Lycanthropy

Lycanthropy refers to the condition of being a "werewolf" or a Lycanthrope, but in this case, refers to all were-beasts. This is not a collection of werewolf mythology, but rules for a game setting. For future reference; "NWoD" is an abbrivation for "New World of Darkness" and refers to the book series published by White-Wolf. "WtF" is an abbrivation for "Werewolf: The Forsaken" and is a part of the New World of Darkness franchise.

Lycanthropy In werewolves
Werewolves have through the ages developed a bond with actual wolves, but the truth is that there werewolves weren't always associated with wolves, the werewolves are the decedents of powerful creatures that served to maintain the natural order of things back when the spirit world and the material world were not separated. They lost their true purpose after that, and evolved into the werewolves, eventually taking the wolf form, but what they truly represent are merely apex-predators. This is why werewolves do not suffer from any of the limitations or weaknesses that a wolf suffers from, and as such, a werewolf in wolf form can both climb and dive, and while they look like wolves, their skeletons are more similar to those of cat-animals. If anything, it's safe to believe that the wolves actually started emulating the werewolves when it came to howling at the moon and such, rather than the other way around, and eventually took the wolf-image upon them to better disguise themselves. Through time, the wolf form has become such a permanent part of the werewolves that many consider it their primary or secondary form. Lycanthropy isn't a transmitted disease as some have thought, rather a werewolf is born werewolf and at some point relatively early on in their lives experience a first change. There was once a time when almost all humans carried a portion of the blood of the wolf. Today, the werewolf genes run so thin in the blood of humans that in all but a few bloodlines, it skips generations. Those who carry the genes of the wolf are the wolfblooded, the kindred of the werewolves, and anyone who carries this gene could potentially be born a werewolf. It's very difficult to tell whether a person is a werewolf, or merely a wolfblooded until the first change happens however, but there are some strong indicators. Regarding werewolves, I refer to the following books as source material:

NWoD WtF Core

NWoD WtF The Rage

NWoD WtF Blood of the Wolf

NWoD WtF The Pure

NWoD WtF Signs of the Moon

The three books on Lodges

NWoD WtF Wolfsbane

NWoD WtF Blasphemies

NWoD WtF Tribes of the Moon

NWoD Book of Spirits

There are also other books that give good insight into the werewolf setting, but these books are the most valuable assets to a werewolf player. Especially "Book of spirits", the core book and "Blood of the Wolf", but any player should read the appropriate sections of "Signs of the Moon" and "Tribes of the Moon" when playing a werewolf character, as well as use all 3 lodge books to consider an appropriate lodge before simply choosing one.

From this point on, I will merely post the changes that I use.

Wolfblooded and Kinfolk
The wolfblooded are humans and wolves that can trace their lineage back to a werewolf at some point (and usually further than that too, but the important point here is that at some point in their family history, someone mated with a werewolf). The wolfblooded, despite not being actual werewolves carry some of the advantages of the werewolves. They heal faster (quick healer for free), they can learn to understand the first tongue language and speak it on a conversational basis (the language cannot be properly spoken with a human mouth, or that of a wolf), if wolves they are much more intelligent than other wolves and always have the giant merit, they get one dot in toughness for free showing their superior hardiness, wolfblooded often have the giant merit when humans, it is however optional upon character creation. Wolfblooded NPC's are likely to not exactly be giants, but often they will be tall, imposing or at least of impressive stature. Wolfblooded men tend to be muscular or athletic, and wolfblooded women tend to be lean and fit or even muscular. Men tend to have at least medium amounts of body hair, including heavy growth of facial hair, and chest hair for instance. Wolfblooded humans tend to have tempers and if they aren't conditioned by society to act normally they will develop a very animalistic behavioral pattern. Wolfblooded humans have a much better sense of smell than ordinary humans and therefor rely on their sense of smell ot a degree normal humans cannot relate to, but it doesn't compare to dogs or wolves however. Certain modifications in the vocal chords of a human wolfblooded enable them to growl and howl in a similar way to wolves, though not every wolfblooded will learn to master this art. Indeed many wolfblooded humans pass off perfectly as completely ordinary humans. Wolfblooded are very important to werewolves, as the chance of concieving a werewolf is much higher if a werewolf mates with a wolfblooded, and for that reason, they are often at the very least watched over by a pack of werewolves or some relatives. In romantic cases, the werewolves marry the wolfblooded, while in less romantic cases the wolfblooded are raped and intimidated into keeping the child, or are more or less kept as breeding cattle. It's also quite common for a wolfblooded to be persuaded into mating with a werewolf, simply to further the cause.

Kinfolk, like wolfblooded are related to werewolves somehow, but the werewolf gene is dormant in them. It's estimated that in reality, most humans are kinfolk, but the term is used about people who trace their heritage more directly to a werewolf, or about whom it's known that their heritage can be traced to a specific werewolf, even though this wasn't always the case. Kinfolk do not have any special abilities, except they may purchase the "watched" merit.

One free dot in: Animal ken, Survival, Brawl, athletics, occult and intimidation.

Free speciality in: Animal ken (Canines), occult (Spirits and Lycanthropes)

A free dot in any fighting style

A free dot in both movement styles (parkour and spelunking)

May learn the following languages: Wolf Speak and First Tongue (cannot communicate in them).

A free dot in primal urge (may never be raised), and as such, a dot in rage

Further more, wolfblooded are treated as having quick healer, iron stomach 1, fast reflexes 1, fleet of foot 1, iron stamina 1, toxin resistance 1, natural immunity 1. They may still take these merits however (note, several of these merits may not longer exist as they have been knocked together into a single merit) effectively allowing them to double the effects of quick healer and achieve the rank of 6 in these merits, effectively adding a +1 to what ever resistance bonus the majority of the dots attributed to.

Wolfblooded may hold 10 points of essence, but cannot normally learn any gifts or otherwise spend this essence. It may be used to fuel a fetish however, bribe spirits or simply as a battery to empower werewolves. some wolfblooded learn special abilities requiring the expenditure of essence.

Skin Changers
Skin changers have an effective primal urge of 2 and keep the benefits of being wolfblooded (if wolfblooded), despite the fact that they may never first change after becoming a skin changer. See the WoD book "Skin Changers" for information on these.

Animagus
An animagus is a skin changer that doesn't use a skin or talisman (or what ever) to change form.

Spirit Shaman
A spirit shaman is also losely connected to the werewolves. It's believed that the only reason humans can become spirit shaman is because there are faint traces of the werewolf gene in all humans. It allows humans to learn werewolf rituals and rites.

Hosts
A host is essentially a creature equivalent of the original werewolves. Fully capable of assuming different forms and existing in both the spirit world and material world, the hosts lack a human body and are usually bred in ways that have no roots in the material world. Read more about them in the books, mainly Werewolf the Forsaken Core.

Breed
There are three breeds of werewolves. These breeds were originally a part of Werewolf the Apocalypse, and not Werewolf the Forsaken, but I decided to use them.

Homid
The Homid werewolf currently the most common werewolf. When werewolves started mating with humans and the human population eventually exploded into billions, logically the homid werewolves also increased in numbers, because the homid werewolves are werewolves born to at least one human parent (usually a wolfblooded, but the gene does skip a few generations). The homid werewolf will grow up with all the common traits of a wolfblooded until his first change, which usually sets in around puberty (so it varies from person to person, sometimes setting in as early as childhood, before the teenages), but looks perfectly human. There is no actual difference between a homid werewolf and any other kind of werewolf when it comes down to talents and such, but obviously homid werewolves tend to be closer to humans and human nature. When a homid werewolf dies or falls unconscious, it reverts to human form, this being the major difference between homid werewolves and the other breeds. The human race had barely made it out of the stone age before there were already equal numbers of homid and lupus werewolves, and since then, the homid numbers have only gone up. Homid werewolves are plagued by the human sense of individuality, and cannot escape the feeling that they are humans upon which an ability or power has been placed. Many homid werewolves fail to ever realize that they are neither human nor wolf, but entirely werewolf, and this is why homid werewolves tend to raise in primal urge slowly. Homid werewolves have no drawbacks or advantages and are by the system considered "basic".

