A SOURCEBOOK FOR WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE

Wyrmtide
 The Wyrmtide Rises
The fractured remnants of the once-mighty Garou Nation are under
siege, beset by enemies from every corner. From the insidious corporate
machinations of Pentex and its ilk to the malevolence of Banes, fomori, and
other possessed hosts, the Garou face an overwhelming tide of monstrosities.
Standing as Gaia’s last line of defense, the Garou struggle against forces
determined to desecrate her sacred, dying soil — even as the spirits of the
Weaver and the Wyld sometimes turn against them.
Discover how the Garou continue the fight when their best weapons fall
short. Engage with dozens of adversaries and rivals to expand your chronicles.
Choose your battlefields, Advantages, Gifts, and Loresheets with care — your
enemies have never been more numerous or more dangerous. Wyrmtide offers
a wealth of adversaries, tactics, powers, and narrative depth for players and
Storytellers to elevate any chronicle.
• 12 malign corporations, agencies, and institutions to trouble your pack
• More than 30 servants of the Wyrm to destroy
• 6 additional Weaver and Wyld servants as rivals or enemies
• 8 distinct battlefields to fight your enemies in
• 2 sample stories to play through or adapt to your chronicle
• 10 New Advantages and Flaws, 8 Wyrm-tainted Gifts, and 3 Loresheets
• New adversary powers to make each one unique

Wyrmtide is a sourcebook for Werewolf: The Apocalypse, a Storytelling

Game of Spiritual and Environmental Horror.

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Wyrmtide

A Sourcebook for
Werewolf: The Apocalypse
 Wyrmtide
Authors: Jose Garcia, Søren Aske Hjorth, Emi Maeda, Mike Pohjola, Juhana Pettersson, Chris Jones,
and Edin Šumar with Kevin Schluter and Ben Heisler
Developer: Juhana Pettersson
Producer: Kevin Schluter
Art Director & Graphic Designer: Sarah Robinson
Cover Artist: Nevzat Aydin
Illustrators: Nevzat Aydin, Elif Aydin, Peter Bergting,
Felipe Headley Costa, and Maichol Quinto
Copy Editor: Brendan Rabon
Rules Editor: Chris Jones
Cultural Consultant: Logan Boese
Test Reader: Zack Schwartz
Proofreader: Megan Boatright

Special Thanks to Maria Pettersson

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EVP World of Darkness: Marco Behrmann
Head of Creative Management & IP Alignment: Karim Muammar
Art Director: Tomas Arfert
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Senior Game Designer: Matt Hyra

This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and intended for
entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse Creators: Sam Chupp, Andrew Greenberg, Wes Harris, Robert Hatch, Geoff Pass, Mark Rein•Hagen, William Spencer-Hale,
Rich Thomas, Josh Timbrook, Stewart Wieck, Travis L. Williams, Samuel Witt
Rules based on Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition by Martin Ericsson, Karim Muammar, and Kenneth Hite

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 7 CHapter Three: The Poison Seeps In 71
The Wyrmtide Rises 7 Banes 77
Chaos and Stasis 8 The Triatic Wyrm 79
Gaia’s Howl 9 Urge Wyrms 80
Chapters 9 Elemental Wyrms 94
The Apocalypse Wave 99
Bane Cults 101
CHapter One: Fight To Win 11 Fomori 103
The Correct Path 11 Mockeries 106
Other Paths 13 Black Spiral Dancers 109
Saving the Enemy 14 Cults of Destruction 109
The Righteousness of Rage 16 Malcontents 116
Human Allies 18 Hives 119
Understanding the Enemy 20
Building Garou Culture 22
The Tools of the Enemy 24 CHapter Four: Everybody Is 125
The Litany
Character Options
26
28 Against You
Advantages and Flaws 28 The Weaver 126
Wyrm-Tainted Gifts 29 The Wyld 130
Talismans 31
Wyrm-Tainted Talismans
Loresheets
32
34
CHapter Five: Where to Fight 135
Washington County Jail 135
Scheldes Pharmaceuticals Laboratory 137
CHapter two: Organize for 39 Albion 5 Oil Platform
Aurora Wing
142
144
Annihilation Gun Show 146
Pentex 39 Coal Mine 150
Acheron Security Services 41 Environmental Protest 152
Albion Petroleum 46 Urban Warfare Training Center 155
Bailey, Reeves & Mark 50 Other Locations 157
Gallagher Foods 52
Living Earth Logistics 55
Scheldes Pharmaceuticals 58 CHapter six: Stories 159
Corporations and Organizations 61 Hidden Rot 159
Cradle of Care 61 Wolves at the Door 165
GeoNatal Inc. 63
Pewter Group
Enlightened Society of the Weeping Moon
65
67
Appendix i: Human Enemies 168
Traits 168
Organizations 169
The Arcanum 169
Project Twilight 172

Appendix II: Storyteller Options 174

WYRMTIDE

Low Growl speaks at the moot:

We are few and our enemies are mighty. We need every advantage we can
get. I know this. The Koranyi sisters are the mightiest Garou warriors we
have, and we cannot afford to lose them.
(Confused responses, from cheers to jeers.)
Still, I won’t lie. I hate the sisters. I hate them. They get their
packmates killed. You insult them, they’ll kill you. And they have. I lost a
friend to their murderous pride.
(The crowd grows quiet.)
Let me tell the story of their sundering. I was there because they
needed a guide. I knew the terrain. For some of us, there’s a temptation
to cheer at this story because it’s a story where those who hurt us fall.
But those cheers are hollow because the only thing this does is take us closer
to the victory of the Wyrm.
We had heard stories of Zhyzhak, the Destroyer, the Chosen Child of
the Wyrm, the mightiest of the Black Spiral Dancers. Her black scourge
could tear the flesh off the most powerful of the ahroun dedicated to
Gaia. Her enemies would fall before the very mention of her name. She
walked the Spiral, the Black Labyrinth, and emerged favored by the Wyrm
as no one before or since.
Yet the Koranyi sisters believed themselves the strongest of all Garou
who love Gaia. Surely, they could, together, vanquish anything the enemy could
muster? Surely the chosen of corruption and decay didn’t stand a chance
against the spirits of storm and thunder?
It was a cold November night in Louisiana, on a decaying oil tanker slowly
leaking onto the waters of the Caribbean. We had heard that Zhyzhak
was here, though for what purpose we couldn’t fathom.
We climbed aboard this rotting giant steel hulk quietly. We heard the
drumming, the uneven beat, the shrieks, the screams and the moans. The
gibbering and the ecstasy of the Spiral. For Zhyzhak wasn’t alone. She’s
Garou too, and Garou have packs.
4
 We had the drop on them. They were arrogant, drunk, careless. They
believed they owned the night. Unfortunately, so did we.
The first to die was a young pup who idolized the Koranyi sisters. He
barely had time to change into the war form before Zhyzhak snapped her
whip and tore off his skin. She didn’t even have to change before killing her
first warrior of Gaia.
For the sisters she did change. But before she did, I saw her face
alight with rage. She looked the same as Ilona Koranyi when she tore my
friend and packmate into bloody pieces. The rage of the Wyrm, not the
rage of the righteous.
Those who had joined the sisters as packmates died. To their honor,
they tore into the Spirals in Zhyzhak’s company and destroyed many. For
a fleeting moment, I believed we would win. No matter my hatred for
the sisters, when they fight, their claws speak the poetry of Gaia. Always
anticipating each other, always ready to strike and defend, rip and tear.
Their fur slick with the blood of the enemy, their fangs biting into the
flesh of Zhyzhak, the Destroyer, the Child of the Wyrm.
Only, to bite her is to bite the fires of corruption. It is to swallow
the poison flames of the Wyrm itself.
Zhyzhak threw a silver dagger that hit me in the stomach so hard that
I staggered over the side of the ship, certain I’d fought my last fight.
The last thing I saw as I fell was the sight of Karola Koranyi, engulfed
in flames, her howl reduced into a shriek of agony and terror.
Her sister, Ilona, and I were the only survivors of that fight. Ilona
pulled me to the beach where I bled, the silver dagger burning in my guts.
Of her sister, there was no sign. The ship had disappeared into the morning
mists.
Ilona was staring at the sea. In that moment, I could not hate her
for she was lost.

5
WYRMTIDE

6
 INTRODUCTION

Introduction
T
he Garou are not lacking for enemies. human habitation. Entire nations risk sinking
The slavering Black Spiral Dancers hold a below the waves as pieces of the polar ice caps come
dark mirror to the Garou, showing what tumbling down into the sea.
they look like bereft of the guiding hand of Gaia. To the Garou fighting in the Apocalypse,
The many fronts of the Pentex Group and other the Wyrmtide is both a metaphor and a literal
human companies with secret information about the description of what’s happening to the planet. It’s a
supernatural realities of the world despoil the face of reference to the way rising waves throw plastic trash
Gaia on a grand scale. Banes, spirits of despair and onto the beaches they’ll soon consume. Everywhere
rot, infest everything, including living beings they there seems to be more fomori, more Black Spiral
turn into the monstrous fomori. Dancers, more malignant spirits of destruction.
The Garou are warriors fighting for Gaia. This These, too, are the Wyrmtide, threatening to drown
book is all about the opposition: the people, the world in garbage.
monsters and other entities the Garou seek to stop For most Garou, the Wyrmtide is an implacable,
and vanquish on and off the battlefield. unconquerable enemy. How can anyone fight the
The trouble is, so many of the worst enemies of tide? Yet some argue just the opposite. It’s in the
the Garou are not warriors seeking an honorable nature of the tide to recede. Most of all, the tide
fight. Instead, they’re secretive, malicious liars who submits to the moon, and what are the Garou if not
hide in the carcass of humanity. Or worst of all, creatures of Luna?
they are humanity. These thoughts may make it seem that the remains
After all, humans have never needed help in of the shattered Garou Nation can yet win the
finding ways to fulfill their worst impulses. There’s war, at least until the grim reality of a Black Spiral
nothing as human as shortsighted greed. Dancer’s claw tears apart such fancies.
One of the odd side effects of a victorious enemy
is that the minions of the Wyrm fight each other
The Wyrmtide Rises more than ever before. After the shattering of the

G
aia is in her death throes. As Garou Nation, many Black Spiral Dancers and
her body thrashes, extreme weather, privileged executives of Pentex fronts feel that they
earthquakes, and rising sea levels threaten have destroyed their old nemesis. Nothing stands in

7
WYRMTIDE

Gaia is not the enemy. She is the battlefield.

Every time we step into the Umbra we hear the Howl.
We see visions of destruction. We smell the acrid stench
of burnt flesh.
Is there anything sweeter? We are winning and the
Umbra sings of our victory.
The Weaver tries to strangle the Wyrm in its webs
but it’s unaware that those very same webs can be used
to transmit poison. Use the tools of the enemy against it.
The Weaver’s webs doing the Wyrm’s work.
- Cronus “The Wolf Eater” Jones,
Black Spiral Dancer theurge

the way of a complete and total victory! This means the Wyrm that represents the real enemy. In their
that, increasingly, the Banes and the Spirals fight minds, the Wyrm is in overdrive, driven mad by the
each other for the spoils of their long war. all-encompassing reach of the Weaver. If the Great
This may present opportunities, if the Garou are Spinner is brought back under control and its webs
clever enough to capitalize upon them. burnt and slashed, all may be well again.
For some, such talk leads to dangerous ideas like

Chaos and Stasis

seeking the end of human civilization. A few have
even come to the conclusion that the only tribe that

T
he Wyrmtide makes all problems understands the importance of this is the Black
worse, even those that have nothing to do Spiral Dancers. Thus, are defectors made.
with the Great Destroyer. Spirits of the The most heartbreaking of all enemies are those
Weaver are drawn to humans and organizations born of the Wyld. Great beasts rampaging in the
which privilege order above all, often to the dark corners of the world may be animated by
exclusion of sense or safety. Places where rules a Wyld-spirit. The chaos of creative force may
are followed, whether they lead to anything good emerge in fantastically violent storms raging across
or not, are often rife with the emanations of the continents, driven by climate change and spiritual
Weaver, stifling Gaia as bad as any Bane. forces drawn from the dawn of time.
Indeed, some Garou, many Red Talons chief Few Garou wish to fight creatures of the Wyld, yet
among them, argue that it is the Weaver and not sometimes they must.

8
 INTRODUCTION

Gaia’s Howl Chapter Two: Organize for Annihilation looks

A
at the most dangerous enemies of all: humans.
s the Wyrmtide rises, Gaia drowns The ordinary middle manager of a cut-rate energy
in its filth. This is one of the first things company is not much of a threat against a Garou
a Garou notices when stepping into the warrior. The real threat posed by humans lies in
Umbra for the first time: Gaia’s Howl resonates organization. Once assembled into corporations,
through the spiritscape, the shadow paths vibrating NGOs, and other organizations, humans are perfectly
with her pain and despair. capable of destroying the entire livable biosphere. This
For many Garou, the Umbra and its many creatures chapter details Pentex fronts and other organizations
is what finally convinces them of the immediate serving the Wyrm, wittingly or not.
necessity of the war for Gaia. It’s one thing to oppose an Chapter Three: The Poison Seeps In reminds us
abstraction like climate change. Quite another to actually that the threats faced by the Garou go beyond the
witness the spirits of greed and hatred hover over sites of fully human. The Umbra is full of Banes, the fomori
human carelessness and abuse. Once you have bit down skulk across the earth, and the Black Spiral Dancers
into the throat of a spirit of radioactivity, you know that are easily the biggest tribe of Garou around. The rot
the enemy is out there and you need to destroy it. of humanity attracts sickness of a supernatural kind.
And indeed… The enemy truly is out there, Chapter Four: Everybody Is Against You is all
everywhere in the physical world as much as it is in the about the supernatural enemies spawned by the
depths of the Umbra. Gaia’s Howl resonates through Weaver and the Wyld, corrupted to the cause of
the moonlit paths and the forgotten byways of the spirit the Wyrm. After all, as the world falls ever further
world. Somewhere in the depths, spirits of pollution, towards the end, spirits who previously served
filth, and destruction respond in a vast Apocalypse the cause of the other two great Triatic entities
Wave, threatening to turn the Wyrmtide into a deluge. increasingly turn towards the Destroyer.
Chapter Five: Where To Fight details locations

Chapters where the characters can take on all the enemies

presented in this book. Every fight needs a backdrop,

T
he book consists of six chapters and that is what this chapter is all about. It presents
and two appendices. The goal is to give you interesting, fleshed-out locations you can drop into
all you need to feature colorful, interesting, your game and repurpose as you see fit.
and terrifying enemies in your Werewolf: The Chapter Six: Stories puts everything you’ve read
Apocalypse chronicles. about so far into practice. What does it look like
Werewolf is all about the final war to save a dying when all the enemies, organizations, and locations
world. In these pages, you’ll face the creatures that presented in this book are put into use for the
seek to accelerate that painful death, wittingly or purposes of making a Werewolf story? The chapter
not. They are horrifying not only in themselves, but presents story outlines you can use for single session
also because they each represent one way for Gaia to games or drop into an ongoing chronicle.
die and fall into ruin. Appendix I: Human Enemies considers the
Chapter One: Fight To Win looks at the tactics question of how to make human enemies interesting.
the Garou employ against their enemies from the Amidst all the Banes and fomori, sometimes it’s the
perspective of the many characters who populate the humble FBI agent who causes the most trouble for
shattered Nation. The war for Gaia feels impossible the players’ pack.
to win, but there is no space for defeatism among the Appendix II: Storyteller Options gives the
last of the Garou warriors. You just have to figure Storyteller new game mechanical choices to create
out how to really fight to win. The chapter also more varied enemies such as Banes, fomori, and
includes new player options and Loresheets. Black Spiral Dancers. 

9
WYRMTIDE

10
 CHAPTER ONE: FIGHT TO WIN

Chapter One:

Fight To Win
I
f loss is inevitable, why fight? while others advocate for cooperation with human
For some Garou, this is the question that causes activists. A few believe that any interaction with
them to spiral into harano. They lose the fighting humans plays into the hands of the enemy, while
spirit that has characterized werewolves since time some say that the Garou must use the tools of the
immemorial and fall into depression. The world is Wyrm to destroy the Wyrm.
going to end in a miasma of dust and radiation and There’s little consensus among the tribes of
nothing can be done about it. the shattered Nation. A few views are commonly
Many a philodox has taken a different tack in proscribed only because they’re so often associated
answering this question. They argue that as long with specific enemies.
as there are Garou fighting for Gaia, the war is not The Cult of Fenris shows what happens when an
lost. The history of conflict has endless examples of entire tribe falls to hauglosk and believes that only
overconfident armadas falling to their own hubris and total war and absolute discipline is going to bring
clever underdogs defeating enemies twice their size. victory. They believe in violence and obedience,
There are ways in which the debased killing Wyrm creatures and Garou of other tribes
circumstances of the Garou can be turned into an in equal measure. If you’re not with them, you’re
advantage. The enemy fights among themselves, against them and deserve to die.
creating openings for those willing to exploit such The existence of the Cult has tempered some of the
rifts. Many servants of the Wyrm have written more extreme views among tribes like the Shadow
off the Garou entirely, making it easier to attack Lords and the Red Talons. Few want to be associated
by surprise. An enemy who believes it has already with the tribe that many blame for breaking apart the
achieved victory won’t be so cautious. Garou Nation in their hubris and Rage.
This chapter also contains new character options The existence of the Stargazers has a similar effect
and Loresheets particularly related to the fight as that of the Cult of Fenris. The Stargazers argue that
against the Wyrm. the Weaver represents a greater threat than the Wyrm.
More Garou might make the same argument if it
didn’t cause them to be lumped together with another
The Correct Path tribe seen as traitors by many. The Stargazers failed

T
here are many opinions among the to stand with other tribes when it mattered and that
Garou about what the best tactics in the war means their ideas cannot be trusted.
for Gaia are. Some prefer guerrilla warfare,

11
WYRMTIDE

Fight to Win: FAQ

Here are some of the questions that commonly arise For this reason, the most successful tactic may
when the Garou try to figure out ways to fight their war be anonymity. The Garou can keep a popular,
for Gaia. ecologically minded politician alive despite the best
efforts of an Albion Petroleum hit squad to kill him
How does a werewolf pack feasibly bring down a without having to reveal themselves. Just figure out
midsize company? which humans fight the good fight and make sure
Businesses need to be able to function to survive. they can keep fighting.
Salaries need to be paid, and money has to come in. If That said, a solid human identity is very helpful
the Garou successfully sabotage the basic functioning for interacting with potential allies. Backgrounds
of a business, it eventually has to close. like Contacts, Fame, and Mask can be leveraged
Many of the Skills a player’s character may have are effectively in the right circumstances.
very useful for this purpose. You can use Driving to ram Many different types of humans can be useful in
a supply truck into another, causing material losses. the right circumstances. Here are a few examples.
Politics is helpful for the purpose of identifying political
weaknesses that could be exploited, such as company Community Activist: Ever since all that fracking
support for an unpopular politician. Finance helps started, tapwater in town has been undrinkable.
analyze the company so that any acts of sabotage The Community Activist is a middle-aged woman,
cause maximum damage. a schoolteacher, and the impact of the fracking on
the community has pushed her to the brink and
What are the limits of violence? beyond. She can help keeping an eye on the actions
The Garou are warriors of immense power, but not of the company on the ground and find information
every challenge can be met with claw or fang. Yet through bureaucratic means. She can also speak
surprisingly often, a little judiciously applied violence to the community, for whatever ends the players’
goes a long way. Identifying supernatural threats is characters might decide.
key: destroying fomori, banishing Banes, and killing
Black Spiral Dancers typically results in a much Disillusioned Soldier: For a while, the Disillusioned
cleaner environment, and human allies can often take Soldier believed in the mission, but eventually the
it from there. glaring contradictions of the military life became too
Survival can be used to fell a tree to block a road much. He left the navy and fell to drinking for a while.
so human reinforcements won’t be able to arrive in Eventually he decided that he had to get a grip. He
time to help a paramilitary squad of fomori. This way, needed something to believe in. He needed to be
battlefield control helps keep loss of life to a minimum. useful. Thus, he volunteered as crew on ships run by
Intimidation is another useful Skill. Threaten a group eco activist organizations, the kind engaged in direct
of Black Spiral Dancers and their human sycophants, action on the high seas. The Soldier is useful if you
and soon only the werewolves remain. Faced with the need somebody to take you to an Albion Petroleum
Garou, humans have a tendency to run. drilling platform on a small speedboat, ideally
without anybody noticing.
How do you recognize a supernatural threat?
Garou have killed innocent humans, believing them Whistleblower: A true believer, the Whistleblower
to be fomori, more than once. This is why checking works for Living Earth Logistics. They were attracted
what things look like in the Umbra, trying to provoke by all the talk about sustainability and working for
supernatural manifestations, and listening to the shipping solutions that respect the biosphere. It was
advice of trusted spirits are all worthwhile methods. a real shock to them to realize that the company’s
Better to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. ecological mission is a sham and that underneath
Gifts like Penumbral Senses and Sense the True the facade something awful was festering. The
Form are obviously useful, and others like Sharpened Whistleblower is a clean-cut, credible professional,
Senses, Shadow Sense, and Sight from Beyond may useful for damaging their employer, as long as
also have their applications in the right circumstances. the players’ characters manage to thwart the
assassination attempts that are sure to come.
How to find human allies?
A key problem for many Garou is that potential
human allies, i.e., humans who share goals similar
to the veneration for Gaia, often reject violence.

12
 CHAPTER ONE: FIGHT TO WIN

Low Growl speaks at the moot:

We are a pack of two, Ilona Koranyi and I. I did not choose for this to happen.
I did not choose her. But I hear how you talk among each other, how you start
sniping once you perceive weakness. When she was united with her sister, when
she was strong, you were too scared to do anything. But now, now that she’s lost
and scared, now you think you can get back at her.
(Wary murmuring.)
You disgust me. Your snide, cowardly backstabbing befits the servants of the
Wyrm, not the chosen of Gaia. When she was strong, she was the mightiest among
you. She was prideful, she was violent, and she was uncaring. I was hurt the same
as you. More than you. But she also killed. She fought the enemy and won.
You accepted her then, but now you’re ready to cast her aside.
(Jeers growing louder.)
We didn’t come here begging for your help. We came here as Garou. We came here
because we have fought, and lost, and will fight again. Just like you. But…
(Someone throws a rock at Low Growl.)
Hey, fuck you! Who did that?
(Another rock hits Low Growl in the forehead.)
Cowards! This is not how we win! You’re doing the work of the…
(A beer bottle hits Low Growl in the face, staggering her to the cheers of the crowd.)

Other Paths results in the creation of Rites or Talismans that

T
the werewolves fighting for Gaia would have never
he Garou fighting for Gaia are thought of. How to deal with that is a test of
scattered across the world, each pack and character for any Garou. Can you accept the tools
sept with their own ideas for how to fight of those who have betrayed Gaia if they work? Some
the Wyrm. Many would like to believe there’s a argue that to win, all methods are acceptable, while
clear distinction between themselves and the Garou others fear being tainted by the methods of the likes
considered to have strayed from the path, but that’s of the Cult of Fenris.
not true. It’s not uncommon for two septs to consider
each other dangerously wrongheaded or even Famous Garou
downright heretical. Just such a schism is responsible
The characters voicing their opinions in this
for the departure of the Cult of Fenris and the
chapter are all famous Garou, known for
Stargazers and the shattering of the Garou Nation.
their various exploits. Their stories are told at
Still, the truth is that sometimes it’s a Moon Cult moots and many have met them, building their
inventing a powerful new method for attacking legends still further. Their Loresheets can be
the enemy. Their idiosyncratic interpretations of found in the book Shattered Nation.
spirit hierarchies may have surprisingly concrete

13
 Ross the She-Wolf 43

Saving the Enemy

I
s it possible or worthwhile to try to save the enemy? If a human has been
infested by a Bane and become a fomori, can they be rescued and purified spiritually?
It’s a fact that this can be done, if you know what you’re doing. The Gift Banish Spirit
and the Rite of Binding can be quite helpful. The real question debated at many a moot is
if it’s worth it. After all, Banes are attracted to human greed. An individual human is not
corrupt because of a Bane. The Bane is a symptom and the question is: does it matter if the
Bane is removed?
Some say it does, and that it’s the start of a road to healing. Others argue that a Bane is a
sign of incorrigible evil.

14
Ross the She-Wolf 43 ROSS
Online 51 minutes ago No
1000+ miles away
Looking for dates and friends. If you’re much older JUAN
its a fracking company
than me, it won’t work out. But I hope you work out we think they’re connected to union
'cause I do. Pics once we chat a bit. I’m a warrior bromide and there’s this holding company
and a nurturer, I will take good care of you. I love a pentex that’s involved
good sense of humor and I travel a lot. Ask me about and its probably run by fomori
fighting pollution! anyway the fracking is destroying water
supply over here
Height 6’2” animals and plants and people are all
Weight 190 lbs getting sick
Ethnicity It’s complicated
Body type Athletic
ROSS
Position Vers If they’re breaking the law you can try to
Relationship Status Single sue them. Get them in court. Sometimes
HIV Status Negative they’ll need permits and can’t move on
without them. You can go the official routes
to makes things difficult. The people living
JUAN there probably don’t want their health and
hi property destroyed.

ROSS JUAN
Hi yo how can we know its the wyrm
like fomori and shit
JUAN
okay so tell me about fighting pollution ROSS
Doesn’t matter. If they’re destroying the
environment, polluting, then they’re
ROSS enemies of Gaia. You’re a Garou, you’re a
Right defender of Gaia. You take them down.
You want to hear about what happened in Court of public opinion or regular courts are
Nagpur? one way but another is that you attack them
and kill their bosses.
JUAN
the union bromide thing JUAN
bro i know it right
your ross the she wolf right but what if they could be saved
the ross
u threw bromide ceo into the polluted river
ROSS
What do you mean saved?
ROSS
That’s me JUAN
like if they normal people who got
infested by a bane
JUAN
listen thats why i contacted you
everybody at my caern talks about you
ROSS
That doesn’t happen to normal people. Only
ROSS to enemies of Gaia
Don’t believe them And happily they are not always effective,
not like a well functioning wolf pack. :D
They often fight against each other and
JUAN there’s all sorts of angles you can use to
no no its not like that infiltrate their companies. Like stockholders,
see we have a problem and we want to boardmembers, citizens, customers. Talk
deal with it like you to them. Chances are, everybody already
hates them and sometimes they even hate
ROSS themselves. As they should.
What kind of problem?
JUAN
JUAN ok
u know stark shale ltd?
15
 Liu “Returning Maiden” Aithan

The Righteousness of Rage

T
he Garou are defined by their Rage, and many see their anger as a virtue, a
force propelling them towards victory. Anger staves off harano and keeps the pack
motivated. The fury of the Garou makes them unstoppable fighting machines,
creatures capable of destroying some of the mightiest warriors of the enemy.
The problem is that anger is not always constructive, and valorizing it doesn’t help.
Sometimes the righteous Rage of the Garou leads to stupid mistakes. Mighty warriors jump
to conclusions, cause excessive damage, and fall into enemy traps.
Because of this, there are those among the Garou who would seek to temper their Rage
with wisdom.

16
Wishing us a long life to share the graceful moonlight, though thousands of
miles apart.
Luna shines on the evil and on the good, and she sees all, even when we do
not see her. Yet we must follow her wisdom.
It is not secret Luna’s sister Gaia is dead. She has given life to
many, but we Garou alone owe our existence to both sisters. It is up to
us to help Gaia’s children and to avenge Gaia’s death.
Gaia’s enemies are numerous, and they are everywhere. Each must be
dealt with. Remember Luna is watching.
A friend from Lima asked me how can I know what Luna wants. I
should remember our numbers are growing, and you who read this now
might have been given this letter by a friend. When you look at the Moon
from Earth, your vision is distorted by distance and, most of all, by the
atmosphere and the stratosphere. You have not seen Luna like I have seen her.
I am a taikonaut and have flown on a shuttle around the Moon, and in
space there are no auspices, no lunar phases. They are an illusion. You must
share your auspice to truly hear Luna’s whispers and understand her
wisdom. One day we will travel there together and touch the face of Luna.
Humans and animals are among Gaia’s children and need not always be
harmed. People are not born evil but are made that way when they are
inhabited by a Bane spirit. Take the spirit out of them. Lure it. Coax it.
Force it. Beat it out if you have to. Sometimes, the human will still live
after it, and you have saved them. If the human dies, you will still have
saved others. But the Banes are the enemies, not the humans they possess.
Fomori are simple to deal with. Others are more difficult. The leeches,
whom some call xixue gui or vampires, are enemies of Luna and the Garou.
They are Death who feeds on Life. An abomination. Even Luna is powerless
against them, but her brother Helios can hurt them.
Leeches, like Banes, can be conniving plotters and you can use this
against them. There is an old saying: “When the rams lock horns, the wolf
gets fed.” Find out whom the leech considers their enemies, for often
they may be your enemies, too. Set the two enemies against one another.
And the wolf gets fed.
A friend from Kyiv messaged me asking what about the Black Spiral
Dancers. The dancers understand Gaia is dead and try to bring about a
renewal by hastening the End of it All. They have understood some of
the truth, but if they worship the Wyrm, they are enemies of Gaia. If,
however, they could see that Luna still lives, perhaps they could be useful
allies. I recommend you meet and treat with them but be wary.
Remember, when you one day stand on the face of the full moon, the
entire landscape is made radiant by the rays of Helios. A leech cannot
stand it.
Returning Maiden
P.S. Remember, you do not need to lose your temper. Rage is a choice.

17
 Aino Metsälä

Human Allies

I
t’s a fact that the Garou cannot win the war on their own. Most accept this, although
there are some, particularly in the Cult of Fenris, who feel that the mightiest of the Garou
warriors will carry the day.
The trouble is that humans are as fractious as the Garou. Many environmentalist groups share
goals that are similar to those of the warriors for Gaia, but their tactics and morals are completely
different. A human NGO won’t accept ultraviolence as a legitimate tool, while the Garou often
consider prospective human allies as weak, compromised, and unreliable.
The Garou who work with humans and human organizations are rare because maintaining
such collaborations is difficult. One of the most successful ones is Gaia First!, a radical human
environmental organization led by the Red Talon Aino Metsälä.
Skills such as Etiquette and Persuasion can be crucial for players’ characters seeking to expand
their operations with human help. Apart from environmental organizations, a successful
unionization drive can help change how things are done at a fulfilment center owned by a Pentex
front, and a neighborhood group can be useful in getting a local polluting foundry shut down.

18
ainometsala
This Saturday we were over 5000 people who blocked and disrupted Charles
de Gaulle – one of the busiest airports in Europe – to protest against their
♥
planned expansion and against flying in general. They have over 11 million
metric tons of CO2 emissions every year. And flight CO2 emissions are not
going down… they’re going up! And our tax money is subsidizing them. Well,
we say: No more!
Security guards and gendarmes attacked us brutally, but we withstood it. Many
of us chose the path of passive resistance but some could not rein in their
rage. Blood was spilled. But in the end, they had to choose between killing five
thousand activists or delaying flights for a little while. Today, they chose life.
Ironically, flight emissions kill ten thousand people every year. (Also more
people than die in plane crashes.)
#GaiaFirst #StopAirportExpansion #ClimateJusticeNow #MakePollutersPay
#TimeToRage

REPLY

ainometsala
Last year was the hottest ever recorded. Climate disasters, wars, oppression,
and inequalities further intensified – killing and displacing countless people.
♥
It was yet another year where people in power fought to maintain their violent
business as usual by using dangerous lies, hate speech, and greenwashing.
There seem to be no limits to the lengths they go to defend the exploitation of
Gaia for their own gains and profit.
But it was also a year when people once again filled the streets, resisted,
defended their lands, and fought for their rights and freedom. It was a year
where many showed global solidarity and stood united in the fight for climate
justice. Activists are as needed as ever, even though we are experiencing
increased repression all over the world by mega-corporations, by those who act
as if possessed by evil spirits, by the forces of destruction. We are exhausted,
but we are also full of love and rage.
We cannot allow things to continue like this. Let’s make this a year of
mobilization, solidarity, and accountability.
#GaiaFirst #TimeToRage

REPLY

ainometsala
Our current governments only serve the super-rich elites and their poisonous
lifestyle. We must dismantle the corporations that seek to destroy Gaia and
♥
buy our elections. We must think globally but act locally. Organize in your
own town, gather the people who do not want to give up control, who want to
protect Gaia, who are willing to do something. Make a plan for getting media
attention, for disrupting the status quo, for letting the elites know that the
people will no longer stand idly by as Gaia is being killed.
#GaiaFirst #ClimateAction #Activist #TimeToRage

REPLY

19
 Alejandro “Vaporfang” Mendoza

Understanding the Enemy

F
ighting the enemy effectively requires reliable intelligence, something the
Garou are not always good at. A wolfborn warrior only barely able to interface with
human society won’t be infiltrating the archives of a major corporation anytime soon.
Knowing where to strike is key to a successful operation. That makes a Glass Walker or Bone
Gnawer information specialist invaluable, no matter what Garou of more traditionalist tribes
think. A Wits + Technology test may be used to gather information online. Persuasion or
Streetwise can be helpful when you’re sitting at the bar with workers from a local Pentex front.
If used cleverly, a variety of Skills may become part of the pack’s information gathering
efforts. The Drive Skill is used to tail a foe without being spotted. The Survival Skill lets
you camp unnoticed for a few weeks close to a logging camp. Using Finance may reveal
surprising connections between companies simply by following where the money goes. The
same goes for Politics: Once you figure out who’s beholden to the interests of a Pentex front,
you won’t be surprised by political developments.

20
 de since the fall
Soon it’ll be a deca the
n and the start of
of the Garou Natio s
erewolves. It ha
unofficial War on W ,
human and Garou lives
taken thousands of rc ed
osystems, and fo
destroyed entire ec d
to hiding. Pentex an
many of our kind in come
Who is it that prof
its? The owner of
he r B ig W yrm corporations have be gas station, the owne the
ot r of the oil company,
il, cursed at moots
a true symbol of ev the politicians they
have bought. In the
around the world. United States, both
major political parties
dro Mendoza, or
My name is Alejan have taken a lot of
bribes from oil comp
Gnawer galliard and anies.
Vaporfang, a Bone Tens of millions of
dollars every year. A
h activist, whom nd
a freedom-of-speec ars
this is just from B
ig Oil. Other Wyrm-
pt in prison for ye
Washington has ke ars
minded corporations do
a lot more bribing, so
ntenced to 35 ye much so that all mains
now. I’ve been se to tream politicians in th
cause I tried e
of incarceration, be US are owned by B
ig Wyrm.
ment’s clandestine
expose the govern st
Why don’t the peop
le protest against
Wyrm which are again
dealings with Big Big Wyrm? Becaus
e they don’t know abo
policies. ut
their own outspoken it. This is done in se
crecy, recorded only
inside these walls
While I am stuck you
in classified docume
nts, or not officially
rbed wire, I implore
of concrete and ba otect
recorded at all. Info
rmation is power and
otect democracy, pr
to protect Gaia, pr withholding informatio
n from the public me
have means beyond ans
the Wyld. My jailors ot
keeping the power
out of their hands.
e huma n to ke ep me here, and I cann Information wants to
th be free! If we free
escape. the information, we fr
simply attacking ee the people, and
we
This does not mean e
save the Earth. It
really is that simple
and ripping apart th way we can save the . That
local gas stations for low-income workers fr
ts who work there om
paperless immigran being used by Big
Wyrm, and we can sa
wage. The problems the environment. ve
less than a living
st ask: why do we
are deeper. We mu I want to appeal to
the wisdom of the
s in the first
have artificial border Garou Nation that on
ce was. Do not deme
still use oil-based an
place? Why do we ?
the ordinary workers
, as that kind of rhet
s wh en we kn ow they destroy nature will only strengthen oric
fuel Big Wyrm and their
y workers
Why will we not pa stranglehold on this
country. By shifting
tructure a proper
in essential infras the blame for environ
mental damage from B
is always the ig
wage? The answer Wyrm to my fellow cit
izens, you are easi
one profits ng
same: because some our government’s mo
ral and political burde
Big Wyrm and their n.
from it. government cronies are
killing our country and
our world. I believe t
ordinary people can be hat
come allies of the G
in resisting this dest arou
ruction. Just extend
a paw.

United States Penit — Vaporfang

entiary, Beaumont, TX

21
 Vandana “The Impresario” Puri

Building Garou Culture

G
arou cannot live off the war alone. Garou culture must be preserved and
transmitted to each new generation of werewolves. Otherwise, there won’t be any
Garou to carry on the fight against the Wyrm. Holding moots, performing Rites,
and finding Kin is every bit as important as leading Great Hunts against the enemy.
The Garou have a culture of their own, traditions that differ from sept to sept yet
which often have elements in common. A werewolf visiting a new sept is often struck by a
combination of the familiar and the new. Customs differ, but the war is the same for all.
The demands of Garou culture can be very concrete. For example, the players’ pack finds
Kin in the territory of another sept. How do they negotiate the situation? Perhaps the other
sept has customs that the players’ characters find objectionable, but at the same time the
Kin was legitimately found in their area. Resolving such issues can be very helpful in terms
of establishing new alliances and growing the fame of the characters.
Rites represent perhaps the clearest manifestation of how culture affects the fight in
game terms. Perhaps Garou from another sept visit the players’ characters because they
need to learn a Rite and heard that one of the players’ pack knows it. Teaching Rites means
spreading the wisdom of Gaia in a very tangible way.

22
 1 5
d fellow As we come together today, let us
emed guests an et,
Namaste, este us plan harness the collective energy of our
r precio
stewards of ou shared passion for the environment.
reverence Collaboration is the key. Just as
eat honor and
It is with gr fore this gathering of diverse elements come together to
be
that I stand mmitment to create a harmonious event, let us unite
o shar e a common co
Ga rou wh nce of our to address the pressing environmental
the very esse
safeguarding er Earth. Some of you challenges that our planet faces. And
– Mo th
existe nc e e Blessed not just collaborate between Garou of
Bh ud evi, Gaia, th
know he r as ly call her various packs and auspices.
th er, or La kshmi, or simp
Mo
t.
the environmen

2 6
In the grand tapestry of celebrations We must work toge
ther with humans
that I weave, I find inspiration in spirits of nearly and
all kinds. Invite
the vibrant and diverse ecosystems conservative poli that
tician to lunch,
that our planet provides. Each event I out the mining co hear
mpany executive,
curate is a testament to the wonders eye to eye with th meet
at strange machin
of nature, and it is our duty to jaggling. Hear th e
em out. They may
ensure that these wonders endure for ripe for the taki be
ng by Banes, but
generations to come. they are, they ca before
n be reasoned with
charmed and persua ,
de
This is their plan d, even turned.
et, too.

3 7
allel
w is h to draw a par Obviously, such courtesy cannot be
Today, I of our afforded to Bane spirits or their
e artistry balance
between th s and the delicate fomori hosts, and certainly not to
n e
celebratio ronment. Just as w of an Stolen Moons. When they are discovered,
ou r en v i y det ail extreme measures are always called for.
of p la n ever
meticul o us l y es it ow n
s That is why I speak to you in glabro
n at u re orchestrat e rustling and recommend everyone change into that
event, gentl
– from the onious melody of form. That is an easy way to root out
symphony ha r m
to the the Stolen Moons, who are made with
of leaves torture and black magic. For them death
birdson g.
is not a cruel punishment, it is a
relief from a cursed existence, and we
should it provide it for them.

4 8
nd,
In the face of rampant deforestation, gether, hand in ha
So let us stand to e
pollution, climate change, and champions of th
heart to heart, as is
biodiversity loss, our planet cries out t us embark upon th
Earth Goddess. Le assion , an d
for our collective action. It calls upon age, comp
journey with cour
us Garou to rise above our differences, , know in g that our actions
conviction ow.
to unite in purpose, and to stand once the world of tomorr r,
today will shape a gr ee ne
again as guardians of Gaia. For it is r pursuit of
And may we, in ou ,
only through our shared commitment mo re sustainable future
and unwavering dedication that we can cleaner, and love, re sp ec t,
gacy of
leave behind a le
hope to heal the wounds inflicted the magnificent
and gratitude for
upon our planet and pave the way for a th at surrounds us.
tapestry of life
sustainable future. festivities begin!
And now, let the
Dhanyavaad.
23
 Oba Makinde

The Tools of the Enemy

S
ome say that Rage is of the Wyrm. That the Garou themselves are riven with
the purpose of their greatest enemy. Given that this is the case, surely there cannot be
an objection to using other tools of the enemy against it? After all, isn’t every weapon
a tool of the Wyrm? (See Wyrm-tainted Gifts, p. 29.)
And who’s the real enemy anyway? Surely, it’s the Weaver that has congested the whole
world with its concrete and glass!
A clever philodox might develop these ideas further, asking whether a Pentex front or
a Black Spiral Dancer pack is also a weapon of the Wyrm that can be turned against its
intended purpose. After all, the servants of the Destroyer are a famously fractious lot. It’s not
impossible to get them to fight each other, saving the Garou the trouble of having to engage
potentially lethal enemies.

24
 Oba Makinde 
... ... Oba Makinde 
...
Oba Makinde 
@trailblazer @trailblazer @trailblazer

When you hear the names of legislation or anything done Whatever weapon the enemy has, you can use it against Capitalism is the past. Techno feudalism is the future.
by the government, it is worth remembering that the them. To take down capitalism, become a better If you were a smart capitalist, you became a techno
group that sent so many people to the guillotine during capitalist than the others. To put down a forest fire, start feudalist after 2008. Too late now, sorry.
the French Revolution was called “The Committee of a counter fire. To stop a school shooter, learn to shoot. Thanks, @yanisvaroufakis for a great word.
Public Safety”, not the “Cut Off Their Heads Committee". #technofeudalism
6:47 PM • 02/17/25 • 2M Views
10:30 PM • 02/13/25 • 1.2M Views 292 5.9K 99K 8:18 PM • 02/23/25 • 1.6M Views
1.2K 8K 104K 138 2.8K 60K

Oba Makinde 
...
... @trailblazer ...
Oba Makinde  Oba Makinde 
@trailblazer Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of @trailblazer
tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Omniscent
Omniscent has been told by some governments to stock. Do you support this? My advisers at @jpmorgan tell me that to be an
stop working at warzones. We will not do so even at Yes 57.9% environmentalist, I should only invest in companies with a
gunpoint. No 42.1% good ESG score. (Environmental/Social/Governance, if you’re
Sorry to be a free speech absolutist. 3,519,252 votes * Final results not in the know.) I disagree. I choose the ones that are doing
Oba Makinde @trailblazer the poorest, pour my considerable money and power there,
9:33 PM • 02/14/25 • 831K Views replying to @trailblazer make myself chairperson, and turn them around. When
Note, I do not take a cash salary or bonus from they’re doing well, I sell my stock, and move on.
831 5.5K 72K
anywhere. I only have stock, thus the only way for me to #investing #investorawareness #investor #ESG
pay taxes personally is to sell stock. 9:02 PM • 02/24/25 • 3.7M Views
126 2.5K 77K
7:03 PM • 02/20/25 • 5.4M Views

Oba Makinde 
... 397 3.7K 111K
@trailblazer

What can we do beyond raising taxes to combat

Oba Makinde 
...
inequality?
... @trailblazer
Oba Makinde 
8:12 PM • 02/16/25 • 1.7M Views
@trailblazer Wolves don’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep.
1.7K 11K 150K #proverb
They tell me I sometimes change into an animal. Get
used to it. 10:29 PM • 02/16/25 • 3.4M Views

1:10 AM • 02/21/25 • 1.4M Views 1.4K 9.7K 126K

217 4.2K 78K

Oba Makinde 
...
@trailblazer
I strongly believe that all managers in a technical area ...
must be technically excellent. Oba Makinde 
Managers in software must write great code or it’s like ... @trailblazer
Oba Makinde 
being an ecoterrorist who can’t throw a grenade at a @trailblazer
harvester! We should look at nature as a service. It is literally
an ecosystem. But what is nature’s business model?
The best way to find out information about someone? According to research, nature is a highly servitized
9:02 PM • 02/16/25 • 1.1M Views Omniscent. and efficient business, one we could all learn from.
We can find out anything about anyone anywhere. Their The profit and rent of all businesses are based on the
1.1K 6.7K 87K
location, contact information, ID, browser history, you life-time ecosystem services provided by nature at no
name it. Secrets are a thing of the past. cost. Without those services, the costs to us would be
#Omniscent @Omniscent enormous and most businesses would go bankrupt.
11:41 PM • 02/27/25 • 537K Views
11:53 PM • 02/21/25 • 1.4M Views
Oba Makinde 
... 418 5.9K 63K
1.4K 9.7K 126K
@trailblazer

I know people who have tried to take down companies

by breaking windows and tying themselves to trees.
When I want to take down a company, I sue them or buy
them. It’s that simple when you have money. Oba Makinde 
...
... @trailblazer
Oba Makinde 
10:37 PM • 02/16/25 • 927K Views @trailblazer The Tragedy of the Commons is when nobody owns the
354 6.7K 127K
ocean or the climate, and that’s why everyone can abuse
If you want to really get off the radar, you need to lose
them and destroy them. One way to solve this dilemma
your cell phone and all your other electronic equipment.
would be to privatize the oceans and the climate. They
But will you? Of course you won’t. You’re giving it away.
would be owned by governments, corporations, NGOs,
and other stakeholders. In the name of equity, individual
billionaires like myself should be limited to owning no
more than 2% of Gaia per person.
4:17 PM • 02/22/25 • 1.1M Views
217 4.1K 78K 8:26 PM • 02/28/25 • 902K Views
138 2.8K 47K

25
 Jonas Albrecht

The Litany

T
he Garou have a long history of fighting against the Wyrm. If the galliards are to
be believed, the war has been going on for the entirety of human history. There are a lot
of lessons, many victories, crushing defeats. Each has its own little piece of wisdom, if
the Garou are wise enough to learn from it.
This is why telling the stories of their ancestors is so important. No matter how modern the
threats of the human corporations destroying the world, the day will come when the answers
to defeating an ancient Bane can only be found in the wisdom of a bygone era.
That said, interpretations made of the Litany have become even more varied since the
fall of the Garou Nation. Septs accuse each other of being Moon Cults, heretics who have
diverged too much from the accepted and traditional meaning of the Litany. The trouble is
that it’s unclear who gets to say what’s traditional and what’s not.
In the days of the Garou Nation, there was more of a consensus despite divergent voices,
but now werewolf tradition threatens to fall into anarchy. It’s not all bad, however. A clever
young pack can use their Skills of Persuasion and Leadership to rally their fellow Garou
behind their own understanding of what the Litany really means.
After all, even tradition has to serve the real goal: winning a desperate war against the Wyrm.

26
 Don’t listen to me. Listen to somebody younger. I’ve fought against the Wyrm and
lost. Although I’ve sometimes won, too. I won many battles but lost the war. Lost the
Garou Nation. Lost Gaia.
Mari Cabrah and I were enemies for many years, me a Silver Fang and her a
Black Fury. We fought many times in New York. I even lost an eye to her sharp
claws. But when we had to save a packmate from Black Spiral Dancers, we put
aside our differences and attacked the Dancers at their enclave. That was a battle
for the ages and we managed to save the cub. He was the one who arbitrated
our disputes, and the three of us formed a pack. You don’t see wisdom like that
anymore.
My grand klaive was named the Solemn Lord. I buried it in the skulls of many a
fomori and Black Spiral Dancer. It’s broken now, but I still have some of the pieces.
The trick with working with tribes different than your own is to find out what
they want, and then see if you can give it to them. Usually you can. And then they
will give you what want. That’s what being a leader means.
I went to the Umbra in search of the Silver Crown that would confer its wearer
kingship over the Garou. After facing untold dangers, I found the artifact in a
graffitied tunnel near the derelict East 18th Street subway station right here in New
York. Only the worthy may wear it and wear it I did, and so I became king. Now
the Silver Crown is again lost, and the Garou Nation has fallen.
This was once a great Nation. But now a sense of fairness and responsibility has
been replaced by a complex network of greed and lies. We could not withstand the
Apocalypse, and now Gaia is dying. And we with it. Or she with us.
Dagrack was the leader of the Black Spiral Dancers who also wanted the Silver
Crown of the Garou Nation. She managed to grab the crown and place it on her
head. She was not worthy and the crown burned her whole head. I wish I’d thought
of that. Using your enemy’s plans against them.
I was once skinned alive with a silver knife and my teeth were pulled out. Fuck,
that hurt like hell. But Lord Arkady made a fatal mistake: he didn’t kill me. We
Garou can heal. And when we Rage, we heal fast. You should always kill an enemy
Garou and make sure they’re really dead. I should’ve killed Lord Arkady and not
just banish him.
When in doubt, you should always consult the Litany. The Tenets are full of wisdom.
You can’t smell the Wyrm. Sometimes you can’t even see it. But you can see its
effects. Whether that oil worker was a fomori or not doesn’t matter. They were
killing Gaia. They deserved to die. I met his family later and explained why I had to
kill him. They didn’t thank me. But I did it for them, too.
There are Black Spiral Dancers everywhere. Maybe you’re one of them.
Pentex has a lot of fronts. If there were enough of us, we could take them all
down. It’s not a mythological beast that just grows more heads. If we had managed
to down enough of them, even Pentex would’ve died. If only.
The Apocalypse came and went, taking the glory of the Garou with it.
I once witnessed a Wyld-spirit possess an elephant at a circus. The beast went
wild and trampled its wrangler and many people in the audience. There was chaos
and death. I could’ve killed the elephant but I didn’t. It felt like it was my kin
somehow. Maybe it was Gaia’s will that those people die?
I sometimes think all humans are possessed by Weaver gafflings.

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WYRMTIDE

Character Options These additional Health levels are identical to the

T
first two levels of those for crinos form. They carry
his section presents a selection of over between all three supernatural forms: glabro,
game mechanical options for players to use hispo, and crinos. Thus, if you suffer one Superficial
with their characters. damage in one of these boxes in glabro form and
change to crinos, it carries over into crinos form. If

Advantages and Flaws you suffer three Superficial damage to these Health
levels in crinos form and shift to hispo, you suffer
the deleterious effects of only one level of damage as
Looks two of the Health boxes are still available in hispo
•• Fair Glabro: Your glabro form is more sinewy form.
than bulky. From a distance, you don’t stand out
as looking particularly unusual. Even up close, you Supernatural
might appeal hairy or feral but within the bounds Flaw (•) Bad Moon Rising: Maybe you were born
of ordinary human appearance. Because of this, you under a blood moon, or perhaps Luna simply doesn’t
don’t suffer the usual two-dice penalty to Social tests favor you. Whatever the reason, entreating Luna to
in glabro. (See Werewolf, p. 136.) restore your Rage is unreliable at best. Whenever you
Flaw (• or ••) Wyrm-Marked Flesh: Whether howl at the moon to gain Rage, make a Rage check;
touched by Bat, Fly, or one of the Wyrm’s minions, on a Success your Rage is restored as usual, but on a
your supernatural forms are not wholly wolf. failure, your Rage fails to increase.
Whenever you assume supernatural form, your Flaw (••) Hellhound: The curse of the Delirium
Wyrm-linked features (such as open sores that is unnaturally strong in you, and both your hispo
never heal, gums weeping with blood, or furless and lupus forms are the stuff of nightmares. When
discolored patches) suggest to other Garou that you assuming either of these forms you inflict the
have been influenced by the Wyrm. Lose two dice Delirium as if you were a crinos.
in all social situations where Garou know about
your supernatural form, other than packmates and • to ••••• Gift Form Mastery: For each dot
Mentors and close connections on the Relationship in this merit, you may select a Gift whose use
Map. Any up-close interactions with humans in can be extended to either homid or lupus form.
your supernatural forms threaten the Veil more At the Storyteller’s discretion, each dot in this
than usual. Merit may require the blessing of an ancestor-
As a two-dot Flaw, your supernatural appearance spirit or — if the Gift and Merit are selected
extends to your homid or lupus form (pick one) as simultaneously — additional bargains with the spirit
well, necessitating a retreat from the human world in teaching the chosen Gift. A Gift that requires a
most forms. particular physical aspect of a shapechanged form
(such as claws) cannot be augmented by this Merit.
Rites Flaw (••) Wolf-Man: Your crinos form, while still
•• Expert Assistant: When assisting a Rite that you primordially terrifying, draws more from your
know, you contribute one additional regular die to human side than your lupine heritage, leading to a
the pool. war-form with distinctly homid facial features. In
crinos form, your lack of snout means you cannot
Shapeshifting bite, and human witnesses treat their Composure
+ Resolve rating as if it were two levels higher for
•• Luna’s Resilience: In glabro and hispo form, you
the purposes of their Delirium reaction. What’s
gain two additional boxes in your Health tracker.

