Draft

Pooling Backgrounds

Sources: W20 Core, pg 140

Some Backgrounds can relate to the pack/et, rather than the individual. Specifically, the members of a pack may choose to pool their individual Allies, Contacts, Fate, Kinfolk, and Resources. Totem as a Background already applies to the pack rather than the individual character, thus is not a candidate for pooling.
A character can draw on a pooled Background even if that Background is normally restricted for her type.

[+/-] How To Pool Backgrounds

The Anchor

The players should choose one Background as the anchor that links their characters' shared assets together. For example, the players of a pack of Glass Walkers might choose Resources, with the money and property placed in joint ownership to the pack explaining how the pack can access skilled people, connect to Kinfolk around the world, and even serve their destiny as a pack of moneyed werewolves. Any of the poolable Backgrounds can serve as an anchor: packs with grand Fates often find their destinies include other people and resources.
No pooled Background can have more dots assigned to it than the Anchor Background does at any time. If that Background is damaged by events during play or in downtime, the other assets drift out of the pack's control and it takes effort to win them back.
Any character contributing to a pool may withdraw his stake at any time, but extracting personal assets from a pack causes some damage and bruises relationships: he gets back one less dot than he put in.

Example: The members of the Irregulars build their shared Background pool around the pack's Allies: a group of ex-squaddies and political agitators in London who can put them in touch with a people in almost every field, and through whom the Irregulars can call on Kinfolk for assistance. They put a total of five dots into the Allies pool. Members of the pack add four points of pooled Contacts and two points of pooled Kinfolk.
A pack of Black Spiral Dancers wants to make life difficult for the pack, and slaughters the people the Garou relied on for help. Their Allies rating drops from 5 to 3. With so many people dead, the Irregulars cant get in touch with many of their old Contacts, so that Background also drops from 4 to 3. Fortunately, the Black Spiral Dancers didn't kill anyone who knew about the Kinfolk, so that pooled rating doesn't change.
Sustained effort by the Irregulars to help people out and forge new alliances and friendships in new areas can repair the damage. Who knows who their new friends will be able to introduce them to?

As the Anchor Background rating rises again, so do the ratings of those anchored to it, as a result of storytelling directed towards the goals of improving the lost Backgrounds.
Under normal circumstances, a pack cant change its Anchor Background, nor can it acquire a new one. While it may choose to abandon the assets represented by a given Background over the course of a chronicle, and thus free itself from the limitations of the backgrounds pooled to that Anchor, the fact that most Backgrounds can change value only as a result of the story's events means that the pack must acquire new Backgrounds in this manner. The only exception among pooled Backgrounds is Fate, and even then experience points should be used to improve it when discovering more about what the world has in store for the pack.
While some want to pursue their personal goals, the majority pull together and act as a pack against any hardships. It can be hard for a pack to accept pooling their Backgrounds when they don't necessarily know or trust one another, but as time moves on, most packs see the utility in holding assets as a pack rather than an individual. It makes sense on a fundamental level - the pack, not the individual, is the fundamental unit of Garou society.

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Using Pooled Backgrounds

Pooled Backgrounds represent the pack's communal property. Anyone who contributes to any aspect of the pool has equal access to the full resources. Even a character who donates only one dot of Contacts still has equal access to all the backgrounds in the pool. Not everyone can use the pool at the same time. A pool of seven Allies represents the same seven people. Who is available to help which members of the pack depends on circumstances and agreements among the pack. Drawing on a pack's Fate has certain limitations that go beuond this; see the Background's description below for more information.

Example: Four Glass Walkers form a pool around their shared Resources - their investments and the property and assets of their wholly-owned corporation. They wish to get dots of Contacts (people in the business world), Allies (specialists each werewolf has met in her travels), and Fate (the pack is prophesied to shake the Garou Nation from a pillar of wealth). Beth contributes three dots of Resources and one of Contacts; Danny adds two dots of Allies and one dot of Resources; Laura can contribute two dots of Resources and three dots of Fate; Chuck is short on dots, but can contribute a dot of Fate and a dot of Contacts. This makes the pool Resources 6, Allies 2, Contacts 2, Fate 4 (with a pack Fate limit of 3 and a personal fate limit of 1). Everyone can tap this pool equally: Chuck can draw on all the pack's Resources if necessary, while Beth and Danny can both ddraw on the pack's Fate for their own ends - despite not having anhy Fate of their own.

Some packs may agree to place an individual access limit on shared Backgrounds, to reflect any agreements between the packmates, at the Storyteller's discretion. These arrangements are more common among packs who do not yet trust one another.

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Upper Limits

Packs can get Backgrounds that surpass the normal five-dot limit through pooling their points. This is normal, and reflects the many advantages of a pack working together - a pack can keep in touch with more people, or maintain tighter control over a range of investments than one werewolf can. Pooled Backgrounds don't have any absolute upper limit, but things get outright bizarre if you aren't careful - the world's 20 richest people aren't all members of the same pack. It's usually best if the Storyteller sets a 10-dot limit on the Anchor background.
Some Backgrounds work best if they scale differently in a pool to the individual scale, especially when they break through the normal five-dot limit. If an average pack of four players each adds one or two dots of Resources to end up with a shared pool of 6, the effect isn't that they're secret billionaires. Instead, they're of modest means but it's damned near impossible to tear the pack's fiscal assets from them. As with all questions of balancing player expectations with elements of the story, the players and Storyteller should talk through the issue and set out some guidelines for what each sharedd background represents before the chronicle begins.