Metis
A metis werewolf is even rarer than the lupus breed, they are the most common biproduct of two werewolves mating, the alternative being an unihar (a terrible spirit-like creature that is inherently evil). The Metis is born in it's warform and is stuck in this form until it's first change, at which point it experiences what most metis refer to as "the release". That moment when the moon grants the tormented wretched creature total clarity. From that point on, the constant state of blood-rage the whelp has been in subsides, and the metis may take any form desired, but like all other werewolves, it's limited to use the warform under normal circumstances. Metis werewolves are often chained up or locked inside for the duration of their childhoods, due to constantly flying in and out of death rage. As a result, most metis werewolves have spent almost their entire childhood trying to learn self-control, and this means most of them have high willpower. A metis is unmistakable at birth, and is always the result of werewolf interbreeding, which is considered a sin in most layers of werewolf society due to the risk of producing an unihar. A metis usually experienced the first change around the same time a lupus werewolf would, meaning a few years after birth, but instead of turning into a teenager, they usually turn into small children. They experience some confusion, because when taking the wolf form, they feel the impulses and needs of a grown wolf, but if they eat their fill and change to human form, they will have grossly overeaten to the point where they will immediately vommit. They also feel strong sexual and territorial urges that they are unable to fully understand when they reflect upon them in their human form. Merely instincts that they do not fully know how to act upon. For this reason, metis werewolves are often disencouraged from using their wolf form too often, and are brought up in their human forms mostly. If a metis dies they revert to their gauru form, however any metis with a willpower score over 5 can avoid reverting to gauru when falling asleep or being unconscious. Further more, certain fetishes and rituals are often put in place to prevent a metis from reverting to gauru form upon death. Metis werewolves have the greatest advantages of all werewolves, but are often traumatized by their childhoods that are full of confusion and uncontrollable rage. Many metis fear their own warform and fear deathrage like they fear a bad childhood memory that haunts them in their sleep. A metis werewolf cannot reflexively change into gauru form, it always requires a changing roll, unless they willingly death-rage. A metis werewolf must begin the game with a willpower of at least 4, otherwise it would not have been deemed mentally sane and would likely have been put down by it's guardians, these points come out of the general pool of starting attribute points, meaning the metis has less freedom of choice from character creation. A metis has an additional +2 bonus to resist death-rage in any form but the gauru form. The Metis are so familiar with the state of death-rage that they can control it to an extent, allowing them to at the very least pick their targets, and attempt to snap out of it when no valid targets are around, the latter is done with a willpower roll, and upon wanting to assume control of their death-rage, the metis simply spends a point of willpower. In fact many werewolves would berely notice if a metis had gone into the state of death rage because they control it so well. If a metis doesn't want to end it's deathrage, but doesn't want to attack something either, it requires a simple willpower roll made a -1 penalty for each round spend idle (or rather; not killing).

Lupus
A lupus werewolf is a werewolf that is born a wolf, seemingly having all the traits of a wolfblooded wolf and having at least one wolf-parent. Upon the lupus' first change, which usually sets in a few years after it's birth, it becomes able to assume human form, which might off the bat seem really confusing, but the truth of the werewolf is that the gene hides dormantly among both wolves and humans, occasionally resulting in the birth of a true alpha (wolfblooded), and sometimes a werewolf. The werewolf has been given the qualities to hide among either kind until they reach an appropriate age to set out and take upon themselves their werewolfly duties. A werewolf is neither human nor wolf, both forms are technically disguises. Lupus werewolves are exceedingly rare in modern times. Homid werewolves tend to refuse to mate with wolves due to cultural reasons (and also a general sense of disgust), where as lupus and metis werewolves both tend to be ambivalent when it comes to choice of partners. Wolves are hunted by humans and unwanted in many cultures, and as the population of wolves dwindles, so does the population of wolfblooded wolves and the potential for breeding lupus werewolves. Lupus werewolves who have recently underwent their first change, tend to appear as adult sized wolves in wolf form, but only as teenagers in human form. They rely on older werewolves to teach them to blend in with humans. They have both an advantage and a disadvantage. When reaching their first change, they are usually already extremely capable hunters and fighters in their canine forms, and they still have plenty of time to learn how to act human. The main disadvantage is being plopped into puberty without even knowing how to wipe their ass. It usually takes no more than a year to teach a lupus werewolf to act human properly enough that they can be sent to high-school or something similar and learn first hand from human interactions. If a lupus werewolf dies or falls unconscious, they revert to their wolf form. During character creation, a lupus werewolf pays two points for a mental skill (investigation and occult excepted) and gain two dots every time they spend a point on physical skills (firearms and drive excepted), buying the fifth dot awards a free speciality instead of an additional dot. After character creation, physical skills (firearms and drive excepted) cost half, while mental skills (investigation and occult excepted) cost double.

First change
A werewolf will at some point (described above under breeds) experience it's first change. Sometimes a first change comes late, sometimes it's provoced by a confrontation of werewolf nature, severe danger or by being bitten by a werewolf. Regardless, when the first change is upon the soon-to-be werewolf, it will usually become obvious days in advance. The soon-to-be werewolf will experience greater needs (food, sex, sleep, excitement and violent urges), it will experience visions or strange happenings (glimpses of the spirit world) and suddenly increase in physical capability (+1 to all physical stats, and 1 free appearance based speciality). The first change always happens during a certain moon-phase, but doesn't necessarily happen at night, nor while the moon is even visible. Werewolves believe that what ever moon-phase was present when the werewolf first-changed determines the werewolves chosen role in werewolf society by mother luna (at least, the forsaken werewolves believe this - where as the pure believe that the werewolves that first change when the moon is not visible are especially blessed), but whether or not this has any truth to it has never been proven, how ever the spirits seem to believe the same thing and are sometimes reluctant to teach gifts that associates with a specific role to someone who isn't of that particular sign. The pure obviously do not have these problems.

Anatomy of a werewolf
I refer to "Blood of the Wolf" if a player is interested in learning about the actual anatomy of the werewolf, how their bodies react to human drugs, alcohol, how regeneation functions in detail ect.

Primal Urge
Werewolves have a power stat called Primal Urge. It represents how in touch with their feral nature they are. The truth about the werewolf is, that while the first change is the only actually notable transformation that the werewolf will ever go through, they will actually continue to gradually change as their primal urge increases. Eventually as they reach the top of their potential, they will become almost indistinguishable from the ancestors of the werewolves.

