Garou society has certain elements and traditions that help werewolves understand who they are in contrast to one another, such as auspice and tribe. These ideas also have game mechanics attached to them, the better to help you express systemically what your stories explore narratively and socially.

　Treat none of what follows here as truth. Or, rather, treat all of it as true, even in its contradictions. Does a Patron Spirit truly grant the Garou special prowess? Or does the Garou simply think it does, thus granting the werewolf a confidence they didn’t know they had? As with so many things Garou, one’s own position informs all perspectives.

Auspices

　The moon and her journey across the sky have a great bearing on the Garou, imparting upon them Luna’s favor at the time of their birth. Indeed, the moon itself is a symbol of what sets werewolves apart from the world of wolves and humans, an augury of the part they play in a world ushered into Apocalypse. A werewolf’s auspice may be reflected in their personality, and it strongly influences the role they play in the pack as well as in wider Garou society. Indeed, no werewolf, despite their legend, can be all things to the Garou as a people. Auspices are part of the reason pack culture exists among the Garou — each auspice strengthens the pack when it acts in the collective.

　Auspices are different from tribes in one very important way: Werewolves choose their tribes but have very little control over their auspices, as they’re defined by the First Change. It’s another point of spiritual uncertainty for the Garou, in that they fear their mother, Gaia, to be dead or dying, while Luna’s connection to her nieces and nephews remains as strong as ever — but Luna remains silent on the matter of her sister’s existence.

　As a social construct, auspice informs other Garou what sorts of methods and disposition a werewolf might have. As a game Trait, it serves as a prerequisite for most Gifts or duties in the pack or sept.




Ragabash

　Who is the greater fool? The headstrong dipshit, or the knuckleheads who follow him willingly into folly?

　Changed under the sign of the new moon, the ragabash are the tricksters of Garou society, the auspice given the greatest latitude to challenge traditions and question “the way things have always been done.” Not least because “the way things have always been done” has resulted in Apocalypse.

　Ragabash may be capricious or jovial, pointing out foibles with jocularity, or they may be cunning and cynical, with an “I told you so” attitude toward the sorts of traditions that have brought the Garou where they are today. They may pull a practical joke or disrespect a vain opponent with some clever wordplay — so long as someone looks foolish or the conventional wisdom is questioned, the ragabash is doing their job.

　In play ragabash might expect to trick a stubborn opponent, misdirect an unsuspecting human conspirator, mock a more renowned werewolf, and sneak past an overconfident sentry.




Theurge

　The spirits have an elaborate language, and their movements are nuanced and meaningful — continue to treat them as disposable tools and you will find that they have abandoned you in your time of greatest need.

　Changed under the sign of the crescent moon, the theurges are the mystics of Garou society and the auspice with the greatest aptitude for interacting with spirits.

　Theurges may be eerie or sage or both. Their mastery of the spirit world may be time-tested and traditional, or it may be experimental, even controversial. They may affect strange accessories, or beguile spirits with subtle and esoteric movements of the body. Some are daydreamers or visionaries, whereas others are purposeful ritualists.

　In play theurges might expect to summon a reluctant jaggling, invoke ancient pacts of comradeship, placate revered elders with their service, and even bind rogue gafflings.




Philodox

　Do our ways exalt tradition or do they further justice? Can they do both?

　Changed under the sign of the half-moon, the philodoxes are the judges and arbiters of Garou society — the auspice with the responsibilities of mediating conflict by wisely interpreting the ways of the werewolves, and knowing the letter of the Litany.

　Philodoxes may be gentle or stentorian, seeking out all the facts or austerely committed-to rules and custom over circumstances. Some suggest insightful courses of action inspired by centuries of legend and lore; others gather information and formulate plans that they change as new information makes itself known. A philodox may be judgmental or compassionate.

　Philodoxes in play might expect to evaluate secrets a cagey ally has, uh, “discovered,” interpret the strange behavior of an errant packmate, punish an unrepentant transgressor at a moot, and judge the virtues of a daring raid, especially after having considered all aspects of a matter.




Galliard

　Hear me as I sing the song of the wolves we are, the people we can be, and the legends we shall become! It is a song of both tragedy and majesty, of horror and heroism.

　Changed under the sign of the gibbous moon, the galliards are the storytellers and lore-keepers of the Garou, and the auspice that maintains the oral record of the werewolves and upholds the spirit of the Litany.

　Galliards may be rambunctious spotlight-stealers or subdued chroniclers. They may aggrandize their pack’s absolutely amazing exploits, or they may recite every honest detail, down to the most minute. Some rejoice in the performance of the legend itself, from poems to songs to wildly gestured ribaldry; others spin gripping yarns of context and sociological understanding. Some can hold their liquor, and others, well….

　Galliards in play might expect to regale other werewolves with a fable or legend, hype a packmate whose star is on the rise, unite Garou with a dirge for one of their dead, or bluster their way past an intransigent sentry.




Ahroun

　Claws go in, blood sprays out.

　Changed under the sign of the full moon, the ahrouns are the warriors of Garou society, the fighters of a people who are entirely disposed to ferocious violence. They are often looked at for leadership in times of war, and given the belligerence of many septs, this often means “until further notice”.

　Ahrouns wreck shit and tear out throats. They may be frenzied whirlwinds of fang and claw, or wary, methodical predators, inflicting terror through exacting tactical precision. Other packmates might find them inspiring with their fearlessness or resent them as reckless gorehounds.

　In play ahroun might expect to fight, attack, destroy, and charge into a fray. Fuck you, Wyrm.

游戏概念：特质的相互关系

　作为玩家，请思考一下你月兆和部落的重叠。两者可以说分别是你做什么和为什么做。考虑一下这些东西对你的角色有什么影响，以及它们会如何影响你的角色扮演。尽管一个玻璃行者嘲弄者和一个同族尚武者可能会找到一些共同点，但他们仍是截然不同的两个人；尽管一个玻璃行者尚武者和一个红爪的可能也会找到一些（和前一个例子不同的）共同点，但也仍是截然不同的两个人。

The Tribes

　A Garou’s tribe is a community of werewolves sharing a similar purpose, mindset, goal, or outlook on the world. As with so many other aspects of werewolf life, a tribe is very much a spiritual alignment, as tribes are pledged by finding a Patron Spirit and declaring fidelity to them. Pledging oneself to a Patron Spirit and joining a tribe is a relationship — not only does the Garou promise to heed the Patron Spirit’s values, the Patron Spirit agrees and thus accepts the Garou. Furthermore, the werewolf is effectively sworn to the other members of the tribe, at least insofar as anything like a Garou consensus can ever be reached. In reality, tribes are often hotbeds of rivalry, because Patron Spirits have many more things to do than adjudicate the petty grudges of ill-tempered tribe members.

　In some cases, tribe can even have some amount of heredity to it, such as with a distant relative who passed along some of the lessons of their Patron Spirit or even acts as a current Mentor. This latter relationship contributes strongly to some folkloric beliefs about the Garou, such as “lycanthropy” occurring as a family curse or from being the seventh child of a seventh child, but such situations have no actual bearing on whether one becomes a werewolf. For more information on the imperfect understanding of who becomes Garou, see p. 41.

　Tribes have existed since before human history, though whether they have always been these tribes is a matter of some debate. Certainly, other tribes have existed, and some still do, though not all observe the same duty to Gaia. Each still has a Patron Spirit in some form or another, however, as that status is the definition of a tribe in the context of the Garou.



Favor and Ban

　Favor and Ban describe the special aptitudes and behaviors that, to the Garou perspective, come as a result of a Patron Spirit’s support. One way of looking at the tribes, Favor, and Ban is as a declaration of what the character finds important. For example, if you want to play a character who opposes injustice, that’s the Black Furies; if you want to play a character who flouts taboo, that’s the Ghost Council. Thus, Favor and Ban are systemic expressions of those values that relate directly to the tribe’s Patron Spirit — they’re the ways the Garou define their relationship to Gaia, by aligning themselves with the powerful spirits in her service. Favor and Ban are critical to defining what it means to be a Garou, a member of a tribe, and not just a slavering flesh-hungry monster.



Archetypes

　Most of the archetypes described for each tribe are homid in function or concept, even for tribes that have proportionately more werewolves who prefer the lupus as their most frequent form or have wolf origins. This emphasis lets the descriptions propose a wider variety of allies, antagonists, and possible character concepts. Furthermore, in the setting, many lupus-favoring Garou find themselves having to adopt identities and personalities suited to the human world.

Black Furies


　You don’t have to pick on someone your own size. Try picking on someone my size.

