Werewolf:House Rules

Innate Abilities

 * Absolute Rage
 * A werewolf in Kuruth is completely consumed by both his bestial instincts and a supernatural rage that drives the monster to destroy everything and everyone in its path. Thus, a werewolf in Death Rage cannot be influenced by mind-controlling or suggestive powers that don't specifically counteract Death Rage. There simply isn't any reasoning with the werewolf. Powers that alter the werewolf's perceptions will still function, however, they suffer the usual -3 penalty.


 * The Rage
 * A werewolf in Gauru form must constantly struggle against his/her Rage. This fury clouds the werewolf's mind and makes it impossible for him or her to perform all but the simplest of mental or social tasks. Others will find it harder to break the werewolf's mental resistance as well. The urge to maim and kill is simply too powerful to be ignored. Any attempt to mentally or socially coerce or influence a werewolf under the effects of rage suffer from a -2 penalty if the command(s) or suggestions would make the werewolf do anything other than combat.


 * Superior Regeneration
 * More experienced Uratha have more control over their physical form and are more efficient at healing. When a werewolf spends essence to heal, replace the usual one bashing damage per turn with two bashing damage or one lethal damage per essence point spent. This means that a werewolf that spends two essence in one turn will heal either four bashing damage or two lethal damage. When in the Primal Form, the one lethal damage per turn is not replaced, but is instead added to the total healed. Note that this rule does not affect the amount of essence one can spend per turn. That is still limited by Primal Urge.


 * War Form Gamble
 * (See World of Darkness: Armory Reloaded pg165)
 * A werewolf can only remain in the fearsome Gauru form for a little time, lest he risks Death Rage. In a truly dangerous situation, a werewolf may choose to extend that duration beyond his/her own limits, though doing so is extremely risky. Gauru form retains the normal duration limit (Stamina + Primal Urge + Primary Renown w/auspice moon). At the end of the Gauru's natural duration, the werewolf can attempt to maintain the Gauru form. At the end of every turn that the werewolf attempts to remain in the Gauru form beyond its normal duration, roll the werewolf’s Resolve + Composure as a reflexive action. During the werewolf’s auspice moon phase, add his auspice’s primary Renown to this roll. Every turn beyond the first suffers a cumulative –1 penalty. When the roll fails, the werewolf immediately enters Death Rage.


 * Ghost Wolves
 * (see The Rage, page 99)
 * Ghost Wolves are at a disadvantage compared to their tribal siblings, but they have developed their own means to survive. They cling to their human side more insistently any other class of werewolf, both to their advantage and their detriment.
 * Ghost wolves count the social penalty caused by having Primal Urge as one lower then it is (to a minimum of 0). They see building Primal Urge as "giving in to the beast" and do their best to avoid it. If the Ghost Wolf joins a tribe, they lose this phobia and the effect on the social penalty is lost.


 * Mother Luna's Blessings
 * Not all Uratha are ritemasters, yet all Uratha must earn renown. Instead of performing the Rite of the Spirit Brand, Uratha may also choose to seek out Mother Luna's servants on their own. In order to receive renown in this manner, they must seek a Lune spirit that represents the renown they wish to receive (For Purity, a Ralunim; For Glory, a Cahalunim; For Honor, an Elunim; For Wisdom, an Ithalunim; For Cunning, an Irralunim), however, such spirits rarely appear outside their specific lunar phase.
 * To set up an encounter, wait until the proper time of the month, and ask a storyteller for assistance.

Affinity

 * Pack Gifts
 * All Uratha are pack creatures. Therefore, Pack gifts (The Rage, pg121-123) are now Affinity gifts for all Uratha.


 * Gifts of Mother Luna
 * Though the good book says otherwise, Gifts of Mother Luna are not affinity gifts for the Pure. Mother Luna does not grant her blessings to those who reject her, nor do the Pure want for them. They can still learn them, however (e.g. the Predator Kings and Primal Form), but they must seek out spirits of madness and trickery who are unaffiliated with Luna.

Revised Gifts
Many gifts have been changed to suit our chronicle. The gifts that have been changed can be found here.

