Werewolf the Apocalypse (2024)

Getting Started

Werewolf: The Apocalypse character creation is basedaround five basic concepts that you must keep in mind whencreating the character you want to play.

Werewolf characters tend to be defined by the following Traits:

Name: The character's name, which may be a human name ornickname or a "deed name" given to him by his tribe. Some charactersuse both their birth name and their "Garou name" as appropriate.

Player: The personwho's playing thecharacter in question.

Chronicle: Thechronicle is the seriesof stories that tells theoverall tale of yourpack's deeds; if eachgame session is theequivalent of a weeklyepisode of a TV series,the chronicle is the seriesitself. The Storytelleris usually the oneto decide on an appropriatename for thechronicle.

Attributes: The 'inborn, most raw aptitudesand potential acharacter possesses.

Abilities: Anyskills or aptitudes thatyour character possessesthat make him better at
certain activities,whether learned skillsor inborn affinities.

Backgrounds:These represent advantagesyour charactermay have as a resultof his parentage or upbringing,whethergreat wealth or purityof bloodline.


Renown: Thismeasures how famous(or infamous) your Character's Deedshave made him among other Garou. Glory is ameasure of his bravery and battle ability, Honor gauges his abilityto live according to the ethics of his kind, and Wisdom represents
hisreputationfor good or poor judgement and forethought.

Rank: The higher a character's Rank, the more power hewields in Garou society. All characters begin at Rank 1, but mayeventually rise to Rank 5 or 6, becoming esteemed elders.

Rage: This is the supernatural fury of the werewolf, a measureof how much anger your character has. High Rage makes awerewolf very dangerous to friend and foe.

Gnosis: A measure of connection to the spirit world, as wellas the reserves of spiritual energy a werewolf stores within himself.

Willpower: This is a measure of a character's dedication andsheer force of will; werewolves with high Willpower never give upor give in.

Breed: This represents your parentage whether you wereborn to humans, wolves or two werewolf parents.

Auspice: This is the moon phase your character was bornunder, like an astrological sign (only much more potent). Auspicedetermines a character's general role in werewolf society.

Tribe: The tribethat adopted yourcharacter; tribe affectsa character's aptitudes,
as well as hisoutlook and goals.

Pack Name:Most packs choose acommon name toidentify themselves,which may derivefrom their totem, septor most commonlytheir purpose. You andyour fellow playersi will most likely decideon your pack name.

Pack Totem:Each pack is bound togetherby a particulartotem patron, purchased
via the Totembackground. This totemlends its particularstrengths to its pack,
and adds a touch ofextra personality. Youand your fellow playerswill collectively choosethis Totem.

Concept: This isa basic one-to-threeword description of your character's history
and aspirations; sampleconcepts might be "ReluctantPeacemaker,""White water Guide" or"Modern Crusader."
Gifts: Your Giftsare special supernatural powers learned from spirits. The Gifts
available to you are determined by your breed, auspice and tribe.

Health: Werewolves live a life of constant danger, eversuffering great wounds for their cause and fighting their way backto health. The Health Trait measures how injured your charactermay be at Any given moment.

Experience: This Trait represents how much you have learnedsince becoming Garou. All characters begin with zero experiencepoints. You may spend experience points to increase your Traits orpurchase new ones.


• The character creation process is designed to help youdefine your character and provide you with the means for thatcharacter to work within the rules. The numbers are not moreimportant than the concept, but your character's Traits shouldsupport and strengthen your concept. The only way yourcharacter can truly come to life for you, the other players andthe Storyteller is through roleplaying. Keep that in mind as youdesign your character.

• The Werewolf character creation system is point-basedyou receive points to apply to each part of the character(Attributes, Abilities, Advantages). After you assign these points,you receive a pool of freebie points to personalize and round outyour character further. Note that even with freebies, you probablywon't have enough points to purchase everything you want.This is fine ! Your character is still competent at the starting level,and he'll grow into his full potential as you play him over time.

• A Trait of one is poor, while a Trait of five makes yourcharacter one of the most accomplished in her field. If you haveone dot in an Ability, your character is inexperienced, or simplynot very good at it. Your character is not necessarily useless justbecause she has one dot in Strength. Instead, consider it anopportunity to flesh out your character further. A one-dot Traitcan be as defining as any five dot Trait. Remember that GarouAttributes change when they shapeshift. A Garou in Crinos formis a lot stronger than she is in Homid.

