Red Talon Tribe Gifts
Griffin's Brood teaches the Red Talons Gifts that no human-tainted tribe could ever hope to learn. Also, as with rites, the Red Talons have discovered Gifts over the years that they simply feel no need to share with the other tribes. These blessings from Gaia help keep the Red Talons in their proper role as supreme predators, and the Talons who know of these Gifts feel that homid Garou probably aren't capable of understanding or using them effectively. |
Tribal Gifts
Level 1
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Level 2
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Level 3
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Level 4
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Level 5
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Gifts listed in Red are NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE.
Level One
Beast Speech
As a Level 1 Galliard Gift
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 140, 149
Description: The werewolf with this GIft may communicate with any animals from fish to mammals. This Gift does not change their basic reactions; most animals are still afraid of predators such as werewolves. Any spirit of nature can teach this Gift.
System: The player simply rolls Charisma + Animal Ken, although each separate encounter or type of animal requires a separate roll.
Eye of the Hunter
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 64
Description: Wolves can sense which animal from a herd is sick or weak and therefore the easiest prey. Red Talons can do so normally when confronted with a herd of deer, but more complex creatures like predators or pseudo-predators (like humans) make this difficult. This Gift, taught by a wolf-spirit, allows the Talon to pick out the weakest member of a group at a glance. It does not reveal why the target is the weak link in a herd, only that she is, but that alone is often enough to give the Garou an edge.
System: The player rolls Perception + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). If the roll succeeds, the character knows which member of a given group is the weakest (determined by the Storyteller) and which is the leader. If the Red Talon enters combat against this group, she gains an extra die to her attack pools against the weakest member.
Hidden Killer
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 65
Description: The Red Talons did not survive for so many years without learning ways to conceal themselves. This Gift allows a Garou to leave behind no physical evidence that would betray her hand (or claws and teeth) in a slaying. This Gift is taught my a snake-spirit.
System: After a battle, the Garou must lick each wound she inflicted once. The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Stealth (difficulty 7). If the roll succeeds, the wounds alter themselves so that they resemble stabbing wounds rather than bite marks, and any hair, saliva, blood or other physical evidence from the werewolf’s body disappears. Any peripheral damage (smashed furniture, for example) remains as it was, however.
Purify Meat
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 65
Description: While some Red Talons abstain from eating humans because of the Litany, the more common reason for hunting more conventional game is that humans are befouled by the chemicals they put into their bodies. In some parts of the world, this isn’t such a problem, but in most countries, human flesh is foul-tasting and unhealthy, even for Garou. In other places, the land is so corrupted that other game animals begin to taste rubbery and disgusting. With this Gift, a Red Talon can purge chemicals and other poisons from dead flesh. A water elemental teaches this Gift.
System: The player spends one Gnosis point. The Garou must touch the mean he wishes to cleanse. Each use of this Gift cleans approximately fifty pounds of dead mean of any non-supernatural toxins.
Scent of Running Water
Also a Level 1 Ragabash Gift
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 137, 149
Description: The Garou can mask her scent completely, making herself virtually impossible to track. A fox-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: The difficulties of all rolls to track the Garou increase by two. This Gift becomes an innate ability to the Garou who learns it. She need not expend any points or make any rolls. However, the Ragabash may still leave a scent behind if she decides to do so voluntarily (which may be necessary to blend in with wolf packs).
Wolf at the Door
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 149
Description: Some humans can’t just be splattered all over the nearest tree. Some of them have to be taught a lesson and left alive, for whatever reason. however, the Red Talons know how to make the message stick. This Gift induces a terrible dread of and respect for the forest, and it makes a human target afraid to tamper with it in any way. Any predator spirit can teach this Gift.
System: The Garou must make eye contact with the target, but he can be in any form when she does so. The player then rolls Charisma + Primal-Urge (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). The effects last for one day per success. During this time, the human must roll Willpower to leave his home, and he may not go near anything resembling a forest without spending a Willpower point. If the human does leave home, he is shaky and fearful until he returns, and his player loses two dice from all Mental and Social dice pools. This Gift functions on Kinfolk, mages, ghouls and other “supernatural” humans, but the difficulty increases by two to a maximum of 10.
Level Two
Beastmind
Also a Level 2 Get of Fenris Gift (Camp: Glorious Fist of Wotan)
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 150
Description: The Garou can reduce the mental faculties of his victim to that of an animal for a short time. An avatar of Griffin teaches this Gift.
System: The player rolls Manipulation + Empathy (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). The effects last for one turn per success, during which the target listens to only his most base instincts and behaves like a wild animal.