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General Backgrounds

[+/-] Allies

Allies

W20 Core, pg 135

Allies are people who help and support you, either out of love or common interest. They can be family, friends, or even organizations that are friendly to you. Some allies have useful skills - doctors, hackers, and soldiers, for example - while others have community inflience, with contacts or resources they can use on your behalf. Although allies aid you willingly, without coaxing or coercion, they are not always available to offer assistance; they can only ignore so many of their own concerns for the sake of your relationship. Except in special circumstances, your allies don't usually know you're a supernatural creature (that knowledge would probably alter the relationship for the worse), but they may know that you have contacts and skills that most people don't, and they will come to you for favors. After all, friends help each other out, right?

You've got a closer relationship with your allies than with contacts - they're your friends, and they'll listen to you. Convincing your fishing buddy that a local refinery is spilling toxins into a major fishery can do wonders for your cause when he's an aide in the govenor's office. Of course, just as your allies are more loyal and directly useful than your contacts, they can also require more in return. But you'd help your buddies out, right?

You should work out who your allies are at the beginning of the game, as well as how you know them. Maybe they're old brothers-in-arms or friends from a local environmental socciety. Maybe (if your Allies rating is 5) you're an old hunting buddy of the govenor. Allies may be pooled among a pack/coterie/etc.

Points	Description
	One ally, of moderate influence and power (doctor or veterinarian, local activist)
	Two allies, both of moderate power (district ranger, deputy sheriff, popular blogger)
	Three allies, one of them quite influential (newspaper editor, local philanthropist)
	Four allies, one of them very influential (city countilman, military base commander)
	Five allies, one of them extremely influential (mayor, senator's aide)

• Ratkin generally don’t have much in the way of Resources or Allies, and don’t have Ancestors or Pure Breed at all.

[+/-] Contacts

Contacts

W20 Core, pg 136

Contacts are the people you know from all walks of life. They're acquaintances, drinking buddies, or friends who don't mind letting you know what's going on, but wouldn't take a bullet for you. In addition to a general network of people who you can con or bully information from, you havve a few major contacts - people you trust to feed you accurate information in their area of expertise. You should come up with a name and a field for your major contacts, either at the start of play, or as you use them.
You also have a number of minor contacts around the area. They are not quite as friendly or reliable in a pinch, but they work in a whole range of different areas and you can bribe, intimidate, or manipulate them into telling you what you need to know. To get in touch with a minor contact, make a roll using your Contacts rating (difficulty 7). Each success means that you have located one of your minor contacts. Because major contacts are closer to you (they're usually good friends), they're easier to find.
Contacts may be pooled among a pack/coterie/etc.

Points	Description
	One major contact
	Two major contacts
	Three major contacts
	Four major contacts
	Five major contacts

[+/-] Fame

Fame

You enjoy widespread recognition in mortal society, perhaps as an entertainer, writer, or athlete. People may enjoy just being seen with you. This gives you all manner of privileges when moving in mortal society, but can also attract an unwanted amount of attention now that you’re no longer alive. The greatest weapon fame has to offer is the ability to sway public opinion — as modern media constantly proves. Fame isn’t always tied to entertainment: A heinous criminal in a high-profile trial probably has a certain amount of fame, as do a lawmaker and a scientist who has made a popularized discovery.

This Background is obviously a mixed blessing. You can certainly enjoy the privileges of your prestige — getting the best seats, being invited to events you’d otherwise miss, getting appointments with the elite — but you’re sometimes recognized when you’d rather not be. However, your enemies can’t just make you disappear without causing an undue stir, and you find it much easier to hunt in populated areas as people flock to you (reduce the difficulties of hunting rolls by one for each dot in Fame). Additionally, your Storyteller might permit you to reduce difficulties of certain Social rolls against particularly star-struck or impressionable people.

Points	Description
	You’re known to a select subculture — local club-goers, industry bloggers, or the Park Avenue set, for instance.
	Random people start to recognize your face; you’re a minor celebrity such as a small-time criminal or a local news anchor.
	You have greater renown; perhaps you’re a senator or an entertainer who regularly gets hundreds of thousands of YouTube hits.
	A full-blown celebrity; your name is often recognized by the average person on the street.
	You’re a household word. People name their children after you.

