Character Creation: Werewolf: The Apocalypse 1st Ed

(all together now!)

FOR THE ELEVENTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-TWO,
ELEVEN WEREWOLVES HOWLIN',
TEN HACKERS HACKIN'
NINE GIRLS A-PLANTIN'
EIGHT MAIDS A-SHIELDIN'
SEVEN VIXENS VIXIN'
SIX MICE A-SQUEAKIN'
FIVE GOLDEN HAINTS,
FOUR UPLIFTED BIRDS,
THREE GODSENDS,
TWO DUSTY BOWLS,
AND CHUUBO'S MARBLED RYE BREAD SANDWICH!

Take us back to a simpler time, the early 90s.

The Game: Werewolf: The Apocalypse 1st Edition
The Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio
Degree of Familiarity: It's complicated
Books Required: Just the one

It's complicated. That's a damn understatement. I started playing Werewolf in...I'm gonna say 1992-ish? My brother ran an abortive chronicle (only kind he ever ran, because he'd run two sessions and then get distracted by something shiny, and these were the days when we played whenever we got together but not on any kind of schedule) and I remember my character in that game was a Fianna who was trying to infiltrate Pentex and take it over to destroy it from within.

I started writing for Werewolf in 1999 or so? I can't remember now if my first project for the line was the Revised Edition of the core game or the Rokea book. I think it was the former, but I know I was working on both projects while I lived in Brecksville. I ran a chronicle that went about a year but feels longer, looking back, some of which is immortalized in some of the sourcebooks for the line, but that was at least the third such chronicle I ran. My players in one game killed Samuel Haight, I'll have you know. No, wait, fourth, because I ran a game set at the Valkenberg Foundation. 

My point is that I have a lot of experience with Werewolf, both as a GM (sorry, "Storyteller") and a writer, and even as a player, somewhat unusually. The result is that when reading this edition, I have a nostalgic fondness for the game that breaks through all of the bullshit that White Wolf and Onyx Path have done over the years (whatever you think I'm talking about there, you're right, let's move on). This edition is janky as fuck, of course. It's full of p. XXs and quotes from The Cure, it can't quite decide if it wants to be its own game or a follow-up to Vampire (sometimes it'll start putting Garou in the context of how they're different from Kindred, out of nowhere). There are a lot of perspectives on how Garou do things that are, if not contradictory, then at least written by a group of people that didn't always compare notes thoroughly. And then of course there's the racism and ableism and so forth. But at the heart of it all is a game that was, at the time, really innovative and fresh, that took mythology about man-eating monsters and spun it into its own thing. And that mythology has fucking endured, because it's 30 years later and people are still playing this game (though I don't hear encouraging things about the 5th Edition...). 

All of this to say: Werewolf was never my favorite WoD game, but that was because Wraith was my first love and I really glom onto the human, tragic stories that game did well over the quasi-mythic (but still tragic) stories that Werewolf gave us. But if it wasn't my favorite, it probably sat comfortably at second place (maybe third, behind Changeling) for a long time. I had a necklace made from an iron nail with the symbol of my favorite tribe that I wore for many years.

Anyway, let's make a woof. I've made two other characters for other editions of this game (and then another for Dark Ages: Werewolf). I don't really have a concept in mind, but one of the things that this edition does (that I cannot for the life of me remember if later ones did, and I'm not gonna check right now) is provide lists of potential questions, hooks, what-have-you for characters. I'd put in a screenshot if I had this book in PDF, but I don't and I haven't been able to find it anywhere (I mean, I could pay for it, I guess, but a) I already own the book in hardcopy and b) I don't give Onyx Path money). Anyway, the questions are conveniently in groups of 10, meaning one could roll a die to choose. 

I think, therefore, I shall make one decision right up front and say my character is homid, because it'll let me roll on more of these tables. (Interestingly it's also the first homid character I've made for this project; my Dark Ages and W20 characters were lupus and my Revised was metis.)

So the first question I'm faced with is "what was your family like?" I shall roll a die to see! The answer is..."weird." Well, the first thing that comes to mind when I start thinking about a "weird" family is the one depicted in the movie Captain Fantastic (starring Viggo Mortensen; he was nominated for an Oscar for the role, which is why I saw it). His family is nomadic, they drive around, his kids are all highly skilled and multi-lingual, but it is in contempt of question a weird situation. So let's say my character grew up in a similar situation - his parents were/are Kinfolk (whether they know or not I'll decide later), and he's got some practical skills but very little experience with the human world.