Cull the Herd
Source: WW3108 - Werewolf Players Guide (2nd Edition) p. 41
Description: A Red Talon using this Gift measures the vitality of her prey to plan her attack strategy effectively. During the Impergium, Red Talons used this Gift to pick the weakest of the humans and destroy them. Occasionally, the Red Talons killed the strongest of the humans to remove them from the breeding pool. Today, the Gift continues to help Red talons hunt and kill their prey. An avatar of wolf teaches his children how to detect the easiest prey.
System: The Red Talon need only succeed on a Perception + Medicine roll (difficulty 7) to determine the general health and fitness of an individual. The Gift also works on animals and Garou as well as humans. One success detects any injuries, whereas five successes would reveal the creature’s entire physiology.
Predator’s Leap
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 65
Description: While any lupus werewolf can lean the secrets of jumping great distances, the Red Talons have refined the Gift to great effect when chasing or ambushing a foe. By employing this Gift, the Talon’s leap “tracks” a moving target, allowing her to pounce on her prey even if said prey has dodged or fled while the Talon is in mid-leap. A fox- or (sometimes) a cat-spirit teaches this gift.
System: The player must roll to leap as usual, as detailed on page 197 of Werewolf. She spends a point of Rage and rolls Wits + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7); the leap is counted as a Rage action, and does not affect the dice pool. Any successes on the roll are subtracted from an opponent’s successes to dodge or flee from the Talon, before the Talon’s attack roll is made. The Talon may then attack normally.
Primal Instinct
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3108 - Werewolf Players Guide (2nd Edition) p. 41
Description: The Red Talon can strip away the layers of humanity that cover up man’s basic instincts. A human assaulted with this Gift finds himself behaving like a beast. Momentarily losing all civility, the human strips naked, runs through the streets, growls at threats and makes numerous, uninvited overtures toward members of the opposite sex. All thoughts of business meetings, color television and BMWs vanish in favor of the basic drives of survival.
Red Talons use whatever means necessary to force ape-spirits to teach them this Gift.
System: The Red Talon must spend a Gnosis point and roll Manipulation + Animal Ken (difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower). The number of successes indicates the extent to which the human target loses his humanity. One success causes a certain absent mindedness and preoccupation with food and sex. Five successes, on the other hand, probably causes the raving target to be locked up and tranquilized.
Sense of the Prey
Also a Level 2 Ragabash Gift / Level 2 Black Furies Gift / Level 2 Silent Striders (Camp: Seekers) Gift / Level 2 Get of Fenris (Camp: Hand of Tyr)
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 150
Description: If he knows anything about his prey, the character can track it down as rapidly as he can travel. This unerring sense of direction operates anywhere, and it is useful for tracking spirits through the Umbra as well as finding beings on Earth. A wolf- or dog-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: No roll is required unless the target is hiding actively (intent alone is not enough), in which case a Perception + Enigmas roll is made against a difficulty of the target’s Wits + Stealth. If the target is a spirit, the difficulty is the spirit’s Gnosis.
Level Three
Elemental Favor
Also a Level 3 Glass Walker Gift
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 149, 150
Description: By begging, threatening or cajoling an urban elemental, a Garou can convince the spirit to do her a favor by manipulating or even destroying her earthly shell. Thus, a glass sheet might explode at the Garou’s foes; a door might refuse to open, even if unlocked, or a car’s brakes might fail. An urban elemental teaches this Gift.
Red Talon: this version affects the four classic elements — fire, earth, water and air — and a natural elemental teaches it.
System: The player rolls Charisma + Subterfuge (difficulty of the spirit’s Gnosis). The Storyteller determines the precise effects.
Gaze of the Hunter
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 65
Description: The Garou stares into the eyes of an intended victim, and communicates to them the ancient bond between predator and prey — beginning the sacred hunt. This Gift is taught by the spirit of any predatory mammal — wolf, mountain lion, bear, etc.
System: The Garou spends on Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty 6 for animals or the human [or other sentient] target’s Willpower — whichever is higher). If the Gaze is successful, the target (human or animal) understands the link and will act accordingly: Wild animals will run into the open, allowing the hunter to eventually catch and kill them. Humans and domesticated animals — for whom this is a terrifying experience — may run or cower, terrified. No victim will begin a fight, although if the Red Talon pursues and catches the prey, a battle might result. The Gift does not work on other Garou, but will be effective against most creatures the Garou sets out to hunt.
Herding the Infant Ape
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3108 - Werewolf Players Guide (2nd Edition) p. 41
Description: Perhaps the most unpopular Gift in the entire tribe, this Gift is hidden by Whelp’s Compromise, although a few Warders of the Land use it in more… experimental ways. It turns a human child of no older than ten years old into a creature of the wild, unable to set foot in a city. Some suggest this Gift is responsible for myths such as Romulus and Remus, or the tale of Mowgli. Whelp’s Compromise camp members use this to show that humans themselves can exist in harmony with Gaia, it is the City that is evil and needs to be destroyed.
