Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

102
Chapter II: Character
GIFT S
Some powers are the stuff of legend. A man tastes
the blood of a dragon, and he instantly understands the
speech of birds and animals. A falcon gives a feather to
a wanderer, and when the wanderer places the feather in
his belt, he is able to fly as swiftly as the falcon. A woman
pleases a mercurial fey creature, and she is blessed with the
ability to see through illusions. These are the Gifts given
by the spirit world — ancient blessings that hint at a time
when flesh and spirit were close.
Gifts are tricks bestowed by spirits, unusual magical
abilities that draw on a werewolf’s half-spirit nature to accomplish
things that would otherwise be impossible. They
are not spells or innate abilities. They’re more like a spirit’s
Numina (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 210).
Individual Gifts are frequently limited in effect, but the
sheer variety of Gifts that spirits are capable of teaching
grants werewolves a versatile array of power.
All Gifts are taught by spirits and can be learned only
by those who are part spirit themselves. In game terms, a
character must have an Essence trait to be able to learn a
Gift. Spirits cannot use Gifts themselves, only Numina.
The process of teaching a Gift is a supernatural blessing,
an example of the living symbolism of the spirit world.
The Gifts a spirit teaches depend not on the spirit’s traits,
but on its nature. Most spirits grant Gifts with a common
theme — hence the arrangement of Gifts in lists. A bullspirit
(largely a spirit of strength) teaches many Gifts that
have strength as a common factor, so bull-spirits are listed
as teachers of the Strength Gift list. In turn, only spirits
can “teach” Gifts. A werewolf cannot convey the same
sort of blessing to another, even a packmate.
Spirits don’t hand out Gifts for free, though. Nothing
comes for free in the spirit world, particularly to the Uratha.
A werewolf must somehow appease one of these hostile
entities, even one that is ordinarily a friend to her totem,
before it agrees to bless her with a Gift. Even if a spirit were
to be greatly fond of a werewolf (or in love with her, as
legends sometimes speak of), it couldn’t give her something
without asking for something in return. It is one of the laws
of the next world. The spirit may ask for little in return if
it feels charitable (unlikely), or it might ask for the near
impossible if it dislikes the werewolf (sadly likely). In any
event, learning a Gift is more a matter of negotiation and
making offerings than of study and practice.
A beginning Werewolf character starts with three
Gifts. These powers are presumed to be the first ones the
werewolf learned, during and directly after her initiation
into Forsaken society. These are chosen from among the
lists affiliated with her auspice and tribe and from another
list of the player’s choice. Gifts affiliated with a character’s
auspice or tribe are considered “affinity Gifts,” as are
Father Wolf’s and Mother Luna’s Gifts. A Hunter in Darkness
Cahalith could, therefore, have one Gift from the Elemental,
Nature or Stealth lists (associated with her tribe),
one from the Gibbous Moon, Inspiration or Knowledge
lists (associated with her auspice), and one from another
list of her player’s choice. She could even have multiple
Gifts from a single list if a Gift list is affiliated with both
her tribe and auspice, or her third, free choice is also allocated
to one of her affiliated lists. Remember, however,
that no character can have a Gift worth more dots than
her highest primary Renown. If the Hunter in Darkness
Cahalith has Purity • (her tribe’s primary Renown) and
Glory •• (her auspice’s primary Renown), she can have no
Gift of higher than two dots.
Ghost Wolves, who have no tribe, begin play with a
Gift chosen from the lists associated with auspice, a Gift
from the “open” lists that are affiliated with all werewolves
(Father Wolf’s or Mother Luna’s Gifts), and one from a list
of the player’s choice.
The only lists from which you cannot choose Gifts via
a free pick are those that are synonymous with the other
auspices: Full Moon (Rahu), Gibbous Moon (Cahalith),
Half Moon (Elodoth), Crescent Moon (Ithaeur) and New
Moon (Irraka).
At character creation, a player also has the option
of trading his third, “free” pick of Gift for one dot in the
Rituals trait. This trait allows access to the supernatural
rites performed by werewolves (see pp. 147-165). That trait
can also be acquired during play to learn and perform
rites.
As a character grows and learns, she may continue to acquire
Gifts. When Renown of any kind is increased through
experience points (see the chart on p. 247), your character
gains a new Gift worth the same number of dots. This Gift
must be chosen from one of the lists for which your character
has a tribe or auspice affinity. For example, if the Honor
Renown of a Hunter in Darkness Cahalith increases from
• to ••, she gets a new two-dot Gift from one of the following
lists: Gibbous Moon, Inspiration, Knowledge (from her
Cahalith affinity), or Elemental, Nature or Stealth (from her
Hunter in Darkness affinity). She could alternately choose
two-dot a Gift from the Father Wolf or Mother Luna lists
since all Forsaken have affinity with them.
Gifts can also be acquired in the course of the chronicle
by making pacts with spirits, without raising Renown.
In systems terms, you spend experience points for your
character to learn a new Gift. This power can be from
any list. As stated previously, the Gift cannot be of a level
higher than your character’s highest primary Renown. If
her highest primary Renown is 3, you can’t spend experience
points for her to acquire a four-dot Gift of any kind.
The experience chart shows the point costs of acquiring
Gifts without raising Renown at the same time. Some
Gifts are easier to learn during play than others. Buying
Gifts from lists affiliated with your character’s auspice or
tribe (or from the Father Wolf or Mother Luna lists) costs
less experience points than those from non-affiliated lists.
Thus, if a Bone Shadow Elodoth (whose affiliated Gift