Werewolf: The Forsaken - Blank It

eminds us of how vulnerable our bodies truly are and how
easily we can die. It’s often a good way to introduce horror
into the early days of your chronicle. We live lives isolated
from the reality of death. Our meat arrives neatly packed,
bearing very little resemblance to the animal it once was.
Luckily, very few of us have witnessed violent death. Such
things still have the power to shock us.
Yet, as any fan of splatter horror movies can tell you,
that reaction dulls after time. The more a human mind
experiences something, the more inured it becomes. Films
that would once have left you awake at night in fear become
old friends, where you laugh as much as jump. New
films have to up the ante considerably to have the same
effect on you as they did before.
The same is true of gore within your chronicle.
Initially, vivid descriptions of gore, entrails and the other
detritus of battle are going to have a significant impact on
both your players and their characters. Yet, as time goes
by, they’ll get used to the viscera. Werewolf tends to create
a lot of opportunities for it, after all.
So, how on earth do you sustain the horror through
the course of your chronicle?
SUSTAINING THE HORROR
One of the most difficult challenges that awaits you
is keeping your chronicle horrific. As noted, horror often
contains an element of shock, of the unexpected. Sometimes,
it’s an unexpected event. Sometimes it’s an expected
event that happens in an unexpected way.
Of course, sometimes horror doesn’t come from the
unexpected at all, but from things that the characters
dread coming true. This is probably most applicable when
it comes to the character’s loved ones. Part of being a
werewolf is the knowledge that the world is a far more
dangerous and complicated place than ordinary people are
capable of recognizing. The characters know the dangers
of the world, but they have no way of warning their loved
ones of them. All they can do is hope to protect them
and fear that they’ll fail. Now, if they fail to protect them,
that generates a form of horror in its own right. The
long-dreaded event comes to pass. But what if the hidden
world affects a character’s friends or family in an unexpected
way? Perhaps a lover becomes a duguthim or, more
unexpectedly, becomes the source of power for a newborn
spirit. The lover’s fear, pain or anger has become so strong
and focused that it’s given birth to a new spirit, one that’s
helping itself grow by spreading that emotion among more
of the werewolf’s friends and family. The form of the enemy
might be familiar, but its expression is different.
This is one of the advantages of the territorial nature
of Werewolf. The characters come to know and care for
(or dislike) many of the people and places in the area. As
time goes by, you can start to increase the horror level
by drawing the threats closer to the characters’ lives. A
complete stranger who has become one of the Ridden is
one thing; an acquaintance from the local bar is quite an-
other. If a member of the family is claimed, the character
faces some of the most difficult choices she has to make. A
werewolf might be able to kill a Claimed stranger without
hesitation, but can she do the same to her niece?
This escalation of threat and impact has to be managed
carefully. If you overuse the threat to friends and
family, it loses its power too quickly. String it out, and
the players will be on tenterhooks waiting to see whose
character goes through the emotional wringer next. This
might seem like a big challenge now, but as time passes,
it becomes second nature, as you learn to read your
players and see when they’re becoming bored or finding
things commonplace. Like all things, the more you run a
chronicle, the more your skills as a Storyteller will grow.
PLOT
So far, we’ve concentrated on setting up the environment
and characters of the chronicle. What about the
plot, the story that runs through the chronicle? The nature
of the Forsaken means that their story is the story of
the land they claim and protect. There’s an intimate link
between werewolves and their territory, which means that
much of the plot springs out of threats to that landscape
and the people within it. Therefore, by spending plenty of
time getting the setting right, the business of writing plots
becomes a great deal simpler. In fact, it’s worth keeping
things simple in the early part of a new chronicle, because
it gives the players and their characters a chance to get to
know the people, the spirits and the landscape before you
start ramping up the threat level. The threats aren’t going
to mean very much if they’re aimed at an area that the
characters have yet to start really thinking of as their own.
Besides, it gives you a chance to take things easily as you
get used to Storytelling and an opportunity to see what
the players really want out of the chronicle.
YOUR FIRST STORIES
The first story in any chronicle is going to be a challenge.
You’re getting used to the game and the players;
they’re getting used to their characters, the territory and
possibly even the rules. The last thing you need is a story
that’s too complex and challenging. Keep the first story in
your chronicle simple. Set up a problem that can be fairly
easily isolated, confronted and resolved. If you have plans
in mind for a larger story arc, then work in hints of that,
but leave the main story simple and self-contained. It’ll
give you and the players plenty of time to focus on getting
familiar with everything yet give an immediate reward to
everyone involved as well.
BIG ARC, SMALL STORY
Most Werewolf chronicles center on a territory,
which makes them ideal for long-ranging story arcs. As the
characters are tied to one place, they have to deal with the
consequences of their actions, and consequences are a big
part of what Werewolf: The Forsaken is all about. Actions
Plot
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