1. RITE OF PASSAGE
The character's Rite of Passage sends them to a pristine lake in upstate New
York. While they try to survive the harsh elements and hunt for food, they come
across a lingering taste of chemicals in the lake. They follow it up stream only
to find an abandoned Pentex facility designed for the experimentation of
spirits- but they don't know that- all they know is that from the moment they
enter, they're being hunted by a monsterous spider (Summoned and corrupted by
the scientists) who killed all of the scientists and bred them into a veritable
army of arachnid formorii. The characters stumble deeper and deeper into the web
as they try to confront what's hunting them and what really happened at the
facility. One of the PC's begins to recieve horrible broken visions of what
transpired, and the creature's plans- to create an army of dead tainted
scientists and absorb a nearby town to create a legion of formor. Their lives,
valuable intel on Pentex and the fate of the region lie in their young,
inexperianced hands- can they save the day and learn how to function as a pack?
2. THE EBON TIDE
The characters find out about a sabatoged oil tanker docking in a port near
a pristine town on the coast of Long Island. Recent steps have been taken to
improve the natural enviroment, which has been making leaps and bounds in the
past few years, however, if Pentex breaches the tanker's hull as planned, all
will be ruined and corrupted. The PC's take on the First Team designed to sneak
onto the boat and blow a hole in the hull, as well as Eco-Terrorists corrupted
by fervor, and try to keep the ship safe... And then, as they near the hold,
they are confronted by a massive, living slick of oil.
3. A TALE OF TWO CITIES
A city has been experiancing a recent string of thefts, and a well to do
Glass Walker who considers the swanky part of the city thats been hit, his
protectorate, recruits the characters to stop the theives- Who he has reasons to
believe are Garou. As the PCs delve into the case, they find out that the
theives are actually a friendly pack of Bone Gnawers trying to take care of
their sick, impoverished charges who are ignored and oppressed by the rest of
the world. Can the characters understand the Bone Gnawer's plight and get the
situation resolved without violence, or find a mutual agreement to appease
everyone?
4. ICE WOLF
The characters find out about a recent scientific discovery- the frozen
remains of an ancient Garou, who has the local science community baffled. Its
only a matter of time before this discovery goes global, rending the veil
forever. The characters have to get their hands on the remains, but they're not
the only one's interested in the body. Other tribes claim the body (For study or
interment), The Arcanum/Inquisition/Pentex/DNA take an agressive interest in the
find and begin working a mix of espionage and assualt to get it back. Damage
control becomes an issue, as does resolution about the Garou claims of the
body... And then there is the body it's self- Why was it there? Whats the
ancient Garou's story? Was he near an ancient forgotton Caern? Does he have a
fetish? What tribe was he? What can he teach Garou about their history, and what
sort of insight might he have about the future, or an ancient evil impressed
long ago, slumbering near the PC's town?
5. THE SPIRALS
The PC's are traveling through a railway station, bus terminal or airport,
when all of a sudden a young boy enter's a furious rage and starts attacking
people. When the PC's subdue the boy, they overhear what he was listening to and
find it to be a Wyrmish Incantation, designed to ease the ability of a Bane to
possess the listener. The PC's discover a new band has been storming the local
scene with their violent, sadaistic tunes. It is easy to figure out The Spirals
are actually a pack of Black Spiral Dancers, bent on manipulating Pop culture,
and potentially spreading The Wyrms taint to thousands. How do the PC's fight
back, especially when the band is in the public's eye? Do they try violence, or
do they fight back with a little Gaian ROCK AND ROLL!!!!?
6. THE GOOD FIGHT
A lone wandering Stargazer comes to the player's sept with an idea- The Wyrm
is unnaturally strong. Despite it's desire to upset balance, it is actually
subject to balance- since it is so strong in most respect, it must have a dire
weakness. The Sept laughs at the wanderer, but something about what he says
rings true to the PCs. As they explore his argument, it seems to become truer
and truer. Finally, they decide to act under the Stargazer's argument and travel
deep into the heart of Antartica, into a Wyrmhole, fighting horrible odds in an
effort to destroy The Wyrms Achile's Heel. Perhaps the entire pack, nobly dies,
sacrificing themselves to achieve the noblest of all goals, to finally rid the
world of the Wyrm's corruption and set things back in order- Would they die for
paradise? Ultimately, when the story runs it's course, one of the PC's wakes up-
It was all a dream anyway, because the good fight is never as easy as it was in
the dream.
7. FAMILY:
The PC's Sept has experianced a series of murders, targeting several Garou.
In all cases, there was not a violent struggle, and in all cases, it was in
their own homes. Examining the crime scenes only baffles the characters more, as
the clues don't match up to anyone, there is no sign of forceful entry, and the
motives all turn out to be red herrings. Hopefully, they realise the one thing
all the slain Garou have in common is children in their home. Something is
manipulating the children into killing their parents- what is it? Is there
anyway to save the horribly traumatized children?
8. HEIST:
An elder approaches the PC's. Apparently, a Native American run casino has
come across an Ancient Fetish of great power and placed it in a cheap 'heritage
museum' they have on the resort grounds. The perfect time to reclaim the
artifact comes when it is revealed that for a weekend, security will be diverted
to a high stakes poker game held by the casino's owner and patronized by several
prominant underworld figures as well as other various high rollers. The pack
will have to work togeather to infultrate the casino, and get past security
without getting caught. All is not what it seems, as they come across a Bastet
Cat Burgler bent on stealing the Poker game's money, who potentially comes off
friendly, but double crosses the characters and tries to finger them as guilty.
Does the pack send in one member to play the game and keep the guards busy and
potentially leave with a fortune? How do the Garou manage to operate covertly
and sneak bast security? Do they earn the suspicion of an undercover cop trying
to apprehend the bosses and keep an eye out for other illegal activity? Does the
cop/Bastet try to genuinely recruit the chars into their machienations at threat
of exposing them? What other intrigue could weave them into the web revolving
around the big game?
9. OUT BREAK:
A nearby reclusive Red Talon Sept reaches out to the PC's for help when a
disease is sweeping the wolf population. Garou themselves are immune, but many
precious kinfolk are dying, and all the wolves run a risk of being discovered by
human authorities who would kill the regions wolves in an effort to prevent the
diseases spreading. Potential for alot of drama, as some sept members accuse
other Garou for not caring about wolves. Distrust must be overcome, both for the
technology required to fight the disease, as well as for other Garou. The PC's
could try to fight the disease spiritually or physically, travel to different
septs and try to recruit others to come to the Red Talon's aid, comfort the
mourning, track down wolf packs at risk of spreading the disease and drawing
attention, and trying to keep the peace as tensions rise in the small sept.
