, no matter how far away they may be. The beat grows louder as the werewolf draws near, making tracking effortless.
Description: Windows are the eyes of a city, everything recorded by the spirits in the panes of glass. For an urban hunter, this extra perspective can help her track prey or be aware of danger. The Garou using this Gift places her hand to one window of the building and communes with the building’s spirit to see everything its eyes can with perfect clarity.
This is an ancient Gift that has been around since human construction resulted in the first building spirits. However, it has been associated specifically with glass-spirits and glass windows since at least the early Renaissance.
Often taught by: glass-spirits.
System: The Garou spends 1 Gnosis point and rolls Perception + Streetwise vs a difficulty based on the size of the building (a typical suburban home would be 6...the Empire State Building would be 10).
Success enables the werewolf to either look into or out of each of the building's windows as if she were standing right there. In this way, she may quickly flicker her point of view through the structure's various windows until she finds what she seeks.
If this Gift should result in a further Perception + Alertness check, it will receive a bonus die for every success rolled on activating the Gift.
Description: Also known as "Hunter's Ascent" in non-Urrah septs. On occasion, a city wolf may find himself in a chase across the rooftops of his town (or the hills or rocky defiles of a more rural location). He may be pursuing a fleeing Wyrm-spirit or Black Spiral Dancer, or he might be running for his life from similar foes. Rooftop Sprint makes such a chase much more survivable — and even winnable — for the Garou who uses it. He becomes able to leap up and down several stories, and easily spring across open alleyways. The primary restriction on the character’s movement is that he cannot touch the ground (boulders, cars and fallen logs or street lamps are fine - soil and pavement is not), or the Gift’s effect ends at once.
Often taught by: mountain goat- and alley cat-spirits.
System: The Garou must spend a point of Rage and roll Dexterity + Athletics (difficulty 6). For every success achieved, the character can jump up or down one story (3 meters) or 3 meters horizontally, without danger or difficulty. Athletics rolls can improve jumping distances, just as always; the effects of those Athletics rolls just add to the result given by this Gift. The Gift’s effects last for one scene, or until the character touches the ground at street level — if the Garou touches pavement, grass, or anything else commonly considered “ground” he is considered to have touched ground, but if he leaps from car roof to car roof he should be okay.
Description: Rage burns in a werewolf’s eyes, striking fear into the hearts of mortals and animals, causing them to flee for their lives. Used against another werewolf, the target will freeze in place rather than run.
Often taught by: ram- and snake-spirits.
System: This Gift affects only one target at a time. The Garou rolls Charisma + Intimidation (difficulty 5 + the target’s Rank, if applicable). The victim flees for one turn per success, though he may spend a point of Willpower to resist the effects of the Gift for one turn. Should the werewolf roll five or more successes, the victim flees for the rest of the scene. Garou and other shapeshifters with Rage do not flee, but may not attack while the Gift is in use.
Description: The weapons of war recognize man as their master; as a result, they become reluctant to harm the homid.
Often taught by: Weaver-spirits.
System: The werewolf spends a Gnosis point. For the rest of the scene, the Garou gains three additional soak dice against all ranged weapons not made of silver.
Description: This Gift allows a werewolf to protect herself from spirits by performing a quick warding rite. The werewolf traces an invisible pictogram in the air that frightens and unnerves any nearby spirits, and which travels with the Garou for as long as it persists.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Rituals (difficulty 7). Spirits within 100 feet (30 m) of the character must subtract one from their dice pools for each success. Any spirit that comes within 50 feet (15 m) of the character (except a caern spirit or the character’s pack totem) loses one point from its Essence per turn for each success the werewolf rolled. This Gift lasts for one scene.
Description: The Garou is human plus — Human plus strength, agility and health. Human plus devoted, assured spirituality and meaning. Human plus animal instinct and lightning reflexes. Human plus righteous fury with which to meet the Apocalypse. He is as man, but greater. Every Garou radiates this to some extent, but this Gift warps that perception, changing the Garou from a figure to be avoided to one to be admired or adored.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: Once learned, this Gift’s effects are permanent. Humans dealing with the werewolf instinctively pick her out as more desirable, important, and interesting than those around her — regardless of the character’s capacity in such matters. The Curse (and its penalties) still applies, but rather than being instinctively feared as a predator, the werewolf becomes an intimidating figure of great presence.
Finally, the Garou may boost her Social Attributes by spending Gnosis. Each point spent raises one Social Attribute by one point for the rest of the scene. Social Attributes may be raised above 5 in this fashion.
Description: Myth and dream walk among the Garou. This Gift enables the loyal descendants of the ancestor-heroes to return them to the world.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou spends two permanent Gnosis points and prays to the greatest hero of their breed and tribe. The hero, if well pleased with the Garou’s prayer, manifests in the Garou’s own body. The Garou visibly transforms into the hero’s own self, retaining her own personality mixed with the memories and attributes of the hero.
Thus a Shadow Lord might manifest Ivan Tsarevitch, the Children of Gaia see the return of Lore-Speaker Gron, while the Get of Fenris transform into the great wolves of Norse myth. Only one Garou at a time may become any given hero, and this Gift can be invoked only once in a Garou’s lifetime. Indeed, many who invoke it do not survive doing so.
The powers of the hero are determined by the Storyteller, but should be suitable to the hero’s legendary self. Shu-Horus, for example, would be a great warrior, but would have no knowledge of electronics.
DOMINION OF MAN (honor)
Description: To creatures of the wild, man’s scent is death. To creatures of the city, it is authority, comfort, easy meals. This Gift allows a werewolf to enhance their human scent, infusing it with spiritual power.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The werewolf rolls Manipulation + Animal Ken (difficulty 5); if they achieve even a single success, then they incur the following effects for the rest of the scene: Non-supernatural wild animals lose two dice from their dice pools when interacting with the Garou, save when defending themselves or running away, and will be inclined to flee rather than attack if possible.
Domesticated animals recognize the werewolf as a friend, and even trained attack dogs will do no more than wag their tails at the character unless attacked first.
Description: This Gift imbues a homid’s words with intrinsic credibility and conviction, causing them to ring true to the ear and lay heavy on the heart.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou rolls Charisma + Subterfuge (difficulty 7). Success lowers the difficulty of all social rolls by one for the rest of the scene, and allows successful rolls to have uncommonly strong impact (such as changing long-held political views, or causing an addict to seriously reconsider the course of his life).
Description: A homid with this Gift can temporarily hide all signs of his rage, including the subtle, instinctual signs which often spook people. In this way, the Garou can occasionally move among them without being as hindered by the Curse. This Gift sees as much use in modern times as it did in the ancient past, where Garou were sometimes responsible for tribes (or neighborhoods) of humans.
Often taught by: raccoon- or chameleon-spirits.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). Only one success is required. The effect lasts for one scene. However, the Gift is canceled if the Garou spends any Rage points or shapeshifts.
Obviously, the sight of a Garou in Crinos form will still activate the Delirium in humans and likely prevent this Gift from ever working on them again. This Gift also doesn't make it anymore likely for a Garou to not gain Rage or resist frenzy. All it does is temporarily alleviate the Curse (which inflicts significant Social penalties on humans and wolves with lower Willpower than you have Rage). It does not make you safer to be around - that is an illusion.
Description: Humanity excels at making tiny differences into massive gulfs. This can be seen in racism, sexism, and homophobia. This Gift amplifies such (pre-existing) hatred and suspicion among a homid's enemies, weaponizing their own prejudices against the foolish, narrow-minded and the dishonorable. Note, it is seen as equally dishonorable to use this Gift to sow discord and division among the Garou Nation. Yet it does happen, and sadly enough, often to the benefit of the instigator.
Often taught by: dog and ancestor-spirits.
System: By spending one Gnosis point, and rolling Manipulation + Brawl, difficulty 7, the Garou can exacerbate divisions between individuals or groups. Note that the Gift cannot actually create anger and divisions; they must already exist to be exploited. If used on the theoretical “perfect family”, the Gift would fail.
Among humans, the Gift simply prevents any resolution of issues and difficulties, possibly breaking into violence. One success might cause targets to raise voices at one another, three would spell lawsuits, and five might bring them to blows. It is significantly affected by the intensity of the prior animosity.
Amongst Garou and other shapeshifters with Rage, however, the Gift is even more powerful. Every success on the initial roll adds one success on all Rage rolls the targets make throughout the scene. With such manipulation, it is doubtful that any peace can be made, and highly probable new troubles will emerge.
Description: Even the most callous of homids can sympathize with the Rage that moves their fellow Garou in the final days. This Gift allows the werewolf to lend a frenzying Garou the will to escape her Rage’s hold over her.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou spends a Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty 8). If successful, the Willpower point soothes a frenzying Garou within 30 feet (9 m), canceling the frenzy. By spending an additional point of Willpower, this Gift may affect non-Garou in a state of frenzy, such as other shapeshifters or vampires. It cannot be used while in Crinos or Hispo form.
Description: Being more than human, the homid can gather people quickly with a single command, bending them to a common task. She can rally a small army to hunt her enemies, preside over a heroic rescue effort during a crisis, or rouse a crowd to heckling a speaker.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The werewolf makes a short rallying cry, command, or speech to a group of non-supernatural humans, and then the Garou rolls Charisma + Leadership (difficulty 6). The group can range from a few people lingering on a street corner to an audience of up to several hundred; all they need is to hear her. Each success adds one die to all rolls the werewolf makes in that scene toward accomplishing one task with which the group could conceivably aid her. The difficulty of all these rolls is reduced by one if most of the group are Kinfolk. Individual characters with importance to the story may decline to help, at the Storyteller’s discretion, but even they feel the authority in the Garou’s directive.
Description: Pulling the mercurial tide of the target’s emotions to their lowest ebb, this Gift makes its target feel inexplicably depressed and withdrawn. The subject finds his emotions muted and concentration difficult.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou rolls Manipulation + Empathy against a difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower. If successful, that opponent will be unable to recover Rage for the duration of the scene, and all difficulties for extended actions increase by one. Moreover, the target becomes listless and generally less inclined to stir himself to pursue any action of dubious necessity, such as investigating strange noises.
Description: The war against the Wyrm isn’t always a matter of slashing claws and righteous fury — sometimes duplicity is required to position one's self to strike the final, telling blow. As such, an experienced werewolf can temporarily “restrain” her inner wolf and appear to be a normal human.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The werewolf spends one Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis (difficulty of her own Rage). Success causes the character to appear human to all mundane or supernatural scrutiny. The Gift nullifies the Curse and makes spending Rage, shapeshifting or frenzying impossible, locking her in homid form so long as its effects persist.
For as long as this Gift persists, no power can force her to reveal her true nature (as her true nature is human for all intents and purposes, for a brief while at least) and even silver will become soakable. She'll be equally undetectable as a lupine to any Weaver-tainted technomancer, as a Gaian warrior to the Black Spiral Dancers - for a little while, at least. Perhaps enough time to pull off some monkeywrenching operation.
The number of successes determines the Gift’s duration (roughly one success per hour). To “free the wolf” before that time elapses requires a full turn of concentration and another point of Gnosis.
Description: A werewolf with this Gift blends smoothly into any culture, no matter how strange or unfamiliar he might normally find it. He could slip among Bedouin nomads as if he were one of them, or he could shop in a Chinese market without anyone noticing that he doesn’t belong. The Gift doesn’t hide racial differences, but it does allow the werewolf to mimic the behaviors and mannerisms of a native. It also grants the ability to speak and understand the culture’s language, although this knowledge vanishes as the Gift ends.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou rolls Manipulation + Etiquette. If successful, the character interacts with members of another culture as if he were one of them. The difficulty depends on how alien the culture is. Another Garou sept would be 5, while a Black Spiral hive or foreign country could be as high as 9. The character suffers no Social penalties when interacting with members of the culture, although he will enjoy no special benefits either. The Gift lasts for one scene, plus one day per Willpower point spent when activating it.
Description: With this power, the Garou may walk among humans without accidentally evoking the Curse or the Delirium. This allows her to live among humans and maintain a family.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point to manifest the benefits of this Gift for one month's time.
master of fire (WISDOM)
Description: Fire-spirits were among the very first to make pacts with humanity, allowing men to warm themselves, drive off wild beasts, and clear the land. The cornerstones of civilization were laid in these simple acts, granting the spirits of flame much prestige. Homid Garou remember and continue to call upon these ancients pacts to protect themselves as the final fires of the Apocalypse loom.
Often taught by: ancestor- and fire-spirits.
System: The werewolf spends one Gnosis point. For the rest of the scene, fire inflicts bashing rather than aggravated damage to the Garou.
Description: Though many of Gaia’s children use tools, none have mastered them so thoroughly as humanity. The homid focuses this mastery into the tools she uses, causing their spirits to awaken and lend her aid.
Often taught by: ancestor- and man-made object spirits.
System: The werewolf spends a turn concentrating, and then the Garou rolls Wits + Crafts (difficulty 7). Each success reduces the difficulty by one on the next roll she makes for her character to employ a tool made by human hands. The purpose is irrelevant—this Gift is equally efficacious for attempts to repair an engine, drive a car or fire a gun.
Description: Garou are half wolf, and so runners after prey. But they are also half human, and thus toolmakers and tool users whose brains and hands enable them to control far more of the cosmos. This Gift allows the Garou to see how any tool fits into the greater “toolmaker puzzle”. It's also useful for getting a vague idea of what a talen or fetish might be capable of, preventing a possible catastrophic incident.
Often taught by: monkey-spirits.
System: The Garou holds a tool. She need not be in Homid form, but must be able to do what the Gift requires. She breathes carefully, asking Gaia’s will for the place of the tool; the werewolf rolls Intelligence + Primal-Urge. The Storyteller, based on the number of successes, will allow the Garou some insight into how the tool can be used to affect the web of life. Often in ways that are not obvious.
Note that the Garou doesn’t receive the answer to any one question other than “What can this object accomplish in the greater scheme of things?”. Regardless, this Gift is extraordinarily useful for gaining “hints” from the Storyteller as needed.
Description: Sometimes referred to as "Monkeywrench" by Urrah Garou. With a slight gesture, the werewolf unbalances the Wyld and Weaver energies within technological devices, either suffusing them with destructive chaos or amplifying their inherent stasis until they refuse to do anything at all. Computers crash, guns jam, cars stall, and even the simplest of shaped objects refuse to function.
Often taught by: gremlins (a Wyld-spirit that enjoys breaking things).
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point, rolls (Manipulation + Technology) and chooses the level of complexity she intends to jam. All technological devices (i.e. any devices shaped from fabricated materials like metal or plastic) of that complexity within 50 feet (15 m) cease to function for two turns per success. The devices remain unchanged, but inert — knives won’t cut, gunpowder won’t ignite, gears won’t turn, and so on. The difficulty of the roll is based on the following chart: (Computer – 4; Phone – 5; Automobile – 7; Gun – 8; Knife – 9)
Description: This Gift allows the user to read (but not write) any human language encountered, no matter how ancient or obscure. Galliards often use this Gift when translating ancient texts to revive old legends or compose new songs for moots.
Often taught by: ravens and ancestor-spirits.
System: After spending one Willpower point, the Garou rolls her Intelligence + Academics. The obscurity and relative age of the language determines the difficulty. A common modern language such as Spanish is difficulty 4. An ancient and obscure tongue, such as Etruscan, would be difficulty 10. The number of successes determines the character’s fluency with the language.
Description: The Garou can shape once-living (though not undead) material into something else instantly. Trees may become shelter, buck antlers spears, animal hides armor, and flowers sweet perfumes. The item will resemble the object from which it was created (e.g., the aforementioned spear will be made of antler, not wood).
Often taught by: Pattern Spiders.
System: The Garou rolls Manipulation + Crafts against a difficulty defined by the scope and complexity of the transformation (a broken tree limb into a spear would be difficulty 5, while a fallen tree into a canoe would be 8) and spends a Gnosis point. The transformation persists for one scene per success, or permanently with five or more successes. Expending an additional Gnosis point allows a created weapon to inflict aggravated damage for the remainder of the scene in which it is created.
Description: In the Digital Age of humanity, tiny spirits of information and knowledge spring into being every second, flitting between objects of curiosity and carrying with them the answers to all manner of questions. The homid can attune herself to these streams of consciousness, circumventing the need for books or special training during an investigation.
Often taught by: Pattern Spiders.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point. Once during the current scene, she may roll to perform research or an investigation as an instant action instead of an extended one, and without any forensic skills or tools, gleaning answers directly from the interconnectedness of the spirit world. The roll suffers no penalties if she has no dots in the required Ability.
She must begin with a general idea of her topic, and can only learn what she could have learned with an appropriate source of information. She could build a profile of a killer with just the corpse or murder weapon, but she still must know the basic facts of the murder and won’t learn the killer’s identity; likewise, she could research an ancient symbol without poring over dusty tomes, but she still must have seen the symbol in a relevant context and won’t automatically deduce its importance. Rolls of difficulty higher than 7 cannot be made with this Gift, as the information is too obscure.
Description: The werewolf wraps himself in a thick, opaque, chitinous sarcophagus, immobilizing himself but also becoming nearly impervious to harm. The cocoon provides immunity to fire, starvation, gas, high pressure, cold, and similar environmental hazards.
Often taught by: insect- and Weaver-spirits.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point. While the werewolf remains in the cocoon, any attack that strikes him must do damage at least equal to his Stamina + Rituals; the cocoon keeps him safe from any lesser amount of damage, but is destroyed if it’s pierced. The cocoon lasts for one day, but its duration may be extended by spending more Gnosis to renew it. The Garou may emerge from it at any time he chooses.
Description: This potent Gift immunizes a human from the Delirium for a scene. However, the human will forget much of what he knows if exposed to the Delirium at a later date.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou spends a Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Empathy. Only one success is needed.
Description: The Garou floods an individual with the knowledge of all her own limitations, making the victim aware of every flaw or failing and reminding her of all the wrongs she has committed or caused. The weight of this enlightenment can either change an individual for the better, or drive her into suicidal despair or murderous frenzy.
Few individuals survive the effect of this Gift unscathed. This Gift can sometimes bring an errant Garou back from the edge of corruption or cause an enemy of the Garou to be “born again.”
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The werewolf spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Intelligence + Empathy (difficulty of the victim’s Willpower). Success causes the victim to experience every negative aspect of her personality and past, including secret vices, shortcomings, failures and other similar faults.
The Storyteller should decide what ultimate effect the Gift produces in the victim – either a desire to reform her ways and correct her failings, an impulse to kill herself out of shame and despair or some course of action in between the two extremes. Once the victim has experienced the total effect of the Gift, the intense awareness begins to fade – but residual memories may plague the victim for a long time afterward.
The spirit world has never hesitated to provide its blessings to metis — in the eyes of the spirits, a metis is as true a Garou as any other. Metis Gifts tend to be an eclectic collection of pacts and powers. Constantly scorned by their brethren and denied pride of place, metis learn to make friends where they can and take what allies they can get.
Primal Anger (glory)
Description: The metis gives of herself to feed the Rage in her heart, burning away her very blood and muscle in the process. The spirits of ancient metis teach this Gift; few members of other breeds have endured enough shame and suffering to learn it.
Often taught by: ancient metis-spirits.
System: The metis may inflict a single level of aggravated damage on herself once per scene, and gain three points of Rage in exchange (even if doing so takes her beyond her permanent Rage rating).
Description: To those truly born Garou, Luna has granted the ability to sense a werewolf’s greatest weakness. This Gift allows the metis to detect the presence of silver - which helps to make them useful guardians for their septs.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: The metis rolls Perception + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). If successful, she can detect the presence of any silver within 100 yards. Three successes allow her to pinpoint the silver’s location.
Description: The metis takes hold of the hate in her soul and layers it into her words, scourging the spirits of those she addresses.
Often taught by: hate-spirits.
System: The metis spends one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Expression (difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower). If she succeeds, her opponent loses two Willpower points and two Rage points. This Gift may be used on an opponent only once per scene.
Description: Among the Garou, the metis are the ultimate underdogs, born to a stigma they never asked for. Reminders of this can fuel their Rage in battle.
Often taught by: ancient metis and lion-spirits.
System: The metis gains one dot of Strength for every die of wound penalties he suffers from. In addition, wound penalties do not affect his Strength score or damage pools (although they affect any Strength + Ability pools). Thus, a character at Wounded would lose two dice from most dice pools, but actually gain two dice to his Strength score.
If the character would ignore wound penalties (due to frenzy or Resist Pain), he does not gain the bonus Strength. This Gift is permanent once learned.
Description: Survival at any cost and victory at any price; these are the tenets that keep the Garou fighting in the face of overwhelming adversity, and the metis understands them well. He can pour his Rage into the single-minded pursuit of his goal, keeping himself going when many others would have fallen.
Often taught by: fury-spirits or servants of Boar.
System: When making a Rage roll to remain active after falling below Incapacitated, the metis may spend up to a number of Rage points equal to his Willpower. Each point spent adds one success to the roll’s result.
Description: The metis harnesses all of the shame, hate, and fury coiled in his heart and lashes out with it, destroying another. Bones snap, organs rupture, and cavities fill with blood as the metis’s Rage tears the target apart.
Often taught by: fury-spirits.
System: The metis spends one Rage point and rolls his current or permanent Rage rating (whichever is higher) against difficulty 5. A target within 100 yards takes one level of aggravated damage for each success. This Gift can be used safely only once per scene. Any additional uses inflict one level of unsoakable aggravated damage upon the metis.
Description: Metis often possess angry hearts, and in their own way, they have a keen understanding of Rage, no matter what their auspice. This Gift allows them to affect the Rage of other werewolves, causing their enemies to expend more of it than necessary.
Often taught by: wolverine and badger-spirits.
System: Spend a Gnosis point and roll Willpower, difficulty 7. Three successes are necessary, but if the roll is made, the target expends twice as many Rage points as he normally would. This Gift’s effects last for a day.
Description: With a snarl and a baleful stare, the werewolf ruins an opponent’s limb: bones twist, muscles wither, flesh desiccates. Creatures with regenerative capabilities will recover after one scene; all others are permanently crippled.
Often taught by: venomous spirits.
System: The metis spends a Gnosis point and rolls Willpower (difficulty equals the victim’s Stamina + 4). The victim adds two to the difficulties of all Dexterity rolls. If a leg is crippled, he can move at only half his normal speed.
Description: Metis struggle throughout their lives to find a place of dignity and respect amidst a minefield of horror and abuse. This Gift allows her to unleash her inner demons upon others, inflicting insanity and madness. The nature of the derangement inflicted varies from individual to individual, but is always severe, making it impossible for the victim to function normally.
Often taught by: Lunes, trickery- and madness-spirits.
System: The metis spends a Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty equal to the victim’s Willpower). The target immediately begins to suffer from a Derangement (see W20 Core p. 485).
The insanity lasts a number of days equal to the successes rolled. During this time, the metis can increase or decrease the severity of the madness, granting the victim lucidity and then driving him into psychosis. Even after the Gift has ended, the repercussions may haunt the victim for the rest of his life.
Description: Myth and dream walk among the Garou. This Gift enables the loyal descendants of the ancestor-heroes to return them to the world.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou spends two permanent Gnosis points and prays to the greatest hero of their breed and tribe. The hero, if well pleased with the Garou’s prayer, manifests in the Garou’s own body. The Garou visibly transforms into the hero’s own self, retaining her own personality mixed with the memories and attributes of the hero.
Thus a Shadow Lord might manifest Ivan Tsarevitch, the Children of Gaia see the return of Lore-Speaker Gron, while the Get of Fenris transform into the great wolves of Norse myth. Only one Garou at a time may become any given hero, and this Gift can be invoked only once in a Garou’s lifetime. Indeed, many who invoke it do not survive doing so.
The powers of the hero are determined by the Storyteller, but should be suitable to the hero’s legendary self. Shu-Horus, for example, would be a great warrior, but would have no knowledge of electronics.
KNOW YOUR PLACE (Honor)
Description: It is far more important for metis Garou than most other werewolves to know where they stand within a sept. This Gaia-given Gift is responsible for many metis find some modicum of acceptance (or at least a condescending tolerance) where otherwise they might have been cast out or worse. While it can make a metis more empathetic to the needs of those around them, it also enables a more cynical metis to better manipulate his septmates.
System: The metis spends one Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Empathy (difficulty 7). Success indicates that the Garou knows what the majority of those around them would like to see happen. If the metis were being pressed on which side to take during trial (or a gossip session), he might suss out what most of those there secretly desire; be it attack, mediation, harsh punishment or clemency. The more successes the character rolls, the better the metis understands his septmate's desires, even if they would rather keep their desires secret.
There are three important caveats: 1) This Gift only works upon the Garou and Kinfolk of one's own sept; 2) it doesn't specify who exactly wants what - just what the clear majority do; 3) and speaking of this Gift (or referring to information gleaned from it) is a spectacularly good way for a metis to get their deformed, furry ass kicked up and down the Bawn. Any metis that doesn't keep this information to themselves will soon wish they had.
Description: A somewhat ironic Gift given that in times past, metis were often exposed to the elements; the metis may create a small amount of one of the four Western classical elements — fire, air, earth, or water. She could make a rock to throw, fill a bathtub with no faucet, light fires without matches, or provide air in an airtight room. She cannot create specialized forms of any element. Precious metals (especially silver), lethal gases, and acid are beyond her reach.
Often taught by: elementals.
System: The metis spends one Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis. Each success allows the character to create roughly one cubic foot (.3 cubic meter) of the desired element, to a maximum weight of 100 lbs (45 kg), anywhere she can see within 60 feet (18 m). The element remains in existence until used up (breathed, in the case of air, or burned up, in the case of fire without any fuel to keep it going). The flames created by this Gift inflict one health level of damage per success, to a maximum of three levels of damage.
Description: This Gift grants the ability to burrow through the earth, creating a tunnel roughly the size of the digger’s body, which others can follow through. The werewolf must be in a form possessing claws to use this Gift. Metis Garou are often relied upon by their sept to help expand caves and networks of tunnels beneath their Bawn, both for defense, habitation and support.
Often taught by: mole-spirits.
System: The metis rolls Strength + Athletics against a difficulty depending on the substance to be excavated (4 for loose mud, 9 for solid rock). Some metals (such as steel and titanium alloys) and other reinforced structures won’t yield to the werewolf no matter how hard she digs. The character can burrow one yard per turn for each success. After the initial roll, the character does not need to roll again to continue at the same speed.
Description: Shell places an emotional and instinctual barrier around the metis, shutting out the hostility of the world and suppressing his own powerful, destructive impulses. This makes the metis a particularly valuable defender of the sept, where tempers often run high.
Often taught by: ancient metis and turtle-spirits.
System: The metis rolls Willpower (difficulty of the character’s own Rage). Success insulates the metis for a scene behind a mystical and psychological barrier, immunizing him against mind-altering magic of all kinds for the rest of the scene. However, he cannot gain any successes on Empathy, Primal-Urge or Rage rolls, nor can he spend Rage points.
Description: This Gift aids metis in taking the fight to Wyrm-things in their own burrows. A werewolf with this Gift is at home in a subterranean environment, almost moreso than above ground.
Often taught by: the spirits of cave creatures.
System: This Gift’s effects are permanent once learned. While underground, the metis automatically knows which direction is north, and can instinctively retrace his path to the exit. (However, this direction sense can be tampered with by other supernatural powers, as happened in the Hive where the Fall took palace.)
The werewolf can't see perfectly in the darkness (that requires the Gift: Eyes of the Cat), however they develop a phenomenal sense of touch and an uncanny ear for echoes. In situations where the metis doesn't have a line of sight to a target of interest, they can roll Perception + Alertness (difficulty 6). For every success, they can intuit what might be on the other side of that many yards in solid material (whether a wall above ground, or a tunnel below).
Description: This Gift enables mental communication, even over vast distances. The user must either know the target personally (although friendship isn’t necessary) or have something that belongs to that person, such as a lock of his hair. In more conservative (or Machiavellian) septs, this Gift also helps a metis advisor silently make suggestions to their pack leaders or fellow sept officers who might otherwise bristle at publicly heeding a metis' words. It also terrifies Cubs!
Often taught by: bird- and intellect-spirits.
System: The metis rolls Charisma + Empathy (difficulty 8) and spends a Willpower point; the effects last for a scene. The character may hold a mental conversation with a target at a maximum distance of 10 miles (16 km) per success. Mind reading isn’t possible, but the werewolf may use social Abilities such as Intimidation.
Description: A metis werewolf is expected more than most to be willing to sacrifice themselves for the sept. Many have used this Gift to deliver a fatal blow to unsuspecting enemies, even knowing that the cost will be their own lives. After a Garou has been dealt her own deathblow, if she invokes this Gift, she may strike her enemy once more ere she dies. It’s bittersweet but often leads to an enemy falling dead alongside the metis warrior.
Often taught by: A snake-spirit.
System: The metis need only spend one Rage point to get that final shot; no wound penalties apply. The attack doesn’t automatically land, although the Garou may spend Willpower to add to the attack roll’s successes (even though she’s already spent Rage in the turn). The metis’ damage pool is increased by ten dice — a metis’ parting shot channels a lifetime of Rage, and is almost always lethal.
Description: In a land increasingly plagued with subterranean Wyrm-pits, the ability to destroy the structural integrity of an underground lair is priceless to metis. By using this gift, the werewolf is able to collapse an earthen or stone structure or tunnel in upon itself, thus making it much more difficult for it to be re-used for evil purposes.
Often taught by: earth-spirits.
System: The metis spends a point of Gnosis, and touches the floor, ceiling, or walls of the targeted structure. The player makes a Strength + Occult roll, with a standard difficulty of 6 for an average excavation tunnel. The difficulty increases or decreases with the structural integrity and craftsmanship involved in creating the target; 7 for a stone cave or natural rock tunnel, but 4 for a quickly dug burrow; 5 for a hastily built rock hut, but 9 for a masterful stone broch tower.). For each success, a 5-foot section of the structure collapses.
This Gift does not cleanse the area, and simply collapsing a pit creates a festering magnet for banes and other Wyrm-creatures. Because of this, Collapse the Barrow is most often used on the way back out of a pit, after the inhabitants have been dealt with, and the area within has been ritually cleansed.
Description: Metis are Garou from the moment of their birth, and their ties to the spirit that guides their tribe run deep. The metis may plead with her tribal totem for power, with effects varying from tribe to tribe. Rat might send a swarm of rodents to attack the werewolf’s enemies, while Grandfather Thunder might send down the lightning to strike aside obstacles and opponents. The potential of this Gift depends on the favor of the totem, and may extend into the miraculous.
Only the tribal totem teaches this Gift.
System: The metis spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Rituals (difficulty 7). The greater the number of successes, the more dramatic the aid provided. One success might cause a minor distraction, whereas 10 successes could produce volcanic eruptions, county-freezing blizzards or town-smashing tornadoes.
Description: Shamans and medicine men from many diverse cultures are said to know secrets for placating angry ghosts and ancestors — this Gift is one of them. A metis elder with this Gift always knows exactly what kind of sacrifice is necessary to make atonement for an offense against the spirit world, and is skilled in the secret methods of offering it.
Often taught by: ancient ancestors who sacrificed themselves and spirits from the realm of Erebus.
System: With a Perception + Occult roll (difficulty 7), the metis learns what she must offer to placate and offended spirit. Usually, as long as both offender and Garou are sincere, a few points of Gnosis spent is sufficient to restore harmony; if the offender is dead or absent, or the offense is truly great, the spirit courts may require the wielder of this Gift take on a geas as chiminage, offer a fetish or undertake a quest.
In legendary cases, werewolves have even been known to surrender their lives to restore the Garou Nation’s ties to a wronged Incarna or totem spirit.
Form Mastery (Wisdom)
Description: Unlike homid and lupus werewolves, the metis spends their childhood as a rather disgusting little Crinos monster, halfway between man and beast. As a result, they often prove quite receptive to teachings from ancient metis-spirits, proving willing to twist their flesh in ways that might make the human or wolf-born flinch (who tend to be much more sensitive to elements of body horror).
Often taught by: ancient metis-spirits.
System: The metis character gains one point in Mixed-Morph (1-5 pt Merit) for free, and it does not count against their 10 dot Merit limit, even if raised further.
Description: Metis are born into a world where they metaphorically don’t belong; it seemed only natural to rat-spirits to teach them to get into such places in the literal sense as well. This Gift renders the metis’s bone structure collapsible, allowing her to squeeze through any gap she can fit her head into.
Often taught by: rat-spirits.
System: The metis spends one Gnosis and rolls Dexterity + Athletics (difficulty 7). For the rest of the scene, the metis may squirm through any gap she can fit her face into, moving at her walking speed to do so.
Description: The metis can shed a layer of fur and skin, slipping from an opponent’s grasp or escaping from bonds with ease. A lizard-spirit or snake-spirits.
Often taught by: lizard- and snake-spirits.
System: The metis rolls Dexterity + Primal-Urge (difficulty 6). If the roll succeeds, the character loses a tuft of fur or skin (revealing healthy new hide), allowing her to slip free of grapples or bonds such as ropes or chains. They can make this a Reflexive roll by additionally spending one point of Rage.
Description: In a world where he must fight fang and claw to fit in, the metis can use all the help he can get. This Gift allows him to change superficial aspects of his appearance, blending in or standing out as he wishes.
Often taught by: animal-spirits that change their coat seasonally, such as a stoat or ptarmigan.
System: The metis rolls Manipulation + Subterfuge (difficulty 6). Each success allows the werewolf to alter one aspect of his appearance for the scene. Examples include: hair/fur color or length, skin tone, eye color, and height or size by about a fifth in either direction. This Gift can alter or hide tribal markings and lesser scars, but it’s never potent enough to hide metis deformities completely.
Description: The werewolf may see clearly in complete darkness. His eyes glow a lambent green while this power is in effect. Metis tend to be used to guard a sept's borders and to help expand it underground - this Gift helps them with both.
Often taught by: cat-spirits.
System: The metis suffers no penalties from darkness. This power may be used at will; it requires no roll or expenditure.
Description: When using this Gift, the werewolf undergoes a startling transformation. Her fur becomes elongated, bristly and sharp like the quills of a porcupine. This change makes her an even more fearsome killing machine. A werewolf must be in Crinos, Hispo or Lupus form to use this Gift. Porcupine teaches this Gift, and he has a great fondness for metis.
Often taught by: porcupine-spirits.
System: The metis spends a Gnosis point to sharpen his fur. Anyone whom the metis tackles, grapples or immobilizes takes lethal damage from his new found quills (Strength +1).
Furthermore, anyone who strikes him with bare flesh (and scoring fewer than five successes on the attack roll) takes damage based on the attacker’s own Strength, although the metis still takes normal damage. This Gift lasts for one scene or until the werewolf wills his fur to return to normal.
Description: The metis’s eye-teeth lengthen, and she can inject a deadly poison with her bite.
Often taught by: spider- and snake-spirits.
System: The metis spends a Rage point when attempting to bite an opponent. If the bite is successful, any remaining damage after soak is doubled.
Description: The metis body is strange. Born in a form not intended by Gaia or nature, deformed and occasionally showing signs of animals entirely unrelated to man or wolf, it is little wonder the breed has been outcast and hated. But some metis have used this body to their advantage, and it is perhaps this strangeness that allows their body to withstand the pressures this Gift inflicts. With this Gift, the metis can partially reach into the Umbra, sending certain body parts into the Umbra while maintaining others in the physical world. Doing so makes the metis difficult to hit in combat, to say the least.
Often taught by: Pattern Spider spirits.
System: The metis rolls Gnosis (difficulty of the local Gauntlet) and if the roll succeeds spends 1 Gnosis. For the rest of the scene, the metis receives one extra automatic success on all Dodge rolls.
Description: Born misshapen, the metis takes her deformity and makes it a source of power. She can twist her flesh in any number of ways, sprouting a number of unnatural features, from extra limbs to additional mouths to grasping tentacles.
Often taught by: Chimerlings.
System: The Garou’s ability to partially transform is permanently modified, allowing her to make almost any grotesque modifications the metis can imagine.
These modifications must logically bestow one of the following benefits: +2 dice on a certain category of attack rolls (extra clawed limbs for claw attacks, tentacles for clinches, etc.), +2 damage on a certain category of attack rolls (a chest-mounted squid beak for extra damage on clinches, arms coated in shark teeth for boosted claw attacks, etc.), or +5 yards per turn of movement (extra legs, vestigial wings, etc.).
Description: This Gift allows the metis to convert part of her essence into Gnosis for use in situations which require the expenditure of large amounts of spiritual power. The Garou can either use the Gnosis gained by this Gift to create or replenish fetishes, enact Gifts that require Gnosis or for any other purpose that requires her to spend Gnosis. However, its residual effects are cumulative.
Each use of this Gift imbues the Garou’s physical and mental abilities with more and more “spirit substance” until eventually she becomes a spirit creature lacking in material substance. When this happens, the Garou can no longer maintain her earthly existence and must either relocate to the Umbra as a permanent resident (not unlike the members of the Sept of the Stars) or else “die” and allow her spirit to return to Gaia.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits who gave up their earthly existence in this fashion.
System: The metis rolls Willpower (difficulty 9). Only one success is necessary for the character to convert one dot in a chosen Attribute into 10 points of temporary Gnosis. Until the character uses all 10 of these points, she has one less dot in the chosen Attribute. When the converted Gnosis is depleted, the Attribute returns to its normal level.
However, the Storyteller (and the character) should keep track of the number of times this Gift is used. When the character has used this Gift a number of times equal to her total number of dots in Physical, Mental and Social Attributes, her body loses its material substance and the character becomes a spirit. The character’s fate once this occurs is left to the Storyteller’s discretion, although in most cases this means that the player must retire the character from active play.
Lupus Gifts reflect the breed’s powerful ties to the natural world and the wilds. Usually these Gifts enhance the natural abilities of the werewolf, allowing her to perform feats that other breeds would find impossible.
Eye of the Hunter (glory)
Description: Wolves can sense which animal from a herd is sick or weak and therefore the easiest prey. Lupus can do so normally when confronted with a herd of deer, but more complex creatures like predators or pseudo-predators (like humans) make this difficult. This Gift, usually taught by a wolf-spirit, allows the lupus to pick out the weakest member of a group at a glance. It does not reveal why the target is the weak link in a herd, only that she is, but that alone is often enough to give the Garou an edge.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The lupus rolls Perception + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). If the roll succeeds, the character knows which member of a given group is the weakest (determined by the Storyteller) and which is the leader.
If the lupus subsequently enters combat against this group, she gains +2 extra dice to her attack pools against the weakest member.
Description: As Gaia dies and her natural order is perverted, predators become prey with increasing frequency — this is a sorrowful truth that lupus know all too well. This Gift assists the Garou in evading their enemies that they might fight another day, showing them places to hide, ways to run, and even chances to strike back.
Often taught by: hare- and deer-spirits.
System: The lupus rolls Wits + Primal-Urge; difficulty 7 in the wilderness, 9 in urban environments. Each success adds one die to all pools made to escape, out-distance, hide from or evade pursuit for the remainder of the scene.
Description: Perhaps the most disturbing Gift the lupus have access to, Silence the Prey allows a Garou to cut a victim off from any means of help by rendering him unable to make sounds of any kind. Even pounding his fists on the windows of a passing car will not disturb the passengers therein. A pain-spirit teaches this Gift, the better to enjoy the agony of being hunted down when potential aid stands deafly by.
Often taught by: pain-spirits.
System: The victim must see the Garou in order for the character to activate this Gift. The lupus spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Intimidation (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). If the roll succeeds, the target is unable to make sound for one scene. The target cannot speak, and cannot make sound by touching an object.
This Gift only works on targets that the Garou is actively hunting with lethal intent.
Description: The Garou stares into the eyes of an intended victim, and communicates to them the ancient bond between predator and prey — beginning the sacred hunt.
Often taught by: wolf-, mountain lion-, bear-spirits, etc.
System: The Garou spends on Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty 6 for animals or the human [or other sentient] target’s Willpower — whichever is higher).
If the Gaze is successful, the target (human or animal) understands the link and will act accordingly: Wild animals will run into the open, allowing the hunter to eventually catch and kill them. Humans and domesticated animals — for whom this is a terrifying experience — may run or cower, terrified. No victim will begin a fight, although if the lupus pursues and catches the prey, a battle might result. The Gift does not work on other Garou, but will be effective against most creatures the Garou sets out to hunt.
Description: Lupus werewolves have refined their ability to great effect when chasing or ambushing a foe. By employing this Gift, the lupus' leap “tracks” a moving target, allowing her to pounce on her prey even if said prey has dodged or fled while the Talon is in mid-leap.
Often taught by: fox-, (reluctant) cat-, or wolf ancestor-spirits.
System: The lupus must roll to leap as usual to ensure she can reach her target. If she can, she spends a point of Rage and rolls Wits + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7) as a reflexive action; the leap is counted as a Rage action, and does not affect the dice pool. Any successes on the second roll are subtracted from an opponent’s successes to dodge or flee from the lupus' subsequent attack roll, which is otherwise resolved normally.
Description: Wolves have an uncanny ability to spot vulnerability. The lupus follows suit, sinking her teeth into the softest and most unprotected part of her foe that she can find.
Often taught by: wolf- and coyote-spirits.
System: The lupus spends one Rage point when the werewolf makes a successful, aimed bite attack to the neck. Increase the target's difficulty to soak the damage by +3.
Description: The werewolf’s jaws strengthen until she can chew through nearly anything. Her fangs inflict more damage in combat, and only death will break her grip if she clamps her teeth into an opponent.
Often taught by: hyena- and wolf-spirits.
System: The lupus spends one Willpower point and rolls Stamina + 4 against a variable difficulty (3 for wood, 6 for steel handcuffs, 9 for a train car coupling). The length of time it takes to gnaw through something depends on the number of successes. Additionally, the Gift grants a character’s bite two extra dice of damage for the rest of the scene.
Description: It was an Uktena lupus who first perfected this Gift while talking with Rattlesnake, but it’s since been learned by many lupus through all tribes. By biting an opponent, the Garou can inject them with a damaging, or sometimes even lethal, toxin.
Often taught by: snake-spirits.
System: The lupus must first successfully bite his opponent. After this, the Garou makes an opposed Stamina + Primal-Urge roll against the target’s Stamina + 4. Each success the attacker gets above the victim inflicts an aggravated and unsoakable health level of damage, in addition to the damage done by the bite itself. Each level of damage caused in this way also temporarily reduces the target’s Stamina by one, and running out of Stamina in this way will cause a victim to fall unconscious. All Stamina returns at the beginning of the next scene — should the victim survive.
Description: Wolves haunt the ancestral nightmares of humanity, and of those monsters that were once human. The werewolf lets out a fierce snarl that triggers primordial terror in opponents and drowns them in the Delirium.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: This Gift is only usable in Hispo form. The lupus spends a point of Rage and rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty of the opponent’s Willpower or, if he is affecting a group, the highest Willpower represented). If successful, the werewolf invokes the full effect of the Delirium on any human, formerly-human, or partly-human creature who can see her — including those normally immune to the Delirium, such as mages, Fera and vampires. Only other werewolves are immune.
If the target's current Willpower is less than the Garou's current Rage, then resolve this Gift as if their Willpower were 5 less than it is.
Description: Myth and dream walk among the Garou. This Gift enables the loyal descendants of the ancestor-heroes to return them to the world.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou spends two permanent Gnosis points and prays to the greatest hero of their breed and tribe. The hero, if well pleased with the Garou’s prayer, manifests in the Garou’s own body. The Garou visibly transforms into the hero’s own self, retaining her own personality mixed with the memories and attributes of the hero.
Thus a Shadow Lord might manifest Ivan Tsarevitch, the Children of Gaia see the return of Lore-Speaker Gron, while the Get of Fenris transform into the great wolves of Norse myth. Only one Garou at a time may become any given hero, and this Gift can be invoked only once in a Garou’s lifetime. Indeed, many who invoke it do not survive doing so.
The powers of the hero are determined by the Storyteller, but should be suitable to the hero’s legendary self. Shu-Horus, for example, would be a great warrior, but would have no knowledge of electronics.
PAIN OF THE LAND (honor)
Description: Gaia is slowly dying beneath a tide of corruption - and the lupus of the Garou Nation are more intensely aware of this than any other, given their own habitats might be to the first to go. Pain of the Land makes the werewolf even more deadly when fighting on tainted ground. She fights as though the putrescence of the corrupted land, be it a landfill, a factory, or simply a city spurs her on and feeds her Rage every second of the battle.
Often taught by: earth elementals.
System: Once learned, this Gift is always active. During combat, the lupus gains +1 to +3 bonus attack dice based on the level of Wyrm-taint in the area. Fighting in a large city might increase her attack pools by +1, whereas fighting in a Black Spiral Hive would be worth +3.
Note that this Gift does not affect Gift activations.
Description: Most lupus are willing to let the humans who respect Gaia continue to exist. However, despite the fact that Red Talons accuse wolves of other tribes of being “soft” towards transgressors against Gaia, the reality is far different.
With this Gift, the werewolf can judge a human according to the laws of Gaia and decide if she is living in accordance with the natural laws or not. A human who is living well is left alone. A human who routinely trespasses against nature is often shown no mercy.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The Garou must lock eyes with the human to use this Gift. The lupus rolls Perception + Intuition (difficulty 7). With one success, the character only knows in the most black-and-white terms if the human respects Gaia (which doesn’t necessarily say anything about her behavior). With three successes, the Garou knows both the human’s attitude toward the natural world and how her behavior affects it (“This ape doesn’t think about the environment, but does donate money to her local park because she wants her children to enjoy it”): With five+ successes, the lupus knows all of that, and at the Storyteller's discretion, she might gain some idea of what to do or say to help the human live better in accordance with Gaia.
This can be as simple as “show the human how the world is really being treated” or as complex as “check up on her every week and make sure her home is spiritually clean.” Of course, if the lupus decides it isn’t worth the effort to train a human in what should come naturally, she might very well just remove the human from the world altogether and concentrate on those that are a bit more receptive to learning.
All the same, there's a big difference in how your average lupus Garou thinks of humanity, vs how a wild wolf does...and this Gift is a big part of the reason such nuance exists.
Description: A lupus may mark her territory using a spot of her blood, urine, or saliva, and invoking her totem or ancestral spirit. The mark she leaves is identifiable as her own personal sigil, generally a unique variation of the totem’s sign, and causes no damage to the surface it is inscribed upon. This marking of territory fades after an entire cycle of Luna has passed.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The lupus spends a point of Gnosis. Garou are able to see the mark without further effort until it fades a month later. Others with knowledge of the supernatural can identify the mark by making a Perception + Enigmas roll, causing the scent of the sigil to rise, and the inscription to become visible. Note that the mark does not convey knowledge of the character’s identity unless the viewer is familiar with his scent or his mark.
Description: The werewolf can reduce the mental faculties of his victim to that of an animal for a time. The victim doesn’t necessarily become less intelligent, but human thinking (logic, complex tool use, language, and the like) becomes impossible.
Often taught by: spirit-servants of Griffin.
System: The lupus locks eyes with their victim and rolls Manipulation + Empathy against a difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower. The effects last for one minute per success, during which the subject behaves like a wild animal. If the target is an ordinary human, the Garou may spend a Gnosis point to make it last until the next sunrise.
Description: The howls of a wolf pack evoke fear in prey, as they sense the predators approaching. This Gift allows a lupus to emit a howl that evokes that same reaction in anyone that can hear it.
Often taught by: wolf or lupus ancestor-spirits.
System: The lupus rolls Stamina + Expression (difficulty 7). If the roll succeeds, any being that wishes to approach the Garou must succeed in a Willpower roll (difficulty 6). If the Garou approaches, the being must make the same roll or back away (or flee). Wolves and Garou are not affected by this Gift.
Every success on the Garou's roll beyond the first lends an additional “voice” to the howl. Therefore, if the lupus rolls three successes to activate this Gift, it sounds as though three Garou are howling, not one. Each additional “wolf” adds one to the difficulty of Willpower rolls to approach the Garou or stand one’s ground if the lupus approaches (so to approach the Garou on a “three-wolf” howl would require a Willpower roll at difficulty 8).
Description: Rather than take her vengeance directly on an offending human, the werewolf can choose to change the human’s spiritual resonance to resemble that of a prey animal. Any predator that sees the human, no matter how small or normally afraid of humans, will see that human as prey. In most cases, this proves simply inconvenient, but if the human happens to own several large dogs, the result could be deadly.
Often taught by: the spirit of any prey animal (sometimes under duress).
System: The lupus spends on Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Animal Ken (difficulty of the local Gauntlet). If the roll succeeds, any carnivorous animal that sees the targeted human attacks him immediately, even if the animal is much too small to seriously injure, let alone eat, the hapless victim.
This Gift only functions on one human target, and cannot be used on “supernatural” humans such as ghouls and mages (their spirits are complex enough that the Gift doesn’t “take”). The effects last for one day.
Description: The werewolf can communicate with other wild animals and attract or even command them. Domesticated animals may speak with the Garou, but they have given themselves over to the ways of humans and will provide no aid beyond information.
Often taught by: any animal-spirit (lion and wolf preferred).
System: The lupus gains the permanent ability to communicate with all animals, regardless of the form she wears. To attract animals, the Garou spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Animal Ken (difficulty 7). All animals within 10 miles (16 km) per success respond to the summons, and will follow any requests the Garou makes. It is considered customary to pay homage to the spirit of any animal ordered to sacrifice itself with this Gift; to do otherwise risks angering the spirit world.
Description: Unleashing a deafening howl that resonates powerfully, the lupus smashes the paltry fruits of mankind’s labor, as well as battering foes and knocking them off their feet.
Often taught by: storm-spirits.
System: The werewolf spends a turn howling, and then the lupus spends a Gnosis and Rage point before rolling Charisma + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). Exactly what kind of material the howl shatters depends on the number of successes rolled. One success shatters normal glass. Three cracks concrete. Five successes rends solid steel.
Additionally, everyone within a 50-foot (15 m) radius, except for the werewolf’s pack, is blasted to the ground to suffer one unsoakable health level of bashing damage as the shockwave rips through the area.
Description: This Gift forces a group of foes to behave like a single-minded pack. All individuals must perform the same task at the same time regardless of its appropriateness to a given situation. For example, if one individual fights, all the others fight; if one person attempts to sneak up behind an opponent, all the others make this attempt as well.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The Lupus spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Willpower (difficulty 8). A single success allows the character to inflict Pack Mind on a group of up to four individuals. Additional successes allow the character to increase the number of people affected in increments of two; five successes, therefore, enables the character to affect twelve individuals.
For the duration of this Gift (which is from a round to a scene as the Garou wishes), all the affected victims mimic the actions of their leader – or, more typically, the first person in a group to act each turn. If one decides to speak, all of them attempt to do so; if one throws a left hook, all of them choose this form of combat, ignoring any weapons they may have.
Failure means the Gift has no effect, while a botch inadvertently links the character’s mind with another individual for the remainder of the scene. (The Storyteller should decide whether the character becomes linked with a friend or an enemy.
Description: Sometimes the forest must burn to grow anew. Lupus elders with this Gift can pinpoint an area (or an individual) and set the target ablaze with an intense and purifying flame that rages for 60 seconds and then dies out completely. The fire can burn out all Wyrm-taint or human-made pollution from an area or cleanse an individual (provided the victim survives) of Wyrm-taint.
The fire does not spread beyond the target area or person and cannot be quenched by normal means. For instance, if the Garou targets a house occupied by a Pentex official, the fire blazes through the house destroying any vestige of the Wyrm’s corruption and leaving untouched anything not tainted by the Wyrm.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Lupus sacrifices a permanent point of Rage and rolls her Willpower. The difficulty is 8 to affect an area; the area cannot be larger than a large house. To target an individual, the difficulty of the Willpower roll equals the victim’s Willpower. Living or undead creatures set on fire must roll their Stamina (difficulty 9) or die from the shock. The flame destroys fomori utterly; Black Spiral Dancers who survive the Stamina roll must make Gnosis rolls, difficulty 9, or lose their Wyrm-taint and its accompanying Derangement. Such purified Garou are stripped of all Rank and Gifts; they may well fall again to corruption, but they are given a second chance.
A failure on the Willpower roll indicates that the Garou fails to activate the Gift (and the permanent Rage point is not expended after all), while a botch inflicts one unsoakable health level of aggravated damage on the wielder (and the permanent Rage point is still lost).
TRAPPER'S BANE (WISDOM)
Description: Wolves face a constant threat from human traps — snares, steel traps, and poison. They have become adept at detecting these dangers and even disarming them.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The Storyteller rolls Perception + Primal Urge when the werewolf comes within (Gnosis x 5) yards of a trap’s trigger. The difficulty is 6 for the werewolf to detect simple snares, pits, and poisoned bait in the area. Identifying more technologically complex traps such as electrified objects and motion-activated traps is difficulty 7. Supernatural traps are difficulty 8.
The werewolf does not have to activate this Gift, it provides a “sixth sense” at all times.
Description: This Gift sharpens the werewolf’s senses to an incredible degree. She enjoys the olfactory and auditory acuity of a wolf whenever she is in Homid forms, along with superior night vision. In Hispo and Lupus, her senses become preternaturally potent, allowing sensory feats that border on precognition. Sudden loud noises, bright lights or overwhelming scents can be disorienting, however.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The lupus spends a Gnosis point to activate this Gift for a scene. In Homid, Hispo and Crinos, the werewolf’s Perception difficulties decrease by one (cumulative with normal form Perception bonuses). In Lupus, Perception difficulties decrease by one as well (thus rolling most Perception-based pools at -3 difficulty) and the werewolf gains an extra die to Primal-Urge dice pools.
In addition, Heightened Senses allows the Garou to attempt to pierce the supernatural concealment of their enemies, but only if actively wary (such as standing guard over an entrance they're seeking to use) or searching for them.
The potency of this Gift in piercing supernatural concealment is for most purposes, the same as the werewolf's Wisdom Renown divided in half (rounded up.)
Description: Ever since the Impergium and the War of Rage, everything else on the planet has lived in awe and terror of the sound of wolves howling. Pitching her voice just so, the lupus produces a call that only canines (wolves, dogs and werewolves) can discern.
Humans and other creatures essentially ignore the sound, feeling safe in their ignorance. If they notice it at all, it will be as whatever makes best sense to them in that moment (including on any audio device that captures the sound); such as a howling gust of wind, a barking dog, or a distant siren.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: A simple, reflexive Manipulation + Expression roll (difficulty 5) is required to activate this Gift successfully.
This Gift does not count as a split action nor hinder the activation of any other Gift. It can be used in conjunction with one of the Garou howls, or a howl performed as part of another Gift. It doesn’t work with rites, however, since the spirit world must hear any howls performed as part of a rite.
Description: The lupus reaches out with her spirit to feel the presence of Gaia, centering herself with relation to her Mother. She always knows what direction she is traveling or facing in, so long as she travels within the Gaia Realm. This makes it extraordinarily difficult to get lost.
Often taught by: migratory bird-spirits.
System: This Gift’s effects are permanent. At the Storyteller's discretion it may alleviate the effects of many environmental conditions when traveling, whether natural or mystical.
Description: The werewolf can compensate for her vision completely by using her sense of smell. She can attack invisible creatures normally or navigate in absolute darkness.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The werewolf fully substitutes her sense of smell for her vision, enabling her to distinguish identity and location flawlessly (color and fine details, such as letters printed on a page, remain beyond her). A Perception + Primal-Urge roll may be required to detect things which actively obscure their scent.
