Favors & Aspects

==FAVORS==
Favors are the traits innate to one's breed.
===Aquatic (•• to •••)===
Born for water, a creature with this Favor has fins, sleek skin or scales, and the breathing and muscular development that makes him native to water. He can dive and swim as naturally as a land-based beast walks. In water, his Movement trait reflects swimming, not walking; in fact, his land-based Move may be half of the normal trait... assuming he can move on land at all in anything but his human form.
This trait is free for water-based creatures; for a character whose animal species is normally a land- dweller, the player must purchase the ability to swim and dive with such ease. For two dots, the character can swim like a fish in his animal forms; for three, he can dive in human form as well. Even with this Favor, though, pressure and temperature limit diving ability. Assume that a character with this Favor can dive 100 feet for each point of Stamina he possesses (in that form) if his Nahual is native to land, 1,000 feet per point if his Nahual is native to water.
===Bioluminescence (•)===
In the deep canyons of the ocean, sunlight never goes. Nevertheless, weird constellations of light drift and circulate in the darkness, as bioluminescent fish live out their lives in the abyss. Likewise, lightning bugs pulse with incandescent glows. Their gift is rare among the Changing Folk, but a few ferals share this talent, too.
A character with this Favor emits light from some portion of his body — or perhaps all of it. The light is roughly equal to that of a powerful fl ashlight; in game terms, the light eliminates up to two points of dice penalties for acting in darkness. The character can turn this Favor on or off at will, as a refl exive action, and the Favor costs no Essence to employ. The store of luminescent chemicals must “recharge” after each usage, however; this process takes 10 minutes. The effect lasts for one scene and then fades. In darkness, other characters gain a +2 bonus to attack the feral while he glows.
For creatures with natural bioluminescence, this Favor is free. Other characters must pay points and have an interesting explanation for this odd talent. (That said, it makes an excellent prank for trickster ferals to employ...)
===Darksight (•)===
Many werebeasts see in the dark as easily as humans see on a bright, cloudless day. They never receive penalties for operating in darkness; in fact, this ability gives them the additional advantage of a +2 bonus to all Stealth rolls when they move through darkness. This perception in always “on” in any form, and costs no Essence to employ.
Darksight also helps a character in visually-adverse conditions, such as dense fog, smoke or a heavy downpour, by halving all of her sight-based penalties (rounding down). Thanks to this ability, darkness is the preferred venue of night-seeing ferals. When the lights are out, such beasts always have the upper hand.
===Echolocation (• or •••)===
A character with Echolocation can use sonic echoes to “read” his immediate surroundings without actually having to see them. He can ignore all visually-based penalties such as darkness, fog, smoke or blindness.
If the player elects to buy the three-dot version, he’ll enjoy two additional benefits: The character cannot be surprised unless asleep. Also, she has a permanent +1 bonus to her Defense, because the echolocation allows her to be more acutely aware of incoming attacks. This Favor is free for dolphins and bats; other beasts, however, may buy it... including, most surprisingly, elephants, who employ sensitive feet and subsonic vibrations to navigate and communicate.
===Extra Limbs (• for first limb, • per set of two afterward)===
Trunks. Tentacles. Tails. Animals have the strangest ways of making up for opposable thumbs. With the basic level of this Favor, the character gets a limb that’s capable of acting as a “hand” without fingers. Obviously, this limb can’t perform fine manipulation, although the limb may reach longer than a “normal” arm. Anyone who’s watched elephants or octopuses knows how agile they can be...
In combat, a character with multiple limbs can get one extra action that can be performed with that limb only (no movement or dodging, for example) for every two limbs after the first. For example, an octopus would get three actions — one for the first three limbs, a second for limbs four and five and a third for limbs six and seven. A multi-armed feral can use his limbs to block and parry, adding +1 to his Defense for every limb after the third (our octopus would be +3 Defense). He could also attack multiple opponents on the same basis — for the octopus, three opponents per turn so long as they’re all within his reach. For obvious reasons, this creature does not suffer off-hand penalties.
This trait is free for animals that normally possess multiple limbs. Except in the case of bizarre mutations, this Favor cannot be “used” in Man-Guise.
===Fang and Claw (• to •••••)===
Sharp talons, claws, teeth, horns, hooves, antlers, stingers or other “primary weapons” allow this creature to inflict lethal damage with her hand-to-hand attacks. The amount of that damage depends on the nature of the Favor: When this trait’s considered a free breed Favor, claws and teeth add one extra die to hand-to-hand attacks. Horns and antlers add two dice.
*• - You can add an additional die to the attack, buy the attack for a beast that doesn’t usually get it free or allow the character to use her claws in Man-Guise as well. Buying two Abilities costs two dots, not one, while buying all three costs three dots, total.
*•• - Allow the character to sheathe her claws even if her animal species cannot normally do so.
*••• - The character can sheathe her claws in human form and add +1 to her attacks when she employs them.
This Favor is free to creatures that have formidable natural weapons. For beasts without effective natural weaponry (such as hares, salmon or female deer), this Favor must be purchased.
===Limbless (-•)===
For serpents, fish and other limbless creatures, the world can be a challenging place. This Favor reflects an animal form that lacks arms, legs or other appendages that can manipulate the character’s surroundings outside of basic movement. In her beast-form, this character is either water-bound or reduced to slithering for movement. Of course, in the right environment, this feral may be very fast indeed...
===Many-Legged (••••)===
The scutter of dozens, if not hundreds, of not-so-tiny feet alerts a potential victim of this shapechanger that he’s playing Fly to a nightmarish Spider. . . . This Favor grants a shudderish multiplicity of limbs, suitable only for walking. With those limbs, however, an insectine shapechanger can pick her way across almost any surface — often with frightening speed.
In game terms, this Favor adds +4 to the character’s normal Species Factor when figuring its Speed trait, and allows the character to walk on sheer surfaces, per the Wall-walking Favor. This Favor is free to creatures that have many sets of legs. We suggest that it be restricted to insectine or arachnid beings. For bizarre hybrids, use the listed cost. The sight of a man-sized (or larger) creature with so many legs is enough to invoke the Delusion, subtracting two dice from a witness’s attempt to resist the Delusion’s worst effects just before his shrieking demise.
===Musk (•••)===
Similar to skunks and polecats, certain ferals can spray blasts of revolting musk or urine. All characters within the vicinity of such foulness (roughly 300 feet) must make Composure rolls or suffer dizziness and nausea almost immediately. (Ferals use Composure + Feral Heart to combat the effects, while other supernatural creatures use their usual Resistance trait for physical attacks.)
The feral character can hose down several other characters with this sickening attack. To hit them, the player rolls Dexterity + Feral Heart; the number of successes is the number of characters within a 15-foot-by-15-foot area hit by the spray. To be hit, those character must all be standing within that blast area. Characters who get sprayed directly take a –3 penalty to the Composure roll, and become carriers for the musk’s effects.
Each character within 300 feet of the musk suffers a –3 penalty to his dice pools, and his Defense, Speed and Initiative have one level subtracted from their scores. A werebeast must spend an Essence point to activate this power. Its most serious effects last for one scene, but the stench lingers for days.
===Natural Armor (• to •••••)===
Thick skin, scales, a shell or a carapace protect this feral from many forms of harm. Depending on the beast, this armor could be all-encompassing (for example, a shark’s skin) or limited to certain areas (for example, a tortoise shell). Either way, natural armor does not protect the creature’s eyes or the insides of his mouth, ears and other orifices. The “free” version of this Favor offers an armor rating of 1/1, and is not bulletproof — unless the breed listing says otherwise; in that case, the listed rating is free. To “upgrade” that protection, points must be spent:
*• - The armor becomes bulletproof.
*••• - The armor is 2/1.
*•••• - The armor is 3/2.
*••••• - The armor is 4/3.
Generally, the armor applies only to the character’s Primal, Dire and War forms. The player, however, may choose to have it apply to the human form as well. Note that a person with this Favor seems unnervingly scaly, rough or weathered; such a character suffers a –2 penalty to all Social rolls for which a normal or pleasant appearance would help.
===Needleteeth (•••)===
The shapechanger has strong, sharp teeth capable of biting through very tough materials. When using his teeth to damage an object, he can ignore up to two points of that object’s Durability while he’s in Primal, Dire or War forms. No additional damage is done to living creatures, although the visual is pretty terrifying.
===Quills (•• to •••••)===
Sharp spines jut from the shapechanger’s skin. This Favor reflects their effects when those spines meet an opponent’s flesh.
In game terms, an opponent struck by the quills (either from hitting the feral with a hand-to-hand attack, or from being hit by her) makes a contested roll against the feral’s player. The opponent rolls his Stamina; the feral’s player rolls Dexterity + Feral Heart. If the opponent wins, the quills brush that character’s skin but do not pierce it; if the feral’s player wins, the opponent’s armor rating (if any) gets subtracted from that total. The remainder is the amount of damage the opponent takes.
The quill damage is bashing, not lethal. Yet until those quills are removed, that damage doesn’t heal. The spines remain in place, painful but not fatal. Removing those spines requires plenty of time and discomfort. A quill-removal session involves at least one minute per Health point inflicted, and inflicts a single point of lethal damage in addition to the bashing damage.
This Favor is free to a beast whose animal species normally has quills — porcupine, hedgehog, jellyfish, etc. Other characters must buy this Favor with points . . . and have a good reason for sharing such an odd feature. For two points, the character has bristling quills; for three points, she can fire than up to 15 feet with a successful Dexterity + Feral Heart roll. For each additional point, she can make the spines larger and add another die to her quill-based dice pool, up to a maximum of +3. The quills can also be poisoned with the addition of the Venomous Favor. As a weapon, these spines have no effect whatsoever on opponents who feel no pain, wear thick or solid armor or have skin that cannot be pierced by thin, sharp objects.
===Razorskin (••• or ••••)===
Of the many frightening aspects of sharks, perhaps the most overlooked is their rough, sandpapery scales. Rubbing against these surfaces can tear tender skin, fi lling the water with blood. A shapeshifter with Razorskin has this quality in spades. Her skin can tear someone to ribbons.
When an enemy makes a successful Brawl attack against this feral (or is grabbed and pressed against her skin), he automatically takes one point of lethal damage. If he’s using a weapon, that weapon sustains two points of damage to its Structure. The character must spend a point of Essence to activate this power for one scene. If the player buys the four-dot version, however, the power is always on. This Favor works in all forms except Man-Guise. This Favor might also reflect some other damaging skin surface, such as barbs or hot coals, if such a Favor makes sense.
===Size (••••)===
Many animals dwarf human beings. Others scurry in Man’s shadow. A creature’s Size trait determines that character’s Health dots.
Shapechangers often become unusually large animals. Although most werebeasts remain within the overall Size range for their species (in Primal Beast form, anyway), shapechangers from really small species become unusually large beasts. Rats, for instance, are normally Size 1, but a wererat’s beast form is Size 2. Smaller shapechangers often become colonies of tiny creatures . . . an unnerving sight, to be sure. (See also the Swarm Form Aspect.)
