War Totems

[Raven_Sky]

Adder
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 8 Traits
Description: One a popular totem of the Fianna, the Adder is famous for being the only poisonous serpent in the British Isles -- well, in Britain anyway, since he was long ago driven out of Ireland. He teaches his followers that victory need not be won by overwhelming force, but by tactical strikes that incite panic and sap the enemy's strength.
Benefits: You gain the Abilities Stealth x2, the Shadow Lord gift Fatal Flaw, and the Metis gift Wither Limb.
Ban: To maintain his power so far from home, Adder requires expensive and complex sacrifices. These offerings tie up one pack member's Resources background, effectively lowering it by one level. Also: you may never set foot in Ireland.



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Badger
Type: War
Brood: Griffin
Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
Description: A tireless hunter and digger, Badger likes being underestimated. He wants his followers to search for weaknesses and exploit them, rather than simply charging right in. A cornered badger is capable of terrifying rage: he prefers to be injured in battle than killed in captivity.
Benefits: You gain the Physical Trait Tough, the Abilities Stealth x2, the Metis Gift Burrow, and five Rage.
Ban: Don't live in dwellings others built. Sleep outside or build your own home.



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Bear
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: Bear is terrifying in war, but he does not fight out of bloodlust: a spirit of healing, Bear acts to cut the sickness from the world. He has a troublesome history with the Garou, who did his children the Gurahl great wrongs in the past.
Benefits: You gain the Physical Trait Strong (or a synonym) and the Ability Medicine x3. Once per day, you may use the Theurge gift Mother's Touch to heal someone. You may hibernate up to three months without food or drink. Gurahl will show you a modicum of respect.
Drawback: The ancestral spirits of Renown are slow to trust Bear: you lose one Honor for every three you earn.
Ban: Bear is grateful for your service, and asks nothing particular in return.



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Black Unicorn
Type: War
Brood: Unicorn
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: Called "Unicorn's Shadow" by some, Black Unicorn embodies the hope of the innocent to be saved from evil. This totem teaches his followers to fight with nobility, chivalry, and with an ever-burning love for Gaia in their hearts.
Benefits: You gain the Ability Brawl x1. Every member of the pack gains one additional Healthy health level. In addition you gain five points of Willpower.
Ban: You must defend all who cannot defend themselves.



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Boar
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: Boar is the scourge of hunters and a favorite Totem of many young war packs, particularly Fenrir and Fianna. His anger hurls him into the fray, his ferocity prevents him from admitting defeat, and his stubbornness keeps him from dying quietly.
Benefits: You gain the Physical Trait Tough (or a synonym), and the Ability Brawl x2.
Ban: You must never hunt or eat boars.



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Clashing Boom-Boom
Type: War
Brood: Cockroach
Totem Background Cost: 8 Traits
Description: She has worn many faces and gone by many names, appearing as Athena and Ares, Sekhmet and the archangel Michael -- but she has always been one thing: the spirit of Warfare. She favors great warriors and commands their absolute obedience. Taking forms to suit the modern age of warfare, she appears as an old woman in crisp military attire, a cloud of gunsmoke called the Fog of War, a futuristic super-soldier, or a Stealth bomber flying overhead.
Benefits: You gain the Abilities Firearms x2, Melee x2, and Leadership x1. On all ranged attacks where you can see your targets, you gain a two-Trait bonus. Your weapons never jam (although they can still break).
Ban: As your commanding officer, Clashing Boom Boom suffers no insubordination. She will issue you orders and you will obey them. Refuse her orders and you'll be ejected from her ranks; act against her orders and she will fire on you as a traitor.



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Crow
Type: War
Brood: Grandfather Thunder
Totem Background Cost: 2 Traits
Description: A consummate survivor, Crow supports Garou war efforts from the back lines: keenly observing the conflict and looking for opportunity. He is a totem of loyal service, obediently complying with the commands of those greater than he: but he is a vengeful spirit as well, as is discovered by any leader who betrays his loyalty.
Benefits: You gain the Mental Traits Perceptive x2 and the Abilities Etiquette x1 and Subterfuge x2.
Ban: Remain loyal to those you serve. But if those leaders mistreat you, or if they are corrupt, then find a way to replace them with better leaders. If replacing them proves impossible, Crow understands, and will not punish your continued loyalty.



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Eagle
Type: War
Brood: Unicorn
Totem Background Cost: 9 Traits
Description: A proud warrior, this aspect of Eagle fights to uphold justice in a lawful society. He aids Garou who strive for honorable purposes and shows contempt for disunity and cowardice.
Benefits: Once per round, you may call on a free retest in a challenge that assists or is assisted by a packmate. This is the last retest you may call for in the challenge. When you fight beside your pack, you are immune to fox frenzy.
Ban: You must oppose injustice and work to establish and maintain a just society. It isn't enough to simply kill evildoers; you must involve yourself in local politics or civil service, working to improve your community for all.