Description: The lupus releases a shattering howl, destroying all nearby delicate electronics — computers, laptops, smart phones, tablets and the like. Simpler machines such as land line phones, cars, and firearms are unaffected.
Often taught by: storm-spirits.
System: The lupus spends a turn howling. The lupus then spends one Rage point and rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge. Delicate electronics are destroyed within a radius of (20 x successes) yards (or meters) in a flash of sparks.
Description: The werewolf can sense any supernatural presence and determine its approximate strength and type. Supernatural presences can include magic, spirits, Wyrm taint, ghosts, vampires, faeries, and any other such unnatural manifestation — although it won’t pick them out specifically as such. A werewolf may sense a person plagued by haunting as easily as a ghost.
Often taught by: spirit servants of Gaia.
System: The lupus rolls Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 6). The more successes he rolls, the more information he gains. The sensory input is somewhat vague and subject to interpretation, though. For instance, a vampire might smell of clotted blood, fear, corpse-meat or whatever else the Storyteller finds appropriate.
Description: The lupus with this Gift doesn’t need to patrol his hunting ground to know what transpires there. With but a moment of concentration, he may extend his senses to any area he has marked.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The lupus must first mark one or more areas with the Lift-Your-Leg Gift. A lupus may interact with a number of these marked locations equal to his Gnosis. Thereafter, the lupus may roll Perception + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7) to extend the lupus’s senses to that location. The character can sense the area as though standing in the same place he was in when he marked the area originally.
Description: The ancient Greeks associated the wolf with death. Hecate wore three wolf heads, while Charon wore wolf ears. Lupus with this Gift echo that connection. By standing entirely still near a recently dead body, the lupus can hear the final worlds of the deceased. These words are often rambling and incoherent, but can provide clues and understanding of what happened at the moment of their death, or of their most prominent thoughts at the moment of their demise.
Often taught by wolf and death-spirits.
System: The lupus must stand next to the corpse and stay entirely still, trying to hear the very soft whispers. The lupus then rolls Perception + Occult (diff 7). To successfully hear the death whispers, the lupus must obtain more successes than the number of hours the body has been dead. More successes than required increase the clarity of the whisper. This Gift may be attempt only once per dead body.
Description: The lupus calls to the spirits of the surrounding forest to attack intruders. The terrain responds as best it can: Rocks roll and smash, vines trip, and water sucks victims under.
Often taught by: An avatar of Gaia herself teaches this Gift.
System: The lupus spends one Gnosis point and one Rage point then rolls Charisma + Primal-Urge (difficulty of the local Gauntlet). The exact effects depend on the terrain and are left to the Storyteller.
Luna’s Gifts to the Ragabash defy tradition and conventional wisdom. Well-suited to tricksters, scouts and saboteurs, the eclectic blessings of the new moon are nothing if not effective.
Pathfinder (glory)
Description: The werewolf can strike implausible trails through pristine wilderness and the urban jungle alike, locating the fastest and shortest routes from one place to another.
Often taught by: crow-spirits.
System: The Ragabash rolls Perception + Survival (for wilderness) or Streetwise (for urban environments) against difficulty 7. The number of successes equals the quality of the path she blazes and how much she decreases her travel time. Every success reduces travel time by approximately 10 percent, up to a maximum of half the original travel time.
When this Gift is active, the difficulty of any rolls to track the Ragabash increase by a difficulty of half their Glory Renown rounded up. (Non-Ragabash do not benefit from this.)
Description: The werewolf’s form becomes a shimmering, indistinct blur, as though seen through heavy cataracts — even in the midday sun. The Ragabash is not truly invisible, however, and if spotted, this Gift’s protection fails until the observer is distracted.
Often taught by: chameleon- and ermine-spirits.
System: The Ragabash rolls Manipulation + Stealth (difficulty 8). Each success increases the difficulty of all Perception rolls made to detect him by one for the rest of the scene.
Description: The Ragabash may lengthen her tail and use it as a prehensile appendage at will or source of balance. Although it’s no replacement for a hand, it can grasp objects, wrap around branches, and even allow the Garou to hang upside-down.
Often taught by: monkey-spirits.
System: The Garou may employ her prehensile tail at will in any form which possesses a tail. Successfully manipulating the tail requires a Dexterity + Athletics roll (difficulty varies according to the task).
Incidentally, when the Ragabash isn't using their tail to manipulate anything, they may also eventually learn to use it as a source of leverage to achieve greater balance. This reduces the difficulty of any balancing rolls by -3 for the scene, though will require spending a point of Willpower to concentrate.
Description: While Blur of the Milky Eye works wonders to evade sight-obsessed humans, other animals rely on other senses such as smell. This Gift allows the Ragabash to trick even them by changing his scent to anything he may have ever smelled.
Often taught by: skunk-spirits.
System: The Ragabash rolls Wits + Animal Ken vs 7 to mimic the scent of anything the Garou has previously encountered. A simple success is usually enough to mimic other animals (including humans), though three successes are needed to simulate inanimate objects or plants, and five are needed to reproduce accurately the smell of a specific individual.
It requires the expenditure of a Gnosis to mimic the scent of a supernatural creature. The Gift’s effects last for a scene.
Description: A cunning Ragabash knows the value of unparalleled agility and the ability to anticipate an adversary's next move with uncanny accuracy. This Gift sharpens this innate quick-wittedness to a fine edge, granting the Ragabash an almost preternatural capacity to react to threats and opponents' actions with blinding speed.
Often taught by: cat-spirits.
System: The Ragabash spends one Willpower point. For the rest of the scene, she may wait to declare her character’s action for the current turn until everyone else has done so, regardless of her initiative. She still acts according to the result of her initiative roll, but she has the advantage of knowing what her foes and allies will do before she decides herself.
If more than one Ragabash has this Gift active, then the Garou with the higher Glory Renown benefits most. If both have the same Glory Renown, then neither benefits from knowing the other's action first. (If another Auspice has this Gift, the Ragabash always wins).
Description: Like an insect, the Ragabash can now cling to vertical surfaces. She can walk along walls or hang from a ceiling. The adhesive grip of the Garou can even assist her when catching falling objects or seizing handholds when she is falling!
Often taught by: annoying biteme-, dragonfly- and fly-spirits.
System: The Ragabash can activate this Gift with a Dexterity + Athletics roll. The difficulty depends on the surface. For instance, wood or stone is difficulty 5; glass or ice is difficulty 9. Moving along the ceiling increases the difficulty by 1. The Storyteller should halve all movement rates unless the Ragabash rolls five or more successes.
This Gift can also help the Ragabash slow their descent (whether an accidental fall or a deliberate leap); the Garou rolls Dexterity + Athletics (difficulty 6). Each success reduces the effective distance of the werewolf’s fall by 10 feet (3 meters).
Description: If the werewolf knows anything about her prey—even a nickname, initials, or crude description—she can track it as fast as she can travel. This unerring sense of direction works anywhere, and is as useful for tracking spirits through the Deep Umbra as Pentex executives through Baltimore.
Often taught by: wolf- and dog-spirits.
System: No roll is required unless the target is actively hiding, in which case the Ragabash rolls Perception + Enigmas against a difficulty of the target’s Wits + Stealth. If the target is a spirit, the difficulty is the spirit’s Gnosis.
Description: Nature accepts the Ragabash as an ally, and views his pursuers as enemies. Earth and stone move aside to create tunnels or footholds to climb, foliage gathers behind him impassably, and rivers create dry spots for him to cross.
Often taught by: Glade Childs or earth elementals.
System: The Ragabash spends two Gnosis points, whereupon every relevant feature of the terrain in the werewolf’s immediate vicinity shifts to either allow him passage where there should be none, or deny passage to anyone pursuing him.
These shifts are usually subtle and localized - he couldn’t build a bridge to cross the Grand Canyon this way. If he wishes to create an entirely new feature where one didn’t exist, such as an earth bridge or tunnel and then collapse it behind him, he must additionally spend a Willpower point and roll his Gnosis against a difficulty of the local Gauntlet, with the Storyteller deciding the final effect based on number of successes.
Description: Like the Gift’s reptilian namesake, the Garou can blend with her natural surroundings. Unlike the lizard, the werewolf shifts fluidly with changing backgrounds, thus allowing the Garou to move about and even attack.
Often taught by: chameleon- and octopus-spirits.
System: The Ragabash spends one Gnosis point to activate the Gift. Anyone trying to see the werewolf, even in open ground, must make a reflexive Perception roll (difficulty of the Garou’s Wits + Stealth) to detect her. With each subsequent attack that the Garou makes on the same victim, the difficulty drops by 1.
This Gift affects only sight; it does not mask the Garou’s sound or scent.
Description: The werewolf with this Gift may change herself into any animal between the sizes of a small bird and a bison. The Garou gains all the special capabilities (flight, gills, poison, sensory abilities, etc.) of the animal she mimics. She may not take the form of Wyrm-beasts (not that she would wish to!), but with some extra effort she may take the form of mystical beasts (such as a griffon or unicorn), provided the beast remains within the usual size limitations of the Gift.
Often taught by: Wyld-spirits.
System: The Ragabash spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Intelligence + Animal Ken (difficulty 6). One success allows the character to assume the shape of any normal animal. For the duration of the scene, he may make additional transformation rolls without spending additional Gnosis, provided he only takes the shape of normal animals.
To allow the character to take on a mythical form, the Garou must spend an additional point of Gnosis and succeed against a difficulty of 9.
Weakest Link (honor)
Description: With this Gift, a New Moon is allowed a brief glimpse into the hearts and minds of the Garou around them. She can sense the fears and concerns of her friends to best help them. Armed with this knowledge, the Ragabash has an instinctive knack for subtly facilitating peace and healing among her friends. Perhaps ironically, this Gift has no effect on fellow Ragabash.
Often taught by: Ragabash ancestor and wolf-spirits.
System: After spending a Willpower point, the Ragabash rolls Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 6 for a packmate, 8 for a septmate and 10 for a complete stranger). With each success above one, she can find out a piece of relevant information about one target.
This information should be worded descriptively as something the Ragabash might support her packmate with (although, a particularly unscrupulous and treacherous Ragabash might use this Gift sabotage her companions in response to some slight, this is considered highly dishonorable).
Examples of potentially relevant information might be the packmate's Demeanor or Nature. Their relative Renown such as where they might be struggling, or where their Willpower, Rage and Gnosis stands (just a general idea - not exact numbers). It will reveal details such as Breed, Tribe or Auspice in flashes and images, although it is usually only Ragabash that lie about such things (and this Gift has no effect on them.) It could also point out Flaws such as PTSD or Phobias and give a vague idea of what might trigger them (or with 5+ successes), how they might be healed one night. It could also reveal Merits and hidden strengths that her packmate hasn't had a chance to demonstrate.
Finally, for the cost of two successes, the Ragabash can get a vague idea about how two Garou are feeling about each other lately. (Although this might be something the Ragabash is better off not knowing.)
(Non-Ragabashes cannot learn this Way.)
Description: Though Ragabash are teachers, one thing they can’t always teach is when to keep one’s mouth shut. Maybe a brash Ahroun is about to say something unfortunate to a bigger Ahroun, or perhaps a talkative cub is about to reveal too much about what she knows. In such situations, this Gift acts as a temporary stopgap; it makes the target fumble for words, lose his train of thought or become momentarily distracted. Beside keeping friends from saying stupid things, the Gift can also be used against insulting rivals or the fomori calling in reinforcements. Because of the bond between packmates, it is easier to use this Gift within the pack — after all, it’s for the greater good, right?
Often taught by: mockingbird-spirits.
System: The Ragabash rolls Wits + Subterfuge (difficulty is the target’s Wits + 4; for a packmate reduce the difficulty by one). Every success stalls the target for one turn, preventing the target from communicating verbally (although other forms of communications, such as sign language or writing, are still possible.
Description: The Garou are loath to let a foe claim victory, but in these fallen times, living to fight another day can trump the satisfaction of refusing to surrender. The Ragabash can “play possum” and appear dead to all witnesses.
Often taught by: opossum-spirits.
System: The Ragabash rolls Stamina + Subterfuge (difficulty 5) and the Garou spends an action shutting down his body. He appears completely dead for one minute per success. He has no discernible pulse, doesn’t appear to breathe, and smells like a corpse that has been rotting for several days. His muscles stiffen and he may, if he chooses, revert to breed form as part of this action. If the Garou spends a point of Gnosis when activating this Gift, the Ragabash can instead use it reflexively when hit with an attack to produce the illusion that it has killed him. In this case, he appears as a fresh corpse instead.
Description: Known as the “Kick Me Gift” by particularly irreverent New Moons, this places a spiritual beacon on the unwitting target (often a fellow werewolf who deserves a bit of karma), attracting the local troublemaking spirits. While potentially lethal pranks are off limits, anything else is fair game: items are moved or lost temporarily, the target is surrounded by jeering spirits in the Umbra or momentarily loses his way in familiar territory. The beacon cannot be removed or hidden (and the target can never see it although all spirits and perceptive Garou can), but an eloquent and lucky victim may be able to “buy off” the spirits with the appropriate chiminage.
Often taught by: trickster-spirits.
System: The Ragabash expends a point of Gnosis and touches the target (a pat on the back or handshake do as well as a punch). The Garou rolls Wits + Enigmas (difficulty is the target’s Honor +2; difficulty 5 for non-shapeshifters). The Gift effects last for one day per success. A botch marks the Ragabash instead (the unfortunate must roll against himself to determine how long the plague of spirits lasts, and a botch on the second roll means a full lunar month). Even spirits agree there is such a thing as carrying a prank too far.
A Ragabash who uses this Gift more than once per lunar month risks becoming the target of the spirits’ attention; subtract one success from the die roll for each consecutive use of the Gift.
Description: Sensing the truth is the purview of the Half Moon, but the trickster is adept at obtaining admissions of guilt, however accidental. By engaging in a conversation (heated or otherwise), the user of this Gift can make the target accidentally remark on what she wished to hide (“of course I had everything to do with his death… I mean, nothing to do with it!” or “The necklace isn’t here, search all you like, but don’t bother with the study, that’s so obvious!”) The slip may only arouse already suspicious minds, but it may fluster the target enough to cause some more tangible admission of guilt, like a confession or an attack.
Often taught by: servants of Falcon and truth-spirits.
System: The Ragabash must engage the target in a conversation relating to the suspected crime or action. The Garou and target make a resisted Manipulation + Subterfuge roll, difficulty of the opponent’s Willpower. One success allows a subtle slip only noticeable to the already suspicious, while five results in the spilling of damning information no judge could discount.
Description: One of the Ragabash’s jobs is to voice uncomfortable truths. Unfortunately, not all tolerate that role, and those who most need to hear the truth are often least willing to listen. New Moons must be quick on their feet to avoid a furious elder who’s been called on the carpet by a subordinate. With this Gift, the Garou may tell a prideful (or simply extremely hostile) leader he screwed up without being unduly punished or becoming the dead messenger. It'll even work on a Black Spiral Dancer - although note that this Gift is directed at a single individual, not a group.
Often taught by: Ragabash ancestor and cat-spirits.
System: By succeeding in a Charisma + Subterfuge roll (difficulty of the target's Rank +2), the Ragabash can avoid the worst repercussions of his statements. The target(s) must make a Willpower roll (The Ragabash's Rank plus their successes) to punish or attack the speaker for the rest of the scene. Each attempted use of this Gift in the span of a lunar month adds an additional +1 to the New Moon’s difficulty.
Note that whatever the Ragabash says must be clearly and completely true from the user’s point of view — no prevarication or double entendres are possible. For example, “Your nephew broke the Litany” would work if said Garou ate a policeman, but not if he failed to respect a Black Spiral’s territory. (Though a simple opinion, such as “You’re being an idiot,” is acceptable if heartfelt). The Storyteller is the final arbiter.
Description: The werewolf has the ability to open a moon bridge, with or without the permission of the totem of that caern.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: The Ragabash spends one Gnosis point. See the Rite of the Opened Bridge for more information on opening moon bridges. The maximum distance that can be covered with this Gift is 1,000 miles (1600 km).
Description: The wary Ragabash elder often wants to keep tabs on others, whether to know the location of a wandering cub or trail a suspicious government agent. The Usual Suspects allows the user to know the general whereabouts of several subjects at any time.
Often taught by: owl-spirits and urban spirits of Wisdom.
System: The Ragabash can keep tabs on a number of individuals equal to her Gnosis rating. To choose a target, the New Moon must either have an unobstructed view or have a strong scent trail of the target and make a Gnosis roll (difficulty 7).
Thereafter, by spending a Gnosis point and concentrating for three turns (the Garou rolls Perception + Enigmas, difficulty 8 for physical beings or Gnosis rating for spirits) the Ragabash can sense the general location of the target. Successes increase accuracy; one success would give “Southwest, a mile or two away” while give would allow “South-southwest, 1.3 miles, on the porch of his house.” If the Garou already has a maximum number of targets saved, she must “lose” one before acquiring another.
Description: The Ragabash delivers a devastating curse upon a foe’s body, causing it to weaken or palsy. Many consider the use of this Gift upon a foe to constitute a declaration of eternal enmity. Fortunately, a werewolf that has achieved such Honor as to find a spirit willing to teach them this Gift probably has an good reason (hopefully).
Often taught by: pain- and disease-spirits.
System: The Ragabash spends one Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis, resisted by the target’s own roll of higher of Gnosis or Stamina. The Garou’s difficulty is the opponent’s Willpower, while the victim’s difficulty is the Ragabash’s Gnosis. Each success scored by the Ragabash allows her to remove one point from any of the victim’s Physical Attributes. The effect is permanent, although the victim may restore these Attributes via experience. This Gift may be used only once ever against a given opponent.
Description: When Luna stands visible in the night sky, silver ceases to act as a bane to the Garou. Indeed, when the moon waxes full, silver may well turn on those who would wield it against Gaia’s children.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: When the moon shows in the sky in a visible phase, the character suffers lethal or bashing damage from silver, rather than aggravated (damage type depends on the form of attack — a silver-headed cane would do bashing damage, while silver bullets inflict lethal damage). Additionally, all attacks against the werewolf with silver weapons at this time are considered to roll a 1 in addition to all dice actually rolled — or a pair of 1s during the full moon.
The Garou retains his normal vulnerability to silver during the day or at night when the moon isn't showing.
Liar's Face (WISDOM)
Description: The Ragabash wraps herself in such a deceitful attitude that nothing she says can be trusted — not even the clear and unvarnished truth. The werewolf may make a single truthful statement, and no human who hears it will believe her.
Often taught by: platypus-spirits.
System: After the character makes a truthful statement, the Ragabash spends one Willpower point and rolls Charisma + Subterfuge (difficulty 7). This Gift is automatically effective on humans, causing them to believe the Ragabash is lying. Supernatural listeners whose Willpower rating is lower than the Ragabash’s successes also refuse to believe the Ragabash’s words.
Description: The werewolf can open nearly any sort of closed or locked physical device.
Often taught by: raccoon-spirits.
System: The Ragabash rolls Gnosis (difficulty of the local Gauntlet rating). If the object is sealed with magic, the Garou must spend a Gnosis point before making the attempt.
Description: The Ragabash can steal messages from the Weaver’s web, plucking them from the air or eavesdropping as they race through telephone lines. The Ragabash must be aware that a conversation is happening to listen in on it (though she doesn’t have to know who’s on the other end of the line). For conversations across land lines, the Ragabash must place her ear against a telephone pole or cord; to listen in on cell phone discussions (or even to intercept text messages) she need only be able to see one of the phones being used.
Often taught by: spider- and raven-spirits.
System: The Ragabash spends a Gnosis point. She listens in on the conversation (or receives mental translations of text messages) for as long as she keeps her ear to the line or keeps the cell phone user in sight.
Description: The New Moon can become completely invisible to all senses, spirits or monitoring devices by remaining perfectly still.
Often taught by: chameleon-spirits.
System: The Ragabash rolls Stamina + Stealth (difficulty 5). Each success subtracts one success from the Perception + Alertness rolls of those looking for the character. If no one is actively seeking the werewolf, one success provides perfect concealment. Moving in the slightest or saying anything will nullify this effect.
Description: A Ragabash with this Gift can steal something from a target and make his victim forget that she ever possessed the stolen item.
Often taught by: mouse-spirits.
System: After successfully stealing the item, the Ragabash must score three successes on a Wits + Larceny roll (difficulty of the victim’s Intelligence + Streetwise).
Description: The Ragabash can tell the most outrageous of lies and have them accepted as truth — for a while, at least.
Often taught by: fox-spirits.
System: The Ragabash first tells his lie, then he rolls Wits + Subterfuge (difficulty of the target’s Wits + Subterfuge, or the highest rating in a group of listeners). One success convinces a single individual, while three successes are needed to dupe a crowd. Since the roll is made after the lie is told, this Gift always carries some element of risk.
Description: The Ragabash can cause a technological device to malfunction merely by touching it. This Gift actually causes the spirit energy within the device to work counter to its function. If the Garou can frighten the spirit sufficiently, it will flee the device, causing it to malfunction permanently.
Often taught by: gremlins.
System: The Ragabash rolls Manipulation + Intimidation; the difficulty is determined by the complexity of the item: (Computer – 4; Phone – 6; Car – 7; Gun – 8; Knife – 9).
The more successes the Garou obtains, the more the device is damaged. Three successes disables the device permanently (the spirit has fled). Good roleplaying might certainly warrant one to three additional dice, at the Storyteller’s discretion.
Description: Sometimes referred to as 'Rollo Tomasi' by Urrah Garou. Taking their cue from numerous trickster legends, some Ragabash love to confuse their targets with unusual quizzes and mysterious puzzles. Those with this Gift add a little spiritual punch into the mix, slowly driving their targets mad with riddles.
Often taught by: Ragabash ancestor spirits and servants of Sphinx.
System: The Ragabash must first create (or find) a riddle to be told. It typically has a solid answer (however obscure) that can be understood by most people (and presumably, something important to teach - although not always). After telling it to the victim (which could be an unruly Cub or a Black Spiral rival), the Garou spends one Gnosis.
From then on, the victim will be driven to distraction by the riddle and until he can solve it, he suffers a +1 difficulty to all rolls. In addition, every morning the victim loses one Willpower. Should this drain him entirely of Willpower, he will go a little crazy, most commonly by barricading himself in his room for a day and refusing to come out.
If it is meant to teach a lesson, than the victim might roll Wits + Enigmas vs a difficulty decided by the Ragabash, rolling each day until they accumulate anywhere from 5 to 10 successes (The riddler chooses). If they eventually succeed, some meaningful lesson or proverb should be imparted. And this scene might be used as justification for working off a Flaw, or simply as a form of mild punishment from an elder.
If it is deliberately obtuse, then the victim rolls Wits + Enigmas vs 9 each day and hopes for the best until they achieve ten successes or are drained of Willpower. However, this Gift will never work on that target ever again.
Description: Like a stage magician, the Ragabash combines a steady stream of words with expert sleight of hand to capture his target’s attention fully. He can perform the most egregious acts of larceny or violence right under the nose of the unwitting witness.
Often taught by: avatars of Coyote.
System: The Ragabash spends one Willpower point when making a roll to Fast-Talk a target. For each success, the Garou may take one action that goes completely unnoticed by the target if successful, such as stealing the glasses right off the target’s face, or even killing someone behind his back. Any evidence he doesn’t manage to hide before the effect wears off remains, though.
The Ragabash may also use this Gift to turn a botch on a Fast-Talk roll into a mere failure, buying himself the chance to try some other underhanded tactic.
Description: The elder Ragabash can subvert, coerce and deceive even a spirit into assuming a different role, form or purpose, if it best suits their agenda. At its most constructive, this Gift is used to help spirits adapt or seek a healthier purpose without needing to destroy them. At its worst, they might be rendered into little more than slaves.
Often taught by: Chimerlings.
System: The Ragabash must best the spirit in a resisted Gnosis roll. The difficulty is based on what the Garou tries to accomplish, while the spirit’s difficulty is the Garou’s Gnosis. (Characteristics – 6; Disposition – 7; Type – 9).
Luna’s Gifts to the children of the Crescent Moon grant insight into the Umbra and its denizens, as well as power over spirits and the minds of others.
Spirit Knife (glory)
Description: Using this Gift, a Theurge can imbue a knife — (or if not a knife, any other weapon she hand-crafted herself) — with the power to strike across the Gauntlet, affecting enemies on the other side. This Gift conveys no ability to see across the Gauntlet beyond what the Garou normally possesses, however.
Often taught by: Theurge ancestor- and wasp-spirits.
System: The Theurge holds a knife or other suitably crafted weapon in her hand and spends one Gnosis point to imbue it with spiritual strength and rolls Strength + Occult vs a difficulty of the local Gauntlet; she may then strike creatures on either side of the Gauntlet (whether slashing a ghost or spirit from the material, or a Pentex security guard from the Penumbra) for as many rounds as she scored successes.
This can be intensely startling to spirits. Any spirit that suffers more essence in damage during a scene from attacks made with this Gift than they have Willpower will either flee to safety or materialize in a rage.
If the local Gauntlet exceeds the Theurge's permanent Gnosis, then this effect will last for only one blow, regardless of successes.
Description: Using this Gift, a Theurge can roughly identify a spirit by its airt — the trail left in the wake of a spirit’s passing. This works essentially like tracking in the corporeal world, and is no more informative — a hunter can tell deer tracks from bison tracks, but can’t learn anything meaningful about an unknown creature. Also, powerful and subtle spirits are often able to disguise their airts.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits renowned as great hunters.
System: Treat this exactly as a Garou identifying and tracking animals (by scent or by looking for tracks, at the Theurge’s discretion), but apply it to spirits instead. Note that Garou may not be able to go everywhere spirits do to follow the trail — remember, many spirits can float or fly around (especially epiphlings).
Description: The Umbra is a shifting world where logic doesn’t always apply and losing one’s way is easy. Theurges ensure they can always find their way back to the point where they entered the Umbra with this Gift, which creates a silvery “umbilical cord” connecting the Garou to the point where they last crossed the Gauntlet. Only the werewolf who creates the tether can see it.
Often taught by: spider-spirits.
System: No roll is needed to create the thread. However, after each full day the character spends in the Umbra, a point of Gnosis must be spent to maintain the cord; otherwise, it slowly corrodes from the point of entry and toward the Garou.
Description: The Theurge casts out an invisible, mystic net which entangles hostile spirits, confounding them with a mixture of magical force and long-broken but still potent Gaian law.
Often taught by: owl-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends one Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 8) as an attack directed at a spirit within 30 feet, which can be defended against normally (-2 difficulty if the Theurge knows the true name of the spirit).
Rather than inflicting damage, this attack reduces the spirit’s effective Willpower one dot per success for the purpose of all combat actions for the rest of the scene. Multiple applications of this Gift don’t stack.
Description: Although perfectly visible to all others, this Gift renders the werewolf undetectable to spirits.
Often taught by: wind-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends one Gnosis point, and for the remainder of the scene, she is completely invisible to spiritual senses. She may move about as normal but cannot make any attack actions without disrupting the Gift.
Description: The Umbra can confuse the senses of even the most perceptive tracker. The Theurge who possesses this Gift can track a particular spirit anywhere in the spirit world. As long as the Garou knows the spirit’s name, she can find that spirit no matter which Umbral realm it takes refuge in. Additionally, although usually only the Garou who creates an Umbral tether can see it. If a Theurge has this Gift, that is no longer true.
Often taught by: owl- and sometimes fly-spirits.
System: The Theurge must know either the true name or nature of the spirit (such as acquired with the Gifts: Airt Perception or Name the Spirit) before she can use this Gift. She must then spend a Gnosis point to be able to find the spirit. A successful Perception + Enigmas roll (difficulty 8) reveals the location of the errant Umbral denizen. Some Realms and certain Charms can make this Gift more difficult to use.
Alternatively, by spending one point of Gnosis, the Garou can see all active Umbral tethers around her (as per the Gift: Umbral Tether). She does not know to whom the tethers belong, but can tell in what direction it extends to the Garou. If the Garou attempts to break the tether, the tether’s creator knows immediately and may make a resisted Strength + Occult roll at difficulty 6 against the Garou. If the attacker gains more successes, the tether is destroyed.
Description: A mystical sigil burns itself into the ground around the Theurge, visible only to those with Gnosis ratings. This circle drains the Essence from spirits caught within its blazing pattern.
Often taught by: Lune, ancestor- and antlion-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends one Gnosis and rolls Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 7). They may allocate their successes between expanding the battle mandala; encompassing a radius of (15 meters per success) feet or increasing the potency of its effect; spirits (other than the Garou’s pack totem) within the mandala lose (one Essence per success) per turn.
The mandala dissipates at the end of the scene or when the werewolf steps outside of its bounds, whichever comes first.
Description: The werewolf acquires a greater natural skill in carrying things in and out of the Umbra without having to dedicate them to herself (see the Rite of Talisman Dedication, p. 211). It may with considerable strain even drag over a single human or animal, possibly even against their will.
Often taught by: opossum- and kangaroo-spirits.
System: The character must grasp the object or person he wishes to take to (or from) the spirit world, and spend a number of Willpower points: one for small items (a knife or cell phone), two for larger items (a backpack or shotgun), and three for man-sized items (including people). The Theurge makes the usual Gnosis roll to pierce the Gauntlet and step sideways; if successful, both he and the desired object or person pass into the Umbra.
An unwilling subject may resist with a Willpower roll; each success subtracts one from the Garou’s successes. If left in the Umbra too long, living beings turn into spirits entirely.
Finally, if the Garou spends a Willpower point on an item that is already imbued with the Gift: Spirit Knife, then it will retain its potency for an entire scene.
Description: The Theurge finds that the best way to deal with an enemy is to send him far away — perhaps to a place where he’ll learn the folly of his ways. She may tear open a hole in the Gauntlet while dodging an enemy’s attack, sending them to the land of spirits.
Often taught by: trapdoor spider-spirits.
System: When attempting to dodge a close-range attack, the Theurge spends one Gnosis point and increases the difficulty of the dodge by one, or to the rating of the local Gauntlet, whichever is higher.
If the dodge succeeds in avoiding the attack completely, the attacker is dropped into the Penumbra (or into the physical world if this Gift is used in the Penumbra). This could be extremely lethal for them if they have no way to escape - even without taking into account the predatory spirits that might be lurking on the other side.
Description: The Garou may drain power from a spirit to feed her own power.
Often taught by: leech- and rat-spirits.
System: The Theurge makes a resisted Gnosis roll against the spirit. If the character succeeds, the spirit loses one Essence point per success for the rest of the scene. For every point drained, the Garou gains a Gnosis, Rage or temporary Willpower point (her choice). She loses any points exceeding her maximum at the end of the scene.
Alternatively, the Theurge can inflict double the Essence damage, but at the cost of not regaining any Gnosis, Rage or temporary Willpower.
BLOOD LIFE (honor)
Description: Many things reside in the blood, both mundane and mystical. Heritage, power, magical connections, and life-giving nutrients all pulse through the veins of living creatures, encompassing their life experiences. The Theurge can gain insight from these experiences by tasting the blood of her prey.
Often taught by: leech or ancestor-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends one Gnosis point when the werewolf tastes a subject's blood. If done in combat, this ordinarily requires a bite attack that deals at least one level of damage.
She then experiences a brief vision that replays a memory from the target’s past. It could be one of great mystical import or significant relevance to the current situation, or one that had a marked personal effect on the target. The Storyteller decides the memory, but it should be one that gives the Theurge some insight into her foe (or ally). At the Storyteller’s discretion, the Garou gains between one and three bonus dice on the next roll she makes for an action that’s relevant to the experience, depending on its intensity and pertinence.
This Gift only works on living creatures, although the Theurge may pick up fragments of distant memory from a vampire’s victims if she uses this Gift to bite it.
(Non-Theurges cannot learn this Way.)
Description: Theurges have ways of knowing all manner of secret things other Garou would wish stayed hidden; with this Gift, they can learn where the balance of chiminage lies with any spiritually aware being with a glance. The Gift reveals if the target has paid all proper obligations to the spirits, if he has ignored a debt or engaged in blasphemy against his totem or other spiritual patrons.
Often taught by: owl-spirits.
System: A Perception + Subterfuge roll (difficulty 7) reveals the target’s state of debt in the spirit worlds; with three or more successes, the Theurge may learn the name of the one spirit the target most recently egregiously wronged, if such a being exists.
Description: In tune with all things hidden, the Theurge can hear the tell-tale whispers of secret-spirits whenever someone nearby bears the burden of hidden knowledge.
Often taught by: crow- and raven-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends one Gnosis point, and the werewolf becomes aware of anyone in her immediate vicinity with an important secret weighing on his mind, hidden either from her specifically or from the world at large. The importance of the secret depends on how it’s perceived by the one who keeps it. The Theurge gains no insight into the nature of the secrets; she only knows who keeps them.
Description: Theurges use this Gift as a form of mystical warning against those who have offended the spirits. It causes the victim to suffer ill luck, and to witness an omen from his own culture indicating foreboding or cosmological displeasure. Note that many modern people may not recognize an omen as an omen, but they will still find it unsettling by it’s very nature.
Often taught by: ancient ancestor Theurge spirits and stormcrows.
System: The Theurge spends a point of Gnosis, burns an effigy of the victim and rolls her Manipulation + Occult (difficulty 7); the intended target does not need to be present. Sometime in the same story the Gift is used, the target will botch an important (but not life-threatening) roll automatically, or suffer botch-like effects at one time in his everyday life.
Description: Rituals are not used only to evoke supernatural effects; they also have an inherent value to Theurges in and of themselves. Using this Gift, the Garou evokes a sense of awe, reverence and holy mystery through ritualistic behavior — anything from a Garou rite to a Catholic sacrament. Along with any normal mystical effect, the ceremony produces a sense of reaffirmation and cosmological belonging in everybody who participates. While Theurges usually use this effect to strengthen sincere spiritual devotions or build community among Garou, it’s just as easily abused to keep participants in a rite in ignorant, dogmatic fear of the supernatural world — the Theurge’s intent, not the nature of the Gift, determines which is the case.
Often taught by: enigma-spirits.
System: Any being can attempt to inspire, unify or cow an audience through ritualism with a Charisma + Rituals, Occult, Performance or Subterfuge roll as appropriate to the exact situation. Possession of this Gift increases the Charisma of the Theurge by four dots, only for the purposes of such attempts (to a maximum of nine).
Description: As a mouthpiece for the spirit world, the Theurge may invite its denizens to witness the wrongs of her enemies and render silent judgment. She appears mysterious and terrible as a force of nature to those who would stand against her, whether they are consciously aware of the spiritual audience at her side or not.
Often taught by: Lunes and justice or honor epiphlings.
System: The Theurge spends a point of Gnosis as the Garou’s presence becomes an invitation for spirits in the area, on either side of the Gauntlet, to gather and watch the proceedings. The spirits need not act, and the target need not know they even exist; their mere gaze adds an air of awe-inspiring mysticism to the Theurge’s actions.
If using this Gift in the material world, the difficulty of any roll she makes to intimidate, persuade, or impress for the rest of the scene is reduced by (7 – local Gauntlet rating), to a minimum difficulty of 3. If it’s used in the Umbra, reduce the difficulty to 3 instead. If the watching spirits have an avenue to interact with the scene, they are generally more inclined to support the Garou than not, unless they’re aligned with the Wyrm.
Description: The Theurge calls upon the spirits to revoke their favor from another Garou; she must verbally state the target’s offenses against the spirit worlds, and the target must be present; if successful, the target loses both Renown and spiritual Gifts.
Often taught by: Lunes and hyena-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Charisma + Intimidation against a difficulty equal to the target’s [Gnosis + 2]. Each success causes the target to suffer a -1 dice penalty for any spirit-related dice pools (such as activating any Gifts) for the rest of the night. With an exceptional success, the Theurge will also strip away all currently active Gifts from the targeted Garou.
Description: This Gift allows the Theurge to cloud the minds of other beings, making it impossible for them to find the Umbra or step sideways into it. Once used as a form of punishment for arrogant pups, this Gift is more often deployed as a weapon against Black Spiral Dancers in the days of the coming Apocalypse.
Often taught by: Weaver-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends one Gnosis point for every individual she wishes to affect. The Gauntlet increases by five for those targets for the rest of the scene. Up to five individuals can be affected at once. While normally used against other Garou, this Gift is effective against any being capable of entering the Umbra sideways, including other Fera and some mages.
Description: This is a powerful Gift of prophecy. The werewolf becomes an oracle, prone to dreams and visions which hint at future opportunities, challenges and threats to come. These visions are always veiled in symbolism — an impending war against the local vampires might be presaged by visions of skyscrapers weeping blood from their upper stories, while a death in the sept might be heralded by dreams of a chorus of mournful howls rising to a ghost-pale moon.
Often taught by: owl-spirits.
System: Visions are entirely under the Storyteller’s control and are best handled through roleplaying, though a truly stumped player might ask for a Wits + Occult (difficulty 7) roll to help interpret a particularly puzzling vision.
Description: This most terrible Gift allows the Theurge to lay a great and malicious curse upon a victim of her choice. Such a stigma is irreversible, and will remain with the victim for all her life. The victim must be present, and the Theurge must verbally state her malediction.
Often taught by: spirits of hatred and certain venomous animal-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends a point of Gnosis and a point of Willpower, then rolls Manipulation + Occult against a difficulty of the target’s Willpower as she pronounces the curse. With one to five successes, the Theurge can inflict the Cursed Flaw on her target at a level equal to the successes rolled; the Storyteller chooses and appropriately poetic manifestation. With six or more successes, the Theurge can instead choose to inflict the Dark Fate Flaw.
Spirit Speech (WISDOM)
Description: Most Garou either need to have something a spirit wants, manage to convince them they do or just hope they find the spirit in a good mood, if they wish to communicate with it. Some especially alien spirits (such as those found in the Deep Umbra) might not know any human speech at all. Other strategies involve either relying on a pack's totem spirit or seeking out more benevolent spirits as intermediaries (such as ancestor- or wolf-spirits with whom communicating in Garou or lupine language is possible).
This Gift allows the Theurge take such matters into their own hands, enabling the spirits they encounter to understand - or be understood - by him, whether they like it or not.
Often taught by: any willing spirit.
System: This Gift bestows instinctive understanding of the language of the spirit world, permitting the Garou to clearly understand and speak with any spirit he encounters. The Gift doesn’t influence spirits’ attitudes toward the werewolf in any way, nor ensure that they have any desire to communicate with him. This Gift’s effects are permanent.
Description: The werewolf gains an instinctive rapport with denizens of the Umbra. He can sense the type and approximate Trait levels (Rage, Gnosis, Willpower) of spirits.
Often taught by: owl- and raven-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends one Willpower and rolls Perception + Occult (difficulty 7). Each success allows the Theurge to learn either the level of one of the spirit's traits, or the nature of a Charm it possesses. If they achieve 5+ successes, then they will discern the spirit's true name, giving them considerable bonuses to interacting with and compelling it.
Description: The Garou is able to heal the wounds of any living creature, aggravated or otherwise, simply by laying hands over the afflicted area. The Garou may not heal herself, spirits or the undead with this Gift.
Often taught by: bear-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends one Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Medicine (difficulty of the wounded individual’s Rage, or 6 for non-Garou). Each success heals one health level, if used in the same scene the wound is suffered.
The Theurge may heal even Battle Scars in this manner if the Theurge uses the Gift in the same scene in which the scar was obtained and she spends a second Gnosis point. There is no limit to how many times this Gift may be used on a person, but each use requires the expenditure of one Gnosis.
If the damage was aggravated and suffered in a previous scene, then the Theurge can only heal one level of it at a time, per use of this Gift.
Description: Generally, spirits are fairly friendly to Garou, at least ones that aren’t automatically hostile to anything. That doesn’t mean, however, that they treat a Garou exactly the same as they treat other spirits, and that’s where this Gift comes in handy. By activating it within the Umbra, the Theurge disguises herself as a spirit (usually a wolf spirit) to all concerned. She still physically looks exactly like her Lupus form, she simply gives the impression of a spirit rather than Garou. Some Theurge have also used the Gift to throw off pursuit by hiding in a pack of wolf spirits.
Often taught by: chameleon-spirits.
System: The Theurge spends one Gnosis and rolls Appearance + Subterfuge (difficulty 6 if imitating a wolf spirit, difficulty 9 for anything else). Each success keeps the disguise in place for one hour. This Gift is obviously of little use outside the Umbra.
Description: The Theurge can give commands to spirits she meets and expect obedience. The Gift doesn’t grant the ability to summon spirits — only to compel them to obey. As always when dealing with spirits, clear wording is essential, as some clever spirits may attempt to twist the spirit of issued commands while obeying them to the letter.
Often taught by: Incarnae avatars.
System: The Theurge spends a Willpower point and rolls Charisma + Leadership (difficulty is the spirit’s Gnosis; -2 difficulty if the Theurge knows the spirit's true name). The character can issue successive commands once the spirit is under her control - the length and complexity of which relies on the number of her successes. You cannot bundle multiple tasks together; each additional command requires that the character expend an additional Willpower point.
The spirit cannot be ordered to leave a place or object (or, in the case of fomori, person…) to which it is bound. The cost and difficulty of using this Gift may be modified by the Storyteller, depending on how closely the desired command aligns with the spirit's nature, or is at odds with it. Although generally, the Theurge (as Gaia's chosen) is given the benefit of the doubt versus any but the most corrupt and hostile spirits.
Description: Spirits fill the world, and none know this fact better than the Theurge. This Gift grants constant awareness of the spirit world. Even in the physical world, the Theurge can observe and potentially interact with spirits in the Penumbra at will. While most spirit activity isn’t worth watching, the Theurge will be automatically aware of any dramatic changes or upheavals nearby.
Often taught by: any willing spirit
System: If the Theurge’s permanent Gnosis equals or exceeds the local Gauntlet, he can see into the Umbra automatically. Otherwise, the Garou must roll Gnosis to look through the Gauntlet (difficulty of the Gauntlet rating). Such awareness lasts for the rest of the scene or until the character enters an area with a stronger Gauntlet.
Description: This is the Gift of ejecting spirits from places or objects, whether they are there voluntarily or are bound there.
Often taught by: any Incarna avatar.
System: The Theurge must concentrate uninterrupted for three turns. If a spirit does not wish to leave, the Garou must make a Manipulation + Intimidation roll (difficulty of the spirit’s Willpower). If the spirit has been bound to its lodging place (or into a fetish), then the exorcist must make a Wits + Subterfuge roll (difficulty 8) and gain more successes than the binder did when tying the spirit to its location.
This Gift can be used to “cure” fomori, although the host will surely die as the Bane is ejected unless a powerful healer manages to preserve her live during the exorcism.
Description: The Theurge with this Gift may open the Gauntlet, physically transporting creatures other than shapeshifters into the Umbra.
Often taught by: turtle-spirits (surprisingly enough).
System: The Theurge must touch the creature to be affected; the character spends a Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis against a difficulty equal to the local Gauntlet plus one per creature affected. Kinfolk or other shapeshifters do not add to the difficulty as do other creatures. If the roll is successful, the Gift user automatically steps sideways along with his passengers.
A maximum of eight other creatures may be transported in this fashion. While in the Umbra, the affected creatures are bound to the Garou with silk threads. They will always remain by the Garou’s side and must leave the Umbra when the Garou does. However, the Garou may sever a thread and send a creature back to its starting point by spending a Willpower point. If the affected creature wants to resist either the initial transition or the return to the physical world, she may make a resisted Willpower roll against the Gift-wielder (difficulty 6 for both rolls).
Description: One of the best kept secrets of powerful Theurges is the ability to channel a spirit. For a short time, Garou and spirit become one creature with the abilities of both. Usually, the Garou remains in control, adding the spirit’s Charms to her repertoire — but sometimes things go awry.
Often taught by: elementals (especially fire-elementals) and even certain banes (at a dangerous cost).
System: The Theurge rolls her character’s Gnosis and spends a Gnosis point to activate the Gift. The Rite of Summoning chart determines the difficulty of this Gift. Every success allows the Garou to use one of the spirit’s Charms for up to one scene.
A botch on the roll indicates the Garou accidentally channels a Bane that goes on to turn the Theurge against her friends.
Description: Through a week-long ordeal of fasting, trance states and spirit communication, the Theurge is able to set the elements of the Triat into perfect balance within one individual’s soul. Obviously, the subject to be healed must be willing, and the two individuals must remain in solitude (save for contact with spirits) for the duration.
Often taught by: the gentlest Gaian Incarna (usually Unicorn).
System: The effects are largely character and story-based. This Gift alone cannot automatically cure full-blown Harano if the subject lacks even a kernel of sincerity, for example. Although it can virtually always ameliorate the worst consequences of some affliction.
Otherwise, this Gift can cure insanity, ease emotional wounds, heal the effects of trauma and remove desensitization. If the spiritual injury was caused by ill conduct on the subject’s part, however, this Gift can only benefit them once: even the greatest empath has little sympathy for those who willingly slide back into self-degradation after being helped out the first time.
There are few Theurges left among the Garou Nation who still possess such precious knowledge as this Gift entails. Entire packs have been known to brave great dangers and treacherous leagues just on the rumor that such a legendary Theurge might be able to bring peace to their traumatized loved one or Harano-stricken packmate.
Luna gifts her Half Moon children with powers of balance, judgment, and enforcement of law. The judges and mediators of the Garou nation use their magic to discern the truth, lead in times of peace, and mediate among their fellows.
Fangs of Judgment (glory)
Description: It falls upon the Philodox to levy not only judgment but also punishment against those who have fallen from their proper stations. This Gift, taught by an ancestor-spirit, causes the werewolf’s claws and fangs to burn with the righteous power of law.
Often taught by: Philodox ancestor-spirits.
System: The Philodox spends one Willpower point. For the next full day, all of the Garou’s natural weaponry attacks do two extra dice of damage to all beings who have fallen from their original purpose to the service of the Wyrm (such as Black Spiral Dancers, fomori, and corrupted nature spirits; Banes which came into existence as agents of the Wyrm are, regrettably, exempt from this Gift’s sanction).
Description: Through force of will, the Philodox is able to ignore the pain of his wounds and continue acting normally.
Often taught by: bear-spirits.
System: The Philodox spends one Willpower point to ignore all wound penalties for the rest of the scene.
Description: Some Garou feel so strongly about their place in the pack, the tribe and the world that they can draw on this resolve in times of need. The Philodox can pull new resolve from his deepest reserves.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: Once per scene, the Philodox may roll Stamina + Rituals (difficulty 7). Success allows the Garou to recover one point of Willpower up to her maximum. She recovers an additional point of Willpower for every two successes after the first.
Description: The heart of the werewolf is filled with rage, and quite often, this internal fire can overcome a werewolf’s strength of will. With this Gift, taught by any tree spirit, a Philodox can briefly allow another to “hold back” the fury inside, lest a poorly made decision cause irreparable damage. It has occasionally been used for somewhat less honorable purposes by Shadow Lords, Black Spirals and other ne'er-do-wells.
Often taught by: tree-spirits.
System: The Philodox rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge against a target's Willpower (which must be another Garou). For every success, the target will make all Rage rolls using the Philodox's permanent Rage rating instead of their own for one minute. This can either be a good thing if trying to restrain a hot-headed Ahroun packmate...or very bad.
Description: The Philodox are the natural leaders of the Garou in times of peace, bolstered by the faith and trust given to them by their charges.
Often taught by: lion-spirits.
System: This Gift's effects is permanent once learned. The Philodox now receives two automatic successes when spending Willpower on any action which normally permits it, with the exception of rituals or Gift activations.
Description: The Philodox’s authority extends even into the realm of beasts, such that he can command the loyalty of any specific animal. If successful, the animal follows his commands willingly and unconditionally.
Often taught by: lion- and falcon-spirits.
System: The Philodox must choose one target within 100 feet. The player rolls Charisma + Animal Ken against a difficulty based on the werewolf’s relationship with the animal. This power works on only one animal at a time, and it does not attract animals to the Garou’s vicinity.
Relationship A sibling Feed and care for Stranger Hostile |
Difficulty 3 6 8 10 |
Description: Philodox are masters of judgment, and this trait extends even into the field of battle. By watching an opponent’s fighting style, the werewolf can evaluate his strengths and weaknesses.
Often taught by: snake- and wind-spirits.
System: The Philodox rolls Perception + Brawl (difficulty 7). Each success gives her one bonus die to add to her attack or damage rolls against this opponent. For instance, a Garou who gets four successes on this roll could add two dice to her attack rolls and two to her damage pool. This Gift can be used against a given foe only once per scene, and the benefits are lost at the end of the scene.
The werewolf must concentrate for a full turn to use this Gift and the difficulty is never modified in any way by other Gifts, form or Merit bonuses, etc.
Description: As the river changes course to flow past the rock, so does the Philodox flow past his foe’s attack to bring the pain. He learns to balance his offense and defense in perfect harmony.
Often taught by: water elementals.
System: The Philodox spends one Willpower point. For the rest of the scene, whenever he splits his dice pool or spends Rage to take both a defensive and an attack action in the same turn, he reduces the difficulty of both actions by one.
Description: Philodox have a stronger relationship with the elementals of the earth than do other werewolves, for just as the earth upholds those upon it, the Philodox uphold their people’s ways. While in contact with earth or rock, the Philodox can invoke a wall to protect himself. This wall will move with the Garou, defending him from all angles.
Often taught by: earth elementals.
System: The Philodox spends one Gnosis point. The wall’s dimensions are three yards high, two yards long and one yard thick. It has a soak pool of 10 dice, and 15 health levels must be inflicted to penetrate it at any point. The wall lasts for one scene or until released into the earth by the Garou.
Description: Philodox and earth elementals have an affinity for each other. Both are usually dedicated, stalwart and slow to anger. In recognition of a legendary friendship between an ancient Garou and a powerful elemental, the spirits of the earth teach this Gift to the Half Moons. When then Garou calls for aid, the ground beneath his feet answers, shaking his enemies to their knees and swallowing the least fortunate into an early grave.
Often taught by: earth elementals.
System: The Philodox spends one point of Gnosis, Rage and Willpower and rolls Strength + Expression (difficulty 8). During the first turn, the elementals rouse to action. For 25 yards per success in all directions, the earth buckles and shakes. Everyone else but the character must succeed on a Dexterity + Athletics roll (difficulty 6 + the Philodox's successes) or fall to the ground and try to soak five levels of bashing damage as the earth rushes up to meet them.
If fallen, it requires the same roll to regain one's feet while the earth still shakes. No other actions but regaining or keeping one's feet are possible while the ground shakes (which it will continue to do until the Philodox's next turn).
At the end of one full turn, the ground terrifyingly rends itself, opening deep clefts near anyone who fell the previous round. Those who are still on the ground must make a Dexterity + Athletics (difficulty 8) roll to avoid falling in. Those who fail must soak 10 levels of bashing damage as the chasms smash closed. Survivors must claw their way out of the earth or die.
The Philodox may allocate successes to extend the duration of the shaking rather than make it more difficult to keep one's feet. Additional successes may also be devoted to protecting packmates from the tremors at a cost one success per protected individual.
TRUTH OF GAIA (honor)
Description: As judges of the Litany, Philodox have the ability to sense whether others have spoken truth or falsehood.
Often taught by: a Gaffling of Falcon.
System: The Philodox rolls Intelligence + Empathy (difficulty of the subject’s Manipulation + Subterfuge). This Gift reveals only whether the target is being knowingly deceitful or not.
(Non-Philodoxes cannot learn this Way.)
Description: As the counselors of the Garou Nation, the Philodox have a keen nose for those whose minds have been shattered by trauma or supernatural forces.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: The Philodox rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty 6) and the werewolf spends an action concentrating. If successful, he can sense that a target suffers from a Derangement and can identify the type by scent. This Gift can also sense those under the influence of Delirium, and at what stage.
Description: With the affirmation of his fellow Garou behind him, the Philodox has no ear for paltry attempts to sway him from his path. His Honor acts as a shield against the subversive words or angry threats of the Wyrm’s minions and the misguided arguments of less righteous werewolves.
Often taught by: falcon-spirits.
System: The Philodox spends one Willpower point to add half their Honor (rounded down) to the difficulty of all attempts to intimidate or deceive them for the rest of the scene. This Gift doesn’t work against Garou with higher Honor than the Philodox.
Description: The Philodox draws all eyes to herself with a great exclamation, a clap of her hands, the striking of klaive to shield, or some other such gesture. Until she has had her say, none may depart or interrupt her.
Often taught by: lion-spirits.
System: The Philodox spends one Willpower point and rolls Appearance + Leadership (difficulty equals the highest Willpower among those whose attention she seeks to gain). If the roll succeeds, all in attendance fall quiet and listen. Any individual who wishes to interrupt the Philodox or walk out before she has finished speaking must spend two points of Willpower to do so.
Description: The Philodox is mediator and judge, but is also investigator. The Gift assists a Philodox with such matters by revealing any emotions and opinions that exist between two people. Many Garou detest this Gift, since it is indiscriminate, revealing any emotion that may exist.
Often taught by: dog- and ant-spirits.
System: The Philodox spends one Rage as the Garou taps deep into his own wellspring of emotion, connecting those emotions to those of his target. After this, the Philodox whispers the name of a person with whom the target has a relationship, and the Philodox will immediately feel every emotion toward that person that the target has...at that very moment.
These emotions aren’t real (at least to the Philodox), but they certainly feel it, and it is wise to avoid the person to whom those emotions are directed for as long as the effect lasts (one scene). A Garou or other supernatural that does not wish to cooperate with the Gift may roll their Willpower (difficulty of the Philodox’s rage) with a success preventing use of this Gift.
This Gift is much more effective when incorporated as part of a conversation - either regarding the subject or a situation connected to them. Since the information it provides is both current and contextual. It does not provide an exhaustive analysis. For example, if a Garou were questioning someone about a crime, and the witness experienced a huge spike of fear towards the whispered name...That might be some indication that they were threatened to keep quiet, earlier.
Description: Perception is subjective, but the Philodox cannot afford that luxury. This Gift allows the user to sense whether what the subject believes to be true is actually false.
Often taught by: Jagglings loyal to Falcon.
System: The Philodox rolls Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 7). A single success determines if what the subject is telling an unintended untruth. Three successes will discover if the subject was deliberately misled. Five successes or more will possibly even reveal the truth of the lie at its simplest level (i.e., it might tell who perpetrated a crime, but not why or who the perp was working for - nor for that matter, who really shot JFK, whatever the tinfoil-wearing crank in the alley believes).
Note that this Gift only works when a subject speaks what he truly believes; packmates can’t go on “fishing expeditions” by throwing out names to determine who really committed a deed, for example. Furthermore, Reality’s Path deals with knowable facts (“She never intended to return”, “despite his boast, your brother didn’t kill the Bane single-handed”), not greater spiritual or metaphysical truths.
Description: The Philodox can call on her power to radiate a commanding presence that compels others to submit to her. Should she succeed in a test of wills, she dominates her foe, which causes humans to fall to their knees and wolves to roll on their backs.
Often taught by: Lion- or wolf-spirits.
System: The Philodox must score at least three successes more than her opponent on a resisted Willpower contest. If the Gift takes effect, the victim can take no action other than submission unless he is in direct danger.
This Gift does not work against Garou with higher Honor Renown.