[+/-] Resources

Resources

W20 Core, pg 138

The Resources Background describes your character’s access to and control over a range of valuable assets. These assets may be actual cash, but as this Background increases, they’re more likely to be investments, property, or earning capital such as stocks and bonds. A character’s Resources depend upon the standard of living she’s comfortable with — a lupus in the Yukon isn’t likely to get a wire transfer from her broker each month. A character with no dots in Resources can have enough clothing and supplies to get by, or she may be homeless, sleeping in a den in her lupus form.
You receive a basic allowance each month based on your rating, so make sure to detail where this money comes from. The Storyteller will determine how much this is based on the area your game takes part in and the cultures you’re in contact with. A werewolf’s fortune can run out if she’s fighting in the Amazon rather than managing her stock portfolio. You can also sell your less liquid resources if you need the cash, but this can take weeks or even months, depending on what exactly you’re trying to sell. Art buyers don’t just pop out of the woodwork, after all. Resources can be pooled among a pack.

Points	Description
	Sufficient. You don’t get many spending sprees, but you’ve got a decent place to live, a car that doesn’t crap out every week, and a decent standard of living for the working class.
	Moderate. You’re thoroughly middle-class in income, and can afford the odd indulgence. You can hire specific help as necessary. You have enough available cash, portable property, and valuables that you can maintain a one-dot standard of living wherever you are for up to six months.
	Comfortable. You own a house and some land outright, which you may let the sept use or keep for your pack, and you’ve a reputation that gives you easy access to credit at good terms. More of your assets are tied up in property than in cash, and if needs be you can maintain a one-dot standard of living wherever you are for as long as you like.
	Wealthy. You have serious financial power, and are one of the richest people in your country. You don’t deal much with actual cash, using more valuable and stable assets to pay off debts as they arise. When you can’t focus on maintaining your level of Resources, you can live at the three-dot level for up to a year, or a two-dot life indefinitely.
	Extremely Wealthy. You’re one of the richest people on Earth. You have multiple homes, many forms of luxury transport, and frequently show up in glossy magazines and on gossip websites. You have assets everywhere, and can hobble the Wyrm’s activities with a ten-minute phone call. You can live at the three-dot level indefinitely if you ignore your fortune; higher if you put a little effort in to it.

• Owing to their rarity, Gurahl rarely amass much in the way of Resources
  
• Ratkin generally don’t have much in the way of Resources or Allies, and don’t have Ancestors or Pure Breed at all.
  

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Shifter Backgrounds

[+/-] Ancestors

Ancestors

Sosurces: W20 Core, pg 136

Ancestral memory in humans is no more than pseudoscientific nonsense. To the GGarou, who can contact the spirits of their ancestors, it's a fact of life. Many werewolves carry some of the same memories of a distant ancestor; some even allow their forebears to take over their bodies.
Once per game session, the player of a Garou with this Backgroundd may roll his Ancestors Background (difficulty 8, or 10 if he's trying to contact the spirit of a specific ancestor). Each success allows the character to increase any Ability by one for the purposes of a single die roll, even if he has no dots in the Ability - and he doesn't suffer the penalty for not having the Ability. For example, young Emil, a pire flatlander, must scale an immense cliff to come to the aid of his embattled pack. Emil has an Ancestors rating of 4 and Athletics 0. He calls on his forebears to guide him, and Emil's player rolls four dice at difficulty 8. He scores three successes. Emil contacts his great-great-great granduncle Cragtamer, who guides him over the sheer face and over the top. Now the player has an effective Athletics rating of 3 to make his climbing roll. If the Garou had an Athletics rating of 2, then his effective dice pool wouldd be 5. All effects last for the rest of the scene.
While it is more difficult to contact a specific ancestor, successful contact provides either useful advice or precognitive visions at the discretion of the Storyteller.
Botching an Ancestors roll may indicate that the character becomes catatonic for the remainder of the scene as he's overwhelmed by the memories of thousands of lives. Alternatively, the ancestral spirit refuses to relinquish the body. How long the ancestor stays depends on the Storyteller.

Points	Description
	You have brief, hazy visions from the distant past.
	You remember faces and placces from past lives just as you remember those of your early childhood.
	You put names to faces among your ancestors.
	Ancestors converse with you on a regular basis.
	Your ancestors watch your adventures with interest, and they often come to counsel you.

• No Ananasi may have Ancestors or Pure Breed; Ananasa doesn’t want her children dwelling on the past.
  
• Bastet use most of the same Backgrounds as Garou, eschewing only Ancestors (with the exception of Swara).
  
• Mokolé do not possess the Ancestors Background, replacing it with Mnesis instead.
  
• Ratkin generally don’t have much in the way of Resources or Allies, and don’t have Ancestors or Pure Breed at all.
  
• The timeless Rokea don’t have Ancestors, and don’t concern themselves with Pure Breed.

