Child of Gaia Gifts

# Children of Gaia

The Gifts of the Children of Gaia aid in calming others and strengthening themselves. Yet those who would dismiss the most peaceful of the tribes as ineffective pacifists will be surprised to discover how well the spirits prepare the Children for the inevitability of battle — the Children know that peace is an ideal to strive toward, while the looming Apocalypse is a reality.

## Level One Gifts

### Brother’s Scent

Drawing upon the universal brotherhood of all creatures of Gaia, the werewolf seems to fit in wherever he goes. Those given no reason to suspect the Child’s presence simply overlook her. A servant of Unicorn teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Appearance + Empathy (difficulty 6). All individuals not specifically on guard against intruders overlook any incongruity in the Garou’s appearance — for example, a naked man covered in blood and carrying a grand klaive walking through a high-society ball would draw no particular notice, nor would a wolf wandering through a residential neighborhood. The Garou isn’t invisible, he simply doesn’t stand out when he otherwise should, and his appearance is considered unremarkable even when he’s interacted with. If the werewolf’s actions alone would draw attention to himself (shouting, starting a fight, attempting to kick down a locked door) the Gift’s illusion is immediately broken. Those specifically on the lookout for individuals who don’t belong (security guards at a private facility, for example) don’t succumb to this Gift unless their Willpower is lower than the Garou’s successes on the activation roll.

### Jam Weapon

The Child may stop any Weaver-born weapons from working within the range of his voice. A dove-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: The Garou shouts an ancient word of power and grace and spends a Gnosis point. The player rolls Willpower against a difficulty of highest Willpower of any armed individual within earshot. For each success, all manufactured weapons will not function for one turn. This includes guns, crossbows, flame-throwers, and even knives and swords, which refuse to cut. Natural weapons (such as claws) and natural objects appropriated as weapons (such as rocks or naturally-fallen tree limbs) are unaffected.

### Mercy

Children of Gaia see no use for lethal force when not fighting minions of the Wyrm, but even they succumb to frenzy. This Gift allows the Garou to use her natural weaponry and Rage without fear of killing her opponent. A dove-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends one Gnosis point. For the rest of the scene, all damage that the Garou inflicts with her own body is considered bashing. A creature “killed” by such damage merely falls unconscious, and he may heal the wounds at the usual rate for bashing damage.

### Mother’s Touch

The Child of Gaia channels spiritual power through her hands, mending the wounds of any other living creature. This Gift may not heal the werewolf herself, spirits, or the undead. A bear- or unicorn-spirit teaches it.

System: The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Empathy (difficulty is the target’s current Rage, or 5 for those with no Rage). Each success heals one level of lethal, bashing, or aggravated damage. The healer may even heal fresh Battle Scars in this manner, if the Gift is applied during the same scene in which the scar is received and an extra Gnosis point is spent.

### Resist Pain

Fortifying herself with purpose and will, the werewolf shuts out the pain of her wounds. A bear- or badger-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends one Willpower point; the character ignores all wound penalties for the rest of the scene.

### Swallow Rage

This Gift allows the Child of Gaia to overcome her innate savagery, although at a dangerous cost. By use of this Gift, the Child may stop a frenzy and reduce her Rage by directing it inward. The inward battle is visible for several minutes and can take the form of a shuddering concentration or even a masochistic heating. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: When the Garou falls into frenzy, the player may make a reflexive Rage roll, difficulty 7; this Rage roll, unlike others, cannot in itself induce frenzy. Even one success on this roll immediately brings the werewolf out of frenzy. However, each success does one health level of lethal damage to the Garou, and reduces her temporary Rage by a similar amount. The player must decide at the moment of entering frenzy whether to use this Gift or not; once the Garou has fully succumbed to frenzy, she cannot focus enough to use this Gift.

### Water-Conning

The Child may purify water by dipping her hand or bowing her forehead to the surface. An avatar of Unicorn teaches this Gift as a sign of his favor.

System: The Garou touches the surface and rolls Perception + Primal-Urge. Water that is poisoned by animal dung or parasites has a 5 difficulty. The difficulty is 7 for chemical waste and 9 for Wyrm taint. Each success purifies enough water for one person for one day.

## Level Two Gifts

### Calm

This Gift imparts the secret of quelling the anger in others. A unicorn-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends one Gnosis and rolls Charisma + Empathy (difficulty equals the target’s Willpower). Each success removes one of the target’s Rage points, which may be regained normally. If used on a creature capable of frenzy which has no Rage (vampires, some fomori), the Gift cancels the frenzy if the player scores at least three successes.

