Level Four
Blurring the Mirror
This Gift allows the Theurge to cloud the minds of other beings, making it impossible for them to find the Umbra or step sideways into it. Once used as a form of punishment for arrogant pups, this Gift is more often deployed as a weapon against Black Spiral Dancers in the days of the coming Apocalypse. A Weaver-spirit teaches this Gift.
Cost: 1 Gnosis per target
Test Pool: Wits + Occult vs Resolve + Willpower
System:
Spend a standard action to activate this Gift. You may select a number of targets up to your rank, though you must spend a Gnosis for each one. Engage your targets in a contested challenge using this Gift's test pool; if you use your general retest on any of the challenges, you may use your general retest on all remaining challenges without needing to spend another point of Willpower. You may not go back to previous challenges you have already resolved. If successful, the Gauntlet increases by five for those targets for the next 10 minutes. While normally used against other Garou, this Gift is effective against any being capable of entering the Umbra sideways, including other Fera and some mages.
Affinity:
A clever Theurge can use the Gauntlet to their advantage. An affected Garou that makes an effort to cross the Gauntlet and fails loses their next simple action as they try to dislodge themselves from the webbing.
Castigate
A Theurge has the ears of the spirits, and they respect her words. If she calls on them to harshly judge another Garou, they will temporarily revoke their favor from the target of her ire. The Theurge calls upon the spirits to revoke their favor from another Garou; she must verbally state the target’s offenses against the spirit worlds, and the target must be present; if successful, the target loses both Renown and spiritual Gifts. A hyena-spirit teaches this Gift.
Cost: 1 Gnosis
Test Pool: Charisma + Occult + Rank versus target's Composure + Willpower + Rank
System:
Expend a standard action to verbally reprimand your target. You must have your target's gaze and focus to do so. Your castigation must include some reason, however spurious, explaining why the spirits should punish the target. If you succeed in an opposed challenge, you mystically mark the target, indicating that the spirits must treat the victim as though she has 0 Rank (that is effectively a cub) for the purposes of activating Gifts or adding Rank to her test pools. This reduction does not affect any other properties of Rank, such as bonus attributes or downtime activities. This effect lasts for 10-minutes.
Alternatively, you may use this Gift to enact a longer-lasting punishment. To do so, you must place your hands on the target for three consecutive standard actions as you recite a litany of her crimes. If you succeed in an opposed challenge, your Castigate affects the target for 30 days. You may choose to end the effects of this power before the end of its duration by expending a simple action to do so.
Exceptional Success:
If you achieve an exceptional success, the duration of Castigate increases to one hour, or in the case of a longer punishment, 60 days.
Affinity:
If the target has more dots of Rank than you, you may opt to eliminate the Rank background from both of your test pools for the purpose of making the opposed challenge for Castigate.
Defense of the Hearth
Few things in nature are as ferocious as a mother protecting her young, giving pause to even the most seasoned of wolves. This Gift allows you to summon the tenacious countenance of vengeful parent, forcing anyone to challenge you first before approaching nearer. A bear or wolf spirit teaches this Gift.
Cost: 1 Rage
Test Pool: Charisma + Intimidation versus target's Composure + Willpower
System:
Expend your standard action to snarl, declaring the space around you as your own. Defense of the Hearth protects you and all individuals you choose, including creatures and people, so long as they are within two steps of you. While this power is active, no one with hostile intent can come within five steps of you or those you choose to guard without first defeating you in an opposed challenge using her Social attribute + Willpower versus your Social attribute + Intimidation skill.
If anyone with hostile intent is within five steps of you when you activate this power, she must initiate an opposed challenge with you at the beginning of her next action. If she succeeds, she acts normally. If she fails, she must slowly back away to a distance of five steps or more, using at least one of her simple actions each round for the movement to achieve this distance. If the available space does not accommodate a distance of five steps, the affected character must attempt to egress through reasonable means. In either case, she must wait 10 minutes before attempting to overcome this power again.
Defense of the Hearth does not prevent individuals using ranged weapons or powers from attacking you or those you protect. If an individual protected by your Defense of the Hearth attacks or targets someone with a hostile power (whether targeting an individual inside or outside of your aura), she immediately loses the protection of Defense of the Hearth. Such a character cannot be protected by this Gift for the next hour.
Once you activate Defense of the Hearth and you have chosen the individuals you are protecting with this power, you cannot add other individuals to that protection unless you reactivate Defense of the Hearth. There is no limit to the number of individuals you can protect with this power, so long as they remain within five steps of your physical form.
Every turn after the first, you must spend 1 point of Rage during your action during the Universal round to keep Defense of the Hearth active. If you stop spending Rage, or take any action other than speech or simple movement, this power immediately ends.
Affinity:
Consummate healers one and all, a skilled Theurge is able to increase this defense. Everyone protected by this Gift (that is to say, those within two steps of the Theurge) heals one bashing or lethal per turn for as long as this Gift is active.