Description: The Philodox with this power can force a Garou to remain in the same form that the Philodox is. This Gift is especially useful to abate frenzy or deny a combative advantage. It is occasionally used by elder Philodox to aid cubs in learning shapeshifting, or enabling a hot-headed packmate to assume a war form more safely.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The Philodox spends one Gnosis and rolls his Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). If successful, the target automatically shifts to the same form that the Garou is in. The number of successes is how many the target must achieve on a Willpower roll vs a difficulty of the Philodox's Willpower to resist or assume a different form.
Description: This Gift places its target under a geas, a sacred oath to obey the Philodox’s bidding. The geas cannot make the targets act contrary to their basic instincts (such as self-preservation). Therefore, she could send a group on a quest, but she could not make its members attack and try to kill each other — unless they were psychotics or werewolves without pack bonds.
Often taught by: Incarna avatars.
System: The Philodox spends one Willpower and one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Law (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). In the case of a group, the difficulty is the highest Willpower among its members. The geas’ compulsion lasts until the task is completed or until the target suffers a battle scar in pursuit of the quest. No victim can labor under more than one geas at a time; the first one laid always takes precedence.
Description: There are many ways to mystically bind the will of another. This Gift shatters all such bonds, from the blood domination of a vampire to a mage’s mind control or a Half Moon’s geas. Those who know this Gift may use it on any being, including themselves.
Often taught by: This Gift is only granted by an Incarna or equally powerful spirit, usually as a reward for some great service.
System: The Philodox one may break their own or another’s mystic compulsion by touching her, spending a single Gnosis and Willpower point and rolling Manipulation + Law (difficulty 9).
For a Philodox using it on themselves, the roll is instinctive and reflexive when first afflicted - yet if it fails, it will proceed as normal from then on. In both cases, failure prevents another attempt until the Half-Moon has come, gone and then come again (i.e., at least a month has passed).
MOONLIGHT'S REFLECTION (WISDOM)
Description: Using this Gift, the werewolf can perceive the phase of the moon that heralded the birth of another. Although it can determine auspice, Moon Lore gives no clue to whether the subject is a werewolf or even if it is supernatural in any way; being born under a waxing gibbous moon means much more to a Garou than it does to a normal human.
Often taught by: moon-spirits.
System: A single success on a Intelligence + Rituals roll (difficulty 6) is required to determine the moon’s phase at the time of the subject’s birth; two successes determine whether it was waxing or waning.
This Gift is a big reason why more werewolves don't lie about their auspice, and why the Garou Nation as a whole takes honesty on such matters for granted. It has also lead to the mistaken impression that all werewolves can sense these things, which couldn't be further from the truth.
Description: A wise Garou knows to obey the laws of spirit realms for maximum results; and to use the laws of human cities to their best advantage. However, sometimes those laws aren’t immediately obvious. Although experience is the best teacher, sometimes a Philodox needs to take a shortcut. With this Gift, the Philodox can intuitively guess important facts about spiritual realm or city.
This Gift is sometimes referred to by Urrah as 'Am I Under Arrest?".
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: This Gift works in any realm, reality zone, city, state, county or country. The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Perception + Law against a variable difficulty; the more obscure or less traveled the location, the higher the difficulty. For example, trying to glean wisdom about the CyberRealm or semi-legendary Pangaea might be difficulty 9, whereas Los Angeles might be 6. Each success gains a relevant fact about the realm, to a maximum of five successes.
The Storyteller determines which facts are most relevant, especially when visiting bizarre locations; for example, if the player gains only one success in the Abyss, the Storyteller might feel that the most important fact is “don’t fall in; if you fall into the Abyss, you’re lost forever.” This Gift functions only once per 'visit', and doesn’t prevent redundancy; a Philodox might “learn” the same fact twice in successive visits to a location.
Description: This Gift allows the Garou to determine the true nature of a person. This information is conveyed as an olfactory sensation — it is actually a scent of the target’s natural form.
Often taught by: any spirit servant of Gaia.
System: The Garou can tell automatically when someone is a werewolf; anything else requires a Perception + Primal-Urge roll (difficulty 7). It takes one success to detect Garou Kinfolk, two successes to detect vampires, faeries, or other shapeshifters as such, three successes to detect other shifter's Kinfolk and it takes four to detect fomori or mages.
Description: Half Moons are seldom called upon to make easy decisions or clear-cut judgements — if things were so simple, the Philodox would not be needed. Yet when it comes down to it, even the judge could use a hint now and then. By taking a moment to look around, the wise Garou may see in the fall of a leaf or path of a butterfly an answer he seeks.
Often taught by: tree- and butterfly-spirits.
System: The Philodox spends a Gnosis point and makes an Intelligence + Meditation roll (difficulty varies, from 9 in a featureless, sealed space to 5 for a forest at sunset). The Gift takes a minimum of one full minute to use; the user gains a -1 difficulty if he dwells on the problem for an hour. Successes add to the nature and certainty of the omen, while a botch brings an equally certain but erroneous conclusion.
More than most, the effects of this Gift are up to the Storyteller, and depend on the situation; in general, through, the Storyteller should use it to give a hint as to Gaia’s two cents worth on the matter in question.
Description: Any spirit the Philodox knows by name is a potential servitor. With this Gift, the werewolf can summon and command any spirit she knows by name. Only one command is possible at a time, and the spirit departs after fulfilling the one request.
Often taught by: Incarna avatars.
System: The Philodox must first learn the spirit’s name, which usually requires personal acquaintance, use of the Gift: Name the Spirit or some other means. The Garou then rolls Charisma + Law (difficulty of the spirit’s Willpower).
In times of emergency, the Philodox may spend Gnosis points to summon all Gaian spirits within a certain distance to protect or assist her, even if she does not know their names. This requires three rounds of total concentration and is rolled against Difficulty 10 minus one for every point of Gnosis spent. The default range is a quarter mile (roughly 400 meters). Each success will expand the range by another quarter mile. You may still make only one request of the responding host.
This Gift represents a great responsibility and using it to send loads of Gaian spirits to their certain destruction will result in equally great consequences.
Description: Oaths sanctified before a Philodox are a serious matter indeed, so this Gift grants the judges of the Garou nation the ability to know when an oath has been broken and to track down the oathbreaker to correct him personally.
Often taught by: dog-spirits.
System: The Philodox may spend one Gnosis point to sanctify any oath or promise he personally witnesses, no matter how formal or informal. If at any point in the future one of the individuals sworn to the oath breaks it, the Philodox immediately becomes aware of this, and all rolls for the werewolf to track the oathbreaker by scent drop to difficulty 4. This benefit lasts until the Philodox next stands in the oathbreaker’s presence.
If the Philodox had previously used the Gift: Moon Lore on the oathbreaker in question, then they will instinctively know their exact location at the next rising of the same moon that the oathbreaker was born under. This awareness persists for one night, and will not be acquired again unless the Philodox successfully uses Moon Lore on them once more.
Description: As the arbitrators of the Garou Nation, the Philodox have developed an attunement with the precarious forces that balance the world and the individual alike. This Gift allows the user to detect an overabundance of any of the prime forces of the universe, whether Wyrm, Wyld or Weaver. It can point out a Bane manifestation at an industrial plant or mental instability in a packmate.
Often taught by: cat-spirits, (surprisingly enough).
System: The Gift requires the expenditure of one Gnosis point. With a successful Perception + Enigmas roll (difficulty 8) the Garou can feel the balance, or lack thereof, within an area, person or inanimate object. Wyrm manifestation feels dense and oily, Weaver presence feels cold and unyielding and Wyld energies feel warm and trembling.
The Philodox must focus and be at peace for this Gift to work properly. Distractions, such as combat or exhaustion, disrupt any benefits of the Gift — the Garou can find only her own imbalance in such instances.
Description: The Philodox can bring all his senses to bear on one spot with which he is familiar (even an Umbral site), no matter how far away that spot is. The werewolf senses the site from a point of view as if he were standing in the middle of the area being scanned.
Often taught by: bird-spirits.
System: The Philodox rolls Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 8). If the spot is in the Umbra, the difficulty is 9 or the Gauntlet rating (whichever is higher).
Description: This is one of the most feared and powerful Gifts in the Half-Moon's arsenal. By speaking words of forbiddance, the Philodox can bar pack or personal totems from giving their children aid and even drive such entities back across the Gauntlet. Doing so also disrupts the spiritual rapport between packmates, making it difficult for them to execute pack tactics or act in concert.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Philodox must concentrate for a full turn, and he must have a general idea of which totem his targets follow. The Garou then spends one Gnosis point and one Willpower point, and he rolls Gnosis at difficulty 8.
If successful, the pack members lose all Traits associated with their totem, any benefits from the Totem Background and they cannot use pack tactics or act in concert for the remainder of the scene.
This Gift will also prevent the pack totem from materializing to aid them in battle, and if already materialized, will banish them back to the other side of the Gauntlet. If used in the Umbra, it will inflict a +2 difficulty on all rolls that the totem spirit makes towards the wielder of this Gift.
Description: From death can come hope. From the ashes of ruin can come renewed fighting spirit. The Philodox sheds his blood over the bones of the fallen to briefly return a creature to life.
Often taught by: Incarna avatars.
System: The Philodox must touch the bones of an animal or human corpse that has been dead no longer than (Gnosis) months and carries no Wyrm taint. The player spends a Gnosis point and the werewolf inflicts a number of lethal health levels upon himself, depending on the size of the corpse. Small creatures such as small birds or rodents require one level; medium sized creatures such as wolves, falcons, and iguanas require two; large creatures such as humans, horses, alligators, and dolphins require three; and enormous creatures rather more at the Storyteller’s discretion.
The Garou then makes an extended Charisma + Primal-Urge roll with a difficulty of (5 + health levels inflicted), rolling once every turn until she has accumulated 12 successes. If successful, her blood forms into new muscle and flesh, filling in the gaps in the body until it is whole again. It will 'live again' as it were, for one scene. If an animal, the reborn creature is loyal to the Philodox for one scene. If it is a human, they will have no awareness of their death or the time spent between then and now...and will likely be very afraid and confused if confronted with such knowledge.
The Philodox cannot use this Gift on supernatural creatures (including vampires, magi, other shifters, etc) or the same corpse a second time.
The Moon Dancers' role is bittersweet. They share the joyful task of preserving Garou victories in legend and song, along with the onerous one of teaching caution and wisdom through tales of tragedy and defeat. While the Galliards are fierce warriors themselves when the moon swells, their most important task in times of war is to rally their packs and tribes to fight on against any odds.
WYLD'S CALL (glory)
Description: The werewolf may send her howl far beyond the normal range of hearing and imbue it with great emotion, stirring the hearts of fellow Garou and chilling the bones of all others.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The Galliard rolls Stamina + Expression; the number of successes determines how far away the Call can be heard (double the normal range for each success) and how stirring it is to those who hear it.
This Gift should be used in conjunction with one of the Garou howls (see below). The Storyteller determines the effects as appropriate to the purpose to which it is put, perhaps awarding a bonus die to revel participants for each two successes, or granting a point of Rage to all listeners for an exceptional battlefield howl.
Description: The werewolf sends a full-throated howl shivering into the night sky, evoking great alarm in their enemies. Those who have offended Gaia who hear the howl find themselves troubled and unable to rest easily while their enemies are on the prowl.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The Galliard spends a Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty 7). For those listeners who have offended Gaia in some fashion (and in the modern age, it's hard to find someone who hasn't), the howl will jolt them awake if asleep, and render them unable to sleep for the rest of the night. Long term, this will eventually result in the Garou's enemies falling asleep during the day or letting their guard down as their mental faculties become frayed.
Description: The werewolf can make distracting yips, yelps, and howls to divert the attention of his target.
Often taught by: coyote-spirits.
System: The Galliard rolls Manipulation + Performance (difficulty equals the victim's Willpower). Every two successes (rounded down) subtracts one die from the target’s dice pool for their next three turns.
Description: Imbuing her battle cry with a sharp and rousing edge, the Galliard readies her packmates for a fight, stirring their blood and warning them of danger.
Often taught by: lion and wolf-spirits.
System: The werewolf shouts or howls to alert all Garou who can hear her, and the Galliard rolls Charisma + Performance (difficulty 6). Any allied werewolf who hears the call gains a bonus to their Initiative check in the same scene equal to the Galliard’s successes.
This Gift can be used in conjunction with Garou howls such as the Call to Succor, Call to Hunt or Warning of the Wyrm’s Approach. It can also be used together with the Gift: Call of the Wyld to extend its range.
Note that multiple uses of Battle Cry do not stack - the highest takes precedent.
Description: Moon Dancers are renowned for their ability to be everywhere at once during a fight. Some onlookers say that Galliards have a sort of innate sense of where they need to be during a fight, either to witness a blood feud consummated or simply to help an overwhelmed packmate. This Gift is part of the reason for these tales, and allows the Galliard to see the entire battlefield in her mind’s eye.
Often taught by: hawk-spirits.
System: The Galliard spends one Gnosis point and rolls Wits + Alertness. The difficulty varies based on the size of the battlefield. One large room would be difficulty 5, while a football field would be difficulty 7 and an entire forest would be difficulty 9.
If the roll succeeds, the character can see the entire battlefield as if from above (and can look through ceilings and the like to view the combatants below). This makes ambushing the character nearly impossible, and allows her to know if any of her allies are in immediate danger. Even if the character’s sight is somehow blocked (through the use of the Gift: Shroud, for example) she still instinctively knows the exact location of her packmates.
This Gift lasts for one turn per success on the initial roll.
Description: The Galliard can bond the pack into a truly unified force, striking as one. As long as no one in the pack succumbs to frenzy, each member strikes at the same instant, and few foes can stand up to such an attack for long.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The Galliard must spend one Gnosis point for each turn in which this Gift is to be active. Every turn that she does so, each packmate rolls for initiative as usual, but the entire pack acts on the highest initiative rolled (so if the character’s initiative totals wind up being 10, 8, 14, and 17, the entire pack acts on 17, even if the pack’s alpha wound up with the 8).
The entire pack must be present in the battle for this Gift to be effective, and if even one pack member frenzies, the effect is lost. Also, only pack members bonded by a totem may enjoy these benefits. All pack tactics are at -1 difficulty while this Gift is active.
Description: This Gift unleashes the beast in others, forcing werewolves, vampires, and other such creatures into frenzy and turning humans into berserkers.
Often taught by: wolverine-spirits.
System: The Galliard rolls Manipulation + Expression (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). The victim flies into a violent rage (or frenzy, if naturally prone) for one turn per success.
If the Galliard additionally spends a Gnosis, then the target is so distracted in their maddened state, that they spend much of it on pointless displays of frustration. As such, any attempt by them to harm the Galliard - or the Galliard's allies - or at +2 difficulty while in their frenzied state.
Description: With but a look and a dangerously intriguing rhythm, the Garou can attract even an enemy to her side against his will, as surely as a snake charmer.
Often taught by: snake-spirits, shockingly.
System: The werewolf rolls Appearance + Performance (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). The Garou needs three successes to bring the target to her side; fewer at least start the victim moving in the right direction. Once there, the target can do as he pleases, but he must try his best to get to the Galliard until then.
If used in combat, the Galliard must spend a point of Gnosis. However, if she achieves three successes, she'll be allowed to make an ambush attack against her victim (with them receiving the usual Alertness check for a chance to defend - yet can do nothing else). In this case, the Ambushes 'bonus attack dice' are equivalent to her total successes rolled. If she gets fewer than three successes, the Gift has no effect.
Description: No mattered how disciplined the army and ordered the plan, a battlefield is chaos. Smoke, noise, hidden enemies and fear can all lead to disorganization. Even in the modern age, mistaken identity leads to “friendly fire” casualties. This Gift exacerbates this problem to often devastating effect. A commander might not see advancing foes, or see foes that aren’t there; a team may fire upon allies, or mistake a command to “advance” for a call to “retreat”.
Often taught by: raven- and other trickster-spirits.
System: The Galliard sings, howls or plays an eerie song (bagpipes or fifes were very popular in the British Isles, for example), spends a Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Performance (difficulty 8).
If successful, foes in hearing range must make a standard Perception roll every turn to be fully aware of what’s happening around them. They lose one success on this roll for every success rolled by the Garou; if the end result is negative successes, it counts as a botch. Zero successes on a perception indicates confusion, while on a botch the character critically misinterprets what she sees.
The Gift lasts as long as the song or howl continues, but the singer must concentrate on the song (and thus cannot engage in combat or other strenuous activity)
Description: Emotions become a palette with which the Galliard may paint whatever picture takes her fancy. She may change the target’s emotions as she pleases, from love to hate and back again.
Often taught by: powerful Epiphling spirits of various stripes.
System: The Galliard rolls Manipulation + Empathy (difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower). Success allows the Garou to steer the emotions of any one individual for the rest of the scene. The extreme subtlety of this Gift (+2 difficulty to any such check to detect it), means that any Galliard worthy of this level of Renown is likely cunning enough to affect extreme outcomes. There is a suspicious number of
These emotions don’t last beyond the end of the Gift’s duration unless events naturally reinforce them (such as the Galliard acting friendly toward an individual she has forced to regard her warmly). When used judiciously, this Gift can heal generations of strife. When deployed maliciously, it can cause them.
ECHOED ACCORD (honor)
Description: Their deep understanding of Garou lore and traditions positions Galliards as effective diplomats and politicians. They often understand the subtleties of Garou politics and can navigate complex social situations to help maintain harmony between different packs and septs - and within. This Gift allows the Galliard to present themselves and speak words that carry a subtle influence, making their diplomatic efforts more effective.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: When engaged in diplomacy, the Galliard gains a bonus to relevant social rolls (including Diplomacy, Etiquette and Politics, etc) helping to resolve (or worsen) conflicts and foster understanding (or mistrust) between opposing parties equal to half their Honor Renown, rounded up. This Gift is always active, once learned.
Incidentally, this Gift applies to Animal Ken as well when dealing with beasts (such as when trying to convince a feral wolf Kinfolk to trust them.)
(Non-Galliards cannot learn this Way.)
Description: The Galliards are the Garou Nation's historians, charged with committing the legends and tales of their people to perfect memory. Not all of them are particularly good at it. Thankfully, this Gift enables Galliards to overcome their mortal weakness by planting Umbral “spheres" that contain their recollections on their person.
Often taught by: elephant-spirits.
System: This Gift is performed in two parts. When hearing or witnessing something the Galliard wants to remember perfectly, she spends one point of Gnosis. Later, when she wishes to retrieve the memory, she may spend one point of Willpower.
The use of this Gift leaves tiny clear spheres intertwined in the Garou’s fur (or sometimes made into necklaces or bands) that can only be seen within the Umbra, the so-called “memory circles”. Should the Garou wish to remove a memory circle, they may do so simply by pulling it out of their fur (or detaching it from a dedicated item they strung it on) while in the Umbra. They must otherwise remain on the Garou's person at all time.
These memory circles may be shared (the retrieval of which still requires an expenditure of Willpower and this Gift) and some of them are the basis for entire sagas of the Silver Record, tribal legends or the most cherished heirlooms.
Beware; there are some memory circles - especially those taken from the Black Spiral Dancers - that have driven Galliards mad. Furthermore, the retrieval of a memory destroys the memory circle, which means that some of the oldest memories have been retrieved and remade dozens of times to pass them on. There has been much lost owing to Galliards who failed in their responsibility to ensure their memories would be passed to the next generation.
Description: The Galliard sets the stage for a rite, performing a prelude before it begins that helps to catch the attention of the spirit world and put the attending Garou in the right frame of mind for the ritual. Any kind of performance can accompany this Gift, including dance, music, and song, howling, a rousing story or the recitation of a grand epic. Any others who wish to join in may do so; in fact, multiple Galliards using this Gift together can boost the rite even further.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Galliard spends a Gnosis point, and the werewolf spends anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more on a performance for the attendees of a rite that’s about to begin. The performance should be appropriate to the rite; the Gift won’t work if she plays a soft lullaby as a prelude to the Rite of Boasting.
So long as the rite commences immediately after the performance ends, the ritemaster gains a number of bonus dice on the rite’s roll equal to the Galliard’s dots of Performance. For each Galliard after the first who participates in the same performance and uses this Gift at the same time, the ritemaster adds another bonus die. The ritemaster cannot gain more than ten dice through the use of this Gift.
Description: This Gift enables the Galliard to mystically “sniff out” the general spirit nature of her surroundings (i.e., influenced by the Weaver, Wyld or Wyrm; under the domain of a powerful Incarna; etc.), as well as the area’s Garou history. For example, a werewolf who sniffed out a caern might learn about the totem and purview of the caern, when it was founded, important events that happened near it, etc.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: To activate the Gift, the Garou must physically sniff out the area (in any form), meditate for 10 minutes or so, spend a Gnosis point, and roll Intelligence + either Streetwise (for urban areas) or Survival (for wilderness/rural areas). The Storyteller determines the difficulty, and how far back in time each success will reach.
The Gift may be used over as large an area as the character can physically sniff, but information is more specific for smaller areas. While the Gift doesn't provide an exhaustive knowledge, it has at least ensured that many last stands of Gaia's defenders were remembered and sung about that would have otherwise been forgotten.
Description: This Gift causes the Galliard to be perceived as a non-threatening, emissary figure, allowing them to pass through dangerous areas without inciting aggression. This is useful in a world where brute force isn't always the most effective solution...even for Garou.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Expression vs 6. Success means they are enveloped in an aura of neutrality for the rest of the scene. This aura is consciously recognized by most spirits, and subconsciously deferred to by other supernatural entities and even hostile mundane forces, such as the police. Mechanically, the Garou deducts their successes from the successes of any hostile physical or social roll made against them. If they originally achieved more successes than a witnesses' Willpower, the 'recipient' of this Gift's effects won't interfere at all.
Note that this Gift won't enable you to walk out of prison (at least by itself), rob a bank, or avoid repercussions from murdering someone. Any aggressive behavior on your part in the same scene (such as attacking someone or deliberately breaking the law) will cause it to fail, whether it happened before or after the Gift's activation.
Be warned that this Gift has highly diminishing effects when used to repeatedly 'troll' the opposition. When used with malicious insincerity, this Gift has been known to fail without warning at the worst possible moment.
Description: Reciting a tale of ancient Garou heroism, the Galliard conjures up the spirit of fallen heroes and infuses those listening with some portion of their power.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: This Gift requires the full recitation of a story of epic heroism, taking at least ten minutes. At the end of the tale, the Galliard spends two Gnosis points and rolls Charisma + Performance (difficulty 8). Every two successes on this roll add one point to a single Ability score for all listening Garou and Kinfolk, much like the Ancestors Background. This bonus lasts until the sun rises.
Description: The Galliard has the ability to create minor moon bridges through which she alone can travel. The Garou travels between the ends of this moon bridge in one percent of the time it would take to travel that distance normally. It can even be used tactically, allowing her to disappear from in front of a foe and reappear behind it instantly.
Note that these moon bridges are not protected by Lunes, and they attract the interest of spirit creatures occasionally. These being have even been known to follow the Garou into the physical world.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: The Galliard spends one Gnosis point to create the bridge to a location they're at least roughly familiar with. The moon bridge lasts for only one passage, unless the Garou spends a permanent Gnosis point during its creation, in which case it lasts until the next equinox. The maximum distance that can be traversed by the bridge is the Garou’s Gnosis x Enigmas in miles.
If used in combat, the Galliard also rolls Manipulation + Enigmas vs a difficulty determined by their enemy with the highest Perception + Alertness. Success will enable them to either 'jump' to safety, or take advantage of an enemy's blind spot, resulting in an +2 dice bonus to their next attack (with the added benefit of completely avoiding any previously declared assailants with a lower Initiative).
This latter use isn't - strictly speaking - the most honorable purpose the Gift has ever been put to, yet the Lunes don't seem to care.
Description: Music, poetry and catchphrases are contagious, sweeping across cultures and communities like a breeze through trees. The Galliard knows how to take advantage of this habit of social creatures, sending her messages across the world one ear at a time.
Often taught by: Net-Spiders, wind- and ant-spirits all teach some version of this Gift.
System: The Galliard spends one Gnosis point when the werewolf gives a short performance or passes on a catchy message. She may make a Social roll as part of the message, or she may simply transmit it with no ulterior motive other than to spread it. For a number of days equal to her Gnosis, the snippet of communication spreads from listener to listener like a virus, reaching as far as any given listener travels. It can be transmitted digitally or over the phone, as long as it’s audible (or visible, in the case of a dance or gesture).
If the Galliard included a Social roll with the message, the result of that roll applies to every listener who becomes part of the trend. Individual listeners with Willpower higher than the successes on the roll are unaffected by the influence, but they do not stop the spread of the message.
Description: When a crime against Gaia is too great to go unpunished, the Galliard uses this Gift to bring the fury of the Garou Nation down on the offender. He howls the name of the criminal and the crime to the heavens, and both worlds echo the Call.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Galliard rolls Stamina + Performance (difficulty 7). The howl echoes for a 20-mile-per-success radius. Garou who hear are not obligated to join the hunt, but those who do have their Willpower rating increased by three (to a maximum of 10) for the duration. In addition, if the criminal can hear the howl, her Willpower is effectively reduced by two points for the next week.
The Garou cannot use this Gift again until the offender is caught and brought to Gaia's justice.
Description: The Galliard taps into a floodgate of knowledge from her ancestors. While the amount of information thus received is overwhelming, the Garou, if she keeps her head about her, can find information on nearly any topic.
Often taught by: An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift, although certain reptilian spirits have been known to impart it as well.
System: The Galliard rolls Wits + Enigmas or Ancestors (whichever is higher; the Garou need not have the Ancestors Background to learn this Gift) at a difficulty of the local Gauntlet. The character falls into a trance and is immediately immersed in a deluge of memories stretching back to the dawn of time. This flood continues until the character terminates the Gift, and the memories get older the longer she remains in the trance.
For every hour the character remains under the Gift’s influence, the memories stretch back roughly one century. For each hour that the character remains in the trance, however the Galliard must roll Willpower (difficulty 7) to keep the character grounded in her own time. If the roll fails, the character must either immediately terminate the trance or lose a point of permanent Willpower as the memories threaten to consume her. If the roll botches, she mysteriously disappears to another realm. She might still ultimately learn what she was interested in - but it won't be a particularly pleasant or safe experience.
While the Galliard cannot hope to remember all or even most of the information she sees, she can attempt to search for specific moments in history. The result is a sort of vision quest; the Storyteller may choose to simply describe what the character sees or might lead the character on a quest through the memories of the Garou until she finds the information she needs.
FIRELIGHT'S SHADOWS (WISDOM)
Description: This Gift enables Galliards to bring their tales to some rough approximation of life through the manipulation of shadows. By utilizing the nuances of firelight or other light sources, The Galliard's words are accentuated by the fluid dance of shadows, that morph and shift to visually complement their narrative. Although difficult (on account of needing to be incorporated into some manner of story), it has occasionally been used to mislead an audience (or prank a packmate) who might find themselves 'jumping at shadows' as a result.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Galliard spends one point of Gnosis and rolls Manipulation + Performance roll (difficulty 7). Success indicates the extent and impressiveness of the shadowy re-enactment...with five+ successes enabling even quite startling phenomena, at the storyteller's (and the Storyteller's) discretion.
Description: By invoking the power of waking dreams, the Garou can place any chosen characters into silent communion.
Often taught by: Chimerlings.
System: The Galliard spends one Willpower point per sentient being chosen and makes a Manipulation + Expression roll (difficulty of the target’s Willpower) if the being is unwilling. All those included in the dream may interact normally through the Mindspeak, although they can inflict no damage through it. Their real bodies can still act, although all dice pools decrease by two. The Mindspeak ends when all the participants want it to, or on the turn the Galliard fails the roll against an unwilling member. The beings affected must be within line of sight.
Description: The Garou can alter her voice such that she can imitate any sound or voice she has heard, including sirens, gunshots, musical instruments or even specific quotations. The Gift does not allow the creation of new sounds, but new combinations can have interesting effects.
Often taught by: Magpie-spirits know this Gift, but learning it from them can be an embarrassing and frustrating process.
System: Once the Garou learns this Gift, she can reproduce anything she hears. When simulating another person’s voice (or animal sound) she can only iterate what she has heard and cannot improvise new speech. Clever Garou create new combinations to form new sentences, but they often sound choppy. The Galliard must roll Charisma + Performance (difficulty 8) if the intended audience suspects a ruse or knows the original voice very well (a relative, long-time friend or packmate, for instance).
Description: This Gift makes the victim’s mind wander down memory lane. While it may occasionally dredge up useful remembrances, it mainly serves to makes someone less observant or less focused on the task at hand.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: Roll Manipulation + Enigmas (difficulty of the subject’s Willpower). For every success, the difficulty of the target’s rolls related to Mental Attributes increases by one, to a maximum of 9 (representing stronger, more vivid memories). The effect lasts five minutes or until the target’s attention is diverted (such as by being attacked).
The Garou can’t directly control what fills the victim’s mind, but may be able to influence the subject (“Yeah, Gorm, remember that party at the Standing Stone? And the dancing girl, wasn’t she something…”).
Description: The Galliard can enter another’s dream and thereby subtly affect the course of that dream. The werewolf does not have to be anywhere near the target, but she must know or have seen the dreamer.
Often taught by: Chimerlings.
System: The character spends one Gnosis point and rolls Wits + Empathy (difficulty 8). If the dreamer awakens while the Galliard is still within the dream, the werewolf is thrown out of the dream world, and he loses an additional Gnosis point.
Description: The earliest incantations to the spirits were sung, and although the Theurges may be the auspice chosen to deal with them, the Galliards still know some songs with power in them when confronted by hostile denizens of the Umbra.
Such songs are many, but always have a similar construction. They begin by calling out the spirit’s name, and ordering it to stay away, and finish with a solemn warning, playful admonition or even outright threat issued against it if it doesn’t. When done right, the spirit will be unable to approach the Galliard, or anyone she touches.
Often taught by: bird- and fish-spirits.
System: The Galliard spends one Gnosis and rolls Charisma + Performance (difficulty 7 or the spirit's Rage, whichever is lower). The spirit named must remain one meter per success away from the Galliard and anyone she is touching. The spirit may attempt to break through this ward by rolling their Rage, difficulty 8; they must receive more successes than the Galliard did on their Performance roll. The effects of this Gift last one scene.
The Galliard doesn’t need to know the exact name of a spirit, but must be able to name it appropriately. Telling it what kind of spirit it is, such as “fire elemental” or “Nexus Crawler” is sufficient.
Description: The sound of the Garou’s voice can entrance anyone who hears it. Typically, the Garou sings or howls while using this Gift, although some modern Glass Walkers have taken to poetry recital. This Gift can make an opponent pause before a fight but can rarely stop a heated combat already in progress.
Often taught by: a songbird-spirit.
System: The Galliard rolls Charisma + Performance versus the target’s Willpower (with an additional +2 difficulty if a combat is already in progress) and spends one Gnosis point. Enchanted targets cannot perform any actions for a number of turns equal to the number of successes rolled. The audience can spend Willpower to overcome the enchanting effects; to act freely, a listener must spend one point for each of the Galliard’s successes.
Attacking a target will instantly end this Gift's effect.
Description: The Galliard crafts a dream, then breathes it into a sleeping individual. A Lune teaches this Gift.
Often taught by: Chimerlings.
System: The Galliard rolls Wits + Expression (difficulty 6) to craft the dream; more successes allows for more vivid and impactful dreams. To ensure that an individual experiences this dream, the Galliard must either use the Dreamspeak Gift from afar or breathe it into the target’s mouth while they sleep. The Garou spends a Gnosis point to complete the Gift.
Among the less reverent Urrah, this ancient Gift is sometimes referred to as 'Inception'.
Dreams crafted with this Gift are unusually vivid and dramatic, often leaving even lifelong skeptics convinced that they hold some deeper meaning...or warning. There are other uses, such as to test a cub's courage or fidelity, or (somewhat more depressingly) craft a dream of a fallen companion, allowing their loved ones to experience them one last time. The exact long-term effects are up to the Storyteller.
A Garou may use Dreamspeak to interact with this dream, the same as they would any other dream.
Description: The Galliard breathes life into her shadow, which can then perform tasks for her. The shadow moves about independently with roughly the abilities as its creator, sans any Gifts or other supernatural traits (such as Gnosis or Rage). The Galliard’s shadowy apparition can cause lifesaving distractions, pick up remote objects and even fight battles alongside them.
Often taught by: shadow- and stormcrow-spirits.
System: To activate the shadow, the Galliard must roll Manipulation + Enigmas (difficulty 9) and spend one Willpower point. The Garou enjoys a -2 difficulty if she subsequently acts out the doings of her shadow by making “shadow puppets” with her hands. No light need be present for the shadow to be active, though controlling shadows cast by firelight will enjoy another -1 difficulty.
In all respects besides appearance, the shadow maintains the same non-supernatural Traits and Abilities as the Garou (though may shift forms). The werewolf cannot create multiple shadows. The shadow can operate out of sight of the Garou; though only up to a range of 10 yards per success.
Description: The greatest Galliards can bring the products of their imagination to life, crafting creatures from the essence of shadows and dreams.
Often taught by: Chimerlings.
System: The Galliard makes an extended Intelligence + Performance roll (difficulty 7). She can create any form of life she can imagine, assigning it one dot of Traits for each success gained on the roll.
The werewolf can take as long as she wants to form the creature, accumulating successes from turn to turn, but once she stops, the dream-being takes form and requires one Gnosis point per scene to keep it manifested.
Note: Any approximate use of this Gift that is gained from any source besides being a Wisdom 10 Galliard (such as a certain Totem or Fetish might temporarily enable) rolls at difficulty 8.
While all Garou are Gaia’s warriors, the Ahroun are the fighters among fighters. Burning with the gift of Luna’s Rage, Ahroun channel their righteous fury into terrible weapons or cunning leadership on the battlefield.
SPIRIT OF THE FRAY (glory)
Description: This Gift allows the Ahroun to attack with lightning speed, striking before most foes.
Often taught by: cat-spirits.
System: Once the character learns this Gift, its effects are permanent. The Ahroun may add his Glory Renown to all his initiative rolls, which will afford him a significant advantage in any combat.
If he chooses, the Ahroun may spend a Gnosis point to double this bonus for a turn.
Note: If another Auspice acquires this Gift, then they receive only half their Glory Renown (rounded down) as bonus Initiative.
Description: So long as the Ahroun keeps fighting to the rhythm of his inner war drum, he can’t be stopped. Blows that would fell a lesser combatant are as mere wasp stings to the Garou’s mightiest warriors.
Often taught by: bear-spirits.
System: The Ahroun spends one Rage point. For the rest of the scene, as long as the werewolf makes an attack on every turn, he’s immune to stunning and knockdowns.
The Gift’s effects end if a turn goes by in which he doesn’t attack.
Description: By raking his claws over stone, steel, or another hard surface, the Ahroun hones them to razor sharpness.
Often taught by: cat- or bear-spirits, usually.
System: The Ahroun spends one Rage point, and the Garou takes a full turn sharpening her claws. All claw attacks do one additional die of damage and are made at -1 difficulty for the rest of the scene.
Description: As consummate warriors, Ahroun must be prepared for every eventuality — including silver weaponry. This Gift, taught by Lunes, allows the Ahroun to detect the presence of silver.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: The Garou rolls Perception + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). If successful, she can detect the presence of any nearby silver. Three successes allow him to pinpoint the silver’s location.
Description: The Ahroun’s claws and fangs pass through the flimsy protections of their enemies as though they were but air and hope. An air elemental teaches this Gift.
Often taught by: wind-spirits.
System: The Garou spends one Rage point. For the rest of the turn, all of the Ahroun’s natural attacks completely ignore any armor (mundane or magical) that targets might be wearing; the targets forfeit all soak dice from such protection.
This Gift may stack with Razor Claws.
Description: The Ahroun are famous for their ability to fight — it’s their purpose in life. This Gift allows a Garou to heal wounds during combat without hesitation or even a moment’s pause. While other Garou are licking their wounds, the Ahroun with this Gift keeps fighting.
Often taught by: Wolverine-spirits teach this Gift, although they usually have to be bested in combat first.
System: Once the character learns this Gift, its effects are permanent. The Ahroun no longer needs to roll Stamina to heal during combat; every round, the Garou heals one non-aggravated Health Level, regardless of her actions.
Description: The werewolf with this Gift can bite down with such power that her grip won’t loosen until she chooses to do so; even in death, her jaws bite down.
Often taught by: wolf or hyena-spirits.
System: After making a successful bite attack, the Garou may spend a Rage point to invoke this Gift. For each successive turn she chooses to maintain her grip, she makes another bite attack roll (difficulty 3). While foes can make a resisted Strength roll to break the grip as normal, they will suffer an additional health level of damage in the process of tearing free, should they succeed.
Note that the Ahroun's bitten enemy will need to succeed at a resisted Strength roll to escape, even if the Ahroun herself dies beforehand!
Description: The Ahroun can now establish her total battlefield primacy against other werebeasts by transforming her own claws into silver.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: The Ahroun rolls Gnosis (difficulty 7) to activate the Gift. The transformation lasts for the scene or until the Ahroun decides to end the Gift. Silver claws still do aggravated damage to all targets, in addition to being naturally unsoakable to the Garou and most other werebeasts.
While the Ahroun manifests the claws, she suffers searing agonies. Each turn, she gains an automatic Rage point. Furthermore, all non-combat difficulties increase by one because of the distraction. When her Rage points exceed her Willpower, she must check for frenzy.
Silver Claws does not stack with Razor or Wind Claws.
Description: The Ahroun can invoke the sun’s power to become completely immune to the damaging effects of fire. Additionally, the Ahroun may ignite any portion of his body and keep it burning for extended periods. Most commonly the Garou will light his mane during rituals, but he can also ignite his claws or mouth without ill effect.
Often taught by: fire elementals and sun-spirits.
System: The Ahroun spends one Gnosis point. For the rest of the scene, the Garou cannot be harmed by any natural forms of fire, up to and including molten lava. Artificial fires (napalm, gas fires, etc.) do one-quarter damage, and they are treated as bashing damage.
Additionally, the Ahroun does two additional dice of aggravated damage if he attacks with blazing fists, claws or fangs. The effects last for one scene.
Description: Usually used only in the most dire circumstance, this Gift renders the Garou impervious to damage long enough to deliver a final blow to her opponent. The exertion causes the Garou to collapse, mortally wounded. Unless healed immediately, the Garou dies, having given her all in battle.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits who sacrificed themselves heroically.
System: No roll is necessary to invoke the Gift, but the werewolf must spend a point of Rage. The character may not dodge when invoking this Gift, but no damage levied against the Garou will impair her in any way until her attack lands — lightning strikes won’t blow her back, and blades can’t sever her limbs.
The Garou makes her next attack and damage roll with a +4 bonus to both dice pools. She may reroll any 1s rolled – they simply do not count.
After delivering her devastating attack, the character falls to Incapacitated. Unless somehow mystically healed by another using Mother’s Touch or a similar Gift or fetish (regeneration isn’t an option) within the same turn, the character dies at the end of the turn.
GRIM RESOLVE (honor)
Description: Other werewolves look to the Ahroun for leadership in combat. The Gift of Grim Resolve is one reason. The Garou with this Gift lends new inspiration and righteous anger to his brethren.
Often taught by: lion- and wolf-spirits.
System: The Ahroun spends one Gnosis point. All comrades (but not the Gift’s user) receive one automatic success on any Willpower rolls made during the scene.
(Non-Ahrouns cannot learn this Way.)
Description: While the Ahroun’s role as the overall leader of Garou is questionable, there is no doubt at all who should take control of the pack during a battle. By taking the lead and coordinating pack actions, the Ahroun imbues all of her packmates with greater competence in the heat of battle.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The Ahroun reflexively spends 1 Willpower and 1 Rage point before initiating a Pack Tactics maneuver, and then divides a pool of extra dice equal to her Intelligence + Leadership (or Military Science) score among everyone performing the maneuver.
Description: Dark forces conspire to turn the Garou against one another in these fallen days. Between the mind-bending powers of the Leeches, the meddling of mages, and the Thrall of the Wyrm, every pack fears the day when its Ahroun defender turns his claws on them instead of the enemy. The werewolf who learns this Gift pledges a vow of loyalty to his sisters and brothers in arms, as proof against anything that could tear open a rift between them.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: Once learned, the effects of this Gift are permanent. The difficulty of any attack the character makes against his packmates, whether due to mind-control, uncontrolled frenzy, or even his own will, is raised by one.
Additionally, if he deals damage to a packmate while under supernatural influence or Thrall of the Wyrm, he may immediately roll Willpower with a difficulty equal to the number of successes scored on the original roll that caused the influence. If successful, the supernatural effect or frenzy ends, and the Ahroun gains a point of Rage which won't trigger another frenzy check.
Description: By slaying a Wyrm beast (or some other rival worthy of a Garou warrior, shameful though inter-tribal conflicts may be...) in a particularly spectacular fashion, the Ahroun can inspire all allies who have her in their line of sight to fight harder through her example.
Often taught by: hawk-spirits.
System: To activate this Gift, the Ahroun must have spent at least three Rage points in that turn, and must have killed an enemy with a stroke that brought it at least three health levels below Incapacitated. If these conditions are met, the Ahroun may reflexively spend a point of Willpower, whereupon all her Garou allies gain a number of points of temporary Rage equal to her Charisma rating.
Description: When an Ahroun claims an area for his pack, he makes a challenge to all comers, daring them to invade at their peril. In this place, no packmate fears outside dangers, while those dangers have every reason to fear the united Garou.
Often taught by: wolf-spirits.
System: The Ahroun howls his claim on an area around him with a radius of (10 x his Rage rating) yards, and then rolls Charisma + Intimidation with a difficulty of (9 – number of packmates present, not counting himself). If he succeeds, rolls made to intimidate or cow the Ahroun’s pack suffer a dice penalty equal to his Rage. Rolls his pack make to intimidate or cow others gain the same as a dice bonus.
This effect lasts for a scene and can only be activated if the Ahroun is accompanied by at least one packmate.
Description: The Garou were chosen as Gaia’s protectors, but even protectors need protecting occasionally. That’s where the Ahroun come in. With a fierce snarl and a show of might, the werewolf convinces the enemy that he’s the greatest threat on the battlefield (they’re probably right!) and needs to be taken down first.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Ahroun rolls Charisma + Intimidation with a difficulty equal to the lowest Willpower among the enemies, and the Garou spends an action drawing their attention.
For the rest of the scene, opponents take a dice penalty equal to the number of successes on the activation roll to any attacks that don’t include the Garou as a target. Opponents who have lower Willpower than the activation roll result are unable to attack any target but the Ahroun.
Description: The Ahroun can display the true extent of her power, frightening one chosen foe into quiescence for a number of turns.
Often taught by: fear-spirits.
System: The Ahroun rolls Strength + Intimidation (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). Each success she achieves cows the enemy for one turn; the victim cannot attack at this time. He may only defend himself if attacked, while all his other actions should be guided by fear.
In addition, the 'victim' suffers a -1 penalty to all their dice pools for every point that the Ahroun's temporary Rage exceeds the target's permanent Willpower.
Ahroun with equal or higher Glory (or Power, if a Black Spiral) may shake off this Gift's effects for the scene by spending a Willpower point.
Description: The Ahroun with this Gift could lead his pack to the gates of Hell itself if that were what it took. A wolf-spirit or an Incarna avatar teaches this Gift.
Often taught by: a wolf-spirit or an Incarna avatar.
System: The Garou spends a point of Willpower and rolls Charisma + Leadership (difficulty 8). Each success grants all the Garou’s allies within 100 feet an extra point of Willpower. These extra points last for the rest of the scene, and they can be spent as usual. This Gift can even raise an ally’s Willpower above its maximum or even above 10. This Gift may be used only once per scene.
Description: This Gift grants a Garou a mystical aegis protecting her from attacks. This is not a literal shield; rather, strikes simply fail to hit vital areas, bullets defects of a belt buckle and circumstance otherwise conspires to prevent blows from landing solidly on the warrior while this ability is in effect.
Often taught by: wind-spirits.
System: The Ahroun spends a point of Willpower, and the difficulty of all attack rolls made against her for the duration of the scene are increased by two. Any attack roll that scores only one success (after dodge, if applicable) against the Garou is considered to be a graze, and inflicts only bashing damage
Description: The World of Darkness is a complex place, filled with intrigue, misdirection and all manner of supernatural evasion. Ahroun, however, are simpler beings, and this Gift allows them to extend their direct methods where they might not otherwise reach. The Garou says a brief prayer to Luna and the other innumerable spirits of blood, terror and vengeance in the Garou pantheon and then calls a challenge to her enemy with a mighty shout. Subsequently, her foe cannot flee (though tactical withdrawal with the specific intent of continuing the fight this scene is acceptable), nor can he receive aid from outsiders. The invoker is bound by the same restrictions, of course.
Often taught by: An avatar of Luna herself teaches this Gift.
System: The Garou must expend a point of permanent Gnosis to activate this Gift.
One on One cuts through all supernatural forms of warding, concealment, contingency spells and similar precautions without any roll. For the remainder of the scene, both affected parties can receive no aid from other sources, and can only use powers that are directly physical in nature. Once the fight is done, normal rules of reality reassert themselves.
Ultimately, the Storyteller (or the Celestine Luna) is the final arbiter of what is keeping within the spirit of a 'fair, open and physical fight'. A vampire’s unearthly strength and speed or a faerie’s ability to strike at enemies with the spirit of holly would remain potent, but a member of either race would be stripped of his supernatural mind-clouding and unearthly presence. Likewise, a Namebreaker might throw lightning or increase his own strength, but not teleport away or turn incorporeal to avoid the Garou’s strikes utterly.
EMPATHY OF HATRED (WISDOM)
Description: Using this Gift, an Ahroun can tell at a glance how strongly a given individual is ruled by anger — both at the moment and over the course of their life.
Often taught by: Epiphlings of Rage.
System: No roll is needed; the effect is automatic. By spending an action focusing on another creature, the Ahroun can learn the permanent and temporary Rage that said individual possesses. This is most useful for spirits and other shapechangers, of course, although some fomori may possess Rage as well.
Note, there are some rare powers, such as the Shadow Lord Gift: Aura of Confidence, that blocks the perception granted by this Gift.
Description: Fight smarter, not just harder. This Gift allows the Ahroun to send her foe sprawling with but a touch.
Often taught by: any aerial spirit.
System: The Garou spends a Gnosis point. Their next successful attack that inflicts only bashing damage (it may be soaked) will send their opponent sprawling to the ground, no matter their size.
Remember: It requires either a character's entire turn (in which case there is no roll), or a split action (Dexterity + Athletics vs 6) to rise from prone while in close combat. Additionally, prone characters are at -2 dice to attack standing characters in close combat, whereas standing characters have a +2 dice bonus to attack prone characters in close combat.
Description: The Garou can steel himself against anger, suppressing his Rage and creating a mental dam against the explosive frenzies of his kind. This anger will catch up with him eventually, though, so he must vent it before it breaks free.
Often taught by: boar-spirits.
System: The Ahroun rolls Willpower (difficulty of the character’s permanent Rage rating). Every two successes add one to the character’s frenzy difficulties for the scene, making it harder to frenzy. When the scene ends, however, past slights and injuries come rushing back to haunt the Garou, refilling the Garou’s heart and soul. He must spend one Willpower point or make a frenzy check immediately at the regular difficulty.
Description: Such is the Rage burning within an Ahroun’s heart that all lesser furies quail before it.
Often taught by: wolverine-spirits.
System: The Garou spends one Willpower point. For the rest of the scene, all spirits’ Rage scores are considered two less than their real values for the purpose of rolling damage against the Ahroun.
Description: Garou are by nature beings half of corporeal flesh and half of spirit ephemera, living in two worlds simultaneously. By calling upon this Gift, an Ahroun manifests her spiritual nature more strongly than physical for a brief period, allowing her claws to cut through defenses they could never normally pierce.
Often taught by: Any spirit of war can teach this Gift.
System: The Garou spends a point of Gnosis; the difficulty to soak the damage from a single claw attack the Ahroun makes in that turn is raised to 9. Note that the usual rule of being unable to spend Rage and Gnosis in the same turn still applies.
Description: Using this Gift, an Ahroun can channel a portion of her Rage to another, be the beneficiary Garou, human or animal. In the former case, the effect is fairly mundane, lending an ally strength in combat; in the latter, it grants an awesome and destructive quality to beings that do not normally possess such.
On a social level, this Gift can be a potent source of inspiration (and instigation) as well — while Rage is an intensely visceral and difficult-to-control quality, it also bestows the ability to feel righteous anger at corruption and injustice — a faculty many humans have lost in the quiet apathy of the World of Darkness.
Often taught by: fury-spirits.
System: The Ahroun spends one Willpower, or two if bestowing Rage on a mortal. He then expends a number of temporary Rage points, and the target gains them and may spend them exactly as a Garou in Homid might (unless the recipient is also a Garou).
Once any points above the target’s normal maximum Rage (zero for humans) are spent, they are gone for good barring a second use of this Gift. This Gift cannot grant Rage to mages, ghosts or other kinds of supernatural beings that do not already possess Rage. Spirits already have a Rage Trait, but can receive the temporary points to use.
Description: In the spirit world, a warrior often finds himself dealing with hostile spirits much more often than he’d like. This Gift allows the Ahroun to brutally savage a spirit with a bite, impeding the spirit’s ability to attack or defend itself. Spirits find this Gift horrifying, and are unwilling to aid any warrior who uses it unjustly (such as against any Gaian spirit).
Often taught by: wolverine-spirits.
System: The Ahroun must successfully bite his spirit opponent and spend a Rage point. The Garou then rolls Strength + Brawl, difficulty 4; if the successes equal or exceed the spirit’s Willpower, the spirit’s Rage is effectively reduced by one point, plus one point for every extra success, for the rest of the scene. This Gift can be used only once per scene against any given spirit, and it cannot reduce a spirit to zero Rage.
For example: Tanya Riverjumper ignores the foul stench and clamps down on a Hogling. She gains six successes; three more than the Hogling’s Willpower. The Hogling loses four Rage for the rest of the scene; it now has only four dice to attack and defends itself, and it’s probably terrified to boot.
Description: No auspice is as closely tied to their Rage as the Ahroun, who is the master of directing his fury.
Often taught by: wolverine-spirits.
System: The Garou regains one Rage point in any turn that he takes damage, and he does not have to check for frenzy from that specific stimulus (other stimuli induce frenzy checks as normal). In addition, the Garou can spend one Rage point — and only one — per turn without losing any temporary Rage. However, if he spends multiple Rage in any turn, they are marked off as usual.
Description: The full moon is Luna’s warrior phase, when she searches out her enemies. The Ahroun can call upon her determination in finding her foes, illuminating any who oppose her.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: The Ahroun spends one Gnosis point. For the remainder of the scene, anyone within one mile who is working against the Garou or her pack emits a soft glow, as though illuminated by moonlight. This Gift can be used to confound powers of stealth or even invisibility, but only if the target is actively attempting to harm, compete with, or otherwise foil the Ahroun or her pack.
Description: The Silver Record relates stories describing the werewolves’ weakness to silver as a kind of chiminage — the price Luna extracts from her children for the gift of Rage. Using this Gift, the werewolf can, at great cost, briefly shield himself against silver’s damaging power with his own spiritual energies.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: The Ahroun spends a number of Gnosis points and immediately receives this many automatic successes to soak damage from silver, even if she has no dice to roll. The effects lasts for a number of turns equal to the Garou's permanent Willpower, not including the remainder of the turn in which it was activated.
The Gift does not take an action to activate, and indeed can be activated immediately if the Garou has been struck by surprise with a silver bullet or blade to help ameliorate the damage… as long as the user hasn’t spent any Rage that turn of course.
BACCHANTES' RAGE (glory)
Description: Bacchantes, whose name literally translates as 'raving ones', were portrayed by ancient writers as mad women inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication. They are depicted in various works as warlike virgins practicing strange rites at night in the mountains, where they worship a "fake male Dionysus" (Perhaps Pegasus?) and rout entire invading enemies with the fury of their murderous raids.
When deep in the wilds, the Black Furies can use this Gift to inflict extra damage. Even the toughest Get have walked away with a battle scar due to the effects of this potent Gift — and some couldn’t walk away at all.
Often taught by: Wyld-spirits.
System: The Black Fury spends a variable number of Gnosis to activate this Gift for the scene (one if deep in the untamed wilderness, two in something like a nature reserve or state forest and three in a small city park).
During combat, she may spend Rage to deal extra dice of damage after landing any successful hit (whether in close combat or from afar), equivalent to half her Glory Renown, rounded up.
Description: The Garou can run at full speed for three days without rest, food or water. When the Garou reaches her destination, she has 10 minutes to complete whatever business brought her, then she must sleep for as long as she ran.
Often taught by: camel- and wolf-spirits.
System: The Black Fury spends one Gnosis point. The Garou may do nothing but run; stopping ends the Gift. For an additional Gnosis point, she may imbue another being with this Gift’s benefits.
Description: Some Black Furies take the bee as a role model for their cause. The bee is so devoted to her queen that she attacks her enemies with no care to the inevitable fact that she will die in the attack. For those Garou who feel similarly, bee-spirits may teach them how to turn their claws into stingers that stick in their opponents. Such poison as they excrete won’t kill their opponents but neither will it kill the werewolf in question.
Often taught by: bee-spirits.
System: The Black Fury spends one Rage. The next successful claw attack the character makes will bury her claws into the victim, where they stay stuck after they rip from the Garou's fingertips. Until the victim takes the time to pull them out (which takes a full turn) they will suffer +2 difficulty on all actions. However, the Garou’s claws take a full turn to regenerate and can’t be used in that time.
Description: The Furies of myth did not use swords or axes to destroy enemies of the Gods; the Black Furies of old did not use weapons to slay enemies of Gaia. They used teeth and claws, and sheer animal might. While many Black Furies certainly do use the tribe’s ritual labrys and bow, and others carry klaives and other fetish weapons, when they frenzy they most often fight with their natural weapons.
Rend allows the Bacchantes to rip through substances that they could not ordinarily pierce, and do as much damage with their natural weapon as another might with a sword.
Often taught by: Wyld- and wine-spirits.
System: Spend 1 Rage and roll Strength + Primal Urge (difficulty 6). For each success, the Fury gains the ability to rip through tough substances for one turn. When biting or clawing her opponent in close combat, the target rolls three fewer dice to soak.
This ability to pierce defenses also applies to inanimate objects such as walls and doors, making it considerably harder to hide from Black Furies inside buildings or underground. In case that a given object does not have a soak or armor rating, treat the Fury’s Strength as being three higher for purposes of the Feat of Strength needed to rip through the object.
Successful uses of Rend to destroy a wall, door, or enemy add 3 dice to the Fury’s next Intimidation roll against those who saw her do so.
Description: This Gift allows the Black Furies to channel their primal strength and spiritual connection into their melee weapons, such as the traditional labrys, enabling these weapons to gain the benefits that would ordinarily apply only to their natural claws.
Often taught by: war-spirits.
System: The Black Fury spends 1 Gnosis to imbue a chosen melee weapon with the Garou's spiritual energy, effectively allowing the weapon to act as an extension of her own body. For the duration of the Gift, any claw-based Gift or ability that the Black Fury possesses can be applied through their melee weapon.
For example, a labrys might gain the bonus to attack and damage as the Gift Razor Claws provides, or a spear tip might leave behind the agonizing distraction of Spur Claws.
There are three significant restrictions: The melee weapon in question must be dedicated, a traditional warrior's melee weapon that the Fury has extensively trained in (subject to the Storyteller's discretion - but a silver knife won't make the 'cut') and may not be a fetish or other magic item; such weapons already possess their own spiritual might.