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Earthquake
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: The avatar of destruction, Earthquake offers his followers little in the way of wisdom. He offers only vast and indiscriminate might, with which the enemies of Gaia -- and everything around them -- might be brought to utter ruin. He cannot be reasoned with or stopped, and the longer his wrath builds, the more terrible it is when expressed.
Benefits: You gain the Physical Traits Strong x3, and the Ability Brawl x1.
Ban: You may never travel by air -- which includes using Moon Bridges.



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Easy Credit
Type: War
Brood: Cockroach
Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
Description: A young spirit with worldwide influence, Easy Credit appears as a seductress in business formal attire. Rival to the spirit O'Mighty Dolla', She is a spirit of War as the Glass Walkers best understand it -- in terms of economic dominance. But look out lest she own you by the time you own your enemies...
Benefits: You gain a 3-Trait bonus on all challenges involving commerce, and the Background Resources x2.
Ban: You must end every fiscal year with more money than you had the prior year. Never use coins or paper money.



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Fenris
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: Powerful, bloodthirsty, and utterly devoted to combat without mercy, Fenris is the all-devouring god of wolves and patron of the Get of Fenris tribe. He favors his own children, but also respects other Garou who fight without giving or receiving quarter. He passes up no opportunity to bloody his fangs in the necks of his foes.
Benefits: You gain one Physical Trait of your choice (Strong, Quick, Tough, or a synonym) and one additional Rage. If you're not a Get of Fenris, you can expect members of the tribe to look on you with additional respect -- or at least to challenge you to see if you're worthy of it.
Ban: You must never pass up a worthy fight.



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Granite
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: The backbone of the Appalachian mountains, Granite stands for stablity and stoicism. He has weathered eons of change, hard and unyielding. He is determined to weather the Apocalypse itself.
Benefits: You gain the Physical Traits Strong x2, The Abilities Intimidation x2, the Philodox Gift Strength of Purpose and Granite's own unique Gift Stone Mask.
Ban: Never back down from any test of strength or endurance.



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Griffin
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
Description: No spirit carries more Rage against the human race than Griffin. Totem of the Red Talon tribe and patron of all extinct species, he hones his children into instruments of revenge. The deepest wilds are his hunting grounds and the cities are offenses against his children.
Benefits: You gain the Ability Alertness x3. You can communicate with birds of prey. Members of the Red Talon tribe view you with some respect.
Ban: You may not associate with human beings -- this ban doesn't include Homid-breed Garou but does include human kinfolk. Griffin almost never takes Homid Garou into his packs.



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Hummingbird
Type: War
Brood: Uktena
Totem Background Cost: 6 Traits
Description: A spirit of speed and precision strikes, Hummingbird burns through spiritual energy with a hunger that belies his size.
Benefits: You gain the Physical Traits Quick x2 and the Gift Spirit of the Fray. In the Umbra, you can hover and fly at your lupus running speed.
Ban: You must sacrifice a point of Gnosis to feed Hummingbird's hunger every day.



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Macha (Morrigu)
Type: War
Brood: Stag
Totem Background Cost: 8 Traits
Description: Macha is one face of the Celtic goddess Morrigu, embodying the spirit of battle. Carrion crows are her avatars, drawn to the work of her children. Macha seldom fights herself, but watches from above and cries victory to her favored heroes. She's a harsh totem to follow, requiring much of her followers; to fail her tasks or refuse her requests is to suffer a terrible fate beneath her talons.
Benefits: You gain the Ahroun gifts Inspiration and Stoking Fury's Furnace. You also benefit from a 1-Trait bonus in Social Challenges with Corax.
Ban: You may never harm a crow or raven, and you must respect and assist the Corax. You must never show fear.



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O'Mighty Dolla'
Type: War
Brood: Cockroach
Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
Description: The spirit of the American economy is said to have pulled himself up by his bootstraps, beginning as a tiny nickel Gaffling and growing into the spirit he is today. Appearing as a rotund, cigar-smoking Texas millionaire, he speaks loudly of his distrust for the spirit Easy Credit. He is a War Totem as the Glass Walkers understand War -- an economic juggernaut.
Benefits: You gain a 3-Trait bonus on all challenges involving commerce, and the Background Resources x2.
Ban: Use only American currency, and never use credit cards. If you spend money outside the US, you may only be doing so to generate a profit. O'Mighty Dolla' never accepts a pack that is not based in the US.



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The People
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 8 Traits
Description: The People is a spirit that embodies helping others under oppression of various sorts. It never appears with the same face twice, and is from every race and nation, male and female, defending any whom have reason to defend themselve's. It will deal with any tribe aside of the Glass Walkers, whom it despises with every mote of its being.
Benefits: You gain the gifts Assimilation and Speed of Thought. You also may choose one level of either Brawl, Melee, or Firearms. The choice must be made when you take the totem.
Ban: The People will never adopt a pack with a Glass Walker in it, and it's children must devote themselves to helping oppressed humans in some way.