[+/-] Fate

Fate

Sources: W20 Core, pg 137

The Fate Background represents a prophecy that accompanied your birth or the creation of your pack. A Fate is always something significant, but it's as likely to be dark and infamous as it is to be full of glory. In these times of Apocalypse, the Garou cannot afford to sacrifice even one warrior, no matter how dark the portents surrounding them are. However, even those with terrible fates often prove to be some of the greatest Garou, perhaps because they try so hard to defy their fate. Some even succeed.
In addition to the fame or infamy these prophecies garner you, once per game session you may use this Background to add successes to any roll that either failed or achieved fewer successes than were required. The player rolls his rating in this Background (difficulty 8) and adds any successes to those that were achieved in the original failed roll. If this means the action succeeds, the player should describe what his fortuitous events caused him to succeed. If the storyteller feels the player's actions run against what he is destined to do, she may choose to disallow the use of the background.
When Fate is pooled among the pack, each member may call on this Background, each member may call on this Background once per game session. If the action failed involves the entire pack in some way, then the player may draw on an amount of Fate up to the highest individual Fate in the pack. If the character is acting on her own, the player can only draw on an amount of Fate up to the lowest individual Fate in the pack (to a minimum of one). In a pack with pooled Fate, any character can raise her personal Fate with experience points, much like the totem background. However, she can only raise it up to the same level as the highest Fate in the pack - if no member of the pack starts with more than three dots of Fate, no pack member can ever buy up to four or five dots.
Packs tend to garner prophecies of greater proportions than individuals. This is not only because of the greater weight a pack can swing compared to a single werewolf, but also because the Garou tend to see a pack's accomplishments as more legitimate than those of just one person. For roleplaying purposes, consider the pack's Fate to be equal to that of the highest Fate rating in the pack.
Fate may be pooled among a pack/etc.

Points	Description
	Your pack will be involved in an event that will make you known to the entire Garou Nation. For now, though, only those in your sept know of this prophecy.
	Your pack will be the cause of an event that greatly impacts your sept, such as the destruction of a long time enemy or a highly admired Garou. The Garou throughout the city or local geographical area in which you reside might know your fate.
	Your pack will be responsible for an event that impacts werewolves across the continent, perhaps singlehandedly saving (or destroying) a caern. Any Garou in your hemisphere might know of the prophecy.
	The actions of your pack will affect the entire Garou Nation, such as the defeat of a great Wyrm enemy or the massacre of dizens of Garou. There might be a cub or two that hasn't heard of your destiny, but don't count on it.
	You, or your pack, will be a direct factor in the fate of the Apocalypse, one way or another. There isn't a cub that hasn't heard of your destiny.

[+/-] Fetish

Fetish

Sources: W20 Core, pg 137

You possess a fetish - a physical object into which a shapeshifter has bound a spirit. The spirit grounds a number of powers to a fetish, so they are very significant to shifters. Such things are valuable, and other garou or other supernatural beings may covet them.

Points	Description
	You possess one Level One fetish
	You possess one Level Two fetish, or two Level One fetishes.
	You possess one or more fetishes with a total of three levels.
	You possess one or more fetishes with a total of four levels.
	You possess one or more fetishes with a total of five levels.

[+/-] Kinfolk

Kinfolk

W20 Core, pg 138

Kinfolk are otherwise normal humans and animals who descended from shifters without inheriting their spiritual duty. Through this Background you are in contact with a number of Kinfolk. While Kinfolk are normal members of their species in most respects, they are immune to the Delirium, giving them the dubious advantage of looking upon a Crinos-form werewolf. They know that you are a Garou/Bastet/etc, and they are willing to help you however they can, although most are not in positions of power (such people are considered Allies). Networks of Kinfolk are a valuable way for werecreatures to deal with the human world without rishing frenzy or discovery. Some Kinfolk may be related to you directly while others are contacts you have made through your sept. Kinfolk may be pooled among a pack.

Points	Description
	Two Kinfolk
	Five Kinfolk
	10 Kinfolk
	20 Kinfolk
	50 Kinfolk

• Rokea can have at most a single dot of Kinfolk, as their shark Kin are spread so far across the seas, and their human relations are so very few.

[+/-] Mentor

Mentor

Sources: W20 Core, pg 138

A shifter of higher Rank has taken a keen interest in you, and will look after you - to a point. The rating of your Mentor background quantifies how powerful your mentor is within the tribe and what rank he or she has achieved. A mentor can teach you skills, advise you, or speak on your behalf at a council fire. He has a pack of his own, and his own duties, so he wont be present to save you whenever you bite off more than you can chew. Of course, your mentor will expect something in return for his assistance, he it good company, an occasional gofer, a champion, or perhaps a supporter in sept politics. His demands can make an excellent source of story hooks. In general, however, you will receive more than you give. Other werecreatures may wonder what your mentor sees in you - the two of you deel as individuals, rather than as members of your respective packs.
A powerful mentor doesn't have to be a single person; a pack or council of elders might be considered a collective mentor. The latter would almost certainly have a raging of four or five digs, even if no one on the council is above Rank 5.

Points	Description
	Mentor is Rank 2
	Mentor is Rank 3
	Mentor is Rank 4
	Mentor is Rank 5
	Mentor is Rank 6

• Corax rarely stick with any single Mentor for an appreciable length of time, and dismiss Pure Breed as elitist nonsense.

