Mystic Rites
Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2021 3:18 pm
Mystic Rites
These rites bring the Garou into direct contact with the Umbra and its denizens. Unlike most other rites, mystic rites are generally performed alone.
System: When performing a mystic rite, the ritemaster must make a Wits + Rituals test.
Level One
Baptism of Fire
Level One
Most tribes attempt to track down all children born to their Kinfolk within one a month of the child’s birth to see if they “share the blood.” (Most commonly, this inquiry involves the Gift: Sense the Balance.) Those who are Garou are “baptized” in the light of their auspice moon, beside a ritual fire. Such a baptism most commonly involves mingling ashes with a few drops of Garou blood; the mixture is then touched to the child’s ears, nose, eyelids and tongue.
In the presence of a lesser tribal spirit known as a Kin-Fetch, the babe is then held up to the moonlight while the baptizing Garou howls Gaia’s greeting to the newborn. The ritemaster then has the Kin-Fetch kiss the infant. The spirit’s fiery kiss inscribes a spiritual brand upon the babe in the form of the newborn’s tribal glyph. This mark is invisible — a thing of pure spirit — and impossible to remove. It can be traced and recognized by all Garou (including Fallen Garou, who might target such cubs and capture them in order to swell their own vile ranks).
The participating Kin-Fetch spirit is assigned to watch over the young Garou as she grows to maturity, so that the tribe may always know the child’s location and whether she is endangered. When the First Change is imminent, the spirit alerts the tribe. Unfortunately, such minor spirits are notoriously weak-willed and easily distracted.
System: The ritemaster makes a static Charisma + Rituals challenge against the standard difficulty. The rite must be performed at night under the child’s auspice moon. Although generally performed within a month of birth, it remains effective at any time before the First Change. The brand vanishes after the cub’s Rite of Passage. Upon successfully casting this ritual it leaves a spiritual marking that all Garou can automatically see, but is completely invisible to mundane senses. This mark is visible through clothing, but not through walls or the like unless the Garou possesses the ability to already see through such objects.
Rite of Binding
Level One
This rite binds a spirit to a werewolf, making it his servant. The more powerful the spirit is, the more difficult the process is. Although any encountered spirit is subject to binding, the Garou generally feel that spirits should be bound only when needed. Binding spirits for excessive lengths of time is generally viewed as callous abuse of those who should be the allies of the Garou. This point doesn’t go uncontested, however.
Spirits trapped through this rite may be bound into temporary service or into objects to create talens.
No spirit allows itself to be bound unless it is friendly to the binding character’s totem. Spirits can be bound into objects, places, and people, although the Garou generally don’t perform the last feat unless the need is great. Failing this rite can be dangerous, for the spirit is very likely to become hostile and attempt to harm the mystic.
System: A Garou can attempt this rite only in the presence of a spirit, and it is usually performed in the Umbra. When attempting to bind a spirit, a Garou must first spend a number of Gnosis points (minimum of one). Each point of Gnosis spent reduces the spirit’s Gnosis rating by one. The Garou’s player must then make a Willpower Test (difficulty equals the spirit’s adjusted Gnosis) to exert their will over the spirit.
If successful, the Garou has created a single talen. Additional points in Rituals will allow the Garou to add to either the talen's duration (in game sessions), or how many talens were made. A ritemaster with Rituals 4 may choose to make 4 talens that last the game session, 1 talen that lasts 4 game sessions, or some mixture thereof (2 talens that last 2 game sessions, etc.). These will be recorded on item cards awarded by staff upon successful creation of the talen.
For more details on how to make talens, see our Fetish and Talen Creation Rules.
Rite of Birth Time
Level One
This rite allows a Garou to detect when a person will give birth. This is used by lupus to determine when they should return to their pack to check on the newborn and see if they are Garou. Homids find this rite disgusting.
System:This requires a static Perception + Rituals challenge, difficulty 7. Success will tell the Garou a three day span that the birth will be in. On an exceptional success, the Garou can determine the precise hour the birth will begin. Note that this prediction is the time of natural birth if all factors remain the same. Obviously things like trauma and additional rituals or other magic can change this.
Rite of Heritage
Level One
Galliards and Philodox alike favor this genealogical rite, albeit for slightly different reasons. Some Garou use it to verify the identity of a hero’s descendants before passing on an inheritance; others use it to identify the father of a Ostraka cub if none is forthcoming. The ritemaster draws the blood of the subject with a silver knife and sings a long paean to the ancestor-spirits of his tribe and any others that might be watching over the subject. As he completes the song, the ancestor-spirits whisper the subject’s heritage into his ears.
System: Standard challenge. Success reveals the subject’s true heritage for one generation back per rank of the rite master (for example, a Fostern ritemaster would be able to determine the subject’s heritage as far back as his grandparents). In addition, the ritemaster receives the answer to one specific question about the subject’s heritage per dot in the rituals ability; e.g., “What was this cub’s paternal grandfather’s profession?” or “Does the blood of any other tribe run in this cub’s veins?” The answer will be accurate, as long as the answer can be found within the number of generations revealed; if the ritemaster was an Athro, for example, he could not ask “Is this child descended from Achilles,” but he could accurately tell if the child’s great-great-grandfather claimed descent from Achilles or not.
The Rite of Heritage works just as well with humans or wolves (although wolves, lacking names, are harder to accurately identify), even non-Kin or mages. It does not, however, work on the undead or on fae. It only works on the living.
Preserving the Fetish
Level One
This rite is designed to honor and preserve a spirit within a fetish, or other spirit-imbued object. Each Garou who practices this rite introduces small variations, depending on the type of spirit and fetish involved. The rite generally includes cleaning the fetish, and perhaps even re-coating damaged layers of paint or making other such similar repairs, though many Garou (and spirits) prefer fetishes that appear to be veterans, not brand-new. This rite is often assigned to cubs, who are subsequently given the task of maintaining the fetishes of the sept. This is usually also the only time cubs are allowed near the arsenal of the sept.
System: The player makes a static Wits + Rituals challenge, difficulty 8. Good roleplaying and clever ideas for honor the spirit (emphasis on honoring) could warrant bonus decreases in difficulty level. This ritual should be performed at least once a month, but most Garou are encouraged to use it as often as possible, especially after having used the fetish.
After this ritual has been performed, once during that session when attempting to activate the fetish with a Gnosis challenge, you gain a ritual retest on the challenge. A given fetish may only have this ritual performed on it once a session.
Rite of Growth
Level One
This favorite of urban Garou, particularly Warders of Man, allows plants to grow in strange locations. The plants don't grow unusually quickly, but can grow in iron, bronze, stone, or other unusual places, drawing nutrients from the source. Three Garou are needed to make this rite work.
The ritemaster makes an indentation in the surface using a claw, and plants the seed of the plant into it. The three then hold hands in a triangle around it, kneeling, and request the spirit of the material that it nurture and care for the plant. If the spirit agrees, a small green shoot will appear immediately.
System: Standard challenge, against a variable difficulty depending on the type of location; a ruin that could believably support a plant is only difficulty 5, the average city structure is 7, while an especially inhospitable location would be 9. If successful the plant will survive for one month, on an exceptional success instead the plant will survive for at least 3 months. After that, the plant will require as much regular watering and care as any other plant would.
Rite of the Questing Stone
Level One
This rite allows the werewolf to find a person or object (but not a location). She must know the name of the object or individual, and must dangle a stone or needle from a thread while concentrating on the item or person sought.
System: Standard challenge. If the Garou has a piece of the item or individual (a clipping of hair, a piece of cloth) the difficulty drops by one. The werewolf gains only a sense of the object’s general location, not its exact position. While this ritual is active you are able to flawlessly track an individual to within their rough area (e.g. you would be lead to the building they are in, but not the precise room). This ritual lasts for one hour, or until the end of the session on an exceptional success. This ritual also ends immediately if you let go of or lose the stone being used for the ritual.
