Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

194
Chapter III: Special Rules and Systems
Four of those points go to purchasing the Stealth
Skill as a pack trait. One packmate per turn can call upon
Panther’s ability to slink through the shadows, adding
two dots of Stealth to the Uratha’s rating. The last Totem
point, after some deliberation, goes to purchasing an
Athletics Specialty in Climbing. Panther feels that his
children should be able to scale surfaces and lurk in ambush
high above their prey, just as he does. Therefore, any
character with an Athletics rating may use this Specialty.
Finally, the players need to decide on a ban for their
totem. They feel that Panther wants tribute but is more
concerned with making sure that the pack is exhibiting
the creativity and resourcefulness that overcame him in
the first place than he is with limiting them in any way.
(“Of course, you would say that,” the Storyteller mutters.)
They decide that Panther demands an ongoing commitment
to patrolling the spirit wilds and making sure that
they pose no immediate danger to the physical world. The
Storyteller asks for a more specific ban that isn’t so close to
what the pack would be doing anyway. The players decide
that Panther demands that each pack member spends
three waking hours every day in the Shadow Realm, usually
the spirit wilds. If any pack member violates that ban,
the entire pack loses Panther’s gifts until the errant pack
member spends an entire day in the Shadow, rooting out
any hidden dangers in the pack’s territory. The Storyteller
notes that given the state of the spirit wilds and spirit animosity
toward the Uratha, this is a rather dangerous ban,
but he feels that it fits the totem and pack nicely. After all
is said and done, the pack’s totem is expressed thus:
TOTEM:
PANTHER-WHO-SLINKS-IN-
SHADOWED-PATHS
Attributes: Power 3; Finesse 4; Resistance 3
Willpower: 6
Essence: 15
Initiative: 8
Defense: 4
Speed: 11
Size: 4
Corpus: 7
Influences: Shadows ••
Numina: Material Vision, Wilds Sense
Bonuses: 9 Essence pool/story; Stealth 2
(pack); Athletics Specialty — Climbing (given).
Ban: Each pack member must spend three
waking hours each day in the Hisil. These hours
need not be consecutive but must occur from
sunrise to sunrise. If any pack member fails to
observe this ban, all bonuses are rescinded until
the offender spends 24 consecutive hours in the
Shadow Realm.
RENOWN
Werewolves are a fractious race. A werewolf from a
different pack or tribe is a rival first and an ally later, if
ever. Therefore, it’s necessary for the People to have some
way of measuring each others’ accomplishments and status.
This need is mirrored by the demands of a werewolf’s
spirit nature, the need to have a clear place when standing
among the spirits that are loosely related to his kin. From
these requirements came the system of Renown, allowing
other werewolves and even spirits to gauge the deference
they should grant a visitor or intruder.
While all werewolves and all spirits recognize and
understand Renown, they respond to it in different ways,
depending on the circumstances. To a Predator King, a
highly renowned Blood Talon is a dangerous enemy to be
slain quickly, not a revered warrior to be honored. Also,
the Tribes of the Moon measure their Renown according
to the auspices that Luna grants, whereas the Pure Tribes
measure Renown by direct service to their totems and
goals. The Bale Hounds likely have their own method of
Renown, but the particulars are unknown to those outside
the cult. As players of Werewolf: The Forsaken assume
the roles of members of the five tribes allied with Luna,
this section discusses Renown as it applies to the Forsaken.
Renown for the Tribes of the Moon is measured and
acknowledged by Lunes. Venerable werewolves (those
with high Renown) are accorded more respect, can control
greater hunting territory and may pass through the
domains of allied werewolves and expect deference and
hospitality as they do so. Renown is hard-won. A werewolf
seeking to rise in status must seek out methods of increasing
that status in ways that the lunar choirs recognize.
CODES OF RENOWN
Each of the choirs of lunar spirits looks for a different
type of behavior when judging Renown. For the most part,
these behaviors are the sorts they expect from werewolves
of appropriate auspice, but all Forsaken are expected to
exhibit all types of Renown to some degree. The following
sections describe what each type of Renown means, what
types of feats are required for the spirits to take notice and
what decorum is expected.
CUNNING
Luna hides, but feels no shame. Sometimes she chooses to
watch without light, to listen to, touch and feel what happens
in the world without alerting her children to her presence. She
looks to us to obscure her, to cover her actions and mask her
words. Anyone could be Luna on the new moon.
The Irralunim look for the cunning. These spirits,
embodiments of the absence of light rather than of
darkness, know that not every problem can be solved by
judicious application of fang and claw. But at the same
time, not every problem has a wise answer. Some solutions
lie in breaking with tradition, with doing what must be