　The Black Furies bestow paramount importance on justice, especially for those who find themselves disadvantaged because of the actions of others. The tribe is renowned for circumventing or shattering obstacles — whether a literal barrier, in the form of an enemy formation, or a “glass ceiling” that prevents fair outcomes.

　That stated, their sobriquet identifies them as furies with good cause. Even among Garou, the Black Furies have a reputation for escalation in situations where compromise would, in their opinion, yield only half-measures. At their best, the Black Furies want to set the balance right. Provoke them too greatly, however, and the Black Furies pursue justice at all costs. After all, there’s no value in convincing the chemical plant to dump a little less toxic runoff into the river. Just burn the whole fucking thing to the ground.

　Black Furies in play might expect to liberate a victim from an oppressor, overcome the local media’s manufactured consent to a hazardous power plant, dismantle that recalcitrant chemical plant, and demolish a caern that’s too tainted by its previous occupiers to reclaim.



Who Are the Black Furies?

　The world is an unfair place, made all the worse by those who benefit from — and so perpetuate — that unfairness. From outsized corporate influence buying favorable legislation down to the greasy-spoon restaurateur who demands inappropriate favors from his serving staff, the story is the same wherever people are, regardless of the culture or the locale. To the Black Furies’ perspective, nothing is so despicable as those who are in positions of advantage and use it to harm the less fortunate. It’s a point of view that resonates greatly with the Garou service to Gaia, and thus are the Black Furies renowned as being among the most righteous (or self-righteous…) of all werewolves.

　Their enthusiasm puts Black Furies at the forefront of many meaningful conflicts, whether the high-visibility, well-attended causes dear to the public, or the well-hidden, greenwashed, backroom deals where some unaware and unlucky soul is left holding the bag. Police brutality and wage inequalities, public-utility scams and yet another landfill full of consumer garbage — these events and others earn the ire of Black Furies looking to set things right. Of course, “set things right” often has a very different meaning for Garou than it does for humans, and not every Black Fury gives a fuck about fair wages if, in their opinion, fair wages equate to “too many humans.” Numerous Black Furies hold perspectives that might charitably be described as Darwinian.

　It’s a role that requires vigilance and self-criticism. All too easily, empathy can turn to pity, and pity to disdain, and Black Furies who long ago took on noble causes can find themselves worn down by the constant need of those who have been marginalized. At the same time, righteousness can turn to hatred, and a Black Fury may have enemies for the sake of having enemies, even where none truly exist — a perilous risk when mixed with Garou politics and caern meetings.

　At their most extreme, Black Furies can even become accelerationists, consumed by infinite campaigns of bloody vengeance. Why wait for the crypto farm to waste a small nation’s GDP in energy costs when you can wreck the mining operation before a bunch of techbro choads can buy new Teslas? Fuck Tesla anyway, since most of the power for their “green” electrical cars comes from fossil fuels. And fuck you for doubting.



Patron Spirit

　The patron spirit of the Black Furies is Gorgon, who was herself treated unjustly by an even more powerful spirit. Gorgon and the Black Furies are associated with Glory, particularly glory gained tearing down anyone or anything in a position of systemic power — an act justified in itself to the vengeance-spirit of Gorgon.

　Indeed, not acting against a perceived abuse of power is considered an act of neglect by many members of this tribe, and those seeking the favor of their patron can be vigilant to the point of belligerence.

Favor: Gorgon calls upon her followers to eliminate barriers and punish those that create or maintain them. Black Furies player can add a die to a pool used to oppose or circumvent someone or something in a position of power (relative to themselves or someone in their care).

Ban: Gorgon demands that her followers always try to correct an injustice. If they let persist an injustice that they could’ve prevented or addressed, they may recover only a single Willpower at the start of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating.



Black Fury Archetypes


Most Wanted

　The Most Wanted made a name for themselves before their First Change by attending all the public-facing city council meetings, where they quickly earned a reputation as a pain in the ass. Just after their First Change, however, the Most Wanted realized that there are faster ways to make a change than by pleading a case to elected officials who have a vested interest in things not changing. Falling in with a group of like-minded individuals — their pack and a handful of trusted allies, naturally — the Most Wanted now does what needs to be done without being hindered by unjust laws, and now has their name on multiple lists as someone dangerous.


EMT

　First in the family to go to college. First aid. First responder. First Change. It’s been a life of firsts for the EMT, and that probably won’t change anytime soon. Both their job and their pack seem to involve a lot of opportunities to help people in harm’s way, and that gives the EMT a sense of purpose, but also a personal pride that they can be there for someone who needs it. Life is struggle, and the way the EMT sees things, they get people back in the fight. It’s getting harder and harder to do, with budget cutbacks meaning fewer shifts and cheaper supplies. That’s a fight that, eventually, will need to be had, too.


Musician

　The Musician knows how to work the crowd. Their set list is blistering, their take-no-prisoners stage persona ignites the crowd, and their rebellious choruses have audiences chanting slogans as they’re singing along. That adrenalized feeling the Musician builds on stage is second only to the Rage the Musician expresses as they take crinos form and rend their way through the sorts of assholes their songs are about. On stage or off, it’s all about knocking ’em dead. Sometimes literally.


Outrider

　Despite its being a human term, the Outrider prefers lupus form while prowling and patrolling the borders of the territory they feel duty-bound to protect. And there’s a lot of it — the perimeter of the caern, the mobile-home park at the edge of town, and that spill pipe near the river where the wildlife is always unnaturally aggressive. It’s the Outrider’s job to lope the fringes of the territory, then keep the rest of the pack informed as to what they’ve seen. Sometimes they’re overzealous at this task, which their packmates mock as “crying wolf,” but the vigil must be kept. Sometimes it means trouble after the fact. Come to think of it, usually it means trouble after the fact.

Bone Gnawers


　This one guy known as the Honorable Ballsack once said that behind every great fortune someone did a great crime, and the moment I can hold that someone accountable, you better fucking believe I will.

　The Bone Gnawers seek to discover the obscured in all its forms: secrets, passwords, shortcuts, anything they might use to advantage over the obvious. They are especially adept at hiding in plain sight, and they often exist amid groups of a lower socioeconomic status, those who go unseen by people who consider themselves superior and are indifferent to what their “lessers” think or see.

　Bone Gnawers in play might expect to infiltrate a restricted area, pilfer a compromised journalist’s laptop, eavesdrop on dirty cops, witness an illicit deal happening, and surmise how they’re all related.



Who Are the Bone Gnawers?

　Moving unnoticed among the masses, Bone Gnawers have found themselves perennially in the company of society’s castoffs, even within Garou culture — and that’s saying something for a culture that includes people who sleep in ditches and attend moots with bloody muzzles still slick with petrochemical waste.

　No surprise, then, that Bone Gnawers frequently find themselves among the countercultures and disadvantaged segments of society. Whether part of the city’s transient populace, slumming with the crust punks in the bohemian neighborhood, drunk with the touring outlaw-country band, or scavenging literal trash with the feral dogs at the landfill, Bone Gnawers are often among those from whom the rest of the world uncomfortably averts its gaze.

　Bone Gnawers find any number of ways to suss out the secrets that sustain them. Some are hardy survivors, staking out their target during a pandemic. Others perfect the art of not being seen, or, even better, making sure someone else is caught on the main entrance security camera while they sneak in through the loading dock. Whatever the case, they’re looking for answers to the questions they obsess over, the ethical shortcuts and crooked politics that trouble their communities or even Gaia herself.

　It’s a classic chicken-and-egg story. Were the Bone Gnawers always at the bottom, so they adapted to the tricks and trades of the bottom? Or were they so good at skullduggery and dirt-finding that they were pushed out of “polite society” by colluding pipe-smokers and rhyme-saying furhead “nobles”? Who cares? Because when it comes down to it, who’s got the goods? The rangy, shadow-slinking wolf who knows how to creep where creeping nets the most information, or some bespectacled ponytail with elbow patches on his tweed jacket?

　And that’s one of the ironies (or tragedies, perhaps) of the Bone Gnawers: They’re really good at what they do, and what they do is critical to the Garou cause, but they rarely earn any respect around the fires. That stated, wise leaders recognize and laud the Bone Gnawers, because unwise leaders who snub them end up getting doxxed or having their private lives on display in an anonymous social media leak.



Patron Spirit

　The patron spirit of the Bone Gnawers is Rat, who is often present but unseen, and sometimes unwelcome when his presence is known. Rat and the Bone Gnawers are associated with Honor, which some prideful Garou find incongruous… until a Bone Gnawer turns up with decisive proof that a rival had planned to betray them. Indeed, part of Rat’s ruse seems to be to seek out and cultivate those who would otherwise evade notice. Clever, Rat. Very clever.