[+/-] Pure Breed

Pure Breed

W20 Core, pg 138

Garou take great stock in ancestry, and the werewolf who is descended from renowned forebears has a definite advantage in Garou society. This Background prepresents your lineage, markings, bearings and other features of birth. Other Garou revere werewolves with high ranks in Pure Breed as heroes of yore come to life - and such werewolves are expected to act the part. The higher your Pure Breed score is, the more likely you are to impress elder councils or receive hospitality from foreign tribes. Each point of Pure Breed adds an extra die to formal challenges (such as Rank challenges) and to Social rolls involving other Garou (even Ronin or Black Spiral Dancers).
Pure breed is a nebulous combination of bloodline and spiritual inheritance. A character with high Pure Breed looks and carries himself like an archetypal member of his tribe - however, if he does not join that tribe, any benefits of Pure Breed are removed by the tribe's totem. Many werewolves with Pure Breed can trace their ancestry directly, while others resemble distant ancestors who cannot be connected without a degree of genealogical exactitude that is lost to the Garou.
Some tribes place more value on good breeding than others, but Pure Breed is almost universally respected. It's a mystical trait, and werewolves can tell instinctively whose blood is particularly pure. Of course, Garou expect those of pure blood to live up to the standards set by their noble ancestors. They frown on those who cant or wont accept the challenge.

Points	Description
	You have your father's eyes.
	Your grandfather made a name for himself at the Battle of Blood Ford, and you carry that name with pride.
	Your pedigree is blessed with pillars of the Garou Nation, and the blood tells.
	You could be dressed as a beggar and still command respect.
	The greatest of heroes live on in you.

• Ajaba use all of the same Backgrounds as the Garou, although high Pure Breed becomes increasingly rare as the Ajaba scramble to shore up their decimated numbers.
  
• No Ananasi may have Ancestors or Pure Breed; Ananasa doesn’t want her children dwelling on the past.
  
• Corax rarely stick with any single Mentor for an appreciable length of time, and dismiss Pure Breed as elitist nonsense.
  
• Kitsune use many of the same Backgrounds as the Garou, eschewing only Pure Breed as redundant — werefoxes are all of the purest blood, after all.
  
• Ratkin generally don’t have much in the way of Resources or Allies, and don’t have Ancestors or Pure Breed at all.
  
• The timeless Rokea don’t have Ancestors, and don’t concern themselves with Pure Breed.
  

[+/-] Rites

Rites

We do not use the Rites background here, so you can spend your points on other things! Instead, if you buy the Rituals Knowledge, it will work the same: One level of rite per point of Rituals.

[+/-] Spirit Heritage

Spirit Heritage

W20 Core, pg 139

The Garou are creatures of duality - torn between man and wolf, and between flesh and spirit. The Garou share a kinsship with inhabitants of the spirit world, but some have a stronger connection than others. For some reason, perhaps an ancestral tie to a household of spirits, certain types of spirits react more positively to you than others. This doesn't need to be a friendly relationship - spirits may be fearful and respectful of you, in awe of you, or feel a sense of duty to you. No matter what the relationship, one group of spirits is more likely to cooperate with you.
When you select this background, choose one type of spirits. Examples of possible groups are animal spirits, plant spirits, elementals, urban spirits, and even Banes. When dealing with spirits of this type, the player may add his Spirit Heritage rating to any Social rolls, or rolls involved in challenges. Spirits whom you are attuned to view you, to some degree, as one of their own - a daunting prospect for those attuned to Banes, when other Garou discover their heritage. If you act against such spirits or ignore their plights, you may be seen as betraying them

Points	Description
	Spirits can smell their scent on you, though no one else can.
	The spirits note your arrival. You bring your chosen spirits to mind in others when they look at you, though few understand why.
	In the umbra, you emanate an intangible, though noticeable, sense of your aligned spirit type.
	In the Umbra, you have visible hints of your aligned spirit type. Those attuned to nature spirits may have tiny twigs emerge from their fur, for example.
	Some question if you really are only half spirit.

[+/-] Totem

Totem

W20 Core, pg 140, W20 Changing Breeds, pg 212

Totem is a Background that applies directly to the character’s pack, rather than the individual. Unlike other pooled Backgrounds, the pack spends all of the points that members have invested in this Trait to determine their totem’s power.
Each totem has a Background cost rating; the pack must spend that amount to ally with that totem. Some totems are willing to lend great powers to their adherents; their point costs are correspondingly greater. See Pack Totems (W20 Core, pg 373) for a list of possible totems. In addition to their Totem bonuses, all beginning totems have a base of eight points to divide among Rage, Willpower, and Gnosis. The totem also begins with the Airt Sense and Re-form Charms. Apart from bestowing power, totems start out somewhat aloof from the pack, and they have little influence among spirits, unless the players buy a closer connection with Background points. With time, roleplaying, and experience points, pack totems can grow in power as their pack grows in Rank and influence. Some totems can even become the totems of whole septs or — in legendary circumstances — even tribes.
Most of the powers that totems bestow are available to only one pack member at a time. At the end of each turn, the Garou with the power declares who the power may be given to next turn (assuming that she doesn’t keep it). After spending the initial cost of the totem, the players can spend any remaining Background points to add to the totem’s strength and abilities.

