Attribute and Ability Definitions

This page will contain the descriptions of the of the dots of Attributes and Abilities.

# Attributes

When your character’s trying to dance a waltz, fast-talk a cop, or find an elusive fact in a pile of grimoires, her chances of success depend upon innate Attributes. Even if she doesn’t have the associated Abilities, her Physical, Social, and Mental Traits give her a slim chance of success. The core of most dice pools, your Attributes follow a human range between 1 and 5. Magick and other paranormal sources can raise or lower those Attributes beyond that range, but a typical willworker rates somewhere between 1 and 4 in his Attributes, with exceptional mages rating a 5. The average person, by comparison, probably has Attributes ranging between 1 and 3; ratings of 4 or 5 are pretty rare, and ones above 5 are essentially inhuman. Such high ratings might be common among vampires or magical beasts, perhaps, but not among mortal human beings… which, for all their power, is what mages essentially are.

## Physical Attributes

### Strength

A measure of sheer physical might, this Trait reflects your ability to move obstacles, lift things, and deal out damage with your fists and feet alone. High-Strength characters tend to be muscular and massive; that said, wiry folks can be surprisingly, even deceptively, strong.

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### Dexterity

A vital attribute for conjurers, dancers, martial artists, and street survivors, this Trait measures agility, coordination, reflexes, and physical grace. High-Dexterity individuals seem poised and flexible even at rest, whereas low-Dexterity folks trip – figuratively and literally – over their own feet.

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### Stamina

Reflecting toughness, endurance, and your tolerance for pain, disease, and fatigue, Stamina is a helpful Trait for mages on the go. Although the stereotypical tough customer is a massive human tank, wiry folks can be amazingly resilient.

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## Social Attributes

### Charisma

Rooted in the Greek word for grace and favor, Charisma reflects the indefinable it that makes some folks stand out in a crowd. Game-wise, this Trait measures your presence and appeal. You might not be pretty if you have a high Charisma, but by all the gods, people notice you!

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### Manipulation

Life’s filled with players and pawns. A high-Manipulation character knows how to work her end of that spectrum for maximum effect. Whereas Charisma measures presence and Appearance reflects looks, Manipulation describes social cunning and innate psychology. We manipulate each other all the time, but no one likes to actually see the strings attached. As a result, a blown roll with this Trait can be disastrous.

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### Appearance

Never underestimate the power of a pretty face! This Trait captures the appeal of sheer physical beauty… or the painful lack of it. Appearances can be deceiving, of course, especially among mages. Still, we’re hard-wired to respond well to a cute butt or a captivating grin.

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## Mental Attributes

### Perception

Magick demands clarity, so a high-Perception mage excels. This Trait measures your attention to detail, spatial awareness, sensual acuity, and that indefinable instinct that picks up the cues your conscious mind has not yet noticed. A reflection of intuition and awareness, the Perception Trait reveals clues more than it analyzes causes; that scent of roses nearby might be a rosebush, perfume, or a love spell’s lingering Resonance – Perception alone won’t tell you which one it is.

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### Intelligence

Perhaps the most vital tool a mage can possess, this Trait reflects your ability to process information, retain impressions, envision possibilities, and think not merely outside the box but perhaps without a box at all. A low-Intelligence character might not be exactly stupid, but she’s blind to the complexities of life; one with a high Intelligence score, on the other hand, can wrap his head around sophisticated concepts and slippery facts. Despite preconceptions, you don’t need schooling to be smart. Still, it takes brains to tackle advanced education and study, so characters with such backgrounds ought to have a respectable Intelligence.

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### Wits

Even the deepest minds can be oblivious to change. Survival, however, often demands sharp wits. A reflection of mental reflexes, this Trait determines your ability to react to sudden perils, subtle cues, and the twisted logic that often fills a mage’s world. Combat Initiative depends upon a character’s Wits; without them, a great thinker might soon become dead meat.

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# Abilities

## Talents

Inborn affinities refined by practice, Talents reveal a character’s natural tendencies and life-honed gifts.

### Alertness

You sense things coming long before anyone else does. A combination of keen instincts and sharp thinking, this Ability helps you size up situations and respond accordingly. Beast-folk, survivors, bright courtiers and battle-honed veterans have high Alertness ratings.