Favor: Rat implores his followers to discover that which others fail to spot and, once discovered, use that which they learn in in creative ways. There’s no value in knowledge for its own sake — each finding has a purpose. A Bone Gnawer can add a die to a dice pool used to find something lost or overlooked.

Ban: Rat seems like an ignoble figure but, in truth, works for the wellbeing of his nest and brood. If a Bone Gnawer passes up a significant opportunity to give the disadvantaged a leg up, they regain only a single point of Willpower at the beginning of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating.



Bone Gnawer Archetypes


Zine Raconteur

　The Zine Raconteur has a nose for news and has an amazing record of following the most worthwhile tips to their dirty truths. They do it all, from investigation to photography to copy to layout. Sure, it’s local news — neighborhood news, really — but local is where the Zine Raconteur’s DIY approach means the most. And if it takes a quick shapechange to make a getaway or a spirit’s help to cause a power failure, well, the story justifies the means. Also, the Zine Raconteur has a wide distribution network of the neighborhood’s more notable individuals, who just happen to be first-rate informants.


Sound Tech

　It’s not a glorious job, but everybody’s favorite band sounds better the nights when the Sound Tech is on the board. To be honest, the Sound Tech took the job to be close to where the action is, but it turns out they had a knack for it, and they learned more than a little bit of improvisational electrical engineering while fixing amps, monitors, oh, and the goddamn lights that Maurice won’t pay to have professionally repaired. Since the music’s great and the vibe at the club is chill, guests let their hair down and talk about the most outrageous shit that they get up to while they’re on the clock. And that? That’s a gold mine for the Sound Tech.


Friend of Ours

　Everybody owes the Friend of Ours favors, and that’s because the Friend of Ours is always eager to do favors for a friend. Sometimes the favors the Friend of Ours asks require a little looking the other way, but that’s no big deal, and it’s how things have been in the neighborhood since anyone can remember. It’s not like the Friend of Ours is asking anyone to do anything that’s actually illegal. Probably. No one really minds, since the Friend of Ours somehow pays for the street festival every June, and the only people who get hurt there have it coming anyway.


Gig Wheelman

　Everybody has to get someplace, and the Gig Wheelman is there for them. Sometimes they need to go to the airport, sometimes they need to get to the cathedral, and sometimes they need to get to the law office by a quarter past two and just wait here for a few minutes if you don’t mind, I’ll be right down; what, no, I had this briefcase with me when I went in. The Gig Wheelman makes a few bucks getting people where they want to be, but mostly they want to know why all these people are trying to get where they need to be. The Gig Wheelman is great at putting together the details.

Children of Gaia


　So may Gaia howl in this era of spiritual ruin, but as her chosen, are we the voice of her howl, or are we complicit with those who harm her?

　The Children of Gaia concern themselves with the greater mysteries of their namesake and seek to understand the enigmas that exist in her presence. A Child of Gaia is challenged by nothing so much as a conundrum to investigate or a wound, literal or figurative, to mend, and they are especially drawn to the esoteric Umbra.

　Children of Gaia in play might expect to discover a cache of artifacts left by legendary Garou, discern the true nature of a trickster-spirit, heal the injury others suffer, or puzzle out the solution to an Umbral quandary.



Who Are the Children of Gaia?

　If the Garou are creatures of Rage, the Children of Gaia embody that Rage paradoxically, in many cases by seeing themselves as the conscience that must accompany the inchoate fury of the Garou. Anything else would make them the veritable monsters the rest of the world sees when the Delirium falters.

　Which isn’t to say that they’re pacifists. Quite the contrary: The tribe’s perspective is that Rage is a force of nature, like a relentless tsunami or an untended flame. Any natural force can destroy, but so can those destructive forces be turned to positive ends.

　Such existential questions define the Children of Gaia, who seek first and foremost to understand the nature of werewolf service to the mother who birthed them. They are the Garou who ask “why?” and “to what end?” when other werewolves invoke the mother-spirit to justify some hot-headed rampage into the Wyrm’s gullet or insist that a bloody atrocity somehow ultimately serves their purpose. As the stone stands firm and redirects the stream around it, so too does the insightful Child of Gaia guide the power of their pack.

　More than anything else, Children of Gaia seek to understand. They look into the details behind an unpopular political candidate suddenly gaining momentum with the same open-mindedness that they negotiate a fair sacrifice to navigate a spirit’s territory by learning what the spirit wants and why. Neither the physical world nor the spirit world is a list of facts for a Child of Gaia. Each is a myriad of questions to be answered. Glib werewolves dismiss the Children of Gaia as harmless or even un-werewolf-like. To the Child of Gaia, however, the purpose behind their endless seeking of answers is to fix immediate problems. A bee may sting and a bullet may pierce, and knowing what caused the wound helps best determine the way to heal it.



Patron Spirit

　The patron spirit of the Children of Gaia is Unicorn, herself a mystery and a wonder to the modern world. Humans think of Unicorn as a spirit of the forests, and that can be true, but just as much, Unicorn is a spirit of mysterious places, those locales that are themselves as elusive as she. Unicorn and the Children of Gaia are associated with Wisdom.

Favor: Unicorn encourages her followers to learn how people and spirits interrelate, understand what makes the Umbra and the physical world work as they do, and restore things to their function. A Child of Gaia may add a die to an Awareness or Insight dice pool related to learning something about an individual person, animal, or spirit.

Ban: Unicorn is forthright and despises dishonesty. If a Child of Gaia must lie or misdirect, or hides truths specifically for personal gain, they may recover only a single Willpower at the start of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating. (If you have to argue whether it’s “for personal gain,” that’s maybe an indicator of the intent…)



Children of Gaia Archetypes


Sawbones

　Specializing in patching people up on the fly, the Sawbones doesn’t have a clean office or a friendly receptionist. If you need the Sawbones, you have to know where the Sawbones is, and that secrecy keeps them busy with the sorts of patients who aren’t exactly seeking well-appointed waiting rooms. The Sawbones knows how to keep their mouth shut, and, let’s be honest, has plenty of… peccadilloes of their own that wouldn’t exactly thrill a certification board, especially given how much of the Sawbones’ ability is based on intuition and spiritual bargaining rather than traditional medical science.


Dealer

　Lotsa people looking to expand their horizons, and the Dealer is willing to help them do just that. Pay it forward, you know? Sometimes you can be someone’s ferryman on the journey of self-discovery. Nothing too harsh, nothing that’s gonna give anyone a bad trip or have ’em waving a kitchen knife at the neighbors. The thinking is, if the Dealer can let someone in on their own personal mystery-world, they’ll form the sort of lifetime relationship that’ll keep any secret safe, including the secret of what they found on the Other Side.


Wayfarer

　The Wayfarer has made many journeys and will make many more before seeking the Umbral horizon. Where the light won’t go, under the heavy canopies in the forest; where the world smells like purple and fear, in the foothills; where the rain sounds like a million moon-spirits in chorus. All of these and more: The Wayfarer always discovers something to find and follow across the border between worlds, and inevitably something’s there to greet them on the other end.


Miner

　It may look like backbreaking work, and it is. The Miner considers themselves a bit of a doctor, practicing medicine by delving into Gaia’s wounds and extirpating the Wyrm’s foulness within. Deep within corridors of stone, beyond boundaries of ancient rock and spiritual calcification lurk truths and troubles, some of which have even fallen out of the memory of the tribes themselves. To this end the Miner brings mysteries back to their pack, and back into the awareness of the Garou.

Galestalkers


　Tell you what, I’ll give you a head start. Hide where you want. Just, wherever you want. Doesn’t matter. See you soon.

　Namesakes to the wind that crosses the tundra, the Galestalkers are tireless. These unparalleled trackers never lose awareness of their prey, regardless of whether that prey hails from the Spirit Wilds or the physical world. They go to great lengths to bring back what they have committed to hunt — and their packmates know they can depend on them.

　Galestalkers in play might expect to track their prey across a despoiled waste, ambush the foe by cleverly predicting where it will travel, pursue the prey doggedly if it foolishly flees, and harry the prey until it finally falls.



Who Are the Galestalkers?

　Whether pursuing their quarry into a trackless Brazilian jungle, across a deteriorating spirit-path in the Umbra, or through the alleys of downtown San Francisco, the Galestalker tribe excels at the hunt. Certainly, all Garou are predators, capable of bringing down prey, but the Galestalker raison d’être is the pursuit and kill — sometimes capture — on the hunt. Their word is their bond, and when they promise to pursue, only the direst of outcomes can lure them away. And a Galestalker packmate exalts in nothing so much as sharing a kill with their fellows.