### Domestic Seeming

Unicorn does not want humans to fear her children, even the lupus. Many lupus Children of Gaia learn this Gift in the interest of walking comfortably among humans. By using this Gift, a werewolf in Lupus form convinces observers that they see a dog, not a wolf. Ordinary humans look at the wolf and think “husky,” “malamute” or some other similar breed of dog. Even other supernatural beings (save spirits) can be fooled by the Gift, seeing what they expect to see rather than the truth. This Gift is taught by any spirit of peace.

System: The player spends a Willpower point and rolls Manipulation + Animal Ken; the usual Manipulation penalties for Lupus form do not apply for the purposes of this Gift. If the player fails the roll, any observer can tell they’re looking at a wolf with a successful Perception + Animal Ken roll. If the player gains any successes, human observers cannot penetrate the disguise; supernatural creatures may make a Perception + Animal Ken (difficulty 7) opposed by the player’s roll to penetrate the illusion. Spirits of the Middle Umbra are not affected by the Gift at all; they recognize the werewolf as one of Gaia’s warriors as usual. The Gift’s effects last for a scene, or until the werewolf changes form.

### Grandmother’s Touch

As the Level One Theurge Gift Mother’s Touch, save that the Garou may use it to heal himself as well as others. Mother’s Touch must be known before this Gift can be learned.

### Luna’s Armor

The Child of Gaia invokes the moon’s sacred power. Her body is briefly wreathed in a shimmer of moonlight, granting her Luna’s protection. This Gift is taught by a Lune.

System: The werewolf concentrates for a turn; the player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Stamina + Survival (difficulty 6). Each success allows the Garou to add one die to his soak pools. These dice, and these dice alone, may even be rolled to soak damage from silver. The benefit lasts for one scene.

### Mule’s Bane

This metis-specific Gift allows a metis to lash out at others by visiting his enemies with his own deformity. Mule-spirits teach this Gift.

System: The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Dexterity + Expression to “throw” the metis deformity; the difficulty is the opponent’s Willpower. The enemy gains the metis’ deformity for one turn per success, subject to Storyteller approval. If the metis botches, his own deformity becomes worse in some fashion for the remainder of the scene.

### Para Bellum

Though the Children love life, spring, and all that is good of Gaia, they aren’t pacifists; they always stand ready to protect their Mother. The werewolf’s Rage bursts forth in a torrent when another breaks the peace she so cherishes. A bear-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: This Gift may only be used at the beginning of a battle that was not initiated by the Garou, her pack, or her allies. The player spends one point of Rage; for the rest of the scene, the character enjoys one additional dot of Strength and Dexterity when attacking the enemy who fired the first shot of the battle, or any character that has inflicted an injury on a member of the Child’s pack during the scene.

### Spellbinding Oration

Similar to Persuasion (level one Homid), this Gift allows a Child of Gaia to be persuasive when dealing with others. The Garou’s statements will take on an air of extra meaning and credibility. Those hearing him are likely to agree with him. This Gift is taught by a Unicorn spirit.

System: The Garou rolls Charisma + Leadership against a difficulty of 6. If successful, the difficulties of all Social rolls are reduced by two for the remainder of the scene. If the Garou is actively trying to exhort his audience to anything other than combat (in any form), the difficulties of Social rolls are reduced by three. The Garou must orate for at least five minutes. The effects lasts for one scene.

### Stinging Blows

The Children hate to admit it, but sometimes you can’t negotiate your way to a position of peace. Occasionally, you have to have faith in your own righteousness, and enforce you will upon those who are genuinely acting like children. But it you’re going to do it, at least you can make your claim as strongly as possible and prevent unnecessary damage. This Gift is taught by a wasp spirit.

System: The Child of Gaia spends one Rage. For the rest of the scene, her attacks are so painful that anyone struck by her immediately ignores any other foes he may be facing and attack the Child (Willpower roll, difficulty 9 to resist). Usually this Gift is employed to break apart two foes who otherwise couldn’t be. It’s a risky gambit, but sometimes effective.

### Unicorn’s Arsenal

The werewolf’s claws and fangs become dazzling and pearlescent, shining with an inner multihued glory. Those wounded by these natural weapons lose the will to fight. An avatar of Unicorn teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends one Gnosis point to initiate the transformation. Any opponent bearing a wound delivered by the Unicorn’s Arsenal loses two dice from all attack rolls until the wound has healed.

## Level Three Gifts

### Calm the Savage Beast

Even the most callous of homids can sympathize with the Rage that moves their fellow Garou in the final days. This Gift allows the werewolf to lend a frenzying Garou the will to escape her Rage’s hold over her. It is taught by an ancestor-spirit.

