Mae/Gifts and Rites
Contents
Gifts
Gifts: Rank 1
Faerie Light
The Garou can conjure a small, bobbing sphere of light. The sphere illuminates only a three-foot area, but that is usually enough to provide the necessary light — or to lead foes into ambush. A marsh-spirit or faerie teaches this Gift.
System: The player rolls Wits + Enigmas (difficulty 6). The light can appear anywhere within the Garou’s line of sight. It can move, bobbing along at 10 feet per turn, if bidden to do so. The light lasts for one turn per success, but the player can spend a point of Gnosis to make it last for the entire scene.
Source: Core book revised & Tribebook: Fianna (revised)
Master of Fire
Once humans tamed fire to keep them warm and to drive off the wild beasts, they were humanity’s ancient pact with the spirits of fire. The spirits of flame agree to hold back their hunger when the werewolf touches them. An ancestor spirit or a fire-spirit grants this Gift.
System: This Gift allows a werewolf to heal fire damage as if it were bashing. This requires the expenditure of a Gnosis point; the effects last for a scene.
Source: Core book revised / 20th Anniversary Edition
Mother's Touch
The Garou is able to heal the wounds of any living creature, aggravated or otherwise, simply by laying hands over the afflicted area. The Garou may not heal herself, spirits or the undead with this Gift. A bear- or unicorn-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: The player spends on Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Medicine (difficulty of the wounded individual’s Rage, or 6 for non-Garou). Each success heals one health level. The Theurge may heal even Battle Scars in this manner if the Theurge uses the Gift in the same scene in which the scar was obtained and she spends a second Gnosis point. There is no limit to how many times this Gift may be used on a person, but each use requires the expenditure of one Gnosis.
(Glass Walker): Wise Guys using this Gift often recite Luke 17:19 when using it. “And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”
Source: Core book revised / 20th Anniversary Edition / Glass Walker Tribebook
Resist Pain
Through force of will, the Garou is able to ignore the pain of his wounds and continue acting normally. A bear-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: The player spends one Willpower point; the character may ignore all wound penalties for the rest of the scene.
Source: Core (Revised)
Resist Toxin
Many Bone Gnawers learn a preternatural resistance to poisons and toxins of all kinds, doubtless due to their diet of refuse and American beer. A trash-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: The player rolls Stamina + Survival. Success nullifies the effects of most conventional poisons, and adds three dice to the Garou's Stamina for purposes of resisting Wyrm-enhanced poisons. The effects last for the scene.
Source: Core (Revised)
Salmon Leap (Hare’s Leap / Leap of the Kangaroo)
Called Salmon Leap in the Fianna Tribebook & Hare’s Leap as Lupus Gift in 20th Anniversary Edition
The old legends relate of Fianna warriors leaping over enemies and crossing rivers without getting their feet wet; this Gift is one way they did it. Taught by a salmon-spirit or ancestor-spirit, this Gift is functionally identical to the Lupus Gift: Hare’s Leap.
Hare’s Leap: By invoking this Gift, the werewolf may leap incredible distances. Hare-, frog- and cat-spirits usually teach this Gift. The lost Bunyip knew this Gift as Leap of the Kangaroo, however marsupial-spirits seem loath to aid werewolves these days. Today, many werewolves call this Gift “Leap of the Kangaroo” in their fallen cousins’ honor.
System: The player rolls Stamina + Athletics (difficulty 7). If successful, she may double her normal jumping distance.
Source: Fianna Tribebook (revised) / 20th Anniversary Edition / Rage Across Australia
Smell of Man
Creatures of the wild have learned well that where man goes, death follows. With this Gift the werewolf enhances the human scent around him greatly, causing wild animals to feel uneasy and nervous. However, the scent also causes domestic animals to recognize the werewolf as their master. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: All wild animals (not including supernatural creatures in animal form) lose one die from their dice pools when within 20 feet of the Garou (save when defending themselves or running away), and they are likely to flee. All domesticated animals recognize the werewolf as a friend and refuse to harm him. For example, an attack-trained dog ordered to take down the werewolf would run up to the character and wag its tail. If the domesticated animal is harmed, then it will revert to acting naturally. The Garou may use this Gift at will. She simply states when she is activating it or turning it off.
Source: Core book revised.
Sense Wyld
The Garou may sense Wyld energies or spirits in the nearby area. Any Gaian spirit can teach this Gift.
System: The Garou rolls Perception + Enigmas against a difficulty determined by the Storyteller, based on the strength of the presence.
Source: Umbra
Sense Wyrm
The werewolf can sense manifestations of the Wyrm in the nearby area. This Gift involves a mystical sense, not a visual or olfactory image, although werewolves using the Gift sometimes say things like, “This place stinks of the Wyrm” (with a few more colorful adjectives). Garou should remember that the Wyrm’s taint can cling to relatively blameless souls. Werewolves may sense an innocent person who happens to work in a Wyrm-controlled factory or who has eated tainted food. This power requires active concentration. Any spirit of Gaia may teach this Gift.