Description: The Black Fury must be in a mountainous or otherwise tectonically unstable area (such as the fabled hills of earthquake-torn Greece...or California). The Garou causes an avalanche, mudslide, etc. to engulf her foes.
Often taught by: pain-spirits.
System: The Fury spends one Gnosis point and then rolls Manipulation + Survival (difficulty determined by the Storyteller based on the instability of the terrain). The more successes, the more powerful the effect. On a botch, the Garou is caught in the avalanche.
Description: The Fury with this talent can fire her claws from her hand like darts. She is incapable of using claw attacks with that hand until her claws regenerate, however.
Often taught by: wasp-spirits.
System: The Garou spends a Rage point and rolls Dexterity + Brawl to hit. The difficulty is figured as though the character was using a fire-arm; the medium range is 20 yards. Damage is figured normally for a claw-strike - and may benefit from other Claw-based Gifts (such as Spur Claws).
The Fury’s claws take one full turn to regenerate.
Description: The Fury breaks one of her claws off in a wound, imbuing it with all of her killing intent. The claw continues to burrow into her opponent’s flesh, and will not stop until it finds his heart.
Often taught by: wasp-spirits.
System: Upon making a successful attack with a claw-based Gift (such as Spur Claws or Wasp Talons), the Black Fury spends one point of Willpower.
The burrowing claw inflicts one automatic level of aggravated damage each subsequent turn until it either kills the target or is dug out of the wound (a Dexterity + Medicine action, difficulty 8, requiring a turn’s full concentration).
The afflicted victim can only soak this damage with half their normal soak pool rounded down, and only if they are capable of soaking aggravated damage at all. They will continue to suffer from the effects of the Gift: Spur Claws as well.
Description: The Black Fury studies her foe, looking for the best place to strike. In doing so, she sets herself up to land this devastating attack.
Often taught by: owl-spirits.
System: The Black Fury spends one Willpower point and rolls Perception + Brawl (difficulty of the target’s Stamina + Athletics). If successful, the player doubles her damage dice on the Garou’s next successful attack.
There are two caveats for this roll: The Black Fury may not modify her difficulty in any way (such as with various Gifts or Merits that provide Perception bonuses) and only the target's base Stamina is used. For example, a target in Crinos would use their Homid Stamina, and a vampire would not benefit from blood pumping or Fortitude.
Description: The Black Fury calls to the spirits of the surrounding forest to attack intruders. The terrain responds as best it can: Rocks roll and smash, vines trip, and water sucks victims under.
Often taught by: An avatar of Gaia herself teaches this Gift.
System: The Fury spends one Gnosis point and one Rage point then rolls Charisma + Primal-Urge (difficulty of the local Gauntlet). The exact effects depend on the terrain and are left to the Storyteller.
STOKING THE SOUL'S FIRE (honor)
Description: Every aspect of a Furies life has different strengths: the Maiden’s fury at Gaia’s pain is unmatchable, the Mother’s will is indomitable, and the Crone’s spirituality is beautiful and terrible.
A Maiden Black Fury can use this Gift to replenish her natural strengths by sacrificing her suppressed natures. The Maiden’s greatest strength is her anger; she can sacrifice from her will and spirituality to stoke that rage to scorching intensity.
A Mother Black Fury can use this Gift to bolster her Willpower at critical moments, sacrificing from her anger and spirituality to fortify her resolve and determination.
A Crone Black Fury can use this Gift to heighten her spiritual power and mystical abilities. By sacrificing from her anger and will, she channels these energies to amplify her spiritual connection.
Often taught by: Black Fury ancestor-spirits.
System: A Maiden using this Gift rolls Intelligence + Occult with a target of her own permanent Rage; she spends one point of temporary Willpower and one temporary Gnosis, and refills her Rage pool if she achieves 3 or more successes.
A Mother using this Gift rolls Intelligence + Occult with a target of her own permanent Willpower; she spends one point of temporary Rage and one temporary Gnosis, and refills her Willpower pool if she achieves 3 or more successes.
A Crone using this Gift rolls Intelligence + Occult with a target of her own permanent Gnosis; she spends one point of temporary Rage and one temporary Willpower, and refills her Gnosis pool if she achieves 3 or more successes.
This Gift requires an entire round of concentration and can only be attempted once per scene.
Description: Since time immemorial, the Black Furies have been able to determine the location of those that break the laws of Gaia. Such beings (human, Garou, or spirit) are not always Wyrm- or Weaver-tainted; as in the classic example, Orestes was not under the influence of any supernatural being when he killed his mother Clytemnestra, but he did break Gaia’s laws by doing so.
This gift has been the Furies’ tool for such a hunt; with a few moments’ concentration, the Black Fury who uses Scourge of Orestes can roughly determine the distance and direction to the nearest such criminal.
Often taught by: owl-spirits.
System: The Fury spends 1 Gnosis an rolls Perception + Investigation (difficulty 6). Success indicates the distance and direction to the nearest violator of Gaia’s laws (as interpreted by the Storyteller).
Note that this Gift does not explicitly identify the lawbreaker, and it is somewhat vague: it has a margin of error of roughly 10% of the distance between the Garou and her quarry (that is, if the nearest violator is ten blocks away, the Gift will point out a one-block area). A botch causes this Gift to wrongly identify a potential target.
Description: The Fury calls up a thick, eerie fog that obscures vision and unnerves her opponents. The Fury can see through the fog, but all other have trouble navigating by sight.
Often taught by: A spirit in service to Aeolus, the fog totem, teaches this Gift.
System: The Garou makes a Gnosis roll. The difficulty varies according to the surrounding terrain and humidity: 4 near the sea, 6 under normal circumstances, 9 in a desert. The Black Fury can see normally, but others caught in this fog halve their Perception scores (with regards to sight only).
The fog is quite unnerving, and as such, everyone except the Fury and her packmates loses a die from all Willpower dice pools.
Description: This Gift allows the Fury to sense persons in agony. The Amazons use this Gift to uncover individuals suffering abuse. Other Black Furies use this Gift to track the abusers after wounding them.
Often taught by: a spirit-servant of Pegasus.
System: The Fury must focus and spend a Rage point. At least one turn is required for the Gift user to attune herself to the mental anguish of the target. A Perception + Empathy roll discerns a single sufferer amongst many.
The Garou can sense any living being in tremendous pain, physical or emotional , within 50 yards. She senses only the general direction and urgency, but that’s typically enough for an angry Black Fury.
If it was the Gift: Scourge of Orestes that originally brought the Black Fury to the general vicinity where this Gift was activated, then she will gain two temporary Rage without any need to check for frenzy.
Description: By pointing a finger or claw at a man who has offended Gaia or Pegasus in some fashion (such as polluters, spousal abusers, politicians, LAPD and pretty much anyone else that takes advantage of the weak - the remit for this Gift is shockingly wide in modern times), a Fury can force him to his knees. Only the strongest-willed male can do anything but strain and swear in response.
Often taught by: a spirit-servant of Pegasus.
System: The Fury rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty of the subject’s Willpower). Her target falls to his knees unless he spends a Gnosis point to resist the Gift’s effects (other supernatural beings may spend their own form of mystic energy, such as blood or quintessence, but mortals remain helpless). The target kneels for one turn per success.
Description: The Black Furies revere the holy Wyld places of the world; part of the tribe’s set of tools is the Flames of Hestia Gift, which enables a Black Fury to purify a person, spirit, or object with searing white-hot spiritual flame. The fire coruscates around the Fury’s hands, enabling her to apply the Gift to anything she can touch.
Often taught by: avatars of Hestia the teacher.
System: The Fury spends one Gnosis and roll Gnosis with a difficulty of 8. Success enables the Garou to cleanse tainted food or water, or heal damage caused by radiation, poison, or disease at one Health Level per success.
The Flames of Hestia last for just one turn; however a Fury can activate the Gift and strike at a foe in the same turn. Flames of Hestia do one level of unsoakable aggravated damage per success on the Gift roll, if used against a Bane or fomor in hand-to-hand combat.
Description: The Black Fury's will is impossible to compromise when she does not wish to yield.
Often taught by: donkey-spirits...
System: This gift is permanent once learned. The Black Fury's Willpower counts as 10 for the purposes of resisting any mundane Social roll, whether it's a Child of Gaia's pleading diplomacy, a Get's arrogant threat or some poor guy trying to seduce them at the bar.
Those Socials roll which have some supernatural element behind them (such as a Garou using the Gift of Persuasion) are instead mutually cancelled out by this Gift. Resolve it with neither party benefiting from any supernatural enhancement.
Description: The Black Furies are at heart a tribe of contradiction, they both represent the harmony and beauty of the Wyld, but also the spectacular savagery and brutality of the same. Sometimes, they even bring the two forces together, such as with this Gift. It lays a sense of peace and quiet over an area, not an uncomfortable silence but a serene sense of security.
It is, naturally, used to prepare an ambush. The moment this peace breaks, these spirits of calm depart quickly and are replaced with spirits of anger, storm and pain. Few subjected to this Gift survive the assault that follows.
Often taught by: ancestor- and storm-spirits.
System: The Black Fury spends one Gnosis and rolls Charisma + Primal Urge, difficulty 7. A simple success projects a sense of utter safety on a group of no more than ten people. If they expect an ambush, they may roll Perception + Empathy (difficulty 8) in order to sense the sudden change of emotion within their own group. If they obtain more successes than the Black Fury on her Primal Urge roll, they can sense the impending assault and run.
Otherwise, the Gift works and the resulting chaos causes the targets to lose one die on each of their rolls for every success the Black Fury initially rolled.
Description: When the Black Furies take up arms to destroy an enemy of Gaia, they are like unto a force of nature. The Fury wielding this Gift causes a fearful dark hailstorm to erupt, even out of a clear sky; her pack, however, are not inconvenienced by the storm, and can move around and fight in it without difficulty.
Often taught by: A Mammatus, a Wyld-spirit of the air, teaches this Gift.
System: The Black Fury spends one points of Gnosis and roll Stamina + Survival (Difficulty 7). The storm has a 100-meter diameter and a duration of one minute. Every success on her roll extends the storm’s diameter by 100 meters, and extends the storm’s duration by 1 minute.
Physical being caught within the storm – humans, Garou, fomori, and materialized spirits – take a 3-die penalty to all physical or sense-based dice pools. The exception to this is the pack of the character responsible for the storm; that group receives no penalty.
Humans react to the storm as though faced with delirium; most will attempt to flee its fury. The storm cannot be generated indoors or underground, and its effects will not penetrate solid walls (though the pelting hail can and does break glass windows).
Description: This hideous power of legend can turn living flesh into stone with but a gaze. Victims who make eye contact with the user of this Gift find themselves changed into statues where they stand. This Gift is a closely guarded secret, not to be shared with the other tribes. Rumors persist that elder Black Furies can make the effect permanent.
Often taught by: Difficult to find and even more dangerous to approach, the legendary Basilisk-spirit can teach this Gift.
System: After making eye contact, the player rolls Perception + Occult (difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower) to determine the number of rounds the victim remains stone. The player can double this time by spending a Willpower point.
WISDOM OF ATHENA (WISDOM)
Description: Black Furies may invoke the kinship between their tribe and the owls of Athena.
Often taught by: owl-spirits.
System: This Gift is permanent, once learned. It allows the Black Fury to communicate with wild owls, and to even give them detailed instructions by rolling Charisma + Animal Ken vs a difficulty determined by the Storyteller (depending on the complexity).
It is one of the few Gifts that the Black Furies have made special efforts to teach their most promising Kinfolk at certain points in the past - usually as part of ancient or medieval information networks, right up until the Greek War of Independence in the 19th century.
Description: As the Furies see it, the problem with most humans (and some Garou) is that they have forgotten that the energy of Creation is nourishing, refreshing and ever present. With this Gift, the Black Fury may instill a feeling of vitality and life in a living being.
Often taught by: A spirit servant of Pegasus teaches this Gift.
System: The Fury must touch her target’s skin, and this Gift must be used outdoors in a natural setting (a city park is natural enough for the Gift to function). The Garou rolls Gnosis (difficulty 6). Success grants a rush of energy and clarity of thought. In game terms, this Gift grants one extra die on all Mental rolls for the next scene. It also adds one to the difficulty of any Rage rolls the target makes in that time.
The Black Fury can use this Gift as many times each day as they have dots of Empathy, to a minimum of once.
Description: The Black Furies had many tribeswomen among the ancient Scythians, who were renowned for their use of cavalry. During their battles with other Garou tribes, the Furies often surprised their enemies by showing that they too could employ cavalry, thanks to this Gift. Most animals shy away from creatures of high Rage, but this Gift perfectly calms the mount’s mind and makes the Black Fury as light as a child to it - although it still does not permit riding it while in one's war form.
Often taught by: an avatar of Pegasus.
System: The Black Fury rolls Charisma + Animal Ken (difficulty 7). A simple success is all that is needed to keep this Gift active for the rest of the scene. While this Gift works to calm any animal normally friendly to the Black Fury, it has historically been mostly employed on horses.
When this Gift is activated by Black Furies who possess the Animal Ken specialty of 'Riding', then all successes on the initial activation will be added to the dice pool of any bowshot or charging attack the Fury makes while mounted that scene. The lightness of their rider will also alleviate any Stamina or terrain penalty that a horse might suffer by up to two dice worth.
Description: With this Gift, a Fury can play upon an individual’s instinctive response to parental authority or affection and convince that person to follow a command (“Don’t leave without me”) or respond favorably to a suggestions (“Let me take you somewhere safe”) that they might otherwise rebuff.
The target of the Gift cannot already be engaged in battle with the Gift’s user or with another opponent. The Garou can, however, use this Gift to forestall an impending battle or elude a situation that might turn dangerous.
Often taught by: bear- and dolphin-spirits.
System: The Fury makes a resisted Charisma + Empathy roll vs. the target’s Willpower. One success allows the character to make a simple suggestion to the victim; such that a young child would find reasonable. Additional successes either extend the duration of the effect or else enables the character to convince her victim to do something he might not be otherwise inclined to do – such as coercing a Get Ahroun to back down from a fight he would certainly lose.
Failure means that the suggestion has no effect, while a botch angers the target and makes him impervious to further attempts to use this Gift for 24 hours.
Description: Bent to Gaia’s service, the creative, living essence of the Wyld roars through the Fury’s body, shining beneath her skin as a rippling wave of prismatic energy which focuses on and shines out through her wounds. This surge supercharges the werewolf’s regenerative powers, quickly mending even the most grievous of wounds.
Often taught by: spirit servants of Pegasus.
System: The Fury spends one Gnosis point. The werewolf immediately heals either all their bashing damage or three levels or lethal damage. With the expenditure of a Willpower point in addition to the Gnosis point, one level of aggravated damage may be healed instead. Damage caused by silver weapons cannot be healed with this Gift.
Description: This Gift allows the Fury to assume a different appearance for a short period of time in order to confuse pursuers or escape detection. Primarily useful in Homid form, the Veil of the Mother cloaks the Garou in an illusion, which might alter the face, cause the user to seem either shorter or taller by up to 6 inches and change the body size to reflect a gain or loss of up to 30 pounds.
This Gift does not alter the gender, though it can change apparent age, skin, hair or eye color and hair texture or length. The Garou may use the Gift on herself or on another individual, usually someone she is trying to hide or draw attention from.
Often taught by: chameleon-spirits.
System: The Fury spends a Willpower point and rolls Appearance + Subterfuge (Difficulty 7). The number of successes indicate the degree to which the character can alter her appearance or that of another individual. One success allows only minor details in height, weight, facial features, skin tone and other similar qualities. Three successes causes a complete change in appearance, while five or more successes enables the character to effect a drastic change in her physical form, even to the extent of appearing to be a specific person. (The Garou must, of course, be familiar with the appearance of anyone whose form she assumes).
These changes are purely illusory and won't withstand a medical examination or sexual encounter - but they will endure a pat down or unexpected airport strip search.
Description: With this Gift, the Fury invokes the spirits of art and artifice, allowing her to lower the difficulty of any Social Attribute rolls for the duration of the scene.
Often taught by: Epiphlings of art and inspiration.
System: A Gnosis roll (difficulty 8) reduces the difficulty of Social rolls by one per success. The roll itself depends on what the character attempts. A poetry reading, for example, would require Manipulation + Expression, whereas a seduction would involve Appearance + Seduction.
Description: This Gift allows the Fury to “tag” an individual so that she can keep track of her target’s health and welfare. The Garou gains a general sense of the individual’s location at all times and can sense when the target is in trouble and needs assistance. The Gift lets the Garou know what kind of aid the target needs. The Garou must concentrate on her target in order to gain these insights. The effects of the Gift remain in place for a full cycle of the moon.
Often taught by: an avatar of the Celestine Tambiyah.
System: The Fury spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty of the target’s Willpower) to set the “tag” on the designated individual. Whenever she concentrates on that person, she receives information about the target’s general state of health and present circumstances.
A failed roll means that the character is unable to tag the individual while a botch places the tag on the wrong person or else receives erroneous information. When the character attempts to concentrate on the targeted individual, she performs all other actions at a +1 difficulty due to her preoccupation with her charge.
Description: A desperate tactic at best, this Gift summons a number of Wyld-spirits. What they do when they arrive is wholly unpredictable. They may run or fly about in a destructive frenzy, tearing the Fury’s foes apart. They may grant the Fury and her packmates temporary increase in might or Rage, or they might decide to destroy all Weaver-tools in the area. They may even heal the Fury and her allies of any wounds they have suffered. The Fury has no way of knowing, but the effect is usually beneficial.
Often taught by: Wyldlings.
System: The Fury spends one Gnosis point and one Rage point. She then rolls Wits + Enigmas (difficulty of the local Gauntlet). Success summons a variable number of Wyldlings, which will alter the situation as the Storyteller sees fit.
Description: This Gift allows a Black Fury to summon a spirit avatar of Pegasus, the legendary winged horse, to ride (or fly) into battle. This supernatural mount is strong and sturdy enough to bear with ease even a Garou's war-form.
Often taught by: An avatar of Pegasus teaches this Gift.
System: The Fury spends a Gnosis point to invoke this Gift, whereupon after several turns of anticipation, a spectral form of Pegasus appears, large and powerful, with wings that shimmer with spiritual energy. The Garou can mount the spirit avatar and ride (or fly) it into battle.
The Fury may use the Gift: Arion's Burden as well, rolling at -2 difficulty and with no drawback for failing or even botching while riding Pegasus.
BLACK FURY CAMPS
Different ideological breaks within the Black Fury tribe are formally measured by kukloi (singular kuklos) or “circles,” which fulfill much the same role as camps do in other tribes. While members of different kukloi might not see eye to eye, they don’t fight (at least not openly). Squabbles (and in the case of the Sisterhood and the Order of Our Merciful Mother, centuries-long tensions) occur, but the Outer Calyx frowns heavily upon inter-camp hostilities that become too outwardly obvious.
CAMP COST: 25 XP (5 Freebies)
The Amazons of Diana (referred to as 'Maenads' historically, and still by more traditional Furies) are a group of Furies that have a reputation of being more concerned with being brash, unstoppable warrior women than sacred avengers.
The Amazons of Diana rarely think of or refer to themselves as a formal kuklos. Instead, the term refers to any Black Fury who is primarily concerned with proving her prowess in battle. Given a choice between enacting justice on a rapist or fighting some Wyrm-creature in glorious combat, Amazons will take the open battle every time!
Although more mature members of the tribe look down on them, Amazons are valiant and forthright. They are the first to defend the Furies’ honor against outsiders (often too readily), and are the tribe’s vanguard in assaults against Wyrm (Or Get...) holdings. Unfortunately, Black Furies who simply hate all males tend to gravitate to the Amazons as well. As a result, many Garou (somewhat unfairly) consider the Amazons to be immature, overly violent, and misandrist.
True Shot (Glory 2)
The accuracy of Artemis on the hunt could not be equaled by any other; this Gift allows Maidens to replicate their aunt’s spectacular feats of archery on the battlefield or on the hunt.
System: Spend one Rage and receive +3 to your dice pool for a single arrow shot. This Gift can be used in conjunction with Flurry of Arrows, below, but can be used for only one arrow per turn.
Flurry of Arrows (Glory 4)
The bow of Artemis slew many monsters of both human and Black Fury myth; the incarnation of Luna as maiden huntress was a swift and accurate shot with the bow. Appropriately, Luna has taught her children how to nock and release arrows more rapidly than a human might hope to follow.
System: Spend a point of Rage; for the remainder of the scene, the character receives a free shot per turn from a bow (though not a crossbow) at no dice pool penalty.
Bow of Pegasus (Glory 6)
An Amazon infuses her bow with spiritual energy to become fantastically adept at striking targets from any distance. Arrows shot from her bow travel in a flash of light toward any target within her sight, as though there were no distance between them.
System: The Amazon spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Gnosis (difficulty 6) while aiming for at least one turn. Success allows the character to shoot an arrow that travels instantly to any target in the character's range of visibility, rendering her enemy unable to dodge. Additionally, the ranged attack is carried out as if at point blank range (difficulty 4 to hit).
Blizzard of Arrows (Glory 8)
The Amazon who uses this Gift truly shows herself the equal of any man – or machine – on the battlefield. Once Blizzard of Arrows is activated, the Garou deals out nightmarish pain to the hordes that oppose her. Heroes with this Gift might single-handedly have turned cavalry charges, in the days when such things still took place. For today, however, the Fury with this Gift is the perfect ally when faced by hordes of Wyrm-creatures.
System: Spend a point of Willpower and two points of Rage, and you may take a single arrow shot (at no multi-action penalty) at every at every foe within 100 yards, to a maximum of 20 enemies. Simply roll to hit once, using the sight and range penalties for the hardest to hit foe in range, and apply that number of successes against each enemy, which may soak, dodge, etc, as the Storyteller sees fit.
This Gift is limited by the number of arrows you have on hand: all arrows that you intend to shoot must be someplace that can easily be nocked and shot from (in a quiver on the back or waist, or stuck point-first into the ground in front of you; lying scattered nearby will not suffice).
The bow and arrows may be of modern manufacture, but cannot use any exceptional Weaver-based equipment (such as laser sights or explosive tips) to gain any accuracy or damage boost. However, a fetish bow shooting talen arrows is certainly acceptable.
CAMP COST: 15 XP (3 Freebies)
A Bacchante fulfills her destiny by destroying the holdings and livelihoods of the worst violators of Gaia’s laws: rapists, serial murderers, matricides, and vast polluters. She brings personal, vicious punishment to the criminals she discovers.
In contrast to the Amazons who are motivated by pride and a yearning for individual glory, the Bacchantes are a genuinely conservative faction that pursues the Furies' original sacred purpose: avenging wrongs against women and children with fanatical zeal and merciless violence. They believe that in doing so, they fight the Wyrm's hold over humanity and avenge Gaia herself.
Berserker (Glory 3)
The Bacchante benefits from Berserker (2 pt Merit) whenever they are avenging an innocent woman and/or child.
System: Once a scene, you can enter a Berserk Frenzy at will. This can be exceptionally useful, especially if used to pre-empt a Fox or a 'Thrall to the Wyrm' Frenzy.
If they already possessed the Berserker Merit, then they can still use it whenever they wish and it now no longer counts against their 10 dot Merit limit.
Bloody-Minded (Glory 5)
The Bacchante benefits from Bloody-Minded (3-pt Merit), whenever they are avenging an innocent woman and/or child.
System: The Bloody-Minded Merit grants three Bruised Health Levels and +1 Stamina when Frenzying. These Bruised Health levels disappear at the end of the Frenzy, taking any damage they absorbed with them.
If the Bacchante already possessed this Merit, then in addition to its broader application, it no longer counts against their 10 dot Merit limit.
CAMP COST: 20 XP (4 Freebies)
Moon-Daughters seek to spread Gaia's worship through New Age neo-paganism, and they push themselves to keep Gaia's spirit alive through change, embodying the force of the Wyld as best they can. Members effortlessly adapt the trappings of the modern world to fit their magics — inscriptions once traced on rock were sketched with a quill pen in the 1700s, and might be drawn on a laptop computer screen today.
Moonshadow (Wisdom 3)
With this Gift, a Daughter of the Moon may step sideways using a patch of moonlight.
System: Stepping sideways through patches of moonlight is handled as normal mechanically, except it obviously doesn't require a reflective surface, and in addition, the difficulty is lowered by one.
Moonpool of Athena (Wisdom 5)
This Gift enables a Moon-Daughter to transform clear, standing water into a pool which offers visions of possible futures. Wilderness ponds, small mountain tarns, pools of clear rainwater or even basins filled with water can serve as a conduit for the images. The scenes that appear within the pool depict what might happen unless something occurs to change the course of events. The Garou must concentrate on the event (or series of events) to get a sense of the outcome. The pool may reflect either literal or symbolic images.
System: The Moon-Daughter spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Wits + Enigmas (difficulty 7 for near future events, difficulty 8 for more distant occurrences). Each success causes one vision of the future to appear in the pool.
The Storyteller should determine the clarity and accuracy of the visions. No successes indicate a failure of the Gift, while a botch produces false visions or an extremely chaotic jumble of meaningless images.
Moonriver (Wisdom 7)
By using this Gift, the Moon-Daughter may swiftly travel across the surface of a body of water which reflects the moonlight. She can follow a river or cross a lake so long as she follows the “trail” of the moon’s light. If the light becomes obscured at any point (such as when a cloud passes across the moon), the effects of the Gift end and the Garou may have to swim or wade to shore.
System: The Moon-Daughter rolls Dexterity + Occult. Only one success is needed for the character to gain the ability to travel the “moonriver”. The Garou travels across the water with supernatural speed, typically three times her normal movement rate. No successes on the roll indicates that the moon is either not visible or does not shine over a body of water in the character’s vicinity. A botch allows the character to get midway through her journey before the moon’s light fails, thus stranding the character in mid-stream.
CAMP COST: 10 XP (2 Freebies)
The Order of Our Merciful Mother is among the most derided kuklos within the Tribe. Acting subtly to bring others' dogma closer to a version that respects Gaia and women, the Order works to reform human society and Christianity by utilizing their own tools against them. They take credit for the rising popularity of the Virgin Mary.
Behind the Scenes Heroine (Honor 3)
The Fury benefits from Behind the Scenes Hero (2-pt Merit) in any situation where she is interacting with a religious group that she has attached herself to.
System: Story-wise; you know just how to endear yourself to these overworked, overlooked, and underappreciated individuals. System-wise; you subtract -2 from the difficulty of all Social rolls involving making friends, gathering information, or asking favors from your fellow devotees.
If the Black Fury already had this Merit, then it won't count against their 10 dot Merit limit.
Truest Sacrament (Wisdom 4)
The Order of Our Merciful Mother frequently leavens Christian ceremony with Gaian supplication, to better aid their flocks. Truest Sacrament enables them to do so without rousing the suspicion of the faithful; humans with faith in Christianity see Gaian ritual as innocuous and even appropriate. This Gift takes advantage of humans’ ability to rewrite their memories of an event to suit their preconceptions in the same way that the Delirium does.
System: Truest Sacrament can be used either before or after a Gaian ritual begins. Used before a ritual, the character must make a Charisma + Subterfuge roll, with a target equal to the highest Willpower of the surrounding crowd; she will need to achieve one success for every seven onlookers. Should the Fury succeed, the next Gaian ritual she participates in will seem innocuous and appropriate to the crowd on hand. If Truest Sacrament is used during or after a ritual – if one or more humans happen upon a group of Garou during a rite – the same dice pool as above is used, but the character must also spend one point of Gnosis.
Note that Truest Sacrament will not cover up truly egregious or spectacular violations of the Veil – spattering blood, spirit fireworks, and so on, will be remembered and probably not thought of as harmless or normal. But if the rite is simpler, or the more hallucinatory effects can somehow be concealed from witnesses, the Furies may get away with it.
CAMP COST: 20 XP (4 Freebies)
The Sisterhood manages networks of contacts and information that rival those of the Gnawers or Walkers. Many (especially in conflict zones) find it easy to moonlight as suppliers and smugglers, able to obtain anything from food and medicine to guns and ammo — for the right cause.
The Sisterhood came about during the Inquisition, when they spirited Garou, Kinfolk, and wise women out of the path of the Church and to safety. As they traveled, they discovered that the information they brought with them was as valuable to allied septs as another set of claws and teeth.
Today they manage the various Kinfolk networks of the Tribe, offering succor to them and informing other Tribe members when a Kinfolk has been wronged by a man's hands.
Safe Haven (Honor 3)
Few Black Furies are as committed to defending their Kinfolk and other human allies as the Sisterhood. This Gift enables a Sister to keep a close supernatural watch on her charges, becoming instantly aware of any trespassers marked by the Wyrm.
System: The Black Fury must spend one Gnosis to establish this early warning system, and one Willpower per day to maintain it thereafter. Whenever a Wyrm-tainted person or creature crosses into a space she has assumed personal responsibility for, (such as a community center or women's shelter), and if the Sister is within (Her Alertness x miles), she may roll Perception + Occult (difficulty 7) to detect the intrusion.
The more successes, the more accurately the Sister pinpoints the intruder’s location. Note that this Gift may be used to protect only that which the Black Fury can rightfully call her personal responsibility; this Gift cannot, for instance, protect a shared caern unless used by the caern Warder (who can be considered “responsible” for the territory for the purpose of this Gift).
Spirit Smuggler (Wisdom 2)
Members of the Sisterhood frequently make deliveries through countries with broad laws against contraband; they might also wish to carry a weapon into an area interdicted by metal detectors or the like. Spirit Smuggler makes this much easier for them to do, and it is useful in a wide variety of situations.
When the character wishes to hide an item from searches, she can use this Gift to push the item into the Gauntlet for a short time; it will return to the character’s possessions in the physical realm after a few minutes have passed.
System: The character rolls Dexterity + Subterfuge and spends a point of Gnosis to push a small item (5 pounds or less, no more than a gallon in volume) through the Gauntlet into the Umbra; the difficulty on this roll is the local Gauntlet rating. If she achieves 2 or more successes, the item now resides in the Gauntlet, and cannot be sensed or manipulated by anyone in the Realm (unless a searcher can see into the Umbra). The item will return to the character’s physical possessions at the end of the scene.
Should the character achieve only one success, the item is pushed through into the Gauntlet but will not return of its own accord, and has to be fetched by stepping sideways. A botch on the Dexterity + Subterfuge roll means that the item is lost in the Umbra, or that a spirit pickpocket has made off with it.
This Gift does not halt the flow of time for the smuggled object – and explosions in the Gauntlet can have strange effects on both the local spirit world and the physical plane, for those who might consider using this Gift to stow a live bomb.
Spirit Loan (Wisdom 4)
In extreme circumstances, a Sister may find that another Garou has far more use for one of her Gifts than she does. To this end, Gaian spirits have shown the Daughters how to lend one of their Gifts to another werewolf for a limited duration. The Black Fury who uses this Gift feels somewhat bereft of Gaia’s love and attention while another Gift has been loaned, but suffers no other ill effects.
System: Roll Charisma + Occult (difficulty of the recipient’s Rage). Success allows the Fury to loan a single Level 1-3 Gift to another Garou for a set period of time, to a maximum of three days per success. When that time is up (or if either the lender or receiver dies) the Gift returns to the lender. While the Gift has been lent out, the lender has no access to it and for all intents and purposes does not know it. The recipient uses the Gift as though she had learned it herself from the appropriate spirit.
Winged Delivery (Wisdom 6)
While the Sisterhood has a large network of Kinfolk, contacts, smugglers and informants available, at times the most effective means to move an item is to give it to a friendly spirit and have that spirit make the delivery. Using this Gift and some concentration, the character pushes a small item into the Umbra and gives it to an Owl Jaggling, which will deliver the item to a well identified person or location as rapidly as it can travel.
Garou who abuse this Gift to send dangerous items or active weapons (like grenades) into the Umbra – thereby jeopardizing the owl-spirit’s existence – find that the retribution of the spirit world is swift and harsh. This Gift is obviously taught by owl-spirits.
System: Spend one Gnosis and roll Charisma + Empathy (difficulty the local Gauntlet). On a success, the item enters the Owl Jaggling’s talons in the Umbra, and the Jaggling will deliver it to a clearly defined recipient. A human or Garou recipient must be named and described; a location need only be described, with directions given.
The Owl Jaggling travels at roughly 100 miles per hour through the spirit world, and will deposit the item in the immediate vicinity of the target unless the target is somehow protected against the spirit world or prevailing Gauntlet exceeds 7. If either of those conditions prevent delivery, the spirit returns to the Garou at full speed and returns the item without comment.
CAMP COST: Not available in Los Angeles.
The Freebooters' mission is to find new Wyld places that can be consecrated to Gaia and opened as caerns. The kuklos is shrinking because there are so few Wyld places left in the world.
A fraction of Freebooters believe they need to find a new body for Gaia elsewhere in the Umbra, somewhere the Wyrm has not yet found.
CAMP COST: Not available in Los Angeles.
As the most conservative Fury kuklos, members of the Temple are firm allies of the Bacchantes, and serve as the wisdom to that group’s Rage. They believe that the Furies must work as a cohesive whole and allow each of the other tribes to work on its own as well. To the Temple, cross-tribe packs are a travesty and violate Gaia’s apparent intentions in separating the Garou Nation into different tribes.
SHADOW OF THE RAT (glory)
Description: Rats are known for their resilience, persistence, and ruthlessness. Since Rat serves as the Bone Gnawer’s tribal totem, Garou of this tribe may learn a great deal about survival under the tutelage of rat-spirits.
Often taught by: rat-spirits.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends one Gnosis point to lower the difficulty of all Stamina rolls (including soak rolls) by 1 for the duration of one minute per dot of Glory Renown they possess.
Incidentally, this same Gift permanently endows the Garou with a preternatural resistance to poisons and toxins of all kinds, once acquired. If activated (as above), it gives +3 dice to resisting Wyrm-based toxins as well.
Description: In times of great trauma, desperate people have displayed amazing feats of strength and endurance. With a burst of adrenaline, a mother can lift a truck off a pinned child, or a father may smash through a wall to save his family. Through strength of will, a Bone Gnawer may channel that same desperate energy. If another packmate has fallen or been captured, the Garou may use this hideous strength in a desperate effort to help his pack.
Often taught by: badger-spirits.
System: After rolling on the Feats of Strength table, the Garou can burn a point of Willpower and roll one die for each Health Level he has remaining. For each success he can take an extra level of aggravated damage to increase his number of successes by one; he does not need to trade all of his successes in this fashion.
Description: Many Bone Gnawers use this Gift when facing off against just about anything with a particularly sensitive nose: this can include other Garou, Black Spiral Dancers, and a host of normal animals or Wyrm-creatures. The Gift incapacitates its target by overwhelming its sense of smell with the stink of the city: sweat, blood, human waste, rot, smoke, and car exhaust.
Often taught by: skunk-spirits.
System: The Gnawer selects a target, spends a point of Rage, and rolls Manipulation + Streetwise (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). For every success rolled, the target loses one die from all actions for the next turn. If the target has a more sensitive sense of smell than a human, then they are Stunned instead if the Garou rolls at least five successes.
The target may attempt to resist by holding his breath, if he is aware; if he does so he must follow the rules for suffocation. Other Bone Gnawers are immune to this Gift.
Description: When backed into a corner with nowhere to run, there are only two options — beg for mercy or turn and fight. Rat-spirits teach Bone Gnawers to excel at the latter.
Often taught by: rat-spirits.
System: The Bone Gnawer can always choose to Berserk Frenzy instead of Fox Frenzy. Furthermore, while frenzying, they enjoy a +2 dice bonus to all damage rolls made against their primary antagonist.
This Gift is always active once learned.
Description: Instead of throwing a weapon to cause greater injury, the werewolf throws projectiles with greater accuracy.
Often taught by: air-spirits.
System: Large or unwieldy objects are usually more difficulty to throw than aerodynamic ones; this is reflected by a greater difficulty on the Dexterity + Athletics roll to chuck it. In the turn this Gift is used, the Garou burns one Gnosis. The difficulty to throw an object is then 4, no matter how awkward it is to throw. If the Garou can lift it, he can throw it.
The Storyteller may still increase the difficulty because of range or other modifiers, but with this Gift, a motorcycle becomes as aerodynamic as a baseball. Also note that throwing a motorcycle like you’d throw a curve ball or knuckleball shreds the Veil.
Description: When using this Gift, the Bone Gnawer can change his claws into jagged glass. Upon clawing an opponent, the glass claws tear through clothing, flesh and bone, breaking off in a target's wounds. It requires one turn for the Garou's claws to regenerate before making another claw attack.
Often taught by: skunk-spirits (of course).
System: The Bone Gnawer spends one Gnosis point. If she subsequently damages her target with a claw attack, her claws break off, leaving agonizing slivers of glass in the open wounds. The glass causes an additional aggravated health level of damage for every round that the shards remain in the wound, until the Gnawer's victim is Incapacitated. The glass can be removed with a Dexterity + Medicine (Difficulty 9) roll, but it takes an entire turn of concentration.
Description: This Gift weaves the essence of the city's discarded remnants—metal scraps, broken glass, rusted hubcaps and other such detritus—into a protective mantle that shields the Bone Gnawer in times of need. After all; 'Waste not, want not'.
Often taught by: city-spirits.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends 1 Willpower point and rolls Intelligence + Scrounging vs difficulty 7. Even one success will create an improvised mantle of armor that is roughly equivalent mechanically to Class V Riot Armor (+5 Armor, -3 Dexterity penalty).
Every additional success past the first will lower the Dexterity penalty of the magically improvised armor. Likewise, every additional success past the fourth will instead prolong Scrapyard Skin by an extra scene.
NOTE: Scrapyard Skin does not count as Supernatural Armor. It can be removed.
Description: The Bone Gnawer can duck into a shaded area (an open dumpster, a dark alley, beneath a parked car) and pop out in another shaded area some distance away.
Often taught by: rat-spirits.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Stealth (difficulty 6). The character can reappear in any shaded area within (number of successes x 20) yards (18 m per success).
This may carry with it any advantages or ramifications the Storyteller judges to make sense.
Description: This Gift confers temporary immunity to many environmental factors. The Garou has no need of food, water or sleep, and she does not suffer from temperature or environmental extremes. She is also immune to natural diseases and poisons. Unnatural toxins will still affect her, but at half their normal potency.
Often taught by: rat-spirits.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends one Gnosis and rolls Stamina + Survival (difficulty 7). The effects last for one day per success. By spending a second Gnosis point, the Bone Gnawer can gain three extra points of Stamina, and he suffers no wound penalties, but the Gift will expire prematurely after any scene during which combat occurs. The Garou must sleep for at least eight hours when the Gift wears off, and he awakens ravenously hungry.
Description: The Bone Gnawer can open his jaws far wider than is normally physically possible, and can swallow things or beings whole. A werewolf with this Gift is even capable of gulping down an entire buffalo, or a whole pack of Black Spiral Dancers, only to regurgitate the creatures later
Often taught by: catfish-spirits and worse.
System: The Bone Gnawer rolls Stamina + Primal-Urge (difficulty 8). Beings can resist with Dexterity + Athletics. In the case of a very large being or object, one extra success is required for every Health Level the target possesses beyond the normal seven, or for every extra three feet in size over the Bone Gnawer (obviously, Crinos form is best for this Gift).
Swallowed objects/beings wind up in the Umbra, in a utterly disgusting sub-realm that functions as the mystical “stomach” of the glutton. The Garou can belch these objects out later.
The werewolf can store objects in this mystical stomach for a number of hours equal to his Stamina; after this time, the Garou automatically regurgitates them hack into the physical world. The objects appear next to the Garou, and are relatively unscathed... physically at least. Most mortals never entirely recover mentally or emotionally from the experience.
GUISE OF THE HOUND (honor)
Description: The Bone Gnawer masks herself so that she blends into the urban landscape, disguising her Lupus form so that it appears as a large (often mangy) mutt rather than a wolf. Despite its enormous utility, other tribes spurn this Gift as degrading to the dignity of the Garou.
Often taught by: dog-spirits.
System: The Garou rolls Manipulation + Subterfuge (difficulty 6). The disguise lasts for one scene per success.
Description: The natural reaction of most city folk (especially Angelenos) is to fear getting too close to anyone that looks perilously ill. If that person is a seeming disease-ridden vagrant, the effect is even more acute. This Gift allows the Bone Gnawer to draw an illusion of terrible disease on his features, repelling even the most stouthearted onlookers. It might occasionally even be a useful trick for survival, potentially earning charity from an especially sincere social worker even as it terrifies the locals.
Often taught by: rat-spirits.
System: The Bone Gnawer rolls Manipulation + Subterfuge to create an illusion of disease that lasts for one scene. The imaginary disease may appear to be anything that the character is familiar with, though it usually defaults to something particularly nasty like leprosy or seemingly dangerously contagious. Any humans who witness the Bone Gnawer's illusion must roll Willpower (difficulty 8), lest they shrink away in revulsion. It's likely that even if a human passes their Willpower check, they won't be in a hurry to get too near or touch them (making it far less likely to be searched for contraband).
Description: You’re good at sizing people up. With a few sniffs, you can smell how successful someone really is. Even on a bad day, you can sense whether he’s got money in his pocket, a steady job, or a place to stay. When passing by street folk begging for change, some people claim they don’t have anything to give. By repeatedly sizing up people on the street, Bone Gnawers learn to distinguish a real bad-luck case from a cheap bastard who doesn’t give a damn. Similarly, Hoods use this ability to distinguish someone who really needs help from a scam artist. After mastering this elemental talent, the Garou can then sniff out deeper secrets from passers-by.
Often taught by: This Gift is taught by a rat-spirit, usually while the student sits on a street corner asking for help over and over again; the rat gets a cut of any handouts during the time of training.
System: Spend one Gnosis and roll Perception + Streetwise (difficulty 6). Pick a person within about a city block you can see. One success reveals one of the following facts: whether the person has money in his pocket, whether he has a job, or whether he has a home (your choice). Three successes either answer all three questions or give more detailed information about one of them: how much money he’s got on him, what his occupation is, and what kind of place he lives in.
If you score five successes, some telltale clue also reveals more specific information. With spiritual insight, you can narrow down four or five choices of where his home may be, what company he works for, or the last item he just bought. Specific information may come as a vision of facts whispered by a helpful Gaffling. (“Guess what a little rat told me.”) Alternatively (at the Storyteller’s discretion), it can reveal the number of dots a character has in his Resources Background.
This Gift may be unreliable on creatures other than humans, or those employing supernatural misdirection (such as a vampire's Obfuscate or certain Gifts), at the Storyteller's discretion.
Description: Commonly used by Bone Gnawers residing in a sept controlled by other tribes, this Gift ingratiates the Bone Gnawer to a pack’s or caern’s totem for a short time. While the Gift is in effect, the Gnawer is treated as a member of a pack with regards to using the totem’s blessings and any pack tactics the pack knows. If used on a caern totem, the totem looks favorably upon the Bone Gnawer. The Gnawer may then perform the Rite of the Opened Caern, if he knows it, without fear of retribution.
Often taught by: A lost-dog-spirit, a spirit servant of Rat, teaches this Gift.
System: The Bone Gnawer must know the name of the totem in question. He must also prostrate himself before the caern’s center or the pack’s leader and wiggle forward on his stomach like a begging dog. The player rolls Charisma + Subterfuge. The difficulty varies based on the totem’s opinion of the Bone Gnawer, which is left to the Storyteller’s discretion.
Success indicates that the character gains the previously mentioned benefits for one day, and that the totem will not look favorably on a Garou who mistreats the Bone Gnawer without cause. This Gift usually won’t cause any bad feelings from the sept or pack in question as long as the Bone Gnawer minds his manners. However, using it too often certainly will.
Description: The Garou can mark a person or place with a scent only other werewolves can sense. The mark is subtle; placing it isn’t.
Often taught by: dog-spirits.
System: Using this Gift requires one Gnosis and a stream of the Garou’s urine. Subsequently, the Garou always knows where the 'mark' is, or if it's been violated in any way. Any werewolf who is familiar with the user of this Gift, will be able to identify the one responsible for the mark. The effect lasts for one week.
This Gift is often used to mark the boundaries of a Bone Gnawer pack's territory...and sometimes the occasional unfortunate Kinfolk.
Description: Playing upon the compassion of others, Bone Gnawers can generate an amazing amount of pity. By exaggerating her miserable state, a clever Bone Gnawer can gain favor with people who have too much anyway. By groveling or telling her particular sob story, she might get a handout, a favor or at least a good meal.
Often taught by: A pigeon-spirit teaches this Gift, which is one reason only Urrah ever learn it.
System: The Garou must spend one Gnosis point and roll Manipulation + Performance. If the roleplaying is particularly moving, the player can forgo the roll at the Storyteller’s discretion.
The difficulty depends on the target: a charitable Child of Gaia might be a 4, whereas an overbearing Get of Fenris might be a 9. The number of successes determines the amount of pity generated and the generosity of the favor.
Description: Once a night, a Bone Gnawer with this Gift can tell an outrageous lie so well that ordinary humans accept it as truth. The story must at least be vaguely possible and end with the words, “Trust me.” What the human does with this knowledge is entirely a matter of roleplaying.
Often taught by: particularly demented 'moon-mice' encountered in the umbra.
System: No roll is necessary; ordinary humans automatically believe the Bone Gnawer’s tale. This Gift does not work on supernatural creatures or animals.
It is possibly no accident that Gaia would only trust such a powerful tool of mischief to a Garou that has already proven they would use it well. Although, some prefer to interpret it as meaning that ordinary humans are not covered by Garou concepts of Honor.
Incidentally, this Gift has been used to save more humans from needing to be killed to protect the Veil than any other Gift known to the Garou Nation.
Description: Hyena follows no one; instead, he laughs and mocks anyone who tries to command him. In the same fashion, a Garou who can actually convince a Hyena-spirit to teach him such defiance can steal the spirit’s mocking laughter. The Garou can learn to resist any attempt to command, cajole, force, or demand him to do something he doesn’t want to do. This is never subtle. The Garou must cackle like a hyena-spirit when calling upon this Gift.
Often taught by: hyena-spirits.
System: The Bone Gnawer enjoys a permanent -3 difficulty to any Willpower roll used to resist mental domination or control. This includes the Gift: Roll Over; all effects of the vampire Discipline: Dominate; all effects of the mage Mind Sphere; and all effects of the wraith Arcanos: Puppetry.
The Garou can spend a Willpower point to shake off any mental effect that doesn't ordinarily permit a resisting roll.
Description: Bone Gnawers are intimately connected with the downtrodden—human and Garou alike. "Rally the Forgotten' allows them to inspire and mobilize these often-overlooked allies, turning despair into determination and weakness into strength. By invoking this Gift, the Bone Gnawer can channel the collective resilience of the dispossessed, rallying them into a formidable force ready to stand against either brutal oppression or the the corruption and decay of the Wyrm.
Often taught by: Homid Bone Gnawer ancestor-spirits.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends 1 Gnosis and 1 Willpower and then rolls Charisma + Leadership vs a difficulty depending on the humans they are trying to rally, (a homeless encampment in the midst of being violently cleared out might be difficulty 4...whereas the police clearing them would be difficulty 10, if possible at all).
Every success rolled will result in the humans collectively organizing with greater determination and passion - at least for a little while (usually for the remainder of the scene). It is up to the Storyteller to arbitrate the exact result.
In years past, strategic use of this Gift was often the difference between life and death when throwing an oppressive regime's troops back from the barricades, or defending a breach in the city walls. It still sees use tonight when brute force is used to disperse protests.
Description: It takes a lot for a pack to accept a Bone Gnawer as an equal, but once they do, the Bone Gnawer’s loyalty is unshakable. This Gift allows a Bone Gnawer to risk all, even his own life, to aid a packmate or tribemate.
Often taught by: dog-spirits.
System: When a packmate is in danger, the Bone Gnawer may “lend” her what she needs, be it a Gift the Bone Gnawer knows, his Rage, his Strength, Willpower, or even his own life (in the form of health levels).
The Garou must spend one Willpower point and roll Willpower (difficulty 7) and must succeed for the transfer to take place. If the roll botches, the Bone Gnawer loses the Traits in question but the recipient does not gain them. This Gift lasts until the end of the scene unless the recipient decides to terminate it early.
If the Garou additionally spends a Gnosis point, then they retain the use of any Trait that has been lent to their packmate. There is no limit to the number of Traits that can be lent at one time, but the Garou can only lend a Trait that they still benefit from (as such, a Bone Gnawer may spend multiple points of Willpower and Gnosis to lend the same Trait to multiple packmates at once).
ANOTHER'S TREASURE (WISDOM)
Description: The refuse of humanity provides all the canny Bone Gnawer needs. Through the use of this Gift, any broken object can be temporarily restored to full functionality and usefulness.
Often taught by: raccoon-spirits.
System: The Garou takes hold of a broken object and rolls Wits + Scrounging. The object functions perfectly for one turn per success, and also supplies its own power, fuel, or ammunition — a dull knife cuts, a busted microwave runs (without being plugged into anything), an old rusty Saturday night special fires even without bullets, a junked car starts up and runs.
The lifespan of the object’s renewed usefulness can be extended to one full day by spending a point of Willpower, but the object requires proper power, fuel, and ammunition in such circumstances.
Description: The Garou must have a small pot (a coffee can will do) and a ladle or spoon to use this Gift. He places whatever he can find into the pot — trash, beer cans, old newspapers, etc. — adds water (spit counts) and stirs. The result is a pasty, bland-tasting mush that is nevertheless edible and filling.
Often taught by: Bone Gnawer ancestor-spirits and goat-spirits.
System: The Garou spends a Gnosis point and rolls Wits + Survival (or Scrounging). The difficulty depends on the items “cooked.” Inedible but harmless material is difficulty 6, while actively toxic substances are difficulty 10.
If this Gift seems less than exciting, note that it is one of the main reasons that the Bone Gnawer tribe still exists.
Description: If your home has no walls, sleeping can be a nightmare. There’s no guarantee that someone won’t sneak up on you to steal your stuff… or even take your life. Some werewolves solve this problem by sleeping in packs, but it never hurts to take extra precautions. Rural Garou set twigs and branches that easily snap underfoot; Bone Gnawers rig the same warnings with tin cans, tripwires, or even broken glass. With a little mystical aid, a werewolf can enlist spirits in similar defenses.
Often taught by: rat and raccoon-spirits.
System: By spending one Gnosis, a Bone Gnawer can ward an area against intrusion. The “area” can be anywhere between the size of a room and the size of a building. Trash is set around the periphery, usually junk that makes noise when its disturbed. If anyone crosses this imaginary boundary, the Bone Gnawer hears the spirits scream a silent warning to him. This ward remains in effect for eight hours (or in some cases, from dusk ’til dawn).
- Any supernatural creature attempting to use its powers to overcome the Urban Ward (for instance, with the vampire Discipline: Obfuscate) must score more successes on its roll to activate the proper supernatural power than a reflexive roll of the Garou's Wits + Enigmas (difficulty 6).
- For more mundane creatures, like humans, crossing the boundary automatically warns the Garou, who may consciously decide whether to wake up. If the trespasser is also using Stealth the sleeping Garou can make an opposed Perception + Alertness roll without penalty, as if he was awake.
- Creatures that “teleport” in by means of Gifts such as Shadow Step still count as having crossed the boundary; instantaneous passage through the Umbra is still Umbral passage across the boundary.
Description: Through a bit of graffiti and casual sabotage, the Bone Gnawer can discourage anyone who wants to track him, follow him, or even take interest in his affairs. The werewolf can alter a sign, spray-paint directional information, or perhaps just simply turn street signs the wrong way to misdirect people who find it. Urrah werewolves make obsessive use of this Gift to protect their stomping grounds.
Often taught by: friendly urban-spirits.
System: Using this Gift requires one Gnosis and enough time to spray-paint graffiti, turn around a street sign, or commit some other act of urban mischief. On any roll to track the Garou past this obstacle, increase the difficulty by 3. The effects last for a full week.
Description: One of the crucial lessons for survival is simple: use whatever comes to hand. Bone Gnawers that know this Gift use one of the most common things to come to hand in the streets, that is, garbage. Upon using this Gift, a specific target is buried beneath rubbish and litter.
Often taught by: A garbage spirit teaches this Gift, though rat-spirits teach a similar Gift using sewer flotsam instead of trash.
System: The Bone Gnawer rolls Wits + Streetwise, difficulty 7. Each success dredges up a portion of any surrounding garbage and hurls it onto the Bone Gnawer’s target, adding +1 difficulty to all rolls that target makes until he spends a turn dragging himself free. If five successes were gained, the target is effectively buried, with further ramifications subject to the Storyteller's discretion.
Note that this Gift only moves trash, it doesn’t create it. If a fight were held in a pristine courtyard, then the Storyteller might limit the number of successes possible to one or two at most.
Description: The Bone Gnawer can cause wood and paper to rot with astonishing speed. Furniture falls apart, documents disintegrate, and even buildings collapse.
Often taught by: Obviously, the best instructor of this Gift is a termite-spirit.
System: After spending one Gnosis point, the character rolls Intelligence + Scrounging (difficulty 7). The number of successes determines the amount of wood or paper destroyed: One success can rot a ream of paper, three successes can deteriorate a wall, and five successes can collapse the roof of a small building. Strategic use of this power can have dramatic results even for users with little skill.
Description: By whistling softly through his teeth, the werewolf can summon sudden and destructive rust onto any metal within his immediate vicinity. Guns corrode and jam, knives crumble, and cars become flaking hunks of junk.
Often taught by: water-spirits.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Wits + Scrounging, with a difficulty depending on the amount of metal being corroded. A gun or knife would be difficulty 6, while a car might be difficulty 8.
Description: The Bone Gnawer can summon a horde of vermin to invade a structure (no bigger than a large building). The Gift summons any kind of vermin common to the area, which usually includes a lively variety of insects and rodents (so many rodents!), and it may also include carrion birds and snakes. These creatures will not attack humans mindlessly. They will act according to their natures, which is often bad enough.
Often taught by: Any vermin spirit can teach this Gift..
System: The Bone Gnawer spends one Gnosis and rolls Manipulation + Animal Ken (difficulty 7). One success stirs up some shrieks and a call to an exterminator, while five completely swamps that structure in an overwhelming tide of vermin, making it uninhabitable for quite some time. Even a Pentex First Team might not stick around for that.
Description: One of the less sanitary tribal totems, the Great Trash Heap, has dissipated its consciousness throughout the dumping grounds, landfills, and trash piles of the world. Garou who follow this totem commune with the Incarna by defending, protecting and even obeying these festering heaps. Any Bone Gnawer who reaches this rank of renown may learn the secret of traveling between these festering sacred sites.
Just as entering a Moon Bridge helps Garou travel between caerns, dumpster diving allows Bone Gnawers and their packs to venture from one shrine of the Great Trash Heap to another. The werewolf burrows down into the trash, tunnels around in it, and then resurfaces inside another Heap on another part of the planet.
Often taught by: Obviously this Gift is taught by a totem-spirit of the Great Trash Heap.
System: The Bone Gnawer makes a Gnosis roll (difficulty 4) when entering the trash pile; the travel time is the same as for stepping sideways. The Garou must have a specific destination in mind that would be worthy of the Great Trash Heap (usually a big pile of garbage somewhere...).
Keeping these pathways open is difficult so the traveler and his pack must return to their original site within three days, If they don’t make it back in time, they’ll have to travel back by more conventional means.