Moving on - "why didn't you fit in?" I feel like I've already established this, but how about we roll anyway. "Savage" - ooh, I kinda like it. High Rage and he's already been pretty on-edge (which means I'm leaning toward Ahroun as my auspice). I'll roll on the next table ("what were your interests?") but I'll skip the one after that ("what were you like in school?") because obviously he was home-schooled. And my interest was...skateboarding! Um, sure. 

Next question is "what was the kidnapping like?", which is not something you see in a lot of RPG chargen sections (and I would know). Garou kidnapped people around the time of the Change, which leaves aside the question of how they know (but then, this edition also claims that tribes go to war over new werewolves, which is a thread that to my knowledge is never followed up). So anyway, rolling: "horrifying." Yeah, that sounds about right. "How well are you assimilated into your tribe?" "Outsider, not assimilated yet." Ooh, that's interesting. Last question: "What was it like to return home?" "Betrayal - you told the truth, but no one believed you." That answers the "do my parents know they're Kinfolk?" question. OK, I think I can tie this all together.

Mikhail Armstrong was the second of six children. His parents, believing that American society was ultimately doomed, got a big RV and started driving around (they both work, obviously, which implies they either chase work seasonally or have jobs they can do remotely) and schooled their kids. Mikhail, though, was different - he was angry and active, sometimes even violent. He learned to keep himself under control (barely) when he heard his parents discussing the possibility of settling down so as to get him psychiatric care, and channeled his energy into physical activity, especially skateboarding.

And then one night, just after his 17th birthday, the wolves came. They tore through the skate park and killed a bunch of people, and took Mikhail away. Mikhail didn't Change until the next night, and he remembers hearing the Garou discuss whether they'd made a mistake. But he did Change, and was going through the initial "you're a werewolf, Harry" rigmarole when the Black Spiral Dancers attacked. They tore through the sept that had grabbed Mikhail and killed or drove off the Garou there. Mikhail ran home and explained what had happened. In spite of all the horror and trauma, in some ways he was elated - his anger made sense. He made sense. 

And his parents didn't believe him, and they decided that yes, they really did need to settle in one place, because Mikhail needed help. Mikhail ran, feeling betrayed, and eventually ran into more Garou (which is where the chronicle would pick up, if there were one).

Whew, OK, now let's do the actual chargen bit. I've got concept, breed, and auspice down, so I need a tribe.

Well, we can discount the two Native American ones because a) the backstory doesn't work and b) all the other reasons. Likewise, he's not lupus so my beloved Red Talons don't work, and he's a dude so not a Black Fury. I don't want to do Glass Walker, Fianna, or Bone Gnawer (though you could make an argument that Bone Gnawer would fit). Stargazer...I could contort myself into this working, but eh. Children of Gaia would be interesting, especially given his roots. Let's pocket that.

I did a Shadow Lord already, so not that, and likewise Silent Strider, while perhaps appropriate to his nomadic upbringing, doesn't hit the right notes for the character. Honestly I think it's gotta be Child of Gaia or Silver Fang, and frankly Child of Gaia neatly encapsulates a lot of the character's conflict. 

With all that done, we can move on to the dots. Attributes are 7/5/3, and I shall prioritize them Physical/Mental/Social. For Physical, we'll put three each into Dexterity and Strength, and the remaining one into Stamina. For Mental, two each into Perception and Wits, one into Intelligence. For Social, two into Appearance (blah, stupid stat), the other one into Manipulation. 

Abilities! Since I'm homid I don't have restrictions, so let's go Knowledges/Talents/Skills. For Knowledges, I'll put one in everything except Rituals (don't figure he's had time), and then a second dot in Investigation and Science and two more dots in Linguistics. For Talents, let's put two in Athletics, Brawl, and Dodge, and one in Alertness, Intimidation and Primal-Urge. For Skills, one in Melee, two in Repair, two in Survival. I have this feeling that Abilities is where my freebies are gonna go.