System: This Gift can only be used on a human child of no more than ten years. The player spends three Gnosis and rolls Charisma + Primal Urge. The difficulty is the child’s age; any child less than a year old automatically is barred from setting foot in a city for the rest of their life. For children aged one and up, the number of successes rolled becomes the number of decades that pass before they can re-enter a city. If they do so before then, they suffer incapacitating cramps, refuse to eat, and stay immobile until removed from the city.
Since this Gift only works on those too small to fend for themselves, few who use it simply abandon their charges. After all, a dead human child in the wild isn’t the example the Whelp’s Compromise wants to make.
Mother’s Rage
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 65
Description: A she-wolf is most dangerous when protecting her cubs, and will fight against enemies from which she would normally flee if her family is at stake. The Red Talon with this Gift is able to harness that Rage and use it in battle, although only when defending something of value. A bear- or wolf-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: This Gift can only be used in defense of something or someone else – Kinfolk, a wounded packmate, a caern, etc. If the Red Talon is attacking a foe, she may not activate Mother’s Rage. To use this Gift, the player spend two Rage points. The Garou enters of kind of frenzy, but stays within the vicinity of her charge. She will attack anything that gets too close, within the usual guidelines of frenzy (i.e., if her Rage is equal to or lower than her Gnosis, she will not attack packmates). While in this state, the Talon takes no wound penalties. All difficulties to soak are reduced by two, and she gains an extra dot of Strength. Additionally, she regains one Rage point each turn while the Gift is in effect, making it impossible for her to run out of Rage (and therefore impossible to lose to the wolf). All these benefits disappear when the Red Talon’s carge is out of danger or at the end of the scene, whichever comes first.
Recycle
Source: WW3108 - Werewolf Players Guide (2nd Edition) p. 41
Description: Red Talons who posses this powerful Gift can destroy any man-made substance. Plastics, alloys and any other material not found in nature disintegrate with just a touch. Lawn chairs dissolve into oily puddles and steel melts into iron and carbon.
The cockroach-spirit, which has witnessed the human’s secret creation rites, knows the Gifts that can dissolve almost anything.
System: The Garou must touch the material for the Gift to work. Only materials that science has manufactured are viable targets. For instance, a wooden chair would be unaffected, whereas a plastic chair would melt to the ground. The Garou then must roll her Rage against a difficulty determined by the item’s complexity. The difficulty ranges from iron (difficulty6) and ordinary plastics (difficulty 7) to rare and complex metal alloys (difficulty 9). Every success reduces five pounds of the target material to its base components.
Trackless Waste
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 150
Description: Humans have no sense of direction, the Talons assert. With this Gift, the Garou can make certain that they don’t. The Talon employing Trackless Waste must have some familiarity with the terrain in question. Upon using the Gift, humans become hopelessly lost. Compasses malfunction, maps are misleading, and landmarks seem to be out of place. A spirit of the wilderness teaches this Gift.
System: The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Intelligence + Primal-Urge. Each success “scrambles” a two-mile radius. This Gift functions on other werewolves, but they can resist with a Perception + Primal-Urge roll, and they must score more successes than the Talon to remain unaffected. This Gift lasts for four hours.
Level Four
Avalanche
Source: WW3600 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse (2nd Edition) p. 131
Description: The Garou must be in a mountainous or otherwise tectonically unstable area. The Garou causes an avalanche, mudslide, etc. to engulf his foes. The Gift is taught by an earth elemental.
System: The Garou spends one Gnosis point and then rolls Manipulation + Survival (difficulty determined by the Storyteller based on the instability of the terrain). The more successes, the more powerful the effect. On a botch, the Garou is caught in the avalanche.
Form of Akhlut
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3806 - Players Guide to Garou p. 193
Description: Inuit myth tells of Akhlut, a killer whale that turned into a wolf to walk on land. The legends are almost right, of course. This Gift allows a Red Talon to take on an aquatic form such as a fish, dolphin or whale. It is believed by some that this Gift is how the Red Talons spread from their original lands to other continents. The Gift is taught by the spirit of an appropriate pelagic animal, although the Red Talons respect the orca most of all.
System: Two Gnosis points are required to activate this Gift, and then the player rolls Stamina + Primal Urge, difficulty 8. Each success allows the Red Talon to become a more powerful aquatic denizen. One success might allow the Red Talon to become a goldfish, three a dolphin and five the genuine killer whale of legend.