Description: In times of great need, an elder can issue a call to his tribe that echoes through the Umbra of an entire city. First, hordes of spirits appear before him in the spirit world. They then swarm out to find everyone of the same tribe. The Swarm use this Gift more than any other Camp, usually relying on hordes of rat-spirits to find all their hidden brothers and sisters. The spirit can relay a brief message exhorting reluctant Garou to aid her brothers and sisters. Using this Gift for a trivial purpose is unheard of.
Often taught by: A mighty Jaggling or totem spirit in service to Rat.
System: This Gift is entirely arbitrated by the Storyteller (usually costing a mix of Gnosis and Willpower to determine the call's reach and the eloquence of its spirit messengers), though the result is usually very impressive (and terrifying to the tribe's enemies).
BONE GNAWER CAMPS
Each Bone Gnawer has his own tale of suffering and misery, but if you spend enough time with the tribe, you'll hear some of the same stories over and over. Certain figures from the past, and even modern times, exemplify the struggle against all odds that defines the Bone Gnawers on some core level. Some of them have yet to face their darkest hour; others have the scars from a lifetime of hard luck and are still able to grin Death in the face.
Gnawers care more about causes than they let on. They may feel a need to help unfortunates around them, explore the world, spread culture and knowledge, or muster packs of Garou for war. Some camps’ members are formally initiated and accepted; others support a camp’s cause for personal reasons, regardless of whether others accept them.
The Rat Totem also reveals itself to different Bone Gnawers in different ways. As of late, different camps have begun arguing over Rat's true nature. Those who study the ways of war, including Ahroun and the Swarm camp, speak with reverence of the Rat God, exhorting his glorious plans to lead them in battle. Those who favor peace know of Mother Rat, an Incarna esteemed for her compassion to her children, generosity to the tribe, and fierce protection of those who care for Bone Gnawer cubs.
CAMP COST: 30 XP (6 Freebies)
I ain't hiding. I'm waiting. Waiting for the time to strike. Waiting for the call of my God. the other tribes can blather to each other about how we're lazy, how we're weak, how we're doomed to die. Let them waste their breath. I've been biding my time and stockpiling in my basement. Food. Ammo. Explosives. The other servants of the Rat God have been waiting, too. When Rat screams, we'll answer him in a firestorm of blood and thunder.
The Swarm serves as Rat's teeth in the war against the Wyrm. As masters of Rat's tactics, they specialize in dirty fighting and underhanded strategy. They're also notorious for placing the needs of their tribe over the politics of the Garou Nation. All the politics and antiquated protocols are distractions to them. When they show up at a caern, they're ready to fight, not debate.
The Swarm's followers carry out regular missions of sabotage and urban terrorism against the Rat God's enemies, harrying their enemies with many swift, surgical strikes. Sometimes they receive messages carried by rat-spirits on behalf of their tribal god (seemingly), coordinating complicated strategies only a Bone Gnawer (or a Ratkin) would understand. Weakening the Wyrm with a thousand bites and slashes, the Swarm waits until right moment to send in its heaviest armed and most fanatical packs.
Lately, there are Swarm may even be interested in striking at less supernatural targets, resorting to ecoterrorism or corporate sabotage in many areas of the United States in a manner more reminiscent of the Ratkin. If true, this would would put them on an inevitable collision course with the Glass Walkers and many others in the Garou Nation.
Rabble Rouser (Glory 2)
You thrive in the midst of riots, angry mobs, civil disturbances, or any other situation where a crowd of humans rebels revolts or resists authority. The Gift doesn’t actually enrage a crowd; it just adds direction to a riot already in progress.
System: Using this Gift costs one Willpower each turn. That turn, you can use one noun and one verb to direct what an angry mob in your immediate vicinity will do. The Garou doesn’t need to vocalize these commands; the player states them to the Storyteller.
Silly commands automatically fail, and you must direct the crowd at something other than itself (so verbs like “sleep,” “vomit,” or “laugh” or the noun “suicide” are right out). The Storyteller has the right to veto any noun/verb that’s too abusive (“kill yourselves”) or just plain stupid.
Stone-Throwing Devil (Glory 4)
Anything you can throw as a weapon becomes deadlier. If your Garou is the sort of bastard that throws rocks during city riots, dumps garbage on policemen from a fire escape, or tosses around furniture in bar brawls, then this Gift is for you.
System: The Bone Gnawer burns one Rage to add a number of dice equal to his remaining temporary Rage to his next thrown attack.
Hit-and-Run (Glory 6)
Between one blink and the next, the Bone Gnawer is there to bury his claws in his unsuspecting prey. He can dash across the battlefield with astonishing speed when he’s ready to strike.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends one Rage point. For the rest of the scene, the Garou doesn’t need to split his dice pool or spend more Rage to move up to his running speed before making an attack on the same turn.
Riot (Glory 8)
This Gift summons a horde of malevolent spirits to provoke the inhabitants of a city into violent rioting. The Gift plays on the hatred and fear of the down-and-outs of the city: the homeless, the poor and even stray animals. The Gnawer can direct the riot to a degree, but such things tend to escalate, and the Garou has no power to stop the riot from doing so.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends one Rage point and rolls Manipulation + Larceny (difficulty 8). If successful, the spirits direct their hosts against a target of the Garou’s choice. The different hosts, however, will not necessarily work together — they may even begin to fight each other as the mob mentality takes over. The number of successes determines the area affected.
Successes One Two Three Four Five |
Extent Room Building Street Block Whole Damn Neighborhood (South Central, etc) |
Rant and Rave (Wisdom 3)
Suffused with the pure energy of the Wyld, the user of this Gift rants and raves in a torrent of nonsensical language. Only followers of the Rat God can decode whatever the hell he is saying. The listener does not have to actually hear the ranting Garou. As long as he’s within the same city, there’s a chance he’ll receive the message.
Ranting Bone Gnawers have been known to hold entire conversations from opposite sides of the same city, taking turns shouting violent imprecations to no one in particular.
System: The ranting Garou spends one Gnosis for each werewolf he wants to receive his secret message; the duration is one scene. Each one of these targets must either be a member of his pack or a follower of the Swarm. (This is allowable if he’s temporarily joined a pack with the Bone Gnawer Gift: Tagalong.) Roll the ranter's Manipulation + Expression (difficulty 6); the number of successes limits how far away his recipient can be, in miles.
Kitchen Chemistry (Wisdom 5)
With ten minutes, a bit of rage, and everyday household chemicals, you can unleash a firestorm of vengeance against an uncaring world. You have a deep and instinctive understanding of the principles of modern chemistry, one that allows you to scratch-build and detonate explosives.
System: One scene. One Rage. At least three household kitchen chemicals approved by the Storyteller. The Result? An explosion inflicting an amount of aggravated damage equal to the character’s permanent Rage. Detonating the explosives properly is the difficult part.
At the end of the scene in which the chemicals are cooked, the character attempts an Intelligence + Science roll (difficulty 6). With one success, the explosives will detonate at the specified date and time. Three successes allow them to be thrown (Dexterity + Athletics, distance equal to the Garou’s Strength in yards) or triggered by remote (line of sight). Five successes allow for a complex trigger, such as a timed matchbox fuse, trip wire, weight-sensitive pressure plate, or sound of a particular television personality’s voice. On a botch, of course, the bomb goes off in the Garou’s face.
CAMP COST: 20 XP (4 Freebies)
I found it! I found the book I was looking for! It's about these kids who run away from home and live in a museum. They hide in the bathroom stalls after closing, and then they come out to swim in the fountain in the lobby, and look at all the paintings and play with all the stuff they found, and eat in the cafeteria, and junk like that. That's where I got the idea. That's why I ran away from home. That's why the Bone Gnawers come to me when they want to know stuff!
Wolves are territorial creatures. Frankweilers guard their urban domains as steadfastly as any rural lupine. Just as a Red Talon might watch over a vast stretch of untamed wilderness, a Frankweiler defines a few city blocks as his protectorate. Other Garou may consider the average Bone Gnawer to be stupid, crude, and uncultured, but these valiant defenders watch over places where the common man can educate and enlighten themselves: art galleries, libraries, museums, theaters, churches, templates, art house movie theaters, or anywhere culture is readily available.
The camp has been known by many names throughout the years - the Hidden Knaves, the Court of Wonders, the Phantoms - the most recent comes from a children's book in which two kids live in a museum after hours. True to form, Frankweilers live in the neighborhood around their protectorate, or even within a gallery or library after hours. While this doesn't preclude them from time to time to work with multitribal packs, many are loners who spend as much time as they can stand stalking the same corridors.
Many are esteemed as scholars and educators, or great storytellers. Others reach out to communities, watching over people instead of places. They may volunteer to teach, work in needle exchange programs, or even share their legal or medical skills. Since the Wyrm often exploits the ignorant, suffering, starving, or desperate, the Frankweilers help fight it through prevention, protection, and education.
The Frankweilers have historically been a respected and well established Bone Gnawer camp in Los Angeles, though are aging and much less numerous than they used to be as the ranks of the Rabble swell.
Hungry Hound (Honor 2)
Frankweilers spend a lot of time in public places. A Garou with this Gift can hunt down the closest source of discarded, safe, edible food. The user might find a bag of nacho puffs dropped out of a passing car window or the one perfect warm slice of cheese pizza buried at the bottom of a dumpster. The Gift may also reveal people who are willing to give a handout or spare some munchies. The Hungry Hound reveals food that’s available for free. For instance, it won’t automatically detect the hot dogs in a vendor’s cart, but if the man selling them would be happy to give one away to a hungry-looking wolf-dog, the chance of finding them improves considerably.
System: Roll Perception + Streetwise (difficulty 7). One success produces an unremarkable snack. More successes can either uncover more food (like a feast of discarded donuts or cold pizza) or tastier food (like a single heavenly untouched éclair).
A successful roll means that the scent of tantalizing food has just wafted past the werewolf’s nose. Three successes and a couple of sniffs can give more details about the “prey,” even from a great distance. (“Wait! It smells like… a birthday cake… there’s writing on it…”)
Protectorate (Honor 4)
Many locations watched over by the Frankweilers also become safe havens for the city's homeless, where they can pass time reading and learning instead of freezing and dying.
System: The Frankweiler must spend one Gnosis to establish an early warning system, which lasts until he leaves his chosen protectorate. Whenever a Wyrm-tainted person or creature crosses into a space he has assumed personal responsibility for, (such as a museum, theater or art gallery), he may roll Perception + Security (difficulty 7) to instantly detect the intrusion.
The more successes, the more accurately the Frankweiler pinpoints the intruder’s location. Additionally, for every success rolled, the Frankweiler will receive a bonus die to any Primal-Urge, Alertness, Athletics, Stealth, Security or Elusion roll that is in direct contest with the intruder.
Declamation (Wisdom 2)
By spending at least an hour studying a written text, the Garou can memorize vast passages of information word for word. The effects work like a cross between speed-reading and eidetic memory. Actually understanding or accessing the information is difficult, but repeating it by rote is simple. The Garou must be fluent in speaking the language he is reading.
System: After the Garou spends one Gnosis, he can repeat, word for word, anything he reads over the next eight hours. As a rough guideline, the Garou can read about a hundred pages in an hour; each time he “studies,” he must concentrate for at least an hour. As a side effect, for the duration of the Gift, the user can add one die to any one Knowledge-based dice pool related to the information. Repeating the information word for word can take hours; however, a second Garou with the Gift: Mindspeak can sift through the information in the Gift user’s head in one scene if he doesn’t resist.
A supernatural creature can try to steal this information with a mind reading ability (such as the vampire Discipline: Telepathy or an application of a mage’s Mind sphere). If this happens, the Garou can resist with a contested Willpower roll (difficulty 4) in addition to any other defense he would normally have against the ability.
Teacher's Ease (Wisdom 4)
Frankweilers are natural teachers. They hold a great love of sharing information and enlightening others to knowledge and culture. This Gift enables them to inspire their students beyond what would ordinarily be possible.
System: The Frankweiler rolls Manipulation + Instruction (difficulty is 10 minus the student’s Intelligence score). Each success gives the learner a number of bonus dice on a roll featuring a specific Ability of the Frankweiler's choosing.
The only requirement is that the Frankweiler's own rating in that Ability must be higher than their student's (not counting the bonus dice...this Gift allows for an implausible degree of beginner's luck!).
Find the Prize (Wisdom 6)
The Frankweiler employing this Gift closes his eyes and thinks about finding a thing of great value, either a specific item or a general class of things.
System: The Frankweiler spends a Gnosis point and rolls Perception + Enigmas (the difficulty depends on the rarity/uniqueness of the item being sought). Each success on the roll gives one clue concerning the whereabouts of this item.
The clue is decided by the Storyteller and must be worked into the story: “Turning the corner, you see an ad for the Hound Dog Cafe… perhaps the Elvis plate could be there?” Note that just because an item has been located does not mean it can be easily gotten.
The difficulty for this Gift is always 3 if the Frankweiler is attempting to locate an object stolen from his Protectorate.
CAMP COST: 30 XP (6 Freebies)
For a protection racket, the Hood ain't half bad. Their camp is based on a rather cinematic ideal: robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. Supporters praise the camp's altruism; cynics see their scam as yet another way of punishing their betters. Because of this controversy, the Hood acts independently from the rest of the tribe.
Tribal elders insists that they have no knowledge of the group's activities, or even its leaders. This doesn't stop them from occasionally awarding renown for the group's activities at secret tribal moots, but it does further a certain amount of plausible deniability.
The Hood has three primary goals. Robbing from the rich involves hunting down individuals known for their greed and exploitation. And not just evil corporations: Hood leaders usually mark the homes and territories of tyrants deemed worthy of punishment. Some are obviously Wyrm-tainted, but others, such as slumlords, corrupt politicians or various esoteric supernatural entities - are not. Indeed, it's well known that more than one Glass Walker has unintentionally made a 'contribution' along these lines.
After a caper is done, the Hood use their ill-gotten gains to help humans and Kinfolk out of poverty, addiction and suffering. This is more than simply giving to the poor - as the camp has its own particular version of tough love. There's a limit to their charity: The Hood never gives a second chance to people who try to exploit their help or take it for granted. If the Hood gives you twenty bucks to buy clothes, and you spend it on cheap booze, the camp's attitude can change from charity to enmity in a heartbeat.
The third ideal of this camp is actually protecting the homeless, or in many cases, the innocent and undefended of a great city. In recent years, this has to increasing violence between supernatural predators and the Hood. The Wyrm often preys on poor and suffering humans. After a pack has destroyed the spiritual evil in their midst, the Hood may move in to help restore the victim's lives. Note however, that the Hood is not out to save everyone - the camp is far too street smart for that. From their point of view, each city is a dumping ground for humanity. They're just willing to salvage the few individuals who are actually worth saving.
The Hood gives, and takes away. It also protects its investments. If anyone else threatens one of their wards or charges, the Hood intervenes. Fluent in the language of the streets, they aren't afraid to confront loan sharks, street gangs, or even government agencies to make others don't undo what they've started.
Neighborhood Watch (Glory 3)
This Gift allows the Bone Gnawer to form a deeper connection with their chosen urban territory, granting them enhanced perception and stealth within its bounds.
System: Reduce the difficulty of all mundane Perception, Stealth, Streetwise and Elusion rolls by -1 when in and around your home neighborhood. This effect is permanent once learned.
Neighborhood examples: Skid Row, Echo Park, Pico-Union, South-Central, Watts, Compton, etc.
Cardboard Mansion (Honor 3)
When it rains, it pours. Thankfully, Bone Gnawers with this Gift don’t need to worry about that. The Gift turns any appropriately sized box into a windproof, waterproof, soundproof home that is always warm and dry, regardless of what it’s like outside. If large enough, the box may house more than one person as long as everyone is friendly toward each other.
The Bone Gnawer may also set up a house for someone else, but that person must accept a gesture of affection (a handshake is sufficient) from the Bone Gnawer first. The Gift is taught by a hearth-spirit
System: After finding an appropriate box, all the Bone Gnawer needs to do is spend one Gnosis point the box gains no real resistance to actual physical damage, but is otherwise comfortable and resilient. Sleep tight.
Between the Cracks (Honor 5)
Urban blight is the very underbelly of the Wyrm, and the Bone Gnawers know it better than any other tribe. The werewolf’s instincts guide him to the nearest barren spot within an urban area — a place where no human has set foot in at least a week, one which is not only isolated and currently unoccupied, but also likely to remain so for the rest of the night.
This may be a boarded-up, abandoned building, a vacant apartment, or even a dead subway station. Bone Gnawers find this Gift useful for securing ritual spaces, setting up ambushes while preserving the Litany, and finding a place to sleep for the night.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends a point of Willpower and rolls Wits + Streetwise (difficulty 5). The more successes, the more secluded and difficult-to-locate the destination will be.
Graffiti Sigils (Wisdom 3)
Description: This Gift empowers a Bone Gnawer to infuse urban art with spiritual potency, turning street art into powerful talismans that can ward against spirits, influence human emotions, or even create temporary sanctuaries from the Wyrm's influence. By drawing sigils or murals in hidden corners or bustling streets, the Garou taps into the collective consciousness of the city's inhabitants, weaving their hopes, fears, and dreams into protective spells or curses.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis and rolls Manipulation + Artistry (or Expression depending on the graffiti) at difficulty 8. It's up to them to make a case for what they're trying to influence or ward against, but for every success, the Storyteller should introduce a circumstantial bonus or penalty (typically +1 or -1 dice per success, but the ST might get more creative if they wish) that ties into the spirit of what the Bone Gnawer is trying to accomplish. It lasts for the rest of the night, then just becomes another interesting piece of urban artwork unless the Garou spends another Gnosis point.
This could be as simple as penalizing any Wyrm creature's Alertness checks to spot a hidden egress (or Kinfolk), or increasing the Essence cost for hostile spirits to materialize in the vicinity, etc. It might also provide bonuses to Leadership, Empathy or Performance.
It rarely provides a direct bonus to attacking, damaging or soaking damage in combat - except incidentally (such as making it easier to ambush an unwary intruder by penalizing their Alertness or Stealth, etc).
On Patrol (Wisdom 5)
Hoods who hang out on strategically chosen street corners have a chance to sniff out supernatural creatures in the neighborhood. Using the Gift takes about an hour. During that time, if a Wyrm-tainted creature passes within about a city block, there’s a chance the werewolf will pick up his scent. Galliards use this Gift while performing on street corners; Ragabash do the same thing while begging for change.
As one would expect, a Bone Gnawer sitting on a street corner reacting to stuff that isn’t really there looks like he’s strung-out, drunk, stoned or insane. Even while “chemically enhanced,” he can still sense the taint of the Wyrm around him.
System: Spend one Gnosis and roll Stamina + Occult (difficulty 7). The effects last for one hour and extend for a city block. (In the wilderness, the range depends on the Garou’s sense of smell.) Any Wyrm creature that passes through the area during that time will need to make a reflexive Wits + Stealth roll (difficulty of the Garou's Perception + Occult ratings) and beat them or be identified as Wyrm-tainted. Note that this won't reveal the scale of their corruption...but will alert the Garou to suss individuals.
- A Garou with the Gift: Pulse of the Invisible can use it with On Patrol to watch activity in the Penumbra, even while hanging out in the physical world.
- A Garou with the Gift Scent of the True Form or Sense the Unnatural may reflexively activate those Gifts on any Wyrm-tainted creature sensed as above.
Don't Fear the Truth (Wisdom 7)
Somewhat misleadingly, this Gift is used by the Hood to terrify victims into confessing their trespasses. There is in fact quite a lot of fear involved.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends one Willpower point and rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty 8); versus an opposed Willpower roll (difficulty 8). If the Hood succeeds, the target is paralyzed with fear for and must confess truthfully to whatever he is being interrogated about.
Of course, very few Garou (or any human authorities) will care or trust what the Hood has to say about anyone's guilt. But it is often enough for fellow Bone Gnawers to be convinced.
CAMP COST: 20 XP (4 Freebies)
You want facts? We're going to play a little game. You ask me a question you want answered. I'll tell you what I want to know in exchange. If you want the truth, it's going to cost you. Now, write down what you want... take it to the fourth bathroom stall in the O'Tolley's restroom... stick your question to a piece of chewing gum... and leave it inside the toilet paper roll. One of our rat-spirits will contact you.
Rat Finks trade in information. They gather secrets both directly and through their Kinfolk, who often work as janitors, clerks, garbage collectors, busboys, etc. Some camp members infiltrate companies and corporations known for exploitation or environmental devastation, where they wait and watch, gathering enough information to them down from the inside.
Finks are famous for using exotic methods of transferring their secrets. networks of drop points gather info from one-word phone calls, cryptic faxes, secret codes on matchbooks or condom wrappers, words clipped from magazines, or even sticky notes pinned to unsuspecting bystanders. To pass the time, the camp also devises elaborate games where facts are transferred covertly. Special phrases in personal adds, signs waved in crowds, or seemingly nonsensical and unrelated events can relate volumes to a Fink who knows what to look for. If a young Bone Gnawer works with the Rat Finks, his pack can expect to be contacted at any time in a bizarre or surprising way.
As one would expect, other supernatural creatures sometimes interact with this network as well. A few cautiously make alliances with Ratkin spies, Corax messengers or (rarely) Nosferatu vampires. As a result, many Finks are wise enough to hide their sources... and learn which ones can be trusted. There is, however, a great controversy concerning the Glass Walkers, as many Finks insist on keeping that entire tribe out of the loop for unspecified reasons related to Rat and Weaver.
- The following Merits will not count against the Rat Fink's 10 dot Merit Limit: Struggling (1 or 2-pt Bone Gnawer Merit), Behind the Scenes Hero (2-pt General Merit), Ties (2-pt General Merit), Finger on the Pulse (2-pt General Merit), Subculture Insider (2-pt General Merit) or Fake It (3-pt General Merit).
Secret Code Language (Wisdom 2)
The Rat Fink receives Secret Code Language (2-pt General Merit) for free, which is specific to their own zanily specific secret methods of communication.
It can only be understood by themselves, packmates, rat-spirits and other Rat Finks with the Gift: Unravel (see below).
Everyman (Wisdom 4)
It can be quite useful to be ignored at times. You can overhear what was not meant for your ears, or see armed guards look right past you. As long as the Fink keeps a low profile, a supervisor will assume he’s just another intern or custodian.
System: The Fink does his best to look nonchalant or otherwise occupied doing something low-key. The Garou rolls Manipulation + Subterfuge (difficulty varies depending on how well he blends in to start with: 6 if the Garou is dressed in the same manner and going through the same motions as the techies around him: up to 10 if he’s stark naked and carrying a bloody axe).
To see the Garou as more than mere window-dressing, watchers must get more successes on Perception + Alertness than the Fink originally rolled. Should he draw attention to himself, by acting out of character or speaking loudly for example, he must reroll with a penalty of +2 difficulty in order to maintain the effect.
Unravel (Wisdom 6)
This Gift allows the Rat Fink to put together seemingly random bits of information to form a tentative analysis of a situation and formulate a course of action. This is particularly useful in situations where gathering concrete information is difficult or in extremely complex situations... such as when parsing another Fink's highly elaborate code languages.
System: The Fink spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Intelligence + Enigmas (difficulty 7). Only on success is necessary to make sense out of even the most confusing situation, but each additional success further clarifies matters.
The player may ask the Storyteller to explain to her what is actually going on in a given scene and use that information as character knowledge. A failure means that the character cannot make sense of a situation while a botch means that the character puts together a totally false scenario and draws erroneous conclusions from her “knowledge.”
CAMP COST: 20 XP (4 Freebies) / Restricted
All Road Warders have one thing in common: They hate to stay in any one place for too long. You'll find them on long bus rides cross-country, riding the rails on rusting trains, or languishing deep in the holds of tramp steamers. Hitchhiking is an art to them. A Warder may try to settle down, but it never lasts for long. For Warders, the journey is always paramount, and they refuse to tie themselves down to jobs as messengers, couriers, or diplomats.
Road Warders may not travel with the grace, style or speed of a Silent Strider, but they don't really seem to care where they're going, as long as they're on the move. If they see a fellow traveler in trouble, they make it their business to get involved. When they finally make it to a tribal moot, this Code of the Road earns them Honor, and their stories serve as a reminder that the world is much larger than the bawns of its caerns.
Road Ward (Honor 3)
You’ve been tossed out of just about everywhere. Now the spirits help you survive falls that would cripple just about anyone else. Leaping out of a car on the freeway is a minor inconvenience. Getting pushed off a building is a bitch. Either way, this Gift can still reduce the damage from the fall. As a side effect, for one scene after you activate the Road Ward, you’ll always land on your feet.
System: Any use of this Gift requires one Willpower point and a Stamina + Streetwise roll (difficulty 6); you can immediately activate this Gift before you hit the ground.
Falling out of a car moving up to 75 mph requires one success; every additional 25 mph requires an additional success. If you succeed, you take no damage and roll to a stop. Falling off a building reduces the damage by one story for each success.
As a side effect, Road Ward cancels the Ahroun Gift: Falling Touch, as well as any trip attempt or leg seep; it can be activated in response to any of those attacks.
Cooter's Revenge (Honor 6)
Any Bone Gnawer who watches too much television knows about Cooter. He’s got a tow truck parked down the street from the Dukes of Hazzard, and he always has the right tool for the right job. This Gift not only makes proper repairs much easier, but can also save your life if you’re caught unaware while changing a tire by the side of the freeway.
System: This Gift requires a heavy, automotive tool at least as big as a large crescent wrench.
For one Gnosis this Gift reduces the difficulty of any automotive repair roll to 4, (but only if your using the right tool). For one Rage, the Gift can make the tool a deadlier weapon. Whether you prefer a tire iron or power drill, you can use your chosen tools to inflict Strength + 3 lethal damage for one scene.
As an added bonus, you can do the same damage with all four hubcaps, the four wheel wells, and the spare tire of a car as ranged weapons.
Streets Tell Stories (Wisdom 5)
You’ve got an ear to the sidewalk… literally. By touching a road, sidewalk, or path of some kind, you receive a flash of impressions about what has transpired there during the last twenty-four hours. Urban spirits whisper words, waft scents, and even give a taste of events in the neighborhood.
System: Spend one Gnosis and roll Perception + Streetwise (difficulty 7). You may specify what sort of information you require before you roll the dice. One success reveals a brief sensory impression with any one sense other than sight. Three successes gives a rush of images (described rapid-fire by the Storyteller); you may ask questions about any one of them and receive more specific details with all five senses.
Five successes gives you access complete recall about everyone who’s passed within the last day, including impressions from all five senses. However, you’ll need to spend a scene sitting and thinking to recall this amount of detail.
CAMP COST: 25 XP (5 Freebies)
The Hillfolk are a camp of rural Bone Gnawers. Rather than enduring scorn and poverty in the big city, they've learned to live and survive in the wild. Hillfolk families are even more extensive than those of their urban Kin, and twice as territorial.
The thickest concentration of Hillfolk is spread throughout the Deep South, particularly in the Appalachians. The camp lives much as it has for generations, shunning all the trappings of the modern world, including modern technology and biased education. Hillfolk mate within the same Kinfolk families from one generation to the next, largely in an effort to breed more true Garou. Marriage with outsiders is accordingly discouraged. Meanwhile, they tell the same stories and sing the same ballads their ancestors did, hidden from the evils of the modern world. Traditional Garou legends and Southern folk tales are more immediate to their lives than 'book learnin'.
By modern standards, they are considered ignorant and uncivilized: Outsiders often see the camp as the embodiment of all of the worst hillbilly stereotypes imaginable. Some claim that the Hillfolk families are so inbred that they hide entire packs of metis. For all these reasons and more, the rest of the Garou Nation still considers them as much Urrah (literally 'Tainted Ones') as their city mongrel cousins.
Odious Aroma (Glory 3)
Hillfolk can amplify their (probably already formidable) body odor to the point that it debilitates any who can smell it.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends one point of Gnosis. For the duration of the scene, all beings that can smell and are within 20 feet of the Garou subtract two from all dice pools as they fight to breathe.
Gift of the Skunk (Glory 5)
With this Gift, the Hillfolk can swell his musk glands, allowing him to spray musk like a skunk while in Lupus Form.
System: The spray is directed with a Dexterity + Primal-Urge roll (difficulty 8, maximum range of 10 feet). A target struck by this attack must spend a Willpower point to do anything but spend the first turn retching. Afterwards, he subtracts one from his dice pools for the next minute for every success rolled.
The target may attempt to dodge the attack at +2 difficulty. Immersion in water negates this Gift, and it is ineffective against targets with no sense of smell as well as vs other Hillfolk.
Hootenanny (Glory 7)
A good old-fashioned hootenanny involves music played really fast and incredibly well – think "Dueling Banjos".
While a Garou enacts this performance, every Hillfolk werewolf in the vicinity finds it easier to run, fight, jump, or perform any other rapid, strenuous physical activity. Everyone else who hears the performance feels like dancing-they might stomp their feet, clap to the music, and even dance around if the music’s good enough. This gives the pack a decided edge in combat. With this Gift, a pack of Hillfolk and a Galliard with a banjo can tear up a whole room full of fomori and Black Spirals with one hell of a square dance.
System: When the hootenanny starts, the Garou using it spends a Gnosis, rolls Manipulation + Performance, and plays fast-paced, raucous music on a musical instrument. If the character scores three successes on the first turn, the Gift is activated; if he doesn’t he can continue to attempt the roll each turn until he does.
For the duration of one scene, as long as he continues to perform, each Hillfolk nearby can add three extra dice to any Dexterity + Brawl or Athletics dice pool. A packmate can add these dice to only one action each round.
Any non-Hillfolk listening should make willpower rolls when this power is activated. If an opponent hearing the music can’t score at least one success on this roll, raise the difficulty of all his Dexterity + Brawl or Athletics dice pools by 2.
Scent of Sweet Honey (Wisdom 3)
A target the Hillfolk touched at some point during the last hour begins to exude a wonderfully sweet aroma, and becomes slightly sticky to the touch. All manner of vermin quickly appear and coat the victim. The resulting coat of gnats, flies, bees and beetles crawls, stings, and generally impairs vision and hearing.
System: The Bone Gnawer spends one Gnosis point and rolls Wits + Subterfuge (difficulty 7). The target suffers a –1 penalty to all actions for one hour per success; the smell will not wash off during this time.
CAMP COST: There are many Rabble in Los Angeles, ranging from Watts and Compton down through Anaheim, Orange County and on towards San Diego... but they are not currently available for PCs.
With much of the tribe divided or in hiding, an increasing number of cubs and Cliath have ceased to care about tribal politics or even the state of their septs. Because of the tribe's low standards of acceptance and compassion towards outcasts, many Cliath are eager to learn a few Gifts and rituals after their Rite of Passage and then depart, rarely returning to the sept again.
Most Rabble keep together in small packs and stomping grounds, where they create their own culture separate from the bickering and treachery within the Garou Nation. Some grow larger over time, showing themselves either especially adept at recruiting, or just lucky - sometimes even becoming dangerous (Or at least hostile and suspicious) rivals to the established order.
Within any major city, these Rabble are far more likely to attend a tribal moot than a sept moot, and even then, are far more concerned with the problems affecting their own neighborhood streets than esoteric debates of spirituality and politics. Some tribal elders (such as they are) are largely tolerant of this trend, believing that when the time is right, Rat will call them to battle. Yet many disagree. Some packs take it upon themselves to convince or coerce the Rabble back 'into the fold'... often getting only a nasty fight for their trouble.
Not all Rabble are loner Cliath and street waif cubs. Many are some of the toughest Bone Gnawers you might encounter; mean, paranoid, extremely territorial and with only a passing familiarity with the Litany or any Gaian notions of Honor. They can often be as vicious and treacherous as any Spiral or Ratkin in a pinch.
Unlike the Ronin of other tribes, Rat never truly abandons his/her children. Nor do the spirits of Rat's Brood tend to give much of a shit about sept politics either. Although the Rabble learn Gifts and accrue Renown at a significantly slower pace, they also tend to find allies among the Ratkin Ramblers who are even more alienated from their Nests than the Rabble are from their septs. It's not uncommon for the exiled Ronin of other tribes to turn towards the camaraderie of the Rabble as a last resort.
More alarmingly, there are some who claim that out of ignorance, some Rabble packs have even entered into dealings with leeches and Black Spiral Dancers at times.
CAMP COST: Not present in Los Angeles...or are they?
Originally a cannibal cult within the Gnawer tribe, most of this camp’s “converts” were Garou who had succumbed to frenzy too often. The Bone Gnawers have diligently hunted any possible inter-sept organization of this hidden society, killing most of their anthropophagous brethren. Still, the Maneaters endure by being craftier and more secretive. Few are foolish enough to join a sept, although any major city may harbor one or two of them among the local rabble.
UNICORN'S ARSENAL (glory)
Description: The werewolf’s claws and fangs become dazzling and pearlescent, shining with an inner multihued glory. Those wounded by these natural weapons lose the will to fight...all the better to encourage their surrender.
Often taught by: An avatar of Unicorn.
System: The player spends one Gnosis point to initiate the transformation. Any opponent bearing a wound delivered by the Unicorn’s Arsenal loses two dice from all attack rolls until the wound has healed.
An opponent who is penalized to the point of zero attack dice is almost certain to surrender, absent some psychosis preventing them. This Gift cannot be combined with any other claw-based Gift (such as Razor Claws, etc).
Description: This Gift allows the Child of Gaia to overcome her innate savagery, although at a dangerous cost. By use of this Gift, the Child may stop a frenzy and reduce her Rage by directing it inward. The inward battle is visible for several minutes and can take the form of a shuddering concentration or even a masochistic beating.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: When the Garou falls into frenzy, the player may make a reflexive Rage roll, difficulty 7; this Rage roll, unlike others, cannot in itself induce frenzy. Even one success on this roll immediately brings the werewolf out of frenzy. However, each success does one health level of bashing damage to the Garou (which may only be soaked if in their breed form), and reduces her temporary Rage by a similar amount.
Description: The Garou may stop any Weaver-born weapons from working within the range of his voice.
Often taught by: dove-spirits.
System: The Garou shouts a single, strange word and spends a Gnosis point. The player rolls Charisma + Expression, difficulty of the Willpower of the nearest armed person.
For each success, all manufactured weapons will not function for one combat round. This includes guns, crossbows, flame-throwers, and even tasers or cattle prods (anything with moving parts). It does not include natural weapons (like claws).
Description: Though the Children love life, spring, and all that is good of Gaia, they aren’t pacifists; they always stand ready to protect their Mother. The werewolf’s Rage bursts forth in a torrent when another breaks the peace she so cherishes.
Often taught by: bear-spirits.
System: This Gift may only be used at the beginning of a battle that was not initiated by the Garou, her pack, or her allies.
The Gaian spends one point of Rage; for the rest of the scene, the character enjoys one additional dot of Strength and Dexterity when attacking the enemy who fired the first shot of the battle, or any character that has inflicted an injury on a member of the Child’s pack during the scene.
Description: The Child of Gaia may call for Luna’s protection in battle. This Gift even allows limited resistance to silver.
Often taught by: Lunes.
System: The Gaian concentrates for one full turn, spends a Gnosis point and rolls their base (Homid) Stamina + Survival (difficulty 7). The Garou gains one die of Supernatural Armor per success rolled for the rest of the scene.
This Supernatural Armor soaks silver at -1 difficulty, and should be rolled separately if relevant.
NOTE: Supernatural Armor does not stack with mundane Armor. When it comes to Armor, you always use the highest Armor value from any single source.
Description: The Children hate to admit it, but sometimes you can’t negotiate your way to a position of peace. Occasionally, you have to have faith in your own righteousness, and enforce you will upon those who are genuinely acting like children. But it you’re going to do it, at least you can make your claim as strongly as possible and prevent unnecessary damage.
Often taught by: bee-spirits.
System: The Child of Gaia spends one Rage. For the rest of the scene, her attacks are so aggravating that anyone struck by her immediately ignores any other foes he may be facing and attack the Child (Willpower roll, difficulty 9 to resist).
Fortunately, the Child of Gaia will receive +3 bonus dice to block attacks from their newly enraged attacker, which lasts until the next round wherein they declare an offensive action against anyone affected by this Gift.
This Gift is often employed to break apart two foes who otherwise couldn’t be. It’s a risky gambit, but sometimes effective.
Description: Unicorn’s powerful hoof-blows often killed the humans that hunted him. This gift allows the Garou to focus inner strength into a single blow, ending a fight before further harm can take place.
Often taught by: unicorn-spirits.
System: The Gaian spends a Gnosis point before rolling a single kick (Dexterity + Brawl at diff 7). If she successfully strikes her opponent, the dice gained from Strength in her damage pool count as automatic successes rather than dice. Dice in the damage pool gained from other sources, such as extra successes on the attack roll must be rolled as usual.
If the Gaian also won Initiative, and is attacking before her opponent has acted, then the kick is resolved at -2 difficulty (5), though she is not allowed to split her dice pool for any other purpose. Regardless of a Garou's current form, Cleaving Hoof is resolved as lethal damage rather than bashing or aggravated, and does not benefit from a Garou's claws, though does receive the +1 bonus damage that all kicks do.
Description: The Garou becomes the ultimate example of passive resistance. She becomes much harder to hit, allowing her opponents to exhaust himself in the attempt.
Often taught by: mongoose-spirits.
System: The Gaian spends one Willpower point and rolls Perception + Athletics (difficulty of the opponent’s Wits + Empathy). For the duration of the scene, her opponent's attack pools towards her are penalized by the Garou's successes.
This Gift may be activated reflexively when attacked (and rolled at the time without penalty), although the Garou is still limited to spending one Willpower point per round as usual.
Description: The Garou can fill a hot heart with the peace of Gaia, even in the midst of battle.
Often taught by: An avatar of Unicorn teaches this Gift.
System: The Child of Gaia spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Expression (difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower). For one turn per success, the target automatically fails all Rage rolls, cannot frenzy, and cannot spend Rage.
Description: The Child of Gaia is surrounded by a nimbus of blazing sunlight. Some Wyrm-creatures may flee before this terrifying sight, but any who stay and fight discover that the Garou strikes with added power.
Often taught by: Helios, the Celestine of the sun, teaches this Gift.
System: The Child of Gaia spends one Gnosis point, and the effects of the Gift last for one scene.
The Garou is surrounded in blinding sunlight, and anyone looking directly at the werewolf is blinded (add three to difficulties to attack the Garou). The Garou adds two dice of damage to all hand attacks, and hand damage is considered aggravated in all forms. Finally, any vampires within 20 feet take damage as though exposed to true, direct sunlight.
HIGHER PURPOSE (honor)
Description: With this Gift, the Garou can cause all those in his presence to become filled with a sense of higher purpose. They all feel the work they must do together is more important than their differences. All other distractions are gone, and they feel inspired to take reasonable positions, rather than inflexible postures or exaggerated stands intended to be bargained away.
Often taught by: ancestor-, bee and especially unicorn-spirits.
System: The Child of Gaia seeks to uplift those around her, gaining her Honor Renown as a bonus made to any Teamwork rolls - though only when engaging as the supporting actor rather than rolling as the primary.
If someone in the group is being a stubborn jerk or otherwise unhelpful, this Gift obviously won't work. But there are other means to bring such doubters into harmony.
Description: Children of Gaia see no use for lethal force when they are not fighting minions of the Wyrm, but even they succumb to frenzy. This Gift, used chiefly by Children of Gaia with high Rage or in duels, allows the Garou to use her natural weaponry and Rage without fear of killing her opponent.
Often taught by: dove-spirits.
System: The Gaian spends one Gnosis point. For the rest of the scene, all damage that the Garou inflicts with her own body (claws and teeth, but no weapons of any kind) is considered bashing. A creature “killed” by such damage merely falls unconscious, and he may heal the wounds at the usual rate for bashing damage.
Description: This Gift imparts the secret of quelling the anger in others.
Often taught by: unicorn-spirits.
System: The Child of Gaia spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Empathy (difficulty of the target’s Willpower or permanent Rage, whichever is higher). Each success will penalize that individual's dice pools if they break the peace first by making an attack. This penalty will last until anyone else in the scene (including the user of this Gift) resorts to force as well.
Description: The Children of Gaia, out of all the tribes of the Garou Nation, have always been the most sympathetic to the plight of the metis among them. This Gift allows a Gaian to inflict a metis deformity corresponding to that suffered by a metis either in their pack, or in the immediate vicinity, upon those who would look down upon, mock or oppress the less fortunate.
Often taught by: mule-spirits.
System: The Child of Gaia spends one Gnosis point and rolls Dexterity + Expression to “throw” the metis deformity; the difficulty is the opponent’s Willpower. The target gains the metis’ deformity for one turn per success.
If the wielder of this Gift is themselves a metis, then they can inflict their own deformity upon the target just as easily as another's. Incidentally, this Gift also works with even deformities suffered by non-metis humans, such as blind beggars or lame wolves, though at +2 difficulty (+1 if they're a Kinfolk).
This Gift has no effect upon metis or against Garou with higher Honor.
Description: By being the catalyst for any sort of soothing music (singing, turning on a radio, playing a CD, etc.) the Garou makes it more difficult to Rage. When Garou must fight one another, the Children of Gaia sometimes use this to their advantage, as many are more experienced at holding back their Rage.
Often taught by: nightingale-spirits.
System: The Child of Gaia rolls Gnosis, difficulty 7. Each success increases the difficulty of Rage rolls by 1 for all those in earshot (to a maximum difficulty of 10). The effects last for as long as the Child of Gaia is able to continue providing music.
Description: By unearthing buried guilt and remorse, the Child of Gaia can force another to perform an action against her own will. Even if little relation exists between the guilty conscience and the task at hand, the Gift can be effective. Better results occur when there is a direct link, however. The Gift works best when the target wants to perform the action, but pride or fear prevents her from doing so.
Often taught by: Many urban spirits that have witnessed the cruelty of humanity toward itself know this Gift and teach it to the Garou.
System: The player must roleplay the plea; otherwise the Gift automatically fails. Excellent roleplaying can even negate the need for a roll (or even the need for the Gift). Otherwise, the Child of Gaia must roll Manipulation + Empathy versus the target’s Willpower.
One success barely gets a Bone Gnawer to lift his pinkie, whereas five successes can force a proud Silver Fang to beg for forgiveness. The target can spend Willpower points to resist this Gift.
Description: The Garou can flood a target’s mind with the glory and love of Gaia, rendering him harmless for a short while.
Often taught by: unicorn-spirits.
System: The Child of Gaia spends a Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Empathy. The difficulty varies according to the target.
Target Normal human Packmate Gaian Garou (even frenzied) Wyrm creature (including Black Spiral Dancers) Undead or unemotional creatures (vampires) |
Difficulty 4 5 6 8 9 |
Dazzle rarely works to pacify spirits that don’t feel any emotion or that have specific emotional focus (like hate-spirits) or are simply too alien (Nexus Crawlers). Success indicates that the target sits down and stays there, contemplating Gaia’s love quietly, for the rest of the scene.
Attacking the target will disrupt the effects of this Gift (and will fade before the attacker is afforded any mechanical bonus for their cynicism). In addition, extreme nearby violence (such as a life or death melee between two snarling packs, but not simply defending yourself from the target's allies) will enable the target of this Gift to spend as many Rage points as successes gained to dazzle them, to shake it off. If they don't have Rage, then they're not shaking it off unless attacked.
Dazzle can be used on a given target only once per scene.
Description: The Children have often sought leadership in human societies as well as among Garou. This Gift allows a leader to seek the best course of action for a particular goal.
Often taught by: An avatar of Eagle teaches this Gift.
System: The Garou meditates on the chosen goal, spends a Gnosis point, and rolls Intelligence + Leadership (difficulty 8), For each success, she gains one fragment of insight, be it a word of advice or hint at secret knowledge, into the right way to lead this group toward her chosen end.
Note that Eagle does not show the most popular way, or the easiest way. His flight is high, and he flies alone.
Description: A Gaian with this Gift never loses her poise and rarely loses her temper. Even in the nastiest arguments or the bloodiest combats, Children of Gaia can maintain their cool with this blessing.
Often taught by: unicorn-spirits.
System: By spending one Gnosis point, the Garou represses her Rage for an entire scene. No matter how many Rage points the Garou has, humans and animals are unable to detect her supernatural essence. The Garou also cannot frenzy and can spend Rage points only up to a maximum of her Empathy.
Description: With this Gift, the Garou instantly earns the trust of all who meet him or hear him, even over a telephone or television. They feel instinctively that he is a good and trustworthy person. This feeling wells up from such a deep level that it cannot be changed by even the most invasive mind control. People affected by this Gift can still be mind-controlled to attack the Garou, but hate doing so. Those who are Wyrm-corrupted feel intense dislike instead of trust.
This trust is strong, but it does not supersede the person’s common sense. If the Child of Gaia is firing a machine gun into the crowd, the people will still scatter, rather than trust that he’ll miss them. However, they will all be convinced that he had a very good reason for firing.
The Children of Gaia warn that this Gift has great potential for abuse, and punish those who use it for petty gain.
Often taught by: This Gift is taught by an avatar of Unicorn.
System: The Gaian rolls Manipulation + Empathy against a difficulty of 6. The difficulty against Garou, or humans corrupted by the Wyrm, is 8. Wyrm beasts are immune.
If successful, everyone who sees, hears, or experiences the Garou in any way must make a resistance roll (Willpower against difficulty 6) or feel a high degree of trust for the Garou. They will confide in him as they would a trusted friend.
The effect will last for one scene, or as long as the person remains in contact with the Garou. however, even once the Gift’s effect has worn off, the person will feel good will toward the Garou.
PEACEWEAVER (WISDOM)
Description: This Gift allows a Child of Gaia to tap into the collective wisdom of past peacekeepers, mediators, and spiritual leaders among the Garou Nation. This Gift provides insight into resolving conflicts and navigating complex social dynamics with grace.
Often taught by: Children of Gaia ancestor-spirits.
System: The Child of Gaia gains a bonus to all Empathy, Diplomacy or Leadership rolls equal to half their Wisdom Renown, rounded down, to a minimum of +1, when interacting with other Garou and Kinfolk.
This Gift is permanent once learned. However, it will not function if the Gaian's Rage (whether temporary or permanent) is higher than both their Willpower and Gnosis.
Description: Drawing upon the universal brotherhood of all creatures of Gaia, the werewolf seems to fit in wherever he goes. Those given no reason to suspect the Child’s presence simply overlook her.
Often taught by: any servant of Unicorn.
System: The Child of Gaia spends a Gnosis point and rolls Appearance + Empathy (difficulty 6). All individuals not specifically on guard against intruders overlook the Gaian, within reason. A wolf wandering through a residential neighborhood would be overlooked, but not a naked man covered in blood and wielding a klaive walking through a high society ball.
The Garou isn’t invisible, he simply doesn’t draw attention to himself, when he otherwise should, and his appearance is considered unremarkable absent an outrageous provocation. If the werewolf’s actions would draw attention to himself (shouting, starting a fight, attempting to kick down a locked door, dragging a mutilated corpse through the reception area) the Gift’s illusion is immediately broken.
Those specifically on the lookout for individuals who don’t belong (security guards at a private facility, for example) don’t succumb to this Gift unless their Willpower is lower than the Garou’s successes on the activation roll.
Ultimately, the purpose of this Gift is to avoid having to harm bystanders, or draw them into some nasty business. It's not powerful enough to cloak truly ridiculous behavior.
Description: This Gift grants Unicorn’s perfect speed to the Garou, allowing her to outrun virtually any pursuer. After all, sometimes discretion truly is the better part of valor.
Often taught by: unicorn-spirits.
System: The Gaian reflexively spends a Gnosis point and rolls their base Stamina + Athletics (difficulty equals the highest Athletics + 3 of any pursuer). If successful, the Garou's pursuers cannot close the distance with her that round, no matter the relative success or failure of the pursuit rolls.
Description: This Gift allows a Child of Gaia to be persuasive when dealing with others. The Garou’s statements will take on an air of extra meaning and credibility. Those hearing him are likely to agree with him.
Often taught by: unicorn-spirits.
System: The Garou rolls Charisma + Leadership against a difficulty of 6. If successful, the difficulties of all Social rolls are reduced by two for the remainder of the scene. The Garou must orate for at least five minutes. The effects lasts for one scene.
Description: A Child of Gaia’s presence is generally more beatific than that of most werewolves, and although humans can’t sense this aura of peace, spirits can. The Garou can use this Gift to aid in interactions with spirits.
Often taught by: unicorn-spirits.
System: The Gaian rolls Charisma + Empathy (difficulty 7). Each success adds one die to any rolls involving interactions with spirits for the duration of the scene.
Description: The touch of Unicorn’s horn sets evil spirits and poisonous beasts to flight. This Gift enables the Child of Gaia to mimic Unicorn’s power, driving foul creatures out of water, underbrush, and so on.
Often taught by: unicorn-spirits.
System: The Garou touches his hand or forehead to the water, into the alleyway, or into whatever area he suspects of harboring enemies. He then rolls Gnosis, with the difficulty being 4 for ordinary animals such as snakes, 6 for lesser Wyrm creatures (such as fomori), 8 for Wyrm-servitors of strong power (such as most Black Spiral Dancers) and 10 for powerful creatures of the Wyrm (Elder Spirals, methuselah vampires and Nexus Crawlers). For each success, one such creature is forced to abandon its hiding place or nest by the most direct
route possible.
If the Wyrm-creatures were using any supernatural means of concealment (such as Gifts or Disciplines), they may make a Willpower test, difficulty of the Garou’s Gnosis, to maintain these powers. They must still physically leave the area, however. Note that this Gift may cause the creatures to attack and is thus best used with care. Serpent-Driving may be used only once per day.
Description: The Children of Gaia must communicate if they wish to accomplish their goals of unity and understanding. The Garou can understand, read, write and speak any language as fluently as she physically can. She can emulate the roars of the Simba, but any member of that Breed would know the difference since she does not have the vocal capacity to make the correct sounds. Within those limits, she can speak the languages of various Changing Breeds, she knows the secret rune language of dead magi, and if she were so inclined, she could even understand the dread tongues of the Wyrm. This Gift does not protect the Garou mind from what she hears.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits and other servants of Unicorn.
System: The character can understand any language once she has learned this Gift. With an Intelligence + Academics roll (difficulty 7) she can read and write in those languages for the scene. If the language is not in common usage by more than a single, small group or culture — or does not have a written form — the difficulty increases to 9.
Description: A doctor who treats only the symptoms of a disease doesn’t cure it, but merely prolongs the patient’s suffering. The Children of Gaia likewise know that only attacking the pawns of the Wyrm merely prolongs the Apocalypse War, rather than ending it. This Gift helps them go after the Wyrm itself by sensing who’s pulling whose strings, and even understanding who’s pulling theirs in turn.
Often taught by: dog-spirits.
System: The Child of Gaia spends one point of Gnosis and rolls Perception + Investigation (difficulty 8). Each success lets you move “up the chain” one step, revealing the name and face of the next person delivering orders to your target.
A single success would reveal that the corporate oil baron is being ridden by a particularly manipulative Bane, two would let you know which Black Spiral summoned the Bane, and three might tell you who that Black Spiral’s alpha is. None of this informs the Child of Gaia where these people are, but it gives them firm names and visual impressions to go after.
Description: The Garou calls upon the spirits of the forest to come to her aid. The trees around the Child of Gaia animate, and they can restrain or lash foes.
Often taught by: Glade Children.
System: The Child of Gaia spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Survival (difficulty 7). Each success animates one tree. The trees move with the Dexterity of the Child of Gaia, and they can have Strength ratings from 4 to 15, depending on their size. Other Traits are up to the Storyteller’s discretion.
Description: The Children of Gaia have always had more millenarian tendencies than the other tribes of the Garou Nation. They give as much of themselves as they do in the present, because their hearts and minds are fixed on the future...for good or ill.
This Gift allows the Garou to call upon Gaia to change one facet of the individual’s future. The change must be specific, such as preventing the subject of the Gift from encountering a known situation that will result in her certain death. While this Gift does not guarantee that a foreseen future will be altered, it does allow the Garou to attempt to avert disaster or improve an individual’s lot.
Often taught by: a legendary Children of Gaia ancestor-spirit with the gift for prophecy...and not very often.
System: The Child of Gaia sacrifices a permanent point of Gnosis and rolls Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 8). Only one success is necessary to effect a change in a future event.
The player should explain to the Storyteller which element of the future even she wishes to alter. (For example, “I want my packmate to survive the coming battle against the fomori horde.”). If possible, the Storyteller should arrange events so that the change takes place exactly as stated. The Gift only affects events that will occur within the 24 hours immediately following the activation of the Gift; furthermore, characters cannot ensure the death or destruction of their foes with this power.
CHILDREN OF GAIA CAMPS
The Children of Gaia, like most tribes, are united by a common ideology. And like most tribes, that common ideology - in this case, a longing for the elusive goal of "peace" - in no way ensures that any two Children will ever see eye-to-eye on the best way of achieving their goals. Most Children stress the importance of mediation between warring factions - but fight the hordes of the Wyrm with claws, teeth and whatever else it takes. Some offer quarter to enemies that seem repentant, willing to take the risk of betrayal in the hopes of redeeming a soul that all others would consider lost. Others believe the only peace they can grant the Fallen is the peace of the grave. The Children of Gaia must blend the ideals of Unicorn - chivalry, mercy and peace - with their duty to Gaia to act as Her claws. It's not an easy task.
The Children of Gaia are more conflicted than most when it comes to the topic of camps. Historically, many believed that camps could be positive; a way to bring together those who might otherwise not form the bonds of kinship that lead to true unity. Recently, however, there has been a movement within the tribe to abjure camps as a whole. Proponents of this movement believe that by giving Garou even more labels with which to identify themselves, camps encourage splintering and conflict among those who would otherwise see themselves as parts of the same whole. This is an especially common belief among those who wish to return to when there was only one tribe of the Garou Nation.
CAMP COST: 10 XP (2 Freebies)
No war. No violence. All the peace we bring, we bring through peace. One cannot bring peace through war. War only makes more war. Humankind has known this from before recorded time. This wisdom is engraved upon their bones. Yet they resist it. We do not. We contend against none. Our way is lonely, and terrifies all who hear of it, even our own Children of Gaia sisters and brothers. If a Garou is not certain he can eschew violence, he cannot join our line.
The Anointed Ones have renounced violence in all its forms. They will not raise a hand to strike another creature, and constantly seek new ways to free themselves of Rage to maintain that control.
This camp uses Gifts to gentle their opponents, but we will not strike them. They are by far the smallest of all Children of Gaia camps, and are proud of that. Following the will of Gaia without compromise is the most difficult action in the world. They believe compromise among Garou and among humans is vital and that compromising the will of Gaia through violence is the first step on the path of the Wyrm.
- A follower of this camp will not find themselves very popular in Los Angeles (and might not survive very long either). The upside is that Lifesaver (3-pt General Flaw) gives 3 extra freebies in chargen that do not count against the 7 dot Flaw limit.
- In addition, followers of this camp do not Fox Frenzy if they roll a botch on their Rage check (treat it as a normal failure). Instead, they may spend a Willpower point to treat any Berserk Frenzy or Thrall of the Wyrm as if it were a Fox Frenzy.
- The Anointed Ones abhor the taking of another life - even that of Pentex personnel, fomori or Black Spiral Dancers. Doing so, even accidentally, will result in the loss of a permanent point of Gnosis or Willpower (which may be re-purchased with experience points).