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 CHAPTER ONE: FIGHT TO WIN

more, your face in crinos form is still recognizably

“you” (albeit a twisted and feral version), ensuring a
Native
potential link back to your other life. Total Renown 1
Flaw (••) Wyrm-Touched: Despite your dedication Shredding Skin
to Gaia, the Wyrm has burrowed itself into your very Tearing at their skin and lacerating their flesh to
soul, and its taint, while not overt, has compromised reveal the monster lurking beneath, the Garou fuels
you — or perhaps you simply believe it has, blaming their changes through pain and sacrifice instead of
your own weaknesses on the malignant spirit. This precious Rage. This Gift is taught by a spirit of pain.
curse may be the end of you, or it may spur you on Renown: Honor
to greatness, destined to defy the corruption that Cost: Free, see System detail
would claim a lesser Garou. Upon selecting this Action: Free
Flaw, choose one of the following: Pool: —
Wyrm of Calamity: The Beast-of-War flows in System: Whenever the Garou would need to make
your veins, flaming your ever-present anger. You add one or more Rage checks to fuel a change, they
1 to the Difficulty to resist Frenzy. can instead choose to sacrifice Superficial Health
Wyrm of Consumption: The Eater-of-Souls has levels on a one-for-one basis (characters cannot use a
staked its claim on your mind and forever eats away combination of Health and Rage). The pain caused
at your sense of self-worth. If you have not already by these injuries cannot restore Rage.
made one that session, you must make a Harano test Duration: —
at the end of every session.
Wyrm of Corruption: The Defiler Wyrm has Total Renown 4
dug its claws deep into your psyche, and it’s all you Bite of the Lycan
can do to keep the bitterness at bay. If you have not Myths abound about the power of a werewolf’s bite,
already made one that session, you must make a with many tales suggesting it’s responsible for turning
Hauglosk test at the end of every session. a regular human into a slavering beast — this Gift
likely inspired some of these stories. Following a bite
Wild Heritage from the Garou, the human victim gives into their
••• Thick Hide: You are far more robust than basest urges and goes feral — although no physical
other Garou. Your Health tracker equals 4 + your changes occur. This Gift can be used in any form and
Stamina, rather than 3 + your Stamina. is taught by spirits associated with venom or darkness,
such as snake-spirits, bat-spirits, or even Banes.
Renown: Glory
Wyrm-tainted Gifts Cost: 1 Rage Check

N
ot all Gifts the Black Spiral Dancers Action: Free
use are exclusively granted to their tribe. Pool: Manipulation + Glory vs Composure +
Some were shared between tribes, available Resolve
to particular auspices, or Native gifts that have fallen System: After a successful bite, make a Gift test
out of favor due to their association with the Wyrm. against the victim’s Composure + Resolve; the
Other Gifts were traditionally taught by spirits now effects persist for one night for every point of success
typically associated with the Wyrm, or by spirits in the margin. Once bitten, the human begins to feel
that rarely grant any Gifts to the Garou in this Age overwhelmed by their darker urges: on the first night
of Apocalypse. Any Gift may be difficult to acquire, they’re constantly angry, alienating those around
but these Gifts are especially rare and may provoke them; on the second night, they turn violent at the
unusual scrutiny when used. slightest provocation, and by the third night they

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WYRMTIDE

lose any inhibitions, fully willing to kill should the that characters are unaware if their target remembers
opportunity present itself. them or not.
Duration: One night per point of margin Duration: One scene

Urban Hunter
Galliard
Some Garou learn the ways of the city, reveling in
hunting the most dangerous game. This Gift is Total Renown 2
taught by Elemental spirits and Ooralath or Scryer Cutting Words
Banes.
The galliard’s way with words takes a sinister turn as
Renown: Wisdom
their conversation directs spirits of painful memories
Cost: 1 Willpower
and confusion to assault the mind of their target.
Action: Minor
The resulting mental anguish causes the victim to
Pool: —
visibly bleed from their nose, ears, and eyes as they
System: The Garou names their quarry as they
struggle to hold a coherent conversation. This Gift is
activate this Gift. Then the Garou adds half their
taught by spirits of sickness and disease.
Wisdom (rounded up) to all dice pools to track,
Renown: Honor
notice, stalk, and ambush their prey, so long as it is
Cost: 1 Rage Check
within an urban environment.
Action: Free
Duration: One scene
Pool: Manipulation + Honor vs Composure +
Intelligence
Ragabash System: The Garou must be involved in direct
conversation with the target before making a Gift
Total Renown 2 test against the target’s Composure + Intelligence.
Corrupted Memories If successful, the victim suffers Impairment on
Using this Gift, the Garou keeps up the Veil by Social and Mental pools for a number of turns equal
hiding themselves from the memories of a target. to the margin. The blood loss looks dramatic and
This Gift suffers from a bad reputation, as countless will attract unwarranted attention in the wrong
reckless ragabash have used it to remove themselves environment but only causes damage on a Brutal
from a situation, fostering a dangerous feeling they result — in these instances, the victim also suffers a
live free from any consequences. level of Superficial Health damage.
Renown: Wisdom The conversation itself isn’t noticeably malicious,
Cost: 1 Willpower but those observing with supernatural perception
Action: Free can detect something is amiss (use the successes
Pool: Intelligence + Wisdom rolled as the Difficulty to detect the Gift’s usage).
System: To use the Gift, the character makes a Duration: One turn per point of margin.
resisted test against the victim’s Wits + Resolve.
If the test is successful, the target remembers Theurge
everything that happened in the previous scene, but
every memory of the ragabash is replaced with the Total Renown 2
identity of someone else — the ragabash chooses this Hungry Teeth
identity upon activating the Gift. Only humans are
The Garou’s teeth seem unchanged in the mundane
affected by this Gift, and its use is limited to those
world but appear even sharper and more vicious
without any experience or awareness of the Garou.
than usual in the Umbra. The teeth can bite into
Storytellers may want to make this test in secret so
spirits more easily, granting the Garou the ability to

30
 CHAPTER ONE: FIGHT TO WIN

absorb some of the spirit’s essence. A hunger-spirit or of damage Aggravated in addition to counting
scavenger pack grants this Gift. towards the margin of success.
Renown: Wisdom Additionally, this Gift can target and destroy
Cost: Free/1 Rage Check Talismans. When targeting a Talisman, the
Action: Free/minor Difficulty equals 2 + the Talisman or Talen’s cost.
Pool: — On a success the Talisman or Talen is rendered inert
System: This Gift is free and instantaneous while for the rest of the story. With a critical or a margin of
in crinos form. The Garou adds half their Wisdom 2 or higher, a Talen is destroyed. A critical result or
rating (round up) to damage from bite attacks against margin of 4 or higher destroys a Talisman.
spirits while in the Umbra, or gains a one-die bonus Duration: As damage inflicted
against spirits and fomori in the mundane world.
If the Garou kills a supernatural opponent with Ahroun
this Gift active during a scene, they restore one point
of Superficial Willpower — the Storyteller may allow Total Renown 2
for the recovery of Aggravated Willpower if the Mouth Full of Teeth
entity was sufficiently powerful.
The Garou’s teeth multiply, leaving their mouth
Duration: One scene
bursting with razor-sharp teeth — deadly, but fragile
and prone to breaking off as they bite. This Gift is
Philodox taught by a shark-, rodent-, or bat-spirit.
Renown: Glory
Total Renown 3 Cost: 1 Rage Check
Wyrm-Speech Action: Free
Names are power. With this Gift, the philodox turns Pool: —
their very voice into a weapon, tearing into a spirit System: When activated, the Garou’s bite deals
as if they existed in the primordial times when to additional damage equal to half their Glory rating
speak was to give form to the entities of the Umbra. (round up). With every bite they make, the damage
Only now, such abilities have becomes debased and bonus decreases by 1 until their bite damage rating
what’s left is the use of the voice to cause hurt and reaches 0. At this point, they’re unable to make
damage, to tear at the name of the spirit without further bite attacks until they rest in their breed form.
even understanding what it is. This Gift is taught by Duration: One Scene or until their damage bonus
Nameless spirits, but also Drattosi and Grey Masses. reaches 0.
Renown: Glory

Talismans
Cost: 1 Rage Check
Action: Full
Pool: Charisma + Glory vs Composure + Resolve
System: Unleashing a loud roar or a fell chant, Herald’s Horn
the Garou tears at a spirit or creature’s true It’s said that in the glory days of the Nation, these
name. Most targets resist this power with their large wooden horns were seen in the panoply of
Composure + Resolve, though in combat any the greatest packs ever to walk Gaia’s surface. They
Conflict pool might be used to resist the effects were used in daring raids on Wyrmspawn, evening
of Wyrm-speech. The target takes Superficial the odds in otherwise dire situations. Now, these
damage to Health or Willpower for each point of instruments are few and far between, with many
margin on a success (Gift user’s choice). Each pair destroyed as packs dissolved due to age, death,
of 10s (critical results) can make one of those levels and animosity.

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WYRMTIDE

Herald’s Horns are created by carving a horn Background Cost: The Hammer of King Brennus
from the wood of a dead stump and making a pact is a four-dot Talisman.
with either wildebeest-spirits, bird-spirits, or spirits

Wyrm-Tainted
of camaraderie. The first two invoke their strength
in numbers, while the last invokes its ties that
overcome time and distance. Those that experience Talismans

T
its greatest effect describe feeling the sensation of
stepping sideways but can’t recall the exact details here’s nothing to prevent Garou
on how they arrived at the user’s side. from using or acquiring Talismans tainted
System: Blowing the Herald’s Horn allows every by the Wyrm. The only issue is social: Their
member of the user’s pack to know their location septmates may object. And of course, the Talisman
and the safest, quickest method of meeting them. If may exhibit unwanted side effects.
a test is needed to arrive in time or in one piece, the
pack members gain a two-dice bonus to the test. The Warm Stone
Background Cost: The Herald’s Horn is a three- Said to have been found at a nuclear test site in
dot Talisman. Kazakhstan, the Warm Stone is a nondescript rock
the size of a fist. It doesn’t have any sharp edges
The Hammer of King Brennus and feels warm to the touch. The Stone is highly
As legend tells it, Brennus was the last of the radioactive and prolonged exposure is going to cause
legendary White Howlers, a once proud tribe radiation sickness, cancer, and probably death.
now fallen to the temptations of the Black System: The presence of the Warm Stone inhibits
Spiral. Details of the King’s life are few and far the functioning of any and all healing, supernatural
between as the Dancers destroyed any evidence or not. The natural healing abilities of the Garou,
of their legacy as surely as they destroyed their Gifts, or any other form of regaining Health simply
own connection to Gaia. Still, it’s known that don’t work if the Stone is in the same room. The
he fought to his last breath, fighting the freshly effect is automatic.
corrupted warriors of his tribe until he had Background Cost: The Warm Stone is a three-dot
nothing but his death left to offer. Talisman.
Whether this is truly Brennus’s hammer is a
mystery none but the greatest spirit could hope The Killer’s Crown
to answer. It’s undoubtedly old, and while the
Who is the greatest killer of all? Many Black Spiral
gargantuan hammer isn’t much to look at, it
Dancers and Cult of Fenris Garou would fight for
strikes fear into the remnants of the former White
Howlers’ tribe to this day. such an honor, and perhaps even some of the more
System: This ancient warhammer is unquestionably violently minded among the tribes of Gaia. The
heavy, and attack pools suffer a two-dice penalty Killer’s Crown is a Talisman created for just such
when wielded by any character with a Strength rating contests, to celebrate the winner and make it easier
of less than 4. The weapon inflicts +4 damage, but for them to kill again.
Black Spiral Dancers suffer this as Aggravated and also The Crown is crude and black, as if welded
suffer a two-dice penalty to attack pools when fighting together from scrap iron by an inexpert hand.
against the weapon. System: The wearer of the Killer’s Crown cannot
Using the hammer is not without risk for the lose the wolf. They always have a minimum of one
wielder, as if they lose a battle to any Dancer — or Rage, regardless of how much Rage they use. For
Gaia forbid, lose the hammer itself — they must the purposes of Rage dice, their effective Rage is
make a Harano test at Difficulty 2. always assumed to be 2 higher than it actually is, to a

32
 CHAPTER ONE: FIGHT TO WIN

maximum of 5. Thus, if the wearer’s Rage is 2, they Background Cost: The Iron Hatchet is a two-dot
roll 4 Rage dice in tests. Talisman.
Removing the Killer’s Crown is bloody business
because it attaches directly to the skull of the wearer, The Bone Scourge
its iron spikes penetrating through the skin and
The Bone Scourge is a weapon wielded by the
flesh of the head. Wearing it is painful in itself,
favored daughter of the Wyrm, Zhyzhak herself.
but removing it causes three levels of Aggravated
There are many legends surrounding its origin but
damage. Getting it off requires a successful Strength
the most common is that it’s made from the skin and
+ Medicine test. The Difficulty is 3 if someone else
bone of a mighty Shadow Lord who surrendered
wrenches it off from you, and 4 if you do it yourself.
himself to save his child from capture by the Black
Background Cost: The Killer’s Crown is a three-
Spiral Dancers. To repay such an affront, his remains
dot Talisman.
are now used to flay the skin off any who dare to
oppose Zhyzhak.
The Iron Hatchet The Scourge is a long black leather whip studded
A true servant of the Wyrm is always ready to hurt with bone spikes.
themselves if it means hurting the enemy. The Iron System: The Scourge inflicts +3 damage. Each
Hatchet doesn’t have a history or a legend. It’s just a tool successful hit also inflicts a level of Willpower
used by Black Spiral Dancers to hack at the flesh of their damage. The Willpower damage is increased to 2
enemies, tearing themselves open in the process. levels if the victim is acting in defense of their family
System: The Hatchet inflicts +2 damage. On a or loved ones.
successful hit, the user may spend their own Health Background Cost: The Bone Scourge is a three-
levels (Superficial or Aggravated) to cause more dot Talisman. 
damage of the same type on a one-to-one basis, to a
maximum of 3 extra levels of damage.

33
WYRMTIDE

Loresheets
L
oresheets in Werewolf connect the players’ characters to essential elements of the
setting. That holds true even when we’re talking about things held tight in the coils of the
Wyrm. These three Loresheets might mark a character as suspicious in the eyes of other
Garou, but they may also grant crucial advantages in the war against the Destroyer. Any given
character’s relationship to the subject of a Loresheet may be positive, negative, neutral, or mixed.
Storytellers and players should work together to find the best way to incorporate the Loresheet
into a chronicle.

34
 CHAPTER ONE: FIGHT TO WIN

Tender of Banes
M
any Garou follow the Litany to a fault and will always
combat the Wyrm wherever it dwells and whenever it thrives.
The question arises: what is combat? When you destroy the same
Bane over and over again, each time thinking it will turn out differently
than the last, it feels less like combat and more like insanity.
The role of Bane Tender is very common among the members of the
Ghost Council, with some stories saying that they were the first tribe to
perform the Rite of Binding as a solution to Banes. Binding a Bane that
cannot be destroyed by normal means would seem like a good solution,
but like anything touched by the Wyrm, it is not that simple. These seals
need to be kept in order and need to be attended. A Bane Tender must be
sure that no one attempts to release the Bane, or that the influence of a
Bane on the surrounding area is not significant.
After the shattering of the Garou Nation, the rise of the Cult of
Fenris, and the subsequent passing of many older werewolves, many
complications revolve around the Bane Tenders. With them gone,
substantial volumes of old seals remain unattended, turning them into
impending disaster zones when the Bane escapes.

• Canary: Recognizing the ••• Cellmaker: With a bit of ••••• Wisdom from the Void:
signs of a Bane around a seal knowledge and tutelage, you You’ve been tasked with
takes years, but you have a can call yourself a Bane Ten- keeping a powerful Bane
sixth sense of sorts. You add der as you know how to make within its cage, but the sheer
two dice to Investigation rolls a suitable prison for a Bane. amount of forbidden knowl-
concerning Banes. Once per story, you can de- edge that this spirit possesses
clare something to be suitable made it more valuable than
•• A Bane Tender’s Map: You
for housing a specific Bane and the average imprisoned Bane.
have a rabbit skin with a map
then add one additional nor- So, it was bound to answer to
painted on it containing the
mal die to the Rite of Binding the Bane Tender.
locations of imprisoned Banes
when it is used for that.
in the area — the previous This acts as a five-dot Spirit
owner left both map and the •••• Warden’s Routine: After Pact but the spirit is trapped
duty to you. spending so much time with behind the seal. Once per
your prisoner-Bane, its dark session, you may consult this
murmurings have grown to entity, adding its Power to a
be a strange comfort for Dice Pool involving knowl-
you. Once per story, spend edge, but each consultation
a scene having a potentially without a minor payment or
one-sided conversation with trinket offered will have the
the Bane and regain Aggra- Bane attempt to escape its
vated Willpower as if it was a shackles.
Touchstone.

35
WYRMTIDE

The Skinner
E
ach one of the Stolen Moons bears their own horror
story, but The Skinner’s story is one that drives a chill into
even the bravest werewolf. For more than fifty years, legends
worldwide tell of a man who not only wears a patchwork of the
Garou’s skin but perfectly replicates the abilities of those he skins.
No one is sure who, if anyone, is beneath the hulking lupine mass of
patchwork flesh that stalks Garou packs. Some Stolen Moons claim
that The Skinner started them down their dark path.
The Skinner is real; you know because you’ve met him. Perhaps
you witnessed him slay and skin a comrade. Maybe he tempted
someone you loved into becoming a Stolen Moon. You might have
seen the business end of his blade and survived, coming away with
deep scars and a deeper grudge. However he carved his way into your
life, you’re ready and willing to take him on.
When you select your first Merit from this Loresheet, you receive
The Skinner as a three-dot Adversary.

• Early Warning: You’ve become ••• Support Network: The only ••••• Skinner’s Bane: Through
attuned to the aural and visual thing that might be greater a bargain, a deadly fight, or
warning signs of The Skinner’s than The Skinner’s body count just plain luck, you’ve ob-
presence. You’ll never forget is the lives he’s torn apart. tained a weapon capable of
the sight of mismatched eyes You keep in contact with destroying The Skinner and
in the dark or the sound of these people to let them know his ilk once and for all. Pick
blades rubbing against each they’re not alone. You receive a melee weapon you own:
other. This vigilance helps you Allies (••••), representing a this weapon now inflicts
elsewhere. You always have a group of humans harmed indi- Aggravated Health damage
two-dice bonus when making rectly by The Skinner. Though on Stolen Moons.
Awareness tests to detect they don’t know the full
ambushes. details of the creature, they’re
willing to help you in your fight
•• Strange Scholar: Legends
against it.
claim that it’s not only were-
wolf hides knitted into The •••• Skin Tearing: Your hatred for
Skinner’s hideous pelt, but The Skinner extends to other
also the flesh of other crea- Stolen Moons. You’ve become
tures of the night. While you adept at manipulating their
don’t know if that’s true, you’re curse. Once per session, when
prepared all the same. Once you inflict Aggravated Health
per session, when you encoun- damage on a Stolen Moon in
ter a supernatural creature a conflict regardless of their
that is not a Garou or a spirit, form, they cannot shapeshift
you can use your knowledge of except back to human for the
other supernatural creatures rest of the session.
to gain a two-dice bonus to a
test made against it.

36
 CHAPTER ONE: FIGHT TO WIN

ZHYZHAK
N
amed after the sound of her snapping jaws after her First
Change, Zhyzhak is one of the Black Spiral Dancers’ oldest and
greatest warriors. Her strength in human form can tear Garou
in crinos form like paper. Her personal Talisman, a spiked leather whip,
has spilled oceans of blood. Many among the Dancers see her as a dark
messiah, the woman who will ensure the Wyrm’s final victory. They have
good reason to believe that; her long-time rival Jonas Albrecht has fled
the battlefield while she continues to kill at her pleasure.
Zhyzhak’s reign of terror isn’t unstoppable, and you’ll prove it. Maybe
you’re an adoptee of the Albrecht line and seek to finish what your ancestor
started. You could be the lone survivor of one of her massacres. You might
just be a Garou who wants to see the legend for yourself and if she proves
a match for your own incredible might. No matter your reasons, you’ve
thrown down the gauntlet, and she’ll answer sooner than you think.
When you select your first Merit from this Loresheet, you receive
Zhyzhak as a five-dot Adversary.

• Thicker Skin: Your pain toler- Willpower damage on yourself

before a round of conflict, any
they suffer a two-dice penalty
to Physical tests against you,
ance is enough to withstand
Zhyzhak’s Talisman. When in improvised weapon you wield and the Difficulty to avoid
homid form, you always have inflicts Aggravated Health their attacks is reduced by 1.
damage during the round.
1 armor against blades and ••••• Destiny’s Interloper: Many
lacerating weapons when ••• Victory Tale: In your time as Black Spiral Dancers be-
unarmored. Thus, when a werewolf, you’ve racked up lieve Zhyzhak is destined to
suffering 1 or more Aggravat- plenty of victories. One day, usher in an era ruled by the
ed damage to Health from a defeating Zhyzhak will be your Wyrm. You have a habit of
rival's claws, one is down- capstone. Until then, your breaking destinies like that.
graded to Superficial damage. tales of achievement leave a Once per story, when you
This effect does not stack good impression. Once per intervene in prophecies or
with additional armor. session, when you include destinies put on a person,

•• Deadlier Uses: Zhyzhak isn’t telling a tale of your previous

victory while performing an
place, or thing, you may ei-
ther prevent it from coming
the only werewolf that knows
how to use an uncommon action that requires a Cha- to pass, or twist it to benefit
item as a weapon. When you risma test, you may add four you. If someone made that
inflict a point of Aggravated dice to the pool. prophecy or destiny, they
know what you’ve done.
•••• Physique to Match: Your
brawn and reflexes are so
well honed that even the
monster barely keeps up.
When outside of crinos form
and in a physical conflict with
werewolves in crinos form,

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WYRMTIDE

38
 C H A P T E R T W O : O R G A N I Z E F O R A N N I H I L AT I O N

Chapter Two:

Organize for
Annihilation
W
hen humans organize, they threat has been understood, and government
may accomplish amazing things. agencies, secret societies, and cults that also pose a
Unfortunately, when organized they threat to the Garou. Understanding who exactly is
can also achieve truly spectacular levels of greed, the enemy is one of the greatest challenges a pack
exploitation, and devastation. A midsize energy may face.
company can damage Gaia to a degree that most
Black Spiral Dancers can only dream of. Best of
all, they probably don’t even think that this is what Pentex

F
they’re doing. They just need to generate profit for
rom the viewpoint of your
the shareholders.
average Garou, Pentex fronts are separate,
The largest and most dangerous of the corporate
unconnected companies united by the fact
entities serving the Wyrm is the holding company
that they seem to be suspiciously well prepared
Pentex, which controls a number of fronts in different
to take on supernatural enemies. Only dedicated
industries. The relationship between Pentex and
detective work reveals the truth.
its fronts is extremely complicated and difficult
A single Pentex front is a formidable enemy in
to untangle, a challenge even for an experienced
its own right. Uncovering their identity may be a
investigator of corporate malfeasance. Pentex fronts
challenge in itself as most are not consumer-facing.
routinely go bankrupt, have to cease operations because
A business-to-business company may have expansive
of an official investigation, or collapse because of
reach and still be almost invisible from the viewpoint
internal corruption. They’re replaced by new fronts,
of the consumer, their logo just glimpsed sometimes
where most of the staff has no idea of the supernatural.
on the side of a shipping truck or a cargo container.
It’s also a mistake to assume that every human
The Pentex fronts detailed here are examples. There
threat the Garou face can be traced back to Pentex.
are many others, large and small, and sometimes the
There are other corporations where the werewolf
fronts stack: a front owns other fronts.

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WYRMTIDE

From a report by the Albion

Petroleum Special Projects As
Maxwell Vaughn: sistant Manager

Before I describe some of the events

which have occurred so far as par
collaboration with non-standard t of our ongoing
community partners, I have to exp
terms that we need more resources. ress in the strongest possible
We need more funds, security, an
level staff to assist in coordinatin d most of all managerial
g and communicating the work
we do with our partners.
I have very much felt that I have
been left alone to deal with all thi
culture values initiative and self s. I know our corporate
-reliance, and we have broad dis
unconventional problems. This is cretion to take care of
just what I have done. However,
enough, the nature of our partne and I cannot stress this
rs is a threat in itself.
I cannot criticize the choices made
by Special Project lead Caroline
that while she was making observ Lake. She expressed to me
ances related to her somewhat un
a dream which revealed to her tha usual personal faith, she had
t we must “support the efforts of
the Black Spiral, the Destroyer, the the greatest of those to walk
Child of the Wyrm, the shapeshif
If we did this, the longstanding issu ter Zhyzhak.”
es we’ve had with those violent hip
deal with would fall away. pie terrorists we have to
As revealed in a dream.
I should note that Lake has person
ally not taken part in any of the ope
special partners. Instead, the only rations involving our
one to represent corporate managem
This has been especially unconscio ent on this ship has been me.
nable because I get seasick very eas
At the moment, the good ship Pri ily.
de of Empire is adrift because our
have sacrificed much of the crew, nonstandard partners
burning them alive on the deck an
flesh. I have also been forced to eat d then eating their charred
this flesh so as to avoid alienatin
g our allies.
The surviving crew have barricad
ed themselves in the ship’s kitchen.
You remember that I already req
uested more resources in my last
attack on our ship, which left ma report about the terrorist
ny of our allies dead. Fortunately
seemingly drawn to the presence or not, more arrived recently,
of Zhyzhak the Destroyer.
She has not paid attention to the
surviving crew or me. Her intere
captive, one of the terrorists who st has been focused on a
boarded our ship. Observing them
has revealed a side of Zhyzhak’s has been interesting because it
personality I haven’t witnessed bef
even kind, as she explains the inn ore. She has become patient,
er mysteries of the Spiral to her pri
eavesdrop too much, for I know tho soner. I haven’t dared to
se who Dance the Spiral guard the
They look surprisingly alike, Zh ir secrets jealously.
yzhak and the prisoner.

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 C H A P T E R T W O : O R G A N I Z E F O R A N N I H I L AT I O N

Acheron Security
Services
Securing Your Future

l y a n d the Ba t o
The F ork tog ether t .
must w work of the Wy rm
do the the pa th to
This is a s lo ng a s y ou

S victory, r tha t ba ts ea t
omebody has to hold the line against

remembe
the encroaching chaos. This is the proud

flies.
self-image presented by Acheron Security
Services, a multinational private security company
C ro n u s “The Wolfa ck
- n es, Bl
Ea ter” Joancer theu rg e
with operations ranging from hunting anti-logging
Spira l D
activists to providing plausible deniability for
various governments in war zones.
Acheron is a sprawling company, with a head
office in the U.S. and operations in a dozen countries
around the world. This is not a result of planned

Nicknames for the Corporate Enemy

Few Garou know the name Pentex, but many suspect there are ties between numerous
dangerous corporations and possibly even a malevolent intelligence directing their actions.
Due to the uncertainty and confusion around the exact nature of the enemy, Garou have
many different names they use to refer to their corporate opposition.
Many are worried that their enemies have some means of tracking online
communications, making the use of euphemisms even more popular. When you don’t know
exactly what the enemy is capable of, better play safe!

The Pan TeX Conspiracy: Is Pentex actually real, or was it invented by conspiracy-
minded ragabash?

Big Wyrm, Bane Corp, Destruction Ltd: Who knows what the enemy is really like, but it
nevertheless looms large over the imaginations of the Garou as a generalized corporate monster.

Capitalism: Some Garou, particularly among the Bone Gnawers, generalize even further,
arguing that it’s not a matter of some specific company but the entire capitalist system.

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WYRMTIDE

expansion but rather of the contentious relationship of violent incidents and bizarre failures. Acheron’s
the company tends to have with locals wherever they judgment of whether its contractors are stable
operate. For every contract Acheron gains with a enough to send into the field tends to be way
high-profile corporate client, they get kicked out of too optimistic.
somewhere else due to corruption, killing the wrong
people, or failing to provide what was promised. Personalities
Acheron has grandiose plans for the future: the
privatization of both the police and the military, Gustavo Castano
with private security and mercenaries picking up the A mercenary commander in his fifties, Gustavo
slack. They lobby hard in the countries they operate always thought that after seeing Somalia, Chechnya,
in, trying to make it legal for them to take over the Iraq, Afghanistan, and many more countries
functions previously held by the government. through the scope of his rifle, he’d seen it all. He was
So far, they’ve been held back by their vast enough of a nihilist to enjoy the pay and not trouble
corruption and spotty track record, as well as himself too much about the people he killed. They
the way they seem to be tied to every intelligence surely deserved it one way or another.
agency on earth. The inside story on Acheron is Unfortunately, age takes its toll. Drinking and
that if you hire them to manage your security, you gambling lost Gustavo his house in Colombia and
can never really be sure who your bodyguard is he had to return to mercenary work, only now his
working for. prospects of employment were worse than before.
Because of this, the high-profile serious contracts His experience put him in command, but his many
of international importance remain tantalizingly vices landed him at Acheron.
out of reach. Instead, Acheron sells its services cheap Now, the work has managed to find an angle
to various tawdry companies seeking to extract as that makes even Gustavo question his choices.
much profit as possible in times of crisis. In the U.S., Half of the contractors under his command are
they have recently managed to gain contracts in exhibiting strange physical symptoms, and the rest
the field of disaster response, deterring looters and are not people who should be handling firearms.
making sure that private property is respected even Fortunately, Gustavo has a friend he can always
in the middle of floods and tornadoes. This typically confide in: the bottle.
resolves as shooting at people desperately seeking to General Difficulty: 4 / 3
feed themselves and their families in the midst of Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 7, Mental 7
violent natural forces. Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 5
Despite its problems, Acheron persists. It’s the Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms 7, Leadership 8,
security contractor of choice for other Pentex Persuasion 8
fronts, and it has plenty of clients for whom Notes / Other Traits:
its total lack of ethics is a plus. It’s not part of Weapons: Gustavo carries a handgun which
the pitch Acheron gives to ordinary clients, inflicts +2 Aggravated damage.
but the company also has the ability to combat Camaraderie: Gustavo is a gregarious man
supernatural threats, such as the Garou. It has an who relates well to the troubles of veterans. He
advanced training program specifically seeking gets a two-dice bonus to all tests involving social
individuals who were too sadistic, violent, or situations with fellow soldiers or mercenaries.
emotionally unstable for ordinary military service, True Loyalty: Not all leaders inspire loyalty,
hiring them and putting them through a regime but in his affable way, Gustavo does. If he’s
seeking to turn them into fomori. struck by a blow that would kill him and it
The process used by Acheron for its fomori makes sense given what’s happening in the scene,
training is unreliable, leading to an endless string one of his soldiers leaps to take the hit instead.

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Josephine Cardon Unusual Tactics Specialists are typically members

Josephine used to live another life altogether. She of intelligence agencies and similar organizations who
worked as a nurse at a big Paris hospital, murdering have had to resign in disgrace for one reason or another.
people where she could. The elderly were the best Theoretically, Acheron would love to poach talent from
targets because they could die so easily. The problem these agencies, but competing with the wages offered
was that Josephine’s desire to kill wasn’t ever truly by other, more upscale security and mercenary outfits is
satisfied in a hospital. Having to care about getting difficult. For this reason, Acheron gets the weirdos with
caught was holding her back. She was frustrated, flexible morals and bizarre predilections.
and going to the range to shoot at pictures of human Among the tactics employed by the Specialists
faces didn’t help. are provoking Garou to frenzy so they attack
Fortunately, Acheron needs medics. Josephine bystanders instead of Acheron employees, false
has been with the company for ten years now and flag operations designed to make environmental
it’s a dream come true. She finally feels like she can activists look like violent thugs, and framing
be herself. She has done tours in combat zones, but enemies to incur law enforcement attention.
her favorites are when she’s on assignment against The Specialist tries to avoid fighting an enemy as
“unconventional enemies,” which she has come to dangerous as a werewolf personally.
understand to mean werewolves. Watching them die, General Difficulty: 4 / 3
now that’s a rush! Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 7, Mental 7
General Difficulty: 4 / 2 Secondary Attributes: Health 7, Willpower 7
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 6, Mental 7 Exceptional Dice Pools: Persuasion 8, Awareness
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 7 8, Streetwise 9
Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms 7, Medicine 8, Notes / Other Traits:
Streetwise 7 Experimental Drugs: If the Specialist believes
Notes / Other Traits: that they’ll face werewolves, they can inject
Serial Killer: Josephine knows how to kill. Left experimental drugs making them immune to
alone for a turn with an incapacitated, sleeping, the Delirium, with the potential side effects of
or unwary enemy, she’ll be able to kill them with emotional instability, hallucinations, and psychosis.
whatever is at hand. Poison them with battery acid, Innocent Shield: If there are bystanders present,
strangle them with shoelaces, whatever works. once every turn the Specialist can have one
Angel of Death: Josephine is a medical attack that would have otherwise hit them hit a
professional with a wide range of experience bystander instead.
everywhere from hospitals to combat zones. Provocation: The Specialists are equipped with
Realizing that she’s hurting her patients and prototype noisemakers which create sounds so
not helping them requires a Wits + Medicine incredibly annoying, they provoke an instant
test at a Difficulty of 4. Frenzy test for all Garou when first heard unless
precautions such as earplugs are taken. (See
Werewolf, p. 139.)
Antagonists False Trails: Acheron doesn’t have good
information on werewolves, but the Specialist uses
Unusual Tactics Specialist what they have combined with their own instincts
Fighting against unusual enemies such as to make it seem as if Garou were involved. Figuring
werewolves, it pays to keep the goal in mind. The out that a Specialist has tampered with a scene to
enemy may imagine that the Unusual Tactics make it look as if the Garou were involved requires
Specialist desires the glory of combat, but in reality a Composure + Investigation test at a Difficulty
they’re busy distracting the Garou while their of 4. Otherwise, a witness who knows about the
compatriots accomplish their real goals. Garou mistakes the frame job for the real thing.

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WYRMTIDE

Triggerhappy Overwatch So Many Kills: In social situations, Triggerhappy

Many of the fomori serving with Acheron have regrets Overwatch are unable to stop themselves from
over what has happened to them, even though their talking about what brings them the greatest joy:
changes and mutations also serve the vile impulses Headshots. Gutshots. Recent kills and career
rising from inside them. The spirits inside them were classics. This gives them a one-die bonus to Social
lured in by their hateful impulses, but they didn’t tests with people who are attracted to killers. With
quite grasp the scope of the changes they’d experience others, they increase the Difficulty by 1 of all Social
when they took in that dark voice in the night. tests except Intimidation.
Many among the company’s snipers belie this
trend. Perhaps it’s because the changes in their Toxic Environment Specialist
bodies are not so catastrophic, or just because they Acheron prides itself on being able to provide
get to do what they enjoy the most: look through security in difficult environments where a less
a scope and extinguish human life hundreds of experienced security company would be unable
meters away. Assigned to overwatch, they are prone to operate. For example, burning oil fields where
to pulling the trigger early, escalating situations that temperatures run hot and the air is unbreathable.
could have been resolved without bloodshed. Ostensibly, the Toxic Environment Specialists
Acheron’s Triggerhappy Overwatch get assigned are a result of a successful training program, but
as snipers in tense urban scenarios, like when a this is not really true. They’re fomori Acheron has
visiting dignitary needs the extra security provided struggled to use for any useful purpose because of
by a sniper team perched on nearby rooftops. Unlike their extreme physical changes. But every setback is
many of the other fomori employed by the company, an opportunity, and those unable to work anywhere
they’re still able to mix with common humans, normal can breathe in toxic fumes instead.
although the way they brag about their kills tends to Morale among the Specialists is very low and many
make them sound unhinged. suffer from anger issues and a burning desire to take
General Difficulty: 4 / 2 their revenge on the world that led them to become
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 4, Mental 6 such monsters that they can’t live normal lives anymore.
Secondary Attributes: Health 7, Willpower 6 To survive, the Specialists need airtight
Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms 10, Awareness contamination suits and gas masks, often made to
8, Streetwise 7 look like SWAT gear. They don’t have skin anymore,
Notes / Other Traits: and their flesh constantly exudes a light-brown
Weapons: The sniper rifles used by Triggerhappy poisonous gas. If they’re exposed to clean air, they
Overwatch deal +4 damage from a kilometer wilt and die. Without the suits, they can only live
away. If they know they’ll face Garou, they’re in spaces climate controlled to their needs or in
equipped with silver bullets. extremely poisonous environments.
Double-Tap: The classic Triggerhappy General Difficulty: 4 / 2
Overwatch move is to incapacitate their first Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 3, Mental 4
victim, and then shoot anyone who comes to Secondary Attributes: Health 7, Willpower 5
help. With this in mind, they can always choose Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms 8, Survival 8,
not to kill a target who would overwise die from Melee 8
the damage. If they do this, the bullet damages Notes / Other Traits:
internal organs but won’t cause immediate death. Poison Lungs: Exposed to clean air, the Specialist
Uncanny Vision: Triggerhappy Overwatch takes a level of Superficial damage every turn.
are always able to see their targets, despite They’re immune to all poisons and able to
obstructions such as smoke or tinted glass. The breathe, live, and operate in extremely toxic
Bane inside them clarifies their vision. environments.

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Gas Organs: There are organs inside the The Tools of the Enemy: The characters need
Specialist which exude a light-brown gas through firepower to bring down a major enemy. How can
their flesh. Without their sealed suits, the gas they get military-grade weaponry without raiding an
quickly fills any interior spaces they occupy. army depot? The answer might just be in following
Outside, it settles around them unless there’s a their familiar enemies to their base and seeing what
stiff wind, covering an area roughly ten meters in kind of toys they have at their disposal.
diameter. Damaging the suit used by the Specialist Familiar Logos: A seemingly innocent company
releases the gas, and it’ll keep being released for a hires Acheron to do its security. Is it just business
few hours if they die. The gas obscures visibility, as usual, or is the company a Pentex front? Acheron
raising the Difficulties of Firearms tests against the must have some ordinary clients too, but this could
Specialist by one unless the attacker has infrared still be a sign.
goggles or similar equipment or ability. It is
poisonous, causing skin to blister and lungs to be
damaged. All who enter the cloud suffer a level of Fall
Aggravated damage each turn. Acheron’s existence is predicated on staying
Weapons: Specialists are well-armed with +4 one step ahead of disgruntled former clients,
automatic rifles. government legislators, and lawsuits from the
families of current and former employees. As long
as the company does the dirty work of powerful
Stories corporate and government interests, it’s protected
The most obvious use for Acheron is as a source of to some degree and able to keep the hustle going. If
enemies to fight. Many stories featuring Acheron it fails, its patrons are going to throw it to the dogs.
contractors are not about Acheron at all. The real Because of its precarious position, Acheron may
opponents are other Pentex fronts and companies, fall simply by being involved in too many failures.
with Acheron’s contractors as a bit of nuance in the If the characters destroy corporate infrastructure
broader palette of antagonists. protected by Acheron Security Services enough
Acheron can be the main enemy as well. Perhaps times, their clients are going to wonder if they’re
the players’ characters start to wonder where all worth anything.
these hired guns come from. The presence of fomori Direct combat losses in themselves don’t mean
soldiers is worrying, and obviously the Garou are much to the company. It has a track record of hiring
against their proliferation. those militaries and other security companies
Here are a few story ideas for Acheron: consider unhireable, and internally new hires are
Overreach: A local company hires the cheapest usually regarded as completely expendable. Losing
available security contractor, Acheron. As a result of personnel only becomes an issue if there’s a scandal
Acheron’s hiring practices, abusive incidents soon or if their clients are unhappy.
skyrocket and overmilitarized fomori security forces The major difficulty in bringing down Acheron is
turn up at surprisingly minor incidents. Checking that its personnel, fomori and human, are so deeply
what’s happening, the players’ characters can follow enmeshed in the operations of a dozen companies
the company’s hierarchy upwards. and a few governments. Even if the company itself
The Training Program: Where do these fomori goes down, it’s likely that parts of it can reconstitute
contractors come from, anyway? The players’ themselves as smaller security companies, or get
characters discover the training facility where absorbed into a different company. Acheron may go
prospects are psychologically conditioned to focus bankrupt, but its mercenaries and contractors are
their darker impulses and suppress feelings of still going to be there, looking for jobs in the field
empathy. Should the characters raid the facility, or they know best.
infiltrate it?

45
WYRMTIDE

Albion Petroleum potential employers dislike former Albion people.

Once you go Albion, you have a hard time
The Camelot of Energy getting out.
The vast majority of Albion’s employees don’t
know anything about the Wyrm. Those who do are
still usually motivated by greed, hoping that serving
a primordial spirit of corruption will lead them to
earthly riches. Although Albion’s laboratories and
special projects engage in plenty of supernatural
evil, the real core of its business in service to the
Wyrm is relatively banal: the large-scale messes and
pollution created by its drilling platforms, refineries,
and pipelines. Everything leaks even in the best of
circumstances.
As a company, Albion is barely solvent. Bribing
officials so it can keep operating despite major public

D
opposition, staving off lawsuits, internal corruption,
eep under the earth’s surface, a
and theft all eat away from its profits. The business
black liquid lies in wait, the remnant of
goes from crisis to crisis, which in turn means even
past eons of organic life on the planet.
more corners are cut.
Refined and ignited, it drives modern civilization,
Although the original and still most important
powering its cars, ships, and airplanes. As it burns,
Albion business is oil, the company has sought to
it slowly poisons the atmosphere, making the planet
diversify into coal and nuclear. The company is
inhospitable for humans.
seeking partners and funding for its first nuclear
Albion Petroleum is an originally British, now
plant, but the process is still ongoing due to the
multinational, oil conglomerate dedicated to
enormous expense involved.
extracting as much profit from the earth’s hidden
Coal is a hot topic for Albion right now. Originally
reservoirs of black gold while cutting as many
a marginal sideline, it has become prominent as
corners as possible. An Albion operation is always
divestment campaigns, regulations, and changing
an environmental catastrophe, whether it’s a
tastes have left many coal plants on the verge of
humble gas station or a marine drilling platform.
bankruptcy. This has made it possible for Albion
With operations in many countries, Albion is a
to acquire coal plants cheaply and then make them
known quantity in the global energy market even if
profitable by cutting down on safety measures and
it has a bad reputation among people who work in
environmental protections even more. If they can’t
the field. A typical energy industry worker would
sell the electricity to anyone else, other Pentex fronts
prefer any other company, leading to a situation
still represent a captive market.
where the people working at Albion are the ones
The public perception of Albion is pretty dire.
who washed out from everywhere else. This means
While it occasionally attempts greenwashing
that Albion is forgiving of workplace harassment
campaigns to make its operations seem less
and other internal issues, trying to suppress all
environmentally damaging, these tend to be
complaints instead of addressing them.
unsuccessful. Albion’s corporate culture resists any
Holding onto its workers is easy because
concept of environmentalism, and when executives
Albion doesn’t look great on anyone’s resume.
try to pretend they care for the benefit of the media,
In the oil business, it’s known for cost cutting,
they come across as insincere.
incompetence, and backstabbing, making other

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Personalities well-paying job in the private sector. Excited about

the hints of clandestine operations, he signed on to
Clara Garson work at Albion without really being aware of the
company’s reputation.
The Director of Public Relations at Albion, Clara
The chief task of Albion’s Special Operations
Garson, is known for calling journalists late at
division is to neutralize, or if necessary, assassinate
night to berate them for writing negative articles
environmental activists and political opponents,
about Albion Petroleum. She’s a former tabloid
including ordinary people in the communities
journalist, now in her fifties and comfortable in a
directly affected by Albion’s operations. For
job that allows her to hire a clandestine company
example, if someone living on the Irish coast
specializing in online influence to harass everyone
campaigns to find out why so many dead fish wash
she doesn’t like. She has a knack for bullying and is
up on the shore in the vicinity of the nearest Albion
good at finding weaknesses in her opponents.
drilling platform, Special Operations hires a group
Garson doesn’t limit herself to journalists,
of local lads to beat them up.
politicians, and activists — she is also happy to use
For Kearney, this kind of work has been hell.
the company’s resources against her own colleagues
He’s realized that if he leaves the company, its toxic
if she feels threatened. Or annoyed.
reputation means he won’t get a job at a similar level
Albion is currently between PR companies. It was
elsewhere. In fact, he may end up as the fall guy
dropped by its previous PR representation because
when the authorities need someone to blame for
of nonpayment of fees. This has forced Garson to be
Albion’s latest crimes. If he stays, he’ll have to betray
personally involved in aggressive PR operations to
every principle he’s ever had.
such a degree that she’s close to becoming a fomor
For Kearney’s operatives, use the traits for an IAO
because her gleeful hatred attracts so many Banes.
Kill Box Specialist, Werewolf, p. 289.
General Difficulty: 4 / 2
General Difficulty: 4 / 2
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 6, Mental 5
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 4, Mental 6
Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 4
Secondary Attributes: Health 7, Willpower 5
Exceptional Dice Pools: Intimidation 7, Politics 7,
Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms 8, Leadership 6,
Finance 7
Investigation 7
Notes / Other Traits:
Notes / Other Traits:
Bad PR: Clara is good at smearing her opponents
Toys That Go Bang: Despite the penny-pinching
in the media. Figuring out where these
in evidence with most Albion operations,
slanderous stories in social and traditional media
Kearney and his operatives have the best gear
are really coming from requires an Intelligence +
available. If there’s combat ahead, this often
Investigation test at a Difficulty of 4. Otherwise,
means an assault rifle or an automatic shotgun
it looks like they just spontaneously erupt in
(both +4), as well as military body armor.
various places.

David Kearney Antagonists

The rare honest individual at a corrupt workplace, Dredged-Up Mass
David Kearney is the Director of Special
The Dredged-Up Mass was found on the sea bottom
Operations for Albion. He’s only in his thirties,
near an Albion drilling platform. Lifted up, it
a former soldier who left the navy in search of a

47
WYRMTIDE

became apparent that the biological mass was alive, through drink, violence, and other failures of the
seemingly composed of an oily substance and the spirit. Fortunately for them, there’s always oil. It’ll
remains of numerous different sea creatures. What’s never fail those who work to bring it up from the
more, that first Mass wouldn’t have to be alone for depths of the earth or the ocean.
along. Soon, Albion teams found more. The Oilfolk represent a worker-level fomori cult
The Dredged-Up Mass can be found in the sea, on within Albion. They believe that the work has saved
the shore, at Albion platforms and research facilities them. The voices telling them to discard their old
and even in a transport truck. The company is trying selves and taste the sweet, beautiful oil on their
to figure out whether the monstrosity, typically the lips have given them a new lease on life. They have
size of an SUV, could be leveraged for profit in some purpose and community again!
fashion. After all, many scientific advancements are The Oilfolk literally drink oil. Some in Albion
based on strange biological discoveries! management have tried to clamp down on their
The first thing most people notice about the Mass slick, messy rituals because of the loss in oil
is the smell. It reeks of rotting fish, and the eyes of profits to the company, but work seizures and
various sizes it casts on everything around it are internal terrorism have forced them to back off.
milky and yellowish white. People who work with Despite their personal issues, the Oilfolk represent
the Mass experience dreams in which they seek to a deep well of knowledge about drilling, and
consume as much rotting biomass as they can. laying them off would cause a significant brain
General Difficulty: 5 / 3 drain for a company already struggling to hire
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 12, Social 4, qualified talent.
Mental 8 Whether it’s a human terminal impulse or the
Secondary Attributes: Health 16, Willpower 10 influence of a Bane, Oilfolk yearn to settle into
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 14, Persuasion 8, the earth themselves. Many dream of their bodies
Occult 10 becoming oil through the pressure of the centuries.
Notes / Other Traits: They take fire safety extremely seriously, but
Talons: The tentacles extruding from the sometimes they also use their flammable nature as a
Dredged-Up Mass feature sharp spikes and weapon in suicide attacks.
talons, inflicting +2 Aggravated damage. General Difficulty: 4 / 2
Multiple Arms: When the Mass is in close Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 3, Mental 5
combat, it uses the results of its Brawl test for all Secondary Attributes: Health 7, Willpower 5
attackers regardless of how many there are. Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 8, Technology 7,
Malign Force: Being in the vicinity of the Mass Occult 6
causes a level of Superficial Willpower damage Notes / Other Traits:
every day. If Willpower is reduced to zero, the Flammable: Perhaps because they drink all
victim must make a Resolve + Medicine test at that oil, Oilfolk are combustible. Setting one
a Difficulty of 4 to avoid consuming the nearest on fire is easy and doesn’t require a test as long
rotting biological matter. Eating such things as matches, a lighter, or something similar
makes most people sick. is available. Set on fire, they can attack by
embracing a target who suffers +3 Aggravated
Oilfolk burning damage. An opponent using Brawl
Typically when you work on an oil platform, you to fight Oilfolk suffers one level of Aggravated
are a couple weeks on, couple weeks off. Some of damage even if they are successful on the test.
the people working on Albion’s drilling sites don’t After burning for two turns, Oilfolk die. Note
have any lives beyond work anymore because they that Oilfolk in close proximity to each other
have successfully alienated their friends and families automatically set each other on fire.

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Oil Rig: When on a drilling site or an oil rig, Spectacle: Go big or go home. The pack discovers
Oilfolk can turn the environment against their information suggesting that Albion is drilling into
enemies. They can use the Technology Skill to the underground sanctuaries of ancient Wyrm
attack, causing +2 Superficial Health damage. beasts. They have to fight Albion security troops,
This represents pulling steel pipes down on travel deep underground into warrens infested by
the enemy, activating machinery so it hits their ancient fomori, and finally confront a mythical beast
opponent, or even spilling oil, causing the at a classic Albion location such as an oil field.
unwary to fall down so they can be stomped. Face the Enemy: A manager at Albion’s security
division specifically targets the players’ characters,
Stories attempting to take them out preemptively. Once
the characters survive the assassination attempt,
Albion is a British company but they can be part of
they can follow the trail back to its source, learning
your game regardless of where you’ve set it. They’re
more about the private security forces the company
too small to be an all-encompassing global presence,
employs to safeguard its assets. If the characters
but it may be that they’ve conveniently decided to
are successful, the attempt to kill them backfires
expand in the specific region you’re using for your
spectacularly as it points exactly to the things Albion
game. An Albion gas station can be there right down
did not want them to see.
the street from where the players’ characters live.
Thanks to its oil rigs, refineries, and tankers, Albion
provides magnificent set pieces to show the fight to Fall
save Gaia on a cinematic scale. Albion is significantly more fragile than it appears to
With that in mind, here are a few Albion-specific be. Its operations have the advantage of scale, thanks
story ideas: to infrastructure like oil tankers, refineries, and gas
Sabotage: Albion’s operations in the pack’s stations. Everything depends on money to run, and
area have very thin profit margins. If the players’ Albion’s owners at Pentex are not particularly keen
characters manage to disrupt the company’s to bail the company out given their track record of
activities to a sufficient degree, the simple laws mismanagement and theft.
of capitalism will force it to cease operations. Still, you should never underestimate the power
Although the characters have not defeated every of sheer political corruption. Albion stays afloat
single Albion-hired mercenary, they’ve made it when lesser companies fall, and it’s because of their
impossible for the company to pay their salaries. extensive political connections. They’ve led to such
Discovering this sort of corporate vulnerability can bizarre developments as being granted government
be something the characters do while raiding an funds to speed up transition to green energy sources
Albion office, or they can figure it out by reading on the promise that Albion would seek to transition
business news. Alternatively, an experienced sept- away from coal and oil. Obviously, the money goes
mate explains the situation. to coal and oil, but who really has an incentive to
Jobs: There are not a lot of jobs available where the look into something like that?
characters live. A Touchstone has gone to work on an The two most vulnerable fronts for Albion are
offshore Albion oil platform because the pay is very profitability and its political connections. Simply
good compared to the scarce opportunities at home. harassing and damaging Albion operations may
Can the pack figure out a way for their friend to earn cause enough losses to force the company into
a living without serving the Wyrm? What do they do retreat. Politically, the company’s influence can
when their loved one comes back from the job ridden be eroded by bringing the graft to light or more
with a Bane? brutally just by sabotaging the influence operations
themselves. A dead fomor won’t bribe anyone.

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WYRMTIDE

The greatest strength Albion has is with hardware conference call. If a sacrifice needs to be made, the
and manpower. It has the ability to hire mercenaries good people at BRM will quickly drag the lamb to the
and field tanker trucks at a large scale. A frontal altar of public opinion. A Pentex front or a local CEO
assault is tempting for many Garou, but it’s also can always be sacrificed if it’ll direct attention away
where this enemy is at its strongest. from what happens behind the curtain.
The ethos of individualism has made it easy to
shift blame to anyone deemed to be expendable,
Bailey, Reeves & Mark and nothing satiates the mob like a face to pin all
of their anger on. Chemical fires, oil spills, insider
The Power of Perception trading, illegal waste dumping — all of those are
problems that Bailey, Reeves & Mark have managed
to suppress through careful manipulation of the
media, but the contentious nature of the modern
social media landscape causes problems. Sometimes,

W
a perfectly well-suppressed story suddenly goes viral
hen the mask drops off one of the
despite no support from legacy media.
Pentex Group’s countless fronts, it reveals
To compensate, BRM’s lobbyist arm in
the rot beneath to the public eye. This
Washington D.C. has focused on real political
would usually disturb the flow of commerce, but
influence. In addition to lobbying for their client
more often than not, it disappears from the public eye
companies, BRM has also ingrained themselves
when the media attention turns to something else.
into the lawmakers’ offices, providing trained
Often, this is the work of the public relations
media advisors, handling donation campaigns,
company Bailey, Reeves & Mark (BRM),
and providing data to an increasingly tone-deaf
specializing in crisis communications and handling
political class more concerned about reelection than
the media.
corporate regulation and their constituents.
BRM is a public relations agency specializing in
Even when pushback and dissatisfaction are voiced
corporate image cultivation, a boardroom term that
against the dire state of corporate regulations, BRM
basically means they take care of spin, cover-ups,
works to make sure that politicians who act as the
and signal distortion to shield the Pentex Group’s
face of these policies bear the brunt of public outrage
interests from public scrutiny. While it might seem
and not the corporate class.
to be a difficult task, the media landscape of the
21st century makes it far too easy to make scandals
fade into the news feed. Off the books, the agency
Personalities
handles bribes, pressures witnesses and activists, and
fakes evidence. However, ordinary disinformation
Lorraine Reeves-Kidd
campaigns are often enough to do the job. If all else A former Instagram influencer turned media
fails, there’s always the option of inciting an online specialist, Lorraine acts as BRM’s head algorithmic
hate mob against a hapless target. strategist. The very image of a white girlboss
BRM’s consultants are embedded within individual feminist, Lorraine cultivated her brand through
client companies, brought in to curate the public BRM in the 2010s. After realizing that she had hit
images of businesses that are on the brink of disaster. the glass ceiling, Lorraine blackmailed her way into
What most deputy directors fail to understand is a well-paid position at BRM and married the heir of
that Bailey, Reeves & Mark’s task is not protection the Reeves estate.
for the local company branch, but protection for Through her intuitive grasp of social media
their multinational masters at the other end of the algorithms and a network of sponsored influencers,

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Lorraine has proven to be a self-taught master at her

new job, with social media becoming a tool meant
Stories
Bailey, Reeves & Mark presents an opportunity
for issues that just won’t go away.
to push the players’ pack into a new environment,
General Difficulty: 4 / 2
that of glass skyscrapers and corporate PR. It’s
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 6, Mental 6
an opportunity for Glass Walkers and other
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 6
sophisticated, urban characters to shine.
Exceptional Dice Pools: Subterfuge 7, Leadership
News Blackout: The pack has achieved a
7, Persuasion 8
resounding victory over their corporate adversaries,
Notes / Other Traits:
Everything You Want: Lorraine is very good at dismembering the management and uncovering
intuiting what other people want. If directly sufficient evidence to expose their operations to the
threatened by the players’ characters, she’s able press. Despite this victory, the news remains silent,
to guess (within reason) what she might be able and their efforts to bring it to light through social
to offer to save her skin. media are swiftly overshadowed by a flood of thirst
traps and reaction videos. What is going on, and can
the pack uncover the people behind it?
Aaron Galt
Who Controls the Narrative: The pack’s most
Aaron Galt is a BRM field agent. A master of
important human allies are being hounded in the
disguise, Galt infiltrates activist groups and
media. Every day brings a new story, real or fake. Law
identifies vulnerabilities for his employer’s personal
enforcement is taking action and even local politicians
COINTELPRO. A failed actor, Galt was an activist
are getting into it. But the humans working at BRM
during the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement
are not used to being roughed up. Perhaps their
when he was recruited by BRM and switched
allegiance can be shifted with a well-placed threat?
his loyalties.
After a successful stint as a provocateur, Galt was
given the chance to undergo experimental procedures Fall
that made him able to modify his appearance. With Bailey, Reeves & Mark is a slippery foe. They
the ability to assume different faces, Galt has operated operate out of sight and are usually not based
across the world on behalf of BRM during the Hong anywhere near the pack’s primary battleground.
Kong riots, the BLM protests, and many other While it does help a little to undermine their local
grassroots protest campaigns. PR agent, the biggest victory is usually gained by
General Difficulty: 4 / 3 making sure BRM doesn’t notice what is going on
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 7, Mental 6 until it is too late.
Secondary Attributes: Health 7, Willpower 6 Once the players’ pack figures out who their
Exceptional Dice Pools: Subterfuge 8, Larceny 7, enemy is, BRM has one huge glaring weakness:
Investigation 7 they’re a company of well-paid, connected, and
Notes / Other Traits: trained professionals who are hard to replace in
Man of Many Faces: Galt has the ability to the event of, say, a Garou attack. Still, there may be
change his facial features, hair, voice, and skin moral issues to consider. A fomor hiding in an oil
color, although he’s not able to adjust his basic pipe is an obvious enemy, but is it really okay to kill
body type. He is able to copy a specific face fairly an ad man just for who he’s working for?
convincingly. Attempts to realize that something
is wrong with his face require a Composure +
Insight test at a Difficulty of 4. Galt’s ability does
not grant any particular knowledge, but he’s a
talented liar.