Gorge
On City of Hope, choose the name of the Gift based on the Trait you wish to choose for this gift:
Gorge(This will be for Gnosis)
Gorge (rage)
Gorge (willpower)
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 150
Description: Natural wolves will eat as much as possible when food is available, for they never know when their next meal will arrive. With this Gift, a Red Talon can do much the same thing with Rage, Gnosis or Willpower, storing such energy against the day when she will need it. A wolf-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: Upon learning this Gift, the player chooses which Trait (Rage, Gnosis or Willpower) her character can store. Thereafter, the character can hold three more points in the appropriate Trait than her permanent rating. These extra points must be regained as usual, and they do not add extra dice to rolls involving these Traits. To amplify more than one Trait the character must lean the Gift (i.e., pay the experience cost) a second time.
Quicksand
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 150
Description: The Garou turns the ground into a sticky morass that catches foes and prevents them from escaping or even walking. An earth elemental teaches this Gift.
System: The player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). Each success changes the ground into a quicksand-like bog for a 10-foot radius. Anyone trying to move through it (except the Garou) moves at half walking speed, and he may not execute combat maneuvers that require overland movement. Additionally, all other combat maneuvers take a +1 difficulty penalty.
Territory
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 66
Description: The Red Talon with this Gift doesn’t need to patrol his hunting ground to know what transpires there. With bit a moment of concentration, he may extend his senses to any area he has marked. This Gift is taught by a wolf spirit.
System: To use this Gift, the Red Talon must first mark one or more areas with his own urine. A Talon may have a number of marked locations equal to his Gnosis (and does not have to establish such a mark in every place that he urinates). Thereafter, the player may roll Perception + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7) to extend the Talon’s senses to that location. The character can sense the area as though standing in the same place he was in when he marked the area originally. The scent marks last for one week per dot of Gnosis the character possesses (for wilderness) or one day per dot of Gnosis (for urban environments).
Level Five
Blessing of the First Pack
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 66
Description: The Red Talons believe that the very first pack of Garou set the standards for the auspices, and that only the Talons retain a strong enough connection to that First Pack to use this Gift. This may or may not be true, but no non-Talon Garou has ever exhibited this mighty Gift (but then, very few among the Talons even know of it). To learn this Gift, the Talon must have at least one dot in Ancestors. The Garou calls upon her the originator of her auspice and is temporarily transformed into the pinnacle of her moon-sign. An avatar of Wolf or a powerful Lune may teach this Gift, but neither does so often.
System: The player spends two Gnosis points and rolls Charisma + Ancestors (difficulty 8). If the roll succeeds, the character becomes infused with the very essence of her auspice. For the remainder of the scene, the character receives five dots of Pure Breed in addition to any she already possesses. She may also make use of any auspice Gift for her particular auspice of level 4 or lower. (Gifts taken from sources other than Werewolf are subject to Storyteller approval.) In addition, Blessing of the First Pack grants power based on the character’s auspice:
Auspice | Bonus |
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Ragabash | (+3) to Stealth, (+2) to Wits and Dexterity |
Theurge | (+3) to Enigmas, (+2) to Intelligence and Gnosis |
Philodox | (+3) to Rituals, (+2) to Manipulation and Stamina |
Galliard | (+3) to Expression, (+2) to Charisma and Strength |
Ahroun | (+3) to Leadership, (+2) to Strength and Rage |
Curse of Lycaon
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 150
Description: In the ultimate twist, this Gift allows a Red Talon to transform a human being into a wolf. This Gift also works on Garou, forcing them into Lupus form. A wolf-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: The player spends one point of Gnosis and rolls Gnosis (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). Only one success is necessary. Werewolves are forced into Lupus form for the duration of the scene. When used on humans, the effect of the Gift is permanent. The person remains a normal wolf in body and mind for the rest of his life.
Gaia’s Vengeance
Source: WW3801 - Werewolf: the Apocalypse Revised p. 150
Description: The Garou calls to the spirits of the surrounding forest to attack intruders. The terrain responds as best it can: Rocks roll and smash, vines trip, and water sucks victims under. An avatar of Gaia herself teaches this Gift.
System: The player spends one Gnosis point and one Rage point then rolls Charisma + Primal-Urge (difficulty of the local Gauntlet). The exact effects depend on the terrain and are left to the Storyteller.
Howl Gifts
The Fianna may claim that their ancestors were the first to howl to Luna or some such nonsense, but the Red Talons know that for as long as wolves have existed, they have howled. Over time, the Talons have spoken with wolf-spirits and learned secret howls that carry powerful and devastating effects.
