Josh wrote:Okay, just to clear up something here (since you've already seen my prototype sheet), but having 4 in an attribute or ability doesn't automatically open up a specialty now?
In the book, yes. In my game, you have to earn them. My way means you may also take additional specialities as you get to 5 dots, 6 dots, etc. The book doesn't allow that.
Also, if I allocated two in Rites (ability) and Rites (Background) in base creation, would that go ahead and allow me to have two level one rites?
The two in Abillity Rituals lets you use Rank Two Rites. Rites Background is how many you know (one Rank 2 or two rank 1s or 4 minor rites).
At least, that's the Book's version. I am amending this to be more Vancian: you have two dots in Rituals and two in Rites? 2+2=4, so split it as two Rank 2/two Rank 1, one Rank 2/three Rank 1, etc. As long as you have a total equaling your Ritual + Rites. To gain more rites, raise the background. To gain higher ranked rites, raise your ability.
Dogs are Man's Best Friend
Cats are Man's Adorable Little Serial Killers
When my paycheck comes in, I'm just going to get both the Vampire and Werewolf 20th Anniversary editions. I've been thinking about it anyway, and this is as good a time as any.
"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes."
- William Gibson
Josh wrote:What? There's nothing weird about having a pet housefly. He smuggles cigarettes for me.
General Havoc wrote:So if I might ask, Tev, is this the sort of thing where I can simply modify Sophie's old sheet, or do I need to start over?
Probably starting over is simpler. There's a few changes to abilities and backgrounds and so forth so what I was going to do is make Stormwalker 2.0 by building a new character with 20th edition while having the 1.0 stats in front of my face for consultation.
It's not that I'm unforgiving, it's that most of the people who wrong me are unrepentant assholes.
Meet Alex Cooper, your Ragabash. He has the Fate background, and thus the prophecy. Of course, can you trust anything from the wolves who willingly spend so much time around Banes..?
Background: In 1990, an Uktena Bane Tender had a striking vision during their duties. Through the impossible vision, she spied a mound along a river, around which a city and nature existed in a precarious balance. And into that balance, came the Wyrms minions. When it seemed worstone of the Mound Builder's monuments -erupted-, releasing a massive, war scarred turtle. Weapons dinged uselessly off it's shell, it's snapping jaws ripping the servants of decay into peices. Atop it, a werewolf of deep mahogany fur let out a war cry and rallied the pack. The momentary miracle had turned the tide, and the new blossoming of Wyld energies could grow once more. The prophetic vision burned into her mind, the Tender quickly sought out her tribe, to share and discuss the strange portents.
Hundreds of miles away, Alex Cooper squalled as he was slapped on his rear end by the doctor in the delivery room. As his parents would remark, he never did quieten down in the years to come. It'd be wrong to call Alex a loudmouth, though he never did learn to stop speaking his mind. It wouldn't be quite accurate to say he was a troublemaker, but he was always in trouble. Confrontational and rebellious, he hit his teenage years like a thunderbolt from the blue. Suddenly, he was seeking any cause to exalt, any wrong to denunciate. He was, however, a demagogue without a message, a rebel with no real clue what he was rebelling /against/.
A Shanwee in West Virginia, he briefly tried his hand at getting his people recignized, but it petered out in the face of bureacracy. Next was the bureacracy itself. It never went anywhere. It would not be until his eighteenth birthday and the day after: The Big Branch Mine disaster. It became his cause: The damage to West Virginians and their land. It wouldn't be long until another, more personal disaster struck. Pentex's fossil fuels caused the disaster, but raw human evil begat the hate mongering 'faithful' who arrived to cheer for god striking down miners. At a candlelight vigil for one of the dead, one of the protestors shoved his 'Thank God For Dead Miners' and 'You're Going To Hell' signs into Alex's face. He saw red, screaming at the man, reaching to smack him. "Touch me and I'll sue your family into the poorhouse." Mocked the ghoulish protestor. Then things... Happened.
It was an explosion of violence, gore, and horror that Alex couldn't believe, later. The mourners turned to riot in fear, scattering like prey before a hungry predator. The protestor? Dead and in peices. But seconds later, the surge of violence was replaced by confusion, distress, panic, as he found himself in the shadowy otherrealm, dragged by a creature as monstrous as, he would learn, he. A Child Of Gaia had been at the ceremony, and they prevented it from getting worse.