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### Art

Also known as Artistic Expression, this Talent reflects your ability with a visual or performing art: drawing, singing, acting, writing, painting, dance, sculpture, and so forth. Given such talents, you can work within your chosen medium to produce works of startling power. Depending on your idiom, you might create realistic renderings, engaging exaggerations, or wildly avant-garde experimental art. Higher levels reflect your ability to impress your audience; in art, that means striking a chord of Truth in people even when your work isn’t remotely realistic.

As with other related general Abilities, each specialty reflects a different medium or field, of artistic endeavor. Each type of art – dance, painting, etc. – must be purchased as a separate specialty. However, because the principles of art are related even when the techniques differ, you can purchase additional specialties for only four points, assuming you have at least four dots in Art and one specialty already in place.

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### Athletics

Fitness is your passion. While other folks sit on the sidelines, you’re running races, scoring touchdowns, biking to and from work, and developing prowess with intense practice. Folks don’t usually picture wizards hanging around the gym, but you’re an exception to that stereotype. “A sound mind in a sound body” is your motto. What good is it to be a master of reality, after all, if your reality involves a fat ass and flabby gut?

Like Art, Athletics has many different specialties – running, climbing, swimming, and so forth. And like Art, Crafts, and other broad categories, you can buy specialties to reflect different athletic pursuits.

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### Awareness

You’ve got uncanny perceptions. While alert folks spot everyday clues, your instincts cue in on the so-called supernatural side of life. Perhaps you’ve simply got that feeling about things – some people do, even if they’re not Awakened as such. More likely, you’ve spent enough time around the magical world to sense its effects in your presence.

At lower levels, this Talent grants a nebulous perception of uncanny phenomena; higher ratings in the Trait reveal auras, expose the secretive Night-Folk, and open your eyes to the spiritual Periphery. In game terms, you can use Perception + Awareness to spot paranormal effects, detect magick, recognize Resonance Echoes, and so forth, assuming they’re within close proximity of you. The more successes you roll, the more detailed your impressions become.

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### Brawl

You kick ass. Maybe you grew up hard and mean, or maybe you’re schooled in basic self-defense. Either way, your fists and feet are weapons – probably not deadly, but a lot more effective than random swings from unskilled brutes. Not only do you know how to fight, but you’re naturally good at it. You’ve got the skill, will, and training to hurt someone using nothing more than human cunning and animal ferocity.

(For armed fighting, see the Melee Skill, and for refined unarmed techniques, see the Martial Arts Skill. Both appear below.)

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### Empathy

An innate sense of emotional energies, this Talent provides you with insight – perhaps more insight than you might want – into how the people around you feel. Ideally, this helps you understand them better and perhaps allows you to calm, rouse, or otherwise adjust their emotional state. On the flipside, it might leave you vulnerable to their passions (a common fault among Ecstatic mages), or it could leave them vulnerable to your machinations. Combined with Mindbased Effects, Empathy can be a potent tool – or weapon – in the hands of an Awakened character.

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### Expression

Life is your canvas, and you excel at making impressions upon it. Through theatrical flair and audience psychology, you can rouse emotions, shift opinions, and grab the spotlight in social situations. Although this Trait can be used to handle any social situation, it’s best used to make general impressions. For specific artistic endeavors, see Art, above or Crafts, below.

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### Intimidation

Intimidation involves applying pressure to make someone else do what you want them to. It can take many forms, from soft, subtle persuasion to outright brute force. Intimidation need not be cruel or callous; a wellplaced intimidating conversation might even be called “diplomatic.” An intimidating character knows what to do and say depending on the occasion, and is very persuasive when he wants something done.

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### Kenning

Kenning is faerie sight. It allows a character to sense Glamour in all of its forms. He can recognize the power of cantrips and freeholds, identify “slumbering” changelings, and even discover the elusive prodigals and their magic. This insight is usually an impression. Gremayre is required to know specifics about what the changeling senses.

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### Leadership

A more refined sort of control, this Talent helps you inspire other folks to follow your lead. It might involve commanding presence, assertive words, clear determination, or simply the Right Stuff when said stuff is needed. When you bark, folks hop – not always with compliance, but with, at the very least, a grudging admission that you seem to know what you’re doing… even when you don’t.

