Wisdom Totems

by **Raven_Sky** Tue Aug 02, 2016 10:32 am

Bacchus
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 5
Description: This ancient Incarna of intoxication, sex and fertility has been dubbed with the name Bacchus by the Ancient Romans, and does not seem to object to this. He has traded favors with the Black Furies as a fertility god, blessed the brews of the Fianna, and been at home at innumerable raves with the young Glass Walkers. But those who see Bacchus only as a reveler miss the darker mysteries into which he inducts his children and the terrible rage he can bring upon those who would deny him. Those Silent Striders interested in the Dark Umbra often see the once-dead Bacchus as a guide to these lands.
Benefits: You gain the abilities Occult x3 and Enigmas x2, the physical trait Tough (or a synonym) and one additional Rage.
Ban: Those who follow Bacchus tend to be strongly connected to their baser natures. If a character has a chance to indulge a strongly felt desire, they must succeed in a static Willpower Challenge (difficulty is their own Rage) to do otherwise.

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Bat
Type: Wisdom
Brood: Grandfather Thunder
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: As far as most Garou know, Bat is a Totem of the Wyrm. For the most part, that's true -- the fall of his children the Camazotz centuries ago drove him insane and into the service of the enemy. But a small group of Shadow Lords operating in Mexico were recently able to redeem the totem, or at least one of his aspects. Even those Garou who are aware of this development don't know what to make of it, and treat followers of Bat with great suspicion. The redeemed Bat urges his new Garou followers to listen for the voice of Gaia, continuing the work of the lost Camazotz.
Benefits: You gain the Mental Trait Perceptive x1 (or a synonym) and the Abilities Enigmas x3.
Ban: You must never fight with Gaia's other children -- including other Gaian Garou. Even ritualized or honorable combat is forbidden. The redeemed Bat hates Gaian-on-Gaian violence, and requires that you find other ways to resolve your disputes.
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Bougoodoogahdah the Lyrebird
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background cost: 5 traits
Description: Bougoodoogahdah is a secretive bird who mimics the cries of other Dreamtime dwellers. He has a drab, brown body, but a spectacular tail, shaped like a lyre.
Benefits: Children who follow Lyrebird gain Performance 2 and Subterfuge 2. They can also make a static Social, retest Performance, to mimic common sounds. This challenge in vs. 10 traits to mimic a person's voice, 14 for animals, and 16 for other sounds such as mechanics or footfalls. These numbers may be changed at ST's discretion based on the individual difficulty of the sound.
Ban:Children of Bougoodoogahbah must never be flamboyant. They must dress in drab color and may never be the center of attention. Their performances should be modest, always hidden from view.
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Chameleon
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
Description: Chameleon is a subtle and watchful spirit, quick to adapt to his surroundings but slow to act. He is favored by Garou of similar temperament.
Benefits: You gain the basic Ragabash Gift Blur of the Milky Eye and the Mental Traits Perceptive x3 (or synonyms).
Ban: Never act without fully taking stock of the situation.
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Chimera
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
Description: Like the Stargazer tribe over that she guides, the Chimera is a mystery. A shapeshifter and illusionist, she wears many faces in her quest for inner enlightenment.
Benefits: You gain the Mental Trait Perceptive x1 (or a synonym) and the Abilities Enigmas x3. You enjoy a two-Trait bonus to challenges that involve solving riddles, interpreting dreams, or other uses of the Enigmas Ability. In the Umbra, you may disguise yourself or something else by winning a static Gnosis Challenge versus seven Traits.
Ban: You must seek enlightenment.
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City Father/Mother
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 6 Traits
Description: The personality and ethos of the city itself is embodied in this spirit, a Father or Mother who looks after the interests of the humans making it their home. Garou devoted to this Totem often share in its emotions: they might become giddy during a local celebration, or suffer a nosebleed during a major disaster.
Benefits: You gain the Gift Attunement, and once per session one member of your pack may use it without paying its costs. You also gain the Abilities Streetwise x3. The Totem often sends you warnings of imminent danger to the city, usually by messenger.
Drawback: If you claim a Wisdom for following this Totem one year, and you're not a Glass Walker or Bone Gnawer, you also lose one Honor.
Ban: Fulfill the favors your Totem asks of you, serving to aid the city.
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Cockroach
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 6 Traits
Description: No Totem of old has adapted himself better to the modern age than Cockroach. Resilient, clever, persistent, Cockroach is swift to colonize the constructs of man and master them for his purposes. Unlike many Gaian spirits, this totem feels utterly at home in the cities.
Benefits: You enjoy a two-Trait bonuses on all challenges involving computers, electricity, and science. You enjoy a three-Trait bonus on all challenges to activate Gifts that affect technology. By winning a static Gnosis Challenge against the Gauntlet, you may view data that is stored or being transferred electronically.
Ban: You must never kill cockroaches.
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Danu
Type: Wisdom
Brood: Stag
Totem Background Cost: 8 Traits
Description: The Fianna believe their tribe and the Fae both trace their lineage back to this sacred Mother, whom they say to be an aspect of Gaia herself. A spirit of ancient histories, she links her packs to all those who have gone before them.
Benefits: You gain three traits of something like Ancestors, representing primal memory rather than specific Garou. You gain the Lupus gift Sense the Unnatural, for discovering mysteries. Your storytelling, singing and howls gain the ability to entrance listeners if you can defeat them in a Social Challenge (retest Performance).
Ban: Once each season, hold a moot in honor of Danu, telling tales old and new alike.
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East Wind
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: Forthcoming
Benefits: You gain one Gnosis, and you enjoy a one-Trait bonus in Willpower vs. Rage challenges.
Ban: You must keep reminders of the wind on your person at all times.

