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 Fate and Totem Backgrounds are the exceptions to this rule: the only way to increase them is through experience points.
Some Backgrounds may be "pooled" among werewolves in a pack.
Discouraged and Restricted Backgrounds
Some tribes have restrictions on which Backgrounds a character can take at character creation. These restrictions fall into two categories: discouraged Backgrounds -- like Contacts and Resources for the Wendigo, or Mentor for the Glass Walkers -- and restricted Backgrounds, like Ancestors and Pure Breed for Glass Walkers, or the Silver Fangs' required purchase of three dots of Pure Breed. Usually, discouraged Backgrounds are social in nature and restricted Backgrounds are supernatural.
Discouraged Backgrounds are essentially very rare: While most Bone Gnawers start with no Resources, anyone who buys a ticket can win the lottery. Discouraged Backgrounds can be purchased with freebie points at character creation, though the Storyteller is within rights to request that they not be purchased, cost double the amount of freebie points, or be limited to only a dot or two per character. Some groups may prefer to waive these restrictions entirely, or keep them in place on a tribe-by-tribe basis to fit their own take on the tribe -- if, in your chronicle, the Wendigo have less of an isolationist streak, it makes sense to remove their restrictions entirely, but the same group may still consider a rich Bone Gnawer to be an outlier.
Restricted Backgrounds have a closer tie to the nature of a tribe -- a Bone Gnawer with Pure Breed, for instance, is going to be the focus of a lot of attention from the Garou Nation. (If none of his ancestors had it, where did it come from?) They are explicitly not attainable without Storyteller permission. That said, the Storyteller may allow characters to purchase restricted Backgrounds with freebie points (or a Silver Fang to start with fewer than three dots of Pure Breed), but only after talking it through with the players and making sure that everyone appreciates the impact such a choice will have. The story of the first Glass Walker to contact her Ancestors, or the first Bone Gnawer with Pure Breed is an excellent hook to hang a chronicle on.
Pooling Backgrounds
Some Backgrounds can relate to the pack, rather than the individual werewolves. Specifically, the members of a pack may choose to pool their individual Allies, Contacts, Fate, Kinfolk, and Resources. Totem as a Background already applies to the pack rather than an individual character, thus is not a candidate for pooling. A character can draw on a pooled Background even if that Background is normally restricted for her tribe.
The Anchor
The players should choose one Background as the anchor that links their characters' shared assets together. For example, the players of a pack of Glass Walkers might choose Resources, with the money and property placed in joint ownership to the pack explaining how the pack can access skilled people, connect to Kinfolk around the world, and even serve their destiny as a pack of moneyed werewolves. Any of the poolable Backgrounds can serve as an anchor: packs with grand Fates often find their destinies include other people and resources.
No pooled Background can have more dots assigned to it than the Anchor Background does at any time. If that Background is damaged by events during play or in downtime, the other assets drift out of the pack's control, and it takes effort to win them back.
Any character contributing to a pool may withdraw his stake at any time, but extracting personal assets from a pack causes some damage and bruises relationships: He gets back one less dot than he put in.
Under normal circumstances, a pack can't change its Anchor Background, nor can it acquire a new one. While it may choose to abandon the assets represented by a given Background over the course of a chronicle, and thus free itself from the limitations of the backgrounds pooled to that Anchor, the fact that most Backgrounds can change value only as a result of the story's events means that the pack must acquire new Backgrounds in this manner. The only exception among pooled Backgrounds is Fate, and even then experience points should be used to improve it when discovering more about what the world has in store for the pack.
While some werewolves want to pursue their personal goals, the majority pull together and act as a pack against any hardships. It can be hard for a pack to accept pooling their Backgrounds when they don't necessarily know or trust one another, but as time moves on, most packs see the utility in holding assets as a pack rather than an individual. It makes sense on a fundamental level -- the pack, not the werewolf, is the fundamental unit of Garou society.
Using Pooled Backgrounds
Pooled Backgrounds represent the pack's communal property. Anyone who contributes to any aspect of the pool has equal access to the full resources. Even a character who donates only one dot of Contacts still has equal access to all the Backgrounds in the pool. Not everyone can use the pool at the same time. A pool of seven Allies represents the same seven people. Who is available to help which members of the pack depends on circumstances and agreements among the pack. Drawing on a pack's Fate has certain limitations that go beyond this; see the Background's description for more information.
Some packs may agree to place an individual access limit on shared Backgrounds, to reflect any agreements between the packmates, at the Storyteller's discretion. These arrangements are more common among young packs who do not yet trust one another.
Upper Limits
Packs can get Backgrounds that suss the normal five-dot limit through pooling their points. This is normal, and reflects the many advantages of a pack working together -- a pack can keep in touch with more people, or maintain tighter control over a range of investments than one werewolf can. Pooled Backgrounds don't have any absolute upper limit, but things get outright bizarre if you aren't careful -- the world's 20 richest people aren't all members of the same pack. It's usually best if the Storyteller sets a 10-dot limit on the Anchor Background.
Some Backgrounds work best if they scale differently in a pool to the individual scale, especially when they break through the normal five-dot limit. If an average pack of four players each adds one or two dots of Resources to end up with a shared pool of 6, the effect isn't that they're secret billionaires. Instead, they're of modest means, but it's damn near impossible to tear the pack's fiscal assets from them. As with all questions of balancing player expectations with elements of the story, the players and Storyteller should talk through the issue and set out some guidelines for what each shared Background represents before the chronicle begins.
Backgrounds
Backgrounds
Allies [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 135 ]
Available to: All
Allies are mortals who support and help you -- family, friends, or even organizations that are friendly to you. Some allies have useful skills -- doctors, hackers, and soldiers, for example -- while others have community influence, with contacts or resources they can use on your behalf. Although allies aid you willingly, without coaxing or coercion, they are not always available to offer assistance; they can only ignore so many of their own concerns for the sake of your relationship. Except in special circumstances, your allies don't usually know you are a werewolf (that knowledge would probably alter the relationship for the worse), but they may know that you have contacts and skills that most people don't, and they will come to you for favors. After all, friends help each other out, right? You've got a closer relationship with your allies than with contacts -- they're your friends, and they'll listen to you. Convincing your fishing buddy that a local refinery is spilling toxins into a major fishery can do wonders for your cause when he's an aide in the governor's office. Of course, just as your allies are more loyal and directly useful than your contacts, they can also require more in return. But you'd help your buddies out, right? You should work out who your allies are at the beginning of the game, as well as how you know them. Maybe they're old brothers-in-arms or friends from a local environmental society. Maybe (if your Allies rating is 5) you're an old hunting buddy of the governor. Allies may be pooled among a pack.
