Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

190
Chapter III: Special Rules and Systems
leave the eyes of his prey intact for him to eat, as might
Crow. The ban is usually commensurate with the amount
of power the totem grants.
Regardless of what the totem requires of the pack, the
ban isn’t intended to nourish or give power to the totem
— the pack’s actions and reverence do that much more
efficiently. The ban is a reflection of the greater law of the
spirit world that all spirits have their limitations, and that
those who strike pacts with spirits should expect to also
give something up in return. A raccoon-spirit isn’t just enamored
of shiny objects. That fascination with shiny objects
is part of being a raccoon-spirit. Many bans are simply
in place to preserve and protect the pack’s totem spirit.
Furthermore, spirits still look on the Uratha in a variety of
ways ranging from nervous courtesy to outright disdain or
even hatred. A ban is a sign that the werewolves are willing
to show some deference to the spirits that otherwise
might not trust them.
NO LUNE TOTEMS?
Lunes don’t act as totems for packs of Forsaken,
which many young werewolves find rather
surprising. The truth is obscure and more than a
little sobering. Lore has it that once, some packs
did take Lunes for totems, but over time, every
single werewolf who belonged to a pack that did
so went steadily mad, unable to control his Rage
when the phase of the moon associated with his
pack totem came around.
Why do Lunes drive werewolves mad by
acting as patrons? The Lunes themselves don’t
seem to recognize the problem until it’s too
late, and very few werewolves know about
the maddening effect. Even today, some Lunes
adopt packs as their own. Those packs go
mad, sooner rather than later, but never lose
their ability to change shape or step sideways.
They simply roam the Hisil and the Earth,
stalking and killing whatever takes their fancy,
caring nothing for the Oath or the demands of
secrecy. Not all of Luna’s blessings should be
accepted.
Packs guard their totems’ bans very carefully. If a
rival pack learns of its enemy’s ban, it can potentially
manipulate said foes into breaking it, and totems are notoriously
unforgiving about broken bans. Some bans are
difficult to break. Werewolves following Weasel might be
required to call upon their Rage by entering Gauru in every
battle they fight, and even very resourceful foes can’t
stop the characters from doing so. If, however, a totem
requires its pack to stay out of the spirit world on certain
days of the month, enemies of the pack could very easily
kidnap one of their members’ loved ones and drag her
into the Shadow, forcing the pack to either break the
totem’s ban or remain faithful to their totem and let the
girl die. Breaking a ban doesn’t necessarily constitute
betrayal of the totem, if it’s done for laudable reasons.
Breaking a totem’s ban deliberately most certainly does,
and if a werewolf intentionally goes against her totem’s
sacred taboo, being expelled from the pack is the lightest
punishment she can expect.
Page 191 lists some sample bans, corresponding to
the number of Totem points spent on the pack’s spiritual
patron. The Storyteller, of course, is encouraged to make
any tweaks necessary to the ban to make sure the characters
aren’t getting a free ride.
STEP SEVEN: FINISHING TOUCHES
Record all of the derived traits for the totem spirit.
These traits are defined in Appendix One. A totem begins
with maximum Essence for its Rank (15).
TOTEM BONUSES
The costs in Totem points for various bonuses that
pack totems can bestow upon their werewolf charges are
listed here.
TRAIT S
The most common bonuses that totems grant come
in the form of traits, increasing the werewolves’ already
formidable potential. These traits vary in cost by whether
they’re given, story or pack traits. If no trait type is specified,
the trait in question is a given trait. A bonus trait
cannot take a werewolf above his normal maximum. A
totem that grants two dots of Medicine, for instance, can
boost a packmate’s Medicine from 4 to 5, but not to 6. All
costs are per pack, not per character.
• Attributes (given): 18 Totem points per dot.
Example: Boar grants all of his children an additional
dot of Strength. This costs 18 Totem points but is a permanent
addition to each character in the pack for as long as Boar
remains their totem.
• Attributes (pack): 10 Totem points per dot.
Example: Raccoon grants his pack a dot of Wits, but
only one packmate can access it in a turn. This costs 10
Totem points.
• Attributes (story): 3 Totem points per dot. These
dots are active for one scene.
Example: Cheetah grants her children a pool of three dots
in Dexterity. These can only be used once per story and can
be used in any combination. These dots in Dexterity cost the
pack nine Totem points.
• Gift (given): 10 Totem points per dot.
Example: Chameleon teaches all his children the one-dot
Stealth Gift: Blending. This costs 10 Totem points.
• Gift (pack): 5 Totem points per dot.
Example: Grizzly allows any one of his children to use
the one-dot Gift: Crushing Blow at a time. This costs five
Totem points.