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### Primal Urge

This Talent describes a character’s connection to her bestial nature, and her level of gut feelings in her various nonhuman forms. A character with high Primal-Urge relies not just on her heightened instincts, but a whole range of sensory information that humans don’t fully understand. Her understanding of her feral nature gives her an easier time when changing form, and can let her instinctively notice signs of supernatural activity — though this rarely goes beyond the level of a chill down the spine or the hairs on her neck standing on end.

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### Streetwise

The underworld is your home, and you know it pretty well. Folks who normally don’t talk to no one will open up to you. Probably raised in or around the streets, you understand the codes and cues outside the law. In addition to some minor tricks of the trade (jimmying locks, fencing goods, swiping stuff when no one’s looking), you know how to move and speak and otherwise fit in where cops and angels fear to tread.

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### Subterfuge

Subterfuge involves hiding your motives and projecting something else on top of that. If you can figure out what someone else wants, you can twist that to your best advantage. This Trait defines your talent for intrigue, double-dealing, con artistry, and just plain lying to people. Characters with high Subterfuge are masters of finding people who want something for nothing and giving them nothing for something, knowing precisely what to say to further their own goals.

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## Skills

Skills are Abilities learned as a direct result of training and instruction. No one wakes up one day knowing how to drive a car, for example; every driver needs some practice before hitting the interstate. If you try to perform an action involving a Skill in which you have no rating, your difficulty is increased by one. It’s a lot harder to swing a sword than it looks on TV.

### Animal Ken

Humans think and behave far differently to other animals. It takes a special touch to deal with other creatures, especially if they’re hurt or frightened. A person (or werewolf) with Animal Ken knows how to speak and move in such a way to gain an animal’s trust. Without it, even homid werewolves have a hard time dealing with animals that can sense their Rage. Animal Ken is also necessary for training animals and for working closely with animals (such as leading a mule train).

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### Crafts

The Crafts Skill covers a character’s ability to make or fix things with her hands. Crafts allows her to work in fields including carpentry, leather-working, weaving, or even areas requiring mechanical expertise such as car repair. Crafts is especially useful for werewolves who hope to make fetishes. It’s easier to convince a spirit to enter a vessel that’s made well, after all. A player must always choose a specialty in Crafts, even when her character has less than four dots in the Skill.

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### Drive

Cars? You know cars. Maybe trucks too, if you’re good enough. This Skill reflects the everyday complexities of automobile handling: the higher your rating, the better you are behind the wheel. A single dot represents basic operation of an automatic transmission car. Higher levels open up a wider range of vehicles at your command. Typical driving doesn’t demand a roll, but if you find yourself in a race, a chase, or some other challenging circumstance, you’d best hope that you have a few dots in this Skill. The results otherwise could be… messy.

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### Etiquette

Etiquette is the ability to be nice to people, whatever you think of them. Part of that is good manners and social niceties, but it’s also useful for the subtler side of diplomacy, knowing when to haggle, and what to do when a place setting has more knives than a serial killer’s basement. While a character understands the culture in which he was raised, the Storyteller may raise the difficulty should he be faced with traditions and mores that are not his own.

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### Firearms

A character with the Firearms Skill knows how to kill things with guns. Sticking a klaive in the back of a Wyrm-tainted CEO is a gilt-edged invitation to the police, but blowing him away at an ATM can look like just another mugging gone wrong. This Skill represents a broad knowledge and familiarity with all kinds of guns, from a kid’s BB pistol to a heavy machine gun. The character can clean, repair, recognize, and accurately fire pretty much any kind of small arms he comes across — though it doesn’t extend to artillery or tank cannons. For this venue, this skill also covers the use of bows and archery.

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### Larceny

The Larceny Skill entails familiarity with the tools and techniques of the professional criminal. You can pick locks, forge documents by hand, crack safes, hotwire cars, break into places, and run a mean game of three-card monte. Larceny doesn’t just cover breaking systems and picking pockets — it’s also used to set up “unbreakable” security, notice pickpockets, and deduce where thieves broke in. The Skill doesn’t extend to computer forgery, or to advanced security systems like video surveillance and alarm systems — those fall under the auspices of the Computer and Technology Knowledges, respectively.

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### Martial Arts

The many refinements of hand-to-hand combat have produced thousands of martial art styles, from brutal Greek pankration to sublime t’ai chi. You pursue one or more of these disciplines, so your fighting techniques are more effective than simple punches and kicks.