Rage
Rage was originally a stat found in Werewolf The Apocalypse, the previous version of werewolves in World of Darkness. I liked the stat however, so I reinstated it. A characters rage is equal to his primal urge. Like willpower, the character has a permanent rating and a current rating. If a character chooses to spend rage, if he is a werewolf, he must roll to resist death rage. Only one point of rage may be spent every turn. A point of rage can be spent after making an attack roll, if the attack roll fails, allowing the werewolf to re-attempt it. A point of rage can be spent to ignore up to the werewolf's primal urge in damage taken (cannot always be used). A point of rage can be spent to ignore wound penalties for the duration of the scene. A point of rage can be spent to avoid falling unconscious as a result of combat. A point of rage can be spent if the werewolf should technically be dead, to allow it to survive (nothing more than survive however). A werewolf that has no essence can spend a point of rage instead, generating essence within itself and spending it in the same turn. Rage can be spent to add your primal urge to your next attack (both to hit and damage). Rage may be spent to raise the werewolf's physical attributes by an amount equal to the werewolf's primal urge, spread out accross the the three physical attributes, they may not exceed the normal limit however, and this raise lasts for the duration of a scene. Werewolves may not spend rage points during the new moon, unless they are Irrakka.

Rage points are quite powerful, but they are also hard to regain. Werewolves gain 1 point of rage by seeing their auspice moon, 1 point by seeing the full moon. Rahu's regain ALL of their rage points by seeing the full moon. Werewolves gain 1 point of rage by giving into their vice, and by entering death rage. At the story tellers fiat, rage may be regained through especially savage and emotional acts.

Note that rage has a dangerous side effect, for every unspent point of rage a character has available, the character subtracts one dice from their death rage rolls. If the character has more range points than willpower at any given time, they may not spend willpower to automatically pass a kuruth roll.

Wolfblooded characters and skinchangers are also subject to rage, but suffer no ill effects from it.

Essence
Werewolves regain essence as per the book. There are no changes to essence, with the exception that a werewolf may now spend a number of essence points equal to his rating in primal urge. Wolfblooded characters, Skin Changers and Spirit Shamen may also hold essence now, as according to their rating in primal urge.

Regeneration
I have altered the healing rates slightly. A point of bashing damage heals naturally as fast as it possibly can (1 per round. Lethal damage heals at a rate of 1 lethal per 10 minutes. Aggravated damage takes 1 hour per point. Silver damage heals at a rate of one point per day. Quick healer shortens the healing times of lethal, aggravated and silver damage by half, hollistic awareness may not shorten the healing periods of lethal damage or normal aggravated but can help with silver damage further reducing it. Normal medical help is treated as hollistic awareness but does stack in regards to silver damage for a werewolf, where as it is a requirement for the normal healing rates to apply for a normal human or a wolfblooded. A werewolf may spend a point of essence to instantly heal one point of lethal damage and ALL bashing damage taken. A werewolf may spend a point of willpower and a point of essence to reduce a point of aggravated damage to a point of lethal damage. Spending essence to heal requires a primal urge+stamina roll during combat, but is reflexive. Silver damage requires essence to regenerate, and will not heal without essence being spent. A lost limb requires an extended stamina+primal urge roll, essence points spent and the character must spend willpower. The character must spend willpower to initaite the healing process, and must then spend one point of essence per roll, if the character falls short on successes, the successes are stored and the process can be taken up later when the character has time again, or has regained essence. The successes needed are found in Blood of the Wolf as well as the healing durations. If the limb lost was cut off by silver, double the healing rates and the amount of successes needed.

Senses
The werewolfs senses will be detailed further below as it varies from form to form.

Defences
A werewolf always retains his defence against all attacks that he can see coming, even remotely. This means firearms for instance. The werewolf will still lose his defence if he choses to forego it as a part of a maneuver. A werewolf calculates defence by adding wits+dex, dividing the result by two and rounding up, as opposed to normal humans who round down.

What makes a bulletwound dangerous? If it's directly in the heart or the brain, it's typically fatal, but usually when shot, even when an artery is struck, it takes a couple of seconds to die from blood loss or organ failure. The regeneration of werewolves makes this less of a danger, as their veins instantly close shut stopping any bleeding and their most vital organs being a very high priority on the regeneration list. Unless shot with hollowpoint ammunition, a werewolf suffers only bashing damage from bullet wounds. Further more, any weapon that deals only 0L deals bashing instead, unless the attack is a dramatic success.

Shape Shifting
The Forms are described in great detail in Blood of the Wolf. In order to shapeshift, the player must roll stamina+primal urge, a dramatic success indicates that the change happens reflexively. Note, the gift of partial change is not necessary if the werewolf simply wishes to attempt a partial change, and in fact many of the forms have been altered so that they have a few sub-variants that all werewolves can assume. Partial change instead grants the ability to, without spending essence or without rolling to change, bring about some of the qualities found in the other forms, while remaining primarily in another form. Attempting partial change without the gift can be done by spending a point of essence or by rolling primal urge+stamina. Without the gift, attempting to bring anything from the gauru form into play calls for a death-rage roll.

Hishu
Hishu form is the human disugise of the werewolf. A werewolf in human disguise appears perfectly human, but normal werewolves without special training cannot hide their nature entirely even in this form.

This form doesn't cause lunacy, first tongue can be communicated in, but social rolls in first tongue suffer a -3 penalty. In human form, a werewolf may track by scent, but does this at a -2 penalty. Wolf-speak is impossible in this form.

Dalu


T he dalu form is also by some referred to as the neanderthal, the wolf-man or the cave-man. It appears as a hulking angular and brutish looking human with a very rugged look, an animalistic demeanor with slightly excessive body hair.

+1 to all physical stats, +1 to size, -1 penalty to track by scent, first tongue only at a -1 penalty (and only when communicating with spirits, if speaking to a werewolf, wolfblooded or so forth, no penalty), wolf-speak is impossible in this form,

Gauru
This form Causes lunacy. The form may be kept active for a number of rounds equal to stamina+primal urge+tribal renown. In this form, the werewolf heals a point of lethal every round, and gains one point of armor against bashing and against ballistic. The wereolf does not suffer any wound penalties, gains a +2 to all interactions in first tongue but a -4 to relevant social rolls in normal language. The werewolf gets plus 3 to all physical attributes, both claws and teeth count as +2 lethal weapons (still used with brawl), and the werewolf may attempt bite attacks without grappling. A successful bite attack may optionally if the werewolf decides so, initiate a grapple. The werewolf gains plus 2 to size. The werewolf gains plus +3 to all perception checks including in darkness to to track by scent. Optionally, the werewolf may take the shape in a quadroupedal version, turning claws into a +1 lethal weapon instead, but adds an additional +5 to speed. The werewolf may opt out in claws in the gauru form, producing slightly weird looking gigantic finger nails instead, but this allows the werewolf to use melee weapons in this form. In this form, a werewolf may not use any special moves from fighting styles, such as disarming or feints, but passive bonuses may remain at story tellers discretion.

Urshul
This form causes Lunacy. The werewolf gains plus 2 to all attributes, +1 to size, +3 to all tracking rolls by (+3 if in darkness and using sight based).. Bite attacks deal +1 lethal but claw attacks deal 0L. +1 to attempts to communicate in first tongue, but -3 to all relevant social rolls in other languages. The werewolf may attempt bite attacks outside of a grapple. A successful bite attack may optionally if the werewolf decides so, initiate a grapple. Optionally, the werewolf may retain opposable thumbs in this form, reducing it's speed by 5, but granting the option to manipulate objects. Plus 5 to speed not counting attribute bonuses.