Advantages! This edition of Werewolf did this dumbass thing where your tribe determines your Willpower rating and how many Background dots you get, as well as these not very well considered restrictions on what you can take. I get 4 Willpower, but only 2 Background dots (but I can spend them anywhere, whoopie). I'll put them both into Past Life.

I get a Gift from breed, auspice, and tribe. For breed, I can take Persuasion or Smell of Man, and I think the latter makes more sense for my angry little Ahroun. Speaking of which, my auspice Gift choices are Razor Claws, Inspiration, and The Falling Touch. Let's do Falling Touch; I figure Mikhail is trained in martial arts anyway (plus my dice pool isn't terrible). Finally, my tribe Gifts are Resist Pain or Mother's Touch, and I don't think he's much of a healer, so Resist Pain it is! 

Renown...oh, right, this was before they fixed the Renown system and made it less, um, reminiscent of D&D. I get 500 points to throw around, so let's put 200 into Honor, 250 into Glory, and 50 into Wisdom.

And finally, freebies! I get 15 and Merits & Flaws don't exist yet, so let's see here. My Gnosis is only 1 and I feel like it should be at least a little higher, so let's spend 2 and bump it up by one. Also, I want my Willpower to equal my Rage, so I'll spend 1 point there. 

I want Mikhail to have the option to talk to his family at some point, so I'll spend two and buy two dots of Kinfolk. That's 5 spent, 10 left, and I'm gonna dump them all into Abilities. I'll buy up Alertness to 2, Athletics to 3, and buy a dot of Stealth, Firearms, and a second dot of Primal-Urge. And that's it, cats n' kittens. 

I think Mikhail would be an interesting Garou to play, actually; he's really leaning into the whole "I am too Rage-y for my human family to handle" thing, which was meant to be a big deal in the game but in practice wasn't something the games I was in tended to deal with much. Anyway, Mikhail is now 18. Brown hair, brown eyes, muscular, built like a boxer, but he's getting leaner as his werewolf metabolism starts working harder. He's noticing that he's starting to pant when he gets excited or angry, and he's trying to knock that off because it's weird. I think he's still exchanging texts or emails with his sister Anastasia, too, so that'd be a fun vector for my nonexistent Storyteller. 

Anyway, that's that. One more game in 2023!

Character Creation: W20

Today being Wolfenoot, I thought it appropriate to do a character for a wolf-based game. And lo and behold, I have one more Werewolf game left! (Note I've already done a few.)

The Game: Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition
The Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
Degree of Familiarity: Very yes. I worked on this book, and I've run the everloving heck out of Werewolf over the years. It's been a while, though.
Books Required: Just the one.

Ah, Werewolf. At times preachy, gross, racist, and weirdly gonzo, but such a damn fun game. Like many White Wolf properties of the 90s, its heart was in the right place even when its head was up its butt.

So, what kind of Garou do I want to make? I've done a couple of Apocalypse versions (linked above) before, and I made a lupus in the Dark Ages version and a metis in the Revised version (and evidently I didn't have a copy of 1st or 2nd ed kicking around...oh, right, I would have sold 2nd ed because I didn't work on it). Well, that would seem to indicate that I make a homid-breed character, but eh, I dunno. It's Wolfenoot. Seems like lupus would be more appropriate. Let's do that.

I feel like making a character who's a little more optimistic, and the Children of Gaia definitely play to that. Oh, wait, though, the Dark Ages: Werewolf character I made was a lupus Child of Gaia (in my defense that was 10 freaking years ago). OK, I'll keep the "lupus" and the "optimism" but I'll pick a different tribe. Heck, let's do Shadow Lords. Not something that immediately comes to mind when I think "optimistic," but I can make it work (and I love this tribe).

So, again, lupus. My wolf was born in Eastern Europe somewhere (he doesn't know where, like he has a passport). He Changed when a group of humans were tearing around his woods on motorbikes and scaring his pack (there were pups!). He burst from the trees and scattered them, but didn't kill any, just destroyed their bikes and harried them all the way back to the road. Later his tribe caught up with him and...they can't quite figure what to make of him. He's not stupid, but he's simple. He's not cowardly, but he's merciful. There was some talk of foisting him off on the Children of Gaia, but he's Pure Bred as heck, so maybe there's something more to him? They call him Spills-No-Blood.