10. BLOOD LUST: Two septmates who are best friends all of a sudden
disturb the peace of a moot by going for each other's throats, for a lousy
reason. They demand a dual, and when asked to choose their weapons, they are
drawn to a pair of Klaives, mounted in opposition, in possession of the Sept.
The Master of the Challenge splits the pack up and appoints them as seconds
durring the dual, and gives 5 days for the dualists to train, as well as
hopefully come to their senses. The PC's are urged to disuade the dualists from
this horrible loss of life- even if the dual is to first blood, neither of the
combatants will be satisfied till their opponent is dead. As the PC's spend time
training the dualist in their charge, they soon notice a personality surfacing
in the Garou. They even slip a couple of times and call their opponent by a
different name, or cite some sort of dispute that no one has ever heard of. As
the PC's look into the Septs history, or examine the dualists, they soon realise
that 150 years ago the same two Klaives that are being used were involved in a
fight resulting in the death of two, and it is the two Klaives who are really
motivating the two to kill each other, out of their old longing for vengence and
hatred for each other. Can the PC's stop this needless and tragic loss of life?
11. MOOT POINT:
The Pack's Galliard (Or the Elder Galliard from the pack's sept) is invited to
come to a moot in the region, and compete against other Singers/Storytellers.
However, the PC's soon realise that someone is trying to sabotage their
Galliard's performance, as well as the performance of other Galliards. In the
heavily traditional and ritualized atmosphere of the moot, they cannot conduct
their affairs openly, and must covertly try to stop the machianations of the
cheater, who turns out to be an Elder. How can they openly challenge someone so
high above them without loosing rank? What if they and they themselves are being
manipulated? In addition, each of the characters find something to interest them
at the moot, be it a shagadelic kinfolk, dancing, drinking, storytelling,
competitions of physical prowess, or whatever tickles their fancy. Do they get
distracted?
12. ROMEO AND JULIET:
The PC's come across two Garou in their sept who've fallen in a love forged by
loneliness and the dangerous nature of Garou life. In each other's arms they
find comfort and understanding in a horrible, dark world. They have yet to
create a metis, and it's up to the PCs to figure out how to deal with the two
characters, before their romance blossoms into further tragedy. They struggle to
remain one step ahead of a conservative elder who would kill the two Garou, or
have them outcast, and they may very well wind up questioning the litany.
Potential for alot of tragedy- do the two lovers elope? Commit suicide? Throw
themselves heedlessly into a battle that kills them? Do the PC's decide to rat
them out?
13. ADDICTION:
The pack finds out that a young kinfolk has become involved in a dark
underground, where humans offer themselves to vampires who drink their blood,
just for the rush they get off of being fed on. The PC's have to fight the
vampires involved, as well as trying to help the young kinfolk, a depressed
teenage, struggle with their addiction- Do they go back to their old ways, or
can the PC's save them?
14. GRIN AND BEAR IT:
The PC's come across a Guhral Cub on it's way to find it's burijan, many
miles away. Do the PC's kill it, introduce it to their sept, or try to guard the
young'n and help guide him towards his destination, amid the peril of being
hunted by The Wyrm and caught between a clash of two cultures, and perhaps
redeem some of the actions from the War of Rage?
15. HOPE:
A Silver Fang storms into the Sept and announces his plan for a more
aggressive assualt on the regions Wyrm Creatues. The Sept's elders argue that
they do the best as they can, while also protecting Kin and fighting The Wyrm's
more subtle taints. They also argue that to be that aggressive would provoke The
Wyrm to be more aggressive, and wipe out the sept in short time. The Fang says
to do other than he says is to break the litany and deny what it is to be Garou,
and extends and invitation to 'The Real Garou' to join forces with him. If the
PC's are unmoved to join him, then the Septs Elders recruit them to go
undercover in the Fang's ranks to keep tabs on him for the Sept. In the Fang's
army, they acieve many victories, fighting and winning constantly, earning
reknown, resources, and fetishes- whatever the characters most desire.
Werewolves from many tribes travel from far and wide to participate in the
Fang's glorious war. The PC's earn the Fang's trust and become his lieutenants
and friends. Finally, the Fang announces the next great step to his plan- to
take over the PC's old Caern, ovethrowing 'Wyrm tainted, weak Garou' and letting
the richeous and mighty claim the sacred land. Do the PC's go along with The
Fang's plan, assuridly gaining a position of presiege in the new regieme, or do
they return to their old sept, and fight off the usurpers? The Fang's
meglomanaical nature shines through when victory is his, and eventually he turns
on the chars and abuses his power when the Caern is his, and the PC's further
have to deal with the blood of richeous Garou on their claws- Is the pack
divided when it comes time to choose sides?
16. HOSTAGE:
One of the pack is held hostage by BSDs who slowly torture him for
information. When they're done, the PC is killed- Can his packmates track him
down in time to save him? Do the BSD's break him? Can he escape?
17. JOLLY JACK'S BACK:
The PCs investigate a series of murdered prostitutes. They stumble into the
legacy of none other than Jack The Ripper, as they continually have flashbacks
to the Garou of Victorian England, and their struggle to stop the murders. It
becomes clear that the source of the murders is a traveling museum display
centered around Jack The Ripper, where a Wraith or Wyrm Beast is anchored in an
artifact on display- they find that where-ever the museum has traveled there
have been similar slayings. Constantly traveling between the 1800's and the
present, they must investigate the supernatural intrigue of an untold history of
the murders, of a monster possessed by a hatred for 'working girls' and the
immoral, driven to commit an act more vile than that which they despise.
Secerate Societies abound and fun is had by all as they hunt down the mortal
responcible, and must narrow down the suspects through investigation and
supernatural insight.
18. THE MATRIARCH:
(This is largely hijacked from Brown's The DaVinci Code, a fantastically
entertaining book I'm gonna try to post about later) The characters encounter a
Black Fury Kinfolk being hunted because of a legacy she has unknowingly
inherited. Through a series of codes and secerate histories, the PC's must help
her discover a secerate legacy that stems from the birth of christ and would
rock the foundations of the catholic church. The PC's are being hunted by those
who want the information, or want to destroy it, and must match wits with The
Inquisition, Glass Walkers and other Black Furies looking to acquire the
information, that places a matriarchal (And therefore, valuable to many Gaians)
spin on Christianity and exposes many herisies as the PC's try to find and
understand the true legacy of the Holy Grail...