The following Gifts are each taught by wolf-spirits or ancestor-spirits and require that the Garou let out a mighty howl. If the Red Talon also knows the Galliard Gift: Call of the Wyld, reduce the difficulty of the roll by one.
Level 1
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Level 2
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Level 3
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Level 4
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Level 5
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Gifts listed in Red are NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE.
Level One
Howl to the Pack
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 67
Description: The Talon howls, and no matter how far away, her pack hears her. She cannot hear any response they might give, but she can be sure that they hear any message she wishes to impart. The Gift is taught by a wolf-spirit or ancestor-spirit.
System: The player rolls Charisma + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). The “pack” in question might be the Garou’s literal pack, bonded by a totem, or any wolf to whom the Red Talon is related. If the Red Talon also knows the Galliard Gift: Call of the Wyld, reduce the difficulty of the roll by one. Each use of the Gift allows one howl, and the player must roll Manipulation + Expression (difficulty 6) to convey any concept more complicated than “warning” or “I need help.” The recipients of the howl are the only ones who can hear it.
Level Two
Primal Howl
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 67
Description: The howls of a wolf pack evoke fear in prey, as they sense the predators approaching. This Gift allows a Red Talon to emit a howl that evokes that same reaction in anyone that can hear it. The Gift is taught by a wolf-spirit or ancestor-spirit.
System: The player rolls Stamina + Expression (difficulty 7). If the Red Talon also knows the Galliard Gift: Call of the Wyld, reduce the difficulty of the roll by one. If the roll succeeds, any being that wishes to approach the Garou must succeed in a Willpower roll (difficulty 6). If the Garou approaches, the being must make the same roll or back away (or flee). Wolves and Garou are not affected by this Gift. Every success on the player’s roll beyond the first lends an additional “voice” to the howl. Therefore, if the player rolls three successes to activate this Gift, it sounds as though three Garou are howling, not one. Each additional “wolf” adds one to the difficulty of Willpower rolls to approach the Garou or stand one’s ground if the Red Talon approaches (so to approach the Garou on a “three-wolf” howl would require a Willpower roll at difficulty 8).
Level Three
Howl of Hunger
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 68
Description: Wolves gorge themselves when they eat, especially during the cold winter months, because they cannot be sure wen they will find food. Most humans know nothing of this kind of hunger, as they have their food handed to them. The Garou with this Gift can weaken any that hear her howl with crippling hunger. The Gift is taught by a wolf-spirit or ancestor-spirit.
System: The player rolls Charisma + Intimidation (difficulty 7). If the Red Talon also knows the Galliard Gift: Call of the Wyld, reduce the difficulty of the roll by one. If the roll succeeds, anyone within earshot of the werewol’s howl loses two dice from any mental and physical dice pools as their bodies are wracked with hunger pangs (the player may choose to spend a Gnosis point to leave the Red Talon’s packmates unaffected). This Gift only functions on creatures that feel a physical hunger for food – vampires and other dead things are unaffected. However, any Garou affected by this Gift must immediately check for frenzy (although even a Garou in frenzy is subject to the dice penalty due to weakness). Frenzied werewolves are likely to feast on any meat they can find if subject to Howl of Hunger, much like homid Garou in the Thrall of the Wyrm. The effects of the Gift last for one scene.
Level Four
Howl of Death
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 68
Description:A Talon blessed with this Gift may infuse her howl with Rage and pain, causing grievous wounds to one target. The werewolf must be able to see her target clearly, and the target must be able to hear the howl. Only the intended target is affected by the Gift, though anyone else who hears it is disquieted and frightened.
System: The player rolls Charisma + Primal-Urge (difficulty 6). Each success inflicts one level of lethal damage, which the target may soak if he is able. The damage manifests, should anyone care to look, as massive internal damage, as if the target’s innards suddenly rupture.
Level Five
Shattering Howl
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 69
Description: By using this Gift, the Garou releases a howl with enough power to shatter any man-made object. The Shattering Howl can splinter plastic, crack stone, and puncture rubber and similar materials. The werewolf does not have any control over what she shatters with this Gift, however, so she is advised to use it with care.
System: The player spends one Willpower point and rolls Rage (difficulty 7). Exactly what kind of material the howl shatters depends on the number of successes rolled. One success shatters normal glass. Three cracks concrete. Five successes rends solid steel. The character may use this Gift on successive turns, but each use requires another Willpower point and a new roll.
Camp Gifts
Level 1
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Level 2
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Level 3
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Level 4
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Gifts listed in Red are NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE.