Dots Description
1 One ally of moderate influence and power (doctor or veterinarian, local activist)
2 Two allies, both of moderate power (district ranger, deputy sheriff, popular blogger)
3 Three allies, one of whom is quite influential (newspaper editor, local philanthropist).
4 Four allies, one of whom is very influential (city councilman, military base commander).
5 Five allies, one of whom is extremely influential
Ancestors [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 136 ]
Available to: Garou and Corax
Ancestral memory in humans is no more than pseudo-scientific 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 puses of a single dice pool, even if he has no dots in the Ability -- and he doesn't suffer the penalty for not having the Ability. For example, young Michel, a pure flatlander, must scale an immense cliff to come to the aid of his embattled pack. Michel has an Ancestors rating of 4 and Athletics 0. He calls on his forebears to guide him, and Michel's player rolls four dice at difficulty 8. He scores three successes. Michel 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.
Dots Description
1 You have brief, hazy visions from the distant past.
2 You remember faces and places from past lives just as you remember those of your early childhood.
3 You put names to faces among your ancestors.
4 Ancestors converse with you on a regular basis.
5 Your ancestors watch your adventures with interest, and they often come to counsel you.
Contacts [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 136 ]
Available to: All
Contacts are the people you know from all walks of life. They're acquaintances, drinking buddies, or friends who don't mind letting you know what's going on, but wouldn't take a bullet for you. In addition to a general network of people who you can con or bully information from, you have a few major contacts -- people you trust to feed you accurate information in their area of expertise. You should come up with a name and a field for your major contacts, either at the start of play, or as you use them. You also have a number of minor contacts around the area. They are not quite as friendly or reliable in a pinch, but they work in a whole range of different areas and you can bribe, intimidate, or manipulate them into telling you what you need to know. To get in touch with a minor contact, make a roll using your Contacts rating (difficulty 7). Each success means that you have located one of your minor contacts. Because major contacts are closer to you (they're usually good friends), they are easier to find. Contacts may be pooled among a pack.
Dots Description
1 One major contact.
2 Two major contacts.
3 Three major contacts.
4 Four major contacts.
5 Five major contacts.
Fame [ Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 114 ]
Available to: All
You enjoy widespread recognition in mortal society, perhaps as an entertainer, writer, or athlete. People may enjoy just being seen with you. This gives you all manner of privileges when moving in mortal society, but can also attract an unwanted amount of attention for the discerning supernatural. The greatest weapon fame has to offer is the ability to sway public opinion — as modern media constantly proves. Fame isn’t always tied to entertainment: A heinous criminal in a high-profile trial probably has a certain amount of fame, as do a lawmaker and a scientist who has made a popularized discovery.
This Background is obviously a mixed blessing. You can certainly enjoy the privileges of your prestige — getting the best seats, being invited to events you’d otherwise miss, getting appointments with the elite — but you’re sometimes recognized when you’d rather not be. However, your enemies can’t just make you disappear without causing an undue stir, and you find it much easier to hunt in populated areas as people flock to you. Additionally, your Storyteller might permit you to reduce difficulties of certain Social rolls against particularly star-struck or impressionable people.
Dots Description
1 You’re known to a select subculture — local club-goers, industry bloggers, or the Park Avenue set, for instance.
2 Random people start to recognize your face; you’re a minor celebrity such as a small-time criminal or a local news anchor.
3 You have greater renown; perhaps you’re a senator or an entertainer who regularly gets hundreds of thousands of YouTube hits.
4 A full-blown celebrity; your name is often recognized by the average person on the street.
5 You’re a household word. People name their children after you.
Fate [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 137 ]
Available to: Garou and Corax (Kin may only gained as a Pooled Background)
The Fate Background represents a prophecy that accompanied your birth or the creation of your pack. A Fate is always something significant, but it's as likely to be dark and infamous as it is to be full of glory. In these times of Apocalypse, the Garou cannot afford to sacrifice even one warrior, no matter how dark the portents surrounding them are. However, even those with terrible fates often prove to be some of the greatest Garou, perhaps because they try so hard to defy their fate. Some even succeed. In addition to the fame or infamy these prophecies garner you, once per game session you may use this Background to add successes to any roll that either failed or achieved fewer successes than were required. The player rolls his rating in this Background (difficulty 8) and adds any successes to those that were achieved in the original failed roll. If this means the action succeeds, the player should describe what fortuitous events caused him to succeed. If the Storyteller feels the player's actions run against what he is destined to do, she may choose to disallow the use of the background. When Fate is pooled among the pack, each member may call on this Background once per game session. If the action failed involves the entire pack in some way, then the player may draw on an amount of Fate up to the highest individual Fate in the pack. If the character is acting on her own, the player can only draw on an amount of Fate up to the lowest individual Fate in the pack (to a minimum of one). In a pack with pooled Fate, any character can raise her personal Fate with experience points, much like the Totem Background. However, she can only raise it up to the same level as the highest Fate in the pack -- if no member of the pack starts with more than three dots of Fate, no pack member can ever buy Fate up to four or five dots. Packs tend to garner prophecies of greater proportions than individuals. This is not only because of the greater weight a pack can swing compared to a single werewolf, but also because the Garou tend to see a pack's accomplishments as more legitimate than those of just one person. For RolePlaying puses, consider the pack's Fate to be equal to that of the highest Fate rating in the pack. Fate may be pooled among a pack.
Dots Description
1 Your pack will be involved in an event that will make you known to the entire Garou Nation. For now, though, only those in your sept know of this prophecy.
2 Your pack will be the cause of an event that greatly impacts your sept, such as the destruction of a long time enemy or a highly admired Garou. The Garou throughout the city or local geographical area in which you reside might know your fate.
3 Your pack will be responsible for an event that impacts werewolves across the continent, perhaps singlehandedly saving (or destroying) a caern. Any Garou in your hemisphere might know of the prophecy.
4 The actions of your pack will affect the entire Garou Nation, such as the defeat of a great Wyrm enemy or the massacre of dozens of Garou. There might be a cub or two that hasn't heard of your destiny, but don't count on it.
5 You, or your pack, will be a direct factor in the fate of the Apocalypse, one way or another. There isn't a cub that hasn't heard of your destiny.
Fetish [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 137 ]
Available to: Garou and Corax (Kin have a Merit for this)
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.
Dots Description
1 You possess one Level One fetish.
2 You possess one Level Two fetish or two Level One fetishes.
3 You possess one or more fetishes with a total of three levels.
4 You possess one or more fetishes with a total of four levels.
5 You possess one or more fetishes with a total of five levels.
Kinfolk [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 138 ]
Available to: Garou and Corax
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. Kinfolk may be pooled among a pack.