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Rat
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: As the Totem of the Bone Gnawers, Rat believes in fighting smart. His packs weaken their foe, quickly and quietly targeting its strengths with geurilla tactics. Once the enemy falls, it is overrun.
Benefits: You gain five additional Willpower Traits from your Totem's tenacity. You also gain a one-Trait bonus on challenges of biting and stealth. Garou of the Bone Gnawer tribe give you some respect and will probably aid you if it's not life-threatening, and even the Ratkin will be a little less intolerant toward you than toward other Garou.
Ban: Never kill vermin.



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Tasmanian Devil
Type: War
Brood: Rat
Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
Description: This is not a cartoon character, but the hardy scavenger of the island of Tasmania. While he was once a spirit of the Bunyip, now this survivor lends his wisdom to the Bone Gnawer tribe, asking them to keep the Bunyip's memory alive. The fate of the lost tribe gives followers of Tasmanian Devil all the more resolve to persevere.
Benefits: You gain the Ability Engimas x2, five additional Willpower, and the Lupus gift Hare's Leap (once known to the Bunyip as Leap of the Kangaroo). You have an affinity for the Dreamtime, which lowers all challenges to cross the Gauntlet by two.
Ban: Tasmanian Devil harbors a burning hatred for the Black Spiral Dancers, who tricked the Gaian tribes into eradicating the Bunyip. You must never pass up an opportunity to kill a Black Spiral Dancer unless the mission looks suicidal. You must also keep the memory of the Bunyip alive, be that by telling tales of their history or by recovering their lost lore.



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Thunderbird
Type: War
Brood: Wendigo
Totem Background Cost: 6 Traits
Description: Cleaving the heavens with the path of his flight, Thunderbird appears as an avatar of bravery and wrath. A spirit that perches on mountaintops and spreads his wings across the plains, Thunderbird's cry tests the courage of Garou and sets Gaia's enemies to trembling. Thunderbird is ancient and pure, a spirit that favors his pure sons and daughters among the Wendigo, but who listens to any whose hearts to not falter.
Benefits: You gain the Physical Trait Strong (or a synonym), the Ability Intimidation x1, and the Shadow Lord gift Clap of Thunder.
Drawback: You have no patience for offenses against courage and purity: you suffer from the Short Fuse Flaw.
Ban: You may not show cowardice: never run from anything in fear. Seek out and destroy agents of corruption and decay, especially monstrous wyrm-beasts.



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Typhon
Type: War
Brood: Grandfather Thunder
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: The fury of the heavens is expressed in Typhon, the dragon of storms, most violent of Grandfather Thunder's brood. Roaring thunder and spitting lightning, this totem goads his children toward victory in battle through relentless aggression.
Benefits: You gain three traits of Rage and the Abilities Brawl x3.
Ban: Never pass up a fight with a worthy foe. Spend time communing with storms.



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Weasel
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
Description: Quick and clever, Weasel dances away from her lumbering foes and then darts in to tear at their jugular. She's a confident totem, certain that her followers can defeat any challenge that comes their way.
Benefits: You gain the Physical Trait Quick (or a synonym), the Ability Dodge x1, and your bite does one additional level of damage (of a type appropriate to the form you're in).
Ban: You must never show fear.



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Wendigo
Type: War
Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
Description: The terrible cannibal spirit of the north, Wendigo is as much a storm as he is the monster of legend. He falls on the unprepared with a roar and a thousand icy fangs, devouring their hearts and freezing what remains. His is the power of revenge served cold, and the Wendigo tribe are his favored children.
Benefits: Once per session, you may gain three fresh Rage Traits at will (which may take you over your usual rating). The Wendigo tribe will hold some respect for you, though they may have to see or hear of your deeds before they really know you're worthy.
Ban: You must always give aid to native peoples in need.



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Wyvern
Type: War
Brood: Falcon
Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
Description: A herald of Falcon's brood, Wyvern brings news of war on his wings. He advocates swift and decisive action against the corruption of the Wyrm, often by cunning means: he has no scruple against using trickery and ambushes against the enemy. He is brash and angry, popular with young Silver Fangs looking to prove themselves in battle.
Benefits: You gain the Abilities Alertness x2 and Primal Urge x2, the Theurge gift Sense the Beyond, and the Galliard gift Call of the Wyld. This combination helps you anticipate the enemy's attack and call your brothers and sisters to arms.
Ban: Caerns are Gaia's most precious holdings: you must always accept a request to guard or defend one. You may never participate in conquering a Caern held by Gaian Garou or Fera.