It wasn't easy, adjusting. Paniced parents, paniced friends, sudden awareness, and monsters around him rejoicing. It was a fucked up few months, in his words, as he struggled to get back into his own head and get it on straight. While the call went out for Uktena to tutor him, he fell in with the local wolves of the city; the Bone Gnawers. From them, he drew a new wellspring of inspiration into who he would be, what he would oppose. And how he would fight. Even when his tutor arrived, he didn't fit well into the Uktena. It wasn't the Bone Gnawers influence or anything like it; he just didn't quite fit into the square holes of the mystics.
When he finally heard the prophecy of his own birth, he wasn't one of those who discounted it as the ravings of the mad Bane Tenders, whose minds were always assailed by the Wyrm spirits they keep contained. In it he felt the drive, the purpose that he had been missing. No longer listless, he almost seemed a new person in his intensity. He WOULD revive the Croatan and wake Turtle.
Now he works at Cooke Company, a courier service, where he's a bonded motorcycle courier. Extensive retooling of his bike has made for specialized containers for documents, climate sensitive materials, and similar. He actually takes his job seriously, but always schedules time off for his duties and studies into the Croatan.
Half-Damned, All Hero.
Tev: You're happy. You're Plotting. You're Evil.
Me: Evil is so inappropriate. I'm ruthless.
Tev: You're turning me on.
General Havoc wrote:So if I might ask, Tev, is this the sort of thing where I can simply modify Sophie's old sheet, or do I need to start over?
Probably starting over is simpler. There's a few changes to abilities and backgrounds and so forth so what I was going to do is make Stormwalker 2.0 by building a new character with 20th edition while having the 1.0 stats in front of my face for consultation.
Cyncat's got the right idea here :) I suggest following his lead, as the new Gifts alone are worth the new sheet. You may keep your Fetishes, of course. :)
Just PM me with the sheet before posting it, ok? That way the only thing that gets posted is the Complete, Approved Character.
Nit, get working on your Sheet, background is approved.
Dogs are Man's Best Friend
Cats are Man's Adorable Little Serial Killers
Ok, after once again looking over the list of Gifts, and noting that all of you should be Rank Two, I am being a Nice Storyteller and allowing ALL OF YOU one (1) free Rank 2 Gift.(must be of your normal breed, tribe, or auspice. Rank Two gifts only, all other gifts prohibited. void if gift are outside these parameters.)
Dogs are Man's Best Friend
Cats are Man's Adorable Little Serial Killers
I kinda like working with Etherities. They at least take joy in their work, unlike some people I know.
Working with vampires sucks however, a proper werewolf doesn't work with vampires (free passes given if the situation warrants, a proper werewolf does whatever is necessary to stop the world from ending) a proper werewolf hunts vampires!
"it takes two sides to end a war but only one to start one. And those who do not have swords may still die upon them." Tolken
In fairness, what Alexander means by "working with" vampires has tended to mean "extort whatever he wants from them on pain of death". This is not dissimilar to the nature of his work with the Etherites.
Gaze upon my works, ye mighty, and despair...
Havoc: "So basically if you side against him, he summons Cthulu."
Hotfoot: "Yes, which is reasonable."
All right, I've rebuilt Sophie into her new, modern incarnation. Consider this a first draft for her character sheet, particularly as I am currently two points over the limit, and have to decide if I want to downgrade something or pick up a flaw (Tev, I'd like to consider the option of Camp Emnity, but I'm not sure if it only applies to camps within your Tribe, or if it can be applied to non-Glasswalker Camps)
One other matter. Sophie's original Metis deformity was Thin Veil, wherein Delirium doesn't work with her. In the 20th edition rulebook, that option no longer appears as a Metis deformity option, though it DOES appear as a three-point flaw. I was wondering, since other flaws of roughly that level ARE still used as Metis deformities, if I could simply continue with it in this new edition, or if you need me to change to something spelled out in the book.
It also occurs to me that one of the new gifts (Plug and Play) does sort of render her old fetish (the Vulcan Interface Mk II) somewhat obsolete. Is there some element to this I'm not seeing, or should I perhaps trade the fetish out for a different one. I have something in mind...
Background: Sophie's true name (assuming she ever had one), tribe, and background, are unknown. Her real parents, perhaps ashamed at having birthed a Metis, perhaps members of a tribe that decreed their expulsion, abandoned her shortly after birth to a fate that would almost certainly have been death, had she not been discovered by the members of a small sept of Glass Walkers operating out of the city of Chicago. Despite recent upheavals in the local organization, the Glass Walkers operated, then as now, under a policy of adopting abandoned and unwanted Metis cubs, and Sophie was therefore taken in and raised by a half-dozen Homid Werewolves from the 'Random Interrupt' camp of the Glass Walkers, all technical experts and self-avowed "geeks", who raised her the only way they knew, as one of their own.
