VOD: Pantheon

Warders of Man Gifts

Level One Gifts

• Archer's Eye
• Control Machine
• Persuasion

Level Two Gifts

• Heat Metal
• Iron Fur
• Pennies From Heaven

Level Three Gifts

• Intrusion
• Reshape Object
• Tongues

Level Four Gifts

• Attunement
• Doppelganger

Level Five Gifts

• Song of the City-Beast
• Chaos Mechanics

Level One

Archer's Eye
This Gift allows the Garou to execute brilliant feats of archery, such as shooting an arrow out of the air, or hitting small targets in dangerous locations. The Garou cannot use this Gift to harm an opponent directly, however, and he can use Archer's Eye with a bow and arrow. Air-spirits teach this Gift.

Cost: None, or one Gnosis (see Gift)

Test Pool: None

System:
Passively the player adds either the Glory rating that was required to achieve their current rank, or their current number of Glory cards (maximum 10) to his bidding pool when performing a really outlandish archery trick. Again, this Gift does not allow direct damage to targets (“I’ll shoot him between the eyes!”), but it can be used to injure opponents indirectly. (“I’ll shoot the rope that’s holding the chandelier over his head!”) The effects are permanent.

Affinity:
Alternatively, the Garou may spend a Gnosis when making an archery attack. The archery attack then gains a bonus equal to half the Glory rating that was required to achieve their current rank, or their current number of Glory cards (maximum 10 card, so effective maximum of 5), round down.


Control Machine
The Garou may command the spirits of the simplest machines, causing levers to flip, doors to unbolt, pulleys to roll and so on. Any technological spirit can teach this Gift.

Cost: 1 Willpower

Test Pool: None

System:
Spend a simple action to activate this Gift. For the next 10 minutes, the Garou can command simple machines within 5 steps to follow her bidding by spending a simple action. Anything more complex than the most simple of machines is beyond this Gift.

Affinity:
Warders sometimes need to control machines quickly, and have learned to activate this Gift without any time at all. It is no action to command a machine; however, any given machine may not take more than one order in a given turn.


Persuasion
This Gift allows a Garou to become more persuasive when dealing with others, in such a way that his statements and arguments are imbued with added meaning or credibility. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift.

Cost: 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: Charisma + Subterfuge vs Target's Composure + Willpower

System:
Spend a standard action to make a declaration to your target and engage a target in a challenge using the Gift's test pool. If successful, for the next 30 seconds the target believes your statement to be both factually correct and entirely truthful. Even far-fetched notions seem plausible and worth consideration. Once the duration ends, the target is likely to continue believing the falsehood, provided they are not shown contradictory information. In cases where the subject possesses first hand knowledge that your statement is untrue (such as that the sky is purple while standing outside), they will spend the duration of the Gift in a confused state and then realize you are lying at the end of the power's duration.

If used in combat, this power has a diminished effect. Any statement made to attempt to distract causes momentary confusion. If successful the target loses their next simple action as they try to understand the statement before their need to survive kicks back in.

Exceptional Success:
This Gift lasts for five minutes rather than 30 seconds. In combat, the target loses their next two simple actions rather than one.

Affinity:
Warders are used to having to deal with groups of people. By increasing the cost of this Gift to 2 Gnosis, they may use this Gift targeting a group of mortals. The group resists with the highest resistance pool in the group. Any even partially supernatural creature (i.e., kinfolk, ghoul, etc.) is immune this use of the power. Mortals with exceptionally weak Willpower (2 or less) are susceptible to this use even on a failed test.

Level Two

Heat Metal
Waders of Man — who understand the workings of science and spirits alike, perhaps even studying at Leucippus' feet about the nature of the world — can mystically excite the atoms within metal. Metal heated in such a way can be forged, molded or used to sear flesh. A red-hot bar can be a very effective weapon. Glass Walkers learn this Gift from fire, earth, or metal elementals.

Cost: 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: None

System:
Spend a simple action to heat a piece of metal you are touching. The metal stays heated for a number of turns equal to your Academics. Heating metal in this way does make it easier to mold or forge. When used as a weapon, touching heated metal causes one aggravated, unsoakable Health Level of damage per round. You are immune this damage yourself and may freely handle the heated metal.

Affinity:
The metal heated by a Warder is exceptionally hot, either to drive back those that would hurt their charges, or to make the forging that much faster. Touching the heated metal causes two aggravated, unsoakable Health levels of damage per round.