Dots Description
1 Two Kinfolk
2 Five Kinfolk
3 10 Kinfolk
4 15 Kinfolk
5 20 Kinfolk
Mentor [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 138 ]
Available to: Garou and Kinfolk
A Garou of higher Rank has taken keen interest in you, and will look after you -- to a point. The rating of your Mentor Background quantifies how powerful your mentor is within the tribe and what rank he or she has achieved. A mentor can teach you skills, advise you, or speak on your behalf at a council fire. He has a pack of his own, and his own duties, so he won't be present to save you whenever you bite off more than you can chew. Of course, your mentor will expect something in return for his assistance, be it good company, an occasional gofer, a champion, or perhaps a supporter in sept politics. His demands can make an excellent source of story hooks. In general, however, you will receive more than you give. Other werewolves may wonder what your mentor sees in you -- the two of you deal as individual werewolves, rather than as members of your respective packs. A powerful mentor doesn't have to be a single person; a pack or council of elders might be considered a collective mentor. The latter would almost certainly have a rating of four or five dots, even if no one on the council is above Rank 5.
Dots Description
1 Mentor is Rank 2.
2 Mentor is Rank 3.
3 Mentor is Rank 4.
4 Mentor is Rank 5.
5 Mentor is Rank 6.
Pure Breed [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 138 ]
Available to: Garou and Kinfolk
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. Other Garou revere werewolves with high ranks in Pure Breed as heroes of yore come to life -- and such werewolves are expected to act the part. The higher your Pure Breed score is, the more likely you are to impress elder councils or receive hospitality from foreign tribes. Each point of Pure Breed adds an extra die to formal challenges (such as Rank challenges) and to Social rolls involving other Garou (even Ronin or Black Spiral Dancers). Pure Breed is a nebulous combination of bloodline and spiritual inheritance. A character with high Pure Breed looks and carries himself like an archetypal member of his tribe -- however, if he does not join that tribe, any benefits of Pure Breed are removed by the tribe's totem. Many werewolves with Pure Breed can trace their ancestry directly, while others resemble distant ancestors who cannot be connected without a degree of genealogical exactitude that is lost to the Garou. Some tribes place more value on good breeding than others, but Pure Breed is almost universally respected. It's a mystical trait, and werewolves can tell instinctively whose blood is particularly pure. Of course, Garou expect those of pure blood to live up to the standards set by their noble ancestors. They frown on those who can't or won't accept the challenge.
Dots Description
1 You have your father's eyes.
2 Your grandfather made a name for himself at the Battle of Bloody Ford, and you carry that name with pride.
3 Your pedigree is blessed with pillars of the Garou Nation, and the blood tells.
4 You could be dressed as a beggar and still command respect.
5 The greatest of heroes live on in you.
Resources [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 138 ]
Available to: All (Kin have a different version, detailed below)
The Resources Background describes your character's access to and control over a range of valuable assets. These assets may be actual cash, but as this Background increases, they're more likely to be investments, property, or earning capital such as stocks and bonds. A character's Resources depend upon the standard of living she's comfortable with -- a lupus in the Yukon isn't likely to get a wire transfer from her broker each month. A character with no dots in Resources can have enough clothing and supplies to get by, or she may be homeless, sleeping in a den in her lupus form. You receive a basic allowance each month based on your rating, so make sure to detail where this money comes from. The Storyteller will determine how much this is based on the area your game takes part in and the cultures you're in contact with. A werewolf's fortune can run out if she's fighting in the Amazon rather than managing her stock portfolio. You can also sell your less liquid resources if you need the cash, but this can take weeks or even months, depending on what exactly you're trying to sell. Art buyers don't just pop out of the woodwork, after all. Resources can be pooled among a pack.
Dots Description
1 Sufficient. You don't get many spending sprees, but you've got a decent place to live, a car that doesn't crap out every week, and a decent standard of living for the working class.
2 Moderate. You're thoroughly middle-class in income, and can afford the odd indulgence. You can hire specific help as necessary. You have enough available cash, portable property, and valuables that you can maintain a one-dot standard of living wherever you are for up to six months.
3 Comfortable. You own a house and some land outright, which you may let the sept use or keep for your pack, and you've a reputation that gives you easy access to credit at good terms. More of your assets are tied up in property than in cash, and if needs be you can maintain a one-dot standard of living wherever you are for as long as you like.
4 Wealthy. You have serious financial power, and are one of the richest people in your country. You don't deal much with actual cash, using more valuable and stable assets to pay off debts as they arise. When you can't focus on maintaining your level of Resources, you can live at the three-dot level for up to a year, or a two-dot life indefinitely.
5 Extremely Wealthy. You're one of the richest people on Earth. You have multiple homes, many forms of luxury transport, and frequently show up in glossy magazines and on gossip websites. You have assets everywhere, and can hobble the Wyrm's activities with a ten-minute phone call. You can live at the three-dot level indefinitely if you ignore your fortune; higher if you put a little effort in to it.
Rites [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 139 ]
Available to: All (Kin have a different version, detailed below)
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.
House Rule: All Garou and Corax gain 2 Level 1 Rites of their choice to start. In addition, the number of rites learned per dot has been changed.
Dots Description
1 You know two levels of rites.
2 You know four levels of rites.
3 You know six levels of rites.
4 You know eight levels of rites.
5 You know ten levels of rites.
Spirit Heritage [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 139 ]
Available to: Garou and Corax
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 spirit. 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.
Dots Description
1 Spirits can smell their scent on you, though no one else can.
2 The spirits note your arrival. You bring your chosen spirits to mind in others when they look at you, though few understand why.
3 In the Umbra, you emanate an intangible, though noticeable, sense of your aligned spirit type.
4 In the Umbra, you have visible hints of your aligned spirit type. Those attuned to nature spirits may have tiny twigs emerge from their fur, for example.
5 Some question if you really are only half spirit.
Secrets
Available to: Corax, Shadow Lords and Glasswalkers
The character possesses information that would be considered desirable — or damaging — by someone else. While such knowledge can sometimes place the character in danger, mostly it gives her leverage and advantages. What the character does with these secrets (bartering them for favors or cash, using them to take down minions of the Wyrm, or something else entirely) is up to her. The player and Storyteller should work together to determine what sort of secrets the character possesses.
The Background’s rating determines the value and number of secrets the character knows. This Background is normally the province of Corax and Bastet, though other Changing Breeds (and even the odd Shadow Lord!) occasionally pick it up as well. Very recently enough information has leaked online that Glasswalkers can now have the background
Dots Description
1 Access to level 1 secrets (a forum on the boards)
2 A moderate secret. The human identities of a Garou pack, the whereabouts of a criminal on the run, a significant crime, or evidence of two Garou sleeping together.