Urhan
The normal wolf shape, and with that said, any werewolf in wolfshape is almost bound to be both bigger and more muscular than a normal wolf. Werewolves in wolf shape feel as comfortable as they normally do in human form. In wolf form, most werewolves are still more dangerous in combat than they are in human form, and the form doesn't cause lunacy, despite possibly causing a bit of disbelief, as one might not expect to find a lone gray wolf, say, in the middle of a populated city, in a region without wolves... In urhan, the werewolf cannot communicate in first tongue, but can communicate fluently in wolf speak. In darkness and from a distance, the werewolf has good chances of being mistaken for a dog, if applicable. Most werewolves use this form to mark their territory. In urhan, the werewolf shrinks by 1 in size, but gains a +2 to stamina and dexterity, +4 to track by scent and plus 4 to all other perception checks (+2 if in darkness). The werewolf may not communicate in first tongue at all, nor may it attempt any social rolls requiring human language, but it may attempt any social rolls unhindered with animals and other werewolves. The werewolf deals +1 lethal with it's teeth, but only bashing damage with it's claws. The werewolf may attempt bite attacks outside of a grapple. A successful bite attack may optionally if the werewolf decides so, initiate a grapple. Optionally, the werewolf may retain it's original size, but the form causes lunacy in weak-willed people (willpower 3 - and no wolfblood) and is bound to cause a spectacle, as the wolf is huge. Plus 5 to speed not counting attribute bonuses.

Moonphases
All moon phases affect the werewolves in different ways.

New Moon
The New Moon is infact the state of there being no visible moon. As such, almost all werewolves suffer slight drawbacks to their powers, as many of their powers are in conjunction with the moon, but it is during the New Moon that the spirit world is calmest, despite that, werewolves tend to be very careful on New Moon, as it is probably during the New Moon they are at their weakest. During the newmoon, werewolves may only retain their gauru shape only half as long (rounded up), any attempts to track by scent are reduced by 1 and werewolf enhanced perception bonuses are halved (rounded up), as well as penalties from darkness are increased by 1. They still heal just as much damage when spending essence, and normally regenerating bashing damage, but all other healing rates are doubled with the exception of silver damage, which actually heals faster during the new-moon phase (but only by an almost unnoticeable amount). They do however gain a bonus of +2 to resist kuruth. Irraka's are excepted from all of these weaknesses, and infact, they gain a +2 bonus to stealth and to survival checks during the new moon, as well as the ability to retain the their gauru form for extended time (primary renown). Irraka's also recieve the +2 bonus to resist kuruth. During the newmoon an Irraka may isntantly shift between all forms as a reflexive action free of charge with no roll. The new moon lasts for 3 days and appears only once per lunar cycle.

Crescent moon
The Crescent Moon signifies a time where the werewolves are at normal strength, but the spirits are still calm, meaning the cresent moon is the best moon phase to deal with spirits, in any way imaginable. Negotiations are more likely to succeed, spirits will be easier to catch off guard if hunted, ect. Ithaeurs may retain their gauru shape for longer (add primary renown) but are at very limited risk of entering kuruth (only one roll is required for the entire scene, if the werewolf remains more or less out of conflict). As long as they remain stationary and are not fighting (they can still move a little), they can sustain the gauru form indefinately. They may use these advantages to work rituals in gauru form. During the crescent moon an Ithaeur may isntantly shift between all forms as a reflexive action free of charge with no roll. The crescent moon phase appears 4 times during a lunar cycle, each time lasting approximately 5 days. Part of the strength found in this lunar phase is it's common appearance.

Half Moon
The Half Moon indicates a time where werewolves are in control of themselves, an in balance. They have an easier time negotiationg with both spirits and humans because all of their natures are in tune. During the halfmoon, an elodoth gains the highest bonus to social rolls when communicating with any and all beings and can prolong their gauru form (primary renown). During the half moon an Elodoth may isntantly shift between all forms as a reflexive action free of charge with no roll. Further more, during this moonphase, the Elodoths are exceptionally hard to provoke, and are entirely resistant to Kuruth (unless they roll a dramatic failure on their kuruth roll). During the time of the half moon, the elodoth further more does not suffer any ill effects when communicating with mortals, from their primal urge. The half-moon is not as common as the gibbous- or crescent moon, but more common than the full- and new moon. The half moon appears twice in a lunar cycle, lasting 3 days. During this moonphase, the eledoth may, once per scene, substitute any trait for their primary renown+primal urge. This application remains in place for the duration of the scene, meaning the particular trait remains replaced with this rating.

Gibbous Moon
The turn with the moon growing fuller, the spirit world grows more restless and the werewolves will need to be on their guards. Werewolves tend to be extra careful around their territories during the Gibbous moon, and often start plotting for future actions. During the gibbous moon, Cahaliths may remain longer in Gauru shape (primary renown), they double their bonuses to social rolls from various forms. During the Gibbous moon a Cahalith may isntantly shift between all forms as a reflexive action free of charge with no roll. The Gibbous moon appears 4 times during a lunar cycle each time lasting 5 days, making it a very common Auspice. It is speculated that this is part of the strength in it. Further more, during this moon phase, a cahalith gains a bonus equal to their primal urge+primary renown to any craft rollsm academics rolls or even occult rolls.

Full Moon
The Full Moon indicates that the time has come to hunt. Werewolves hunt and kill during this moonphase. The fullmoon comples werewolves to change form and lose control and give in to their instincts, and hunt. Most werewolves learn to cope with this but some revel, and live to lose themselves in the hunt. During the fullmoon a rahu may isntantly shift between all forms as a reflexive action free of charge with no roll. During this moonphase, all werewolves may add half their primary renown rounded down (but minimum 1) to the duration which they can remain in Gauru form, but suffer a -2 penalty to resist kuruth. A rahu may however add their, not just their entire primary renown, but all renown ratings to the duration, and may, once per full-moon phase, burn a willpower AND a point of essense to go into gauru form a second time during the same scene. When falling into kuruth during the full-moon, a rahu can take control of his rage, and avoid attacking those he do not wish to via a simple willpower roll. If there are no valid targets left, the werewolf can either attempt to revert to a state of non-kuruth by rolling willpower, or can opt to flee in which case the werewolf will flee until he feels safe. This means, that during the full moon, rahu's can theoretically retain gauru form indefinately. They still suffer a -2 penalty to resist kuruth. The full moon appears only once per lunar cycle and lasts for 3 days.

Auspice
The auspices are discussed in "Signs of the Moon" in very great detail, introducing something called "aspects" which in my game comes into play immediately from character creation regardless of primal urge rating.

Forsaken and Pure
The werewolves are divided into two camps, as described by the core book. All werewolves initially recieve an auspice when they first change, and the pure, believing that mother Luna is a curse upon them, seek to rid themselves of their association with her, and do so by performing one of three rituals, which also serve as initiation rituals to the respective three pure tribes. While a Forsaken werewolf may live outside the tribes and still adhere to the oath of the moon (which is actually a formality seeing as taking the oath does not make the werewolf more or less forsaken), becoming a member of a forsaken tribe requires taking the oath of the moon. If a werewolf has become a member of a tribe and thusly taken the oath, or just taken the oath (which many forsaken will demand of the unsworn forsaken), two of the pure tribes will no longer consider the forsaken worthy of living. Only the tribe known as the "Fire Touched" are known to accept a forsaken no matter what, if he wishes to "convert" where as the other two tribes will only take forsaken who are yet to swear the oath, and one of them being even more picky than that, accepting only specific Nuzuzul (first changeers) that they have picked out. For more information on the pure and their relationships with the forsaken, consult "The Pure" and "The war against the Pure".

