Werewolf: The Forsaken

Benefits of Fame
Werewolf: The Forsaken Daily (Friday 3/11 The Lodge of Crows)
Posted: 2005-03-11

Werewolf: The Forsaken releases Monday, March 14th. This week we take a look at renown among the Uratha and how it relates to Gifts and other aspects.

MONDAY 3/7 UPDATE

Monday's update, part two 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 3/8 UPDATE

Famous Is As Famous Does — Wolves are social creatures that instinctively require hierarchy among their packs, and spirits of the Shadow recognize an order of rank and power all their own. Werewolves inherit a portion of that instinct and structure, in a system called Renown.

Renown represents a werewolf's reputation among the Uratha and among the denizens of the spirit world, but it isn't merely a measurement of social standing. The trait is attained through ritual acknowledgment of one's deeds, and it's as visible as a brand to spirits. In fact, when a werewolf enters the spirit world, her Renown becomes clearly visible to any observer as a series of bright, silvery brands. For the Forsaken, Renown is judged and marked by the choirs of Lunes, moon spirits associated with the five phases of Luna. Renown does not guarantee a positive reaction from spirits or even from other werewolves, however. Denizens of the Shadow Realm are likely to see a high Renown Uratha as a dangerous creature best not to antagonize rather than anything akin to a friend.

Renown comes in five types: Purity, Glory, Honor, Wisdom and Cunning. Each tribe and auspice (and choir of Lunes) is aligned with one type of Renown, but all Forsaken respect the five types.

In terms of game mechanics, Renown is closely linked to a werewolf's Gifts. Not only do the various types of Renown affect the dice pool of various Gifts, but gaining a new dot of Renown (by the player spending experience once the character has accomplished a worthy deed and been recognized by the appropriate choir of Lunes) grants a new Gift. Also, werewolves can never have Gifts of a higher level than their highest Renown trait.

WEDNESDAY 3/9 UPDATE

Rite of the Spirit Brand — This one-dot rite invokes the Lunes to confirm that a given werewolf has achieved a greater measure of Renown. The Lunes respond by marking the subject with silver brands, proving that he’s claimed the right to greater standing among his people and the spirits. Traditionally, a werewolf must perform this rite for another. It’s generally considered too proud and crass to perform it for oneself, though some Ghost Wolves have little alternative.

The ritualist intones a chant honoring the subject’s strength and wisdom. The exact wording of the chant may be poetic or modern, depending on the ritemaster’s talents, but it must be respectful. As he continues the chant, the ritemaster runs her nails (or claws, if in Dalu form) in ritual patterns across the skin of the subject. As the rite continues, the patterns begin to glow with silver light and take on the form of spirit brands. When the rite is complete (usually taking several minutes), the brands blaze into being and then fade to the proper state (to invisibility if the rite took place in the physical world).

Like all rites, the Spirit Brand requires the ritualist’s player to roll Harmony as a dice pool.

Don't miss the transcript of the Question and Answer Developer Chat with Ethan Skemp, originally held at 7 p.m. Eastern United States time, Wednesday, March 9th.

THURSDAY 3/10 UPDATE

Gifts of Renown — As a werewolf's Renown rises, new Gifts become available to her. Many are strange spirit powers, but others actually make her rank manifest. The werewolf has earned the respect of spirits and her peers, and by claiming that respect, she can affect those around her. This effect is clear in the following Gifts:

Primal Howl (Father Wolf •••)

The werewolf howls with the voice of the first wolf, a voice that humans and animals instinctively recognize from millennia of ancestral memory. Those who hear the howl are overcome by their forebears' fear of wolves hunting in the night, of predators that might yet come for them.

The howl can be heard for miles, as any wolf howl, but the Gift takes effect on any and all targets within 10 yards per dot of the werewolf's Primal Urge. Affected subjects are overcome by fear as if affected by Lunacy. If a listener's Composure dots are equal to or higher than the number of successes earned, the subject may act normally, even though he feels a shiver of primal fear.

Shapeshifters and spirits are immune to the effects of the Primal Howl. Vampires, mages or other supernatural beings who were born human combine Composure + the appropriate resistance Trait (such as Blood Potency) to resist the effects of the Gift. Wolf-blooded and ghouls gain no bonus.

