VOD: Pantheon

Stargazer Gifts

Level One Gifts

• Channeling
• Imbalance
• Iron Resolve

Level Two Gifts

• Inner Light
• Resist Temptation
• Surface Attunement

Level Three Gifts

• Clarity
• Conundrum
• Dance of the Heavens

Level Four Gifts

• Cunning Koan
• Strike the Air

Level Five Gifts

• Ancestral Incarnation
• Harmonious Unity of the Emerald Mother

Level One

Channeling
Rage is both a boon and a bane to the Garou, and the Stargazers feel this doubly so. Rage, while certainly a vital resource, is also a dangerous element. Many Stargazers seek new ways to harness and direct their Rage, and those with this Gift have at least one more option. A Garou using this Gift can channel her Rage into a single action, helping her perform that one action as best as she is able. This Gift is taught by a fire-spirit.

Cost: 1-3 Rage

Test Pool: N/A

System:
Once per hour, when making a challenge the Garou may choose to activate this Gift and pay it's cost. Whatever amount of Rage is spent on this Gift's activation, the Garou gains as a trait bonus for the duration of this challenge. (This Gift may not be used if the Garou is unable to spend Rage for any reason.)

Affinity:
Calling upon your Rage fills you with even greater determination; you gain a +2 trait bonus for every point of Rage spent, rather than the standard +1 per Rage spent. In addition, when using this Gift you only need to satisfy the requirements for an exceptional success on the last test in the challenge, in order to achieve an exceptional success.


Imbalance
A Stargazer possessing this Gift causes considerable problems to all attackers. Those attacking find themselves clumsier and less nimble with every successful strike. An earth elemental teaches this Gift.

Cost: 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: N/A

System:
This Gift must be activated at the first turn of combat and may be activated before your turn in the initiative order; it takes no action. If an attacker completes a successful attack against the individual that activated this Gift, they then suffer a -1 penalty to all attacks for the remainder of the combat. This -1 penalty stacks with itself, increasing after every successful attack against the user of this Gift.

Affinity:
The initial penalty applied to a victim of this power increases to -2. Each increase after that still only increases by -1 each time.


Iron Resolve
Through the blessings of the spirits, the Stargazer’s resolve is tempered like steel, allowing great feats through application of sheer will. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift.

Cost: None

Test Pool: None

System:
Once learned, this Gift is always active. Once per night, whenever the Stargazer would gain a point of Willpower from fulfilling their Nature Archetype, they gain an additional point of Willpower. This cannot take you above your maximum.

Affinity:
Rather than once per night, this Gift may trigger a number of times per night equal to the Stargazer's Rank.

Level Two

Inner Light
The Stargazer can step sideways into the Umbra using only his own inner light; he has no need of a reflection or bright light to guide him. This Gift is taught by an Epiphling of Truth.

Cost: N/A

Test Pool: N/A

System:
The character is always considered to be using a mirror when attempting to step sideways, regardless of the presence of any reflective surface. The player must still take the same amount of time to cross as normal. The garou can only cross by themselves in this manner.

Affinity:
The Stargazer knows the importance of her pack, she may lead packmates into the Umbra as per the usual rules when using this Gift.


Resist Temptation
Using gestures to her chakras, as Klaital did, the Stargazer can resist worldly, mental and spiritual temptations, including corruption. This Gift is taught by an earth-spirit.

Cost: None or 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: N/A

System:
Against non-supernatural coercion, this Gift is considered always active. The Stargazer is able to resist any mundane threatening or seductions without a challenge. Thus, mundane con artists and temptresses have no power over the Stargazer. Against supernatural coercion such as a vampire's Dominate, or other methods of control, this Gift must be activated, but may be activated reflexively. A Stargazer with this Gift active gains a bonus on a test of supernatural sway to resist equal to their Empathy Ability.. This bonus lasts for that single challenge.

Affinity:
Fortifying their mind against future attacks, when this Gift is activated, the bonus to resist supernatural coercion lasts against the target it was used against for 1 hour. If a bane attempted to charm you with a power and this Gift was used against them, you would retain your benefit against them for an hour. However, if then a vampire came up and attempted to use Presence on you within that hour, you would not get the benefit of this Gift - unless you chose to activate it again.


Surface Attunement
The Stargazer may attune herself to the surrounding environment, thereby gaining the ability to walk at normal speed across such surfaces as mud, water, snow and quicksand without falling through or leaving tracks. The spirits of small animals that are often overlooked by other tribes (such as rabbits, sparrows and mice) teach this Gift.

Cost: 1 Willpower

Test Pool: None

System:
Spend a simple action to activate this Gift. For the next hour, the Garou can cross any mundane difficult terrain as though it were normal (e.g. snow, water, mud, swamp, quicksand, etc.). Further, for the duration of this Gift, the Garou leaves no tracks, thus requiring either scent or some other method of pursuit for tracking to be possible. This Gift provides no benefit if the ground is actively being made difficult supernaturally.

