VOD: Pantheon

Backgrounds
Backgrounds are an important part to and game, and should help aid to overall story of the character and game. The Backgrounds posted below have been modified or created to better fit into this game.

Select from the following list:

• Allies
• Ancestors *
• Contacts
• Fame
• Fetish *
• Kinfolk
• Resources
• Spirit Pact *
• Territory
• Totem

* = Restricted for Kinfolk; requires Gnosis for Ancestors/Spirit Pact, and good, good reasoning for Fetish.

Please note that after character creation, the only way to increase Backgrounds are through RP and Downtime. For more spiritual things like Ancestors, Spirit Pact, and Totem, that may be some intense umbral quest stuff. Other Backgrounds may take a fair bit of bureaucracy and DT investment. Be prepared!


Growing Backgrounds
As established in Downtime Actions:

• Gaining a New Background: If you wish to start into a new Background, you must spend a single DTA per new Background. Please disclose: who your Background is, why they are helping you, and where they are located. Please note that this may take more than one DTA due to mitigating factors in the setting.
• Background Growth: If you wish to grow a Background to a higher level, you may do so by putting in a DTA and explaining what steps you take to grow your Background. You may only grow one Background per DTA used. Each Background requires a number of growth actions equal to the level you're trying to get to. As a general practice, Background growth is established like this:
  • Declaring Background growth (1pt of growth)
  • A description of how you're growing it (+1pt of growth)
  • Mentioning any relevant abilities you possess at 3+ (+1pt of growth)

To expand on the above, you will need a number of background growth points equal to the level of the Background you're trying to get to: Kinfolk 5 requires 5 growth points, Territory 4 requires 4 growth points, Resources 3 requires 3 growth points and so on.

By the base declaration of "Growing [Background], you will gain 1 growth point per DTA.
Examples:

• 1 DTA: Growing Fame. (1 pt of Growth into Fame)
• 2 DTA: Grow Contacts. (1 DTA of 1 Growth + 1 DTA of 1 Growth = 2 pts of Growth into Contacts)

By adding the flavor of how the background growth is happening, you will gain +1 growth point per DTA.
Examples:

• 1 DTA: Hosting a philosophical debate in the agora to raise Contacts. (2 pts of Growth into Contacts)
• 2 DTA: Mother Death has agreed to help me with my finances. We'll be going over an audit of my funds and finding a way to cut costs and increase profit, and implementing that across the vineyard to try and find new clients. I'd like to grow Resources. (1 DTA of 2 Growth + 1 DTA of 2 Growth = 4 pts of Growth into Resources)

Lastly, by mentioning relevant abilities you possess at 3+, you will gain +1 growth point per DTA. This does not assume the flavor of how you're growing your background, so if it's not immediately obvious to staff, this point may not be granted. Something like Performance 4 and Fame or Occult 3 and Spirit Pact will be considered obvious, but if you cite Melee 3 and Contacts, we may be more stumped.
Examples:

• 1 DTA: Growing Totem: Occult 3, Empathy 4 (2 pts of Growth into Totem)
• 2 DTA: Territory with Trapped Tag: Crafts 5, Academics 2 (1 DTA of 2 Growth + 1 DTA of 2 Growth = 4 pts of Growth into Territory)

Combination
Obviously, there are various ways to combine these. Assuming only one DTA, we'll build one of each combination.

• Growing Kinfolk: Bodyguard (1 pt of Growth)
• Growing Kinfolk by reaching out politely to my family to try and find a kin they would recommend to try and keep me safe. (2 pts of Growth)
• Growing Kinfolk: Bodyguard (Etiquette 3, Investigation 4) (2 pts of Growth)
• Growing Kinfolk by reaching out politely to my father to try and find a kin they would recommend to try and keep me safe. (Etiquette 3, Investigation 4) (3 pts of Growth)