In consequence of this incredible luck, Sophie, unlike most Metis, grew up in a vibrant and happy (if very strange) household, her unknown original lineage replaced entirely by that of her adopted tribe. Though unable to leave the headquarters of her adopted family (for obvious reasons) her six different 'uncles' (all technicians, hackers, programmers or general nerds) did the best they could with the Metis cub they found themselves responsible for, and while the results of their amateur parenting techniques were often hilarious, they were miles beyond the neglect and social starvation that most Metis cubs received. Sophie grew up around computers, technology, and passionate experts in both, who taught her everything she was able to learn about programming, hacking, database manipulation, electrical engineering, computer science, and other associated fields. She coupled these with other, more intrinsic, lessons, such as "How to resolve Kirk v. Picard disputes", a matter of some importance when the debating parties are also werewolves, or the time-honored "How to get what you want from another parent when the one you asked says no."
As a result of all this, Sophie grew up to be a tomboyish, willful Garou, who neither knew nor cared of her own background, having thrown herself from an early age into the 'traditions' of her adopted tribe. A computer expert beyond compare, she rapidly exceeded her uncles' technical skills in breadth and even in depth, coding her first application at age 4, constructing her first computer at 6, and overcoming her uncles own security systems for the first time on her 7th birthday (after she discovered from what source they had derived her last name). Less overtly 'geeky' than her uncles, she still holds a deep fascination for technology in general, and computers and networks in specific. While she was always taught to be careful and aware of how others would view her 'unique' status, both as a Garou and a Metis, she was never made to feel 'inferior' because of it, and therefore utterly rejects all attempts by others to make her feel so. The way she was taught to see it, she needs no 'permission' from any man or wolf to exist, particularly when most of those making the insinuations can't tell a fiber-optic network from a spiderweb.
Equally at home in Lupus, Homid, or any other form (though of course her most comfortable is Crinos), Sophie unquestionably thinks more like a Homid than she does a Lupus (having taught herself to use computers even as a wolf), save for the fact that she refuses to pre-judge any situation or being she encounters through human perspectives, preferring instead to objectively 'read the code', that she, like her uncles, believes underlies and controls even non-electronic beings and situations. Her Metis nature has resulted in a deformity, not of body but of spirit, and she, unlike all other Garou, cannot rely on the veil to protect her should she accidentally be seen in her natural form. One of the few lessons all her uncles took entirely seriously, one she has taken closely to heart, is the need for her to 'be her own veil', and to actively avoid drawing such attention to herself. Having only recently started acting and taking on duties in her own right, she is hardly an expert in the world at large, unable for much of her life to leave the confines of her home for more than a few carefully-planned excursions. Her social skills are not the most refined (though well beyond anything her uncles display), but she is objective, perceptive, and non-judgmental, and while she heaps fiery scorn upon overly dogmatic types (be they human or Garou), she has not developed enough hatreds or bad experiences yet to be averse to working or associating with largely anyone, for better or worse.
Metis Flaw: Thin Veil
Attributes:
Physical
Strength: 1. Sophie is small and slight for her age in all forms, though within the realm of what one might call "normal".
Stamina: 2. A few electrical shocks and chemical explosions from 'experiments' conducted as a child have taught her how to avoid the worst of the events she brings on herself.
Dexterity: 3. Being small has its advantages, and it is better to avoid being hit, than to simply absorb punishment.
Social
Charisma: 3. Non-judging, friendly, and open-minded, if a bit weird.
Manipulation: 4. Learned very early on how to get what she wanted from her various uncles, be it a piece of candy before dinner or a new microprocessor for her gaming rig.
Appearance: 2. A bit bookish-looking in her human forms, a little small in her lupine ones. Nothing too abnormal.
Mental
Perception: 3. Accustomed to thinking laterally and paying close attention to detail.
Intelligence: 4. A mind like a sponge, soaking up everything she comes in contact with, coupled with an insatiable curiosity for detailed knowledge.
Wits: 3. Very clever and steady of mind, if a bit inexperienced.