19: TRUST IN GOD
A Spirit closely associated with the pack (perhaps even their totem) appears
to them and asks them to perform a sacred quest for Gaia. They must travel to
the wild reaches of [Insert Country really far away from Caern] and recover an
artifact once lost by a Silver Fang hero which has now re-surfaced in the hands
of Wyrm creatures. When the pack reaches their destination the search should
appear to be utterly futile...because it is. Clues such as the odd behaviour of
spirits, the lack of communication from their totem and the ever-increasing Wyrm
taint in their vicinity (when there's no-one around) should eventually lead them
to realise one thing; They've been had. It then becomes a race against time to
get back to the Caern to help defend it from an assault by servants of the Wyrm
(whether they know this or not can add more fun to the situation). Will their
caern fall? Will they make it in time? Will they ever look at the spirits in the
same way again?
20. SUFFER THY PEOPLE
In a small but functional caern somewhere, the characters find themselves
witness to the final destruction of the final garou born descendant of the
sept's oldest elder. The Elder is usually easy going, and happy to help the
younger garou of the sept, and spirits and kinfolk as well. Some consider the
elder to be weak, old and frail - but the said elder is still very much
essential to the sept and caern. Finally the last of the garou blood in the
elder's family dies (a son, grandson or whatever) and the elder grieves. The
elder grives far too much and is beginning to give up on it all, especially with
the increasing wyrm activity in the area. Harano draws closer. In the sporadic
mood swings the elder punishes youngsters and challenges older garou. The elder
begins to ignore some of the sept's rules claiming that "I know better" or "i
knew nothing bad would come of it". People begin growing impatient with the
elder. Eventually another garou (rival) takes advantage of a challenge thrown
his way. He decides to take it to combat. After all the mad, far too old Elder
is an affront to the litany. The rival wants position in the sept and will kill
the elder, all know it - but most are also sure that the sept and caern may fall
very soon after without the presence of such an old and wise being.
What will the characters do to avoid the situation? What will they do to try to
avert it? What can they do to avoid punishment from the elder themselves? Will
something avert the death of the elder before its too late? Who knows...
21. THE HEART OF MADNESS:
The Sept suspects an Wyrm plot against them, except, aside from the most
fleeting clues that don't amount to anything clear. Then, a Theurge recieves a
vision of the Sept falling and everyone dying, shortly before the Theurge
herself dies of the pain. The PC's manage to neutralize a BSD, one of the
antagonists who's been plaguing them for a really long time, one that they have
a relationship with. The PCs are designated to get information from the BSD,
because they are assumed to be the ones who know how the fiend's mind works the
best. After a couple of psycological games, the pack comes across a ritual, very
archaic and very dangerous, that lets Gaian Garou enter the mind of another
Gaian Garou, in hopes of reclaiming some of the hero's old memories and
experiance. The PC's decide the situation is dire, and they are going to try to
enter the mind of the BSD as a pack. After a long grueling ritual, they are cast
into Garou History- From the roots of the Imperiglum to The War of Rage, to see
how horrible Gaian Garou can truely be. Then they see other events, that
historically they have been told to be proud of, but they see an ugly twist onto
them. They meet White Howlers and other members of their own tribes from ancient
time, and are forced to realise the similarity between the two, perhaps even the
fiendishness and nafariousness that even their own kind, and they themselves are
capable of. The goal of this history is to show the eerie similarities of of all
Garou, and the evil that potentially lurks within. Shake what the chars think
about Garou and themselves. Finnish the story with The White Howler's last stand
and demise, and make it really similar to what the PCs are experiancing in the
real world. When they come back to the real world, have the Spiral bleeding from
every oriphus, and laughing maniacally before dying.
22. Do We Bother??:
One of the players has a human contact with (incert favorite) US govt
agency, they occasionally trade favors. He is calling in one. He wishes you to
aid his team track down what is decimating drug smugglers in droves. After
waiting, tracking and investigating, you find it to be a pack of wyrm tainted
mokole. DO you silence them? Leave them be? Try to cleanse them?
23. Big Trouble in Little China:
A powerful bear fetish has been located by the hakken garou in hong kong.
But they know not what it is or does. Rumors start to fluctuate, and when a
stargazer eventuyally does figure it out, he dies of a mysterious disease. Do
the pack try to recover it? If they do, what do they then do? Do they try to get
it to the gurahl? Do they know of any?
24. A Bright Night:
A gullible and some what excentric Glass walker kin scientist, is turned to
working for Developmental Neogenics Algamated. While working there, he (or she)
finally makes a breakthrough on a powerful new drug which when taken forces a
garou into breed form for a full month. While in the garou's body they cannot
shift, or use any powers. What do the party do to try and stop this being fully
developed? Do they figure out why he made it? Can they stop the wyrm's minions
getting their hands on it? TO throw a twist in to it, have this new drug have
major healing properties (the mirical cure for aids or something like that)..
Can they destroy it, and condem the rest of humanity???
25. Murder in Small Town X/Jaws Hybrid:
The PC's travels take them to a small port town. Very eerie, think Steven
King novel. As the PC's come in, they find practically the entire town's
population at a makeshift town hall meeting in a empty wearhouse by some rickety
old docks where a shabby fleet of fishing boats are moored. Apparently a murder
has been commited, the corpse recently found hanging like a trophy fish by the
docks. The town is mortified. The PC's undertake the investigation and two
things persist to happen- Shark attacks and serial killings. Specific people
with seemingly no connection are targeted. If the PC's make the right
connections, they'll realise over a hundred years ago the town was plagued by
shark attacks. A man singlehandedly went out into the water by himself and came
back, claiming to have slain the man-eater. Sure enough, the attacks desist. If
the characters are really good, they'll realise all the victems are descended
from that one fisherman. One of the characters in the town's cast is a wiley old
fisherman, horribly scarred. The PCs' must interview subjects, compare alabies
and try to piece the case togeather given the limited evidence and lack of
motive. Finally, the PCs investigate the fisherman's houseboat, and while they
go about searching, they find it has been set adrift from it's pier. The PC's
are then hunted by the massive Rokea, who had been hidding in the guise of the
fisherman, bent on inspiring fear on the humans who assailed him all those years
ago- he wasn't even the man-eater, it was just a coincidence that it left after
he was mauled by the fisherman. It gurgles about justice as it rips the boats
apart. Can the PC's defeat the beast on it's home territory?
