Renown

In Mortality Mocked, we are using a different sort of method for recording and keeping track of renown because it’s just been too hard in our experience to do it efficiently and fairly online when using a point system. Instead of tracking and rewarding individual renown with experience, the Garou Storyteller will be determining when characters are eligible to move up in rank. Make sure that you send logs of any “renown worthy” RP to your ST or at least make a post summing up the events if you’d like your ST to consider them so that you might go up in rank.

Once a character has fulfilled what the storyteller believes should be required for his auspice, the player will be notified via Email and must then set about finding someone of his desired Rank to challenge. Upon a successful challenge, the player will then have his official rank.

To better explain, here is a message:

This is to clear up confusion about how we work renown and rank for WtA in Mortality Mocked. As you all may or may not know, we have over 30 players in the WtA alone. The makes a byzantine task for tracking renown. As such, we have modified how we do keep track. To understand, an explanation of Garou society is needed. Roughly stated, renown and rank is the measure of impact your character has on Garou society.

Garou are in fact very wolfish (even you homids). Wolves are very social creatures. Their life and meaning is determined by being in a pack. In a sense, the "I" of a wolf is never separate from the "we" of the pack. The closet human analog on a society level are clan based cultures. Wolves establish Alphas, Betas, and Omegas. Strength, ferocity, ability to provide, and nurture are key qualities for pack survival. The very idea of existing separate from other Garou is quite strange and somewhat insane (ie...abnormal in comparison to group norm). A lone wolf is a very strange individual. Renown is the record of who you are to Garou. It is who you are in the pack or metapack (garou nation)

As such, renown is a socially negotiated phenomenon. Its not karmic points with the divine or OOC experience. Renown is quite simply the reputation you have with your fellow Garou. It is who your fellow packmates and Garou see you as. Remember the philosophers question "if a tree falls and no one is there to hear it...does it still make a sound?" Asked in the context of renown and Garou social discourse, the answer is no. If your fellow Garou did not hear about it, witness it, or believe you did it, you do not get renown. If it is not important to your pack or your Sept...its just not renown worthy.

In other words, the best way to get renown is be around fellow Garou when you do your thing. Even better, doing something that improves the life of your fellow Garou. Given the nature of this chron, the best and fastest way to get renown is better the lot of your fellow Garou. Doing stuff like forming packs, strengthening the Sept, protecting the Veil, protecting the wolfkin, cleansing the park, and socializing with Garou will advance you far faster than...for example...killing vamps in different cities. Acting like a pack animal...ie being Garou...will advance you in rank. If you get Echo and Scar saying, wow...he/she is acting like a Garou...then your getting renown.

Another key point about renown. The concepts of Dominance and Heirarchy are integral to Garou society. These two concepts inform renown and social behavior. Acting Garou does mean respecting superior position, giving preference to the health of the pack, and sacrifice to the whole rather than the individual. In a wolf pack, there is a high man on the totem pole and a low man on the totem pole. For all Garou, there is always something that is superior and has more authority. As humans in the US, this idea of subservience is often an anathema. Most characters seem to price independece, self-control, and free will higher than being pack, supporting a heirarchy, and acknowledging superior position in others. The knee jerk "human" reaction to Dominance is to resist and rebel...even retaliate. In wolf society, if the big wolf has you beat, is smarter than you, or has more rank...the proper response is total respect. The STs have seen many Garou that fail to RP this aspect of Garou life. Phrases like "I will not submit", "I do not respect you unless you give me respect first", or "Garou have no right to order me about" are good examples of normal American human behavior...and good examples of behavior that cause characters to lose renown. Remember, you are playing something that is not human and not wolf. Something that is more akin to a the Holy Church during the Crusades. When the Pope said to take back the holy lands, it is not the place of a simple soldier to say "give me respect", "not me", "what is in it for me", or "you are wrong."

The Litany is not just a gathering of rules. It is the actual social fiber of Garou society. That is why Litany Breaking (an all too common occurance) is such a big deal. By breaking the Litany, a character is showing intentionally or unintentionally that they do no respect or follow the ways of a community. For Garou, the community is higher than the individual...like Gaia is more important than any one species or force of nature. Characters that clearly abide by the litany gain renown. Characters that defend the Litany get lots of renown.

Rank means you are a pillar of Garou society. That your character is an active force in making the Garou Nation strong.

To Summarize

Renown is measured by your impact on the lives of your fellow characters.
By following the Litany, you rise in rank faster.
Disrespecting or defying superior position is a good way to lose renown.
If you do things that make the society stronger, you are gaining renown.
What you do has to be important to your people.
Your actions have to be heard, seen, and believed by your fellow Garou.
Submission is a good thing (keep you from getting killed, keep the peace in the pack, and it supports the leader). Being Dominant is not necessarily a bad thing.