Rite of Silence
Level One
Garou who need to be silent use this rite to make up for any lack in natural ability. For the duration of this rite, the Garou are incapable of making any noise even if they bang on a drum or shatter an amphora. With the assistance of Raven spirits, the Garou can sneak through dry underbrush or over a gravel road without making a sound.
System: Standard challenge. The Garou invoking this rite confines herself in a dark room or cave. She whispers her darkest secret and then utters an oath of silence. Raven-spirits, attracted by her secret, carry any sound she makes into the Umbra once she leaves her confinement. The effects of this ritual last for 15 minutes on a normal success, and one hour on an exceptional success. If the werewolf chooses to speak for any reason, the rite ends immediately. The Raven-spirits, disappointed that the Garou did not reveal any more secrets, return the sounds they carried. For several minutes, the Garou is surrounded by a cacophony she created earlier.
While this rite is active, the Garou makes no sound at all making them automatically succeed on any stealth challenges related only to hearing. However, this rite does not help them hide from any visual searches or other senses such as scent. If a Stealth challenge involves both sound and another sense then the Garou gains +3 on the relevant Stealth challenge to represent the aid of silence, but that they still must avoid other means of detection. This rite silences only those sounds the Garou would have made directly. If she were to throw a rock at a window, for instance, the whistle of the rock through the air would be silent, but the shattering glass would not. If she punched the glass with her bare hand, the breaking window would not make a sound.
An individual with Wolf Senses or a similar power that can contest supernatural concealment may attempt to contest this power. If they do you may use either their gift's defense test pool, or Wits + Rituals, at your discretion.
Level Two
Rite of Becoming
Level Two
Werewolves must perform this rite at an Anchorhead Domain. Once completed, it enables them to travel into the Deep Umbra. The most common version of this rite requires the Garou to make a braid from three of her hairs, three pieces of fine copper wire, and three tendrils of ivy or other vine. Lengths of silk thread are sometimes substituted for the hair or wire. When the braid has been constructed, the Garou ties it around his own wrist and howls three words of power.
System: Standard challenge. Upon successfully casting this ritual the Garou is able to travel into the Deep Umbra. This ritemaster can only cast this rite on herself.
If the braid is destroyed while the Garou is in the Deep Umbra, the werewolf takes one level of aggravated damage that cannot be reduced or negated and risks becoming lost forever if she doesn’t return to the Near Umbra within 5 minutes, any longer than that and she is at the whims of whatever spirits reside with the Deep Umbra.
Call to the Lost
Level Two
Traveling from the material world into the Umbra and back is not only a werewolf's birthright, but a necessity for maintaining the balance of self that Gaia intended for her defenders. Doing so can be dangerous though. Sometimes things go wrong. A packmate becomes caught in the Gauntlet itself, trapped between worlds. A werewolf is injured and alone in a Realm far from home, unable to return on her own. A comrade suffers the burden of Harano and walks among the spirits for too long, becoming disconnected from the physical world, forgetting who she is. A pack strays too far from the path given to them by their spirit guide and can't find their way back. In cases like these, this rite can be used to call the wandering soul back to where it belongs.
The ritemaster builds a fire scattered with fragrant herbs, burns incense, or otherwise creates a great amount of strong-smelling smoke. Once the fire is lit, he drums and howls, beating a rhythm and calling out long and loud. The searching call echoes out across the Umbra, seeking the wandering one by name. In time, if she doesn't fight the call, the lost soul will arrive at the site of the rite, though she may need the ritemaster's help to cross over the Gauntlet. This rite can also be used to return a Garou's mind to her body if she becomes lost while traveling the Astral Umbra; in this case, it must be performed over her body, which is painted with glyphs in a combination of ochre and blood.
System: To use this rite, the Ritemaster must engage in a static Wits + Rituals challenge, difficulty is the target's Permanent Gnosis + Rank; the stronger the target's connection to the spirit world, the harder it is to call them away from it. This rite can be performed on either side of the Gauntlet, but if it's done from the physical world, the ritemaster must make the challenge (or spend the Gnosis) to pierce the Gauntlet and let the target through. It takes a number of hours equal to the target's Gnosis rating to complete the rite, so if the character is trying to call back a highly spiritual Garou, he should settle in for a test of endurance. The werewolf being called experiences a series of visions that symbolize the call and the journey, perhaps encountering dream-beings that resemble those performing the ritual.
Street Writing
Level Two
When the Warders of Man, or Bone Gnawers and their urrah brethren need to spread the word about something important to all Garou in the city, but don't want to draw direct attention to themselves as they might with a howl, they might use the rite Street Writing. This rite is most appropriate when the message that needs to be disseminated is important but not urgent — "Be aware that the local cult of Dionysus is in league with a Wyrm-Cult" might work, while "We're under attack by Fomori" is not a good choice for this rite.
System: To perform the rite, the ritemaster must write the message out by hand in the medium that it is to be portrayed across the city that can be no more than 20 words, though it can be augmented by symbols or other images that might help explain the meaning. He must spend one Willpower and make a standard challenge. Creatures immune to the Delirium who are not Kinfolk, such as mages or vampires, cannot read the message; even undead who were Kin in life are unable to detect the hidden communication. Anyone subject to the Delirium simply will not see the message, instead glossing over it as uninteresting. Garou and kinfolk can easily identify such messages as being special, however, and their eyes are drawn to them, making it quite likely that any werewolf who reads the writing will realize that it contains a special message for Garou only.
Unfortunately, the Warders of Man who developed this rite didn't consider that Fallen Garou, still being Garou, could also see the messages; however, other creatures in the thrall of the Wyrm cannot see it.
The message then appears over the next day, the graffiti mimed throughout the city. This rite does not guarantee the graffiti lasting long, as while mortals will regard it as uninteresting they may still view it as an eyesore and clean up especially obvious placements.
Renewing the Talen
Level Two
As a form of lesser fetishes almost, talens are spirit-imbued items that have a limited number of uses: one. Some talens can be "refueled," however, with this rite. This rite charms and seduces the spirit involved to return to the talen, and it must be performed through singing and enticing and other forms of beguiling.
System:Standard challenge. By performing this rite prior to the Rite of Binding, the character effectively lowers her difficulty to perform that rite by one. On an exceptional success this rite ensures that every talen created with a successive casting of Rite of Binding can be used twice.
Rite of Spirit Awakening
Level Two
This rite is used to awaken a sleeping (inactive) spirit. To perform this rite, a Garou must play a rhythm on some form of instrument (drums are the most common). While the Garou plays, any other participating werewolves pace around the ritemaster, howling and growling in counterpoint to the beat.
When performed on a mundane item, this rite enlivens the object’s spirit, causing it to awaken and appear in the Umbra. For example, if the rite is performed on a chariot, any Garou stepping sideways could see the chariot as a true part of the landscape. However, it would appear as a stationary object in the Penumbra unless someone on the physical plane began to drive it, in which case it would appear as a driverless vehicle to anyone in the Umbra.
When performed on plants, this rite is known as sanctification.
System:The challenge for this rite is a static Wits + Rituals, difficulty the targeted spirit's rage. The ritemaster must play a musical instrument or sing a song (talent doesn’t matter). Failure means that the spirit remains dormant. The Storyteller must decide whether the spirit is hostile or friendly to its awakener. Awakening a spirit doesn’t allow any control over it. Commanding an awakened spirit requires either a Rite of Binding or a Gift. This rite doesn’t work on sentient beings such as humans. Such individuals are already as “awakened” as they’re going to get.
