Werewolf Backgrounds

Garou Backgrounds

Ancestors
To humans, ancestral memory is pseudo-scientific concept at best. To Garou, it's a fact of life. Many werewolves have some of the memories of their distant ancestors: some even allow their forbears to take over their bodies. Once per 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 add one die to the pool of any Ability (even if the character doesn't possess it). How long the ancestor stays depends on the storyteller.

Fetish
You possess a physical object into which a spirit has been bound. Fetishes have a number of powers granted by the spirit, so they are very significant to the Garou. Such things are valuable, and other Garou (or other supernatural beings) may covet them. The more dots you have in Fetish means you either have a single fetish of a power level equal to your total dots, or, you have a number of fetishes with a total of the level of dots you bought. (Like 1 level 3 fetish and 1 level 1 fetish, as opposed to a single level 4 fetish).

Kinfolk
You are in contact with certain humans/wolves who are descended from Garou without actually being werewolves themselves. Kinfolk are normal, but they have immunity to the Delirium, know your secrets, and are willing to help you however they can. Networks of Kinfolk are a valuable way for werewolves to deal with the human world without risking frenzy or discovery.
1 - 2 kinfolk
2 - 5 kinfolk
3 - 10 kinfolk
4 - 20 kinfolk
5 - 50 kinfolk

Past Life
Past Life is actually the Ancestors background. The Werewolf Player's Guide will make reference to 'Past Life', but they mean Ancestors (see the Storyteller's guide page 21).

Pure Breed
Garou take great stock in ancestry, and the werewolf who is descended from renowned forbears has a definite advantage in Garou society. This background represents your lineage, markings, bearing, and other features of birth. Each point of Pure Breed adds an extra die to social or challenge rolls involving other Garou (even Black Spiral Dancers). Some tribes place more value on pedigree than others, but Pure Breed is almost universally respected. It's almost a mystical trait, and of course, Garou expect those of pure blood to live up to the standards set by their noble ancestors.

Rites
Rituals are an important part of Garou life. This trait denotes how many rites the character knows at the beginning of the game. This rating represents levels of rites, so character with rites 4 may have a level 4 rite, one level 1 rite, and one level 3 rite 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, a Theurge would need a pretty damn convincing reason to teach a level 5 rite to a rank 1 Garou. Two minor rites can be purchased in the place of one level 1 rite.
1 - One level of rites.
2 - Two levels of rites.
3 - Three levels of rites.
4 - Four levels of rites.
5 - Five levels of rites.

Talen
Talens like Fetishes in that they are items powered by Spirits, but they are temporary and the spirit assigned to the object leaves upon its use. Despite their evanescence, they are still considered holy objects. They provide the Garou who focuses their Gnosis on them an edge in a specific situation.

Totem
Totems are spirits to which a pack adheres for supplicants. Apart from being a sort of power source, totems are largely aloof from the pack and have little influence among spirits (unless the players buy a closer connection with it). Unlike other Backgrounds, this trait applies to the character's pack rather than the individual. The members of the pack pool the points invested in this Trait to determine the totem's power. Each Totem has a background cost rating; the pack must spend that much to ally with that totem. Some totems are willing to lend great powers to their adherents. Their point costs are correspondingly greater. On Page 293 of the Werewolf core book (and in various pages of the breed books and other reading) can be found Totems.

Rokea Backgrounds

Remora
Remora, the odd little messengers of the shark-folk, soon learn which Rokea are polite to them. They naturally tend to gravitate to these were-sharks to give them a "first look" at what news they've found. This Background indicates that the character has made friends with a number of remora and they will reliably deliver his messages and return with answers quickly.

The other advantage to staying friendly with remora is that it speeds up the process of Renown gathering. Whenever the Rokea dispatches the remora to deliver a message, the storyteller may choose to allow the player to roll her Remora rating. The difficulty varies by how significant the Rokea's actions have been - the more impressively the Rokea behaves, the more closely she follows Rokea Law and the precepts of Renown, the lower the difficulty. For each success, the character receives one point of temporary Renown. (Storyteller's discretion as to which type.) This Renown gain is not "extra" Renown; it's merely an advance payment of sorts against what the Rokea will eventually receive. Remora will not deliver false messages designed to inflate the Rokea's status artificially, and a Rokea who tries to uses the remora this way will surely lose Valor and Harmony Renown.

Technically speaking, Remora are like Rorqual or Kami, Gaian spirits in animal shells. It's possible (Storyteller's option) that the Rite of Spirit Awakening might awaken an ordinary remora into the supernatural version, although the Rokea must work to educate the remora as to its new role as well as gain its trust. (A Rokea with said rite can't just jack up his Background that easily.) Note, by the way, that remora act only as messengers. They have no ability to fight, distract, or run interference for Rokea, and asking them to do so violates the agreement that the remora made with the shark-folk.

Zero : If you find a remora, they will probably carry a message for you, but Sea is vast.
1: One remora who visits you before taking care of other business.
2: 2-3 remora who visit you often.
3: 4-7 remora, all loyal to you.
4: As many as 10 remora, one of whom always remains by your side.
5: With a nod, you could send a full school of remora to send word, warning, or a cry for help to all Rokea in the area


Chargen Topics

Attributes attributes
Abilities Talents Skills + Knowledges + Sphere-Specific Abilities
Backgrounds Generic Backgrounds + Vampire Backgrounds + Werewolf Backgrounds + Hunter Backgrounds + Mage Backgrounds
Powers Disciplines + Gifts + Edges + Spheres
Miscellaneous Renown + Resonance + Virtues (Hunter) + Virtues (Vampire)
Merits and Flaws Merits A-L + Merits M-Z + Flaws A-L Flaws M-Z Werewolf Vampire Hunter Mage