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Gallagher Foods a blow that labeled them as the worst of the worst,
even though the company remains in business.
Best Quality at the Lowest The company shows little regard for workplace
Price! safety or worker’s rights. An article revealed that
Gallagher’s employees had a higher dismemberment
percentage than soldiers in WWI, prompting
federal crackdowns that, surprisingly, only closed
a single plant. The company’s relationship to
unions is a tenuous one, with rumors suggesting
that a prospective union leader at a Gallagher plant

I
tragically fell into one of the grinders the day after
f you eat Gallagher chuck, you never know
unionization was announced.
what you’re gonna get.
While the Gallagher plants’ regular workers are
That has been the joke for well over a decade.
often well paid, there’s a bit more to the story. As in
Gallagher Foods has never once commented or
most places in the industry, undocumented workers
refuted it. It never needed to, as people will still
are routinely hired with the full approval of the
chow down on burgers made in their factories.
corporate hierarchy.
The processed foods produced by Gallagher are
These day laborers are often used as expendable
always very competitively priced, typically the
and kept in line by the better paid employees,
cheapest on the market. They operate a series of
fostering division between the two groups. On more
ramshackle slaughterhouses constructed almost
than one occasion, a worker has been injured after
thirty years ago, cheap structures operating way
altercations with other employees.
beyond their capacity.
In Madison County, Nebraska, the local
Countless dismemberments and injuries
Gallagher plant is best described as a wasteland. It
among their staff go unreported, and the USDA
is surrounded by stockyards of cattle brought in
inspectors are either on Gallagher’s own payroll
from across the state, confined into untended and
or are only presented a polished, clean, and
undersized corrals where they are packed against
modernized front.
each other for days, accompanied by nothing besides
After all, the Gallagher family is old money, and
fear, defecation, and the smell of death. Once the
they have connections deep in the halls of power.
abattoir opens, the livestock is herded on their last
Across U.S. farming communities, Gallagher buys
journey to meet the bolt gun. The stench dominates
up livestock at prices far lower than any farmer can
the surrounding lands, with carrion birds flocking
survive on, leading to increased purchases of ranches
to the waste containers. It is impossible to miss for
by the very same Gallagher Foods that drove them
miles around.
out of business.
Gallagher Foods traces its roots back to the golden
days of capitalism, where labor unions had been Personalities
crushed, and food safety only meant you didn’t die
from eating a product. However, with the rise of CEO Sally Gallagher
consumer culture, Gallagher’s brand dropped in Sally Gallagher is the CEO and owner of Gallagher
public regard. Foods, as well as the matriarch of the family.
The company’s brand was permanently tarnished Having fought tooth and nail to inherit the
when it was discovered that beef chuck had been Gallagher empire, Sally is adamant in her defense
mixed up with “assorted meats.” While Gallagher of the legacy that she wrested from her brothers’
recovered financially, their public image suffered corpses against the wishes of the misogynistic

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patriarch. The Gallaghers trace themselves to possessions is a silver meat cleaver. He doesn’t
Scottish nobility, famed for their traditional wolf- use it with ordinary meat because he’s afraid of
hunting. When they established their meat empire, dulling the blade, but something at the back of his
the Gallaghers realized it wasn’t regular wolves that mind tells him to keep it at hand at his office. You
their ancestors had hunted. never know when you need your lucky charm.
Ms. Gallagher spends much of her own profit
to fund groups of werewolf hunters to keep her
business safe, and when a squad brings her a
Antagonists
werewolf body, Sally partakes in her ancestor’s
Grease Mirror
tradition of plating and eating the heart. After all,
All of us have grease in our bodies. Humans are just
what better way to keep yourself young and sharp?
muddled masses of skin, bone, flesh, and fat. Pour
General Difficulty: 4 / 2
enough of that fat down the drain and it collects
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 3, Social 5, Mental 7
into vast clumps, pale masses of solidified grease.
Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 7
Accumulations of such potency can’t help but
Exceptional Dice Pools: Subterfuge 7, Leadership
have their Umbral manifestations too. All the fat
6, Finance 9
Notes / Other Traits: processed at Gallagher plants resonates across the
A Flock of Banes: There are always at least three spiritscapes, still retaining residue of the humans and
Grease Mirrors somewhere in Sally’s vicinity animals in whose bodies it was originally born.
in the Umbra. If she’s in danger, they’ll start Grease Mirrors are Banes with a lingering
possessing people, animals, and physical items to curiosity about humanity. They’re formed the
save her. same as any other spirit, as echoes and shadows
of the physical world, but because fat is such an
intimate, emotionally charged part of our bodies,
Robert Ludd
they experience memories and emotions that can be
Deputy Director Ludd has been in the meat business
traced to humans and animals. They may be aware
for the better part of forty years. As his father before
that these feelings are not their own, but they still
him, Ludd considers meatpacking to be a fine trade,
want to get closer to their source.
fit for a true American patriot.
Possession / Manifestation: In the Umbra,
Eternally sweaty, Ludd is obsessed with meat,
Grease Mirrors are lumpy, vaguely humanoid
eating several rare cuts a day before washing it down
shapes of grease and tallow. Once someone from
with malt liquor.
the physical world, such as a werewolf, comes close,
Director Ludd is a feared figure, both in his own
the Grease Mirror takes on their appearance in its
plant and in the nearby town of Madison, where
own clumsy way. The imitation is not convincing
the Ludd family possess feudal power over the
but more like a half-melted wax doll of the original.
people’s jobs and well-being. Here, nothing is ever
When a Grease Mirror possesses a human or an
done without Ludd’s approval, and when workers go
animal, their skin becomes slick and pimply as
missing, the locals tend not to call the marshal out of
if the grease was trying to escape through their
fear of what Ludd might do to them.
pores. People possessed by Grease Mirrors are often
General Difficulty: 4 / 2
obsessed with extracting the fat from human and
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 4, Mental 6
animal bodies, often by butchering people and
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 5
throwing away the meat. People possessed by Grease
Exceptional Dice Pools: Melee 8, Leadership 5,
Mirrors often develop a fixation on someone they
Finance 7
know, attempting to imitate their appearance in
Notes / Other Traits:
terms of dress and hairstyle.
The Silver Cleaver: One of Ludd’s most prized

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WYRMTIDE

Grease Mirror Spirit be hurt by indiscriminate violence. A Brutal

Due to their affinity for human bodies, Grease outcome in the presence of victims leads to them
Mirrors like to be close to the physical world. If there being hurt.
are more than one, they sometimes act out tableaux Grease Eater: If the human possessed by the
from human lives, based on their memories. These spirit has a chance to eat butter or a similar fatty
appear like grotesque humanoids made of grease substance, it can recover a level of Health each
playing house, sometimes with other unfortunate turn. Eating butter is an action.
spirits forced to participate. Slippery: The skin of the possessed human is
Power: 6–9 slippery with grease. Attacks slide off so they cause
one level less Health damage than they usually
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl +1, Persuasion +1,
would.
Medicine +1
Notes / Other Traits: In Stories:
You Are Me: Every time the Grease Mirror 0 A Gallagher Foods plant is infested
inflicts damage, it heals the equivalent amount with Grease Mirrors following the
as it absorbs the spiritual fat of its opponent. workers, seeking to possess them
Startling Resemblance: Seeing your own face to explore the physical world. The
presence of the humans makes it
in the Grease Mirror is a startling experience. difficult to destroy the Banes,
There’s something oddly compelling about unless the workers are judged to be a
the glistening sheen of its buttery skin. The lost cause.
character whose features are being mirrored 0 Unfortunately, a Grease Mirror holds
increases all Difficulties against the Grease important secrets the players’ pack
Mirror by 1. must ferret out to succeed on their
mission. This requires diplomacy, a
distasteful task.
Grease Mirror Possessed Human
The desire to possess other people makes humans
vulnerable to possession by the Grease Mirror. It
Stories
often tries to slip into the life of its host, using its The core theme with food is that it gets inside you.
vague memories of human life to approximate a It’s what you consume, and when it turns out to
domestic existence. Unfortunately, while it’s not be malevolent, it’s disgusting in a personal way.
entirely inept, its possessive nature and lack of Once the action starts, Gallagher has plenty of
understanding of human life means that it rarely great backdrops, from food-processing plants to
succeeds for long. distribution centers.
General Difficulty: 4 / 2 Workplace Safety: The local Gallagher plant,
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 8, Social 4, Mental 6 despite being known as the worst employer in
Secondary Attributes: Health 8, Willpower 6 the county, continues to attract more and more
Exceptional Dice Pools: Medicine 7, Persuasion 5, individuals seeking job opportunities. But when
Larceny 9 the players’ pack discovers one of these desperate
Notes / Other Traits: souls mauled and eyeless on the roadside, it
Victims: The Grease Mirror has a knack for becomes evident that the management is concealing
integrating itself into domestic life, although the something beneath their abattoir, something they
fact that Dad or Mom has been possessed by a are desperate to keep hidden.
spirit intent on flensing the rest of the family for Private Auction: Prior to an intended raid on
their body fat won’t go unnoticed for long. Still, the Gallagher plant, a group of labor activists
humans possessed by the spirit are almost always goes missing. When the players’ pack investigates,
accompanied by their victims who could easily they locate most of the missing activists alive but

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brainwashed and working for Gallagher. Worse, can be seen on the sides of trucks and shipping
the activist leader is about to be sold to the highest containers everywhere.
bidder in a secret cannibal auction, as they have been Living Earth Logistics is not a particularly green
deemed fit for eating due to their vegan lifestyle. business. Huge, creaking cargo ships despoil the air
with their monolithic engines running on bunker
Fall oil, turning the melodic environment of whales into
a mechanical cacophony.
Gallagher as an entity is hard, but not impossible,
This is the problem Living Earth Logistics proposes
to break apart. The individual plants are immense
to solve: new, cleaner methods of shipping ensure
constructions and destroying them is difficult but
that a global economy remains sustainable in the new
achievable. Many Garou excel at devastation. The
green age. You can rest easy as you order the latest
company itself could be destroyed if the Gallagher
gadget from the other side of the world, knowing that
family disappeared and their corrupt influence was
its travels won’t harm the environment.
exposed to the world.
While trailing behind the biggest logistics
Some of the supernatural activities going on at
companies, Living Earth is growing quickly as
Gallagher plants are so vile and the facilities in such
political and grassroots pressure is forcing companies
poor condition that it would be difficult for anyone
to look for green alternatives.
to acquire and repurpose them if the company went
The only problem with Living Earth’s pitch is that
bankrupt.
it’s a lie. In reality, the company is one of the few
successes Pentex has enjoyed with greenwashing, the
Living Earth Logistics tactic of making a polluter appear environmentally
friendly through propaganda and marketing.
Green Logistics For a Living Earth Logistics gives hope that the world
Green World! can be saved from environmental devastation
without any meaningful changes to our political
system or way of life. It paints a picture of a cargo
ship languidly floating past pods of joyful dolphins.
Some of their employees and representatives may
believe in this image, but none of the claims, facts,
and figures they present about themselves pan out.
The company relies on slick presentations, clever
social media campaigns, and relatable, down-to-
earth spokespersons to tell a story that few will
bother to fact-check.
In reality, Living Earth’s fleet of cargo ships and

I
freight trucks is the same outdated junk used by
n a global economy, products need to
their competitors. Their engines leak bunk oil, and
move. Electronics are manufactured in China
they have terrible, wasteful accidents. Their truck
and transported to Europe and North America.
drivers and ship crews are Bane-infested criminals,
Coffee travels from fields in Brazil and Vietnam to
the cheapest labor you can find.
the hands of a barista putting together a cup for
Living Earth’s poison goes beyond mere pollution.
a tired morning commuter. In a global economy,
Its organization hides a Wyrm cult focused on
logistics companies are simultaneously everywhere
worshipping some of the most ancient and terrible
and nowhere. Few people can name the top five
fomori beasts to be found in the depths of the ocean.
freight companies in the world, yet their logos
Some of the company’s oldest ships have been taken

55
WYRMTIDE

off cargo duty and rededicated to permanently Now, the facade still remains. Okada comes across
floating on ocean currents as rusting, roving temples as sincere and caring. Inside, she’s become a hollow
to defilement in body and mind. Their engines have travesty of her former self, ever able to explain to
long since ceased to function, but the fomori crews herself why she’ll have to take one more step deeper
trust the Wyrm to direct the rotting hulk to the most into the depths of depravity. After all, how can she
spiritually appropriate location. Somehow the ships use her company to change the world for the better if
never go near land, instead lurching from the darkness it’s not successful? And how can she retain power if
on clammy nights to ram the ships of fishermen, she doesn’t get her hands bloody?
environmental activists, and other nuisances. General Difficulty: 4 / 3
Approaching the derelict ships from the Umbra Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 7, Mental 7
is even more terrifying. They’re vile holes of Wyrm Secondary Attributes: Health 7, Willpower 6
energy, mobile sores in the fabric of the spirit realm. Exceptional Dice Pools: Leadership 8, Politics 8,
Spirits fester and warp, caressing bypassers with their Finance 8
toxic tendrils. Notes / Other Traits:
The betrayal and lies Living Earth represents are Call Security: Okada is accompanied by a
not abstract and impersonal. They’re immediate. security detail. Even when it looks like she’s
The untruths come from a smiling, reassuring face. alone, they’re not far away. If she seems to be in
From a Garou perspective, this is personified in the danger, a number of bodyguards equal to the
Glass Walkers who work for the company, arguing players’ pack appears to whisk her to safety. For
that they can change it from within. Traits, use Beat Cop, Werewolf p. 290.
It’s debatable whether they have already been
corrupted by the Wyrm and have secretly danced Thomas “Tommy” Andric
the Spiral or if they are unwitting fools, whose belief Life on the sea was always easier for Tommy. On land,
in using the forces of technology and progress to he started to drink, lost track of things, got confused,
combat the Wyrm has blinded them to the obvious. ended up in prison. On a ship, it’s a whole different
story. Meals come at mealtimes, and you always have to
Personalities do your work. It’s even easier now that Tommy breathes
water as easily as air. How did that come about? The
Kaori Okada voices whispering tell him not to worry about it. It’s
In her student days, Kaori Okada was a bright-eyed, pretty down there, under the surface.
motivated idealist seeking to change the world Kraken II is a cargo ship, or used to be. Now it’s a
for the better. She went into business, working derelict hulk that should have been scrapped years
with sustainable supply chains before selling her ago. Yet here it is, floating in the Atlantic, lost in the
company, doing consulting work, and then being mists of supernatural obscurity. Tommy has tended
hired for Living Earth as their CEO. She’s young, to the ship for years now and knows it inside out.
charismatic, and talented. He’s come to feel an affinity for all the pilgrims who
She’s also horribly out of her depth. Okada arrive, but he’s also a coward. If threatened, he’ll tell
has realized that she was hired to be a figurehead everything he knows about the voices from the deep.
while real power in the company was being held General Difficulty: 4 / 2
by the board and by individual department heads. Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 3, Mental 4
Reasoning that she has to get her hands dirty, she Secondary Attributes: Health 8, Willpower 4
has decided to go all in on the company’s strange Exceptional Dice Pools: Melee 8, Athletics 8,
internal culture, rituals and all. Firearms 8

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Notes / Other Traits: Exceptional Dice Pools: Melee 16, Insight 8,

Gills: Tommy has discreet gills in his throat and Occult 10
is able to breathe both freshwater and saltwater. Notes / Other Traits:
Oil for Blood: When wounded, Tommy spills Nightmares: Anyone sleeping on the ship
a black, oily substance. On land, it just looks experiences vivid nightmares of marine life
like black blood, but in water it creates an inky rotting yet somehow still alive, spreading and
cloud around Tommy. He can sense opponents engulfing everything into its vile biomass.
perfectly well within the cloud, but all others These dreams sometimes haunt even those who
are blinded, increasing all Difficulties against are awake, appearing as idle thoughts between
Tommy by 1. moments. Those dedicated to the Wyrm
(knowingly or not) recover all lost Willpower
every morning. Those not in service to the
Antagonists Wyrm cannot regain Willpower while onboard.
Poltergeist: When the players’ pack fights
The Apocalypse Ship against Wyrm creatures onboard, the ship
Living Earth Logistics doesn’t have a complete itself tries to hurt them. Doors slam in their
inventory of all the ships it operates, at least not one faces, cargo crates come unmoored and crash
they’d be willing to share with the authorities. Some onto them, and kitchen knives fly off racks
of its rotten, decrepit tankers have been discreetly in the galley. Each round of combat, the ship
moved off the books, sold to ostensibly unaffiliated makes a Melee attack against one of the players’
front companies registered in Panama. Through characters. Causing 8 Health levels of damage
the years, a few of these ships have been infested to offending parts of the ship’s structure forces
with vast, powerful Banes attracted to the constant these attacks to cease for the moment.
malignant apathy which allows the ships to leak The Armies of the Apocalypse: An Apocalypse
poison wherever they sail. Ship carries many fomori, Black Spiral Dancers,
A possessed ship is a huge creature in itself. They’re and other servants of the Wyrm found in this
not used for business by Living Earth anymore but book and elsewhere. There can be enough for
function more as mobile religious sites, places of four or five pitched battles in locations such
worship for the company’s Wyrm cult. Some few live as the deck, crew quarters, the bridge, and of
course the oil tanks.
on the ships year round, having dedicated their lives
The Altar of Flesh: Somewhere in the bowels
to the grotesque visions of rotten marine life everyone
of the ship, there’s a vast space that used to be
who sleeps onboard experiences.
filled with oil. There’s briny, black sludge on
Destroying an Apocalypse Ship is extremely
the floor, with the remains of countless humans
difficult because the spirit’s influence suffuses
and animals strewn about in various states of
the entire massive steel hull. The ship has to be
decomposition. In the center of the space, there’s
physically sunk before the Bane departs. To do this an altar roughly the size of a coffin, constructed
requires delving deep within and finding the Wyrm out of ancient driftwood and black with dried
altar anchoring the spirit to the ship, no easy task blood. On the altar, there are candles, skulls,
given the extremely hostile environment within. and offerings from decades of dire Rites, an
General Difficulty: 5 / 4 accumulation so heavy the altar itself is barely
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 8, Social 6, Mental 8 visible underneath. Destroying the Apocalypse
Secondary Attributes: Health 8 to destroy Ship requires the destruction of the altar. All
physical manifestations in any single space, 16 attacks against it are at a Difficulty of 5. It has
to destroy the Wyrm altar anchoring the Bane, 16 Health levels. Every time someone dies in
Willpower 10 the ritual space, the altar heals one Health level.

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When attacked, its wooden construction breaks, Floating Island: Living Earth hides something much
leaking blood as if it was made from flesh. bigger than corporate crimes. The pack finds ships
Coils of the Wyrm: The ship is protected by that have seemingly disappeared and connects them to
the Wyrm from external assault. All attempts sightings on the high seas. Once they find a ship to take
to cause massive damage to the ship using them, they arrive at an artificial island made of a number
missiles, torpedoes, or similar military weapons of old ships lashed together, forming a festering utopia of
suffer a six-dice penalty. Often the offending the Wyrm, a taste of the world to come.
munition simply fails to go off or disappears
into the mist. Locating the ship is similarly
difficult as it doesn’t appear on radar and tends
Fall
to be surrounded by heavy fog or other adverse Living Earth Logistics is successful, but its success
weather conditions. Finding the ship in the is predicated on a lie. Its fortunes can be severely
miasma of awful weather requires a Resolve + impacted by revealing the truth of its operations,
Driving test at a Difficulty of 4. that its green image is completely unfounded. In the
right hands, such revelations may cause an impact
among regulators, in the media, and even with
Stories corporate partners. After all, what use is a green
The core theme of Living Earth Logistics is logistics company that’s not green?
betrayal. Ideally, the pack should first encounter the The company’s network hides Wyrm entities of
company in a positive context, as an alternative to a vast scale. Even if the business falls, these ancient
the pollution and filth spread by other Pentex fronts. fomori still remain to poison everything they
Living Earth’s true ownership is very hard, but touch. To destroy them requires the pack to travel
not impossible, to figure out — so in the beginning to the heart of evil. Still, the upside of fighting an
there’s no apparent connection to Wyrm forces. underwater beast is that they’re killable. It’s hard but
The Good Guys: Living Earth is in conflict with once they die, they die.
another Pentex front. After all, Pentex is perfectly
capable of pitting Albion Petroleum against Living
Earth Logistics to sell the latter as a green company Scheldes
of conscience. The pack might even save Living Earth
from a program of Albion sabotage provoked by a
Pharmaceuticals
statement where the company refuses to transport
fossil fuels due to their environmental impact.
Everywhere and Nowhere: A logistics company
is omnipresent wallpaper. Living Earth trucks and
ships can be seen in the background as the players’
characters go about their business. They’re part of
the fabric of modern life, the interconnected web
that brings us items from far-off places. In
the beginning, the company’s logo means nothing.
After the pack saves the company from Albion
perfidy, it represents an ally in the fight against
global environmental devastation. Finally, once Better Living, Better You

H
the betrayal has been revealed, it symbolizes the ave the Wyrm injected straight into
Wyrm as a liar who can wear the most trustworthy your veins. That’s the Scheldes contribution
of faces. to the Pentex portfolio of companies.

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It’s a profit center, making money through custom-tailored laws passed so that its competitors
monopoly practices, inflated prices, and getting fail — to say nothing of its legislative efforts to stifle
quickly to the market (thanks to the faked safety government healthcare.
testing of its products). Thanks to its expert lobbying, Scheldes often
Although pharmaceuticals are the core of Scheldes’ receives special dispensation to fast-track its
business, it has expanded into other sectors of the drug trials, making sure that hastily concocted
healthcare industry as well. It’s present in medical pharmaceuticals reach the market before their side
research, psychiatric care, nutrition, genetics, hospital effects are properly understood. Because of this,
administration, and medical software. It operates Scheldes is constantly embroiled in lawsuits from
through a bewildering array of brand names and people who have suffered from its products.
subcompanies, making the name Scheldes almost as That’s another goal for Scheldes lobbyists: make
obscure as Pentex. A local Scheldes-owned care home it harder for people to sue, arguing that frivolous
may go out of business, but at that point, the money lawsuits hamper the progress of medical science.
has already been sucked out of it.
You can visit a Scheldes-operated clinic, get Personalities
prescribed Scheldes-produced drugs and a Scheldes-
created health plan, and watch a Scheldes-funded Amaechi Okafor
politician talk about the importance of health on The truth is that Scheldes provides research
the TV. For the Garou, research into Scheldes is a opportunities that other pharmaceutical companies
dismaying affair: one by one, the pills they’ve seen don’t. Amaechi Okafor is something of a prodigy, a
people take for their ailments are all revealed to be researcher in his late twenties who has leveraged his
machinations of the Wyrm. double doctorate into a career bouncing between
Scheldes was originally founded in the forties in different Scheldes affiliates and laboratories. He
the U.S. It started as a medical research company consults on research projects and conducts his own, all
specializing in methods of countering biological with the goal of bypassing the tedium of small-minded
warfare. To do that, you of course need to develop limitations imposed by ethics committees and local law.
bioweapons so that you can then research how to After all, the discovery of a new miracle drug leads
counter them. Today, bioweapon research is a minor, to so many lives saved — a few corners cut won’t
well-concealed part of the company portfolio. matter in the end.
Consumer products offer a more effective way to For a few years now, Okafor has been unable to
reach large populations. publish research articles except for internal use at
Even when Scheldes’ drugs work, ordinary Scheldes because he’s been delving into the biological
business incentives turn healing into the work of applications of superreal entities (known by some
the Wyrm. Why sell life-saving medicines cheaply as spirits) and the creation of Mockeries (see p. 106),
when you can gouge desperate customers for prices inspired by secret research data on werewolves.
thousands of times the cost of manufacture? General Difficulty: 4 / 3
Scheldes lobbies hard for privatized heathcare Standard Dice Pools: Physical 4, Social 4, Mental 7
in every country it operates in, arguing that it can Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 4
provide services cheaper and more effectively than Exceptional Dice Pools: Medicine 9, Science 8,
anyone else. Although it’s true that the lack of Occult 8
oversight and safety precautions makes Scheldes Notes / Other Traits:
operations very cost effective, the corporation My Greatest Creation: Amaechi is rarely far from his
prefers a regulatory environment where customers work, and the work involves the creation of monsters.
pay through the nose for services that cost very little When personally threatened, he can release a raging
to produce. It has done pioneering work in getting work-in-progress Mockery (see p. 106).

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Cooper Chen gained increased capabilities have also become

A food deliveryman still living with his white mother extremely unstable and violent, prone to lashing
and Chinese father, Cooper signed up as a medical out at everyone around them. This is the case with
test subject at a local university to make a little Bioweapon Alpha, a type Scheldes has been able
extra money. He’s been planning to move into an to replicate to some extent. They’re very effective,
apartment of his own now that he has a girlfriend. A but the only use case is to drop them in the middle
man has to make his own way in the world, after all. of enemy territory and accept that they’ll kill
The university research project was run together everything in sight.
with a local Scheldes laboratory, and soon Cooper At rest, Bioweapon Alpha is a normal-looking
found himself locked into an underground room, human typically dressed in hospital pajamas.
once pristine white but now stained with brown They’re confused and irritable, trying to figure out
and red. They inject strange substances into him the manifold voices speaking to them inside their
and discuss “abnormal developments” and “rapid heads. When they erupt, they become giant masses
incubation.” of living, bulging, and surging flesh, only vaguely
Fortunately, security is often drunk on the job. Is humanoid in appearance, somewhat resembling
Cooper going to escape before whatever is gestating Garou in crinos who have been skinned alive. In
inside him bursts out? this shape, they have teeth and bone protrusions
General Difficulty: 3 / 2 they use to rip apart everything in their path.
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 3, Social 4, Mental 4 General Difficulty: 3 / 2
Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 3 Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 4, Mental 4
Exceptional Dice Pools: Streetwise 5, Stealth 5, Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 3
Medicine 5 Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 8, Stealth 5,
Notes / Other Traits: Medicine 5
Incubator: At a dramatically opportune moment, Notes / Other Traits:
the creature inside Cooper bursts out. It’s a Natural Weapons: The teeth and spikes of the
slimy, bloody mass of teeth and claws, intent on Bioweapon cause +2 Aggravated damage.
killing everything around it. Use the Traits for Changeable: The physical mass of the
a War Wolf, p. 107. Its birth kills Cooper. For Bioweapon has a fluid quality to it. Although
added challenge, there’s more than one of the it’s massive, it can also push through air vents
creatures inside him. and other openings the size of a human head.
Shifting from human to monstrous form is
Antagonists instantaneous and doesn’t take a turn.
Delirium: The Bioweapon causes Delirium
in its monstrous form, leading Garou to
Bioweapon Alpha suspect that werewolf prisoners have been
Experiemental projects at Scheldes have recently used somehow in its creation.
found success by taking the mental state of their Foul Replenishment: If there are noncombatant
test subjects into account. By focusing on subjects bystanders present, the Bioweapon can burrow
who are desperate, terrified, apathetic, or otherwise into one of them, bursting out to instantly
in dire straits, they’ve found that it’s become much replenish their Health to maximum. This kills
easier to create prototype enhanced humans. (Also the victim.
known as fomori to the Garou.) Malignant Fury: The Bioweapon is immune
Scheldes researchers have found the process to all supernatural mental influence.
somewhat frustrating as successes are often
accompanied by failures. Subjects who have

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Stories Over the years, Scheldes has done everything

from running drug tests on unwitting prisoners
Scheldes facilities are primarily offices, laboratories,
to organizing bizarre genetic experiments on
and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants. Here are
animals with the goal of creating strange hybrid
some things you can find at a Scheldes installation:
monstrosities. With some of the more compromised
Animal Testing: Scheldes is a big proponent of
labs, all you need is a phone camera and you can
animal testing. After all, you need to test whether
document truly vile practices that are going to cause
drugs or cosmetics are safe before using them on
immense damage to the company when publicized.
humans. An animal testing laboratory is a filthy
Scheldes is also prone to internal secrecy. Different
nightmare of terrified animals screeching in tiny
parts of the company have no idea what their
cages, hysterical with pain. Typical Pentex neglect
colleagues are doing, and sometimes this can cause
means that the animals live under miserable
severe trouble. If a pack of Garou frees the sorry
conditions. Lax procedures cause test viruses to
creatures trapped in the basement, their rampage
spread into the entire caged animal population.
may come as a complete surprise to the people
Often the animals, such as rats or dogs, are so far
working in the offices above.
gone that they attack the players’ characters who try
to save them. Others whimper and cower in fear.
Monsters in the Basement: Experimental, Bane- Corporations and
Organizations
infested drugs have caused test animals or humans
to mutate into grotesque, slavering beasts. Unsure

P
what to do with them, local Scheldes management entex may be powerful but it doesn’t
has decided to house them in cages in the basement have a monopoly on supernatural knowledge
for future tests and trials. Unfortunately for the among human organizations. There are
pack, the creatures escape just as they’re infiltrating companies and organizations that acquire such
the facility. knowledge on their own and use it to defend
Captives: Scheldes always has an interest in themselves against the Garou, or even to go on
unusual test subjects, and what could be better than the offense.
the Garou? Once the players’ characters figure out
that their friends and family have been captured by
Scheldes, there’s no other choice except to free them. Cradle of Care
To do otherwise is to risk them being subjected to
horrifying experiments. Or perhaps it’s the players’ We Care About Families
characters who have been captured and now have to
figure out a way to safety.

Fall
Sometimes being profitable causes its own
problems in an organization like Scheldes. The

A
company and its many subsidiaries carry a
tremendous amount of dead weight, unprofitable n important part of the U.S.
and useless adjuncts, and weird research projects adoption industry, Cradle of Care is a
with no conceivable connection to making money. for-profit agency, ostensibly committed to
The company is also riddled with truly monstrous the well-being of the nuclear family. However, the
secrets that would cause enormous damage organization seems to derive revenue from various
if revealed. other sources.

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Established by Rev. Harry Sharpe in the post- signs of becoming fomori. After all the angels
Korean War period to fund his church, Cradle of don’t ask for much. Just for some help with God’s
Care’s initial mission intended to provide a domestic judgment and holy hatred.
haven for war orphans and G.I. babies, while profiting Adoption is claimed to be Cradle of Care’s top
from the misfortune of both the children and priority, though their system has been dysfunctional
childless couples. Despite its U.S. roots, Cradle of for years. There has been no governmental oversight
Care maintains connections to a worldwide network and no incentive for employees to intervene. Thanks
of agencies that are saddled with the care of children. to decades of bribes and networking with corrupt
Although their clients never directly purchased the organizations, Cradle of Care has a steady supply of
children they adopted, families paid substantial sums young children being brought in from developing
for the agency’s services. When questioned on the use nations, where they fabricate stories about the
of these payments, the agency has always claimed they children’s places of origin and about how the
were directly sent to their orphanages. As time went children came to be in their care.
by, the company branched out into foster care and While some children are adopted by loving families,
partnerships with child protective services. However, especially wealthy families who can provide financial
Cradle of Care still oversees several children’s homes motivation to skip aptitude tests, many of their wards
that can only be described as orphanages. are shipped to foster care in abusive households, where
The inhabitants are often children from low- the workload expected of them is even heavier than
income families, unplanned pregnancies, and before. In these cases, the difference between foster
underage immigrants who got separated from their care and slavery is non-existent.
families at the border. Even worse, many undocumented children are
The staff is tasked with religious indoctrination lost and relocated — often taking part in medical
and making sure the children are educated, but they experimentation, coerced organ donation, and worse.
also have to employ their charges to earn extra funds
for the skeletal budgets. Any child who appears to Personalities
be above the age of thirteen is swiftly put to work
at nearby farms or factories in need of inexpensive Bertha Sharpe
labor. This is made possible through the same labor Granddaughter of the founder and the head of
laws that Cradle of Care’s owners have lobbied to Cradle of Care’s Salem Children’s House, the old
push through state legislation. woman is a tyrant feared by everyone, even her
Furthermore, the company is known for its pro- employees, who dread being in the same room
life stance, leveraging its religious foundation and with her. Corporal punishment for the children
moral posturing to essentially advocate for more is still very much an option in her institution, and
potential “merchandise.” Bertha often uses this as a sort of outlet for her
The religious ideas Cradle of Care professes own frustration, having been pushed out of her
publicly and what it teaches privately are not the grandfather’s project by invisible corporate masters.
same. Outwardly, it’s an Evangelical Christian General Difficulty: 4 / 2
organization, but inwardly some of its most Standard Dice Pools: Physical 4, Social 5, Mental 7
dedicated staff speak of how if the children just Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 6
listen, they’ll hear the voices of the angels whispering Exceptional Dice Pools: Leadership 7,
to them. The final reckoning is at hand and God will Intimidation 8, Politics 8
need his soldiers! Notes / Other Traits:
For many of the unfortunates in Cradle of Care’s The Angel’s Touch: A subtle type of fomor
system, the subtle voices of the angels come as a herself, Bertha has the ability to mark other
relief, even if they bring bodily changes and other humans as suitable for possession. When she

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hurts a human, she can call for a Bane to attempt Because of this, the most effective action against
to possess them. It’s up to the specific nature the organization happens when the pack collaborates
of the victim in question how successful the with human allies.
possession is, but the spirit always pretends to be Many of the children held by the organization
an angel regardless of its true nature. have become fomori, creating an ethical dilemma.
Should the characters attempt to get the Bane out
Stories of them, or are they too far gone, to be considered
already dead?
Cradle of Care is all about the conflict of interest
that occurs when other motives are brought to bear
on an operation that’s supposed to care for children. GeoNatal Inc.
Can you still look after kids if the goal is to make
profit, or serve even more sinister purposes? Earth Reborn
Escape: A small group of teenagers has escaped
a Children’s House run by Cradle of Care and has
sought refuge in the territory of the players’ pack.
They have set up tents and are living off stolen food
but are unknowingly being stalked by dark spirits
who delight in clawing at the trauma that Cradle of

D
Care has inflicted. evelopments in green technologies
Lambs: Local factory farms have seen a spike in are often deemed unprofitable by the
disappearing employees, all of whom are minors construction industry.
from a local Children’s House. The culprit turns So, in the late 2010s, when the Danish company
out to be a Garou belonging to the Cult of Fenris, GeoNatal burst into the limelight as a viable
aiming to weaken the farms by drawing attention green industry business, it was nothing short of
to their labor source. The kids are trapped in a cave, a miracle. Initially, GeoNatal promoted itself
and the Fenrir consider them potential sacrificial by claiming to have a biologically based soil
lambs for their cause. remediation technology that was years ahead of
their competition. Within a year, GeoNatal started
Fall charging for storage and processing of slag and
Destroying Cradle of Care has two major obstacles: contaminated soil, and then reselling the purified
their owners on Wall Street and the Evangelical earth to the construction industry.
extremist movement from which it spawned. However, this remediation process was not nearly
Tearing apart a single orphanage’s staff is going to as complete as their marketing claimed, and the piles
leave a lot of children exposed in the short term. of polluted earth are now growing without more
The most effective way to discredit and dismantle than a trickle of processed material being sold — only
Cradle of Care would be through the systematic enough to maintain a facade to cash in on the green
exposure of the various forms of abuse that subsidies that the government offers to companies
have occurred in their facilities over the past five attempting to clean up industrial refuse.
decades. This involves tracking down paperwork, As a rising star in green tech, GeoNatal draws in a
encouraging victims to come forward, and rescuing lot of idealistic researchers, who only too late realize
children from de facto prisons. All of this must just how superficial the corporation’s dedication to
happen before they are disowned by their faith and ecological benefits is. The company is driven by the
dissolved into assets by their owners. needs of the petroleum corporations that own it and
their desire to monetize their own refuse.

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While appearing as a green crusader to the average affiliated companies, the rot starts at the top. Morally,
consumer, GeoNatal earns millions of euros by this may be the case with GeoNatal, but so far its
just making glorified waste depots. The pace of management has been free of Bane possession.
remediation could be improved if proper funding The real issue is that GeoNatal’s workers and
was allocated to research. However, profits are used contractors are exposed to working conditions
for stock buybacks meant to increase the value for breeding terror and trauma, awakening destructive
their shareholders, or directly transferred to their urges that invite Banes and lead to transformations
prime investors — who happen to be the very same into fomori. They act out in unpredictable ways but
petro-billionaires that pay GeoNatal to clean up the their terror is hushed up by the company.
refuse from their primary industries.
The company first expanded its operations in
Northern Europe, drawn to governments eager to
Personalities
subsidize as much green, progressive technology CEO Elias Faunberg
as possible in an effort to appear environmentally
Elias Faunberg has spent years in the media
minded while not allocating any resources to it.
presenting GeoNatal as the solution to the world’s
With GeoNatal’s early projects proving successful,
problems with clean soil and water.
many eager politicians used them as evidence to help
Faunberg is obsessed with his own public image
their own political campaigns, often intentionally
and spends most of his time away from the office and
overlooking the more troublesome complaints from
the boardrooms. Instead, he appears on talk shows,
environmental agencies and their own departments in
sharing his pro-climate, alternative lifestyle and his
favor of results that appeared within their current term.
beliefs about humanity and spirituality — not to
The toxic soil from mines and factories is
mention the sacrifices he must make to be a reformer
transported to unassuming warehouses across the
inside of the corporate world.
Nordic countryside, where it is processed slowly
Elias’ personal time is spent escaping the hardships
and with minimal safety measures, with exposed
of capitalist conformity, as he attends Burning Man
toxic material poised to seep into the ground or,
with his acquaintances from Silicon Valley and takes
worse, be washed away into local water streams and
trips to yoga retreats on the Mexican coastline.
eventually into the ocean.
General Difficulty: 4 / 3
Newer operations near Thompson, Manitoba,
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 7, Mental 7
have proven to be even more profitable for the
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 6
company. Cheap, defunct nickel mines have an
Exceptional Dice Pools: Leadership 8, Politics 8,
abundance of waste for GeoNatal’s research. Many
Finance 8
of the techniques that have been employed in the
Notes / Other Traits:
more regulated EU have been developed through
Umbral Fanclub: Although Elias is unaware of it,
trial and error in the Canadian wilderness, where
his company has become a focal point for spirits
research laboratories have attempted to refine their of the Apocalypse Wave (see p. 99). Sometimes
methods on the amassed materials. they protect him, but they’re also accelerating his
GeoNatal’s lack of caution has so far been flying company’s ruinous slide into chaos.
under the radar of the IAAC (Impact Assessment
Agency of Canada), resulting in the accumulation of
a mountain of toxic slag. Stories
To the local Garou, GeoNatal’s operations seem to As with Living Earth Logistics, the green tech of
be just another waste dump, but the number of Banes GeoNatal is a reminder that in the world of PR and
flitting around them has been increasing at an alarming advertising, not everything is as it seems.
rate. With many Pentex fronts and other supernaturally Friends in Danger: The director of GeoNatal has

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T
managed to involve himself in the life of a contact of he Pewter Group emerged after the
the pack. Going by Elias Faunberg’s habits, it seems fall of apartheid in South Africa. Numerous
inevitable that the contact will be hurt in some way, investigative exposés and documentaries have
either by him or all the drugs they are being offered. proven the connection between the South African
Mudslide: GeoNatal’s largest depot is collapsing in NIS and the Pewter Group, which was founded after
on itself, with torrents of rainfall sweeping away the Mandela’s election.
foundation. The resulting mudslide is slowly heading Officially, the Pewter Group’s website maintains
towards the local waterways with a pack of Drattosi that they are a conglomerate of several different
Banes (Werewolf, p. 246) possessing the toxic mud. companies, merged in the early 1990s to address
Local emergency services have no way of dealing with mass incarceration issues in the U.S. following the
this themselves. Would the Garou risk the Veil? War on Drugs.
Over the last two decades, the prison-
Fall industrial complex has earned the Pewter Group’s
shareholders yearly profits of several billion dollars,
GeoNatal is a new and untested structure, but it is generated through inmate fees and forced labor.
not hard to figure out where to push. Public image Over a hundred for-profit prisons across the
is everything for an organization such as this and continental U.S. are run by the Pewter Group, and
fighting them in the media space can be devastating all of them are overcrowded, barebones facilities
once evidence is brought to light. The easiest way that only barely qualify as maximum security.
would be to poke one of their depots and unleash People locked in these buildings are incarcerated
an environmental catastrophe, but that would be for anything from speeding to murder. These
counterproductive to most packs. prisons are the perfect environment for an inmate
Their CEO is a weak point that can be turned to get torn apart body and soul.
or exploited by an enterprising pack, as his faux- Once inside, the average inmate earns enough
progressive hobbies involve tantric yoga and infractions to extend their stay for at least three
ayahuasca rituals, leaving him open to being times their sentence. The lack of mental health
influenced through spiritual work by a theurge. professionals and any focus on rehabilitation makes
Better, he might be blackmailed with it almost certain that previous inmates will return.
compromising material of his sexual exploitation of Each prison runs its own services and offers
poor people or perhaps exposing him to the world as labor opportunities meant to work off your debt
a consumer of Kobe steak and foie gras. to society. Most of the workshops are sweatshops,
The hardest part is to get the people who are outdated by decades in terms of safety and
funding GeoNatal, safe behind their billions as their productivity. Refusal to work results in a week
investment crumbles beneath them. This is where of solitary confinement and any psychological
dragging them into the light might work better than assistance must be paid for out of pocket.
attempting to storm their bunkers, as hostile public Riots occur from time to time, and the Pewter
sentiment can make it easier to smoke them out. Group is willing to sacrifice its employees until the
State discovers that riot control is never a part of
Pewter Group Pewter Group’s standard contract — rather, it has to
be purchased at a premium.
Safety, Security, Community Currently, the Pewter Group is working on a
method to prevent unplanned riots by subjecting
inmates to Cognitive Behaviour Modification, a
revival of methods employed by the MK ULTRA
project during the Cold War. The project has been

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supercharged by the fact that individual prison What’s never mentioned is the cells beneath Van Horn.
administrators and researchers have noticed certain It was once a fallout bunker complex but now it is
anomalies in the population. They have come across the Pewter Group’s unofficial death row. The isolated
fomori and even Garou, but their theories of what cells are filled with prisoners that the senior staff
these phenomena really mean are highly idiosyncratic, have declared dead and then transferred down here
almost resembling those of a Wyrm cult. to wait for execution. At times, it is on the behest of
In essence, there’s a secret group inside the wealthy, private clients who, either due to vengeance
company which believes that prisoner behavior or boredom, want to personally execute a specific
modification may lead to startling results of a inmate in the electric chair. More often than not, it is
physical nature. They operate on a confused jumble to harvest organs for sale or medical research.
of research and personal superstition, stitched With all of that suffering, the prison draws in the
together with fantasies of using the prison as the darkest of spirits to the surrounding Spirit Wilds,
ultimate test laboratory of human behavior. So inflicting even more pain. Their victims include the
far, the Pewter staff involved in this proto-cult has few poor inmates who, against all odds, manage to
had some success in creating fomori of its own, by be released.
doubling down on human misery.
As ramshackle and soul-crushing as their normal Personalities
facilities are, the Pewter Group still has worse to
offer. In the late 2010s, the company secured a Sebastian Goodman
contract for a Texas facility in the rural town of Van An apartheid nostalgist and a brutal warden, the
Horn to become the first official, privately operated Afrikaner-born immigrant now known as Sebastian
supermax prison. This concrete fortress, located in the Goodman has refused retirement to maintain
Chihuahuan Desert, has been filled to the brim with control over Van Horn far into his golden years.
inmates deemed unfit for Pewter’s other facilities or While he claims it is due to his love for rehabilitating
prisoners seen as threats to national security, such as justice, most of his employees swear that the old man
suspected terrorists and serial killers. clearly sees himself as the lord of his inmates.
The Van Horn Penitentiary might have Goodman is one of the select Pewter staff inducted
rebranded, but the interior is the archetypical into the secret project of using the facilities for
prison image of concrete covered with peeling research purposes. Although he likes the veneer of
paint, cells with iron bars and floors of broken respectability the researchers create with all their talk of
tiles. The inmates are forced to work over psychomaterial manifestations and radical behavioral
12 hours per day: some make clothing in the testing, his true motivation is the sadistic joy of hurting
sweatshops, while others toil in the sweltering people and being told it’s for a good cause.
desert heat, being tasked with road repairs, General Difficulty: 4 / 2
sanitation, and asbestos removal. Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 7, Mental 6
At the end of the day, the inmates are fed maggot- Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 7
infested imitations of food. Come nightfall, the only Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms 7, Leadership 8,
activity allowed is when the guards drag someone Medicine 7
out of their cell in the dead of night for their “parole Notes / Other Traits:
review.” All anyone hears are the screams echoing in One of Us: Goodman is the focus of a lot of Bane
the cellblock. When pressed for answers, the Pewter attention because of his malignant influence on
Group claims that Van Horn is run according to a his surroundings. He hasn’t become a Bane but
conservative legacy playbook, designed to serve as a there are Psychomachiae (see Werewolf, p. 249)
deterrent for criminals to keep them on the straight in his vicinity, exploiting his work for their own
and narrow. enjoyment and benefit.

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 C H A P T E R T W O : O R G A N I Z E F O R A N N I H I L AT I O N

Atrophy The current turn against for-profit prisons in the

U.S. is a good start to drive in a wedge. However,
In the bowels of Van Horn, something sinister
if denied their current business, the Pewter Group
prowls the hallways at night. Prisoners who spot
would shift to running detention centers for ICE and
the warden’s black hound offer it deals, as if it
apply their current playbook to migrants who have
were a Patron Spirit of the inmates. In return for a
already endured immense suffering on their journey.
blood sacrifice, be it a shiv in someone’s kidney or a
By exposing the conditions in the facilities around
broken jaw in the courtyard, the hound can provide
the country and drawing attention to the Pewter
contraband from the outside world. Atrophy, an
Group’s unsavory dealings, it would become harder for
aging ragabash of the Black Spiral Dancers, loves his
the company to evade accountability for their actions.
little retirement home in Van Horn, and if he gets
As they lose contracts and as investors withdraw
his entertainment from these apes, a few packs of
their investments, it will be time to let the claws do
smokes are a small price to pay.
the talking and tear apart the Pewter Group’s board
General Difficulty: 5 / 3
of directors.
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 9, Social 6, Mental
6, Gifts 7
Secondary Attributes: Health 9, Willpower 6 Enlightened Society of
the Weeping Moon
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 10, Streetwise 7,
Occult 7
Gifts: Eyes of the Owl, Jam Technology, Blissful
Truth in the Moonlight
Ignorance, Open Seal, Scent of Running Water,
Feast of Human Flesh (see p. 174)

Stories
Pewter Group provides a context for prison stories.
Prison Break: The prison in Van Horn is a damn
fortress. However, it’s where an allied pack has been
incarcerated after being caught red-handed, having
lost their Rage and thus the wolf. Can the players’
pack break into the prison and break out their friends?
Signs from the Inside: Recent escapees from the

T
Pewter Group’s nearby facility include more than
he Enlightened Society of the
one fomor among them. What is happening inside
Weeping Moon is a menace the Garou have
the walls, and how can the pack stop it without
long forgotten about. Resembling an obscene
instigating a crackdown?
mix of a human Moon Cult and a Wyrm cult, the
Society views Luna as an embodiment of the Wyrm,
Fall near as the Garou can tell. It’s a bit muddled, as each
The Pewter Group operates prisons across the U.S., chapter of the Society has been largely independent
and simply attacking them with fangs and claws until the past two or three decades.
will not make a difference. The Garou have been in The Society was officially re-founded by the
conflict with this company for years. Even if they independently wealthy Lloyd Fairweather IV
are not directly assaulting Mother Gaia, their pits of and his son Lloyd Fairweather V in the late 90s
human despair serve as prime breeding grounds for and expanded with globalization brought by
Banes and as spawning pits for fomori. the internet. Unofficially, many small chapters

67
WYRMTIDE

had continued in isolation for decades after

the society’s original fall. Fairweather and his
Personalities
son, enthralled by their ancestor’s journals Lloyd Fairweather IV
and writings, sought out all the remnants of
The father is feeling the weight of his years, having
his erudite organization. Their old money and
realized that wealth and comfort are meaningless
advance in technology allowed them to recover
when faced with the inevitability of old age. He has
much of what was previously lost.
come to wish for something to give his life substance
Originally, the Society fizzled out before the First
and purpose, and the Society fits the bill. What does
World War after an old prophecy failed to come true.
old age and death matter if the entirety of the world
The members at the time generally dispersed into
is going to be purified in the tears of Luna incarnate?
other occult or secret societies. Their libraries and
Lloyd holds the highest title in the Society, that
artifacts went with their caretakers or whoever was
of the Most Enlightened Magister and the Grand
able to loot them first.
Unveiler of Secrets.
The Society twists the auspices of the Garou
General Difficulty: 4 / 2
for mortal use, based on the phase of the moon
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 3, Social 4, Mental 8
the initiate was born under. While individual
Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 6
chapters are still reconciling their traditions (or lack
Exceptional Dice Pools: Finance 9, Occult 9,
thereof) with new information being recovered or
Etiquette 7
rediscovered, much of their beliefs center around the
Notes / Other Traits:
moon as a purifying force which will wash away the
Umbral Lore: Thanks to the legacy of the
problems of the world. Society, Fairweather IV is surprisingly
The engine for the Society’s success is that knowledgeable about the Umbra, spirits, and
some of the rituals discovered by the Fairweathers Garou. He doesn’t get it right every time but he
actually work, allowing contact with entities has a good eye for recognizing a shapechanger
beyond ordinary human understanding. This when he sees one. Trying to fool him into
is what has convinced father and son that their believing the characters are ordinary humans has
ancestors were onto something. Their money is a Difficulty of 5 for all related tests.
the real engine of the Society’s spread as it has Visions of the Umbra: Fairweather IV has
made it possible to conduct rituals with a certain taught himself some of the old rituals of the
amount of style. Society. If he has an hour to prepare in his
The Society has a strange relationship with sanctum, he’s able to enact a hallucinogenic
the Garou. On the face of it, it’s a secret club for ritual fueled by his own blood. The ritual allows
those aspiring to greater wealth to meet and have a him to see into the Umbra and communicate
little thrill engaging with the occult, but they also with spirits. However, in his advanced age the
inherited a surprising amount of real information cost of one level of Superficial damage is starting
about werewolves. The Garou are a source of to be too much.
anxiety for the Society, seen as both sacred and
blasphemous, monsters born of Luna yet fulfilling Lloyd Fairweather V
their own strange purposes. A Garou who plays Lloyd V, unlike his father and his father before him,
their cards right could gain influence over the understands the modern world and its network
Society, but none has so far. technologies. His presence among any given chapter
of the Society is largely digital or remote, as he dislikes

68
 C H A P T E R T W O : O R G A N I Z E F O R A N N I H I L AT I O N

having to appear in the flesh. While his father’s goals the faith organizing Garou society is itself so strong?
for the Society are largely spiritual, Lloyd understands Sacrifice: A local chapter of the Society seeks
its potential for power and influence. to attain a deeper communion with Luna, and
The younger Fairweather is much more likely what better way to do that than through the ritual
to seek out the Garou for purposes of his own, sacrifice of one of the Chosen of the Moon? Surely a
although he’ll be unhappy if they fail to fit the role werewolf must grasp that for the purifying tears of
of emissaries of Luna. Luna to flow, an offering must be made?
General Difficulty: 4 / 3 The Worst Allies: At first glance, the reborn
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 6, Mental 7 Enlightened Society looks like potential allies. They
Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 6 understand the world of spirits and respect the
Exceptional Dice Pools: Technology 8, Science 8, Garou. Or at least this chapter does. Unfortunately,
Finance 8 as the players’ pack seeks help from these humans, it
Notes / Other Traits: turns out the Society’s agenda continually sabotages
Official Attention: Fairweather V believes that any common efforts.
fighting your own battles is just stupid. When
confronted with supernatural threats, he’s able to
leak details about them anonymously to government
Fall
More so than the Arcanum (see p. 169), the Society
agencies such as Project Twilight (see p. 172).
Wreck Finances: If Fairweather V finds out the has a very good idea of what they’re dealing with.
official identity used by a character (whether real They have stories and records of moon-touched
or a Mask), he can wreck their finances, making shifters from over 100 years ago and probably some
their Resources inaccessible because of cancelled antique ways of dealing with them — alongside the
credit cards, bank audits and the like. Regaining occasional Bane or Black Spiral Dancer pack to aid
access to Resources requires a Difficulty 4 them.
Intelligence + Finance test. That said, the Enlightened Society of the Weeping
Moon is in a much more precarious situation than
other human organizations that run afoul of the
Stories Garou. Their main strengths are the benefits of their
The Enlightened Society of the Weeping Moon old money members: property, security, capital,
is a chance to look at the Garou from the outside, and leisure time to pursue their interests. These can
through the eyes of humans who see them variously only shield them so much, but any Garou who tears
as saints and demons. How does it feel to be through dozens of armed guards in a ritzy area of
subjected to someone else’s system of meaning, when town attracts a lot of unwanted attention. 