Plant-spirits are generally benevolent, and an awakened plant spirit will often lend its powers as though it were a talen (one use). Different plants grant different abilities when sanctified.
Rite of the Spirit Brew
Level Two
With this rite, a Garou imbues a small volume of water with Gnosis. The most time-consuming aspect of the rite involves actually creating the container. It must be sturdy enough to survive long journeys but ready mystically to hold the spiritual energies. This process allows the Garou to store a reserve of Gnosis for use during a particularly grueling conflict or extended journey. After several hours of meditation and prayers to Gaia, the Garou buries the receptacle in purified earth for three days. At the end of that period, the Garou recovers her prize.
System: Using this rite requires a downtime. Each downtime action is able to make a number of Spirit Brews up to your dots in the Rituals Ability. Each Spirit Brew holds three Gnosis points that can be consumed by anyone. Should a creature incapable of using Gnosis drink the liquid, nothing happens and the Gnosis is lost. The nature of the container depends purely on the Garou and the circumstances in which she finds herself. Each Spirit Brew stays good for one session, after which the Gnosis is lost.
Rite of Summoning
Level Two
Garou mystics are adept at calling spirits, be they minor Gafflings, totem spirits, or even Incarna. Summoning spirits involves complex rituals, long periods of meditation, and tribal mantra chanting. Within the Umbra, this process is far easier. This rite compels spirits to seek those who call them. Furthermore, the spirit cannot escape its caller once the summoning is completed successfully, and it must attend the mystic. Many spirits, particularly minor ones, are too weak to resist a powerful summoning. Powerful ones come out of curiosity. The chance of a successful summoning depends upon the skill of the mystic, the power of the spirit, and the strength of the area’s Gauntlet.
System: The ritemaster must pierce the Gauntlet just as if he were entering the Umbra (static Gnosis challenge against the local Gauntlet level, or spending a point of gnosis). A mystic already within the Umbra is not required to pierce the Gauntlet. The power level of the spirit determines the difficulty level of a successful summoning. The Storyteller can determine difficulty from the following chart:
For each hour the Garou spends invoking the spirit, his difficulty drops by one. No difficulty may fall below 3. The player must then make a static Gnosis challenge against the difficulty determined above. On a success, the spirit manifests within an hour, it's personality determined by the storyteller, though typically weaker spirits are more likely to be friendly, while more powerful spirits may be more hostile for being disturbed from important business, though it is determined on a case by case basis - your own tribe's totem is likely to always be friendly to you as an example. On an exceptional success, the spirit will instead manifest within 5 minutes, and also is more inclined to be friendly.
A Garou who summons an Incarna or Celestine avatar may absolutely use that to claim Wisdom Renown, unless the summons is done frivolously. A frivolous summon is likely to instead cost the ritemaster Wisdom Renown, as well as possibly Honor renown if they did so deceitfully.
Rite of Tying the Snare
Level Two
Snare-spirits are subtle and persistent entities of the City's Umbrascape, trapping humans, other spirits, and Banes in the city. This rite invokes their power to bind a specific enemy to a particular location, even if only for a while. Calling on these Weaver-spirits is a potentially dangerous endeavor. If the rite is performed improperly, the snare-spirits will likely try to bind the ritemaster into the Pattern Web. But success can leave an enemy right where the ritemaster wants him; several vampires have gone up in four-alarm building fires thanks to this rite.
Using this rite, a ritemaster must first walk, run, or otherwise move round the area to be bound. She must name that which she wishes to bind, and the name must be sufficiently accurate — "the vampire who works in this building" is not precise enough, whereas "the vampire who works in this building under the alias of Kronos" will suffice. She then invokes the trapping spirit, and "ties a knot" round the area. If the rite is successful, the target of the rite will find it difficult to leave the area — barricades are harder to shift, doors lock themselves, and so on.
System: Standard challenge. Each dot of rituals that the rite master possesses seals one door, blocks one window, or in some way blocks a method of egress. In addition, the difficulty of any challenges or feats of strength made to leave the area (such as Athletics check to jump from roof to roof) is increased by 1 for each dot the ritemaster has of rituals, to a maximum difficulty of 15. This rite is at its most potent when combined with more mundane means of blocking exits, such as barricading doors.
Note that this rite cannot restrict any other activities of the target that aren't directly related to leaving, nor can it prevent other people from assisting the trapped target; a shout for help will not be affected, and neither will allies arriving to break down the doors. The effects of this ritual last for one hour, or until the target manages to escape the area. On an exceptional success, if the target should return to the area within the session, the effect resumes until the rest of the hour passes or they manage to escape again.
Rite of Renewing the Earth
Level Two
Perhaps the gentlest Wyld rite, this serves to reconsecrate barren ground to the service of life and growth.
The rite itself is rather lengthy, beginning with chanting as two Garou stride the perimeter of the area to be affected. One carries a bowl of water, the other a bowl of blood (chicken blood is usually sufficient), and they sprinkle this on the ground as they walk. Ideally, the water and blood will run out as the Garou meet back at their starting point. According to tradition, if they run out beforehand, the rite is doomed to failure.
Any other Garou then cross the boundary of blood and water and make the a ritual furrow from one end of the field to the other. No tools can be used in this labor, or else the entire effect is spoiled.
System: Standard challenge. If the rite is performed properly, the site becomes much more Wyld-friendly and fertile, and may well actually produce life come springtime. In addition, Wyrm- and Weaver-creatures find themselves at a +3 difficulty on all challenges while in the newly consecrated area, and this effect lasts for a year and a day.
Rite of the Ziggurat
Level Two
The Warders of Man and Children of Gaia learned long ago that just as nature combines functions in a forest, Garou can "stack" rites atop one another for more powerful magic. Often urban Garou perform rites atop ziggurats, atop temples, or even on top of pyramids.
The Rite of the Ziggurat unites and strengthens other rites. It is useful when two or more rites (even minor rites) are being performed atop one another in a multilevel structure. For example, a group of Garou Greeting the Moon could synchronize their actions with another pack consecrating a fetish two floors up and a Rite of Renown one floor up.
System: Standard challenge. Each rite that is being performed at the same time on different floors of a structure all receive a bonus on their test pool equal to the total number of rites, up to a max of the Ritemaster's dots of the Rituals ability. In addition, the background count of spirits may rise in relation to all the rites, with potentially interesting effects at storyteller discretion.
Level Three
Rite of the Blackened Moon
Level Three
This rarely used rite creates a spiritually dead zone, essentially closing off a small space to Umbral access. The space can be no larger than a small hut or large room. Garou feel distinctly uncomfortable in this dead zone, and spirits trapped there can wither away to nothingness.
System: The bounds of the space are inscribed with glyphs, and an herbal smudge or incense is burned to banish spirits and spiritual influences from the room. Standard challenge. If successful, increase the Gauntlet by 2 (to a maximum of 10). On an exceptional success, increase the Gauntlet by 5 (to a maximum of 10). In addition, no Gnosis can be regained in any way within the warded space, and materialized spirits trapped within begin to unravel at the rate of 1 Essence/hour. The ritual's effect lasts a number of days equal to the ritemaster's dots of the ritual ability, fading at sundown of the final day. This ritual takes half an hour to perform, and can be continued as often as necessary.
Calling the Spirit Guide
Level Three
This rite serves as a quicker way to summon spirits while in the Umbra, but only spirits that can guide the summoner to a location. The spirits summoned with this rite will not teach the character anything or assist in the usual ways, but can be asked to help find a place, person or item in the Umbra. The rite involves calling out through a specialized dance and chant taught to the Garou as she learned this rite.