Multiple DTAs
While you may use the same description to gain multiple Backgrounds, each will require a DTA. Submitting "I'm going to reach out to my totem to gain their favor for my spirit pact, and try to introduce the two spirits to ensure we all bond together better (Occult 3, Empathy 4)" is definitely a 3 point of growth action for either Spirit Pact or Totem. With 1 DTA, you would get this benefit towards EITHER Spirit Pact OR Totem, but not both. With 2 DTAs committed to this, yes, you could use this for both Spirit Pact and Totem.
That said, additional DTAs can also magnify your original growth. If you put together "I'm blocking out several days to fast, pray, and commune with my Ancestors, hoping to trace my lineage through existing ancestor spirits as far back as it goes. (Etiquette 4, Occult 3)" (another 3pt submission) and put 3 DTs into this, that'd be a whopping 9 points of Growth!


Revised 7/2/2022

Allies
Allies are mortals who support the character. They may be members of their family, friends (from before or after their First Change), fellow members of an organization to which they give allegiance, or related to them in some other way. Whatever the case, they provide them with aid willingly and without coercion. They're not always available - in crucial moments the Storyteller may limit their availability in varying degrees - and they're not bound to provide aid to the point of suicide.

The details of your character's allies depend on your imagination and your Storyteller's approval. Temporal and religious authorities, people prominent in commerce or a profession, family figures and the like are all possibilities. Describe your character's allies before play begins, so that you and your Storyteller both know what you're talking about.

• One ally of moderate influence and power in the immediate community.
•• Two allies, both of moderate power locally and some influence in the country or region.
••• Three allies, one of whom wields significant power, official or otherwise.
•••• Four allies, one of whom is extremely influential.
••••• Five allies, one of whom is a major force in an important institution and can provide aid from far away.

Ancestors
Not available for Kinfolk PCs without Gnosis.

You can sense the presence of your ancestors and occasionally allow them to guide your actions.

Once per game session, for each dot you possess of the Ancestors background, you can call on your ancestors’ experience. This ability may be used at any time, even before your turn in the initiative order. When you activate this background, an ancestor partially controls your actions. Choose one Ability and increase its value to 5 dots until the end of the turn. This increase does not grant new specializations or areas of focus for the chosen Ability.

You cannot call on your Ancestors more than once per turn, and the Background doesn’t benefit actions that take longer than a single turn to perform. Abilities increased via this background do not gain specialties or areas of focus.

• You have brief, hazy visions from the distant past.
•• You remember faces and places from past lives just as you remember those of your early childhood.
••• You put names to faces among your ancestors.
•••• Ancestors converse with you on a regular basis.
••••• Your ancestors watch your adventures with interest, and they often come to counsel you.

Contacts
Contacts are people who are willing to provide the character with information, though they are unlikely to offer any service beyond that. Each level of Contacts includes a specific individual, for whom you should work out a description, and a surrounding "halo" of lower-grade connections throughout a social stratum. If you have a specific contact in the local temple, for instance, you can also get at least rudimentary information out of some priests, priestesses, and devout in the area. If your contact is the harbormaster, you can count on getting some information from sailors, longshoremen and tavern-keepers nearby. The difficulty of tests to extract information from these secondary contacts is always greater than ones involving the individuals with whom your character deals most often, however - at least 7, and perhaps higher, depending upon how rapidly you want the information or how esoteric the information is.

When your character needs information in the utmost hurry, test Wits + Contacts against a difficulty of 7. A success produces a distinct piece of information relevant to the topic. Your character needs potentially useful people in the area for this to work, though. (Even the best test is unlikely to turn up anything if your character is searching for advice on tribal traditions in Gaul among Persian slaves, for instance.) To gather information over time, your character can put out queries and wait for the results to trickle back in. Test Charisma + Contacts against a difficulty 7. A success produces one specific piece of information and takes a week to come in. You can shorten this time to three days by raising the difficulty to 8, or one day by raising the difficulty to 9.

• One major contact and two or three secondary contacts.
•• Two major contacts and about five secondary contacts.
••• Three major contacts and eight to 10 secondary contacts.
•••• Four major contacts and 10 to 15 secondary contacts.
••••• Five major contacts and a great many secondary contacts (almost anyone in the general field of experience in the area may share some information).