Forced Transformation
Gaia's foremost gift to her children is the power to change shape. With this Gift, a Garou can seize control of that ability, causing her opponents to lose control of their physical forms and assume whatever shape she demands. So long as the target can achieve the chosen form, they must transform into it, remaining trapped that body, unable to shift for a short while. An ancestor spirit teaches this Gift.
Cost: 1 Gnosis
Test Pool: Wits + Animal Ken versus target's Resolve + Willpower
System:
Spend a standard action to force a target who is capable of changing forms to change her shape into one you choose. This transformation takes place on the target's next available standard action. If the target is unwilling, you must defeat her in an opposed challenge in order for this Gift to take effect. Regardless of whether or not the target is willing, once you enact Forced Transformation on her, she cannot voluntarily change shape for the next two full turns.
Forced Transformation has no effect on creatures that cannot change form, but it can be used on other supernatural creatures that possess transformative powers. Use of this Gift does not grant you knowledge of what forms your target is capable of assuming, nor can it force a target to assume a form to which she does not possess access. You can only command your target to assume those forms you know or suspect your target can assume. If you are unsure about your target's breed or nature, you can compel her to revert to her natural form without knowing what that form is. Targets affected by this power change shape without expending an action or resources.
Exceptional Success:
On an exceptional success, the target is not only locked into that form, they are locked into the truest version of that form possible - as such if the target possesses merits, Gift , or other abilities that augment that form, they cease to function for this Gift's duration. (E.g. A Garou forced into Lupus would not be able to make use of Razor Claws, etc).
Affinity:
Spirits whisper secrets and help you know if they cannot work on a target. When you initially target an individual you may declare which form you wish to try and force them to. If that is simply impossible you are able to stop the Gift activation. While this still costs you your standard action, it does not cost you the Gnosis to activate the Gift.
Grasp the Beyond
The Garou may take things to and from the Umbra without having to dedicate them to herself (see the Rite of Talisman Dedication). This Gift affects humans and animals, both willing and unwilling. Garou often use this power to take loyal Kinfolk with them on Umbral quests or to heal injured Kinfolk — both body and soul — in mystic Glens.
Cost: 1-3 Willpower
Test Pool: None or Gnosis versus target's Willpower
System:
The Garou must grasp the object or person he wishes to take to the spirit world. He must then spend a number of Willpower points: one for small items (about the size of a knife), two for larger items (about the size of a bow) and three for huge items (including people). The player makes the usual tests to pierce the Gauntlet and step sideways. If successful, both he and the desired object or person pass into the Umbra. An unwilling target may resist, forcing the Garou to make a challenge with their Gnosis versus the target's Willpower (in addition to the normal challenge to cross). The challenge with the unwilling target occurs after the challenge (or spend) to cross the Gauntlet.
Unless they have the ability to step sideways, any person taken to the Umbra must rely on the Garou to escape, or they must find an area with a very thin Gauntlet, such as a caern. The Gauntlet rating must be 3 or lower for a victim to exit of their own accord. If they do exit, they may not re-enter the Umbra, regardless of the Gauntlet rating. If left in the Umbra too long, a living creature eventually turns into spirit matter entirely.
Affinity:
You may bring multiple willing targets with you when attempting to cross into the Umbra. So long as you are touching all targets you wish to bring, you only need to spend the Willpower cost for the largest target.
Spirit Drain
The Garou may drain power from a spirit to feed his own resolve. A spirit servant of a powerful Hawk spirit teaches this Gift.
Cost: None
Test Pool: Gnosis versus target's Gnosis
System:
Spend a standard action and target a spirit within 10 steps. If successful, the spirit loses one Gnosis point per rank of the Garou (minimum one).
Exceptional Success:
With an exceptional success the spirit loses an extra point of Gnosis.
Affinity:
For every two points drained, the Garou gains a temporary Willpower point which can go above her permanent maximum, but she loses any points exceeding her maximum at the end of 10 minutes.
The Madness Season
Few are as unpredictable or as feared as the mad. You can hide the essence of your presence with spirits of madness, masking you from supernatural powers that rely upon familiarity. This ability comes at a price—those who wrap themselves with madness must embrace madness themselves. Any spirit of Luna can teach this Gift.
Cost: 1 Gnosis
Test Pool: N/A
System:
Spend your standard action to invoke spirits of madness, inviting them to possess your body. For the next hour, spirits of madness cloak your essence, making you immune to any supernatural power that relies upon Familiarity with the Target to activate, such as Scent of the Prey or Summon.
While The Madness Season is active, you suffer from the
Derangement: Extreme Paranoia. You believe that everyone, friends and enemies alike, really are out to get you. Further, each time you are targeted by a power that requires familiarity you are aware of it and know that someone tried to find you and they are after you, further intensifying the Derangement.
Affinity:
Cloaked in madness, no other madness may grip you. While under the effects of this Gift, you are immune any other power that would try and tamper with your sanity.
