Garou Backgrounds

These Traits describe special advantages that are granted to a character by birth, opportunity, or circumstance. When choosing Backgrounds, make sure to flesh out the what, why, and how. What did you do that leads your Allies to trust you? Why did you inherit a fetish rather than someone else? How does your Pure Breed manifest? What relation are your Kinfolk?

Backgrounds usually stand alone, though sometimes they’re used in conjunction with an Attribute: Wits + Resources to keep the cash flowing in a recession, or Manipulation + Allies to convince your friend to accompany you on a life-threatening mission.

Most Backgrounds improve as a result of the events in the story: making new contacts, discovering new parts of your pack’s prophesized fate, or landing a significant financial windfall. As such, they cannot be raised with experience points. The Totem Background is the exceptions to this rule: the only way to increase it is through experience points.

## Backgrounds in Baleful Big Easy

**Restricted Backgrounds:** No background may start play at 5 or more (for backgrounds that can go above 5) without very heavy backstory justification. And even the STs reserve the right to tell you no if it doesn't make sense. All normal tribal restrictions apply. The Kinfolk Background may not exceed 2 Dots. The Fetish Background may not exceed 5 total, and no single Fetish may exceed 3 Dots at CC.

**Banned Backgrounds:** Garou may not take the Influences Background, the Fate Background is entirely banned in this Venue

## Ancestors

Ancestral memory in humans is no more than pseudoscientific nonsense. To the Garou, who can contact the spirits of their ancestors, it’s a fact of life. Many werewolves carry some of the memories of a distant ancestor; some even allow their forebears to take over their bodies.

Once per game session, the player of a Garou with this Background may roll his Ancestors Background (difficulty 8, or 10 if he’s trying to contact the spirit of a specific ancestor). Each success allows the character to increase any Ability by one for the purposes of a single die roll, even if he has no dots in the Ability — and he doesn’t suffer the penalty for not having the Ability. For example, young Emil, a pure flatlander, must scale an immense cliff to come to the aid of his embattled pack. Emil has an Ancestors rating of 4 and Athletics 0. He calls on his forebears to guide him, and Emil’s player rolls four dice at difficulty 8. He scores three successes. Emil contacts his great-great-great granduncle Cragtamer, who guides him over the sheer face and over the top. Now the player has an effective Athletics rating of 3 to make his climbing roll. If the Garou had an Athletics rating of 2, then his effective dice pool would be 5. All effects last for the rest of the scene.

While it is more difficult to contact a specific ancestor, successful contact provides either useful advice or precognitive visions at the discretion of the Storyteller.

Botching an Ancestors roll may indicate that the character becomes catatonic for the remainder of the scene as he’s overwhelmed by the memories of thousands of lives. Alternatively, the ancestral spirit refuses to relinquish the body. How long the ancestor stays depends on the Storyteller.

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## Fetish

You possess a fetish — a physical object into which a werewolf has bound a spirit. The spirit grants a number of powers to a fetish, so they are very significant to the Garou. Such things are valuable, and other Garou (or other supernatural beings) may covet them.

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## Kinfolk

Kinfolk are otherwise normal humans and wolves who descended from Garou without inheriting their spiritual duty. Through this Background you are in contact with a number of
Kinfolk. While Kinfolk are normal members of their species in most respects, they are immune to the Delirium, giving them the dubious advantage of looking upon a Crinos-form werewolf. They know that you are Garou, and they are willing to help you however they can, although most are not in positions of power (such people are considered Allies). Networks of Kinfolk are a valuable way for werewolves to deal with the human world without risking frenzy or discovery. Some Kinfolk may be related to you directly, while others are contacts you have made through your sept.

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## Rites

Rituals are an important part of Garou life. This Trait denotes how many rites the character knows at the beginning of the game. The rating represents levels of rites, so a character with four dots in this Background may have a Level Four rite, one Level One and one Level Three rites or any other combination. Remember that to learn a rite the character needs a Rituals Knowledge rating at least equal to the level of a given rite. While Rank is not necessarily a factor, many Theurges would need a pretty convincing reason to teach a Level Five rite to a Rank 1 Garou. Note that two minor rites can be purchased in place of one Level One rite. Keep in mind the restrictions put in place by this venue. You may only learn Rites one rank above your current one. A Fostern may learn up to level three rites. but if you don't have the lower level rites to back it up, it isn't going to fly. All characters start with some Rites. For what those are, please see General Character Creation Guidelines under the Rites sections.

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## Spirit Heritage

The Garou are creatures of duality — torn between man and wolf, and between flesh and spirit. The Garou share a kinship with inhabitants of the spirit world, but some have a stronger connection than others. For some reason, perhaps an ancestral tie to a household of spirits, certain types of spirits react more positively to you than others. This doesn’t need to be a friendly relationship — spirits may be fearful and respectful of you, in awe of you, or feel a sense of duty to you. No matter what the relationship, one group of spirits is more likely to cooperate with you.

When you select this background, choose one type of spirits. Examples of possible groups are animal spirits, plant spirits, elementals, urban spirits, and even Banes. When dealing with spirits of this type, the player may add his Spirit Heritage rating to any Social rolls, or rolls involved in challenges. Spirits whom you are attuned to view you, to some degree, as one of their own — a daunting prospect for those attuned to Banes, when other Garou discover their heritage. If you act against such spirits or ignore their plights, you may be seen as betraying them.

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## Totem

Totem is a Background that applies directly to the character’s pack, rather than the individual. Unlike other pooled Backgrounds, the pack spends all of the points that members have invested in this Trait to determine their totem’s power.

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Each totem has a Background cost rating; the pack must spend that amount to ally with that totem. Some totems are willing to lend great powers to their adherents; their point costs are correspondingly greater. In addition to their Totem bonuses, all beginning totems have a base of eight points to divide among Rage, Willpower, and Gnosis. The totem also begins with the Airt Sense and Re-form Charms. Apart from bestowing power, totems start out somewhat aloof from the pack, and they have little influence among spirits, unless the players buy a closer connection with Background points. With time, roleplaying, and experience points, pack totems can grow in power as their pack grows in Rank and influence. Some totems can even become the totems of whole septs or — in legendary circumstances — even tribes.

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Most of the powers that totems bestow are available to only one pack member at a time. At the end of each turn, the Garou with the power declares who the power may be given to next turn (assuming that she doesn’t keep it). After spending the initial cost of the totem, the players can spend any remaining Background points to add to the totem’s strength and abilities.

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The listed cost is in Background points, which can be bought through experience at the rate of two experience points per Background point. (Therefore, three points of Rage would cost two experience points.) The Storyteller should allow increases in totem powers only when it fits into the story, such as when pack members gain a higher rank, a new member joins the pack, or when pack members gain new insight into the nature of their totem. When the totem is affiliated with a more powerful spirit, the greater spirit might grant the strengthening of its servant (pack totem) in return for a great service done by the pack.