System: Standard challenge, but lower the difficulty by one if the character seeks a particular spirit whose name she knows. When the spirit appears, it can lead the character or her pack to a Near Realm without difficulty. There is no further roll required here, but as customary it will want something in return for its services. It can also help search for a place or a person. The spirit is not omniscient, and can only help locate the target. The ritemaster gains a +5 bonus to challenges to try and locate the target, as long as the spirit assists him. The spirit can also attempt to lead the characters to the Deep Umbra. In this case, stakes are much higher, and the characters may need to haggle a great deal (but not so much as to offend the spirit) to get a reasonable price. Also, the characters must locate an anchorhead themselves, and they travel into the Deep Umbra at their own risk. If the characters manage to persuade the spirit to accompany them on their entire journey, they will be able to return safely to the anchorhead.
Descent Into the Underworld
Level Three
Most Garou think of the Umbra, the Gaian spirit world, as the only spirit realm that sits close to the physical world. Most Garou are wrong. The Underworld — the Land of the Dead, the Dark Umbra — sits astride the physical realm just as the Umbra does. Within it are trapped the ghosts of countless humans who died unable to let go of their lives and pass on into the cycle of souls, as Gaia intended.
The Underworld is a bleak landscape mirroring all that is decayed or departed in the living world, as the Penumbra is a reflection expressing the world’s spiritual nature. Terrible, unstable portals lead deeper yet into the Underworld, a land of spirit-storms and nightmare mazes where few Garou have ever ventured and from which fewer still have ever returned.
This rite is primarily known and used by the Silent Striders, but a few other tribes and camps make use of it as well (most notably the Black Furies and White Howlers).
System: This rite takes five minutes to perform. The ritemaster must sacrifice a living mammal and touch every character to be affected by the rite with at least a fingerprint of its blood. A number of individuals may be anointed up to twice the character's dots in leadership. Alternatively, he may always anoint all members of his pack. He then draws sigils on the ground nearby with the remaining blood. The player makes a static Intelligence + Rituals challenge (difficulty equals the local Gauntlet). Success on this challenge takes the ritemaster and all anointed to the grey fields of Asphodel. Crossing back from Asphodel is the same as crossing from the Penumbra to the normal world; however, it is not possible to peak across the Gauntlet; as such crossing back over is always blind.
Rite of the Fetish
Level Three
This rite allows a werewolf to create a fetish (an object with a spirit bound into it). To do so, the Garou must first cleanse the potential fetish by placing it under running water (sufficiently drinkable flowing tap water counts), burying it in pure earth, exposing the object to constant breezes, or suspending it above flame for three consecutive nights. The Garou must then force or persuade a spirit to enter the prepared object. The Night Claws claim that cajoling or flattering a spirit produces the best results, while the Bone Gnawers and Silent Striders claim that bribery (expending Gnosis) works best.
System:This rite is necessary to forge a Fetish. Please reference the Fetish Creation Rules.
Rite of the Shadow Play
Level Three
While most Garou are familiar with the friendly spirits known as Lunes, fewer know their more secretive cousins. This rite calls on the Blood Lunes, spirits of lunar eclipses and the far side of the moon. These elusive Jagglings see all but say little, lurking just beyond sight wherever moonlight shines. A werewolf who coaxes them out properly can draw on their abundance of ancient observations from unseen corners of the world, asking questions about the history of an elusive subject and receiving a cryptic shadow play in answer. Blood Lunes don't usually care about knowledge that's known by many, and they tend to forget it. They only retain secrets, and so only secrets can be learned from them. This rite doesn't actually summon the Blood Lunes into the material world, if performed there; it only draws them close to the Gauntlet to pass on their hints.
This rite must be performed during the full moon, when its light shines fully on a surface. The Garou must have some physical representation of the subject of her inquiry on hand. This could include a lock of hair or a severed finger, a carved bone resembling a spirit, sand from a particular beach, and so on. She sacrifices a nocturnal animal — usually a bat — then takes awakened Blue Lotus or Mad Honey. Having done so, she places the token on the ground, lets her shadow fall upon the bright surface, and dances. As she does, her shadow acts out her questions in symbolic gestures. She must repeat these motions until her shadow separates from her and acts out its own story. Other shadows join it, presenting an enigmatic tale that she must interpret for clues that answer the questions. The tale may not even obviously reference the subject of the query, but with the proper interpretation, she can still glean.
System: The player makes a static Wits + Investigation challenge with a difficulty based on the obscurity or specificity of her subject. Well-known or broad subjects such as the Garou Nation, the battle of Thermopylae, or the Weaver are difficulty (10 - Rituals). Slightly narrower or more obscure subjects such as a particular mountain range, the Silver Fangs’ tribal lore, or a the marriage unifying two noble houses are difficulty (15 - Rituals). Coaxing out Blood Lunes who know about very narrow or arcane subjects such as a particular lost tome of wisdom, an individual not widely-known, or an agreement made between two spirits is difficulty (20 - Rituals). If successful, the werewolf learns one secret about the subject's past, couched in mystery and symbolism. On an exceptional success, the player gets two additional secrets about the subject's past, couched in mystery and symbolism. The Ritemaster may ask a number of yes or no questions equal to their dots in the Occult Ability to try and get clarification on the strange visions they are seeing.
Rite of the Totem
Level Three
This rite binds a totem to a group of Garou, joining them together as a pack. During the rite, all werewolves who wish to bind their destinies to a particular totem spirit must coat their eyes with an infusion of saliva and mugwort, sage, or a similar substance holy to Gaia and step sideways into the Umbra. In the spirit world, the ritemaster leads the Garou in a hunt for the spiritual spoor left by a totem spirit. Such evidence varies with the spirit, but Garou worthy of the totem’s attention can always find it. Even tracking down the spirit doesn’t guarantee success, for the totem must decide whether the Garou are worthy to become its fosterlings. An undecided totem may require a quest of the supplicants, although one is almost never required if the pack has just completed a Rite of Passage successfully.
System: Characters must purchase the Totem Background to benefit from this rite. Otherwise, the rite is simply not performed. Please refer to the details on gaining a Totem and forming a Pack.
Level Four
Rite of Excoriation
Level Four
This dreadful rite forcibly strips the totem bond from a werewolf (or a pack). To perform this rite, the ritemaster must paint glyphs representing both the totem bond in general and the specific totem in question on the subject's body. The higher the number of totem dots the totem possesses, the more of the subject must be covered. The ritemaster then carefully flenses the skin beneath the glyphs off and waits until the subject's regeneration heals the wounds. Finally, the bloody, painted scraps are cast into a vat of molten silver.
System: The Rite of Excoriation requires the normal challenge. The difficulty is equal to the total number of points invested in the totem + 10. This ritual can be done on either an individual (in which case it only takes into account their dots of totem) or on the pack's totem directly (in which case it takes into account every dot of totem invested by the pack).
If successful against an individual it removes them from their pack, immediately severing their bond and their dots of totem are lost. If successful against a pack's totem it dissolves the pack bond completely. Totem points in this instance are not lost, but held "in trust" until the pack either reforms the bond or finds a new totem.
Rite of The Guardian Spirit
Level Four
This rite binds a spirit to a sept, making it into the sept’s totem. The details of this rite vary depending on the spirit. However, the rite always begins with a lavish sacrifice to attract the spirit’s attention. Then, one or more champions acting on the sept’s behalf proves their worth with a display of strength or skill. A sept hoping to attract the attention of a Totem of War might pit its champion against a captured Bane in ritual combat, while a sept attempting to woo a Totem of Respect might perform a play commemorating an ancient Garou victory. A Totem of Wisdom or Cunning, on the other hand, might be impressed by a ritualized debate on arcane details of the Litany. Finally, if the rite is successful, it ends with a second, even larger thanksgiving sacrifice and a celebration honoring the sept’s new totem.