69
WYRMTIDE

70
 CHAPTER THREE: THE POISON SEEPS IN

Chapter Three:

The Poison
Seeps In We are all the Wyrm.
We sing of nothingness and decay, a barrow song for the Mother.
We flay the innocent, eat the weak, and gift greed to saints.
We allow all suffering to sing, a hope for all endings.
We hear only the echo of apathy.
You are the Wyrm.

Low Growl and Ilona Koranyi share a motel room:

Low Growl: We’ll never become a proper pack if you keep hurting people like that!
Ilona Koranyi: They threw rocks and bottles at you. You’re my packmate and my duty is
to protect you.
Low Growl: Okay. First, where was this attitude when you and your sister led those dumb
pups to their deaths? They were your packmates! And second, we have enemies. Banes.
Fomori. Black Spiral Dancers. Zhyzhak. We need to have more Garou than just two in this
pack. And why did I end up with you anyway?
Ilona Koranyi: Those pups wanted to fight alongside us. They wanted to fight Zhyzhak!
How could we have said no to them? And please, I... I can’t...
Low Growl: Ilona?
Ilona Koranyi: I have… Can I ask you something?
Low Growl: What?
Ilona Koranyi: Is it okay if I think of you like my sister? Or not sister, but...
Low Growl: What are you asking me?
Ilona Koranyi: I know we’re just packmates. But I don’t know how to be alone and…
Low Growl: Come here. It’s okay.

71
WYRMTIDE

Samantha, raphat is bound

the se pag es on you r pers on unti l you ’re done with them. You’ve probably noticed She
Kee p
as soon as they leave your possession.
to this document—she’ll incinerate the pages gs, the Wyrm
ile we kno w the trad ition alist s in the old Garou Nation had a tripartite view of all thin
Wh
con clus ion tha t the orth odo x view can not possibly be correct. Moreover, a
included, our tribe has come to the
y in dealing with the
ecte d view is not yet poss ible give n the suppression of Garou orthodoxy and difficult
corr of the spirits, we can
k Spir al Dan cers . As we work to und erst and the nature of this world and the world
Blac for a sensible starting
ly corr ect this erro neo us view . Non ethe less, the orthodox view of the Wyrm makes
slow and through Umbral
t. The se view s, in broa d stro kes , tend to fit with the information gleaned from spirits
poin ere it breaks down,
lora tion , but it is mer ely one fram ewo rk for understanding the nature of things. Wh
exp r, the disturbing
purs ue and deve lop new way s of thin king about these fundamental matters. Moreove
we mus t ounted for. When did
larit ies in the orth odo x and Blac k Spir al heterodox views of the Wyrm must be acc
simi r way around?
Blac k Spir al theo logy infilt rate orth odo x views? Or does the influence go the othe
the things. The Wyld
great forces responsible for the motion of all
The Wyrm is one third of the Triat, three Hellenic and Indian
the Wea ver sust ains , and the Wyr m ends. Parallels can be easily found in both
crea tes,
s. This is a far cry from the dua listic view of order versus chaos found in
religion along with other human faith
more Manichean schools of thought. ion and to
the spirits to those in the remains of the Nat
The existence of the Wyrm is conf irmed via serv e the Weaver, the Wyrm, or the Wyld,
al: man y spir its acti vely proc laim to
those who dance the Black Spir use the names the
as serv e spir its ass ocia ted with the Triat. The spirits, however, do not consistently
as well
ugh the age s. Her ein lies the erro r of the Garou’s so-called Nation: they have
Garou have handed down thro ber of the Triat.
ified all the se nam es as vari ants of the Triat, or perhaps a few aspects of each mem
cod cover term for all
s, the Wyr m is seen by som e as a unit ary entity. By others, the Wyrm may be the
Thu erous names that may
nam es of dest ruct ion, rot, dise ase , and death. The facts that we have are the num
the
ies.
reference the same entity or group of entit Heads of the
major emanations or aspects (the so-called
In the traditional view, the Wyrm has three asp ects of the Wyrm. Sadly, this view quickly
are all ema nati ons of the thre e main
orthodoxy). The lesser spirits ’ll recall my thoughts
mud dled , and the mos t syst ema tic view s are found among the Black Spiral Nation (you
gets language).
deem ing it a nati on in my prev ious miss iv es, even when they themselves don’t use such
on aspects of the
ts, but there are also emotional or mental
Not only has the Wyrm split into three par sometimes referred
m. Eac h of the se maj or asp ects (alo ng with the Triatic and Elemental aspects) is
Wyr ms govern negative
a hea d of the Hyd ra. In add ition to the Tripartite or Triatic Wyrm, the Urge Wyr
to as
and wick ed tho ugh ts. The se Urg es were supposedly spawned by the Wyrm itself
emotions, destructive behavio r,
it was trap ped in the Wea ver ’s web . The truth of the legends is less important
or its three Triatic heads whil e
manifestations fall into.
for our purposes than the categories such ental Wyrm
ms, there are Elemental Wyrms. Each Elem
Beyond the Triatic Wyrm and the Urge Wyr Sludge, and Water
a corr upti on of the clas sica l four elem ents : Air as Smog, Fire as Balefire, Earth as
is r original patron
Tox in. The se elem ents were eith er spa wne d from the Wyrm or seduced away from thei
as use over the
purp ose. We can imm edia tely see it’s odd that smog, a quite modern term, is in common
and
eas ily be con side red radi atio n or even elec tricity these days, yet it remains while
older miasma. Balefire could
miasma has fallen out of fashion.

72
 CHAPTER THREE: THE POISON SEEPS IN

None of these major aspects of the Wy

rm can be interacted with directly, though
once sent a group of 118 Garou to the the Cult of Fenris
Umbra with the goal of slaying Abhorra
incarnation thereof. Predictably, none of , the Urge of Hatred or an
them returned with news of their victory
they ever encountered the Urge of Ha or even confirmation that
tred.
Given their inaccessibility, each of the
se major aspects of the Wyrm seems
often called Maeljin or Maeljin Incaran to have one or more heralds,
a. Such spirits seem to embody the ma
so in a form that can interfere with the jor aspects of the Wyrm, and do
spirit world and thus affect the materia
direct manifestation or possessions are l world—though reports of any
limited to a handful of apocryphal stor
seems to abhor these Maeljin and inst ies. The Black Spiral Nation
ead makes pacts with a variety of pat
Elemental Wyrm in question. rons that serve the Urge or
Note the tendency of the orthodox view
to overly systematize, attempting to ass
particular Urge or Wyrm-tainted Elemen ign each Maeljin to serve a
t. For example, recently the Master of
to both Lethargg, the Urge of Apathy, Stagnation, Thurifuge, is assigned
and the Eater-of-Souls, the Wyrm of Con
associated with a sign of the Zodiac, as sumption. Each Urge is also
though there were exactly 12 Urges. The
a Pictish origin, but that makes no sen names supposedly all have
se given that the names appear to differ
former European colonies, and the Pict greatly outside of Europe and
ish language appears to be lost to hist
is more reminiscent of modern humans ory. The phonology of the names
attempting to read Middle Egyptian tha
language. The consonant-primary root n a naturally occurring human
for the 4-part magical key was likely imp
triliteral roots, and there are numerous orted from Semitic languages
coincidental similarities to English words
unrelated Pictish language. I’ll elaborate and roots unexpected from an
on each of these in a future missive.
Older works and oral traditions lack ma
ny of these associations, as though mos
added in recent centuries. Nonetheless t have been consciously
, this classif ication (mostly consistent bet
Nation and the Black Spiral Nation) con ween the fallen Garou
tains numerous useful elements for cat
manifestations as well as combating it. aloging the Wyrm and its
The error is the reif ication of the tax
as handed down from Gaia herself (or onomy. The categories are viewed
the Wyrm, perhaps, or even the Weave
of Garou minds. The other shif ters, whe r), rather than the creation
re we can find them (and they still ma
hold different taxonomies they also reif intain any traditional lore),
y as the truth. Some of these seem
Garou account of the Wyrm gone ma to conflict with the Traditionalist
d.
My task, and thus yours, is to largely
ignore these classif ications as we develop
Wyrm. We must be precise in recording a new taxonomy of the
the names and aff iliations of each spir
encounter. Withhold judgment, that we it, Garou, or other shif ter we
might better understand the relationship
and Wyrm and their hierarchies of spir between the Weaver, Wyld,
its below them (if hierarchy is even the
traditionalists and the Black Spiral Dan right term). Determine why the
cers share largely the same view of the
clash so much. As the patterns become Wyrm when their worldviews
clearer, and our understanding deeper,
more accurate classif ication among our then we can begin to spread a
own tribe and perhaps the traditionalis
Nation, when it still existed. ts we left behind in the Garou

Yours,
Truth-in-the-Earth

73
WYRMTIDE

The Wyrm and the Occult Associations: Pisces

Pictish Root: B-H-R-R
Various Wyrm cults, Black Spiral Dancers, and
Triatic Governor: Corruption
even Garou theurges have their own theories of
Maejlin: The Duke of Hate
the Destroyer, some of them extremely complex.
Servitor Spirits: Strangling Hands
How much all this categorization and theorizing
is actually reflected in extant spirits in the Umbra
Angu, Urge of Cruelty
is up for debate.
Alternate Names: Anagu
Names can be powerful. Adversaries need
Associations: Cancer
war cries. Descriptions of locations, foul Wyrm-
Pictish Root: A-N-G-W
tainted Rites, and even Wyrm-tainted Gifts can
Triatic Governor: Calamity
be augmented with suggestive occult details.
Maejlin: Caliph of Pain
Numbers and colors become meaningful for the
Servitor Spirits: Bitter Rages, Shattered Harts
enemy and can be sussed out by canny packs.
Here’s a sample organization of Wyrm spirits
Bashkaai, Urge of Violence
found among many cults. It reflects the ideas of
Alternate Names: Ba’ashkai, Bashka-E
Wyrm cultists and Garou theurges more than any
Associations: Ares
sort of Umbral truth.
Pictish Root: B-Sh-K-Ai
Triatic Governor: Calamity
Typology of Greater Wyrm Spirits, or the Maejlin: Chieftain of Rage
Heads of the Hydra Servitor Spirits: Eviscerators

Foebok, Urge of Fear

Triatic Wyrms Alternate Names: Foybak, Föbak
Wyrm of Calamity, Beast-of-War Associations: Capricorn
Associations: The color red, the number six, the Pictish Root: F-Oe-B-K
Wyld, Cardinal astrological signs, Mercury, Spirit Triatic Governor: Calamity
Urges: Pain, Violence, Despair, Fear Servitor Patrons: Hakaken, The Heart of Fear
Maeljin: The Hellbringer, Chieftain of Rage Servitor Spirits: Abliphets

Wyrm of Consumption, Eater-of-Souls

Gree, Urge of Despair
Associations: The color yellow, the number eight,
Alternate Names: Gree-E, Egré, Agreeya
the Weaver, Fixed astrological signs, Salt, Body Associations: Libra
Urges: Paranoia, Indulgence, Apathy, Greed
Pictish Root: G-R-E-E
Maeljin: Thurifuge, Master of Stagnation, Lord of
Triatic Governor: Calamity
Disease Maejlin: The Nameless Angel of Despair
Servitor Patron: Bat
Wyrm of Corruption, the Defiler Wyrm
Servitor Spirits: Grey Masses, Phantasmi, Oubliette
Associations: The color blue, the number seven,
the Wyrm, Mutable astrological signs, Sulfur, Soul Karnala, Urge of Desire
Urges: Hatred, Desire, Lies, Power
Alternate Names: Karnool, Karnoolak, Karénaal
Maeljin: None known
Associations: Sagittarius
Pictish Root: K-R-N-L
Urge Wyrms Triatic Governor: Corruption
Abhorra, Urge of Hatred Maejlin: The Countess of Desire
Alternate Names: Bohrar, Bahroor, Behrara, Servitor Spirits: Embracers
Ab’horra

74
 CHAPTER THREE: THE POISON SEEPS IN

Khaaloobh, Urge of Indulgence Vorus, Urge of Greed

Alternate Names: Haloov, Calub, Urge of Alternate Names: Vurs, Vurus, Worus
Consumption, Urge of Decay Associations: Taurus
Associations: Leo Pictish Root: V-W-R-S
Pictish Root: Kh-L-W-B Triatic Governor: Consumption
Triatic Governor: Consumption Servior Patons: None
Maejlin: Knight Entropy Maejlin: None
Servitor Patron: the Dark Fungus Servitor Patron: Relshab, the Faceless Eater
Servitor Spirits: Raucous Whirlwinds Servitor Spirits: Ooralathim, Scavenger Packs,
Hunger Vortex
Lethargg, Urge of Apathy
Alternate Names: Letgug, Lefegoog, Lethegoog, Elemental Wyrms
Gulathoog Servitor Spirits: Rot Walkers
Associations: Aquarius
Pictish Root: L-Th-G-G Furmas, Essence of Balefire
Triatic Governor: Consumption Alternate Name: Farmoos
Maejlin: The Master of Stagnation Associations: South, Fire, Radiation, Nuclear
Servitor Patron: Whippoorwill Waste, Summer, Yellow Bile/Choleric, Hot/Fever,
Servitor Spirits: Dissonant Gestalts, Drattosi, Dry/Encrustation, Neon green color, Wands/Clubs
Tender Whistles Pictish Root: F-R-M-S or F-R-M or F-R-M-
Maeljin: Lorde Kerne, Master of Hellfire
Mahsstrac, Urge of Power Servitor Spirits: Furmlings, M’ooak
Alternate Names: Mastra, Mastoor, Mastrak
Associations: Virgo Hoga, Essence of Smog
Pictish Root: M-S-T-R Associations: East, Air, Fumes, Spring, Blood/
Triatic Governor: Corruption Sanguine, Hot/Fever, Wet/Slime, Blue-gray color,
Servitor Patrons: The Green Dragon (Destroyer Swords/Spades
of Life, Crusher of Enemies) Pictish Root: H-W-G-A or W-G-A or W-G-A-
Servitor Spirits: Maestri Maeljin: Lord Choke, Master of Smog
Servitor Spirits: Choking Lords
Pseulak, Urge of Lies
Alternate Names: Pasool, Pasoolak, Pasawool H’rugg, Essence of Sludge
Associations: Gemini Alternate Name: Hargoog
Pictish Root: P-S-W-L Associations: North, Earth, Mold, Sewage, Autumn,
Triatic Governor: Corruption Black Bile/Melancholic, Cold/Frigidity, Dry/
Maejlin: Corruption’s Advocate Encrustation, Brown color, Pentacles/Diamonds
Servitor Patron: Kirijame, the Hidden Foe Pictish Root: H-R-G-G or R-G-G or R-G-G-
Servitor Spirits: Oases
Maeljin: Lord Collum, Master of Sludge
Sykora, Urge of Paranoia Servitor Spirits: Rancid Globs
Alternate Names: Sicor, Seekor, Sükar
Associations: Scorpio Wakshaa, Essence of Toxin
Pictish Root: S-Y-K-R Associations: West, Water, Poison, Drugs, Winter,
Triatic Governor: Consumption Phlegm/Phlegmatic, Cold/Frigidity, Wet/Slime,
Maejlin: Archbishop of Madness Purple color, Cups/Hearts
Servitor Patron: Whippoorwill Pictish Root: W-K-Sh-A or W-K-Sh or W-K-Sh-
Servitor Spirits: Scryers, Seeders Maeljin: Lady Yul, Misress of Toxins
Servitor Spirits: Injecta

75
WYRMTIDE

T he Wyrm is a fracta
l shape. One of the
lessons yo u learn danc many
ing the Spiral is that
have the shape of th we all
e Wyrm inside us, no
how great or insignific mat ter
ant we are.
Do yo u wish to look up
on the face of the
Yo u only need to find Wyrm?
a human full of gree
and terror, and there d, hate,
yo u have it. T he fac
human is the face of e of that
the Wyrm.

- Cronus “T he Wolf Ea
ter” Jones,
Black Spiral Dancer th
eurge

to get rid of.

Banes. Th ey ’re a pain er way,
sp en t ce nt ur ies trying to find a bett
We Garou have ssed, th ese
le ss yo u kn ow so m e tricks that I’ve mi
but un once.
rn apart more than
things need to be to essing th eir
in th e ph ys ica l wo rl d while th ey ’re poss
First, if you’re
th en ag ain ins ide th e Umbra — and th en,
target, and st of it away,
lu ck y, yo u mi gh t ma nage to seal th e re
real r you.
th e th ing re fo rm s, it will be coming fo
’cause once emselves
re m em be r. He ll, th ey might even hide th
Th ey Unless you
yo ur sp irit ha s gr own rotten enough .
inside you if th e damnable
ho w to de st ro y it, my advice is to trap
know r.
ay. Preferably foreve
thing and seal it aw
ost Council
Gr ow ls -a t- Sp ec tr es , Th eurge of th e Gh
–

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 CHAPTER THREE: THE POISON SEEPS IN

T
he privilege and the tragedy of the they embody, surging to their victims like moths
Garou is to be able to see the spiritual corruption to a light. Often, a Bane’s work is noticed too late,
plaguing the world in tangible terms. A werewolf and the victim finds themselves succumbing to
can go to the Umbra and bite a spirit. Banes and urges that nourish the spirit in question. Seemingly
Black Spiral Dancers show that the ravaging of Gaia is normal behavior begins to feed an eternally hungry
something concrete, not just a metaphor. spirit of entropy.
This is the fact that convinces so many newly To the Garou, the most effective way to deal with a
changed werewolves that the war for Gaia is worth Bane is often to just prevent them from being created
fighting for. They have their first experiences in the first place. Some Banes are transformed from
with Banes and decide that these monstrosities a stock of regular spirits. A lot of old legends claim
must be opposed. that the Wyrm’s servants kidnap spirits to defile and
The forces of the Wyrm are legion, all the debase them. In fact, it is more often the gradual
more dangerous because they share no central destruction and corruption of the Mother that
organization or identity. Many, perhaps even most, twists spirits enough to become Banes.
don’t even think of themselves as creatures of the Furthermore, what constitutes a Bane is not as
Wyrm, but rather follow their own agendas. clear-cut as some Garou would like. After all, many
A Bane of smog wants to suffocate and is happy spirits are manifestations of natural feelings or
to do so whether that serves the Wyrm or not. A concepts. A storm-spirit may be entirely normal and
Wyrm cultist or a Black Spiral Dancer might believe
in a cosmology recognizable to the Garou, but their
motivations and goals are still their own.

Banes

B
anes are legion. The word is
used by the Garou to denote any spirit
they see as affiliated with the Wyrm,
and they are not in short supply.
Millions of Banes flock to feast on
the human species and their countless
emotions. When the people of the human
world lose hope and allow despair to hold
them down, Banes find a way to hook into
their very being.
In a way, humans and Garou have more
in common with these spirits than one might
assume at first. A Bane is essentially the
distilled expression of the very same self-
destructive drive that has led to the Apocalypse.
They fulfill their purpose without any fantasies of
free will that humans like to cling to, sometimes
even after taking a Bane into their souls and
becoming fomori.
As with most spirits, it’s not within the nature of
a Bane to stop. Banes simply perform the task that

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natural, or it can be a Bane spewing poison rain. The Fear: The Bane believes that the Garou are about
Garou tend to consider spirits of rot and decay as to destroy it and wants to destroy them first.
Banes regardless of the fact that these are perfectly Giving the Bane a recognizable motivation makes
naturally occurring phenomena. it easier to present them as individuals distinct from
In some rare cases, stopping a spirit from completely each other.
turning into a Bane depends on solving the situation
that is gradually destroying them or even repairing the What Is a Bane?
damage to the spiritual world that the spirit depends
The Garou themselves are often divided when it
on. More often than not, the cost is too high, and the
comes to the nature of Banes. After all, what spirit is a
Garou end up destroying the spirit to avoid bolstering
Bane and what is just nature being nature with blood
the ranks of their enemy. If done soon enough, it
dripping around its muzzle? Some consider a spirit’s
might not even reform as a Bane.
negative effect on their surroundings as their primary
The biggest issue arises from the belief that
qualifier, while others have specific criteria that a Bane
if humans cause Banes to form, thus increasing
needs to possess before it can be deemed a Bane.
manifestations of the Wyrm’s power, why are the
Even acts of possession are not a surefire way to
Garou not killing as many of them as possible? It
categorize a spirit as a Bane. In the end, it comes
seems like the most obvious solution.
down to the subjective views of the pack.
The truth is, the Garou have once tried doing
The Cult of Fenris is so engrossed in their crusade
exactly that. It was called the Impergium, and
for eternal war against the modern world and the
even then, the Wyrm was rising. After all, such a
Wyrm, they are willing to destroy neutral spirits of
campaign of death also tends to create the conditions
time, death, and decomposition just to be certain
for more Banes to manifest.
they leave no enemy.
It is the pain of those who live, the imbalance and
Different septs all teach their cubs a score of
horror that feeds the Banes, and perhaps it was the
various signs that the Garou consider indication that
Impergium itself that broke the balance of the world.
a spirit is a Bane — the following are just a few of
No one really knows, but all suffer the consequences.
them.

Storytelling Banes 0 If the spirit leaves behind an unusual

amount of destruction in their wake,
The challenge with using Banes in your chronicle as they are considered a Bane.
the Storyteller is to make them individual without 0 If they bear a mark of a spiral or
taking away from their strangeness. This is why something reminiscent of the Wyrm
that can be visibly spotted, they are
it’s good to remember that they shouldn’t just be considered a Bane.
cannon fodder but should have motivations and
goals of their own. 0 The most conservative septs consider
spirits to be Banes if they act out
Here are some sample motivations. of character, request sacrifices,
Ambition: The Bane wishes to enter the physical or have strange desires. The Cult
world because it believes that it’ll have great of Fenris reportedly has destroyed
spirits for being present in a place
opportunities to fulfill its nature there. where they’re not supposed to be.
Recognition: The Bane is vain and wishes to
be recognized for its efforts. A clever Garou can 0 If a spirit breaches your caern’s
boundaries without asking, it is
manipulate it by speaking to its ego. considered a Bane.
Ideology: A fervent believer in the same taxonomy
0 Many Garou consider any spirit that
of spirits the Garou use, the Bane knows it serves the seems sick or weak to be a Bane, as
Wyrm and wishes to destroy the world. spirits are not supposed to be sick.

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 CHAPTER THREE: THE POISON SEEPS IN

Worshiping Banes a manifestation of the Beast-of-War, although Garou

from the tribes of Gaia don’t like such talk.
It is not surprising when Banes find a place among
The Beast-of-War manifests in many shapes in
humans as objects of worship. In their attempt
the world, or perhaps it’s the other way around
to find any sort of meaning, many humans have
and it’s fueled by many of the most violent
reached out and found a Bane that would be more
phenomena in existence. When mighty empires
than willing to grant blessings to pliable humans.
bomb the struggling citizens of poor countries
Others have made voluntary ties with a spirit, only
and drunken men beat up their families, the
for it to reveal its true nature once the worshipers are
Beast-of-War rejoices.
enthralled and cannot bear to separate themselves
from their personal deity.
Societal pressure, shame, and harm are like candy Wyrm of Consumption, Eater-of-Souls
to the children of the Wyrm. Religion can become We want. We want to consume, we want to own
the perfect excuse for humans to exploit other and we want to destroy. Nothing is ever enough
humans, and as soon as that pattern begins, the for us. There’s always more, and we need to have
Banes begin to nourish themselves. it, no matter what it does to us. Eater-of-Souls
represents the empty hole in the center of the
Wyrm, the endless need driving it forward. It’s
The Triatic Wyrm associated with the Weaver and its desire to bring

T
everything under control and worshiped by Black
he occult mythology of the Wyrm
Spiral Dancer philodox and ragabash who want to
mirrors that of the Triat. Black Spiral Dancer
have everything.
theurges often invoke an aspect of the Triatic
The Eater-of-Souls is the spirit of capitalism, the
Wyrm, one of the three most commonly referenced
idea of endless growth, acquisition, and wealth. When
aspects of the Destroyer. The Wyrm has as many
greed is good, the Wyrm of Consumption smiles.
aspects as there are supplicants willing to invent
them, but the three of the Triatic Wyrm are the
ones often considered to be fundamentally and Wyrm of Corruption, the Defiler Wyrm
cosmologically true. The urge to annihilate is a product of the self.
The Triatic Wyrm may be an attempt to make The Defiler is the Wyrm’s image of itself, a mirror
the Destroyer more understandable in the sense turned into its primal core, and by extension to
that its manifestations are easier to visualize. Still, each of our souls. The Wyrm is us, and the Defiler
nobody ever meets an aspect of the Triatic Wyrm. just makes that explicit. It’s the most intelligent
They’re Umbral archetypes, too vast to be seen or and powerful of the Triatic Wyrms, capable of
comprehended. justifying everything to itself and to you. Every
act of sadism is an act of mercy, every cruelty for
Wyrm of Calamity, Beast-of-War people’s own good. The Defiler is worshiped by
Black Spiral Dancer galliards and theurges as they
Some things don’t need to be complicated. The
make sense of the Spiral.
Beast-of-War represents the Wyrm in its most basic
The Defiler is present everywhere humans exist,
form, as an immensely powerful destructive force
pervading the entire world. It’s there when we allow
barreling through the world and demolishing
ourselves to be vindictive and cruel, when we justify
everything in its wake. It’s associated with the
our sordid actions as righteous and good. The urge
fundamental power of the Wyld and worshiped by
to power is at the core of the Defiler, when humans
Black Spiral Dancers who revel in violence and pain.
compel their brethren to act against their will.
Many of them say that the Rage of the Garou is itself

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Urge Wyrms bodies before their touch turns violent that they

A
have their manifestations in the Umbra too, lurking
lthough the Triatic Wyrms are in the shadows, ready to crawl along the warm skin
powerful, they’re also abstract in their own of someone whose mere existence offends them.
way. Many Garou are more familiar with When possessing a human, a Strangling Hand
the Urge Wyrms, said to represent the various urges is not content to seethe. Hatred is action, and that
comprising the psyche of the Wyrm. Or perhaps action manifests when a person gets their hands on
that’s mere projection, and they’re instead the all- the loved ones they hate. Those possessed are rarely
powerful impulses in the hearts of humanity feeding strong, for the Strangling Hands specialize in the
the Wyrm in the first place. weak victimizing the weaker.
In terms of power and presence, the Urge Wyrms What Does It Want? The Strangling Hand wants
are comparable to the great Patron Spirits of the to strangle. It wants control in the rudimentary form
tribes of Gaia. They’re too powerful to be interacted of being able to touch and grasp and kill.
with personally, but their symbolic and metaphysical Possession / Manifestation: In the Umbra, the
power is felt through the Umbra. Strangling Hand is not particularly conspicuous
The Urge Wyrms are particularly important due to its small size. It looks like a wiry, weathered
for the Black Spiral Dancers, who may have been human hand with unusually long fingernails and
responsible for the names they now have among knotty joints, crawling and climbing. It prefers to
the Garou. In the stories of the Black Spiral stay in cover, hiding from anyone capable of striking
Dancers, the Urge Wyrms make the Wyrm more back. When it possesses humans, their hands can’t
comprehensible, attributing human motivations stay still, often reaching out to grasp.
and emotions to it. Whether this reflects what the
Strangling Hand Spirit
Wyrm is really like or is just an artifact of Spiral
mythology is anybody’s guess. Power: 3–5
Exceptional Dice Pools: +4 Stealth, +4 Brawl
Abhorra, Urge of Hatred Notes / Other Traits:
The Grip of Hatred: If the Strangling Hand
If it’s true that the Urge Wyrms represent different manages to inflict damage, it grasps the throat of its
facets and impulses in the personality of the Wyrm, victim (as long as this is physically possible). After
the origins of Abhorra, the Urge of Hatred, are not that, it’ll continue to cause 2 levels of Superficial
hard to fathom. Being imprisoned by the Weaver damage each turn until destruction finally makes it
caused an enduring hatred of the pattern to erupt, loosen its grip.
making order the prime target for the Wyrm’s Paralyzing Malignance: The hatred emanating
seething enmity. from the touch of the Strangling Hand affects the
The Urge of Hatred is attracted to wherever mind even as it seeks to extinguish the body. All
people start to see themselves surrounded by hostile damage caused by the Hand’s attacks affects both
forces, attributing their failures and misfortune Health and Willpower.
to individuals and groups they come to see as
subhuman and vile. Self-loathing is at the root of In Stories:
the Urge, turned outwards in displays of seething 0 The Strangling Hands have a knack for
malevolence. appearing at the worst possible moment.
When the characters are down, wounded,
Strangling Hands hurting, that’s when the Hand creeps up
their clothes, seeking to kill.
Hatred is not just an emotion. Hatred is the hand
0 Not particularly smart or reasonable,
that strikes, chokes, and reaches out to hurt. There Strangling Hands cannot really be
have been enough such hands caressing human negotiated with. But a desperate Garou

80
 CHAPTER THREE: THE POISON SEEPS IN

might just decide to throw one at

their enemies. It’ll either hide or
try to strangle them too. Strangling
Hands have no allies or allegiances.

Angu, Urge of Cruelty

The story goes that Angu, the Urge of Cruelty,
was born last among its siblings, spawned as a
consequence of the hateful emanations of Abhorra.
Cruelty truly comes into its own with intelligence,
when you go beyond just lashing out in hurt and
anger. Using pain as a tool to get your way and
taking pleasure in it, that is the way of Angu. It
represents the malignant intelligence at the heart
of the Wyrm, the way the great purpose of the
Destroyer has become an end in itself. When you’re
smart, you can enjoy being cruel and then justify it
to yourself and others.
The Urge of Cruelty is always there when humans
use power to hurt others for their enjoyment, when
they design systems purposefully meant to make life
difficult and when pain becomes an end unto itself.
Every anti-homeless park bench is an altar to Angu.

Bitter Rages
See Werewolf, p. 245.

Shattered Harts
Black Spiral Dancer theurges believe Shattered Harts
are spirits of pristine environments ruined by human
activity. Angu remolds them and sets them loose on
the Umbra, where they prey on the weak.
When these Banes want to raid the physical world,
they seek those as in need of vengeance as they are.
They promise to help them get retribution but use
them for their own aims instead.
What Does It Want? Shattered Harts want to pay
back the cruelty they experienced tenfold. It doesn’t
matter who is on the receiving end. They’ll inflict
pain on anyone and justify it later.
Possession / Manifestation: Shattered Harts
in the Umbra are stags made from parts of the
environment they once guarded. Their limbs and
antlers are lopsided in size, as if someone took a piece
of land and squeezed it into the form of an animal

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WYRMTIDE

as quickly as possible. A possessed host begins to 0 Shattered Harts are angry at the
physical world for destroying what
develop similarly lopsided limbs, which become was theirs, furious at other spirits
more visible over time. in the Umbra for doing nothing, and
livid with werewolves for stopping
Shattered Hart Spirit the violence they feel they have
Power: 3–7 every right to inflict. They’d
Exceptional Dice Pools: +2 Athletics, +3 Brawl rather face destruction than deign to
negotiate with the Garou.
Notes / Other Traits:
Balm of Cruelty: When a Shattered Hart inflicts
at least 1 point of Aggravated Health damage Bashkaai, Urge of Violence
for the first time on a character in a conflict, Considering the destructive nature of the
it heals the narrative equivalent of either Urge of Violence, it can first appear in a
1 point of Aggravated Health damage or surprisingly innocuous
2 points of Superficial Health damage. light. Who among us
This effect occurs once per character. hasn’t had to fight for
Punish the Weak: Once per scene, a
what we want, to survive,
Shattered Hart may attack and instantly
to thrive, to flourish?
lower the Health of any Storyteller
And who hasn’t felt that
character with a Power, Physical Standard
it would be so much easier
Dice Pool, or Stamina lower than but
if we could just hit people
not equal to its own Power to
Incapacitated. The target must in the face? Among the many
be within reach of the Bane Urges of the Wyrm, Bashkaai is
or its host body. Storyteller embarrassing to the tribes of
characters Incapacitated this Gaia because it suggests their
way are severely injured or holy Rage has its origins with
knocked unconscious, the enemy.
not dead. At the The Urge of Violence
Storyteller’s is found wherever people
discretion, choose violence over other
this attack methods of dealing with
may be a each other. Hurt, destruction,
source of Rage. Harts possessed by anything from shooting
a Shattered Hart spirit often have someone to full-scale war, it’s
this same ability in the physical all the same to Bashkaai. One
world. of the innovations of modern
In Stories: times has been to remove the
perpetrator of violence from
0 Shattered Harts prefer
to torment the spirit the scene, the distance serving
courts they once lived to make it feel less visceral.
in. They delight in The drone pilot can fulfill
harassing their former the Urge of Violence, killing
allies and exacting
revenge on their enemies. dozens of people, and then step
If their old court outside for coffee.
drives them off,
they’ll go on a rampage
through many courts.

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 CHAPTER THREE: THE POISON SEEPS IN

Eviscerators them useful for a first strike against

the Garou before the Black Spiral
Black Spiral Dancer theurges believe Eviscerators were Dancers head in for the final blow.
birthed from the very first time a throat was cut. Now Some Wyrm cults create Talismans with
they are legion, seeking new targets to disembowel. them, granting their weapons the Sharp
Hook trait.
Eviscerators search for people considering the act
of murder and drive them towards it. Then, they 0 Negotiation or bargaining with
Eviscerators is impossible. They
encourage them to keep at it, finding gorier and
divide everything in the world
crueler ways to end something’s life. into three categories: themselves
What Does It Want? Eviscerators spill both the (who they are all fiercely loyal
mystical blood of the spirits and the physical blood to), meat ready for slaughter (any
creature or spirit), and useless
of living creatures. These Banes want to know how things (inanimate objects that aren’t
many lacerations a victim can stand before dying, weapons). Only actionable threats or
or how far someone’s heart can be ripped out of the promise of an exciting kill can
their chest until it snaps away from their arteries and keep these Banes in line.
veins. When they kill, it’s never clean.
Possession / Manifestation: Eviscerators are Foebok, Urge of Fear
humanoids with bright red flesh marbled with white Often held to be the first of the Urge Wyrms, Foebok is
streaks, as if they had been skinned. Their arms taper said to have been born in the moment the Wyrm realized
off into sharp points of metal. Their jaws contain it was trapped in the coils of the Weaver. Feeling terror
hundreds of teeth in a circular pattern. Their from its unfamiliar confinement, the Wyrm started
bloodshot eyes are distressingly human. thrashing, something that continues to this day.
Possessed individuals manifest deep cuts which Foebok is an Urge of infinite utility. Fear can be
begin on their extremities and spread to the face used to justify anything. Increased military spending
and torso over time. These wounds always bleed. is necessary, otherwise our enemies will surely get us.
Long-term Eviscerator possession is one of the ways I had to shoot first, otherwise he would have pulled
Twisted Slashers are created (Werewolf, p. 263.) a gun! Where fear rules, brutality appears to be a
Eviscerator Spirit necessity. Fear corrodes even the noblest of purposes
Power: 5–9 when those with righteous hearts decide to protect
Exceptional Dice Pools: +3 Brawl, +4 Melee their achievements by any means necessary.
Notes / Other Traits:
Sharp Hook: All successful attacks with their hook Abliphets
hands inflict +0 Aggravated Health damage. When some spirits of buildings are set adrift by
Blood Will Tell: In the Umbra, when an their physical counterpart’s abandonment or
Eviscerator inflicts at least a single point of destruction, they turn to the Wyrm. Abliphets
Aggravated Health damage on a target, the latch on to homes and haunt them, opening them
Bane can find the target wherever they go unless to further Bane infestation.
the target has an active supernatural ability to They seek out houses and apartment buildings full
remain hidden. This effect lasts until either the of life and sometimes try possessing the property’s
Bane is destroyed or all Health damage inflicted owner. When the job’s done, they consume the
by the Bane is healed. building’s spirit and move on.
In Stories: What Does It Want? Abliphets use their
hauntings to weaken a home or apartment’s
0 Black Spiral Dancers often make pacts
with Eviscerators before ambushes. localized Gauntlet enough to attract the attention
Their mindless craving for violence of Banes like Wyrmholes (Werewolf, p. 252.) It
and adept capability for murder makes

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WYRMTIDE

also prefers tormenting the home’s residents, using Safe House as their own. Even caerns
could be taken by the Bane, if left
hallucinations and whispers to drive them into abandoned or improperly maintained.
killing each other, which could create ghosts, whose
0 Not all the spirits the Bane consumes
presence further weakens the barrier. are fully integrated into its body.
Possession / Manifestation: In the Umbra, Some remain unassimilated for months
Abliphets are large, pale, jellyfish-like beings capable or even years. While the Abliphlet
of floating from place to place. A possessed home has itself isn’t interested in talking to
Garou, these unconsumed spirits could
evidence of its tentacles moving through it: ripples provide advice or even be set free to
in the walls, a pale slime in the pipes, its whispers in severely weaken it.
the buzz of wires. A possessed creature coughs up its
pink slime and might develop tentacles of their own
over time.
Gree, Urge of Despair
What is the point? Everything you try is going to
Abliphlet Spirit fail. The birth of the Urge of Despair is said to have
Power: 4–8 occurred late, when the Wyrm had already exhausted
Exceptional Dice Pools: + 4 Firearms (Kinetic itself in the coils of the Weaver. There is no escape.
Fury), +3 Melee, +4 Persuasion Destruction won’t bring freedom. There is only
Notes / Other Traits: degradation and pain.
Kinetic Fury: The Abliphlet uses its control The Urge of Despair is familiar to the tribes of
over a living space in the physical world to use Gaia in the form of harano, the madness that makes
any object not screwed in, nailed down, or part a Garou lose all hope. How can the fight against the
of the space’s crucial structure as a weapon. Wyrm ever succeed when the enemy is in the very
Attacks from these objects are ranged and
hearts of humanity? Such thoughts give Gree its
use the Firearms Skill. If the object is already
power as its saps away at the will of all who despair.
a ranged weapon, it inflicts damage as stated.
Otherwise, the object is hurled at full speed as a Gray Masses
+2 Superficial Health damage weapon.
See Werewolf, p. 248.
Where We Came In: For a number of times
equal to its Power per session, the Abliphlet can Phantasmi
temporarily alter the physical space it possesses,
Most fomori die bloody, traumatic deaths and many
making doors, hallways, or even windows
leave ghosts behind. Some of them find a way into
lead into another area of the building of the
the Umbra. Black Spiral Dancer theurges brag it’s
Storyteller’s choosing.
Malignant Whispers: The spirit’s whispered their dark Rites that guide fomor ghosts to Gree,
words can be heard through the Gauntlet who makes them Phantasmi.
and in dreams, faintly and always at the edge Phantasmi spend much of their time outside of the
of comprehension. The whispers represent a Umbra, usually hopping through the bodies of the
Persuasion attack and cause +2 Aggravated grieving. They rarely attack with a possessed host;
damage to the target’s Willpower. In story terms, these Banes want their victims to know who’s really
humans attacked over time become erratic, harming them.
losing their sense of reality and becoming What Does It Want? Phantasmi seek to make
aggressive. everyone else feel the same despair they do. While
some haunt others indiscriminately, most prefer to
In Stories:
track down their killers and make them suffer.
0 Abliphlets could threaten the homes Possession / Manifestation: A Phantasmus’
of a Garou’s Touchstone, their Allies
or Contacts, or might even claim a default Umbral manifestation is a flowing patch of

84
 CHAPTER THREE: THE POISON SEEPS IN

darkness. When it wants to make an impression in

the Umbra, it shifts into an incorporeal version of
its living fomor form. When it possesses someone,
the shadows on and around their body are longer
and darker. No one has seen a true fomor from a
Phantasmus host; Wyrm cultists speculate a long
possession creates a new fomor of the same kind the
Bane was in life.
Phantasmus Spirit
Power: 4–8
Exceptional Dice Pools: The Phantasmus has a
four-dice bonus to one exceptional dice pool it once
had as a fomor, and a three-dice bonus to another.
Notes / Other Traits:
Fomor Echo: A Phantasmus can use a single trait
it once had as a living fomor, even if its current
incorporeal form would normally make using it
impossible. It functions exactly as written or as
the Storyteller designed it.
Thrive in Darkness: In places of total darkness,
a Phantasmus has a two-dice bonus to all pools.
Shadow Play: In the physical world, a
Phantasmus can choose to attack a target’s
shadow instead of their physical body. Any pool
the target uses to defend themselves from the
attack takes a two-dice penalty. Any damage is
inflicted as normal.
In Stories:
0 Phantasmi use every opportunity to
make their killers miserable. If
haunting their homes or their caern
doesn’t work, they’ll attempt haunting
their loved ones. Some of these
Banes might even attempt to convert a
Touchstone to the Wyrm’s ways.
0 Some Ghost Council Garou claim
Phantasmi experience intense mood
swings, so often their demeanor
changes from vengeful and cruel to
mournful and considerate. These mood
swings cannot be predicted, and they
rarely last long, but they might
help a pack distract or negotiate
with the Bane.

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WYRMTIDE

Oubliette harano is at maximum, the Oubliette releases its

The fear of loneliness claims everyone in the city. victim. If the Oubliette is destroyed in the Umbra,
And it is that feeling that the Oubliette feeds on. trapped victims are released.
It feeds off the isolation in the worst capitalistic In Stories:
hellholes of modern society, creating mindscapes
0 A Garou mentor has been trapped by an
and visions that continue to isolate people from one Oubliette. How far along are they on
another. This, in turn, has created the Oubliette. the path to despair if the players’
As people are more and more isolated through the pack managed to free them?
influence of the Oubliette, it finally strikes as it reels 0 Municipal excavations of the location
them into its trap, a pocket of liminal space on the of a fallen caern cause an Oubliette
edge of the Spirit Wilds — an alley that they never to be released, and it begins seeking
out the friends and families of the
escape from, labyrinthine hallways in their own pack that once locked it away.
apartment building. The Oubliette creates these
tormented hellscapes of solitude, driving people to
give up and embrace nothingness to feed the Bane. Karnala, Urge of Desire
What Does It Want? Garou are defined by their There is something seductive about the Urge of
packs, tribes, and septs. As such, they’re anathema Desire. Is it so bad to want things? The tribes of
to the Oubliette who finds their social ties actively Gaia desire to free the world from the devastation of
offensive. They must be broken apart! human greed. We all desire what’s best for those we
Possession/Manifestation: The Oubliette often love. Surely that’s not an Urge Wyrm?
refrains from possessing anything sentient but Said to have been born out of the Wyrm’s desire
instead manifests inside decrepit buildings and old for freedom, Karnala represents yearning based
machinery. Inside of the Umbra, the Oubliette is a on a desire for gratification at the expense of
slim, many-limbed and faceless creature, with a maw everything else. Nothing and nobody matters as
opening in its chest, revealing a pit of nothingness. long as you get what you need. Karnala feeds when
desire turns malignant, even the most altruistic
Oubliette Spirit
or justified motivations twisting into something
Power: 6–10 selfish, shortsighted, and destructive. After all, even
Exceptional Dice Pools: Insight +3, Persuasion the desires born of love can become the need to
+3, Intimidation +4 control and limit.
Notes/Other Traits:
Manifesting Dread: Once per scene, the Embracers
Oubliette can possess objects near their intended
Many human Wyrm cults believe when spirits
target for the purpose of making them act in a
of love, lust, kinship, or yearning turn to the
menacing manner.
Wyrm, they become Embracers. Some cultists
Nobody Cares About You: The Oubliette always
summon them to humiliate their enemies or to gain
attacks the target’s Willpower instead of Health.
someone’s affections.
It uses Persuasion and causes +2 Aggravated
Willpower damage. Anyone feeling the pangs of an emotional or
The Mirror Trap: When the Oubliette reduces physical desire is susceptible to its influence. The
a target’s Willpower to 0, they are automatically Bane encourages their targets into developing deeper
abducted into a liminal space in the Gauntlet, and more twisted obsessions and to claim the focus
where the target is slowly made to submit to a desire of these obsessions by any means necessary.
for pure entropy. Each day, the Oubliette subjects What Does It Want? Embracers crave
its prisoners to visions of meaningless solitude gratification of all kinds and see others (including
until they break, inflicting a level of harano. Once the people they influence) as a means to that end.

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Possession / Manifestation: In the Umbra,

Embracers appear to be bunches of yellow acacia
blooms or jonquils. They hide on the sides of
trails and emerge from the ground with goat legs
and limbs with eagle claws. Those possessed by
Embracers develop features more attractive to the
culture or subculture they live in. As the possession
continues, these features become more inhuman,
and sharp teeth and claws begin emerging.
Embracer Spirit
Power: 3–5
Exceptional Dice Pools: Insight +4, Subterfuge +4
Notes / Other Traits:
Heartreader: Once per session, the Embracer
scans the surface of the target’s mind for their
current motivation. The target may resist with
a Willpower test against the Embracer’s general
Difficulty; failing the test reveals the motivation.
Ache of Desire: Once per session, when an
Embracer verbally invokes a target’s unfulfilled
motivation during an attack, the successful
attack inflicts +1 Aggravated Willpower damage.
This either stacks with other Willpower damage
or is inflicted in addition to any Health damage.
This may increase Rage at the Storyteller’s
discretion.
In Stories:
0 Embracers are long-term predators.
Once they’ve decided to strike at
a pack or sept, they seek out those
susceptible to their influence in
the social circles around them.
They then spend months or even years
twisting these circles into ones
filled with obsession and jealousy.
Once those social circles fall
apart, they move on.
0 An Embracer claims to be open to
negotiation, but their desperation for
attention comes first. If they feel
spurned, they may pretend to cooperate
until an opportunity to betray the
pack arises. If the negotiation goes
too well, the Bane may become attached
to one or more pack members and begin
influencing their loved ones to make
them their own.

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Khaaloobh, Urge of Indulgence Frenzied Revelry: Once per session, when a

Raucous Whirlwind convinces others to start
Why not just give in? Accept the loss, the entropy, a party, all Storyteller characters in a large local
the chaos. Whether the mess you’ve made of your area (e.g., a city block, a neighborhood, a local
own life or the depredations of others, wouldn’t it park) fall into a hedonistic craze. Supernatural
be easiest just to indulge? Making a thing of it won’t Storyteller or players’ characters of any kind
help, and it’s nicer to just lie down and luxuriate in are not affected. This lasts until the Bane is
your own filth. destroyed or driven away, or for a numer of
The Urge of Indulgence is multifaceted. hours equal to the spirit’s Power.
Sometimes it’s seen to represent consumption or Unleash the Storm: Once per scene, the
decay, the eroding of morals and principles as much Raucous Whirlwind whips up winds in an area
as physical loss of form. It’s strengthened when the size of three times its Power in meters. All
ideals, principles, and best practices devolve into a characters in the storm take a three-dice penalty
morass of shortcuts and selfish shortsightenedness. towards all physical tests. This lasts until the end
of the scene. Characters under the influence of
Raucous Whirlwinds Frenzied Revelry are not affected.
The Black Spiral Dancers claim the Raucous In Stories:
Whirlwinds as their brethren. They say back in
0 Raucous Whirlwinds use the chaos they
the War of Rage, the Garou hunted wereboars
create as a shield and take great
to extinction, and their spirits fled into the Black delight when a pack’s human loved
Labyrinth. Now they eternally celebrate their pact, ones join the party. While they can’t
leaving bodies and Banelands in their wake. control the revelers, they can place
themselves in positions that risk
Raucous Whirlwinds seek out the sybaritic or the Garou harming bystanders en masse.
nihilistic in the physical world and use their bodies
to get the party started. 0 A Raucous Whirlwind always appears
jovial, but Garou that speak long
What Does It Want? The Raucous Whirlwind’s enough with them note a bitterness
celebration feast won’t end until the entire Umbra’s beneath their tone when they try
devoured, and they bring their celebration to the talking to them. They smile, but it
doesn’t reach their eyes. Perhaps
physical world knowing full well their victims’ it’s because the pack’s here to end
indulgence leads to their death. It’s a festival for the the party, or maybe the Dancers are
Apocalypse, after all. on to something.
Possession / Manifestation: Within the Umbra,
Raucous Whirlwinds appear as boars with fleshless Lethargg, Urge of Apathy
heads. Strong, hazy winds surround them, hiding
Nothing matters, so why do anything? The Urge
their true appearance. Possessed hosts’ bodies grow
Wyrm of Apathy is said to have been born in the
gaunt and their eyes develop the pupils of a boar.
late stages of the Wyrm’s imprisonment as freedom
Raucous Whirlwind Spirit seemed eternally beyond reach. Why work for such
Power: 3–5 an uncaring, ungrateful, meaningless world?
Exceptional Dice Pools: Animal Ken +4, Lethargg grows when meaning fades and purpose
Persuasion +4 grows dim. It thrives in depression, whispering that
Notes / Other Traits: the blackest thoughts are the most true. The world
Metal-Shattering Bone: Bite and tusk attacks cannot be changed and all effort is futile. For the
inflict +0 Aggravated damage and ignores Black Spiral Dancers, Lethargg is something of a
mundane armor. problem Urge, as giving in sabotages the plans of all

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of the Wyrm’s servants as well. Because of this, it’s not must succeed at a Willpower test at the Bane’s
particularly popular except among those who came to general Difficulty to resist the lullaby’s effects. On
the Black Labyrinth because they fell to harano. a failure, all physical and mental tests take a one-
die penalty plus the margin of failure for the rest
Dissonant Gestalt of the scene as their body resists both encroaching
See Werewolf, p. 246. fatigue and vivid hallucinations. If the margin of
failure is larger than the character’s undamaged
Drattosi Willpower, they fall unconscious until being
See Werewolf, p. 246. roused by incoming damage, the action of
another character, or the start of the next scene.
Tender Whistles This also works when the spirit is possessing a
Black Spiral Dancer theurges believe Tender physical host capable of singing.
Whistles come from the spirits of dreams, and thus In Stories:
new ones are created nightly. The spirit of a dream is
0 Tender Whistles try to sneak into the
rarely anything more than an ephemeral gaffling, but lives of Garou or their allies by
each has free will and a desire to seek out victims to presenting themselves as helpful allies
bring into their “care.” or instructors of unique Gifts. They
use this opportunity to manipulate
Tender Whistles speak to those in despair and
their victims into retreating from
those with a sense of wonder. They encourage their their duties and into fantasies.
victims to spend less time in the waking world and
0 At the core of every Tender Whistle
more in their dreams, leading them into comas from is a genuine hope or desire, the seed
which they never awaken. of the dream the Bane once was. If a
What Does It Want? Tender Whistles see their werewolf can see through the spirit’s
lies and manipulations, they could
work as hospice. It’s their duty to encourage as many
use that seed to either distract it
people as possible to give up everything, lie down, for the kill or make it reconsider
and dream wonderful dreams before the Wyrm its allegiance.
destroys them.
Possession / Manifestation: In the Umbra,
Tender Whistles have the appearance of a
Mahsstrac, Urge of Power
Considered by theurges versed in Wyrm lore to be
thematically important creature from the dream
the youngest and most sophisticated of the Urge
they were formed from. These forms are fuzzy
Wyrms, Mahsstrac represents the desire for power
and disproportionate, as if they were described
for its own sake. To fully come into its own, it has to
by someone half-remembering a brief image. This
be surrounded by systems and hierarchies that can
quality continues into possession; a victim’s features
be exploited for gain. This is why it couldn’t have
slowly become increasingly hazy the longer the spirit
been formed until the rest of the Urge Wyrms had
lingers in the host.
already been spawned.
Tender Whistle Spirit The Urge of Power is strengthened whenever
Power: 3–5 power becomes a means unto itself, when politicians
Exceptional Dice Pools: +3 Subterfuge, +3 grasp more and more control, when intelligence
Performance agencies break beyond their mandate to attack
Notes / Other Traits: domestic political enemies, and when a schoolyard
Lullaby: Once per session, a Tender Whistle can bully successfully exploits the system to make sure
sing a gentle song with menacing lyrics. A number weaker kids have no recourse.
of targets up to the spirit’s Power within earshot

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Maestri the Maestrus calls off the alliance, is driven

A pattern spider (Werewolf, p. 254) falling away, is destroyed, or if the conflict concludes
to corruption is nearly unthinkable, at least peacefully. If multiple Maestri are in one
according to the acolytes of the Weaver. And yet, group, only one may use this ability.
by what Black Spiral Dancer theurges believe to be In Stories:
Mahssstrac’s intervention, sometimes they separate
0 Maestri prefer to avoid facing
from the Weaver’s will and choose the Wyrm, their enemies without either plenty
becoming Maestri. of backup or at least one trick
Maestri seek the ambitious and the ruthless up their sleeve to even the odds
against a Garou pack. Since their
and grant knowledge to achieve their dreams. appearance is similar to a pattern
Then, they blunt their empathy to ensure direct, spider’s, Black Spiral Dancers
amoral methods. prefer using them for reconnaissance
What Does It Want? Maestri create and sometimes as a second opinion on
their strategies.
individualized plans with three common factors.
They ensure their plans quickly advance the Wyrm’s 0 The Maestri are truly dedicated
to the Wyrm. Some remain loyal
encroachment on the planet, they carry them
because it’s the first time they’ve
out with a highly organized conspiracy, and they ever had a chance to choose their
always possess a human or creature to serve as the own allegiance, while others fear
“mastermind.” abandoning the Wyrm would force them
back into the Weaver’s servitude.
Possession / Manifestation: To the untrained This doesn’t mean they won’t
eye, a Maestrus is identical to a pattern spider, negotiate if they believe the pack
but it has visual tells that associate it with the can further their plans.
Wyrm. These range from spiral patterns on the
abdomen to web strands consisting of rotting Pseulak, Urge of Lies
meat. Possessed humans’ and animals’ pupils shift
The very first lie told by the Wyrm was to itself,
into a honeycomb shape, which may lead to full
trying to pretend it hadn’t failed to contain the
compound eyes over time.
Weaver. Out of this self-deception Pseulak was
Maestrus Spirit born. It is the Urge Wyrm of lies, regardless of
Power: 3–8 whether you’re lying to others or yourself. Its
Exceptional Dice Pools: Leadership +3, Politics influence can initially be minor: We all need white
+3. Maestri may also have any exceptional dice pools lies to survive. Who really wants to dwell on all
they had as a pattern spider. of our failures? Better come up with stories that
Notes / Other Traits: let us off the hook. The subtle nature of Pseulak’s
Maestri have access to the pattern spider power is in how those stories build and grow
Enweb ability. until they’ve become all-encompassing untruths
Web of Coordination: Once per conflict, trapping us within.
when a Maestrus fights alongside allies, the The Urge of Lies gains power from small human
Storyteller may declare a number of allies up to fibs and extravagant corporate and government
the Bane’s Power as its subordinates. As long propaganda. Every time a politician lies to start a
as the Bane remains in verbal or visual contact war or a prophet uses God to justify their personal
with their allies, increase the Difficulty of tests excesses, Pseulak smiles in contentment.
to catch or fight any ally by 1. This lasts until

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Oases
Black Spiral Dancer theurges claim when a caern’s Simulacrum
physical location is destroyed, Pseulak transforms its A hideous replica of a caern’s past resident,
spirit into an Oasis. It plants itself in the Umbra and created by an Oasis.
waits to entrap an unsuspecting guest. General Difficulty: 3 / 2
Oases rarely exist outside of the Umbra unless Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 3,
summoned by an ally or pulled in through a Mental 3
Wyrmhole. There, they might find someone as Secondary Attributes: Health 3, Willpower 3
discarded and lonely as they are and take their body. Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 6, Stealth 7,
What Does It Want? Oases want to feel like Persuasion 5
places of power again. Entrapping, starving, and
killing their guests brings back that feeling, but
In Stories:
never for long.
Possession / Manifestation: Oases are 0 Oases lie along dangerous pathways
in the Umbra to tempt travelers.
indistinguishable from other parts of the Umbra,
If the promise of a place to rest
save for a yellow-gray ooze beneath the ground on an arduous journey doesn’t work,
and any other natural surface. In the physical their simulacra might fake needing
world, people they possess start to appear as an assistance.
amalgamation of every former resident. Possession 0 Oases are firm allies with other
might cause physical features of these residents to forces of the Wyrm. Banes and Black
sprout on the host’s body. Spiral Dancers alike use the land it
resides on as hiding spots. A Garou
Oasis Spirit pack would need a strong incentive,
such as the possibility of becoming
Power: 3–5 the spirit of a new caern, to
Exceptional Dice Pools: Insight +3, Persuasion +4 convince it to join their side.
Notes / Other Traits:
Foul Core: Every Oasis contains a hidden,
symbolically appropriate “core,” such as an
Sykora, Urge of Paranoia
ancient stone marked with defaced runes. The Wyrm changed as it was trapped in the Weaver’s
Attacking this core inflicts Health damage on it. coils. It came to understand that its Triatic brethren
No Exit: All tests related to attempts to escape had betrayed it. They wanted to see it contained,
the Bane face a two-dice penalty, in addition destroyed, lost. That the Weaver was fulfilling its
to any other penalty already applied to the test. function in its own way or that the Wyld wasn’t
This effect lasts until the Oasis is destroyed or it really part of it at all didn’t matter. Once the
permits its guests to leave. Urge Wyrm of paranoia does its work, all become
Like Drinking Saltwater: While inside the potential enemies.
Oasis, relieving hunger or thirst is impossible Sykora grows powerful with each preemptive
without supernatural aid, no matter how much strike, bombs falling because the enemy has been
food and drink a character consumes. construed as so malignant that only an attack will
Simulacra: When the Oasis’ core is suffice. It feeds when fear erodes the bonds between
threatened, the Oasis may spend a point of people, turning all against all. It particularly loves
Willpower to summon a number of hideous surveillance and secret plots, as nothing breeds
replicas of any residents that once lived in paranoia quite as much as when they’re really out to
the lost caern up to the Bane’s Power (see get you.
Simulacrum sidebar, to the right).