Abilities
Talents: (9 pts) (8 freebie pts. spent)
Alertness: 2. You never could tell, around her house, when someone was waiting in ambush with a cheap Halloween mask affixed to a nine foot werewolf. One can also never tell when a toxic pond is going to loom up out of the darkness and attack one, or so it appears.
Athletics: 2. A talent picked up in many a late-night nerf war with her uncles, somewhat heightened by field experiences.
Brawl: 1. Not the most physically imposing werewolf alive, but still a werewolf.
Empathy: 2. Sophie always makes an effort to understand the reason behind things and people, not just their face value.
Expression: 1. Flame wars tend to hone one's skills at debating, if nothing else.
Leadership: 2. As the most level-headed of the bunch, she was often called upon to find solutions to particularly stubborn security systems, or resolve the raging conflicts over Star Wars v. Star Trek.
Primal Urge: 1. Long ago learned that bestial rages usually result in nothing more than a smashed keyboard, and no resolution.
Subterfuge: 2. Hacking is as much social engineering as it is cryptography.
Skills: (5 pts) (8 freebie pts. spent)
Drive: 1. Learned to drive once she could take human form, and managed to avoid wrecking too many cars doing so.
Etiquette: 1. Sophie does tend to know what to do in most major situations, not that she makes a habit of always DOING that.
Firearms: 3. Several of her uncles were firearms enthusiasts, and readily imparted their wisdom to her. Has definite preferences in regards to her favored weapons, preferences honed somewhat by the need to blast certain unspeakable monstrosities into inert bits.
Performance: 1. DJ Glassrunner in the House...
Stealth: 2. Useful when trying to sneak into the kitchen at night to get another dog biscuit...
Survival: 1. Didn't spend a lot of time outdoors, but several of her uncles at least made sure she knew how to build a campfire... or at least use a GPS uplink.
Knowledges: (13 pts) (4 freebie pts. spent)
Academics: 1. There was more than chipsets and PERL to be found in the databases Sophie played in growing up.
Computer: 5. A prodigal, intuitive master of all things electronic, surpassing even her teachers. It's argueable that her first language was C. Specialty: Hacking One would have an easier time fighting off a Get of Fenris warparty with a sword than trying to fend of Sophie with a computer.
Enigmas: 2. A mind like a steel trap mated to a curious nature and a penchant for riddles and exploration.
Investigation: 2. When knowledge won't cut it, find out what others know. Especially useful when debugging a hand-written UNIX kernel.
Science: 2. Though her primary expertise is computers, her uncles made sure she had a thorough grounding in everything from biochemistry to particle physics.
Technology: 3. Sophie began assembling her own computers at an age when most Metis were still learning to talk. She can't quite turn broken glass into a circuit board, but everyone needs a goal.
Background:
Allies (4 pts): Her so-called 'uncles', six male Glass Walkers of the Random Interrupt camp (five homid, one lupus), each of them experts in one technology-related field or another, and each of them very geeky by the standards of even normal human society. Fetish (4 pts, all freebies): Vulcan Interface, Mk. II: An attachment to Sophie's ubiquitous laptop and smartphone, which, when attached by phone cord or physical contact to any electromechanical device, grants Sophie complete control over said device via her computer, bypassing all security features and control privileges and accessing the device on a machine-spirit level. Sophie acquired this Fetish shortly after her first transformation, and has used it for all manner of purposes since then, some serious (hacking into the records of a major bank to track money deposits), some merely comedic (causing one of her uncles' computers to play extremely loud Elvis songs at three in the morning). Resources: (2 pts, 1 freebie point spent): Sophie doesn't have a vast amount of financial resources available to her, but her needs aren't enormous either. Most of her income goes into more powerful and advanced technical equipment. Spirit Heritage, Tech Spirits: (3 pts, all freebies): Even the best-cared-for Metis cub must find ways to amuse herself. Sophie's earliest playmates were Tech spirits in all their myriad variety, and she retains a deep connection to them, even as they dance through her equipment. Weaver-spawned though they might be, she knows them as well as any Red Talon might his Tree spirits, and regards them as no less important to the tasks at hand.