The base Size for a character’s species is free. Upgrading one additional level above the base Size costs ••••. This trait cannot be raised further than that without the Storyteller’s approval. A general Size range for animal species would be as follows:
====Size - Primal Beast Form====
*1 - Toad, sparrow, bat
*2 - Cat, hare, crow, rat
*3 - Fox, owl, hawk, coyote
*4 - Dog, wolf, goat, eagle
*5 - Human, large dog, leopard, hyena, python
*6 - Deer, jaguar, dolphin
*7 - Bear, horse, lion, alligator
*8 - Tiger, grizzly bear
*9 - Cattle, boar
*10 - Moose, giant swine
*11 - Wildebeast
*12 - Bison, tiger shark
*13 - Rhino, hippopotamus
*14 - Asian elephant, great white shark
*15 - African elephant, orca
This Size reflects the character’s Primal or War-Beast form. A human form of unusual Size requires the Giant Merit.
===Speed===
Most animals are either painfully slow or incredibly fast. People fall in the middle. A feral character favors her animal species when she’s in beast-form, but uses her human speed otherwise. Unless otherwise specified, the War-Beast’s Speed is based on the human form, not the animal species.
A range of animals and their Speed ratings includes the following:
====== Factor - Species ======
*1 - Tortoise, insect
*3 - Hare, rat
*5 - Human, bear
*8 - Wolf, dog, cat
*10 - Hawk, tiger
*12 - Horse, leopard
*15 - Cheetah, gazelle
===Water Breath (•)===
The character can hold her breath or breathe underwater for as many hours as she has Feral Heart dots. This power costs one point of Willpower to use.
===Webbing (••••)===
Silky in texture and steely in toughness, these strands can support hundreds of pounds of weight. In story terms, a creature with this Favor can spin massive webs involving hundreds of feet of complex material. In game terms, that silk can be spun at a frightening rate — several dozen feet per turn. Given time, the werespider can lay out a massive web in less than an hour; rushed, she can spit out strands that immobilize a target in seconds.
A feral with this talent cannot simply fi re web at her target; if he’s stuck in her webbing already or pinned in some other fashion, however, the werespider can spin a sticky cocoon around him in two or three turns.
The Durability of this form of webbing is always 3. To weave a web, the Spinner-Kin’s player rolls Dexterity + Crafts + Feral Heart. The total of her successes is the Structure of her webbing. The Size of the web itself isn’t important — it’s the craftsmanship that goes into it. For large, thick or elaborate webs, the weaving roll may be an extended action.
If the spider’s trying to weave another character into that web while she works, that character can make a contested Strength + Athletics roll against her efforts. If he’s agile instead of strong, he could use Dexterity in place of Strength, and if he’s a supernatural being, he adds the appropriate Resistance trait to his dice pool as well. The trapped victim gets two attempts to pull free before the webbing dries. If the werespider gets more successes than her prey, that creature is bound in place and must overcome double the web’s Structure before he can break free.
An unbound character, meanwhile, can cut or burn through the web by overcoming its Structure rating. Blunt weapons have no effect at all on webbing; edged ones add a single die to the character’s Strength dice pool, and edged leverage tools (bolt cutters and such) add three dice. Fire inflicts double its normal damage in a 10-foot-by-10-foot area per turn; sadly, anyone tangled up in the webbing takes suffers normal damage from the fire as well.
===Wings (••••)===
This Favor’s self-explanatory: if you have wings, you can fl y. Most often, this Favor reflects full bone-and-muscle wings. Certain animals, though, have loose skin that catches the air, allowing for limited flight.
It’s not necessary for a character to make a roll to succeed as long as she’s in her Primal Beast form, unless she’s attempting a difficult maneuver, is hindered somehow or must contend with severe weather conditions. In these cases, the character must make a successful Dexterity + Athletics roll.
A shapechanger in War-Beast form must make a successful Dexterity + Athletics roll every turn if she chooses to fly or glide. The character cannot fly at all while in human form. Even then, though, she derives some benefits from the Aspect. Thanks to her light bone structure and aerodynamic familiarity, this feral can jump twice as far as a normal person. This Favor is free to creatures that normally have wings, and costs four dots for ones that don’t. The wings work in any form in which the character possesses them.
==ASPECTS==
Aspects represent physical or supernatural abilities, tools, and/or tricks available to Breeds.
===Alarming Alacrity (• to •••••)===
With the expenditure of a Willpower point, the werebeast can double his Speed for as many turns as he has points in this Aspect. This trait can be used in any form.
===Asthmatic Reaction (•••)===
Many folks are allergic to animals . . . or, more often, to animal saliva. This trick takes advantage of that reaction. By spending an Essence point, a character with this Aspect can spit at an opponent by making an attack roll with Dexterity + Athletics. The opponent’s Defense is counted against this roll.
If the spit hits the target, there’s no immediate damage. On the next turn, though, the target gets overwhelmed by a powerful coughing fi t. It feels as though his throat is closing, although this is not actually the case. The target suffers a –3 penalty to all rolls during this turn. The second turn, he suffers a –2 penalty, and the third a –1 penalty. The fourth turn, the penalty vanishes — but he then takes two points of bashing damage from his wracking coughs. Good times!
===Aww!!! (• to •••••)===
Some critters are too cute for words, even if they can rip your arm off. A feral with this talent can cute her way out of most kinds of trouble, adding a +1 bonus per dot to all Social rolls that emphasize her adorable qualities. This trick can be used in any form, but grants only half of the usual bonus to attempts made in human shape.
===Bare Necessities (• or •••)===
Shapeshifters can’t afford to be modest. Most cannot change into their animal form unless they’re naked or wearing full leather or fur garments. Sometimes, though, there’s just not enough time to strip before you change. A character who knows this secret, though, doesn’t have to worry about it.
With this Aspect, a character’s clothes, pocketed possessions and anything else that’s touching her skin effectively transforms with her. None of those things, however, are accessible until her human form is resumed. For the three-dot version, Bare Necessities allows the shapechanger to take additional items, such as weapons or backpacks, along for the ride.
A snatched-up item must be Size 1 or 2 — small enough to carry easily in one hand or wear without diffi culty. The item neither encumbers nor aids the feral in any way while it’s carried, and it cannot be taken away until it “reappears” when she changes back. A complex mechanical item (being an artifact of Man) may malfunction after the shift; to successfully carry an object more complicated than a watch, the player rolls her character’s Stamina + Feral Heart, and the item still works if she fails that roll. If the item is a garment, purse or backpack, up to four small items (Size 1) can be carried inside. Commonly carried objects include coats, purses, wallets, small weapons, and — of course — shiny pretty things.
===Beast Magic (• to •••)===
Select werebeasts pursue forbidden arts of magic. These formidable creatures employ arcane secrets and ominous tools to mimic the spells of human wizards. In return, though, they impose limits upon their wild hearts. Still, it’s an impressive trade. While most ferals shun these strange arts, certain beasts — cats, baboons, goats, foxes, cranes, spiders, frogs, ravens, even bison — are strongly attuned to magic. In human form, these creatures are often drawn to occult practices. And after the First Change, these practices come to fruition through the odd talent of Beast Magic.
In game terms, this Aspect allows a werebeast to purchase specific mage spells — not Arcana, but spells — to duplicate the effects of arcane beast-magic. These spells are not Supernal magic as mages practice it. Werebeasts cannot be mages, and cannot master those esoteric arts. We simply suggest using those particular spells to duplicate the effects of a more limited form of magic. If Sovah Volente, for example, wants to employ a spell that fakes a corpse’s cause of death, her player could buy the Death •• spell called “Corpse Mask.” Sovah could not, however, use other Death •• spells; if the owl-kin also wants to command the shadows, her player could buy “Animate Shadows” as a separate spell. She could not simply buy or use Death •• itself. That power is beyond her control.
Each spell selected counts as a distinct Aspect, and must be purchased separately. Sovah, for example, would have Beast Magic: Corpse Mask •• and Beast Magic: Animate Shadows ••. The cost of buying spells ranges from five to 30 experience points: • = five points, •• = 15 points, ••• = 30 points. A werebeast may select one or two spells during character creation, but only if the player also buys the Occult Skill and presents a very good reason for that knowledge. These enchantments have the following parameters when cast by a werebeast:
*• The werebeast player rolls Wits + Occult to cast a spell, rather than the traits that a mage would use. The werebeast must also spend one point of Essence to complete the spell.
*• That werebeast cannot buy a spell with more dots in it than her rating in the Occult Skill.
*• A werebeast cannot combine spells, or have more than one operating at a time. The single effect is all a werebeast can achieve.
*• Multiple werebeasts can cast a ritual if all have the Beast Magic Aspect.
*• A werebeast cannot purchase a spell of a higher level than •••. The upper reaches of magic are closed to werebeasts.
*• A shapechanger with the Beast Magic Aspect cannot have a Feral Heart rating higher than 3 — his maximum rating in Beast Magic. In pursuing those studies, he gives too great a portion of his life over to the arts of Man to fully embrace his beast. Likewise, he cannot select the Spirit Gifts Aspect. A beast may pursue magic or spiritual communion, but not both.
To cast a spell, the feral prepares a ritual with tools, incantations and gestures that suit the character and story. A Tothian baboon, for example, may call upon ancient Egyptian secrets, employing tools and words drawn from esoteric papyri; a Klinkerash werecat, in contrast, would employ trappings from medieval Germany to invoke his witch-spell. In game terms, the player spends a point of Essence, rolls for success and the spell’s effects (hopefully) take form.
As the name implies, this is a very sketchy Aspect to master. Beast-magicians have a discomforting smell, especially those who pursue the arts of Death, Fate, Space and Spirit. Other shapechangers distrust Bubasti and Tothians . . . and for good reason. Magic is one of Man’s more chaotic arts, and while an honest beast may appreciate the skill and dedication involved in mimicking the secrets of clannish wizards, he’ll be rightfully skeptical that an animal (even a human one) could deal with such things and still remain true to what she is.
===Beast Surge (•••)===
By staring into another shapeshifter’s eyes, the werebeast with this trick can try to “surge the beast” and drive the other feral into one of his animal forms. This often comes into play when one werebeast wants to assert dominance, unmask a person who’s hiding his true animal nature or remind a shapechanger who he really is at heart.
Both characters engage in a staring contest; in game terms, the players make contested rolls of each shapeshifter’s Composure + Feral Heart dice pool. Each roll covers about 30 seconds of ferocious staring. The contest lasts until either the challenger backs down or the defender shifts slowly (another 30–60 seconds) but distinctly into his Primal form. Each rival can spend a Willpower point to keep going and resist the efforts of the other beast. The challenger can break off at any time, but if the defender loses, he transforms. He probably won’t be happy about doing so, but after that display of dominance, the defender will most likely listen to what the challenger has to say.
===Birth Blessing (•)===
A fabled gift of magical beasts, this Aspect allows a feral to help a would-be mother (animal or human) bear healthy children. The shapechanger kisses the mother on her belly or kneels in animal form at the foot of her bed; in game terms, the player spends a point of Essence, and the Storyteller takes that as a cue to give the blessed character an extraordinarily healthy pregnancy and offspring. The child’s later birth and health are plot developments, not immediate concerns; still, the Blessing may prove signifi cant in a long-term chronicle where friends and kin become vital.
===Blend In (•)===
Like a hare in winter, this character can shift her skin or fur to blend in with the dominant surroundings. For a gradual change (requiring a day or so), this talent costs nothing to use; for an almost-instant shift (one or two turns), the player must spend a point of Essence. Either way, this Favor adds +2 to all dice pools that involve sneaking or hiding in the surroundings to which the feral has blended. For breeds whose natural counterparts shift colors to match the season, this Favor is free.