Cost: 1 Essence
Dice Pool: Presence + Expression + Purity versus Composure + Primal Urge
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive

Aura of Truce (Half-Moon •••)

When an Elodoth uses this power, a subtle half-moon halo appears in the air behind her, bathing everyone present in calming, soothing light. While it shines, tension dissipates and cool heads have a chance to prevail.

This Gift lasts for one scene, and flaring tempers subside while it is in use. Opposing parties may disagree and voices may even be raised in anger, but the power of the Gift is such that outright hostilities are harder to perform than normal. In order to commit a violent act — be it an attack, an attempt to damage someone else's property or an attempt to use a Gift against an unwilling subject — a Willpower point must be spent reflexively for the intended perpetrator. That participant has free reign thereafter.

If the character using the Gift attacks anyone under its influence, the power terminates automatically. This Gift works only before violence has broken out. Once a fight is underway, the power is useless on combatants.

Cost: 1 Essence
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion + Honor
Action: Instant

FRIDAY 3/11 UPDATE

Lodges — As a werewolf grows in reputation, he may be invited to join a lodge. These grouping's are collections of tribe members who have similar ideologies, similar goals for the tribe or the People as a whole, or similar hopes in their Forsaken existence. Not simply social gatherings, some are fringe religious cults while others are camps dedicated to disseminating rare lore and obscure knowledge among members. (There are also a few cross-tribal lodges, but they are far rarer.)

The benefits to joining a lodge are many. First, of course, a werewolf gains the prestige of being admitted to a small, elite circle of individuals. More importantly, however, since each lodge has a specific ideology or agenda, joining a lodge is a validation of a werewolf's feelings and beliefs. A werewolf also gains a greater and closer circle of friends. While her lodge should never replace her pack, other werewolves think twice about challenging lodge members. Lodge members have been accepted not only by their tribal totem, but by the patron spirit(s) of their lodge as well, and all lodges have stringent entry requirements.

Finally, joining a lodge brings power and benefits that a werewolf wouldn't be able to gain on her own. All lodges teach secret Gifts or other capabilities that their members wouldn't easily be able to learn. Many also bestow other benefits upon their members. This reward translates in game terms to a "price break" on experience costs to raising certain kinds of traits.

The Lodge of Crows (A Storm Lord Lodge)

Storm Lords in general are ruthless and strategic, but the Crows prefer working through manipulation rather than direct confrontation. Some are assassins, some are superb, graceful warriors, but most often, if a Crow wants an enemy dead, she manipulates someone else into bloodying his claws.

The lodge follows Crow, a spirit of death, and years of association with Winter Wolf have made him dangerous and crafty. The Lodge is a worldwide faction within the Storm Lords, but it demand's absolute secrecy — Crows themselves usually don't recognize each other. While all Crows report to a superior within the lodge, those superiors send word in the form of crow-spirits, rather than meeting directly. "If ever anyone claims openly to be a Crow," recruits are taught, "kill him. He's either lying or has broken his vow of secrecy, and either means death."

The lodge demands utter ruthlessness, to the point of demanding that Crows commit sins of betrayal against family and pack during their initiation. But most of all, Crow demands cunning, asking that his followers build their power in invisible, unassuming ways. Their devious and deadly ways, however, can exert quite a cost. Crows' relationships with spirits are strained even for Forsaken, and their Harmony tends to flag as they follow their ruthless agendas, so to compensate, they attempt to make a point of doing all they do in the spirit of Purity Renown. All the power they accrue is for the good of the People , they say. The instant a Crow begins accumulating power for her own glory, she breaks with the ideology of the lodge and can expect a fatal visit — if the lodge discovers her new agenda, of course.

Prerequisites: Cunning •••• or Purity••••
Benefits:The greatest benefit a Crow has is the knowledge that if anyone takes direct action against her, that foe can expect unpleasant attention from the lodge. This usually takes the form of incidental misfortune or attackers from other tribes or packs, but the Crow knows the truth. Also, players pay one less experience point per dot purchased (new dots x2 instead of new dots x3) for all purchases of the Larceny, Stealth, Politics, Persuasion and Subterfuge Skills.

Next Week: Werewolf: The Forsaken arrives in stores at last!