Fame
Some werewolves who undergo their First Change hail from the ranks of the wealthy or talented elite. As a result, many Garou can make a claim to some distinction among society. Through such notoriety often fades with the years, your Fame lingers on to influence mortal society. In game terms you will have to decide what makes you famous (Noble, general, priest, poet, wealthy merchant, etc.)

Fame allows you to exercise your connections over a longer distance than usual. Certainly, if you've got the right Influence, you can push things around on a city-state or league, but with Fame, you can just send a few letters and get your Contacts, Influence, or Resources exerted over a greater range without any impediment. This is not to say you must have Fame to get anything done, only that it may help. Your total Fame determines your maximum range for unimpeded use of your Contacts, Influence and Resources.

• Entire Village
•• Entire Island
••• The Delian League OR The Peloponnesian League
•••• Greece
••••• Eastern Mediterranean

Fetish
Highly Restricted to Kinfolk PCs.

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.
We will approve fetishes listed on this website, purely fluff fetishes (Level One), or fetishes that use the mechanic of a specific Gift (which will have a cost equal to the level of that Gift + 1). More specific custom Fetishes must be crafted or discovered IC; you cannot start with them.

• You possess one Level One fetish.
•• You possess one Level Two fetish or two Level One fetishes.
••• You possess one or more fetishes with a total of three levels.
•••• You possess one or more fetishes with a total of four levels.
••••• You possess one or more fetishes with a total of five levels.

Kinfolk
While humans find the company of werewolves uncomfortable, kinfolk suffer from no such limitation. For that reason, many Garou rely upon their kinfolk to assist when a softer touch is needed. A werewolf’s Kinfolk background may represent humans or wolves, likely family members, fiercely dedicated to helping your cause. Unlike the Allies background, your kinfolk are always available when you need them. They can be trusted to oversee your personal effects, defend your property, and further your goals.

• You've worked with kinfolk before (1 Kinfolk Tag)
•• You are familiar with kinfolk (2 Kinfolk Tags)
••• You are where many kinfolk go to find gainful employment (3 Kinfolk Tags)
•••• You hold sway over an impressive and wide variety of kinfolk (4 Tags)
••••• You are the social hub for Kinfolk all over (5 Tags)

Every time you develop a dot in the Kinfolk Background, choose one of the following types of Kinfolk. You cannot select the same type of Kinfolk more than once, but you may opt to increase dots of Kinfolk without tags to represent an increased number of the same type of Kinfolk. This will not change the mechanics of any detailed type of Kinfolk below.

Resources
There are many ways to acquire goods, services, property, and luxuries in ancient Athens, but ready access to money is one of the oldest and most reliable. Garou occasionally maintain some kind of financial flow and some even hold down normal jobs. The Resources background measures your character’s purchasing power, accumulated assets, and liquid financial reserves. Resources may be actual drachma, but as you purchase additional dots of this background, it is more likely that your character has significant investments in the form of luxury items, properties and other valuables, rather than piles of coins sitting around. At the upper end of the background, she may gain money by exerting control over an entire marketplace, criminal operations, or massive temple; or she may own a large amount of land, live off a trust fund, smuggle precious objects, or control a massive criminal infrastructure.

No Traits - Poverty; 1 drachma a day. You have a leaky straw hut on the cheap side of town. Going abroad is too rich for your daydreams.

One Trait - Small Savings and holdings; 3 drachma a day. You can maintain a typical residence in the style of social class you choose and seem in-miserly; however such showings are not long lasting. You can maintain a servant or hire specific help as necessary. Though you may entertain thoughts of travel, you do not posses enough wealth to maintain your house from abroad.

Two Traits - Modest savings and holdings; 8 drachma a day. You can display yourself as a member in good standing of your chosen community, with the occasional gift and indulgence becoming a person of quality. You can maintain a small staff of servants. A fraction of your resources are available in readily portable jewelry and other forms that let you maintain a standard of life. Not yet capable of portable wealth to travel.