26. The Seat of Power:
The PC's travel south of the boarder. There they settle into a prominant
Bone Gnawer/Child of Gaia/Uktena Sept for a little while. They become familiar
with a neighboring sept of Shadow Lords/Uktena and Get of Fenris. One of the
leaders of the Sept is a reknown Shadow Lord Vampire Hunter/Archaeologist. He
spends his time hunting the Vampires of Mexico City and traveling through tombs,
pyramids and museums, studing ancient MesoAmerican cultures. In his many years,
he's made many friends and allies and is greatly respected by many for plunging
into the heart of the Leech problem, undaunted by anything. Therefore, when the
PCs begin to suspect there is something wrong with him, they must still their
tongues and make more of a case for themselves. While going to visit an elder
Uktena in the mountins, who lives in a traditional Mayan village, the PCs find
the village wrecked. Blood soaks the soil and fires still burn in homes. As the
PCs explore the site, they find an overgrown stone alter, with the bound body of
the Uktena Elder chained in the center. His eyes bug wide open, and in the
center of his chest is a gapping, bloody hole- His heart has been ripped out.
When the PCs report what happened, suspicion of them grows. They hear of a
museum heist on the news, several Aztec, Olmec, and Mayan artifacts have been
stolen, and the place seems to have been vandalized. However, any one with a
good enough investigation will realise it was forced to look like it was
vandalized- Someone is trying to cover up a specific target of the theft. In
continuing days, the missing kinfolk are found- bound to the top of a large
Aztec pyramid, with their hearts once more torn out. Mexico City Officials
deluge the media with reports of some sort of gang activity mimicing Aztec
rituals for initiation. A Bone Gnawer with Vampire contacts says that the
Vampire comunity is in an uproar as close to a dozen vampires have gone missing
in over a weeks time. Perhaps a mysterious Balam emerges from the ruins and rain
forests to address the Garou about their repeated transgressions and the danger
in what they mettle with. Play up the mystery of old Mexico. The Shadow Lord
Vampire Hunter comes into contact with the Sept, blaming vampires, or mages for
all of the recent problems, and casually gives the sept locations that they
might want to attack. Another Uktena Elder contacts the characters and requests
an urgent meeting- however, when the PCs find the Elder, they find her also
missing her heart, and people grow more and more suspicious of the PCs. The Sept
the PCs are visiting tries to contact a friendly Sept, to ask what they know
about the recent events, however, recieve no responce. The Sept has been
obliterated. The Sept then sends emisaries to the Shadow Lord/Get of Fenris/Uktena
Sept and find it abandoned, the Caern's totem spirit nearly driven mad with fury
at the blatant disreguard his former guardians have shown- They have abandoned
the Caern for they have found an even greater power that they wish to cultivate
and safe guard. At the Caern, they find many of the missing artifacts that were
stolen. The PC's are sent to a lost Pyramid in the middle of the rainforest,
where the missing Garou are suspected of now residing, and there, to their
horror, they find the Shadow Lord leading his fellow Garou in ritualistic
cannibalism, sacroficing people, vampires, mages, kinfolk and Garou, and eating
their hearts in order to gain power. They have changed into something that is no
longer Garou, and they now revere and worship dark Gods that grant them
monsterous power. Apparently, the Shadow Lord uncovered some dark rituals and
forgotton artifacts. The PCs must return to the Sept and try to find a way to
fend off the crazed cannibal Garou before their sept is too consumed.
27. Ill Fates:
After a close encounter with the Wyrm, the Sept Alpha becomes dangerously
ill with some sort of disease that seems to affect Garou dramatically. Shortly
after, the rest of the Sept begins falling ill. The PC's, being away for some
reason, get a message telling them not to return to the Caern, and are tasked
with finding the cure before the entire Sept falls to the disease.
28. Compassion Under Fire:
This is a set of two short stories, to be played one after another. The first is
a rather typical one. A group of fomori rangers are stalking the PCs, harassing
them, and trying to find the location of the local Caern. While they never
engage, the fomori are easy to find, and somewhat easy to destroy in a bloody
rage. The PCs save the day until... You announce you're going to play a game of
Possessed/Freak Legion, and ask the players to generate some characters. You
play up the tragic side of their loss to the Wyrm, their dependence on Pentex,
but insert a tiny hope for redemption. Put the PCs on a recon mission, sent to
observe some werewolves, in order to stabilize the region. The players should
not catch on if you do it properly, until you show the players the werewolves
they are fighting (which are, incidently, the Garou the players were using
before) When the final fight comes, show the brutality and cruelty of Gaia's
warriors, and how they hardly think of reprecussions of their actions.
29. Hurricane:
The PCs are forced to endure the elements when a Hurricane (Or if not
appropriate, a snow storm, sea funnel, tornado or flood) strikes their Septs
region. They must prepare the Caern to withstand the assualt, as well as check
on the regions Kinfolk. When a family of human Kinfolk don't report back on the
brink of the storm, the PCs are sent out to check on them and see what happened
to their lines of communication. Perhaps theres weather induced rioting when it
becomes clear a poorer section of the region is going to be hit very severly by
the storm and there isn't enough government shelter available. If the game has a
Theurge, perhaps they have their own independant part of the game where they
must disuage the elements from reaping havoc upon the sacred grounds. I can just
see a Theurge standing atop a mound holding a spear and shouting to a 30 foot
wall of water and holding it there, mid air. -Stalks-the-Ice "Stalks the
Ice-Clubs the Seal"
30. Strange Horizons:
As the players are following a Moon Bridge to a far-off Sept that
desperately needs their help, the bridge breaks and throws the players to a
Realm in the Umbra few Garou have ever seen. Get surrealistic with the
descriptions. The sky is aflame with green fire, the seas are asleep and the
rivers are dreaming, the resident spirits swim through the land and walk on the
water, looking at the Garou like they are freaks for doing things the other way.
Down is across, close is far away depending on when you look, geometry is
screwed to the point that there is an eternal staircase and Escher's Waterfall
in the distance, just past the blivet that crosses the river. The kind of Realm
that M. C. Escher and Salvador Dali would create in their sleep. Not only do the
Pack have to find their way out of this Realm, they have to deal with the group
of Banes. It's not that the Banes are strong, or even worthy opponents, but even
Garou have trouble fighting when Up is corkscrewing around Sideways and Left is
Last Tuesday.
31. The Pure Ones :
Rather simple concept- you play Uktena, Wendigo, and Croatoan in
pre-Columbian America. Requires a lot of research and preparation, but could be
a rewarding game.