In game terms, the Martial Arts Skill reflects hard-won expertise in some combat form. Because of the intense training, specific techniques, applied philosophies, and discipline involved, this Skill must be learned through practice and taught by a teacher who’s skilled in the same martial arts form you pursue. A savate teacher, after all, can’t teach you drunken-monkey kung fu.

An accomplished martial artist can also use her practice to focus magickal Effects: powerful strikes, healing techniques, Mind-based powers, and so on. And because martial arts involve scientific applications, and are very much a part of accepted reality, Technocrats often use them too. If it’s good enough for Agent Smith, after all, then any good Technocrat can employ such arts!

In real life, most martial artists pursue many different styles. Rather than buy this Skill separately for every different form your character knows, you may choose the Well-Skilled Craftsman option to reflect a different style of combat. Someone with lots of dots and specialties also has lots of options when it comes to kicking ass.

As suggested above under the Optional Rule: Minimum Abilities, a mage who uses martial arts as the practice and/ or instrument of her magickal focus should have at least one dot in Martial Arts for every dot she has in the highest Sphere she uses for martial arts-based Effects. Otherwise, the Effect-Ranks she can focus through her martial arts are limited to the dots she has in this Ability; a mage with Martial Arts 1, therefore, could not focus Rank 2-5 Effects through her martial arts.

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### Meditation

Ground, center, breathe, and relax. This Skill helps you sweep aside the clutter of everyday existence and find a spot within yourself that offers calm. Depending on your preferred style, your background, and the purpose for which you practice meditation, this could involve simple quiet time, elaborate postures and breath control, religious devotion, and even ecstatic dance or prayer.

In game terms, the Meditation Skill can help your character make up for lost sleep, hibernate, gain artistic or mystical insights, unravel patterns or enigmas, or refresh your Quintessence rating.

A character with Meditation often has at least one dot in the Esoterica Knowledge Trait. Many forms of magick, or feats like astral travel, also use meditation as an instrument of focus.

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### Melee

The counterpart to Firearms and Brawl, the Melee Skill involves fighting up close and personal with a weapon. A master of Melee can use a sword, spear, staff, or a wooden stake with equal ease. Werewolves use this Skill to fight with klaives — silver fetish blades. This Skill covers weapons from around the world, such as tonfa, kukri, and shotels. While modern weaponry and the Garou’s natural weapons can leave Melee feeling outdated, knives don’t run out of ammo, and a heavy club doesn’t inspire the Delirium.

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### Performance

The Performance Skill covers a character’s ability with performance arts, including singing, dancing, acting, and music. She knows about the history of her art, and has a broad repertoire of pieces that she can perform from a variety of time periods. This Skill combines technical aptitude with the ability to hook an audience and keep them enraptured with your show. A player must always choose a specialty in Crafts, even when her character has less than four dots in the Skill.

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### Psychology /Psychoanalysis

Versed in the practice of clinical psychology, you can help folks deal with mental and emotional ailments. Also known as Psychoanalysis, this Trait takes time and trust to deploy – you can’t cure phobias during a firefight! Given the space and opportunity to work your craft, though, you can win someone’s confidence and then help him sort out the traumas in his head.

For each session of focused psychoanalysis, roll Intelligence + Psychoanalysis, with a difficulty of the subject’s Intelligence + 3. If he’s resisting your efforts, use Manipulation or Charisma + Psychoanalysis, with a difficulty of his Willpower + 3 (max 10). Each success counts toward at least a temporary resolution of an illness or neurosis. Simple quirks are easy to fix (five to 10 successes), while severe mental illness can be much harder (20 successes or more).

On the shadow-side, the same techniques can be used to instill mental quirks and illnesses – false memories, induced phobias, that sort of thing. This application assumes that the subject is resisting you subconsciously (Willpower +3), but can still be quite effective if your patient trusts you. The Satanic ritual abuse panic of the ‘80s and ‘90s came largely from dishonest psychologists “leading” their patients to “discover” things that had never actually happened. Corrupters, seducers, and “conversion specialists” study psychoanalysis for that very reason.

Whether you’re trying to help or harm someone, Mind magick obviously helps with this sort of thing. Thus, “miracle cures” can be explained by your reputation as a skilled psychotherapist.