System: The player spends a Willpower point and rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty 8). If successful, the Willpower point soothes a frenzying Garou within 30 feet (9 m), canceling the frenzy. By spending an extra point of Willpower, this Gift may affect non-Garou in a state of frenzy, such as other shapeshifters or vampires.

### Chant of Morpheus

The user of this Gift can induce a long, restful slumber in the target. Although the Gift will not stop a frenzied werewolf, it can ward off a frenzy before one takes place. The Gift disinclines any hostile activity after the peaceful rest. Also, the waking victim is able to think much more clearly. An opossum-spirit teaches this Gift to individuals with patience and a lot of time.

System: The number of successes on a Charisma + Enigmas roll (difficulty equal to the opponent’s Willpower) determines the number of hours that the target sleeps. One Gnosis point activates this power. For one hour after waking, the target must spend a Willpower point to take any hostile action against the user of this Gift. Any attacks directed at the sleeper awaken her immediately and end the effects of the Gift.

### Dazzle

The Garou can flood a target’s mind with the glory and love of Gaia, rendering him harmless for a short while. A unicorn-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: The player rolls Charisma + Empathy against a difficulty of the target’s Willpower (+1 if the target is a creature of the Wyrm). As long as the target isn’t attacked, he stands mutely in awe for the remainder of the scene. This Gift can be attempted against a given target only once per scene.

### Good Faith

With this Gift, the Garou can cause all those in his presence to become filled with a sense of higher purpose. They all feel the work they must do together is more important than their differences. All other distractions are gone, and they feel inspired to take reasonable positions, rather than inflexible postures or exaggerated stands intended to be bargained away. Those who resist, and continue to bargain in bad faith, become loudly and uncontrollably flatulent each time they state their position. This Gift is taught by avatars of the New World Trinity totem.

System: The Garou rolls Wits + Expression against a difficulty of 6. Anyone who actively wants to resist finding common ground or negotiating in good faith must make a resisted Willpower roll (Difficulty 6) against the Garou’s number of successes. If he fails to resist, his opposition will be betrayed by his sudden flatulence, and he will likely be shunned and viewed as absurdly inflexible by those who bargain in good faith.

### Guilt Trip

By unearthing buried guilt and remorse, the Child of Gaia can force another to perform an action against her own will. Even if little relation exists between the guilty conscience and the task at hand, the Gift can be effective. Better results occur when there is a direct link, however. The Gift works best when the target *wants* to perform the action, but pride or fear prevents her from doing so.

Many urban spirits that have witnessed the cruelty of humanity toward itself know this Gift and teach it to the Garou.

System: The player must roleplay the plea; otherwise the Gift automatically fails. Excellent roleplaying can even negate the need for a roll (or even the need for the Gift). Otherwise, the player must roll Manipulation + Empathy versus the target’s Willpower. One success barely gets a Bone Gnawer to lift his pinkie, whereas five successes can force a proud Silver Fang to beg for forgiveness. The target can spend Willpower points to resist this Gift.

### Lover’s Touch

The Garou can restore what another lacks: not only wounds healed, but also strength of will and even spiritual essence. Any spirit of love or avatar of Unicorn may teach this Gift.

System: The Garou touches the afflicted individual kindly. The two need not be lovers, but the contact must convey affection and warmth — an embrace, a caress, or yet more intimate contact. The player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Medicine; each success heals one level of bashing or lethal damage, or restores one point of Willpower or Essence (if the target is a spirit). The difficulty is the Rage or Willpower of the target (whichever is higher). The player may choose to divide the successes among multiple results. Alternately, by neither healing wounds nor restoring Willpower or Essence, the Garou may suppress a Derangement for one day per success. This Gift cannot provide permanent relief from such afflictions, but it can act as a start on the road to recovery.

### Pain Chain

A doctor who treats only the symptoms of a disease doesn’t cure it, but merely prolongs the patient’s suffering. The Children of Gaia likewise know that only attacking the pawns of the Wyrm merely prolongs the Apocalypse War, rather than ending it. This Gift helps them go after the Wyrm itself by sensing who’s pulling whose strings, and even understanding who’s pulling theirs in turn. It is taught by a dog-spirit.

System: The player spends one point of Gnosis and rolls Perception + Investigation (difficulty 8). Each success lets you move “up the chain” one step, revealing the name and face of the next person delivering orders to your target. A single success would reveal that the corporate oil baron is being ridden by a particularly manipulative Bane, two would let you know which Black Spiral summoned the Bane, and three might tell you who that Black Spiral’s alpha is. None of this informs the Child of Gaia *where* these people are, but it gives them firm names and visual impressions to go after.