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Scryers
See Werewolf, p. 251.

Seeders
Seeders are born from faith spirits who forsake the
beliefs that created them to instead pay homage to the
Wyrm and receive its blessings. They plant seeds of
worship among spirits, humans, and werewolves. Many
Wyrm cults were founded by a Seeder in a human’s
body. Some Black Spiral Dancers claim a Seeder guided
the White Howlers through the Black Labyrinth.
These Banes seek individuals both in sync with
the Wyrm’s focus on decay and charismatic enough
to draw others to them. Even when possessing a host,
they rarely puppet them, instead feeding the secrets
of the Wyrm into their minds.
What Does It Want? Seeders want the Wyrm’s
final victory to occur when the dying Gaia and
her soldiers least expect it. Communities of its
worshippers should arise when the Garou least
expect it, so they know its victory is inevitable.
Possession / Manifestation: Seeders are
humanoids dressed in the vestiture of a dominant
faith or religion in the court they were formed
from. Their heads are shining orbs of light, and
their voices are always in echo. Though their forms
are glorious, elements of the Wyrm seep through
as they evangelize. It’s equally likely for a Seeder’s
clothing to develop the Despoiler’s imagery as it is
for the Bane to develop stigmata that oozes pus and
detritus. These unique elements carry into those
they possess.
Seeder Spirit
Power: 3–5
Exceptional Dice Pools: Performance +4,
Persuasion +4
Notes / Other Traits:
Unsettling Faith: When a Seeder has eye contact
with a target and utters a statement about the
Wyrm and its goals the Bane believes is true, this
is a +3 Superficial Willpower damage weapon in
social conflict.
Clarion Call: Once per session, the Seeder
cries for assistance. A number of other kinds of
Banes equal to the Seeder’s Power arrive on the

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next turn or when dramatically relevant. When gestated beneath the earth — born out of all the
possessing a host, this may either be Banes or greed, poison, kidnappings, and hatred that had
corporeal Wyrm adherents. amalgamated during the famine.
In Stories: It awoke several times afterwards, and just as many
times, the Hunger Vortex was defeated by scores
0 Seeders can become major figures in
a location’s Umbral court. They use
of theurges working together despite their tribe
their social standing to quietly and differences, sacrificing themselves to save their
convert other spirits and await peoples from starvation.
opportunities to find a suitable host. As the wildfires of today rage and crops wither
0 Even in the heat of battle, Seeders without water, the Hunger Vortex stirs once more
display an openness to negotiate. beneath the dust of the Californian desert. The
It’s a trick; any parley is just an
opportunity to instill feelings of
question is whether there are any packs that have
doubt. Only a deft tongue and a true the knowledge and the courage to fight it and send it
dedication to Gaia can shake the back to sleep.
Bane’s steadfast belief in the Wyrm. If the Bane is still asleep, it is possible to perform
the Rite of Binding to keep it locked away for
Vorus, Urge of Greed another summer. If it wakes up, the Hunger
What is yours should be mine. It’s downright Vortex’s defeat will require answers found in the
offensive that you have something I want and you deepest Umbra, a type of journey that will often
refuse to give it to me. How dare you? involve self-sacrifice.
The original impulse for greed doesn’t have to be What Does It Want? Everybody and everything
so sinister. The Urge Wyrm of greed was born when consumes things around them. This is a simple fact
the Wyrm sought to bring everything back under its represented by the Hunger Vortex. What makes it
control, grasping at the webs of the Weaver spiraling interesting is that hunger can consume so much
wildly out of control now that there was nobody to more: culture, ideas, a whole people.
prune them. For humans, ambition, the desire to Possession/Manifestation: When the Hunger
establish oneself, even charity can twist into greed in Vortex takes someone’s body, they become dried
the right circumstances. After all, to give to others out, and their body slowly consumes itself. That
one must first acquire for oneself. possession can last for years, and the hosts just grow
more emaciated. When manifesting as itself, it is a
Ooralath colossal vortex of dark dust with faces and shapes
See Werewolf, p. 249. of countless stolen lives that can be seen contorting
within. Around it you can sense inescapable hunger
Scavenger Packs and desperation.
See Werewolf, p. 250. Hunger Vortex Spirit
Power: 12
Hunger Vortex Exceptional Dice Pools: Alertness +2, Occult
All types of Banes thrived during the Californian (History) +4, Brawl +2
genocide of the Indigenous population. Starvation Notes/Other Traits:
was one of the biggest killers, reaching far and Twisting Hunger: The Hunger Vortex can twist
wide. So many starved to death that the numerous a body into experiencing hunger on a scale
Scavenger Packs turned on other Banes to sate their that most people cannot fathom. Test Power
hunger. The frenzied horde of Banes kept eating against a Difficulty equal to the number of
until they consumed even themselves. Out of that targets present. If successful, all targets take 1
ouroboros, the Hunger Vortex was created as it

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level of Superficial Willpower damage. If their players’ pack ventures into the Umbra
and sees that this is an example where
Willpower runs out, they’re immediately driven urban decay and the Hunger Vortex have
to eat anything even vaguely edible. This may formed a feedback loop spiraling into
mean attacking former allies. the Apocalypse?
Many Faces: The Hunger Vortex can possess
a number of humans equal to its Power, raising
all of their General Difficulties to 5 / 3. The 5 Elemental Wyrms

T
in that General Difficulty represents physical
he basic building blocks of the
pools in particular. Possessed humans seek to
eat as much as they can even as they continue to physical world are earth, fire, water, and air, at
starve. Sometimes the Vortex lets its possessed least in the Umbra where ideas matter more
humans run wild, eating what they can, but it than the banal realities of atomic structure. These
can also use them more intelligently, typically to elements have their counterparts in the Elemental
organize the waste of as much food as possible. Wyrms, degraded and poisoned elements that
To this end, ideal victims include city planners, increasingly replace whatever might still remain
managers in food logistics companies, truck unspoiled in this world.
drivers and similar people who handle the mass Theurges and other occultists among the tribes
transport of food. of Gaia and the Black Spiral Dancers both have
Take It All: Once the Hunger Vortex stays in a tendency to treat the cosmological shape of the
a region for more than a week, the food begins Umbra as eternal and unchanging. The reality
to taste bad and grain rots in the silos. What’s is quite different, as the spirit shadow follows
more, humans in the area start to lose any spark the changes that affect the physical world. This
of creativity they might have had, getting stuck is especially apparent in the Elemental Wyrms,
in old dead-end patterns. Libraries stand empty, which represent quite modern types of industrial
children’s schoolwork suffers, and individual devastation.
identity comes to mean less and less as worry over
sustenance takes over all. Recognizing the effect Rot Walkers
requires an Intelligence + Occult test at a Difficulty The work of an Elemental Wyrm is often heralded
of 5. It’s hard to see because it can be mistaken for by Rot Walkers. Formed from ambitious spirits
the general malaise of the rising Wyrmtide. of decay looking to join the winning side, they’re
Minions of Hunger: The Hunger Vortex can fused with their master’s element and seek out
create scores of Scavenger Packs through its Wyrm allies to assist.
restless dreams. Each night, it can create its own Rot Walkers aren’t interested in what they see
Power’s worth of Scavenger Pack Banes.
as the slow process of possessing living people and
In Stories: exclusively take corpse bodies, which always succeeds.
0 The Hunger Vortex is stirring, plants What Does It Want? Rot Walkers want their
are drying out, and the local Banes respective master’s element to overwhelm the world.
are in a state of panic. Does the They see themselves as vanguards of the Wyrm’s
pack spend time investigating the
source of their woes, or do they
victory. They also seek the respect of allies of the
exploit the frenzied panic of their Wyrm ascendant.
foes to strike a devastating blow? Possession / Manifestation: Rot Walkers in
0 Everything is falling apart in the area the Umbra are their master’s element formed
of the characters’ pack. People hoard into a centipede. Each possessed corpse has a tell
food in their homes and supermarkets influenced by their element like crying sludgy tears,
get robbed on a weekly basis. Libraries
bearing swollen veins, or taking on a scorching
and theaters close. How long before the

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body temperature. Long-term possession of a corpse Sludge: The Putrid Remnant vomits sludge onto
creates the Putrid Remnant fomor. the target’s wound. The damage inflicted by the
wound cannot be healed until the end of the conflict.
Rot Walker Spirit
Toxin: The Putrid Remnant injects potent
Power: 2–8 venom in the target’s veins. The next turn,
Exceptional Dice Pools: Athletics +4, Brawl +3 they receive 4 Superficial Health damage as the
Notes / Other Traits: venom spreads in their system.
Corpse Knowledge: A Rot Walker has limited access
to the corpse’s memories. When making Mental or In Stories:
Social tests related to Skills its host used in life, it 0 A Rot Walker’s function for the
has a dice pool bonus of half its Power, rounded up. Wyrm’s forces depends on the freshness
Elemental Outburst: Once per scene, the Rot of the corpse they possess. Barely
ambulatory rotted corpses serve as
Walker makes an attack powered by its element bait for a trap or distraction or
that strikes a number of targets in its reach up to its a body to keep between the pack and
Power. This +1 Aggravated Health damage weapon more important forces. Freshly dead
is defined by the Elemental Wyrm the Bane serves: or slightly rotted corpses serve as
reconnaissance, deceiving humans, or
Balefire: The Rot Walker becomes unbearably
getting a Garou to think twice if
hot and bright, causing a radiation burn. they knew the body when it was alive.
Smog: The Rot Walker expels smog from every
0 Rot Walkers have no solidarity and
orifice and open wound, injuring targets’ lungs. never miss an opportunity to one-up each
Sludge: The Rot Walker’s veins burst, releasing other. Each are rivals with brethren
a sludge filled with stone, glass, and other debris who serve another Elemental Wyrm.
that injure or cut.
Toxin: The Rot Walker lacerates targets with
its venomous claws.
Furmas, Essence of Balefire
Fire is the purest of the elements, burning away
Putrid Remnant Fomor
anything that might compromise its clarity. Or so
General Difficulty: 4 / 2 naive Garou used to think, before the existence
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 2, Mental 4 of the Essence of Balefire proved them wrong.
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 2 Furmas is not content to burn. It twists, changes,
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl (Biting) 9, Melee 8, and degrades everything it touches. It is formed
Intimidation 7 deep beneath the earth as natural nuclear reactions
Notes / Other Traits: give birth to radiation, nuclear fire afflicting people
Sickening Bite: When the Putrid Remnant with weakness, disease, and death. What was
inflicts Health damage on a target with a bite, rare in nature has become much more common
the Putrid Remnant may spend a Willpower after humanity has used the atom for power and
level to infuse the damage with the Bane’s
destruction. Nuclear waste disposal sites are sacred
associated element. The attack now has an
to Furmas.
additional effect depending on the element:
Balefire: The Putrid Remnant’s radioactive core Furmlings
sets the target’s wound on fire. +1 Aggravated
See Werewolf, p. 247.
Health damage; the fire may spread if not put out
by mundane or supernatural means. M’ooak
Smog: The Putrid Remnant exhales a cloud of
M’ooak emerge from balefire and are seen as
smog in the target’s face after biting. For the next
Banes from their very formation by both Wyrm
turn, they receive a three-dice penalty to Physical
and Mental tests as they struggle to breathe. worshippers and Garou. Black Spiral Dancer
theurges believe these Banes serve as agents of

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change, empowered by their nature as spirits of In Stories:

radiation’s ability to melt and mutate. 0 M’ooak are impulsive; the temptation
While they rarely interact with humans or to burn or warp something right now
animals, those wrestling with deep frustrations or is too powerful to pass up. Black
Spiral Dancers employ them as either
harboring a desire for destruction might fall under semi-controllable shock troops or
their influence and desecrate landscapes in the name distractions to help them escape when
of “stirring things up.” the Garou gain the upper hand.
What Does It Want? M’ooak despise the status 0 M’ooak feel little loyalty to other
quo. They destroy and distort for the joy of it; an Wyrm forces and can be manipulated
environment or person getting warped beyond all into short-term deals with the
promise of consequence-free violence
recognition is its own reward. on an enemy. After a deal, they might
Possession / Manifestation: In the Umbra, warp or obliterate a stable part of
M’ooak are a substance with a viscosity somewhere the pack’s life as a “parting gift.”
between oil and napalm. They have intense
luminescence, often in sickly reds and greens. Hoga, Essence of Smog
They stick to surfaces incredibly well, burning
Why does air have to be so transparent and fresh?
or changing them as they ooze across. Possessed
Wouldn’t you rather have fumes, noxious clouds,
victims’ flesh becomes hot to the touch and morphs
smoke and smog? If you’re coughing your lungs out,
into a leathery hide.
you have truly taken Hoga, the Essence of Smog,
M’ooak Spirit into your body. The counterpart of the element of
Power: 4–8 air, Hoga obscures vision, clouds the intellect, and
Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms (Balefire) +3, turns everything into a damp miasma.
Survival +4
Notes / Other Traits: Choking Lords
Melting Touch: Once per physical conflict, when Sometimes the smallest spirits have the biggest egos. The
a M’ooak inflicts an amount of Aggravated Choking Lords, self-named, are the size of tiny birds,
Health damage equal to or greater than the proud to spread the rule of Hoga through the Umbra.
target’s Stamina, the Bane may melt an object on They see the air as the most fundamental element that
the target’s person that is neither a Talisman nor animates all living things. According to them, it even
protected by a Gift, Rite, or other supernatural keeps the spirits in motion, although that doesn’t jibe
means. This object is instantly destroyed. with the self-understanding of most other spirits.
Scorched Shadow: Once per session in the The Choking Lords move in groups, chattering
Umbra, the M’ooak unleashes a blast of intense quietly with each other, judging and commenting
radiation in its general vicinity (e.g., an enclosed on everything in their vicinity. They’re mean and
area or a significant portion of an open area, snobbish, smugly superior in their intangibility.
like the Umbral reflection of a room or a forest What Does It Want? The Choking Lords want
clearing). This area is now on fire, and any tests
to fill the world with smog which will choke out
to traverse or escape take a three-dice penalty.
everything except the superior beings able to survive
Direct exposure to flames inflicts damage like
in such an environment. They can’t help ridiculing
fire in the physical world (Werewolf, p. 128.)
entities who need to breathe passably clean air.
Balefire: +0 Aggravated Health damage.
Possession / Manifestation: As Banes in the
Umbra, the Choking Lords look like small, black,
mean birds made of wisps of smoke. They’re
translucent and would be hard to spot if not for their
incessant, mean-spirited chattering. They like to

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possess fumes and currents of polluted air, almost

invisible in the physical world.
Choking Lord Spirit
Power: 2
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl (Choking) +4,
Persuasion (Annoying) +2, Occult +3
Notes / Other Traits:
Insubstantial: The Choking Lords are wisps of
air. They can’t be hurt by conventional attacks.
The only physical attack that hurts them is to
spray them with clean water or air, which causes
+2 Aggravated damage.
Choking: The Choking Lord attacks by
making it impossible to breathe. If they succeed
at an attack, they cause their opponent to choke,
causing a level of Superficial damage each turn
until the victim takes an action to clear their
throat. This requires a successful Strength +
Stamina test at a Difficulty of 3. Enemies who
don’t need to breathe are immune to their
attacks.
Braggart: The Choking Lords are inveterate
braggarts. Tricking them into revealing more
than they should requires a Manipulation
+ Persuasion test at a Difficulty of 2, and if
the margin is 2 or more, the facts revealed are
completely true. Otherwise, success reveals a
mixture of fact and embellishment.
In Stories: contaminated earth. If nothing grows there or plants
0 A group of Choking Lords has come up stunted and twisted, it’s safe to say the ground
convinced an inexperienced Garou pack has given over to the Essence of Sludge. H’rugg is
that they’re mighty Wyrm spirits. How particularly hated among many Garou because it’s seen
to let the pups down gently and tell
them that there’s little glory to be
to represent the corruption of the very body of Gaia,
had in this fight? turning it into a festering, rancid husk.
0 Choking Lords have annoyed their
Wyrm allies so badly that they seek
Rancid Glob
protection from the Garou. Is there It’s hard to say what the Rancid Glob is, precisely. It’s
something to be gained here, or are a misshapen, irregular mass the size of a large dog,
they just going to be a nuisance? ambulating on improvised protrusions. It leaves oily,
organic residue behind, with the sickening smell of
H’rugg, Essence of Sludge unidentified organic matter in an advanced state of
Eventually all earth, soil and rock is going to be sludge. decomposition.
That’s the promise of H’rugg, gaining power as it What’s important is that for a Bane of oily, festering
does from fecal matter, chemical waste, landfills and decay, the Rancid Glob is quite cheerful. It likes the
idea of throwing its weight around in new, unspoiled

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WYRMTIDE

environments because everything it touches also turns 0 A group of local teenagers have been
hassling people for years. That’s
rancid. Spread the love, that’s the motto of the Glob. not news. What’s unusual is that
Individually, Rancid Globs are not particularly they seem to be leaving behind oily
dangerous, at least to a Garou warrior. The trouble is fingerprints and their pranks are
growing more aggressive.
that where one goes, others follow. Their lemming-
like behavior is one reason why so many swarm in
the Apocalypse Wave. Wakshaa, Essence of Toxin
What Does It Want? The Rancid Glob wants to Why should the sea be full of life? Wakshaa, the
touch you. Just a little touch. It won’t hurt! If you Essence of Toxin, is the counterpart to the element
refuse, the Glob is crestfallen. Why don’t you want it? of water, representing the way rivers, seas, and
Possession/Manifestation: The Glob wants to lakes turn into lifeless, toxic repositories of liquids
inhabit you, emerge into the physical world, and antithetical to life. Wakshaa works in ways great
touch even more things. Surely there’s something and small, from the vast amounts of toxic chemicals
you’ve always wanted to touch, but haven’t been spilled into the waterways from industrial plants to
allowed to? The Glob will help you out! The only drugs and alcohol which poison individuals bit by
downside to being possessed by the Glob is that bit. Many Black Spiral Dancers celebrate Wakshaa
you’ll never feel clean again. simply by getting wasted.
People and animals possessed by the Glob tend to
look greasy, glistening, and sick. Injecta
Rancid Glob Spirit Isn’t it so seductive to imagine being injected with
Power: 3 vile poisons which ravage your body from the inside?
Exceptional Dice Pools: Survival +3, Stealth +3 The Injecta are not about recreational drugs or
Notes/Other Traits: chemicals with both positive and negative effects.
Where One Goes: If a Rancid Glob has managed No, it’s a spirit of pure chemical self-destruction.
to possess something in the human world, Its siren song is that of lethal injection, whether
other Rancid Globs are able to instantly possess in the context of an execution or in less formal
humans, animals, and inanimate objects in the circumstances.
vicinity. This means that one Glob tends to lead Among the various spirits and other entities
to an avalanche of possession, with a dozen or serving the Wyrm, Injecta cause many problems.
more Banes suddenly coming over. They’re seen as status symbols in many Bane
Oil Is Love: If a Glob manages to touch courts because of their allure, but they have no
something, it leaves behind a vile residue. As compunctions about luring their closest allies to self-
long as the residue is on the target, it’ll inflict an destruction.
unhealable level of Aggravated damage. Getting What Does It Want? The Injecta seduce their
rid of the residue and thus the damage requires a victims into destroying themselves. They speak the
thorough scrubbing. This effect is not cumulative. poetry of oblivion, of needles and poison and skin.
In Stories: Those most susceptible to their message tend to be
fomori and Black Spiral Dancers, who have already
0 At face value, the Glob doesn’t
appear particularly malignant. It can glimpsed the sweet nothing promised by the end of
even be downright friendly, helping all things.
those who can stand its presence. Possession / Manifestation: The Injecta look like
This means that sometimes possession
young, vibrantly beautiful humans full of life, but
can go unnoticed until the new human
host has become a full-fledged fomor, you just know they’re bad news. There’s an element
calling others of its kind. of cruelty in their eyes, and then there are the needles
coming out of their fingers, ready to inject. They like

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to possess beautiful people, and the result is much local, unconcerned with any sort of a bigger picture.
the same as in the Umbra. But that’s not always true.
Injecta Spirit
Human greed and misery are leaving their
mark on the Umbra all over, acting like a beacon
Power: 6–8
for a certain type of a spirit. If you wish to revel
Exceptional Dice Pools: Persuasion (Seduction)
in degradation and loss, break through into the
+2, Medicine +2, Streetwise +2
physical world and enjoy.
Notes / Other Traits:
Spirits are not human and often they’re hard
Subtle Injection: In intimate circumstances,
to understand. They have their own societies and
Injecta may use Persuasion to inject poison into
their victim without being noticed, opposed
by the character’s Composure + Awareness. It Th e Umbra is th e sh ad
ow of th e
causes a level of Aggravated damage for humans
ph ysical world. It am
and Superficial damage for Garou per turn for plifies,
three consecutive turns. New injections cause distorts and re fle ct
more damage. The poison is painful, so the s back
victim knows something is wrong. everything we find in
th e world.
Soothing Embrace: The very presence of the
Sometimes th ose re fle
Injecta makes it easier to ignore pain and other ctions
warning signs the body sends to tell you that shine with su ch lumin
something is wrong. They can choose to lessen osit y,
pain in any single individual in their presence. you ’ll have a hard tim
e belie ving
The effect is automatic and allows the target to th ey ’ re not th e re al
ignore any penalties that might have accrued truth of
from damage or pain. They feel numb and th e world.
pleasant, although they are aware that they’re
subject to an anaesthetic effect. Legions of Banes flock
to
In Stories:
Gaia in th e Apocalypse
0 A local young Garou has fallen in W ave,
love with an Injecta. They argue that attracted by he r Ho
the Injecta can be a useful ally in
wl like flies
the war against the Wyrm, but how to th e corpse of a dy
much of that is really just trying to
ing anim al.
justify their liaison?
Each of those Banes
0 The Injecta are usually not is th e
automatically hostile, so if you want shadow of something
to learn Gifts that you can only get already
from a Wyrm spirit, they’re a good he re . Th ey sank into
choice. What could go wrong? th e depths
of th e shadow, and no
w th ey ’re
The Apocalypse Wave coming back.

M
any Garou experience the Umbra - Cronus “T he W olf Ea
te r” Jones,
as a strange realm of disconnected localities
Black Spiral Dancer
where the environment can change radically th eu rg e
from one neighborhood to the next. Many spirits are

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WYRMTIDE

hierarchies but their functioning is not easy to You’ve heard that there’s some really despicable
decipher even for an experienced theurge. Still, more people across the Gauntlet, in the world of matter.
experienced Umbral travelers among the Garou have Just disgusting. You got to get over there and fuck
noticed a distinct change after Gaia’s Howl. them up! It’ll be a service to everyone. You’ve
Gaia screams in pain and entities from the depths heard there are people there who understand what
of the Umbra answer. This is the nature of the you’re trying to do, some real genuine haters! You
Apocalypse Wave. The end is here, the world is in its anticipate the joy of possessing someone who
death throes and untold numbers of spirits great and already feels like you do.
small are swarming, attracted by the pain. Hatelings are common among the great masses
There’s intelligence behind the Apocalypse Wave, of spirits which compose the Apocalypse Wave.
making it distinct from many of the malignant They’re attracted by the rich emotional landscape
phenomena the Garou used to encounter. There of hatred presented by humanity and want to join
are mighty spirits of the Wyrm, Banes of immense in the fun. Hate is its own reward and the hateling
power and intelligence, actively taking advantage of intends to enjoy it for all it’s worth!
the catastrophic fall of Gaia. What Does It Want? The hateling doesn’t care
whether it’s acting on its own hatred or that of
Bane Against Bane someone else. That’s how generous it is. The main
thing is to find something to hate and then act on
In the goldrush atmosphere of the Apocalypse Wave,
that feeling. Your anger is justified and the people
more than a few Banes end up fighting each other
you hate are evil. The hateling is happy as long as
both in the Umbra and while possessing something
hate prevails.
in the physical world. The mighty spirits directing
Possession/Manifestation: In the Umbra, the
their followers towards the dying world don’t get
hateling appears as a nondescript human, eyes
along with each other. Their armies become jealous
black, teeth smiling, knuckles raw. They have a
and angry, trying to destroy each other even before
strong preference for possessing humans because
they get to the dying body of Gaia.
animals just don’t reach the requisite levels of hatred.
The Banes already possessing humans, walking
Humans they possess tend to become gleeful in
around the physical world as fomori, resent these
their hatred. The first, but not the last, arena for
new interlopers. They try to protect their territories
the hateling to express itself is often social media.
and claims from other entities seeking a quick fix.
From there, it escalates into mental cruelty and then
Unfortunately, understanding these divisions is
physical violence.
not easy. Banes are mysterious at the best of times
and taking advantage of their dissension is hard. Hateling Spirit
But not impossible. An open-minded theurge who Power: 7
spends some time learning the secrets of the enemy Exceptional Dice Pools: Persuasion +3, Brawl +3
may notice that Banes can be played against each Notes/Other Traits:
other the same as any other creature. Lose Control: All tests to resist violent urges
or frenzy in the presence of a hateling have a
Hateling Difficulty 1 higher than usual.
You know what feels good? To get together with Incitement: If the hateling has a chance to
your buds and just kick the shit out of people you speak to humans, it can provoke them into
hate! What’s best? They deserve it. It’s their own violent hatred. The trouble with this power is
fault. They provoked you. You’ve heard stories about that the target of this violence is not something
them. Somebody’s got to do something, and that the hateling can control and is sometimes the
somebody is you! human possessed by the hateling itself. A player’s
character may try to calm things down. A

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Composure + Leadership test at a Difficulty of 4 Possession/Manifestation: Politicians, priests,

foils the hateling’s attempt at incitement. influences, these are targets suitable for possession
In Stories: by the Prophet. Its host becomes energetic,
immensely charismatic and persuasive. The host also
0 The Garou are creatures of Rage and
begins to fall apart physically.
hating the enemy is normal. Because of
this, the players’ characters might not Prophet of Decay Spirit
notice at first that one of their human
allies has become a tad too gleeful Power: 12
about all the violence they inflict. Exceptional Dice Pools: Leadership +3, Politics +3
0 The Garou know the hateling is their
Notes/Other Traits:
All Flesh Is Lost: All human, animal, and plant
real enemy, but it’s possessing a
human and the victim is surrounded bodies in the immediate vicinity of the Prophet
by ordinary people screaming their lose 1 Superficial Health level each month until
hatred at the players’ characters. they die. In the presence of the Prophet, no
Are these legitimate enemies, or healing is possible. This effect extends to the
victims? Do the characters care about
the distinction? body possessed by the Prophet.
The Right Words: The Prophet is supernaturally
Prophet of Decay apt at using the right terminology, cultural
references, and in-group markers to make it seem
Matter is destiny! Let us pour forth in our thousands
legitimate in the eyes of those it speaks to. Any
and millions and engulf the world, until every last tests related to figuring out its true nature have
human, animal, and plant is a rotting mess. This their Difficulty increased by 1.
is our nature, our purpose, the meaning of our
existence! In Stories:
What is the Wyrm, I hear you ask? 0 A local politician is making great
A great spirit hiding somewhere deep in the headway with an agenda of ecological
deregulation. Visibly sick, he speaks
Umbra? A symbol dreamed up by the shapechangers movingly about using his last months
of days gone past? of life to make sure that jobs come
No! before hippie bullshit.
The Wyrm is us! We are the body of the Destroyer! 0 The local Pentex front brings in
We are the balefire spewing from its throat! You are an outside consultant, an elegant
its claws and I am its voice! if emaciated woman of incredible
charisma and vision, turbocharging
Follow me! Let us swarm! local operations.
An impossibly tall vaguely human figure, the
Prophet of Decay invokes the holy accoutrements of
human religion, rotten and falling apart. Its face is Bane Cults

H
crumbling into pieces but its voice is strong. Spirits
of its kind shepherd Banes and gather them together uman history
into the great Apocalypse Wave. is full of stories of
What Does It Want? The Prophet has arisen communing with the beyond
from the endless ranks of Banes with a singular and following strange voices of wisdom.
vision: The barrier between the physical and the Unfortunately, sometimes such voices are Banes,
spiritual must be abolished. The ultimate fate of all and complex organizations form around them.
Banes is to wash over the physical until it’s lost in These may look like cults, but other organizations
the decay. such as companies may also effectively function as
Bane cults despite a respectable facade.

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WYRMTIDE

The Assembly of True Patriots If someone in the know about spirits took a glance,
it would become clear that the Assembly are well-
Owltown, Georgia armed racists who were dumb and hateful enough to
become pawns for the Banes.
For nearly a century and a half, the Lost Cause of the
Confederacy has been the rallying point for white Hollow Idols
supremacy in the South. Countless social clubs and
The Hollow Idols are embodiments of lies and false
lobbyist groups attempt to rewrite and justify their
gods. As Banes of zealotry, they spawn from warped
own history. But some people take their loyalty to a
devotion to symbols and creeds. Nourished by acts
group of deceased slavers to a whole other level.
of hate fueled by idealism, pride, and worship, these
Believing themselves to be a truly secret society,
Banes seek out and bind themselves into centres of
the Assembly of True Patriots is known by both
malign worship. Hollow Idols guide their devotees
law enforcement and anti-racist activist groups,
from across the Gauntlet, urging them to spread
often named a threat to public safety. Founded on
their ideals far and wide, warping them in the
the principles of resistance against the tyrannical
process. The Garou struggle with Idols more than
Northerners and the elites that control the government,
they’d like. After all, violent idealism is not exactly
this militant group of self-proclaimed patriots is waiting
unheard of among the septs of Gaia. Confrontations
for the race war they’ve been promised.
are never easy, as the Idols surge with power when
Devotees from across the old Confederate
confronted with zealous Garou.
territories are organized in little cells, recruiting
What Does It Want? From the perspective of the
their rank and file from those dumb enough
Idol, there’s no such thing as a sincerely held belief.
to believe in the fabricated Lost Cause, while
All values, ideologies, and faiths are mere masks for
the higher ranks of the Assembly are mostly a
the hunger for power and the need to hurt people.
collection of retired cops, armchair historians, and
Proving this to be true by supporting people’s worst
far-right politicians. All it takes to be invited to join
instincts is the Bane’s true calling.
the Assembly and their trips to the lodge is a taste
Possession/Manifestation: The Hollow Idols
for guns and a willingness to use them.
rarely possess individuals. They find it easier to
High in their secret lodge, deep in Vogel State
influence the surroundings of their pawns. Their
Park, the Assembly have stockpiled enough weapons
presence causes burning crosses to blaze ever
and munitions to keep away the local sheriff, though
brighter and hymns to ring louder. Hollow Idols
they have fooled themselves that they have enough to
never stray far from the center of worship. In the
send the FBI and the National Guard on the run.
Umbra, Hollow Idols wrap themselves in layers of
Meetings in the Assembly’s lodge often consist
disguises, presenting themselves as distorted versions
of weapon drills, movie nights, and hate-filled
of what their pawns worship. When stripped of its
sermons about a pure white paradise, with an
power, the true Hollow Idol is revealed: a gaunt,
almost religious worship of their gallery of icons,
pathetic creature.
the Generals. This collection of Confederate
statues is composed of dismantled CSA Generals Hollow Idol Spirit
from across the U.S., purchased illegally after being Power: 2–6
torn down by “anti-white activists and the puppet Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl (All-Out Attack)
government”. This ramshackle temple of defeated +2, Leadership +3, Persuasion +4, Insight +3
Generals has been the centerpiece of the Assembly’s Notes/Other Traits:
worship, from where their High Priest gives Pawns: The Hollow Idols strengthen as their
sermons of purifying hate and interprets the will of human pawns draw in new blood and act in
the Confederacy’s greatest heroes. their name. The Idol regains 1 Power whenever

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its pawns manage to double their numbers or What matters is the fulfillment of atrocity.
commit large-scale harmful acts in the name of Possession/Manifestation: The Generals are only
the Idol’s cause. powerful enough to possess the most spineless of
Urges of Hate: Hollow Idols can slip through their cultists. Typically to sacrifice them in the latest
the Gauntlet during acts of worship, dreams, scheme that the Priests of the Assembly have decided
or assemblies of the devoted. Here, Idols can is worth getting people arrested for.
mentally influence targets with Social actions as In the Umbra, each of the Generals manifests
long as the event lasts. as copies of a Confederate General, whenever they
Zealous Feast: For every point of hauglosk on appear in their underlings’ visions. The image is
a Garou in its presence, the Hollow Idol gains not perfect, as they look almost hollow, with glassy
an equal number of temporary Power up to a artificial eyes and cracking skin.
maximum of 8.
The Generals, Unique Hollow Idol Spirits
In Stories:
Power: 5
0 The human allies of the pack seem Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms +2, Leadership
unusually zealous, ready to fight to
the end with no compromise. At some +2, Intimidation +3, Persuasion +3
point, the players’ pack may start to Notes/Other Traits:
feel that cruelty has become its own The Generals have the standard abilities of the
reward as their allies seek to attack Hollow Idols, detailed above. They may also use
their weakest enemies rather than
the equivalent of the Black Spiral Dancer Gift
further their cause.
Death Curse, p. 175.
0 The Idol seeks out the players’
characters in the Umbra, presenting In Stories:
itself as an ally. But something is 0 If the Generals are in danger of
off… being defeated, they may attempt to
switch sides. After all, surely the
The Generals: Hollow Idol Spirits players’ characters could benefit
from their vast experience?
They wear the faces of Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and
Bloody Bill. They appear in dreams as Nathaniel 0 One of the pack’s friends, a local
Garou, waxes poetic about the beauty
Bedford Forest yelling to the dreamer from atop his
of fighting for a lost cause. It
horse. It’s all a lie. The eponymous Generals are a turns out that he’s influenced by one
flock of Hollow Idol Banes, drawn to the idolatry of of the Generals and become enamored
the Assembly and molded by the delusional narrative by the idea of loss. Perhaps it’s
time to banish the spirit and start
of their sermons. These Generals have found a fighting to win.
community ripe for their influence, making them
commit all manners of atrocities, often leading more
than one of the Assembly to their doom. The nature Fomori

E
of the spirits is to receive worship and give nothing
back, manifestations of empty zealotry. As per usual, very human and animal is a potential
the Assembly just blames any defeat and setback on fomor. At least, that’s how it may feel like to a
someone’s personal weakness and does not question Garou with their claws dribbling with ichor
the orders of the Generals, no matter how risky those that should have been blood but isn’t.
might seem to be.
What Does It Want? Leading their followers into Fomori Communities
the ruin of war, whether in large or local scale, is While fomori usually manifest as solitary
what the Generals live for. Who cares about victory? individuals, there are more than a few examples of

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WYRMTIDE

the more enduring of these societies apart is the ease

More Bane Cults with which a single member can reestablish them
with new fomori bolstering the ranks.
The worship of Banes often takes the form
of a cult, most small and some large.
The Truth Collective: A Telegram group The Regulars at Kyle’s
dedicated to deciphering coded messages We drink enough to forget
from their supposed deep-state mole,
a Dissonant Gestalt (Werewolf, p. 246).
the tar. Then we beat it
The stranger the messages get, the more out of each other.
fervent the Collective in their belief. It’s That’s pretty much every
almost as if the “mole” is pushing the afternoon up here.
members towards action.
Kyle’s is an old establishment in the Canadian
The Freed Starsouls: An anti-vaccination
town of Fort McMurray. While not much to
spiritualist gathering covertly urged by a
look at, it caters to a certain subset of workers in
malevolent flock of Asklepians who have
Athabasca oil sands. It’s for the old guard, those
assumed the shape of ancient Greco-
workers that have earned the right to sit at Kyle’s.
Roman deities. The cult is hard to figure
If new blood enters, they’re greeted with sullen
out because their entire mythology is
scorn. Everyone coming to the oil sands has an
conceptualized differently than what the
opportunity to make money at one of the most
Garou are used to. Who knows if “Artemis”
is dangerous?
polluted places on earth, but Kyle’s is only for the
fomori regulars.
The House of Shadows: An esoteric group Each of the regulars is riddled with a specific type
dedicated to the worship of several spirits of tumor causing despair especially attractive to
they consider divine, which are in fact a Banes. The terror of getting fired and facing down
throng of old and powerful Banes. The
a life of chemo can become overwhelming. That’s
Banes revel in their power over the physical
when the Banes circling around worm into their
world, and the cultists have accepted
minds and bring them to Kyle’s.
their rhetoric of self-sacrifice to justify the
After repeated dreams of drinking directly from
horrors they’re asked to perpetrate.
a faucet of crude oil, these nascent fomori find
themselves free of the health burdens caused by
the cancer and can go on with their lives. Always
carrying the smell of crude oil on them, the members
the fomori spawning into and thriving with larger
of this little community all share a strong urge for
groups. After all, the fear and pain they feed off of
Wyrm-work that they need to satiate.
can infest groups just as they do with individuals.
Beneath the bar, a large basement serves as
A community can also serve as a support structure
the fight club, where regulars can beat each
for a new fomor to establish both purpose and
other senseless until their black blood spills on
identity after the possession has settled. After all,
the f loor. After getting toughened up, a new
there is no one who really understands you like your
regular gets to join in nighttime raids to attack
fellow fomori. These communities are always as
Indigenous communities or environmental
twisted as the fomori themselves.
activists. With their positions at the plant, the
Of course, many of them are also prone to self-
regulars can cover for one another, while the
destruction in one way or another, as most fomori
corpses of their victims are burnt in the furnace
rarely understand selfless cooperation. What sets
in the basement of Kyle’s.

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The regulars will resist anything that threatens

their way of life, their fellowship, or their bar, both
Fomori in High Society
Empathy and integrity seem less like principles
with power tools and the blessings granted to them
and more like window dressing at the top of the
by the Banes possessing them.
social hierarchy. People with wealth and power are
Black Blood as prone to greed, hate, envy, and fear as anybody
Their dreams dripping with oil, a Black Blood else, perhaps even more so. This means that
is made to endure. Related to Oilfolk (see p. 48) there are fomori among the moneyed elite, able
they’re another byproduct of the energy industry. to use their resources on a grand scale to further
As their veins fill with crude oil, the Black Blood their malign agendas. Often, the most damaging
maintains a lot of the technical knowledge of capabilities such fomori employ are not their
their host. When combined with their unsettling Bane-granted supernatural abilities but simply
abilities, this makes the Black Bloods troublesome money and connections.
foes to take down. The biggest challenge of a Bane aspiring to
General Difficulty: 4 / 2 possess one of the wealthy is not in finding negative
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 2, Mental 3 emotions but in overcoming the immense ego of
Secondary Abilities: Health 5, Willpower 4 wealthiest people on the planet. Money and power
Exceptional Dice Pools: Athletics 6, Brawl 7, tend to inflate the self-perception of these people,
Intimidation 7, Drive 6, Technology 5 and they often end up in more of a symbiosis than
Notes / Other Traits: simply having the possessing Bane hollow out
Toxic Immunity (Werewolf, p. 263), Burn- their personality. At times, the only thing that the
Proof (Werewolf, p. 267), Meltdown Bane does is whisper sweet nothings whenever an
(Werewolf, p. 267) unwelcome glimpse of a conscience shows up.
Crude-Oil Sweat: The Black Bloods have Of course, sometimes an iron-willed titan of
black liquid in their bodies that sticks and industry begets a brood of failsons and faildaughters.
leaves a residue when they’re attacked. If They resent even the tiniest efforts they have to make
they’re damaged with unarmed or melee to survive in this world, too soft to really be able to
attacks, the attacker gains a cumulative fight the Banes flitting about them.
one-die penalty, to a maximum of three, to
The scary part of having fomori in the upper
combat-related tests. The residue needs to be
echelons of power is that their desires and
removed with a bath, and the penalty also
schemes are often not all that different from when
applies to avoid being set on fire.
they were simply human: bank accounts with
In Stories: enough money to buy an island protect against
0 Are they just regular guys caught in repercussions to a degree that most people could
a difficult spot? Of course, Banes not dream about. They wanted everything with
are attracted to human degradation, no consequences, and that desire remains the same
so perhaps there was something there
to begin with. Still, the Black Blood after possession.
is one of the sadder types of fomori An ultra-rich fomor can bankroll war crimes and
out there. torture across the world in service of a hateful ideology,
0 Fight! A werewolf Kin is found and few are powerful enough to oppose them.
fighting the regulars in the pit
at Kyle’s. The trouble is, he’s Conrad Hawker: The Alphabet Puppeteer
so caught up in the lifestyle, he
doesn’t want to leave. But if he
Trained as a CIA agent, Conrad Hawker began his
stays, odds are he’ll dance the Black career during the Reagan administration, where his
Spiral. brand of pragmatic jingoism proved particularly

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WYRMTIDE

useful across numerous proxy wars across the globe. In Stories:

In the 1990s, Agent Hawker became involved 0 Hawker likes to keep the big
in a new clandestine operation within the Agency: picture in mind. As such, he’s not
acquiring funds for illegal operations through a immediately inclined to attempt to
destroy the players’ characters.
dummy corporation playing the U.S. financial market. Rather, the question in his mind is
Officially discharged from the Agency, Hawker whether they can be redirected to
transitioned into the financial sector as the CEO of a fight against the enemies of Albion
and America?
CIA front company. The new financial theatre posed
a challenge for Hawker, who soon found himself 0 Blowback is what happens when you get
intertwined with a strange new voice in his head too clever with clandestine operations
and they have unwanted negative
guiding him to follow his most aggressive impulses. consequences. Such is the case with
It was a terrifying situation, but following the Hawker who has made so many enemies
voice did get results. So, motivated by misguided that they now fight among themselves
patriotism, Hawker unwittingly sold his soul. about who gets to kill him.
After the financial crash of 2008, Hawker gained
corporate board positions at industry conglomerates
such as Albion Petroleum, working at the heart of Mockeries

S
corporate corruption to satisfy both the Wyrm and ince the fall of the Garou Nation,
his handlers at the CIA. The military-industrial rumors have begun circulating about new
complex is a profit machine and a catalyst for immense creatures capable of changing form, just
suffering across the world, and Hawker ensures like werewolves. The appearances of these new
that both of his two masters get their rightful cut. shapshifters seem grotesque and malformed, which
Hawker acts as the man behind the curtain of many led many Garou to disregard them as just another
smaller corporations and fronts, often scuttling entire type of fomor. Now, after many encounters with
companies if they threaten the structure he has built. these creatures, it has become frightfully clear that
Conrad Hawker they’re more. The galliards have started calling them
General Difficulty: 6 / 3 Mockeries, creatures of both spirit and flesh the same
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 7, Mental 7 as the Garou yet artificial, abominable, and wrong.
Secondary Abilities: Health 5, Willpower 7 Like the Garou, Mockeries hide behind human faces,
Exceptional Dice Pools: Athletics 6, Brawl 6, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. As with
Intimidation 8, Insight 8, Leadership 8 rumors of other non-wolf shapeshifters, many septs
Notes / Other Traits: refuse to acknowledge the Mockeries as anything other
Hidden Form and Resurrection (Werewolf, pp. than urban legends. The only thing that is certain
264–265 & p. 267) about their origins is that these beings are created, not
Persuasion: Agent Hawker has a gift to make born. According to spirit auguries, they’re artificial
sure that he achieves the mission. Any attempts shifters, made without the blessings of Gaia.
to see through his bullshit with Insight or similar The reality is that Mockeries don’t have any single
Skill tests is at a Difficulty 1 higher than usual. source. The labs of Scheldes Pharmaceuticals are
CIA Network: If Hawker gets a moment alone responsible for more Mockeries than any other source,
with a communications device, he can source but many Pentex fronts have started developing them
a weapon or an escape route within fifteen in response to encounters with the Garou. They
minutes in an urban area in the U.S. or an allied reason that if their enemies are towering, violent
state, two hours in a remote location, or 24 hours monsters, they should have some on their own side as
in an environment hostile to U.S. intelligence well. Black Spiral Dancers fit the bill for some fronts,
operations. but they’re notoriously unreliable.

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 CHAPTER THREE: THE POISON SEEPS IN

The Garou who serve Gaia in their sad delusions

insist on purity. They believe that only Luna and
Gaia can create shapechangers.
There are no pure forms. Purity is exclusion and
death. Victory comes from embracing all who see
the true shape of the world, our true purpose: to kill
the world so another one can be born.
This is a time of monsters. Let them serve us,
whether they know it or not. They have no other
place to go, for our enemies reject them.

- Cronus “The Wolf Eater” Jones,

Black Spiral Dancer theurge

War Wolf
What Do They Want? General Difficulty: 4 / 2
Just as with real shapeshifters, the motivations of Standard Dice Pool: Physical 6, Social 2, Mental 4
Mockeries are individual. Some, like the voracious Secondary Attributes: Health (Enhanced) 7,
War Wolves, are controlled by their base instincts, Willpower 3
while others such as the Ape-Shifters may be Exceptional Dice Pools: Awareness (Tracking
motivated by complex human goals. Their most Garou) 4, Stealth 6, Intimidation 6
common denominator is disdain for anyone who’d Notes/Other Traits:
stop them from fulfilling their desire. Foul Flesh: The War Wolf can regenerate like a
Garou in both forms. (See Garou Antagonists in
War Wolves Werewolf, p. 277.)
The hunter becomes the Twisted Crinos: The War Wolf can assume
hunted the war-form with a variant of the Rapid Shift
Howling and frothing, War Wolves are a twisted Gift. They may transform to crinos and act
on the same turn without incurring penalties
mirror of the Garou. Beings of almost constant
for multiple actions. This earns them the same
Rage, they’re able to shift between the form of a
benefits as the crinos form of the Garou.
mongrel wolf and a distorted crinos. When a pack of
Frenzy: The War Wolf is always considered
War Wolves howls, Garou become the hunted, since
frenzied while in their war-form.
these mongrels will not stop their hunt until they’ve
gorged on werewolf flesh.
Inspecting the corpses of slain War Wolves, Ape-Shifters
inquisitive Garou have learned that these beings From boardrooms to battlefields, the ape-shifters have
seem to have been created from large dogs or trapped internalized a very human mantra: “Greed is good.”
wolves. All bear the telltale signs of having been Since their first appearance, ape-shifters have
lab animals. War Wolves appear to have a ravenous lodged themselves into the upper echelons of power,
hunger for the flesh of Garou, as packs attempt to replacing or dominating other entities that could
track and devour werewolves who have become threaten their desired domain. These primates can
separated from their packs.

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WYRMTIDE

manifest as gorillas, mandrills, chimpanzees, and Lord of the Ape Club

baboons; it seems to depend more on personality The Lord of the Ape Club earned a fortune with an
than anything else. While the ape-shifters are NFT scheme, then moved on to Metaverse and AI
artificial Wyrmspawn, they seem to be less interested hype. Before he received the Mantle of the Ape, the
in fighting the Garou and more interested in Lord was a marketing peon making rent through
accumulation of wealth and prestige. dabbling in cryptocurrency, but now humans bend
Winners win, and the ape-shifters are only winners. to his will and whenever an investor meeting gets
too frustrating, the war-form can come out to play.
In his world of overhyped online lectures and coke-
fueled investor parties, this ape is the king. And you
do not mess with the king.
Lord of the Ape Club (Homid Form)
General Difficulty: 5 / 2
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 4, Social 6, Mental
6, Gifts 6
Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 5
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 6, Subterfuge 8,
Technology 7, Persuasion 8
Notes/Other Traits:
The Gifts Spirit of the Fray, Staredown, Halt the
Coward’s Flight
Ego of Man: Once per scene, the Ape-Shifter
can regenerate Willpower Damage as if it was
Health Levels.
Shapeshifting: The Ape-Shifter can assume
the shape of an ape as well as a war-form that
mimics the crinos form of the Garou, including
regeneration. This war-form is naturally more
agile, moving as if it had the Gift Catfeet active,
and can employ Hare’s Leap as a Minor Action.

The Warmonger
The boardrooms are the battlegrounds of maggots.
And those same maggots are just snacks for an
enterprising ape willing to get his hands dirty. This
old silverback has been in the arms trade for decades
and has always been ready to profit from the misery
of others. After all, to succeed all you need is a sense
of profit with a healthy sense of pragmatism. When
he sees weapons in the hands of children whether in
a school or on a battlefield, the Warmonger just bares
his fangs in a smile. Profit is never gained without
someone’s blood on the floor.

