Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

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Chapter III: Special Rules and Systems
Lunacy has the potential to affect any humans who
witness a werewolf in any of the hybrid forms, Dalu, Gauru
or Urshul. This isn’t a power that werewolves turn on and
off — it is constantly active while werewolves are in those
forms. Indeed, it may be a weakness that lies within humans
rather than a power that werewolves actively project.
Nobody can truly say. Those affected by Lunacy are possessed
by irrational fears. Most are likely to block out the
memories of events — presuming they survive.
When a human observer clearly sees a werewolf in
Dalu, Gauru or Urshul, he is affected by the Lunacy to
a degree that depends on his Willpower dots. He might
run in terror, curl up into a catatonic ball or even stand
his ground. Lunacy is strongest when facing a werewolf in
nightmarish Gauru form. Onlookers use the following chart
to determine the effects, depending on their Willpower.
An onlooker gains +2 to Willpower when observing an
Uratha in Urshul form, and +4 to Willpower when he sees
an Uratha in Dalu. The use of certain clearly supernatural
Gifts, rites or fetishes, even when a character is in Hishu or
Urhan form, might also trigger Lunacy (although onlookers
are at +5 effective Willpower). This Willpower boost is only
for the purposes of determining observers’ reaction to Lunacy,
and cannot take effective Willpower higher than 10.
If multiple Uratha make supernatural displays before
human witnesses, the most overt prevails over all. So, if one
character is in Dalu form, another is in Urshul and a third is
in Gauru, all onlookers are subject to the effects caused by
the Gauru werewolf. If he weren’t present, the Urshul-form
Uratha would make for the most daunting spectacle. All
werewolves cause Lunacy, regardless of their fealty. Although
the Pure reject Luna as a patron, a measure of her power and
protection nonetheless seems to abide within them.
The results are as follows:
• Willpower 1–2: Most humans at this level have suffered
great trauma or are impaired in some way. They lack
even the slightest protection against Lunacy. An onlooker
has no control over his actions and could go catatonic, suffer
a heart attack, revert to animalistic behavior (hiding in
dark places and snarling, tearing at his clothes) or perform
practically suicidal actions in an attempt to escape (such as
throwing himself out of a tenth-story window). Any actions
taken suffer a –5 penalty out of fear. Victims don’t remember
the scene at all, and they refuse to believe any evidence
that implies they were present at such a scene.
• Willpower 3–4: This is the level of the average to
slightly below average human in the World of Darkness.
Lunacy affects them as fear affects herd animals. Onlookers
are likely to flee in abject terror and have no real control
over their actions. All actions that might be taken (attempting
to drive a car, climb a fence) incur a –4 penalty.
Onlookers don’t remember the event save in the most general
sense, and they always rationalize it. (“Yeah, three years
ago I saw this girl get attacked by some pit bull that had gotten
loose. I’d rather not talk about it. It was pretty bad.”)
• Willpower 5–7: Humans at this level have aboveaverage
strength of will, but still not enough to cope with
the Uratha. A person is overcome with fear and attempts
to flee in panic. She has some control over her actions,
though. If she attempts to hide in a building, she has the
presence of mind to lock the door. If the victim is cornered,
she might fight, albeit in a berserk state. Any actions the
person takes suffer a –3 penalty. She forgets the event unless
she attempts to actively remember it (under questioning, for
instance). Attempting to remember the event requires an
Intelligence + Composure roll at a –3 penalty (see World of
Darkness Rulebook, p. 44). Success on this roll allows the
character to remember general circumstances, but not the
true nature of the Uratha. An exceptional success allows
her to remember with perfect clarity. A roll must be made
each time she attempts to remember the scene, though. Her
mind and soul want to forget.
• Willpower 8–9: Humans at this level have exceptional
self-control. A subject still feels great terror and an
almost irresistible desire to flee, but a Willpower point may
be spent to retain control for a turn. Any actions suffer a –1
penalty, save in a turn in which a Willpower point has been.
The victim always retains a hazy, nightmarish half-memory
of the event, but she must make a conscious effort to focus
directly on it. Attempting to remember the event requires
an Intelligence + Composure roll at a –2 penalty. Success on
this roll allows the character to remember the event, but not
the true nature of the Uratha. An exceptional success allows
her to remember with perfect clarity. This roll must be made
each time the subject attempts to remember the scene.
• Willpower 10: The rarest of the rare, humans with
this level of Willpower are practically made of iron. The
subject is completely unaffected by the Lunacy. She has
control over her actions and remembers the event as clearly
as she remembers any other significant event in her life.
Even photographic records of the Uratha benefit from
the protection of Lunacy to a limited degree. Although
a snapshot taken of a werewolf in Gauru doesn’t frighten
anyone who looks at it, most humans (Willpower 8 or
lower) simply refuse to believe that the picture could be
more than a hoax.
No pack of Uratha should ever rely on Lunacy as
their only method of avoiding detection. A human with
high enough Willpower dots can shrug off the effects for a
short time, and if such a person flees the scene, he might
remember what happened and look for explanations. Revealing
the Uratha’s presence to humanity is a sin against
Harmony (see p. 181).
All the tribes, and even the Ghost Wolves, are concerned
by what might happen if humans were to discover
the Uratha. Some werewolves believe that humanity would
rise up, and the Forsaken would be forced to slaughter
people by the thousands or be destroyed in protecting
themselves. Others speculate that Luna, too, would turn
her back on the People. Stories circulate of Uratha in olden
times who revealed their true nature to their families or vil-