Gifts:
Persuasion (Rank 1, Philodox): Sophie is not your typical Philodox, but she grew up trying to get six passionate techies to agree on everything from competing open source standards to her bedtime. She is neither afraid to nor incapable of harnessing her auspice's gifts at persuasiveness to bring people around to her point of view on a given subject. And she has no intention of learning how to shut up. (Charisma+Subterfuge, Diff 7. Success reduces all social difficulties by 1 for the scene and boosts the effect of successes.) Create Element (Rank 1, Metis): Where Sophie acquired this capacity, even her uncles don't know. But if nothing else, she never needed compressed air to clean a keyboard, nor gasoline for a campfire. Tech-wolf though she is, there is appears to still be at least something of the primal world buried inside her, a fact which she secretly regards as something of a relief. She would hate, after all, to be the one that proves everyone right about Glasswalkers and the Weaver... (Spend 1 Gnosis and roll it. Each success creates a cubic foot of the desired element.) Plug and Play (Rank 1, Glasswalker): Information exists to be liberated into safe hands, in Sophie's mind, and none are safer than her own. In furtherance of this goal, she prefers not to be stymied by such mundane concepts as software compatibility, hardware connections, or the laws of physics. It's not her fault that whoever designed the NSA's Echelon mainframe forgot to include a wireless broadcast antenna after all. (Spend 1 Willpower to make all computers omni-compatable, even if physically impossible, for the next day.) Hands full of Thunder (Rank 2, Glasswalker): Sophie's martial skills are lacking at best. She is noticeably small by werewolf standards, and knows just enough about swords to figure out which end to hold them by. But lest anyone assume that she is defenseless in the material world, it might prove instructive to look over her Netflix favorites list, and consider just how many 1980s action movies appear on it. And like the heroes of these wonderful works of cinematic art, Sophie regards an empty magazine as something that should rightly happen to other people. (Spend 1 Gnosis to never run out of ammo for the scene.)
Merits: Computer Aptitude (1 pt. Merit): Whatever her true origins, there is no doubting that Sophie is one of the most talented hackers in the world, capable of feats of programming and intrusion that beggar belief, even from pioneers of the craft. Misogynists who harass her online regularly appear on Amber Alerts, FBI terrorist registers, NAMBLA advocacy sites, or IRS lists of perennial audit targets. Sometimes all four. Within minutes. (-2 Difficulties to all Computer-related rolls.)
Lightning Calculator (1 pt. Merit): The language of computers is mathematics, and it's a language Sophie can compose sonnets in. The endless hours spent within her computers, figurative or not, has left her with the ability to practically think as a computer might. Calculation, be it of risks inherent in a course of action, ballistic trajectories, or the underlying equations behind fantastically complex financial transactions, is second nature to her. This attribute has led to her being banned from numerous online poker sites, even on the rare occasions when she decided against modifying their source codes in her favor. (-2 Difficulties to all Mathematics-related rolls. Can determine prospective roll difficulties prior to deciding on an action.)
General Havoc wrote:In fairness, what Alexander means by "working with" vampires has tended to mean "extort whatever he wants from them on pain of death". This is not dissimilar to the nature of his work with the Etherites.
Look man, don't be a hater. What kind of Shadow Lord wouldn't leverage his or her immense martial superiority in negotiations? Respect his heritage.
It's not that I'm unforgiving, it's that most of the people who wrong me are unrepentant assholes.
Background: Alexander is the son of Walks-With-Thunder, Shadow Lord Theurge, Pack Leader, and head of the Storm's Eye Sept. Walks-With-Thunder ruled with an iron fist, wise counsilors, and trusted lieutenants until his pack went to the aid of other Garou and were overcome by Kills-Our-Brothers. His son, who was not long beyond the first change, had been left behind.
In the aftermath of his death the knives came out. The better side of the Glass Walkers and Shadow Lords had died with Walks-With-Thunder. Those that didn't make the cut and were up to their necks in slime acted. With one hand sympathy was offered while the other took. Assets and fetishes were taken "for the good of the nation." Businesses had leaders change hands. Contracts were signed under duress. Other potential heirs were threatened and sidelined. "Community property", "for the good of the nation", "held in trust by responsible curators", "by right as the eldest" were all invoked. But it wasn't enough. The best fetish and the biggest accounts were beyond the reach of quasi-legal pressure tactics and only one hand can hold a grand klaive at a time.
Threats. Pressure. Insinuations. Alex got his family out of New York and into hiding, but not before he took an assassin's bullet. He now possesses a small portion of the family fortune, Lightning Fang, and a thirst for revenge.
Appearance: A big, dark haired and handsome man in his early twenties, Alex looks like he should be playing college ball, making friends effortlessly, and banging cheerleaders on the side in a Hollywood movie. He's not actually that much of a douche but he is a Shadow Lord with a chip on his shoulder.