Iron Fur
Focusing in on their own being, the Wader of Man wraps his own spirit with those of iron, turning his fur into hardened metal. Metal or Earth elementals teach this Gift.

Cost: 1 Willpower

Test Pool: None

System:
Spend a simple action to activate this Gift, during which your fur becomes like hardened iron. You gain a bonus on all soak challenges equal to your Academics. Additionally, you gain the Hardened Armor Quality from your fur alone. While this Gift is active, the Garou suffers a -2 penalty to all Dexterity challenges, and any Social challenges not involving other Warders of Man. Obviously you must be in Crinos, Hispo or Lupus for to use this Gift.

Affinity:
There are creatures that fear iron, and your fur is treated as true iron. This may be a cause for fear by those creatures and may lead to a bonus or penalty on social challenges with such creatures at Storyteller discretion.


Pennies from Heaven
The Glass Walker convinces money spirits to change their denomination. The coin or note simply metamorphoses into the appropriate denomination. Money spirits teach the Gift.

Cost: 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: None

System:
Spend a standard action to use this Gift. You may then change the currency your character has either into a more valuable denomination.

Each success can change one coin or note into another denomination. Foreign currencies can also be converted in similar fashion, and it is also possible to convert a currency of one country to a different denomination of another. Each activation of this Gift is able to increase your effective resources for a single transaction by one. This Gift may be activated multiple times for a single transaction; however, Resources cannot be increased beyond 5.

It's worth noting that this does not change the innate physical properties of the currency for any mechanical purpose, but merely presents a convincing enough illusion that the currency will be accepted and processed as possessing that value.

Affinity:
Warders are able to affect change over the physical properties of the coinage, actually changing the coins into the specific metal or material they need.

Level Three

Intrusion
It’s impossible to keep a cockroach out of a house, and it’s equally impossible to keep a Warder of Man out, provided she has this Gift. Once this Gift is activated, the Warder of Man can easily break almost any barrier that is presented to her. Doors mysteriously unlock upon her approach; padlocks fall open with no explanation. The Gift has, however, a very short and specific time limit. A cockroach-spirit teaches the Gift.

Cost: 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: None

System:
Spend a simple action and activate this Gift. This Gift lasts for a number of minutes equal to the Garou's Rank outside of combat. During combat, this Gift functions for a number of turns equal to the Garou's Rank. During this time, almost no door or barrier can possibly stop the Warder. Highly secure doors (such as foot-thick iron security doors) may require a Dexterity or Wits + Streetwise challenge, but the normal difficulty to circumvent such security measures is halved. This does not allow the Warder to circumvent magical protections, such as wards or other similar mystical barriers.

Affinity:
Warders are determined when they want to get into a place, even if there is magical protection. Whatever challenge is needed to resist or contest a magical protection the Warder gains a bonus equal to their Rank. This only applies if it is a direct challenge to contest the ward; if you need to go and convince someone to walk in and break the ward, this Gift provides no benefit.


Reshape Object
The werewolf can shape once-living material (but not undead!) into a variety of objects instantly. Trees may become shelter, buck antlers become spears, animal hides become armor, and flowers become perfumes. The item will resemble the object from which it was shaped (e.g., the aforementioned spear is made of antler, not wood). A Pattern Spider — one of the Weaver’s spirits — teaches this Gift.

Cost: 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: N/A

System:
Spend a standard action to reshape a viable target into another object of your choosing. The object gains up to two equipment tags as appropriate for the item type. Weapons, armor, shields, and most any other item the Warder can think of can be made with this Gift. The item, once shaped, maintains this form for 1 hour per Gnosis spent, the first hour does not require additional Gnosis expenditure.

Affinity:
Warders are consummate craftspeople and they know that things can always be improved, Any weapon made from Reshape object gains an additional damage. A warder of man can also improve the damage of an existing weapon or weapon fetish by spending a gnosis and a standard action.

Tongues
This Gift allows the user to read or write any human language encountered, no matter how ancient or obscure. This Gift is taught by a Raven-spirit.

Cost: 1 Willpower

Test Pool: Intelligence + Linguistics vs a variable difficulty (see Gift)

System:
Upon hearing a language that the Warder does not understand, they make a static Intelligence + Linguistics against a difficulty of 7 (this may be made higher or lower by the ST depending on the strangeness of the language; particularly common languages may be as low as 4, while lost and ancient languages (why is someone speaking that aloud?) may be as high as 15). Importantly all such languages must be of human origin - this Gift will not aid you in understanding the language of spirits or other mystical languages. On a success, the Garou is able to speak the language for the next hour.

