Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

188
Chapter III: Special Rules and Systems
a powerful entity, the totem is often willing to materialize
and fight beside its charges, heal them after a battle or aid
them in other ways. Packs that offer frequent sacrifices, live
by their totem’s ban at all times and adorn themselves with
tattoos and ritual scars bear that totem’s likeness often wind
up with powerful totem spirits.
Alternatively, the players can spend their Totem
points to buy traits that benefit the werewolves, rather
than the totem spirit. Some totems grant their charges
strength, speed, wisdom or even Gifts. Totems expect the
pack to protect them if necessary, and the pack would
do well to remember this. After all, if some other being
destroys the totem spirit, the pack immediately loses all
of the powers and benefits it granted them, even bonuses
such as “permanent” additions to Attributes.
Players pool their dots in the Totem Merit to build a
pack totem.
TOTEM CREATION
• Step One: Concept
Choose spirit type/name and concept.
• Step Two: Attributes
Distribute 9 dots between Power, Finesse
and Resistance.
• Step Three: Influences
Assign two dots to Influences.
• Step Four: Totem Points
Spend Totem Merit points on the totem’s
Power, Finesse and Resistance. Record the
Numen: Material Vision and one other of the
players’ choice. Spend Totem points on any other
desired Numina.
• Step Five: Assign Bonuses
Purchase pack bonuses with any remaining
Totem points. The Storyteller should make sure
that any bonuses purchased are in keeping with
the spirit in question.
• Step Six: Assign Ban
The players and the Storyteller should work
together to come up with an appropriate ban,
balanced to the level of power for the spirit.
• Step Seven: Finishing Touches
Record Willpower (Resistance x 2), Essence
(15), Initiative (Finesse x 2), Speed (Power
+ Finesse + Size modifier), Defense (equal
to higher of Power or Finesse) and Corpus
(Resistance + Size).
STEP ONE: CONCEPT
This is easily the most important step in the totembuilding
process. The players must decide what basic type
of spirit best suits their characters. Are they rowdy and
warlike, intent on taking new territory for themselves? A
tough, martial spirit such as Boar or Lion might work best
for them. Does the pack largely comprise Bone Shadows,
intent on exploring the spirit worlds for clues as to the
history of the Uratha? A spirit associated with wisdom or
knowledge, such as Owl, Raven or Coyote might be appropriate
(though note that each of those spirits has different
ideas as to what constitutes true wisdom). The totem spirit
of a pack can even be an Uratha ancestor-spirit, though
these spirits tend to favor packs of their own tribe, preferably
those that include their own descendants.
The powerful spirits who represent entire species don’t
serve as pack totems. Each pack totem is a unique spirit.
That is, Bear herself isn’t going to play patron to a pack of
Uratha, but Golden-Mother-Bear, a spirit of the western
rivers, might share her wisdom and healing magic with
them. Two packs who revere the same type of spirit don’t
necessarily have anything in common, while two packs
who follow totems that seem antagonistic on the surface
might actually share common goals. Hare and Fox might
seem natural enemies, but if one pack follows Shrieking
Hare, the spirit of wisdom through sacrifice, and the other
follows Fox-Who-Watches, a spirit of wisdom mingled with
cunning, the packs might find some common ground.
Examples throughout this section usually refer to spirits
in their general identities (i.e., “Thunderbird” rather than
“Never-Touches-the-Ground” or “Killing Bright Wing”),
but always remember that this customization of spirit is
extremely important. A pack should never follow “Boar,”
but rather “Dripping Tusks” or “Boar-with-Iron-Hooves.”
It’s what makes each pack totem one of a kind.
Although the players are the ones making the decisions
while building the totem, they should keep their characters
in mind, both collectively (as a pack) and individually.
A player might be able to see the wisdom in having
a boar totem, but her character might bear scars from an
encounter she had with a boar-spirit and absolutely refuse
to follow the totem, no matter what kind of power it might
grant her and her pack. Likewise, there can be tension between
certain totems. While packs of werewolves can follow
Rat, for instance, Rat is not only a prey animal but related
to the Plague King, spirit father to the Beshilu.
Also, keep in mind that the characters might not
have any say in what totem their pack follows. Sometimes,
a pack ventures into the spirit wilds and searches out a
specific spirit to act as its totem, but sometimes, a spirit
appears and asks to give the pack its patronage. Which avenue
is best for your chronicle is up to the Storyteller, but
consider that a pack that searches for its totem is likely to
learn a great deal about itself along the way. A pack that
simply accepts whatever spirit appears from the depths of
the Hisil is not only taking a risk regarding the benefits
and powers it will receive from the spirit, but it knows
nothing about its patron except what that patron chooses
to reveal. While spirits are primal and often simple, that
doesn’t preclude them from have ulterior motives and
hidden agendas — or worse, acting on behalf of more