Affinity:
For Stargazers, even supernatural difficulties are surmountable. The Garou gains a Gift retest that can be used whenever they are attempting to cross supernaturally difficult ground.

Level Three

Clarity
This Gift grants the ability to see through fog, pitch darkness and even recognize illusions or invisibility. A wind-spirit teaches this Gift.

Cost: None or 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: None or Wits + Awareness vs. target's Resolve + Willpower

System:
This Gift is always active and allows for the Garou to see through mundane impediments such as fog or darkness easily, though it does not grant the ability to see through solid objects such as rock. If the Garou wishes, they may spend a Standard Action, focusing their senses and attempt to pierce any supernatural concealment or illusions in their line of sight by engaging their target in a contested pool using this Gifts test pool. The creator of an illusion or concealment may have their own defense test pool based on their power. If you are successful, you see through the illusion or supernatural concealment which may not be re-established against you for 5 minutes by the same target.

Exceptional Success:
Your keen senses have seen through the trickster's illusions so completely that you are immune their illusions for one hour. This does not grant you immunity against the same kind of illusion if it is from a difference source.

Affinity:
Stargazers know when their is some trickery about, even if they can't quite tell what. When you look at something and are told it is an illusion; or if you notice that there are people supernaturally concealed, your character almost immediately feels something is off. They don't know precisely what (unless you do succeed on the relevant challenge) but they do know something is wrong and may encourage others to look as well.


Conundrum
A Stargazer with this Gift can introduce an unsolvable problem into a victim’s mind. The nature of the riddle varies with every individual, but it usually derives from the target’s personality. An avatar of the Chimera teaches this Gift, but the Garou must first solve her instructor’s puzzle.

Cost: N/A

Test Pool: Manipulation + Subterfuge vs the target's Composure + Willpower

System:
Spend a standard action and engage a target within 10 steps that can hear you in the Gift's challenge. If successful, you pose a riddle to your target that they cannot help but try to solve, even as they might try to ignore it. This distraction lasts for 3 turns, during which the victim suffers a -3 to all non-defensive based test pools.

Exceptional Success:
This distraction lasts for 5 turns rather than 3.

Affinity:
The riddle posed by Stargazers is exceptionally potent. The first round the target is affected by this Gift, they lose their simple action in addition to all other effects. On an exceptional success rather than losing their simple action, they lose their Standard action instead.


Dance of the Heavens
When it comes time to join the fray of battle, offense is only half the equation. Stargazers strive for balance in all things, even when combat has been joined. You have mastered the ability to exploit the weaknesses of your foes by turning their own haste and momentum against them. This Gift is taught by a wind-spirit.

Cost: N/A

Test Pool: N/A

System:
This Gift is always active. In combat, you may attempt to achieve an exceptional success whenever you are targeted by a Brawl or Melee attack. This is an exception to the rule stating that you may only score an exceptional success if you are the attacker in a challenge. You must meet all the other qualification to achieve an exceptional success.

If you achieve an exceptional success, you may choose to not only dodge the attack, but to also redirect any damage that would have been dealt back to the attacker. Include all modifiers to the damage, such as Potence or Silver Claws, as well as the type of damage and any harmful weapon effects, such as from a fetish. If the attack involved a combat maneuver, apply the damage dealt but not the combat maneuver. If the attack intended to convey the effects of a power, such as Hobbling Strike, apply the damage of the attack, but not the effects of the power.

Affinity:
When using your Dodge skill in combat, you gain the Brutal quality to your defensive tests.

Level Four

Cunning Koan
Legends tell of ancient Stargazers who once spent their days in meditation, their minds and spirits tuned to the universe around them. These venerable elders carried the power to divine the future and view the past with perfect clarity. You have mastered this particular facet of meditation, allowing you to connect to the universe and discern the truth surrounding you. An ancestor-spirit teaches the Garou this Gift.

Cost: 1 Gnosis

Test Pool: Wits + Awareness vs Target's Resolve + Willpower

System:
Spend a standard action to open yourself to the knowledge of the universe. As your metaphorical third eye opens, you are able to see the interconnections of the world around you. These delicate strands of fate stretch from everything you see, allowing you to piece together pieces of a greater puzzle.

It is important to remember that fate is not set in stone, as the strands will often shift and move before your very eyes. However, some fates, such as those forged by the Gift Tangling The Thread, appear as a strong pulsating light.