===Burrowing (•• or •••)===
With thick claws or teeth, this beast may dig through barriers, packing the displaced earth so tightly that it forms a tunnel around her as she goes. This digging can be surprisingly fast; a character with this Favor can burrow at half her normal Move through soft earth, a quarter of her normal Move through thick or difficult terrain.
Typically, this Favor works only in ground that’s soft enough to dig through; for three dots, the burrowing can be done through stone (at half Move) and even (at a rate of one Structure point per turn) metal. While digging, the character gets no Defense and is unable to move anywhere except forward. This Favor cannot be used in Man-Guise; if the character has Throwback form, she can burrow at a rate of 2 (soft earth) or 1 (diffi cult substance) per turn. This digging, however, inflicts one point of bashing damage per turn as her nails and teeth break from the strain.
===Carnivore’s Puissance (••)===
In the World of Darkness, many ancient myths are grounded in brutal truth. Nowhere is this more clear than in the Carnivore’s Puissance Aspect, which allows a werebeast to regain Essence by devouring hearts.
The bigger the animal, the larger the draw. Essence regained is calculated by taking half of the prey’s Size and rounding up. A dog’s heart would provide two points of Essence, for example, while a bear’s heart would provide four. The heart must be eaten raw and fresh to gain any benefit. There is no benefit gained from consuming the heart of another shapechanger, aside from the usual Essence taken as food (see the Essence listing for details). Devouring the heart of a human being or a member of the character’s “own kind” is a Harmony violation, with all attendant consequences. This Aspect can be used once per game session, and gets all the wrong kinds of attention from human authorities. . . .
===Catwalk (• to •••••)===
Padding softly on bare feet, the feral moves with hardly a sound. For each dot in this Aspect, the player adds +1 to her character’s dice pools for stealth and balance so long as she’s moving about on her feet (as opposed to climbing, swinging or swimming). This Aspect costs nothing to employ, is always on and works in any form. In human shape, Catwalk also provides an animal-like toughness to the feral’s soles.
===Clamber (• to •••••)===
Like a monkey, this character climbs and clambers about with surety and grace. For each dot, the player adds +1 to his feral’s dice pools for climbing, grasping and swinging around. Similar to Catwalk, this Aspect is always on, costs no Essence and functions in any form. Obviously, the shapechanger must have strong, flexible fingers, toes and possibly a tail as well. Beasts with hooves or “walking paws” cannot learn this trick, though beasts with talons can do so as long as those extremities can grip and hold a climbing surface.
===Clever Monkey (• to •••••)===
The agile mind of this shapechanger can assess a situation and fit together (literally or otherwise) the pieces involved. As an Aspect, this trait confers a +1 bonus per dot to Intelligence dice pools involved in solving puzzles, navigating mazes and problem-solving dilemmas. The problem involved must have obvious “pieces” and a clear and achievable goal — this trick can’t puzzle out peace in the Middle East. This Aspect helps a feral repair an engine, master sudoku or solve a logical mystery. The Aspect works in all forms, and (contrary to its name) applies to all shapechanging animals.
===Culling the Weak (••)===
Carnivorous beasts fill their bellies by picking off the weak and infirm when stalking prey; this is known as culling the herd. A shapeshifter with this Aspect is able to bring that instinct to bear in her own life. She can take stock of a situation and determine the weakest character involved when her player spends an Essence point and rolls Wits + Empathy. If she succeeds particularly well, your predator might also be able to detect whether or not anyone in the area is suffering from an illness (which is not the same as being able to diagnose that illness...).
A feral can use this ability on only one group at a time. If, for example, she faces several humans and several vampires at once, she’ll have to decide which group she wants to assess. This predator can also be fooled: a successful Strength + Subterfuge roll allows a healthy character to convincingly feign weakness. Also, because “weakness” is subjective (taking into account wounds, Physical stats and possibly other variables), the werebeast may discover that the target who appears weakest at present is quite powerful when healed.
===Durga’s Blessing (•• or •••)===
When the goddess Durga rode into battle on her tiger, she conferred her immortal ferocity upon his descendants. Ages later, this Aspect lets a character heal aggravated damage to himself. For one Essence point, the feral can regenerate a single Health point lost to aggravated damage. If the feral can spend more than one Essence per turn, he may do so and heal that number of Health points. This healing, however, is limited by the character’s Feral Heart dots; the points of damage healed in one battle cannot exceed his Feral Heart trait. Bashing and lethal damage remain unaffected by this Aspect.
Weretigers, thanks to their ancestral legacy, pay only two dots for this Aspect; all other characters (werecats included) pay three dots. This healing works in any form, and manifests as a glow of bright orange light around the wounds as they heal.
===Earthbond (••)===
Animals are extremely attuned to their surroundings. This Aspect allows a feral to be even more attuned than usual. Scenting the wind or feeling the trembles of the earth, he can “scan” his surroundings for trouble. In game terms, the player takes a half action to get a feel for the territory, and then makes a Wits + Composure roll to spot potential threats, trespassers or meals within 500 feet or so of the character.
The Earthbond roll enjoys a bonus, depending on the feral’s surroundings and circumstances. In natural surroundings, the player gets a +3 bonus; in urban settings, the bonus drops to +2. If the feral knows his surroundings well, the dice pool receives an additional +1 bonus; if not, no further bonus applies. Other perception-based modifiers also apply, however, up to a maximum bonus or penalty of +5/–5. This Aspect works in any form, and costs no Essence to employ.
===Exoskeleton (••)===
Bugs crunch when you step on them because they wear their skeletons on the outside, like chocolate-covered cherries. With the expenditure of a single Essence point, a character can cause his skin to harden with a waxy, brown residue, thereby gaining an additional armor equivalent to 1/1. There’s a trade-off, however: the exoskeleton lowers the character’s Defense and Speed by –1 each. This Aspect is available in any form, and stacks with the natural armor of the hybrid form. The Aspect lasts for one scene, and looks (and feels) utterly disgusting.
===Extraordinary Specimen (•)===
A feral with this Aspect embodies her totem animal: one of the biggest and strongest representatives of her race. She reflects the maximization of her breed potential, and in game terms her Primal form (and her Dire form, if she has one) increases its Strength and Size by one.
===Fast Healing (••)===
Perhaps the skinchanger has a little bit of werewolf blood, released or somehow triggered by her unique supernatural change. Or maybe the ritual accelerated her body’s metabolism and chemical reactions to the point the where she heals more quickly. Whatever the cause, the skinthief heals twice as quickly as a normal human, but only when her special nature is active and evident — that is, when she is in a non-human shape. This Aspect stacks with the Quick Healer Merit. A skinchanger with both qualities heals at four times the natural rate while in animal form.
===Foretelling (••)===
Looking into a possible future, this creature receives visions of what might transpire. These visions are vague and unreliable, but somewhat accurate regardless.
In game terms, the Storyteller describes vivid impressions that the character receives in connection with a certain character, setting or event. In the process, the Storyteller silently decides how accurate those visions are, and then makes a point of having some element of them come true later.
For guidance, the Storyteller might make a secret roll on the player’s behalf. Using Wits + Empathy + Feral Heart as a dice pool, he determines whether or not the character saw a true vision of the future; the more successes he rolls, the more accurate the Foretelling will be. This is a free, reflexive action on behalf of the character. Naturally, the Storyteller is under no obligation to tell the player whether or not the vision was accurate, and he is not compelled to make the Foretelling come true a certain way. Prophecy is notoriously uncertain, open more to interpretation than to literal fulfillment.
===Fortune’s Favor (•• or •••)===
A famous boon for hares and crows, this Aspect confers good luck. The feral concentrates on a person or animal and deeply wishes that party well; in game terms, the player spends a point of Willpower to make something good happen for the favored character. That stroke of luck occurs as a dramatic event of the Storyteller’s choice, but it will occur. Examples include a winning lottery ticket (even if the character never plays the lottery), a bank error in his favor, a new job or promotion or simply a +4 bonus to a critical roll in the near future. The two dot version of this Aspect bestows that luck only upon another character; the three-dot version allows the feral to use the luck himself. Regardless, the player does not have any influence over the stroke of luck.
===Grave Misfortune (••)===
A reversal of Fortune’s Favor, this Aspect lets the werebeast grant bad luck instead. The game mechanics are the same, except that the werebeast experiences a smaller yet significant stroke of bad luck as well. Examples of misfortune include an expensive bank error, a visit from the police (which may or may not be deserved) or a –4 penalty to one very important roll.
===Gross Eater (• or ••)===
This character will never starve to death. She can eat anything organic, living or dead. From a shrieking rodent to bio-hazardous waste, a moldering corpse dug from its grave — it’s all nourishment to her. Even fecal matter is within bounds. She gains as much benefit from these meals as she would from lunch at the local health-food store.
The two-dot version further opens the possibilities to inorganic matter as well. With this trick, the character can derive sustenance from almost anything as long as she’s physically able to get into her mouth and down her throat. The ability to consume this stuff, however, does not protect her from the damage eating such stuff may cause. For example, while eating beer bottles may keep her from starving, doing so will still cause major trauma to her digestive system...
===Hare Heart (-•)===
Timid or easily upset, this character risks going Berserk under stress. When rolling Resolve + Composure to avoid a Berserk fi t, the player reduces her dice pool by –1. This feral is also far more likely to make a rabbit run than fl y into a tiger storm. To stand and fight instead, that player spends one point of Willpower to enter that tiger storm. (See also the Tiger Heart Aspect.)
===Hound’s Honor (• to •••••)===
Many animals have incredibly fine senses of smell. With this Aspect, the werebeast (who may or may not be canine) can identify, recognize or track a particular scent. In game terms, this trait adds a bonus of +1 per dot to perception, tracking or identification dice pools in which the character literally follows his nose. Strong odors, pollution, smoke or perfume negative this bonus, and may send the feral into fits of nausea.
===Hybrid Forms (••••)===
Most ferals have only three shapes: Man-Guise, War- Beast and Primal Beast. This Aspect, however, grants two additional forms: the Throwback and the Dire Beast.
===Hypnotic Allure (•••)===
Some people can captivate crowds with the strength of their personalities, physical magnetism or simply the fluid motions of their bodies or minds. While some of these people may simply be gifted, others may be shapechangers with the Hypnotic Allure Aspect.
This Aspect allows a character to access some of her feral nature while still in human form, essentially beguiling a crowd of people with “animal magnetism.” The player rolls her Presence + Persuasion. The Storyteller counters with a Resolve + Composure roll for any affected people — or, for a crowd, with the highest Resolve + Composure roll within an affected group or an overall “impression dice pool” for that group. If the character’s successes beat those of the crowd, she has won them over with some aspect of her primal nature. All Social rolls made to sway the affected people are given a bonus equal to the success gathered on activating this Aspect; two successes, for instance, would allow for a +2 bonus.
To be within this trick’s effective range, people must be within a number of yards equal to the character’s Feral Heart score. Once active, this talent cannot be “turned off.” It lasts for one full scene, and affects supernatural beings as well as mortals. (Night-folk use their Composure + appropriate trait as a dice pool.)
===Invisible Marking (•)===
Many animals mark their territory or the places they’ve been, whether with urine, musk or pheromone trails. Feral shapechangers do this as well. A character with this Aspect, however, can also mark places with a mystical connection — a bit of his essence left behind for others to read.
To employ this trick, the character presses his fingers or rubs his cheek against a particular surface, leaving behind an almost undetectable excretion. Only other members of that shapechanger’s breed or band will be able to detect the mark, and to do so the player or Storyteller running the reader must make a successful Wits + Survival roll.
