I'd like to know some more about werewolve in the VTM setting. From what I've gathered, they are either benevolent spirits who actually work to protect humanity from excessive vampire influence. They hate vampires but are occasionally merciful to those that retain their humanity. They have a connection to the "spirit world" that gives them an advantage over vampires.
Can anyone give me the lowdown on these creatures? Are they immortal? Can they survive daylight? Do they pass on lyncanthropy to victims?
Info on werewolves
Info on werewolves
"Even the most powerful wizards will respect cold steel once it's shoved down their throats."
I'm not as well versed in the Werewolf material as the Vampire material. However, Werewolves, in the White Wolf mythology, are essentially the servants of Gaia (basically "nature."). Werewolves see Vampires as, essentially, servants of the Wyrm (which is basically corruption and evil). And, as such, they will attack Vampires on sight (and its rare for a Werewolf to even consider sparing any Vampire, regardless of how closely tied to humanity that particular Vampire is). Likewise, they detest cities and technology in general; these forces are products of the Wyrm. There are, of course, some more evil inclined tribes of Werewolves, but this is essentially what they are.
I'm not entirely clear on all the details required to become a werewolf. It's my understanding in White Wolf mythology lycanthropy is not a disease passed on through a bite, or what have you. You, rather, discover your Werewolf heritage as you reach young adulthood. Upon being reintroduced to the pack, Werewolves are closely associated with the life of their tribe (very much like real wolves).
Werewolves are enormously powerful creatures. In terms of raw strength a single Werewolf is easily a match for a few newly created vampires. However, they are not immortal and, as such, elder Vampires are usually much more powerful than a single Werewolf. Likewise, Werewolves have no issues with the sunlight. They have a wide range of abilities, most closely associated with tearing things up. Werewolves do have a connection to the spirit realm. I'm not clear on the details of this, but some Werewolves can even enter it for brief periods of time.
And, while they are servants of nature, they tend to be relentless and savage. They are characterized by uncontrollable bouts of range. Moreover, they are not exactly known for subtlety or selective thinking. They are violent, killing machines. Fortunately for Vampires, they largely stick to rural areas. However, they have been known to invade cities to weed out Vampires. In White Wolf mythology, their raid on Chicago is the most famous example of this.
Again, all this is from "Werewolf: The Apocalypse." Like "Vampire: the Masquerade," this mythology has essentially ended. Much of it is incorporated and expanded on in "Werewolf: The Forsaken," which was just recently released (it's a revision of the world, in continuity with the new "Vampire: The Requiem" materials).
I'm not entirely clear on all the details required to become a werewolf. It's my understanding in White Wolf mythology lycanthropy is not a disease passed on through a bite, or what have you. You, rather, discover your Werewolf heritage as you reach young adulthood. Upon being reintroduced to the pack, Werewolves are closely associated with the life of their tribe (very much like real wolves).
Werewolves are enormously powerful creatures. In terms of raw strength a single Werewolf is easily a match for a few newly created vampires. However, they are not immortal and, as such, elder Vampires are usually much more powerful than a single Werewolf. Likewise, Werewolves have no issues with the sunlight. They have a wide range of abilities, most closely associated with tearing things up. Werewolves do have a connection to the spirit realm. I'm not clear on the details of this, but some Werewolves can even enter it for brief periods of time.
And, while they are servants of nature, they tend to be relentless and savage. They are characterized by uncontrollable bouts of range. Moreover, they are not exactly known for subtlety or selective thinking. They are violent, killing machines. Fortunately for Vampires, they largely stick to rural areas. However, they have been known to invade cities to weed out Vampires. In White Wolf mythology, their raid on Chicago is the most famous example of this.
Again, all this is from "Werewolf: The Apocalypse." Like "Vampire: the Masquerade," this mythology has essentially ended. Much of it is incorporated and expanded on in "Werewolf: The Forsaken," which was just recently released (it's a revision of the world, in continuity with the new "Vampire: The Requiem" materials).
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To fill in the gaps:
Gaia: Is the entity that is the world. Mother nature, the earth. "She" is belived to have chosen to blend wolf spirits and men together to make warriors to help her defend herself against her enemies and anyone who would abuse her gifts. Werewolves were not the only creatures chosen. (SPOLIER)
Remeber the giant shark man? He's a "Rokea".. Gaia's defenders of the ocean.