　The Galestalkers are widely respected by other Garou, but the other tribes nonetheless often view them as brooding and taciturn, even distant. In many cases, though, this temperament stems from the Galestalkers’ intimate attention to their hunting senses. These werewolves constantly read the environment for clues that might go unnoticed amid the stink of a city, the pomp of a moot, or in the horror of an Umbral atrocity site.

　Some of these well-rounded hunters take in all evidence of the hunt. Others may focus narrowly upon a single element of their Garou selves as hunters, perhaps relying on advantage-granting weapons or potent artifacts that make them inescapable beyond the Gauntlet. To hear the Galestalkers tell it, there are as many ways to hunt as there are beings worth hunting.

　In the era of the Apocalypse, however, Galestalkers often find it hard to decide what, exactly, merits their attention and that of their pack. With so many threats and crises that must be dealt with, they are not unlike the wolf loosed in the rabbit’s hutch: Where to snap one’s jaws first? They are providers more than they are leaders, except in the case of burgeoning Galestalker legends. In this sense, they rely greatly on other Garou and strong pack relationships, lest they find themselves as undirected as the wind.



Patron Spirit

　North Wind itself is the Patron Spirit of the Galestalkers, with its boundless power, great endurance, patience, and ability to rouse the elements. North Wind and the Galestalker tribe are associated with Honor — when they commit to a course of action, other Garou can depend upon it.

Favor: North Wind is tireless, even unstoppable. Having formed a pact with the Galestalkers as its hunters, North Wind bestows some amount of that uncompromising devotion upon Garou of the tribe. A Galestalker may add a die to dice pools directly related to the pursuit of their prey.

Ban: North Wind has an insatiable hunger, and so do those who pledge themselves to it. For any day that a Galestalkers does not partake of fresh kill (regardless of whether it was they who hunted it), they regain only a single point of Willpower at the beginning of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating.



Galestalker Archetypes


Drifter

　West Coast, then on up to New York, maybe into Canada a bit, then down through Mexico and into Belize. The rolling stone gathers no moss, and the Drifter calls no place home, truly. They had a hard life after their First Change, and the truth of what the Drifter is always seems to turn the circumstances against them and push them on to whatever’s next, usually while trailing blood. As only the Drifter and their packmates know, they aren’t a drifter at all. They’re hunting something — someone — very specific, and if the Drifter ever loses too much time, the trail will go cold.


Spiritwalker

　Specializing in forays into the Umbra and pursuit of inscrutable spirit prey, the Spiritwalker frequently braves the strangeness of the Spirit Wilds. They may seem distracted or aloof in the physical world, but that’s usually because the Spiritwalker is peeking beyond the Gauntlet, looking for clues and spirit-spoor that simply don’t exist in the world of fleshly hunts — five senses are hard enough to process, but ten make unparalleled demands. Once the Spiritwalker has discovered their quarry, however, the pack would do well to heed their preparations, as the Spiritwalker rarely bothers with innocuous prey.


Gaucho

　In many cases, Garou make animals nervous, almost certainly because the latter sense the predator common to all werewolf forms. But every now and then, a bond forms, as it has between the Gaucho and the horse they’ve come to trust on their journeys across the Pampas. Theirs is a vanishing way of life, but the gauchos bear a legend almost as extensive (and certainly more widely known) than the Garou. The Gaucho likes it further and further south, where the nights are long and the wind is cold and everything the pack can see to the horizon exists under their stewardship.


Leechtalker

　Cities are full of the unquiet dead, blood-drinkers who play the world of the living against itself to their own benefit. No surprise, then, that these Leeches are so often attached to the same agenda of avarice as the most short-sighted humans. The Leechtalker knows their patterns and their stink, and can root them out from their nests, given enough time and patience. But it’s not always so simple; these deathless things don’t seem to have spirits, and the Leeches know a lot about the cities where they reside. Sometimes a deal can be made.

Ghost Council


　The greatest advantage lies in determining which weapons one’s enemies deny themselves.

　The werewolves of the Ghost Council are great seekers of mystery, but they are regarded as somewhat secretive by more straightforward Garou, who sometimes misunderstand the tribe’s regard for questions of higher purpose. Among the Ghost Council’s members may be found guides, academics, and even a panoply of religious folk.

　To the Ghost Council — or “Ghosts,” individually — the destination or the path might be the objective; what matters most is that the seeker understands why they have undertaken a particular journey and can therefore learn about the Garou’s world. The journey itself is of great import to Ghost Council werewolves, as it represents an opportunity for discovery along the way… as well as a chance to tease out the secrets of the journey’s environment.

　At the same time, it’s a chance to find out which paths the other tribes deliberately avoid, and to learn why. For what is a taboo if not a tool a competitor willingly sets aside?

　Ghost Council werewolves in play might expect to travel to a shunned corner of the Umbra, solve a pernicious riddle posed by a haughty spirit, subvert an enemy’s tools for use against them, and unearth a dangerous secret.



Who Are the Ghost Council?

　Motivating the Ghost Council is a desire, a hunger, a need for knowledge, particularly of a practical and spiritual nature. That practicality often comes to the fore as an ability to affect the world around them. Ghosts collect secrets the better to get results. Whether tricking an unsuspecting spirit into letting them pass unmolested or learning where in his mistress’ apartment the executive hid incriminating documents, werewolves of the Ghost Council look for the boundaries others draw around themselves, the flaws they build into their own armor. They want every option on the table, even the “forbidden” ones, because when you’re in the middle of a goddamn Apocalypse, no option should be “forbidden.”

　This philosophy has earned the Ghost Council a reputation as subversives among more traditional Garou — and Ghosts don’t seem to care. “The ends justify the means” usually comes across as a dangerous political doctrine, but for the Ghost Council, finding an answer or opportunity excuses how it’s accomplished. If something comes of maintaining a relationship with a confidant from a fallen tribe or forging pacts with forbidden spirits, the Ghost is satisfied — and validated, in their minds.

　As might be expected, other Garou often view the werewolves of the Ghost Council as having suspect motives. A fair criticism is that Ghost Council concern themselves with solving the “how” of mysteries for the sake of power, with too little regard for the reasons such power manifests in their means of discovery. The pack has the rival’s klaive — that’s what’s important. Results now, costs later.

　Holistically, the discovery of hidden truths requires going to them. Every human society has traditions in this vein, and the Ghost Council has had members among many such traditions and societies. Members of the tribe are often enthusiastic about opportunities to travel, be it to a strange and remote Umbral mystery site, a cross-country road trip in a caravan, or a thrilling run across conflict-scarred taiga to find a specific and key fork in a river.



Patron Spirit

　The Patron Spirit of the Ghost Council is Horned Serpent, no stranger to dark places and hidden truths. Horned Serpent and the Ghost Council are associated with Wisdom. Of all the tribes, the Ghost Council has what is probably the most transactional relationship with its patron, a formal acknowledgement of give-and-take of almost fairytale quality… one that sometimes takes on a sinister cast to some outside the tribe.

Favor: Horned Serpent encourages looking at things from all angles and taking the most advantageous one. A Ghost Council Garou may add one die to Investigation, Occult, or Subterfuge dice pools related to revealing a kept secret.

Ban: Horned Serpent is known for Wisdom, but spirits and Garou alike look askance at the ways she garners knowledge. For a scene in which the Ghost Council werewolf has an opportunity to satisfy their curiosity but doesn’t, they regain only a single point of Willpower at the beginning of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating.



Ghost Council Archetypes


Contemplative

　Far from the worldly concerns of human society, the Contemplative is among the many monastery residents who hold themselves apart for reasons both spiritual and personal. The First Change was a horrific turning point in the Contemplative’s life, one for which they feel they will forever be making amends. And to do so, they adopted the ascetic’s ways, hoping to impose that sense of balance on their own dualistic Rage and spirituality. It works… mostly… until it doesn’t… and more amends must then be made.


Saboteur

　A career spent with private military companies, fighting in off-the-books conflicts and demolishing black sites, has given the Saboteur know-how they can use in Gaia’s interests. Such know-how isn’t always legal, but it’s effective. Modern military parlance burnishes the Saboteur’s role as an “engineer,” but they harbor no illusions — they knock things down and kill people. Using tools or coaxing spirits, it’s all the same thing to the saboteur: Find the weak spot and do what needs to be done to it to pull the whole thing to the ground. Figuratively, of course; the Saboteur has no desire to be at ground zero when their work culminates.


