Werewolf: The Forsaken

Into the Shadow
Werewolf: The Forsaken Daily (Friday 3/4 Update - Totems)
Posted: 2005-03-04

Just two weeks to go until the release of Werewolf. This week we step into the Shadow Realm, the spirit world hidden from most humans but open to the Uratha.

MONDAY 2/28 UPDATE

Monday's update, part one of the Werewolf: The Forsaken Demo: Manitou Springs, is posted HERE! Looking for people to play the demo? We have added Werewolf: The Forsaken icons to the unmoderated section of our RPG Chat Rooms.

TUESDAY 3/1 UPDATE

Let's Step Sideways — In Pangaea, the material and spirit worlds bled into one another across a buffer zone known as the Border Marches. Spirits, beasts and men could freely cross the marches, save for Father Wolf and his offspring keeping travelers in their place. When Father Wolf died, the Border Marches collapsed into a harsh border Uratha call the Zathu, or the Gauntlet. Some Ithaeur talk of the Gauntlet as a scar, a barrier formed as the wound of Father Wolf' s murder healed. Others say it is a natural defense, formed by the spirit of the world itself.

Now, the Shadow Realm, while still tied to the material world, seems to shun anything that comes from there. Most people cannot travel between the worlds or even perceive that anything apart from the material world exists. The resistance runs both ways. Spirits attempting to pass into the physical world, perhaps to avoid the constant decay that threatens the Shadow, must find a place where the Gauntlet is weak before making the crossing.

These loci, areas where the Gauntlet is shallow, have thus become shadow battlefields. Spirits seek to enter the physical world to carry out their unearthly imperatives, the Azlu and Beshilu strive to either seal off these weak spots or tear them wide open, and the Uratha fight among themselves for control of the most valuable crossings. Even other supernatural entities — vampires, warlocks or stranger things — have been known to vie for control of a spirit locus in order to tap the power for their own reasons.

Werewolves call crossing the Gauntlet "stepping sideways" and doing so is not to be taken lightly. Although they descend from two great spirits, Uratha are raised in the material world and spend most of their time there. In order to step sideways, a werewolf must be within the area of influence of a locus (usually within a few yards). The player then rolls Intelligence + Presence + Primal Urge or spends a point of Essence to make the transition.

WEDNESDAY 3/2 UPDATE

Locus Focus - Weak points in the Gauntlet, called loci, are critical to werewolves and other entities attuned to the Shadow Realm. First and foremost, a locus serves as a bridge between realms, making it a critical strategic location in the constant struggle between spirits wishing to impose their alien whims on the physical realm and the Uratha trying to keep them in check. But a locus is also valuable for the Essence it provides and other effects it has on the world on both sides of the Gauntlet.

Every locus has an area of influence in which several effects apply. As we mentioned yesterday, werewolves can step sideways within this area, but this benefit extends to spirits as well, who gain a +2 bonus on any attempts to cross the Gauntlet there. What's more, spirits with the appropriate resonance (one that matches the locus) can hide themselves almost perfectly within the area of influence, and while there, can use their Numina across the Gauntlet without the need of using the Reaching Numen (generally required to affect the physical world from the Shadow Realm).

The Essence flow at a locus makes it a place of healing and sustenance for creatures attuned to it. Spirits of the proper resonance can heal at a locus and while reform there if their spirit-bodies are ton asunder by predators. Uratha are able to harvest Essence at a locus in order to power their spiritual nature and Gifts (doing so requires a Harmony roll). But harvesting Essence can do permanent damage to a locus, so werewolves have to be careful to not take more than the locus can generate naturally (generally a handful of Essence per day).

Uratha can automatically sense when they are within the area of influence of a locus, and with a roll of Wits + Investigation + Primal Urge can determine the general direction of the locus's physical aspect. Irraka (New Moon) werewolves, the pathfinders of the Uratha, get a bonus on this roll.

THURSDAY 3/3 UPDATE

Spirit Hunts — Werewolves are hunters by nature and their inheritance from Father Wolf often makes spirits their prey. Be it spirits who are fleeing across a locus or who threaten the Shadow reflection of their territory, most Uratha will turn tooth and claw against spirits as part of their new lives. These spirit hunts can be harrowing for the werewolves involved, but the more mystically inclined treat them with a certain religiosity. It's through hunts that Uratha gain both respect among powerful spirits (often in the way a seal respects a killer whale) and they can reap a bounty of Essence from them as well.

Several mystic rites have thus grown up around the spirit hunt. One of the most basic is the Blessing of the Spirit Hunt in which a ritemaster cuts either herself or her subject with a claw, and uses the blood to mark a glyph on the forehead and on the back of each hand. As she does so, she intones a blessing in the name of Father Wolf and the Firstborn. The blessed werewolf can (for the rest of the scene) touch or strike ephemeral spirits as if they were solid, as long as he is using his natural weaponry. The bloodstained glyphs remain visible for the duration of the rite's blessing, which may strike fear into any spirits who recognize them. This blessing is often a prelude to the more potent Sacred Hunt rite which marks a spirit as the pack's ritual prey.

FRIDAY 3/4 UPDATE

Totems — A pack of werewolves might consist entirely of one tribe, one nationality one gender or any other factor that serves to give the members a cohesive identity. It's the totem, however, that truly makes them a pack. The totem links the werewolves spiritually, making them family. A werewolf might not like his packmates, but he would sooner die than betray them.

Although the five tribes have totemic relationships with great wolf spirits, those bonds are ancient and distant. A pack totem is nowhere as powerful as one of the Firstborn, but the spirit stays with the pack on a day-to-day basis, imparting of mystical blessings, teaching the pack Gifts or even fighting alongside it.

Entering a totemic bond is no small thing. A pack must first identify a particular spirit they wish to bond with and then convince or coerce it into doing so. Many starts by hunting down the spirit and then enter long and delicate negotiations. Spirits are proud and finicky and most do not trust the Uratha one bit — a pack must convince the spirit that the bond will benefit the spirit as much as the werewolves. Promising gifts of Essence, supporting the spirit's resonance, and protecting the totem from other predatory spirits are all tried and true ways to bargain.

Every pack totem is individual. The powerful spirits who represent entire species don't serve as pack totems. That is, Bear herself isn't going to play patron to a pack of Uratha, but Golden-Mother-Bear, a spirit of the western rivers, might share her wisdom and healing magic with them. Two packs who revere the same type of spirit don't necessarily have anything in common, while two packs who follow totems that seem antagonistic on the surface might actually share common goals. Hare and Fox might seem natural enemies, but if one pack follows Shrieking Hare, the spirit of wisdom through sacrifice, and the other follows Fox-Who-Watches, a spirit of wisdom mingled with cunning, the packs might find some common ground.

Each spirit grants unique benefits and imposes a unique ban. The ban, like that imposed by the tribes, is a limitation on the pack's behavior. Although the pack is not mystically compelled to respect the ban, breaking it is a quick way to alienate the spirit and shatter the totemic bond.

From the players' point of view, the most exciting part of all this is that you aren't so much hunting down a totem as creating one from scratch. Werewolf: The Forsaken includes a full system for designing pack totems, based of Merit dots contributed by members of the pack.

Next Week: The Benefits of Fame — Next week we look at renown among the Uratha and how it relates to Gifts and other aspects.

Welcome to Manitou Springs — Don't forget to Download Part 1 of the Demo and if you are looking for people to play the demo, we have added Werewolf: The Forsaken icons to the unmoderated section of our RPG Chat Rooms.