Oh, and I think he makes the most sense as a Philodox.

So that's Step One: Concept pretty much handled. On to Step Two: Attributes. We have the standard OWoD 7/5/3 array, here, and as a lupus I think Physical first makes the most sense. Two into each and the extra into Dexterity, because it's the best stat.

Social secondary. Three into Charisma, two into Appearance, leaving one lonely dot in Manipulation. Have I mentioned that Appearance is a dumb stat?

Mental, finally, gets 3 dots, and I'll just split them up evenly.

Step Three: Abilities. 13/9/5, nothing over 3. Here we goooooo!

Well, Talents is obviously first (I know I've seen lupus characters not put Talents as primary, but not often). Three each into Primal-Urge and Athletics, two in Brawl, Alertness, and Intimidation, and the last one into Leadership.

I think we'll just go Skills as secondary, and pop three each into Animal Ken and Stealth. Oh, and three in Survival.

Five dots for Knowledges, so two in Enigmas, two in Rituals, and one in Occult.

Step Four: Advantages. I get 5 dots in Backgrounds (W20 changes the stupid Background restrictions to "discouraged" Backgrounds, which is better). I want hella high Pure Breed, so I'll just dump all five dots there and pick up anything else I need with freebies.

I get three Gifts: one from breed, one from auspice, one from tribe.

Well, for breed Gifts, I think either Heightened Senses or Hare's Leap (Sense Prey is kinda weak and Predator's Arsenal, while cool, isn't in-concept). I'll take Heightened Senses.

For auspice Gifts, I want Scent of the True Form. I think Spills likes to know who he's dealing with.

Finally, for Shadow Lord Gifts...ooh, they added a couple. I like Whisper Catching (I like Shadow Weaving, too, but it feels a little hands-on for Spills).

For Renown, I get 3 Honor 'cause I'm Philodox.

Step Five: Finishing Touches. I get 3 Rage (from auspice), 5 Gnosis (from breed), and 3 Willpower (from tribe). I start at rank 1, and then I get 15 freebies to throw around.

Well, I kinda want another dot of Perception, so that's 5 points right there. There are a couple of new Backgrounds, and I think Fate makes sense for Spills, so I'll put three dots in there. Another dot of Primal-Urge? Yes indeedy. 2 more points, 5 left. I think I'll buy Willpower up to 5, Rage up to 4, and I'll put two dots in the Rites Background and pick up the Rite of Heritage and the Rite of Boasting.

That's all my freebies, and I honestly don't much feel like buying Merits & Flaws; I think Spills is pretty much complete as he is. Howly Wolfenoot!

Character Creation: Werewolf:

I thought about doing Scion today, but I haven't really read it (I bought it because my buddy Tom teased me with a promise to run it, and then changed his mind), so instead, I shall do a game with which I am highly familiar.

The Game: Werewolf: The Apocalypse Revised
The publisher: White Wolf
Degree of familiarity: OMG. I honestly can't remember how many times I've run this game, much less played it. My longest Werewolf game ran more than a year of weekly play. That'd be To End All Wars, the premise of which was my topic for chronicle creation in the Revised Werewolf Storytellers Handbook.
Books required: Just the core. I have both the first edition and the revised core, so I'll be using the latter, thanks. I still have quite a few of the sourcebooks (seeing as how I worked on every second book for the line after Revised), so I might grab one or two.

 
You know, I don't miss the eco-crusader angle in Werewolf, but that's only because I got so much play-time in with the game the first time around. By the time we were ready to start on Forsaken, I was ready for a change. But I still love OWoD Werewolf, and if someone ran it, I might play. Wonky-ass system and all.

Step One: Character Concept. Well, I honestly don't have much in mind. I could choose randomly, but...well, let's do it this way. I made a lupus character for Dark Ages: Werewolf. I made a human-born character for Werewolf: The Forsaken (not that there's another choice, though it might interest you to know that in the original design of the game, we kept the breeds; they weren't removed until we decided that the template system was more important than that particular wrinkle). So I'll make this character metis. That means I'm the cursed spawn of two werewolves, and that I'll need to pick a deformity. Since it might inform the rest of the character, I'll do it now.

