Werewolf Mechanics

Forms

All Garou can shift to any form as an Instant action, or as a Reflexive action by spending 1 Essence.

If a Garou is knocked unconscious, they will shift immediately to their breed form (homid or lupus). This can stop a Frenzying Crinos.

Homid Glabro Crinos Hispo Lupus
Strength +1 +3 +2
Dexterity +1 +2 +2
Stamina +1 +2 +2 +1
Size +1 +2 +1 -1
Health1 +2 +4 +3
Initiative1 +42 +2 +2
Speed1 +1 +6 +83 +43
Wolf Senses +1 +2 +3 +3 +4
Bite damage -1 +2 +2 +1
Claw damage n/a +2 +1
Def vs Firearms? No Yes Yes Yes No
Lunacy mod n/a -2 +2 +0 n/a

1 Derived from the other stats, does not stack.
2 +1 from Dex, and +3 when using teeth or claws.
3 Includes a species speed factor of +3

Form abilities

  • Homid
    • Sheep's Clothing: Any efforts to pinpoint the werewolf in a crowd or pursue her through populated areas suffer her Primal Urge as a penalty.
  • Glabro
    • Teeth and Claws: Unarmed attacks with the Glabro's claws deal lethal damage to humans. While in a grapple, successful bite attacks (see p. 167) deal lethal damage.
    • Badass Motherfucker: The Glabro form is imposing, intense, and overbearing. This can force a crowd to give up the Uratha's prey. Roll Presence + Primal Urge contested by the prey's Composure + Primal Urge. If successful, anyone surrounding or protecting the prey will back down, or offer him up.
  • Crinos
    • Tapping in to the Beast: A werewolf can only hold on to the primal beast for so long. He can take Crinos once per scene, and then only for a number of turns equal to his (Homid) Stamina + Primal Urge. Every turn after that, if he decides to stay in Crinos, he must roll Resolve + Composure. If he fails, he enters Hard Frenzy immediately.
    • Rage: A Crinos-form Garou must attack an active opponent within striking range each turn. He does not have to continue to attack a crippled opponent as long as another opponent exists. If an opponent is out of each, he can move toward or throw things at his opponent. If he has no opponents, he will attack anything he can reach. If he does anything else, except for shifting into another form, he must roll Resolve + Composure every turn or enter Hard Frenzy.
    • Regeneration: Garou in Crinos form regenerate all bashing and lethal damage at the beginning of their turn.
    • Teeth and Claws: Bite attacks do not require a grapple. Bite and claw attacks can establish grapples in addition to causing damage. Increase Initiative by +3 when using teeth or claws.
    • Social Rolls: Crinos automatically fail any Social roll not based on Intimidation, and any Mental roll that isn’t Perception- or Resistance-based.
    • Primal Fear: Crinos force all lesser enemies — including most humans, spirits of lower Rank, and non-supernatural animals — to use Down and Dirty combat (see p. 165). If the prey hides in a group of more powerful enemies, resolve the combat as normal. In normal combat, opponents count only their Dexterity or Wits to their Defense; they may not add the appropriate Skill (normally Athletics).
  • Hispo
    • Teeth and Claws: Bite attacks do not require a grapple. Bite attacks can establish grapples as well as cause damage.
    • Weaken the Prey: Werewolves in Hispo are devastating to physical prey. Once per scene, the Hispo can apply one of the following Tilts when she damages her prey with her teeth or claws: Arm Wrack, Leg Wrack, or Knocked Down. This does not require a targeted attack.
  • Lupus
    • Teeth: Bite attacks do not require a grapple. They can establish a grapple as well as cause damage.
    • Chase Down: Spend 1 Essence to preempt another character’s action in combat with your own; usually an attack. This takes the place of a normal action. If other characters are capable of preempting actions, it becomes a Clash of Wills (see p. 115). If your character has already acted in a turn, she cannot use this ability. In a foot chase, a Lupus uses Speed in place of Strength + Athletics.