• It is very important to create a character that fits into thegroup. You can't expect the other players to tolerate a characterthat just won't fit in or work with the pack. If your character'sbehavior disrupts a story, the Storyteller or other players mayask you to modify how you play or create a new character whowill fit in better. Garou are pack creatures, and life is far toodifficult for werewolves if they cannot cooperate with their own packmates. Often, survival depends on a pack's ability to cooperateand work cohesively.

The Storyteller's Role in Character Creation

As the Storyteller, you should guide your players throughcharacter creation. When your players arrive for the first session,discuss the game's basic premise and themes (specifically thoseyou wish to explore ) . It's helpful to write a style sheet, a documentthat describes where you'd like to start and where you'd like thechronicle to go over time. You don't have to reveal your actualplans for stories, simply give guidance on the kind of stories youwant to run. If any players are unfamiliar with Werewolf, spendtime filling them in on the setting and rules basics. You don'tneed to bring them up to speed on everything, though, since anew character won't know much more than the new player does.Try to keep things as simple as possible and give the players roomto discover the system's intricacies on their own.First, give the players each a character sheet and give them aminute to look it over and ask questions about them. Then, explainthe character creation process step by step. Give the players time toask questions, and answer them as clearly as possible. A littlepatience in the beginning will save a lot of frustration and misunderstandinglater on. Be sure to explain what the Traits mean andhow they define a character's abilities.Before players create their characters, discuss what kind ofpack they'd like to play and which role each character mightfulfill. Don't think about it necessarily in terms of "one Garouof each auspice" or "no more than one member of any tribe."
Consider what the characters will do in the pack and why theyformed the pack. Encourage the players to give their charactershooks to hold them together.


Spend the entire session creating characters, and don't rushthe players. Give them time to make complete, flesh-and-bloodcharacters with personalities, goals, hopes and dreams. You don'twant undeveloped caricatures. Once players have finished creatingtheir characters, spend the remainder of the session runningpreludes for them. A prelude is a short session with the player to tellthe story of her character's life up through the present, includingfamily life, important events and the First Change. Preludes will beyour players' first exposure to your chronicle, so make them
memorable and interesting. Once you've run all the preludes, runa prelude for the pack as a whole. Describe an occasion, such as theRite of Passage, that brings all of the characters together for areason strong enough for them to forge a more lasting bond. Youcan find more information on preludes later in this chapter.


Step One: Character Concept


Before you write down a single word or darken a single dot,you need to develop a character concept. The concept needs beonly a general idea of what your character is like. Make itsomething unique and interesting that you will enjoy playing forthe long haul. As you progress through the character-creationprocess, you may change or adjust this concept to suit your needsor wants, but it gives you a starting point. The character conceptis something like a thesis sentence for your character. An example
might be, "My character ran away from home in her early teens toescape an abusive parent, and she had her First Change in a youthshelter. Now she spends her time looking out for the otherrunaways, since no one else will." The concept should be uniqueand interesting enough to satisfy you and the Storyteller.Once you've decided on a concept, you must make threechoices to support that concept. You must choose yourcharacter's breed (species), her auspice (role in Garou society)and her tribe (the group that claims her as a member). Thebetter you understand these aspects and can interrelate themwith each other and your core concept, the more complete and
interesting your character will be.


• Breed: The Garou are creatures of two worlds who trulybelong to neither. Werewolves are outsiders in a way that fewhumans have ever experienced directly. They cannot even breedamong their own kind. Garou must breed with humans and wolvesto perpetuate their kind and breed healthy (and fertile) offspring.For two werewolves to mate is to violate one of the oldesttaboos among the Garou. The product of such a union is alwayssterile and either deformed or insane (sometimes both). Worse,the offspring is born in Crinos form, and it cannot shapeshiftuntil eight years of age, requiring the parents to raise it awayfrom human society. Even when werewolves do breed withhumans or wolves, the offspring rarely breeds true. Nine out of10 births are normal Kinfolk wolf cubs or human infants,marked only by their blood relation to the Garou. In somefamilies, the strain might vanish for generations, only to appearlong after the Kinfolk have drifted apart from their Garourelatives. In others, several children in a single generationmight experience the First Change. The Garou try to track alldescendants and relatives (wolf and human) to locate potentialwerewolves. When Garou find any who are about to enter theFirst Change (either from observation or happenstance), theybring that one into their tribe to teach them about who andwhat they are, and about the war that they were born to fight.
The Garou's current generation is believed to be the lost, asmore signs of the Apocalypse come to pass. Garou are under lesspressure to breed in the end times, since nobody truly believesthat a child born now will be mature in time for the final battle.The three breeds are homid (born to humans), lupus (bornto wolves) and metis (born from the union of two Garou). Allmetis characters have deformities (see pp. 60-61).


