He doesn't.  Like I've mentioned he's a bit older than some of the other pack members at 22 years of age.  He has his own flat, it just happens to be in the same three story building as his parents and their business.  He has a second part time job taking troubled teens or recovering addicts on outdoor adventures, hiking, rafting, ect.  He is constantly in and out at all hours of the day and night, if he's not working he socializing or doing a bit of urban exploring.  They are used to him coming and going.  If he were to disappear for a few days at a time, they wouldn't think twice.

Ummmm... aren't you forgetting about the Curse though? An Ahroun has so much rage that most people will shy away, especially kids and recovering addicts as they lack in willpower.

I’m guessing that’s something new in the new addition (which I don’t have)?

Naw, it's been around for ages. It's p. 262 in W20, fwiw:

And the flip side is also true. Rage is literal rage. Ahroun generally aren't the nicest people to be around.

  P191-192 of Revised, if that's the one you're looking at.

  (I'd strongly recommend getting the W20 book though. The differences aren't big but there are a lot of little ones that can throw you off.)


  Kinfolk aren't immune to the Curse either, so you'll still come across as unsettling/scary/terrifying (depending on Rage) to them, but they generally cope with the effects better since they're aware of the Garou and know (at least to a point) what's going on. Having a pre-existing relationship doesn't hurt either.

  You can mitigate this by burning off your Rage before dealing with human society, but that isn't always an option and certainly isn't foolproof - Rage can start building back up at the most inconvenient times.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:07, Sun 08 Dec 2019.

I think the Curse is checked against permanent rage, not temporary rage?

  I've always seen it played as set against current Rage. Losing the wolf or coming close to it means that you don't have that kill-you-now predator vibe; conversely, a sufficiently frothed-up ragabash will scare people off.

I've seen it the other way around. Else a human or wolf would be chill with a garou one day, and the next be running for the hills. Wouldn't be very consistent.

  True, but your feelings aren't going to be consistent if you're dealing with someone who comes across as normal one day and "Here's Johnny!" stage Jack Torrance the next.

  That's why long-term relations are generally impossible to maintain outside of kinfolk.

  But you can get away with it in the short term when it's important that you be able to briefly pass yourself off among human society as a not-crazy-axe-killer.


  So White Shadow's situation re the part time job is still problematic (because something is going to happen at some point), but if he just wants to visit home for a night without causing the non-kinfolk parent to freak out, that's doable.

Hey all, sorry for the disappearing act; I had a family emergency that basically took me out for the last week and a half.

So now I'm playing catch up. So, I'll do my best...

1) Re: Rage and non-garou. For what it's worth, another set of mechanics are on page 145 of the W20 book:



From my reading, it's not clear if they mean current rage or permanent rage, but I can definitely see an argument for it being current rage based on the context and wording. The way my old TT group played it was you use the higher of the two; you can never be "less of a killer" than your permanent rage, but if your temporary rage was higher, you're just that much more scary.

The trick is to try and keep your willpower higher, which strikes me as something totally in character for a Child of Gaia. And while not strictly connected to this discussion, I'd recommend checking out the Calm Heart merit if you haven't yet. I think it's a perfect merit for a Child of Gaia ahroun.

2) Totem? Did we decide, are we still keeping the points we put into the Totem background to use once we finally form a pack, or not? I currently have 2 points dedicated to Totem, so would like to know if I could use those points elsewhere.

3) Pure Breed & Rage: Certain aspects of garou have a spiritually definable aspect that other garou would generally be able to pick up on. One very specific example is Pure Breed. If you have it, other garou instinctively know it, and will likely react differently to you. Similarly, Rage (as we've seen from the other discussion) is something that can be sensed, and I think garou would be able to suss out the relative "permanent" rage of those around them.

So, I'd like to request that everyone put their Pure Breed and Permanent Rage in their bio lines (like I have) so we can know how to have our characters react towards and with them.

4) Stuff about Valgard everyone would know...

Valgard showed up at the sept/pack recently (maybe within the last 2-5 months) with his father, Stalks-the-Wyrm, a lupus (yep) Fenrir Adren Ahroun. Stalks-the-Wyrm had been a part of the pack in Austin for a couple of years but had abruptly left about 5 years ago to take his recently changed son to Norway for "proper Fenrir training and Rite of Passage". While hard on Valgard, Stalks does serve as a Mentor to him.