The Triat: Weaver: The wearver is the creater of stagnation. She holds things in place with a giant web and ensures that all things have set form, have routine and have stability. She ensures the sun rises at the same time and sets at the same time. She sees to it that mathmatics always works the same and that squares always have equal sides. Represented by a giant spider spirit, her web is thick as steel, however, the futility of her cause drove her insane. She would create stability and routine, only to have it destoryed by...
The Wyrm: The spirit of decay and endings. The spirit that kept all things in balance. The wyrm would end things and return them to the cycle for new life. It saw to it that things broke down over time and didn't remain stagnent forever.. That was, untill the Weaver went mad and trapped it in her web. The Wyrm is trapped inside the web by the Weaver and, as a result, also went mad. It changed from wanting only balance, to seeking only death. It knew if all the Weavers webs were decayed and destoryed, it would be free again. Now it sends mortal and twisted spirit servants against Gaia in a hope to end it's agony, leaving only one spirit free to do it's job without interuption...
The Wyld: The spirit of creation and change. This spirit was mad LONG before the other spirits went insane. Seeking constant change and creation, the Wyld pumps out idea and form one after the other, only to have it locked into one shape by the Weaver. It's chosen children are the shapeshifters, Werewolves amoung them, because of their rare ability to change forms. The Wyld is responsable for the randomness of nature and the world.
So as you can see, the Wyrm seeks to destory everything, the Weaver seeks to bind everything, and the Wyld lops around cackling and pumping out abominations without form or reason. In other words, the warriors of Gaia have a HUGE problem on their hands. Whats worse is, because they are savages and warriors at heart, they are caught in a catch 22. Observe:
"The spirit of War, Death and Destruction, The Wyrm, seeks to wipe out life in a tide of chemical weapons and evil. We have to fight it."
Fighting Death Destruction and War with a War that causes Death and Destruction? Uh oh!
Evil Werewolves: Black Spiral Dancers are werewolves that have seen the futility of their fight and decided that the Wyrm is right. As part of the balancing spirit triat, the Wyrms duty is to destory the earth and Gaia and let all of them be reborn anew and help the cycle along, and do they do their best to ensure that it comes to pass. Killing babies to make angry parents, rape, deforestation, street crime, nukes.. These are all tools of the Wyrms children. The sooner the world gives up hope and dies quietly, the better.
How are werewolves made: Gaia chose the first werewolves herself and mixed man with animal and vis-versa to make a half spirit, half flesh creature that could defend her. After that, like most things in nature, it's a matter of genetics. If your mother or father (or both) was a werewolf, or had werewolf blood in their heritage, theres a chance you will become a werewolf... Otherwise you will become whats known as "Kinfolk"... Just being people who didn't change into werewolves, but carry werewolf blood. These people are imune to the supernatural terror that a werewolf in it's War Form creates in normal humans, making them helpful soliders and good breeding stock. Recently, the number of werewolves has been slowly dying out... Bad news if you like them big, ugly, hairy and violent ladies!
The first change happens usualy around puberty, when rage and emotoin run their highest. An event triggers the first violent transformation (and usualy causes the brutal bloody murder of those invovled) and after that, the other werewolves gather the shifter up, put him with a pack, and help him learn to control his unatural Rage and instincts. They also help him learn to shift at will, rather then at random.
Werewolves are physicaly powerful, but mentaly and socialy, they simply cannot match Vampires. Most werewolf powers relate to killing, or mating, or getting someone into a position to kill/mate with them. A newly created Ventrue can just as easily Dominate or use Presence on a well trained werewolf as he can any other mortal creature.. However, if the wereolf gets the jump on Mr Ventrue.. It's all internal organs and goo and ashy powder as the Werewolf licks his claws clean. This is the reason Werewolves don't go into the city and Vampires don't go into the country. Observe:
Your a werewolf, and sure, most young vampires you can pop like a ripe tick. You don't know it, but there are older ones that could kill entier packs of you with a wave of their hand, but you think your pretty buff! You find a vampire, you track it and you POUNCE! Like a wolf, you stare into the eyes of your prey a moment before the final blow, when suddenly your prey says:
"Go and seek out all other werewolves you can. Kill them all to the best of your ability and report back here in 2 years from today for more instructions. In the mean time, you will not hurt me or any other kindred that I do not instruct you to hurt"
You don't know exactly why, but suddenly you're over come with the urge to go find your pack.. Find them.. And kill them...