3 access to Level 2 Secrets
4 A heavy secret, or equivalent amount of lesser secrets. The location of a national fugitive, a vampire’s “little black book” of contacts, the location of a Gurahl.
5 An enormous secret, or equivalent amount of lesser secrets. A high-level Pentex plot. The location of a legendary cursed fetish. The secret weakness of an Incarna. Access to level 3 Secrets
Publicly revealing too many secrets will result in accountability.
Totem ( Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 140 )
Available to: Garou
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. 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. 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. 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 in to 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 it by the pack.
Cost Power
1 Per three points to spend on Willpower, Rage, or Gnosis
1 Totem can speak to the pack without the benefit of the Gift: Spirit Speech.
1 Totem can always find the pack members.
2 Totem is nearly always with the pack members.
2 Totem is respected by other spirits.
2 Per charm possessed
3 Per extra pack member who can use the totem's powers in the same turn
4 Totem is connected mystically to all pack members, allowing communication among them even at great distances.
5 Totem is feared by agents of the Wyrm. Either minions of the Wyrm flee from the pack, or they do their best to kill the pack.
Umbral Maps
Available to: Corax
The character possesses a wealth of experience and received information about Umbral navigation. These “Umbral maps” are not physical objects, but rather the collected lore of symbolic navigation among spirit paths, the entry methods for safe havens and refuges, the cycles of natural spirit paths, and reliable methods to bypass various obstacles along the way.
This Background is normally the province of Corax and Nuwisha, though other Changing Breeds occasionally pick it up as well.
Dots Description
1 A few safe paths and refuges. The character enjoys –1 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra.
2 Several routes to common destinations. As Level One, plus once per story the character can re-roll a failed attempt to navigate through the Umbra.
3 Safe zones, routes to virtually any place, and knowledge of where not to go. –2 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra, plus one re-roll per story.
4 Several safe places and refuges, extensive knowledge of Umbral paths and dwellers in those areas. –2 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra, plus two re-rolls per story.
5 No one knows the Near Umbra like the character. –3 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra, plus three re-rolls per story.
Available to: All
Allies are mortals who support and help you -- family, friends, or even organizations that are friendly to you. Some allies have useful skills -- doctors, hackers, and soldiers, for example -- while others have community influence, with contacts or resources they can use on your behalf. Although allies aid you willingly, without coaxing or coercion, they are not always available to offer assistance; they can only ignore so many of their own concerns for the sake of your relationship. Except in special circumstances, your allies don't usually know you are a werewolf (that knowledge would probably alter the relationship for the worse), but they may know that you have contacts and skills that most people don't, and they will come to you for favors. After all, friends help each other out, right? You've got a closer relationship with your allies than with contacts -- they're your friends, and they'll listen to you. Convincing your fishing buddy that a local refinery is spilling toxins into a major fishery can do wonders for your cause when he's an aide in the governor's office. Of course, just as your allies are more loyal and directly useful than your contacts, they can also require more in return. But you'd help your buddies out, right? You should work out who your allies are at the beginning of the game, as well as how you know them. Maybe they're old brothers-in-arms or friends from a local environmental society. Maybe (if your Allies rating is 5) you're an old hunting buddy of the governor. Allies may be pooled among a pack.
Dots Description
1 One ally of moderate influence and power (doctor or veterinarian, local activist)
2 Two allies, both of moderate power (district ranger, deputy sheriff, popular blogger)
3 Three allies, one of whom is quite influential (newspaper editor, local philanthropist).
4 Four allies, one of whom is very influential (city councilman, military base commander).
5 Five allies, one of whom is extremely influential
Ancestors [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 136 ]
Available to: Garou and Corax
Ancestral memory in humans is no more than pseudo-scientific 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 puses of a single dice pool, even if he has no dots in the Ability -- and he doesn't suffer the penalty for not having the Ability. For example, young Michel, a pure flatlander, must scale an immense cliff to come to the aid of his embattled pack. Michel has an Ancestors rating of 4 and Athletics 0. He calls on his forebears to guide him, and Michel's player rolls four dice at difficulty 8. He scores three successes. Michel 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.
Dots Description
1 You have brief, hazy visions from the distant past.
2 You remember faces and places from past lives just as you remember those of your early childhood.
3 You put names to faces among your ancestors.
4 Ancestors converse with you on a regular basis.
5 Your ancestors watch your adventures with interest, and they often come to counsel you.
Contacts [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 136 ]
Available to: All
Contacts are the people you know from all walks of life. They're acquaintances, drinking buddies, or friends who don't mind letting you know what's going on, but wouldn't take a bullet for you. In addition to a general network of people who you can con or bully information from, you have a few major contacts -- people you trust to feed you accurate information in their area of expertise. You should come up with a name and a field for your major contacts, either at the start of play, or as you use them. You also have a number of minor contacts around the area. They are not quite as friendly or reliable in a pinch, but they work in a whole range of different areas and you can bribe, intimidate, or manipulate them into telling you what you need to know. To get in touch with a minor contact, make a roll using your Contacts rating (difficulty 7). Each success means that you have located one of your minor contacts. Because major contacts are closer to you (they're usually good friends), they are easier to find. Contacts may be pooled among a pack.
Dots Description
1 One major contact.
2 Two major contacts.
3 Three major contacts.
4 Four major contacts.
5 Five major contacts.
Fame [ Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 114 ]
Available to: All
You enjoy widespread recognition in mortal society, perhaps as an entertainer, writer, or athlete. People may enjoy just being seen with you. This gives you all manner of privileges when moving in mortal society, but can also attract an unwanted amount of attention for the discerning supernatural. The greatest weapon fame has to offer is the ability to sway public opinion — as modern media constantly proves. Fame isn’t always tied to entertainment: A heinous criminal in a high-profile trial probably has a certain amount of fame, as do a lawmaker and a scientist who has made a popularized discovery.
This Background is obviously a mixed blessing. You can certainly enjoy the privileges of your prestige — getting the best seats, being invited to events you’d otherwise miss, getting appointments with the elite — but you’re sometimes recognized when you’d rather not be. However, your enemies can’t just make you disappear without causing an undue stir, and you find it much easier to hunt in populated areas as people flock to you. Additionally, your Storyteller might permit you to reduce difficulties of certain Social rolls against particularly star-struck or impressionable people.
Dots Description
1 You’re known to a select subculture — local club-goers, industry bloggers, or the Park Avenue set, for instance.
2 Random people start to recognize your face; you’re a minor celebrity such as a small-time criminal or a local news anchor.