A multi-Fera pack may pool its Background points to buy its Totem in the same fashion as a Garou pack. Owing perhaps to some similarity to the rites used by the hengeyokai, even Corax and Gurahl are able to participate in the rite, giving up Raven or Bear’s favor in exchange for that of the pack totem. The inclusion of a Nuwisha still guarantees that the totem attracted will be a trickster of some variety, however. In the incredible event that an Ananasi or Nagah participates in the rite, they gain only the ability to participate in pack tactics and the totem spirit’s favorable regard; Queen Ananasa will not relinquish her children to another, while the Nagah remain outside of the Pact that facilitates congress between the spirit world and the other Fera.

Cost	Power
1	Per three points to spend on Willpower, Rage, or Gnosis
1	Totem can speak to the pack without the benefit of the Gift: Spirit Speech.
1	Totem can always find the pack members.
2	Totem is nearly always with the pack members.
2	Totem is respected by other spirits.
2	Per charm possessed
3	Per extra pack member who can use the totem’s powers in the same turn
4	Totem is connected mystically to all pack members, allowing communication among them even at great distances.
5	Totem is feared by agents of the Wyrm. Either minions of the Wyrm flee from the pack, or they do their best to kill the pack.

The listed cost is in Background points, which can be bought through experience (see Spending Experience Points, p. 244) at the rate of two experience points per Background point. (Therefore, three points of Rage would cost two experience points.) The Storyteller should allow increases in totem powers only when it fits in to the story, such as when pack members gain a higher rank, a new member joins the pack, or when pack members gain new insight into the nature of their totem. When the totem is affiliated with a more powerful spirit, the greater spirit might grant the strengthening of its servant (pack totem) in return for a great service done it by the pack.

• As social creatures, werehyenas are much more likely to have pack totems than personal ones.
  
• Queen Ananasa also serves as the totem for all werespiders, granting Occult +3 and Enigmas +2 while the werespider meditates in his Sylie. In return, they must obey her laws.
  
• Bastet often use personal rather than pack totems, however (calling such patrons “Jamak”).
  
• Corax have no pack or personal Totems, either; Raven claims each Corax for his own, granting them one free dot of Athletics, Enigmas, and Subterfuge. In return he asks only that they whisper each secret they learn into the air, that he might hear it as well.
  
• All Gurahl have an aspect of Bear as their personal Totem.
  
• Those not associated with a sentai or other pack-group may have either a personal totem or no totem at all.
  
• Virtually all Nuwisha have a personal totem, inevitably a trickster spirit of some sort. Rarely, a Nuwisha will bind herself into a pack of other Fera — but only if the pack is united under a trickster totem.
  
• Some wererats establish themselves under a permanent Totem, while others use a special rite to temporarily assume a Totem for the duration of only a single mission or quest, dissolving their bond to the spirit once their task is done.

[+/-] Den Realm

Den-Realm

W20 Changing Breeds, pg 210

The Bastet has built or acquired (either by inheritance or duel) her own Den-Realm, a sanctuary where she and the land have become one. In the Umbra, a Den-Realm resembles a Domain, one which other travelers cannot pass through without permission. The appearance of this Domain is up to the Bastet who owns the Den-Realm — a proud Khan’s Den-Realm may resemble a maharaja’s fortress, while a Balam’s might resemble an impenetrable forest.
A difficulty 8 Perception + Occult roll is necessary to recognize a Den-Realm for what it is, and penetrating its walls uninvited requires a roll as though the intruder were stepping sideways (difficulty 9). This automatically alerts the Bastet that an intruder is coming in.
A werecat inside of his Den-Realm enjoys several benefits: He may step sideways at any time within his Den-Realm, against a Gauntlet of 3. A number of times per scene equal to his Gnosis rating, the Bastet may make a Gnosis roll (difficulty 6) to blink between two points in his Den-Realm without crossing the intervening space. Any attack on the Den-Realm (whether by banes in the Umbra or bulldozers in the Gaia Realm) registers as a cold bolt of pain in the werecat’s heart. The Bastet can freely peer through the Gauntlet from either side within her Den-Realm. Finally, the Bastet can lead any others she chooses across the Gauntlet while in her Den-Realm as though they were packmates.
A Den-Realm’s rating determines how big it is. The first rating is for urban Den-Realms, while the second is for the much larger Den-Realms possible in the wilderness.

Points	Description
	The size of a house/one square mile.
	The size of a mansion/two square miles.
	A city block/five square miles.
	Two city blocks/10 square miles.
	Five city blocks/20 square miles.

[+/-] Umbral Glade

Umbral Glade

W20 Changing Breeds, pg 210

A Gurahl with this Background possesses a Den which opens into a Glade in the Umbra, serving as a “mini-caern” or wellspring of Gnosis. The size and location of the Umbral Glade determines how much Gnosis is available for the resident Gurahl. If more than one Gurahl remains within the Glade in order to regain Gnosis, the total Gnosis available must be shared among those wishing to partake of it.
In addition to providing Gnosis for the Gurahl, an Umbral Glade gives the werebear an instantaneous doorway into the Umbra without the need for a rite.