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### Research

It ain’t glamorous, but if you’re a mage, you need to learn how to track things down. This Skill helps you locate sources of information – public libraries, private archives, Internet searches, occult collections, verbal lore, and so forth – and then skim them for the information you seek. You might not find exactly what you’re looking for; some things can be found only in special places. Still, a successful Research roll can help you get on the right track, even if specific facts remain elusive… at least for now.

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### Stealth

Stealth allows a character to avoid being seen or heard, whether moving through cover and shadows, hiding in a crowd, or shadowing someone on his route home. Most uses of Stealth are contested by someone else’s Perception + Alertness, with whoever rolls the most successes thwarting the other. The Storyteller should keep in mind that staying hidden in a forest is very different to hiding out in an urban alleyway. Stealth is also used for hiding items, either on one’s person when being searched or in the environment.

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### Survival

Characters skilled in Survival can live off the land without a ready supply of food, water, or shelter. This Skill covers finding all of those essentials, along with tracking, starting fires, navigating through dangerous territory, and determining which foods are safe and which are deadly poisons. Lupus have an edge on other Garou with this Skill, as it covers many of the tasks necessary to survive in a wolf pack. The Storyteller should note that characters in the wilderness can’t roll more dice in Stealth than they have in Survival.

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### Technology (Mages)

In our high-tech world, this Skill often comes in handy. A catch-all group of familiar tech affinities, Technology reflects a working knowledge of typical developed-world gadgets. Most urbanized characters have at least one dot in Technology but seldom more than three. This Ability covers simple operations and repairs; for advanced forms of technology and hypertech, see Crafts above, or Computers below.

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## Knowledges

Certain Abilities demand learning. Taught through a combination of schooling and experience, these Traits reflect things that your character understands on an intellectual level. Although some of them, like Computer or Medicine, involve physical practice too, they exist mostly in the realm of consciousness only. Without the proper Knowledge, your character may not even attempt to roll for certain Knowledge-based feats. It’s not surprising, then, that mages depend on Knowledge Traits more than many other characters do.

### Academics

The Academics Knowledge represents the character’s education in the humanities: literature, history, art, philosophy, linguistics, and other subjects normally encompassed under the banner of “liberal arts.” A high Academics rating indicates a well-rounded knowledge in many of these fields, along with expertise in one in particular. A player must always choose a specialty in Academics, even when her character has less than four dots in the Skill.

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### Bureaucracy

You understand the world of human organizations and have learned to weave your way through the strands of red tape that permeate most government agencies, and private or public businesses. This Ability allows you to find the quickest way to accomplish something through the usual channels, getting speedy answers and bypassing many of the snags waiting to trap the unwary. You slice through red tape as if it were strips of paper. You know who to talk to and which strings to pull to get what you (or your Garou kin) need. For you, it’s a game rather than a chore. Combined with the Contacts Background, you can make a lot of inroads that allow you to help both Kinfolk and werewolves. Whether or not the Garou appreciate your efforts, you are effective and take pride in your expertise.

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### Computer

Computer defines the character’s ability to operate and program computers, from traditional desktops and laptops to cellphones and tablets. A character with this Knowledge is also assumed to have a general familiarity with the Internet, including the use of search engines and online research resources. At higher levels, you can write software and create convincing fake websites, and even use system vulnerabilities to break in to secure networks.

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### Cosmology/ Subdimensions

Known by Technocrats and many hypertech mystics as Subdimensions, this trait reflects a working knowledge of the puzzling Otherworlds beyond the Earthly plane. With it, you stand a decent chance of finding your way around out there without getting yourself killed. (Without it, you’re seriously screwed.) The specific way in which you view the Otherworlds will depend a lot on what you expect to see there; this Knowledge simply gives you the tools to navigate paths, spot hazards, deal with entities, and recognize opportunities or threats when you run across them.

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### Enigmas

The Enigmas Knowledge describes a character’s ability to solve logic problems, puzzles, and mysteries. Characters with this Knowledge link information, trivia, and hunches to solve conundrums of all varieties — especially useful when dealing with spirits who do not share a werewolf’s frame of reference. High Enigmas can lead a character to apply lateral thinking to all manner of problems, from setting up codes and signals among his pack so they can talk in secret, to matching wits against a devious villain.