3 You have greater renown; perhaps you’re a senator or an entertainer who regularly gets hundreds of thousands of YouTube hits.
4 A full-blown celebrity; your name is often recognized by the average person on the street.
5 You’re a household word. People name their children after you.
Fate [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 137 ]
Available to: Garou and Corax (Kin may only gained as a Pooled Background)
The Fate Background represents a prophecy that accompanied your birth or the creation of your pack. A Fate is always something significant, but it's as likely to be dark and infamous as it is to be full of glory. In these times of Apocalypse, the Garou cannot afford to sacrifice even one warrior, no matter how dark the portents surrounding them are. However, even those with terrible fates often prove to be some of the greatest Garou, perhaps because they try so hard to defy their fate. Some even succeed. In addition to the fame or infamy these prophecies garner you, once per game session you may use this Background to add successes to any roll that either failed or achieved fewer successes than were required. The player rolls his rating in this Background (difficulty 8) and adds any successes to those that were achieved in the original failed roll. If this means the action succeeds, the player should describe what fortuitous events caused him to succeed. If the Storyteller feels the player's actions run against what he is destined to do, she may choose to disallow the use of the background. When Fate is pooled among the pack, each member may call on this Background once per game session. If the action failed involves the entire pack in some way, then the player may draw on an amount of Fate up to the highest individual Fate in the pack. If the character is acting on her own, the player can only draw on an amount of Fate up to the lowest individual Fate in the pack (to a minimum of one). In a pack with pooled Fate, any character can raise her personal Fate with experience points, much like the Totem Background. However, she can only raise it up to the same level as the highest Fate in the pack -- if no member of the pack starts with more than three dots of Fate, no pack member can ever buy Fate up to four or five dots. Packs tend to garner prophecies of greater proportions than individuals. This is not only because of the greater weight a pack can swing compared to a single werewolf, but also because the Garou tend to see a pack's accomplishments as more legitimate than those of just one person. For RolePlaying puses, consider the pack's Fate to be equal to that of the highest Fate rating in the pack. Fate may be pooled among a pack.
Dots Description
1 Your pack will be involved in an event that will make you known to the entire Garou Nation. For now, though, only those in your sept know of this prophecy.
2 Your pack will be the cause of an event that greatly impacts your sept, such as the destruction of a long time enemy or a highly admired Garou. The Garou throughout the city or local geographical area in which you reside might know your fate.
3 Your pack will be responsible for an event that impacts werewolves across the continent, perhaps singlehandedly saving (or destroying) a caern. Any Garou in your hemisphere might know of the prophecy.
4 The actions of your pack will affect the entire Garou Nation, such as the defeat of a great Wyrm enemy or the massacre of dozens of Garou. There might be a cub or two that hasn't heard of your destiny, but don't count on it.
5 You, or your pack, will be a direct factor in the fate of the Apocalypse, one way or another. There isn't a cub that hasn't heard of your destiny.
Fetish [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 137 ]
Available to: Garou and Corax (Kin have a Merit for this)
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.
Dots Description
1 You possess one Level One fetish.
2 You possess one Level Two fetish or two Level One fetishes.
3 You possess one or more fetishes with a total of three levels.
4 You possess one or more fetishes with a total of four levels.
5 You possess one or more fetishes with a total of five levels.
Kinfolk [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 138 ]
Available to: Garou and Corax
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. Kinfolk may be pooled among a pack.
Dots Description
1 Two Kinfolk
2 Five Kinfolk
3 10 Kinfolk
4 15 Kinfolk
5 20 Kinfolk
Mentor [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 138 ]
Available to: Garou and Kinfolk
A Garou of higher Rank has taken keen interest in you, and will look after you -- to a point. The rating of your Mentor Background quantifies how powerful your mentor is within the tribe and what rank he or she has achieved. A mentor can teach you skills, advise you, or speak on your behalf at a council fire. He has a pack of his own, and his own duties, so he won't be present to save you whenever you bite off more than you can chew. Of course, your mentor will expect something in return for his assistance, be it good company, an occasional gofer, a champion, or perhaps a supporter in sept politics. His demands can make an excellent source of story hooks. In general, however, you will receive more than you give. Other werewolves may wonder what your mentor sees in you -- the two of you deal as individual werewolves, rather than as members of your respective packs. A powerful mentor doesn't have to be a single person; a pack or council of elders might be considered a collective mentor. The latter would almost certainly have a rating of four or five dots, even if no one on the council is above Rank 5.
Dots Description
1 Mentor is Rank 2.
2 Mentor is Rank 3.
3 Mentor is Rank 4.
4 Mentor is Rank 5.
5 Mentor is Rank 6.
Pure Breed [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 138 ]
Available to: Garou and Kinfolk
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. Other Garou revere werewolves with high ranks in Pure Breed as heroes of yore come to life -- and such werewolves are expected to act the part. The higher your Pure Breed score is, the more likely you are to impress elder councils or receive hospitality from foreign tribes. Each point of Pure Breed adds an extra die to formal challenges (such as Rank challenges) and to Social rolls involving other Garou (even Ronin or Black Spiral Dancers). Pure Breed is a nebulous combination of bloodline and spiritual inheritance. A character with high Pure Breed looks and carries himself like an archetypal member of his tribe -- however, if he does not join that tribe, any benefits of Pure Breed are removed by the tribe's totem. Many werewolves with Pure Breed can trace their ancestry directly, while others resemble distant ancestors who cannot be connected without a degree of genealogical exactitude that is lost to the Garou. Some tribes place more value on good breeding than others, but Pure Breed is almost universally respected. It's a mystical trait, and werewolves can tell instinctively whose blood is particularly pure. Of course, Garou expect those of pure blood to live up to the standards set by their noble ancestors. They frown on those who can't or won't accept the challenge.
Dots Description
1 You have your father's eyes.
2 Your grandfather made a name for himself at the Battle of Bloody Ford, and you carry that name with pride.
3 Your pedigree is blessed with pillars of the Garou Nation, and the blood tells.
4 You could be dressed as a beggar and still command respect.
5 The greatest of heroes live on in you.
Resources [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 138 ]
Available to: All (Kin have a different version, detailed below)
The Resources Background describes your character's access to and control over a range of valuable assets. These assets may be actual cash, but as this Background increases, they're more likely to be investments, property, or earning capital such as stocks and bonds. A character's Resources depend upon the standard of living she's comfortable with -- a lupus in the Yukon isn't likely to get a wire transfer from her broker each month. A character with no dots in Resources can have enough clothing and supplies to get by, or she may be homeless, sleeping in a den in her lupus form. You receive a basic allowance each month based on your rating, so make sure to detail where this money comes from. The Storyteller will determine how much this is based on the area your game takes part in and the cultures you're in contact with. A werewolf's fortune can run out if she's fighting in the Amazon rather than managing her stock portfolio. You can also sell your less liquid resources if you need the cash, but this can take weeks or even months, depending on what exactly you're trying to sell. Art buyers don't just pop out of the woodwork, after all. Resources can be pooled among a pack.