32. Searching for the Survivor:
Bringing this over from the New Talen Thread of mine, since this is a kick
ass thread concept. The pack is sent to a local church that is governed by an
Elder Garou. The pack enters standard old catholic cathedral to find a priest
praying before a table of candles. While the pack is talking to the priest, the
candles start to go out one by one, then faster and faster. The priest begins to
get very upset, and explains the candles are talens informing him of a certain
septs population. That they must have been all wiped out. Then have one, maybe
two candles stay burning (or light back up after a moment of darkness for
enigmatic flavor). And send the pack to locate these survivors and learn what
befell the caern.
33. Maintaining the Binding:
The pack's sept is part of a multi-caern binding over a very powerful bane.
The energies of the various moon- bridges help to ensure a certain big nasty is
kept imprisoned. However at the annual Rite of the Moonbridge (Forget precise
rite name, the one they do each year to reaffirm the moon-bridge connections
between caerns.) When the rite is being enacted, and the Ritemaster awaits the
opening of the bridge to signify the successful completion of the rite at the
other caern, nothing happens. Turns out the caern has been wiped out, and a
vital part of the mystic energies keeping the bane subdued is lost. The bane
then begins to stir, causing massive upheaval in the surrounding areas(type of
upheaval left to ST's discretion for what type bane is sleeping, mine is a
Fear-bane.) The once long Slumbered minions of this bane reawaken and reek havoc
in an effort to strengthen their master. The pack is sent to try and stop these
minions rampage of destruction, while the elders decide how to re-establish the
missing link in the chain. Do they attack the fallen sept in an effort to
reclaim it from the Wyrm? Or do they decide to try and create a new caern
somewhere else, reasoning that since the wyrm knows the location fo the previous
caern, it will always be at greater risk. The pack could then be sent to scout
out the location in either situation. And then take part in the reclaimin/building
of the caern.
34. Sweet Child of Mine:
One of the pack has a child that is comming close to time for Change and
they are sent to pick him/her back to a caern and instruct them on the wonders
of being garou. The child has just recently been taken into police/dcf/etc
custody. How can the young pack track the child down through the system or
through spirit? How does the pack get the child out of state run foster home
without damaging the veil or other children and social workers?
35. Life's a Beach:
(slightly based on true story) The beaches on Daytona and east coast of
Florida have been suffering an amazing amount of eroison over the past few
years. There has also be a great deal of building right next to the water and
other man made problems. The local sept has noticed this but so far has been
unable to stop it. More and more sharks are also found off of the coast making
swimming dangerous. A helicopter fly over shows many sharks just off shore
almost like a gathering. Does the sept try to figure out what is going on?
Several tourists are killed on land in a horrible bloody way. The drs are saying
that the only thing that could do this was a shark but the body was five miles
inland. Can the pack connect the killings to the shark gathering in time? Can
they find some way to make contact with the Rokea? And biggest question of all,
why would the Rokea care?
36. Strange Harbours:[1]
Following the events of Strange Horizons or a similar story, the characters get
to their destination, a Sept that desperately needs their help. When they
arrive, they find something is wrong. A Sept that contacted Glass Walkers for
help is under the control o the Red Talons. The Wendigo are called to the
assistance of the Fenrir. That kind of thing. The Sept that called for them is
renowned for being xenophobic, and yet is opening themselves up to Garou that
would not otherwise be seen there. Other little details are all wrong. New York
is the Big Pear. A character's girlfriend has never heard of him. Magadon is run
by Kinfolk and is secretly working to benefit Gaia. That sort of thing. Small
things that could be missed without paying attention, but that the players will
notice if they are awake. What's going on? Well, the characters have found their
way into one of the many alternate realities known as a Mirror Zone. Little
details are different about the world around them, but one that remains is that
the Pack was called upon for help against a grave emergency. The only Garou
knowledgeable enough about the Umbra to possibly help them return is dying, and
the Pack has to decide if they will potentially sacrifice their chance to return
home to instead defend a Caern, upholding the last and most crucial of the
Litany Laws, or whether they will decide that they cannot risk the defeat of the
Sept they were originally sent to help to help a world they do not know.
[1]: Yes, I have a fetish for naming my stories "Strange Foo". I'm kinky that
way.
37. Strange Paths:[2]
The characters have to make their way back from the Mirror Zone which they were
recently trapped in. This is no easy task, however. In order to return to their
home reality, they must first regain a Fetish known as a Stone of Homecoming, a
powerful Fetish capable of always guiding a Garou through the Umbra to the place
she calls home. There's just one problem with this otherwise damn fine plan:
There's only one Stone of Homecoming known to the Garou, and this Stone is lost
in a cave far down the Iron Path of the Abyss realm. Logically, the characters
would go trundling off in search of this stone. Who should stand in their way
but the Lost Legion, a group of ghosts disturbed from their normal place of rest
(the Shadowlands), requires the characters to help them find their way home. The
Legion does pose a threat, with their weapons and their shifting plasm and the
lack of any fear of death. The question then becomes, how does one help the Lost
Legion (or "How many Wraiths with Moliate 3 does it take to overwhelm a Crinos
Garou")? And if the characters manage to solve this little problem, how do they
go about retrieving the Stone of Homecoming from the pool of pure liquid despair
that contains it? And how do they know that the reality they are in is their
own?
[2]: Whip me more!
38:
I personally always liked toying with the idea of The Wyld replacing The
Wyrm as the dominating member of the Triat or putting the PCs in a world where
humans know of Garou, just to show them the importance of the Veil. Garou
huddled in the darkest corners, just trying to eke out survival, SWAT teams
constantly hounding them, Garou-sniffing security dogs in every major bus
station, airport or government building, lots of propaganda on the TV... I could
just see the PCs flipping through the channels to come across Sesame Street...
"Elmo want to sing a song about the Werewolf Menace!... Oh there's so many ways
to kill a Garou, like silver and fire, hacking their necks untill they
expire..." People fanatically going to church because they believe Faith can
hold Garou back, and the few scattered remnants of the Garou Nation are
considering diving into the Umbra to escape the constant persecution.
39. The Clair Witch Project:
(Wouldn't want to infringe on any copywrites, heh-heh... I've never seen the
Blair Witch Project, but I've read about it on the net, and I like it's
mythology): The PCs find themselves in some sort of small town, that has a
legend about a witch who lives out in the hills. Set the story in the twilight
of winter, as the last of the reds and oranges bleed from the tree's and there
is a bitting chill on the wind. This is a nice horror setting, because its sort
of removed from the usual threats the Garou face, almost a world unto it's self.
Although supersicion is kept private to all the townspeople, clearly they all
have a fear deep in their hearts of what lurks on the outskirts of their town.