System: Although the champions and the sacrifice are necessary components, only the ritemaster needs make the challenge. This ritual must be performed in the presence of an opened caern. A sept can only have one totem at a time; this ritual automatically fails if the caern is already occupied.
These rites bring the Garou into direct contact with the Umbra and its denizens. Unlike most other rites, mystic rites are generally performed alone.
System: When performing a mystic rite, the ritemaster must make a Wits + Rituals test.
Level One
Baptism of Fire
Level One
Most tribes attempt to track down all children born to their Kinfolk within one a month of the child’s birth to see if they “share the blood.” (Most commonly, this inquiry involves the Gift: Sense the Balance.) Those who are Garou are “baptized” in the light of their auspice moon, beside a ritual fire. Such a baptism most commonly involves mingling ashes with a few drops of Garou blood; the mixture is then touched to the child’s ears, nose, eyelids and tongue.
In the presence of a lesser tribal spirit known as a Kin-Fetch, the babe is then held up to the moonlight while the baptizing Garou howls Gaia’s greeting to the newborn. The ritemaster then has the Kin-Fetch kiss the infant. The spirit’s fiery kiss inscribes a spiritual brand upon the babe in the form of the newborn’s tribal glyph. This mark is invisible — a thing of pure spirit — and impossible to remove. It can be traced and recognized by all Garou (including Fallen Garou, who might target such cubs and capture them in order to swell their own vile ranks).
The participating Kin-Fetch spirit is assigned to watch over the young Garou as she grows to maturity, so that the tribe may always know the child’s location and whether she is endangered. When the First Change is imminent, the spirit alerts the tribe. Unfortunately, such minor spirits are notoriously weak-willed and easily distracted.
System: The ritemaster makes a static Charisma + Rituals challenge against the standard difficulty. The rite must be performed at night under the child’s auspice moon. Although generally performed within a month of birth, it remains effective at any time before the First Change. The brand vanishes after the cub’s Rite of Passage. Upon successfully casting this ritual it leaves a spiritual marking that all Garou can automatically see, but is completely invisible to mundane senses. This mark is visible through clothing, but not through walls or the like unless the Garou possesses the ability to already see through such objects.
Rite of Binding
Level One
This rite binds a spirit to a werewolf, making it his servant. The more powerful the spirit is, the more difficult the process is. Although any encountered spirit is subject to binding, the Garou generally feel that spirits should be bound only when needed. Binding spirits for excessive lengths of time is generally viewed as callous abuse of those who should be the allies of the Garou. This point doesn’t go uncontested, however.
Spirits trapped through this rite may be bound into temporary service or into objects to create talens.
No spirit allows itself to be bound unless it is friendly to the binding character’s totem. Spirits can be bound into objects, places, and people, although the Garou generally don’t perform the last feat unless the need is great. Failing this rite can be dangerous, for the spirit is very likely to become hostile and attempt to harm the mystic.
System: A Garou can attempt this rite only in the presence of a spirit, and it is usually performed in the Umbra. When attempting to bind a spirit, a Garou must first spend a number of Gnosis points (minimum of one). Each point of Gnosis spent reduces the spirit’s Gnosis rating by one. The Garou’s player must then make a Willpower Test (difficulty equals the spirit’s adjusted Gnosis) to exert their will over the spirit.
If successful, the Garou has created a single talen. Additional points in Rituals will allow the Garou to add to either the talen's duration (in game sessions), or how many talens were made. A ritemaster with Rituals 4 may choose to make 4 talens that last the game session, 1 talen that lasts 4 game sessions, or some mixture thereof (2 talens that last 2 game sessions, etc.). These will be recorded on item cards awarded by staff upon successful creation of the talen.
For more details on how to make talens, see our Fetish and Talen Creation Rules.
Rite of Birth Time
Level One
This rite allows a Garou to detect when a person will give birth. This is used by lupus to determine when they should return to their pack to check on the newborn and see if they are Garou. Homids find this rite disgusting.
System:This requires a static Perception + Rituals challenge, difficulty 7. Success will tell the Garou a three day span that the birth will be in. On an exceptional success, the Garou can determine the precise hour the birth will begin. Note that this prediction is the time of natural birth if all factors remain the same. Obviously things like trauma and additional rituals or other magic can change this.
Rite of Heritage
Level One
Galliards and Philodox alike favor this genealogical rite, albeit for slightly different reasons. Some Garou use it to verify the identity of a hero’s descendants before passing on an inheritance; others use it to identify the father of a Ostraka cub if none is forthcoming. The ritemaster draws the blood of the subject with a silver knife and sings a long paean to the ancestor-spirits of his tribe and any others that might be watching over the subject. As he completes the song, the ancestor-spirits whisper the subject’s heritage into his ears.
System: Standard challenge. Success reveals the subject’s true heritage for one generation back per rank of the rite master (for example, a Fostern ritemaster would be able to determine the subject’s heritage as far back as his grandparents). In addition, the ritemaster receives the answer to one specific question about the subject’s heritage per dot in the rituals ability; e.g., “What was this cub’s paternal grandfather’s profession?” or “Does the blood of any other tribe run in this cub’s veins?” The answer will be accurate, as long as the answer can be found within the number of generations revealed; if the ritemaster was an Athro, for example, he could not ask “Is this child descended from Achilles,” but he could accurately tell if the child’s great-great-grandfather claimed descent from Achilles or not.
The Rite of Heritage works just as well with humans or wolves (although wolves, lacking names, are harder to accurately identify), even non-Kin or mages. It does not, however, work on the undead or on fae. It only works on the living.
Preserving the Fetish
Level One
This rite is designed to honor and preserve a spirit within a fetish, or other spirit-imbued object. Each Garou who practices this rite introduces small variations, depending on the type of spirit and fetish involved. The rite generally includes cleaning the fetish, and perhaps even re-coating damaged layers of paint or making other such similar repairs, though many Garou (and spirits) prefer fetishes that appear to be veterans, not brand-new. This rite is often assigned to cubs, who are subsequently given the task of maintaining the fetishes of the sept. This is usually also the only time cubs are allowed near the arsenal of the sept.
System: The player makes a static Wits + Rituals challenge, difficulty 8. Good roleplaying and clever ideas for honor the spirit (emphasis on honoring) could warrant bonus decreases in difficulty level. This ritual should be performed at least once a month, but most Garou are encouraged to use it as often as possible, especially after having used the fetish.
After this ritual has been performed, once during that session when attempting to activate the fetish with a Gnosis challenge, you gain a ritual retest on the challenge. A given fetish may only have this ritual performed on it once a session.
Rite of Growth
Level One
This favorite of urban Garou, particularly Warders of Man, allows plants to grow in strange locations. The plants don't grow unusually quickly, but can grow in iron, bronze, stone, or other unusual places, drawing nutrients from the source. Three Garou are needed to make this rite work.
The ritemaster makes an indentation in the surface using a claw, and plants the seed of the plant into it. The three then hold hands in a triangle around it, kneeling, and request the spirit of the material that it nurture and care for the plant. If the spirit agrees, a small green shoot will appear immediately.
System: Standard challenge, against a variable difficulty depending on the type of location; a ruin that could believably support a plant is only difficulty 5, the average city structure is 7, while an especially inhospitable location would be 9. If successful the plant will survive for one month, on an exceptional success instead the plant will survive for at least 3 months. After that, the plant will require as much regular watering and care as any other plant would.
Rite of the Questing Stone
Level One
This rite allows the werewolf to find a person or object (but not a location). She must know the name of the object or individual, and must dangle a stone or needle from a thread while concentrating on the item or person sought.