Grand Klaive: Lightning Fang. It appears to be an ornate broadsword with a thirty inch blade. It is bonded with a Spirit of Pain and a Storm Crow. When activated it grants two bonus dice on Leadership and Intimidation checks.
It's not that I'm unforgiving, it's that most of the people who wrong me are unrepentant assholes.
Background: Sees-Faces-In-Stars always followed his inner star - as his tribe would put it. The vast majority of his people have rejoined the Eastern shapechanger court - but there are a few left, here and there, that still cling to the Garou ways, and the Garou point of view. Some elders mentioned that perhaps it was the way of the universe, even in this dark hour for their tribe.
Even as a cub, he played with spirits few others could see; the Wind spirits like him and want to be near him, seeing him as one of their own given the flesh of wolf, and the touch of Luna. He learned as much about himself and the world around him from his Tribe's elders as he did from small breezes whispering to him.
Though a young lupus still, Sees-Faces-In-Stars shows much promise, not only for his dwindling people, but as a true Garou.
Abilities (Talents): Alertness 2 - The world contains curiosities both obvious and subtle, and Sees-Faces catches both more often than not. Athletics 3 - Being both quick and light on his feet are one of the signs that the Winds favor Sees-Faces' continued journey. Brawl 2 - Being a Stargazer is not the same as being a Child of Gaia. When Sees-Faces attacks someone or something, he does so with little wasted movement. Empathy 1 - Being sensitive to the ebbs and flows of others are signposts for spirits as well. Sees-Faces has learned to distinguish them. Expression 1 - Learning to properly communicate something to others is a necessary skill, especially amongst the story-prone Stargazers. Intimidation 1 - On the other hand, emphasizing one's ability to eat someone's face has it's uses. Primal Urge 3 - Strongly in touch with the blood Luna blessed within his veins, Sees-Faces is at home in and amongst the wilds.
Abilities (Skills): Animal Ken 2 - Kinship with others who share Gaia's blood, however thinly, has served Sees-Faces well in his travels. Etiquette 2 - It is one thing to know to not pee on a Cairnmaster's klaive. It is another to be interested in the subtleties of how Garou live with one another. Stealth 3 - Sees-Faces is no stranger to stalking his prey, though some suggest that the Winds lighten his footsteps. Survival 2 - Living on one's own as a wolf in the wilds is much less confusing than homid "diners", Sees-Faces says.
Abilities (Knowledges): Enigmas 1 - Given his Tribe's elders, it stands to reason that Sees-Faces would be at least passingly familiar with riddles and mysteries. Investigation 1 - Having had to track down his dinner or errant packmates, Sees-Faces is no stranger to examining details. Occult 1 - The mysteries of this world are both myriad and vast; Sees-Faces is only beginning to see their breadth. Rituals 2 - As a Theurge, regularly taking part and observing various rituals of the Garou is more than a simple preservation of history.
Backgrounds: Rites 3 - Knowing various Rites quite important for a Theurge, and Sees-Faces has had exposure to them since he was a cub. Totem 3 - His connection to the world of the ephemeral allows for strong allies, and stronger patrons. Spirit Heritage 5 (Wind Spirits) - This, some Stargazer tribe elders suspect, is emphasis that sometimes, the spirits will choose to have a life on Gaia. One only has to see what Sees-Faces-In-Stars looks like in the Umbra to suspect that this is true.
Rites:
Rite of Talisman Dedication
Rite of Cleansing
Rite of Binding
Gifts: Heightened Senses (Lupus 1) - It is said that the winds can carry scents, sounds, and even sights to those who know how to listen. (spend 1 Gnosis per scene; in Homid & Glabro diff. decrease by 2, in others, diff. decreases by 3) Spirit Speech (Theurge 1) - The first Gift that Sees-Faces learned, and at an early age. Stargazer tribe elders strongly suspect that Wind spirits were the ones who taught him, since he was seen speaking with them as a cub. (permanent effect; can speak to spirits) Sense Wyrm (Stargazer 1) - Knowing and recognizing the taint of the Wyrm can do more than save one's fur. (Perception + Occult, diff. depends on concentration of Wyrm) Balance (Stargazer 1) - A necessary Gift, when one was born near the Himalayan mountains. "Footpaths" were often nothing more than a historical reference in those desolate places. (permanent effect; diff. for Climbing decreases by 3, all attempts to maintain balance automatically succeed) Wuxing (Stargazer 2) - Now more attuned to the natural ways of the worlds, Sees-Faces-In-Stars can bend one element into another. Roll Manipulation + Enigmas, diff. 7; each success allows for one square foot of a particular element (water, earth, fire, metal, or wood), into another type; fire can become wood, water can become earth, etc. The dimension and shape doesn't change, however. Lasts a number of turns equal to his Gnosis rating.