The “messenger” can elect to leave behind a simple mark (which simply documents his presence), or he can customize it with a single word or name. Any characters who can detect the mark are also able to read the message. This marking is a reflexive action, and costs no Essence to employ.
===Keen Sense (• or ••)===
Animals live and die by their senses. With this Aspect, a single sense becomes incredibly acute. The one-dot version of this Aspect provides a +2 bonus to any roll for reflexive perception roll (Wits + Composure only). The second dot confers that advantage, plus the virtue of perceiving at greater distances; for the senses of sight, smell and hearing only, the character can ignore up to three dice of distance-related penalties to any perception roll. This Aspect is always active; it costs no Essence to use, and must be bought separately for each sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and energy awareness (the hunch for “vibes”).
===Leap (• to •••)===
Certain animals can leap great distances. This Aspect allows a character to double, triple or quadruple her usual jumping distance. For one dot, that distance is doubled, for two it’s tripled and for three, it’s quadrupled. In human form, the leaping distance becomes half of the distance a beast-form can jump; for example, a feral who leaps 10 yards in Primal form can jump fi ve yards in her human form.
===Long Life (• or ••)===
Like Old Man Possum, this character should enjoy an especially long lifespan. How this manifests can be tailored to the story. Perhaps the character appears to age normally but simply refuses to succumb to old age. Or perhaps she doesn’t appear to age a day despite her advancing age. Regardless, this Aspect adds 50% to a feral’s usual lifespan, which translates to about 40 years for most people. The two-point version, meanwhile, effectively doubles her natural lifespan... assuming nobody cuts it short for her.
===Magnificence (••)===
A staggering example of his breed, this feral seems more like a totem spirit than an actual beast. His fur or scales shine, his eyes glow; an aura of sublime presence surrounds him at all times. Even in still air, the breeze seems to caress this marvelous creature. People and animals instinctively revere the character when he’s in his beast-forms. In game terms, the player adds a +4 bonus to Social rolls in which the werebeast stands to make a powerful impression — but only when he’s in one of the animal shapes.
===Mercy’s Touch (•••)===
Although mercy is in short supply in the feral world, certain animals — cattle, hares, dogs, frogs, bears and especially serpents — are renowned for healing powers. With this Aspect, a feral licks, lays his paw upon or wraps himself around a sick or wounded friend. The player spends an Essence point and rolls Composure + Medicine. The result is the number of Health points restored from lethal damage, healed at a rate of one point for every five minutes of interrupted consolation. This Aspect does nothing to heal bashing or aggravated damage; the Aspect can, however, heal damage caused by poison or disease if the healer takes twice the usual time to do so. This Aspect works in all forms, but can heal only as many Health points as there are dots in the character’s Feral Heart trait.
===Mimic (• or •••)===
Nature’s imposters can impersonate another creature’s voice, coloration or scent. Using this trick, a feral can do the same.
In story terms, the feral can sound like another animal, simulate another animal’s basic appearance under loose observation or change her scent to match a different beast. The one-dot version allows her to mimic a single element (appearance, sound or scent), two dots lets her mimic two and three dots lets her imitate them all. Either application, in game terms, requires a successful Wits + Animal Ken + Feral Heart roll. “Another animal” can be a human being, although a specific impersonation would demand an additional Wits + Subterfuge + Feral Heart roll.
In any case, this deception is short-lived — at best, it lasts two turns for each Feral Heart dot the werebeast possesses. To uncover the deception, a character can make a contested Wits + Subterfuge roll. In good light, the observer gets a +3 bonus to spot a mimicked appearance. And if that player wins the contest, the gig is up.
To mimic sounds or scents, this trick works in any form. However, the feral cannot mimic the appearance of a drastically different creature — that is, he could pass for a dog while in his hyena shape, but couldn’t look like a person, bird or lizard. To impersonate a human being, the feral must shift to his human form first.
===Mindmap (•••)===
This feral is never truly lost. No matter where she is, she can find familiar ground eventually. As a story element, this Aspect leads a character back home from anywhere eventually; if she wants to speed the process along, the player can roll Intelligence + Composure + Feral Heart to remember a certain location or find a path back to a place she recognizes; the more successes she scores, the quicker that path appears. Granted, this process could take hours or even days if she’s lost in the Australian Outback or Amazon rainforest. Still, so long as she’s able to follow her instincts, this beast will always find her way home.
===Mindspeech (••)===
Reaching across space and language, a feral with this Aspect can “talk” and “listen” without saying or hearing a word. An instinctive telepathy allows him to speak within a single character’s head. This speech is as intelligible as it would be if the two characters were speaking aloud — that is, if the feral spoke only French and the recipient didn’t understand French, the two parties could “speak” but not really communicate.
This talent is reflexive, costs no Essence, works in any form and requires no roll beyond a roll that might be needed for the characters to understand one another. When in use, this Aspect also grants a +2 bonus to dice rolls involving Empathy. The two characters must make eye contact to begin the “conversation,” and may retain it only as long as both of them are within 100 feet or so of one another. At greater distances, the “voices in their heads” begin to fade until they’re lost completely.
===Mother’s Fury (• to •••••)===
Nothing is more dangerous than a mother bear defending her cubs. This Aspect— a specialty of the Den-Warder accord — channels that ferocity to defend a feral’s kin or other innocents.
For each dot in the Aspect, the player adds a +1 bonus to her hand-to-hand dice pools when defending her character’s family, her lover or children in general. This bonus lasts for one turn for each dot in her Feral Heart score, then reverts to the normal dice pools. Despite the Aspect’s name, the character need not be female or a mother in order to employ this Aspect. The defended character, however, must be more or less helpless against the impending attack, and cannot be another werebeast or supernatural creature, unless that creature is the character’s own child.
===Nine Lives (•••••)===
With this Aspect, a character can survive death. When the shapechanger receives an aggravated level of damage in her last Health box, and would normally die as a result, she does in fact die . . . but only briefly.
To find out how long she’s dead, subtract the character’s Harmony score from 10; the result is the number of hours the character remains deceased. After the required number of hours have elapsed (and provided the body remains relatively unmolested), she reawakens. This costs one Feral Heart dot. If the werebeast had only had one Feral Heart dot at the time of death, resurrection will not be possible.
A character with this Aspect can revive one time without a roll. Each resurrection after that requires a Resolve + Composure roll in order to be successful. A cumulative –1 die penalty is also in effect; this means that the second time a player wants her character to return to life, she’ll have to roll with a one-die penalty. The third time, she’ll have a two-dice penalty, and so on. (The character must always be able to lose a Feral Heart dot regardless, or death is permanent.)
Between death and resurrection, the body has a number of Structure points equal to the character’s Stamina in her human form. For example, an Azubuike with Stamina 4 in Man-Guise has a Structure of 4 until she revives. Any damage to those Structure points prevents the body from resurrecting.
Once resurrection is achieved, all aggravated damage becomes lethal damage, and the shapechanger begins healing normally.
This Aspect is ideally suited to animals that are particularly tough or hard to kill. Certain types of insects (cockroaches, flies) are notorious for it, as are rhinos, bears and boars. Perhaps the best example of this Aspect, however, is the cat and her legendary nine lives...
===Pack Bond (•••)===
Many creatures move and think as though they’re a single unit when they’re gathered in a group. This Aspect provides bonuses that are then shared by all members of a particular feral species or their intimate companions. A character with this Aspect can transfer either one point of Essence or one point of Willpower as a reflexive action to another creature of her animal species (not including humans), so long as both shapechangers share a common band. That character can transfer only one point per turn, and the target creature must be within her line of sight. If these conditions are not met, no point transfer is possible.
Shapechangers with a Pack Bond may also communicate with each other through an empathic bond. The character who initiates the communication can speak to a companion within that band without restriction for 10 seconds. To do this successfully, both creatures must be within one mile of each other, and share some form of previous contact. This action costs one Willpower point from both parties.
Pack Bond also grants the shapechanger the ability to send out a powerful distress signal, which resounds in the minds of all creatures (not just shapechangers) of the same species within a 10-mile radius. The character cannot pick and choose which members of his species receive the signal. Affected creatures immediately know the precise location of the werebeast in trouble. The signal continues to “sound” until the sending character shuts it off or dies. This function costs one Willpower point.
This Aspect is available to any shapechanger who bonds deeply with members of his species. It’s not necessarily restricted to positive bonds; in the case of lovers, former lovers, best friends, parents or children, however, this Aspect can and does cross between species. Outside of such intimate connections, however, this Aspect is most appropriate for ferals of deeply communal breeds: wolves, fish, roaches, crows, ants and so on.
===Partial Change (••)===
If you can shapechange, it’s often helpful to change a small portion of your shape rather than your entire body. And so, this trick lets a feral adjust a single feature of her current form into a single feature from one of her other shapes. A woman, for example, could change one hand into the talon of her hawk-self, or a dog could adopt her human face to speak with. Obviously, this is a really weird sight; normal human witnesses fall under the Delusion, while normal animals freak out. Still, that partial change could be helpful if the character needs to open a door or rip someone’s heart out.
In game terms, the player rolls her Stamina + Survival + Feral Heart. A successful roll transforms the character in the desired way for the duration of the scene; changing back requires another successful roll. Alternately, the player could spend a point of Essence and transform automatically without a roll; again, though, each shift requires a point of Essence. A failed roll changes the wrong body part — the feral could want to change her hand and shift her leg instead. This is a common Aspect among tricksters or predators, who use their altered shapes for vastly different things.
===Piggyback Passenger (•••)===
Some shapechangers are able to tap into their connection with the animal world a little more deeply than most. These creatures can reach out with their minds and plug into the neural network of animals within a square mile. This allows shapechangers to sense the presence of every animal of less-than-human intelligence within that area. (Curiously, this excludes insects. There is a belief that connecting with insect intelligence is too jarring and alien, and results in madness. Some authorities point to insectoid shapeshifters as evidence that this is a flawed theory; others point to those same creatures as proof of its truth.)
A character with this Aspect (also known as Feral Collective) can spend a Willpower point to piggyback on the senses of one of any bird or mammal within range, essentially becoming a passenger in the animal’s mind. Piggybacking on the senses of a fi sh requires a Willpower point and an Essence point, as their minds are different enough that a human mind requires a special effort to align with one. While piggybacking like this, the character experiences everything the animal does, from pain to fear to instinctive impulses. He cannot control the animal in any way, however. This power lasts for an hour, and may be “tuned out” at any time.
===Rejuvenating Change (•• or ••••)===
Injuries suffered in animal form carry over into human form, serving as indication that the two creatures are actually the same beast and hindering the skinthief’s ability to escape from whatever hunter did the damage. Skinthieves with this Aspect gain a small respite from that curse. Part of their ritual, or some aspect of their will, binds the damage taken in animal form to the skinthief’s talisman, where it remains. When the skinthief shifts from animal form to his natural form, he change one lethal wound on his Health chart into a bashing wound. Make a note of it, though. When the skinthief returns to animal form, the lethal wound is still there. It heals normally over the course of two days without affecting the skinthief, but he must spend those two days either in human form (giving the spirit in his talisman time to recover) or in animal form (healing the wound normally). Changing form resets the time necessary for the wound to heal. In human form, the skinthief’s wound becomes a scar, so it does not completely eliminate the possibility that someone might recognize him based on that wound. Until the affected wound heals, Rejuvenating Change does not affect any new wounds suffered by the skinthief, nor does it affect wounds suffered in a hybrid form — only a natural animal form has a distinct enough spirit to lock wounds into it. For four Aspect points, the skinthief can spend points of Willpower on a one-for-one basis to lock additional wounds into his talisman. These still appear as scars in his natural form, and they still heal as mentioned above. The skinthief need not pay Willpower each time he changes out of his animal form to keep those additional wounds safely away from his natural body. They remain bound to the talisman or spirit until they heal, and he may actually spend additional Willpower to bind more wounds at a later date. Wounds from the Injurious Change Aspect (see above) cannot be affected by Rejuvenating Change.