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### Esoterica

Esoteric knowledge comes in many forms: astrology, angelography, fortune-telling, yoga, herbalism, demonology, the lore of stones, even the secret code languages of occult societies. For centuries, such mysteries were the province of selected initiates; these days, it’s relatively easy to find the basics in any decent bookstore or website. Even so, the deeper levels remain obscure to all but the most devoted students of the art. Anyone can take a yoga class in the modern world, but the more arcane applications of that art demand years of practice, study, and devotion.

Game-wise, the Esoterica reflects your pursuit of an esoteric discipline which suggests the practices and instruments for your magickal focus. The Trait’s overall rating reflects your general knowledge of arcane subjects, whereas each specialty reflects your expertise within a certain field. Unlike the Occult Knowledge – which in reflects an understanding of “secret history” and shadow-cultures – Esoterica represents the practical application of unusual fields. Occult can teach your character who Aleister Crowley was, while Esoterica helps her understand what Crowley did… and to use those principles herself. In short, this Knowledge sums up a lot of previous editions’ Abilities into a single united Trait.

Because esoteric disciplines are often interrelated, you can use the Well-Skilled Craftsman option to purchase a new specialty for only four experience points, assuming that you already have at least four dots in the Esoterica Knowledge, an existing specialty, and a story-based reason to learn that discipline. Say, for example, your character has four dots in Esoterica, with a specialty in Herbalism; if he gets some time to study yoga, he can spend four experience points and then add a specialty in Yoga to that Knowledge… after which time he can use yoga as a focus tool (assuming that it fits his magickal paradigm), and count 10s as two successes on mundane or magick-casting rolls that employ that practice.

Given an opportunity to study and practice an art, any character can learn Esoterica. Although such disciplines don’t give magickal powers to unAwakened characters, the Knowledge lets them use mundane applications – teaching yoga classes, doing horoscopes, deciphering alchemical texts and so forth – and count 10s as two successes if and when they do so. Understanding the principles of bakemono-jutsu – the ninja “ghost technique” – won’t make you invisible, for instance, but a specialty in that esoteric technique would let you count 10s as two successes on your Stealth Skill roll. Even though they can’t employ mystic powers, non-mages can be far more knowledgeable about such subjects than mages are. Such mentors may teach a mage this Knowledge or allow him to add another specialty to his existing expertise. Let’s say that Dante needs to learn demonology; he goes to the best teacher he can find – an unAwakened monk named Brother Silence – and studies his ass off. In time, Dante understands the names and rituals associated with Infernal powers and can put them to practical use. In such cases, the student may indeed surpass the master, thanks to the Awakened understanding that unlocks the greatest potential of the art.

Again, an Esoterica practice must fit the character’s belief system if you want to use it as a focus; a computer mage will have a hard time wedging her study of herbalism into a technomagickal hacking routine! This rule, however, helps flesh out your character’s belief system and gives you a practical use for the arcane disciplines that any mage worth that name understands.

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### Gremayre

Gremayre is a character’s understanding of magic, lore, and the ways of Glamour. She uses it when creating an oath, weaving an enchantment, forging a treasure, and understanding faerie history. Gremayre is essential for comprehending all things related to the Dreaming, including mortal and Prodigal magic and mystic practices.

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### Herbalism

You have studied plants with an eye to using healing herbs as well as cooking herbs. You believe that herbs are far and away better than pharmaceuticals, since they are purer and less likely to be tampered with. In fact, you tend to distrust anything made by Big Pharma, even to the extent of making your own aspirin from scratch whenever possible. You enjoy using herbs in food preparation as well and are known for your particularly tasty dishes. Perhaps you even “spike” your soufflés and casseroles with certain herbs that provide extra nutrients or enhance immune systems. You know how to grow herbs, harvest and prepare them, and may even have your own herbal business. You know how to make soaps, dyes, lotions, and other products using natural products.

The systems use of herbs is in the hands of the Storyteller. Suggestions include: slightly improved healing times (with regular administrations of poultices and/or teas and elixirs), calming and soothing, stimulant effects, etc. Herbs, when used properly, can help heal wounds and illnesses and mitigate symptoms without the adverse side effects and addictions that often come with the use of modern pharmaceuticals. Kinfolk far removed from urban areas and without health insurance find Herbalism to be a vital means for maintaining a healthy community.