### Parting the Velvet Curtain

The Garou with this Gift may open the Gauntlet, physically transporting creatures other than shapeshifters into the Umbra. This Gift is taught by a turtle-spirit.

System: The Garou must touch the creature to be affected; the player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis against a difficulty equal to the local Gauntlet plus one per creature affected. Kinfolk or other shapeshifters do not add to the difficulty as do other creatures. If the roll is successful, the Gift user automatically steps sideways along with his passengers.

A maximum of eight other creatures may be transported in this fashion. While in the Umbra, the affected creatures are bound to the Garou with silk threads. They will always remain by the Garou’s side and must leave the Umbra when the Garou does. However, the Garou may sever a thread and send a creature back to its starting point by spending a Willpower point.

If the affected creature wants to resist either the initial transition or the return to the physical world, she may make a resisted Willpower roll against the Gift-wielder (difficulty 6 for both rolls).

### Speech of All Things

The Children of Gaia must communicate if they wish to accomplish their goals of unity and understanding. This Gift is a greater version of the Homid Gift: Speech of the World. The Garou can understand, read, write and speak any language as fluently as she physically can. She can emulate the roars of the Simba, but any member of that Breed would know the difference since she does not have the vocal capacity to make the correct sounds. Within those limits, she can speak the languages of various Changing Breeds, she knows the secret rune language of dead magi, and if she were so inclined, she could even understand the dread tongues of the Wyrm. This Gift does not protect the Garou mind from what she hears. A servant of Unicorn teaches this Gift.

**System**: The character can understand any language once she had learned this Gift. With an Intelligence + Academics roll (difficulty 7) she can read and write in those languages for the scene. If the language is not in common usage by more than a single, small group or culture — or does not have a written form — the difficulty increases to 9.

### Spirit Friend

The werewolf projects a feeling of tranquility and fellowship that spirits naturally perceive. Save for the mad or corrupt, spirits treat the Garou with courtesy and chivalry. This Gift is taught by a unicorn-spirit.

System: The player rolls Charisma + Empathy (difficulty 7). Each success adds one die to all of the Garou’s dice pools for interacting with any non-Bane spirits for the rest of the scene.

### The Cleaving Hoof

Unicorn’s powerful hoofblows often killed the humans that hunted him. This gift allows the Garou to focus inner strength into a single blow, ending a fight before further harm can take place. A Unicorn-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends a Gnosis point before rolling to hit. If he successfully strikes his opponent, the dice gained from Strength in his damage pool count as automatic successes rather than dice. Dice in the damage pool gained from weapons, claw damage or extra successes on the attack roll must be rolled as usual. For example, a werewolf with Strength 5 uses this Gift before successfully clawing an opponent; his damage pool works out to be 9 dice (5 for Strength, +1 for the claw maneuver, +3 for three additional successes on the attack roll). The player rolls tour damage dice, adding any successes (or  subtracting in the case or rolling ones) to the five automatic successes on the damage roll. The defender may soak as usual.

### Words of the Alpha

The Children have often sought leadership in human societies as well as among Garou. This Gift allows a leader to seek the best course of action for a particular goal. Eagle teaches this Gift.

System: The Garou meditates on the chosen goal, spends a Gnosis point, and rolls Intelligence + Leadership (difficulty 8), For each success, she gains one fragment of insight, be it a word of advice or hint at secret knowledge, into the right way to lead this group toward her chosen end. Note that Eagle does not show the most popular way, or the easiest way. His flight is high, and he flies alone.

## Level Four Gifts

### Beast Life

The werewolf can communicate with other wild animals and attract or even command them. Domesticated animals may speak with the Garou, but they have given themselves over to the ways of humans and will provide no aid beyond information. Any animal spirit can teach this Gift, although lupus prefer to learn it from lion- or wolf-spirits.

System: The character gains the permanent ability to communicate with all animals, regardless of the form she wears. To attract animals, the player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Animal Ken (difficulty 7). All animals within 10 miles (16 km) per success respond to the summons, and will follow any requests the Garou makes. It is considered customary to pay homage to the spirit of any animal ordered to sacrifice itself with this Gift; to do otherwise risks angering the spirit world.

### Serenity

The Garou can fill a hot heart with the peace of Gaia, even in the midst of battle. An avatar of Unicorn teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Expression (difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower). For one turn per success, the target automatically fails all Rage rolls, cannot frenzy, and cannot spend Rage.