Dying Cubs
Reap the Soul (Level Two)
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 71
Description: With this Gift, the Garou can spill the blood of a foe on the ground and immediately reap the energy thus released. Talons who overuse this Gift, however, often begin to smell vaguely of charnel to any werewolf using the Gift: Sense Wyrm. A spirit of decay teaches this Gift. Banes are also capable of teaching it, however, only the Dying Cubs themselves know which type of spirit teaches it to the Red Talons most often.
System: The Garou must injure an opponent and spill its blood on the ground. The blood must touch the Earth, not concrete or flooring. The player then rolls Gnosis (difficulty of the local Gauntlet). For each success, the Garou may regain a point of Gnosis or two points of Rage.
Pain of the Land (Level Four)
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 71
Description: The Dying Cubs often take the fight to the Wyrm by waging battle in already tainted locales. This often weakens the Garou, but this Gift evens the odds somewhat. Taught by an earth elemental, Pain of the Land makes the werewolf even more deadly when fighting on tainted ground. She fights as though the putrescence of the corrupted land, be it a landfill, a factory, or simply a city spurs her on and feeds her Rage every second of the battle.
System: Once learned, this Gift is always active. During combat, the difficulties on all attack and damage rolls decrease depending on the level of Wyrm-taint in the area. Fighting in a large city might decrease such difficulties by one, whereas fighting in a Black Spiral Hive would be worth a -3 to combat difficulties. Note that this Gift does not decrease soak difficulties, nor does it aid in using Gifts not directly related to attack or damage (so while the Ahroun Gift: Falling Touch would receive the benefit, the Philodox Gift: Weak Arm would not).
Lodge of the Predator Kings
Prey’s Cry (Level One)
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 70
Description: With this Gift, the Talon may emit a cry for help designed to lead a human into an ambush. In years past, the Talons would use this Gift to mimic the death-cry of a deer or a similar animal, since many humans still hunted their own food. In recent years, since most humans wouldn’t know how to kill a wounded animal if their lives depended on it, the Talons use Prey’s Cry to imitate the call of a favored pet or another human. A Raven-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: The player rolls Wits + Expression. The difficulty varies on how complex the imitated sound is. An animal’s call, such as a dog whining in pain or a rabbit’s death-scream would only be difficulty 5. Imitating a human cry is difficulty 7, while imitating something more specific — “The voice of a young girl” or “a human soldier calling for help” would raise the difficulty to 9. The Red Talon need not actually have heard a human soldier before (for example), but if he uses this Gift successfully, nearby humans will hear a soldier yelling for help.
Offering of the Slain (Level Two)
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 70
Description: Human corpses are problematic. They don’t burn well, the Litany prohibits eating them, and if other humans find them, they tent to get offended and search the area thoroughly. Burying them isn’t always an option because humans, being the curious little apes that they are, may eventually dig up an area for whatever reason and find the bodies. The Predator Kings certainly aren’t willing to stop killing humans just because disposing of their bodies is a problem, hence this Gift. With but a touch, the Talon can cause dead flesh to decay and crumble to dust in seconds, giving it up as an offering to Gaia. A spirit of decay or decomposition, as well as some scavenger-spirits, can teach this Gift.
System: The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis (difficulty 6, although the bodies of fomori or other Wyrm-tainted beings are harder to dispose of an raise the difficulty by one). For each success, the Garou may decompose one human-sized body (slain metis Garou count as two). The werewolf may use this Gift multiple times in a scene to dispose of numerous corpses, but each use requires another point of Gnosis and a new roll.
Warders of the Land
Mark of the Prey (Level Two)
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 69
Description: Rather than take her vengeance directly on an offending human, the werewolf can choose to change the human’s spiritual resonance to resemble that of a prey animal. Any predator that sees the human, no matter how small or normally afraid of humans, will see that human as prey. In most cases, this proves simply inconvenient, but if the human happens to own several large dogs, the result could be deadly. Any spirit of a prey animal teaches this Gift, sometimes under duress.
System: The player spends on Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Animal Ken (difficulty of the local Gauntlet). If the roll succeeds, any carnivorous animal that sees the targeted human attacks him immediately, even if the animal is much too small to seriously injure, let alone eat, the hapless victim. This Gift only functions on one human target, and cannot be used on “supernatural” humans such as ghouls and mages (their spirits are complex enough that the Gift doesn’t “take”). The effects last for one day.
Snap Man’s Chains (Level Three)
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 69
Description: All Red Talons feel disgust at domesticated animals, both predator and prey. They hate prey animals that simply stand around waiting to be slaughtered, rather than being allowed to live their lives before being eaten. Domesticated predators incense the Talons, for obvious reasons. This Gift allows the werewolf to free domesticated animals from whatever enclosures hold them, physical or otherwise. Horses throw their riders, dogs turn on their masters, farm animals smash through their gates and run. While the Red Talons have known this Gift for centuries, few learned it after the rise of cities, since so few humans there kept animals. However, the Warders of the Land continue to learn the Gift occasionally. Any animal-spirit can teach this Gift.