His mother does still live in East Austin, but he doesn't ever talk about her, and rarely visits her in order to keep her safe (no backgrounds, merits, or flaws spent).

His massive scar is in fact a scar fetish, with a Surtur spirit bound to it. It allows him to sense strong wyrm taint nearby (and possibly some other things once I finish spending freebie points).

He is not a "speak in riddles" type of theurge; he is actually quite intimidating, being Physically Impressive and uses that to deal with most spirits.

While being a homid, he seems quite comfortable and spends a lot of time in his lupus form. When the lupus go out for hunts, he generally accompanies them, so that might make for some good connection with Ghost.

Valgard sees himself as Fenrir first, theurge second. He looks like an ahroun, and fights as well as most ahroun, favoring claw and fang over weapons.

Jimena's at PB 2 and Rage 4. She's got a handful of devoted, strong-willed RideAustin clients (mostly women).

Pure what? And at my rage 1, I'm actually the one being scared off when people find me in their trash. :p

  Rage 4 (Galliard baseline), Pure Breed 5 (Silver Fang - what did you expect?)

  She also has the Notable Heritage merit, but no present Mentor/Kinfolk/etc - they do technically exist, but are unlikely to appear in the game.



  Rage vs Gnosis is another thing to watch for. It's hard to avoid as a high-Rage homid since they only start with one point of Gnosis and buying more is expensive, but Rage > Gnosis means that you're a (direct) danger to your own pack if (when) you frenzy.



  We *currently* have Salamander as our totem as a subgroup within the oversized pack, but the dots should transfer once we fully 'separate' (and are probably appreciated by the super-pack in the meantime). Or we could stick with it as a sept totem.

Pure Breed of 1

As for rage: There is an Ahroun Gift that allows you to sense how many rage points others have.  So I doubt its something that can be sensed normally.

In reply to White Shadow (msg # 148):

While the gift allows for detecting specific, quantifiable levels of Rage, the text is elsewhere pretty explicit about other creatures (especially humans) picking up on garou Rage unconsciously, and experiencing acute discomfort when that Rage is higher than their willpower.

  We're posting the specifics in this case because we've probably got a good feel for it. For that matter, it'd probably be known how Gnosis-heavy everyone is - it's relevant to so many thing that garou do.

  No surprises here either - Gnosis 6 (Lupus + 1).

I updated my character details with what I was comfortable with.

Okay, I've updated my Bio line now that I've finalized my Freebie expenditures (Pure Breed 1, Rage 4, Gnosis 5). Also, once we form our new pack, I have 2 points in Totem to contribute.

One other thing I forget to mention; Valgard basically has no life outside the sept/pack. He doesn't hold down a job, have an apartment, or anything like that. He is 100% garou and all about fighting the wyrm, and getting drunk when the need arises...

  Ghost is likewise on full-time duty as a Garou.

  If another pack member needs assistance with their human doings... well, she'll entertain reasonable requests, but she's also aware of her limits there.

"Hey Ghost, I need you to cover a fare for me. Drive this car down to 6th street and look for the person in the picture. You can borrow my phone..."

Woo. I don't know about you guys, but work is kicking my butt this month.
Okay, I'm planning to drop you guys into the action as the pack seniors put you guys on what they expect to be a milk run following a hazmat truck to its dumping ground, seeing what's what, and reporting back.
Sound good to everybody? Everybody ready? Anybody have any considerations to bring up before we start? (Have I forgotten to answer any outstanding questions that still need an answer?)
And personally, I like using Current Rage to determine social issues unless the book says otherwise. It's more volatile, and that feels like rage to me.

On a slight tangent, I always thought Stephanie Meyer did a good job capturing the chaotic emotions of the shapeshifters in her Twilight books. They're vastly different than WtA Garou, of course, but the writer's skill at capturing teenage angst translated well into portraying the helter-skelter rollercoaster of werewolf emotions.

  Other than the question of Totem powers, the only thing that comes immediately to mind is which version of Rides we're getting!


  what they expect to be a milk run

  And we know how those always turn out...

  Here's another relevant question, though more to the other PCs: who has what in the way of Resources?

I got some empty bottles and tin cans, a piece of rope and a pack of beef jerky (open, partially eaten).