===Resilient Form (•+)===
Shapeshifters whose beast-forms are small and fragile (birds, rats, lizards) may take this Aspect to toughen themselves up while in animal form. Each point taken allows a character to add one point to Health while he’s in his animal shapes (Primal, Dire and War-Beast), up to a maximum of his human Health trait. Obviously, this Aspect is useless to characters with a higher animal-form Health ratings.
===Righting Reflex (• to •••)===
A common belief states that a falling cat always lands on his feet. This trick reflects that talent. If a werecat with this Aspect suffers damage from a fall, that damage is halved (round up). This is true even if he falls at terminal velocity.
The two-point version functions in the same way, but with the added advantage of a +2 to Defense while he’s in his Primal or Dire form. The three-point version allows the feral to use this trick in human form as well. Generally, though, this Aspect takes into account the natural grace and balance of cats, which allows them to avoid blows or grabs with remarkable (sometimes frustrating) ease. This Aspect can be taken by equally graceful creatures, or by magical thieves (such as crows) who steal the trick from another cat. Bulky creatures, however, cannot employ this trick. No matter how clever a bull is, he still falls and lands like a bull.
===Scentless Transformation (•)===
No animal smells exactly right after having its belly slit open and its innards scooped out. Likewise, few skinchangers can avoid leaving some scent of themselves on the outside of the creature as they prepare and don the skin. Those with the Scentless Transformation Aspect have found a way, meticulous or mystical, to completely avoid these identifying scents. When a skinchanger with this Aspect puts on a new skin, he smells only as the animal did before he killed it. This does not avoid the scent that accompanies death rot.
===Sense of Familiarity (••)===
We live in the Information Age. Cameras are everywhere, whether mounted on a wall for security or gripped in some voyeur’s hand, looking to make the big score. Privacy is all but extinct. Despite that — or maybe because of it — people pay less and less attention to the details around them. This Aspect plays off that effect.
By employing this trick — an extension of the Delusion — a feral can engage in strange, even supernatural, activity without drawing unwanted attention to himself. Potential witnesses either don’t notice what’s going on or convince themselves that what they are seeing fits into the natural order of things.
If the feral’s running around in his animal form through a place he might be noticed, the player should roll Wits + Subterfuge – the bystander’s Resolve. (For crowds, subtract the highest Resolve trait belonging to a character from that group.) If the roll is successful, nobody detects anything strange. The character may not even be noticed at all.
This sneaky character can even act in an overtly supernatural fashion (leaping over walls, jumping off buildings), yet may remain unseen. If he does something that’s clearly impossible for an animal, the player makes the same roll. He then subtracts the highest Resolve from anyone who might witness or be affected by the feral’s behavior. (The character cannot choose his targets.) If the roll succeeds, the feral doesn’t provoke a strong or fearful reaction. He may become the subject of a dreamlike fascination, or wind up rationalized into something completely mundane. Circumstances will dictate the specifics. Note that violent or extreme actions — such as attacking someone or devouring a corpse — cannot be obscured by this Aspect. This talent is a gift for tricksters, not a cloak for murderers.
In either case, this trick is not a reflexive action. The Aspect must be activated. If the character’s presence would damage his physical environment (such as a rhino in a shopping mall), the player must spend one point of Essence to activate this power. If the beast is stealthy, though (for example, a crow or cat), there is no Essence cost. Witnesses who succumb to the Sense of Familiarity might never know they encountered anything supernatural at all. At best, the event will become an interesting story they tell at the bar; at worst, the event will be forgotten altogether.
===Sense of Self (••)===
Changers with the Sense of Self Aspect recall their human identity and nature in the shapechange, using the kinship they feel with the animal as a method to keep themselves in control. When these changers commit heinous acts in their animal form, they do not subtract one die from the Morality roll to determine derangements. This has no effect on skinthieves in a hybrid form. Such creatures still subtract two dice from Morality rolls when they commit atrocities in that form.
===Sexual Dimorphism (••)===
This Aspect reflects the way some animals use physical appearance to successfully attract mating partners. A character with Sexual Dimorphism retains some of those traits in all of its forms. For example, if his soul-beast is a bird with extravagant plumage, the character may take particular care in his dress and appearance while in human form. Another may like to sing, preen or display physical prowess. Whatever the case, the character gains a +2 to any Social roll when dealing with the opposite sex... including Intimidation rolls.
===Shadow Bond (•••)===
Most ferals, unlike their cousins the Uratha, are creatures of this world. Most . . . but not all. This Aspect allows a werebeast to cross through the spiritual Gauntlet, reaching that otherworld often called the Shadow.
To “step sideways,” the feral must be at a spiritual locus — a place of mystical power. Entering a trance or gazing into a reflective surface (such as a mirror or pool of water), he fades from this world into the next. In about 30 seconds, he manifests fully in the Shadow. From there, his life gets far more . . . surreal. When he returns, he often smells odd to other ferals. The weird world beyond the Gauntlet leaves its scent on him, and that scent lingers for some time to come. (Ferals who know the Uratha recognize that scent as part of the werewolf aroma, and may judge the spirit-walking werebeast accordingly, for good or ill.)
System-wise, this Aspect grants the character an ability to cross over. To do so, the player rolls Intelligence + Presence + Feral Heart. If he spends a point of Essence, he can make that trip instantly; otherwise, it takes about 10 turns to cross over. During that time, he’s immune to attacks from either side of the Gauntlet. Certain circumstances modify that dice roll, in both positive and negative ways:
====Location Dice Pool Modifier====
*Dense urban area: –3
*City suburb and town: –2
*Small town, village, outpost: –1
*Wilderness: +0
*Daylight: –2
*Rating •• or ••• locus: +1
*Rating ••••+ locus: +2
*Staring into reflective surface: +1
===Skillful Change (•)===
Forcing one’s shape to become that of another creature is not easy. Doing so requires a specific frame of mind that draws out the animal instincts and submerges the human skin beneath the power of a more bestial shape. But some skinthieves are better at the practice. One might have the specific mindset conducive to the shift. Another’s ritual might make the animal essence particularly unrestrained and eager to become a physical form again. These and other differences can make the effort necessary to shapechange less of a strain. Skinchangers with this Aspect can shapeshift as a reflexive action.
===Skin Double (••••)===
An infamous trick among hyenas, cats and foxes, this dreadful gift allows a shapechanger to kill a person and assume his identity. First, the feral stalks and downs her prey, harming his skin as little as possible in the process.
Using terrible rites, she skins the body (sometimes while her victim still lives), then prepares the hide with her own blood, urine, tears, saliva and sweat. Donning the skin, she becomes an almost-perfect likeness of that person. Little quirks — memory gaps, strange mannerisms, a slight scent of animal — remain behind as clues to the deception; a clever beast, however, can convince people that she’s still who she seems to be. Unless someone’s able to unveil the shapechanger, she can pass as her dead prey.
In game terms, the player plans and executes the skintheft. This is probably a Harmony violation, and the Storyteller should treat it as such. Spending a point of Essence, the character adopts the persona of the slain victim. By spending another point each time she removes and replaces the skin (two points per shift), she can maintain the charade indefinitely, even when there are significant physical differences (height, weight, age, etc.) between the feral and her impersonated prey. All disguise rolls receive four bonus successes, but there’s a hitch: some flaw in that disguise — a foot that’s still a paw, a sheen in the eyes, a tendency to eat meat raw — reveals the animal part of the feral’s nature. A character who spots that flaw (a perception roll based on the circumstances of the story) may notice that something’s wrong with his old friend. Up until then, though, the masquerade lasts for as long as the feral wants to play dress-up.
An eerie and very powerful Aspect, Skin Double presents many opportunities for dramatic Storytelling. Even so, it should never be used to displace and impersonate player characters, except perhaps with that player’s covert agreement — in which case, the deception could be a lot of fun to roleplay...
===Slumber’s Touch (•••)===
A favorite trickster secret, this power lets the shapechanger put people to sleep. Spending an Essence point and rolling the shapechanger’s Resolve + Stamina + Feral Heart, the player can send one character into slumber for each success he scores.
All affected characters must be within roughly 100 feet of one another and within 300 feet of the werebeast when the sleep descends. If the targets would be inclined to sleep anyway, this slumber is automatic. If someone wants to resist its effects, that player (or the Storyteller) makes a contested roll against the feral, using her character’s Resolve + Stamina (+ the mystical Resistance trait if that character is one of the night-folk). Aside from the strong, sudden effect, this sleep is natural. Characters awaken from it an hour or so afterward, feeling refreshed... until, perhaps, they discover what the shapechanger had done while they were sleeping...
===Snatch and Carry (••)===
Normally, a feral in beast-form has to leave her human possessions behind. This trick, however, lets her take a single item along with for the run. This item must be “prepared” in advance by the shapechanger (often with blood, urine or saliva) at the cost of one Essence point. She holds the object in her hand or wears it while she transforms. The item then blends in with her body, reappearing when she returns to the form in which she snatched that item up.
===Spinebite (•••••)===
Cats are brutally efficient killers — among the best in the natural world. When going for the kill, cats often go for the neck in an effort to sever the spinal cord or tear out the windpipe. This trick works for other werebeasts, too. A predator with this Aspect can spend a Willpower point and make an attack roll at a target’s exposed neck, suffering a –3 dice penalty for a targeted attack. A success indicates that all damage done to the neck is aggravated. The neck is torn open, and arteries have likely been cut. This is a powerful, nasty attack that can be done only once per scene. To employ this Aspect, a feral must have long sharp claws, teeth or talons.
===Spirit Affinity (••••+)===
For whatever reason, presumably some sort of spirit origin, some skinchangers are closely related to spirits of the Shadow Realm. This Aspect allows the skinchanger to choose one Numen from the list in Werewolf: The Forsaken (p. 276) or Mage: The Awakening (p. 321). For every additional point spent on this Aspect, the skinchanger possesses another Numen. This, unlike the Imitate Gift Aspect, isn’t one to take in order to fill out powers appropriate to a skinthieving style. Instead, this Aspect is specifically for those skinchangers who steal, borrow or somehow possess spirit Numina. They have these powers because they are taking something from the Spirit Realm. Similarly, these powers should be appropriate to the situation: see Scavenger Wolf, below, who has the simple, common Numina of Chorus and Wilds Sense, and the sample spirit-skinner, who has captured a Wolf- Brother and has stolen that creature’s Numina. The most common Numina for a skinthief are Chorus and Wilds Sense. Many of the others don’t quite fit, since skinthieves are naturally material and in the physical world, and powers such as Blast don’t tend to originate from an animal ability. As skinthieves don’t have the three spirit statistics of Power, Finesse and Resistance, the player and Storyteller must choose appropriate attributes to roll when activating a Numen — usually Intelligence for Power, Dexterity for Finesse and Resolve or Stamina for Resistance.