System: Standard challenge. If the Garou has a piece of the item or individual (a clipping of hair, a piece of cloth) the difficulty drops by one. The werewolf gains only a sense of the object’s general location, not its exact position. While this ritual is active you are able to flawlessly track an individual to within their rough area (e.g. you would be lead to the building they are in, but not the precise room). This ritual lasts for one hour, or until the end of the session on an exceptional success. This ritual also ends immediately if you let go of or lose the stone being used for the ritual.
Rite of Silence
Level One
Garou who need to be silent use this rite to make up for any lack in natural ability. For the duration of this rite, the Garou are incapable of making any noise even if they bang on a drum or shatter an amphora. With the assistance of Raven spirits, the Garou can sneak through dry underbrush or over a gravel road without making a sound.
System: Standard challenge. The Garou invoking this rite confines herself in a dark room or cave. She whispers her darkest secret and then utters an oath of silence. Raven-spirits, attracted by her secret, carry any sound she makes into the Umbra once she leaves her confinement. The effects of this ritual last for 15 minutes on a normal success, and one hour on an exceptional success. If the werewolf chooses to speak for any reason, the rite ends immediately. The Raven-spirits, disappointed that the Garou did not reveal any more secrets, return the sounds they carried. For several minutes, the Garou is surrounded by a cacophony she created earlier.
While this rite is active, the Garou makes no sound at all making them automatically succeed on any stealth challenges related only to hearing. However, this rite does not help them hide from any visual searches or other senses such as scent. If a Stealth challenge involves both sound and another sense then the Garou gains +3 on the relevant Stealth challenge to represent the aid of silence, but that they still must avoid other means of detection. This rite silences only those sounds the Garou would have made directly. If she were to throw a rock at a window, for instance, the whistle of the rock through the air would be silent, but the shattering glass would not. If she punched the glass with her bare hand, the breaking window would not make a sound.
An individual with Wolf Senses or a similar power that can contest supernatural concealment may attempt to contest this power. If they do you may use either their gift's defense test pool, or Wits + Rituals, at your discretion.
Level Two
Rite of Becoming
Level Two
Werewolves must perform this rite at an Anchorhead Domain. Once completed, it enables them to travel into the Deep Umbra. The most common version of this rite requires the Garou to make a braid from three of her hairs, three pieces of fine copper wire, and three tendrils of ivy or other vine. Lengths of silk thread are sometimes substituted for the hair or wire. When the braid has been constructed, the Garou ties it around his own wrist and howls three words of power.
System: Standard challenge. Upon successfully casting this ritual the Garou is able to travel into the Deep Umbra. This ritemaster can only cast this rite on herself.
If the braid is destroyed while the Garou is in the Deep Umbra, the werewolf takes one level of aggravated damage that cannot be reduced or negated and risks becoming lost forever if she doesn’t return to the Near Umbra within 5 minutes, any longer than that and she is at the whims of whatever spirits reside with the Deep Umbra.
Call to the Lost
Level Two
Traveling from the material world into the Umbra and back is not only a werewolf's birthright, but a necessity for maintaining the balance of self that Gaia intended for her defenders. Doing so can be dangerous though. Sometimes things go wrong. A packmate becomes caught in the Gauntlet itself, trapped between worlds. A werewolf is injured and alone in a Realm far from home, unable to return on her own. A comrade suffers the burden of Harano and walks among the spirits for too long, becoming disconnected from the physical world, forgetting who she is. A pack strays too far from the path given to them by their spirit guide and can't find their way back. In cases like these, this rite can be used to call the wandering soul back to where it belongs.
The ritemaster builds a fire scattered with fragrant herbs, burns incense, or otherwise creates a great amount of strong-smelling smoke. Once the fire is lit, he drums and howls, beating a rhythm and calling out long and loud. The searching call echoes out across the Umbra, seeking the wandering one by name. In time, if she doesn't fight the call, the lost soul will arrive at the site of the rite, though she may need the ritemaster's help to cross over the Gauntlet. This rite can also be used to return a Garou's mind to her body if she becomes lost while traveling the Astral Umbra; in this case, it must be performed over her body, which is painted with glyphs in a combination of ochre and blood.
System: To use this rite, the Ritemaster must engage in a static Wits + Rituals challenge, difficulty is the target's Permanent Gnosis + Rank; the stronger the target's connection to the spirit world, the harder it is to call them away from it. This rite can be performed on either side of the Gauntlet, but if it's done from the physical world, the ritemaster must make the challenge (or spend the Gnosis) to pierce the Gauntlet and let the target through. It takes a number of hours equal to the target's Gnosis rating to complete the rite, so if the character is trying to call back a highly spiritual Garou, he should settle in for a test of endurance. The werewolf being called experiences a series of visions that symbolize the call and the journey, perhaps encountering dream-beings that resemble those performing the ritual.
Street Writing
Level Two
When the Warders of Man, or Bone Gnawers and their urrah brethren need to spread the word about something important to all Garou in the city, but don't want to draw direct attention to themselves as they might with a howl, they might use the rite Street Writing. This rite is most appropriate when the message that needs to be disseminated is important but not urgent — "Be aware that the local cult of Dionysus is in league with a Wyrm-Cult" might work, while "We're under attack by Fomori" is not a good choice for this rite.
System: To perform the rite, the ritemaster must write the message out by hand in the medium that it is to be portrayed across the city that can be no more than 20 words, though it can be augmented by symbols or other images that might help explain the meaning. He must spend one Willpower and make a standard challenge. Creatures immune to the Delirium who are not Kinfolk, such as mages or vampires, cannot read the message; even undead who were Kin in life are unable to detect the hidden communication. Anyone subject to the Delirium simply will not see the message, instead glossing over it as uninteresting. Garou and kinfolk can easily identify such messages as being special, however, and their eyes are drawn to them, making it quite likely that any werewolf who reads the writing will realize that it contains a special message for Garou only.
Unfortunately, the Warders of Man who developed this rite didn't consider that Fallen Garou, still being Garou, could also see the messages; however, other creatures in the thrall of the Wyrm cannot see it.
The message then appears over the next day, the graffiti mimed throughout the city. This rite does not guarantee the graffiti lasting long, as while mortals will regard it as uninteresting they may still view it as an eyesore and clean up especially obvious placements.
Renewing the Talen
Level Two
As a form of lesser fetishes almost, talens are spirit-imbued items that have a limited number of uses: one. Some talens can be "refueled," however, with this rite. This rite charms and seduces the spirit involved to return to the talen, and it must be performed through singing and enticing and other forms of beguiling.
System:Standard challenge. By performing this rite prior to the Rite of Binding, the character effectively lowers her difficulty to perform that rite by one. On an exceptional success this rite ensures that every talen created with a successive casting of Rite of Binding can be used twice.
Rite of Spirit Awakening
Level Two
This rite is used to awaken a sleeping (inactive) spirit. To perform this rite, a Garou must play a rhythm on some form of instrument (drums are the most common). While the Garou plays, any other participating werewolves pace around the ritemaster, howling and growling in counterpoint to the beat.
When performed on a mundane item, this rite enlivens the object’s spirit, causing it to awaken and appear in the Umbra. For example, if the rite is performed on a chariot, any Garou stepping sideways could see the chariot as a true part of the landscape. However, it would appear as a stationary object in the Penumbra unless someone on the physical plane began to drive it, in which case it would appear as a driverless vehicle to anyone in the Umbra.
When performed on plants, this rite is known as sanctification.
System:The challenge for this rite is a static Wits + Rituals, difficulty the targeted spirit's rage. The ritemaster must play a musical instrument or sing a song (talent doesn’t matter). Failure means that the spirit remains dormant. The Storyteller must decide whether the spirit is hostile or friendly to its awakener. Awakening a spirit doesn’t allow any control over it. Commanding an awakened spirit requires either a Rite of Binding or a Gift. This rite doesn’t work on sentient beings such as humans. Such individuals are already as “awakened” as they’re going to get.