OK, I got it. My deformity is Tough Skin. The character's body is covered with this leathery, unpleasant-to-touch scabby kind of stuff. In human form, it looks like he's got a skin condition (which he does, I guess), but in hairy forms, he's missing a lot of fur and looks kind of mangy. His parents were both Glass Walkers, and were both of the opinion that there needs to be more soldiers for Gaia now, and screw the Litany since it's holding us back. And along came little Reynold (as his parents called him), or "Skin Deep" to other Garou. I think he joined his parents' tribe, but he's bitter about the fact that a lot of Glass Walkers are rich, sleek and beautiful...and then there's him.

Auspice...hmm. I could make a case for any of them, really. I'd like for Skin Deep to be struggling to gain any respect among the Glass Walkers because of his deformity, and that kind shoots Ahroun out the window. Let's go with Galliard. Skin Deep wants to be a storyteller, but he's fuck-ugly, and among another tribe that might not matter. Among the Glass Walkers, though, it's a pain, what with their Armani suits and all. Fuckers.

OK, that sets my Rage at 4, my Gnosis at 3, my Willpower at 3, and my Renown at 2 Glory, 1 Wisdom.

Step Two: Select Attributes. I'll make Mental secondary, Social tertiary (it would be secondary, but I don't have to spread out the points as much since I can't put dots into Appearance) and Physical primary.

Physical: This guy's tough. Soaking machine (man, I don't miss soak rolls). I'll put two dots into Strength, one into Dexterity and four into Stamina. I'll specialize Stamina in "Tough."

Mental: Two into Perception and Wits, one into Intelligence. Skin Deep isn't dumb, but he's not great at deduction. He's pretty good at noticing and assimilating details, though.

Social: One into Charisma, two into Manipulation. I think he's good at words, which is a shame, because with his looks he'd be better as the "howling" kind of Storyteller.

Step Three: Select Abilities. I think we'll go Talents first, then Knowledges (his parents' influence), then Skills.

Talents: Three into Primal-Urge (he's metis, he should have it) and Brawl (Dad's an Ahroun). Two into Athletics, Expression and Intimidation, and the last one into Alertness.

Skills: One into Animal Ken, Drive and Performance, and the other two into Stealth. Mom's a Ragabash, and showed him how to get around sneaky-like.

Knowledges: One into Computer, Enigmas, and Science, and two into Investigation, Occult and Rituals. Well-rounded education, courtesy of mom and dad homeschooling their ugly son.

Step Four: Select Advantages. I get 5 Backgrounds, but I can't take Pure Breed, Ancestors or Mentor...that's fucked up. Why can't I take Mentor? Weird. As an ST I'd houserule that. Anyway, if I were doing the pack thing, I'd take Totem, yadda yadda, but since I'm not: Resources 2 (parents gave him a trust fund), Rites 1 (and maybe more with freebies), and y'know what? I can't think of a single good reason not to take Mentor. So I am. Screw the book. Two dots, for now (I'll need more, because the Mentors are, of course, my parents).

I get three Gifts, one breed, one tribe, one auspice. I'll take Sense Wyrm (both parents probably agreed it was too handy not to have), Perfect Recall from Book of Auspices, because I wrote it I think memory is something Skin Deep would struggle with, and Control Simple Machine (because the other Glass Walker Gifts just don't fit this character).

Step Five: Finishing Touches. I'm rank 1, and I've got 15 freebies to throw around. No Merits & Flaws in this book and I don't feel like digging out the PG to the Garou, so there.

I'll put four points into Gnosis to bump it up to 5, and three points into Willpower to bump it to 6. I'll throw three points into Mentor, because I reckon Skin Deep's parents take a keen interest. I'll buy a dot of Streetwise for two points, and put the other three into Rites, for a total of four dots.

OK, for rites, I'll take Cleansing, Binding and Voice of the Jackal. The first two his folks taught him. The last one...well, Skin Deep is bitter, and he's always looking out for an excuse to get called up to perform the rite on a sept-mate, one of the fuckers who mocked his appearance.

And that's it! I think Skin Deep would be a fun character. His story arc would probably involve rebelling against his parents and then learning how much they've really helped him. I can see him "rebelling" by becoming a real purist for the Litany (which they broke, deliberately, by having him), maybe even changing tribes.

And that's me done with this'n.