Make an opposed challenge against your target. If you succeed, you may ask and receive an answer to one of the following questions:

• What is your current emotional state?
• What is your highest attribute?
• What is your lowest attribute?
• What is your highest ability?
• What is your lowest ability?
• Are you under any effects that limit your free will (such as Dominate or Mastery)?
• How many points of Willpower do you currently possess?
• How many points of Rage do you currently possess?
• Have you harmed anyone in the past 24 hours?
• What is your occupation or position, if any?

In the event that there are multiple answers to a question posed, the target need only provide a single answer. For example, if a target has two abilities that meet the criteria of being her highest rated, she need only provide a single answer.

Exceptional Success:
Scoring an exceptional success allows you to ask the target two questions from the above list.

Affinity:
Understanding the universe means getting as wide an image as possible, as such when a question has multiple answers, the Stargazer receives all of the answers. For example, if a target has two abilities that meet the criteria of being her highest rated, she now must provide both when answering.


Strike the Air
The Garou becomes the ultimate example of passive resistance. She becomes unable to attack an opponent, but she is also unable to be hit, allowing her opponents to exhaust himself in the attempt. A mongoose-spirit teaches this Gift.

Cost: 1 Willpower

Test Pool: N/A

System:

Spend a simple action to center yourself, quelling any urges to do violence. Until your next initiative on the next Universal Round, so long as you do not attempt to initiate an opposed challenge, double your dots of your Dodge ability for the purpose of defending against incoming attacks. If you initiate an opposed challenge, the effects of Strike the Air immediately end. Attempting the Assist Defender combat tactic does not count as initiating an opposed challenge for the purpose of using Strike the Air.

Affinity:
When using your Dodge skill in combat, you receive a +5 bonus to defend against, or to test for, exceptional successes.

Level Five

Ancestral Incarnation
The connection of a Stargazer to his ancestors can be deemed more “intense” than that of other Garou. This Gift is proof of that. The few Stargazers with this Gift are not only able to plumb the depths of the ancestral memories for help, but are literally able to become one (or many) of their ancestors for a short time. The Stargazer glows with a pale nimbus of light and actually exhibits the physical traits (altering her appearance) of one or several of her ancestors. For a time, the Stargazer may also tap into the wealth of knowledge and ability of her forebears and use that to enhance her own actions for a time. This Gift is taught by an Epiphling of Truth.

Cost: 3 Gnosis

Test Pool: N/A

System:
By spending a simple action, the Garou calls upon their ancestors to infuse their body. The Stargazer exhibits a number of ancestral traits equal to the dots in her Ancestors Background. (For instance, Naipurya Sunblade has an Ancestors score of three. She exhibits three traits of her ancestors that alter her appearance. From her ancestor Silverstar she gains a mane of gray hair, from her ancestor Fu-Kui-Kang she shows bright yellow eyes, and from her ancestor Gi-on Shows-the-Way she gains a long scar along the length of her muzzle.) While these changes can be dramatic, they are not severe enough to disguise the Garou from those that know her.

For the next 5 minutes the Garou can temporarily expend a single dot of their Ancestors Background to achieve any of the following effects. The expended dot returns at the end of the session.

• You may spend a point of Ancestor's Background to gain a single Heroic Attribute Ability of your choice for the duration of the transformation.
• You may spend a point of Ancestors Background to manifest a weapon of your choice. Create this weapon using the normal rules for equipment. It is a mundane weapon with up to two tags. This weapon lasts for the duration of the transformation, and must be a weapon your ancestors could have used.
• You may spend a point of Ancestors Background to infuse a weapon conjured with this Gift with magic. The weapon conjured by this Gift gains an additional tag of your choice. You may use this effect multiple times on a single weapon, granting it up to (your Rank or 3, whichever is higher) total tags.
• You may spend a point of Ancestor's Background when engaging in a challenge to get a Gift retest on the challenge. This retest is only for a single challenge.

Affinity:
The connections of the Stargazers with their ancestors is strong enough that when manifesting this Gift, they can immediately manifest one of the above abilities without expending a point of Ancestors Background.


Harmonious Unity of the Emerald Mother
The wisest of Stargazers understand that all divisions of the flesh are mere illusion. The only true separation is of spirit — Wyrm from Weaver, Weaver from Wyld, Triat from Gaia. But even then, the great forces of the universe are connected. Drawing upon this wisdom, the Garou banishes the boundaries dividing the mind and body of man from the power of the werewolf. An avatar of Gaia herself teaches this Gift.

Cost: 1 Gnosis

Test Pool:None

System:
Spend a standard action to activate this Gift. For the next hour, the Stargazer enjoys the physical bonuses and regenerative powers of the Crinos form while in Homid. This Gift doesn’t grant Crinos form’s claws, fangs, or expanded senses, nor does it inflict the Delirium.

Affinity:
Rather than lasting for an hour, you may call upon it's power longer. By spending 2 Gnosis the effect lasts for a whole day.

TBD