System: The player rolls Perception + Occult. The difficulty depends on the concentration and strength of the Wyrm’s influence. Sensing a single fomor in the next room would be difficulty 6, while detecting the stench of a Bane that was in the room an hour ago would be difficulty 8. Vampires register as Wyrm-tainted, save those with Humanity Traits of 7 or higher.
Source: Core book revised / 20th Anniversary
Spirit Speech
This Gift allows the Garou to communicate with encountered spirits. The Garou is thus able to address them whether they wish to be adddressed or not. Of course, nothing (usually) prevents the spirit from ignoring the Theurge or leaving. Any spirit can teach this Gift.
System: Once learned, this Gift allows the Garou to understand the communication of spirits intuitively. Particularly alien spirits may be difficult — or, in the case of many Banes, outright painful — to understand.
Source: Core book revised.
Gifts: Rank 2
Command Spirit
The Theurge can give simple commands to encountered spirits and expect a measure of compliance. This Gift does not grant the ability to summon spirits. It enables the user only to coerce them to obey. Any Incarna avatar can teach this Gift.
System: The player must spend a Willpower point and roll Charisma + Leadership (difficulty of the spirit’s Gnosis). Each successive command requires the expenditure of another Willpower point. Note that the Garous cannot command spirits to leave areas to which they have been bound. Doing so requires the Level Three Theurge Gift Exorcism.
Source: Core book revised.
Name the Spirit
A werewolf with this Gift becomes familiar with the ways of the Umbra. He can sense the type and approximate Trait levels (Rage, Gnosis, Willpower) of spirits. A spirit servant of the Uktena totem teaches this Gift.
System: The player spends one Willpower point and rolls Perception + Occult (difficulty 8).
Source: Core book revised.
Rites
Rites: Accord
Rites of Accord restore a place or particular Garou to harmony and balance with Gaia. These rites purify and renew by bringing the object of the rite through a symbolic rebirth from Gaia's womb.
System: Any Garou attempting to perform a Rite of Accord must possess a talen, a fetish, or some piece of Gaia never touched by minions of the Wyrm or by human hands (for example, a willow branch from a remote forest or a stone from a protected caern). The ritemaster makes a Charisma + Rituals roll (difficulty 7 unless otherwise stated).
Rite of Cleansing
Level One
This rite purifies a person, place or object, allowing it to be used without fear of contamination by the Wyrm. To perform this rite the Garou must inscribe a circle on the earth, walking widdershins (counterclockwise) around the afflicted person(s) or object(s) while holding a smoldering branch or torch. She must use a branch (preferably willow or birch) dipped in pure water or snow to asperge the object or person cleansed. As this is done, all Garou present release an eerie, otherworldly howl in an attempt to "frighten away" and thus banish the corrupting influence. Ideally, this rite is performed at dawn, but it can be performed at any time.
System: This rite can be cast upon more than one person or object, but the leader must spend one Gnosis point on each extra thing or person in need of cleansing. The difficulty level equals the Gnosis of the spirit that inflicted the contagion (maximum of 10). Only one success is required. If the rite is performed at dawn, the difficulty level of the rite is reduced by one. Note that this rite cannot heal wounds or damage caused by contamination (see the Fianna Gift: Resist Toxin, pg. 127); it only removes any existing contamination.
Source: Werewolf the Apocalypse
Rites: Mystic
Mystic Rites bring the Garou into direct contact with the Umbra and/or spirit-beings. Unlike most other rites, these rites are most often performed by a lone Garou.
System: When performing a Mystic Rite, the ritemaster must make a Wits + Rituals roll (difficulty 7 unless otherwise stated).
Rite of Binding
Level One
This rite binds a spirit to a werewolf, making it his servant. The more powerful the spirit is, the more difficult the process is. Although any encountered spirit is subject to binding, the Garou generally feel that spirits should be bound only when needed. Binding spirits for excessive lengths of time is generally viewed as callous abuse of those who should be the allies of the Garou. This point doesn’t go uncontested, however, particularly by the mystics of the Uktena tribe.
Spirits trapped through this rite may be bound into temporary service or into objects to create talens (see p. 227). No spirit allows itself to be bound unless it is friendly to the binding character’s totem. Spirits can be bound into objects, places, and people, although the Garou generally don’t perform the last feat unless the need is great. Failing this rite can be dangerous, for the spirit is very likely to become hostile and attempt to harm the mystic.