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### Investigation

Investigation ties physical evidence, witness statements, and lucky finds together into a coherent narrative that tells the character what actually happened. A character with high Investigation can distinguish murder from accident, and follow up on leads to solve thefts and kidnappings. This Knowledge also covers general forensic procedures, such as lifting fingerprints, tracing bullet paths, and approximating time of death. Note that Investigation is rooted entirely in evidence and witness statements, the feats of induction common to TV detectives fall to Enigmas.

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### Law

The Law Knowledge covers a character’s familiarity with law enforcement systems and legal codes, both in human jurisdictions and among the Garou. When a character’s in trouble with the police, he needs this Knowledge to get out of legal tangles, and when a pack stands accused of breaching the Litany, their Philodox needs to know how his sept is likely to react. More than that, many Philodox learn the codes that have grown up around the Litany, and the appropriate punishments for crimes against the Garou Nation.

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### Medicine

Medicine is the study of how the human body works, and how to fix it when it goes wrong. This Knowledge encompasses fields including anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and emergency aid. Characters with this Knowledge can diagnose and treat diseases and injuries, and can also care for wolves and other animals — though their expertise will not be as specific as that of a veterinarian unless they choose a veterinary specialty. Medicine’s knowledge of pharmaceuticals covers both legal and illicit substances that can be used to help or harm.

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### Occult

The character has a working knowledge of the vast area of the occult. He knows something about (but not limited to) psychic phenomena, tarot, various systems of magic, and general mysticism. This Knowledge doesn’t confer hard facts, as the pool of information that it works from is based in human folklore and tales. A character with high Occult likely knows more about vampires than a teenager who has read a Twilight novel, but he won’t know anything about the leeches’ actual secrets — though he may be able to work out what’s actively false.

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### Pharmacopeia/Poisons

Drugs are your specialty: street drugs, herbal compounds, experimental medications, psychoactives, hypertech concoctions, and the like. You understand the effects of various chemicals on the human animal and perhaps on other animals as well. A specialty of shamans, witches, Progenitors, Ecstatics, alchemists, and other mages who employ pharmaceutical compounds, this Knowledge allows you – with the proper tools, of course – to measure, recognize, analyze, counter, or dose someone with a range of chemicals. As usual, higher ratings reflect greater expertise. You’ll never know everything, of course, but you’re rarely flying blind.

A venerable, if underhanded, magickal tool, the variation Knowledge of Poisons allows you to alter the natural chemistry of living things in… shall we say, unfortunate ways. Witches, alchemists, assassins, and other shady types are infamous for their expertise with such compounds, and though you might not want to advertise that information, you’re experienced with such compounds too.

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### Politics

Politics is an understanding of the political structure of the day, including the people in charge and how they came to power. A character can utilize this Ability to navigate bureaucracies. Familiarity of Kithain politics is essential in faerie courtly proceedings, for “labyrinthine” is an understated description of fae power structures.

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### Rituals

Rituals are an important part of werewolf life. Ritual behavior helps a werewolf control the Rage within. This Knowledge lets the character know about the traditions, mysteries, and ceremonies of the Garou, including how to participate in common rites and how to behave properly towards elders and leaders. Some werewolf rituals are more than formalized behavior: they call upon ancient spirit magics to powerful effect. A character cannot learn a rite of higher level than his Rituals rating.

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### Science

At its most basic, Science involves developing hypotheses and testing them through the scientific method. This Knowledge covers the “hard sciences” and related fields — from biology and chemistry to more abstract fields like mathematics. It allows the character to develop theories and test them through experimentation and to apply what she knows to everyday problems. A player must always choose a specialty in Science, even when her character has less than four dots in the Skill.

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### Technology (Non-Mages)

The Technology Knowledge represents a character’s broad aptitude with electronics, computer hardware, and the anything that needs an understanding of modern electronics to work with — mechanical devices fall under the Crafts Skill. If it has a processor, some transistors, or an integrated circuit — if it’s electronic rather than electrical — manipulating it falls under Technology. A character can use Technology to build a computer, crack a security system, repair a cellphone, or hack together a shortwave radio. A player must always choose a specialty in Technology, even when her character has less than four dots in the Skill.

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