System: The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty 8). The number of successes indicates the area of the effect. One success drives any animals in a small house feral. Three affects all the animals in a small neighborhood or in a building housing many animals (a pound, for example). Five affects all of the animals within a square mile.
Whelp’s Compromise
Cub’s Lesson (Level One)
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 70
Description: Lupus Garou often have difficulty when walking among humans, even as part of a pack. Those few Red Talons that are intrigued rather than enraged by human behavior have even bigger problems, as they cannot expect instruction from the tribe in human ways. This Gift allows a lupus werewolf to learn from a mistake and gain a better understanding of human devices and customs, albeit temporarily. Weaver-spirits and (strangely enough) some ancestor-spirits teach this Gift.
System: This Gift, once learned, is always active. Any time the player attempts a roll using an Ability that the characters does not possess and fails the roll, she may spend a point of Gnosis and make the roll again, adding one die. This does not replace the original roll, so any consequences of failure must still be faced. Note that since a character that has no dots in a Knowledge cannot normally use that Knowledge at all, a character with this Gift must use it to make such an attempt at all.
For example, Eyes-like-Hornets, a Red Talon Ragabash, gets into a conversation with a human woman and attempts to tell her a joke. The werewolf doesn’t have any dots in Expression, however, and fails the Charisma + Expression roll to get the woman to laugh. The player spends a Gnosis point and makes another roll, adding a die. This time, it succeeds. Eyes-like-Hornets recognizes that his first attempt at humor didn’t go over as he’d hoped, and covers it up. If Eyes-like-Hornets didn’t have any dots in Linguistics and way trying to simply communicate with the woman, his player would have to spend a point of Gnosis for each attempt to do, as he cannot attempt to use a Knowledge he doesn’t have.
If the original roll is a botch, the player may still spend a Gnosis point to make another attempt, but the difficulty increases by one.
Judgement (Level Two)
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 70
Description: The Red talons of Whelp’s Compromise are willing to let the humans who respect Gaia continue to exist. However, despite what some of their tribemates might accuse them of, they are not “soft” on transgressors against Her. With this Gift, the werewolf can judge a human according to the laws of Gaia and decide if she is living in accordance with the natural laws or not. A human who is living well is left alone. A human who is not is shown no mercy. A wolf-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: The Garou must lock eyes with the human to use this Gift. The player rolls Perception + Rituals (difficulty 7). With one success, the character only knows in the most black-and-white terms if the human respects Gaia (which doesn’t necessarily say anything about her behavior). With three successes, the Garou knows both the human’s attitude toward the natural world and how her behavior affects it (“This ape doesn’t think about the environment, but does donate money to her local park because she wants her children to enjoy it”): With five successes, the characters knows all of that and what she would have to do or say to get the human to live in accordance with Gaia. This can be as simple as “show the human how the world is really being treated” or as complex as “check up on her every week and make sure her home is spiritually clean.” Of course, if the Red Talon decides it isn’t worth the effort to train a human in what should come naturally, she might very well just remove the human from the world altogether and concentrate on those that are a bit more receptive to learning.
Winter Packs
Silence the Slain (Level One)
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 72
Description: Perhaps the most disturbing Gift the Red Talons as a tribe have access to, Silence the Slain allows a Garou to cut a victim off from any means of help by rendering him unable to make sounds of any kind. Even pounding his fists on the windows of a passing car will not disturb the passengers therein. A pain-spirit teaches this Gift, the better to enjoy the agony of being hunted down when potential aid stands deafly by.
System: The victim must see the Garou in order for the character to activate this Gift. The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Intimidation (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). If the roll succeeds, the target is unable to make sound for one scene. The target cannot speak, and cannot make sound by touching an object. However, the pain-spirit teaching this Gift becomes offended if the werewolf attempts to use Silence the Slain as a “silencer” for an ally, often cursing the Red Talon by removing her ability to howl for a time.
Rampage (Level Two)''
Source: WW3857 - Red Talon Revised p. 72
Description: No Winter Garou have yet learned this Gift, and only the older Red Talons who had a hand in the Winter Council know it. This Gift, meant as a last resort, allows the user to smash stone, rend metal, and generally destroy any man-made object within reach. A wolverine-spirit teaches this Gift.