Three Traits - Significant savings and holdings; 30 drachma a day. You are a prominent and established member of your community, with land and property, and the reputation that lets you draw on credit at very generous terms. Trust is as much a key resource as any particularly valuable commodity at this level. When you travel, you can maintain a one-Trait Resources lifestyle for six months.

Four Traits - Large savings and holdings; 75 drachma a day. Poets spin tales of the richness of your clothes, the health of your livestock and the beauty of your home. You hold more wealth than many of the local authorities (and need to deal with their jealousy from time to time). When you travel, you can maintain a three trait- Resources lifestyle for a year and a two trait lifestyle indefinitely.

Five Traits - Filthy rich; 150 drachma a day. You have vast and widely distributed assets, with large staffs, huge tracts of land and connections to every level of society throughout the region. You travel with a minimum of three-trait Resources comforts and more, with little effort.

Note: Drachma are silver coins, as such carrying excessive amounts of resources on your person costs a point of gnosis while they are on your person and even an honor or wisdom should you carry too much like any spirit might for carrying too much silver; and should you not be in breed form deal aggravated damage as per normal rules for silver. See the rules on silver for a precise guide.

Examples of costs in Ancient Athens:

1 drachma = 6 loaves of bread
5 drachma = gallon of olive oil
8 drachma = a lamb
200 drachma = a servant
400-1000 drachma = a house

Spirit Pact
Not available for Kinfolk PCs without Gnosis.

You have entered into a spirit pact with a powerful Jaggling spirit through an exchange of service and ritualistic chiminage. This patron spirit sends gnostic substance to you anywhere within the material realm at the Storyteller’s discretion. However, the Jaggling will not fight your battles, nor will it manifest or perform any other task for you unless commanded to via a gift. During a game session you may spend 5 minutes out-of-game communing with this Jaggling, allowing you to regain a number of Gnosis points equal to the number of dots you possess of the Spirit Pact background. You may not offer this benefit to others, nor may you develop a second Spirit Pact background as spirits are jealous and will not form a pact with an individual that is already in a pact with another spirit.


• Regain One Gnosis.
•• Regain Two Gnosis.
••• Regain Three Gnosis.
•••• Regain Four Gnosis.
••••• Regain Five Gnosis.

Territory
Not every werewolf has a place she can call her own, but many have someplace where they can take shelter. A Lupus werewolf might live and hunt in a secluded cave or a park, while a Warder of man may reside in a house within the city limits.

• You have a simple setup (1 Tag)
•• You own a large house (2 Tags)
••• You have put a lot of work into your Territory (3 Tags)
•••• Your domain is that most Werewolves would dream of having (4 Tags)
••••• You are the Master of your Territory (5 Tags)

Every time you develop a dot in the Territory background choose one of the following advantages. You cannot select the same advantage more than once for a single Territory location.
You can Hold up to 5 named characters within your Territory without any additional tags (if you wish to house more consider the size tag below).

Totem
Pack totems are powerful spirits willing to make bargains with Garou in order to help them defend Gaia and her interests. Most packs approach a totem within the first few months of the pack’s existence and beseech it to act as their patron. Many werewolves do not consider a pack truly formed until it has bonded with a totem through Rite of the Totem.

While willing to aid Garou packs with potent spiritual blessings, totems do not physically involve themselves in day-to-day events. They provide a unifying goal and direction to the Garou with which they bond, and they act as both spiritual symbols as well as allies.

System:
Totem operates on a very 'you get out what you put in' dynamic. To gain access to a Totem, you need the first dot of the Totem Background. Your Totem can be nearly any spirit you choose:

Additionally, every Totem has a ban: a specific restriction/command that members of the pack must obey/RP to prove their devotion to the spirit. If a ban is violated, the pack's totem may go into slumber or even leave the pack entirely.

Please note: You gain +1 Totem with every dot of Rank, so all garou PCs should have a free dot of totem per rank. These can go over 5 and do not count towards the 5 points of Totem you can buy with XP.

To build your pack totem please see Dramatic Systems: Totem