Plant-spirits are generally benevolent, and an awakened plant spirit will often lend its powers as though it were a talen (one use). Different plants grant different abilities when sanctified.
Rite of the Spirit Brew
Level Two
With this rite, a Garou imbues a small volume of water with Gnosis. The most time-consuming aspect of the rite involves actually creating the container. It must be sturdy enough to survive long journeys but ready mystically to hold the spiritual energies. This process allows the Garou to store a reserve of Gnosis for use during a particularly grueling conflict or extended journey. After several hours of meditation and prayers to Gaia, the Garou buries the receptacle in purified earth for three days. At the end of that period, the Garou recovers her prize.
System: Using this rite requires a downtime. Each downtime action is able to make a number of Spirit Brews up to your dots in the Rituals Ability. Each Spirit Brew holds three Gnosis points that can be consumed by anyone. Should a creature incapable of using Gnosis drink the liquid, nothing happens and the Gnosis is lost. The nature of the container depends purely on the Garou and the circumstances in which she finds herself. Each Spirit Brew stays good for one session, after which the Gnosis is lost.
Rite of Summoning
Level Two
Garou mystics are adept at calling spirits, be they minor Gafflings, totem spirits, or even Incarna. Summoning spirits involves complex rituals, long periods of meditation, and tribal mantra chanting. Within the Umbra, this process is far easier. This rite compels spirits to seek those who call them. Furthermore, the spirit cannot escape its caller once the summoning is completed successfully, and it must attend the mystic. Many spirits, particularly minor ones, are too weak to resist a powerful summoning. Powerful ones come out of curiosity. The chance of a successful summoning depends upon the skill of the mystic, the power of the spirit, and the strength of the area’s Gauntlet.
System: The ritemaster must pierce the Gauntlet just as if he were entering the Umbra (static Gnosis challenge against the local Gauntlet level, or spending a point of gnosis). A mystic already within the Umbra is not required to pierce the Gauntlet. The power level of the spirit determines the difficulty level of a successful summoning. The Storyteller can determine difficulty from the following chart:
| Spirit Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Gaffling | 4 |
| Jaggling | 5 |
| Totem Avatar | 7 |
| Incarna | 10-15 |
| Celestine | 20 |
A Garou who summons an Incarna or Celestine avatar may absolutely use that to claim Wisdom Renown, unless the summons is done frivolously. A frivolous summon is likely to instead cost the ritemaster Wisdom Renown, as well as possibly Honor renown if they did so deceitfully.
Rite of Tying the Snare
Level Two
Snare-spirits are subtle and persistent entities of the City's Umbrascape, trapping humans, other spirits, and Banes in the city. This rite invokes their power to bind a specific enemy to a particular location, even if only for a while. Calling on these Weaver-spirits is a potentially dangerous endeavor. If the rite is performed improperly, the snare-spirits will likely try to bind the ritemaster into the Pattern Web. But success can leave an enemy right where the ritemaster wants him; several vampires have gone up in four-alarm building fires thanks to this rite.
Using this rite, a ritemaster must first walk, run, or otherwise move round the area to be bound. She must name that which she wishes to bind, and the name must be sufficiently accurate — "the vampire who works in this building" is not precise enough, whereas "the vampire who works in this building under the alias of Kronos" will suffice. She then invokes the trapping spirit, and "ties a knot" round the area. If the rite is successful, the target of the rite will find it difficult to leave the area — barricades are harder to shift, doors lock themselves, and so on.
System: Standard challenge. Each dot of rituals that the rite master possesses seals one door, blocks one window, or in some way blocks a method of egress. In addition, the difficulty of any challenges or feats of strength made to leave the area (such as Athletics check to jump from roof to roof) is increased by 1 for each dot the ritemaster has of rituals, to a maximum difficulty of 15. This rite is at its most potent when combined with more mundane means of blocking exits, such as barricading doors.
Note that this rite cannot restrict any other activities of the target that aren't directly related to leaving, nor can it prevent other people from assisting the trapped target; a shout for help will not be affected, and neither will allies arriving to break down the doors. The effects of this ritual last for one hour, or until the target manages to escape the area. On an exceptional success, if the target should return to the area within the session, the effect resumes until the rest of the hour passes or they manage to escape again.
Rite of Renewing the Earth
Level Two
Perhaps the gentlest Wyld rite, this serves to reconsecrate barren ground to the service of life and growth.
The rite itself is rather lengthy, beginning with chanting as two Garou stride the perimeter of the area to be affected. One carries a bowl of water, the other a bowl of blood (chicken blood is usually sufficient), and they sprinkle this on the ground as they walk. Ideally, the water and blood will run out as the Garou meet back at their starting point. According to tradition, if they run out beforehand, the rite is doomed to failure.
Any other Garou then cross the boundary of blood and water and make the a ritual furrow from one end of the field to the other. No tools can be used in this labor, or else the entire effect is spoiled.
System: Standard challenge. If the rite is performed properly, the site becomes much more Wyld-friendly and fertile, and may well actually produce life come springtime. In addition, Wyrm- and Weaver-creatures find themselves at a +3 difficulty on all challenges while in the newly consecrated area, and this effect lasts for a year and a day.
Rite of the Ziggurat
Level Two
The Warders of Man and Children of Gaia learned long ago that just as nature combines functions in a forest, Garou can "stack" rites atop one another for more powerful magic. Often urban Garou perform rites atop ziggurats, atop temples, or even on top of pyramids.
The Rite of the Ziggurat unites and strengthens other rites. It is useful when two or more rites (even minor rites) are being performed atop one another in a multilevel structure. For example, a group of Garou Greeting the Moon could synchronize their actions with another pack consecrating a fetish two floors up and a Rite of Renown one floor up.
System: Standard challenge. Each rite that is being performed at the same time on different floors of a structure all receive a bonus on their test pool equal to the total number of rites, up to a max of the Ritemaster's dots of the Rituals ability. In addition, the background count of spirits may rise in relation to all the rites, with potentially interesting effects at storyteller discretion.
Level Three
Rite of the Blackened Moon
Level Three
This rarely used rite creates a spiritually dead zone, essentially closing off a small space to Umbral access. The space can be no larger than a small hut or large room. Garou feel distinctly uncomfortable in this dead zone, and spirits trapped there can wither away to nothingness.
System: The bounds of the space are inscribed with glyphs, and an herbal smudge or incense is burned to banish spirits and spiritual influences from the room. Standard challenge. If successful, increase the Gauntlet by 2 (to a maximum of 10). On an exceptional success, increase the Gauntlet by 5 (to a maximum of 10). In addition, no Gnosis can be regained in any way within the warded space, and materialized spirits trapped within begin to unravel at the rate of 1 Essence/hour. The ritual's effect lasts a number of days equal to the ritemaster's dots of the ritual ability, fading at sundown of the final day. This ritual takes half an hour to perform, and can be continued as often as necessary.
Calling the Spirit Guide
Level Three
This rite serves as a quicker way to summon spirits while in the Umbra, but only spirits that can guide the summoner to a location. The spirits summoned with this rite will not teach the character anything or assist in the usual ways, but can be asked to help find a place, person or item in the Umbra. The rite involves calling out through a specialized dance and chant taught to the Garou as she learned this rite.