Harrier
Type: Wisdom
Brood: Falcon
Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
Description: The patron of house Unbreakable Hearth is a small but wise bird. Harrier's wisdom exemplifies the virtue of cooperation.
Benefits: You gain one level of the Empathy Ability, and a two-Trait bonus in all Social challenges involving negotiation, truces and alliances. Harrier's swiftness grants you two additional steps of movement in combat.
Ban: Listen before you speak. When there is debate, listen for at least five minutes before speaking yourself.
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Innovation
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: A small totem recently freed from captivity by Glasswalkers, Innovation is still weak in comparison to many other spirits that Garou seek out to pack under. Those who seek out this fledgling spirit should devote themselves to pushing boundries, overcoming obstacles, and coming up with creative solutions.
Benefits: You gain the Mental Trait Creative and one level of Crafts to four different Crafts of your choice (these are chosen when you take the totem, and may not be changed).
Ban: Innovation requires that you don't dismiss any ideas prior to giving them proper consideration. Even the most foolish idea can spark the creativity of others when it is given time to simmer.
Note: This is a custom totem created within this chronicle. Storytellers may require additional roleplay on the part of the petitioner before they will be allowed to follow this totem.
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New World Trinity
Type: Wisdom
Brood: Unicorn
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: This triune spirit is a fusion of the three birds that symbolize the hopes of the Founders of America: the Eagle, the Turkey and the Dove. The Eagle is John Adams' ideal of a warrior who fights that his children may become philosophers. The Turkey is Benjamin Franklin's proud individuality, disregarding appearances for internal virtue. The Dove is Thomas Jefferson's ideal of peaceful commerce with all, and entangling alliances with none.
Benefits: You gain a three-Trait bonus when using a Gift that calls for a Social Challenge. You also gain the Philodox Gift Wisdom of the Ancient Ways and the Galliard Gift Dreamspeak, with which you can give Gaian visions to influential humans.
Ban: Promote peace, seek justice, and build communities without compromising individuality.
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Owl
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 6 Traits
Description: Like a phantom in the forest, Owl brings death on wings of silence. He holds hidden wisdom into the ways of life and death, and guides his tribe, the Silent Striders, to do likewise. No Totem is more learned in the land of the dead; followers of Owl know "the Dark Umbra" is more than a rumor. Also, Owl's taste for Rat is infamous; followers of that totem mistrust followers of Owl with good reason.
Benefits: In the Umbra, you manifest the wings of Owl, granting you the power of flight. You enjoy a two-Trait bonus on challenges involving silence and stealth. You gain a three-Trait bonus on challenges to activate Gifts involving air, travel, movement and darkness. Sometimes, Owl packs in danger are aided by Silent Striders arriving in at just the right moment.
Ban: You must leave small rodents in the woods, upon which Owl and his children will gleefully feast.
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Peregrine Falcon
Type: Wisdom
Brood: Falcon
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: Once the ubiquitous representative of Falcon's brood, today the Peregrine Falcon is in decline. Its house, Wise Heart, is waning in the world, and pesticides kill its mortal brethren. Nonetheless it remains a potent totem of knowledge and learning.
Benefits: You gain a one-trait bonus on Enigmas and Occult challenges. You are also blessed with an increased capacity for learning, gaining an additional point of XP per month. (This point cannot take you past the 8-XP-per-month cap. If it would, the point is simply lost.)
Ban: You must destroy the source of all pesticides and weed killers that you happen across. You must also expand your learning by spending at least 1 XP per month on Lores or other knowledge-type Abilities -- Academics, Law, Medicine, etc.
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Peyote
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
Description: Forthcoming
Benefits: You gain the Abilities Rituals x1 and Enigmas x1, and enjoy a two-Trait bonus on Gnosis Challenges.
Ban: You must take peyote in a sacramental manner at least once per season, and you must uphold your cultural values .
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Raven
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: Among the cleverest of birds, Raven is in equal parts playful and avaricious. He allows others to kill first, then feeds on what they leave behind. He has long been companion to wolves, who can watch him on the wilderness for signs of dead prey or omens of trouble. In his own way, Raven is a totem of wealth as well -- through trickery and opportunity, this totem sees that his wolves want for nothing.
Benefits: You gain the Abilities Survival x3, Subterfuge x1 and Enigmas x1. The Corax will be more sympathetic to you than they are to most Garou.
Ban: You may carry no wealth; Raven wants you to trust him to provide for your needs.

