VOD: Pantheon

Gifts v. Divine Blessings
Gifts and Divine Blessings use identical systems and can often overlap with or impact one another. The only key differences are how they're earned and where they come from, which is functionally the same answer to both:

• Gifts are literal gifts from the Spirits to the warriors of Gaia to help empower them in her name.
• Blessings are specific powers granted by Divine Patrons (deities/gods) to their followers in gratitude for their Devotion.

Other than this core fundamental difference, 'Gifts' and 'Divine Blessings' will be used pretty much interchangeably throughout a lot of these rules, so please take that into account.

Universal Rules
Gaze and Focus
Many powers require the target to have her attention focused on the user of the power. These powers do not require eye contact, but do require having the attention of the individual you wish to control. Anyone whose attention is focused on you is a viable target for powers that require gaze or focus. This includes individuals who are looking into your eyes, holding a conversation with you, attacking you, or using a power on you, so long as you are the immediate center of her attention.
It is possible for a single person to focus on two or more individuals. If supernatural powers are used to make a target pay attention to two different characters at the same time, she might glance back and forth between them or move to a place where she could see both characters at the same time.

Familiarity with the Target
Several powers require you to be familiar with your target. To meet the requirements of familiarity, you must have met your target on at least three separate occasions, and you must have had a conversation with your target for at least five minutes on one occasion. In addition to these requirements, you must have interacted with your target within the past 30 days in order to remain familiar with that target. If you recently met your target in person, spoke to her through the use of a Gift, or exchanged letters with her, then you are currently familiar. If you have known the target for several years on-and-off, but have not interacted with her within the last 30 days, then she is not currently familiar to you.

Physical Attacks
Several powers require making a successful Physical attack against your opponent in order for that powers to function. Any attack, whether brawl, melee, thrown, or archery, can meet this criteria; however, unless otherwise stated, only one power’s effect or a single combat maneuver can be used in conjunction with a single attack. An attack that includes a combat maneuver cannot be used to meet a power’s criteria unless otherwise stated in the description of the specific power or combat maneuver.


Gifts
General Rules
Gifts are the powers of the Garou to call upon their spiritual nature to affect the world around them. Every Garou starts play with only a small handful of Gifts, but can learn more throughout play.

Rank and Gifts
Your Rank will affect how much certain Gifts cost to use, though you may purchase Gifts at any rank with Storyteller approval (further noted below). So long as you are using a Gift that is of a level equal to, or lower than your current rank, you will only have to pay the standard cost listed with the Gift. If; however, you are attempting to activate a Gift that is of a level that is higher than your current rank, you must spend an additional temper to activate the Gift. You may choose any temper (Gnosis, Rage, or Willpower; keep in mind that Rage and Gnosis cannot be spent on the same turn). Importantly, if a Gift would normally be always active, if a Garou's rank is beneath it's level they must spend a temper and the Gift then is active for 1 hour.

Importantly, this is different than the normal Rank and Gift limitation: any Garou may learn any level of Gift (mechanically, a cub might learn an elder Gift, but staff would still want to know why a spirit would grant such an honor), they will just need to spend the additional cost to activate the Gift and provide a good story reason.

Gift Affinity Effect
Every Gift has a Gift Affinity effect. If the Gift is Affinity for you & your rank is equal to or greater than the Gift's level, you automatically benefit from the Gift's Affinity effect. If the Gift is not affinity for you or if your rank is lower than the Gift's rank, you must take the Gift Affinity Merit in order to gain the Affinity effect - note; taking the Gift Affinity Merit for a Gift you are just too low ranked for is not advised as you will not get the Merit refunded or be able to choose a new Gift when your rank raises up to the appropriate level. You may only purchase this Merit a number of times equal to your rank.


Learning Gifts
Affinity Gifts
To learn an affinity Gift, all you need to do is possess the necessary XP (4) and spend it. This represents your character going out to find a spirit that is willing to teach such Gifts to your auspice/breed/tribe who instructs you in the Gift. There may be some Gifts at ST discretion that are secret and/or hard to find. Such Gifts will either not be listed on the general Gifts page, or will have a caveat stated with the gift.