Affinity:
Warders prioritize making a good first impression. As such, if it is the Warder's first time encountering a given language, they lower the difficulty of the static challenge by 2.

Level Four

Attunement
The Garou may commune with the spirits of a city or town and gain information about the area from them, including rough population, enclaves of Garou or other being and secret tunnels. This Gift does not function in the wilderness. A cockroach-spirit teaches this Gift.

Cost: 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: None

System:
To activate this Gift, the Garou spends one point of Gnosis, learning of the immediate area (within 1 mile). The Garou immediately becomes aware of a number of facts about the nearby area equal to their dots in Streetwise. This Gift only functions within a city or town or some other similar human made settlement. These facts are left to ST discretion but typically will involve important landmarks, unusual areas, or possible dangers. You are roughly aware of the location of these facts and can travel to them, or avoid them, with little difficulty.

Affinity:
Warders are skilled protectors of humanity, and know when non-Garou are within a city. When using this Gift, the Warder gains the knowledge of if there are any non-were-creatures within range. The Warder does not know precisely what kind of creature this is, or it's location; however, it can make sure that the Warder knows to keep their eyes open - this does not count as one of the normal facts learned with the ability.


Doppelganger
The Garou may take the exact likeness of any other human, wolf or Garou. A chameleon-spirit teaches this Gift.

Cost: 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: None

System:
To use this Gift, you must first spend at least 5 minutes studying your target, listening to them speak, seeming them move and act. After these 5 minutes you are able to make a doppelganger of the target. Traits aren't duplicated, but everything else, including voice, posture, and scent, is identical. The doppelganger lasts for one hour per dot of Performance the Garou has. The doppelganger has no self drive and will perform no actions by itself. It can follow simple instructions such as, "wait here" or "tell that man to follow you back to me" but anything much more complex than that is likely to be lost on the Doppelganger. Anyone who wishes to detect something is amiss may try to make a Wits + Investigation static test, their difficulty being your Wits + Performance.

Affinity:
The Doppelgangers created by Warders often are useful for spying. By focusing on a Doppelganger, you have made you are able to perceive through their senses: seeing through their eyes, hearing through their ears, etc. During this time, you are not able to perceive the world around your body and can take no actions. If your body is threatened your concentration immediately ends.

Level Five

Song of the City-Beast
The lupus of many tribes know the Songs of the Great Beast, which can summon semi-legendary monsters such as giant sharks, apemen and dinosaurs. While such creatures are not common in cities, the knowledgeable Warder of Man can call forces of equal power with this Gift. This Gift is usually taught by a City Father or Mother, often in return for the accomplishment of a great deed.

Cost: Two Gnosis

Test Pool: None

System:
Spend a standard action to invoke this Gift as the Garou sings out a terrifying song. A City-Beast is less of an actual mythological entity and more of an event — a collapsing building, a plague of hell-rats, even an incredibly aggressive Dionysian party or similar event gone riot. The 'Beast' will stay long enough to assist in immobilizing or defeating Gaia’s enemies. Its nature depends on the story but it is likely to be very powerful.

Affinity:
The Beast of a city is something most humans refuse to even acknowledge. An mortal will view the city 'Beast' as being an entirely mundane event, it may be viewed as a tragedy or something to be avoided but mortals will not look into the cause beyond the mundane.


Chaos Mechanics
Werewolves pulse with the Wyld’s energy, of course, but all creatures with form and nature have something of the Weaver in them, or so the Warder of Man argue. Upon learning this Gift, the Warder reconciles these two sides of his being, and he can summon primal energy and mystical form at the same time.

Cost: None

Test Pool: None, always active

System:
A Garou with this Gift may use Rage and Gnosis in the same turn with no penalty. Doing so allows the Garou to use Rage actions to activate fetishes and use Gifts requiring Gnosis (provided that said Gift does not take a full turn to enact). What’s more important, it allows the Garou to take Rage actions in the same turn that he steps sideways, provided that the player is able to get to or from the Umbra instantly. This Gift’s effects are permanent. However, the Garou may only do a single Gnosis requiring action in a turn that they spend Rage.

Affinity:
Warders do not have to deal with any limit and may do as many Gnosis requiring actions in a turn that they spend Rage.

TBD