Backgrounds
Fate ***(Pretty much every Garou on the Continent know of the prophecy. Beleiving it is a WHOLE different story.)
Resource *
Rites **
Kinfolk *
Allies **(Major players in Friends Of Water/Enviromentalist circles)
Contact *
Will 6
Rage 4
Gnosis 3
Gifts
Scent of Man
Scent of Running Water
Spirit Speech
Spirit of the Bird
Rituals
Cleansing
Talisman Dedication
Growth
Questing Stone
Renown:
Glory: 0
Honor: 3
Wisdom: 5
Flaws
Driving Goal(He -will- revive the Croatan. It's not gonna be easy.)
Overconfident(He thinks he can undo whatever Eater Of Souls did!)
Background: In 1990, an Uktena Bane Tender had a striking vision during their duties. Through the impossible vision, she spied a mound along a river, around which a city and nature existed in a precarious balance. And into that balance, came the Wyrms minions. When it seemed worstone of the Mound Builder's monuments -erupted-, releasing a massive, war scarred turtle. Weapons dinged uselessly off it's shell, it's snapping jaws ripping the servants of decay into peices. Atop it, a werewolf of deep mahogany fur let out a war cry and rallied the pack. The momentary miracle had turned the tide, and the new blossoming of Wyld energies could grow once more. The prophetic vision burned into her mind, the Tender quickly sought out her tribe, to share and discuss the strange portents.
Hundreds of miles away, Alex Cooper squalled as he was slapped on his rear end by the doctor in the delivery room. As his parents would remark, he never did quieten down in the years to come. It'd be wrong to call Alex a loudmouth, though he never did learn to stop speaking his mind. It wouldn't be quite accurate to say he was a troublemaker, but he was always in trouble. Confrontational and rebellious, he hit his teenage years like a thunderbolt from the blue. Suddenly, he was seeking any cause to exalt, any wrong to denunciate. He was, however, a demagogue without a message, a rebel with no real clue what he was rebelling /against/.
A Shanwee in West Virginia, he briefly tried his hand at getting his people recignized, but it petered out in the face of bureacracy. Next was the bureacracy itself. It never went anywhere. It would not be until his eighteenth birthday and the day after: The Big Branch Mine disaster. It became his cause: The damage to West Virginians and their land. It wouldn't be long until another, more personal disaster struck. Pentex's fossil fuels caused the disaster, but raw human evil begat the hate mongering 'faithful' who arrived to cheer for god striking down miners. At a candlelight vigil for one of the dead, one of the protestors shoved his 'Thank God For Dead Miners' and 'You're Going To Hell' signs into Alex's face. He saw red, screaming at the man, reaching to smack him. "Touch me and I'll sue your family into the poorhouse." Mocked the ghoulish protestor. Then things... Happened.
It was an explosion of violence, gore, and horror that Alex couldn't believe, later. The mourners turned to riot in fear, scattering like prey before a hungry predator. The protestor? Dead and in peices. But seconds later, the surge of violence was replaced by confusion, distress, panic, as he found himself in the shadowy otherrealm, dragged by a creature as monstrous as, he would learn, he. A Child Of Gaia had been at the ceremony, and they prevented it from getting worse.
It wasn't easy, adjusting. Paniced parents, paniced friends, sudden awareness, and monsters around him rejoicing. It was a fucked up few months, in his words, as he struggled to get back into his own head and get it on straight. While the call went out for Uktena to tutor him, he fell in with the local wolves of the city; the Bone Gnawers. From them, he drew a new wellspring of inspiration into who he would be, what he would oppose. And how he would fight. Even when his tutor arrived, he didn't fit well into the Uktena. It wasn't the Bone Gnawers influence or anything like it; he just didn't quite fit into the square holes of the mystics.
When he finally heard the prophecy of his own birth, he wasn't one of those who discounted it as the ravings of the mad Bane Tenders, whose minds were always assailed by the Wyrm spirits they keep contained. In it he felt the drive, the purpose that he had been missing. No longer listless, he almost seemed a new person in his intensity. He WOULD revive the Croatan and wake Turtle.
