Rage, Willpower and Gnosis

Rage, Willpower and Gnosis

The following Traits allow the Garou to perform miraculous feats beyond human capacity. These Traits are not represented as adjectives- they are a pool from which the character may draw. These Traits can be represented by cards- a card is torn up when a Trait is used.

Willpower

Within each of us, we have the ability to do incredible things. In times of catastrophe, ordinary people have been known to perform extraordinary feats. If the circumstances are just right, an average person could lift an automobile to save a pinned pedestrian or run through a burning building to save a trapped child. A determined man can even fight death itself if he truly has the will to live. In The Apocalypse, this ability to do the near impossible is governed by a Trait known as Willpower. Willpower gives a character the extra strength necessary to overcome obstacles and succeed where others would give up and fail.
Each character begins the game with a number of Willpower Traits. For Garou, the number of Traits depends on the character's tribe. These Willpower Traits can be used for almost anything that the player deems important. A few examples of how Willpower can be used by Garou are listed below.

Willpower can be used to negate the effects of frenzy (by using a Willpower Trait, the character gains a new tolerance of the situation that would ordinarily throw her into frenzy).

Willpower allows the character to replenish all of her lost Traits in any one category: Physical, Social or Mental.

Willpower allows a character to ignore the side effects of wounds, such as Incapacitation, for one challenge.

A Willpower Trait can be expended to negate the effects of any one Mental or Social Challenge.

Once a Willpower point has been used, it is gone until the end of the story. At that time, the character regains all Willpower used during the course of the story. It is possible that a Narrator may choose to give a character Willpower during the course of a story as a reward for exceptional role-playing. Such a reward would be given for playing a Nature appropriately, acting out a Derangement in an appropriate fashion or any other reason the Narrator deems suit-able. This should not, however, be a common occurrence.

Rage

Rage is the all-consuming passion inherent in every Garou. It is also what she uses to change form, turning from her natural state, Lupus or Homid, to the various forms known to the Changing Breed. Rage is a tool of destruction, of anger and violence. It can be a dark impulse pushing the Garou to acts of senseless bloodshed and murder. When used constructively against the forces of the Wyrm, this violence can be a useful thing, destroying the enemies of Gaia and protecting the world from destruction and the coming Apocalypse. But rage must be tempered, because if it overwhelms the wielder, then she is no more than a mindless instrument of destruction- a perfect tool of the Wyrm.

Rage Traits are not described as adjectives. Each character has a Rage rating. Rage Cards can be used to represent a character's rage: a Rage Card is torn up when a Rage Trait is used.

USING RAGE

Rage can be used in many ways, depending on the needs of the character. Several examples of how Rage can be used in the course of a story are listed below.

Changing Forms - Changing forms is easier with the use of Rage. By expending a Rage Trait, you are able to change into another form immediately. Otherwise, changing into another form takes a number of seconds equal to the number of Social Traits you possess; you may, however, take your natural form automatically without spending Rage.

Extra Action - Rage can give the character the ability to perform extra feats during a challenge. This means that a character can challenge several players to different tests at the same time with no penalty. The number of players challenged depends on the number of Rage Traits spent.

Extra Attacks - A werewolf can also use Rage to attack with greater frequency and ferocity. A Garou who has just won a Physical Challenge (attacking someone) can immediately expend a Rage Trait and do a second test to attempt to inflict a second wound on a foe. This test occurs before a new challenge can begin.

Furthermore, the Garou who expended Rage cannot be wounded as a result of this second test, unless, of course, his opponent has also spent Rage (or Celerity, in the case of vampires).

For example, if a character is being attacked by two opponents at the same time, the defending character can spend a Rage Trait to acquire an extra action. Thus, he will be able to defend himself against both opponents in a challenge while suffering no penalty.

Remaining Active: When a character becomes Incapacitated from losing a challenge, she may use a Rage Trait to bring herself up one Health Level so that she may continue to fight. Once a character loses all of her Rage, she is no longer able to change forms. She has "lost the wolf" within and will revert to her natural form, whether that is Lupus or Homid.

Regaining Rage

The Moon: When the character first sees the moon at night, something deep in his soul surges. The character regains one Rage Trait.

Confrontation: At the beginning of any new conflict in which a challenge is involved, the character regains a Rage Trait. Only one Rage Trait is regained during the confrontation, regardless of the number of challenges.

Wounds: The first time a Garou is wounded in an evening, he regains a Rage Trait. This is only done once per day.

Humiliation: The character may regain a Rage Trait during a particularly humiliating situation. Awarding this Trait is the Narrator's option.

Gnosis

Gnosis is the power of Gaia within a Garou. It is her power made real. Garou gain Gnosis as part of their connection with Her. They lose Gnosis when they use Her power to affect reality or make permanent changes.

Beginning Gnosis is determined by breed, because the birth of a Garou establishes his initial connection to Gaia. You may gain extra Gnosis Traits by spending experience and becoming more spiritually aware in a role-playing sense- either through meditation or guidance.

Gnosis Traits are used in Gifts and rites, and one Gnosis Trait can be spent to immediately step sideways into the Umbra (see "Spirit", Stepping Sideways).

Garou have both Gnosis Traits and a Gnosis Pool. The Gnosis Pool determines how many Gnosis Traits a Garou can store within herself. Gnosis Traits can be bid and spent in Static Challenges just like other Traits.

Garou regain their spent Gnosis Traits in the following ways:

Meditation: You must have the Meditation Ability to do this. A Garou may spend a Mental Trait and get a Gnosis Trait if she has ten minutes to meditate alone. Of course, this must be a relevant Mental Trait.

Fetish: A Garou may gain Gnosis from a fetish, such as a Tear of Renewal (see "Fetishes").

Spirits: A Garou may gain Gnosis through an Engling spirit. Either by summoning the Engling or running across it in the Umbra, the Garou must convince the Engling to give itself up for the benefit of the Garou. If it agrees, the Engling will give itself up to the Garou, and, in death, it will recharge all the Gnosis Pools of the Garou participating. The Spirit Keeper has the option of complicating this process.

Rites: A Garou may gain Gnosis through the Rite of the Cup (see Spirit Rites, below), although this Gnosis is actually shared Gnosis, and it must come from another Garou or a spirit. In the Umbra, a Gnosis Trait may be spent to change the reality of the Umbra in some fashion- you may use one to step through an Umbral wall, hide your Umbral form briefly or provide some light in darkness. Unless a Gift specifies otherwise, you may not spend Rage and Gnosis during the same challenge.