House Rules/Totem

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This is a subset of House_Rules/Shifter, split out due to length.

The Totem background is used by the following PCs, either in packs or individually:

The following are similar, and use all the same rules except as specified:

  • Jamak (Bastet)
  • Nushi (Kuei-jin)
  • Orisha Bond (Eshu)

Buying any of these with XP costs 2 per dot, regardless of current level. (WW3801/123)


  • Background Cost: Each totem has a Background cost rating; the pack(or individual) must spend that amount of totem points to ally with that totem. Some totems cost more than others. Even custom spirits need to be based on something found within the books.
  • Adding Pack members: Adding a new pack member requires a majority of the current members to agree, it should not be unilateral. ICly, the totem must also accept a new member.


Caps

Background dots are limited to 5 per PC during chargen, 10 (total) per PC afterward.

  • If you want to start with a level 6+ Totem, you need at least one packmate.

Allowing more than 5 PCs per pack is limited at staff discretion.

PCs may join a pack without buying the background.

Powers

Power Cost (shifter) Cost (shaman) Cost (Kuei-jin)
Baseline total of Willpower/Rage/Gnosis 8 5 7
Baseline Essence (aka Power, Chi) 8 5 20
Baseline charms Airt Sense (WtA 237)
Re-form (WtA 238)		 Airt Sense
Re-form		 Dragon Sight (KotE 211)
Re-form
Per 3 points to spend on Willpower, Rage and/or Gnosis 1 1 1
Additional points of Power n/a 1 per 5 1 per 10
Totem can speak to pack without Spirit Speech gift 1 free 1
Totem can always find pack members 1 1 ("can typically") 1
Totem is nearly always with pack members 2 n/a 2
Totem is respected by other spirits 2 1 ("by other Umbrood") 2 ("in the spirit worlds")
Per additional charm 2 1 2
Per extra pack member who can use the totem's powers in the same turn 3 n/a 3
Totem is connected mystically to pack members, allows long-distance communication (+pack chat) 4 n/a 4
Totem is feared by agents of the Wyrm (may run away or try to kill the pack) 5 n/a n/a
Nushi can demand duties of the wu-mates n/a n/a -1 to -3

Totem powers come from any combination of the following:

  • Construction kit (WtA Revised page 123)
    • Dreamspeakers / Shamanic Traditionalist merit, use Dreamspeakers page 58 instead
    • Nushi, use KotE page 87 instead
  • Additional house-rule options
    • Packs are limited to 10 points from this section
- 1 point for +1 dice or -1 difficulty to an ability
- 3 points for +1 dice or -1 difficulty to an attribute (may be reduced if the bonus only applies in a limited context)
- 1 point for +1 dice or -1 difficulty to Willpower (3 points if it applies to powers with Willpower pools)
- 1 point for a miscellaneous improvement (e.g. faster running speed)
- These only apply to one pack member at a time, unless points are also spent to allow multiple pack members to get bonuses in the same turn.
  • Gifts
Limited to rank 1-3
Cost is 2x/level
Gift must be appropriate to the Totem spirit. Doesn't necessarily have to be FROM that spirit, but someone with the totem of Rat isn't going to get Spirit of the Bird.

All totems have:

  • Airt Sense and Re-form Charms for free, unless something explicitly states otherwise
  • Base total of 8 dots in Rage/Gnosis/Willpower (WtA 123)
  • 8 Essence (WtA 236-237), aka 'Power' or 'Chi' in some other books
    • Dreamspeaker / Shamanic Traditionalist totems instead have Airt Sense and Re-form, base total of 5 R/G/W, and 5 Essence (Dreamspeakers 58)
    • Nushi instead have Dragon Sight and Re-form, base total of 7 R/G/W, and 20 Chi (KotE 87)
    • The totem's Rage/Gnosis/Willpower are only usable by the totem itself, not the pack members, unless something explicitly says otherwise
    • If the canon benefits include extra Rage/Gnosis/Willpower, then those are usable by the pack members (e.g. Falcon, WtA 294: "Packs chosen by Falcon gain ... an extra four Willpower points per story.")

Individual

A PC may buy an individual Totem.

  • Packs are limited to shifters et al, Nushi, and Sabbat wangateurs.
  • A PC can't have a personal and pack totem simultaneously, but can switch their existing background dots from one to the other. If it's for OOC reasons (typically a pack becoming active/inactive), then they are not directly penalized by their old totem.
  • PCs get all benefits of a personal totem, even if canon mentions 'packs'. They're effectively funding a one-member pack by themselves. (Does not apply to totem powers that specifically require multiple pack members to act in concert.)
  • PCs may also have Numen and/or Familiar Spirit background.

Fera

Fera may contribute to a pack totem. (WW3807/163)

  • Ananasi/Corax/Gurahl may spend points on a personal or pack totem appropriate to their breed (staff discretion, including re-skinning)
    • Queen Ananasa will favor packs (overrides WW3807/45), but base is 10 points unless they're all Ananasi
    • For Gurahl, Bear (WtA 295) costs 6 dots but does not penalize Honor
  • Bastet: All-Bastet packs should use Jamak, mixed packs may use either
  • Ratkin: All-Ratkin packs following something other than an aspect of Rat must have a PC perform Dedication Rite (PGttCB 146).
    • This PC need not join the pack.
    • '+rules free lunch': If buying Totem at full price, success may be handwaved. For a discount, minimum successes are as follows:
      • If a minimum is listed in canon, then use that.
      • Otherwise, if it's at least partly based on a canon totem, then use the base level of that totem, e.g. 6 for Cockroach (WtA 296). If it's completely custom, the minimum is 5.
    • If later disbanded, each member may request an XP refund for any/all of their Totem dots. (If they got a free-lunch discount, the refund is reduced to match.)

Kinfolk

Kinfolk with Gnosis may contribute to a pack totem.

  • Limited to 5 dots per kinfolk.
  • Limited to half of the pack's permanent membership. (Does not include or limit powers that effectively make you a temporary packmate.)
  • Does not include possessed, even if they were kinfolk before possession.

Mages

(Under Staff discussion) Mages that are Dreamspeakers or take the Merit Shamanistic Traditionalist, may take a personal totem. Whichever totem you select, it will be approved at staff discretion. Any spirit totem that has a background that gives a Shifter Gift can be chosen, but the Gift will not be available for a Mage. Otherwise, the same other rules apply for building a totem. Please include in your Totem +note the reason why this totem and your PC have made this deal.

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