Primal Urge

Subject to change

Primal
Urge
Attribute/
Skill Max
Max
Essence/
Per Turn
Regen-
eration
Time in
Hard Frenzy
Feeding
Restriction
Hunt
Time
Tracking
Bonus
1 5 10/1 1B 10 minutes None 3 months 0
2 5 11/2 1B 10 minutes Meat 3 months 0
3 5 12/3 1B 15 minutes Meat 1 month 0
4 5 13/4 2B 20 minutes Raw meat 1 month +1
5 5 15/5 2B 30 minutes Raw meat 3 weeks +1
6 6 20/6 3B 1 hour Carnivore 3 weeks +2
7 7 25/7 3B 2 hour Carnivore 1 week +2
8 8 30/8 4B 3 hours Essence 1 week +3
9 9 50/10 5B 6 hours Essence 3 days +3
10 10 75/15 6B 12 hours Essence 3 days +4

Harmony

When the Wyrm had gone crazy, Mother Earth rebelled against her. She sent her Warriors against this foe, to stop its corruption and to save herself from destruction. Her Warriors always had a connection to her, a reflection of her well-being. They embodied the eternal conflict between Flesh and Spirit, and constantly struggled to balance their dual natures.

Now that the Wyrm has been calmed, the apocalypse averted, and the Realm's connection to the Umbra all but severed, the Garou no longer struggle between the natures of the Realm and the natures of the Umbra. But they have a new balance they need to maintain. As before, their existence reflects that of their Mother, and as the Weaver and Wyld vie for superiority on the world stage, so too do the Garou struggle to keep these two tendencies in balance. A Garou that is in balance finds his mind and his instincts to be calmer, more easy to control. A Werewolf out of balance has to fight the anger, the feeling of "wrongness" that comes with a being that is part human, part wolf, and part spirit in this crazy world. But also, a Werewolf out of balance feels a closer kinship to the Wyld's places or the Weaver's places, and their servants.

A Werewolf that seeks balance is safe. A Werewolf that seeks either of the extremes has the chance for great power… and great cost.

Harmony Frenzy Trigger Time in Soft Frenzy vs Weaver Spirits vs Wyld Spirits
10 Passive 3 seconds Appear as Weaver spirit1
-2 to Attack rolls
Appear as Weaver spirit1
+2 to Attack rolls
9 Common 10 seconds Friendly spirits2
-1 to Attack rolls
Hostile spirits2
+1 to Attack rolls
8 Common 30 seconds Friendly spirits2
-1 to Attack rolls
Hostile spirits2
+1 to Attack rolls
7 Specific 1 minute
6 Specific 5 minutes
5 15 minutes
4 Specific 5 minutes
3 Specific 1 minute
2 Common 30 seconds Hostile spirits2
+1 to Attack rolls
Friendly spirits2
-1 to Attack rolls
1 Common 10 seconds Hostile spirits2
+1 to Attack rolls
Friendly spirits2
-1 to Attack rolls
0 Passive 3 seconds Appear as Wyld spirit1
+2 to Attack rolls
Appear as Wyld spirit1
-2 to Attack rolls

1 Other spirits can mistake you for a Wyld/Weaver spirit. When talking with like spirits, they may treat you as one of their own if you don't out yourself as Garou. Spirits from the opposite side of the Weaver/Wyld divide may attack you on sight, however.
2 Wyld/Weaver spirits are inclined to treat you as friendly/hostile. Friendly spirits are more likely to want to interact with you, though they are not inclined to fight or sacrifice themselves for you. Hostile spirits are generally unwilling to parlay, though they usually won't attack you unprovoked. Usually.

Effects of High/Low Harmony

As a Garou's Harmony shifts, their very being begins to take on the character of the Wyld or the Weaver. Going to high or too low Harmony has noticeable effects on their psyche, which can become permanent of they happen for too long.

A Garou with Low Harmony starts to feel a certain kinship with the Wyld. They find it easier to let go of the worries of the world, but they also find it harder to hold onto the important things in life. They become less interested in planning or the future, and begin to focus much more on the immediate. A Garou with drastically low Harmony may be impulsive, distractable, and start to experience mood swings. They're more inclined to party, dance, and have sex, to the exclusion of more important things like going on missions or eating. They can become energetic and unrestrained, to the point of accidental destruction. At the extreme, they may begin to lose mental connection with the world altogether, and start to exist purely in their own imagination.