Elemental gifts are not limited to the elements listed in the WTF corebook. Instead, a learner of the Elemental Gifts can pick gifts from any of the four elements. Each of these elements has its own list of gifts, and use the systems listed here: Alternate Elemental Gifts

Lone Wolves

 * (Forsaken Chronicler's Guide I, pg 22)

A Lone Wolf, in common parlance, is a Uratha without a pack; however, some Uratha are such loners that they develop into something very different. These Uratha become true Lone Wolves, not caring for, nor needing, a pack to support them. They fuse themselves with a spirit, destroying both and birthing a new creature. No longer Forsaken, this part flesh, mostly spirit being can gather a powerful chorus of spirits in its service. A player can decide to make a Lone Wolf out of their Uratha from character creation on and gets the following template changes: Additionally, the Lone Wolf gains a blessing for every 3 Totem Points it earns as a sign of the fundamental changes to its nature. Most of these are unique and based on the former spirit that merged with the Uratha. Talk to a storyteller about your ideas. Only a head storyteller can approve blessings.
 * A Lone Wolf has different sins for Harmony. At level 7, the sin "Spending too much time alone" is replaced by "Not spending enough time alone," and the level 1 sin "Betraying your pack" becomes "Betraying yourself."
 * A Lone Wolf can never buy the "Totem" merit, and thus, can never join a pack. The Lone Wolf instead gets the "Personal Totem" merit. Personal totems follow the same creation rules as normal totems, just buy the "Personal Totem" merit instead of the "Totem" merit. It costs 3 XP per dot.
 * 1 dot in the "Personal Totem" merit gives 3 Totem Points.
 * Once a character has five dots in "Personal Totem", extra Totem Points can be bought for 3 XP each.

Clarifications
These are not changes to the rules, simply explanations for the more confusing ones. More will be added as more rulings are made.

Errata
Be sure to check the Werewolf: The Forsaken errata here.

A Wolf is not a Dog
Anyone with access to Animal Planet will be able to see the difference between a dog and a wolf. Though it cannot be said that everyone in the civilized world will know what the difference is between the two, especially if visibility of the wolf is poor, at the very least, people will recognize the wolf as a large, feral-looking canine. System-wise, anyone with a dot in Animal Ken or Survival will be able to spot the difference between a wolf and a dog at a glance, provided the wolf is visible. Most people can be asumed to not respond positively to seeing a wolf, even if they don't recognize it as such. If your werewolf has a different species of canid as their Urhan form, then this rule applies as "recognizing the werewolf's Urhan form as a wild animal, rather then a domesticated one."

The People do not Murder the People
Weapons that deal aggravated damage are always meant to kill, no matter how one justifies their use. Though werewolves are not penalized for carrying such weapons, using them against other Uratha is always a great offense. Whenever a werewolf uses any weapon, gift, rite or other power that deals aggravated damage against another werewolf, it counts as a lvl 4 violation of harmony. Indirect use of such weapons or powers (such as ordering a spirit to fight a werewolf, whereupon the spirit uses powers that cause Aggravated damage) do not usually count as a sin, but this is ultimately up to the storyteller.

Mother is Watching
Mother Luna grants renown, and she can also take it away. If a werewolf commits an act significantly violating the tenets of a specific renown group (such as a werewolf with Glory renown murdering a rival werewolf in his/her sleep, or a werewolf with high Wisdom renown refusing to act within reason and inadvertently causing the death of a packmate) the Lunes will take notice, find the Uratha in question, and strip the werewolf of his/her renown. This does not remove the bonus gift the werewolf received for earning this dot of renown. However, the exp spent on earning this renown is lost entirely.

Auspice in Scenes
To determine the phase of the moon for a particular scene, follow these steps:
 * Note the date of the first post of the thread.
 * Go figure out the percentage illumination of the moon disk. This will be present as a percentage or a decimal.
 * For the current moon phase presented as a percentage, go here
 * For a past moon phase, go here and select the appropriate date. There will be a decimal number. Move the decimal to the right 2 numbers to get the percentage.
 * Percentages:
 * 0-19%: New Moon
 * 20-39%: Crescent Moon
 * 40-60%: Half Moon
 * 61-80%: Gibbeous Moon
 * 81-100%: Full Moon

Affinity Gifts
In addition to having the affinity gifts listed in the core WTF book, tribes/auspices get additional affinity gifts. Note that these do count as affinity gifts during character creation and can be chosen as such.