- Anointed Ones will even go out of their way to avoid inflicting violence upon a bane, be it Scrag or sludge elemental, though will defend themselves if forced to. Even then, their primary motivation will be to distract the spirit or to lead it away from others, rather than destroying it. Although this does not result in the loss of permanent Willpower or Gnosis, the Anointed One will still be deeply disturbed.
CAMP COST: 15 XP (3 Freebies)
We heal the world by delivering the wayward human children of Gaia to the bosom of the mother. We are very active in human society, where we advocate a return to nature.
Demeter's Daughters have promoted naturalism since the Age of Enlightenment, and tonight spearhead the environmental movement. They have an extensive outreach program to humankind, in which they demonstrate a reverence for the living world which is attractive to most people who are at all in touch with the life within them.
They believe all humans must be introduced to the natural world at an early age. If they are, they become profoundly connected to nature, all of life and Gaia. This automatically develops their human empathy, ripens their love for all life, and inoculates them against the fear-based temptations of the Wyrm. Likewise, Demeter's Daughters attribute the rise in urban street crime to the disconnection of urban settings from the natural environment where many children grow up with no natural areas in which to play.
This Camp has many Kinfolk supporters who battle against the often Wyrm-corrupted and Weaver-riddled city planners to create huge natural areas in the midst of concrete jungles. New York’s Central Park, to take one famous example, may not be sufficient to humanize all of Manhattan, but it has sustained a huge flowering of Gaia in al and otherwise paved from shore to shore, and many New Yorkers point to the park as their sole source of sanity.
Ultimately, the Wyrm has not besieged the natural world because it thinks it can destroy Gaia that way. Gaia is too strong for oil spills and toxic waste and strip mining and clear cutting alone to ever destroy her. The Wyrm besieges the natural world to corrupt humankind, and thereby end the world.
- Demeter's Daughters may buy three extra dots of General Social Merits (Such as Friendly Face (1 pt), Socially Networked (2 pts) or Ties (2) pts for example) that do not count against their 10 dot Merit limit.
- Children of Gaia Kinfolk may join this camp, some of which have gone on to found other organizations such as the Gaia Youth Network, whose Kinfolk alumni were also responsible for other initiatives such as GUARD (Gaian Urban And Rural Defense) or GRACE (Gaian Rainbow Action Community Explorers). Both Kinfolk and Garou members of this camp receive their first dot of the Kinfolk Background for free. They should also have an easier time justifying other related Backgrounds, such as Allies or Contacts.
Water-Conning (Wisdom 3)
The Daughter of Demeter may purify water by dipping her hand or bowing her forehead to the surface.
System: The Garou touches the surface and rolls Perception + Primal-Urge. Water that is poisoned by animal dung or parasites has a 5 difficulty. The difficulty is 7 for chemical waste and 9 for Wyrm taint. Each success purifies enough water for one person for one day.
CAMP COST: 10 XP (2 Freebies)
We do not have a Garou to lose. We rise together, or fall together. Just as we accept the least among us, so too must we accept the most wicked among us. If that means we take a viper to our bosom, we do so. The truth of Gaia does not change. All Garou must join in the final battle. We must work to unify all tribes, and not cut off anyone.
The Patient Deed believes that those tribes who are spiteful and resistant to unity are only an external reflection of the Garou Nation's own internal spite and resistance to Gaia’s will. They believe the Garou must mend themselves first, and the world will be mended by that action. Trying to mend the world by changing others first will only breed more resistance.
If this is true, then The Patient Deed has assumed one of the most difficult challenges that Gaia has ever given. They must battle their own internal demons before they look for demons without. They must spend time and patience on our wayward brothers and sisters. They must spend effort in missionary work to other tribes, learning their ways, understanding their ideas, and respecting their laws. There is great worth and deep love at the bottom of all their hearts - and they work to bring it to the surface. They strive to do so even when scored, and bear bitter insults with gentle good humor. They refuse to see their sisters and brothers as enemies. Because after all, Gaia put us all in the same family for a reason.
In modern nights, The Patient Deed works to build unity across tribal boundaries. Historically, Patient Deed members reached out to the Uktena and Wendigo in America’s Old West and sought to mend fences between Europeans and colonized nations. They believe that the Nation does not have a single Garou to lose, and that only through welcoming and understanding other tribes’ values and priorities can the Garou truly be united. Needless to say, they are often at odds with some of the more martial tribes like the Get of Fenris.
A famous member of this camp, Andrew 'Bleeding-Heart' Goodman was primarily responsible for allying with the Black Furies, Bone Gnawers and Uktena to rebuild the Sept of the Smiling Angel in the 1970s.
- Followers of The Patient Deed do not count Calm Heart (2-3 pt Shifter Merit) against their 10 dot Merit limit.
- Calm Heart: Your difficulty to Frenzy is increased by +1. This affects all Rage rolls, since all bring with them the potential to Frenzy. The 3-pt version of this Merit allows you to decide when the difficulty modifier applies and when it does not. Note: This difficulty increase is only for the purpose of preventing a Berserk Frenzy. It will not elicit a Fox Frenzy if at least one die would have otherwise resulted in a normal success.
CAMP COST: 10 XP (2 Freebies) / Rare
The time for talk is past. The Apocalypse is at hand. We have but two choices: act quickly and prevail, or waver and fail.
The Children of Gaia believe they have wisdom about the end of the world that is necessary to all the tribes. But to prevail, they cannot tolerate resistant, or even treacherous Garou among them. In order to triumph, they must close ranks around likeminded werewolves in preparation for the Final Battle.
To accomplish this, the Children of Gaia must start by cutting ties now: The Shadow Lords are dead weight. the Get of Fenris are problematic. Meanwhile, never forget it has been been prophesied that a Silver Fang will bear the standard of the Wyrm in the final battle. Moreover, if the Uktena do not renounce their dangerous flirtation with the Wyrm, they should be abandoned as well. And the Black Furies need to become more accepting of males. Oh, and the Wendigo must become more accepting of the descendants of the settlers, and the Red Talons of humans. If they refuse, the Imminent Strike will cut ties with all tribes (and internal factions like the Patient Deed) if necessary. If it is that what it takes to find unity before the end.
Other Children of Gaia consider the Imminent Strike's philosophy to be overly harsh - even damning, and that they have no right to decide who will be excluded. In response, the proponents of the Imminent Strike claim that by seeing their firm stand, the overly prideful and stubborn of the Garou Nation will one day change their minds and join in wholeheartedly.
The Imminent Strike enjoyed a wild surge of popularity some twenty years ago, yet has since become deeply discredited, as the final apocalyptic battle which its last generation of leaders claimed was 'imminent', never manifested.
The few remaining members of this Camp don't enjoy access to any special powers (except perhaps of unpopularity with most other tribes), but they are known for their unusual conviction.
- Followers of this Camp do not count Inner Strength (2-pt General Merit) against their 10 dot Merit limit.
- Inner Strength: This Merit reduces the difficulty of Willpower rolls by -2 when you struggle against apparently overwhelming odds.
CAMP COST: 25 XP (5 Freebies)
Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee? - Job 39:9
The Servants of the Unicorn are one of the largest camps, considering themselves proud warriors of the spirit. Their self-appointed task is to bring all the tribes together and resolve ancient enmities... and to do so in a much more diplomatic and cooperative way than the Imminent Strike would, and without the seeming naivete of the Patient Deed.
Servants believe that most Garou disagreements are ultimately over small matters that loom increasingly large as old hurts are added to the grudge pile. They seek to interrupt that process, and have stopped many trivial matters from escalating into tribal warfare. They believe it is vital to peacefully unify before the Apocalypse.
In modern nights, the Servants of Unicorn are masters of diplomacy and are specialized in mediating in-Tribe conflicts within the Nation. This isn't so much an official camp, as it is more of an informal network of Children of Gaia idealists and peaceweavers who have the harmony of the greater Garou Nation their primary focus.
A famous member of this camp, Mason 'Light-Lifts-Him' King was the leader of the Sept of the Smiling Angel from the early 1970s down to just over a decade ago. His son, Liam King, eventually followed in his footsteps, although not without difficulties and controversies.
- Servants of Unicorn may choose one of either Alpha (2-pt General Merit version only), Confidence (2-pt General Merit), Natural Leader (2-pt General Merit) or Noted Messenger (3-pt Garou Merit) to not count against their 10 dot Merit limit.
Harmony's Bridge (Honor 5)
This Gift allows the user to weave a calming aura around conflicting parties, softening hearts and opening minds to diplomacy and mutual understanding. By invoking the spirit of the Unicorn, the wielder can dissipate anger and resentment, facilitating communication and encouraging a willingness to see beyond old grievances.
The greatest value in this Gift, is that even the most suspicious Garou will find it nearly impossible to sense, unless a resulting Social roll should be failed, or something truly outlandish proposed. On the other hand, it doesn't necessarily linger after the scene either - and there has been more than one historical example of particularly Machiavellian werewolves regretting and reneging upon earlier, promised magnanimity. Fortunately, breaking such promises carries such consequences for a society so Honor-bound as the Garou Nation, that no pact is ever broken lightly.
System: The Garou spends one Willpower point and rolls Manipulation + Diplomacy (difficulty of the highest Willpower among the parties involved in the conflict). Success creates an atmosphere of tranquility and openness, reducing tensions and making individuals more amenable to compromise and dialogue. The effect lasts for the duration of the discussion, with additional successes extending the calming influence to deeper and more entrenched issues, potentially leading to long-term reconciliation.
This Gift is especially useful for arbitrating disputes, if the Servant of Unicorn successfully utilizes this Gift while acting as a third party mediator, each of the respective parties involved will be at least as well disposed towards each other, as to the mediating Garou. For a little while, anyways. On the other hand, if they both hate your guts, this Gift might not be as effective.
Note, this Gift does not force agreement but instead clears the path for genuine understanding and unity.
Grand Gesture (Honor 9)
By bestowing appropriate gifts on an individual or a group, the Gaian increases her esteem and reputation in the eyes of the recipients of her largesse. The targets of this Gift tend to listen favorably to suggestions made by the Gift’s user and to support her arguments or come to her aid in a battle of words or weapons.
This Gift lasts for an entire scene. When the effects of the Gift come to an end, the individuals affected may still continue to regard the Garou with some residual respect depending on their experiences while the Gift was active.
System: The Gaian rolls Charisma + Leadership (difficulty of the highest Willpower in the target group). Each success allows her to affect one individual.
While the Gift is in effect, all Gifts or Social rolls involving persuasion are automatically successful against the affected individuals. No successes indicates that the Gift has no effect while a botch makes the targeted person or group resent the character, who suffers a penalty of +1 to the difficulty of Social rolls for the remainder of the scene.
CAMP COST: 20 XP (4 Freebies)
For the Angels, immunizing the youngest human generation against the Defiler Wyrm is of paramount importance. They maintain an underground network among their Kin to protect children from abusers, even if it means kidnapping and finding new homes for the endangered youth. They also strive to seed children’s books, video games, and other media with Gaian ideals, in hopes of turning youngsters against the Wyrm. They're also more likely than other Children of Gaia to encounter the most insidious Malfean spirits who prey upon broken homes and the darkest impulses of modern culture.
It should be noted that Angels in the Garden are quite willing to kidnap and re-home any children that they feel might be in danger. And while this has saved more than a few lives over the years...it has also made them a lot of enemies. Especially since the average Angel has a radically different perspective on child-rearing, than say a Bone Gnawer or a Get (both of whom are generally fine with sending their kids to the school of hard knocks).
This camp has a significant presence in San Francisco, where their uncompromising attitudes towards protecting children and confronting abusers have made them valuable allies to the Black Furies of the Sept of the Western Eye. By contrast, in Los Angeles, they typically encounter unrelenting hostility from the Glass Walkers, Bone Gnawers and Uktena Urrah...whose young Kinfolk the Angels have often felt compelled to 'save'.
Sense the Demonic (Wisdom 3)
The difference between a typical servitor of the Wyrm, a corrupt individual and a truly demon-possessed mortal is subtle. While many Banes emanate perceptible Wyrm-taint owing to their Malfean origin, strangely some evil spirits seem able to mask themselves and escape such notice. As such, the nature of the creature (that it’s a demon) often goes undetected until it’s potentially too late.
This Gift helps circumvent that problem. It doesn’t provide a literal sense so much as a spiritual one, as a distortion in the fabric of reality.
System: The Angel rolls Perception + Occult. The difficulty is dependent upon the proximity and intensity of the demon (or demon-possessed victim). Sensing a single demon in the same room would be difficulty 6, sensing a demon across a busy city street would be 7, and detecting a demon’s infernal influence after the creature has already left would be a difficulty 8.
Angel's Semblance (Wisdom 6)
The Angels in the Garden do not believe in terrifying humans without appropriate cause. This Gift allows the Child of Gaia to act in Crinos form without invoking the stark terror of the Delirium. Instead of seeing a werewolf, most onlookers see an angelic figure of exceeding grace and holiness. Witnesses might remember a Child's battle with a Wyrm-beast as an angel's struggle with a demon, or a warning to leave the woods as the soft intuition of a guardian angel. Onlookers need not be of the Christian faith to be affected. Islamic witnesses might remember one of Mohammed's fiery messengers, while (in centuries past) a Norse pagan might have seen a Valkyrie.
Once reasonably widespread, this Gift has fallen far out of popularity in the modern nights, such that only especially driven Angels of the Garden still make a point of seeking it out. The reason for this is owing to genuinely committed atheists. Because those guys? They see a big fucking werewolf, and as such, will be affected by Delirium as normal.
System: The Garou spends a Gnosis point; this Gift lasts for one scene. Use the Delirium chart to determine how strongly a believing witness is affected (using the converse, positive reaction). For example, a response of 'catatonic fear' might read as 'complete bliss' instead.
CAMP COST: 20 XP (4 Freebies) / Rare
A thousand thousand welcomes, noble child. Enter into our love. Blessings upon you.
We are the heavenly nymphs and satyrs. To the Egyptians we kept the Dance of Time over Ra, and were called the Ladies of the Hour; to the Persians the Hours became the Houri; to the Greeks, Horae; to the Semites, Harlots. To the Romans we were Lupae, priestesses of the Wolf goddess Lupa; in India, we were the earthly angels called Skywalkers, and to the Europeans we were Cunning Women and Cunning Men. Throughout the ages our mission is the same: love, and the healing that love brings.
The followers of Aethera Inamorata believe that by bringing the infinite joy of Gaia into the lives of others, both human and Garou alike, they create peace where once there was anxiety and fear. They believe that in the moment of orgasm, all men and women are linked to the divine. Even if they cannot remember the divine presence, the rapture remains within them.
Aethera Inamorata claim that the Wyrm hates them beyond all measure. It could not kill them, so it tried to convince mankind that sex was evil. It was the Wyrm who often succeeded in convincing pious churchmen to denounce their holy nature and defile their sacred temples. Their hora-houses became whorehouses. Priests and Priestesses became abject victims. As a final stab at their holy work, the Wyrm tried to make sex unclean, hurtful, and deadly.
In modern nights, Aethera Inamorata remains a controversial camp dedicated to healing through sex and physical love, and inter-tribal breeding of Kinfolk, believing that all Kinfolk and all Garou are Children of Gaia. It is claimed (though just as often denied) that some among them even believe that Garou-Garou pairings are not a breach of the Litany.
More importantly, they monitor Kinfolk pregnancies to help the families prepare for the possibility of a Garou child, and facilitate intermarriage between Kinfolk of different tribes, for the sake of building unity and inter-tribal trust. This practice, sadly, garners them the animosity of tribes who prize their pure lineages.
There are many traditional septs among the other tribes who ascribe this camp's quirks and beliefs to the Children of Gaia as a whole, despite Aethera Inamorata being one of the smaller camps.
This camp has been entrenched in San Francisco since the 1960s, which is one of the reasons why the Black Furies of the Sept of the Western Eye have taken assumed nearly complete political control. Aethera Inamorata are tolerated by the Furies (among some of whom, there is some low-key sympathy for their supposed view on the Litany, though strictly in respect to same-sex relations).
Eve's Blessing (Wisdom 2)
Historically, childbirth was a risky endeavor, and still is in many parts of the world. This Gift allows the Angel to improve a mother's chances of surviving a birth, as well as keeping the newborn disease-free for a short time.
System: The Garou spends a Gnosis point, and then need only lay her hands on the mother-to-be's pregnant stomach. For the next week, the mother and child are treated as having an extra dot of Stamina each, for the purposes of surviving childbirth, carrying to term, and resisting illness and infection. This Gift can be used on wolves as well, wherein the Gnosis point spent will protect the entire litter of cubs. Finally, in the process of invoking this Gift, the character automatically learns how many children are to be born, and their gender.
Lover's Touch (Wisdom 5)
The camp of Aethera Inamorata consider themselves the spiritual heirs of the hero Siduri Sabitu, who healed the earliest of human kings, and protected him from evil without and vanity within. They are men and women who use love to heal the world, exalting both sexuality and sexual love to heal wounded bodies and souls.
With this Gift, the Child of Gaia can restore what another lacks: not only wounds healed, but also strength of will and even spiritual essence.
System: The Child of Gaia touches the afflicted individual kindly. The two need not be romantic lovers, but the contact must convey genuine affection and warmth — an embrace, a caress, or yet more intimate contact.
The Garou spends a Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Empathy; each success heals one level of bashing or lethal damage, or restores one point of Willpower or Essence (if the target is a spirit). The difficulty is 7 and cannot be used during combat.
Alternatively, by neither healing wounds nor restoring Willpower or Essence, the Garou may suppress a Derangement for one day per success. This Gift cannot provide permanent relief from such afflictions, but it can act as a start on the road to recovery.
This Gift cannot be used on constructs or the undead.
CAMP COST: 15 XP (3 Freebies)
Special: 30 XP (6 Freebies) for non-Lupus.
We do not kill out of hate or malice or love of blood. You may only join when you have killed the hatred in your heart. We are a channel for Gaia to strike her foes. When we kill, Gaia kills through us.
The One Tree considers themselves the white blood cells of Gaia, killing and driving out invading microbes. A very popular camp among Lupus, they hunt servants of the Wyrm, human or demon, without apology or compunction. After all, the white blood cell feels no remorse for bursting a fat, juicy bacillus, and neither do they. At the same time, they also take no pride in the kill.
- Followers of this camp may buy all versions of Natural Weaponry (2-4 pt Shifter Merit), though it must be acquired separately for each breed. Furthermore, the version of this Merit which corresponds to their own innate breed form does not have any drawback and no longer counts against their 10 dot Merit limit.
CAMP COST: Not currently present in Los Angeles...or are they?
The Bringers are a perverted camp of former Children of Gaia who believe that the only way to bring peace to the world is to destroy all who dwell upon it. While members of this camp have not (yet) walked the Spiral, their ideals — perfect peace through annihilation — are just a step away from those of the Dancers.
Fortunately, the other tribes of the Garou Nation - and even most Children of Gaia - don't know the Bringers exist. That's how most Children of Gaia Elders would like it to remain, shamefully covering up evidence of their atrocities while sending a small handful of elite packs to track them down wherever they can be found.
SPEAR DANCING (glory)
Description: The old tales tell of Fianna throwing spears while balanced on the beam of a chariot at full gallop, or even crossing an army by leaping from spearpoint to spearpoint.
Often taught by: bird or ancestor-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends one Willpower point to gain as many bonus dice towards their next Athletics or Acrobatics action as half their Glory Renown, rounded up. In addition, they will not suffer any circumstantial or environmental penalties for that roll (such as owing to the narrowness of the ledge they're trying to land upon, or the gait of a trotting horse they're balancing on).
Description: Legends speak of Fianna warriors leaping over shield walls with callous ease and crossing rivers without getting their feet wet. It is said they took inspiration from the majestic bounding of the vigorous stag through ancient woodlands, or perhaps the Atlantic Salmon that are native to Ireland's rivers.
Often taught by: stag-, salmon- or ancestor-spirits.
System: The Fianna rolls Stamina + Athletics (Difficulty 7). If successful, she may double her normal jumping distance.
Description: Many Fianna develop an uncanny tolerance for poisons and toxins, a testament to their hearty constitutions and centuries spent in the rugged Celtic landscapes. This fortitude is also nurtured by their tradition of consuming potent brews and spirits that would fell lesser beings, honing their bodies to withstand a wide array of harmful substances.
Often taught by: herb and ancestor-spirits.
System: The Fianna rolls Stamina + Survival. Success nullifies the effects of most conventional poisons, and adds three dice to the Garou’s Stamina for purposes of resisting Wyrm-enhanced poisons. The effects last for the scene.
Description: The national symbol of Scotland (where many Fianna caerns are found), the thistle represents great resilience, thriving as it does in the harsh conditions of the Scottish highlands. Even before then, various Celtic cultures associated it with devotion, bravery, determination and strength for millennia.
Often taught by: thistle and ancestor-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends 1 Gnosis. For the rest of the scene, their permanent Willpower is treated as +2 for the purpose of resisting fear or discomfort (including the Gift: Balor's Gaze), whether it be supernaturally-induced from a Gift or a more mundane attempt at Intimidation.
Description: Pushing the fire in his heart into his limbs, the Fianna hurls himself unharmed through the ranks of Gaia’s foes.
Often taught by: mongoose-spirits.
System: The Fianna reflexively spends one Rage point, allowing them to dodge one attack with their full dice pool, regardless of what other actions they has taken during the round.
Alternatively, a Rage point may be spent to enhance a normal dodge action, adding three dice to the defense.
Description: The ancient Celts would paint their skin with woad — the components of which caused a frenzy-like state — before marching off to battle. The Fianna carry on this tradition and take it even further. After painting the woad on their bodies, they can bring the paintings to life to harry an opponent.
Often taught by: stag-spirits.
System: Each body painting can create one woadling that costs one Gnosis point to animate. The Fianna can release only one woadling per turn. Each time the Garou creates a woadling, she should reflexively roll Manipulation + Occult (difficulty 6). Every success subtracts one die from her opponent’s pool that turn as the woadling dances and prances about the target. The woadlings vanish (and must be repainted) after the Gift ends.
Description: Known as Lleu’s Spear by the Welsh Fianna (who claim to have discovered it), a Fianna with this Gift can throw a spear as far as an arrow and sink it deep into its target. Spirited Fianna can even pierce heavy doors or strike a foe on a high rooftop — or pierce a Leech’s putrid heart.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Fianna must concentrate on the weapon for one full turn and make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7). Each success lowers the difficulty of the Fianna's next throw by -1 (to a minimum difficulty of 5) and increases the spear's flight distance by 25 yards. This Gift only works with a thrown spear.
Description: This Gift emulates the power of one of the Fianna’s legendary enemies. One of the Garou’s eyes glows a livid red color, and all enemies caught in his gaze are stricken with pain.
Often taught by: pain-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends one Rage point. He must then roll Perception + Occult (difficulty 8). The next foe at whom the Garou glances must roll Willpower (difficulty 8) and equal or exceed the Garou’s successes or double over in pain. Any beings thus affected take wound penalties as though they were at Crippled (-5 dice to all actions), regardless of their current health. Any characters already at Crippled are considered Incapacitated.
Description: This Gift transforms the Fianna into a ghostly outline of himself, allowing him to pass through anything except silver as though he were incorporeal. He may communicate and strike opponents normally. He cannot be harmed by anything except silver; all incoming attacks pass through him.
Often taught by: fog-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends one Willpower point and rolls Gnosis (difficulty 7) to instantly transform the Garou into a ghostly form. Each success allows the Garou to stay in that form for one turn, though the Garou may change back at will. The character cannot regenerate while in this form.
Description: The Fianna may grow up to three times her usual size or shrink to the size of a small puppy.
Often taught by: faeries or Chimerlings.
System: The Fianna spends one Gnosis point and rolls Stamina + Primal-Urge (difficulty 8). The effects last for one hour per success or until the Garou cancels the Gift.
If the Garou grows larger, she gains three Strength dice for every 100% increase in size. If she grows smaller, she retains her normal Traits, but she may sneak around unnoticed or masquerade as someone’s pet.
SONG OF BATTLE (honor)
Description: The Fianna unleashes a howl or belts out a ballad to empower her comrades as she enters the fray. Driven by their packmate, the embattled Garou double their efforts to defeat the foe. The Black Spiral Dancers have learned to turn tail and flee upon hearing a whole warband of Fianna warriors howl their battle song.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends two Gnosis points and rolls Charisma + Performance or Expression (difficulty 8). Succeeding on this roll will add one die to all of her packmates' attempts to strike, block or parry an opponent in battle (but not shoot or dodge) for every three dots of Honor Renown she has, rounded up.
The Fianna must keep up her singing throughout the contest, the concentration of which reduces her own dice pools by -1 for the same duration.
If more than one Fianna in the same pack uses this Gift simultaneously, then the bonus for the whole pack is worked out as per the lowest Honor Renown +1 for each additional Garou adding their voice to the chorus. Only the Garou with the highest Performance or Expression need roll for the entire pack.
Description: The Fianna are renowned for their ability to drink liquor. Part of this legend stems from their ability to make it. With Brew the Garou can mystically transform a pitcher of any liquid into an alcoholic substance.
Often taught by: grain-spirits or perhaps, occasionally, in some cases, a worm-spirit.
System: After spending a Gnosis point, the Fianna rolls Wits + Herbalism (difficulty 7). The number of successes determines the quality and the potency of the concoction. One success can create cheap, domestic beer, low-budget wine or mediocre tequila, while five successes can create a high quality imported beer, fine vintage champagne or a top-shelf liquor. A botch creates a brew that induces massive hangovers (-1 penalty for the entire next day).
Description: The glib words and clever schemes of the Fianna are wasted on a single mark. This Gift teaches the werewolf to talk out of both sides of her face, literally carrying on two conversations simultaneously, and to decide who hears what.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends a Willpower point. For the rest of the scene, the Garou may simultaneously carry on two conversations at the same time, which need have no relation to one another. She decides which listeners hear which version of the words she’s speaking.
Anyone suspecting something odd about the Fianna’s behavior must roll Perception + Alertness (difficulty 9) to detect the Garou’s other conversation and to understand what she’s saying there
Description: Just as ancient peoples intuited power in the connections between two halves (day/night, light half/dark half, etc), so do the Fianna draw on their connection between the spirit and physical realms to bridge the Gauntlet. This Gift allows a howl from one side of the Gauntlet to echo across to the other.
Often taught by: a Bean Si (or banshee), as well as by the spirits of animals that make loud noise without being seen, such as frogs or insects.
System: The Garou rolls Gnosis, difficulty of the Gauntlet, after which she may howl or speak for up to a full turn; the sound will be clearly audible on both sides of the Gauntlet. The Storyteller is free to determine how much can be said in the span of one turn.
Description: This Gift makes listeners hear whatever they wish to hear. The Fianna can say anything, even total gibberish, but anyone listening will agree heartily. While this Gift is not a way to talk a millionaire into signing over all his goods, it is a superb method of talking one’s way into a party, making fast friends or avoiding being caught in a lie.
Often taught by: rabbit-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends one Gnosis point and rolls Wits + Expression (difficulty of the listener’s Wits + Alertness). The effects last for one turn per success.
Description: Anger and inner turmoil does wonders for creativity. Some Fianna use this principle in new and potentially dangerous ways, directing some of their inner Rage to fuel their creative urges. While the work is more intense, it is also colored by the Rage, reflecting the redirected fury of the Fiann’s soul. “Sublime” and “peaceful” are not words associated with works produced using this Gift. On the other hand, forged weapons take on the new resonance quite readily.
Often taught by: anger-, rage- and war-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends a point of Rage and makes a Willpower roll (difficulty 7). A successful roll adds an automatic success to an appropriate Artistry, Craft, Expression or Performance roll. A botch will require an immediate Rage roll for frenzy. Only one roll per project is possible.
Each additional use during the span of a chapter increases the difficulty by one.
Description: The werewolf emits a fearful howl that causes those who hear it to run in terror.
Often taught by: A Banshee — a mournful spirit of the dead — teaches this Gift.
System: The Fianna spends a Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Intimidation. All who hear the howl must roll Willpower (difficulty 8; 6 for allies of the Fianna) or flee in terror for one turn per success on the Garou’s roll.
Description: This Gift was used by the ancient songmaster Galliard Cairbre to show his people the corruption of Breas the Beautiful. By speaking out harshly against or satirize someone who is Wyrm-tainted, the possessor of this Gift will cause the Wyrm-taint to appear as splotches on his target’s face, lowering the target’s Appearance.
Often taught by: faeries and ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou using this Gift must spend a Gnosis point, then roll Manipulation + Performance (Or Expression) against a difficulty of the opponent’s Willpower. If the roll succeeds, and the target is Wyrm-tainted, then she loses a point of Appearance for every success as incriminating blotches spread across her face and body.
These marks last for a scene. They might have further effects if the victim is particularly vain about her appearance, such as inducing flight or panic.
If the roll fails, or the target is not Wyrm corrupted, nothing happens.
Description: According to an old folktale, St. Herve once preached to a wolf that had eaten the ox he used to plow with, and the wolf was so ashamed that he agreed to plough in the ox’s place. If the Fianna didn’t murder St. Herve for this, they wanted to. But they also learned a lesson from it. In modern nights, Fianna use this Gift to convince a leader of any sort that his status is incorrect and rather that he should serve those whom he rules. It can convince a town mayor to clean the shoes of a homeless person, or an alpha to bow to the will of his omega.
Often taught by: ox-spirits.
System: The Fianna must have a chance to lecture the ruler on why he is incorrect in his position. The player spends one point of Willpower and rolls Manipulation + Expression, difficulty 8. A simple success convinces him that at least some meaningful humility is called for in the present situation. Additional successes will further encourage him to engage in ridiculous acts of subservience to gross lessers. At 5+ successes, you might bring about something so outrageous as the plough-wolf of legend.
Garou and other supernaturals may resist this Gift by spending one point of Willpower, which requires the Fianna to roll again (though they do not need to spend another point of Willpower). If they fail or botch their roll, the Gift will end.
The prideful beware, however; even though the Fianna must reroll this Gift each turn they are resisted - they keep their highest roll at the end. This Gift otherwise lasts for as long as the Storyteller deems best conveys the spirit of the intended lesson.
Description: This powerful Gift has been invoked many times in Fianna history. When a great hero dies in battle, the Fianna take the body and dedicate it to the land. This Gift forms a bond between the Fianna and the land and the spirit of the hero. The champion’s life returns, but he remains in a deep sleep, not to awaken until either the Apocalypse or a time of great need.
The hero must be placed somewhere in the earth, such as a cave, or within a burial mound. During this sleep, the hero is unaffected by the elements and does not need to breathe.
Often taught by: the mightiest ancestor-spirits.
System: The Fianna reflexively spends two Gnosis and two Willpower points at the moment of her death. Instead of dying, she falls into a deep sleep, usually after having a chance to say a few last words.
From that moment until the Apocalypse, the Fianna may choose to awaken once more, whereupon she will fight gloriously for the duration of a single battle - and then die once more, this time for true.
This Gift can only be used once.
FAIR FORTUNE (WISDOM)
Description: The Fianna is luckier than most. She’s dealt a great hand, her prey is extra-clumsy today, or the wind shifts just in time to scent an ambush.
Often taught by: faeries or fortune-spirits.
System: The Fianna may spend a point of Gnosis to cancel out a rolled 1. If this Gift is used more than once in the same scene, it will cost two points of Gnosis.
Description: The Garou can conjure a small, bobbing sphere of light. The sphere illuminates only a three-foot area, but that is usually enough to provide the necessary light — or to lead foes into ambush.
Often taught by: faeries or marsh-spirits.
System: The Fianna rolls Wits + Enigmas (difficulty 6). The light can appear anywhere within the Garou’s line of sight. It can move, bobbing along at 10 feet per turn, if bidden to do so. The light lasts for one turn per success, but the player can spend a point of Gnosis to make it last for the entire scene.
Description: Blood has a power within it. With this Gift, a Fianna can tap the life-force within her own blood to restore a fallen ally. However, by doing so, she must suffer the wounds she heals.
Often taught by: servants of Stag.
System: The Fianna can heal an injured target by spilling her own blood (a small cut will do) and rolling Stamina + Medicine against a difficulty of 8.
One would level is healed per success. However, the Gift-user suffers a number of wounds equal to the amount healed — she cannot soak this damage. The Fianna can heal aggravated wounds by spending a Gnosis point.
Description: The wilds of Britain are a dangerous place, and even more so when crossing Fianna territory. By manipulating the spirits of nature and the Wyld, the Fianna may send her target in illogical directions and even create tracks impossible to follow. Many who have dared to tread the Fianna’s land have found themselves circling while walking straight, rigidly keeping to paths that lead them, again and again, to the same landmarks. Then they starve, and their legend warns off other intruders.
Often taught by: wilderness-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends one Gnosis point and rolls Wits + Occult (difficulty 7). Any attempts at tracking or orientation now requires the would-be woodsman to obtain more successes than the Fianna’s original roll in a Perception + Enigmas roll, difficulty 8.
Description: The Fianna can call upon ancient pacts between her people and the fae. By emitting a special howl, the Garou can call whatever fae are in the area to help. They will usually try to assist the Fianna, but not blindly.
Often taught by: faeries and dream-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends at least one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Occult (difficulty 8). Spending more Gnosis increases the raw power and range of the call, while more successes on the roll means that they're likelier to answer.
Note that this Gift may summon changelings or dream-spirits called chimera, but it will call true fae only in strange Umbral reaches, and even then very rarely. Botching this roll is bad news; the faeries who respond are vicious and malevolent, and they will act to hinder the Garou.
Description: The Fianna creates an unmoving illusion that contains visual, auditory, olfactory and even tactile elements.
Often taught by: A grain-spirit — the so-called “spirit of spirits” — teaches this gift.
System: The Fianna spends one Gnosis for each 10-foot area to be covered by the illusion and then rolls Intelligence + Expression. Anyone who doubts the illusion must roll Perception + Alertness and exceed the Garou’s successes in order to see through it.
Description: Airitech, a creature of the Otherworld in Celtic lore, had three daughters who took on the shape of werewolves. In the end, they were slain. This Gift allows the Fianna to play the part of Airitech, by forcing the visage of a Crinos werewolf onto (at most) three humans. It doesn’t make them stronger, or give them the instincts that Garou have, but they make fine decoys when being hunted by the Wyrm. Like Airitech’s Daughters, these werewolves exist to be murdered.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends one point of Rage for each human he wants to turn into a werewolf, up to a maximum of three, before rolling Manipulation + Subterfuge (difficulty 8). Each success will turn all humans affected by the Gift into werewolves for one hour.
The victims do not receive any of the benefits of the Crinos form, do not cause Delirium, and are not protected by the Veil; the change is largely cosmetic. They may, however, receive a bonus to Intimidation rolls. This Gift does not work on anyone but mortal humans. It will not affect mages, changelings, or vampires. It will, however, work on Kinfolk, ghouls and sorcerers.
Description: The Fianna can temporarily transform his blood into that of a Faerie.
Often taught by: faeries.
System: The Fianna spends two Gnosis points to activate this Gift. This allows him immunity to silver; however, iron will have the same effect on him that silver normally does. Any Gnosis roll will be at a -1 difficulty; also, the Garou does not have to spend a Gnosis point on any Gift or magic which requires the expenditure of one Gnosis point (although those with a cost of two or more require the full expenditure). In addition, he can walk into Arcadia from the Umbra without having to worry about guardians or time-shift effects.
The character will be considered to have potent blood to the Kindred: each blood point is worth two for their feeding but there is always a side effect for the vampire drinking this fey blood. The Storyteller is free to get wild with the effect: anything from hallucinations to transforming into a donkey-headed vampire for a scene. Any Kindred with the second level of the Auspex Discipline (Aura Perception) will recognize the Garou’s blood as special, even for a werewolf. The Garou does not need to roll for this Gift, but he must spend two Gnosis points to activate it. This Gift lasts for one scene.
Description: Celtic legends abound with heroes transforming into animals, whether to escape, to hunt, or to spy. Cernunnos the Horned God was the master of animals; with this Gift the Garou is able to master the form of any animal.
Often taught by: faeries or Wyld-spirits.
System: The Fianna spends a Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Animal Ken. The difficulty varies, rising higher the farther removed from the Garou’s natural form the desired animal is. For example, an ape or panther (mammals of roughly equal mass) might be difficulty 5, while an alligator (a reptile of slightly larger size) would be difficulty 7, and a frog (a much smaller amphibian) would be difficulty 10.
The Garou can change another alongside them as well, at the cost of an additional point of Gnosis and +1 difficulty.
Description: The werewolf may use this Gift only once per month, and only if there is an overwhelming need for it (such as discovering that a truly great evil infests an area). This Gift calls the Huntsman of Celtic mythology to harry and slay the evil.
Often taught by: the Huntsman himself.
System: The Fianna must chant and concentrate for one full hour. The player then spend one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Occult (difficulty 8). The Huntsman appears with a single hound, plus one hound for each extra Rage or Gnosis point the player wishes to expend.
If the roll is botched, the evil is not worthy of the Huntsman’s attention. If the summoner does not join the hunt, the Huntsman instead leads the hunt against the Garou.
FIANNA CAMPS
Like every tribe, the Fianna are far more than their stereotypes would suggest. For one, the Fianna aren't truly Celtic - they're the creatures that lived in the shadows of Celtic culture, that inspired a few of the regional myths. For another, the Fianna of modern nights hail from more diverse regions than just Ireland and the United Kingdom. It's not the trappings that define a Fianna - it's the spirit.
Of course, there's also more to the Fianna spirit than a simple love of booze, song and hopping into the sack with the nearest good-looking Kinfolk. The pursuit of excellence in all things is a defining factor of the tribe, although the average Fiann is somewhat unwilling to sacrifice the good things in life in order to achieve absolute perfection. Similarly, glorious death is one thing - whereas surviving a maiming as some twisted, incomplete creature quite another. Their desire to be free of flaws is in many ways the greatest flaw that the Fianna have - it's a character trait that may yet cause them no end of grief and pain.
In some ways, the Fianna's flaws are those of werewolves as a whole. As some might argue, to be Fianna is to be the Garou write large - exulting in war, reverently spiritual, intolerant of their enemies and loyal to their friends, all too willing to give in to the animal passions that burn within. All the things that the Garou love, the Fianna love - and to truly love Gaia with all the devotion She deserves, a werewolf is required to love the life She gave him with a deep and abiding passion.
This is what it means to be a Fianna in Los Angeles in the 2020s. There is drama, factionalism, camps and intrigue aplenty back in the Old Country, where the elders vie for who will rule in Silver Tara. But here, there are simply not enough Fianna out this far West to concern themselves with such distinctions... and they would not be here if they felt strongly otherwise.
HANDS OF THUNDER (glory)
Description: Many Glass Walkers regard the gun as the ultimate sign of the power of the modern age, and make pacts with the spirits to assure that their firearms do not become useless, primitive clubs in the midst of battle.
Often taught by: technological or war-spirits.
System: The Glass Walker can reflexively spend a point of Rage to 'magically' reload any ranged weapon they're wielding, even if they don't have ammunition for it. As such, this Gift is very popular with both automatic weapon and John Woo enthusiasts.
Description: This Gift, once an acquired taste, has undergone a recent surge in popularity. It allows the Glass Walker to execute brilliant feats of sharpshooting, such as shooting a weapon from an opponent’s hand or firing down the barrel of an enemy’s gun. The Garou cannot use this Gift to harm an opponent directly, however.
Often taught by: air-spirits.
System: The Glass Walker subtracts -3 from the difficulty of any 'trick' shot. Again, this Gift does not allow direct damage to targets (“I’ll shoot him between the eyes!”), but it can be used to injure opponents indirectly (“I’ll shoot the rope that’s holding the chandelier over his head!”).
The effects of this Gift are permanent once learned. It also only works with rifles and pistols, not rocket launchers, crossbows or gatling guns etc.
Description: Glass Walkers — who understand the workings of science and spirits alike — can mystically excite the molecules within metal. Metal heated in such a way can be forged, molded or used to sear flesh. A red-hot crowbar can be a very effective weapon, and heating the exterior of a gasoline tanker can have explosive results.
Often taught by: fire, earth or metal elementals.
System: The Glass Walker must spend one Gnosis point and successfully roll Intelligence + Science (difficulty 6). The difficulty increases when trying to heat complex modern alloys beyond base metals like iron, copper or lead (such as titanium alloy). The number of successes equals the number of rounds the metal stays heated.
When used as a weapon, this heated metal inflicts an additional, automatic Health Level of aggravated damage. In addition, if the implement (such as a metal bat) would have normally inflicted bashing damage, it should be treated as lethal, instead.
Description: This Gift ensures that when spraying bullets from an automatic gun, not a single bullet misses its target.
Often taught by: a war- or bird-spirit (though never a pigeon).
System: The Glass Walker spends one point of Rage and rolls Dexterity + Firearms to make a full-auto strafe attack. However, the standard +2 difficulty does not apply.
Optionally, the Glass Walker can spend additional points of Rage (up to the maximum of half their total Rage rounded up) to determine the amount of targets who receive the full number of rolled successes instead of dividing them up among all present, as is typical for a strafe attack.
Finally, not one bullet is left at the scene, nor will any bullet hit anything but the Glass Walker’s opponents.
Description: By speaking with electricity spirits, the Garou causes a blackout over a widespread area.
Often taught by: electricity elementals.
System: The Glass Walker spends one Gnosis point and rolls Wits + Technology (difficulty 7). The number of successes determines how large of an area is blacked out. One success would black out a single room, while five would cut the power to a whole neighborhood.
Description: A feared Gift, this allows the Glass Walker to shoot around corners. Packs are fond of timing this Gift with multiple guns, creating hails of gunfire through open doorways before entering a room.
Often taught by: a war- or bird-spirit (again, never a pigeon).
System: The Glass Walker spends one Gnosis point and rolls Wits + Firearms, difficulty 8. They only need to have a rough idea that an enemy might be in a general location, as the shot otherwise ignores all other physics or cover involved.
This Gift can only be dodged at difficulty 9, and even then, only if the enemy is explicitly expecting the Corner Shot.
NOTE: Corner Shot can usually not be used with the Gift: Hail of Lead, since one spends Rage and the other Gnosis, though it is possible with normal burst or autofire rules (with its normal difficulty increase). If the Glass Walker has access to the Gift: Chaos Mechanics, then all bets are off.
Description: Focusing in on their own being, the Glass Walker wraps his own spirit with those of steel, turning his fur into hardened metal.
Often taught by: metal elementals.
System: The Glass Walker concentrates for a turn, spends one Willpower point and rolls their base (Homid) Stamina + Technology (difficulty 5). Each success provides the Garou with one die of Armor vs any ballistic attack. It's not unknown for a single Glass Walker in their huge war-form so protected, to provide mobile cover for their packmates to shoot from behind!
This Gift provides half as much Armor (rounding down) vs all other sources of damage.
Description: The Glass Walkers are the tribe of glass, steel and electricity. This last element can be used to directly damage opponents that the Glass Walker can either touch, or who are touching a conductive material such as metal or water.
Often taught by: electricity-spirits.
System: The Glass Walker spends a number of Rage points. Each point of Rage spent inflicts three levels of aggravated wounds on the Garou's opponents.
These levels of damage may be divided among as many opponents as the number of Rage points invested in this Gift. As usual, the character cannot spend more Rage than half of his permanent rating in one turn.
Description: Back in the old days, a “motorcade murder” was the Mafia equivalent of a drive-by killing. The idea was to be gone the moment after the deed was done. Variations of this Gift have been known for centuries, though it was the 20th century Glass Walkers camp known as the 'Wise Guys' that made it truly infamous in modern times. This Gift allows the Glass Walker to shoot a victim in the physical world from the Umbra (although any ranged attack will technically work with it).
Often taught by: rat-spirits (a fact that makes the Gift unpopular in some quarters).
System: The Glass Walker fires a gun at the target as normal, but the player should then spend one Willpower point and roll Gnosis, difficulty equal to the Gauntlet in the area. In effect, the Garou is making the bullet “reach” across the Umbra, so normally three successes are needed. Should the target be immobile for some reason (such as being asleep), then one or two successes might be sufficient.
Since the target is probably unaware of the attack, most attacks made with this Gift are at point blank range and probably lethal.
Description: They say the Glass Walkers worship their technology. That’s foolishness. Worshipping mere tools confuses the master with the servant. Worshipping monsters, now, that has some more flair. This Gift allows the Glass Walker to turn all machines in the room into possessed monsters; mobile phones suddenly beginning ringing at their loudest volume and hurl themselves at the person nearest to them, televisions deliberately explode, and electrical wires whip around, tripping and strangling whomever they can see.
Often taught by: particularly demented Net-Spiders.
System: The Glass Walker spends three Rage and rolls Charisma + Technology, difficulty 8. Assuming at least one success, every electric device in the room the Garou is in will begin to shake.
Two turns after that, the entire room is filled with monstrous electrical appliances, and everyone in the room suffers a number of unsoakable aggravated wounds equal to the number of successes rolled. Since this includes the Glass Walker, it behooves him to leave the room in the time he has.
WELL-OILED RUNNING (honor)
Description: The greatest tool a Glass Walker has is her equipment. The worst enemy she has is the possibility of it failing. This Gift greatly reduces those chances by safeguarding machinery against environmental and maintenance factors.
Often taught by: dust-, war- or water-spirits.
System: The Glass Walker spends one Gnosis point and rolls Stamina + Technology (difficulty 6). The Garou safeguards one machine against natural corrosion, adverse weather or mundane malfunctions for one day per success. Additionally, it gains one point to its Durability value for the duration, for every two successes, rounded down.
Description: At a glance, the Glass Walker can tell what is wrong with a machine. He can then enlist the aid of the machine’s spirit in repairing the faulty device.
Often taught by: Any technological spirit.
System: The Glass Walker rolls Perception + Technology (Or Crafts with a specialty in Gunsmith or Mechanics) vs difficulty 6 to determine the problem. He then spends one Gnosis point as the Garou mentally convinces the spirit of the device to aid him in fixing it (Most such spirits are happy to do so — they don’t want to be junk!).
If successful, the time to fix the device is halved, and the player may subtract any successes on the Perception + Technology roll from the successes necessary to fix the device.
Description: The Glass Walker convinces money spirits to change their denomination. the coin or note simply metamorphoses into the appropriate denomination.
Often taught by: money-spirits.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Finance. What value the money becomes determines the difficulty regardless of the original denomination.
Currency Example – Difficulty
Penny – 3
Nickel or Dime – 4
Quarter – 5
A Dollar – 6
Five Dollar bill – 7
Ten Dollar bill – 8
Twenty Dollar Bill – 9
Fifty Dollar Bill - 10
Each success can change one coin or note into another denomination. Foreign currencies can also be converted in similar fashion, and it is also possible to convert a currency of one country to a different denomination of another.
Description: The Glass Walker may command the spirits of the simplest machines, causing levers to flip, doors to unbolt, pulleys to roll and so on.
Often taught by: Any technological spirit.
System: Most of the time, the Glass Walker rolls Manipulation + Crafts vs difficulty 7. If they're being particularly tricky (such as depressing a firearm's push-button magazine release), then the difficulty might be 8 or 9.
If used during combat, This Gift always requires a Willpower point. Outside combat, for an added Willpower point, the Garou’s control is extended until the end of the scene.
This Gift has no cost for being used on items Dedicated to the Glass Walker, but it cannot be used on items that are Dedicated to another werewolf, or are supernatural in some way (such as fetishes Technocratic Devices, etc).
Description: When the chips are down and your back’s to the wall, risks need to be taken. This Gift makes those last choices a little less risky by allowing for some instinctual co-ordination to be taken.
Often taught by: bee- or ant-spirits.
System: The Glass Walker looks toward an ally and spends one point of Gnosis before rolling Wits + Leadership (difficulty 6). The ally does not need to spend Gnosis or roll, but must either be a packmate or also know this Gift.
As long as one success is rolled, the players of each character may formulate a detailed plan out of character, which both characters instinctually grasp simply from making eye contact. Each character also adds as many bonus dice to their next roll as the Glass Walker scored in successes on the Gift activation.
If both Garou have this Gift, and both elect to spend a Gnosis, then the number of bonus dice are doubled.
Description: By invoking this Gift, a werewolf can generate temporary but convincing facsimiles of official documents, badges, or digital certificates—ranging from law enforcement badges to driver's licenses, corporate IDs and beyond. It allows them to operate openly in situations where subtlety and stealth are paramount, providing them with the means to bypass security, gain trust, or command respect from humans without arousing suspicion.
This Gift has been used countless times in the past to successfully cover up Veil breaches without needing to unnecessarily harm civil servants who are just trying to do their jobs.
Often taught by: most city- or technology-spirits.
System: The Glass Walker spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Manipulation + a choice of Law, Politics or Bureaucracy (depending on the exact context of the impersonation).
The difficulty of the roll might vary based on the complexity of the authority being mimicked and the scrutiny it is under (for example, briefly flashing an old-timey police badge might be difficulty 6, while impersonating a high-ranking federal agent's official credentials could be a more challenging difficulty of 9). The number of successes roughly indicate to what degree it can withstand deliberate, prolonged scrutiny (which if it's receiving, then you have already aroused suspicion somehow).
Note that this Gift creates a temporary, superficial imitation of the badge, license or ID in question. It will not replicate barcodes, or serve as a key fob to gain restricted areas by its own merit...although, a canny Garou should be able to play it off as some kind of system error with some added Subterfuge. It also doesn't endow the user of the badge with any special knowledge...a smart Glass Walker will do their research first.
Description: The Garou may now converse with and command the spirits of electronic devices such as computers, video games, and cars. It will not give control over sophisticated security systems, networks (including the local coffee shop's Wi-Fi) or cloud-based systems, however. For that kind of functionality, see Gift: Data Flow.
This Gift functions on specific devices only. It can force an elevator to go to an otherwise restricted floor, but it can't turn off the building's security alarms. It can make a car (seemingly) drive on its own autonomy, but it can't mess with its GPS except to turn it off entirely on the user-end.
Often taught by: Net-Spiders.
System: The Glass Walker spends one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Technology (or Computer, as appropriate). The Storyteller sets the difficulty based on how complex the machine actually is (usually 8).
If used during combat, the Garou can extend their control for another round by spending a Willpower point. Outside combat, the Garou’s control can be extended for the rest of the scene by spending a Willpower point.
This Gift has no cost for being used on items Dedicated to the Glass Walker, but it cannot be used on items that are Dedicated to another werewolf, or are supernatural in some way (such as fetishes Technocratic Devices, etc).
Description: From the telegraph to the cell phone, the Glass Walkers have always kept up good relations with spirits of cutting-edge communication. This Gift allows the Garou to open a moon bridge that rides the back of a telephone signal, transporting her instantly to the location of whoever is on the other end of the line.
Often taught by: Pattern Spiders.
System: The Glass Walker spends one Willpower and one Gnosis to open the moon bridge. The Garou must have a connection between a telephone at her location and one at the target destination to use this Gift, although it doesn’t discriminate between landlines or cell phones — some werewolves have even reported success in riding the back of online conferencing software, although doing so successfully requires a Wits + Computers roll (difficulty 7).
Signal Rider can take the character no more than (Gnosis x 5) miles (or 8 km per Gnosis dot) — if the other end of the line isn’t within that range, the Gift fails.
Description: The city is a rich and complex ecosystem, and humans, animals and machines fill the roles that natural creatures fill in the wilderness. The Glass Walkers cannot often get wild wolves to aid them, but the city has its own predators. With this Gift, the Glass Walker can make a phone call, send an email or fax and expect some sort of backup.
Often taught by: a City-Mother or -Father.
System: The Glass Walker spends a Rage point and rolls Wits + Leadership. The number of successes equals the number of city predators who will emerge: the figures who control and cull the human herd. These may be gang kids, members of citizen vigilante groups, vicious cops, or even wild, diseased dogs.
The spiritually summoned backup arrives a scene later, although the Garou can convert extra successes to speed the arrival of assistance rather than adding to the numbers. (One success spent in this fashion brings the help in ten turns; two successes halve the wait to five turns, while three successes brings backup on the next turn.) The “wolves” will be disposed to cooperate with the Glass Walkers, but won’t charge blindly into battle for him. The effects last for one scene.
Description: All Werewolves pulse with the Wyld’s energy, of course, but equally so do all creatures with form and nature have something of the Weaver in them, or so the Glass Walkers argue. Upon learning this Gift, the Glass Walker reconciles these two sides of his being, and he can summon primal energy and mystical form at the same time.
Often taught by: Those who learned this Gift have never said, though presumably requires an extended (and dangerous) sojourn in the CyberRealm.
System: A Glass Walker with this Gift may use Rage and Gnosis in the same turn with no penalty. Doing so allows the Garou to use Rage actions to activate fetishes and use Gifts requiring Gnosis (provided that said Gift does not take a full turn to enact).
What’s more important is that it allows the Garou to take Rage actions in the same turn that he steps sideways, provided that the player rolls enough successes to get to or from the Umbra instantly.
This Gift’s effects are permanent.
WEAVER'S EYES (WISDOM)
Description: Whilst the urban jungle offers many new possibilities for the hunter, it also presents its share of difficulties. One of the most troublesome of these is the possibility of their prey slipping into a crowd and simply disappearing. With this Gift, the Glass Walker can see through the eyes of a glass spirit in any nearby window (whether that of a skyscraper or parked car) to pick out their prey.
Often taught by: glass-spirits.
System: The Glass Walker makes a Gnosis roll (difficulty 6). For every success rolled, the character can see from the exterior perspective of an additional window in the area (about half a city block) for one turn.
If used to find specific details or individuals, the Storyteller may ask for a second roll using Perception + Alertness, adding one bonus die for each success gained in the initial Gnosis roll, to see if the mark can be spotted in time. Difficulty should be set by Storyteller to reflect the elusiveness of the target.
If the Glass Walker also has the Homid Gift: City Eyes active, then they can perceive both the exterior and the interior of each window, without needing to be touching the building in question (as long as it is within the radius of this Gift).
Description: All of the Weaver’s works are connected through the same web, the same song. The Glass Walkers exploit this truth to draw more power from the modern profusion of technology, making their devices compatible with almost everything.
Often taught by: Net-Spiders.
System: The Glass Walker spends one Willpower point. For the next day, any computer the Glass Walker uses — no matter how simple — becomes fully compatible with any other digital device, regardless of obstacles such as different operating systems, lack of physically compatible access ports, or even the complete absence of any means of receiving or interpreting a wireless signal.
Generally, Glass Walkers use this Gift to turn their smart phones into omni-compatible access keys to computer networks, security feeds, and even car GPS systems.
Description: Glass Walkers with this Gift gain an insight into the Weaver’s deep and subtle patterns for hiding information inside of other information and to the invisible patterns buried in large prime numbers. Complex algorithms mean nothing to these Garou; using Decrypt, they can even pierce magical shrouding of data. The Garou must have the data to be decrypted in some form — generally, residing on a local computer.
Often taught by: Pattern Spiders.
System: The Glass Walker spends one Willpower and rolls Perception + Cryptography (difficulty 7). Every success will lower the difficulty of any relevant Cryptography related rolls for the remainder of the scene.
This Gift may be used in other contexts where large numbers or complex patterns are at play, possibly extending into the realm of higher mathematics or quantum mechanics (Academics: Mathematics and Science: Quantum Mechanics, respectively). It can even assist with something like Gambling: Game Theory, in the right context.