Points	Description
	A 20 x 20 foot area, supplying one Gnosis per day.
	A 50 x 50 foot area, supplying two Gnosis per day.
	A 100 x 100 foot area, supplying three Gnosis per day.
	A 500 x 500 foot area, supplying four Gnosis per day.
	A 1,000 x 1,000 foot area, supplying five Gnosis per day.

[+/-] Mnesis

Mnesis

Any Mokolé (even one without this Background) may place himself into a Mnesis quest — a sort of autohypnosis in which the character journeys deep into the halls of ancestral memory, much like the Umbral vision-quests of the Garou. Because a Mnesis quest can easily last for hours and renders the seeker oblivious to the outside world for its duration, most Mokolé will only enter Mnesis while in the safety of their wallows. The rating of the Background determines how far back the Mokolé may remember.

Points	Description
None	Roughly a century.
	Three to five hundred years.
	Roughly a millennium.
	The Impergium and the beginning of human civilization.
	The awakening of the mammalian shapeshifters.
	The time of the Dinosaur Kings.

[+/-] Wallow

Wallow

The Wallow Background means that you have ties to a Mokolé wallow, one with some history and other Mokolé residents. If you are a homid, this may be a village, rural homestead, or isolated island such as Komodo. If you are a suchid, it may be an ancient temple, jungle swamp, zoo, or gator farm. Any Allies, Contacts, or Kinfolk you may have likely live at the wallow. The wallow is a place where you can meditate to regain Gnosis in Sun’s light, hold gathers and perform rites. You may live there all the time; of course, if you don’t have Resources, your home might not be very luxurious.

Points	Description
	A poor wallow. One Mokolé lives there or perhaps only Kin.
	No palace. A few Mokolé and Kin live there.
	The wallow has lots of land (maybe a national park) or places to live.
	A nice place: a village, isolated creek, or lake.
	A temple, alligator farm, or large village.

[+/-] Secrets

Secrets

The character possesses information that would be considered desirable — or damaging — by someone else. While such knowledge can sometimes place the character in danger, mostly it gives her leverage and advantages. What the character does with these secrets (bartering them for favors or cash, using them to take down minions of the Wyrm, or something else entirely) is up to her.
The player and Storyteller should work together to determine what sort of secrets the character possesses. The Background’s rating determines the value and number of secrets the character knows. This Background is normally the province of Corax and Bastet, though other Changing Breeds (and even the odd Shadow Lord!) occasionally pick it up as well.

Points	Description
	A small but noteworthy secret — a secret affair, a hidden sexual orientation, a minor crime.
	A moderate secret. The human identities of a Garou pack, the whereabouts of a criminal on the run, a significant crime, or evidence of two Garou sleeping together. Alternately, a few minor secrets.
	A substantial secret, or equivalent amount of lesser secrets. A matter of life and death or utter ruination for someone. The location of a lost fetish that someone needs to stay lost. The identity of a murderer of one or more Fera.
	A heavy secret, or equivalent amount of lesser secrets. The location of a national fugitive, a vampire’s “little black book” of contacts, the location of a Gurahl.
	An enormous secret, or equivalent amount of lesser secrets. A high-level Pentex plot. The location of a legendary cursed fetish. The secret weakness of an Incarna.

• Bastet and Corax both have access to Secrets.

[+/-] Umbral Maps

Umbral Maps

The character possesses a wealth of experience and received information about Umbral navigation. These “Umbral maps” are not physical objects, but rather the collected lore of symbolic navigation among spirit paths, the entry methods for safe havens and refuges, the cycles of natural spirit paths, and reliable methods to bypass various obstacles along the way.
This Background is normally the province of Corax and Nuwisha, though other Changing Breeds occasionally pick it up as well.

Points	Description
	A few safe paths and refuges. The character enjoys –1 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra.
	Several routes to common destinations. As Level One, plus once per story the character can re-roll a failed attempt to navigate through the Umbra.
	Safe zones, routes to virtually any place, and knowledge of where not to go. –2 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra, plus one re-roll per story.
	Several safe places and refuges, extensive knowledge of Umbral paths and dwellers in those areas. –2 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra, plus two re-rolls per story.
	No one knows the Near Umbra like the character. –3 difficulty to rolls to navigate the Umbra, plus three re-rolls per story.

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Vampire Backgrounds

[+/-] Black Hand Membership

Black Hand Membership

This Background is for Sabbat characters only. You are a member of the feared Black Hand, the body of soldiers and assassins that serves the Sabbat fervently. Having this Background indicates that you are a full-fledged member of the organization, and you have all the responsibilities and benefits that accompany membership.

You may call upon members of the Black Hand to aid you, should you ever need it. Of course, this ability is a two-way street, and other Hand members may call upon you to aid them. Thus, you may find yourself assigned to perform assassinations, lend martial aid, or even further the political ends of the Hand as a diplomat or spy. You may also be required to attend crusades that take you away from your pack. All members of the Black Hand must heed the call of another Hand member, especially the superiors of the faction.