As a result of being a pure, they do not gain any bonuses or penalties when any of the moon phases are showing, and do not gain essence from the moon either. They gain a permanent +2 bonus to resist kuruth however, and may still add their tribal renown to their gauru duration. If they are as much as touched by silver, they take bashing damage. Continual exposure the same location does not cause further bashing damage, and the damage heals instantly as normal, but their healing rates against silver are twice as long, and only a select few very strong pure are known to have ever managed to regenerate a limb lost to silver. Silver wounds further more leave permanent scares upon them. Seeing as they do not follow the oath of the moon, they do not consider it a harmony sin to kill forsaken, nor to kill eachother (it is still against their own laws, unless there is proper cause), or humans for that matter. The consumption of human flesh is also quite fine by them (wolf flesh is not though). The pure only enforce a few laws, one of them being that the the humans may not learn of their existence and an other being that werewolves may not mate as pure can breed unihar as well as forsaken can. Another thing the pure and the forsaken have in common is their hatred towards bale hounds whom both sides consider betrayers and enemies. Further more, spirit hosts, idigams, spirit ridden and many other threats to the humans are regarded as enemies by both sides, and dealt with in the same manner. The big difference is the way the pure beholds themselves in regards to humans and other spirits. The pure are well liked by spirits in general, because they aren't serving the Celestine Mother Luna whom is generally regarded as a trickster and unpredictable. The pure still serve their tribal totem, but any totem they take as a pack knows that it does not come in second to both Mother Luna, a tribal totem and possibly a lodge totem as well, and besides. The pure consider themselves above humans and have little regard for them, realizing that there are more than enough humans to go around if they snack one or kill one for fun every now and then.

The freedom that comes with being a pure over being a forsaken is what has lured so many werewolves to their side. The biggest pack being the fire-touched, which in total numbers almost the same as the total amount of forsaken werewolves in existence.

While the pure are still able to learn gifts, rituals and such, the pure do not organize themselves in lodges but adhere only to packs and tribes, and just like the forsaken they suffer from plenty of infighting. The pure are generally corrupt souls with a low harmony score who thinks they can do what ever they want, constantly at eachothers throats. They have a hard time organizing themselves to do anything, and are actually most of the time weaker than forsaken, finding strength in numbers though. Many members of the pure suffer permanently from wounds made by silver weaponry, and their packs tend to be larger, especially fire-touched packs that often number over 10 werewolves. Not many werewolves return to the forsaken from the pure, but quite a few werewolves were actually well into the forsaken community before betraying their oath, meaning that the forsaken know less of the pure than the other way around. The pure are often weak of character and tend to have low willpower scores and high primal urge ratings.

Tribes
While a werewolf can claim to be forsaken even without holding a membership with one of the forsaken tribes, the tribes are actually what alligns the forsaken with mother Luna. The Totem spirits, the spirit ancestors, revered by the tribes that remained loyal to mother Luna are the only things that actually binds a forsaken to the greath mother, despite this, a ghost wolf may still consider itself forsaken by taking the oath of the moon.

All werewolves initially have an auspice, and some werewolves renounce theirs, which is a necessity to join one of the pure tribes.

None of the tribes are more important than the others, and in some areas of the world, not all tribes are evenly represented, and sometimes, certain tribes are not at all represented in an area. The tribes are philosophies in theory, allowing a werewolf follow a creed that affirms the way he views himself.

Iron Masters embody the territorial aspect, blood talons are more focussed on the aspects of their nature and history that has kept them locked in warfare for millennia where as boneshadows see themselves as the hissil-police, and as such all the tribes are different.

The pure tribes differ a bit from the forsaken tribes, seeing as the pure do not follow the oath of the moon, and as such their tribes are built around entirely different ideals, that are culturally more in tune with the pure.

Iron Masters
The Iron Masters are the dominating tribe in the urban areas among the forsaken. You rarely find Iron Masters, if not so say almost never, in more rural areas, but in the urban areas, 2 out of 5 forsaken are Iron Masters. The Iron Masters are a big tribe but very localized and werewolves who do not frequent urban areas are likely to rarely meet them, thinking them perhaps a small tribe. They tend to divide the city in territories covering every scrap they can, leaving them with small and well defined territories. They have a knack for working together despite any disputes. Iron Masters recognize that other Iron Masters depend as much as they do on the deception that they are human, and may need to pass unhindered through another packs territory, or even conduct their affairs there, and it's practically an unspoken rule Iron Masters in between that this must be respected. Iron Masters often form strong alliances with some packs and have rivalries that border on being deadly with others, and often organize themselves in small packs (usually only 3-4) due to their diversity. Iron Masters gladly join forces with werewolves of other tribes, this being one of the most common reasons they sometimes end up in rural areas. The Iron Masters boast almost purely Homid members, if not purely so.

Hunters in Darkness
The Hunters in Darkness are exactly the opposite of the Iron Masters in many aspects. Rarely found in urban areas, the Hunters in Darkness are more in touch with their nature as a predator than as a wolf in sheep's clothes. They often take large and undefined territories as their hunting grounds, maintaining very specific locations as actual territory. 2 out of 5 forsaken in rural areas are Hunters in Darkness, making them yet another large tribe. Hunters in Darkness are sure to know the lay of their lands. In many areas, one Hunter in Darkness pack is neighbor to another, and instead of squabbling over territory as the Iron Masters often do, they tend to keep more open borders, referring to their territories as "hunting grounds", where as they tend several locations that they deem to be of value within said hunting grounds. Sometimes, one pack maintains a territorial location deep within the hunting ground of another pack, and as such the borders can overlap and seem impossible to figure out for other werewolves. Hunters in Darkness are not as brutal and competitive towards eachother and other forsaken as Iron Masters are, but maintain a healthy level of savage territorial feeling and will occasionally chase other pack out or threaten them, but with the Hunters in Darkenss, it's rarely taken beyond a show of force, and they usually do not bear grudges considering matters settled when they are settled, regardless of the actual outcome. They organize themselves in mid-sized packs, ranging from 5-6 members typically, as they need a suitable amount of werewolves to maintaint their large hunting grounds, but typically such hunting grounds cannot support larger numbers of werewolves. Hunters in Darkness are some of the most conservative werewolves around and rarely join forces with werewolves of other tribes, though they have been known to accept a boneshadow in their fold from time to time, but they are very set in their ways and seek the company of others from their own tribe primarily, that said, not all Hunters in Darkness follow the norm, and some seek the hunt in places where their brethren do not. The Hunters in Darkness have a large number of Lupus werewolves and tend to raise the Metis wolves from all the tribes, usually sending them back (sending especially many to the Blood Talons), but naturally a lot of them decide to stay. Raising a Metis werewolf is an incredibly difficult task after all, and the Hunters are just best equipped for it. They often allow the mother to stay as a guest in their packs when raising the children, seeing as this usually only takes a few years.

Blood Talons
Blood Talons are essentially found everywhere, but most commonly they are found in the areas where there are pure-werewolves, and as such they are less territorial that the Hunters in Darkenss or the Iron Masters, moving their territory around often to take the fight to the enemy. Blood Talons are not as common as the Hunters in Darkness or Iron Masters and lead a much less passive existence. Blood talons often form larger packs than other forsaken, often ranging from 7-10 members, and are considered forces to be reckoned with. In contested areas, Blood Talon packs are often found in larger numbers, but otherwise it's rare to find more than one in an area. Less focussed on the territorial aspects they can often avoid infighting, but being a martial focussed tribe, they will usually try to solve conflicts their way, through force or threats there of. Blood Talon packs enjoy a certain reputation among other packs for being the best fighters among the forsaken, but often are not necessarily regarded as the smartest fighters. Sometimes a bloodtalon seeks to form- or join a pack with werewolves of other tribes, this is not at all uncommon, seeing as sometimes Blood Talons lose, despite being considered some of the best, and the survivors and stragglers may feel discouraged from attempting to form a true Blood Talon War-Band again, but in other cases, they may simply not believe in the conventional tactics of the Blood Talons. Blood Talons are eager to accept Metis and some Blood Talon Septs have been known to promovate the breeding of Metis to bolster their ranks. Some Lupus wolves call the Blood Talons their tribe, but ultimately their way of living is unappealing to those with a wolf-like nature.