They keep to themselves and are weary of outsiders. If the PCs listen to a
couple of stories from older folk, or perhaps ask a couple of questions in a
local bar, they'll hear the stories... A witch who was railroaded out of town in
the colonial days, swearing vengence... the stories of missing children... even
an incident where an entire search party (or group of game hunters that ventured
into the wrong part of the woods) was found ritualistically killed and
mutilated... Even a serial killer claiming to be in the thrall of the 'Witch'.
All of these stories span centuries. If the PCs check the town hall's records,
they'll find information about the incidents, such as crime folders,
newsclippings, journals, a couple of disturbing photos. Perhaps the characters
are drawn into the woods one evening by distant voices, or Sense Wyrm flaring
up, perhaps they try to locate a missing child... The important thing, is that
they get out into the woods. They follow a trail, clearly, for a while. Once
they've distanced themselves from the town it becomes clear there is nothing at
all natural about these woods. No birds, no crickets, no stars. Cairns piled up,
stick figures in the tree's, ruinic carvings... They are clearly lost, and
cannot find their bearings through any means natural or supernatural. Their
nights are haunted by nightmares, they hear whispers on the evening wind, amid
the rattling of dead leaves they hear the sound of little girls talking, along
with the voices of other victems. Difficult to make out, like something being
whispered. Maybe they see ghostly figures in the night at a long distance, and
no matter how they try, the silhouete remains at the same distance. Then, the
shape disapears, and the character finds themself completely lost from their
packmates. Perhaps they are haunted by visions of their own deaths, or a stench
of rotting corpses for just a second as the wind shifts. They come across
mutilated animals bound to tree's, piles of rodent skulls. All of these should
be used sparingly and remotely, to build up a sense of mystery and suspense.
They notice things from the legends they've been told in town, patterns, things
that line up with what they've read historicaly, an amalgum of many different
myths, some a fusion of native american with old world european. They come
across the occaisional landmark that just... shouldn't be there. Time and space
do not add up. Finally, they come to a very old house, emerging from the evening
mist as the sun sets. As they make their way through the house, they find blood,
runes and they simply cannot find their way out. In the end, the culprit was a
Verbena, gone rogue and almost nephandus, living in the woods for centuries,
reaping her vengence on the towns people who drove her out all those years ago,
and practicing her dark magice out in the woods. Come up with an innovative way
for the PCs to defeat the witch, who remains ellusive to the last. Harry them,
traumatize them, make them afraid. Perhaps it involves their apologizing to her,
or finding the remains of all the victems in a crypt in the basement... maybe
the witch will not be satisfied until one of the PCs has died and her thirst for
blood has been saited... temporarily...
40. Tainted Love:
The PCs attend a moot and... one of them has a rather intimate encounter
with a charming Kinfolk lass. When the PC wakes up, quite hungover, he finds her
making breakfast, and talking like they're spending their futures togeather.
This could go three ways... 1. The Kinfolks Garou family show up to congratulate
the PC on 'joining the family' and ask when they're going to hold the wedding.
They get threatening when concerning dishonoring their kin... Can the PCs get
their buddy out of this dilema? 2. Another Garou had rather strong feelings
about the Kin girl, and slanders the PC and his entire pack, publically,
demanding satisfaction, and a duel over the Kin. The Garou doesn't really want
to risk death over a one night stand, but can't stand by while he is
slandered... And gets the startling feeling that he's being used as a pawn in
the girl's game... 3. The girl doesn't take too kindly to being turned down by
the Garou and proceeds to subvert the Garou's life, making it hellish. It starts
off small, hundreds of emails, love letters, disturbing poems, stalking the
Garou, taking lots of pictures. Then rumors spread around the Sept about the
Garou... His packmates begin having creepy encounters with the girl who tries to
seduce them to get back at the Garou. She has high status among Garou, and alot
of friends. Very few people believe the pack. Things take a turn for the worst
when she begins traficking with The Wyrm and making attempts on the Garou's
life. Even if they manage to take down the girl, they are reguarded as being
responcible for her demise, even though it becomes clear the girl has been
obsessed with this Garou for quite some time prior to their tryst.
41. Harry Potter and Gaia's Brutal Vengeance:
The PCs come across the location of a lost Caern that was brutally stolen by
a group of English Mages. Research teaches them that it is used as a training
academy for the dirty Caern- Rapers, and thus it's defenses are weak due to the
inexperianced mages that populate it. It could also strike a crippling blow to
the next genoration of England's magic weilding scum, especially if they manage
to neautralize a prophesised Mage, whispered about by anyone in the know of
anything occult, who recently undertook his first years in the school's
enrolement. The Pack's Sept organizes and mounts an assualt, easily tearing
apart the insolent little uniform wearing brats, returning with many trophies,
notably many broken broomsticks, stupid looking hats and a pair of coke
bottle-horn rimmed glasses, snapped in half.
42. The Return of Turtle:
Many have prophecised that Turtle will return to the Garou in the End Times.
Driven into a deep depression by the loss of his children, the Croatan, Turtle
has been very far removed. After the successful completion of The Rite of
Passage, the PC's Pack begins hunting for a totem, however, find many totems
reluctant to accept them. Other Garou grow suspicious, and the Pack gains an
odius reputation. Queries into the spirit world go unanswered. The Pack
continues on many missions and tasks, and if they conduct themselves with Honor
and stick-to-it- ivness, they get many strange Omens. Perhaps an enemy falls
into a body of water and is consumed by hundreds of viscious snapping turtles.
The tests of the PC's honor becomes stricter and stricter, and they recieve
visions of the demise of the Croatan. Moving images, but also loving ones.
Finally, the PCs travel through the Umbra one day and find a great cave. They
follow the Umbral passages and finally come to an underground lake. As they sit
on the shores of the lake, a large island begins to move towards them. A massive
turtle pulls it's self from the lake and shifts it's weight. Turtle has called
to the PCs. Long has he dwelled in sadness and guilt at his children's demise.
He has shared this pain with the PCs, and finally comes to a point of honor- Now
it is critical that honor be maintained- he has wallowed in grief long enough,
though it will never leave him, Turtle remains stalwart and is willing to
re-enter the war. Turtle demands honor of his new charges, and blesses them as
'The stable earth beneath their bretheren's feet- the support that shall never
waver.' and charges them to help be bulwarks in hopeless battles, as well as
heralds of honor, joining him in an effort to inspire other lost totems and gift
the last genoration of Garou with their legacy- the forgotton secerates of their
pass. To stand idly by while the fires of Apocalypse consume the world would be
honorless, and Turtle, as the PCs have learned, is all about Honor.