Being a member of the Black Hand is a prestigious matter, and other members of the Sabbat respect the organization. When dealing with other Sabbat, should you choose to reveal your affiliation with the Hand, you may add your rating in this Background to any Social dice pools, even after Status or other Abilities have been taken into account. Most Hand members, however, choose not to reveal their allegiance. The Black Hand is also remarkably adept at hunting down Sabbat who claim membership in the Sect but do not truly belong — liars, beware.

Points	Description
	You are a grunt; you may call upon one Black Hand member once per story.
	You are known and respected in the Black Hand; you may call upon two Black Hand members once per story.
	You are held in the Black Hand’s regard; you may call upon five Black Hand members once per story.
	You are a hero among members of the Black Hand; you may call upon seven Black Hand members twice per story (but you’d better have just cause — if it seems you’re becoming soft, you may lose points in this Background). You may also lead large numbers of Hand members into action should it ever become necessary.
	You are part of Black Hand legend; you may call upon 12 Black Hand members twice per story (but see the preceding caution). You may also lead large numbers of Hand members into action should it ever become necessary. The Seraphim may even seek your counsel on matters of import.

[+/-] Domain

Domain

Domain is physical territory (usually within the chronicle’s central city) to which your character controls access for the purpose of feeding. Some Kindred refer to their domain as hunting grounds, and most jealously guard their domains, even invoking the Tradition of the same name to protect their claims. As part of this Background, the character’s claim to the domain is recognized by the Prince or some other Kindred authority in the city where it is located.

The Kindred who claims the domain can’t keep the living inhabitants from going about their business, nor does she exercise any direct influence over them, but she can keep watch herself and mind their comings and goings. She can also have Allies or Retainers specifically look for unfamiliar vampires and alert her when they find some.

Domain refers specifically to the geography (in most cases a neighborhood or street) and properties on it, as opposed to the people who may dwell there (which is the emphasis of Herd). Domain plays an important part in Kindred society — vampires who lack significant Domain seldom earn respect — but it isn’t an automatic entitlement to status among the Damned.

You may designate one or more dots in Domain to increase the security of your character’s territory rather than its size. Each dot so assigned to security provides a +1 difficulty penalty to efforts to intrude into the domain by anyone your character hasn’t specifically allowed in, and a -1 difficulty bonus to efforts by your character to identify and track intruders in the domain. A Domain of one dot’s size and two dots’ security, for instance, is small but quite resistant to intrusion, as opposed to a Domain rating of three dots’ size with no extraordinary security.

Each level of Domain reduces the difficulty of hunting checks by one for your character and those whom the character allows in. It also adds to your starting (not maximum) blood pool. If you use the domain security option, each dot of domain security raises the difficulty of hunting checks by one for uninvited vampires. See V20 Core, pg 259 for more information on hunting.

Domain (both size and security) can be used with pooled Background points.

Points	Description
	A single small building, such as a single-family home or a social establishment — enough for a basic haven.
	A church, factory, warehouse, mid-rise, or other large structure — a location with ready but easily controllable access to the outside world.
	A high-rise, city block, or an important intersection — a location or area that offers areas for concealment as well as controlled access.
	A sewer subsection, a network of service tunnels, the enclave of homes on a hill overlooking the city — a place with inherently protective features, such as an isolated mountain road, bridge-only access, or vigilant private security force.
	An entire neighborhood, an ethnic subdivision like “Chinatown” or “Little Italy,” or a whole suburb. As noted previously, characters in a coterie can share their domain resources for better results. Six to eight dots secure all of a small town or a distinct city region as a domain. Ten to 15 dots secure an important but not geographically huge city sector, such as “the docks,” or “Highland Park.” A large city itself might be a hundred-plus Domain points, as with Atlanta, Dallas, Geneva, or Baghdad. A city such as New York, London, Paris, Rome, Sao Paolo, or Shanghai would require many hundreds of Domain points.

[+/-] Generation

Generation

This Background represents your Generation: the purity of your blood, and your proximity to the First Vampire. A high Generation rating may represent a powerful sire or a decidedly dangerous taste for diablerie. If you don’t take any dots in this Trait, you begin play as a Thirteenth Generation vampire. See V20 Core, pg 270 for further information.

Points	Description
	Twelfth Generation: 11 blood pool, can spend 1 blood point per turn
	Eleventh Generation: 12 blood pool, can spend 1 blood point per turn
	Tenth Generation: 13 blood pool, can spend 1 blood point per turn
	Ninth Generation: 14 blood pool, can spend 2 blood points per turn
	Eighth Generation: 15 blood pool, can spend 3 blood points per turn

[+/-] Herd

Herd

You have built a group of mortals from whom you can feed without fear. A herd may take many forms, from circles of kinky clubgoers to actual cults built around you as a god-figure. In addition to providing nourishment, your herd might come in handy for minor tasks, though they are typically not very controllable, closely connected to you, or particularly skilled (for more effective pawns, purchase Allies or Retainers). Your Herd rating adds dice to your rolls for hunting; see p. 259 for further details.

Players may purchase pooled Herd with Background points.

Points	Description
	Three vessels
	Seven vessels
	15 vessels
	30 vessels
	60 vessels

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