Bone Shadows
The Bone Shadows tend to be nomadic and are the least territorial of all werewolves. Often willingly assuming the role of Omega in packs they join, they are likely to have less of a problem leaving a pack again. Boneshadows sometimes form packs together and travel in groups and have even been known to claim territories and hold these for longer periods of time, but often, the lust to travel claims them again, and they continue seeking knowledge and new problems to solve. As such, when they form packs on their own, they often form smaller packs, 3-4 members, but when they join more diverse packs, they aim to join larger and more established packs, so that they have less of a chance to accidentally climb the social ladder, and also do not leave as big a hole behind in the pack if they decide to leave. Boneshadows are rarely rivals, and tend to try to avoid getting caught up in the conflicts with the pure as they believe it removes the focus from their actually important duties. Bone Shadows gladly welcome Metis, but few Metis are cut out for the work of Bone Shadows. Almost no Lupus werewolves find interest in the dealings of Bone Shadows.

Storm Lords
Storm Lords are one of the primary reasons that diverse packs exist. Using a tactic the pure tribes cannot get behind, namely accepting a leader of a pack who is of a different tribe than yourself, this is a Storm Lord custom, or rather taking a pack of various tribes. It's also one of the main reasons behind their success. Storm Lords are leaders in nature, known for taking the initiative and finding their own way. While they have traditions, they do not conform to what the norm does or what the norm thinks, and as such, Storm Lords can often be found in any environment as movers and shakers. They sometimes do form packs on their own and that tends to work just fine too. They are rarely as concerned with territories as some of the other packs and tend to focus on where their work might do the most good, but are far from as nomadic as the Blood Talons and Bone Shadows. Storm Lords rarely accept Metis Wolves, like with all Forsaken, the majority are Homid, but quite a few Lupus werewolves find their place among the Lords.

Fire-Touched
The biggest tribe in the world, the fire touched are primarily composed of the weak-willed and spineless who find peace of mind in letting go of responsibilities. It's important to remember that just because the fire-touched are not allowed to lie it doesn't mean that it's easy to coax their secrets, even though they keep very few. There's no specific pattern to the fire-touched and their way of organizing themselves but they tend to form larger packs and are rarely seen in small packs, seeing as "Strength in numbers" is typically their greatest advantage. The Fire Touched welcome all the breeds into their fold, and are quick to accept their Metis Brethren. Some Fire Touched even promovate the breeding between werewolves to produce metis.

Predator kings
The predator kings are a big tribe, numbering the same roughly on a global basis as one of the larger forsaken packs. They embody all of the aspects associated with being  werewolf, and are almost only found in the wilderness due to their tribal ban. Most of them rarely assume their human forms. Predator kings are typically of very high primal urge, and the majority of them master the four-legged fightingstyle known as Tooth and Claw. Many of them pose as camps of survivalists. They are relatively rarely seen in the more populated areas, as the majority of the predator kings have taken to the deep wilds of the world, and therefor, they are also one of the packs that are seen more rarely on the battlefields, clashing often only with Hunters in Darkness who also prefer the wild. The majority of all Predator Kings are Lupus werewolves, the rest being Metis wolves who have managed to prove themselves worthy. An exceptionally small amount of Predator Kings are Homids who have proven their worth.

The predator kings have maintained some of their territories for centuries, and despite much infighting - on a much more brutal scale than you would normally expect from members of the same tribe, there are quite many things they do not deny eachother. Predator Kings help eachother uphold their very difficult tribal ban, which means they have to produce cotton, wool and other fabrics on their own, for instance, in order to produce clothing, some of their best crafters manage to produce clothing that looks similar to those made of human design. Yet, their clothing often features few human designs, most of them in earth colors, very rarely using zippers. Only a few very fortunate predator kings have access to things like gore-tex or other similar things. Jackets are typically made of leather, sweaters of wool ect. with underpants and pants made of cotton. They aren't caught dead in anything that resembles fashion, sticking to practical clothing.

Some predator kings, they are few among their kind, prefer their dalu form over their wolf forms.

They name their dalu form, the builders form and the ushul form, the hunting form. They refer to the wolf form as the true form, and to the human form as the "disguise".

Predator kings are known to use homecrafted archaic armor and weapons.

Ivory Claws
The Ivory Claws are a relatively small tribe, mainly due to their requirements. They fancy themselves a bit of an elite, mainly in regards to bloodlines and are obsessed with purity. They control several bloodlines of wolfblooded families all over the world, more than any other can boast. The ranks of the Ivory Claws haven't seen any Lupus werewolves in centuries and they do not allow Metis werewolves to join their ranks, passing them on to their fellow pure tribes or killing them at birth.

Septs
Originally, the Tribes were not called as such, and in some regions of the world, they still aren't. The Tribal Totems of the Tribes were followed by many seperate tribes that were often based on nationality, region or ethnicity. As such, for instance, there were once over a hundred tribes following the same tribal totem of Skollis Ur (the tribal totem of the Storm Lords). They all had generally the same ideas, but had different costums.

Today, these so called "original tribes" are now known as "Septs", and are still common, but after years of war-fare killed off many of these original tribes and as communication world-wide became an option, many "purists" started appearing, who did not want any part in the tribes, but adhered only to their tribal totem, and soon the tables had turned.

Septs are still found in various portions of the world, especially the more untamed parts and occasionally, dead septs are resurrected, and new ones are formed.

Some septs are so large they could almost be considered small tribes still.

Great Brittain, France, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, North America, Africa and Australia are especially known for their septs.

There is no particular advantage to holding membership in a Sept anymore, with the exception that it naturally comes with social benefits. Then again, some septs are mortal enemies despite revering the same Tribal Totem.

Members of Septs often do not use the term Sept, and refer to it instead as their tribe, much to the confusion of other Forsaken.

Lodges
To understand what a lodge is, one must first understand what a tribe is. Tribes are world-spanning "religions" so to speak. A blood talon is loyal to the ancestor spirit of the blood talons, and while he also respects and upholds the parts of the oath of the moon that the blood talon creed does not concern itself with, he does not follow or necessarily respect the creeds of the other tribes. The creed of the blood talons, is the same all over the world, and there are no places in the world where the blood talons are replaced by other tribes, because there is infact a spiritual ancestor to the blood talons who makes sure that no mockeries are made of him.

Lodges are different, and while some of them are certainly world spanning not all are.

A lodge also has a spiritual totem and their own creed that must be followed, all lodges serve a specific purpose and any werewolf who joins will find himself much more dedicated towards certain aspects of his existence than others who have not chosen to join a lodge.

It's not mandatory to join a lodge, and while many werewolves eventually join one, it's not a requirement and quite a few never join. Joining a lodge is often permanent, but not always so, and doing so is associated with finalizing ones belonging to the urdaga community.

Lodges often offer certain benefits, but also make some serious demands of their members

Lodge of Silence
Information regarding this lodge can be found in Blood of the Wolf on page 75.

In my version of werewolf the forsaken, the lodge of Silence is a world-spanning organization that has existed since the herd started constructing actual prisons. The lodge is primarily run by a few iron masters who have gained influence with the prisons in the world, and can use this influence to get a prisoner transported to more desireable prisons where other Forsaken are also incarcarated, and further more orchestrate prisoner escapes and early releases.

Apart from the already established benefits of joining, a member may kill another human, wolfblooded or werewolf, forsaken or pure, with silver even without risking a harmony drop, if it is to protect the secrets of the werewolves as a whole.