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The Warmonger (Homid Form)

to the cubs to make them less afraid of
General Difficulty: 5 / 2 the darkness. The Dancers act much more
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 8, subtly than they are given credit for. It is rare
Mental 4, Gifts 6 that you see them before they know all there is
Secondary Attributes: Health (Enhanced) 7, to know about you. While what you see might
Willpower 5 be the cackling lunatic and the blood-drinking
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 8, Technology 7, monster, that is only half the picture.
Persuasion 8 There are septs that have existed for
Notes/Other Traits: years without realizing there’s a Dancer in
Ego of Man: Once per scene, the Ape-Shifter can their midst, only for their friend to lead the
regenerate Willpower Damage as if it was Health Levels. spawn of the Wyrm into the heart of their
Shapeshifting: The Ape-Shifter can assume caern. Some Garou have had friends who
the shape of an ape as well as a war-form that
seemed to make a lot of sense, only for
mimics the crinos form of the Garou, including
them to be revealed as Dancers later.
regeneration. This war-form is naturally more
For many Moon Cults, the challenge
agile, moving as if it had the Gift Catfeet active,
is even harder, as their list of allies is smaller.
and can employ Hare’s Leap as a Minor Action.
Sometimes, to protect yourself from silver-
brandishing humans, you might make a deal with

Black Spiral Dancers the Dancers for protection. Other Cults have found
themselves directly in the way of the Dancers
There are more of them and had to desperately fight back against the
Wyrm’s tribe to avoid annihilation. The Forsworn,
than there are of us. tribeless werewolves (see Shattered Nation), who

A
truth that few Gaian Garou want survive long enough tell stories about how the
to admit is that the Black Spiral Dancers are Dancers hunt them for sport. However, among the
probably the largest of the tribes by far. Even conservative elements of the tribes, a Forsworn is
the Cult of Fenris can’t muster the numbers that the merely a Dancer who hasn’t been recruited yet.
Dancers can. Why is that?
Old tales say that they stole Kin before they
changed and before Garou of other tribes could Cults of Destruction

A
get to them. Darker still are the stories that claim s a tribe, Black Spiral Dancers are so
werewolves are naturally inclined to serve the Wyrm, big that there are severe internal divisions,
filled with Rage as they are. Some even claim that cults with their own idiosyncratic takes
the Dancers have learned how to successfully breed on what the path down the Spiral really means.
a sort of deformed or mutated werewolf. Those are Many of these cults are small, merely the size of
simply stories used to distract from the actual truth. a pack, engaged in their own personal journey of
The Black Spiral Dancers have higher numbers destruction. Others are huge, easily the size of an
because, at some point, most Garou think about whether ordinary Garou tribe.
the Dancers are right. And for some it’s just easier to The three greatest Black Spiral cults are the
accept that you are a monster rather than a warrior. Strontium Howl, the Deathtalons, and the Poison
Spawn. Each has a habit of warring with the other
Down the Spiral cults, believing that they are on the true path and
Most Gaian Garou are told they’ll only encounter Black other Wyrm-followers have somehow become
Spiral Dancers in combat. That is a lie traditionally told confused along the way. Many Black Spiral Dancers

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WYRMTIDE

think that to achieve final victory, heretics must larger events where the broader agenda of the cult
burn whether they’ve danced the Spiral or not. is determined. The cult has leaders but they change
often, rarely lasting longer than a year.
Strontium Howl Strontium is a holy substance for the Howl
because of the way it interacts with the body. It’s
You hear them before you see them, the roar of
radioactive and poisonous, yet the bodies of humans
engines speeding down the highway in the midst of a
and animals mistake it for calcium and use it to build
vast dust cloud. The focus of the holiest Rites among
bone and teeth. A nuclear meltdown leads to entire
the Howl is the Strontium Machine, a useless engine
populations having the poison of the Wyrm form
expressly designed to do nothing but waste fuel and
the very infrastructure of their bodies.
blast out vile fumes. For an individual pack, the
Some Strontium Howl seek to ingest strontium
Strontium Engine is usually built into a car for ease
on purpose to make this happen, although the
of transportation, while a large hive might feature a
prodigious healing powers of the Garou and the short
huge furnace blasting fire in all directions, fed by the
lifespan of the average Black Spiral Dancer mean that
Howl night and day.
they don’t see as many ill effects as you’d think.
According to their own legends, the Strontium
In the worldview of the Howl, the Apocalypse
Howl are the descendants of the ravening armies
is now and the Spirals must live according to the
marching ever onward, eating entire villages clean of
strictures of the Wyrm, embodying destruction in
everything they had like a cloud of locusts. They talk
their very beings. They tend to see other Black Spiral
of a grand history of military victories and heroic
cults as weak losers who don’t have what it takes to
sacrifice in the service of martial values of death and
really live a life of devastation.
destruction.
These stories are lies designed to give the lost and
Patron Spirits
disaffected members of the tribe an identity as a
In addition to Bat, venerated by all Black Spiral
heroic vanguard. In reality, the cult is a phenomenon
Dancers, individual packs of Strontium Howl
of the Apocalypse, less than ten years old yet
often have Patron Spirits of radioactivity, internal
massively successful as it spreads across desert
combustion engines, smog, and other modern
highways across the world.
manifestations of industrial devastation. The
The Howl loves cars, gasoline, military hardware,
cult particularly values everything connected to
and big explosions. Flair is at least as important as
radioactivity, and such things become all the more
functionality since the members of the cult build
sacred because they’re so difficult to obtain.
vehicles for their initiation Rites and celebrations.
Acquiring actual radioactive materials is seen as a
Prospective members must face off against a tank
surefire way to gain the favor of the spirits.
or a similar improbably large vehicle in combat
and survive. Before they pass the initiation, Personalities
prospects can be abused by any Howl who feels
The Strontium Howl are former soldiers, members
like it. Such abuse occurs post-initiation too, but
of motorcycle gangs, drifters, and violent criminals.
now the new member is allowed to hit back. After
They like guns, cars, fire, and violence.
passing the initiation, new members are subjected
to a scarification Rite, the effects of which are Swollen Tongue
permanent. During the Rite, members of the new A lean, scarred, and tattooed man always leaning
Howl’s pack are invited to vandalize their body in on something, Swollen Tongue got his name when
whatever fashion they find amusing. his packmates ripped off his lower jaw during his
The Strontium Howl is organized much like a initiation to the Howl. His tongue lolls out of the hole
gang, with individual chapters coming together for in his face, longer than it has any right to be. He is

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unable to bite but his claws more than make up for it.
An ahroun, Swollen Tongue has a reputation for
always being the first to attack the enemy, often
driving a motorcycle to crash into them as he jumps
off and shifts into crinos, his tongue trailing saliva.
Something of an innovator among the Howl,
Swollen Tongue has a knack for coming up with new
games that are even more dangerous and stupid than
before. His current favorite is Crash Test Dummies,
where Garou simply crash into each other in various
vehicles. Allegedly, Swollen Tongue himself survived
having his car overrun by a tank.
General Difficulty: 5 / 2
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 9, Social 3, Mental
4, Gifts 7
Secondary Attributes: Health 8, Willpower 3
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 10, Driving 10,
Intimidation 5
Gifts: Staredown, Spirit of the Fray, Halt the
Coward’s Flight, and Razor Claws
Zhyzhak
Often described as the most powerful Garou alive,
Zhyzhak is a legendary figure among both the
shattered Nation and the Black Spiral Dancers.
Stories of her origins tend towards the mythical,
whether they tell of how she was born of a giant
Wyrmsnake deep in the Umbra or clawed her way
out of her mother’s womb. Whatever the truth, she’s
an ahroun of immense power and ability, towering
over her lesser brethren and able to vanquish entire
packs of Garou by herself.
Tall, muscular, and black-haired, Zhyzhak likes to
dress for effect, favoring spikes, black leather, and combat
boots. She wields a scourge, a Talisman allowing her to
rip the meat off the bones of her enemies.
Although Zhyzhak often recruits members to her
pack from the Strontium Howl, it’s not clear if she
actually considers herself a member of the cult. Her
status among the Black Spiral Dancers transcends
whatever affiliation she may hold, and she’s even
venerated by Dancers who typically detest the
Strontium Howl.
Those who have met her say that Zhyzhak hears the
voice of the Wyrm inside her mind. Her actions are

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WYRMTIDE

guided by unseen powers inaccessible to lesser beings. summoning the Banes of primordial conflagrations.
General Difficulty: 6 / 4 Genius for Destruction: Looking through the
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 12, Social 8, corpses of dead Howl, the players’ pack discovers a
Mental 8, Gifts 10 Talisman of unusual power and utility, a weapon
Secondary Attributes: Health 9, Willpower 10 that could be used in the war for Gaia. It raises many
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 14, Melee 14, questions: Should it be destroyed, or is it okay to
Occult 10 use the tools of the Wyrm against it? Is the spirit
Gifts: Eyes of the Owl, Raging Strike, Spirit of the bound in the Talisman a Bane, and if yes, so what?
Fray, Rapid Shift, Razor Claws, Snarl of Challenge, And, most of all, who made the Talisman, and where
Closing the Gap, Mark of Antihelios (see p. 175) can they be found? The pack may wish to kill the
Note: Strontium theurge responsible for creating such
Due to the special favor she enjoys in the eyes of weapons, but they might also be tempted to try to
the Wyrm and its mightiest servitors, Zhyzhak’s get such a genius to defect.
abilities go beyond what’s typically possible for
the Garou. Deathtalons
In Stories: You need discipline, rigor, and obedience to become
The Strontium Howl are an extremely alarming truly dangerous. The Deathtalons are not well
phenomenon to any member of the shattered Garou known among the Garou of the shattered Nation
Nation. They are often seen as a sign of things because they don’t leave many survivors. They travel
to come, a taste of a future world in which the in small, well-coordinated packs and strike hard
structures of the Weaver have completely collapsed, and fast, only stopping to mutilate the bodies of
leaving behind a Wyrm-controlled hellscape of their enemies according to their arcane Rites. Many
mutual death and degradation. Garou have witnessed their handiwork but have
The Veil Must Be Preserved: A chapter of the unwisely written it off as typical Black Spiral Dancer
Howl has rolled into the region, vandalizing human monstrousness.
settlements and looting businesses indiscriminately. And indeed, the Deathtalons are monstrous,
It won’t be long before human authorities crack but in a different way than many of their brethren.
down hard. If the cops are not enough, the army Other Black Spiral Dancers often denigrate them
will be called in. They may believe they’re only for being servants of the Weaver in disguise,
dealing with a domestic insurrection, but that taking all the talk of discipline to mean that the
doesn’t mean they’ll pull their punches. Were this to Deathtalons seek to order the world into a shape
happen, the Veil would be history, since Black Spiral that’s more to their liking.
Dancers openly fight against heavily armed humans, This is not the case. To the Deathtalons, the world
Delirium or no. The players’ pack must both destroy is irredeemably tainted. Most Black Spiral Dancers
the Howl and hide any trace of their supernatural believe in the idea that time is cyclical and the
nature in order to keep the secret from leaking. world must be destroyed so it can be created anew
The Greatest Machine: All the Strontium Howl as a pristine paradise. The Deathtalons take this
chapters in the region are coming together to build more seriously than most, believing that it is their
a giant Strontium Engine at a local junkyard, big sacred duty to foment mass destruction in any shape
enough to belch tar into the sky day and night. They possible, and to do so requires organization.
believe that the Engine requires the continuous The Deathtalons are a paramilitary cult, seemingly
sacrifice of humans to feed it, pushing people into rigorous yet guided by the dreams and nightmares
the fire in their hectic, nightly Rites. To make matters emanating from the Black Spiral. Although their
worse, the machine’s power echoes in the Umbra, individual packs appear disciplined, the higher one

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Janet the Accountant

looks at their hierarchy, the stranger it appears. The
leadership is constantly in flux as older, more experienced Not an actual accountant, Janet got her nickname
Deathtalons disappear on pilgrimages to the depths of from her habit of counting her victims. For each one
the Umbra or seek wisdom in self-destruction. she killed, she marked her skin with another small
The cult preaches ego death for its members, scar to continue the great spiral now decorating her
the acceptance of the fact that each warrior of the entire body. She is experiencing a spiritual crisis
Apocalypse must sacrifice their lives for the cause. Each because she’s run out of space: adding more scars
leader is just a mouthpiece for the emanations coming would detract from the elegance of her scar spiral.
from strange spirit entities. This is the paradox of the Is this a sign from the Wyrm that Janet must
Deathtalons: they’re a disciplined organization built stop killing? Or does her desire to keep her scars
around a core of roiling, nihilistic chaos. aesthetically consistent represent an affectation she
The sense of mission and spiritual connectedness must get rid of? Should she walk into the Umbra and
enjoyed by the Deathtalons makes them attractive never return?
to a certain type of Garou who defects to the Black Janet is a galliard and an accomplished murderer
Spirals but still wants to feel like they’re doing the and likes to flay her victims in imaginative ways in
right thing. The cult’s martial culture makes a tribute to her spirit patrons. Her crisis means that
former Cult of Fenris or Shadow Lord Garou feel she’s refrained from killing recently, but it’s likely
like they’re still fighting for a just cause and not just that one moment of Rage is enough to push her to
giving in to harano. inflicting yet more death.
The Deathtalons look down upon all other Black General Difficulty: 4 / 2
Spiral Dancers, considering them to be dilettantes Standard Dice Pools: Physical 8, Social 4, Mental
who don’t understand the true spiritual grandeur of 7, Gifts 6
the Wyrm. In return, many Spirals see the way the Secondary Attributes: Health 7, Willpower 6
cult seeks to monopolize the tribe’s entire ideology Exceptional Dice Pools: Melee 9, Crafts 8, Occult 8
and faith as offensive. Gifts: Penumbral Senses, Song of Rage, Feast of
Human Flesh (see p. 174), A Thousand Voices (see p.
Patron Spirits 174)
Despite the martial nature of the cult, the Patron Helpful Shaun
Spirits of individual Deathtalon packs are often A kindly looking Black man in his thirties, Shaun
mystical and conceptual, philosophical rather than could be a schoolteacher or a beloved colleague in
warlike. Spirits of greed and annihilation, hatred and an office somewhere. He believes that while the
loss are more common than more tangible entities. Apocalypse is now, it’s good and proper to help
A Deathtalon may wax poetic on matters of the people resolve their issues before they die as Gaia is
spirit world, expounding on the beauty of cyclical finally extinguished.
time and the glory of rebirth, even as they carve the While dedicated to the mission of his pack,
symbol of the Bat onto the forehead of a prisoner Shaun likes to take a bit of personal time to look for
with a knife. humans who are frustrated, angry, or full of hate. A
philodox, he’s good at listening to stories of layoffs,
Personalities
divorce, and the small, everyday degradations of
Mystics, seekers, and warriors are attracted to the
living in a capitalist system.
Deathtalons in equal measure. It’s the cult for high
For such unresolved issues, there’s only one real
achievers, serial killers, and those with idiosyncratic
remedy: extravagant displays of violence. Shaun
ideas about their place in the world. It works best for
seeks to talk people into taking matters into their
those of a serious disposition and a powerful ability
own hands but recognizes that not many have the
to withstand pain.

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capacity for violence he has. Being a magnanimous Spiral Dancers to fight each other. They want the
person, he’s willing to slaughter exes, colleagues, and characters to travel deep into the Umbra and parley
random telemarketers in equal measure. with the spirits, convincing powerful Banes to send
General Difficulty: 4 / 3 visions to a Deathtalon hive that they must purge the
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 8, Mental heretics from those who have danced the Spiral. But
6, Gifts 7 what do the Banes want in return for such a favor?
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 7
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 8, Persuade 9, Poison Spawn
Insight 9
You’re in a meeting with the ad agency and it feels
Gifts: Catfeet, Ancestral Conviction, Sense the
like something is wrong. Their people are aggressive,
True Form, A Thousand Voices (see p. 174)
arrogant, and predatory, using a lot of words like
dominate, destroy, and conquer. But this is what you
In Stories
hired them for, you reason, so the deal goes on.
Deathtalons are a serious, dangerous enemy rarely According to the Poison Spawn, the only way for
encountered by chance. A typical Deathtalon pack the Black Spiral Dancers to successfully serve the
operates according to a clearly defined plan based Wyrm is together with their greatest ally: humanity.
on solid intelligence, striking hard and fast and then The Spawn seek to hold onto their human lives,
disappearing into the night. If the Deathtalons have each living a double existence. By day, they’re the
any weakness, it’s to be found in their spiritual side. same as every other human, working to make
Always keen to follow their visions, they are capable a living. By night, they’re cultists of the Wyrm,
of changing their plans quickly if they believe that giving everything they have to their superiors in the
this is the message they receive from beyond. hierarchy in the belief that this is what pleases the
You Are the Prey: The local septs have become Great Destroyer the most.
used to fighting disorganized, overconfident Black The Poison Spawn is a tightly controlled cult
Spiral Dancers who rarely bother with strategy or that sends out its members to make money and
tactics. Individually strong, their packs are riven gather resources among human society. The cult’s
with strife, making them inefficient when fighting central leadership is in Nashville, Tennessee, with
against the local veteran Garou. Suddenly all that individual chapters in different cities and regions
changes when the bodies of local theurges are all subordinate to the hierarchy. There have been
found one by one, each with their eyes gouged out. a number of schisms and civil wars among the
Worryingly, one of the players’ pack is also a theurge. Spawn in the past, some successfully taking over the
Something’s Not Right: A strange pack has organization. Yet despite this chaos, it persists, as it
arrived at the local moot. They appear spartan has for over a century, making it one of the longest-
in their rigor, completely separated from human lasting cults in the changeable world of the Black
life. Yet nobody can make heads or tails of their Spiral Dancers.
philosophy because they refuse to explain themselves Each member of the Spawn is marked with the
except in allegory. Most take them for Stargazers and symbol of the Bat, typically branded or tattooed
argue whether they should be kicked out, but the in a painful Rite when they go through their
reality is something far worse: they’re Deathtalons initiation into the cult. Spawn are expected to dress
seeking to find a specific Garou pup whose face conservatively, and the cult pays an inordinate
they’ve seen in a vision. What to do when the players’ amount of attention to policing the appearance of
characters realize their modest sept plays host to a its members. The sex lives and private relationships
pack of experienced Deathtalon warriors? of the Spawn are also tightly controlled, and this
Chain of Command: A local ragabash elder has control is often abused.
come up with an ambitious plan to force the Black

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This is why the Spawn is one of the Black Spiral

cults with the highest amount of defectors to
other tribes. When such a defection occurs, Spawn
members are directed to spare no effort in killing
such an apostate. This happens even when a member
defects to one of the other Black Spiral cults.
The cult encourages its members to channel all
their repressed urges into their work. At human
workplaces, they tend to be intense, argumentative,
and feared. If they reach leadership positions, they Cronus and Francisca
like to amass personal power through bullying and Jones are in their fifties and
violence. The cult particularly values members live in a luxurious Tennessee
who make it in finance, politics, media, or the estate serving as the cult’s central
entertainment industry. They’re the best educated hive. Cronus is a theurge and a spiritual visionary,
Black Spiral cult, by far. conveying the wishes of the Destroyer from beyond,
The Poison Spawn believe that they are the real while Francisca is a philodox and keeps the cult
Black Spiral Dancers. They have the numbers, the functioning in terms of human society, making sure
organization, and the dedication to prove it. The that the whole corrupt edifice won’t collapse due to an
Spiral belongs to them, and everyone who purports inopportune FBI investigation.
to be of the tribe but doesn’t accept a place in the The Joneses preach self-control and sacrifice but
organization is a heretic. This attitude means that live lives of excess and indulgence. They believe that
most other Dancers hate them with a passion. they’re entitled to exploit their followers, and indeed
anyone, as much as they like in the service of the
Patron Spirits Apocalypse. Sometimes life at their estate devolves
The Poison Spawn are dedicated to Bat. Other into a bloody, torrid haze for weeks on end as the
Patron Spirits are only acceptable if they’re in a clear Spawn dance the Spiral.
subordinate role to the tribal patron. Following Although the couple appears harmonious as they
other Patron Spirits is seen as heretical, something lead the Spawn in their vile Rites, they represent one
that’s punished by torture or death. of the cult’s religious fault lines. Francisca is happy
One way members or even entire packs leave the to incorporate Christian imagery into the spiritual
cult is by forming a relationship with a new spirit practices of the Spawn, while Cronus believes it
who often allows for more freedom. makes them weak.

Personalities Cronus Jones

Outwardly, Poison Spawn are often some of the most General Difficulty: 5 / 4
normal, well-adjusted Black Spiral Dancers out there. Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 8, Mental
They have jobs, families, educations, and retirement 7, Gifts 9
plans. They live in houses, drive cars, and take their Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 8
kids to play baseball. Because of this, they’re often Exceptional Dice Pools: Performance 9,
the most difficult to detect and root out compared to Persuasion 9, Occult 10
other, more extravagant Black Spiral cults. Gifts: Penumbral Senses, Tongue of the Beasts,
Ensnare Spirit, Shadow Sense, Sight from Beyond,
Cronus “The Wolf Eater” Jones and Francisca Banish Spirit, Command Spirit, Drain Spirit
“Poison Angel” Jones
The married couple leading the Poison Spawn, Francisca Jones
General Difficulty: 5 / 4

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Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 7, Mental Note: Due to the favor of the mighty Banes the
8, Gifts 8 Pupkiller serves, his abilities go beyond ordinary
Secondary Attributes: Health 8, Willpower 8 Garou norms.
Exceptional Dice Pools: Subterfuge 8, Finance In Stories:
10, Politics 10
The horror of the Poison Spawn is similar in some
Gifts: Staredown, Ancestral Conviction, Beast’s
ways to the horror of the Garou of other tribes,
Fealty, Fangs of Judgment, Geas, Oathbreaker’s
living hidden among humanity yet subject to a
Bane, Feast of Human Flesh (see p. 174), Omen
terrifying Rage that destroys their relationships.
Claws (see p. 174)
Many Garou assume that the Black Spiral Dancers are
The Pupkiller too monstrous to successfully live among humans,
A terrifying figure in modern Garou folklore, the but that’s not really true. The misconception arises
Pupkiller is a wolfborn Black Spiral ragabash starring because the Dancers most often encountered by the
in stories each more outlandish than the last. The Garou are the ones who fit in the least.
Pupkiller is said to have served the Wyrm even before Closer Than You Think: How do you recognize
his First Change, spreading sickness and death even a Black Spiral Dancer? From their maddened howls,
as an ordinary wolf. He knows when werewolf packs their matted fur, the venomous gleam in their eyes?
are having their Rites of Passage and ambushes them, For many Black Spirals, that’s true. But this time, the
killing them before they have a chance to become players’ pack discovers that the enemy is much closer
fully fledged Garou. His spit is poison, and he’s always than they believed possible. It’s the CEO of the ad
lurking behind you, just outside your field of vision. agency where one of their Touchstones works, a local
He smells of the corruption of the world. cop, or even a schoolteacher. What to do when the
Many Garou might be surprised to learn that enemy has burrowed so deeply into human society?
among the Black Spiral Dancers, the Pupkiller’s Hand in Hand: Human enemies like malignant
reputation is quite similar. A Poison Spawn who corporations are immensely destructive, but at
strays from the cult is visited in the night, their least the people running them are soft targets for
human lives left in ruin as a first warning. There’s no a Garou warrior. Even if such an enemy is infested
second warning: the Pupkiller destroys those who with fomori, it’s still manageable for a strong pack.
don’t understand their place. But this time, things are different. The unassuming
The Pupkiller exists outside the ordinary Poison middle manager is a Black Spiral Dancer, and so is
Spawn hierarchy, but he’s loyal to the leadership, the chief of security.
making sure challengers disappear. He has his own Rescuing a Friend: There are fates worse than
pack of wolfborn Black Spiral Dancers, indulging harano. A septmate of the players’ characters has
them more than he ever does anyone else. joined a Moon Cult, or so they believe. But this cult
General Difficulty: 6 / 4 seems more malignant than the others, and soon
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 12, Social 7, the characters realize it’s a cult of the Spiral. They
Mental 6, Gifts 9 need to rescue their friend before it’s too late, but to
Secondary Attributes: Health 9, Willpower 8 do that they need to go deep into the world of the
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 12, Stealth 12, Poison Spawn. Is infiltration an option?
Survival 10

Malcontents
Gifts: Catfeet, Sharpened Senses, Jam Technology,
Blissful Ignorance, Blur of the Milky Eye, Open

T
Seal, Pulse of the Prey, Scent of Running Water, he children of the Black Spiral are a
Thieving Talons of the Magpie, Skinglide (see p. varied lot, and it’s impossible to force all of
174), Mark of Antihelios (see p. 175) them to follow the tenets of any single group.

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Many Dancers accept no larger organization than know we’re supposed to be serving Gaia anyway? Is
the pack, the sept at most. They have their own Gaia even real? Aren’t werewolves supposed to be
idiosyncratic ideas and values and follow them as monsters? And why is it that we are not allowed to
they best see fit. eat humans? Are we not the apex predators? Their
There is a wide range of werewolves that run flesh smells so tasty!
among the Black Spiral Dancers. The one thing There are countless ways to fall and begin the
they all have in common is their acceptance of dance. Once you do, you’ll never dance alone.
being monsters who want to bring about the end Abby Last Scream: The Lost Judge
of the world. The argument that the Dancers make
Abby First Howl walked the path from start to
tends to be that the world must be destroyed for
finish. A leader. A Galestalker. Then a Forsworn. At
a better world to be born. However, there’s no
the end, a Black Spiral Dancer.
shortage of individual Dancers for whom that is
Her old pack never understood her distress —all of
just an excuse to give in to their worst impulses.
them wanted to help her get better from her harano.
Rage can be very seductive when you’re convinced
It was not until she was lured to the Spiral that she
it’s for the greater good.
understood. It was foolish to resist. Depression is a
In a Werewolf chronicle, the Black Spiral Dancers
sign that there’s something wrong with where you
serve as a dark mirror of the Garou. They use their
are in the world. Once you change your position,
Rage and their immense capacity for violence in the
things align and you’ll feel better.
service of a great goal. It’s just that their goal is to get
The only truth left was the unmaking of
to the end of the world as fast as possible, while the
everything. Fighting against that was too much.
Garou still dream of saving Gaia.
Abby Last Scream emerged from the Spiral as a
The Black Spiral Dancers lie to everyone, even
changed werewolf, a Half-Moon Black Spiral Dancer
themselves. In a chronicle, the Dancers are the best
seeking to usher the Apocalypse upon the rest of the
option for a Storyteller to tempt the players’ pack
world. Only then can we be at peace. Abby hates that
with the promise of giving into their Rage without
she has become what she is, but she hates what the
having to think about the consequences. They
world has doomed her to become even more.
present an enemy who can meet the Garou on equal
General Difficulty: 4 / 2
footing. It is a chance to have long-term foes just
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 7, Mental 8
enough like the Garou for it to be uncomfortable.
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 7
Exceptional Dice Pools: Gifts 7
Converts to the Darkness Gifts: Eyes of the Owl, Raging Strike, Porcupine’s
A frighteningly large number of Black Spiral Reprisal, Fangs of Judgment, Razor Claws
Dancers are converts from other tribes. There are
Marrowbiter: The Starving Warrior
many reasons why Garou would join up willingly
Something had always felt off for Silas Crowfeeder of
with the Spiral Dancers, but the most common are
the Shadow Lords. The smell of flesh and blood had
fear and fatigue: fear of one day losing everything
always seemed so right. When Silas finally gave up
they hold dear and the fatigue of fighting a battle
and tore into that delicious man-flesh, it tasted sweet.
that already seems lost. Wouldn’t it be nicer to be on
It felt like succulent liberation.
the winning side? Maybe the Spirals are right. When
For years, Silas tried to deny his tastes. It made him
harano is already clawing at your soul, the idea that
a worse warrior for Gaia, and no victory could ever
the Black Spiral Dancers are what a werewolf is
give him the feeling real human flesh could. One day,
actually supposed to be isn’t that much of a stretch.
Silas lost a fight, but the Black Spiral Dancers offered
Some Garou are tempted by the lure of the
him a place by their fire instead of killing him. That
forbidden truths about our world: How do we
night Silas knew the Dancers understood what he

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really wanted — to release the monster that Silas The Porkchop Club
knew was inside him: Marrowbiter. The Porkchop Club is a Black Spiral Dancer pack
Silas’ old sept has already lost members to his from Pittsburgh, PA, of limited ambitions and
depredations without realizing that he held the even more limited imagination. They could call
monster inside him. With the Dancers, it came to the themselves Forsworn and it wouldn’t change much.
fore and any idea of a Garou life faded away. None of them care for their own tribe, especially not
General Difficulty: 6 / 3 when they are ordered around by other Dancers.
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 8, Social 4, Mental 5 Instead, the Club feels content to rule their little
Secondary Attributes: Health 7, Willpower 5 fiefdom of urban decay where they can eat whatever
Exceptional Dice Pools: Athletics 7, Brawl 8, and whomever they like. The locals know that they
Weaponry 8 should avoid the old meatpacking plant, as they
Gifts: Catfeet, Eyes of the Owl, Primal Anger, tell urban legends of murderous junkies and wild
Snarl of Challenge, True Fear, and Silver Claws dogs. On some nights when the cooking flesh can be
smelled in the area, everyone shuts their doors.
How to Dance the Spiral This is called Cook Night, and it is the night
The fellowship of the pack is a strange thing to mix when the entire pack gathers and tells stories about
with the Black Spiral Dancers. Like with the Garou, their hunts and deeds, barbecuing slabs of flesh
the pack is still their basic form of community, but and feeding the bones to their pack’s Patron Spirit.
their version is a found family built on layers of Human, cat, dog? It all goes on the grill.
abuse, exploitation, shared delusions, and violence. Their spirit is called Cackling Carcass, the old
Even though the Black Spiral Dancers disdain the spirit of the slaughterhouse. It is a wretched thing
ways of their Gaian cousins, they still adhere to many that the Porkchop Club has nurtured back to
of the tenets of the Litany. Territory and leadership strength with their sacrifices.
structure are effective ways to keep the tribe together. What Do They Want? Their primary desire is to
This has become more of an issue now that the be left alone and terrorize their little corner of the
Dancers believe they have emerged victorious. world in peace. The Porkchop Club has nothing
Many packs have either abandoned the united but claws to spare for anyone who shows up in
front or chosen to focus on enjoying the spoils as the their territory. While they are still a pack of Black
Wyrm consumes the world. More than one group Spiral Dancers, the Club is willing to offer both
of young Dancers have taken it upon themselves information and assistance to Gaian Garou, if the
to purge their ranks of bothersome old grey-pelts, Gaians are willing to pay and then leave them alone.
making way for the new regime to take over and lead
their sept to victory.
Some traditions are still important to the Dancers.
Members of the Club:
They want to earn Renown as much as the next Rose Ripper, the overly tattooed ahroun pack
werewolf. After all, how else would great stories be leader.
told of their accomplishments at moots when the Anthrax, galliard guitarist who makes his
tribe gathers to gleefully celebrate its victory? picks out of human bones.
With the Garou Nation shattered, the Black Spiral
Dancers are changing in a way that few were prepared Ichor-Eye, a theurge with a chip on their

for — what do the soldiers of the Apocalypse do shoulder and a love for drugs, the more
chemical the better.
high on their triumph? The war is not exactly over,
but many Dancers believe that, effectively, it’s won, Skeleton Sloane, the portly ragabash who
meaning they can turn to their internal dissensions. keeps the grill warm and sizzling.

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Fletcher’s Harriers After 60 years of war, Fletcher’s Harriers still

To leave them alive gives them evangelize to their enemies. To their foes, the
despair; in that they will Harriers are the embodiment of all the stories of
know the Wyrm soon enough. the Black Spiral Dancers: a pack of eight snarling
– The Reverend Harrison fanatics, who wield fire as they tear into flesh. Even
Fletcher of the Spiral, more disturbing, they’re polite to a fault, never once
cursing or swearing at their enemies.
Dec. 12th 1954
What Do They Want? To convince every young
Roving in the wilderness near the Canadian Alberta
Garou that their path is wrong. Follow in the
tar sands, a band of crusaders congregate around
footsteps of the Preacher, they say. Be free, they say.
the mummified corpse of their founder, Reverend
Just like the Wyrm is free, or will be.
Harrison Fletcher, kissing its lips, inhaling the
fumes from the blazing fire set to provide it with
illumination. Inspired, Fletcher’s Harriers howl, Congregants of the Mummified Reverend
singing for a world that will end in fire. As the Harrison Fletcher:
story goes, when the last World War was raging, the
• Deacon of the Cracked Claw, the philodox,
Dancer galliard Fletcher gathered a pack and named current leader and principal caretaker of
them his Harriers: their purpose was to never give the mummified corpse.
an ounce of rest to any of their foes and to burn out
• Mr. Opiate, the ragabash. Takes care of
Gaia’s heart with fire and ash.
much of the pack’s funding through the
For years, this Reverend of the spiral led his pack,
drug trade.
announcing his presence with all the gravitas that his
• Ms. Plutonium, a theurge with the
apocalyptic work required. A preacher of the Wyrm,
impossible dream of acquiring real
doing the Wyrm’s work.
plutonium.
To his foes who dared to listen, the Reverend
told of a great fire that would flash over the barren • Mr. Drowner, an ahroun who fancies

plains and usher an era of ash. To his enemies, the himself as something of a serial killer, like
in the movies.
Reverend always offered surrender and conversion
to his cause. Few ever accepted that offer, given the
grotesque nature of the work. Even in 1962, when
Reverend Fletcher died at the claws of a Gaian hero, Hives

T
his Harriers continued his great work. The Reverend
was placed in front of the fire and his spirit never left he Black Spiral Dancers care deeply
the body. Or so they say. about their territories because every desecrated
Before each incursion, the Harriers sing Harrison’s Hive is also a caern denied to the warriors of
Gospel of the End, a song resonating across the local Gaia. Hives, the Dancers’ name for their malignant
Spirit Wilds. Scarred survivors have told many tales caerns, often feel like blood-soaked wounds made
recounting the horrors following that song: flaying, directly in the earth, a reflection of the tribe that has
scorching, orphaning. All of these are the labors of claimed this sacred ground. Some Spirals ask if Hives
the Wyrm. are really all that different from caerns? Are they not
When a caern burns, the Spirit Wilds twist in just gardens tended by gardeners who care more for
pain, cauterized with the fire of the Unmaker. In the weeds than flowers?
aftermath, an ash-covered caern remains, scorched and Here, the members of the fallen tribe can rest and
befouled, with the surviving Garou trying to nurture recover. Just like the caerns, the Hives are reminders
themselves with the last few drops of remaining life. of the inherent beauty of the mission. The Hives are

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Spiral Dancers, it will soon enough become clear

Horrors in a Hive that they also need to against fight the Hive. The
Horrors encountered in the bowels of a Hive: Gauntlet is so thin, it’s almost as if it could reach
• A captive of the Dancers, being kept across. And with the powers of possession such
maimed but alive. spirits often have, it can.
• The animated heads of fallen foes, their
eyes frozen in horror.
• Emaciated pets, fed only the scraps of
The Lamprey’s Hovel
the Dancers’ prey. In Europe, the boom of socialized housing projects
• Tunnel passages with walls adorned with after the Second World War was supposed to solve
dead flesh. the problem of overcrowding, with concrete marvels
replacing the brownstone slums of industrialization.
• The recorded screams of dying victims,
played on repeat through a speaker. However, as with all humans, dysfunction tends
to spread when ambition takes hold. Futuristic
• Carved bone talismans, depicting
structures with ample space for a diverse living
horrifying Wyrm-beasts.
culture were quickly dismissed by anyone able
• An iron pot, filled with blood that is kept
to buy a home there. Even if they were originally
on a simmer.
built for the benefit of the people, the Thatcherite
• A scrapbook filled with locks of hair, reforms of council housing in the 1980s quickly
dated and named, clearly trophies of a turned the enterprise into a paradise for rent-
Dancer. seeking landlords. Within years, the housing
• An old film projector that plays dark and projects became an example of neo-ghettoization,
twisted versions of well-known movies.8 as people with no other options were stuffed into
• Streaming rig, meant to record a room those crumbling blocks.
adorned with butcher hooks and chains. Of course, it’s easy to see why the Black Spiral
Dancers would seek out these places, which is exactly
what happened in Birmingham.
images of where the world has sickened the most, a For years, a pack of Dancers known as Lamprey’s
fate the Dancers know will come to the rest of the Mates have been taking advantage of the locals who
planet in due time. Garou who dare spend time near could not refuse their protection. The Dancers
a Hive carry the memories for the rest of their lives. began to act like human herders. In a way, they’re
Some Garou, prisoners or spies, tell of witnessing like most landlords: growing fat off their tenants’
the sanctification performed through the Rite of the labor, controlling their homes and souls with rules
Awakened Hive. They tell stories about sacrificial and regulations, and then eating them if rent is late.
rites, with dozens of innocents dragged into the Rite After all, a pound of flesh is a pound of flesh.
and then gutted like pigs. The Dancers want to attract The heart of this territory is the Hive itself,
and nurture an enormous Wyrm-spirit with their beneath the central block named the Mayflower. The
sacrifices. As the Bane feasts, the Spirals sing their Mayflower is all old concrete, rusty frames and panes
songs about the blessings of the Unmaker. Then, in of plastic that have replaced windows.
an act of betrayal, the Spirals fall upon their fattened It was supposed to be an architectural marvel,
Bane and eviscerate it, dragging its Umbral entrails yet it now stands as an edifice to ill-informed
along what was once a sacred and lifegiving caern. hubris. After almost a quarter century of being
From this corpus, the Spirals create their Hive. used as a repository of the unwanted members of
When a pack needs to take the fight to the Black society, it’s become the centerpiece of a crumbling

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neighborhood. The tenants keep their heads down, and a former roadman. Most people only dare to
and everyone blames their neighbors and the council address him as Mr. Witt, but the spirits of the area
for the state the tower is in. whisper in terror of Gorger, the Half-Moon dictator
Long-term residents swear that the Mayflower of the Mayflower.
somehow has shrunk over the years. Once you enter, General Difficulty: 5 / 2
it’s hard to ignore the stench of the grimy hallways. Standard Dice Pools: Physical 4, Social 6, Mental 6
Newcomers desperate enough to pay the rent won’t Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 5
have to wait long before the local janitors show up Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 10, Weaponry 9,
with a wolfish grin on their lips. Athletics (Lifting) 8, Gifts 6
Hidden tunnels and blocked off staircases prevent Notes/Other Traits:
the residents from going into the basement. Everyone The equivalent of the following Gifts: Fatal
living here can tell that’s where the screams are Flaw, Blood of the Pack, Razor Claws, and True
coming from. The tunnels run beneath the concrete, Fear.
into the bowels of the earth, where the foes of the Spirit Ally: Gorger’s pack has a pact with a
Lamprey’s Mates find themselves sharing a bed with Power 4 lamprey-spirit (Werewolf, p. 259) giving
flesh-eating lampreys. them a one-die bonus to Brawl when biting on
enemies.
Gorger, the Kingpin Pack: Gorger commands a group of seven other
A humanoid bear dressed in a cheap suit, radiating Spirals. Use the templates Lurking Scout, Caern
contempt for anyone that catches his eyes. A gangster Raider, and Dirgesinger (Werewolf, p. 278).

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In Stories: The heart of the Pit is a maze of tunnels beneath

0 The Mayflower was about to be the club itself. These are old and forgotten corridors,
demolished when the Council decided abandoned by the human world after the end of the
to preserve it against all reason. Cold War. However, despite it being their home, the
Who is being blackmailed and how is
it related to a decrepit council Pit is not sanctified yet, because neither pack allows
house? When the players’ characters the other to do it.
begin to investigate the area, What was once a home for a pack of desperate
they’ll find Gorger and his Black teenage werewolves has turned into failing sept of
Spiral gang waiting.
bickering adult Black Spiral Dancers, split in their
dedication and desires for future revenge against the
The Pit Fenrir and other Gaian bastards.
In the Pit, the music is angry and fast, thick beats
hammering away at your eardrums. The old Sister Cyst, Ragabash of Defiling Claw—The Stage Manager
industrial walls almost seem to contain the sound, General Difficulty: 5 / 2
driving it all inwards. Standard Dice Pools: Physical 4, Social 6, Mental 5
Within this maze of concrete and steel, the Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 5
youngest generation of East Chicago’s Black Spiral Exceptional Dice Pools: Weaponry 6, Leadership
Dancers has found its commons in the Pit. Once 8, Technology 7, Gifts 6
a small Bone Gnawer caern, the Dancers took it Gifts: Eyes of the Owl, Crow’s Laughter, Primal
from them in a short but vicious fight. Two packs, Anger, Eyes of the Cobra
Defiling Claw and Scrimshaw, make up the Hive’s Packmates: The rest of Defiling Claw consists of
sept. Ever since the conquest, an uneasy truce Rusty-Knife, a theurge, Soot, a galliard, and Lester,
remains between the two packs. an ahroun. They’re all in the band.
On average, the truce is tested twice a week, with
the leaders of the packs being forced to keep their Scorched Skin, Theurge of Scrimshaw—The Wicked Witch
packmates in line. It is gradually getting closer and General Difficulty: 5 / 2
closer to the point where they just need to slit some Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 3, Mental
throats to have order in their ranks. 7
The Defiling Claw were once frightened children, Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 5
newly changed in a world where the Cult of Fenris Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 6, Subterfuge 8,
were just starting with another round of purging weak Occult 7, Persuasion 6, Gifts 8
elements, including many cubs who refused to bend to Gifts: Penumbral Senses, Staredown, Drain Spirit,
their methods. As they fled from the neighboring areas Command Spirit, Under the Gun
into Chicago itself, they found a new source of strength Packmates: The rest of Scrimshaw consists of
to keep the Fenrir away: the Black Spiral Dancers. Rakel, a philodox, and Femur, an ahroun.
The Scrimshaw view themselves as traditionalist In Stories:
Black Spiral Dancers, older and wiser, because they
0 The Pit is probably the worst music
tend to have a few years on the Defiling Claw. They venue in East Chicago, but somehow, they
look down upon their rivals with all the hauteur of booked a character’s favorite band.
a 19-year-old calling an 18-year-old a child. For the Time to get over there and save the
band from getting eaten by the Dancers.
Scrimshaw, the true wisdom of the Black Spiral is
to be found in hallucinogenics, mushrooms and 0 The packs within the Pit have begun
chemical compounds they ingest. to search for sacrifices for the Rite
of the Awakened Hive. If you want to
prevent it, it is better to kill their
Rite master as soon as possible.

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 CHAPTER THREE: THE POISON SEEPS IN

The House on the Hill What few people know is that the King
entertains other guests and shares his secrets with
Situated outside of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, on
them for a price. Spirits from the darkest corners
the shores of Lake Wentworth, there is a place where
of the Umbra, bloodsuckers, sorcerers, and even
both tourists and locals fear to go.
Gaian werewolves are welcome in the House on the
Surrounded by foreboding forest, at the end of
Hill if they can behave themselves. Hospitality is
an overgrown footpath through the overgrown and
sacrosanct for both the King and the Worm.
tangled gardens, there is an old, decrepit manor. A
few daring souls have looked at it from a distance, The King (A.K.A. the Spiral Royal)
but no one has ever returned from entering the General Difficulty: 4 / 2
House on the Hill. Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 8, Mental
Here, an ancient evil, slithering and intrusive, dwells. 8, Gifts 10
Even though the Black Spiral Dancers have Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 7
reportedly been here for centuries, they are not Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 6, Subterfuge 9,
the founders of this Hive. It was merely them who Occult 9, Persuasion 9
rediscovered the House and made a pact with it. Gifts: Tongue of the Beasts, Shadow Sense,
Ever since, the Dancers have had a stake here, but it Banish Spirit, Grasp from Beyond, Command Spirit,
is not their Hive. Drain Spirit, Living Ward, Ears of the Bat
The decaying grand ballroom has become the
Black Spiral ritual hall. Where there once was The Mountain Worm
laughter, you’ll now find broken chandeliers, tattered The Worm is a massive Bane, almost impossible to
tapestries, and countless trinkets of bone and sinew see in its entirety because of its size. Usually, only its
that bless the great circle in the middle of the hall. massive maw or undulating flank are seen through
Beneath the manor dwells the Mountain the destruction and debris it leaves in its wake.
Worm: an evil thing, as old as the mountains Power: 12
of Appalachia. It sleeps and dreams of the Exceptional Dice Pools: Occult +3, Brawl +5
Apocalypse, where the great devourer sings. For the Notes / Other Traits:
Black Spiral theurges and galliards, the Worm and Massive Bulk: When the Mountain Worm
its presence is the most precious thing they could attacks, it simultaneously strikes everyone at
imagine. They can learn so much, all for the low close range. Use the same combat test result for
cost of someone else’s life. all enemies.
At times, the Dancers who dwell in the House Penetrating Gurgle: The voice of the Worm
of the Hill hold their great moots, where scores of carries through the Gauntlet, audible to the
their kind come to socialize, rut, kill, and politicize. keen ears of Black Spiral Dancers. If the Worm
The current Host of the House is a bitter old is threatened, it makes a sound to alert its
Dancer called the King. He tries to keep everyone shapechanging allies.
in check, but it’s a losing battle. Having been In Stories:
toppled by young and stronger Garou before he
0 The Mountain Worm is stirring, and
became a Black Spiral Dancer, the King is spiteful it seems to be challenging the local
and cruel but also one of the most knowledgeable packs to meet it in battle. Of course,
Rite masters alive. no one wants to share the glory, least
of all the Cult of Fenris. 

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 C H A P T E R FO U R : E V E RY B O DY I S AG A I N ST YO U

Chapter Four:

Everybody Is
Against You
T
he way the Triat is explained to young Fighting the Wyld is painful for the Garou, for
Garou, they’re often left thinking that spirits they often see it as the last uncorrupted force in the
can easily be categorized as belonging to spirit world. Yet that’s not much help when a Wyld
the Wyrm, the Weaver, or the Wyld. Kill the ones entity is trying to kill you. Trying to rehabilitate
marked by the Wyrm and you win. former allies can be a thankless task.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Although
some spirits profess allegiance to the Wyrm, many The Garou of the
don’t seem to subscribe to Garou cosmology at all. A delu ded
tribes of Gaia ar
young werewolf is left trying to figure out whether e paranoid.
They see the Wyr
a spirit of disease is automatically a Wyrm spirit or m under
every shadow. So
not. The problem is made worse by the fact that many of their
kind believe that
many Garou disagree on the topic. Some have an every spirit
of disease and in
expansionist view of the Wyrm, where every spirit sect, storm
and tide serves
they don’t like is a Bane. Others say that only spirits the purposes
of the Wyrm. Ever
of destruction that have gone mad can really be ything
that destroys is
considered Banes. the Wyrm!
Everything that
kills is the
What makes it worse is that in recent decades, Wyrm! Everything
more and more spirits of the Weaver and the Wyld that tears
dow n is the Wyr
m!
seem to have gone over. Is there a line that separates Let us say thank
a Wyld-spirit of the Storm from a Wyrm spirit of you to our
enemies. What th
acid rain? ey discar d,
we’ll use.
This chapter is dedicated to spirits who used to
be regarded as allies, or at least potentially neutral, - Cr onus “The Wol
f Eater”
but who have become increasingly belligerent and Jones, Black Spir
al Dancer
destructive. The Garou have enough enemies as it is, theurge
but perhaps it’s time to face facts: As the Wyrmtide
rises, a Wyld-spirit of old might become a Bane.

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WYRMTIDE

The Weaver The Eternal Eye is a grand jaggling on its way

O
to becoming an Incarna. It’s not new, but with
n the face of it, the Weaver and the the introduction of cameras, smartphones, facial
Wyrm are opposites. According to Garou recognition, website cookies, and a thousand other
mythology, the Weaver imprisoned the Wyrm magnificent contraptions, it has rapidly escalated in
in its webs, driving it mad. Its confinement led the power and importance.
Wyrm to lash out, driving the destruction seen all Always looking, always watching, the Eternal
over the world today. Eye is an iconic Weaver-spirit because it embodies
Of course, all mythology is metaphor. More modern surveillance as practiced by governments
down-to-earth Garou have wondered whether the and corporations. Yet its connection to destruction
story is actually about the way human development, and thus the Wyrm is a lot more intimate than it
technology, and expansion have influenced the initially appears. Devastation on a mass scale in a
Umbra, changing the relationship between spirits of modern industrial society is possible because of the
pattern and entropy. From this viewpoint, the Wyrm vast databases compiled of everyone on Earth.
and the Weaver are not opposites at all. Human The Eternal Eye doesn’t handle the pruning itself.
civilization both builds and destroys. The greatest But it certainly provides the various monstrosities
tools of science can be used for massive devastation. serving the Wyrm the information they need.
Some Garou see servants of the Weaver in After all, that is its function. Modern surveillance
simplistic terms. They believe that a destructive exists to give a drone pilot the necessary targeting
Weaver-spirit has been brought over into the service coordinates to strike a hospital, and the Eternal Eye
of the Wyrm. Others, many Red Talons chief among uses the Wyrm’s creatures by providing them with
them, believe that in their danger to Gaia, there’s no information on a selective basis.
distinction between the Weaver and the Wyrm. Both Too powerful to be encountered directly, the
are enemies and both must be destroyed. Eternal Eye is represented by its servants.
For a Garou warrior, such philosophizing is
often a luxury. Does it matter if the Wyrm and the The Snitch Bird
Weaver are in conflict or if they’re cooperating when The Umbra is full of spirits. No Garou can expect to
you’re faced with a monstrosity built on a pattern of visit without being seen by something. Unfortunately,
destruction? sometimes that something is a Snitch Bird. Small and
weak by themselves, they serve the Eternal Eye by
The Eternal Eye gathering data and sometimes by directly snitching
on the players’ characters to whatever Banes might
Every wall loses its
be nearby. The Snitch Bird is innocent! It didn’t do
mystery, and every door is anything. Just spread what it knew.
made of glass… What Does It Want? By instinct, the Snitch Bird
There’s a thing somewhere deep in the Umbra, a wants to preserve structures and systems. It doesn’t
thing that creaks like old metal suspended by wires differentiate between the various purposes a system
in an abandoned warehouse. It speaks in a voice might have, whether an Albion oil rig or a data
like the grainy static of a security monitor, the glide center. Its method of protection is to detect potential
of an automatic camera making its predestined threats and then snitch to something more powerful.
journey from one corner to the other. The thing Its unusual ability lies in exploiting enmities. The
has seven hundred eyes of all shapes and sizes — no Bane it snitches to might not care for the well-being
matter where in the world you are, it wants to know of the system at all, but it hates the Garou and wants
everything there is to know about you. to hurt them.

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Possession/Manifestation: On the face of it, the

Snitch Bird looks like a perfectly ordinary bird-spirit,
Terminus
although it has unusually large eyes. It possesses That old general once said
birds, and sometimes inquisitive, gossipy humans. that a soldier will fight
Snitch Bird Spirit long and hard for a piece of
Power: 2 colored ribbon. I suppose it
Exceptional Dice Pools: Awareness +6, works just as well hanging
Persuasion +4 from a pole as it does
Notes/Other Traits:
The Right Enemy: The Snitch Bird has a knack
pinned to their chest.
Ages ago there was a human being who first said:
for locating Banes and other Umbral entities
“This is mine, and anything outside I care not for!”
who hate its target. When convenient for the
story, it can find Banes who hate the Garou on The first mental boundary was established. Over
principle, or even specific enemies the characters the millennia this idea of separation became so
have fought in the past. normalized and so all-encompassing that it came
The Facade of Innocence: The Snitch Bird to be physically manifested in tall stone walls and
looks just like an ordinary bird. Realizing that written in maps.
it’s something more sinister requires a Wits + Terminus is an Incarna concerning itself with the
Occult test at a Difficulty of 3. boundaries that exist in human minds. A wall with
no visible entrance and no sign of welcome is the
In Stories:
language it speaks. Terminus is also known as the
0 The players’ pack believes that their Nation State, the Border, and Fortress Europe.
plan of infiltration is flawless. The
only thing that saw them was a little
When it shows itself in the Umbra, the spirit is the
bird… cold tune of a siren going off somewhere far away.
It is ancient sculpture draped in the flag of empire,
0 Is it possible to use the
predilections of the Snitch Bird always shifting in form yet giving the impression of
against it or the enemy? Give it permanence.
false information and watch it reach Terminus is an archetypal Weaver-spirit,
the Banes who harry the characters.