Now he works at Cooke Company, a courier service, where he's a bonded motorcycle courier. Extensive retooling of his bike has made for specialized containers for documents, climate sensitive materials, and similar. He actually takes his job seriously, but always schedules time off for his duties and studies into the Croatan.
Half-Damned, All Hero.
Tev: You're happy. You're Plotting. You're Evil.
Me: Evil is so inappropriate. I'm ruthless.
Tev: You're turning me on.
Sees-Faces' character sheet should now be finalized for the game.
The Spirit Heritage background gives me something I've been wanting for Sees-Faces since I first came up with the character; it'll be more useful for fleshing out the character than for any overt in-game effect, I think, but I wanted something to properly show his connection to the Wind.
"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes."
- William Gibson
Josh wrote:What? There's nothing weird about having a pet housefly. He smuggles cigarettes for me.
Sees Faces approved.
Alexander Approved.... Wait... there's two of them. Uhhh... NITRAM! NAME CHANGE! Both are approved tho.
Sophie, talk to me in PMs, tell me what you're thinking for the new Fetish. I will point out this, however: the Gift demands a Willpower Point to activate. The Fetish just needs a Gnosis Roll.
Dogs are Man's Best Friend
Cats are Man's Adorable Little Serial Killers
The old hunter sat down at the fire. "What about me? Where am I from?" he said as he stared at the flames.
"Started in Miami, never knew my parents. Got adopted, good people who meant well, money, but," he shifted, scratching himself "well, never got on well with the schools and the afterschools and the programs. First change came like it did for most, did my rite and passed."
He coughed, cleared his throat, spat in the fire. "Battle of Silver Bridge. The Fall of Dreamsummer Caern. The Stand at the Fireline. Hmmph. Yeah, you're looking at a lot of losing."
He pulled his hair back, revealing the rippled flesh where an ear used to be, then lifted his shirt to reveal a thick rope of scars cabled along his midsection. "Got my marks at every damned one of 'em. But there ain't no glory in being the survivor of a few different lost causes. So you're wonderin', what the fuck good is the old wolf who happened to pick the bad side of most big fights he got into, right?"
As he spoke, his fingers worked the thin sliver of paper, rolling the joint expertly in his hand. "Wonder that myself, sometimes. But you survive, you walk away, you learn. You learn. Tell you a story, goes back a couple hundred years or so. Back in the days of old Rome. There was this guy who lived next door to the Romans, Hannibal Barker. Now everybody in the world pretty much hated the Romans, they were some high and mighty shits thought they could fuck everybody in the ass. But instead of sitting around whining about it, Hannibal got his boys together, strapped up some elephants and marched right over the hills. Now you're thinkin'... elephants? But they were like the tanks back in those days, they'd strap cannons on those bitches and roll 'em right in."
He lifted a twig from the edge of the fire and used it to light the joint, then took a deep, satisfied drag before continuing. "So Hannibal marches his elephants and his boys down to this place called Canny, yeah, weird name but fucking Romans, right? Anyway, the Romans outnumbered him like five to one, but Hannibal was a clever fuck and lured them in, then shot their asses right up from every side. Wiped the most of 'em out. Now Romans, they weren't keen on losin', so they took their survivors and they shipped 'em off to Italy. Yeah, Italy was the little island right below Rome back then, later on when the Mongols rolled in right before World War 1 the Italians came up and slapped the Romans back hard and took over the whole country, see. But that's another story. Anyway, so the survivors are sitting down on Italy with their dicks in their hands while Hannibal just ran around the Roman countryside shooting shit up and burning down all the houses and shit. And fucker was there for like twenty... fucking... years. No shit. Every time the Romans would stick their heads out, he'd smack 'em so hard they'd go right back to ground. And it was goin' to stay like that, until the Romans got this new general, Skippy."
He leaned back, rotating his neck with an audible cracking sound. "Now Skippy, he was a smart motherfucker like Hannibal, and he said that it was stupid fuck to waste these boys who knew their shit down in Italy. So he went down to Italy, picked them up and they flew on over to Hannibal's home town and went all 'bitch come and get us' and Hannibal had to go stand for his turf, right? And when he got there they bushwhacked his sorry ass just like he bushwhacked them all those years ago. Hannibal never got over getting throated in his home town, and that was that."
He took another drag on his joint and waved it in an airy circle. "Point is, survivors learn shit. Useful shit. Get what I'm saying?"
He looked around. "Guess not. Well, fuck the lot of ya anyway."
He lay backwards and stared at the sky, smoke spiraling up from his lips.