When a werewolf is imprisoned, they will be sought out in their dreams and claimed as temporary members of this lodge, until their freedom is gained. Temporary membership is granted without any need to leave other lodges, but only Iron Masters with no other lodge memberships can gain full membership.

The Silver Guard
The Silver Guards are a somewhat secretive organization and very few in numbers. Their totem spirit is Silver Fangs - the wolf that does not bite. Theirs is the duty to keep the secrets of Silver Weapon crafting as well as most of them having the ability to turn their own claws and fangs into silver.

The silver guard may carry and use silver weaponry without risking a harmony drop.

Membership reqires a harmony of 6, a brawl skill of 2, a weaponry skill of 2, an intimidation skill of 3, a craft skill of 3 with a speciality in Silver as well as a speciality in Silver Weapons in weaponry.

Upon joining, they gain access to a dot 3 gift which is an affinity gift and considered a mother luna gift. It was long ago made secret from the rest of the werewolf society, and only the Silver Guard and a select few others now know this secret. The gift of Silver Jaws, the ultimate bane of werewolves.

The Lodge of Unity
As described in the books, except requirements to join have been dropped.

The lodge of unity is now a "pack lodge" and a "clutch lodge". Only packs and clutches may join, and membership is held through membership in either of such factions. Requirement to be a member is that the average harmony is equal to, or greater than 6 in the entire group.

The benefits have been dropped and replaced with any member freely gaining the benefits of Small unit tactics, as well as allies to other forsaken packs that are also members at half price.

Membership in this lodge does not prohibit other memberships.

It is known as "the union", and functions much in the same way. Members are expected to avoid infighting and to direct their efforts to upholding the oath of the moon as well as against the pure.

During the the time when humans started forming unions, this old lodge gained a very steady stream of members. It's very popular in areas where the pure are represented in strong numbers, and in places where there is a clutch in place. The lodge of Unity dictates that local areas will be named into regions, and every region should be ruled by a clutch, where the alpha's of every pack in the region has a seat in a council, but this requires the other packs in the area to join as well. A group of powerful but nomadic packs travel around to the different regions and assist newly joined packs in forming clutches. Sometimes through violence, sometimes through intimidation or other persuasion, sometimes through manipulation or by show of force (could for instance be, permanently solving a problem that has plagued the area, such as a local pure pack put in the ground, or a powerful spirit killed, maybe a dispute solved).

Today, roughly 40% of all uratha packs claim membership, still more joining. Many of the packs that refuse membership exist in rural areas or in cities where there is no pure presence. Not surprisingly, many werewolves seek these more peaceful regions. Storm Lords, Blood Talons and Bone Shadows are the three tribes that have the easiest time following the ideals of the lodge of unity, where as quite a few Iron Masters join, but continue their infighting regardless. Hunters in Darkness are poorly represented in the numbers of the Lodge of Unity, many of them do not concern themselves with the war against the pure, nor do they see a specific need to join in such an effort. They already believe that such an alliance exists naturally between all uratha, and that the other tribes just needs to understand this.

The Bale Choirs
The Bale Choirs are spirit Choirs made up of the most powerful spirits of negative concepts, such as pain, dispair and violence. These spirits are incredibly powerful and have many underlings.

The Bale Choirs are known to recruit werewolves, corrupting them severely, but acting as their tribal totems. The Bale Choirs are much more powerful than the tribal totems of the normal tribes, but the draw back is serving an agenda that will eventually lead to the destruction of the world, and of course the massive amount of corruption that follows. Such werewolves are known as Bale Hounds and rarely organize beyond in Packs, and very rarely know of other packs in servitude to the same Tribal Totem.

The leaders of the various Bale Choirs are essentially Gods with almost unlimited powers, and becoming a bale hound also means a direct alliance with millions of powerful spirits all over the world.

Bale hounds are known not to age, and many of them retreat into the spirit wilds where they sit at their masters sides for decades before they re-emerge completely twisted.

Fortunately, balehounds cannot reproduce as long as they remain in servitude to their dark lods. At all infact.

The Black Spiral Dancers
The Black Spiral Dancers were supposedly a real tribe once, that turned their back on their original and now forgotten tribal totem and became the servants of the Bale Choir of Destruction. They are the most numerous of the Bale-Tribes and have existed for a very long time. Only recently, however, did other werewolves become aware of how big a threat they have become. Numbering thousands of completely twisted werewolves, spirit ridden that have sat in the spirit world for years and having their long twisted talons in many corporations world wide, they have compeltely managed to side-wind the Forsaken and the Pure and their petty tribal squabble.

Bale Hounds resemble bats or rats in many ways in their appearance, due to their hairless ears and tails, they feature tumors and look sickly even in their human forms. They are usually quite powerful, and very much insane.

The Black Spiral Dancers are known to be the only Bale Hounds that cannot be turned back as a general fact. Once a bale-hound, death is the only salvation.

Rituals, rites, renown and gifts
This section will detail costum gifts and rites, as well as any changes in the system regarding these stats.

Rite of spirit brand is replaced with a rite called "Inscribe Renown". Every once in a while, a werewolf needs to perform this rite. The rite automatically adds a few details to the mysterious silver glowing (or in the case of the pure, blood red glowing) first-tongue runes that describes the werewolf in terms a spirit can understand. Mechanically, this rite allows the player to add earned renown to their character. These runes are always visible in the spirit world, and are also visible in moonlight if the werewolf wishes them to be, but only to spirits, spirit hosts, mages with spirit sight, other werewolves, wolfblooded and so on.

Renown is important when it comes to dealing with spirits, and a werewolf cannot learn gifts above his highest renown level. Renown also directly empowers the character in certain aspects and do serve a supernatural function other than making the character more respectable in the eyes of other spirit related denziens.

Rituals may be learned without any regard to renown however and so may rites. These are not taught by spirits, but were invented by werewolves, sometimes with the help of spirits.

The Hissil is a place where metaphysical values overshadow any actual monetary values. A pair of super expensive jeans will not hold value over a gun that has the potential to be used as a deadly weapon (theoretically, so could the jeans, but I doubt many people expect they will be strangled with a pair of jeans). As such, the rite of dedication is only needed when the werewolf is trying to bring something that yields an equipment bonus with them into the hissil or keep it in their form when they shape shift. Clothing that the werewolf owns can also be dedicated, which allows it the same properties, but this is not necessary, as any clothing the wearwolf has owned for a while and worn several times will automatically become dedicated after a while. A newly bought t shirt will not shift with the werewolf, but his 3 year old jearsy will. Even clothing that nets an equipment bonus, such as camouflage, fancy clothing, dark clothing or reenforced clothing will not take up a dedicated spot.

A werewolf may dedicate 3 items to himself at primal urge 1, and one additional item per further dot in primal urge. That is, 3 items for dalu and hishu and 3 items for gauru and three items for urhan and urshul.

Clothing, armor and weapons will automatically assume an appropriate size once dedicated. Dedicated clothing in other words are bound to the very being of the werewolf and will always fit perfectly.

Primal Urge
Primal urge is a very important stat in werewolf, it's the main power stat.

Primal urge describes the connection the werewolf feels with his nature, and how much that nature has grown with him.