• Auspice: Your character's auspice is the moon-phaseunder which she was born. It's similar to an astrological birthsign, but it plays a much more significant role in a werewolf'slife. To the Garou, Luna is a central figure in their lives, andthey draw their Rage from her. Your character's auspice indicatesher profession in Garou society, some of her strengths andsome of her weaknesses.You may choose from five different auspices: Ragabash ( trickster,scout or spy), Theurge (shaman, seer or mystic), Philodox(judge, lawgiver or mediator), Galliard (historian, bard or storyteller)
and Ahroun (warrior or guardian) . Your character's auspicemay have a strong effect on her personality. Ahroun tend to beviolent while Ragabash are often clever.
Complete information on each auspice can be found onpp. 63-67.


• Tribe: In the shadow of the coming Apocalypse, packs are usually composed of many tribes, since Garou are too few innumber to follow the older practice of creating a pack composedentirely of one tribe's members. Even so, a Garou's tribe provides
context for who and what he is. Each tribe has a spirit totem thatinfluences much of the tribe's characteristics. Choose yourcharacter's tribe carefully. Your choice will impact her background(and available Backgrounds).

Players may select any of the 12 tribes described inWerewolf. See pp. 68-91 for further information on each tribeand its unique characteristics.

Step Two: Choosing Attributes

Once you've defined your concept and selected your character'sbreed, auspice and tribe, it's time to begin assigning numbers. Thefirst step is to assign scores to each of your character's Attributes.The Attributes defines your character's innate capabilities andaptitudes. How fast can your character move? Is she attractive oreven beautiful? How sharp are her senses? The Attributes answereach of these questions objectively.

First, prioritize your three Attribute categories — Physical,Social and Mental. Decide which category your characteris best at (primary), which category is above average (secondary)and which category is merely average (tertiary). Is she moremental than physical — more perceptive and intelligent thanstrong and tough?

• Physical Attributes define your character's physicallimits, such as how fast he can run, how much he can lift andhow healthy he is. If your character is primarily action-oriented,then you'd be well advised to make Physical yourprimary category.

• Social Attributes define your character's ability tointeract with, relate to and sometimes use others. SocialAttributes affect first impressions, your character's ability toinspire or lead people and how attractive he is. If your characteris a charmer or a deceiver, Social Attributes make a good choicefor your primary category.


• Mental Attributes define your character's mental capacity.How quickly can she think? How sharp is her eyesight? Howsmart is she? If your character likes puzzles or is an investigator,then Mental Attributes should be primary.


Your character concept should give you direction on how toprioritize your Attributes, but don't feel straight jacketed intosuch choices. Yes, it's perfectly viable to play a former soldier withMental Attributes as primary (a genius tactician) or an artist withPhysical in the primary slot (a dancer, perhaps). As notedpreviously, you can still modify your basic concept, and Attributepriorities might prompt you to alter your focus or intent.


Your character begins with each Attribute at one dot.Priority selection determines how many additional dots youmay place in each category: Divide seven dots among yourcharacter's primary Attributes, five dots among her secondary Attributes and three dots among her tertiary Attributes. Youmay choose to apply seven dots to your character's MentalAttributes, five to his Social Attributes and three to hisPhysical Attributes, for example. You are also not limited inhow many dots you may assign to any one Attribute (in thepreceding case, you could apply all three dots in your Physical
category to Dexterity, leaving you with Strength and Staminaat one dot and Dexterity at four). You may not raise an Attribute above five dots.