Witch

　Gaia is a metaphor, and so are spirits. It’s all in the way the individual sees the world, which eyes they choose. The right word or pact or offering lets the Witch will these forces, these quite natural forces, into manifesting the outcome they want. It’s not parlor tricks — the way so many charlatans try to pass off the Gift — it’s a genuine relationship with the world beyond the boundary of the one most humans can perceive. They are blind, whereas the Witch can see, and Witch’s packmates would do well to remember the elective ignorance in which human society chooses to cloak itself.


Shepherd

　Born into a culture of semi-nomadic reindeer herders, the Shepherd watched as, bit by bit, their ancestral lands were annexed by human governments and their customs were forced into obscurity. The same human powers curtailed the territories of wolves and Garou, and the Shepherd has had enough. With a rebellious declaration of sovereignty, the Shepherd, their pack, and a handful of human companions established a “protectorate,” itself declared a rogue faction by regional and national government. Now the Shepherd defends that territory and herd of reindeer with the aid of spirit-guardians, seemingly forever at odds with human legal entities intent on subsuming the renegade province.

Glass Walkers


　You want something torn to pieces, yeah, I can probably handle that. You want something built up, though, that’s where I shine. I’ll get it working.

　The Glass Walkers are among the werewolves most proficient with applied science, given their knack for solving problems with technology, or — more accurately — the spirits of technology, many of which are often unfamiliar to more traditional Garou. The ranks of the Glass Walkers include engineers, technicians, and inventors, whose skill at making machines work usually takes the form of coaxing the spirits inhabiting them into performing exceptionally.

　In play, Glass Walkers might expect to research the blueprints of an energy company HQ before a raid, build a security system to defend their caern, hack a defense drone so that it reports back to the pack instead of its command center, and repurpose a sequence of blast doors to trap a gang of fomori.



Who Are the Glass Walkers?

　Since time out of mind, while other werewolves relied on tooth and claw, the Glass Walkers favored cleverness and tools. Of all the tribes, since history has been recorded, Glass Walkers have observed a remarkable sympathy with humans, as opposed to setting themselves apart. And, in an act for which many other Garou still haven’t forgiven them, they are said to have helped humans build fences, traps, and alarms to help people withstand the Impergium. Shameful as many werewolves find the Impergium itself, it still rankles other Garou to know that the Glass Walkers were on the wrong side of that war.

　More than anything else, though, Glass Walkers adapt. In this era of spiritual malady, they have appropriated the tools of the modern world for use in navigating the Apocalypse: computers, firearms, machines, top-of-the-line communications devices, anything that can give the tribe an advantage over their foes and minions of the Wyrm. From the Glass Walker perspective, it’s hard and even foolish to deny themselves the sorts of versatility and firepower that tools from the world of humans can offer — a perspective that earns them few accolades around the fires of multi-tribal caerns and moots.

　Naturally, this predilection for tools and technology keeps the Glass Walkers in frequent community with humans, and extraordinarily few members of the tribe have lupus origins — a number that dwindles daily. Even privately and among themselves, many Glass Walkers worry that they’re in danger of “losing the wolf,” forsaking part of their hallowed connection to Gaia and supplanting it with something external and artificial — something more akin to the Weaver’s purpose. For the time being, though, the Glass Walkers’ ties to their Garou heritage still stand, and the spirits still honor the long-sworn pacts between them.

　Indeed, Glass Walkers cultivate relationships with spirits other Garou eschew or literally don’t even know to exist. Money spirits, trash-spirits, spirit-sparks that travel cities’ power lines, strange manifestations of their Patron Spirit, even potent but localized spirits that can empower a city caern if so cajoled by a competent theurge — all of these entities, and others besides, call the Umbral city their home. The urban spiritscape needn’t be bleak and empty of spirit presence, especially when a savvy Glass Walker knows where to look and what to offer.



Patron Spirit

　The Patron Spirit of the Glass Walkers is Spider, whose carefully constructed webs echo in the Glass Walkers’ drive to make things of lasting duration and effectiveness. This desire does not endear the tribe to many other Garou, who see in the patronage of Spider a subservience to the Weaver rather than a duty to Gaia, so Glass Walkers often have to distinguish themselves that much more to earn the trust of the other tribes. Spider and the Glass Walkers are associated with Wisdom.

Favor: Spider reveals the interconnectedness of all things as webs and strands, suggesting an orderly approach. Glass Walkers can add one die to Technology or Science dice pools related to building or repairing things.

Ban: Spider has an extensive brood of kindred spirits and forbids the Glass Walkers to harm any of them. If they destroy any complex machines, such as vehicles, computers, or assembly equipment, they may recover only a single Willpower at the start of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating.



Glass Walker Archetypes


Urban Planner

　Many people won’t go where you tell them to go, but almost all of them will go where you guide them, particularly when you guide them by letting them think they’re making the decision in the first place. The Urban Planner puts this ethos into practice every day, building traffic flows that reduce pollution, designing green spaces that thrive in the city environment, and inoculating people in proximity against murderous road rage. It’s also a great way to keep an eye on “development projects” and the exploitative cronies who seek to despoil public spaces for private profit.


Car Liberator

　“No beaters. Only the high-end stuff.” Sounds like a high-glitz operation, but really it’s to free mistreated machines and their spirits from people who can afford to have their cars stolen. Maybe there’s a bit of ethical gymnastics there to justify the whole enterprise, sure, but it’s just property crime, so who cares? And if the Car Liberator ends up with a bit of personal gain from what they tell themselves is a Robin Hood operation, well, who does it help if they deprive themselves? Quit being so rigid. Good, now pass the socket wrench. The Car Liberator also knows a handful of well-connected individuals who can help move parts where they need to be, and who have a remarkable sense of when to keep their mouths shut.


Detective

　The streets tell a thousand stories, most of them tragedies, at least from the Detective’s point of view. Garou may be violent, but they rarely exalt the cunning cruelty that humans can muster, and in the Detective’s experience, each one of those cruelties has a reason. Might be personal, might be premeditated, might be passionate, but sometimes the reason opens up something big, something that needs a few overtime hours to untangle, sometimes on all fours.


Tattoo Artist

　It calls for a combination of raw talent and cultivated skill, plus a whole lot of calm. But it’s worth it, not only for the street cred that keeps the Tattoo Artist in demand (and privy to all the ill shit that happens in the neighborhood), but also for the prestige that comes from inking the most accomplished Garou in the territory. Every werewolf builds their own legend, and many werewolves want to tell that legend not only around the fires but on the canvas of their bodies. The Tattoo Artist can make that happen, and shoot the shit with the best of them while they’re doing it.

Hart Wardens


　Be welcome in our caern. It is our hearth and home. Warm yourself at our fires and feed yourself at our table.

　A word of caution, friend — abuse our hospitality and we’ll string your innards up in all those lovely trees you saw outside.

　The Hart Wardens are the keepers and stewards of nature, whether hallowing the pristine “undiscovered” places in the world or cultivating someplace particularly important to them toward a more structured purpose, such as a farm or orchard. It might be a sprawling country estate, a tarnished river valley that needs to be revived, or even a hidden bit of green space in the CBD in New Orleans, but the Hart Wardens are there, coaxing the promise they can out of their pack’s bit of creation.

　If the Garou have one foot each in the worlds of flesh and spirit, the Hart Wardens have one foot each in the modern world and a world of their own mythmaking. They are greatly passionate about what they find and nurture, and any gathering of Hart Wardens will soon turn to celebrations of history (and no few tall tales…) as regards their own tribe and the Garou in general.

　In play, Hart Wardens might expect to reclaim a foothill region from a quarrying operation, cultivate a caern there to placate the spirits disrupted by the quarry, nurture the newly established caern, and protect it from the grasping agents of the front company that wants to continue extracting its resources.



Who Are the Hart Wardens?

　In times of legend, the Garou had no home, and they wandered the world and Umbra in Gaia’s service. Their most renowned, on a hunt through primeval forest with their vast and ever-growing packs, saw a magnificent hart and took on the wolf-shape to give chase. Through the trackless forest, the Garou pursued, over rolling hills, up stony promontories, and across mountains, meadows, and badlands, never gaining a single step on the hart. Finally, after an epoch of chasing across the whole world, the Garou cornered the hart in the shadow of an inescapable vale.

　“Your faith and drive are admirable,” said the hart, multiplying in size to reveal himself as Stag. “Look behind you. Look where we have ranged, together. Pledge yourselves to me and I grant you this, your home, and the husbandry of all we have crossed to come here.” And those who would call themselves Hart Wardens so bound themselves to Stag’s pact.