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WYRMTIDE

concerning itself with the fundamental way territory own. You can recognize such possession by the
is divided in the world. The pattern has many victim’s sudden masochistic penchant for using
shapes in the minds of humans, and this one is very razorwire as personal decoration.
powerful. Because of this, it’s often not thought of as Razorguard Spirit
an entity working with the Wyrm.
Power: 6
Yet the mere existence of a border, a division
Exceptional Dice Pools: Awareness +4, Firearms
between us and them, fuels many of the Urge
+4, Intimidation +4
Wyrms. Hatred stirs against all those not like us.
Notes/Other Traits:
Greed makes us wish to take what is theirs. A line on
Hurt the Wounded: Razorguards receive a two-
the map justifies murder.
dice bonus to all tests against a wounded target.
The servants of Terminus appear to be entities (Or increase their General Difficulty by one in
seeking to maintain order, wearing the facade of law similar circumstances.)
and authority. Once in action, the joy they take in Razorguns: Those hit by Razorguard attacks
enforcing all the cruelties of division makes many find razorwire wrapped around parts of their
suspect they’re affected by the Wyrm after all. body. Their wounds cannot be healed by
supernatural means until the wire is removed,
Razorguard which takes a round of concentrated action
Usually, an Umbral traveler slips into the assuming that wirecutters or similar tools are
Wyrmlands by accident, realizing only too late available.
that they’re surrounded by Banes and malignant Camps: Sometimes Razorguards take
spirit landscapes. Still, there are regions where the prisoners, dragging them to small camps
combined influence of the Wyrm and the Weaver emcircled by razorwire and holding spirits and
has caused walls, fences, and razorwire to manifest, Umbral travelers. Such prisoners are bound with
dividing spirit and traveler alike. Such borders razorwire and cannot leave the camp as long as
need guards, and that’s what the Razorguard is for. their hands or throats are trapped. Removing
They move in vaguely paramilitary bands of 5–8, the wire requires a Dexterity + Larceny test at a
hunting for trespassers. Difficulty of 5, 4 if wirecutters or similar tools
What Does It Want? Razorguards have a task, are available.
which is to guard the borders of specific Wyrmlands. In Stories:
But what they really want is to toy with the desperate
0 Razorguards are designed to be part of
spirits and travelers they come across. In their view, a larger story, antagonists operating
you’re always in the wrong place. They’ll kill you, as part of a bigger scheme. That
hunt you and hurt you, depending on what strikes said, Razorguard camps are a possible
location for an Umbral prisoner the
their fancy.
players’ characters must rescue.
Possession/Manifestation: Razorguards appear
as heavily militarized border guards, their faces 0 Is it possible to roll back Wyrmlands
by destroying border fences and walls
obscured by masks. They carry rifles and wear where those exist? Perhaps yes, but
military fatigues, always seeming to appear out they’ll be protected by Razorguards.
of the darkness. Their bodies are wrapped with
razorwire and they bleed from its wounds. They
prefer to possess humans with jobs similar to their

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Low Growl confides in a friend:

Was it a good idea to shack up with Ilona? No, probably not. She was
disoriented and traumatized from the loss of her sister, and we had no
money, and we were on the run, and we didn’t even really know what we
were doing.
But it was just something in her... I hated her when she was strong,
but when she was lost and vulnerable, I fell for her. She just needed
me so much. She needed someone to be with her.
This happens to many of us. The stress of the fight, the fear, the
adrenaline, the highs and the lows all make us imprint on each other.
We think that’s love. I don’t know if it is, but I know that after that
first night in the motel, things started to change. For the better, I
don’t know. But the spirits spoke to us.
We’d been driving north for a while now because Ilona had an
inexplicable feeling that we should. I knew we were trying to find
Zhyzhak, but we didn’t talk about it. I didn’t know what we’d do if we
really succeeded. Try to kill her? That seemed impossible. Only a Great
Hunt could bring her down.
I didn’t realize until way too late we were on a hunt of our own. I’m
just a wolfborn nobody, but Ilona is a favorite of the Thunder spirits,
the mightiest warrior of the Shadow Lords. I guess that counts for
something when you need a little support from beyond.
We were driving along a road that was barely a dirt track through
the forest. It was night, and something massive was crashing through
the forest. A deer perhaps, only a deer didn’t make such a noise. No, this
was something else, something rare and primal. A great beast of the
Wyld given flesh.
It was only after we had left the car and continued on foot that
Ilona told me of her pact. She had promised the beast our service if it
managed to kill us. But if we succeeded in bringing it down, the spirit
manifesting in that mighty animal would give us some of the secrets of
the Destroyer, secrets it had learned long ago. Secrets of the spirits
who had elevated Zhyzhak into what she was now.
Hearing the plan, I knew Ilona Koranyi was back. The lost pup had been
buried inside her and she was the mightiest of the Garou champions once
more. I knew we’d be victorious.

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WYRMTIDE

The Wyld Every human flame eventually dies in the wind.

F
Lightless Storm is the Incarna of extinguishing
or most Garou, nature, the storm that kills all light and leaves
the Wyld is a sacred humans shivering in the darkness without shelter
force, the original pure or safety. The last flicker of warmth fades as the
energy of creation. The Wyld blizzard howls louder. Freezing to death, huddled
is the only one of the Triatic forces in the oppressive blanket of the pitch-black night,
which still seems to operate as originally ancient humans felt the terror of a cold nothingness.
intended, with no corruption or deviation. Its One moment there is comfort and security, and the
problems lie in being held back by the depredations next you are a helpless, naked ape.
of the Weaver and the Wyrm, not any inner flaw. The comforts of electricity and central heating
In practice, it’s not always so easy to distinguish may have pushed off the terror for a while, but the
between the Wyld and the Wyrm. More theoretically increasing natural fury of disastrous weather events
minded Garou may wonder whether spirits of precipitated by global warming has brought back the
disease or vermin are really of the Wyrm, or just the storm in the night with a vengeance. As hospitals go
echoes of primal lifeforms the same as any other. dark, the internet fails, and disaster relief is nowhere
Why would the fundamental nature of a living to be found, only the storm remains. Does it matter
being be determined by the inconvenience it causes whether it’s of the Wyld or the Wyrm at that point?
to humans? Not even the Garou are safe, for rare is the pack that
Following this logic leads to strange places. Soon, does not rely on the Weaver’s wonders, little as some
you may start to believe that no spirit is truly of the of them might like to admit it. Even those who’ve
Wyrm except the most depraved manifestations of successfully gone off-grid have allies, friends, and
pure sadism. That doesn’t seem right either. family who have not, and those people can easily be
The way the Weaver feeds into the works of the caught up in the havoc that Lightless Storm brings
Wyrm is often tied to the ravages of modernity. The with it.
Wyld is the opposite: The Wyld entities and forces That’s the embarrassment of fighting Lightless
which cause massive destruction tend to be primal, Storm. It shows even the mightiest champions of
ancient, from the time before either humanity or Gaia that survival depends on a balance between
wolves walked the earth. the Triat. The servants of Lightless Storm are spirits
If a natural storm destroys infrastructure across of darkness and loss, fear and terror. They call into
the whole region, that feels like an act of both the question whether a modern Garou, born into a
Wyld and the Wyrm. human family, would really wish to live in a world
where the Wyld became ascendant.
Lightless Storm
Frostbite
My will is older than the
The spirits serving Lightless Storm are often stark,
gaol I am freeing you violent entities of merciless cold. Frostbite is nothing
from. I have been here like that. A subtle spirit, it’s friendly and resonable.
longer than steel and It’ll help you and take you where you need to go. The
cages both. There is no only thing it really wants is for you to take a break.
Sitting in the snow. In the cold. It’s not bad. You can
flame your kind has built
close your eyes and relax. Drift to sleep. Forever.
that I cannot quench, no What Does It Want? Frostbite wants to help you,
beam I have not bent. and also for you to die, freezing to death in your

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sleep. Is that too much to ask? of frozen flesh to eat. Some Garou imagine that the
Possession / Manifestation: In the Umbra, Dire Wolf is their ally, but in truth it has no allegiance
Frostbite is the fading echo of a human, too cold beyond the Lightless Storm. Wherever there is darkness
to really be touched. But it looks like it’s gone to and death, there is the Dire Wolf.
somewhere it can be happy. In the physical world, What Does It Want? The Dire Wolf wants to
its favorite humans to possess are rescue workers hunt and howl in a frozen world. It can be bargained
despairing of ever saving everyone. with, but only to a very limited degree. The only
Frostbite Spirit
thing that really motivates it is the chance to make
the world colder or to hunt powerful prey.
Power: 6
Possession / Manifestation: As a spirit, the Dire
Exceptional Dice Pools: Stealth +4, Persuasion
Wolf is a huge, grey wolf with frost in its fur. Its
+2, Insight +3
breath never steams, no matter how cold it is, for it
Notes / Other Traits:
is cold inside too. When the Dire Wolf possesses an
Bone-Deep Cold: Brawl attacks on Frostbite always
ordinary wolf, it looks like a Garou in huge hispo
inflict at least a level of Superficial damage on the
attacker, regardless of the result of the test. form, with pale blue eyes.
Reasonable Argument: Words are Frostbite’s Possessed Wolf
best weapon. If it gets a chance to talk, it General Difficulty: 5 / 3
can cause Aggravated Willpower damage by Standard Dice Pools: Physical 8, Social 4, Mental 6
attacking with a Persuasion test. If the victim Secondary Abilities: Health 10, Willpower 6
loses all Willpower, they become unconscious. Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 12, Intimidation
From the viewpoint of an inexperienced victim, 8, Survival 9
it may not be obvious that this is an attack. Notes / Other Traits:
Recognizing it as such without prior experience Cold Death: The presence of the Dire Wolf
requires a Wits + Survival test at a Difficulty of 4. extinguishes all heat sources within ten meters.
Ambient Temperature: The temperature This includes fire, radiators, and car engines. All
around the spirit is always freezing cold. Those non-biological heat-producing systems cease to
not properly dressed suffer a level of Superficial function and turn cold. Often, such as in the
damage for each ten minutes in its vicinity. case of the car engine, this has the side effect of
In Stories: making machines fail in their other functions
0 Frostbite are not inherently hostile too. It also means that heat-producing weapons
spirits. The players’ characters such as flamethrowers and grenades don’t work.
may be in a position where they need Sharp Teeth: The teeth of the Dire Wolf inflict
help, but as allies these spirits +2 Aggravated damage.
have their problems. After all, while
Howl of the Pack: If there are wolves nearby, the
helpful, they also try to kill you.
Dire Wolf can howl for its brethren to possess
0 Could Frostbite be used as a them too. If it senses the approach of a threat in
weapon against the Wyrm? It doesn’t
advance, it can have four to six wolves like itself
discriminate in terms of its victims.
Perhaps it could be convinced that as a pack.
Black Spiral Dancers need its help. In Stories:
Dire Wolf 0 Local Cult of Fenris has convinced
themselves that Dire Wolves are their
Every werewolf believes that wolves are more than allies. true allies and luring them into the
They’re family. But that’s not, strictly speaking, true. nearby Spirit Wilds is not only wise,
but a duty towards Gaia. The trouble
The Dire Wolf is an echo from a time before humanity,
is, the Dire Wolves hunt Garou too.
a monstrous wolf stalking the cold, dark night in search

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WYRMTIDE

0 It’s the coldest winter in a century, the Impergium, convenient because Garou tend to
courtesy of the unpredictable weather
caused by global warming. There are be resistant to falling ill due to their supernatural
sightings of unusually large wolves, stamina. When such Garou are radicalized enough,
and local hunters are talking about they often end up fighting their former allies who
killing them, permits or no. But who’s
seek to stop their murderous plans.
hunting who when it’s not a wolf but a
Dire Wolf possessing a wolf?
Corpse Husk
In death, we’re all alike. Disease hacks away at
Black Death our individuality until we become nothing but
As an Incarna, the power of Black Death goes far malfunctioning, terminal biological matter. The
beyond its titular disease. It’s the spirit of plague, Corpse Husk is the spirit of deindividuation in
virulent disease which leaves whole communities as death. A Corpse Husk spirit is not the soul of a dead
nothing but corpses strewn around. No matter the human. Rather, as is the case with all spirits, it’s the
specifics of the disease, Black Death gains power Umbral echo of endless dead bodies so racked by
when pandemics rage and humans can’t take care of disease, they cannot be identified anymore.
each other anymore in the middle of mass death. What Does It Want? Corpse Husks tend to move in
So surely this is a Wyrm spirit, right? It does large groups but they’re impossible to tell apart. Once
everything the Wyrm does and kills at a vast scale. you lose track of a specific Husk, you won’t be able to
Historically, plagues have been civilization-ending distinguish it from any others. They yearn for meaning
events for many towns and regions. For most Garou, and purpose, but their grotesque appearance usually
this argument makes sense and there’s no point in means that only Banes and Black Spiral Dancers have
discussing the matter further. the stomach to rally them to a cause. This is not because
But there are those who say that a plague is simply a of any loyalty on part of the Corpse Husk. For them,
dominant lifeform. When a more successful predator any purpose will do. If a Garou from the tribes of Gaia
moves into an area, it decimates the prey other, weaker grants them meaning, they’ll take it.
predators were depending on. There’s no such thing Possession / Manifestation: Corpse Husks look
as natural balance. Predators eat as much as they can, vile. They appear as naked human bodies so ravaged
and if they eat too much, they starve because all the and enervated by sickness that it’s impossible to
prey is gone. That’s what happens to diseases too, after tell what they looked like originally. Open sores,
they have killed all their hosts. They die out because collapsed bone structure, sloughing skin… It’s all
there’s nobody to spread them. there. Just when you think this person cannot be
Although Black Death is commonly seen as a alive anymore, they move. The Husks like to possess
Wyrm spirit and the enemy among the Garou, humans on the verge of dying from fatal sickness or
some note that it strikes their enemies the same as corpses that have been mangled beyond recognition.
their friends. The Weaver’s pattern is damaged by
Possessed Human
the depredations of virulent disease and Pentex
fronts collapse if their staff starts vomiting blood. General Difficulty: 3 / 2
The children of Black Death may escape from a Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 2, Mental
bioweapons lab operated by a Wyrm cult, and once 5
free, they’ll kill without discriminating. Secondary Abilities: Health 6, Willpower 5
The idea that Black Death is a Wyld-spirit is not Exceptional Dice Pools: Medicine 6
Notes / Other Traits:
common, but there are those among the Red Talons
Fester: Brawl attacks on the possessed human
and the Cult of Fenris for whom it’s convenient
leave a residue of diseased viscera on the
when they want to argue for its benefits. They see
body of the attacker. It prompts an adverse
disease as a possible way to return to the times of

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reaction of coughing, sneezing, incontinence, Possession / Manifestation: In its true form,

and potentially other symptoms, causing the the Plague Dog is an extremely sickly yet energetic
Difficulties of all tests for that character to medium-sized dog. Its eyes are bloodshot, its fur
rise by 1 for the rest of the scene. For human falling off in patches, and its gum are bleeding. It
enemies, it causes severe, possibly lethal likes to possess extremely sick dogs on the verge of
infection. For Garou, the persistent effects are death. Perversely, such possession often seems to take
like that of a flu, passing in a few days. away the dog’s pain and give it a new lease on life
Squishy: Guns and other projectile weapons even if it remains obviously sick.
do only half damage. The internal cohesion of
the body is no longer terribly important to the Possessed Dog
Corpse Husk. General Difficulty: 3 / 2
Fear: The mere existence of the Corpse Husk Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 3, Mental 3
is a reminder of the fact that eventually all of our Secondary Abilities: Health 6, Willpower 3
bodies are going to rot alone and meaningless. Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 7, Investigation 6,
Attacking the Husk requires a successful Survival 7
Resolve + Medicine test at a Difficulty of 3, or Notes / Other Traits:
the expenditure of a point of Willpower. Friend to Disease: The Plague Dog is friends
In Stories: with all spirits of disease great and small and can
always call them for aid. Spirits and fomori of
0 Shoddy safety protocols at a local disease are not going to harm it.
bioweapons lab have caused an
outbreak of deadly disease with
Contagion: The first time a character touches
catastrophic results. Some of the the Plague Dog for any reason, they have to make
corpses are shuddering back to life, a Stamina + Animal Ken test at a Difficulty
spreading the contagion even further. of 3. Failure means that the character has been
How can they be stopped?
infected by a disease. Its specific nature is left to the
0 A local Red Talon visionary believes Storyteller, but bear in mind that Garou characters
that the Impergium can be reinstated are probably going to suffer reduced effects.
if humans possessed by Corpse Husks
Sharp Teeth: The Plague Dog bites with +2 to
are herded into major cities to
spread a plague. Is it possible to damage.
stop them, or even snap the Red Talon In Stories:
out of his hauglosk?
0 There’s a whole pack of dog spirits
Plague Dog hanging in the Umbra around the
caern. They’re handy because they
Who knows what diseases that dog might carry? keep local Banes away, but the
Plague Dogs are a modern manifestation of the fear trouble is that they’re Plague Dogs.
of disease, born out of the idea that animals are filthy 0 A Plague Dog takes a shine to a
and carry the plague. In the Umbra, fears often character, and its inquisitive nature
become literally manifest and the Plague Dogs do makes it a good source of information
on the depredations of disease-ridden
indeed carry diseases with them. They’re curious fomori. Is that worth a permanent runny
spirits, always eager to push their noses everywhere. nose? 
What Does It Want? The Plague Dog wants
to push its nose into your business. It finds you
extremely interesting, but it can also be distracted
by giving it something to explore. The idea that it
might not be wanted makes the Plague Dog mad,
sometimes angry enough to attack.

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134
 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

Chapter Five:

Where
to Fight
E
very epic fight needs a cool Where do the fina
backdrop. This chapter details a series of l
battles of the Ap
locations you can use and adapt in your own ocalypse
take place?
stories. Their purpose is going to depend on why
Your home. The wor
the players’ pack is there and what their enemies kplace.
want, but in each case, whatever action ensues The streets. The
should be interesting. supermarket.
Each of the enemy types detailed in this book Everywhere human
s live,
suggests its own locations. Albion Petroleum has we win.
oil rigs, refineries, and gas stations. Black Spiral Victory is inevit
Dancers have festering Hives where they come able.
- Cr onus “The Wol
together to perform their vile Rites. In each case, f Eater” Jones,
Black Spir al Da
an interesting location is going to bring the enemies ncer theu rge
to life and, if the scene turns to combat, presents
new tactical options.
kept while they are waiting for a trial or are serving a
Washington County Jail shorter prison sentence. County jails also often hold
people when state prisons are too overcrowded.

T
he jail is a twenty-minute drive The jail is a worn, austere compound with thick,
outside the county’s largest city. It consists of red brick walls. It currently has 230 inmates, a
two buildings and a yard inside two walls. The little more than its official capacity. The security
smaller building has inmate processing and short- arrangements are strict: the place has cameras,
term incarceration, the larger three-floor structure locked and monitored gates and doors, and
has the medical ward and cells. precise procedures for everything. The jail has an
The difference between a state prison and a county atmosphere of boredom, stress, anxiety, and fear.
jail is that this is a place where arrested people are

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WYRMTIDE

As an inmate, you’re brought to the jail shackled by There is a clear hierarchy among the correction
the hands and ankles. Your property gets confiscated, officers, where the younger newcomers fear and obey
you’re given a body search, and you’re recorded. After the elders and do not, for example, intervene in the
that, you’re taken to wait for processing in a large possible mistakes of their fellow officers. The prison
waiting room with rows of chairs. Next, you undergo system is always on the corrections officers’ side, and
a health check, you’re interviewed, and assessed, absolute power over the inmates offers temptations
and placed in a cellblock according to your crime and opportunities to abuse one’s power.
and level of assessed danger. You’re taken to a cell, General Difficulty: 3 / 2
which you share with one to five people. The cells are Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 3, Mental 3
small, as clean as you bother to keep them, and often Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 4
windowless. The cell has steel toilet bowl and a sink, Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 6, Firearms 6,
bunk beds, and not much else. Intimidation 5
Depending on the crime, you can get out of jail on Notes / Other Traits:
bail, or a good lawyer can speed up the process. Bail Casual Brutality: The Corrections Officer is
money and lawyer’s fees can be expensive. Usually bail armed with a truncheon (+1 Superficial damage).
varies from a few hundred dollars (minor misdemeanor) It can also be used for Intimidation, providing a
to tens of thousands (serious violent felony). A defense one-die bonus to the test.
lawyer’s hourly rates are hundreds of dollars, depending
on their experience and the nature of your crime. County Jail Psychologist
It’s possible to visit an inmate, but visitors must Many of Washington County Jail’s inmates suffer
book their visit beforehand and be approved for from mental health problems when they enter the
visiting. Visiting hours are limited to only one hour jail, and many more develop mental health problems
per week and for only two visitors at a time. You during their stay. The jail is an easy and simple place
can’t bring any gifts or items for the inmate, and for a county jail psychologist to work at because state
there is also a dress code for visitors: for example, no law allows involuntary medication of inmates. Since
jewelry except wedding rings, no gang symbols or therapy is too expensive and the county jail has been
attire that might be interpreted as such, no garments criticized for sending too many inmates to mental
that expose chest or back, no outerwear, and shoes institutions, it’s easier to give aggressive inmates
must be kept on all times. antipsychotic drugs. It’s not really about malice, just
The jail offers relatively little for inmates to about using the easiest and cheapest way to keep the
do. The compound has a small library, whose inmates in check.
books have been received as donations. There’s a General Difficulty: 4 / 2
recreational area with a basketball court, exercise Standard Dice Pools: Physical 2, Social 4, Mental 5
equipment, and space to walk. Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 5
Exceptional Dice Pools: Insight 6, Persuasion 5
The prison system is Notes / Other Traits:
always on the side of the Observant: The County Jail Psychologist has
corrections officer. worked with people with anger issues for their
entire professional career. They spot the inherent
Rage of the Garou instinctively, even if they
Human Antagonists don’t know they’re dealing with a werewolf.
For a Garou, trying to fool the Psychologist
Corrections Officer into believing they’re not a threat requires a
The job as a corrections officer (CO) in Washington Difficulty 4 Charisma + Persuasion test.
County Jail is monotonous, low paying, and boring.

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 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

Supernatural Antagonists mass fight. The riot does not have to be started by
the players’ characters for them to be caught in the
Pewter Group middle of the violence and chaos.
As an environment, the county jail feeds feelings
See p. 65.
like despair, anger, and fear, which attract Banes.
Bitter Rages Both inmates and guards are potential targets for
them. A cellmate hasn’t adapted to being locked up.
See Werewolf, p. 245.
After weeks of desperation, loss of privileges, and
Phantasmi feelings of helplessness, they seem to have found
See p. 84. something that comforts them. There are no visible
signs of possession yet, but at times it’s like they are
Oubliette someone else. The guards are happy to notice that
See p. 85. they have finally settled in.

Tests and Options Variations

If there is a lot of gang activity in the area, it can Instead of a public institution, the prison is a private
be useful to improve your own chances of survival for-profit prison (possibly run by Pewter Group, see
by aligning yourself with a group, especially if you p. 65) with an inmate labor program. The prison hires
are alone in the jail without your pack. In many out inmates to work in various jobs like cleaning, farm
jails inmates are placed with the ethnic group the work, or the manufacturing of goods. Prisoners are
corrections officers think they fit best. The guards paid a minimum wage, but various deductions by the
rely on the racial division created by this system to prison reduce the wage to almost nothing.
keep the prisoners fighting each other. To navigate The small island on the Norwegian archipelago
the inmate politics or find a group that would accept looks like a quaint country town with houses, farms,
you, make a Wits + Streetwise test at Difficulty 2. A and workshops. It has a small shop and a ferry that
Brutal outcome means you get new enemies. goes between the island and the mainland. This
Howling at the moon while incarcerated may not cozy-looking place is a prison island, where inmates
always be possible, but other means of gaining Rage, learn to live outside a prison before they are released.
especially from being provoked and humiliated, All of them are very capable of violence and will act
are constantly present. The locked up Garou may aggressively if threatened or scared.
become dangerous to themselves and their cellmates.
Escaping the jail by stepping sideways is not
completely impossible but very difficult. However,
Scheldes
the Umbra around the jail can be even more Pharmaceuticals
dangerous than its physical counterpart. Using Gifts
like Skinbind, Open Seal, Shrouded Aspect, and Laboratory

T
Control Machine can be more useful when trying to he Scheldes Pharmaceuticals
escape. laboratory is located on the edge of the
university campus area, where the company
Complications rents the ground floor of an office building. The
Jail riots are not uncommon in Washington County seven-story building is on the grayer and drearier
Jail, where the atmosphere is tense, and the threat side of the campus area, where the neat office towers
of violence is ever-present. A jail riot can start from are bordered by the concrete noise fence next to the
a fire started in a cell or from a large and sudden the highway and a construction site that is forever in

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WYRMTIDE

From a report by Maxwell Vaughn, Assistant Manager of

Special Projects at Albion Petroleum:
I’m the lowliest of the dancers for I’m not a Dancer at all.
I’m just human flesh, a naked animal crawling where others
walk.
Run.
Dance.
They dance to the music, the uneven beat, the drums that
sound as if they come from within you, your heart beating to
the same arrhythmic noise.
I know this won’t make sense to you, but it makes sense to me.
Ever since I ate that meat, knelt at the altar of flesh on that
ship, took the taste of rust and blood and oil into my mouth,
I have known that I serve a greater purpose than protecting
Albion Petroleum from the threat of unconventional terrorism.
Terrorism.
Euphemisms. They won’t do when we dance. They dance and I… I
want to dance, too, but I can’t. I just shudder and crawl.
Zhyzhak’s disciple, the lost, the shapeshifter who doesn’t
dance the Spiral, the one who came with the terrorists, I’ve
been talking with her. She has been talking to me. On the ship,
she was the only one who made sense. Who spoke of things from
life, from what I remembered, things other than the beat, the
arrhythmia.
I confess. I broke down. I took solace in her words. She… she
couldn’t help listening to Zhyzhak. And hearing her. But I
think she could try to save me from the Spiral. She was saving
me, keeping me sane, and doing so, she was saving herself.
And I’m just a… They call me a failure. I can’t take the
Spiral inside me. I can’t take the Banes inside me. They don’t
take root even though I’ve eaten of the flesh.
Her words took that from me. They made me remember life when
I should have remembered only pain.

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 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

progress. During the day the area is lively and heavily fridges where samples are stored, and computers to
trafficked. At night it is almost deserted. record test results.
Entrance to the building and the laboratory is Like many Scheldes Pharmaceuticals’ operations,
either through the front doors that lead to a small, the company has cut costs by building the
unguarded lobby or through the loading doors at laboratory on premises that don’t conform to
the back of the building. All doors are locked and safety regulations. The equipment and materials
monitored by a CCTV camera and have a door used are the cheapest possible. Only the storage
phone that connects to the laboratory’s office or room features thick walls and air conditioning.
the security guard company patrolling the area. There are fire extinguishers and a fire alarm system,
The laboratory has office rooms, a locker room but they haven’t been maintained or checked for
with a tiny shower cabinet, a cramped break room some time. The laboratory’s unsafe conditions
and a dining area, a storage room for materials, become apparent from things like missing safety
and two laboratory workspaces. The laboratory instructions and equipment (no emergency
employs seven people: the laboratory manager, four eyewash station), broken equipment, badly washed
researchers, and two laboratory assistants. decanters, and no separate bin for biohazard waste.
In the laboratory, Scheldes is developing a new A look at the locked chemical storage rooms reveals
antibiotic for animals by studying bacteria that react that reagents and chemicals are both old and
weakly to antibiotics. Laboratory workspaces are incorrectly stored. The air smells like metal and
rooms with worktables with analyzing equipment, drying ethanol.

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WYRMTIDE

Scheldes’ laboratory was supposed to operate in

the building for a year but has been there for the last
five years. The research goes on but with little or
no results or a viable new product. The laboratory’s
former workers say that the laboratory manager went
weird after they got a promotion.

The laboratory’s former

workers say that the
laboratory manager went
weird after they got a
promotion.

Scheldes’ way of rewarding and encouraging

exceptionally promising individuals is to put them
in a situation where a Bane can possess them. An
Asklepian spirit (Werewolf, p. 245) would have
been quite useful — think of the possibilities of
doing research on very special test subjects — but
instead a Dissonant Gestalt (Werewolf, p. 246)
appeared. The possessed manager has created an
extremely competitive, distrustful, and chaotic work
environment where laboratory staff work against
each other and effectively destroy all chances of
producing results.

Human Antagonists
Laboratory Manager
The laboratory manager is possessed by a Dissonant
Gestalt (Werewolf, p. 246). This improves their
ability to command and demand obedience but
doesn’t improve their project management abilities.
Under their new leadership, the research group
has turned into a cult where the laboratory staff
competes for the manager’s attention and favor.

Jealous Assistant
The young laboratory assistant is completely
under the control of the manager. The assistant is
a student who originally applied to the laboratory
to work there alongside their chemistry studies
but is now convinced that their true calling is

140
 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

to work in support of the manager they greatly protective equipment, can infect the person
admire. The assistant is not only ready to carry handling them. A simple Difficulty 2 Wits +
out all the orders of the manager but is also very Medicine test is needed to remember the risks and
jealous of their attention; they consider everyone prepare accordingly.
in the laboratory, employees and random guests, a The laboratory is full of interesting chemicals
direct threat to themselves and the attention they that a skilled individual can use to make homemade
receive from the manager. explosives with a Difficulty 3 Intelligence + Science
General Difficulty: 3 / 2 test. The most common chemicals used for cleaning
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 2, Social 3, Mental 4 instruments found in the laboratory can be used in
Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 3 combat situations: hydrogen peroxide and sodium
Exceptional Dice Pools: Subterfuge 5, Science 5 hydroxide are harmful to the skin, respiratory
Notes / Other Traits: system, or eyes. Ethanol or isopropyl ignite easily.
Jealous Attention: All tests to fool the Jealous Even the general-purpose cleaner concentrate for
Assistant for the purposes of somehow harming laboratory facilities is highly alkaline.
or opposing the Laboratory Manager have a
Difficulty of 4 due to their jealous attention to
the Manager’s every move.
Complications
There’s always someone in the laboratory when it is
supposed to be empty. It could be that one researcher
Supernatural Antagonists who knows the place so well that they think they
can safely ignore all alarms and stay in the building
Scheldes Pharmaceuticals when everyone else evacuates, or an assistant trying
See p. 58. to finish the last test sequence before going home,
or even the cleaner who is not paid enough to care if
Mockeries someone comes in to rob the place.
See p. 106. A surprise inspection is carried out in the
laboratory. The building inspector, a Scheldes’
Injecta regional director, or state health officials have entered
See p. 98. the laboratory to examine its operations or equipment.
The laboratory is under intense surveillance and there
Tests and Options always seems to be someone around. It’s only a matter
The players’ characters might not know how a of time before the local media arrives, or someone
laboratory works or how to figure out what is going leaks the incident to social media.
on. To understand and identify potential hazards
or the nature of the research, make a Difficulty 3 Variations
test of Intelligence + Medicine or Science. A Brutal Instead of bacteria samples, the laboratory tests
outcome in an investigation or search-related test antibiotics on animals. One laboratory has several
could mean that you forget all caution and touch, small animals (mice, rats, or guinea pigs) that have
sniff, or taste something toxic or harmful, or destroy been infected with the bacteria and on which different
valuable information or material. versions of the antibiotic being developed are tested.
Messing with test samples, tainting them with The animals are stressed and sick. Releasing or
chemicals, or just spoiling them by unplugging the adopting them would feel like a compassionate choice
fridge means contamination is both a possibility but will lead to a disease outbreak.
and a risk. This destroys the current research, but Instead of antibiotics, the laboratory studies the
careless handling of samples, for example without effect of infrasound on living things. Instead of

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WYRMTIDE

tissue samples and chemicals, the laboratory has Albion 5 is a floating semi-submersible platform,
several rooms with loudspeakers where different which is moored to the seabed from eight spots from
animals are kept in cages and are exposed to its four support pillars on pontoons. Everything
sounds of different frequencies. Due to poor sound from drilling and processing to living spaces is on
insulation or human error, sounds leak into the the same platform. The oil it produces is transported
laboratory. Infrasounds outside the range of human to the mainland by underwater pipes. Albion 5
hearing cause varying symptoms in laboratory has a staff of 70 working on the platform in 12-
workers and visitors, such as nausea, arrhythmia, hour shifts, three to four weeks at a time. The crew
and an inexplicable feeling of fear and anxiety that consists of professionals like engineers, operators,
worsens with time spent in the laboratory. technicians, and a qualified medic. The crew also
has a helicopter pilot, as the workers are flown to

Albion 5 Oil Platform

the platform. A supply ship visits the platform every
week. There is no mobile phone signal, but the

A
lbion Petroleum’s oil platform platform has Wi-Fi.
is in the Celtic Sea, about 40 kilometers An oil platform can be a hazardous place. Extreme
south of the coast of Ireland. It is built on weather conditions can make working difficult,
an oil deposit that was initially supposed to be rich drilling oil from a well means there are gases and
and worth a lot but turned out to be smaller than other flammable substances, and slipping and falling
expected. The deposit was supposed to be at the end from the platform’s decks is dangerous. Usually,
of its life in 2020, but somehow the production has workers are protected against hazards with training,
continued. equipment, and competent colleagues, but this is
From a distance, Albion 5 looks like a huge, Albion Petroleum: only the most mandatory rescue
angular, and messy bird’s nest made of steel twigs, drills are held, and only the machines and systems
standing on four thick legs in the empty sea. Orange essential to the production of the platform are
lifeboats hang on its sides, tower cranes reach their regularly inspected.
necks to the sea, and a helipad tops the structure. Working on an oil platform is heavy and
The platform is about 20 meters above ocean level monotonous. The living spaces are cramped, and
and has four decks. The platform looks like a maze staying with the same people for weeks sometimes
of pipes, decks, stairs, and walkways. In the middle gets on your nerves. The atmosphere on the platform
of the platform are the machines and pumps needed is stagnant, detached, and expectant: the oil deposit
for extracting and processing oil. Crew quarters are will most certainly be exhausted soon, but not yet.
in a rust-stained block-like module on the edge of Instead of hope and optimism, the platform’s crew
the platform. The platform is never quiet and smells waits for the inevitable to happen.
like salt, rusted steel, and something bitter. Around
the platform is just gray emptiness. An endless gray Human Antagonists
sea against a gray sky, like a premonition of the world
after sea level rise. Operations Manager
Albion 5’s operations manager is interested in
The platform is never nothing but uninterrupted production. Workers
quiet and smells like come and go, and there are always new workers
available to replace those who have quit or become
salt, rusted steel, and sick. Workers injure themselves on the platform
something bitter. because they are careless and lazy and do not know
how to use protective equipment — not because

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 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

the work shifts are long, the sleeping areas are

uncomfortable, the equipment is of poor quality,
Supernatural Antagonists
and they are afraid to share their concerns with an Albion Petroleum
angry and unpredictable manager. Chatter dies
See p. 46.
down, people avert their eyes, and the atmosphere
becomes tense whenever the manager is around. Acheron Security Services
General Difficulty: 3 / 2
See p. 41.
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 3, Social 4, Mental 3
Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 4 Drattosi Spirit
Exceptional Dice Pools: Intimidation 5, Technology Beneath the platform is a heap of fallen junk, spilled
4 oil and other waste, and the nest of a Drattosi spirit
Notes / Other Traits: (Werewolf, p. 246). It lies on the seafloor in the
The Blame Game: Pinning blame onto the
Umbra, heaped around the support cables and drill
Operations Manager is hard because long
holes of the oil deposit. In the physical world its
experience at Albion has taught them to always
influence can be seen underwater as a black, oily
find an underling who’s at fault. Seeing through
mass that looks like a diseased patch of seaweed.
the Manager’s obfuscations and realizing their
Recently something that looks like a pile of floating
culpability requires a Resolve + Insight test at a
Difficulty of 4. debris or dead seaweed has clung to the platform’s
support pillars and stuck there.

143
WYRMTIDE

Tests and Options parts needed for the platform’s maintenance. It is

unknown when the supplies will arrive. The crew
The platform’s operations can stop for many
grows anxious and worried about the condition of
reasons — for example, due to planned maintenance
the platform’s machinery.
operations or equipment failure. The platform is
full of technology that can be messed with — the
Gifts Gremlins and Control Machine can be very Variations
useful here. However, Brutal outcomes mean The oil deposit has been drained, and the platform
uncontrolled accidents (explosion, oil spill) that has been decommissioned. Its hull has been left in
will cause considerable damage to the surrounding place in the sea, where a diverse marine ecosystem
environment. has formed around its structures, benefiting
Safety-threatening items such as weapons, from the protection provided by the underwater
drugs, and alcohol are prohibited on oil platforms. structures. Around the drilling site itself, there is a
Substances endanger work safety, and the local polluted and toxic pile of waste, slowly poisoning
coast guard takes care of the safety of the platform the seabed.
against external threats. Smuggling prohibited items A floating oil platform can be moved. The
onto the platform is not impossible: characters can platform is either just being moved to the planned
persuade or threaten a worker at the platform or drilling area or is being moved away. A semi-
on the supply ship to smuggle something for them submersible platform can move short distances
with a Difficulty 2 or 3 Charisma + Persuasion or under the power of its own engines. For long
Intimidation test, depending on how dangerous distances it is towed by a large tugboat. It would
the items are, or make a Difficulty 3 Wits + Stealth not be completely impossible to capture and
test to hide prohibited items among their own sink an unmoored platform without significant
equipment. environmental damage.

Complications Aurora Wing

T
A storm is rising, perhaps involving the spirit
Lightless Storm on p. 130. Oil platforms are built to he Aurora Wing is a container ship
withstand strong winds, but a strong enough storm owned by a shipping company called
forces production to stop and crew to be moved Cassiopeia Navigation, a clandestinely owned
indoors. In a storm, the rig rocks, rattles, and only sub-brand of the Pentex front Living Earth Logistics.
the most resilient can avoid being seasick. Moving It is a 965-foot long Panamax ship that can carry five
on the decks of the platform is not only forbidden thousand twenty-foot-long cargo containers. The
but also very difficult due to rain, wind, and shaking. ship has three holds and a deck above them that is
Depending on the severity of the coming storm, and almost the entire length of the ship. Aft of the ship
time left before it hits the platform, the crew may is the bridge tower, engine room, and crew quarters.
be evacuated in advance and only essential crew left Aurora Wing has a multinational crew of ten
onboard. If there’s not enough time to evacuate, you seamen, from the Philippines, India, Pakistan, and
just have to endure. Poland. Contracts are usually several months long,
The supply ship was due today, but it has and most of the seamen have been on board for six
been delayed due to reasons like the weather, months already. There are no weapons on the ship. If
complications at the port, coast guard’s surprise the ship is attacked, the crew can defend themselves
inspection, or just an engine malfunction. In with water cannons, by building obstacles on decks
addition to the usual cargo like mail, food, and and corridors, and by withdrawing into a safe room
fuel, the ship was supposed to bring essential spare inside the ship.

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 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

The ship carries anything that is packed in a manifests. The ship’s crew is aware that Cassiopeia
cargo container. The ship can accommodate cargo Navigation does not carefully select its customers
containers of different sizes. Containers are 20, 30, and that all sorts of things are smuggled on board,
or 40 feet long. A cargo container weighs about three very often at the expense of the safety and health of
tons when empty, and the largest cargo container the crew. So far, accidents have been minor with the
can hold 29 tons of goods. The walls of the container exception of a few fires.
are on average less than a centimeter thick. The
containers are secured to each other with twist Human Antagonists
locks, and the bottom containers are secured to the
vessel with lashing rods. Each container stack has Corrupt Marine Surveyor
six to eight containers. Unevenly loaded containers The Marine Surveyor is the port official whose
may lead to unbalanced container stacks, which in task is to inspect the vessel before it is allowed to
turn may fall overboard in heavy waves. A fallen dock. The Marine Surveyor might be working
container usually sinks quite quickly, but depending with an organized crime group or just using their
on its contents, it may stay afloat for several days. position to demand bribes from ships. The Marine
Like almost all ships of Cassiopeia Navigation, Surveyor can be bribed (by letting them have a share
Aurora Wing is registered to Panama instead of of contraband cargo, for example) to let the ship
the company’s actual home country. By registering dock at the port despite the ship’s defects or lack of
the ship in a country with low taxation and loose documents.
regulation, the ship owner can avoid paying General Difficulty: 3 / 2
minimum wage, or complying with general Standard Dice Pools: Physical 3, Social 4, Mental 4
regulations regarding workers’ rights or the Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 4
seaworthiness of the ship. It may be impossible to Exceptional Dice Pools: Subterfuge 5,
find out the real owner of the ship, which allows Investigation 5
the ship and its crew to be abandoned in a situation Notes / Other Traits:
where keeping the ship is no longer financially viable. Eye for Profit: The Marine Surveyor is good at
Abandoning the ship practically means that the sniffing out opportunities and proposing deals.
ship’s owner stops paying wages to the crew, who They guess what the players’ pack might want,
are often stranded far from home without resources. within reason. For example, the Surveyor can
Many ports do not allow the crew of an abandoned figure out that the pack is trying to mount an
ship to disembark but require them to stay on board attack on Living Earth Logistics but won’t be
and take care of the safety of the ship and the cargo. able to guess that they want to destroy a Bane.
The crew will also lose their right to their pay if they
decide to leave the ship.
Supernatural Antagonists
Aurora Wing is an accident Living Earth Logistics
waiting to happen. See p. 55.

Aurora Wing is an accident waiting to happen. Passenger

There have been problems with the payment of It is possible, if expensive, to travel on a cargo ship.
wages recently, and it has been difficult to contact A single passenger boarded the ship at the last port,
the shipping company. The ship is old and in poor along with a container they seem to be traveling
condition, it travels on risky routes, and its cargo is with. The passenger doesn’t talk much and keeps to
often something other than what is claimed in the themselves most of the time. Some crew members say

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WYRMTIDE

the passenger is working for the shipping company, safely to the port. The captain and the pilot do not
but none have had the courage to ask them about their share a common language and clearly do not get
business. The passenger does work for the shipping along, considering each other incompetent. Mistrust
company in a way, as Black Spiral Dancers sometimes and misunderstandings lead to a situation where
walk the same paths with the servants of the Fly. the ship is in danger of running aground, colliding
General Difficulty: 4 / 2 with something, getting stuck in the shallows, or
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 5, Mental 6 otherwise being damaged.
Secondary Attributes: Health 8, Willpower 6
Exceptional Dice Pools: Awareness 8, Larceny 8, Variations
Stealth 8, Gifts 6
The ship and its cargo have been abandoned. The
Notes / Other Traits:
port authorities are guarding the ship and do not let
The Gifts Skinglide (see p. 178), Catfeet, Blissful
its crew leave, because the ship has dangerous cargo
Ignorance and Gremlins.
that is not allowed into the port, or the ship itself is
a security risk. There is little food on board, and the
Tests and Options crew is asking for help with their situation.
In addition to the containers, the cargo ship has many Instead of a cargo ship, the Aurora Wing is a
other places to hide smuggled goods. For example, the fishing vessel that fishes illegally in the Bering
anchor, air conditioning vents, captain’s cabin, hull, Sea. The ship ignores all laws and restrictions
or even tanks attached to the bottom of the ship are and fishes in forbidden waters, and its crew may
potential places to hide items that can be found with a include victims of human trafficking in forced
Wits + Investigation test at a Difficulty of 3. labor. Depending on the home port of the ship, it
The minimum Strength to punch through a may also find itself in the middle of power politics
container crate without a test is 11 and 14 to lift an between neighboring states.
empty container. Use a Strength + Athletics test to
determine if the character can affect a container.
Brute strength usually isn’t enough to topple a
Gun Show

A
stack of crates. To achieve this, wait for the right small but popular gun show is held
weather and surf, and open the locks securing annually in a convention center. It is the only
the crates with a Difficulty 2 Wits + Technology gun show of its kind in the area, so it attracts
test, or use the Gift Open Seal. A Brutal outcome attendees from nearby cities as well as businesses and
means that the stack starts to fall over the side or on professionals from a larger area. It’s mostly a trading
somebody. and selling event, but it is also an annual social
gathering for local gun enthusiasts. The gun show is
Complications not the largest of its kind, but it is expected to attract
a thousand attendees during the weekend.
The Monkeywrenchers (Werewolf, p. 295) have
The gun show is open to all visitors, and there’s
picked Cassiopeia Navigation as their target and
almost always a queue in front of the entrance
have planned an operation against them — in
because all visitors and their guns are checked at the
this case, the Aurora Wing and its cargo. They
door. Loaded weapons are not allowed at the fair
may not know that there are other Garou on the
(leave your ammo at the door), and you must have a
ship, or they might see the players’ characters as
license to carry a gun if you intend to bring it to the
distractions. The Monkeywrenchers also might not
venue. There are uniformed security personnel at the
care about human casualties.
venue, and it’s not uncommon to see the local police
As the ship approaches a port, a ship pilot gets
stop by the gun show.
on board. The ship pilot’s task is to guide the ship

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CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

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WYRMTIDE

Inside the halls are rows of tables, racks, and in hunting rifles. They have brought some of their
cabinets where vendors sell their wares. In addition favorite trophies to decorate their table and are very
to guns and gun accessories of all kinds, there are eager to tell how and where they were killed. The Big
antique weapons hobbyists, collectors, and vendors Game Hunter is proud of their hobby and considers
selling military paraphernalia, food, souvenirs, and hunting predators like wolves a necessary, even
jewelry. The gun show is a crowded, cramped, and natural thing to keep the forests safe for humans.
noisy place. Some areas are so packed that stopping General Difficulty: 4 / 2
to look at wares or even chatting with the vendors Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 3, Mental 4
is difficult. Moving down the aisles is slow, and you Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 5
can’t avoid bumping into people. You definitely Exceptional Dice Pools: Animal Ken 5, Firearms
can buy a gun at a gun show, but finding a really 6, Survival 7
good deal or that elusive discontinued caliber is a Notes / Other Traits:
different thing. If you carry an unusual or special Big Guns: The Big Game Hunter has big
gun, you might be approached with an offer to guns at hand, including rifles which cause +4
buy it. Sales happen mostly in cash, and it is not Aggravated damage.
difficult to find a vendor who is willing to sell
without a background check if the buyer doesn’t Gunfluencer
ask for a license. The Gunfluencer is at the gun show to do some
The atmosphere at the gun show is generally videos about how the average people see the state’s
warm. Attendees know each other and feel like gun legislation. The gun laws of the state still interfere
they belong here. They are safe here among their with people’s rights to own and carry firearms, like
own people who understand them. Death is and is restricting owning and selling semi-automatic firearms.
not present here: people trade and discuss deadly There has been talk about introducing background
weapons and how powerful they are, but very few checks when firearms are sold between individuals.
mention the thing they are made for. At the gun They are looking for Instagrammable backgrounds
show, guns are seen as valued items that make society and people to interview, folks with loud opinions,
a safer place for their owners. Even the trinket people in the gun business, and just interesting-looking
sellers, conspiracy theorists, and odd personalities individuals like the players’ characters.
are tolerated and viewed as part of the scene. But if General Difficulty: 3 / 2
you prove to be an outsider, like an environmental Standard Dice Pools: Physical 2, Social 4, Mental 3
activist or proponent of strict gun laws, the attitude Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 5
becomes cold and hostile. Exceptional Dice Pools: Persuasion 5, Firearms 3,
Politics 5
Attendees at the gun show Notes / Other Traits:
treat each other warmly Lots of Friends: If someone tries to threaten the
Gunfluencer in a social milieu, such as at a gun
because they are assumed show, they always have friends at hand ready to
to be like-minded people. step in. These fine individuals typically have
General Difficulties of 3 / 2 and an Exceptional
Human Antagonists Dice Pool of Brawl 6.

Big Game Hunter

The Big Game Hunter has their own table at the
vendor hall, close to other vendors who specialize

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 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

Supernatural Antagonists permits and checks, or people straw-purchasing guns

on behalf of other people. The officers will approach
Acheron Security Services and interview people who catch their interest, and
this time it is one of the players’ characters.
See p. 41.

Eviscerators Variations
See p. 83. A weapons fair in Europe intended only for
professionals and those working in business. The
Tests and Options event is larger and more exclusive: you cannot enter
the event without prior registration and a certificate
This is the place where you get plenty of chances
of working in the field. The fair is a marketing
to use the Firearms Skill with Social Attributes.
event and guns are not sold or bought there. On the
For example, use Charisma + Firearms to impress
other hand, all the major gun manufacturers and
someone with your gun knowledge, Manipulation
companies are at the event, and the newest and best
+ Firearms to haggle, and Composure + Firearms
products are on display.
to convince someone that the hot pink 3D-printed
Instead of a weapons trade event and a gun fair, it
“unique” item you are selling is an actual firearm.
is a fur fair. Attendees are traders, furriers, hunters,
The crowd at the gun show can be used for hiding.
and even clothing designers. Mostly common
If the players’ characters are dressed like the other
fur animals’ furs are on sale, but some vendors
attendees, it’s easy for them to blend in with the
specialize in exotic luxury furs of rare animals. The
crowd with a Difficulty 2 Wits + Stealth test or using
event feels like death and suffering have faded into
the Gift Face in the Crowd. On the other hand,
the background and like the fur trade is a good,
finding the person the players’ characters are looking
respected business. There’s less security, and vendors
for in the crowd can be challenging with a Difficulty
have stands instead of tables, but the occasion is still
3 Perception + Awareness test. A Brutal outcome
a business event and a social meeting.
means that the players’ characters’ actions attract
security personnel’s attention, and they risk being
escorted out. Coal Mine

T
Buying and selling guns, the core activity of the
show, can be slowed down by causing disruptions to his is what a wound on Gaia’s skin looks
payments, by breaking the nearest ATM or vendors’ like: a bare, stripped, and quarried rock plateau
payment terminals with Gifts like Jam Technology in the mountains. The open mine looks like a
and Gremlins. pale, terraced rock plateau, where gravel and sand line
the roads leading to the plateau. Outside the mine
Complications area is a storage and support building, where necessary
equipment and vehicles are stored. The area used to
There are protestors outside the venue, trying to
be the peak of the mountain and the valley next to
block entrance to the fair. They can be animal rights
it. Now the valley is filled with slag and sand from
activists protesting sports hunting, victims of gun
the mine, and the peak of the mountain has been
violence demanding stricter gun control laws, or
completely and irreversibly destroyed.
people protesting some aspect of the show. Among
The Appalachians are an old mountain range,
the protesters is someone who knows the characters
where coal is mined by peeling the soil from on top
and asks for help.
of the coal veins. According to mining companies,
Local or federal undercover officers are at the gun
this method, called mountaintop removal mining,
show, monitoring the event and spotting potential
is a cheaper and safer method of mining coal than
security threats like gun sales without required

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WYRMTIDE

traditional underground mining. The economical

claim might be true, but there is nothing else
good about it. The process destroys the landscape,
pollutes the nature surrounding the mine, and
is still dangerous for the miners. The stone dust
rising from the mine’s slopes causes respiratory
diseases for the miners and the residents of nearby
settlements. The treeless, bare mountainside does
not bind the soil, and so when heavy rains come, the
surrounding areas flood. The mine waste contains
toxic substances that run into the groundwater,
and the drinking water of nearby settlements is
contaminated.

The peak of the mountain

has been completely and
irreversibly destroyed.

The nearest settlement is called Taylor, a small

rural town in a sparsely populated area. Taylor
has a population of approximately 2,000. The
views around the town are beautiful, with forests,
mountains, and creeks. Just don’t look at the missing
peak among the string of mountaintops. The air is
fresh, but wear a face mask when the wind blows
from the mine’s direction. The coal mine and the
jobs it creates are very important for the town, but
the drawbacks of mining have begun to endanger
the lives of the community’s most fragile people who
don’t have the money to protect themselves from
the adverse effects of the coal mine next door: a lack
of clean drinking water, floods that cut through
roads, or the unaffordable treatments for their lung
problems. Still, jobs and cheap energy are much
needed here, and the recent news of the mining
company’s plans to continue mining on the next
mountain is warmly received.
The impact of the mine on the community can be
seen economically, environmentally, on the health of
the residents, and also in the way the mine and the
company that owns it are talked about. Everybody
in Taylor knows two people: someone whose work
is somehow related to mine, and someone for whom
the mine has caused hardship. Because the mine

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 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

brings money and jobs, it cannot be criticized, even Notes / Other Traits:
if it pollutes the water and makes people sick. Trustworthy Appearance: Trying to suss out
that the Community Leader is working for the
Human Antagonists mine requires a Composure + Insight test at a
Difficulty of 4.
Mine Foreman
The responsibility of the Mine Foreman is to ensure Supernatural Antagonists
that coal is loaded and transported from the mine
without interruptions. The Foreman acts as a liaison Rot Walkers
between the mining company and the mine and See p. 94.
is responsible for the operation of the mine on-
site. The people at the regional office always have Rancid Globs
something to say or complain about, but the people See p. 97.
in suits rarely come on-site to look at anything. The
Foreman also has experience with city people trying
to come and disturb the work of honest people.
Tests and Options
If the characters are not from the area or don’t have
General Difficulty: 3 / 2
a contact in the town, it might be useful to talk to
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 3, Social 2, Mental 3
the locals. Use a Charisma + Subterfuge test to find
Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 4
the latest town gossip. A Brutal outcome means that
Exceptional Dice Pools: Intimidation 5,
the characters get a negative reputation and are soon
Leadership 5, Science 4
Notes / Other Traits: known as troublemakers.
Call Backup: If the mine is threatened, the The coal mine is on top of a mountain — the risk
Foreman is able to call the head office and wrangle of slipping and falling, or making someone else fall,
backup. This may take the form of more security, is high. Use Dexterity + Athletics to stay on your
or even Acheron Security Services troops. feet or Strength + Brawl to throw someone down the
mine slope. The Gift Catfeet can be useful here, as
it gives the Garou some immunity against damage
Community Leader
from falling.
The Community Leader benefits from the mine in
If you are planning an operation against the mine
many ways. Their family members work at the mine,
and need help, make an Intelligence + Politics test
they themselves have a well-paid job at the mining
to find out the most suitable allies for you, be it
company’s regional office, and they have influence
other troublemakers from the town or an NGO
over who gets work at the mine. They are the town’s
working with environmental or social issues related
opinion leader, whose words are listened to and who
to mining.
knows how to turn critical people to their side. The
mining company has promised a promotion and
bonuses if they tell the company about opinions
Complications
against the expansion of the mine or if outsiders start You have called for assistance from another group
appearing in the town. or are hoping to get help from people you thought
General Difficulty: 3 / 2 could join you in your endeavor, but there’s
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 3, Social 4, Mental 3 something wrong with them. They might not show
Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 3 up on time, or they arrive in a significantly smaller
Exceptional Dice Pools: Leadership 5, Subterfuge number or with totally different intentions than
5, Politics 4 you thought. They might be unable or unwilling to

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WYRMTIDE

collaborate with you. They do not actively oppose or

threaten you, but they also sure aren’t helping.
The slopes of the mine are poorly designed and
mined, and the road built on them cannot withstand
the weight of the traffic. Heavy rain or a creatively
placed explosive can cause a landslide. A small
landslide piles stones and sand on the slope and the
road and blocks traffic; a large landslide takes part of
the mountainside with it.