Dots Description
1 Sufficient. You don't get many spending sprees, but you've got a decent place to live, a car that doesn't crap out every week, and a decent standard of living for the working class.
2 Moderate. You're thoroughly middle-class in income, and can afford the odd indulgence. You can hire specific help as necessary. You have enough available cash, portable property, and valuables that you can maintain a one-dot standard of living wherever you are for up to six months.
3 Comfortable. You own a house and some land outright, which you may let the sept use or keep for your pack, and you've a reputation that gives you easy access to credit at good terms. More of your assets are tied up in property than in cash, and if needs be you can maintain a one-dot standard of living wherever you are for as long as you like.
4 Wealthy. You have serious financial power, and are one of the richest people in your country. You don't deal much with actual cash, using more valuable and stable assets to pay off debts as they arise. When you can't focus on maintaining your level of Resources, you can live at the three-dot level for up to a year, or a two-dot life indefinitely.
5 Extremely Wealthy. You're one of the richest people on Earth. You have multiple homes, many forms of luxury transport, and frequently show up in glossy magazines and on gossip websites. You have assets everywhere, and can hobble the Wyrm's activities with a ten-minute phone call. You can live at the three-dot level indefinitely if you ignore your fortune; higher if you put a little effort in to it.
Rites [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 139 ]
Available to: All (Kin have a different version, detailed below)
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.
House Rule: All Garou and Corax gain 2 Level 1 Rites of their choice to start. In addition, the number of rites learned per dot has been changed.
Dots Description
1 You know two levels of rites.
2 You know four levels of rites.
3 You know six levels of rites.
4 You know eight levels of rites.
5 You know ten levels of rites.
Spirit Heritage [ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 139 ]
Available to: Garou and Corax
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 spirit. 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.
Dots Description
1 Spirits can smell their scent on you, though no one else can.
2 The spirits note your arrival. You bring your chosen spirits to mind in others when they look at you, though few understand why.
3 In the Umbra, you emanate an intangible, though noticeable, sense of your aligned spirit type.
4 In the Umbra, you have visible hints of your aligned spirit type. Those attuned to nature spirits may have tiny twigs emerge from their fur, for example.
5 Some question if you really are only half spirit.
Secrets
Available to: Corax, Shadow Lords and Glasswalkers
The character possesses information that would be considered desirable — or damaging — by someone else. While such knowledge can sometimes place the character in danger, mostly it gives her leverage and advantages. What the character does with these secrets (bartering them for favors or cash, using them to take down minions of the Wyrm, or something else entirely) is up to her. The player and Storyteller should work together to determine what sort of secrets the character possesses.
The Background’s rating determines the value and number of secrets the character knows. This Background is normally the province of Corax and Bastet, though other Changing Breeds (and even the odd Shadow Lord!) occasionally pick it up as well. Very recently enough information has leaked online that Glasswalkers can now have the background
Dots Description
1 Access to level 1 secrets (a forum on the boards)
2 A moderate secret. The human identities of a Garou pack, the whereabouts of a criminal on the run, a significant crime, or evidence of two Garou sleeping together.
3 access to Level 2 Secrets
4 A heavy secret, or equivalent amount of lesser secrets. The location of a national fugitive, a vampire’s “little black book” of contacts, the location of a Gurahl.
5 An enormous secret, or equivalent amount of lesser secrets. A high-level Pentex plot. The location of a legendary cursed fetish. The secret weakness of an Incarna. Access to level 3 Secrets
Publicly revealing too many secrets will result in accountability.
Totem ( Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition -- Page 140 )
Available to: Garou
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. 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. 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. 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 in to 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 it by the pack.
Cost Power
1 Per three points to spend on Willpower, Rage, or Gnosis
1 Totem can speak to the pack without the benefit of the Gift: Spirit Speech.
1 Totem can always find the pack members.
2 Totem is nearly always with the pack members.
2 Totem is respected by other spirits.
2 Per charm possessed
3 Per extra pack member who can use the totem's powers in the same turn
4 Totem is connected mystically to all pack members, allowing communication among them even at great distances.
5 Totem is feared by agents of the Wyrm. Either minions of the Wyrm flee from the pack, or they do their best to kill the pack.
Umbral Maps
Available to: Corax
The character possesses a wealth of experience and received information about Umbral navigation. These “Umbral maps” are not physical objects, but rather the collected lore of symbolic navigation among spirit paths, the entry methods for safe havens and refuges, the cycles of natural spirit paths, and reliable methods to bypass various obstacles along the way.
This Background is normally the province of Corax and Nuwisha, though other Changing Breeds occasionally pick it up as well.
Dots Description
1 A few safe paths and refuges. The character enjoys –1 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra.
2 Several routes to common destinations. As Level One, plus once per story the character can re-roll a failed attempt to navigate through the Umbra.
3 Safe zones, routes to virtually any place, and knowledge of where not to go. –2 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra, plus one re-roll per story.
4 Several safe places and refuges, extensive knowledge of Umbral paths and dwellers in those areas. –2 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra, plus two re-rolls per story.
5 No one knows the Near Umbra like the character. –3 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra, plus three re-rolls per story.
Kinfolk Backgrounds
Many of the backgrounds in this section resemble the ones that appear in the Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 20th Anniversary Edition. These backgrounds, however, emphasize their relevance to Kinfolk characters. Other backgrounds are new and pertain exclusively to Kinfolk (or as exclusively as a Storyteller wishes them to be). Storytellers should help their players choose backgrounds that fit the Chronicle. The Backgrounds Allies, Contacts, and Mentor remain the same for Kinfolk. The main rulebook covers these. Kinfolk may not purchase Kinfolk, Past Life, Rites, Totem, or Fetish. Instead, Kinfolk may purchase the new Background Kinfolk Rites in order to learn special rites just for them. They may take Fetish as a Kinfolk Merit.
Equipment
Either from your Garou family, a Fellowship (see pp. 27-31), another connection, or through your own cleverness, you have access to highly specialized equipment not available through standard channels. This equipment can range from the relatively simple (silver bullets) or rare and hard to get (a mage’s “ray gun”). You begin the game with this equipment, but when it’s gone, whether used up, lost, stolen, or destroyed, you cannot replace it except through roleplaying. (See below, or the main rulebook for ideas or examples.)