===Spirit Animal (•+)===
Sometimes a shapeshifter attracts the favor of an animal or spirit outside her Nahual breed. Or she may have an affinity for more than one kind of species — someone who changes into a Komodo dragon, for example, may also share an affinity with salamanders or chameleons. In these cases, the secondary animal confers its favor to the shapechanger in the form of dice added to a single Skill.
This favored Skill must be chosen when the Aspect is purchased, and needs to reflect some aspect of the animal’s nature; a salamander, for example, might add the character’s Athletics dice pool when she’s climbing or swimming. The shapeshifter must call upon the favor of his spirit animal; meanwhile, the player spends one Essence point to gain the bonus to that Skill for one scene.
Each dot in this Aspect confers a +1 bonus to the dice pool. A Klinkerash werecat, for instance, might have Aspect: Spirit Animal (Lion, Intimidation) 3, which provides +3 to his intimidation rolls when the Essence point is spent.
===Spirit Gift (•+)===
Feral werebeasts are creatures of the mortal realm; even so, a handful of them (usually Wind-Dancers or other shapeshifter mystics) interact with the spirits of Nature. At times, these entities offer Gifts, arcane blessings that confer otherworldly powers on the werebeast in question. Though rare, these blessings epitomize the faraway world of the Dancers and their kind.
In game terms, a feral with this Aspect can select Gifts from Werewolf: The Forsaken, provided that character has at least one dot in Language (First Tongue) and a working (and often high-maintenance) relationship with the spirit realm. Each dot in this Aspect purchases a single Gift of that rating; Gifts over the ••• level cost two dots each instead of one.
Suggested feral Gifts include Corpse Witness, Warning Growl, Loose Tongue, Sand in the Eyes, Playing Possum, Sense Malice, Omen Gazing, The Right Words, Know Name, Traveler’s Blessing, Know the Path, Sense Weakness, Slip Away, Feet of Mist, Running Shadows and Mighty Bound. Details about these Gifts can be found in Chapter 2 of Werewolf: The Forsaken. Note that characters with the Beast Magic Aspect cannot purchase Spirit Gifts, too. The spirits are jealous folk, and do not bestow Gifts on beasts who pursue the arts of Man as well.
===Spirit Secrets (•••)===
Some tricksters can mimic the power of spirit powers — in game terms, Numina. (See the World of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 210–212, as well as Werewolf: The Forsaken, pp. 276–278, and The Book of Spirits.) Crows, spiders and hares love to steal such secrets; indeed, several creation myths are based on such thefts in ancient times. Obviously, the character must fi nd, stalk and trick a spirit into giving up the secret. In game terms, the player must pay a Willpower or Essence cost just as the Numen would, and he make a successful Wits + Intelligence roll in order to understand the trick. Clearly, not all Numina powers would make sense for a shapechanger, and we encourage the Storyteller to use his discretion when deciding which ones are available. Possibilities include Animal Control, Blast (as an elemental surge of fire, wind, water, plants or earth), Harrow, Gauntlet Breach and Materialize (both used to conjure spirits), Phantasm, Terrify and Wilds Sense. Each Numen purchased this way costs three Aspect dots.
===Spirit Sight (••)===
Tradition holds that certain animals — often crows, larks, hares and horses — guard the passage to the Otherworld. Wind-Dancer mystics continue that tradition, and this Aspect helps them do it.
With a successful Intelligence + Occult + Feral Heart roll, a player can use this Aspect to spot an area of spiritual power or disturbance. Generally, this will be an area haunted by ghosts, although malignant spirits may be involved as well . Certain circumstances can modify that roll, per the chart listed under the Shadow Bond Aspect. Success means the werebeast can peer past the Gauntlet and recognize the heart of the matter; from there, he can assess the threat and his own abilities and then decide what must be done...
===Spook the Herd (•••)===
A beast using this Aspect moves people the way a bulldozer moves earth. With a series of aggressive movements, he can drive crowds before him in a frenzy of terror. To do this, the player makes a Presence + Intimidation roll versus the highest Composure score of any character with 100 yards. If the roll is successful, the crowd flees his flee for a number of turns equal to the beast’s Strength + Intimidation pool. (Night-folk and other shapechangers are not immune to this Aspect; to withstand it, supernatural characters use their Composure + the appropriate Resistance trait for emotion-based attacks.
===Stampede Rush (•• or •••)===
Bulls and elk appear to be massive, unwieldy creatures. However, they’re capable of sudden, astonishing bursts of devastating speed. Some people discover this the hard way. Against these people, the werebeast making an all out attack gains a +4 bonus instead of the usual +2. (The three-dot bonus gains +6.)
The beast can also use this power against inanimate objects, such as heavy doors or walls. When making his Strength + Stamina roll, a charging feral with this Aspect gains a +1 bonus to the roll. The three-dot version grants a +3 bonus instead.
Whenever this Aspect is in use, the charging character loses his Defense for the duration of the turn. The two-dot version costs nothing to use, but the three-dot version costs one Essence per attack. Unless Essence is being spent for the bonus, this Aspect is always on. To stampede this way, the feral must be in one of his animal forms — one with either hooves, horns, antlers or a very thick skull.
===Stash (• to •••••)===
Whether she’s a squirrel stashing nuts or a dog hiding a bone, the average animal has a gift for hiding things. This Aspect reflects that talent. For each dot in the Aspect, the feral adds +1 to her dice pools when hiding something, including herself. The hidden item (or person) must remain silent and motionless, and a reasonable hiding place has to exist. Generally, this Aspect works only for objects of Size 5 or smaller — it’s hard to hide a car unless you’re in a parking lot. Given enough space and cover, however, the bonus still applies.
===Static Beast Shape (0)===
In most cases, if a skinthief catches a new member of his totem species and takes its skin for a talisman, his animal shape becomes like that of the animal he just killed. But some are bound to a certain shape and appearance, usually by the nature of their skintaking rituals. The decision to take this Aspect is binding once character generation is complete, even though it has an Aspect point cost of zero. His beast-shape is bound to him, and he cannot choose to change it.
===Strong Instincts (•)===
The character is well-connected to his animal side, and when he dons his skin he has complete access to the creature’s bestial instincts. Whenever he is in animal form, the skinthief uses the Skills, Skill Specialties and Mental and Social Attributes (except for Intelligence) of the natural animal instead of his own, even if these are worse than the character’s. Skills that only the character has (Politics, as a likely example), do not conflict with the animal’s instincts, so they do not drop to zero and can still be used normally. Additionally, while in animal form, the skinchanger calculates Defense as an animal does: using the greater of either Wits or Dexterity. By spending a point of Willpower at any time while wearing the other form, the skinthief can achieve a perfect blending of instinct and cogent thought, allowing him to use the better of any Mental or Social Attribute (but he always uses his natural Intelligence rating), Skill that both animal and man have and the Skill Specialties from both forms. This Aspect can change a character’s Resolve and Composure, and thus his Willpower. When the skinthief changes form, any Willpower points spent in one shape have also been spent in his other shape. For example, if you spend two Willpower points in a form with five Willpower and then change to a shape that has four Willpower, you have two left to use. Changing back to the first form, you have three points left to use. This cannot drop a character to “negative Willpower."
===Swarm/Flock Form (••••)===
In a hideous spill of legs and bodies, the feral breaks apart into dozens or hundreds of tiny bats, rats or, worst of all, insects...
In game terms, this explosion of little ferals shares a hive mind and a common Health trait. An attack that can hit most or all of the tiny creatures still affects the feral normally. Trouble, is, it’s almost impossible to hit all of them at once with anything less than an explosion, flood or collapse. By instinct, the swarm or flock scatters, each taking a little bit of the whole being with it.
This Aspect requires a Composure + Feral Heart roll to employ, and is almost instantaneous — indeed, scattering just before an attack hits is a hallmark of this sort of creature. It costs a point of Essence to scatter, another to re-form; if the shapechanger has too little Essence left to re-form, she’s trapped in that scattered state until she can recover enough to do so.
The swarm offers no defense against mental or spiritual assaults, but most people are too startled by this trick to do anything until the tiny beasts have run. Normal humans or animals suffer the Delusion, with a –2 penalty to the Resolve + Composure dice pool. Supernatural characters must roll their Composure + the appropriate mystical defense trait; otherwise, even they get rattled and cannot act until after the next turn. With this trick, though, familiarity breeds contempt — its startling power works only once on a given victim.
===Sweet-Voiced Fiend (•)===
This shapechanger is as dangerous with his words as he is with his claws. He always thinks of just the right thing to say, and his voice goes down like wine. He’s almost impossible to resist, the beautiful bastard. Reduce any penalties this character has with Persuasion and Subterfuge attempts, as well as appropriate Expression rolls, by -2. This trick doesn’t add anything extra, but it helps compensate for a ferocious disposition.
===Swift Wing (•••)===
At the cost of one Willpower point, a winged shapechanger can move at up to three times her normal speed when making a Brawl or Weaponry attack from the air. She can still apply a single die of Defense against the fi rst incoming attack. This Aspect reflects the devastating speed predatory birds bring to an attack as they drop like missiles from the sky onto often-oblivious prey.
===Tell (-•)===
You know that poker player who always perspires on his upper lip when he’s got a killer hand? Well, he has a tell. And a few unlucky shapeshifters have tells, too. A tell is an identifying characteristic — it can be physical or psychological — that betrays a feral’s identity to anyone perceptive enough to pick up on it. For a shapeshifter, this could come in the form of a lazy eye that manifests in human and animal forms, or a tendency to sneeze when nervous. A tell can also come in more sinister forms, such as a heavy musk or a stink of offal that hangs off him like a coat.
A character meeting the werebeast for the first time gets a reflexive Wits + Composure roll (–2 dice). A successful roll means she notices the distinguishing characteristic. If she meets him again when he’s in an altered form, she gets another Wits + Composure roll to notice the tell again. If that roll is also successful, she may begin to make the connection between that lazy-eyed dude in the corner and that lazy-eyed bear on the trail. Should her player fail the second roll, she is allowed to make it again if someone else calls her attention to it.
The tell is an immediate perception, and does not linger after the shapechanger has gone. Even distinctive smells dissipate very quickly. They’re useless as tools for trackers, although a hunter might recognize the scent if he crosses paths with the feral again under different circumstances.
===Territory Bond (••• to •••••)===
A wise beast knows her territory. With this Aspect, a werebeast becomes so attuned to her homelands that she can literally move her world.
The basic three-dot version of this trait gives the feral an intuitive sense of her home. She can recognize it by scent or taste, find her way back to it from a great distance and sense when something’s wrong there simply by scenting the air or listening to the wind if she’s within 100 miles of her home. (Wits + Composure + Feral Heart to spot a warning or realize what it might be.) These connections are reflexive, cost no Essence and apply in any form.
From there, the connection deepens:
*•••• - The werebeast can spy on her domain. As long as she’s within 10 miles of the territory, impressions filter back to her from scents or sounds on the wind, psychic visions or bird-, bug- or beast-messengers. By expending a Willpower point and making a successful Wits + Composure + Feral Heart roll, the player can obtain fl ashes of information for her character. This information is extremely unclear — a group of men, say, in hunter’s garb moving through her domain. Still, it can give a good “heads-up” to the beast.
*••••• - That beast can turn the land to her purpose.
By expending two Willpower points and making the usual roll, the player can alter the landscape: mists rise to obscure vision, odd sounds echo through the area, trails disappear or shift direction, winds and weather shift in distracting ways, roots trip trespassers and do forth. Although these shifts remain subtle, they’re enough to give trespassers a very hard time.