  • Examples of low Harmony behavior: Drug addicts, young children

A Garou with High Harmony gains characteristics reminiscent of the Weaver. The uncertainties of the world crystallize as things start to become clear to them. Right and wrong become more obvious, good and evil more of a reality than just a concept. Their worries melt away as they stop doubting themselves and their ideas. A Garou with drastically high Harmony will be devoted to their chosen causes or projects, and start to lose the ability to see reason to the contrary. They will start to become obsessive and violent towards anything that puts their beliefs into question. They will being to pick out patterns where none exist. At the extreme, they will be driven to seek out and fix everything wrong with their vision of how the world should be, even if that means just destroying it.

  • Examples of high Harmony behavior: Fanatics, political activists, conspiracy theorists, paranoid schizophrenics

Default Harmony

Your default Harmony is the Harmony level you start with at the beginning of the day, and is determined by your BG questions. This value can further be changed by lifestyle or daily rituals. Below is a collection of example rituals or lifestyle options that could alter your Harmony by a single step either up (towards Weaver) or down (towards Wyld).

Rituals

Spend an hour doing any of the following actions:

Up (toward Weaver) Down (toward Wyld)
Meditating in the city Meditating in the wilderness
Working on a project Having sex
Practicing a skill Creating art
Solving puzzles Dancing
Listening to music (e.g. classical, techno, dubstep) Listening to music (e.g. jazz, experimental, new age)

Lifestyle choices

To gain the benefit of any of the following lifestyle choices on any given day, you must have performed that action on the previous day

Up (toward Weaver) Down (toward Wyld)
Spent the entire previous day in the city Spent the entire previous day in the wilderness
Ate nothing but processed food Ate nothing but uncooked food
Slept on a mattress Slept on the ground

Harmony Breaking Points

Some actions will drive you out of Harmony, either up or down, and are considered incredibly taboo by Garou society. If you perform any such actions, make a Harmony Breaking Point roll (Resolve + Composure + 1 for every point you are away from 5 Harmony). On a failure, your Harmony moves a step towards the nearest extreme, or more depending on the action. For example, if you were Harmony 7, you would change to Harmony 8. If you were Harmony 3, you would change to Harmony 2. If you are at Harmony 5, choose the direction to go in randomly.

Not a definitive list

  • Defiling a Caern
  • Using a silver weapon against another werewolf
  • Violating the Litany. (-2)
  • Killing a human or wolf.
  • Falling into Hard Frenzy.
  • Hunting humans or wolves for food. (-2)
  • Eating human or wolf flesh for Essence. (-3)
  • Killing a packmate. (-2)

Involuntary Harmony Changes

Direct interaction with the Weaver or Wyld can drastically change your Harmony level in a particular direction. Certain actions or events like killing Wyld spirits or drawing Essence from Weaver sources can change your Harmony level one step immediately, no Breaking Point roll allowed. Also, Wyld and Weaver Spirits can Taint those it comes in contact with, inflicting the Weaver/Wyld Taint Condition.

Weaver/Wyld Taint (Persistent)

Your character has been infected with the Taint of the Weaver or the Wyld. The Weaver is a mad being of insane order, driven to capture, categorize, and lock the whole world in stasis, unchanging and eternal. Those Tainted by the Weaver seek to further the Weaver's goals, to trap and order the world around them. The Wyld is nature and creation incarnate. The Wyld seeks to grow and change, without purpose or end. Those Tainted by Wyld have a tendency to act on impulse, to give into immediate temptation, be that for love, hunger, or anger. Make a Willpower roll to take an action that is in opposition to the type of Taint you are afflicted with.

If your character is a Garou, your default Harmony shifts two (2) steps. (Up if Weaver Tainted, Down if Wyld Tainted) If this would take your Harmony above 10 or below 0, or any action or event would take your Harmony above 10 or below 0, your character's mind has begun its complete surrender to the Weaver's/Wyld's compulsions. Contact an ST immediately.

Possible Sources: Taking damage from Weaver or Wyld spirits

Resolution: Be subject to the Rite of Cleansing, or perform some other act to get yourself cleansed of your Taint.

Beat: Take a Beat any time you act in accordance with your type of Taint that inconveniences or endangers you or your allies.

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