• One minor item: Equipment may include silver bullets, quality Kevlar vests, street-level drugs, etc.
•• Two minor items: These can include laser sights, healing herbs, gas masks, or police-issue pepper spray.
••• One major item: These include explosive ammunition, wiretaps, pharmaceuticals, surgical field kits, white noise generators, small private aircraft, and other items of similar quality. If you have the Merit Gnosis (5 pts.), you could have a lesser talen at this level.
•••• Two major items: More major items include specialized vehicles, military-issue firearms, electron microscopes, etc. If you have the Merit Gnosis (6 pts.), you could have a greater talen at this level.
••••• One unique item: High-tech experimental firearms, magical crystal balls, and untraceable poisons fatal to Garou are possible. If you have the Merit Gnosis (7pts.), you may elect, instead, to own one powerful talen. At this level, the Storyteller should help the player select the item so that it will not overbalance the story.
Garou Favor
You have somehow earned a big favor from a Garou. Perhaps you rescued one or more of his Kinfolk or saved his life. You might have performed some action that prevented the destruction of a caern or other spot sacred to Gaia. This means that you can claim one favor from the Garou who owes you. The type of favor is up to you and your Storyteller. It could range from a “get out of jail free” card that provides you with an out from a risky or potentially fatal situation. You can either gain some positive boon from the Garou or avoid a negative effect. It might be a cash gift, a piece of fancy equipment, even a hit on someone who is threatening you or your family. Like the Equipment Background, once you call in your favor, it is gone. You can always try to earn another one by roleplaying for it in the game. Explain to the Storyteller the circumstances that led to your acquiring the favor.
• One favor from a Garou of low rank (0-1).
•• One favor from a Garou of medium rank (2).
••• One favor from a Garou of high rank (3-4).
•••• One favor from a Garou of highest rank (5).
••••• One favor from a tribal leader.
Renown
Very few Kinfolk ever gain Renown in the eyes of
Garou. Occasionally, one of the Kin performs some action that the Garou feel merits the awarding of Renown. This Background allows your character to begin the game with some temporary Renown. You may choose whether the points go into Honor, Wisdom, or Glory, or whether you receive a combination of the three. You should work out with your Storyteller the circumstances under which your character receives her Renown. (See the Renown Chart for more information and suggestions.) Even possessing Renown, a Kinfolk may never receive the rank of a Garou. Nevertheless, as with Pure Bloodline, Garou recognize and honor Kinfolk with Renown, but they demand more work and service from them as well.
• One temporary point of Renown.
•• Two temporary points of Renown.
••• Three temporary points of Renown.
•••• Four temporary points of Renown.
••••• Five temporary points of Renown.
Resources
Just as for Garou, this Background reflects your material and personal wealth, your assets, and your access to means. For Kinfolk, Resources also reflects how much you can help your Garou relatives. Werewolves often rely on Kinfolk to come up with the funds to buy sacred lands, purchase equipment, and fund raids against Pentex and other Wyrm-tainted human organizations and companies, along with anything else that might cost more in money or equipment than the Garou can provide for themselves.
While some Garou may, in fact, be independently wealthy or prove able to handle the outside world well enough to amass their own material goods and money, most find it safer (for themselves and for humanity) to let their human Kinfolk interact with society, especially in affairs as potentially volatile as keeping a job or handling the pressure of investments or corporate management. The Shadow Lords and Glass Walkers, in particular, pay attention to the wealth their Kinfolk may accrue. Other tribes, such as Red Talons and Stargazers, may not care as much about material possessions or money. Most tribes fall somewhere in between. Even Bone Gnawer Kinfolk may accumulate up to three dots worth of Resources that they are able to contribute to their Garou relations (those scratch cards paid off!).
• Student: You have enough to squeak by on. You have an efficiency apartment (rental), keep a low-income job (or jobs), a moped or bicycle, and lots of canned soup and Ramen noodles. You could find room and board with you for one Garou relative for a few days.
•• Middle class: You have an apartment or small house and an older car. You have a steady, but often tedious job that lets you save a tiny bit each month, if you’re careful. Your clothes are good but rarely fashionable. By serious budgeting and buying cheap cuts of meat, you can provide for a couple of Garou for three months or a single Garou for longer.
••• Upper Class: You work at a professional level and earn good wages or are self-employed in a successful endeavor. You own a nice home or condo, drive a car no more than five years old (and have your eye on a “green” vehicle), and have nice clothes with popular, eco-friendly labels. You could supporthalf a dozen Garou for a year and still manage steak tartare and rare filet mignon on a regular (not daily) basis.
•••• Wealthy: The family estate is or will be yours. You have access to land, a small staff of servants, a couple of fine cars (including that green-fuel SUV you’ve always wanted), and a stuffed bank account. Your investments are solid and doing well. You could (and perhaps do) support a large pack of Garou indefinitely.
••••• Filthy Rich: Money? No object. You possess multiple homes, at least one per season, have a fleet of cars, and interests in several businesses. With your assets, you could probably support the entire Garou population of North America for a while, at least.
Rites
Like their Garou relatives, Kinfolk find importance and meaning in the performance of rituals to celebrate who they are, recognize significant milestones in their lives and otherwise mark themselves as separate from non-Kinfolk humans. This Background determines how many rites the character knows at the beginning of the game. The ratings represent levels of rites, so that a character with four dots in Rites may know one Level Four rite, four Level One rites, two Level Two rites or a Level One and a Level Three rite. A character must have a Rituals Knowledge rating of at least the level of the rite she wishes to learn, so our character in the previous example must have four dots in Rituals to have that Level Four rite. These levels refer to Kinfolk rites only; if a Kinfolk who possesses the Rituals Knowledge wishes to learn a Garou rite, she must work that out with her Garou kin. Kinfolk may not learn above a Level Two Garou rite. Higher levels of the Rituals Knowledge allow a Kinfolk to learn only more Level One or Two Garou rites. For example, a Kinfolk with four dots in Rites may, with permission, learn four Level One Garou rites, or two Level Two, or two Level Ones and one Level Two Garou rite. Kinfolk may also learn minor Kinfolk rites at a cost of two minor rites per dot. This Background merely notes how many levels of rites a Kinfolk knows, not whether or not they are Kinfolk or Garou rites. Being able to know a rite and actually learning it are two very different things.
• You know one level of rites.
•• You know two levels of rites.
••• You know three levels of rites.
•••• You know four levels of rites.
••••• You know five levels of rites.
Equipment
Either from your Garou family, a Fellowship (see pp. 27-31), another connection, or through your own cleverness, you have access to highly specialized equipment not available through standard channels. This equipment can range from the relatively simple (silver bullets) or rare and hard to get (a mage’s “ray gun”). You begin the game with this equipment, but when it’s gone, whether used up, lost, stolen, or destroyed, you cannot replace it except through roleplaying. (See below, or the main rulebook for ideas or examples.)