43. London's Burning:
It's London at the turn of the century and everyone's got a feeling of
milennial doom, and that includes both the local Garou and the Corax at the
tower. There's a lot of tension in the air, and fuses are running short. When
one of the city's five Corax is found murdered with all the telltale signs of an
attack by Garou, the Corax go on the lookout for Black Spiral Dancers. In the
meantime, a promising Fostern is killed apparently by one of the Corax. Any
other time, they may be able to talk about it, but people have a mad-on to hurt
something, to make the last, bloody move. The Garou go for the Corax. The Corax,
seeing the city's Glass Walkers bearing down on them like the steam-train from
hell, either fly off or start with the dirtiest tactics they can find. It's
shadow warfare in the death-in-alleyways sense, and nobody's happy. The
characters' Pack arrives to help the London Sept with another matter but swiftly
gets drawn into the conflict. Seeing the newcomers, one of the remaining Corax
tries to present their side, hoping the PCs might help cooler heads prevail
before there's a major breach of the Veil. And inamongst (and guilty of) all of
this, there's a Fomori that's a serial arsonist setting the city ablaze.
44. No Direction Home:
This one requires a character with parents that are alive and wrote the
character off as dead a while back in his history. The Pack is sent to
investigate and deal with what's going on in a small town, where everything's
the American Ideal. There's old Mrs. Murphy who runs the General Store who has
everything you could need. All the houses have white picket fences and children
playing happily outdoors. The owner of the local bar never forgets a face and
always has a friendly smile and knows just when to extend a tab. Even the air
smells a bit sweeter. ALl of this is due to the town becoming a "cultural
preservation site", a new scheme set up by the local government to try to make
places more perfect to live in, and once they're that way to keep them like
that. Even the name of the town has changed. It takes a while, but finally some
of the faces should begin to click with one of the characters -- this is the
town he grew up in! Now, however, it feels nothing like. The vital spark that
makes every place unique is gone from this town, and from the eyes of people he
used to know. And when his parents walk right past him without paying him any
heed, well... Oh, the government plan is a tool of the Weaver instigated without
anyone's knowledge, and sufficient chaos should be enough to ruin it... but that
would require the character taking a very hands on approach at destroying his
home.
45. 28 Days in the Sept:
After all these stories it's time for a bit of a break. So, out comes the
Baron Munchausen and off you go, taking the roles of the Sept Elders who have
joined together for a couple of crates of beer and a truly fucking massive
pizza, telling tales of life in the Sept over a month that would otherwise have
been glossed over as downtime. Just what does training a Lupus cub to make use
of his Homid form entail? How does one deal with the needs of a Kin husband
that's more than content to just cuddle? Play it up and go light-hearted, just
avoid the slapstick. Gentleman's Duels are replaced by Challenges, played out
the same way. Gold coins are replaced by Rank tokens. For those that don't have
Baron Munchausen, each player acts the role of a Sept Elder and spins a yarn
about 5 minutes long, telling a story as described above. Other Elders can join
in or contradict at will, and Challenges may be called which are resolved with
three rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissors.
46. Give Me What I Want:
Give the players what they want, kind of easily, without alot of hard work.
For example, a PC who likes Fetishes and weapons. He gets a large weapon, a
spear, an axe, a klaive, a poleax... In the heat of combat, whenever he uses it,
the rest of the pack take the damage that the weapon deals out. For a PC who
wants alot of gifts, have a spirit begin approaching them, offering to train
them in Gifts, for a favor to be obtained at a later time. This has all kinds of
evil potential. For a PC who wants political influence, have a major Elder take
them under their wing... Start using them as a tool that gets the PC get alot of
reknown, and attention. Then, have the Elder demand the PC do something against
her packmates, either scandalize them or have them eliminated... The Elder made
the PC, the Elder can break them just as well- He can turn a Silver Fang into a
Bone Gnawer with a couple of the right words well placed. Perhaps have the PC do
some of the Elders 'Dirty work' and have the Elder threaten to blackmail the PC.
You have a Gun Bunny? Have them come across a crate of weapons, relatively
unguarded. Then have the FBI come crashing down on the PC for holding weapons
schedualed to go to terrorists. Perhaps have the guns be involved in some sort
of murder and then have the shells the PC leaves at a battle traced to them.
Pretty much, whatever the player wants- give it to them- Not even what the
character so much wants, but the player. Tempt them. Then break them.
47. Killer Wheels:
The PCs come across a really fantastic car. This could be a secondary plot
that builds up over time as the chronicle progresses. I personally picture that
movie 'Christine'. A sweet ride, at a cheap price. Eventually, the PC's find out
the automobile is actually a fetish... Possesed by a terrible Bane or incredibly
fickle 'Goddess' type spirit (I picture one of the more vendictive Greek
Goddesses), hellbent on killing them. Perhaps it is jelous, perhaps it demands
to be the only object of attention in their life... Perhaps it wants to devide
the pack, or separate one member of the pack from the rest. The car can have
it's breaks falter at one particular time, or attract alot of unwanted
attention, or uncontrolably swerve when they're driving to hit a child or an old
lady to get the Pack in trouble. Perhaps it flat out drives into them, or has an
alarm that constantly goes off at night. Perhaps it attacks their loved ones,
allies and kinfolk. Perhaps the 'wheel man' is slowly becomming possessed and
tainted by the car... perpetually hearing a sweet female voice in the back of
his head... perhaps the vehicle even tries to get the player to seduce his
packmates. As a climax, I can see a fight with an automobile being
interesting... How many health levels does a car have?
48. The Gift of Twinkdom:
The PC's have vanquished the antagonist! Hurray! While they are subsequently
looting the antagonist's lair, they find themselves oddly attracted to a rather
simple article- An indiscript ashtray. Once more, a secondary plotline... The
PCs are haunted by people bent on destroying the ashtray, and the longer they're
in posession of it... This sad, pathedic, child-like voice, asking them to free
it (Coughing frequently, from all the second hand smoke it's inhaled)... Do they
unwittingly unleash Samuel Haight back into the World of Darkness?
49. Open the Door:
The PCs are unknowingly hounded by a Marauder Mage. They're stuck in a room,
and every time they open a door they find themselves in a different illogical
situation, such as... -A Mafia Execution -A Pentex Shareholder's Meeting -A
Group of Hunters preparing for a strike -A Bar-Mitzvah celebration -A jewelry
store (filled with Silver) -A TV studio And other various things... very
peculiar and surreal...
50. Judge Doom:
A pack of Judges of Doom visit the sept, while there they accuse a close
freind of Pack's of being a hidden Black Spiral Dance. During a trail they
unearth damning evidence. What does the Pack do? Do they stand by their freind
when even his own Pack won't? Or do they beleive the Judges?