Werewolves have only one well known weakness. Pure silver. Like sunlight to a vampire, the surest way to rid yourself of and angry Garou is to pop it in the head with a sliver bullet. For the purposes of game mechanics, Werewolves are not permited to absorb any dammage from sliver weapons, nor are they permited to heal it in any supernatural way. In other words, one sliver bullets put them down, another one makes sure they are dead.. Hence the old instruction "One silver bullet through the heart".
Of course, there are examples of werewolves being, much to their suprise, crushed like over ripe grapes by elder or well prepared younger vampires. However usualy werewolves have the upper hand in physical combat thanks to a little place known as "The Umbra". The umbra is the spiritual reflection of the physical world, where the Werewolves travle for englightenment (which, for creatures possed of unatural rage and hatred is hard to find) and to enage the spirits of the wyrm face to face. However, the Umbra is also a useful ambsuh tool. A trained werewolf can peer from the umbra into the physical world as it travles, allowing it to find a vampire, step into the shadowy spirit world, follow it, and pop out and pounce it at random. Imagine walking along, opening your front door, and suddenly a 9 foot tall pile of muscle, claws and fur appares, kills you, and vanishes... DAMM!
Of course, if you pump your strength to it's maximum and have some decent amount of potence in you, you can still throw a Werewolf around like a rag doll and laugh as it whimpers... All depends on the vampire, the werewolf, and the circumstances. Oh, and lastly, no the Garou are NOT benevolant in any way. In fact, for a while, groups of werewolves hunted and killed every human they could find to keep their numbers low in a massive Humanity culling. Also, werewolves are not only totaly unaware of how a vampires humanity erodes, they are also relativly indifferent. They aren't known for their in depth philosophy and thoughtful natures. Ocassionaly, one might try and detect the traces of the Wyrm in one and find nothing (which occurs in vampires humanity 8 or more) but they usualy put that down to "The sneaky way of vampries and the wyrm" and kill them anyway. Some vampires are nicer people then a werewolf ever could be.. But there you go eh?
Anyway, that should keep you busy for a while.
Gaia: Is the entity that is the world. Mother nature, the earth. "She" is belived to have chosen to blend wolf spirits and men together to make warriors to help her defend herself against her enemies and anyone who would abuse her gifts. Werewolves were not the only creatures chosen. (SPOLIER)
Remeber the giant shark man? He's a "Rokea".. Gaia's defenders of the ocean.
The Triat: Weaver: The wearver is the creater of stagnation. She holds things in place with a giant web and ensures that all things have set form, have routine and have stability. She ensures the sun rises at the same time and sets at the same time. She sees to it that mathmatics always works the same and that squares always have equal sides. Represented by a giant spider spirit, her web is thick as steel, however, the futility of her cause drove her insane. She would create stability and routine, only to have it destoryed by...
The Wyrm: The spirit of decay and endings. The spirit that kept all things in balance. The wyrm would end things and return them to the cycle for new life. It saw to it that things broke down over time and didn't remain stagnent forever.. That was, untill the Weaver went mad and trapped it in her web. The Wyrm is trapped inside the web by the Weaver and, as a result, also went mad. It changed from wanting only balance, to seeking only death. It knew if all the Weavers webs were decayed and destoryed, it would be free again. Now it sends mortal and twisted spirit servants against Gaia in a hope to end it's agony, leaving only one spirit free to do it's job without interuption...
The Wyld: The spirit of creation and change. This spirit was mad LONG before the other spirits went insane. Seeking constant change and creation, the Wyld pumps out idea and form one after the other, only to have it locked into one shape by the Weaver. It's chosen children are the shapeshifters, Werewolves amoung them, because of their rare ability to change forms. The Wyld is responsable for the randomness of nature and the world.
So as you can see, the Wyrm seeks to destory everything, the Weaver seeks to bind everything, and the Wyld lops around cackling and pumping out abominations without form or reason. In other words, the warriors of Gaia have a HUGE problem on their hands. Whats worse is, because they are savages and warriors at heart, they are caught in a catch 22. Observe:
"The spirit of War, Death and Destruction, The Wyrm, seeks to wipe out life in a tide of chemical weapons and evil. We have to fight it."
Fighting Death Destruction and War with a War that causes Death and Destruction? Uh oh!