Werewolves with a primal urge of one tend to live completely normal lives, actually often forgetting that they are werewolves. As they move on to level two and three, they become increasingly detached from human society, many don't  feel the need to join a pack or a tribe until they reach level two, and at level three, many werewolves feel very in touch with their nature, and tend to avoid associating with humans or mingling with them for that matter (iron masters and Ivory Claws being the exception to this rule). Raising above level 3 in primal urge is not exactly common among forsaken, but not decidedly uncommon either, where as quite a decent portion of the pure rach level 4. At 4 and 5, werewolves are so in touch with their nature that being human now seems absurd. Many werewolves are constantly reminded of what it was like to be human and are thusly prevented fro achieving these levels of primal urge. Werewolves that go beyond level 5 are truly rare, and the cases are so few that it's hard to say anything in general about them, but once reaching level 6, if allowed to live, most werewolves eventually reach level 10. At this point, many werewolves are forced to take refuge in the hissil, near huge loci. They are immortal and do not age, being so far removed from their human natures some of them forget how to speak as a human or how to act as one. They are not to be mistaken for Zi'ir, as they still honor their respective creeds, but they tend to be packless. Werewolves of this level of power don't need a pack to keep a totem however as most spirits would gladly serve them. Most werewolves try not to go beyond level 5, as at level 5 the werewolf does still age slightly, but at a rate where the werewolf can live for hundreds of years without suffering any ill effects.

Fetishes, klaives and talens
Custom work will be found here, as well as changes to existing rules.

Fetish merit
The Fetish merit allows the character to start with a fetish in his possession. Unless the character specifies otherwise, this fetish is a tattoo or scar fetish (no extra price added), if this is possible. Some fetishes (especially Klaives) cannot be done this way, in which case, the exp used to buy the fetish can be earned back as extra experience in normal game sessions, private game sessions or reduced game sessions.

If a character acquires a fetish in character, it does not procure an experience cost, it does however, cost something if the fetish is a tattoo or scar fetish, in which case the fetish is permanently a part of the users body.

A scar- or tatoo fetish cannot be destroyed or removed unless the werewolf wills it, and it cannot happen under duress. Even if the scar or tattoo fetish is completely obliterated from the werewolf's body will regenerate it as if it was a natural part of the body.

If a fetish is lost somehow, the experience is refunded.

Custom Talens
Various custom Talens

Vial of dedication
This vial liquid can be used to instantly dedicate an item to the werewolf, who must first drink from the vial, and then distribute the remains over the largest parts of the item he wishes to dedicate to himself. These Vials are often gifted to packless wolves who do not have access to a rite master.

Concentrated essence
Not exactly a talen, as the rite of fetish is not needed to create this (but can be used). Concentrated essence is essence that has been turned into a small ball, looking like a marble. The werewolf puts the marble in his mouth and the essence dissipates and is absorbed by him. No more than a single point of essence can be stored this way.

Fighting Styles and Werewolves
Werewolves can utilize a number of different fightingstyles that are not entirely unique to them, but certainly cannot be learned by humans.

Tooth and Claw
Many animals master this ruthless fightingstyle. Normal dogs do not, but wolves, hyenas, Lions, Tigers and other big Felines, Canines and even Ursidae (bears) may possess dots in this fightingstyle at the Story Tellers discretion. Trained attack dogs may also possess it, so can spirits who resemble predatory animals who would naturally have access to this. Werewolves may learn the fighting-style. Predator Kings, Hunters in Darkness and Blood Talons are most likely to master this style fully, but all werewolves will pretty soon develop skills in this. All werewolves who have been werewolves for a little while get the first dot for free.

Wolf Pack
This fightingstyle is used mainly by Bloodtalons, Hunters in Darkness, Predator Kings and the Fire Touched. It's effective when the werewolf has the benefit of higher numbers. Many packs that hunt and fight as packs chose to learn this fightingstyle. Some Totems offer it as a benefit. In theory, anyone can learn this fightingstyle as it doesn't require the ability to take the form of a wolf. Werewolves who are in a pack can buy this for two exp per dot, it has no reqirements for werewolves.

Pack-Tactics
This completely custom fightingstyle is usually adapted by packs that have been together for a long while. Most bloodtalon packs and warbands have a tendency to learn this. Any werewolf in a pack may learn this style for a rate of 2 exp per dot. Wolfblooded characters can learn this fightingstyle if it's applicable (doesn't require them to be in other shapes than human). Requirements vary.

Berserker
The Berserker fightingstyle can be learned by werewolves, and can be used in Gauru form. Once learned, it allows the werewolf to use it's enhanced instincts when in Kuruth however, making this a potential double-edged sword. Especially Rahu's are likely to learn this fightingstyle, but many Predator Kings learn this style as well. Werewolves can learn this style at a rate of 2 exp per dot. Any human can learn this style. It costs a point of willpower to activate berserker in any form but gauru, and activating it calls for a kuruth roll. It can be activated for free in Gauru form. The style normally supplements another fightingstyle. For werewolves, this style has no requirements.

Frenzied Assault
Two versions of Frenzied assault can be learned by werewolves. The regular version, which allows werewolves to use at least one fightingstyle while armed in gauru form, as well as during kuruth, also making this style very risky, and then a variant that applies the brawling skill instead, and caters to the use of the giant talons in gauru form, as well as teeth. This fightingstyle is rarely found among werewolves, but especially Storm Lords, Bloodtalons, members of lodges that favor weaponry and the Predator Kings are known to master it. Any human can learn this style, albeit not the variant that caters to the brawling skill. Requires 3 dots in either weaponry or brawl depending on the variant.

Savage Fury
A werewolf always has a number of dots in this fightingstyle equal to their primal urge. It works in all forms.

Other Fighting-Styles
Werewolves and wolfblooded alike are likely to learn various martial arts. Today, pitfighting (MMA) is a very popular choice due to the aggressiveness of it, previous generations might have picked up boxing or aggressive striking, but especially Iron Masters are known for branching out their choices of styles. Spear-fighting and archery are popular fightingstyles among Hunters in Darkness and Predator Kings. Wolfblooded are very likely to pick up any style that is convenient to them or caters to their personality, and many werewolves who use Klaives decide to branch out. Seeing as Klaives are often (but not exclusively) melee weapons, many werewolves keep historical martial arts alive. A werewolf or wolfblooded may start with 1 free dot in any fightingstyle that isn't werewolf related. If the wolfblooded hasn't had access to schooling in martial arts, consider Brute Force or Dirty Fighting. It's important to remember that other fighting styles than Frenzied assault and Berserker cannot be used in Gauru form, with the exception pack-tactics that cater specifically to the gauru form and in the quadroupedal form gauru form the tooth and claw fighting style may still be used.

Primal urge as a substitute
Primal urge can be used as a substitute for melee combat (both brawl and weaponry), survival checks to tracking and hunting as well as for intimidation, athletics checks to run, climb and jump and animal ken.

Non-werewolf lycanthropes
Non-werewolf lycanthropes are so rare that they often become legends in their local areas, and do not heed the same calls as werewolves do, all of them having individual causes, leading the far away from the life of werewolves. Non-werewolf lycanthropes usually begin their lives as humans, and in the few cases where that doesn't hold true, they lack the ability to take a human form. Non-werewolf lycanthropes are incidentally just a single being with several bodies. There is no apparant connection between how lycanthropy spreads between non-werewolf lycanthropes.

Some non-werewolf lycanthropes take on the same role as werewolves do, policing the spirit wild, in their own distant regions of the world, while others seem to have connections to the animal kingdom primarily, and others yet live lives tranger yet. Remember that almost all non-werewolf lycanthropes are capable of achieving renown, holding essence, spending rage, learning gifts and aspects and so on, but they do not have auspices or connections to mother luna or the werewolf tribes. No Lycanthropes are as organized as the werewolves.

I refer to the NWoD book "Changing Breeds" For more information on these.