　Since that day, the Hart Wardens have taken that pledge seriously, dedicating themselves to an individual region, purpose, or even person and tending it to the full extent of their ability. To them, the world is a bounty to be cultivated and shared, and at the same time protected against those who would abuse it or exploit it to place themselves above others. They honor a curious blend of old ways and modern ones, exalting hierarchy, but one built upon obligations owed as opposed to wealth hoarded. For the truly deserving, fortune will follow duty.

　And so today the Hart Wardens build tiny personal holdings and great caerns alike and tend them. The tribe seeks those places dear to Gaia that have fallen and takes them back from plunderers. They sing songs and embellish stories to remember great deeds, showing great pride in their role as wardens among the werewolves. And woe betide any who would dispossess a Hart Wardens or a member of their pack, for the Hart Wardens are loyal to Gaia, to Stag, to their duty, and to their fellows — fiercely loyal.



Patron Spirit

　The Patron Spirit of the Hart Wardens is Stag, who introduced all the Garou to the ways of nature and particularly favored the Hart Wardens. Stag and the Hart Wardens are associated with Glory, and they especially revere their galliards, who can stoke those fires of Glory in the singing of their legend or recitation of their deeds.

Favor: Stag is looked to by many as the father of the forest, with great sway over beasts and even flora. Hart Wardens may add a die to any dice pool involving Survival, Animal Ken or nature-related Craft.

Ban: Stag observes long-standing traditions of hospitality. If harm comes to someone while under a Hart Warden’s hospitality, the Hart Wardens may regain only a single Willpower at the start of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating.



Hart Warden Archetypes


Huntsman

　The rest of the world sees an antiquated role attached to a privileged manorial lifestyle, and even the lord and lady think the job somewhat quaint. No one other than the Huntsman knows the true need to cull the wildlife populations, lest everyone, man and beast, suffer. Along with the role comes an intense study of regional knowledge: The Huntsman knows intimately every detail of the grounds they keep and has two lifetimes’ worth of hunting experience — as homid and as lupus.


Digital Caern Strategist

　Think of it like a game. You gotta put things in the right places, mind the resource economy. Traps around the boundaries keep the creeps from slinking in. Stay on good terms with the spirits, give them somewhere pleasant to go; they move back your fog of war. The pack, now, that’s your heroes. That’s who you want out there when the push comes in — because it’s going to come in, and not down the channel you think. Stay alert, stay healthy. You don’t want anyone on cooldown when you need them shredding fools on the front lines.


Emcee

　Not everybody gets it when they hear about the oral traditions and code-switching practices of Queensbridge in New York. When the beat shakes the foundation and the Emcee spits fire, though, ain’t no ass in the house still in its seat. Bravado-laden tales of the crew’s rebel antics and epic disses of pack rivals keep the block party going well into the night, and the SoundCloud hits keep coming, lighting up the Emcee’s fans as far away as Southwest Asia and the Baltics.


Local Legend

　On the nights when the mists rise heavily above the swamps and a horned moon hangs low and heavy in the sky, one might hear the terrified cry of a human who has lost their way and won’t live to find it again. Such are the nights when the Local Legend haunts the wilds, prowling for the flesh of the greedy, the careless, or those who simply saw more of the Local Legend than they would have preferred. Some make the beast out to be a vengeful stalker, but the Local Legend knows their own truth, and keeps the knowledge of their pack’s secret glade well obscured.

Red Talons


　Put that down. Go away. Or die.

　The Red Talons are the only modern tribe with a substantial number of Garou whose First Change happens among wolves. Like all Garou, Red Talons feel anger at the ongoing Apocalypse, at seeing Gaia murdered for the sake of insatiable greed. Just as angrily, Red Talons see animal (especially wolf) populations worldwide destroyed by human encroachment and entitlement, a ruinous suborning of the natural order to further that same greed.

　But anger is an energy, and Red Talons turn that energy toward giving a voice to those who lack words, to acting as advocates for those who cannot wield the tools of mankind, and to pulling down the human constructs that defile Gaia. In these ways, they are also one of the most radical tribes, and they actively seek to curtail the influence of humankind over Gaia, sometimes going so far as to cull populations of humans where such a thing can be reasonably (to their perspectives) effected.

　In play, Red Talons might expect to ruin individuals and facilities they perceive as challenging their territory, ward places dear to Gaia against intrusion, reduce dependency on human technologies, cull excessive populations of creatures that would imbalance local ecologies, and even purge a location of invasive (human or otherwise) occupants — bloodily, if necessary.



Who Are the Red Talons?

　As humanity continues in relentless exploitation of the world, places where animals and their prey may thrive dwindle ever more. Gaia herself is being mutilated, parceled out in an infinitude of shortsighted human transactions that threaten all life. With each passing day, the territory of the wolf (and wolf-born Garou) is further chipped away, backing them into a metaphorical and sometimes literal corner.

　And a cornered animal is a desperate animal. In these circumstances, the Red Talons turn to strident action to fight back and reclaim lost territory from human encroachment. Red Talons favor decisive solutions, to the extent that even other werewolves often think the tribe brutal. Razing a city to rubble would stop the sprawl that extends like cancer from it, for example. Tearing out the throat of the bulldozer operator is much more immediately effective than challenging zoning laws or devaluing corporate P&L sheets.

　In the point of view of other werewolves from the now-shattered Garou Nation, the Red Talon perspective borders on the heretical. Red Talons often think that it isn’t the Wyrm that’s the imbalanced element of the Triat, but rather the Weaver, with its ever-expanding restrictiveness and malignant expansion in the form of cities, development, and “civilization.” Among the most extreme of Red Talons — even expressing such a sentiment is shameful — the Wyrm is a victim of the Weaver, and the Wyrm’s tools have their place.

　All Garou know the stories of the Impergium, the time when werewolves waged an open war against the world of humankind. Detractors seek to frame the Red Talons as revanchists and Impergium apologists with a longing for “the good old days.” This characterization oversimplifies their plight, though, and attributes malice where the motive is actually survival. To the Red Talons, Impergium may be the only option they have left.

　The Garou struggle is the Red Talon struggle. The rest of the Garou just don’t know it yet.



Patron Spirit

　Griffin is the Patron Spirit of the Red Talons — Griffin, who stands guard against the Weaver’s encroachment and never prioritizes human interests over those of animals. Griffin and the Red Talons are associated with Honor — albeit an honor whose context often eludes Garou whose foremost context is the society of humans.

Favor: Griffin is implacable, a ferocious fighter in the face of impossible odds. Red Talons can add a die on Brawl tests whenever their Health is below half.

Ban: Griffin abhors complexity and seeks to simplify his followers’ relationships with the world. If a session occurs in which the Red Talon makes use of a Academics, Driving, Finance, Firearms, Science, or Technology dice pool to repair or utilize (rather than subvert or destroy), they may recover only a single Willpower at the start of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating.



Red Talon Archetypes


Bounty Hunter

　Hard to imagine that even among depraved humans, some people are more depraved than the rest of them. In wolf society, pariahs are driven away. Among humans, they’re trapped in menageries that no one visits. Sometimes they get out of their menageries. Sometimes they run away before they can be collected and brought to the menagerie. The Bounty Hunter makes it their job to retrieve those who flee. Uncomplicated by human compassion, the Bounty Hunter doesn’t give a thought to whether their targets belong in the menageries, or the justice of putting people in menageries. If the Bounty Hunter had their way, all humans would be in a menagerie.


Maneater

　Once the Maneater catches the scent of human blood, there’s no turning back. Traveling with their pack across the Kamchatka expanses, the Maneater grew fat and comfortable on reindeer while still young, and experienced their First Change in response to a hunting expedition’s helicopter flying overhead. Those same hunters took the pack but paid for it with their lives — and ever since, the Maneater has traveled from open sore to open sore, across Gaia’s face, trying to get the balance right, and meeting others like themselves along the way.


Prepper

　Prepper’s got a bunker, 18 feet under the surface, stocked with meat. Not that freeze-dried chemical stuff the brainpill people try to sell you on the innernet. Real meat. Killed it. Smoked it. Dried it. Last forever. That’s all you need. Got a weird mindset, Prepper does. They’re not just setting aside supplies for when the human supermarkets and systems fail. They’re looking forward to it, in a real angry sort of way. Makes the rest of the pack not entirely comfortable. But Prepper’s always had their backs. So far.