Magical encryption, such as that created by the Gift: Encrypt or similar magical abilities performed by non-Garou, is subject to Storyteller arbitration. However, generally speaking, the character must achieve more successes on the Decrypt roll than his opposite number got on an Encrypt roll. If they do so, the magical encryption is cancelled out, and the attempt proceeds as normal.
Description: Paranoid Glass Walkers — which is to say, most of them — use the best encryption technologies available on the open market when they send data through the Internet or Digital Web. If a Glass Walker suspects that a Net-Spider is watching her Net activity, she may even choose to use this Gift, which magically protects data against snooping. Encrypt doesn’t ordinarily hide itself from magical observers — anyone with the ability to see into the spirit world will notice that the message has been enshrouded, unless the Glass Walker takes special care to hide that.
Often taught by: Pattern Spiders or squirrel-spirits (oddly enough).
System: The Glass Walker must spend one Willpower and roll Manipulation + Computer (difficulty 6). Subsequent attempts to decipher the encrypted data are made at +1 difficulty per success. A final difficulty of 10 or more is functionally impossible for any mundane attempts to pierce.
This encryption can apply to either a single message (one email or burst of data) or to a connection (such as might exist between two computers for a long download or chat-conversation). A character trying to break the encryption on a single message gets just one chance to do so — the magic surrounding the message deletes it if the character fails. A character trying to break the encryption on a connection can treat the attempt as an extended test.
When magical means are used to decipher data that has been encrypted with this Gift, it effectively becomes a zero sum contest. If the power was rolled with more successes than that used to Encrypt it, then the hack proceeds normally with no added difficulty. If not, the Encrypted data retains its full value in added difficulty.
Description: Pattern and Net-Spiders are notoriously territorial, and can quickly turn hostile at the slightest perceived interference with their function. With this Gift, the Glass Walker may move across the Pattern Web through the Umbra, ignored and unmolested by any Weaver-spirits in the area.
Often taught by: any Weaver-spirit.
System: To activate this Gift, the Garou spends one Gnosis point, then rolls Charisma + Science (difficulty 7). Success enables the Garou to travel through the Umbra without fear of disturbing any Weaver-spirits.
Description: In the world of computers, your equipment is outdated by the time it’s out of the box. This Gift allows the Garou to make a piece of computer equipment perform beyond its specifications. This includes speeding up a processor to render a 3D image quicker, improving video cards to display more polygons than usual or adding more memory to hold larger amounts of information.
Often taught by: any technological spirit.
System: The Glass Walker spends a Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Computer (difficulty 7). More successes mean more improvement. However, the Storyteller may decide that a certain number of successes are necessary to attempt a specific function. (Trying to Overclock your dad's old Amiga to render modern game graphics would require at least 5, for example).
In most situations, every success achieved with Overlock will halve the time that some technical task (such as a series of extended rolls to hack or program something) would have taken. In other situations (where duration is irrelevant), it might provide a certain number of automatic successes to any relevant roll making use of the equipment. The effect lasts for one day, and can only be used once per day.
Description: The Glass Walker can transport non-dedicated objects with her to the Umbra when she steps sideways. She may not take living creatures, only objects.
Often taught by: Weaver-spirits.
System: The Glass Walker spends one Willpower point for each object brought over to the Umbra. It must be something she can carry and it must weigh no more than her own body weight. However, two or more Garou with this Gift can team up and carry larger items into the Spirit World.
Despite it’s name, the user of this Gift does not emit a beam.
Description: The Glass Walker can effectively reach into a telephone line and emerge on the other end. She must first dial the number of where she wishes to arrive and someone must answer.
Often taught by: Pattern Spiders.
System: After the phone is picked up, the Glass Walker rolls Gnosis, the difficulty being the local Gauntlet. As with stepping sideways, three successes are needed to transmit instantly. If fewer successes are rolled, and the other side hangs up before she emerges at the other end, the Garou is spat back out at her phone and takes three levels of lethal damage.
Description: A recent innovation, the spread of this Gift throughout the tribe is both praised (by most Glass Walkers) and reviled (by virtually everyone else).
Treating spirits as data, the Glass Walker can manipulate the spirit of a tool to turn it into any other tool. The actual object doesn’t change, but its properties and use does. A PDA can become razor sharp, or a knife could be tapped on to hack into a system. Once the object has been used once, though, the spirit dies and the object breaks beyond repair.
Many Garou consider this Gift heinous murder. Indeed, simply knowing the Gift is enough to be shunned by some traditionalists, and there were some passionate (even occasionally violent) debates among the Glass Walkers themselves around the turn of the millennium. However, a generation later, its sheer utility has long since won over the Darwinian-minded Glass Walkers. It is as Cockroach teaches: Adapt or die.
Often taught by: A Pattern Spider can teach this Gift, but they never do so willingly and must be coerced. More commonly, other Garou teach it.
System: A Glass Walker using this Gift spends one Gnosis and rolls Manipulation + Science. Difficulty depends on the degree of change. Turning a tool into another of much the same purpose is difficulty 5, (turning a teacup into a frying pan), changing a tool into another of different purpose but roughly similar complexity is difficulty 7, (turning a frying pan into a sword), while turning a tool into another of vastly varying complexity is difficulty 9 (turning a sword into a laptop computer).
This tool can be used exactly once; one bullet may be fired, one egg may be fried, one password may be cracked. After that, the object falls apart, unless another Gnosis point is spent each time it is used (or to change it back to its original form and function). A permanent Gnosis point must be spent to force it to retain its new function without eventually falling apart.
Description: The mightiest Glass Walkers can summon a Net-Spider, a Weaver spirit that gives its summoner near-absolute control over any computer system. The Spider can disrupt, erase or destroy whatever system it is sent into (the exact effects are left to the Storyteller, but are typically destructive).
Often taught by: An avatar of Cockroach.
System: The Glass Walker spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Computer (difficulty 8). If successful, the Net-Spider appears and heeds the Garou’s commands. This Gift allows the Garou to halve all Computer, Security and Technology related difficulties along with the aforementioned destructive capacity of the spirit.
GLASS WALKER CAMPS
As both the most numerous tribe, and the one most attuned to the ebb and flow of a cosmopolitan urban civilization, the Glass Walkers resist efforts to categorize them culturally. They do not have a "source culture" in the same way that the Fianna or even the Uktena do, and as such a Glass Walker sept in Houston is likely to be entirely different to a Glass Walker sept in Singapore.
It is the same with their camps - which can take on a very different nature depending on their location and tend to represent trends rather than any real organization (with one or two short-lived exceptions). What follows is only a very brief treatment of some of the Glass Walker's most notorious Camps. Among the Glass Walkers, Camps rise and fall all the time, or even find themselves evolving into forms unrecognizable to what they were a decade earlier.
What keeps the Glass Walkers as a tribe coherent, is that while many tribes consider camps to be splintering influences (such as the Children of Gaia), the Glass Walkers see them as avenues of specialization. As the five auspices do, camps allow each Walker to focus more fully on their strengths, while allowing others to pursue complementary works.
CAMP COST: 30 XP (6 Freebies)
Dedicated to using computers to turn the tide of the Apocalypse, the Random Interrupts include everyone from hackers to sysadmins: all who see technology as the latest (and greatest) tool of the Garou Nation. Thirty years ago, the first Interrupts adhered to a quasi-Luddite philosophy that revolved around freeing information (and the Digital Web) from the hold the Weaver and Wyrm have on it, and using technology and information as tools to aid the Nation in its goals. These days, it seems like any wolf who'd rather fight Pentex with a laptop than their claws is happy to call themselves a member of this camp. They certainly haven't done anything to check the tribe's growing identification with the Weaver.
Having experienced meteoric growth throughout the 90s and early 2000s, many believe that the Random Interrupts have become a victim of their own success by the 2020s. Often individually brilliant, the Camp as a whole currently struggles to articulate a deeper philosophy beyond the shallow humor of the I F*cking Love Science crowd, the cynicism of the terminally online and the predictability of the White Hat brigade. Sure, anyone can agree with technological progress and messing with Pentex, but isn't that most every Glass Walker? It doesn't help that the Interrupts eat their own - the once revered founders of the early 90s are already considered out of touch dinosaurs. At best they're nostalgic touchstones, at worst, aging memes with anachronistic ideals.
Having once been considered the undisputed heirs to the stagnant Corporate Wolves and the fading Wise Guys, tonight's Random Interrupts are more likely to be working for a Corporate Wolf (who often go out of their way to exploit this camp's technological prowess) than seizing leadership themselves. Otherwise, the camp currently exists as a kaleidoscope of personality cults, each with their own ideals, pet projects, and objectives.
NOTE: Remember, any Glass Walker can call themselves a Random Interrupt - and many do. The Camp Cost represents the time and effort of becoming a fully established member of this subculture, well-versed in its cutting-edge techniques.
Network Terminal (Wisdom 2)
Computers have grown more and more connected in recent years, most prominently via the Internet. Meanwhile, no matter how good your computer is, there’s probably someone with a better computer and you’re likely connected to it. This Gift connects the Random Interrupt to the theoretical better computer, making all work much easier.
System: The Glass Walker rolls Gnosis, difficulty 7. Every success adds one die to any roll involving the Computer Knowledge. The Gift doesn’t provide you with a computer; you actually need to be seated at a computer that has some form of network connection.
Mind Partition (Wisdom 4)
A favorite among Random Interrupts who discover they can’t multitask nearly as well as their computers, this Gift allows the Garou to break their own mind into segments, quickly switching their concentration to a new task while never losing their place on the old task. One Cruncher described the Gift by saying, “It’s not true multitasking, but it fakes it well.”
System: The Glass Walker spends one Willpower point and rolls Gnosis (difficulty 6). For every success gained, the Garou can add work on one extra extended action every turn, one added per turn. No penalties are incurred on any of the extended actions, but if just one botch is rolled, all uncompleted tasks fail.
Example: Backup-Circuit is working on a complicated hacking job involving three separate tasks, but needs to move quickly. He spends one Willpower point, activating Mind Partition and rolls Gnosis, gaining the needed two successes. On the first turn he begins his work on cracking the door systems, rolling his standard dice pool. On the second turn he continues to work on the door systems, but also begins work on cracking the security, and rolls for both tasks. On the third turn and every turn thereafter, he is working on cracking the door system, security system and defenses system simultaneously. Had he botched the roll, he’d have begun trying to crack the system but collapse, clutching his head seconds later as his brain breaks under the pressure.
Universal Interface (Wisdom 6)
Most Random Interrupts use two methods for dealing with computers. Some use mundane computers and techniques, others leap into the Umbra and deal with the technological spirits driving computers directly. This Gift allows a Random Interrupt to strike a balance between these two techniques, using the Umbra itself as a computer. He can simply type on air and visualize a screen in his own mind.
System: The Glass Walker spends one point of Gnosis and rolls Wits + Enigmas (difficulty 7). Only one success is needed to fashion the intangible computer, but no more successes may be achieved using the computer than were achieved on the original Wits + Enigmas roll. The Glass Walker need not be in the Umbra to use this Gift, and the computer is considered to be connected to both the Internet and GWnet.
Data Flow (Wisdom 8)
The Glass Walkers originally developed this Gift as a “remote control” for new electronic devices. As the computer gained importance, this Gift gained a whole new utility. Glass Walkers now use this ability to take control of the data resources that are so important to the world’s economy and to society in general.
By focusing her attention on a single computer (or some other smart device), a Glass Walker can take control of that machine from across the room. She can order it to erase its memory, alter security clearances, transmit false data or simply print a document.
System: A successful Wits + Computer roll (difficulty 7) plus the expenditure of one Gnosis point establishes contact with the computer. As long as the Garou keeps her target in her line of sight, she can maintain contact with the device. While this Gift allows remote access, the Garou must still make all the appropriate rolls to manipulate the data systems.
A major advantage of this Gift is that it is a very subtle way to allow a skilled hacker or programmer access to something like a computer terminal on a closed intranet that might have otherwise been inaccessible without a dangerous subterfuge. Similarly, it has been used to sift through a target's smartphone without them realizing it.
Virtual Umbra (Wisdom 9)
Description: This Gift enables a Garou to transport himself into the Digital Web from any part of the Pattern Web.
Often taught by: any spirit affiliated with computers can teach this Gift.
System: The Glass Walker spends a Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Computer (difficulty 7). The Glass Walker may also transport other (willing) characters into the Digital Web with each additional success. It they are unwilling, roll against difficulty 10.
CAMP COST: 25 XP (5 Freebies)
This camp is a vast network of Glass Walkers devoted to using big business as a tool to defeating the Wyrm. As a highly political organization, members of this camp are among the only ones to maintain a strong hierarchy (easily demonstrated through flow charts and departmental trees) and utilize local, national, and multi-national corporations as both carrot and stick when encouraging their desired behavior from human society. Corporate Wolves have frequently been the dominant camp in the tribe from the mid-1970s onward. An uptake in technology combined with a confluence of unusually strong personalities briefly brought the Random Interrupts into greater prominence, but the Corporate Wolves have since re-asserted their dominance - for better or worse.
This is the camp most convinced that it is the rest of the Garou Nation that is holding the Glass Walkers back, and are the most contemptuous of the Silver Fang's claim to leadership. What dangerous implications this might have for the future remains to be seen.
Key Decision Maker (Honor 2)
One of the most common mistakes made by salespeople, entrepreneurs and even politicians is assuming that everyone has the power to make a buying decision. As a result, they spend their time trying to get in front of anyone and everyone to make their case. Unfortunately, this often wastes valuable time and resources.
Key decision-makers (KDM) are the people who make the final call on whether or not to buy your product or service (and is rarely the one everyone thinks is in charge). They are ones who can best influence the critical decisions of others. This Gift helps the Corporate Wolf identify the person who can best "pull the trigger" and what they're trying to accomplish.
System: The Glass Walker spends one Willpower and rolls Perception + Etiquette. If successful, the Garou automatically knows which member of a group it would be best to approach to get results in her efforts. The number of success determines how large a group can be scanned. Working out which punk to hit in a street gang to make the rest run would only require one success, working out which guy needs to bribing to bring down an entire corporation would require at least five.
The Storyteller might also decide that no one person holds all the cards in a group and that the Gift simply won’t work, or it might lead towards more incremental results.
Buzzword Language (Honor 4)
The Glass Walkers have always needed the ability to hide in plain sight more than other tribes by virtue of being in plain sight so much more often. As a result, they’ve developed many Gifts for communicating unnoticed, but very few have been so successful as this. The Corporate Wolf simply begins to babble in the incoherent – yet entirely accepted – tongue of modern business and the person he’s talking to will completely comprehend his message, which can be totally unrelated to a single word in the conversation.
System: The Glass Walker spends one point of Willpower and rolls Charisma + Subterfuge, difficulty 7. Each success determines how accurately the message is conveyed. At one success the message comes out in single-word sentences. (“You. Me. Escape”) Three successes allow for simple, single-clause sentences. (“You and I will use the staircase to escape.”) Five successes, you could package a short story into the phrase “Leoni and I need to dialogue about leveraging our core competencies in order to achieve market affiliation.”
Mass Media (Honor 6)
This Gift allows the Glass Walker to contact others through any technological device. The Garou speaks to a Pattern Spider in or near a technological device and tells them the message to be delivered and whom it should be delivered to. The Pattern Spider then finds the receiver and uses any communications technology near them to deliver the message; Telephones yell it out, (without picking up the handset), electronic billboards display it, computer printers print it out as text. If no communications technology is present, any other technology will activate, though no message will be imparted. If no technology whatsoever is present near the receiver, the Gift fails.
System: The player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Media. The difficulty is relevant to the distance the message needs to be sent: The next room is difficulty 4, the same building 5, one block away 6, one mile away 7, a time-zone away 8. Beyond that is difficulty 9. The more successes achieved, the longer the message can be. A single success will only allow one word to be sent, five would allow unlimited length.
Hostile Takeover (Honor 8)
What you wear determines your worth as a human being in the modern corporate world. If you live outside the business, you are a number with a dollar sign in front of it, representing what you own and how much it, and you, are worth. For a business, you are your possessions, and this Gift makes it literally true. With this Gift, the Corporate Wolf can attack and physically destroy another person by destroying their possessions.
System: The Glass Walker spends three Rage points and rolls Manipulation + Finance (difficulty 8). The number of successes needed is determined by how long her opponent has owned the object. If he only bought it today, five successes are needed. If he has owned it for less than a month, four successes are needed; while if he has owned it for at least six months, then three successes are required. Finally, if it has been owned for over a year, only a single success is necessary.
Assuming the roll is successful, the Corporate Wolf may proceed to make an attack on the object and any damage done to the object will also be inflicted upon her opponent. The damage still applies to the object, however, and if the object is destroyed then any connection between the object and the opponent is destroyed with it. If it still stands, the Corporate Wolf may continue to attack. If a Corporate Wolf obtains your priceless Ming vase, you should be all right, but worry if they ever steal your car.
CAMP COST: 25 XP (5 Freebies)
Strongly tied to the Mafia and other forms of organized crime, the Wise Guys utilize money-making endeavors of all sorts to finance and support their war against the Wyrm, and to take down Wyrm-tainted rival businesses. Until they were replaced by the Corporate Wolves in the mid-1970s, the Wise Guys dominated the power positions within the Walker tribe for several decades. In their heyday, the Wise Guys demonstrated ruthless ambition, inspiring fanatic devotion from their packmates, Kinfolk, and minions.
Unfortunately, this camp has been on the decline for almost fifty years now - nearly as long as they held pre-eminence. The main branch of it, originally inspired by the Italian phenomena known as La Cosa Nostra at the dawn of the 20th century, surged in popularity as the tribe's identity as Iron Riders were fading. It helped that heavily urbanized Italy had been a bastion of the Glass Walkers for centuries, and by 1900 they were flooding the New World in numbers that dwarfed the previous Iron Riders.
Sadly, the Wise Guys have been something of a joke since the late 1980s, and a fucking joke since circa the previous decade. There's a few good reasons for this. Foremost among them is that werewolves simply don't make good mobsters. It's already hard enough being a Garou and dealing with multiple supernatural forces that want to kill you, before adding rivals among organized crime and the FBI. It's also the case that many of the original Wise Guys, like most Garou, simply didn't have children that bred true to carry on their legacy. Instead, their Kinfolk sons (and it was virtually always the 'sons'), once they became a generation or two removed, soon drifted away from having anything to do with werewolf business, and then from their mafia roots, for all the reasons that Italian- and Irish-Americans did throughout the course of the 20th century. When Wise Guys started losing territory (such as they lost Los Angeles in the late 1960s), that meant more newly changed werewolves weren't being found by Wise Guys. And even when the Wise Guys were in charge, they were quite picky about who could be made.
The Wise Guys had more trouble than just declining numbers. Their foremost challenge was that the camp only really thrived when it could take for granted the blood-in/blood-out loyalty of close-knit ethnic Italian-American communities. That code of silence had begun to fracture long before the RICO Act finally shattered it in the 1960s. What had once been a strength soon became a liability, given the limited cross-cultural appeal of the Mafiosi (beyond their entertainment value, anyways). Another challenge to relevance that the Wise Guys' face in the modern nights is that organized crime itself - always a dirty business - has gotten downright, horrifically nasty. The original mafiosos couldn't hold a candle to the kind of brutality getting meted out by the Mexican cartels, or gangs like MS-13.
What this all means is that the camp known as the Wise Guys has by the 2020s, largely fractured into three sub-camps that want virtually nothing to do with each other beyond their common involvement in organized crime, patriarchal culture and Roman Catholic roots:
- There's less than a dozen aging goombahs sulking around New York's crumbling Central House, still clinging to their Cosa Nostra roots, as well as a younger pack that dominates Buffalo upstate, owing to the charisma and personal initiative of their alpha (and predictably, even now, there is rivalry between these two groups for who will be the diminished camp's recognized Don). There used to be an established pack in Boston until about ten years ago. Beyond that, there are a few scattered individuals around North America, usually belonging to other packs, who have achieved something like associate status. The original Wise Guys still talk a big game, but no one takes them very seriously anymore, outside the Five Boroughs or upstate New York.
- A much older version of the camp, which has existed in one form or another throughout Italy since the High Middle Ages, and which in modern times is more commonly referred to as the sistema.
- A much more recent iteration of the camp, which is almost exclusively limited to Mexico City and its environs. Known as la plaza, these Glass Walkers fight on with nihilistic determination in a country where the Wyrm waxes triumphant, and Pentex can practically operate in the open. It is a land overrun with corruption, leeches and the most depraved exploitation, as both local cartels and international corporations alike carve out their own semi-feudatory sub-states. Here, the Glass Walkers have learned some hard lessons, and taken to certain tactics that nearly anywhere else in the Garou Nation would be condemned as a level of violence and terror more associated with the Black Spiral Dancers. Perhaps what is most troubling is that these Glass Walkers have made considerable progress in recent years, hitting the complacent forces of the Wyrm and excelling at Pentex's own game. Fortunately for the rest of the Garou Nation, la plaza remains a Mexican phenomena...for now.
Enforcer (Glory 2)
Your appearance is sufficiently thug-like to inspire fear (or at least disquiet) in those who see you. While you’re not necessarily ugly, you do radiate a quiet menace, to the point where people cross the street to avoid passing near you.
Bruiser (1-pt Merit) no longer counts against the Wise Guy's 10 dot Merit limit.
Bruiser: All Intimidation rolls against those who have not demonstrated their physical superiority to you are at -1 difficulty.
Hitter (Glory 4)
Crack Shot (2-pt Merit) no longer counts against the Wise Guy's 10 dot Merit limit.
The Old Ways (Honor 3)
Code of Honor (2-pt Merit) is no longer counted against your 10 dot Merit limit, when taken to represent your character's adherence to the traditions of a criminal fraternity such as Cosa Nostra, sistema or la plaza.
Code of Honor: Your character gains two additional dice to all Willpower rolls when he acts in accordance with his code of honor, or when he resists some temptation or compulsion that might get him to betray that code.
Under the Gun (Honor 6)
The Wise Guy lays a curse on his foe, ensuring certain death by bullets. While the curse is in effect, bullets (which excludes arrows, hurled knives, and any other missile weapons) are strangely attracted to the target. Although this Gift is useful in battle, most Wise Guys historically preferred to use it secretly on a chosen foe (or ostensible ally who made themselves a rival in some fashion) before a fight begins, therefore ensuring an “unfortunate accident."
System: The Wise Guy touches the intended target with her fingertips. The Garou then spends a Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Firearms. The curse lingers for one day per success. While it is in effect, the difficulty to strike the target with any sort of missile attack drops by two.
Note that this bonus will apply to anyone taking aim at the intended target, even if it were a tipped off Pentex First Team. This does not seem to be particularly honorable on the surface, yet the Wise Guys have always taken a very different approach to such matters.
Whispers on the Street (Wisdom 3)
The Glass Walkers’ enemies have historically been non-werewolves for the most part, since even the Black Spiral Dancers used to avoid the city. It’s no surprise that Gianluigi Lucci invented a Gift that allows communication exclusively between Garou. By picking up an object and whispering to the spirits surrounding it, the Garou can imbue it with a message that can be heard subconsciously by every werewolf picking it up. Sadly, this includes Black Spiral Dancers and non-Wise Guy Glass Walkers.
System: The Wise Guy spends one Willpower point and rolls Gnosis, difficulty 7. The number of successes determines how long the message stays within the object. One success means the message will endure for a scene, two successes a day, three successes a week, and four successes a year. Should you roll five successes, then the message is permanently locked into the object.
CAMP COST: 10 XP (2 Freebie)
Dedicated to bringing the Wyld into urban environments, the City Farmers are capable of creating veritable jungles on rooftops, in abandoned lots, and within city parks and green spaces. They believe that not only does city gardening (including growth in underground, indoor, or “found” niches like flower beds) integrate city populations with the power of the Wyld in ways many would not otherwise experience, but that properly done, it can halt urban expansion into what little wilderness still remains pure.
Work Ethic (Honor 1)
Hard work has never bothered you; in fact, you thrive on it. Not everyone is a celebrity in Los Angeles. The city wouldn't function without legions of criminally-unappreciated, unsung heroes.
Work Ethic (1-pt Merit) no longer counts against your 10 dot Merit limit.
Work Ethic: You regain 1 Willpower point, up to your normal maximum, whenever you work a full eight hours in a gardening, landscaping or otherwise botany-related capacity.
Gift of Salt (Honor 3)
This unassuming and yet highly useful Gift allows a City Farmer to preserve food at the peak of its freshness, such that its bounty might be enjoyed year-around. The only drawback is that all of the food preserved in this manner takes on a slightly salty taste (which might help explain the seemingly ubiquitous popularity of avocados in Los Angeles).
System: The City Farmer spends a Gnosis point for every 20 pounds of food to be preserved and rolls Intelligence + Science (or Herbalism) vs 6. The food remains fresh and insect free for one month per success, even if left in some basket on a rooftop.
Agro Culture (Wisdom 3)
The Garou can cause plants to take root and grow in places where it is usually impossible for plants to grow. This Gift does not make plants grow supernaturally fast; it simply gives them a chance for life where none existed before. The plants must still be tended to and watered. However, the plants can use artificial substances such as concrete and plastic for soil. They dig their roots in and grow. Plants can even be coaxed to grow out of walls, as long as they are nurtured during the process.
System: The City Farmer must plant seeds in the area to be fertilized. If this is a concrete wall, he must place the seeds in cracks within the surface. He then rolls Charisma + Science (or Herbalism) against a difficulty dependent on the toxicity of the area. An abandoned lot might be 5, a typical city building bathed in the smog of passing cars might be a 6 or 7, while an oil spill site might be 9.
CAMP COST: 20 XP (4 Freebies)
Perhaps more accurately labeled a movement than a true camp, the Urban Primitives struggle to unlock the feral side of the City, diving deep into the spiritual heart of the urban environment to connect with its technological heart-beat. They build tribal societies (both in the Nation and amongst humans) and commune with technology spirits, while decorating themselves with tattoos, piercings, scars, and brandings — embracing neo-ritualism and a retro-modern symbolism that only their camp seems to truly understand.
Pulse of the City (Glory 1)
Highly individualistic almost to a fault, Urban Primitives can take as many extra dots of General Merits without it counting against their 10 dot Merit limit, as half their highest Renown category, rounded up.
Intrusion (Glory 5)
It’s impossible to keep a cockroach out of a house, and it’s equally impossible to keep an Urban Primitive out, provided she has this Gift. Once this Gift is activated, the Glass Walker can easily overcome almost any barrier as the technology spirits make way for her. Doors mysteriously unlock upon her approach; padlocks fall open with no explanation. The Gift has, however, a very short and specific time limit.
System: The Urban Primitive spends one point of Gnosis and then rolls her Gnosis pool, difficulty 7. Every success will keep this Gift active for exactly fifteen seconds, and many Glass Walkers time themselves with stopwatches so they can know when this Gift will wear off.
During this time almost no mundane door or barrier can possibly stop the Glass Walker. Highly secure doors (such as foot-thick iron security doors) or especially complex automatic systems (such as laser grids and pressure plates) may still require a Dexterity or Wits + Larceny roll (with a difficulty modified by the Garou's Technology as usual), but every success on the initial Gnosis roll for this Gift adds one automatic success to such contests.
If the Garou botches this roll, they won't know it has failed until they expect it to help them...
False Comfort (Glory 9)
Humanity has done much to surround itself with comfort and safety. People have developed armor to protect themselves from their own weapons, security systems to keep out their own brothers and sprawling commercial complexes that cater to their every venal or luxurious whim. But the ancestor-spirits remember when these comforts were but dreams in the minds of clever humans, and they can teach the Garou how to bypass them. A Garou using this Gift does not shred armor or smash through doors, he simply ignores them entirely.
System: In a similar fashion to the Gift: Intrusion, the Urban Primitive spends one Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis (difficulty 8). For one turn per success, the Garou is completely unaffected by any human technology unless he chooses to be. The character can see, walk or reach through anything crafted by humanity including riot armor and sheer concrete walls. Nor will man-made implements of war, whether a bullet or an arrow, harm them. Even an 18-wheeler truck will bounce off of them while this Gift lasts.
CAMP COST: 25 XP (5 Freebies)
Founded by some of the most brilliant Garou the Nation have ever known, the Cyber Dogs sought to create a perfectly integrated balance of spirit, body, and machine: the ultimate weapon for Gaia. However, they were (for the most part) disbanded after the camp-leaders forced cybernetic body parts on lupus Garou, killing many of them. Remaining members of the camp still research cybernetics and other forms of transhumanism (despite starting with material that’s not quite “human”). They now speak of moderation, cautious progress, and (at least in public forums) the necessity of full disclosure to — and permission of — those involved.
It is only fairly recently that the Cyber Dogs have begun to speak openly about some of their philosophies. This is for the simple fact that most Garou simply weren't alive in the early 00's when the camp's horrifying trespass was revealed by some enterprising Random Interrupt hackers. Much like Generation Z has largely moved on from 9/11 or the Iraq War, your average Glass Walker is predisposed towards a certain sympathy for tonight's Cyber Dogs.
Another major reason for the modern Glass Walkers closing ranks around the Cyber Dogs, is that for the last twenty years, every Garou with an axe to grind against the Glass Walkers' seeming proximity to the Weaver has brought up the excesses of the Cyber Dogs again and again and again and again. Over time, what began as genuine remorse and a reevaluation of their approach has morphed into a defensive stance.
The division within the Glass Walkers regarding the Cyber Dogs underscores a broader debate about the tribe's identity and mission. There is in many quarters, genuine support for the Cyber Dogs' quest to explore the boundaries of Garou potential through technology. This faction views the integration of cybernetics and other forms of transhumanism as a necessary evolution in the Garou's arsenal against the forces threatening Gaia, appreciating the vision it takes to pursue such paths.
Meanwhile, a substantial segment of the tribe still harbors deep reservations about the Cyber Dogs, primarily due to the fallout from their past actions. This faction sees the camp's past experiments as a cautionary tale about the dangers of overreaching and the ethical quandaries inherent in blending technology with the Garou's spiritual and physical essence. They worry about the repercussions of such endeavors on the tribe's standing within the Garou Nation and the potential for further mistakes that could exacerbate the tribe's already tenuous position regarding its proximity to the Weaver.
What you will never find, however, is any Glass Walker willing to include Garou from other tribes in this internal debate.
Cybersenses (Wisdom 2)
By studying both his natural senses and the sensory capabilities of machines, the Garou may exchange the former for the latter. He may choose to exchange normal hearing for radar, or ordinary sight for infrared or UV sight.
System: The Glass Walker spends one Gnosis point per sense affected, and he rolls Perception + Science thereafter to activate the Garou’s new senses. This Gift lasts for one scene.
Cool Mind (Wisdom 4)
Too many Garou are afraid of advancing beyond the limits of their bodies. To counter this, the Cyber Dogs have a Gift that banishes fear, anxiety or any other emotion. Discarding their emotion temporarily, they're able to think perfectly logically.
System: The Cyber Dog rolls Intelligence + Science (difficulty 6). If successful, the Cyber Dog becomes cold and impersonal for as many turns as successes achieved, thinking entirely with intellect and ignoring emotion. Emotions do still exist as abstract concepts; a target can still think, “I love this man, so it would not be to my benefit to harm him.”
Garou under this Gift’s effects experience a +2 difficulty on Rage rolls, and cannot botch. Any supernatural powers or mundane attempts to play on their emotions suffers a +2 difficulty as well.
For the cost of a permanent Willpower point, the Cyber Dog can make this state of mind permanent, and prior to the camp's near eradication in the early 2000s, many did.
Steel Made Flesh (Wisdom 6)
Sometimes it’s useful to take a step back in order to facilitate many steps forward. An example would be in airports or other places with metal detectors. This Gift allows the Garou to change all cybernetics in his body back into flesh. While flesh, cybernetics do not operate.
System: The Cyber Dog spends one Gnosis. The cybernetics become flesh immediately. The Gift lasts for the rest of the scene.
Cooling System (Wisdom 8)
This Gift allows a Cyber Dog to safely push their cybernetic enhancements to their limits, increasing their efficiency and power for a short burst of time without the risk of damage or overheating. By invoking this Gift, the Garou can overclock their cybernetic parts, granting them enhanced physical or sensory capabilities, while preventing harm to both their mechanical and organic components.
System: The Cyber Dog can reflexively spend a point of Gnosis to double the effect of their cyberfetishes during their next turn. Note, since the Gnosis spend occurs on the prior turn, the Garou is still able to spend rage while benefiting from this Gift's effect.
CAMP COST: 35 XP (7 Freebies).
Even since ancient times, the Boli Zouhisze's appreciation for human culture and veneration of the spirit Cockroach have caused the native Fera of China to shun the Boli Zouhisze and exclude them from the Beast Courts, because insect imagery is heavily associated with the Wyrm among the Hengeyokai.
In 1813, the Boli Zouhisze allied themselves with the British East India Company after a long period of suffering at the hands of Wyrmish forces that had taken power during the rise of the Manchus in China. The Boli Zouhisze ended up smuggling opium for the company. Most of them moved to Hong Kong when it was offered to the British by the Chinese as a port in 1842.
The Boli Zouhisze suffered greatly from the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese government. Beijing attacked the Triads, which many Boli Zouhisze were affiliated with, and their primary caern was destabilized by the assassination of its elder by mainland leeches. That's when they made the decision to not suffer the same fate as the Stargazers of Tibet. With great sorrow, they abandoned Hong Kong and the Sept of Universal Trade rather than perish in a final stand.
Decades later, the Boli Zouhisze are now scattered among the British-Cantonese expatriate diaspora across the Pacific. The single largest cluster of them are located in Singapore (where they have established a highly successful sept), followed by Sydney and Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, they have become closely associated with Gideon Wu for better or for worse.
Sheng-Nong's Eyes (Glory 3)
The Boli Zouhisze can see from the perspective of his tools and draw on their concentration for the task at hand, allowing him to perform multiple actions with ease.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point. For the rest of the scene, the Garou need not be able to see his opponents in order to strike them - as long as he knows they're somewhere in his immediate vicinity. No visibility modifiers or off-hand penalties affect his actions while this Gift is in effect.
If the Garou already has the Ambidextrous merit, then they receive a +1 bonus to their dice pool when taking a split action that involves both hands.
Yu's Endurance (Glory 7)
The Boli Zouhisze becomes as untiring and eternal as the mountains, and cannot be defeated in a test of endurance.
System: The Garou spends one Rage point and one Willpower point. For the rest of the scene, the werewolf cannot outright fail or botch any task involving Stamina. Torturers can never break him; though he can’t breathe underwater and his lungs may fill with water, he will not die.
Note, this does not mean he entirely avoids any inconvenience whatsoever. There's nothing terribly fun about drowning or suffocating for thirty minutes straight, for example, even if he does technically pass every Stamina roll to stave off death.
The only exception to this is soaking damage. While this Gift is active, the werewolf is guaranteed to always soak at least one extra level of damage (even silver), but otherwise takes damage normally.
Fu Xi's Honor (Honor 5)
When confronted with a threat to a helpless member of the werewolf’s family or pack, the Boli Zouhisze can rise above her normal limits to defend them.
System: The Storyteller must agree that the member of the Garou’s family or pack is indeed helpless and unable to defend themselves. (With rare exception, any human facing a werewolf should be considered helpless.) The Boli Zouhisze may then spend one Rage and add one die to all his character’s Physical Attributes for every point of permanent Honor the character possesses, for the duration of the scene.
Huang Di's Sacrifice (Honor 8)
Whilst Huang Di was known for his inventions, he was also the Yellow Lord and a great leader. Normally used by the pack’s alpha, this Gift allows a leader to revitalize his followers in moments of darkness.
System: The Boli Zouhisze spends two points of Gnosis and rolls Intelligence + Leadership (difficulty 7). Each success allows a nearby packmate to heal a number of health levels (even aggravated) equal to the number of successes allocated to them.
Yao's Commands (Wisdom 7)
By threatening or cajoling one of the classic Eastern elementals (water, wood, fire, earth and metal), a Boli Zouhisze can coerce the spirit to manipulate or even destroy its earthly shell. Thus, an earthen embankment might collapse beneath the Garou’s foes; a wooden door might refuse to open, even if unlocked, or a car’s brakes might fail.
Incidentally, this Gift is a pretty good example for why the Beast Courts disliked the Boli Zouhisze.
System: The Garou spends 1 Gnosis and rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty of the spirit’s Gnosis). The Storyteller determines the precise effects, depending on the number of successes.
PATIENCE OF THE EARTH (glory)
Description: In desperate times the Uktena must call upon their endurance reserves to be vigilant, whether it is a Theurge locked in a multi-day rite, a Bane-Tender waiting vainly for reinforcements, or a lone warrior holding a mountain pass with no hope of retreat. This Gift gives them the strength to stave off the needs of the body in order to focus on the daunting task at hand. Those needs are not erased but merely deferred, however, so this ancestor-spirit-taught Gift is used only at great need. Many Bane-Tenders learn this Gift.
Often taught by: Uktena ancestor-spirits.
System: The Garou spends a Gnosis point and rolls Willpower (difficulty 6); the Gift lasts one day per dot of Glory Renown. During this time, the Garou can stay sharp without needing food, water, or sleep.
Once the Gift ends, the accused effects of hunger, muscle fatigue and lack of sleep all rush back. The exact effects are up to the Storyteller, but after several days of intense activity and the resulting sleep-deprivation psychosis the least one could expect is Willpower rolls to do anything except eat, drink and sleep.
Description: The werewolf’s hands and feet spout hundreds of tiny hooks, allowing her to climb across or cling to any surface — even sheer horizontal surfaces and ceilings.
Often taught by: gecko-spirits.
System: The Uktena spends one Gnosis. For the rest of the scene, the character can move across any solid surface at her normal walking speed. Staying attached to a vertical surface or ceiling while taking any more strenuous movement (fighting, moving faster than walking speed, attempting to dislodge a steam grate) requires a reflexive Stamina + Athletics roll, difficulty 7).
Description: Intruder legends tell of the uncanny ability of native peoples to hide in plain sight, even only yards away. This Gift allows the Uktena to blend into the landscape simply by crouching and keeping still. It isn’t invisibility; rather, the Garou draws the landscape into himself to appear to the unwary as a natural part of the terrain. This Gift is especially common among caern guardians.
Often taught by: any stealthy spirit, such as chameleon, etc.
System: The Uktena stands among terrain features (trees, thickets, etc) or simply hunkers down and wills herself to be one with the environment. A searcher must make a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 9) to recognize the Garou as something more interesting than a stump, and the expenditure of a Gnosis point negates three successes (this includes scent as well as sight).
If the searcher is looking directly away, the Garou may move slowly in any direction, but even the slowest movements while in the searcher’s field of view reveals her instantly.
Description: The werewolf blessed with this Gift can breathe underwater and swim as fast as he can run in Lupus form.
Often taught by: fish-spirits (unsurprisingly).
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis and rolls Stamina + Animal Ken (difficulty 7). The effects last for one hour per success.
Description: This Gift allows a Garou to appear physically grander and more impressive than he truly is. This can be used to throw an advancing Black Spiral Dancer off his stride or convince the biker he should find another chick to flirt with.
In Māori culture, the haka is a traditional war dance that includes vigorous movements, stomping feet, protruding tongues, and rhythmic body slapping to accompany a loud chant. The words of the chant often describe ancestors and events in the tribe's history. While the haka is perhaps the most internationally recognized form of this kind of display, similar practices exist in other indigenous cultures, each with its unique characteristics and significance.
Often taught by: crane or turkey-spirits.
System: By taking a turn to strike a pose (puff up the chest, brandish a weapon while sounding a war-whoop, and so on) and rolling their Manipulation + Intimidation (or Performance) vs 6, the Uktena can appear to be bigger, better and more impressive.
Any enemy who witnessed the Garou's war dance (or equivalent) must roll their Willpower (difficulty 6) and score more successes than the Uktena achieved. Failure (or tying) means they suffer the Uktena's successes (all of them) as a dice penalty to the first attack directed at the Uktena that scene.
Description: Few enemies would expect a werewolf to attack from above, which is precisely why the Uktena developed the means to do so. The Garou may hover, fly or float.
Often taught by: bird-spirits.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point, allowing them to fly at 20 mph and hover as she desires. The difficulties of all combat maneuvers increase by one.
Description: The Uktena can use this Gift to mesmerize an opponent by making direct eye contact. If the Gift is successful, the target freezes dead in his tracks.
Often taught by: spirit servants of Uktena.
System: First, the Uktena must make direct eye contact with an opponent; the Garou then rolls Manipulation + Intimidation to activate the Gift, with the difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower. The paralysis lasts one scene or until the opponent is physically or mentally attacked in some fashion.
Description: This Gift is another of those that draws on the ancient alliance with Turtle, summoning an earth-spirit to rampage forth and crush things or people at the werewolf’s bidding. The Earth Guide must have some earth at hand to invoke the earth-spirit, although a handful of earth or a smallish rock will suffice.
Often taught by: earth elementals.
System: The player spends one Gnosis and rolls Manipulation + Occult, difficulty 8. On a success the spirit is summoned and cuts a path of destruction in a straight line for up to 30 yards, inflicting 10 dice of lethal damage to anything in its path. Botching the summoning calls forth an earth-spirit that is hostile to its summoner.
Description: By drawing on the land’s energies, the Uktena can move any one object weighing more than 1000 pounds telekinetically. There are some who claim that this Gift allowed ancient Garou of ages past to aid their Kinfolk in raising vast megaliths and other monoliths.
Often taught by: An air elemental and an earth elemental must teach this Gift in concert.
System: The Uktena spends one Gnosis point and rolls Stamina + Occult (difficulty 7). The Uktena must maintain concentration in order to move the object, which travels at roughly 20 mph. The effect lasts for one turn per success.
The Garou can spend extra Gnosis to increase the size of the object they are capable of lifting by 1000 pounds for each point, and can spend a Willpower point to extend their control for as many extra turns as they initially rolled.
Description: Just as the anger within Great Uktena burns those who dare to face him, so can the follower of Uktena sear foes with his own Rage.
Often taught by: To one who is worthy, Uktena may teach this Gift.
System: The Garou concentrates for a full turn, focusing on the anger that burns within. Meeting the gaze of a single foe, he must spend a Rage point and make a roll as if to frenzy.
If successful, the Uktena does not frenzy but inflicts one level of aggravated damage per success just from his heated gaze, which can only be soaked at +2 difficulty.
SHADOWS AT DAWN (honor)
Description: Sometimes, one must give information to get information, or perhaps an explanation is necessary to get the curious to go away (and therefore preserve the Veil). Sometimes it is better if the subject never believes the Uktena was there at all. With this Gift, the Uktena can either share a bit of knowledge that later vanishes from the subject’s memory, or make hazy he was ever present to begin with.
Often taught by: night- and ancestor-spirits.
System: The Uktena rolls Manipulation + Subterfuge (difficulty is the opponent’s Perception + Subterfuge). The number of successes, shown below, determines the effects of the Gift.
If using this Gift to conceal a specific bit of lore, the Uktena must decide beforehand exactly what they are sharing and how long the knowledge remains clear, but never longer than 24 hours.
Success | Effect |
Botch | “Yes, that's definitely him, Officer,”; secret retained with unusual clarity |
One | You won't be recognized if it was a fleeting encounter at night, in the rain; secret becomes elusive and garbled |
Two | You won't be recognized if it was a fleeting encounter or in the dark; secret is maddeningly beyond reach |
Three | You won't be specifically remembered if the contact was in passing, though will seem vaguely familiar; subject forgets he was told the secret |
Four | You won't be remembered, provided you don't re-engage with that individual at length; subject’s own part in discussion is vague |
Five | “I'm sorry, have we met before?”; subject forgets the conversation took place |
This Gift requires the additional expenditure of a Gnosis point if used against a supernatural creature. It does not function against other Uktena.
Description: Some things were not meant to be seen. This Gift enables the Uktena to engage in combat or reconnaissance without unnecessary bloodshed, using the cover of darkness to neutralize threats or gather crucial information that can protect the community and the sacred places they guard.
Often taught by: night-spirits.
System: The Uktena can create a field of inky blackness through which only she can see. Spend a Gnosis point and roll Gnosis (difficulty varies: 3 for twilight, 6 for indoors, 9 for bright sunlight).
Each success blacks out a 10′ by 10′ by 10′ area. The area chosen must be within their direct line of sight.
Description: The Uktena need not carry her fetishes with her at all. She may draw them from a hidden cache whenever she needs them, no matter the distance.
Often taught by: packrat-spirits.
System: The first part of the Gift involves creating the secret hiding spot for the fetishes. The player spends one Gnosis and buries or covers her items. Once this ritual is complete, she need only spend another Gnosis point to summon any or all of her fetishes, or to return them to their hiding place.
When summoned, the fetish appears in her hand as if from thin air. Just one hiding spot can exist at any one time, but the Uktena can create a new spot at any time.
Description: Indigenous Kinfolk nations used to use all sorts of things as mediums of exchange; colorful seashells were the most popular. With this Gift, a Garou can transform a shell into another method of exchange preferred by the Wyrmcomer's; dollars, coins, English pounds, Japanese yen, whatever.
There is nothing about the use of this Gift which conflicts with the Uktena's sense of Honor when used to help them and their Kinfolk survive and thrive in modern cities.
Often taught by: trickster-spirits.
System: The Uktena must spend a Gnosis point and roll Wits + Streetwise at difficulty 7. The number of successes determines the value of the resulting money.
Using the dollar as an example, one success might create a five dollar bill, three successes a handful of twenties, and five successes could conjure up $1000 in hundreds. The shell cannot be changed into precious metal (gold or silver), or gems/jewelry, only an exact facsimile of actual money (including traveler’s checks and money orders).
Once this gift wears off (and it does so in an hour’s time), the money turns back into a pretty shell.
Description: Using this Gift, an Uktena can call forth dark tentacles of shadow, mist or fog that wrap around enemies and hold them in a viselike grip.
Often taught by: snake-spirits.
System: The Garou rolls Manipulation + Occult, difficulty 7. Each success causes a single coil to come forth from the surrounding air. The coils focus on a single target, unless the werewolf makes attack rolls against multiple targets, with the normal penalties to the rolls for multiple actions. (In this case, the PC would need to make his Dexterity + Occult roll as a split action, directed at multiple targets.)
- The coils only bind; they can't inflict damage. The Garou has no control over the coils once they are summoned.
- To break free, the victim must make a Strength roll, difficulty 7. If his successes exceed the number of coils, he's free. If not, he's still a prisoner.
- The tentacles last until the end of the scene or until the summoner decides to send them away. (i.e., How long the captured opponent might remain bound for.)
Alternatively, the Garou can spend a Gnosis point to summon a single, stronger tentacle with greater utility. This coil has the same physical characteristics as the Garou's Homid Form who summoned it, +1 dot per two successes rolled (rounding down). It can be used to drag people around, grab objects and so forth. The Garou can only have one greater tentacle active at any given time.
Description: The Uktena dominates a talen-bound spirit, spinning webs of metaphysical authority to forcibly lengthen its service to her. Some consider the necessity of this Gift unfortunate, but the Uktena are not willing to perish, just for the sake of politeness. It's also the case that sometimes a spirit knows too much, and it's better for all concerned if they remain where they are - at least for a little while longer.
This can either be done courteous (leaving the spirit at least somewhat consensually resigned to their lengthened imprisonment) or very brashly indeed.
Often taught by: spider-spirits.
System: Upon using a talen, the player may reflexively spend one Gnosis point to keep the spirit bound within from departing. The spirit won't be thrilled with this, but they won't necessarily hold a grudge over it, either.
Alternatively, the Uktena may forgo spending this Gnosis point, but the difficulty to activate the talen (or cost if relevant) will increase by one each time thereafter. Needless to say, if the Garou should botch one of those rolls, they better be ready for a reckoning.
Description: There are some tasks the Uktena are called upon to perform which must remain unseen - for the good of all. With this Gift, the Garou can vanish from sight without drawing the same attention that Shroud might provoke, for example.
Often taught by: spirit servants of Uktena.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Occult (difficulty varies: 4 if already concealed, 6 if in open, 9 if in plain sight). Anyone looking for the Garou must score more successes on a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 8) than the player did on the initial roll.
If so desired, this Gift guarantees a successful ambush attack with the original successes counting automatically for the ambush bonus dice. This obviously causes their invisibility to drop.
There are some drawbacks: The Garou must concentrate on staying invisible. He cannot move faster than half normal walking speed, and he cannot draw attention to himself.
Description: Harnessing their deep connection to the natural and spiritual worlds, an Uktena can summon the primal force of one of the four classic elements—earth, air, fire, or water—to assist in their endeavors.
Often taught by: elemental spirits.
System: The Uktena spends one Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis (difficulty of the area’s Gauntlet). She must then roll Manipulation + Occult (difficulty 7) to make the elemental look favorably upon the Garou. The elemental vanishes at the end of the scene.
Description: Sometimes, death is the only way out. But that doesn’t mean you want to stay that way. With this Gift, the Uktena may appear dead, following the expected progression (lividity, rigor, etc.) well enough to fool a forensics team. While “dead,” the Uktena is in a muted state, unable to move; his senses are still active but dulled and dreamlike. The danger is reviving, as the effort required to return to the living increases with time, and eventually the character is no longer feigning.
Often taught by: ancestor- and opossum-spirits.
System: It takes a Gnosis point, a Wits + Occult roll (difficulty 6) and three turns to “die.” Once in a state of “death,” the body cools and exhibits all the normal signs of death at the proper rate of progression for environmental conditions. To realize something isn’t right, observers must make a Perception + Investigation roll (difficulty 8) and attain more successes than the “dead” werewolf achieved.
During this death trance, the Uktena need not breathe, eat or meet any other bodily functions, and his form is quite resilient to normal damage. It will not however protect them from being incinerated, thrown in a woodchipper or being drained of blood and having their organs removed in an autopsy. Pre-existing wounds will maintain the illusion of their current state, while slowly healing as if it were aggravated damage (one level per day).
Meanwhile, the character may hear, smell, and see (assuming his eyes are open) while in the death trance, but all rolls to perceive anything are at +2 difficulty. A view from the Penumbra by someone who knows what to look for, will perceive that the Uktena's spirit still resides in their body, but appears to be in some kind of Slumber.
The Death Trance Gift lasts as long as the Uktena wishes. And there are rumors of some Uktena elders remaining in this trance for a very long time, indeed. There are however, significant dangers to remaining in this state for longer than a month - such as a much greater difficulty to wake up, or for one's spirit to slip away into the Umbra. These potential consequences will be arbitrated by the Storyteller as necessary.
Description: The Uktena has inherited a measure of the lost Croatan’s legendary stubbornness and strength of purpose, from which Older Brother can also draw great power. A Garou with this Gift can persevere against all odds, pursuing a goal of vengeance or a spiritual quest to its end when even great heroes would turn back.
Often taught by: a Croatan ancestor-spirit, thus likely requiring a great quest.
System: As the Garou ritually declares her purpose or quest to all within earshot he spends a permanent Gnosis point. From that point on, the Garou has no choice but to follow her quest to the bitter end. However, any Willpower or Gnosis rolls made in pursuit of that quest always gain five extra dice (even if this takes his dice pool over 10) and the Garou also gains five extra Willpower and Gnosis points to spend while on his quest (unused points disappear at the quest’s completion).
These bonus Willpower and Gnosis points exist in a separate pool for the duration of the quest (much as that gained from Totem benefits) and are not added directly to the Garou's temporary points.
If the Garou chooses to abandon her quest before it is completed, she loses any remaining bonus Willpower or Gnosis points and one permanent Willpower point which may never be regained.
Note that the quest does not have to succeed, but it must come to a definite resolution for the Garou not to lose permanent Willpower.
WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS (WISDOM)
Description: All werewolves have an innate connection to their ancestors, a form of racial unconscious accessible through intense meditation. The Uktena can tap into these deep memories to remember ancient facts and lore.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Uktena must meditate for an hour, concentrating on the past and spending one Gnosis. The Garou then rolls Intelligence + Meditation (difficulty 9, -1 for each point of Ancestors the Garou possesses).
Success enables the Garou to add half their Wisdom Renown (rounded down; minimum +1) as a bonus to a specific Knowledge dice check for the rest of the scene. It may also apply to a Survival roll, if the environment is one which the Uktena's ancestors were familiar with.
The Storyteller is the final arbiter of what constitutes a plausible subject.
Description: The Uktena are well versed in hunting and tracking prey, yet there are times when they have no idea where such a trail starts or which journey to undertake first when a choice presents itself. This Gift allows the Garou to perceive the beginning of the path she must take in a given situation, even if she herself is not sure of its ultimate purpose.
Often taught by: any spirit that belongs to Uktena's brood.
System: The Gift must be utilized after dark, though there need not be a moon in the sky. It can even be used underground or in windowless structures so long as it is dark outside. The Uktena makes a Perception + Survival roll (difficulty 8). Only one success is needed.
If successful, a ghostly pale blue-white beam of moonlight points to the correct direction for one scene. Sometimes, as when the Garou doesn’t know why she needs to move in a certain direction or what to do once she reaches her destination, it becomes a leap of faith, with the werewolf starting on an unknown path and only later discovering why.
Description: The Uktena can discern magical energies, whether they emanate from Garou Gifts, vampiric wizardry or even the strange machinations of human willworkers.
Often taught by: spirit servants of Uktena.
System: The Uktena rolls Perception + Enigmas. The difficulty is based on the strength and subtlety of the magic. The Uktena cannot tell the exact nature of the magic, although vague clues such as “Gaian” or “blood magic” might be granted with sufficient successes. The radius is 10 feet per success.
Description: As the Uktena seek all things hidden, they may be gifted with the ability to find and see within unseen hollows such as caves, hollow trees, underwater caverns and hidden spaces. Objects and beings within the hidden area are seen as though lit by normal daylight and may even be examined utilizing other Gifts such as Sense Magic.
Often taught by: spirits of burrowing animals.
System: The Garou concentrates on a single area no larger than a small hill for one turn. Keeping his eyes shut, he may then “see” any open areas inside that space (including any persons, treasures, hidden pools, etc. within the place).
Rolling Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 6) allows the character to see to a depth of ten feet for each success. By spending a point of Willpower, he may also bring into play any Perception-based powers he possesses.
Description: Any Garou in the Penumbra can peer back into the physical world, but it’s not easy, and it’s not without risk. Werewolves can also peek from the Earth to the Penumbra, though it’s even more difficult (The Gnosis roll is against a difficulty of the local Gauntlet plus three, up to a difficulty of 9). This Gift gives the Uktena a much easier time of it.
Often taught by: owl-spirits.
System: The Uktena spends a Gnosis point and then rolls either Gnosis or Perception + Alertness (whichever is highest) to Peek across either side of the Umbra, and the difficulty is always the Gauntlet rating, regardless of which side they are on (instead of adding +3 when on the Earth side).
Once activated, this Gift lasts for the rest of the scene (unless they move into an area with a higher Gauntlet) and can be turned off and on without needing to spend another Gnosis point. Note that while focused on the Umbra, the character cannot see in the physical realm.
Description: The werewolf’s claws burn with mystic force, rending apart the delicate workings of magic.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: After the Uktena makes a successful claw attack, they may spend a point of Willpower to end the effects of any single ongoing magical power enhancing the target (such as the Gift: Razor Claws, or the Armor Charm).