A contested roll between the feral’s player and the trespasser’s player (most likely the Storyteller) can determine whether the invaders wind up lost. In this case, pit the feral’s Wits + Composure + Feral Heart against the trespasser’s Wits + Composure + Survival. If the intruders have come in a group, use the traits for the leader or tracker of that group . . . which may not be the highest dice pool in that group, but will determine who’s giving the orders.
===Tiger Heart (•)===
When this feral goes Berserk, people die. A player who rolls this character’s Resolve + Composure to avoid a Berserk fit first reduces his dice pool by –1. This feral won’t make a rabbit run unless he’s about to die . . . and maybe not even then. To run away before that point, the player must spend one point of Willpower to overcome the urge to kill. (See also the Hare Heart Aspect.)
===Totem Guardian (••+)===
Most ferals view their Nahual as their inner totem spirit. Some, however, look outside as well as inside for spiritual guidance. This Aspect allows a werebeast (and perhaps her band) to bond with a spirit-beast totem — Crow, Fox and so forth — and reap the benefi ts and responsibilities of patronage.
Such totems rarely materialize; in fact, most lack the power for it. They’re present in the material world, however, often watching over those they’ve bonded with and sometimes even spying for them. The Storyteller can use the totem to teach new Aspects when appropriate, or to relay some obscure bit of knowledge that will help move the chronicle along.
A totem spirit always chooses its feral followers — it’s never the other way around. The totem spirit may chase the werebeast through dreams, appear in a vision quest or manifest in the form of a real animal to lead the werebeast into some mysterious adventure. The specifics are the Storyteller’s decision, but they ought to be mysterious.
With very rare exceptions, this totem spirit matches the animal half of the shapechanger. A werebear, for example, would interact with a grizzly or a polar bear, depending on its own species. That totem usually has a proper name that provides a clue about its personality or essence: Raging Bear, Sleeping Bear, Mother Bear and so forth.
From a rules perspective, this Aspect allows non-Uratha shapechangers to purchase the Totem Merit. The point cost, however, is double the cost a werewolf player would pay; each dot in the Totem rating costs two points rather than one. Why? Because werewolves are far more attuned to the spirit world than any other changing breed, aside from the Ursara. Since details about totem spirits and their complex relationships range outside the scope of The Changing Breeds, we refer troupes who wish to employ totem spirits to Werewolf: The Forsaken. Such bonds are rare among the changing breeds, whose normal dominion is the material world, but they do occur.
===Truth Sense (• to •••••)===
With a profoundly disconcerting gaze, some werebeasts can look directly at (or worse, utterly away from) a person and discern the truth in his words or intentions. A specialty of Wind-Dancer seers, this Aspect grants a +1 bonus (per dot) to dice pools when the feral tries to catch a lie, spot a con, debunk a tall tale or look through an illusion in his immediate vicinity (roughly 200 feet or so). This trick works only when the feral and her prey are in direct personal contact. To spot a lie in pre-recorded conversations or video feeds, the bonus is only +1 unless the character watches the video repeatedly, at which point the bonus provides half its usual benefit.
===Twisted Tongue (•)===
Truly ambitious shapechangers may feel that, despite other advantages, the inability to speak while in animal form is too limiting. These characters might invest in the Twisted Tongue Aspect, which affords them the ability to speak in animal form any language they know in human form. Even so, only basic speech is possible (animals don’t “have words” for complex or uniquely human concepts such as “accelerator”), and the animal language remains bound by that species’ perspective on reality — a bird, for example, may have many words for “high” but none for “deep.”
===Unnerving Cry (••)===
A wolf’s howl carries across the city, echoing through the alleyways and shredding itself over the fi re escapes and streetlamps. Everyone who hears it falters in their tracks, pauses in their conversations. Someone drops a bottle on the street and curses. Paces quicken; people hasten into their cars or into the nearest building.
With the expenditure of a Willpower point and a successful Presence + Feral Heart (an instant action) roll, your shapeshifter can release a piercing sound — perhaps related to his Nahual beast, perhaps unrelated to anything natural on earth. Whatever this cry sounds like, a successful roll means that anyone within 200 yards must resist the effects with a Resolve roll. (Supernatural creatures add their Feral Heart or other appropriate roll to resist magical influence.) Failure means that the victim’s next action will suffer a –2 dice penalty. An exceptional success on behalf of the shapeshifter increases that penalty to –4 dice.
===Unsettling Eye (•)===
Two men stand out on the street after a minor traffic accident, each trying to stare the other down. One of them feels, just for a moment, that he’s staring into the soulless eye of a great white shark. Unnerved, he mutters something under his breath and retreats to his car. . . . It’s an old trick, but it still works.
Characters with Unsettling Eye can use this Aspect reflexively whenever the player makes an Intimidation roll. Essentially, the character (often a predator or other uncanny beast) looks into his opponent’s soul with the full strength of his inner beast. Suddenly, the person has a subconscious vision of being started down by a spider, wolf, shark or other terror, not a mere man.
This trick effectively doubles the character’s Intimidation dice pool. Activation is free, but the Eye lasts for only one scene.
===Unspeakable (••• or •••••)===
Hideous beyond description, this creature drives people screaming with her mere presence. She might be a shambling mockery of a beast, or an animal so ferocious that even the most strong-hearted mortals fl ee. In game terms, the beast character adds automatic successes to all attempts to intimidate or frighten other characters, and also subtracts dice from an opposing character’s Resolve + Composure roll when he’s resisting the Delusion. For three dots, the beast gets one automatic success and lowers the dice pool by one die; for five dots, the beast adds two successes and lowers the Delusion pool by two dice. This Aspect applies only to the beast’s War and animal forms; even so, she’s probably no beauty queen in human form, either.
===Venomous (••• or ••••)===
This deadly talent makes a feral’s claws, fangs, spines or stinger venomous for a brief period of time. The effects on the victim can range from a burning itch to convulsions and death. The player must decide which attack — fangs or claws — carries the venom at the time she selects this Aspect, although she may buy it twice and cover both bases.
With the three-dot Aspect, a shapeshifter can expend one Essence point and gain the advantage for one turn. This is a reflexive action. The Toxicity level of the venom is 5, and its effects are delivered as lethal damage on top of any successes gained on the attack roll. The attack roll must be successful for the venom to work; if not, the venom is wasted. Furthermore, the venom will remain in the victim’s bloodstream for a number of hours equal to the attacker’s Feral Heart score. The toxin’s effects will persist every hour unless the victim succeeds at a Stamina + Resolve roll. (For the rules on persistent damage from venom.
The rules for the four-dot Aspect are largely the same, with the following differences: the damage is only done once, with no chance of an hourly recurrence; and the damage is aggravated rather than lethal.
===Wall-Walking (••)===
With hooked toes or sticky pads, a feral with this Aspect can walk up and across sheer surfaces. In game terms, the trick adds a +2 bonus to dice pools related to climbing, and allows the character to hang on to surfaces that should be too steep or smooth to climb. This Aspect is always on, costs no Essence and can be used in any form.
===War Heart (•••••)===
This shapeshifter is in his natural element when in battle. The anger he carries around inside him flourishes in combat; all other times, though, he’s like a chained dog. This character actually gains strength from the damage he receives. For every point of lethal damage the character takes in one turn, he gains +1 Strength the following turn, up to a maximum of +5. After that turn, though, the Strength point is lost. The feral’s Speed trait is affected accordingly. This Aspect (a natural for Heart-Rippers) is always activated, and the Strength gain is a reflexive action. War Heart does not in any way protect the character from damage, but he regenerates as normal.
===Warrior’s Restoration (••)===
For predatory breeds who fight a lot, or clever creatures whose recovery powers keep ’em kicking in a hostile world, this Aspect is essential. In game terms, this Aspect doubles the usual rate of healing for a werebeast and lets her heal one point of bashing damage per turn, rather than for every two turns. This Aspect also heals one point of lethal damage every 15 minutes unless Essence has been spent. The abilities to spend Essence and heal aggravated damage remain unaffected.
Combined with the Quick Healer Merit, this Aspect allows a feral to regenerate lethal damage at the rate of one point every
eight minutes, and one point of aggravated damage every four days.
===Weatherskin (•)===
Through acclimation, fur or sheer toughness, a feral with this Aspect resists the effects of extreme temperatures. He feels the weather, of course, but short of fire or ice, harsh climates do him no harm. In game terms, he’s essentially immune to debilitation through heat or cold.
===Weaver’s Wisdom (• to •••••)===
Like a beaver with prime woodland, a shapechanger with this Aspect excels at building and designing things. A staple of the Root-Weaver accord, this Aspect adds a +1 bonus to dice pools based on construction, craftwork or architectural design. This talent does not, however, offer bonuses to advanced or abstract technology (i.e., computer networks, astrophysics, biotech and so forth). To employ this Wisdom, the feral must get her hands dirty with something she can take apart or put together.
===The Wild Cry (• to •••••)===
Animals don’t “speak” as humans do, but animals communicate rather eloquently. With this Aspect, a werebeast communicates with other animals in ways they understand. Through a combination of body language, stance, scent, gaze, vocalizations and other methods, the feral establishes a bond with nearby beasts. That bond deepens as the Aspect advances:
*• - The werebeast shares an empathic bond with creatures of one animal kingdom (mammals, reptiles, insects, fish, birds). This bond allows for a neutral attitude and basic communication. These animals won’t be disposed to be the character’s friends, exactly, but they won’t flee when she approaches if she employs this Aspect around them.
*•• - the character can communicate with one general type of animal (cats, corvids, cattle, etc.). The impression she makes from there is up to her. In story terms, she “speaks” their language. Note that animals perceive their world in fairly basic terms, and have a perspective that is vastly different from humans’.
*••• - The feral can communicate with large numbers of those animals — herds of deer, fl ocks of geese, schools of fish, etc. The same roll and rules apply, although these animals will be friendly unless treated otherwise.
*•••• - The shapechanger can call these animals to her aid. Those animals must be within a reasonable distance for communication and arrival. Once there, the animal “helpers” will perform a minor service for the character, assuming the player makes the roll. If that task starts to kill them, however, the rest will flee within a turn or two, unless they’re fighters by nature (wolves, tigers, etc.). Even then, though, the animals won’t fight to their deaths.
*••••• - those animals will perform that task until either the deed is completed, the feral dismisses them or they’re all dead. If the feral herself attacks them, though, the bond is immediately broken. The animals flee, and the werebeast will have a much harder time getting such aid again in the future. (In game terms, she’ll suffer a penalty on future uses of this Aspect.)
To employ The Wild Cry, the player uses her Wits + Presence + Feral Heart as a dice pool. For the purposes of this Aspect, each animal kingdom or type counts as a separate Aspect. A character with Wild Cry (Mammals) 1 can share an empathic bond with all kinds of mammals, but not with reptiles unless she buys that as a distinct Aspect. Likewise, she could call upon cats but not dogs unless she had both Wild Cry (Cats) 4 and Wild Cry (Dogs) 4.
When this Aspect deals with “large numbers” of animals, that number depends on the character’s Feral Heart rating and the size of the animals in question:
====Animal Size - Number Affected====
*1: Feral Heart x 100
*2–3: Feral Heart x 10
*4–5: Feral Heart x 5
*6–8: Feral Heart x 2
*7+: Feral Heart x 1
Of course, the number of beasts in the feral’s vicinity will depend on where she is and how social the animal in question might be. Theoretically, a weretiger with Wild Cry (Cats) and a Feral Heart of 5 could call 50 cats or five tigers; the possibility of there being 50 cats or five tigers nearby, though, is pretty remote.