• One minor item: Equipment may include silver bullets, quality Kevlar vests, street-level drugs, etc.
•• Two minor items: These can include laser sights, healing herbs, gas masks, or police-issue pepper spray.
••• One major item: These include explosive ammunition, wiretaps, pharmaceuticals, surgical field kits, white noise generators, small private aircraft, and other items of similar quality. If you have the Merit Gnosis (5 pts.), you could have a lesser talen at this level.
•••• Two major items: More major items include specialized vehicles, military-issue firearms, electron microscopes, etc. If you have the Merit Gnosis (6 pts.), you could have a greater talen at this level.
••••• One unique item: High-tech experimental firearms, magical crystal balls, and untraceable poisons fatal to Garou are possible. If you have the Merit Gnosis (7pts.), you may elect, instead, to own one powerful talen. At this level, the Storyteller should help the player select the item so that it will not overbalance the story.
Garou Favor
You have somehow earned a big favor from a Garou. Perhaps you rescued one or more of his Kinfolk or saved his life. You might have performed some action that prevented the destruction of a caern or other spot sacred to Gaia. This means that you can claim one favor from the Garou who owes you. The type of favor is up to you and your Storyteller. It could range from a “get out of jail free” card that provides you with an out from a risky or potentially fatal situation. You can either gain some positive boon from the Garou or avoid a negative effect. It might be a cash gift, a piece of fancy equipment, even a hit on someone who is threatening you or your family. Like the Equipment Background, once you call in your favor, it is gone. You can always try to earn another one by roleplaying for it in the game. Explain to the Storyteller the circumstances that led to your acquiring the favor.
• One favor from a Garou of low rank (0-1).
•• One favor from a Garou of medium rank (2).
••• One favor from a Garou of high rank (3-4).
•••• One favor from a Garou of highest rank (5).
••••• One favor from a tribal leader.
Renown
Very few Kinfolk ever gain Renown in the eyes of
Garou. Occasionally, one of the Kin performs some action that the Garou feel merits the awarding of Renown. This Background allows your character to begin the game with some temporary Renown. You may choose whether the points go into Honor, Wisdom, or Glory, or whether you receive a combination of the three. You should work out with your Storyteller the circumstances under which your character receives her Renown. (See the Renown Chart for more information and suggestions.) Even possessing Renown, a Kinfolk may never receive the rank of a Garou. Nevertheless, as with Pure Bloodline, Garou recognize and honor Kinfolk with Renown, but they demand more work and service from them as well.
• One temporary point of Renown.
•• Two temporary points of Renown.
••• Three temporary points of Renown.
•••• Four temporary points of Renown.
••••• Five temporary points of Renown.
Resources
Just as for Garou, this Background reflects your material and personal wealth, your assets, and your access to means. For Kinfolk, Resources also reflects how much you can help your Garou relatives. Werewolves often rely on Kinfolk to come up with the funds to buy sacred lands, purchase equipment, and fund raids against Pentex and other Wyrm-tainted human organizations and companies, along with anything else that might cost more in money or equipment than the Garou can provide for themselves.
While some Garou may, in fact, be independently wealthy or prove able to handle the outside world well enough to amass their own material goods and money, most find it safer (for themselves and for humanity) to let their human Kinfolk interact with society, especially in affairs as potentially volatile as keeping a job or handling the pressure of investments or corporate management. The Shadow Lords and Glass Walkers, in particular, pay attention to the wealth their Kinfolk may accrue. Other tribes, such as Red Talons and Stargazers, may not care as much about material possessions or money. Most tribes fall somewhere in between. Even Bone Gnawer Kinfolk may accumulate up to three dots worth of Resources that they are able to contribute to their Garou relations (those scratch cards paid off!).
• Student: You have enough to squeak by on. You have an efficiency apartment (rental), keep a low-income job (or jobs), a moped or bicycle, and lots of canned soup and Ramen noodles. You could find room and board with you for one Garou relative for a few days.
•• Middle class: You have an apartment or small house and an older car. You have a steady, but often tedious job that lets you save a tiny bit each month, if you’re careful. Your clothes are good but rarely fashionable. By serious budgeting and buying cheap cuts of meat, you can provide for a couple of Garou for three months or a single Garou for longer.
••• Upper Class: You work at a professional level and earn good wages or are self-employed in a successful endeavor. You own a nice home or condo, drive a car no more than five years old (and have your eye on a “green” vehicle), and have nice clothes with popular, eco-friendly labels. You could supporthalf a dozen Garou for a year and still manage steak tartare and rare filet mignon on a regular (not daily) basis.
•••• Wealthy: The family estate is or will be yours. You have access to land, a small staff of servants, a couple of fine cars (including that green-fuel SUV you’ve always wanted), and a stuffed bank account. Your investments are solid and doing well. You could (and perhaps do) support a large pack of Garou indefinitely.
••••• Filthy Rich: Money? No object. You possess multiple homes, at least one per season, have a fleet of cars, and interests in several businesses. With your assets, you could probably support the entire Garou population of North America for a while, at least.
Rites
Like their Garou relatives, Kinfolk find importance and meaning in the performance of rituals to celebrate who they are, recognize significant milestones in their lives and otherwise mark themselves as separate from non-Kinfolk humans. This Background determines how many rites the character knows at the beginning of the game. The ratings represent levels of rites, so that a character with four dots in Rites may know one Level Four rite, four Level One rites, two Level Two rites or a Level One and a Level Three rite. A character must have a Rituals Knowledge rating of at least the level of the rite she wishes to learn, so our character in the previous example must have four dots in Rituals to have that Level Four rite. These levels refer to Kinfolk rites only; if a Kinfolk who possesses the Rituals Knowledge wishes to learn a Garou rite, she must work that out with her Garou kin. Kinfolk may not learn above a Level Two Garou rite. Higher levels of the Rituals Knowledge allow a Kinfolk to learn only more Level One or Two Garou rites. For example, a Kinfolk with four dots in Rites may, with permission, learn four Level One Garou rites, or two Level Two, or two Level Ones and one Level Two Garou rite. Kinfolk may also learn minor Kinfolk rites at a cost of two minor rites per dot. This Background merely notes how many levels of rites a Kinfolk knows, not whether or not they are Kinfolk or Garou rites. Being able to know a rite and actually learning it are two very different things.
• You know one level of rites.
•• You know two levels of rites.
••• You know three levels of rites.
•••• You know four levels of rites.
••••• You know five levels of rites.