### Serpent-Driving

The touch of Unicorn’s horn sets evil spirits and poisonous beasts to flight. This Gift enables the Child of Gaia to mimic Unicorn’s power, driving foul creatures out of water, underbrush, and so on. It is a morepowerful ability of Unicorn’s horn, and Unicorn himself teaches this Gift.

System: The Garou touches his hand or forehead to the water, into the alleyway, or into whatever areahe suspects of harboring enemies. He then rolls Gnosis, with the difficulty being 4 for ordinary animals such as snakes, 6 for lesser Wyrm creatures (such as fomori), 8 for Wyrm-servitors of strong power (such as Black Spiral Dancers) and 10 for powerful creatures of the Wyrm. For each success, one such creature is forced to abandon its hiding place or nest by the most directroute possible. If the Wyrm-creatures were using any supernatural means of concealment (such as Gifts or Disciplines), they may make a Willpower test, difficulty of the Garou’s Gnosis, to maintain these powers. They must still physically leave the area, however. Note that this Gift may cause the creatures to attack and is thus best used with care. Serpent-Driving may be used only once per game session.

### Strike the Air

The Child becomes the ultimate example of passive resistance. She is unable to attack an opponent, but is also unable to be hit, allowing her opponent to exhaust herself in an intricate dance of frustrated blows. A mongoose-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends one Willpower point and rolls Wits + Athletics (difficulty equals the opponent’s Willpower). For the duration of the scene, the opponent cannot strike the Garou, no matter how well he rolls. This Gift is canceled immediately if the werewolf attacks his opponent or if anyone else attacks on the Garou’s behalf. This Gift will work on multiple opponents, but the player must spend a point of Willpower and make a new roll for each attacker.

### Uncaught Since the Primal Morn

This Gift grants Unicorn’s perfect speed to the werewolf, allowing her to outrun virtually any pursuer. An avatar of Unicorn teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Stamina + Athletics (difficulty equals the highest Stamina + Athletics of any pursuer). The Garou is unfailingly faster than her pursuers for one scene per success.

### Unicorn’s Grace

A Garou with this Gift never loses her poise and rarely loses her temper. Even in the nastiest arguments or the bloodiest combats, Children of Gaia can maintain their cool with this blessing. An avatar of Unicorn teaches her followers this Gift.

System: By spending one Gnosis point, the Garou represses her Rage for an entire scene. No matter how many Rage points the Garou has, humans and animals are unable to detect her supernatural essence. The Garou also cannot frenzy and can spend Rage points only up to a maximum of her Empathy.

## Level Five Gifts

### Halo of the Sun

The character speaks an ancient word sacred to Helios and is immediately surrounded by a sphere of blazing sunlight. Those Wyrmcreatures who fear the sun may flee before the werewolf. This Gift is taught by a servant of Helios.

System: The player spends one Gnosis point; the effect lasts for one scene. The character receives two extra dice to the damage of any hand-to-hand attacks and causes aggravated damage while he is in Homid and Glabro forms. Anyone directly facing the werewolf adds three to all attack difficulties due to the glare. Any vampires within 20 yards (18 m) suffer three levels of aggravated damage per turn.

### The Living Wood

The Child of Gaia calls upon the powers of the forest to rise and aid her. Nearby trees begin to move and attempt to protect the Garou. Limbs and vines will restrain, block and even fight those attempting to harm her. A Glade Child teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Survival (difficulty 8). The character animates one tree for each success rolled

### Trust of Gaia

With this Gift, the Garou instantly earns the trust of all who meet him or hear him, even over a telephone or television. They feel instinctively that he is a good and trustworthy person. This feeling wells up from such a deep level that it cannot be changed by even the most invasive mind control. People affected by this Gift can still be mind-controlled to attack the Garou, but hate doing so. Those who are Wyrm-corrupted feel intense dislike instead of trust.

This trust is strong, but it does not supersede the person’s common sense. If the Child of Gaia is firing a machine gun into the crowd, the people will still scatter, rather than trust that he’ll miss them. However, they will all be convinced that he had a very good reason for firing.

The Children of Gaia warn that this Gift has great potential for abuse, and punish those who use it for petty gain. This Gift is taught by an avatar of Unicorn.

System: The Garou rolls Manipulation + Empathy against a difficulty of 6. The difficulty against Garou, or humans corrupted by the Wyrm, is 8. Wyrm beasts are immune. If successful, everyone who sees, hears, or experiences the Garou in any way must make a resistance roll (Willpower against difficulty 6) or feel a high degree of trust for the Garou. They will confide in him as they would a trusted friend. The effect will last for one scene, or as long as the person remains in contact with the Garou. however, even once the Gift’s effect has worn off, the person will feel good will toward the Garou.