Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

oll for the ritemaster gains a bonus equal to the difference.
If a werewolf with a total of 4 Renown (equivalent to Rank
2) calls a lesser Gaffling (Rank 1), rolls made for the werewolf
receive a one-die bonus. If the werewolf’s honorary Rank is
less than the spirit’s Rank, the roll made for the ritemaster
suffers a penalty equal to the difference.
Rite of Chosen Ground (••••)
Many werewolf packs shape their territory to suit their
tastes. Physically, doing so might involve planting trees
where more belong or slaughtering humans that detract
from the territory’s worth. Changes to the spirit world in
a pack’s territory take much longer to effect — with a few
exceptions. The Rite of Chosen Ground is one. This ritual
allows a pack to infuse the spirit reflection of its territory
with the kind of Essence that members prefer, influencing
the area’s resonance and hopefully attracting specific sorts
of spirits while repelling unwanted ones.
Performing the Rite: The Rite of Chosen Ground
is usually performed as the culmination of a pack’s efforts
to shape its territory. (For more details on this process, see
“Reshaping the Spirit World,” p. 264.) The rite requires the
presence of a locus as the focal point. The actual details
of the rite vary greatly between packs, as the particulars
depend on the sort of resonance the group attempts to
invoke. For example, an effort to bring out the resonance of
strength may involve rituals of mock combat, heavy exercise
and the erection of standing stones or other large monuments
that attest to the power of the builders. Invoking a
resonance of fear in an attempt to discourage humans and
others from entering the pack’s territory might involve carefully
orchestrated (but random-seeming) acts of violence or
ritually causing Lunacy in humans. The pack engages in appropriate
activity for four hours each night or day, culminating
with an hour of elaborate ritual led by the ritemaster.
Dice Pool: Harmony
Action: Extended (50 successes; each roll represents
one day’s worth of effort.)
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: All successes are lost. The botched
rite might attract the attention of a powerful antagonistic
spirit that attempts to claim the area for its own.
Failure: No successes are gained at this time.
Success: Success are gained, and if the total is accumulated,
the local flow of Essence is adjusted, bringing out the
desired resonance. For the next year, all pack members and
spirits that are either allied with the pack or with the resonance
in question (such as fear-spirits in an area dedicated to
a resonance of fear) gain a +1 bonus to all rolls that involve
appropriate activities. For example, if the pack works hard
to create an area with a resonance of healing, +1 is added to
rolls involving Medicine for members and allied spirits. If the
pack creates an area with the resonance of fear, one extra die
is added to any rolls to intimidate or terrify adversaries.
The effects of the rite apply over an area equal to
triple the radius of a locus’ influence. (See “Loci,” p. 261.)
If the rite is enacted with a two-dot locus at its center (five
yards of influence), the pack members receive the benefits
whenever they’re within 15 yards of the locus. Obviously,
large and powerful loci extend the rite’s influence to a
great distance, further increasing the demand for such
potent places of power.
The Rite of Chosen Ground’s effects last for an entire
year unless the pack neglects its territory such that the influence
of the chosen resonance would fade. The ritual’s effects
can also be undone by appropriate changes to the territory.
Exceptional Success: Several successes are gathered
in a short time. If 55+ are accumulated, the chosen bonus
is +2 for 24 hours after the rite’s completion. After that
time, it becomes a one-die bonus.
Drawing Down the Shadow (•••••)
The origins of this rite are lost in prehistory. However,
lore states that it was learned after the murder of Father Wolf
and the rise of the Gauntlet, as a desperate measure learned
to keep the physical and spirit from drifting too far apart.
This powerful mystical rite allows werewolves to pour
Essence into an object and create a locus, a place where the
spirit world is close to the physical. The rite is difficult to
master and never performed lightly, for the consequences are
potentially very dangerous. A new locus can be a valuable
resource, or it can be a gateway through which new threats
bleed into the world from the Shadow.
This rite requires a significant amount of Essence to
enact; the object must be saturated with spiritual energy
before the peak of the rite’s power can forge it into a
beacon of Essence in its own rite. As few packs are able to
muster the amount of Essence required from their personal
reserves — and fewer still would willingly leave themselves
so vulnerable by doing so — the rite incorporates the use
of touchstones. The spirits invoked vary from place to
place - a wise ritemaster will call on spirits that are strong
locally, yet will not call the names of spirits that might
prove powerful rivals for the new locus.
Loci are described in Appendix One, beginning on p.
260.
Performing the Rite: The ritemaster must select an
appropriate object to be the focus of the rite; an object
that might over time have become a locus in its own right
is ideal. The pack piles their collection of touchstones
around the object to be empowered in something of a
loose cairn. Then, each werewolf participating in the rite
cuts their palm and lets a measure of their blood run onto
the assembled touchstones. The ritemaster dips a claw into
the blood, and paints a series of glyphs surrounding the
locus to better channel the Essence.
Surrounding the core of the ritual is an exhausting and
time-consuming series of chants, dances, howls and even
impromptu ritual combat meant to increase the flow of emotional
energy in the area. The rite is half-improvised. The
ritualist knows the common themes that must be included
in the pack’s efforts, and leads the group through them. The
Rites
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