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Sphinx
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
Description: Sphinx is both a wise guardian and a cunning warrior. Though she is best known for her clever riddles, her claws are sharp, a fact that proves reassuring for many warriors. A demanding mother, Sphinx only takes those who demonstrate intelligence and wit.
Benefits: You gain the Mental Trait Wily x1 and the Shadow Lord Gift: Fatal Flaw. In addition, once per round, you gain a free retest on an Enigmas-based challenge.
Ban: Follows of Sphinx may never refuse a riddle contest. Sphinx also will never take a follower that has less than 7 Mental Traits, or a pack that harbors such a fool.
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Twister
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
Description: Chaotic, Enigmatic, and Destructive, Twister is part of the Wyld's voice, a brother of Earthquake and Volcano. Within his swirling winds, the eye of the storm sets things to calm, lending a voice of wisdom and clarity. His destructive nature belies a deeper purpose: Clear away the old, so that new may be rebuilt in the place of it.
Benefits: You gain the Physical Traits Strong x1 (or a synonym) and Quick x1 (or a synonym) and the Ability Primal Urge x2.
Ban: Twister asks that no child of his leave a residential area without first destroying something. And there are an awful lot of trailer parks near the Cities...
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Uktena
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
Description: A ancient water spirit and patron of his eponymous tribe, Uktena appears as a serpent with features of both a cougar and a deer. Lost and secret knowledge is his greatest prize -- he seeks it out in river beds, subterranean lakes, and all the dark forgotten places of the world. He guards such knowledge jealously, sharing it with none but the most worthy (and most secretive like himself).
Benefits: In the Umbra, you gain one Health Level of armor that regenerates at the top of each round. You are also blessed with an increased capacity for learning, gaining an additional point of XP per month. (This point cannot take you past the 8-XP-per-month cap. If it would, the point is simply lost.) Uktena tribe members often regard followers of their Totem as younger siblings.
Drawback: Many Garou distrust the secret-hoarding nature of this totem; you suffer a one-Trait penalty on Social Challenges with werewolves of tribes other than Uktena and Wendigo.
Ban: You must try to recover mystical lore, objects, places and animals from the Wyrm's grasp. You must also expand your learning by spending at least 1 XP per month on mystical knowledge -- namely Enigmas, Occult, Rituals, Lore, and Gifts.
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Unicorn
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
Description: The visionary spirit of the Children of Gaia, the Unicorn embodies harmony, purity, healing and peace. She recognizes that these good things require great sacrifice to achieve, but she never lets the cost pull her thoughts away from the all-encompassing love of Gaia.
Benefits: Blessed with Unicorn's speed, you move at twice the normal rate in the Umbra. You gain the Abilities Brawl x1, Medicine x1 and Survival x1, and a two-Trait bonus to challenges involving healing or empathy. Children of Gaia always aid you in disputes, often taking your side.
Drawback: Burdened by Unicorn's care for Gaia's children, you suffer a two-Trait penalty on challenges to harm other Garou not of the Wyrm.
Ban: You must help and protect the weak and exploited, except when doing so would aid the Wyrm.
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Winter Wolf
Type: Wisdom
Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
Description: Winter Wolf moves like a ghost through some of the planet's harshest terrain. He survives where weaker wolves would starve or freeze. Deeply in touch with the Wyld, this wolf is a fierce and cunning predator, but also wise -- because sometimes one should conserve one's energy rather than wasting it on a foolish hunt.
Benefits: You gain the Physical Trait Rugged x1 and the Abilities Animal Ken x1, Primal Urge x1, and Survival x2. Once per game session, you may spend one Gnosis to refresh three spent Willpower.
Ban: During the harsh winter months, you must leave out food for those wolves who failed to heed your Totem's wisdom.