Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

wise to be tentative in their reception of a newcomer. Just
because a werewolf isn’t recognized doesn’t mean he isn’t a
well-respected warrior of the People. Attacking him could
mean an offense against Harmony, unless he arrives and
clearly provokes a hostile reaction.
A dramatic failure on a recognition roll means that a
character could go completely unknown. Perhaps word of
his deeds hasn’t arrived to remote corners of the world, or
something about him sets off warnings among receiving
Uratha. All Social rolls made for the unknown intruder
suffer a –1 penalty for the remainder of the scene.
In addition, when a werewolf interacts socially with
a fellow tribe member, he may add his your dots in tribal
Renown to your Social dice pools. Such dice bonuses
based on Renown do not apply to social rolls made toward
members of other tribes. For more information, see pg. 78.
LODGES
Werewolf tribes are powerful forces by themselves,
guided by some of the strongest totem spirits in existence.
Within each tribe, however, are several lodges, guided by
one overarching principle or code of ethics. Lodges are
collections of tribe members who have similar ideologies,
similar goals for the tribe or the People as a whole, or similar
hopes in their Forsaken existence. Not simply social
gatherings, some are fringe religious cults while others are
camps dedicated to disseminating rare lore and obscure
knowledge among members.
A member of a lodge is still a member of her tribe.
Simply because an Iron Master joins the Lodge of Lightning
doesn’t make her any less the child of Red Wolf.
Some lodge members even keep their membership secret,
rather than set themselves apart from their tribemates.
Others wear it openly, proclaiming their affiliation loudly
and using it as a badge of honor (which, of course, it is).
The benefits to joining a lodge are many. First, of
course, a werewolf gains the prestige of being admitted
to a small, elite circle of individuals. Both wolves and
humans understand this notion. Wolves have their alphas
and humans have their leaders, and both species can feel
ambition. More importantly, however, since each lodge
has a specific ideology or agenda, joining a lodge is a validation
of a werewolf’s feelings and beliefs. A Bone Shadow
who has felt all her life that the dead have much to teach
the living might join the Lodge of Death and feel that
she’s finally been proven right — here at last she has new
allies who tear back the shroud of death to ask the same
questions she’s asked all her life.
A werewolf also gains a greater and closer circle of
friends. While her lodge should never replace her pack,
other werewolves think twice about challenging lodge
members. Lodge members have been accepted not only by
their tribal totem, but by the patron spirit(s) of their lodge
as well, and all lodges have stringent entry requirements.
A Blood Talon is a fierce warrior by dint of his tribe, but
beware a member of the Lodge of Garm, who is blessed by
Fenris and Garm alike.
Finally, joining a lodge brings power and benefits that
a werewolf wouldn’t be able to gain on her own. All lodges
teach secret Gifts or other capabilities that their members
wouldn’t easily be able to learn. Many also bestow other
benefits upon their members. This reward translates in
game terms to a “price break” on experience costs to raising
certain kinds of traits.
A character cannot begin play as a member of a lodge
unless the chronicle is meant to begin with veteran packs
(see p. 65). The stringent requirements for membership
should be earned fairly in play. Lodge membership doesn’t
mean much if it’s too easily attained.
Chapter Two names three lodges per tribe. Of those 15
lodges, five are given more focus and detail here. As lodges
are much tighter organizations than tribes, they are frequently
regional in scale; the Lodge of Garm exists mostly
in North America and Europe, for instance, and there are
apparently lodges in Africa and Asia that Western Forsaken
know little about. The Storyteller should use these writeups
as guidelines to flesh out or create any other lodges
that take her fancy. Remember that the listed lodges aren’t
the only ones. A lodge doesn’t have to be very large. Some
comprise only single packs. Likewise, while most lodges are
exclusive to one tribe, not all are. The Lodge of the Hunt, a
cross-tribal group, is included as an example.
A lodge expects loyalty from its members. A character
can belong to only one lodge at a time, and quitting
one lodge to join another is considered very dishonorable.
A character who leaves a lodge loses all benefits of
membership, as well as a dot of Renown appropriate to
the tribe associated with the lodge. Leaving a cross-tribal
lodge such as the Lodge of the Hunt causes a loss of one
Honor Renown. If the lodge was particularly jealous of its
secrets, the members might mark the character as a potential
security risk, even — in the extreme cases — choosing
to silence her permanently.
BLOOD TALONS —
THE LODGE OF GARM
In human mythology, Garm is the great wolf destined
to kill Tyr, a god of war, in the battle of Ragnarok. The
Blood Talons recognize Garm as a child of Fenris Wolf,
the spiritual embodiment of perfection in battle. Members
of the Lodge of Garm aspire to the ideals of body, spirit
and mind, but only as that perfection applies to war. They
train their bodies to be strong and lithe, so as to better
fell their opponents. They hone their minds to outthink
clever foes by developing new and effective combat tactics.
They push themselves spiritually to maintain Harmony,
so as to keep total control of their mystical powers. To the
Garmir, any advantage that could ever conceivably apply
to battle is too precious to waste.
As a result of all this effort, the Garmir make excellent
pack leaders, but even those who don’t choose to lead
Lodges
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