System: A Garou can attempt this rite only in the presence of a spirit, and it is usually performed in the Umbra. When attempting to bind a spirit, a Garou must first spend a number of Gnosis points (minimum of one). Each point of Gnosis spent reduces the spirit’s Gnosis rating by one. The Garou’s player must then roll Willpower (difficulty equals the spirit’s adjusted Gnosis). The number of successes indicates how long the spirit may be forced into service, with each success binding the spirit for one week. In the case of a talen, the spirit is bound until the object is used.
Source: Werewolf the Apocalypse
Rite of Questing Stone
Level One
This rite allows the werewolf to find a person or object (but not a location). She must know the name of the object or individual, and must dangle a stone or needle from a thread while concentrating on the item or person sought. Glass Walkers often use maps and substitute a compass for the traditional stone and thread.
System: Standard roll. If the Garou has a piece of the item or individual (a clipping of hair, a piece of cloth) the difficulty drops by one. The werewolf gains only a sense of the object’s general location, not its exact position.
Source: Werewolf the Apocalypse
Rite of Talisman Dedication
Level One
This rite allows a Garou to bind objects to her body, allowing these objects to fit the Garou's various forms (jeans will grow to accommodate the size increase of the Crinos form, etc.) and accompany the Garou into the Umbra. Such talismans are most commonly mundane items, for spiritual items such as fetishes and talens automatically remain with the Garou in all forms. A Garou most often performs this rite during the phase of the moon under which he was born. Each auspice has its own peculiar ritual.
System: The cost is one Gnosis point per object dedicated, and a Garou may never have more objects bound to himself than his Gnosis score. Certain particularly large objects (Storyteller's discretion) are considered more than one of the purpose of "cost". For the purposes of Dedication, an entire set of clothing is considered one item.
The Storyteller and the player should decide what happens to the object when the character assumes certain forms. For example, when the character assumes Crinos form, her backpack's straps may simply grow to fit around her shoulders (although the pack still cannot hold more items than normal). When the character is in Hispo form, her knife may meld with her body. In such cases, the object will appear as a tattoo; others must spend a Willpower point to remove the object from the character.
Note on Dedicated Items: A full set of clothing (top, bottom, undergarments, shoes, socks, coats, and so on) counts as one item. The idea here is that if you don't intend to use it in another form (glabro being the exception, since it can use most human items normally), the item counts as part of a character's 'full set'.
Additional accessories count as additional items. A weapon is one item (including a loaded gun). An additional clip of bullets is one item. A holstered weapon can be dedicated as part of the note full set of clothing, but if this is the case, it can not be recovered when a character shifts, and is only available in non-wolf forms. Items in pockets are likewise unavailable in any other form, but do not take extra dots of Gnosis.
Source: Werewolf the Apocalypse
Rite of Summoning
Level Two
Garou mystics are adept at calling spirits, be they minor Gafflings, totem spirits or even Incarna. Summoning spirits involves complex rituals, long periods of meditation and tribal mantra chanting. Within the Umbra, this process is far easier. This rite compels spirits to seek those who call them. Furthermore, the spirit cannot escape its caller once the summoning is completed successfully, and it must attend the mystic. Many spirits, particularly minor ones, are too weak to resist a powerful summoning. Powerful ones come out of curiosity. The chance of a successful summoning depends upon the skill of the mystic, the power of the spirit and the strength of the area's Gauntlet.
System: The ritemaster must pierce the Gauntlet just as if he were entering the Umbra (Gnosis roll against the Gauntlet). A mystic already within the Umbra is not required to pierce the Gauntlet. The power level of the spirit determines the difficulty level of a successful summoning. The Storyteller can determine target numbers from the following chart:
| Spirit Type | Target Number |
|---|---|
| Gaffling | 4 |
| Jaggling | 5 |
| Totem Avatar | 7 |
| Incarna | 8-9 |
| Celestine Avatar | 10 |
For each hour the Garou spends invoking the spirit, his target number drops by one. No target number may fall below 3. The player must then make a Gnosis roll and achieve as many successes as possible, with the following results:
| Successes | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Spirit comes eventually and is initially hostile |
| 2 | Spirit manifests quickly, but it is still initially hostile |
| 3 | Spirit comes immediately and is neutral |
| 4 | Spirit comes immediately and is passively benign |
| 5 | Spirit comes immediately and is friendly |
A botched roll is likely to have disastrous results. Often a botch summons the wrong type of spirit - or even Banes - in great numbers or with great hostility.
The Storyteller should feel free to adjust the previous tables as she wishes, particularly as appropriate to totems. In certain cases, a Garou who attempts to summon a specific spirit will have no chance of success. At other times, he will have almost no chance of failure. The Storyteller is advised to treat each use of this rite individually and to use common sense in her decisions.
A Garou who summons an Incarna or Celestine avatar successfully gains two points of Wisdom Renown.