Plague Dog

　The Plague Dog creeps into occupied territory, spreading terror and disease. Standing up and slugging it out with an enemy isn’t their style; the Plague Dog prefers to mitigate risk to themselves and reduce their prey to quivering fear with a few snarls from the darkness, and — aided by a few choice pacts with disease spirits — a virulent bite that leaves the victims infected and contagious. They’re not seeking the pompous Honor of the arrogant tribes around their vain fires. Instead, the Plague Dog seeks the silent Honor of retaking the territory such self-aggrandizers have yielded time and again.

Shadow Lords


　Everyone has a plan until they look down and see their own blood wetting the ground. Figuring out what comes next is the true test of a Garou’s worth.

　Dominance and submission constitute the Shadow Lord creed. Those who demonstrate strength justly deserve to dominate; the role of the weak is to submit, to roll over and show your throat. The greatest Shadow Lord legends are mighty, but true strength comes in discovering how to exploit the weaknesses of one’s enemies.

　The Shadow Lords count among their number some of the great strategists and warlords of Garou legend, and it therefore stands to reason that the purview of the Shadow Lords is a pragmatic — some would say ruthless — prowess for planning. Shadow Lords value shrewd intuition and calculating minds, the better to put in motion their schemes to undermine the Wyrm, whether via a frontal assault or through clever positioning. Of course, this worldview sometimes makes other Garou nervous: When a Shadow Lord looks at you, are they thinking how best to use your skills? Are they scrutinizing you for weakness? Are they thinking how your sacrifice might be used to greatest effect?

　In play, a Shadow Lord might expect to envision the true extent of an exploitative rare-mineral concern in their territory, plan the ultimate downfall of these enemies of Gaia, perhaps even scheme with the enemy in order to discover their weaknesses from within, and ultimately intimidate anyone who stands between them and what they want.



Who Are the Shadow Lords?

　The Shadow Lord tribe is most known for two distinct traits: power and cunning. Power takes all forms, from political power in their communities or among the tatters of the Garou Nation to raw physical power when standing against a minion of the Wyrm or against a rival werewolf. Cunning may seem at odds with the Rage-fueled nature of the Garou, but as the Shadow Lords see it, outsmarting an opponent and convincing them of one’s superiority is its own proof. Indeed, in this way, cunning leads to power, and Shadow Lords often favor being the power behind more immediately recognizable leaders. One of the most important skills a Shadow Lord learns is to pick only the fights they know they’re going to win.

　Although they have a well-deserved reputation as schemers, Shadow Lords should also be recognized for their acumen with attending to a plan’s details. A caern isn’t going to run itself — its guardian spirit would eventually return to the Umbra in this era of Apocalypse. And raiding the mercenaries’ camp sounds laudable until one realizes that the pack’s plan is to go berserk and shred its way through the front barricade, at which point the Shadow Lord points out that this childish “plan” would simply get everyone killed.

　Much as they are known for both power and cunning, a similar contrast embodies the Shadow Lord identity. In one sense, Shadow Lords are oppressive, even domineering. In another sense, they are inspirational, and perhaps the most meritocratic of the tribes, based on accomplishment alone. To be one of the “less-accomplished” Shadow Lords cannot make for a happy existence, but those Garou do find their place in their packs, supporting the werewolves around them… and perhaps biding their time for the moment that can elevate them to the true status they deserve.



Patron Spirit

　Thunder, the Patron Spirit of the Shadow Lords, drives the meek into their dens and announces the arrival of vengeful storms. Thunder is often distant, but always fearsome. At other times, Thunder is the furious herald of action and change. Thus, Shadow Lords maintain that a calculated feint sets up a mighty strike. Thunder and the Shadow Lords are associated with (largely their own) Glory.

Favor: Thunder can provoke great fear in those to whom he announces his presence, and the Shadow Lords can seemingly summon his mien to act similarly. A Shadow Lord can add a dice to Animal Ken, Intimidation, or Subterfuge dice pools relating to threats or the exploitation of weakness.

Ban: Thunder shows no more deference or respect than has been earned, and the Shadow Lords follow suit. If a Shadow Lord suffers defeat in a conflict to any Garou of lesser Total Renown, they may recover only a single Willpower at the start of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating.



Shadow Lord Archetypes


Boyar

　They come from a tiny country once recognized by the Warsaw Pact, but the Boyar — who hails from a long line of hereditary nobles that can trace itself back through the centuries — counts, as far as modern nobility goes. The Boyar’s domain is no longer as wealthy as it once was, and it finds itself surrounded by greedy neighbor-states and multinational interests that think they can simply apply enough pressure and take the territory’s natural resources. The Boyar would be hard pressed to find anyone in history who has been so very, very wrong as these wouldbe exploiters, and won’t hesitate to call up ancient pledges of fealty among the country’s proud citizens to beat back these plunderers.


Hacktivist

　Everyone in the world is dirty, and the Hacktivist specializes in digging up that dirt. The Hacktivist uses every tool available to them — whether technological methods, such as plundering encrypted online databases; flesh-and-spirit social engineering endeavors; or taking on the mantle of the wolf and sneaking into restricted locations. Pretending to have established “HardTarget SoftDev” at the defense contractors’ retreat running in conjunction with the Bilderberg conference? No problem. The Hacktivist has one goal: to find information that can be weaponized against their enemies. Er, their pack’s enemies.


Midnight Terror

　On long nights when the weather grows chill and the winds howl, one might look up to the mesa and see the Midnight Terror in silhouette against the moon. The local populace wants to appease the Midnight Terror however they can, but it doesn’t really know anything about what the Midnight Terror actually wants. They left behind only bloody smears when the brothers went missing from the pharmaceutical facility, and you can still see the video on the Internet of the night the doctor was mauled at the strange clinic that opened on the edge of town. It’s been quiet since then, but only the Midnight Terror and their pack know who they’re going to take next.


Assassin

　History has its share of great leaders and wise advisors, many of whom share a common characteristic: They give orders, they don’t wield the killing blade themselves. The Assassin gets their hands dirty at the behest of a pack leader who can’t let themselves be seen removing opposing voices — so the Assassin does it for them. And let’s be honest: Everyone knows the Assassin for who they are. That’s how they prefer it, wielding a reputation that limns them with fearsome glory.

Silent Striders


　I’ve been everywhere, man, and let me tell you, you’re going to want to hear this.

　Among wolves, Garou follow where prey leads the pack, and among humans, Garou have historically been found in cultures that are either migratory or diasporic. Deep in their own history, the Silent Striders were themselves… cursed? by a powerful spirit, malignant and not wholly understood, and as a result they often find sympathetic peoples and familiar practices among ever-moving or dispersed cultures.

　Wisely, the Silent Striders have made opportunity of this misremembered crisis in their past, and they have assumed a role as travelers, messengers, and news-bearers among the Garou. It makes for a difficult life, certainly, especially in the wake of a shattered Garou Nation and the travails of the Apocalypse, but it’s absolutely a better fate than a collapse into oblivion… or the tragic paths that lost tribes have taken.

　In play, Silent Striders might expect to journey great distances through difficult territory, scout whether they might be facing hostile Garou or antagonistic spirits, deliver a sensitive message or critical talisman, and even sabotage those who would waylay them before they get the chance.



Who Are the Silent Striders?

　The presence of a Silent Strider is something that many Garou regard as portentous, to say the least. Many are itinerant, and when one arrives in the territory, they invariably possess something every Garou wants to know or possess. It may be news of a caern falling, a message from a legendary elder, or proof of a mighty spirit’s corruption. Whatever the case, a Silent Strider’s charge is something that requires an individual to deliver and confirm.

　Master travelers, the Silent Striders find themselves uniquely suited to finding their way into places where others don’t want them and finding their way back out again. Diving headfirst into an Umbral disaster site or a hostile pack’s territory rarely yields more than pain and suffering, to the Silent Strider way of thinking. Why not explore first and find out the most effective way, rather than the most direct? At worst, one may confirm another method not to undertake things. At best, one has discovered a way to get what one needs without anyone becoming aware of the Silent Strider’s having been there.

　As such, Silent Striders are often broadly versed in cultures and customs, from the death rites and funerary paraphernalia of indigenous South Americans to the spirit-greetings of Addis Ababa to the Master of the Howl at New York’s Stained Glass Sept’s birthday. And in these vast travels, they accumulate numerous relationships but also bear the weight of their reputations for bringing bad news. The territory over which a Silent Strider ranges need not be vast — they take on many roles in the greater fulfillment of their pledge to Gaia’s service. They may be go-betweens and brokers of peace for long-feuding packs a stretch of highway away from each other, or they may be the diplomats bringing wisdom among a half-dozen prominent caerns scattered across continents. They may or may not remain part of any particular pack for long, but when they do, it’s almost always with the intent of learning something or finding something that a distant someone will need. It can be a lonely path, even among peers.