Freebie points allow you to increase an Attribute or twolater on if you feel it necessary.


Step Three: Choosing Abilities


Abilities describe what your character knows and can do.They represent what he's learned as opposed to what comesfrom natural potential.

Like Attributes, Abilities are rated from one to five dots.This rating represents your character's competence in that area.You use this number (usually added to an Attribute) to determinehow many dice you roll when your character uses anAbility. Abilities are also prioritized into primary, secondary andtertiary categories, just as Attributes are.

Abilities are divided into Talents, Skills and Knowledges.Each category has distinct characteristics.

• Talents are Abilities your character can work out on herown or develop intuitively. It's sometimes necessary to practiceTalents in order to purchase or increase them, but they aren'tlearned from a teacher or a book. They can be gained throughdirect experience. If your character lives on the streets, for example,it's easier to pick up Streetwise. Some Talents (such asAthletics, Brawl or Expression) can be trained, but it's not required.If your character tends to survive through her own wits orcommon sense, Talents are appropriate as the primary category.

• Skills are Abilities learned through training. This categoryincludes those Abilities one leams step-by-step through practice aswell as those learned from a teacher. If your character is good at learning through practice, Skills make a good primary choice.

• Knowledges are Abilities that one can learn only throughrigorous study and application. Many are learned in school orfrom books, but they can be acquired through experience. Ifyour character is educated, has a good memory or spends a greatdeal of time in study, Knowledges are appropriate for theprimary Ability category.


Assign each Ability category apriority (primary, secondary ortertiary) . As with Attributes, let your concept guide your decision.Unlike Attributes, all Abilities start at zero dots.

Assign 13 dots to your primary category, nine dots to yoursecondary category and five dots to your tertiary category. Youmay not assign more than three dots to any Ability, but you canincrease Abilities to four or five dots with freebie points later.


Step Four: Advantages
Advantages are neither prioritized nor ranked. Instead,each Advantage has a specific number of dots allotted. It ispossible to increase them with freebie points later.

Background

Your character receives five dots to assign among the 10Background Traits. Read your choice of tribe carefully beforeassigning any dots, because some tribes restrict Backgroundchoices during character creation. Backgrounds chosen shouldtie into your character concept as defined in Step One.

Gifts

Your character receives three Level One Gifts (powers thespirits grant to the Garou). Choose one Gift from each of theappropriate breed, auspice and tribe lists (see the Tribe listingsin the Character Creation Summary pp. 100-101). You mayspend freebie points to choose more Gifts, but they must also beLevel One.

Renown

Renown is vital for your character, since it defines how famous she is among the Garou. Your character's auspicedetermines her starting permanent Renown. Characters do notbegin with temporary Renown (with the exception of packs
with certain pack totems, as listed in the Appendix).

Rank

Rank is a Garou's station and trustworthiness in werewolfsociety, and it is determined by Renown totals (these requirementsare different for each auspice). All characters begin atRank 1 (cliath).

Step Five: Finishing Touches

Now it's time to round out your character and customizehim with freebie points. At this stage, you also determine yourcharacter's base Rage, Gnosis and Willpower.
Rage

Rage quantifies your character's inner anger and turmoil.High Rage makes it more difficult for werewolves to deal withnormal humans and wolves. Your character's auspice determineshis starting score.

Gnosis

Gnosis determines how spiritual your character is and howin tune she is with the natural world. A werewolf with noGnosis has no connection to the spirit world and cannot stepsideways under her own power. Breed determines your character's
initial rating.

Willpower

Willpower describes how much self-control your characterhas and how determined he is in adverse circ*mstances.Players may use Willpower to control character actions whenevents conspire to force an instinctive response (frenzy andsuch). Your character's tribe determines his initial Willpower.

Freebie Points

The final step. You now have 15 freebie points with whichto round out your character and select Traits you couldn't affordpreviously. Each Trait has its own price (see the table in theCharacter Creation Summary on p. 102).

Spark of Life

Now it's time to work out some of those character qualitiesthat have nothing to do with game mechanics. It's not absolutelynecessary to write these qualities down, but doing so is highlyrecommended. At the very least, think about each of them after
character creation and during games thereafter. Some will changeover time while others may be reinforced.