Variations
The mine has just started its operation, and the
entire mountain peak has not been blasted away.
Only the top of the mountain has been logged bare
and leveled for mining equipment to be brought to
the site, and there is only one road to the top of the
mine. There is still forest on the lower slopes of the
mountain. The stream flowing at the bottom of the
valley has not been blocked with sand.
The mine stopped operating a few years ago, the
miners lost their jobs, and the mine area was not
cleaned or restored to its previous condition, despite
promises. The mine is still leaking pollutants into
the groundwater. A federal prison is planned to
replace the mine. The construction project would
bring jobs to the area and could restore the town to
its former life, but the residents are worried about
the effects of the project.

Environmental Protest

T
hree months ago, the local
newspaper published a story that revealed
that a paper mill next to the city of Franklin
had systematically neglected to clean the mill’s
wastewater for years. The paper mill released
untreated wastewater into the river running through
Franklin and caused large-scale pollution of the
waterway. The locals had suspected it for a long
time, but the story was the last straw. The story also
explored the close connections between Franklin
Fibre, the company owning the paper mill, and three
city councilors and pointed out how a close group
of politicians had exempted the paper mill from

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 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

following local regulations regarding wastewater Peaceful protesting may

processing. The case attracted attention even outside also feel futile and
the county and the state, and a few environmental frustrating.
organizations operating in the area chose Franklin
and the paper mill as the target for environmental
Environmental protesters have a common goal,
action. They started organizing a series of protests in
but behind the scenes these are clashes caused by
the city.
differences of age, opinion, class, and ideas of what
The protest was put together quickly and with
kind of activism is most efficient. Some people are
few resources. The organizations responsible for
tired of asking nicely for things that should be their
the protest have tried to get as many participants as
basic rights, like access to clean water, while others
possible. It started as a small gathering at the gates of
avoid clashing directly with the police. Peaceful
the factory but has now grown bigger. They expect
protesting may also feel futile and frustrating,
several thousand protesters to join the protest. The
especially for the Garou who see and feel Gaia’s
goals of the organizing parties also conflict with
suffering more intimately than humans.
each other, with one focusing on the environmental
aspect and the other on the political corruption
involved. Human Antagonists
The plan of the organizer groups was to march
from city hall to the main office of Franklin Fibre Riot Police
and demand action from the company and the Riot Police are dressed in black riot gear and helmets
city council. Preparations have been made for the that cover their faces. In theory their duty would be
protest by making signs, inviting people to join, to treat protesters and counterprotesters equally, but
and renting a sound system for the speeches. Some in some cases they see the protesters as a nuisance
organizers think that while this is the traditional and protest as unlawful behavior. The Riot Police
way of protesting peacefully, it might not be enough consider it their mission to protect public order and
anymore. There are rumors of some more radical are ready to intervene decisively and with forceful
protester groups, who might organize direct action means in matters they interpret as disturbances.
against the mill. General Difficulty: 3 / 2
Prejudices related to environmental activists Standard Dice Pools: Physical 4, Social 3, Mental 3
and rumors of radical conservationists coming Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 4
to the protest from elsewhere have led to the Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 5, Firearms 5,
Franklin Police Department calling in police from Intimidation 4
neighboring cities and counties. In addition to Notes / Other Traits:
riot police, there are going to be mounted police Riot Gear: The truncheons used by the Riot
and K-9 units. You don’t see protests like this very Police do +1 Superficial damage. Their riot
often in Franklin, which is why the situation is armor turns all incoming non-supernatural
new and strange to many. Franklin Fibre has also Aggravated damage into Superficial damage
hired a private security company to assist them in which is then halved, as normal.
securing their office and the paper mill’s operations.
While the police must have at least a modicum IAO Drone Operator
of impartiality, the security guards consider the The Information Awareness Office suspects that
protesters an active threat. environmental causes draw the attention of unusual
threats and has sent a Drone Operator to work
with the local law enforcement. They don’t expect
anything to happen at a small-town protest like this,

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WYRMTIDE

but if nothing else, this is a good opportunity to test glue your hands to the road. A Wits + Craft test can
some new drone models and assist the local cops if be used to build a roadblock of whatever materials
they ask nicely. you manage to find.
General Difficulty: 3 / 2
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 4, Social 4, Mental 5 Complications
Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 6
There is a counterprotest organized by the paper
Exceptional Dice Pools: Awareness 7, Stealth 7,
mill’s workers. The police must allow the protesters
Technology 7
and counterprotesters to be within a line of sight
Notes / Other Traits:
and sound from each other, but in this case they
Camera Drone: Disabling a camera drone
are close enough to collide. At the very least, the
discreetly requires a players’ character to test
counterprotesters will heckle the protest; at worst,
Composure + Technology at a Difficulty of 4.
something heavier than words will fly.
Notes: For more information about IAO and
The police and the private security company of the
their capacities, see Werewolf, p. 288.
paper mill seem to be actively targeting one of the
protest’s organizers, a young activist who has gained
Supernatural Antagonists media attention for their work. The police and the
security follow them, provoke them, and actively
Injecta look for a chance to arrest them or lead them away
See p. 98. from the main group of protesters.

Embracers Variations
See p. 86. Instead of protesting against the paper mill, take the
protest to the lumber industry. The protest takes
Tests and Options place in a primeval forest, where a logging company
There are many roles and tasks at a protest, like plans to cut down a large area of environmentally
volunteering as a first-aid medic, de-escalating and culturally important forest. Protesters block the
between the protesters and onlookers, or leading roads leading to the forest, build huts in the trees,
protest chants. Gifts like Command the Gathering and chain themselves to the forestry vehicles. The
and Animal Magnetism can be useful if you choose protest is expected to last for days, as bringing down
to take an active and visible role in the protest. protesters in the trees takes time.
If you do something noteworthy during the A group of neo-Nazis are planning to march
protest, you might be noticed by the media. Give a in your hometown to celebrate a dead fascist’s
good speech, help organize the protest, or just look birthday. There will be a counterprotest to show
really good with a picket sign; or get videoed when them that their opinions aren’t welcome here. The
actively resisting the police or participating in direct aim of the counterprotest is to be loud, visible, and
action against the paper mill. This will make you disturb the march. If you get enough people to
a local celebrity or villain for a while. This can be join the counterprotest, you can force the neo-Nazi
beneficial or harmful, depending on if the players’ march away from their planned route or surround
characters have Backgrounds, Merits, or Flaws that them completely.
affect identity or recognition, like Fame, Infamy,
Mask, or Stalker.
The time of marches and speeches is over! It’s
time to resort to civil disobedience. Block the roads
leading to the paper mill with barricades or chain, or

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 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

Urban Warfare Training

Center

I
n the middle of the forest, more than a
hundred kilometers from the nearest human
habitation, there is a training area owned by a
private security service, where the operatives practice
urban warfare and counterterrorism operations in as
authentic an environment as possible. Warning signs
line the road leading to the area, and the area itself
is surrounded with a fence topped with barbed wire
and cameras.
There is an access control point, a parking lot, and
some maintenance buildings by the entrance gates of
the training area. The largest maintenance building
contains mostly repair and cleaning equipment and
vehicles like tractors and vans. No actual firearms
are stored in the area, but smoke grenades, flares,
pepper spray, and targets left over from the exercises
have been left in storage cabinets in the maintenance
building. Part of the training area is left as a forest
big enough to camp or hide in.
The training area’s main area is a mock city, a
replica of an all-American small town. The area of the
mock city is a few hundred square meters in size and
contains commercial buildings, residential buildings,
offices, a post office — everything you would expect to
see. The facades of the buildings look normal at first
glance, but a closer look reveals that the windows are
broken, the furniture in the buildings is destroyed and
dirty, and there is broken glass, used smoke grenades,
and traces of paint and ash on the floor.

The place is designed to

look familiar.

The buildings are safe to enter and generally in

good condition, but some remnants of past training
scenarios can be found, like stains and holes in walls
and pieces of broken furniture. Most buildings have
a back door of some kind, and roofs have plenty of
good and well-used spots to tie a rappelling rope.
The area was built by a private security company
owned by Pentex, which leases the area to other

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WYRMTIDE

similar companies and for training by federal and General Difficulty: 4 / 3

state officials. Sometimes Pentex’s First Teams Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 4, Mental 6
also come to train in the area. It’s not immediately Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 4
apparent that a group prepared for an encounter Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms 8, Stealth 7,
with a supernatural enemy has been training Investigation 5, Survival 7
here, but clues like empty containers of unusual Notes / Other Traits:
chemicals, silver dust on flat surfaces, and acid stains Handgun: The Rookie has a +2 handgun and
that have corroded the concrete wall can be found. military armor.
You can find remnants of First Team training Notes: For more information on First Teams
materials in a storage shed: silver bullets, crinos-shaped and their capabilities, see Werewolf, p. 275
target boards, and the torn remains of crinos-sized test
dummies.
Supernatural Antagonists
Antagonists Acheron Security Services
See p. 41.
First Team Trainer
The First Team Trainer is a veteran retired from Eviscerators
active duty and now planning and overseeing training See p. 83.
courses for First Teams. The trainer has seen a lot,
from augmented fomor team members to supernatural Rot Walkers
enemies of all kinds. They command a group of See p. 94.
four human First Team rookies, who might be new
to Pentex operations but have a background in the Tests and Options
military or with private military contractors.
It might not be the best option to sneak into the
General Difficulty: 5 / 3
area when there is an active exercise going on, unless
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 6, Social 5, Mental 6
you want to test your pack’s combat abilities in a
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 6
real situation. Breaking into the training center is
Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms 8, Stealth 8,
not simple, as there are physical obstacles and video
Survival 8
surveillance. Difficulties for penetrating the area
Notes / Other Traits:
and remaining unseen are at least 3, and a Brutal
Anti-Werewolf Weaponry: The Trainer is
outcome means that you are seen, recorded, and
equipped with a +4 automatic rifle and silver
bullets, in addition to military armor. hunted down.
Delirium Habituation: The Trainer is immune One reason for entering a place like this is to gather
to the Delirium. information about your enemies. If you don’t have
the Gift Scent of the Past, a Wits + Investigation
test at Difficulty 3 reveals what kinds of tactics and
First Team Rookie scenarios have been run here or if some unusual
They thought they had seen it all in Afghanistan, weapons have been used recently. You might glean
Iraq, and during their brief stint at guarding the some knowledge about how an organization training
European border against immigrants, but what the here operates, clues about their next operation, or
First Team Rookie has learned while working for other valuable information.
Pentex has been terrible and amazing. Maybe after One way of entering the training center is by
this training period they’ll get to see what this talk signing up for a training scenario as an actor. Some
about “augmented” people really means. training scenarios use actors to bring the mock city

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 CHAPTER FIVE: WHERE TO FIGHT

to life and have them play the training scenario’s residents outside. Most of the time, the residents
targets or bystanders. If the players’ characters have are overmedicated, tied to their beds, and forced to
contacts in the security business, police, or military wear diapers, because the nurses are too busy to look
and are not wanted or listed as a security concern, after them. The nursing home offers inexpensive
they can bypass the mandatory background checks accommodations for the elderly, so the health
and get invited to the training center. services direct senior citizens with no relatives there.
The Gauntlet is thin here, and the Umbra around
Complications the place is full of spirits that feed on helplessness.
In addition to mundane surveillance technology,
there are guardian spirits who seek to protect the Fur Farm
area from trespassers. Scryer spirits (Werewolf, p. A fur farm looks like rows of long, gable-roofed
251) observe the area and cannot be seen without huts with walls and floors made of mesh wire. The
abilities that let you see into the Umbra. Furmlings huts stand at the end of a dirt road on a field next
(Werewolf, p. 247) possess guard dogs. to a small lake. You can smell the place before you
The mock city and the maintenance area are just see it. You hear it when the red and arctic foxes and
one part of the training center. About one-third of minks smell you. The main problem of this place
the area is covered by a forest. The forest is typical is not ethical but viral: it is a high-density animal
for the area, and it shows signs of being used for environment where minks are exposed to wild birds
training excercises. A small stone cairn stands in a like crows and seagulls. Birds carry avian flu and
small clearing next to an upright tree trunk with a minks are susceptible to both human and animal
wolf’s skull attached to its head. flus. If a bird and a human handler co-infect a mink,
a new pandemic could start right here.
Variations
An underground training center has been built in an Data Center
unused mine. It is a maze of tunnels, bunkers, bomb A Pentex front offering hosting services for other
shelters, and sewers. It is dark and claustrophobic, Pentex fronts and their subsidiaries has their data center
with little or no light, and in places the ceiling is so in the basement of an office building. The data center
low that an adult human cannot stand upright. looks just like any other of its kind: rows of tall server
The mock city looks like it has gotten a fresh coat stacks in a clean, well-ventilated underground room
of paint recently. Broken windows have been fixed, with no windows and a very powerful CO2-based fire
and there’s a new flag in the mock town hall’s flagpole. suppression system. In the Umbra, the data center can
Then you notice the tripwire, and after a moment either look like a Weaver-spirits’ breeding ground or be
of very careful observation, you understand that guarded by the most vicious Banes available.
the training center has been prepared for a training
scenario. For the moment it is unclear whether you are Illegal landfill
a planned part of it.
Nobody knows how it started, but there it is now: a
growing pile of waste dumped in a small gravel pit
Other Locations just outside the town. There’s all kinds of garbage
here, but with a little digging you can see that it
started out with fridges, bed frames, old electronics,
Golden Years Nursing Home washing machines, and old tires. Now there’s a pile
A for-profit care home for the elderly. The nursing of household waste in black plastic bags. Someone
home has a nice, well-kept yard and a lovely view has started to use this as a dumping ground for their
to a park nearby, but too few nurses to take the waste management company. 

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 CHAPTER SIX: STORIES

Chapter Six:

Stories
T
his book has presented various The wave of sicknesses might start attracting other
enemies, factions, and locations to be used in spirits as well, such as disease- or death-spirits.
a game of Werewolf: The Apocalypse. This
chapter ties them together, showcasing how to use
the various dangers plaguing the Garou in stories
Goals
and chronicles. The players’ characters have three goals. The first is to
You can use the material presented here as is or discover the source of the tainted meat. The second
raid it for parts to use in chronicles of your own. is to get into the plant by infiltration or force. Finally,
they must stop its production of rotting meat.
As the Storyteller, your goal is to create an
Hidden Rot environment of both mundane and supernatural

A
horror. Bane spirits and dark rituals intermingle with
series of severe food poisoning a hostile work environment and miserable workers.
cases and an influx of Bane spirits leads It should be clear that the plant was a nightmare well
the pack to investigate a Gallagher Foods before the spirits of decay moved in.
slaughterhouse and processing plant. There, they
discover a fomor seeking ways to introduce rotting
and poisoned meat into the food supply. The pack
Supporting Characters
must prevent his plans from coming to fruition. This story uses the following characters:
Zeke Parker is the owner of the processing plant.
Why the Players’ Pack? He’s a ruthless businessman, known for cutting
corners and petty behavior, who maintains most of
The plant’s tainted meat affects the pack directly. his facilities as a fomor. He desires to spread rot and
A Touchstone or someone else that they care about sickness with a religious zeal.
might fall victim to food poisoning, and the pack Bethany Wright is the leader of the plant’s
seeks justice for them. research and development department. She and her
If the increase of Bane team were tasked by Zeke to investigate “cutting-
edge meat-aging techniques.” She’s slowly becoming
spirits doesn’t get the
aware of the project’s true purpose.
pack on the trail, perhaps Roger Díaz is an undocumented worker on the
the spiritual ecosystem night shift. His precarious legal status and his need
being thrown into chaos by to support his family back home hold him to his
their presence will. janitorial duties at the plant, where he’s witnessed
the worst the facility has to offer.

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 CHAPTER SIX: STORIES

We all know the story.

The Wyld creates, the We
gives form and the Wyrm aver
prunes. All is well unti
Weaver imprisons the Wy l the
rm in its webs, causing
to go mad. the Wyrm

In its insanity, the Wyrm

starts destroying the wo
This is the way the tribe rld.
s of Gaia like to tell th
story, because it lets th e
em imagine a par adise wh
everything works in harm ere
ony forever and ever.
It was never going to be
so.
Time is cyclical. Destru
ction is inevitable. The Ga
tribes prolong the pain of ian
death, while we work towa
better world struggling rds a
to be born out of the ashes
The Wyrm didn’t go mad. of the old.
It merely understood th
was the time to fu lfill at now
its purpose.
- Cr onu s “The Wolf Eater”
Jones, Black Spiral Dancer
theur ge

Locations Scenes
This story takes place at the following locations: The following is a possible structure for this story.
Steady Health Medical Center: A local hospital
responsible for treating many of the food-poisoning The Hook: Spreading Sickness
victims. The hospital is having a hard time keeping The pack could become aware of the problem in
up with the increasing number and severity of cases. several different ways.
The Pack’s Territory: The atmosphere of Among humans, the number of people suffering
sickness and the improper disposal of the plant’s from food poisoning becomes increasingly obvious.
waste attract spirits of all kinds, some of which spill The pack has a meal with a human ally, only to find
over onto the spiritual environment of the pack’s them near death within half an hour. Characters
territory. This could cause clashes with the local with Day Jobs or Contacts connected to the medical
spirits or threaten to transform the pack’s land into industry witness an increase in patients suffering
hostile territory. from severe and long-lasting foodborne illnesses.
Kettering Processing: The source of the tainted In the Umbra, the pack witnesses local spirits fleeing
meat. Though the slaughterhouse and meatpacking from invasive ones. If these spirits are Bane spirits
portions of the facility are filthy and unmaintained, emerging from the plant’s waste, the pack has a chance
the research laboratory and administrative offices to slay them and defend their territory. If these are
are cleaner and more modern. Its interiors are ordinary spirits taking advantage of the spreading rot,
bathed in harsh white lights, and the cleaner sickness, and death, the pack may either drive them
portions of the plant reveal a cold and clinical out or choose to negotiate a peace between the local
aesthetic. The stench of rot is pervasive; even the and invasive spirits. This negotiation may require an
administrative offices can’t mask its faint scent. excellent incentive and a Social Conflict between the
pack and the leaders of the local and invasive spirits.

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Rising Action: Amateur Epidemiology The Climax: Churning Flesh

Tracing the source of the sicknesses among humans With Roger’s help or by tearing apart the plant,
is a full investigation. Victims of the illness are the pack makes their way to the research and
constantly sweating, complain of all food tasting development wing. Bethany’s team oversees the latest
like rotten flesh, and engage in vomiting so violent batch in the plant’s “experiment.”
it bruises their faces from the sheer force. An
Intelligence + Medicine test at Difficulty 3 helps Rotting, maggot-infested
them recover, or Mother’s Touch could heal the
meat is churned in large
sickness. Scent of the Past might be able to pick up
the meal that caused their illness off their vomit-
vats and treated with a
scented breath. Anecdotal evidence reveals that all pale gray powder. The
patients had meat before the onset of symptoms, meat emerges from the vat
and an Intelligence + Investigation or Intelligence appearing fresh.
+ Finance test could confirm the meat came from
Kettering Processing.
The vats are machines controlled by computers
Umbral investigations reveal a trail of rot and
and can be destroyed or disabled through feats of
corruption leading towards Kettering Processing.
strength or with relevant Gifts. Bethany or a few of
The spiritual reflection of the processing plant is
her colleagues can be convinced of the truth with a
rusted and leaking bloody pus. Nothing grows or
Manipulation + Persuasion or Intimidation test at
thrives around the building, and Bane spirits emerge
Difficulty 4. If convinced, she or her team helps the
from pooled waste.
pack shut things down.
The Midpoint: Infiltration If the R&D team isn’t convinced, or if the pack
slaughtered their way to the vats, Zeke arrives with
When the pack discovers the plant, there are two ways
his personal guards, all fomori. Zeke is a Bad Seed
to get in: subtly or violently. It’s possible for packs to
(Werewolf, p. 264), and his three guards are Grunts
try both ways, or for one to blend into the other.
(Werewolf, p. 263). If he can’t intimidate them into
Packs trying the subtle way could use their Allies,
leaving, he sics his guards on the pack. He joins the
bribery through Resources, or Gifts like Blissful
fight if the guards have trouble with the pack.
Ignorance, Open Seal, or Doppelgänger to enter
the facility without incident. Winning over workers Resolution: Rabbit Holes
like Roger with a Charisma or Manipulation +
If the vats are destroyed or shut down, it takes
Persuasion test at Difficulty 3 might get them
Kettering Processing months to get the process
talking about packing rotten meat treated with
back online. If Zeke, Bethany, or the R&D team
odd chemicals from the R&D wing. The workers
are driven away or dead, Kettering Processing is
wrap the meat in paper with bizarre symbols before
either shut down for good or liquidated back into
shipment. If seen, these are recognized as images of
Gallagher Foods. The plant’s victims recover after
the Wyrm.
months of convalescence, and some are permanently
Packs seeking violence encounter increasing
disabled due to the illness. If made aware of the
resistance the further they breach the building.
source, some victims form a class action lawsuit,
What begins as security guards (Beat Cops,
which quickly reaches a settlement.
Werewolf, p. 290) gives way to Private Security
If the pack was able to bond with the workers
forces (Werewolf, p. 291) brought in through Zeke’s
or the R&D team, they might become Contacts
corporate connections. Bane spirits in the vicinity
or proper Allies of the pack. If the pack convinced
are willing to get involved, especially if they were
Bethany, she provides them with Zeke’s notes on the
driven from the pack’s territory.

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Low Growl speaks at the moot:

You want to know if we killed Zhyzhak or not. You want to know
what became of Karola Koranyi. You want to know if the sisters
redeemed themselves, if they ’re worth your respect once again.
Well guess what? Fuck you.
None of you were there to help. I was the only one. You want to
bask in the glory when you spat on us at our weakest.
(The crowd is silent.)
But we’ll forgive you. Fractured we’ll only lose. I know that.
I drove north with Ilona Koranyi. We knew where to go now. The
spirits of the forest were with us, guiding us on our way until we
reached the far Canadian wilderness. There was an open mine pit
waiting for us, an abandoned, ruined landscape where the spiral was
leading somewhere deep underground. From the parked cars we knew
there were people there, Black Spiral Dancers probably, but above
ground the pit was barren, empty of people and beasts.
That’s when I heard the sound of a car trying to start. There was
a man there, some little nobody, half-naked and smeared with blood,
with Karola Koranyi vomiting bile on the back seat. They were sneaking
away, trying to escape. They ’d gotten this far unnoticed. Karola was
the spitting image of her sister, only emaciated, wild-eyed, panicking.
(Apprehensive murmuring.)
I never descended into the pit. I stayed with Karola and the man,
whoever he was, but Ilona fell into a rage at the sight of her sister. She
reached the entrance of the mine pit just as the first Black Spirals
emerged, her claws slashing, fangs biting into their festering bodies.
What happened underground? I don’t know.
All I know is that I waited until the morning when Ilona emerged,
bloody and alone. We drove away. I tried to ask but she didn’t want to
talk, except for one thing: Zhyzhak refused to fight her.
Why? Perhaps the spirits will tell us.

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experiment. Analyzing the notes reveals his deep One of their own called
connections with Gallagher Foods, which could lead in the Dancers in hopes of
the pack into discovering the company’s ties to Banes switching sides.
and other malignant supernatural entities.
If Zeke survived the story and his plans were The pack must fend off the Dancers, help
foiled, he seeks vengeance against the pack. He may complete the Rite, and discover the sept’s traitor.
appear in future stories assisting the forces of the
Wyrm, giving up more and more of his free will to Why the Players’ Pack?
his Bane for more power with each appearance. The characters’ sept is in danger. If they don’t act,
not only will they lose something they worked so
Variations hard to build, but they could also lose friends and
If the pack hunts in a more rural area or in a place allies to the Black Spiral Dancers (through murder
where a meat-packing plant wouldn’t logically be or desertion).
nearby, consider the alternatives below.
Goals
Butcher Shop of Horrors The players have three goals. The first is to thwart
If the pack hunts near a small town or a community the Black Spiral Dancers. The second is to unmask
whose citizens are more likely to know each the traitor in the sept. The third is to complete the
other, considering changing Kettering Processing Rite of Caern Building (see Werewolf, p. 185.)
into a butcher shop. In this version, Zeke is the As the Storyteller, you have two goals. The first
butcher, and his employees are locals who’ve found is to make that location as interesting and useful
themselves in over their heads. as possible, even before it becomes a caern. The
second is to establish enemies for future stories,
Aisles of Rot whether they’re the Dancers in this story or an
If the pack hunts in a suburban area, consider escaped traitor.
changing Kettering Processing into Kettering
Markets, a regional supermarket chain with a large
investment from Gallagher Foods. Zeke is the local
Supporting Characters
regional manager, and his plot to introduce tainted This story uses the following characters:
meat into the food supply is a “regional market Heart’s Whisper: As an ahroun Bone Gnawer old
experiment” at a major warehouse. enough to have witnessed the Garou Nation’s fall,
Heart’s Whisper has seen many horrors. She views
The Corrupted Farmhouse her role as the Rite master for this would-be caern as
If the pack hunts on rural territory, change Kettering a step towards a brighter future. Consider replacing
Processing into Kettering Farms, one of the many her role in this story with either a Mentor the pack
sources Gallagher Foods uses for their products. In already has, or a pack member who took the Rite of
this version, the plant is a large corporate farm, and Caern Building.
Zeke is its owner. Mercy: Short for “Mercy Kill,” this Black Spiral
Dancer leads a well-prepared force. He received word
of the Rite happening on his pack’s territory from
Wolves at the Door Embraces-The-Sky and called reinforcements. Once

T
he wipes everyone out, he’ll help his pack claim the
he pack aids their sept in creating a
caern for the Dancers.
new caern. Just before completion, the would-
Embraces-The-Sky: The galliard Silver Fang is
be caern is ambushed by Black Spiral Dancers.
burnt out. Only a bad day away from harano, he

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searches for new purpose. He encountered Mercy Rising Action: First Wave
not long after the sept began the Rite and found With the lunar cycle ending, the sept gathers. Heart’s
Dancer philosophy more palatable than he realized. Whisper leads the Rite with skill and aplomb.
Though he intends to sell out the sept and dance the A Wits + Awareness or Investigation test at
Black Spiral, he still hopes the situation ends with Difficulty 3 alerts the pack that something’s wrong
little bloodshed. before the Black Spiral Dancers strike. Unless any
sept member has a reason to dismiss or distrust the
Locations pack, the rest of the sept will notice and join the pack
This story takes place in the soon-to-be caern. Here if they strike first. Even Embraces-The-Sky joins the
are a few options where that caern could be located. fight in hopes that it’ll end soon or the Dancers can
Dusty’s Cave: This large cave in a national forest is take him away in the chaos.
open to the public, and a sept member’s connections This first wave is on the lower rungs of their social
give them usage of the land. Its widespread tunnel hierarchy. They amount to slightly more than half
system can be used to create bottlenecks. of the present sept members. What they lack in
Plenty Stop #4561: Corporate shut down this equipment, prowess with Gifts, or combat ability,
store months ago, and it stands as an empty husk. they make up for with zeal and a need to prove
A sept member bought it in hopes of reviving the themselves in the eyes of their superiors. They waste
store’s spirits. The standing aisles and copious no time attacking and attempt to apprehend as many
backrooms make for great cover and hiding places. sept members as possible.
Harvest Inn: This three-story inn is situated in The Dancers know many of the sept’s members
the very heart of a bustling city. Someone the sept by name and even have a basic idea of what they’re
once helped granted them access to the building. capable of. The pack members are always included in
The building is well stocked for an extended siege, that number.
and its penthouse on the third story is a great
lookout point.
The Midpoint: Traitor Hunting
After the first wave of Dancers is defeated, most
Scenes of the sept successfully hunkers down, or three
full rounds of Conflict, whichever comes first, any
The following is a possible structure of this story. surviving Dancers make a tactical retreat. The pack
has a short moment of respite to recover wounds and
The Hook: Caern Raising check on who’s still standing.
The sept decides to expand their holdings and Embraces-The-Sky tells anyone in earshot that
create another caern. Unlike the other hooks, this he’s going to “check if they’re still out there.” An
story’s hook could be a story of its own. Creating a Intelligence + Insight test at Difficulty 3 or the
new caern involves repairing the actual structure, successful use of Gaia’s Candor reveals his lie.
negotiation with the local spirits, and ensuring the If revealed as traitor, Embraces-The-Sky makes
process conforms to the phases of the moon. a run for it, and the pack can ask for the help of
As the pack helps with these preparations, they any allies in earshot to help give chase. If the sept
should start seeing warning signs. Embraces-The- hunkered down somewhere the Dancers couldn’t
Sky makes long absences. Other sept members catch find, he tries to reveal their location. He’ll fight to
glimpses of figures watching them in the distance. the death to escape.
Newly allied spirits caution them about “the If Heart’s Whisper joined the pack in chasing
neighbors” but don’t have the full details. Embraces-The-Sky down, he attacks her at the first

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opportunity. If the pack cannot convince Embraces- If the Rite failed, the Dancers fight with greater
The-Sky to abandon his plans, subdue him, or kill zeal, and the sept retreats. If Heart’s Whisper was the
him, he leaves her in critical condition. Rite master and in critical condition, she dies
After the pack catches Embraces-The-Sky, kills in shame.
him, or convinces him to stay, Mercy and his If Embraces-The-Sky escapes the pack and flees
veteran Black Spiral Dancers arrive. Any surviving to the Dancers, he dances the Black Spiral and may
members from the first wave join them, no matter return in a future story as an enemy.
how maimed.

The Climax: Last Stand

Variations
This story is set in one location and takes place after
If Heart’s Whisper is still in good health, she tries
a long-term project. If you’d like your story to take
to complete the Rite to claim the caern as their
place in multiple locations, or with a quicker setup,
own and demoralize the Dancers. If she’s in critical
consider these options.
condition, she asks any pack member that knows the
Rite to take her place. Night of the Dancers
If in critical condition and none of the players' In this version, the attack is instead set in a beloved
characters knows the Rite, she attempts to complete public venue, one where the pack is among humans.
it with her dying breaths. In all cases, she asks the Instead of a Rite, it’s a major event like a block party.
pack to help the Rite master as the rest of the sept The Dancers, brought here by the traitor, are here to
keeps the Dancers at bay. desecrate the venue and terrorize the event. The pack
Completing the Rite requires a relevant test from must find a way to thwart them before the Dancers
all pack members at Difficulty 3. Some examples are start killing and Delirium turns the event into a
a Stamina + Performance test to chant, a Dexterity panicked riot.
+ Occult test to put all components in place, or a
Strength + Brawl test to hurl out any Dancers from Cat and Mouse
the Rite’s sacred grounds. This multi-location variation consists of a series
If Heart’s Whisper is the Rite master, at least half of attacks on seemingly random places around the
of the pack’s tests, rounding up, must be a Win for territory of sept members. The pack must piece
her to successfully complete the Rite. together that all the targets are related to a sept
If a pack member is the Rite master, they make the member, chase the Dancers down, and put an end
final test to complete the Rite. Successful tests made to the wolves’ chaos before the pack becomes the
by the other pack members give the Rite master a die next target.
bonus of their combined margin +1, to a maximum
of +4. Storming the Spiral
This variation reverses the concept, putting the
Resolution: Claim Staked pack on the offensive. Instead of preparing for a
If the Rite succeeds, the caern is created. The sept Rite, the sept spent the past month performing
pushes the Dancers into total retreat. This happens reconnaissance and preparations for an assault on a
even if the Rite master was a pack member who nearby Black Spiral Dancer caern. On the night of
received a Brutal outcome; the consequences come the assault, the Dancers are far more prepared than
later. If Heart’s Whisper was the Rite master and in expected. The pack needs to fight their way out and
critical condition, she dies at peace. discover who alerted the Dancers. 

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Appendix I:

Human Enemies
T
he Garou have plenty of supernatural Environment: Many antagonists occur in specific
enemies, from the Black Spiral Dancers to the environments which may provide inspiration
vast host of Banes congregating in the Umbra. for interesting Traits. For example, perhaps the
Yet sometimes, the most dangerous despoilers of the antagonist gains a two-dice bonus to all tests or the
Earth are ordinary humans. Difficulties against them increase by 1 when they’re
This appendix is all about how to make human on home ground with prepared defenses.
enemies interesting. Not everybody needs to have Collateral Damage: The antagonist purposefully
supernatural abilities to present a real danger to exploits the moral standards of the players’
the Garou, their Touchstones, or the causes they characters. As an example, an antagonist can have
care about. a Trait which allows them once per turn to grab a
The chapter Allies and Antagonists in Werewolf (p. bystander (if available) when attacked, so they take
239) presents the basics of how antagonists are built. incoming damage instead.
Social Abilities: The Difficulties related to

Traits seeing through the antagonist’s lies are unusually

high, or they’re able to convince bystanders of their

T
he Garou have Gifts and Banes and viewpoint if allowed to speak.
fomori have powers of their own. With Influence: The antagonist has influence of some
human enemies, the challenge lies in giving sort. Perhaps they have the ability to ferret out
them interesting Traits that are not supernatural in Touchstones or call in police raids on the players’
character. Here are some examples of how you can characters’ human allies.
approach this question: Delirium: A simple option is to grant the human
Gear: What kind of gear does the antagonist antagonist immunity to Delirium. However,
have? Handguns and rifles give bonuses to damage. to keep things more interesting, there are other
Some enemies may have silver bullets or knives, if options as well. Perhaps they’ve been treated by
they’re preparing to go against a werewolf. Armor an experimental drug which always prompts an
makes humans more durable. Gear can be found in aggressive reaction when Delirium is triggered.
Werewolf, p. 195. Tactics: The antagonist favors specific tactics which
Reinforcements: Many military or paramilitary grant them an advantage. For example, a sniper could
enemies, as well as those with significant resources always engage from an elevated position so they can get in
backing them up, have access to reinforcements. a shot or two before the players’ characters reach them.
This can be made into a Trait whereby the Weakness: Not every Trait has to be positive.
antagonist has the ability to call in a squad of Sometimes a character can have an interesting
Acheron Security Services mercenaries, for example. weakness. For example, they’re a coward and all
Intimidation tests against them gain a one-die bonus.

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 APPENDIX I: HUMAN ENEMIES

Organizations on any unnatural activity, past or present. These may

T
eventually become a full chapterhouse of their own
he enemies of the Garou are not rather than reporting back to a full chapterhouse.
limited to the despoilers of the earth. There Smaller, temporary gatherings of arcanists are referred
are organizations ranging from government to as lodges, often convening for a specific research
agencies to secret conspiracies that cause problems endeavor. For the Garou, arcanists come in where the
for the werewolves for reasons of their own. Arcanum has a particular interest in major Banes, long-
lived fomori, Talismans, other shifters, and caerns.

The Arcanum Arcanum chapterhouses tend to be found in old

urban centers where they were purchased with old

A
n academic society of scholars money and passed down over the generations to their
interested in the occult with some actual current members. New chapterhouses and colonies
supernatural truth hidden in their vaults, are sometimes founded with new money from rich
the Arcanum — or, more specifically, each of its investors. These new chapterhouses employ a small
members and chapterhouses — is interested in staff of active researchers and librarians, who are
collecting and codifying knowledge of the occult, tasked with compiling and organizing supernatural
including the Garou and the spirits they deal with. discoveries, as well as sending missives to their
Unlike other adversarial groups, the Arcanum, as a neighboring or governing branches.
whole, isn’t focused on any return on investment. Arcanum agents become more dangerous the longer
They collect — some say hoard — knowledge of the they remain at large. Many understand that places of
supernatural world. What their end goal may be other power (what Garou call caerns), even those that have
than filling their libraries and vaults is anyone’s guess. lost most or all of their spiritual energies, are defended
The Arcanum has its origins stretching back to at by spirits or shifters. They understand that some
least the Victorian era, and its structure has changed folklore holds truth even when unpredictable; with
little since then. Chapterhouses are set up in areas with time to study and request reports from their network
major supernatural activity. Small, local colonies are set of chapterhouses, they will be prepared for a second
up in a region to collect as much information as possible encounter should they survive the first.

A Garou -to-Arcanum Dictionary

Any conversation with an Arcanum agent is filled with terms the Garou likely find unfamiliar,
and coming to an agreement on what a caern is may take more time than the Garou have
patience for. Below are a few sample terms. Storytellers should get inventive as each
Arcanum agent may have a different set of preferred terms, each more pretentious than
the last. Many argents rely on Greek or Latinate scientific and pseudoscientific terms, while
others draw heavily upon traditional occult terms, or terms from the local language of the
culture the agent is currently studying or infatuated with.
Garou Term Arcanum Term(s)
Caern Place of power, nexus, ley convergence
Spirit Supernal being, Nephal/Nephilim, spirit, ghost
Garou Werewolf, lycanthrope
Other Shifters Therianthropes
Talisman Artifact, relic, spirit-prison, item of power
Fomor Possessed

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As occasional allies, the ARCANUM with the pack for a time — until
Arcanum are baffling to the someone, or something, offers him
Garou. They hoard their the knowledge and power he so
knowledge, meaning their agents are desperately seeks.
unusually tight-lipped about what they General Difficulty: 4 / 2
actually know, almost as if they value Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5,
each agent discovering the bulk of their Social 6, Mental 7
knowledge for themselves. Individual Secondary Attributes: Health 5,
agents, however, often have a way of Willpower 7
loosening their lips when their lives or some Exceptional Dice Pools: Larceny 6, Academics
crucial bit of knowledge are at stake. Canny Shadow 8, Occult 8
Lords leave breadcrumbs to direct the Arcanum Notes / Other Traits:
towards their adversaries, such as the Enlightened Expert Folklorist: After each encounter with Garou
Society of the Weeping Moon (see p. 67). or other supernatural creatures, the Arcanist’s
The tendency of the Arcanum to hoard their research uncovers one Folkloric Bane, Block, or
collections causes problems for Garou, who find Tell or any one other supernatural strength or
powerful Talismans, names of spirits, and powerful weakness. Even if they don’t know the character is
Rites out of their reach. There’s little opportunity supernatural, they’ll come to suspect and may use
to bargain with the Arcanum as a whole, and their their knowledge to confirm their suspicion. When
vaults are often lined with silver and lead, warded with encountering a group of supernatural creatures, such
wolfsbane and wild roses, and enclosed in ritual circles as a pack of Garou, the Storyteller should randomly
to nullify Gifts and keep spirits out. The knowledge, choose what the Arcanist learns or choose based on
the most prominent character in the group.
secrecy, and capability of the Arcanum have sometimes
Unreliable Delirium: While they are affected
led Garou to assume they’re in the Wyrm’s service.
by the Delirium, the Arcanist does not forget
More information on the Arcanum can be found
their encounter with the Garou, though their
in Werewolf’s sister roleplaying game Hunter:
recollection is likely muddied if they fled or hid.
The Reckoning (p. 238–241) and its supplement
Apostates (p. 31–44).
Deborah King
Personalities Debbie drives her local Arcanum chapterhouse like
she stole it. Unlike the staid, starched, and stuffy para-
academic institutions that other chapterhouses are,
Aiden Jones
Debbie’s is youthful and dynamic. She hosts avant-
Aiden Jones recently received his PhD in History,
garde events and exhibitions in their stuffy mansion
fast-tracked by Arcanum connections, and found
that’s somehow avoided being subdivided into a dozen
employment as an Associate Professor of History
individual apartments like the others on the street. She
and Cultural Studies. It’s not the most prestigious
regularly hosts university colloquia and grad school
appointment, but he only teaches two courses per
recruitment events where she can recruit potential
term and has plenty of time and a reasonable budget
Arcanum members. She even meddles in the local
for his own research on local folklore.
alt-religion scene, hosting Kabbalah study groups,
Fashionable and persistent, Aiden knows just
Universalists, and pagan holiday celebrations to keep
enough about spirits to be dangerous and will
tabs on anything that might pique her interest.
doggedly follow any leads he finds to get more concrete
The chapterhouse’s finances, however, are
information. If he doesn’t get himself killed searching
reaching the breaking point. She’s begun to sell off
for knowledge (and perhaps a little power), he may ally
artifacts and manuscripts in their collection that she

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 APPENDIX I: HUMAN ENEMIES

deems useless and has begun to get in trouble with someone acquiring the land surrounding the caern,
the antiquities black market. Chapter members are the deal is almost done. Debborah’s agents might
encouraged to use any means necessary to acquire not threaten the pack or sept, but their studies
new information on all supra-mundane knowledge anger the local spirits. Their urge for fame, power,
or potential items or even locations of power. or knowledge may attract multiple Banes.
General Difficulty: 4 / 2 Questions Are Being Asked: Numerous
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 5, Social 7, Mental 6 connections on the Relationship Map explain that
Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 6 a stranger has been asking about one or more of the
Exceptional Dice Pools: Leadership 8, Finance 7, players’ characters. Aiden Jones, a young and cocky
Investigation 7 new member of the chapterhouse, has been acting
Notes / Other Traits: on his own to research local spirits and hopes to track
Kitchen Sink Approach: The Arcanist wields a down the pack member to answer his questions. Aiden
bag, purse, or briefcase full of rare herbs, liquids, catches up with the pack at the most inopportune or
and occult-store bric-a-brac as a weapon. On a dangerous moments, firmly believing the pack won’t
hit, it affects a Garou as though they’ve touched let any harm come to him. If harm comes to him, the
silver and activates any Folkloric Bane, Block, chapter members use their knowledge and influence to
or Tell Flaws the character possesses so long as make life difficult for the pack.
being hit by every chemical, trinket, or bauble Secret Knowledge: The pack is in need of some
in a sorcerer’s bag might be associated with the occult item or knowledge, whether the name of a spirit
Flaw. The Arcanist remembers this Flaw and to be bargained with, information on how to reawaken
uses it to their advantage in future encounters. a caern, materials needed for a rare Rite, or a Talisman
Delirium Immunity: The Arcanist is immune
thought lost ages ago. Each attempt to procure it is
to the effects of the Delerium.
foiled, as the same Arcanum agent was there days or
hours before the pack. Why would someone else need
Stories the same thing as the pack? What lengths will the pack
The Arcanum is great for showing how the Garou go to in order to retrieve what they need?
look from an outside perspective. They don’t have
anything in particular against werewolves, but Fall
they’re curious. Sometimes, their studies involve A chapterhouse is relatively well defended, for
taking important Talismans and other Garou a group of humans. Many have silver weapons
cultural artifacts and locking them away. available, and they often take advantage of any
Deed of Ownership: A local caern, perhaps Garou’s Folkloric Banes, Blocks, or Tells. A few can
even a dead one, is being acquired by a new owner: even counter a Garou’s Gifts or are protected by
Deborah King. By the time the pack learns of spirits bound by the Arcanum members. That said,

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individual chapterhouses are relatively easy to wipe spoon of alphabet soup. Project Twilight operatives
out for the Garou simply because the werewolves nearly exclusively come from these agencies or other
are so powerful. Doing so, however, tends to arms of government, such as former military, political
cause problems, either due to occult artifacts analysts, and anyone else who can go to sleep knowing
and information being distributed in the local they’re serving their county against threats that its
community or other chapterhouses investigating the citizens would never believe stalk among them.
disappearance of their colleagues. Project Twilight agents often use tried-and-true
Those Garou with experience dealing with the spy techniques and technology, usually more analog
Arcanum tend to suggest scaring them off, but that than expected, to avoid cyber-attacks and leaving
knowledge isn’t commonly passed down in the Age a digital footprint. A single operative with a rifle,
of Apocalypse. a powerful scope, and a silver bullet is more likely
to execute their militant actions than a kill team.

Project Twilight
Still, militant action isn’t how the organization
gets the work done — it’s less about extermination

B
y the time a pack knows they’ve than gaining information and ousting supernatural
attracted the attention of these government influence from the workings of governments, one
boogeymen, it’s in the form of a JSOC kill day and operative at a time.
team loaded for bear (and Garou, for that matter). Garou are most likely to come across a Project
Investigations into their activities hit a wall of Twilight operative in government offices, embassies,
conspiracy theories: they’re both in every branch and other bastions of bureaucracy where rage and
and agency of the U.S. Federal Government (and passions go to die.
some even claim every government from Russia
to Monaco) and don’t exist at all. They’re your Personalities
neighbor, sanitation worker, and every other
harmless stereotype waiting for you to slip up. Special Agent Ekaterina DeLorme
In short, they’re shrouded in the paranoia and Ekaterina DeLorme has traveled the world as a proud
propaganda that other anti-werewolf groups would member of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency,
kill for — and many have. adopting personalities, developing assets, and
The truth is stranger than fiction, like in the case hunting down some of the worst terrorists known
of the black book operation that its own director to man… and some of the creatures that man only
publicly shut down. Its agents spread to the winds experiences in nightmares.
into what is now a global decentralized operation, Beneath the mask that’s remained stoic in the
albeit still a tiny one. There are only roughly 700 face of assassinations, enhanced interrogations, and
active agents across the globe, leaving any given far worse is the soul of a patriot, growing heavier
Garou more likely to get killed by a cow than to run and heavier under the growing burden of lies and
afoul of a Project Twilight agent. That said, those are trauma. A veteran, she’s a handler for the agents
active agents compared to magnitudes more inactive that come and go, blissfully ignorant of their work
agents who’ve likely done one or two stints for Project to keep America safe — putting her at the center
Twilight, furthering their goal to gain leverage and of local Project Twilight operations and one of the
power over anything that isn’t strictly human and heads that can’t be regrown so quickly.
keep its influence out of human governments. General Difficulty: 5 / 3
This goal attracts plenty, from patriots and bigots Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 6, Mental 7
to skeptics and believers, who gather intelligence Secondary Attributes: Health 7, Willpower 7
for Project Twilight often as part of duties to their Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms 9, Subterfuge 9,
particular agency, whichever acronym comes out in a Investigation 10

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 APPENDIX I: HUMAN ENEMIES

Notes / Other Traits: all over everything. United by anger and loss, a pack
Legwork: After initial contact with the players’ doggedly hunts down their suspect to find they’re a
characters, if Ekaterina was able to get names, squeaky-clean government employee. Does the pack
photos, or any other recognizable information, follow the Rage in their hearts even when it’s leading
she’s able to figure out who their Contacts and them to a perfectly normal human whose death may
Allies are. wake the sleeping hydra, or can they make something
more of this situation while maintaining the Veil?
Hihiro Tomkins Twilight Mystery: Local Garou find two bodies
After two combat tours, Special Agent Tomkins at the edge of the caern’s territory, both in cheap
was ready to do anything for his country. Or so he suits, armed with the weapons that killed one
thought. Delirium and the mind-twisting powers another, and with different agency badges. The plot
of other things that go bump in the night broke thickens when their cars are found nearby, full of
that belief, leaving him wounded in ways no IED or surveillance equipment and encrypted reports on
enemy fireteam could match. paper, a wealth of information if they can decipher
A shattered man, he’s now a ticking time bomb the codes. The former Project Twilight operatives
of government secrets, expert military training, and couldn’t trust one another and left a treasure trove
disavowed intel cobbled together by what’s left of on the pack’s doorstep. Can the pack unravel the
his scarred mind. A walking failure of the system to mystery and stay one step ahead of someone like
care for its veterans, he lives in squalor, spreading Special Agent DeLorme sent to clean up the mess?
half-remembered rhetoric that no one believes until
he can pull together the disparate scraps of truth that Fall
could prove invaluable for local Garou. Project Twilight’s strength of being a decentralized
General Difficulty: 4 / 2 entity with agents across the FBI, CIA, NSA,
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 7, Social 3, Mental 4 CDC, GSG-9, Interpol, and many more agencies
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 3 can also be its greatest weakness, as those loyal to
Exceptional Dice Pools: Firearms 8, Occult 6, their agency compete for information and honors
Stealth 8 rather than cooperate. With different handlers
Notes / Other Traits: and agendas, operations can run contradictory to
Shrieking Delirium: Hihiro always reacts to one another, spreading paranoia and friendly fire
Delirium the same way, with shrieking terror. He as every person an agent might trust could be a
attempts to flee in a panic while shouting at the top of monster in disguise.
his lungs, alerting any and all within hearing distance. Project Twilight’s domain is entirely human, leaving
Shaky Secrets: Getting Hihiro to talk and reveal them vulnerable to supernatural powers that can wipe
his secrets requires a gentle touch. He’s too highly out their agents or disrupt analog communications
strung to be intimidated as it just makes him babble. and records. Agents who wash out are either killed
Manipulation + Persuasion at a Difficulty of 3 is or left so broken that they’re left out to pasture,
more successful. where a kindly Bone Gnawer can trade half a meal of
scrounged food for stories too wild to take seriously.
Stories Of course, another way to deal with Project
Project Twilight is a reminder that many of the Twilight is to set them loose on your enemies, as long
things the Garou do are massively illegal. Generally as you can keep your fingerprints clean. A photo of a
speaking, society frowns on murder. local Congress member with a Fenris Cultist or some
Sudden Strike: It all happened so fast, and no one leech’s lackey that ends up in the right place can turn
spotted the sniper before there were splattered brains on a self-cleaning oven for the enemies of Gaia. 

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Appendix II:

Storyteller
Options
T
his appendix contains a selection enable them to navigate via echolocation. This
of game mechanical options designed for use Gift can be used in any form.
by the Storyteller.
0 Feast of Human Flesh (No Activation): The
Black Spiral Dancer consumes the flesh of
Black Spiral Dancer Gifts a human. They gain a Specialty the victim
The Gifts presented here are for antagonist use possessed or other knowledge the victim
only. Their purpose is to liven up scenes involving possessed. A human is usually worth only two
Black Spiral Dancers and make then dangerous, meals, one featuring the brain and one featuring
unpredictable, and memorable. Players’ characters the heart.
are not able to learn these Gifts for they are for the
0 Skinglide (Full Action): The Black Spiral Dancer’s
favored of the Wyrm only.
fingers begin to grow and skin joins their limbs
Total Renown 3 into twisted wings which are usable for gliding
away. Particularly cunning or strong Black Spiral
0 A Thousand Voices (Full Action): The Black
Dancers can use their brute strength or take
Spiral Dancer creates an auditory illusion, such
advantage of air currents to gain altitude as well.
as a pair of voices or the footfalls of a half dozen
people. So long as the Dancer remains hidden,
few adversaries would suspect this deception.
Total Renown 6
Those attempting to glean information out of 0 Death Curse (No Activation): When the Black
the illusion with a Composure + Awareness test Spiral Dancer is killed, they call out and curse
at a Difficulty of 3, such as determining the exact their murderer. The victim of the curse must
number of footsteps or clearly understanding a test Composure + Resolve against a Difficulty
conversation, may detect something is amiss. If of 3 or the Dancer’s highest Renown + 1
the test result has a margin of 2 or critical win, (whichever is higher). On a loss, the Garou must
they realize the sounds are fake. make a Harano or Hauglosk test (Storyteller’s
choice), take Aggravated Damage to Willpower
0 Ears of the Bat (Minor Action): The Black Spiral
equal to the margin of failure, or gain a Flaw
Dancer’s ears grow, and their vocal tract alters to
chosen by the Storyteller.

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0 Ichor Blade (Full Action): The Black Spiral with their Stamina + Resolve (Difficulty 3) or
Dancer’s arm becomes a cracked and bony blade. sustain Aggravated damage equal to the margin
The Blade deals Aggravated damage to Health. of failure.
This Gift can be used in any form. 0 Memory Thief (Full Action): The entity tests
0 Omen Claws (No Activation): Damage from either their Power or Mental Trait against the
natural weapons temporarily paralyzes the victim Composure + Intelligence of their target. If
with visions of Apocalypse and destruction successful, they can search the mind of their
unless the victim spends one Willpower to act the victim for a specific memory and gain full
following turn. knowledge of it. Any memories discovered by
the entity are permanently erased from the
Total Renown 9 hapless victim.
0 Mark of Antihelios (No Activation): If an attack 0 Pestilence (No Activation): Victims coming into
made by the Garou would deal normal damage close contact with the entity for at least a scene
to Health, one level of that damage is Aggravated. must succeed on a Stamina + Medicine or Occult
If the attack would deal Aggravated damage test (Difficulty 3) or slowly become afflicted with
to Health, add one level of Superficial damage a virulent plague. Anyone encountering these
to Willpower. Until the Aggravated damage to infected must succeed at the same test, but at
Health damage is healed, the victim reeks of the Difficulty 2. Once Infected, victims must succeed
Wyrm: Garou instantly recognize the wound was at the same test each day or take 1 Aggravated
caused by a champion of the Wyrm, either because Health damage. If they resist the pestilence for
of its festering nature or a literal mark of the Wyrm three days, the infection passes. The Bane can
branded on the Garou’s flesh. The mark remains halt the disease at any time.
until the victim has no Aggravated damage. 0 Swarm (Full Action): This power is available to
fomori only. The fomori’s flesh dissolves into
Bane and Fomori Powers a multitude of tiny, biting creatures, such as
These Bane and fomori powers can be used to rodents, flies, spiders, or locusts. The size of the
customize and detail new enemies, as per the needs swarm ensures that unless using fire (or other
of the Storyteller and the game. They supplement suitable area affect attacks) no single attack can
the powers detailed in Werewolf (see Chapter Nine: inflict more than 1 level of Health damage.
Allies and Antagonists, p. 239). Enemies caught in the swarm’s miasma take a
0 Flesh-Meld (Full Action): This power is available two-dice penalty to all actions. The swarm may
to fomori only. Once activated, it enables two (or perform a collective Brawl attack causing + 1
more) fomori to merge their flesh in an unstable Superficial damage. This represents small bites.
mass of limbs, exposed organs, and teeth. For 0 Umbral Travel (Full Action): This power is
every fomori entering the mass, the strongest available to fomori only. The fomor is able to travel
member adds 2 Health levels and a two-dice to the Umbra simply by stepping sideways. While in
bonus to their physical pools. Whether they can the Umbra, it sustains a level of Aggravated Health
separate if they survive is up to the Storyteller. damage every hour. If the fomor runs out of Health,
0 Liquify (Full Action): The entity touches a its physical body is destroyed and the spirit encased
person or object, kickstarting a reaction that within emerges intact. 
dissolves stone and flesh with the fumes of a
burning tire. Objects dissolve at a rate decided
by the Storyteller, while living creatures resist

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WYRMTIDE

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