 * All Uratha
 * Territory Gifts - Territories pg48-50

By Auspice

 * Rahu
 * Warrior's Moon Gifts - Lore of the Forsaken pg90-91
 * Purity Gifts - Signs of the Moon pg179-180


 * Cahalith
 * Dreamer's Moon Gifts - Lore of the Forsaken pg83-85
 * Glory Gifts - Signs of the Moon pg142-143
 * Scheherazade's Gifts - Signs of the Moon pg140-141


 * Elodoth
 * Judge's Moon Gifts - Lore of the Forsaken pg86-88
 * Honour Gifts - Signs of the Moon pg102-103


 * Ithaeur
 * Witch's Moon Gifts - Lore of the Forsaken pg91-93
 * Wisdom Gifts - Signs of the Moon pg67-68


 * Irraka
 * Stalker's Moon Gifts - Lore of the Forsaken pg88-89
 * Cunning Gifts - Signs of the Moon pg33-34

By Tribe

 * Blood Talons
 * Battle Gifts - The Rage pg108-110


 * Storm Lords
 * Halcyon Gifts - Blood of the Wolf pg84-85
 * Alpha Gifts - The Rage pg107-108


 * Iron Masters
 * Urban Gifts - Blood of the Wolf pg62-65
 * Blending Gifts - The Rage pg111


 * Bone Shadows
 * Ending Gifts - The Rage pg114-116


 * Hunters in Darkness
 * Stalking Gifts - The Rage pg126


 * Ivory Claws
 * Agony Gifts - The Pure pg113-114
 * Scourging Gifts - The Pure pg119-121
 * Dominance Gifts
 * Warding Gifts


 * Fire-Touched
 * Disease Gifts - The Pure pg115-116
 * Fervor Gifts - The Pure pg116-117
 * Insight Gifts
 * Inspiration Gifts


 * Predator Kings
 * Savagery Gifts - The Pure pg118-119
 * Nature Gifts
 * Rage Gifts
 * Strength Gifts


 * Bale Hounds
 * Eclipse Gifts - Blasphemies pg137-138
 * Tainted Moon Gifts - Blasphemies pg138-139
 * Wound Gifts - Blasphemies pg139-140

Changing Breeds

 * The mechanics from Changing Breeds aren't enabled on the site. Instead, we will be using the rules from the last chapter of War Against the Pure. Changing Breeds lore is permitted, however, and individual aspects from the book may be taken with Storyteller approval. Assistant Storytellers cannot approve Changing Breeds aspects.

Approved Aspects will be listed below as they are approved.

Bezoar

 * Bezoar are talismans made by certain races of shapeshifters. These give certain bonusses (see page 183 of the War Against the Pure book) but are one use only. To create one of these items, the shapeshifter must be of an appropriate species (cats and owls are fine, elephants or stags are not) and eat hearty for a month. If the shapeshifter doesn't eat well, he/she won't be able to gather the materials needed to create one of these talismans. One the bezoar has been regurgitated, the character must roll Int + Crafts to create the talisman. At creation, it's effect has to be chosen. The Bezoar talisman works only once.

Heart of the Wild (replacement gifts)

 * As shapeshifters have no renown, shapeshifters who purchase Replacement Gifts (the aspect) may replace the renown category of the gift with Primal Urge. However, they can never gain more than 5 dices out of their Primal Urge trait for using a replacement gift.

Clarifications

 * Aspects
 * Aspects cost New Dots x5, not a flat 5 XP per dot.

Spirit-specific houserules

 * Vow of Silence
 * Though no one knows why, if spirits in North Georgia are inspected using rites or gifts to determine their bans, they are shown to somehow possess an extra ban. The first is normal and unique to the spirit, but the last they all share: "None can speak of what happened when the supernaturals were murdered."

Totem Rules
Totem rules and creation information are viewable on the Totem Page