Appearance

What does your character look like ? How do her Traits affecther appearance ? If she has four dots in Strength, those muscles willshow. If she has high Charisma, that rating will translate to how shemoves and talks. Go over her concept and Traits to see how youcan use them as descriptive hooks. Your choices will reflect notonly your character's appearance, but also how she dresses, how sheacts and how she speaks. Does she move with confidence and havea steady gaze, or is she hunched over, refusing to look anyone in theeye ? Does she prefer casual, rugged clothing, or does she have moreexpensive and refined tastes ? It is much more evocative to say, "My
character walks with a pronounced limp, possibly from an oldinjury," than to say, "My character has one dot of Dexterity."

Specialties

Characters with high Traits may be very good at some taskseven more than the number of dots would imply. If yourcharacter has any Attribute or Ability at four or five dots, youmay choose a specialty that applies to that Trait (appropriatespecialties are listed with Traits, in Chapter Four). Keep yourconcept in mind when choosing specialties. (An ex-marinemight choose "assault rifles" as a Firearms specialty, where a
gangsta might choose "pistols.") You can leave specialties blankand choose them during play, but it's just as appropriate to selectthem right away. Specialties serve as a roleplaying tool, and theyprovide a bonus to dice rolls that apply to them (see p. 108).
You can also assign specialties to Traits rated at three or fewerdots. You won't get a bonus in this case, but you can use it as aroleplaying tool or guide. The specialty would indicate characterpreference rather than any objective improvement. In no case canyou take a specialty that the Storyteller deems too broad (such as"small arms" for Firearms or "keen senses" for Alertness).

Quirks

Everyone has unique habits, anecdotes, interests andhobbies. These quirks do not define the character centrally, but they do give that character more color or depth, as well asa more realistic feel. Write a few sentences on the back of yourcharacter sheet describing some of these quirks. They couldrange from a wickedly brutal sense of humor to a hatred forpoodles to a penchant for quoting favorite action movies. You
can always add more quirks after play begins if new possibilitiesoccur to you.

Motivations

What drives your character? Why does she go out andbattle the Wyrm ? Why does she risk her life for her packmatesand Gaia on a regular basis ? While it may seem that fightingthe Wyrm is worthy for its own sake, surely most Garou haveother reasons for continuing a millennia-long war. What inyour character's history or concept pushes her to destroy theWyrm's corrupting influence? A compelling, dramatic reason
can give you a lot of mileage for roleplay in any chronicle.Perhaps a gang of fomori killed your character's family whenshe had her First Change, and every blow she strikes againstthe Wyrm's minions is a blow struck for her family. Thismotivation needs not lead her only to battle, though. Shemight also want to find her family's spirits and lay them torest with the knowledge that their deaths have been avenged.
Your character's motivation must answer the question, "Whydoes she fight this war?"

Normal Identity

Many homids choose to maintain a "normal" life inhuman society. After all, not all Garou decide to leave their oldlives behind entirely. Some tribes, like the Bone Gnawers,Children of Gaia and the Glass Walkers, spend a great deal oftime among mundane humanity. Even some members of othertribes, like the Get of Fenris and the Black Furies could havefelixmundane identities. How does your character maintain such anexistence? How does she deal with the risks Rage can present,
such as frenzy or endangering innocents?

Lupus Garou sometimes choose to spend time amongmundane wolves as well. Such a Garou (even the smallestRagabash) will usually assume the alpha position of any wolfpack he joins. How does he interact with other wolves? Howdoes he interact with humans who come hunting?

These possibilities aren't exclusive. A homid might chooseto live as a wolf for a time, and a lupus might experiment withliving in human society (although such an experiment isunlikely for a Red Talon).

The Pack

More important to the Werewolf chronicle than any ofthe individual characters is the pack they form. Among Garou,the pack is the basic social unit; Garou who are not part of apack are practically social outcasts. For a pack to work, thecharacters must cooperate with each other. Pack unity isimportant to success among werewolves.

It may be difficult to conceive of playing a group as closelyknit as a pack, but consider that the Garou who make it up havebeen through hell (also called the Rite of Passage) together.They've lived with each other, breathed the same air, eaten thesame food and lived with the same decisions. They came togetherafter their respective First Changes, and they have spent nearlyall of their time since working (or playing) together.