System: The player spends two Rage points and rolls to check for frenzy. If the Garou frenzies, the Gift activates and the werewolf gains three extra dice on any Strength roll to break, throw, crush, or lift inanimate objects. These dice cannot be used for direct damage to an opponent. The effects of the Gift last for one scene, during which the Garou attacks whatever is within reach, excluding her own packmates (regardless of her comparative Rage and Gnosis scores).
Planetary Gifts
Rorg, The Many-Taloned Hunter, Celestine of the Asteroid Belt
Favored Tribe: Red Talons
Favored Auspice: Ahroun
Also known as: Legion
Source: WW3110 - Rage Across the Heavens, p. 73
Level 1
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Level 2
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Level 3
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Level 4
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Level 5
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Gifts listed in Red are NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE.
Level One
Rouse to Anger
Source: WW3110 - Rage Across the Heavens, p. 125
This Gift enables the Garou to say or do something that causes her target to refresh her inner Rage. This might involve shaming an individual, slapping her in the face or telling her something to arouse her anger. The Garou can also summon within herself a memory or an emotion that assists her in replenishing her own capacity for righteous anger.
System: The player rolls Manipulation + Empathy (difficulty 8) and spends a Gnosis point. A successful roll enables the character to speak or act in such a way that her target gains a point of Rage. Each additional success allows the character to affect another individual, including herself. A botch removes a point of rage from the target.
Level Two
Foetracker
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3110 - Rage Across the Heavens, p. 125
By using this Gift, the Garou can follow her quarry without risking losing the trail. The scent of the target becomes so powerful to the Garou that she can follow it even under conditions that might otherwise obscure the trail. Even if the victim crosses water, lays down a false trail or attempts to mask his scent with some other odor, the Garou unerringly follows her prey. However, the Gift’s effects become fainter with time and distance.
System: The player spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Perception + Primal Urge. Each success allows the character to track her target unerringly for one scene up to a maximum of five scenes, after which the effects of the Gift end, and the trail becomes too faint to follow. No successes means that the Gift fails to take effect, while a botch sends the character in a false direction.
Level Three
Savagery of the Taloned Hunter
Source: WW3110 - Rage Across the Heavens, p. 125
This Gift allows a Garou to gain twice the advantage of his Rage, thus increasing the ferocity and frequency of attacks or else allowing him to accomplish more under stress than he normally would.
System: The player spends a Rage point, which he may then convert into the equivalent of two points of Rage for the character. This enables a character to take two extra actions in a combat at the cost of a Rage point. Another use of the Gift allows the character to recover from a stunned state and take an extra action in the same turn. The Storyteller should make the final determination as to how the character may use the advantage gained from this Gift. This Gift cannot be used continuously, though; the Garou may call on its effects once per story for every point of Willpower he possesses.
Level Four
Hunter’s Horn
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3110 - Rage Across the Heavens, p. 126
This Gift enables the Garou to create a sound so horrible and mind-chilling that it sends enemies into utter panic and causes them to flee an area without regard for direction or destination. Enemies so affected cannot attempt to evade pursuit or disguise their passage. This makes hunting them down and dispatching them a fairly simple task.
System: The player spends a point of Rage and rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty of the highest Willpower in the group). Each success affects one victim with uncontrollable panic, causing them to run blindly from an area. Garou affected by this Gift enter a state of fox frenzy, while others simply become mindless panicked creatures of prey. The effect lasts for an entire scene, during which time the character (and any allies) may hunt down and slay the victims if they so desire. No successes represents a simple failure of the Gift, while a botch affects the user of the Gift instead of her intended victim or victims.
Level Five
Pack Mind
THIS GIFT IS NOT YET APPROVED FOR USE ON CITY OF HOPE. OPEN A +REQUEST IF YOU WISH TO LEARN IT
Source: WW3110 - Rage Across the Heavens, p. 126
This Gift forces a group of foes to behave like a single-minded pack. All individuals must perform the same task at the same time regardless of its appropriateness to a given situation. For example, if one individual fights, all the others fight; if one person attempts to sneak up behind an opponent, all the others make this attempt as well. This Gift lasts for one combat scene.
System: The player spends a point of Gnosis and rolls Willpower (difficulty 8). A single success allows the character to inflict Pack Mind on a group of up to four individuals. Additional successes allow the character to increase the number of people affected in increments of two; five successes, therefore, enables the character to affect twelve individuals. For the duration of this Gift, all the affected victims mimic the actions of their leader – or, more typically, the first person in a group to act each turn. If one decides to speak, all of them attempt to do so; if one throws a left hook, all of them choose this form of combat, ignoring any weapons they may have. Failure means the Gift has no effect, while a botch inadvertently links the character’s mind with another individual for the remainder of the scene. (The Storyteller should decide whether the character becomes linked with a friend or an enemy.