Patron Spirit

　Owl is the Patron Spirit of the Silent Striders, who encourages those his followers to approach matters on their own terms. From his high vantage point Owl carefully observes and does not act until he has seen everything there is to see. Only then does he make the plunge — swiftly and decisively. Owl and the Silent Striders are associated with Wisdom.

Favor: Owl’s wisdom extols the virtue of flight when necessary. Silent Striders can add one die to Athletics or Stealth dice pools related to traversal, escape, or infiltration.

Ban: Owl remains ever alert to the return of the rival spirit-haunt that tormented his tribe in the past, and he makes sure to do so by honoring the presence of this “other” sort of spirit. If a Silent Strider causes, participates in, or even witnesses death but doesn’t perform a commemorative rite to acknowledge it, they may recover only a single Willpower at the start of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating.



Silent Strider Archetypes


Kinseeker

　The Garou are dying — that’s the way the Kinseeker sees it. With that desperate outlook, the Kinseeker travels endlessly, forever seeking werewolves who don’t yet know they’re werewolves. It’s generally a lonely path, but one that brings the Kinseeker into contact with any number of other Garou, themselves ideally fighting the good fight. This life isn’t one they’d wish upon anyone else, so the Kinseeker hasn’t yet been a mentor to any other werewolf or introduced them to Owl’s ways. Much better to let them find a pack with a caern that they can call home than to help them choose a bitter existence forever in the spaces between.


Ambassador

　Conventional wisdom says to make lemons into lemonade, so as the Ambassador realized the Patron Spirit who called to them would have them ever on the move, they’d need to turn their talents to suit that calling. With “home” effectively a neglected flat in the capitol, the Ambassador travels far and wide, putting their outgoing personality to use in negotiating partnerships and resolving old grudges. The company the Ambassador keeps, and the packs all over the world with whom they stay in contact ensures that diplomatic dinners are the least fraught of their many appointments, wherever they are.


Revivalist

　Putting up the big tent outside of town and preaching a gospel of love and forgiveness, the Revivalist runs a touring salvation show that provides ample excuse to move among the caerns all across the territory. It’s a strange combination of Pentecostalism and Gaia’s creed, but the service is vibrant and energetic, and it may have brought around more than one true believer in these cynical times. Itinerancy also gives the Revivalist the opportunity to see just how widely the energy company’s influence has spread, as the revival traverses the region where it’s a huge employer.


Long-Haul Trucker

　Logistics makes the world run, and moving things from Point A to Point B is a good way to cover ground when the Long-Haul Trucker is tracking their true quarry, whether it’s fugitives or they’re simply moving a shipment of much-needed medical supplies during an era of global illness. Be your own boss, set your own hours, hunt your own prey. And if it just so happens that the payload is something that shouldn’t arrive at Point B whole and intact, well, the Long-Haul Trucker has had more than one “insurance incident” that buys time and ruins materiel.

Silver Fangs


　Power is a means to an end, a life’s work constructed in service to Gaia. It is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege, if not more so.

　Garou society is inherently tribal, and where tribes exist, leaders emerge. For werewolves, the mantle of leadership was long ago claimed by the Silver Fangs, who are as close to a noble lineage as Garou culture produces. Theirs is a legacy of aristocracy, decisiveness, and, as grudging as other tribes are to admit it, unification in dire circumstances.

　Silver Fangs in play might expect to motivate their pack, lead them into battle, rally them from desperate defeat, and inspire them to grand achievements.



Who Are the Silver Fangs?

　Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown, and this adage is true for none so much as for the Silver Fangs, as they claim the burden of leadership among the tribes that also elevates them among other Garou. Of course, few other werewolves are so sanguine about this legacy of nobility — but few can argue that the Silver Fangs do indeed make good leaders.

　Then again, because the Silver Fangs have traditionally held the role of leaders among the Garou, aren’t they somewhat culpable for the collapse of the Garou Nation and its failure to avert this age of Apocalypse?

　Garou culture, by its nature, seeks strong leaders, and historically it has fallen to the Silver Fangs to assume this role. To its credit, the tribe is ever cognizant of the risks of such roles, and since time immemorial it’s had complicated relationships with both harano and hauglosk. At one end of the spectrum bellows the Silver Fang tyrant, deranged by hauglosk, tearing apart those who would question their might or wisdom; at the other end of the spectrum stands the Silver Fang racked by harano, feeling that no matter how many young Garou they hurl into the maw of the Wyrm, the battle is already lost. Thus, accompanying the prestige of the Silver Fangs tribe is a note of tragedy.

　The tribe’s relationship with the spirit world is likewise complex. Many spirits — probably even more than the Garou themselves — still honor the old pacts forged by Silver Fang legends. Hierarchical as they are, spirits’ respect for Silver Fangs runs deep, though it can prove to be a double-edged sword. Simple, intractable spirits fail to see the nuance in a Silver Fang’s ethically weighted choices.

　Werewolves of other tribes, particularly the young members of those of tribes, disavow “hereditary aristocracy,” in which light the Silver Fangs cast themselves. Among tribal elders, anachronistic practices still hold sway, from Gaia-aligned notions of divine right, to the keeping of concubines, to simple affectations for outdated modes of dress. Certainly, moot participants endure recitations of countless deeds for which the Silver Fangs are lauded, but how that translates into inherited nobility in the time of the Apocalypse has greatly come into question — perhaps most surprisingly among the young Garou of the tribe itself.



Patron Spirit

　Falcon is the Patron Spirit of the Silver Fangs, and his keen sight and noble bearing inspire the Silver Fangs to pursue their goals, and to inspire others to follow them in that enterprise. Falcon and the Silver Fangs are associated with Honor.

Favor: Falcon calls upon the Silver Fangs to lead, both by example and in demeanor. Silver Fangs can add one die to Persuasion or Leadership dice pools related to making others follow their advice, suggestions, or outright orders.

Ban: Falcon is a proud spirit, and dishonor brings great shame to him. If a Silver Fang takes an action that causes them to risk chagrin or losing Renown, they may recover only a single Willpower at the start of the next session, instead of their Composure or Resolve rating.



Silver Fang Archetypes


Local Celebrity

　The Local Celebrity has practically made a career out of looking great and knowing the right people. People who want to do them favors seem to be everywhere, which contrasts greatly with their completely fucked credit rating and their willingness to seek “crash space” when the need to lie low arises. All those fancy clothes come from maxed charge cards or secondhand-store wizardry; all those drink tabs are comped by friendly bartenders; even that flash car is a loaner. And why not? The Local Celebrity knows that you can’t take it with you, and that they’re likely to meet a gruesome end as part of the hairy secret they’re hiding. Live in the now!


Hetman

　Not every war makes the front pages, and not every war ends when the media says it does. The Hetman’s fighting one of those wars, unglamorously and off the books, in a country that no one’s heard of, but that doesn’t mean the fight isn’t happening against the usualassholes who think the country is theirs to take and sell off piece by piece. Money’s not a problem (there’s always money, usually from some other assholes, but the Hetman will cross that bridge later), and there’s no shortage of violent volunteers willing to bleed for pay. It’s the Hetman’s job to turn those violent volunteers into organized fighters and not just a bloodthirsty mob. That’s the kind of leadership that inspires loyalty — unquestioning loyalty.

Glory-Days QB

　You shoulda seen it — fourth and nine, five points behind, but the Glory-Days QB dug deep, rallied the Trojans, and sailed a perfect spiral over the Lions’ heads and into the endzone, where the WR hauled it in for the win. A winner never quits and a quitter never wins, and if the Glory-Days QB gets hurt, they just rub a little dirt on it and get back in the game. Now that they’ve found that their life is more than Friday-night lights, though, that same never-say-die spirit keeps them going, giving a hundred and ten percent.


Noble-in-Exile

　Bearing and nobility mark the Silver Fangs, but to some, that legacy is a millstone. Unsure of what Falcon sees in them, the Noble-in-Exile can’t seem to not tarnish their self-image, indulging in any number of vices, indiscretions, and unseemly habits because that’s all they’ve ever known, and they can afford it, because the family money runs deep and old. When it comes down to what’s important — fighting for Gaia and opposing the Wyrm — the Noble-in-Exile is as enthusiastic and passionate as any other Garou, and perhaps even more so. When it’s not time to lead the charge, though, the Noble-in-Exile can be found in the bottom of a bottle, passed out on a brothel bed, having forgotten to eat for the past three days. ■