Permanent magical effects cannot be rent asunder by this Gift, nor powers that are innate to the nature of the target. For example, a werewolf’s Gift could be cancelled, but not her ability to shapeshift; a vampire’s Disciplines could be disrupted, but not her immortality or her ability to spend blood to raise her Attributes.
In the event that a magical effect mixes permanent and temporary elements, the permanent elements are retained while transitory elements are disabled. For example, a vampire’s Potence would continue to passively grant extra Strength dice, but blood could not be spent to transform those dice into automatic successes.
Description: Silvery filaments spin out from the Garou’s claws, becoming streamers of mist that enwrap and confound nearby spirits, sapping their strength.
Often taught by: fog-spirits.
System: The Uktena concentrates for a turn, spends one Gnosis point and rolls Dexterity + Enigmas (difficulty 7).
One spirit of the player’s choice within 200 feet (60 m) is affected per success. Spirits struck by this Gift treat their Rage, Gnosis, and Willpower ratings as though they were one lower than they truly are for the purpose of all dice rolls for the rest of the scene.
Description: The Uktena, ever delving into spirit matters, have learned the secrets of attacking Banes in the spirit world without ever leaving the physical realm. The Uktena’s arms seem to blur and vanish as she strikes into the Penumbra.
Often taught by: spirit servants of Uktena.
System: The werewolf must first perceive an enemy in the nearby spirit world (such as via peeking, the Gift: Umbral Sight or some other means). She may then spend a Gnosis point to attack anything she sees in the Penumbra, including spirits that are not materialized. She rolls her normal attack maneuver at one higher than normal.
Description: By staring into a mirror or other reflective surface, the Uktena can witness distant events or spy on rivals. She can follow a comrade’s progress into a dangerous ambush or sneak a peek into the Tremere chantry house. Other supernaturals, especially ones with similar abilities, may have defenses against this Gift.
Often taught by: fly-spirits.
System: After spending one Gnosis point, the Uktena must roll Perception + Occult (difficulty 8). The difficulty increases to 10 if the Garou does not posses an item owned by the target or something taken from the chosen area. The Uktena can see everything as if she were the proverbial fly on the wall.
Early in the history of the Uktena, they had another Totem, Skyhawk. At some unspecified point during the settlement of the Pure Lands, their Totem vanished and Older Brother won the allegiance of Uktena instead, after whom they renamed themselves. Some elders whisper that Uktena had once served the Balance Wyrm, the unoriginal uncorrupted incarnation of the Wyrm. They say that Uktena defeated Skyhawk to claim Older Brother's loyalty for himself, such as to guide the Pure Ones in striking back at the Wyrm and reclaiming secrets from his now corrupted master.
Description: With this Gift, the Uktena can learn to aid another Garou who has succumbed to the service of the Wyrm, and guard them from the Destroyer’s influence. Like a taste of wormwood, which brings clarity to the mind, two Garou join their spirits together beneath the cleansing, eternal waters of the Great Uktena’s spirit. With this Gift, depending upon each other, they may resist the attraction of the Wyrm that drives werewolves into unspeakable acts and mindless vile savagery.
Often taught by: the Great Uktena - and not often.
System: The target character must already have fallen into the service of the Wyrm, by walking the Black Spiral or through other means. The Garou using this Gift must spend a point of Gnosis and make a Manipulation + Empathy roll against her target’s Willpower. If she succeeds, the target character may resist the horrific urges that the Wyrm brings for the remainder of the scene.
This may be enough to allow the fallen Garou to attempt the long road back to Gaia’s graces, but those who are long fallen or far from Gaia’s grace may need much more than a simple application of this Gift. If the Gifted werewolf fails, her own current frenzy difficulty decreases by one, and she may be unable to avoid falling into the Thrall of the Wyrm.
UKTENA CAMPS
The Uktena camps (which they refer to as societies) described below, are for the most intended to represent some of the tribe's most pervasive themes which groups of like-minded tribe-members unite around in search of certain secrets. Each so-called society has a particular focus and seeks a specific kind of knowledge. Some wish to explore only the secrets of the material world; others look to the spirit lands or even places that should remain hidden. There's nothing really formal about this - as Uktena calls to each of his children differently.
What's more important to the Uktena by far, are what they refer to as lodges, which are tied to specific geographic locations. The lodges themselves are often mistaken for camps by outsider Garou, since most societies (especially Earth Guides and Bane Tenders) have their philosophical origins in especially influential, historical lodges. Unlike with societies, there is always a highly selective, secret and ritualized progression from an initiate to a fully fledged member within any given lodge. This is also why down the ages, many lodges have faded away as their secret lore and initiation rituals were lost with the death of some elder or other tragedy.
There are few Uktena that care how someone refers to themselves in terms of society (with only one or two notable exceptions), but there is a deep interest in and respect for the regional lodges where the tribe's ideals find their highest and truest expression.
The societies described below should be considered broad stereotypes that are as accurate as possible within a thematic range that is recognizable to the entire tribe. Lodges are much more secretive and addressed on their own terms, when relevant, ICly. It is also very rarely that the Uktena discuss lodges with those outside the tribe, except perhaps Younger Brother.
CAMP COST: 45 XP (9 Freebies) / Restricted
It's a thankless and lonely job, but someone has to do it. Don't bother becoming one of us if you can't handle the isolation... and the fear in people's eyes when we come around.
A dedicated group of powerful Medicine Workers, this camp demonstrates a fanatical devotion to keeping what’s left of the Pure Lands pure. Most have little time for being involved with a sept or pack; they spend all their time focused on their terrifying responsibilities: the Great Banes bound into Umbral prisons by the Uktena who first came to the Pure Lands.
This is one of the societies that the Uktena take very seriously. Generally speaking, one does not choose to become a Bane Tender. They either somehow find themselves in that role whether they willed it or not, or more commonly, they are chosen to be apprenticed to an elder Bane Tender, whereupon they spend years (if not decades) preparing to take over the older werewolf's responsibilities.
The Chumash lodge known as the Keepers of the Western Gate consisted of both Earth Guides and Bane Tenders. It persisted for thousands of years, down until the 1970s, when the last elder Bane Tender known as Ojai Moon (the grandfather of Isabel Moon, who was herself the grandmother of Morena Moon), died of old age without passing on his secrets.
In addition to various secret rites that are virtually always unique to their specific responsibilities, elder Bane Tenders are known for the powerful (and often unsettling) Gifts they may call upon.
Bare the Heart (Honor 6)
Bane Tenders use this Gift to delve into others for signs of Wyrm-taint. Using the clear sight granted him by this Gift, an Uktena can look beyond outward manifestations, internal manipulations and even magical disguises that might mask Wyrm-taint, corruption or evil intent and pierce straight to the heart of the truth.
Thus, the Garou might note that an otherwise normal-looking person is really a fomor or a Black Spiral Dancer by use of this Gift.
System: The Bane Tender using this Gift must spend at least one turn intently observing the person he wishes to examine. While doing so, he attunes himself to the person’s innermost core, the truth of the heart, and spends two points of Gnosis. He then rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty 6).
Even one success uncovers a falsehood if any exists and the nature of the mask (cosmetic, magical, etc.). Two successes pinpoint how deeply the taint runs and the exact nature of the hidden heart (i.e., if the target is Wyrm-corrupted, a Bane, a vampire, etc.), while three or more successes allows the Garou to discover such a creature’s immediate intent (i.e., what its plans are for the remainder of the scene.
Strength of the Guardian (Wisdom 5)
This Gift provides Bane Tenders with extra power when attempting to bind or destroy a Bane (or other troublesome spirit) or keep it locked within its bindings. This is usually used against a Bane that the Garou is responsible for overseeing. Occasionally, another Bane Tender will be overcome, and the Garou must use this to regain control of the newly loosed Bane.
Even more rare are those instances when the Garou is asked to locate and bind a particular Bane. This Gift is never used simply to overcome a Bane met by chance. It is too costly. The power gained lasts for the duration of the battle or scene.
System: The player rolls Gnosis (difficulty 6). Each success allows her to boost a chosen Attribute by one point – even if it goes beyond normal maximum (or her Willpower to a maximum of 10). When used, the Garou decides whether she wishes to increase her Strength, Stamina, Charisma, Manipulation and/or Willpower to aid her in her battle. Each might be useful depending on her intentions.
Thus a Garou who gets five successes might raise her overexertion is a commensurate exhaustion. When the Gift comes to an end, the Garou loses an equal number of points from the Attributes and Willpower raised as she gained. This loss remains for 24 hours. Raising one’s Attributes beyond their normal doubling is very dangerous, for if they then fall below zero, the Garou dies unless immediately healed with Mother’s Touch.
Curse of Corruption (Wisdom 7)
This Gift allows a Bane Tender to take part of the taint from the Bane he is guarding and infuse the one cursed with it. This takes the form of some physical loss or mental instability that makes functioning much more difficult; it may wither limbs, inflict the target with a permanent nausea, make her bones brittle and likely to shatter or cause paralysis.
It can also cause unstable personality quirks (foolish risk-taking, being insulting to those of greater rank, refusing to obey orders or cooperate with one’s pack, complete unreasoning cowardice) or reduce the target to idiocy. Effects last for one full lunar cycle (i.e., one month) from the time the curse is inflicted.
System: The Garou must choose to afflict her target either mentally or physically. She then spends two points of Gnosis and rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (versus a difficulty equal to her target’s Gnosis). One success inflicts a minor effect or one that only functions sporadically, while more successes cause more serious afflictions or ones that constantly affect the target throughout the length of the curse. Storytellers should be creative, but fair when assigning curses.
Pointing the Bone (Wisdom 9)
The Bane Tender can inflict ranged damage by simply pointing a bone at an opponent. After gathering the bone from some corpse herself, the Uktena can change it into a devastating weapon.
System: The Bane Tender rolls Perception + Occult (difficulty 7) and spends one Gnosis point to target any opponent she can see. The number of successes equals the number of aggravated Health Levels the attack causes to the target. The bone shatters after one use, but any properly harvested bone will suffice.
This Gift inflicts double damage when used against either a spirit or the spirit-possessed.
CAMP COST: 30 XP (6 Freebies)
Special: The rare, gifted Kinfolk may join this society, although they are clearly limited in the final benefits. Still, they will receive much more respect from those Uktena Garou whose cultural identity is most relevant.
Some say we're too arrogant and too tied to the past, heedless of the future. Well, I can counter that easily enough. If it wasn't for us keeping our links with ancestors and old ways strong, we'd not have a clue about a few important rites, such as, oh, how some of the worst of Grandfather Serpent's brood were banished. The others should think on that next time they're tempted to criticize how we do things.
The Earth Guides preserve the traditions of Native American — and now other — peoples, learning the dances and stories, arts and crafts, rituals, and beliefs of whatever human stock they come from, and making certain the old ways are not lost or forgotten. Some dedicate themselves to learning and preserving the songs and ways of the wolf from the lupus-Kin.
You will nearly always find Earth Guides at the core of the Uktena's various regional lodges, where they are responsible for its traditions, secrets and ritual continuity. Perhaps surprisingly, this membership is not always exclusive to werewolves, as certain lodges will include the wisest and eldest of the Kinfolk tribal leaders and medicine workers.
The Chumash lodge known as the Keepers of the Western Gate consisted of both Earth Guides and Bane Tenders. It persisted for thousands of years, down until the 1970s, when the last elder Bane Tender known as Ojai Moon (the grandfather of Isabel Moon, who was herself the grandmother of Morena Moon), died of old age without passing on his secrets.
Another's Moccasins (Honor 2)
The human cultures of Uktena Kinfolk are too-frequently ignored or misunderstood by the mainstream; their wolf Kin are persecuted as a matter of course. This Gift opens the eyes of the ignorant to life on the other side, showing them a new and (for a while, at least) fascinating perspective. By speaking sincerely with the subject about the culture or species in question, the Earth Guide can instill curiosity or appreciation for the culture (usually in government or the media) — or if particularly successful, an obsession with learning about and aiding the Uktena's Kinfolk.
System: The Uktena must have the subject’s undivided attention and engage in a brief conversation about the culture in question (for instance, the Navajo or wolves). The Garou then rolls Charisma + Expression (difficulty is 10 minus the subject’s Intelligence).
For one success, the subject may pick up a Hillerman novel, or admit to himself that wolves were important to the balance of nature, at least before humans changed things. For five+ successes, he might well involve himself in humanitarian efforts on the reservation, or spend his vacation trekking to Alaska in the hopes of having a Farley Mowat experience with a wolf pack.
The Gift’s effects last about a week per success, but with luck a natural interest develops as the subject delves into his study of the culture. The subject of this Gift must be a normal human (although a persuasive Uktena might still find non-supernatural means to inspire others).
Safe Cave (Honor 4)
The Garou can cause the earth to split before him, creating a hole into a small cave that can hold up to five more Crinos-sized people. The hole can be sealed once within the cave, so that no one outside can discern its presence without supernatural means.
System: The player must spend a Gnosis point and make a Charisma + Survival roll, difficulty 7, to open the cave. The decision of whether or not to seal the cave must be made within three turns; the Garou can’t just open and close the cave once it’s been created. The cave lasts for a variable amount of time; once the duration expires, anyone in the cave pops out as the cave disappears.
Successes Duration
One One minute
Two Ten minutes
Three One hour
Four Six hours
Five+ Twelve hours
The cave dwellers are safe from physical attack, but some Gifts (such as Hand of the Earth Lords) can still affect them, as can any concentrated burrowing effort that can dig down into the cave and break its seal.
Pull Water (Wisdom 3)
Using a forked stick or a smooth stone, a Garou can locate water hidden underground or within a succulent plant and pull it to the surface to be used. This Gift may tap into underground wells, water locked within loamy ground, moisture held within cacti or deep streams far beneath the desert floor. Some Uktena have used this Gift to help their Kinfolk in desert nations irrigate their fields, while others have kept a pack from dying of thirst when crossing badlands and open desert.
System: The player rolls Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 6). For each success, he may call upon enough water to sustain a single person for one day.
Ancestral Recall (Wisdom 6)
By accustoming themselves to a particular area or tribal group, the Earth Guides can “recall” pertinent information about tribal practices or traditions that may have been lost over time. This might uncover hidden lore of the tribe or simply reveal everyday information not generally known by outsiders.
System: The Earth Guide must have spent at least 24 hours in the presence of those whose tribal memories she is attempting to access. The player then rolls Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 7). The number of successes determines the strength and obscurity of the information available. If the Garou can access hidden or forgotten lore, the player must spend a point of Gnosis to learn it.
Successes | Information |
One | Common Information |
Two | Uncommon (When dancing their harvest rites, the tribe wore corn silk tied to their costumes) |
Three | Obscure (known to some tribal elders, i.e., the tribe once served as guardians of a particular fetish) |
Four | Hidden (known only to the greatest Medicine Workers, passed on to a trusted successor; i.e., the tribe’s dancing place lies atop the resting place of a powerful evil spirit and their dances keep it pacified) |
Five + | Forgotten (known only to ancient ancestors; i.e. “Our people once knew this evil spirit’s true name. Perform this service for my descendants, and I will tell it to you.” |
Spirit Horse (Wisdom 9)
A potent Gift, Spirit’s Horse allows an Earth Guide to turn her body into a temporary home for an ancestor-spirit or other important creature from the time of legends. The Gift provides more than the memories and abilities associated with the Ancestors Background because for a brief time, the Uktena actually becomes the spirit who inhabits her body.
This Gift is often used to an ancestor by allowing them to physically take part in a ceremony or moot, meet her descendants and share in the joys of the physical world. The Rite of Invitation to the Ancestors is often used in conjunction with this Gift, and these events almost never take place outside a tribal moot or council.
System: This is a Gift with both incredible risks and marvelous benefits. To begin the process, the Earth Guide rolls Charisma + Occult, difficulty 8; however, the Storyteller may choose to lower the difficulty by one if the summoner has some sort of special rapport with the spirit to be summoned. Perhaps the Uktena is a direct descendant or has somehow done honor to the spirit beforehand. In any case, the Ancestors Background isn’t required to use the Gift.
One or two successes means the spirit comes into the werewolf’s body, but for a brief time (one scene). Three or four successes means the spirit remains for several scenes. Five successes means the bond is so complete, the spirit may stay until requested to depart. No successes indicates the spirit doesn’t come, but a botch means that either the spirit refuses to leave or that the spirit inhabiting the body is not the one summoned; she must be pacified before leaving.
The player must make a Willpower roll, difficulty 7, for the Uktena to remain aware of what’s going on around him, though he can’t interact with the spirit. Simple failure means that he is effectively “unconscious” while the ancestor-spirit is present. For all intents and purposes, the character is the ancestor, enabling the long-dead spirit to talk, dance and otherwise interact with werewolves in the present.
A botch on this Willpower roll may have unintended consequences - the exact nature of which is dependent on the motivations of the possessing ancestor spirit. A double botch for example (both inviting the wrong spirit and then potentially enabling them to overstay their welcome) could have truly disastrous consequences.
CAMP COST: 60 XP (12 Freebies) / Restricted
By our own laws, I can't tell you our purpose. But I can say that Uktena guides us in our mission, as he does all our tribe. Trust me when I say it is best you don't know any more than this.
Probably the most secretive society of the Uktena, the Dancers supposedly practice magics unknown to other Garou, although their true secrets are revealed only to those deemed worthy to join their numbers. Many Uktena find this society to be unsettling for their alleged dabbling with Grandfather Serpent, although few doubt their unusually strong and personal link with the Great Uktena.
The Path Dancers are known as commanding mystics who use Gifts and rituals unfamiliar to all other Uktena. They are very selective about how they choose to join their circle. A prospective member must pass some sort of initiation, and if the werewolf fails, she cannot recall any memories of her time with the Path Dancers.
- Path Dancers are allowed to learn Mortal+ Path Magic (with the Practice of 'Shamanism' or 'Medicine Work'), subject to all the normal rules and requirements. This essentially functions like an Uktena version of Cat or Fox Magic (7 pt Merit). It costs a premium as it is more rare among werewolves and doesn't take up Merit dots.
- They receive one free Numina dot in any single Sorcery Path at the time of joining this camp.
Fetish Doll (Wisdom 7)
Description: Sympathetic magic is the oldest form of sorcery, and it is still effective. Although many cultures find this sort of magic repellent, the Uktena believe that the ends well justify the means. The Garou can harm his victim from afar using a specially created doll. He must have a piece of his victim or an object belonging to him, and he must then construct the doll.
System: The doll takes one week to construct and enchant. The Uktena rolls Perception + Crafts (difficulty 8) to construct the doll. When the doll is complete, the Garou may roll Intelligence + Occult (difficulty of the victim’s Willpower).
Each success inflicts one level of aggravated damage on the victim, which he may soak if he is capable of doing so. The doll is only capable of transferring 10 levels of damage. After 10 successes, the doll is too mutilated to be of further use. A botched roll destroys the doll without inflicting any damage.
CAMP COST: 35 XP (7 Freebies)
To scorn the journey is to scorn the wisdom it bestows.
The Scouts have had an elite reputation as unparalleled trackers, hunters, messengers and explorers since the Uktena came to the Pure Lands.
In the past they acted as go-betweens for Umbral spirits and the shamans among their Kinfolk, appearing as “spirit-wolves” with otherworldly wisdom. Today, they're more likely to serve as messengers between the scattered septs of the tribe and keep contact with Uktena who have joined mixed septs, as well as visiting solitary Bane Tenders to help tend their needs and bring news of their vigils back to the rest of the tribe.
Not a few werewolves scorn the Scouts for their wanderings, suggesting that without a permanent pack or sept, they are not following their natures. Some Scouts have sidestepped this problem by forming questing packs. These packs work together to uncover lost spirits and long-forgotten lore, or seek totem spirits that vanished long ago to the deepest Umbra. It is was pack of such Scouts, many years ago, that were reputedly responsible for helping guide Lion and Mammoth back to the sept.
Camouflage (Glory 2)
The Scout blends in with the surrounding wilderness, which makes him very difficult to see.
System: The difficulties to spot the Scout increase by three, provided that he is in a wooded or otherwise rural setting (Griffith Park or the Mojave Desert is fine...the dog park down the street isn't).
Once learned, the Garou can invoke this Gift on a whim.
Fast Track (Glory 4)
This Gift strengthens the Garou’s stamina and allows her to travel much more quickly than would normally be possible. Using the Gift allows the Garou to determine the path of least resistance, so she can move from one place to another with great speed and less interference. In effect, the Scout can make a forced march that covers three times the distance she would normally cover in the same amount of time and arrive no more tired than usual.
The Scout can cover even more distance if used alongside the Gift: Patience of the Earth (which alleviates the need for sleep and muscle fatigue, which increases how far they can travel in a day before this Gift is taken into account). This Gift can be further combined with the Ragabash Gift: Pathfinder to accomplish truly supernatural feats of traversing almost any hostile wilderness or parched wasteland. However, unlike Pathfinder, the travel time reduction does not extend to the Scout's pack.
System: The Scout must roll Stamina + Athletics (difficulty 7) and spend a point of Gnosis. A single success allows the Garou to make a forced quick-march by trotting at a ground-eating pace for the rest of the day. This allows the Garou - on average - to cover about three times more ground than they would have been able to without this Gift.
In addition, the Scout's continual movement does not penalize any Perception or tracking-based rolls such as when checking for animal spoor, signs of passage from their enemies or ambushes.
Eye of the Hawk (Glory 6)
The Scout with this Gift can loose any arrow from her bow and unerringly hit her target, no matter where she stands, as long as there is a path through the air. The Gift sends the arrow traveling like a bird through any available space, diving over or under obstacles and around corners to reach its mark. However, the arrow cannot pass through any barrier that a normal arrow could not pierce.
System: The Scout rolls Perception + Archery against a difficulty of 8. The wielder of the Gift must form in her mind a picture of the target and its general location before letting loose the arrow; the target must be within standard range of the bow, regardless of the use of the Gift. This Gift works normally with a talen or fetish arrow.
Cookfire (Wisdom 2)
The Scout can turn raw, unprocessed food into a cooked meal without need of fire. This was enormously beneficial in the old days where the smoke of a campfire could be seen for many miles around.
System: The Scout must make a Wits + Survival (or Cooking) roll, difficulty 7; the more successes, the more elaborate the final meal. This Gift cannot add any food that isn’t already present – it cannot spice food if the Garou has no spices handy, for instance – but it can turn unripe corn on the cob into cakes, or a fish that hasn’t been cleaned into a neatly scaled, gutted, boned, and cooked meal.
Beat of the Heart-Drum (Wisdom 4)
The Scout becomes an inescapable hunter, drawn ever onward by the beat of his prey’s heart until that heart grows still.
System: The Scout must have an object belonging to his target, a piece of the victim (a blood sample, a lock of hair), or must have tasted his quarry’s blood in the past. The Uktena rolls Perception + Survival (difficulty 7). Afterwards, the werewolf can hear her quarry’s heartbeat for one day per success, no matter how far away they may be. The beat grows louder as the werewolf draws near, making tracking effortless.
This Gift is functionally identical to the Level 3 Homid Gift: Heartseeker, except that it does not require spending a Gnosis point. Instead, the Gift only persists for as long as the Uktena is moving closer to her mark - if they allow themselves to become distracted from their pursuit for any reason, the Gift will fade along with the potency of whatever was used to track them originally.
Tourniquet (Wisdom 6)
A Scout with this Gift may use it to drastically reduce any amount of her own bleeding, specifically blood loss that she experiences as a result of combat. A bloody wound taken in a duel or in battle by a klaive, blade, fang, or claw can be staunched swiftly with a whisper of gratitude to the spirits.
Tourniquet does not heal, numb, or close the wound, but simply keeps it from bleeding further.
System: The Scout spends a Willpower point and rolls Stamina + Survival. This gift converts Lethal wounds into Bashing wounds, and does not repair Bashing damage on its own. The more successes she rolls, the more bleeding she can staunch, at the ratio of 1 success to 2 Health Levels converted.
This Gift may be used on another (and is in fact, somewhat more valuable for that purpose, especially where Kinfolk are concerned), although only outside combat.
CAMP COST: 35 XP (7 Freebies)
What are you talking about? There's no such thing as a secret cache of ancient artifacts around here. You've been listening to too many peyote-induced Moon Dancer tales.
Once a splinter faction of the Scouts, the Raiders have grown in numbers since the Second War of Rage. In modern nights, they specialize in conducting raids against the minions of the Wyrm and Weaver (not to mention the Wyrmcomers and Weaverbringers...) in order to recover stores of magic which have fallen into the possession of Leeches, witches, and other Wyrm-kind.
Not all of the Raiders go about their business with perfectly honorable intentions. Instead of seeking out lost fetishes, talens and items of power for the well being of the tribe, they hoard what they steal to hide away in secret places of the earth. Indeed, no one alive today could envision the hidden shrines and treasure troves the Raiders have built over the years. What might have been preserved which ought have been destroyed?
Uktena's Passage (Glory 3)
This Gift allows the Garou to calm or agitate water, whether in the form of a river, stream or lake. She may calm rapids or endow a placid lake with waves to help speed along a canoe or wash a swimmer to shore. The power to shorten a trip or thwart enemy craft is yet another advantage of this Gift, and was often used by Raiders in the past to help enable their escapes.
System: The Scout spends one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Survival (difficulty 7). For each success, she may raise or lower the speed and/or roughness of the current within 100 yards by one degree. Degrees of current are calm, slow, moderate, swift, and turbulent. The change lasts for one scene.
Shadow Cutting (Glory 6)
One of the more cunning tactics of the Raiders, this Gift allows an Uktena to maim or kill her opponent by attacking the shadow he casts. This tactic makes her attacks difficult to dodge, and can provide a great advantage in situations where the shadow is a larger or more accessible target than the opponent himself.
System: The werewolf must activate the Gift by spitting into her opponent’s shadow and spending a Gnosis point. For the remainder of the scene, she may injure her opponent by striking his shadow. Only fetishes, Dedicated melee implements or natural weaponry (claws and teeth) will work in conjunction with this Gift; firearms or other mundane measures cannot transmit damage across the spirit-link.
The victim has two fewer dice to dodge attacks aimed at his shadow, and cannot parry such attacks at all. The Storyteller may even give the shadow’s attacker extra dice in certain situations, such as during sunset or when the victim is a few stories up, but his shadow falls at the Garou’s feet.
Stolen Secrets (Wisdom 5)
Uktena are said to possess more hidden knowledge than any other tribe. This Gift may be one reason it is so. With Secrets, an Uktena can have one specific question answered simply by touching somebody who knows the answer.
The answer to any question — such as “Where is the vampire’s lair?” — leaps into the Garou’s mind if, in fact, the target knows the answer in the first place.
System: After formulating a mental question, the Garou must touch the target. She must also roll Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 8) and spend one Gnosis point.
The deeper the secret, the more successes are required. Learning a target’s favorite color requires only one success, whereas uncovering his secret lair might be four or more. If the target is aware of the mental intrusion, he may resist with a Willpower roll (difficulty 9).
Tunnel Lore (Wisdom 7)
Since Turtle went into his coma-like sleep, many secrets of earth powers once known are now forgotten — such as the Umbral tunnels beneath the Umbrascape. The Croatan did not always rely on Luna’s moon paths when traveling the Umbra. This Gift allowed them to use the secret tunnels under the earth, known to many earth-burrowing spirits and totems, such as Mole, Badger and Groundhog (who taught them the Gift). In such a way, the Croatan could travel long distances in the safety of the Umbral underground.
This Gift is all but lost to werewolves in the 20th century, but this is almost a blessing; in the modern era, Ratkin occupy many of these tunnels, making them hostile territory for any Garou. It is mostly the Raiders who still use these secret routes, relying on their own cunning to avoid any Ratkin-related complications.
System: The Raider spends one Gnosis point; the Garou is made aware of the nearest entrance into one of these tunnels. Such an entrance may not be close at hand; the werewolf might have to go on a day’s journey just to reach the nearest opening, depending on the local population of burrowing spirits. Once inside the tunnel, he can reach his destination safely. When he gets to a multiple branching tunnel, he’ll know the proper way — otherwise one could get lost for years!
In all other respects, this Gift is much like traveling a moon path, save that the potentially hostile encounters that may be found along the way take the form of Ratkin and other subterranean denizens, rather than spirits.
CAMP COST: 40 XP (8 Freebies)
The world has many realities, and we are among those who have seen Gaia's face in countless places and times. Our allies are the spirits, and among all the Uktena, we revel in our own dual souls.
The Skywalkers are a reflection of Earth Guides in many ways, yet their interests lie on the other side of a mirrored pool. Their lore is that of the vast array of spirits, and they specialize in exploring the Deep Umbra, combing the far reaches for spirit allies, places of special power and for powerful spirits to bind into fetishes.
Many Crescent Moons are among the Skywalkers, but they are not alone in their fascination with the lands beyond and the creatures that live there. Many No Moons and Moon Dancers have delved into the long paths and brought back unheard-of knowledge. Any auspice may undertake a vision quest into the Umbra, of course. Often, spirits like to talk, and one clever enough to win their favor gains much in return.
Natural Channel (Wisdom 3)
Natural Channel (Supernatural 3-pt Merit) does not count against the Skywalker's 10 dot Merit limit, although must still be purchased as usual.
Umbral Compass (Wisdom 5)
This Gift helps Garou cross the Gauntlet and traverse the Umbra more easily. Once in the Umbra, the Gift helps the Garou orient herself so she has less chance of becoming lost or confused as to where she is.
Sometimes, this Gift urges the Garou toward a direction that Great Uktena (or some other entity) seems to believe that she needs to travel. Thus, if something terrible is happening in the Umbra, use of this Gift might point the Garou right toward it. This could be a good thing or very inconvenient and potentially deadly, depending on the Garou’s point of view and her ability to talk or fight her way out of difficult situations.
System: The Skywalker rolls Perception + Cosmology (difficulty 7). A single success allows the Garou to lower the difficulty of crossing the Gauntlet by one (which stacks with Natural Channel if applicable) and to find her way through the Umbra with little difficulty. If she then needs guidance while in the Umbra, she may roll her Gnosis (difficulty 6) to find her way.
Should the Garou using Umbral Compass botch her roll to cross through the Gauntlet, she is allowed to make a single Gnosis roll (difficulty 8) to escape the effects of the botch. Failure on this roll means the botch takes effect as normal, while a botch makes the “caught” Garou difficulty for others to find and free.
Omen of Power (Wisdom 7)
The Skywalkers are famed among the Garou for their ability to find items and places of great magical power. Some believe that they follow Wyld-spirits in their nearly-random wandering through the Umbra; others say the Skywalkers can sense the perturbations of even the weakest ley lines. Regardless of the true nature of their abilities, many Skywalkers can sniff out the locations of dormant caerns (that is, those once opened whose power has since faded). When conditions are right, they can even sense particularly powerful fetishes from a distance.
System: Spend one Gnosis and roll Perception + Enigmas; the difficulty and number of successes required is known only to the Storyteller, and is based on the distance to the source of power. Success means that the rough distance and direction to a mystic power source is revealed to the Skywalker. The source of power can be an active or dormant caern, a buried fetish or slumbering spirit. This Gift detect sources of power greater than twenty miles distant.
By default, this Gift is accurate to within about a 20% margin of error, although can be re-used as the Garou close in on the source of power, to further refine their target’s location. Omen of Power does not tell the Garou anything about the source of power other than its direction and distance; she will not even know whether it is a caern or fetish, for example.
Spirit Blossom (Wisdom 9)
The elder Skywalker plants a part of herself that has long been saturated in the Umbra as a seed of spiritual puissance that blooms into power she can harvest. She must protect her offshoot, though; as a part of her, its pain is hers.
The Skywalker spends one Gnosis point as the werewolf plants some detached part of her body, such as blood, a tuft of fur, or clipped fingernails, in soil in a place that gets significant sunlight. Within one week’s time, a plant of the player’s choice will grow in that spot, spiritually tied to the Garou.
Once per day after the plant has grown, the Garou may roll her Gnosis to wake the spirit of the plant. If successful, the spirit donates a number of Gnosis points equal to successes on the roll to the werewolf before going back to its slumber inside the plant.
If the plant is plucked from its roots or otherwise destroyed, the Theurge suffers dice of unsoakable lethal damage equal to her permanent Gnosis. She may only have one Spirit Blossom at a time, but if one is destroyed, she may plant a new one.
CAMP COST: 30 XP (6 Freebies)
I mourn again for Middle Brother who is lost. There is a group among us and among Younger Brother, who make it their sacred duty the preservation of the Croatan's memory. Not only do they purify the lands in remembrance of those who died, they also seek to find any stories and songs that remain of Middle Brother.
Belonging to Older and Younger Brother alike, this pan-tribal society reveres and preserves the native traditions of the tribes’ Kinfolk, searches the Umbra for spirits of their lost Croatan brothers and sisters, and dedicates themselves to the re-purification of the Pure Lands through a spiritual return to the old traditions.
The Uktena Ghost Dancers, like those long-dead victims of the Indian Wars, believe that making the land whole and clean is far more important than sounding the drums of war. Younger Brother disagrees, to put it mildly. If this should threaten the solidarity of the society as a whole remains an unanswered question... for now.
It should be noted that the Ghost Dancer society has existed in one form or another since at least the early 17th century (roughly a generation after Middle Brother's sacrifice to defeat the manifesting Eater-of-Souls in 1589). As one of the great triatic Wyrms, if the Eater-of-Souls had remained in the real world, it could have started the Apocalypse. Only by sacrificing the entire tribe in a great ritual were they able to drive it back to the Deep Umbra and Malfeas. The sacrifice of the Croatan was so thorough that no new cubs were born to their kinfolk, and their tribal totem, Turtle, was plunged into deep Slumber and has not awoken since. They were totally annihilated both physically and spiritually.
As such, the Ghost Dancers were born out of that collective grief. It is unfortunate that this would not be the last tragedy that the Pure Lands suffered...the Second War of Rage was yet to come, and on the heels of that, Indian Wars and especially plague, would further devastate their Kinfolk communities during the 19th century. In a certain sense, all these tragedies share a certain spiritual continuity.
It is equally important to realize that unlike Younger Brother (i.e., who other Garou know as the 'Wendigo'), they do not dwell upon these losses as a tribe. Because the truth is, the Uktena tribe is more numerous and influential than ever. The events of the 16th-19th centuries drove the tribe into expanding globally, and to adopt every indigenous cause as their own. You can now find the Children of Great Uktena on every continent, from Australia and Polynesia to even Africa. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of Uktena that one is likely to encounter in the American Southwest are not Chumash, Tongva or Apache but of Mestizo origin by way of Mexico or Central America (this is almost always true even of those who identify culturally as Chumash, Tongva or Apache).
Most Uktena see their tribe's performance in modern nights as a success story, and take pride in the great influence they wield in the Garou Nation, even as they remain sympathetic to the sufferings of the past. However, there are some among Older Brother, who like Younger Brother, are more deeply attached to their Native American history, and this society welcomes them.
Ghost Pack (Glory 5)
This Gift allows the Ghost Dancer to call upon the aid of their ancient lupine relatives. These spectral wolves, while not physically present, lend their strength, guidance, and protection to the Uktena in times of need. They can assist in battle by distracting or disorienting foes, or guide the Uktena through treacherous terrain
System: The Uktena expends one Gnosis and one Rage, then rolls Charisma + Survival (difficulty 7) to call upon the Ghost Pack. The number of successes determines the effectiveness and versatility of the pack's aid.
While these ghostly wolves cannot interact directly with the physical world, their ethereal howls can frighten or confuse enemies, reveal hidden paths, or offer insights into overcoming natural obstacles. Their guidance is particularly potent in spiritual endeavors or when navigating the Umbra.
Medicine Bag/Pouch (Honor 3)
Certain items have great spiritual significance for Ghost Dancers without being fetishes (i.e., in the sense of having spirits bound into them). The medicine bag (usually a small, wallet-sized pouch made of deerskin, though any natural material is possible) is a prominent example.
The medicine bag contains items of significance specific to the individual who made it. Historically, this was often a bit of sage and some tobacco, and some personal mementos. Contents could range from a pebble taken from home, a feather from the first kill or the bullet that had the good fortune to miss the mark. The pouch becomes a powerful talisman for the owner.
So long as he has it in his possession (either worn or carried) the owner gains the benefit of their permanent Willpower being considered one point higher for the purpose of determining an opponent's difficulties (such as when resisting many Gifts or supernatural effects). In addition, once per chapter, the owner may hold the bag and concentrate for a full turn to regain a temporary point of Willpower.
Of course, there is a downside, for the psychological effect of losing the bag is tremendous. Anyone else who comes into possession of the bag receives a bonus of -1 difficulty to affect the owner with Gifts, rites or supernatural powers (provided their paradigm respects the concept of medicine bags to begin with).
Though there is no spirit bound into the bag, it does acquire a certain spiritual resonance over time. There may be other effects after many years as well, wherein it might function as the equivalent of the Ancestor Ally Merit or make it easier to contact certain totem spirits, etc. Such evolutions can only be roleplayed out, and their final arbitration is up to the Storyteller.
Sing Down the Rain (Honor 6)
This - the most iconic Gift of the Ghost Dancers - is used to bring rain from the heavens, either to nourish crops and cleanse the land, or to cause damage through mudslides and flooding.
System: The Ghost Dancer sings or howls a ritual chant, spends a Gnosis point and rolls Wits + Occult (difficulty is ordinarily 7; 8 in a cloudless desert, 6 in a temperate rainforest). One or two successes brings down a misty drizzle after a short delay, three or four successes results in a moderately heavier rainfall. Five or more successes means the rain comes in heavy torrents.
The effects ordinarily last one scene, but the Garou may spend Gnosis to continue the effects. Depending on the Storyteller, the terrain and the user’s intent, the effects may cause flooding, mudslides or even wash away pollutants.
Medicine Dreams (Wisdom 3)
When humans first began hunting the animals of the Pure Lands, the animals retaliated by sending disease amongst the humans to kill them. Once they saw that their diseases killed good people as well as bad, they relented and herb-spirits came to medicine men in dreams to tell them how to heal the sick. Wise Uktena still know that medicine comes from these spirits in dreams, and this Gift allows them to call forth the herbs for wisdom.
System: This Gift is used when a Ghost Dancer is attempting to heal someone seriously ill. Before the Uktena goes to sleep, he spends one point of Gnosis and rolls Charisma + Occult, difficulty 8. If the roll is successful, then the Uktena will awaken with new insights in how to heal the sick person. Each success on the Occult roll adds one dice to any Medicine or Herbalism rolls for that day.
Should this Gift by itself grant the Ghost Dancer more than ten dice on his Medicine dice pool (without taking into account any other temporary bonus), he may even attempt to cure incurable illnesses such as terminal cancer or HIV/AIDS. To actually do so, six or more successes are needed on an appropriate Medicine roll (whose difficulty is determined by how long the Uktena had spent studying the disease before then).
Medicine Bundle (Wisdom 6)
Certain items have great spiritual significance for Ghost Dancers without being fetishes (i.e., in the sense of having spirits bound into them). The medicine bundle is another of these.
Medicine bundles are highly valued by the Uktena septs that have access to them. These consists of a series of items, including bags of herbs, pelts, skulls, wands, claws, crystals and other sacred objects and tools. These are then wrapped in a blanket or pelt. The items are usually seen in a dream or vision and gathered together to create the bundle in a ritual. While the bundles are considered spiritually alive and not owned by anyone, a keeper is given the honor of caring for a bundle.
Medicine bundles have several qualities. First, holding the bundle makes dealings with relevant Gaian spirits easier (-1 difficulty to Gnosis or Social rolls when interacting with spirits whose nature is reflected somehow in the bundle). Furthermore, each bundle may have other effects such as aiding in healing (giving a bonus to all healing related rolls), protection (improving the bearer's luck) or Umbral travel (providing a bonus to Enigmas rolls dealing with following the proper path or staying oriented). Most medicine bundles are designed to improve success with a specific ritual or category of ritual (Renown, Caern, Death, Mystic, etc).
While not a receptacle for a bound spirit, they do become spiritually active, and are thus treated with great respect. They tend to become more powerful with age if treated properly. Needless to say, losing one leaves a great black mark on one's reputation.
CAMP COST: 20 XP (4 Freebies)
The cities are the way of the future. Like it or not, that's where we'll make our final stand in the Apocalypse. Any werewolves who purposely ignore the constantly growing urban sprawl are fools.
Grandfather Spider's followers among the Uktena take the name Web Walkers, possibly adopted from the Glass Walkers, whom they tend to treat as close allies. Almost all Web Walkers live in or lose to large cities, where they revel in technology. Although, unlike many younger Glass Walkers, they prefer to treat technology as their servant rather than their master.
Why are they drawn to the Weaver? Perhaps for many of the same reasons other Uktena feel a strangely intense connection to the Wyld, or dare one mentions it, the Wyrm. Some seek understanding, others healing. It has the added draw that far more of the Uktena's indigenous Kinfolk live within cities in these modern times, than without.
The greater part of the Uktena tribe tolerates the Web Walkers because they have indeed located many lost Kin and unknown cubs among the cities. With Grandfather Spider's aid, they have also sniffed out some of the worst Wyrm infestations, and they remain as ever an invaluable source of information and lore on the Weaver's own machinations.
Web Walkers gain the Glass Walker's path of Weaver's Eye (Wisdom) as if it were a tenth, inherent Way. It can be raised as normal and does not require a teacher. In addition, they have excellent relations with the Glass Walkers.
CAMP COST: 25 XP (5 Freebies)
Yes, the Wyld possesses much fury, but it is also beautiful in its danger. Doesn't a coming storm make your fur stand on end? Respect the Wyld, and recognize its rage within you.
While all werewolves are in some sense, protectors of the Wyld, it is in many ways a mindless - and often even savagely dangerous ally. Most Uktena believe that Grandmother Smoke is not so much self-aware as reacting to events, not necessarily creating them. Even the plagues and earthquakes that come from its vastness are responses to the pain it feels. The Wyld Children disagree with that.
Those Uktena who fully embrace the chaos, turmoil and disorder of Grandmother Smoke are named the Children of the Wyld. Many go beyond trying to merely understand the Wyld's primal forces and seek to become one with its madness. They will assure you that this is not as foolhardy as it sounds - as they believe by joining this force, they can heal the rifts in the Triat. Others think that Grandmother Smoke needs to be saved from its own reckless ways, and an alliance with the spirits that serve the Wyld will achieve this goal.
Still, the Children of the Wyld possess some of the deepest knowledge and understanding of the spirits and the lands beyond of any Uktena.
Wyld Sight (Wisdom 2)
The Garou can see Wyld energy in all its manifestations, thus allowing him to prevent it from growing too powerful or to defend himself against it. For instance, the Garou can see the mystic swirling of the Umbral wind that presages a tornado in the physical realm or feel the shaking of the Umbral earth before a real earthquake. A Garou using Wyld Sight in the physical world can also sense Wyld spirits in the nearby Penumbra, although the user must enter the Umbra to get more details.
System: The Garou rolls Perception + Enigmas (difficulty 6). If successful, the Garou understands the nature of the Wyld manifestation and realizes what form of Wyld-spirit is causing it. Use the following table to determine how early a Garou can predict a Wyld event:
Successes Time Before the Event
One 10 minutes
Two 30 minutes
Three One hour
Four Three hours
Five+ One day
Wyld Spirits (Wisdom 5)
The Garou can call upon the Wyld's erratic nature and inflict one or more of her opponents with a bout of erratic behavior, thus making it more difficult for them to coordinate attacks or act sensibly in any given situation.
System: The Wyld Child spends a point of Willpower and rolls Manipulation + Elusion (difficulty of the victim’s Willpower). Each success allows the character to affect one individual. Affected targets fail to carry out any sustained course of action, attacking one minute and retreating the next or else stopping to make a speech. If the Gift is used in a non-combat situation, the victims change their actions radically from one moment to the next. This Gift lasts for one scene or one battle.
Call Forth the Wyld (Wisdom 7)
Using this Gift, a Garou can summon the Wyld in its raw essence to disrupt the manifestations of the Weaver. This energy must be concentrated to interfere with the working of machinery or technological items to be effective. Unlike the Homid Gift of Jam Technology, Call Forth the Wyld permanently disrupts the devices it affects. Barring costly repairs and replacement of fizzled parts, the item will never work properly again. Not that the items cease to function; they just work in an odd and unforeseen manner.
Rather than merely creating a glitch, this Gift actually disrupts the Weaver energy by overpowering it with the chaos of the Wyld. Devices may function in reverse of normal (clocks run backward, cars only drive in reverse, computers print out information upside down) or may function in some totally random manner (guns explode when used; missiles reprogram themselves to hit a random target after initiating their own countdown and firing sequence; cars only function underwater). Creative anarchy should reign. Obviously, this Gift can be highly dangerous.
System: The Wyld Child must roll Manipulation + Elusion (difficulty 6) and spend a Gnosis point to use the Gift. One success is sufficient to discombobulate most small technological devices. Storytellers may require more successes or higher difficulty levels to affect larger or more complex targets.
CAMP COST: Not present in Los Angeles...or are they?
We are hated because we did what was both necessary and difficult. To end the Wyrmcomer and Weaverbringer scourge, we needed the power to enforce our will. We were clever enough to know where to find it.
The Bitter Frost has given up on peaceful and cooperative measures. They want it all — the recovery of stolen Uktena caerns, powerful fetishes, knowledge, and power — even if that means using the Wyrm’s tools to augment their own, or slaying European Garou to reclaim Uktena items of power.
Having useful and powerful Kinfolk reflects well on a tribe. Many encourage their Kin who are capable of learning Gifts, and even have helped create unique Kinfolk Gifts. These Gifts automatically count as being within any Kinfolk’s breed or tribe.
In order to learn a Gift, a Kinfolk must be taught by either a spirit, a Garou or a more experienced Kinfolk that has already mastered what they wish to learn. Learning from spirits often requires petitioning a Theurge to summon a spirit, as well as to act as translator and intermediary. In rare instances — perhaps the Kin has performed a task that pleased a spirit or served it in some manner — that spirit may contact Kinfolk without being summoned, and offer to teach her a Gift as a reward. However, this tends to happen more in the stories than in the real life that modern Kinfolk must navigate.
GUARDIAN'S VigiL (GLORY)
Description: This Gift imbues the Kinfolk with a heightened sense of awareness, allowing them to detect threats—both physical and spiritual—with remarkable acuity.
Often taught by: cat- and dog-spirits.
System: The Kinfolk spends one point of Gnosis (or two Willpower points) to gain an extraordinary awareness of their surroundings for the next 24 hours. They gain the ability to sense approaching danger, detect hidden enemies, or notice subtle signs of supernatural presence within their vicinity.
With this Gift active, the Kinfolk may substitute Alertness for Awareness (+bbread 2/13 for more details). Additionally, when rolling Alertness normally, the Kinfolk may add their Glory Renown as bonus dice.
Note: Garou don't need Awareness - they already substitute Primal-Urge as the relevant Ability.
Description: This Gift allows a Kinfolk to put a supernatural watch on her house or territory so that she instantly knows when anyone tainted by the Wyrm trespasses. Kinfolk who live within the bawn of a sept find this a useful Gift to know.
Often taught by: owl-spirits.
System: The Kinfolk spends a point of Gnosis (or two points of Willpower) to activate this Gift. Afterward, one point of Willpower (or Gnosis) per day maintains it. When anyone possessing Wyrm taint enters the designated area, the player may roll Perception + Occult (difficulty 7) to detect the intrusion. More successes enable the character to pin down the type and strength of the intruder. Kinfolk may only protect an area they can lay claim to, whether within the bawn (excluding the actual caern) or in the outside world.
Description: This Gift empowers a Kinfolk with the ability to envelop themselves and those in their immediate vicinity within an aura of protection, making them undetectable to enemies and harmful influences for a brief period. It is particularly suited for moments when evasion is preferable to confrontation.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Kinfolk expends either one Gnosis or two points of Willpower and rolls Stamina + Occult (difficulty 7). A successful roll activates the Gift, cloaking the Kinfolk and those in the same room as her in a protective shroud for a number of turns equal to their permanent Willpower rating.
While this shroud is active, all attempts to harm or detect the Kinfolk and those near them (in a space about the size of a room) are penalized by +1 difficulty per success. However, this protection is lost to any who take an offensive action.
HEARTH'S BOUNTY (HONOR)
Description: A Kinfolk uses a special cooking pot, such as a cast iron skillet, Dutch oven, or other all-purpose vessel and fills it with some sort of liquid and any food or food-related items that happen to be nearby. The food need not be still edible. Items can include wrappers from fast food to gourmet deli-paper, cereal box-tops, coffee filters, and similar goodies. The result is a meaty stew, a hearty casserole, mac and cheese, or spaghetti and meatballs — enough to feed a family for a main meal.
Often taught by: ancestor- and fire-spirits.
System: The Kinfolk combines the ingredients while concentrating on the desired meal, spends a point of Willpower, and waits 15 minutes. At the end of this time period, the food is piping hot and ready to eat. The meal must be consumed before the next morning or it will disappear. If a Kinfolk possesses Gnosis, spending one point of Gnosis instead of Willpower also erases tiredness and ensures a good night’s sleep for all partakers.
Description: This Gift weaves together the primal essence of fire with the nurturing spirit of the hearth, allowing the user to conjure flames that provide warmth, light, and comfort.
Often taught by: ancestor- and fire-spirits.
System: To activate this Gift, the Kinfolk spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Wits + Survival (difficulty 6). Success results in the creation of a fire that burns steadily for the evening, requiring no fuel and producing no smoke, making it ideal for indoor or urban settings where a traditional fire might be impractical.
The warmth of the fire grants a sense of peace and contentment that lingers long after the flames have died down. This virtually ensures a lovely night's rest.
Description: This Gift allows a Kinfolk to empower their dwelling or any temporary shelter to repels the harshness of inclement weather, be it a howling blizzard, a torrential downpour, or the oppressive heat of a summer sun.
Often taught by: any elemental spirit.
System: The Kinfolk expends one point of Willpower and rolls Stamina + Survival (difficulty dependent on the severity of the weather).
Success activates the Gift for a duration of 24 hours, during which the shelter is rendered nearly impervious to adverse weather effects. Inside, the air remains calm and breathable, the temperature comfortable, and the spirits of those within are lifted, insulated from the storm's fury. This protection extends to the structural integrity of the shelter, preventing damage from wind, water, or other weather-related forces.
If the weather is particularly catastrophic - or else has the slightest supernatural impetus - the Storyteller might additionally require a point of Gnosis for it to have any effect. This Gift also does nothing to protect against any malevolently targeted destruction - only against natural forces.
IRON RESOLVE (HONOR)
Description: The Kinfolk uses her resolve to execute great feats through Willpower alone.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Kinfolk spends a Willpower point to gain 2 automatic successes instead of one. This ability may be enacted no more than once per scene.
Description: This Gift enables the individual Kinfolk to project an aura of superiority toward other humans, preventing anyone from detecting his flaws or read his aura.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: Kinfolk must spend a point of Willpower to enact the Gift, which has a duration of one week.
Description: The Kinfolk has inherited a small measure of the Garou's Curse, and can inflict the Delirium on others. Doing so, however, is draining, and runs the risk of backfiring terribly — humans are not the fearsome predators that werewolves are, even humans related to werewolves.
Often taught by: fear-spirits.
System: The Kinfolk must glare at his target, making eye contact and exhibiting some sort of threatening behavior (baring one's teeth is enough). The Kin then spends a Willpower point and rolls Charisma + Intimidation vs their target's Willpower rating.
If successful, the victim of this Gift will suffer the Delirium as normal per their permanent Willpower for as many rounds as successes rolled. This obviously only works against opponents who are vulnerable to the Delirium to begin with.
HEAVEN'S GUIDANCE (HONOR)
Description: A Kinfolk with this Gift can always find her way when there are stars visible in the sky.
Often taught by: a spirit servant of the North Star.
System: The wielder of this Gift is never lost between twilight and dawn, so long as she can see a single star; she always knows where north is and the path she took to get to her present location.
Description: The Kinfolk can conjure up a strong, cold wind (20 mph) that chills anyone not prepared for it. The wind can redirect or disperse clouds of vapor or airborne toxins such as tear gas. It can also deflect swarms of insects.
Often taught by: air elementals.
System: The Kinfolk spends a point of Gnosis (Willpower cannot substitute) and whistles or hums to summon the wind. She can direct it by thought. Anyone caught in it loses one die from Perception rolls for the duration of the wind and, unless dressed appropriately for such a wind, suffers a -1 penalty to all actions after one minute of exposure.
Description: The Kinfolk has learned to open themselves up as a vessel to the past.
Often taught by: ancestor-spirits.
System: The Kinfolk spends a Gnosis point (Willpower cannot substitute) and rolls their Intelligence + Meditation + Pure Breed vs 8. Every two successes, rounded up, may be converted into one dot of the Ancestors Background for the remainder of the scene.
EVE'S TOUCH (WISDOM)
Description: This Gift allows the Kinfolk to soothe the wounds of others through her touch.
Often taught by: ancestor-, healing- and (strangely) pelican-spirits.
System: The Kin must roll Intelligence + Medicine (or Herbalism), difficulty 6, and touch the wound with her hands. Every success will reduce the wound penalty by one.
In addition, the Kin may add her Wisdom Renown to any Medicine or Herbalism rolls. This effect is permanent.
Description: The Kin is able to maintain an aura of peace over herself and anyone she touches.
Often taught by: ancestor-, unicorn- and dove-spirits.
System: The Kin can use this Gift only once per scene, and must expend one Willpower point for the effect to manifest. Humans in her immediate vicinity must make a Willpower roll, difficulty 8, to begin or continue any sort of argument or violence for the remainder of the scene. Garou so touched are at +2 difficulty to frenzy for the remainder of the scene.
Description: The Kin is now able to heal others in a fashion that transcends the miraculous by laying her hands upon them.
Often taught by: spirit-servants of Unicorn and other healing-spirits.
System: The Kin spends a Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Medicine (or Herbalism) vs difficulty 6, while laying her hands upon the subject.
The target’s injuries heal one Health Level per two successes (rounded up). The wound can’t be from any source that would normally be considered aggravated; the only aggravated wounds it can heal are those that have been converted from an excess of lethal wounds. The Kinfolk may attempt this healing only once per person per day.
WHISPER CATCHING (WISDOM)
Description: This Gift allows a Kinfolk to supernaturally overhear conversations, giving her a chance to get a heads up on any potential plots against the Garou or their Kin.
Often taught by: crow-spirits.
System: The Kinfolk spends a Willpower point and rolls Perception + Subterfuge at a difficulty determined by how chaotic their surroundings currently are. Across a quiet room during study hall might be 5 or 6, whereas it might be 9 or 10 in a concert's mosh pit. Success means they can hear whispered conversations within earshot as if the speakers were right next to her.
Description: The Kinfolk can muffle any sound he makes.
Often taught by: night- and owl-spirits.
System: The Kinfolk spends a point of Willpower and gains +2 dice to all Dexterity + Stealth rolls. This Gift lasts for one scene.
Description: A Kinfolk uses this Gift to hear the “echoes” of earlier conversation in an empty room.
Often taught by: dog- and wolf-spirits.
System: At least five minutes must have passed since the end of the conversation before the Kin can invoke the Gift. He rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty 7) to “hear” what words have been spoken. With one success, he can hear conversations that occurred within the past hour; with two successes, he can hear the past day’s chatter. With three or more successes, he can tune in to a conversation up to a week old. Conversations take place in real time, however, so listening to an hour long conversation takes a full hour, and eavesdropping on an afternoon of chatter takes several hours.