System: Standard challenge, but lower the difficulty by one if the character seeks a particular spirit whose name she knows. When the spirit appears, it can lead the character or her pack to a Near Realm without difficulty. There is no further roll required here, but as customary it will want something in return for its services. It can also help search for a place or a person. The spirit is not omniscient, and can only help locate the target. The ritemaster gains a +5 bonus to challenges to try and locate the target, as long as the spirit assists him. The spirit can also attempt to lead the characters to the Deep Umbra. In this case, stakes are much higher, and the characters may need to haggle a great deal (but not so much as to offend the spirit) to get a reasonable price. Also, the characters must locate an anchorhead themselves, and they travel into the Deep Umbra at their own risk. If the characters manage to persuade the spirit to accompany them on their entire journey, they will be able to return safely to the anchorhead.
Descent Into the Underworld
Level Three
Most Garou think of the Umbra, the Gaian spirit world, as the only spirit realm that sits close to the physical world. Most Garou are wrong. The Underworld — the Land of the Dead, the Dark Umbra — sits astride the physical realm just as the Umbra does. Within it are trapped the ghosts of countless humans who died unable to let go of their lives and pass on into the cycle of souls, as Gaia intended.
The Underworld is a bleak landscape mirroring all that is decayed or departed in the living world, as the Penumbra is a reflection expressing the world’s spiritual nature. Terrible, unstable portals lead deeper yet into the Underworld, a land of spirit-storms and nightmare mazes where few Garou have ever ventured and from which fewer still have ever returned.
This rite is primarily known and used by the Silent Striders, but a few other tribes and camps make use of it as well (most notably the Black Furies and White Howlers).
System: This rite takes five minutes to perform. The ritemaster must sacrifice a living mammal and touch every character to be affected by the rite with at least a fingerprint of its blood. A number of individuals may be anointed up to twice the character's dots in leadership. Alternatively, he may always anoint all members of his pack. He then draws sigils on the ground nearby with the remaining blood. The player makes a static Intelligence + Rituals challenge (difficulty equals the local Gauntlet). Success on this challenge takes the ritemaster and all anointed to the grey fields of Asphodel. Crossing back from Asphodel is the same as crossing from the Penumbra to the normal world; however, it is not possible to peak across the Gauntlet; as such crossing back over is always blind.
Rite of the Fetish
Level Three
This rite allows a werewolf to create a fetish (an object with a spirit bound into it). To do so, the Garou must first cleanse the potential fetish by placing it under running water (sufficiently drinkable flowing tap water counts), burying it in pure earth, exposing the object to constant breezes, or suspending it above flame for three consecutive nights. The Garou must then force or persuade a spirit to enter the prepared object. The Night Claws claim that cajoling or flattering a spirit produces the best results, while the Bone Gnawers and Silent Striders claim that bribery (expending Gnosis) works best.
System:This rite is necessary to forge a Fetish. Please reference the Fetish Creation Rules.
Rite of the Shadow Play
Level Three
While most Garou are familiar with the friendly spirits known as Lunes, fewer know their more secretive cousins. This rite calls on the Blood Lunes, spirits of lunar eclipses and the far side of the moon. These elusive Jagglings see all but say little, lurking just beyond sight wherever moonlight shines. A werewolf who coaxes them out properly can draw on their abundance of ancient observations from unseen corners of the world, asking questions about the history of an elusive subject and receiving a cryptic shadow play in answer. Blood Lunes don't usually care about knowledge that's known by many, and they tend to forget it. They only retain secrets, and so only secrets can be learned from them. This rite doesn't actually summon the Blood Lunes into the material world, if performed there; it only draws them close to the Gauntlet to pass on their hints.
This rite must be performed during the full moon, when its light shines fully on a surface. The Garou must have some physical representation of the subject of her inquiry on hand. This could include a lock of hair or a severed finger, a carved bone resembling a spirit, sand from a particular beach, and so on. She sacrifices a nocturnal animal — usually a bat — then takes awakened Blue Lotus or Mad Honey. Having done so, she places the token on the ground, lets her shadow fall upon the bright surface, and dances. As she does, her shadow acts out her questions in symbolic gestures. She must repeat these motions until her shadow separates from her and acts out its own story. Other shadows join it, presenting an enigmatic tale that she must interpret for clues that answer the questions. The tale may not even obviously reference the subject of the query, but with the proper interpretation, she can still glean.
System: The player makes a static Wits + Investigation challenge with a difficulty based on the obscurity or specificity of her subject. Well-known or broad subjects such as the Garou Nation, the battle of Thermopylae, or the Weaver are difficulty (10 - Rituals). Slightly narrower or more obscure subjects such as a particular mountain range, the Silver Fangs’ tribal lore, or a the marriage unifying two noble houses are difficulty (15 - Rituals). Coaxing out Blood Lunes who know about very narrow or arcane subjects such as a particular lost tome of wisdom, an individual not widely-known, or an agreement made between two spirits is difficulty (20 - Rituals). If successful, the werewolf learns one secret about the subject's past, couched in mystery and symbolism. On an exceptional success, the player gets two additional secrets about the subject's past, couched in mystery and symbolism. The Ritemaster may ask a number of yes or no questions equal to their dots in the Occult Ability to try and get clarification on the strange visions they are seeing.
Rite of the Totem
Level Three
This rite binds a totem to a group of Garou, joining them together as a pack. During the rite, all werewolves who wish to bind their destinies to a particular totem spirit must coat their eyes with an infusion of saliva and mugwort, sage, or a similar substance holy to Gaia and step sideways into the Umbra. In the spirit world, the ritemaster leads the Garou in a hunt for the spiritual spoor left by a totem spirit. Such evidence varies with the spirit, but Garou worthy of the totem’s attention can always find it. Even tracking down the spirit doesn’t guarantee success, for the totem must decide whether the Garou are worthy to become its fosterlings. An undecided totem may require a quest of the supplicants, although one is almost never required if the pack has just completed a Rite of Passage successfully.
System: Characters must purchase the Totem Background to benefit from this rite. Otherwise, the rite is simply not performed. Please refer to the details on gaining a Totem and forming a Pack.
Level Four
Rite of Excoriation
Level Four
This dreadful rite forcibly strips the totem bond from a werewolf (or a pack). To perform this rite, the ritemaster must paint glyphs representing both the totem bond in general and the specific totem in question on the subject's body. The higher the number of totem dots the totem possesses, the more of the subject must be covered. The ritemaster then carefully flenses the skin beneath the glyphs off and waits until the subject's regeneration heals the wounds. Finally, the bloody, painted scraps are cast into a vat of molten silver.
System: The Rite of Excoriation requires the normal challenge. The difficulty is equal to the total number of points invested in the totem + 10. This ritual can be done on either an individual (in which case it only takes into account their dots of totem) or on the pack's totem directly (in which case it takes into account every dot of totem invested by the pack).
If successful against an individual it removes them from their pack, immediately severing their bond and their dots of totem are lost. If successful against a pack's totem it dissolves the pack bond completely. Totem points in this instance are not lost, but held "in trust" until the pack either reforms the bond or finds a new totem.
Rite of The Guardian Spirit
Level Four
This rite binds a spirit to a sept, making it into the sept’s totem. The details of this rite vary depending on the spirit. However, the rite always begins with a lavish sacrifice to attract the spirit’s attention. Then, one or more champions acting on the sept’s behalf proves their worth with a display of strength or skill. A sept hoping to attract the attention of a Totem of War might pit its champion against a captured Bane in ritual combat, while a sept attempting to woo a Totem of Respect might perform a play commemorating an ancient Garou victory. A Totem of Wisdom or Cunning, on the other hand, might be impressed by a ritualized debate on arcane details of the Litany. Finally, if the rite is successful, it ends with a second, even larger thanksgiving sacrifice and a celebration honoring the sept’s new totem.
System: Although the champions and the sacrifice are necessary components, only the ritemaster needs make the challenge. This ritual must be performed in the presence of an opened caern. A sept can only have one totem at a time; this ritual automatically fails if the caern is already occupied.