Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

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Chapter IV: Storytelling and Antagonists
players in defining that territory. You can pick some details
out of the prelude as you discuss their pasts with them.
Any places they mention should be incorporated into the
setting. You can also encourage them to discuss favorite
places and other locations they visit regularly as they write
their character’s background. Where do they hang out?
What place is their first line of defense in case of attack,
or their last? Where’s the best hunting in the area? Where
do they live? Where do their families live? What natural
features mark the limits of their territory?
In many ways, defining the pack’s territory is much like
a second character-creation exercise, but one that involves
all of the players. If you have the time and inclination during
the character-creation process, take an hour with the
players and a large sheet of paper and start sketching out
the key locations mentioned thus far, and how they relate
to each other. Alternately, search around for photographs
of neighborhoods, landmarks or urban structures to set
the mood. Be careful not to let one player dominate this
process, and be aware that they can’t define every little
detail of the landscape, because you might need some room
to maneuver as you start to write your plots. With a bit of
luck, though, this session will give the players the same sort
of proprietary feeling over the territory that the characters
have. If any of the players can draw, paint or use computer-modeling
software to generate pictures of particular
landmarks within the territory, so much the better.
PEOPLE AND PLACES
People and places are deeply linked. Humanity has a
greater impact on the landscape than any other species on
the face of the Earth. People redefine places to their own
ends, building and destroying to make way for their places
of living, working and playing. The nature of the people
in an area should be reflected in the environment around
them. Think of this as a lower-key version of the way that
the inhabitants of an area can shape the Shadow, a reflection
of Werewolf’s theme of the effect people’s actions have
on their surroundings. A seemingly idyllic village were the
local people live in reasonable harmony with their surroundings,
respecting the seasons and farming the land by
reasonably traditional methods, is likely to build along the
contours of the landscape, using as many natural materials
as possible. On the other hand, if the same area is farmed
by a ruthless agribusiness, it’s likely to be dominated by
bland housing estates, roadside malls and restaurants that
intrude on the landscape rather than working with it.
The same goes for an urban environment, where
people who live in harmony with an area create an urban
landscape with parks, roof gardens and a clean, litter-free
environment. Those who choose to succumb to the worst
impulses of urban living could create a blighted wasteland
of concrete, brick and litter that is as unwholesome for its
inhabitants as it is for any other form of life.
These are all extremes, but they give a feel for how
an environment reflects the people in it. Most places are
somewhere between the extremes, almost always leaning
toward the worse, and most territories contain places at
different points along that continuum. As a rule, a pack’s
territory starts off in poor condition and beset with potential
threats, demanding immediate action in order for the
pack to improve its lot. If you start forging links between
people and places at the beginning of the chronicle, it will
be easier to change them to reflect what the pack does in
the course of the story.
THE HUMAN ELEMENT
Humanity plays a complicated role in the world of
Werewolf. It’s easy to say that werewolves grow up thinking
of themselves as human, and that they would treasure
their families, but that’s not always true. Few werewolves go
through childhood and adolescence without any scars — a
troubled childhood and a general feeling of alienation are
frequently the lot of an Uratha. Some nuzusul are treated
like shit even by their own families, and they learn to resent
the humans around them very quickly. As a result, frighteningly
few werewolves believe that human life is any more
innately sacred than the life of a deer, stray cat or street
pigeon. They might care for a mate or beloved relative, but
they’ll tear apart any human who threatens them or theirs.
The instinctive fear that twists in a human’s gut when he’s
near a werewolf only sharpens this feeling.
On the other hand, humans provide a level of comfort
that’s hard to find elsewhere. No human can truly understand
a werewolf’s heart, but they can at least try. Some werewolves
continue to think of humanity as their closest relatives, and
still feel protective of the human race as a whole. To these
werewolves, humanity is a significant part of the reason they
protect the physical world in the first place — to preserve
their mates, parents, siblings and children.
Ultimately, it’s up to your players to decide exactly
where they fall along this line. If a player wants to play
a werewolf who cares more for animal rights than human
rights, that’s his prerogative as surely as it is another
player’s to play a werewolf who honestly believes humans
are worth protecting on their own merits, and says as
much. Try to encourage players of even the most antisocial
werewolves to care about at least one human being, be it a
child down the street who gets along well with the neighbor’s
pit bulls or a bus driver who makes a point of being
friendly despite her nervousness. It gives the werewolves
something else to fight for, and these supporting characters
can provide extra roleplaying grist. Some players resist
these attachments, of course, feeling that any characters
they become fond of will simply wind up being killed or
captured to get a rise out of them. (To some extent, that’s
true. This is the horror genre, where nobody is really safe.)
The best thing to do is to talk it over if your players seem
reluctant. Reassure them that you’re not going to torture
them to the point where they feel everything they do is
futile, then ask them to accept the risks to their loved
ones as part of what makes a “Storytelling game of Savage
Fury” so interesting.