Non-Affinity Gifts and Patrons
Spirits have selected who is eligible for their gifts for a reason. Often times, ancient pacts bind them to teach this only to one group or specific criteria, and sharing that knowledge outside of others is simply not an option. A garou willing to go to bat to persuade a spirit is considered your patron for purposes of learning Gifts. To qualify as patron, they must be of the same Breed, Tribe, or Auspice of the Gift in question, and match the rank necessary to access the Gift's Affinity. They do not need to know the Gift, but they cannot advocate the worth of someone for a Gift even they wouldn't be able to fully utilize. The patron will need to put in Downtime (and possibly renown) to help you learn the Gift.

Further, to prove their worth, the learner (and sometimes the Patron) will be required to offer up temporary Renown Cards to stake their good name on the ability to learn the Gift rather than their own progress in Rank or Divinity. This is the only time a Permanent Renown may be reduced back to Temporary Renown. If this offering takes the garou below the base renown for their rank, they do not lose their rank. However, a renown debt will be noted on their character sheet and they will need to pay it back by turning in renown cards with their character sheet before they can convert any further renown cards to permanent renown.

Special Cases:
- Someone with Gift Affinity (1-5 pt Merit) does not qualify as patron for that Gift.
- If you have Efficient Learner (1pt Merit), your patron does not need to spend Downtime.
- NPCs may serve as patrons, especially in the absence of a qualifying PC, but will always be much more demanding and harder to convince.
- Someone with Gifted (Card Draw) can teach above their rank.
- Someone with Tribal Friend (Card Draw) can teach that tribe's Gifts.
- Someone with Twin Soul (Card Draw) can teach Gifts of both auspices.

Non-Affinity Breed or Auspice Gifts
Learning a non-affinity Breed or Auspice Gift requires a bit more work. First you must accumulate the necessary XP to purchase the Gift (5), and then you have two options:

1. Find the patronage of a Garou that qualifies for the Gift's Affinity. Both you must spend 1 Downtime Action to find a spirit (make sure at least one of you details the manner of chiminage), and you must trade in a number of temporary Renown Cards equal to the level of the Gift -1 to demonstrate your worthiness and entreat a spirit to teach you a Gift they normally would not.
2. Operating without patronage, you must spend 2 Downtime Actions finding and persuading a spirit to oblige you (make sure to detail the manner of chiminage). Further, you must trade in a number of temporary Renown Cards equal to the level of the Gift +1 to convince them of your worth.

Non-Affinity Tribe Gifts
To learn a non-affinity Tribe Gift requires a patron that qualifies for the Gift's Affinity. Without a patron, tribe spirits will simply refuse to teach such secret Gifts. After gaining the necessary XP to develop the Gift, you must both spend 1 Downtime Action to find a spirit, and then the two of you must offer the spirit a total of 10 Temporary Renown. This may be in any combination, provided each party provides at least 1 (9/1, 5/5, 2/8, but not 10/0). If this would take either of your permanent Renown totals below what is required for their current rank, you do not lose your rank.

Gift Ladder
You must purchase Gifts according to the Gift level ladder; you cannot learn more Gifts of a specific level than the number of Gifts you have in the level below that. For example, if you have 2 Level Four Gifts and want to buy another, you need to make sure you have 3 Level Three Gifts first (which in turn means 3 Level Twos and 3 Level Ones, etc.). You can always learn level One Gifts.

Example: Putting It All Together
The pack Silver Rending has five members: Akakios (Adren Silver Fang), Bion (Fostern Shadow Lord), Chrestos (Fostern Black Fury), Diocles (Cliath Silver Fang), and Elpis (Cliath Night Claw who buys Gift Affinity Merit). Akakios knows a big war is coming up, so he encourages all of his packmates to pick up the Gift Luna's Armor, a Level Two defensive Gift.