This Aspect works in all forms, and costs no Essence to employ. Note that using this Aspect to hunt food or recruit cannon fodder is extremely bad form. Both would count as Harmony violations . . . and even in the animal kingdom, word gets around.
==Skingchanger Aspects==
===Thieving Aspects===
====Humane Harvest (••)====
However he does it, a skinthief with this Aspect uses only the most kind and painless methods for taking the lives and abilities of his totem animals. He need not roll as if he had sinned when he creates his talisman.
This Aspect can also apply to creatures so utterly fiendish or inhuman that they have no Morality.
====Hunter/Killer (0)====
Taking a creature’s life is an unkind act, and doing it to
an animal the skinthief associates so strongly with herself
is even more distressing. Some hold the life of the animal
close to the importance of the human’s life. For others, it
is simply the recognition that doing this takes them further
from being human. Each time the shapeshifter refreshes his
talisman or creates a new one, he makes a degeneration roll
as if he had committed an impassioned crime (Morality 4;
three dice).
====Vicious Skintaker (-•)====
Something about the skinthief’s method for taking
skins or donning her alternate shape is particularly foul. She
might have to painfully kill something with each shapeshift,
or perhaps the foul memory of her meticulous torture washes
over her each time she puts on her skin. Whatever the
specifics, the skinthief risks degeneration (three dice) each
time she changes her form. This is a Morality 4 sin.
===Talisman Aspects===
====Bound Totem (0)====
Somewhere, the skinchanger’s totem animal is trapped and bound, constantly being drained of its life and spirit to power the thief’s unnatural abilities. Though bound totem animals usually last longer than impermanent talismans — it sometimes takes as long as six months for the captive to die under optimal care and conditions — this method has its own problems.
Totem animals are still alive and, for all that they are weak and trapped, can occasionally escape. An escaped creature takes with it all its power, and the skinthief must then find a new one to take its place. He would have had to do so anyway, but now it is without the benefit of having an animal already bound. A skinthief’s enemies can release its totem animal if they know where it is, just as they can steal a talisman. Finally, some totems are smarter than mere animals; if the totem escapes captivity, the totem may desire some form of vengeance. When a totem disappears (rather than dies), the skinthief’s power to change shape fades over the next 24 hours. He is aware that the source of his power is gone, and he has only a limited amount of time to retrieve it before his powers fade completely. A skinthief in an alternate form when the day runs out automatically returns to his natural shape, as the ability to veil himself in another form leaves completely.
After a bound totem dies, the skinthief must capture and bind a new totem animal within one month before he can no longer change shape. During this period, he fuels his changes with residual death energy left over from the totem’s death, and his animal shape begins to emit a foul odor reminiscent of the rot that accompanies death.
Without the corpse of his bound totem, or a barely living totem to kill, the skinthief must perform the hardest part of his nature-stealing ritual again. Renewing his connection to his totem (by binding a new creature) then requires that he also spend a Willpower dot. Dots of Willpower can be repurchased for eight points of experience.
====Talisman (0)====
Most talismans are impermanent, requiring the skinthief to periodically seek out a new creature of his totem and perform the appropriate ritual again. Usually, the necessary animal is not particularly difficult to find, and the skinchanger should have the abilities required to hunt and kill it. A skinthief’s talisman remains useful for one month before he must make another and perform the ritual to endow it with power and bind it to his soul. He may delay making another talisman for up to one month, but he begins to emit the smell of death when he is in his animal form, and he now requires two instant actions to fully change shape.
A skinthief must have his old talisman in order to instill his new one with the same power. Otherwise, he must perform the original ritual again and expend a dot of Willpower, which can be regained by paying eight experience points.
====No Talisman (••••)====
Binding the skinchanger’s totem animal to her is a method that some thieves learn. This obviates the need for any physical talisman, such as an animal’s skin or a necklace of teeth, for the skinthief to change form. The thief must still take the life of her totem animal once, when she takes her first real step into the supernatural, to bind the creature’s energy to her soul.
A skinchanger with no talisman cannot have her ability to shapeshift stolen from her except by powerful
hostile magic.
====Permanent Talisman (•)====
The skinchanger’s talisman does not wear out. This prevents him from having to cut a new skin every time or bind another animal every so often; perhaps he found one of the rare rituals that can imbue a cured hide or channeled the essence of his totem creature into an object he keeps on his person.
If the talisman is destroyed or otherwise lost forever, it cannot be remade without spending a dot of Willpower (recoverable for eight experience points) and performing the relevant ritual again.
===Skinchanger Only Breed Aspects===
====Animal Speech (• or ••)====
Speaking the language of the beasts does not come naturally to the skinchanger. This Aspect allows one to speak directly with animals of his totem’s type and understand them in turn. Animal Speech in no way ensures that other animals will obey the skinchanger; he must treat with them as he would with any human, though their motivations are more instinctual and simple than a human’s. In order to activate this Aspect, the skinthief must spend a point of Essence. He need not be in the animal form to do so, and the effect lasts for one scene. Taking the two-point version of the Aspect allows the skinchanger to understand and communicate with all beasts, rather than just his totem animals.
====Fast Skinner (•)====
Despite the physical and mystical effort necessarily
involved in creating a new talisman, the skinthief with this
Aspect is able to go from skinning an animal to wearing
and becoming it in minutes flat. Usually, the remainder of
the ritual to make the talisman permanent or useful in the
longer term must be performed later, once the thief has
time to spare.
Chasing a skinchanger with this Aspect can be a real
frustration, especially if it’s a long-term chase that gives the
entity a chance to change her skin over more than once to
throw off the scent. This method works well for skinthieves
who take the form of common animals (such as dogs or
horses; see “The Stray or Scavenger Wolf,” pp. 47 and 38),
because they are easiest for humans to tell apart. When
the animals have clearly different markings, the tactic can
also be effective (changing from a red to grey wolf). Some
skinchangers are not so blessed; their totem animals are so
rare in a given area, or generally indistinguishable to human
eyes, that no amount of host- or skin-switching helps
them get away.
Skinthieves with the Static Beast Shape Aspect (see
above) won’t gain such an advantage from the ability to
use a talisman without a long ritual, but the Aspect can
still be useful.
'''
Hybrid Form (•• or •••••)'''
When a skinchanger has this Aspect, he may change
into a human-animal hybrid that shows increased strength
and fierceness similar to that of the Uratha’s Gauru form.
When in this form, the skinchanger has a Strength equal to
the greater of his human or animal Strengths plus one and
has a Size equal to his human Size plus one. The balance
of human and animal minds is also harder to maintain in
hybrid form; reduce any Morality rolls for degeneration
made in hybrid form by another one die, in addition to the
penalty usually earned for being in animal shape.
The two-point version of the Hybrid Form Aspect
means that the skinchanger only has a hybrid form and
cannot don the shape of the normal animal. This is, by far,
the more common option. At five points, the character has
both a hybrid and an animal form.
====Imitate Gift (•+)====
Use this Aspect for the skinthief to have a power similar
to that of an existing werewolf Gift. When imitating a
Gift, the skinthief must pay any Willpower or Essence cost
just as a werewolf, and must make any roll necessary to activate
the power. Not all Gifts are appropriate for skinthief
Aspects; a short list follows, but the Storyteller is invited to
use her discretion for additional or custom Gifts.
Remember that a skinthief does not use a Gift in
the same way that a werewolf does. Instead of a learned
method of manipulating Essence and coercing the spirits,
a skinthief’s Gift is a supernatural ability that stems from
its nature, like any other Aspect.
Gifts of four or greater dots cost two Aspect points to
add to a skinthief character.
Suggested Gifts: Corpse Witness, Warning Growl,
Loose Tongue, Sand in the Eyes, Playing Possum, Father
Wolf’s Speed, Sense Malice, Omen Gazing, The Right
Words, Know Name, Traveler’s Blessing, Know the Path,
Sense Weakness, Slip Away, Feet of Mist, Running Shadow,
Crushing Blow, Mighty Bound, Savage Might.
Full details on these Gifts can be found in Werewolf:
The Forsaken, Chapter 2.
====Increased Essence (••)====
Instead of a maximum Essence of three, the skinthief
can keep six points of Essence at a single time. She can
still only use one point per turn, and she still only gains
three points during her rituals or by sacrificing her totem
creature.
====Injurious Change (–•)====
The skinthief’s method of changing shape is painful,
and probably deleterious to her health. Perhaps she must
cut the skin of her chest and insert the token that is her
talisman, or maybe she has to swallow a burning ember in
order to effect her transformation. Whatever the cause, she
suffers one lethal wound whenever she attempts to change
out of her natural shape. Some skinthieves do not suffer
this damage in their animal shape, only realizing the wound
once they return to human form.
====Out-of-Body (•••)====
Not all skinchangers draw a creature’s skin or power
over their own bodies to take its shape. Some, instead, force
their essence into the body of such a creature, and indulge
their inhuman urges while there. The rituals necessary to
enact this aspect usually ensure that the animal dies after a
short while, but some skinchangers can keep their “bodies”
alive for extended periods.
The benefit to this method of changing skins is that
there is little danger to the shapeshifter as he explores the
world in his other skin; if it is harmed or destroyed, he
usually escapes with little harm. If he is inside the creature
when it dies, he generally suffers one level of lethal damage
and becomes disoriented (–1 to all actions) for an hour. Less
advantageous is that the changer must leave his body behind,
empty of thought and vulnerable, in order to become
his chosen animal. If some harm befalls his body, he feels it
only when he returns there; if the body is destroyed, he is trapped in his animal skin until it dies, which may be a long
or short time, depending on the skinchanger’s methods.
Out-of-Body Aspect can also represent those skinchangers
who leave some aspect of themselves behind their
transformations as insurance. It may be a small tooth around
which his flesh reforms or the diary that will contain his
essence until he can claim a new body. But just like leaving
a full body behind, this item represents a vulnerability. If an
enemy gets a hold of this object, she may be able to harm
or control the skinchanger.
===='''
Resilient Form (•+)====
Many skinthieves take on the form of smaller creatures,
taking advantage of small sizes and other modes of
transportation (such as flight or creeping through walls) to
accomplish their varied goals. The immediately apparent
disadvantage to these forms is that their smaller Size and
often reduced Stamina produces a weaker frame, one that
is less able to suffer the arrows of ill fortune.
This Aspect allows a skinthief to have somewhat
more confidence in her ability to withstand damage in her
smaller shape. Each Aspect point spent on Resilient Form
adds one to the skinthief’s Health in her alternate form, to
a maximum of the skinthief’s natural Health. Because of
this limit, this Aspect has no effect for any skinthief whose
alternate form has more Health than her natural form.
====Restricted Change (–•)====
No skinchanger has the freedom to change shape at will, but some cannot transform even if their talismans are handy. A skinthief with this Aspect requires some additional condition to be met before she can take on her bestial form. She may only be able to change shape underwater, beneath the visible moon, during sex or with the proper kind of animal blood on her hands. Some shapechanging conditions are particularly restrictive and may, at the Storyteller’s discretion, be worth –2 Aspect points. Examples might include only changing on a certain football field within an hour of practice, only after kissing one’s mother goodnight or while menstruating.