Evil Werewolves: Black Spiral Dancers are werewolves that have seen the futility of their fight and decided that the Wyrm is right. As part of the balancing spirit triat, the Wyrms duty is to destory the earth and Gaia and let all of them be reborn anew and help the cycle along, and do they do their best to ensure that it comes to pass. Killing babies to make angry parents, rape, deforestation, street crime, nukes.. These are all tools of the Wyrms children. The sooner the world gives up hope and dies quietly, the better.
How are werewolves made: Gaia chose the first werewolves herself and mixed man with animal and vis-versa to make a half spirit, half flesh creature that could defend her. After that, like most things in nature, it's a matter of genetics. If your mother or father (or both) was a werewolf, or had werewolf blood in their heritage, theres a chance you will become a werewolf... Otherwise you will become whats known as "Kinfolk"... Just being people who didn't change into werewolves, but carry werewolf blood. These people are imune to the supernatural terror that a werewolf in it's War Form creates in normal humans, making them helpful soliders and good breeding stock. Recently, the number of werewolves has been slowly dying out... Bad news if you like them big, ugly, hairy and violent ladies!
The first change happens usualy around puberty, when rage and emotoin run their highest. An event triggers the first violent transformation (and usualy causes the brutal bloody murder of those invovled) and after that, the other werewolves gather the shifter up, put him with a pack, and help him learn to control his unatural Rage and instincts. They also help him learn to shift at will, rather then at random.
Werewolves are physicaly powerful, but mentaly and socialy, they simply cannot match Vampires. Most werewolf powers relate to killing, or mating, or getting someone into a position to kill/mate with them. A newly created Ventrue can just as easily Dominate or use Presence on a well trained werewolf as he can any other mortal creature.. However, if the wereolf gets the jump on Mr Ventrue.. It's all internal organs and goo and ashy powder as the Werewolf licks his claws clean. This is the reason Werewolves don't go into the city and Vampires don't go into the country. Observe:
Your a werewolf, and sure, most young vampires you can pop like a ripe tick. You don't know it, but there are older ones that could kill entier packs of you with a wave of their hand, but you think your pretty buff! You find a vampire, you track it and you POUNCE! Like a wolf, you stare into the eyes of your prey a moment before the final blow, when suddenly your prey says:
"Go and seek out all other werewolves you can. Kill them all to the best of your ability and report back here in 2 years from today for more instructions. In the mean time, you will not hurt me or any other kindred that I do not instruct you to hurt"
You don't know exactly why, but suddenly you're over come with the urge to go find your pack.. Find them.. And kill them...
Werewolves have only one well known weakness. Pure silver. Like sunlight to a vampire, the surest way to rid yourself of and angry Garou is to pop it in the head with a sliver bullet. For the purposes of game mechanics, Werewolves are not permited to absorb any dammage from sliver weapons, nor are they permited to heal it in any supernatural way. In other words, one sliver bullets put them down, another one makes sure they are dead.. Hence the old instruction "One silver bullet through the heart".
Of course, there are examples of werewolves being, much to their suprise, crushed like over ripe grapes by elder or well prepared younger vampires. However usualy werewolves have the upper hand in physical combat thanks to a little place known as "The Umbra". The umbra is the spiritual reflection of the physical world, where the Werewolves travle for englightenment (which, for creatures possed of unatural rage and hatred is hard to find) and to enage the spirits of the wyrm face to face. However, the Umbra is also a useful ambsuh tool. A trained werewolf can peer from the umbra into the physical world as it travles, allowing it to find a vampire, step into the shadowy spirit world, follow it, and pop out and pounce it at random. Imagine walking along, opening your front door, and suddenly a 9 foot tall pile of muscle, claws and fur appares, kills you, and vanishes... DAMM!
Of course, if you pump your strength to it's maximum and have some decent amount of potence in you, you can still throw a Werewolf around like a rag doll and laugh as it whimpers... All depends on the vampire, the werewolf, and the circumstances. Oh, and lastly, no the Garou are NOT benevolant in any way. In fact, for a while, groups of werewolves hunted and killed every human they could find to keep their numbers low in a massive Humanity culling. Also, werewolves are not only totaly unaware of how a vampires humanity erodes, they are also relativly indifferent. They aren't known for their in depth philosophy and thoughtful natures. Ocassionaly, one might try and detect the traces of the Wyrm in one and find nothing (which occurs in vampires humanity 8 or more) but they usualy put that down to "The sneaky way of vampries and the wyrm" and kill them anyway. Some vampires are nicer people then a werewolf ever could be.. But there you go eh?
Anyway, that should keep you busy for a while.
I was Diablorised once. I got better.