To accomplish this:

• Akakios (Adren Silver Fang) spends 4 XP, as this is Gift is In Affinity for him as a Silver Fang, and is able to learn it without issue. Since he additionally meets the rank requirement as a Adren (3rd Rank) for a Level Two Gift, he gains +1 on all Charisma and Manipulation while the Gift is active as per the Silver Fang Affinity.
• Bion (Fostern Shadow Lord) spends 4 XP, as this is Gift is In Affinity for them as a Shadow Lord, and is able to learn it without issue. Since they additionally meets the rank requirement as a Fostern (2nd Rank) for a Level Two Gift, their summoned armor is immune to armor penetration as per the Shadow Lord Affinity.
• Chrestos (Fostern Black Fury) spends 5 XP, as this Gift Out of Affinity for her. She reaches out to Akakios to serve as her patron, and they each spend one Downtime seeking out a Lune spirit. Chrestos builds a small moon pool on the sept for the lune spirit to call home as chiminage, and Akakios leans into his reputation to offer 1 Permanent Honor to vouch for Chrestos to the Lune. After this, she finally gains the Gift. Although she meets the rank requirement, the Gift is still out-of-affinity and she gains no further benefit past the base Gift. Luckily, as she meets the rank requirement as Fostern (2nd rank) for a Level Two Gift, she's not required to spend any extra tempers to activate the Gift.
• Diocles (Cliath Silver Fang) spends 4 XP, as this Gift is In Affinity for him as a Silver Fang. However, as he is only Rank One for a Level Two Gift, he does not yet gain the Affinity Effect. Further, he must spend an additional temper every time he chooses to activate it.
• Elpis (Cliath Night Claw) spends 5 XP, as this Gift Out of Affinity for her. She reaches out to Bion to serve as her patron, and they spend one Downtime each seeking out a Lune spirit. After finding and petitioning a spirit, Elips channels her Gnosis into a small silver pendant she gives to the Lune as chiminage. Bion offers 2 temporary Renown cards to demonstrate their support, and Elips offers 8 temporary renown cards to prove her worth to the Lune, and finally gains the Gift. However, since she is only Rank One for a Level Two Gift, she must spend an additional temper every time she chooses to activate it, and with the Gift as Out of Affinity, she does not gain the Affinity Effect.
  After much consideration, she spends time understanding and mastering her usages of this Gift, and uses that to justify buying the Gift Affinity Merit for 2 XP. As she is Rank 1, this is the only time she can purchase this Merit for a Gift until she reaches a higher rank. That said, Elips now has the immunity to armor penetration as per the Shadow Lord Affinity, although she must still spend an extra temper for each activation to compensate for her lower rank.

Divine Blessings
Gifts are divine abilities granted by the patronage of a Divine Patron or deity to grant a supernatural effect. It's important to note that these resonate with an energy that is not inherently Gaian. Much like fae magic and vampiric disciplines will show up differently to those that can sense them, Divine Blessings resonate with a sort of inherent austerity and divinity.

Learning Divine Blessings
Once you reach the appropriate level of Devotion for your Divine Patron, you will gain a Divine Blessing for free. Players who start with a chosen Divine Patron may gain a Basic Divine Blessing at game start. To achieve an Intermediate Divine Blessing, the character must achieve Disciple (Level Three), and for an an Advanced, the character must become Chosen (Level Five). This will grant one Divine Blessing per level, and you cannot purchase further, although you may shift which Divine Blessing is active (see below).

Changing Divine Blessings
To reflect the shifting nature of the Devoted and their Patrons, once a month (or, every other game, depending on which is longer) you may elect to change one of your Divine Blessings to another of the same level. For example, you may only exchange a Basic for a Basic, and will have to wait for a separate game to exchange an Intermediate for another Intermediate. To do this, you must submit a Downtime Action to demonstrate your meditation and realignment of perspective to accommodate the new Blessing. Switching back to your previous Blessing will also require a wait and a Downtime Action, as described above.