51. Summer in the City:
The PC's hometown is suffering from a heat wave. The elderly and very young
are suffering heat strokes, electiricty is dying out, mosquito's are breeding
like it's going out of style, plants are dying, resevoirs are getting depleted
and riots are threatening to break out. Werewolves are the only ones with the
spiritual affinity to do anything about it, so the pack undertakes a quest to
appease the weather. Why are such things happening? Is anyone doing it? Perhaps
a Garou looking to punish the humans, or bent on inspiring chaos and destruction
within the town? Play up the heat. Maybe even have some strange spirits
manifesting. Very interesting ambiance potential, with the sticky, brutal heat
making everyone suffer and everything seem like a big chore. The pack is forced
with a collasal moral descision to make- Do they buy the Septs air conditioner
at Home Depot or K-Mart? Or do they just try to sweet talk the local Wendigo
Theurge to make with the icy wind?
52. The Rite of the Ruined City: As a sidestory to the previous one, a
mysterious Sept of Red Talons operates in the ruined parts of Pompeii, as they
have for centuries, as a monument to one of their greatest achievements- wiping
out two human cities. The Talons, however, are dismayed, in that they have
forgotton the ritual that wiped out the city in the first place. They have an
alliance with the Garou archaeologist, where they exchange information, however,
the archaeologist doesn't really know that the Talons are seeking clues to
reconstruct the ritual that awakend Vesuvius. They theorize it could work for
many other natural forces, Vesuvius aside. When questioned about their interest
in the city, The Talons answer with simple evasive Talon logic. It's up to the
PC's to figure out what they're doing, and if they either want to help the
Talons, or hinder their efforts- The effects of destruction on such a massive
scale must also be considered- Although wilderness eventually claims the plains
of ash, if such a ritual is enacted on a massive scale, all over the planet, on
the eve of the Apocalypse, it might give The Wyrm an edge that could seal the
fate of Gaia.
53 The Toys of the Gods:
For many years a Garou Sept has been at a stalemate with a group of
Vampires/BSD Hive or whatever the antagonist is. While both sides have been
fighting heavily, no real progress is made. One of the PC's pack recieves a
vision, or prophesy, or wisdom from a totem about a 'weapon that can win the war
in the right hands, once and for all' hidden in the hills. The pack embarks on a
journey and find a cave. They go through the cave, after many physical trials,
and come finally to a chess board, sitting on a large flat rock. The chess board
is simple. One half of the board belongs to a sickly, almost oily set of black
pieces. The other, belongs to a set of shining silver pieces. Behind the silver
pieces, and next to the table, is a glypth reading 'Gaia'. On the opposing side,
a glypth reading 'Wyrm'. The PCs find they are unable to disturb the board, with
the exception of moving the silver pieces in any legal move permited in chess.
You guessed it. The chess board is a representation of the Garou and their
antagonists. Every piece the PC's control represents a Garou life or an asset.
Depending on how you built the Sept, grant each piece a physical counterpart.
Play the game with the PCs. For each piece they loose, they can see a fleeting
vision of the death's of their comrades. Hopefully they'll realise the weight of
this game. If the King is lost, the Caern has fallen, and the cave begins to
fill with molten silver, killing the PCs.
54. INTO THE FERAL LIGHT:
A Sept in Appalachia is brought news of a thriving Black Spiral Hive located in
an abandoned coal mine, located in a holler only two days travel (in lupus) from
their Caern. After a brief Hearing, the PC's pack is assembled and sent to
investigate, and if they find the Hive, destroy all the Spirals who infest it.
Upon arriving, the stench of the Wyrm is strong, but *something else* is
stronger. The Hive is filled with the remains of numerous Dancer's as well as
humans (presumably kinfolk and, in the case of the older corpses, miners from
several decades ago). Deep within the broken tunnels of the mine the Pack finds
their mark - a Black Spiral Dancer in Crinos - cowering in a state of near
catatonia. Of course the characters could just mutilate the lone Dancer and call
it a day. However, if the Dancer is slapped and threatened into lucidity, he
will eventually be able to utter the truth of his Hive's fate in a drawn out and
horrific recounting. The Hive was purged by a group of Garou who were deeply and
adversely affected by the extremely aggressive, chaotic, and insane spirits of
the Wyld that were summoned by a botched attempt at raising a Caern a good ways
down the valley. These hybrid entities are beyond and without reason and serve
the Wyld as its Thralls. The destruction of the Hive was one of many Garou sites
that the Wyld Pack has destroyed and devoured on its rampage.
55. Greener Pastures:
The Pack head to a remote Red Talon Sept far in the wilderness, as they're
getting quite the reputation for dealing with problems. The Sept's land has been
bought up by a firm who want to develop the site into mines or oil wells or
whatever's applicable, and the majority of the Talons at the Sept realise that
the standard M.O. of killing a few humans in new and unusual ways to scare them
off is not going to work this time. Instead, it would just draw more attention,
and flypasts from men in their helicopters with their machine guns and their
"hunting permits". Hence, them getting the characters involved. In general, this
is a bog-standard "foil the evil corporation" plot as has been detailed a number
of times, but there's a twist. Close to the Sept is an area thoroughly permeated
by the energies of the Wyld. As the Talons dictate that no Garou should take a
form other than Lupus or Hispo in the Bawn (so as to discourage humans looking
for more of their kind), the Wylding has the simple effect of rewarding Garou
who abandon the higher reasoning provided by their human parts in favour of
acting like half-wolf/half-spirit. It's nothing sinister, but the characters
will feel a yearning sooner or later to stay with the Talon Sept, as the simpler
way of life looks *better* than the politicking and the lies and the pollution
that they left behind. When their home Sept needs them back and they don't want
to leave is when the fun starts.
56. A Tangled Web:
This one needs a "Mature Themes" warning, in that it deals with sex and the
repercussions of such. A group of players who can't treat such things in a
mature manner (and that means no snickering at the back) shouldn't bother with
this one. It's not meant to be lighthearted comedy, it's meant to be muddled and
hard to deal with without hurting someone. The story requires one of the
characters to have a Kinfolk with whom s/he is honourably mated, and to have
made overtures about reproducing beforehand.- After a long time away from the
Sept (see any of the fine adventures above), the Pack return home to bad news.
One of their mates, a particularly promising Kinfolk, has been rendered barren
or sterile[1]. Nobody knows how it happened, but both the Spirits and moden
medicine will prove it: there is no way this Kin is having anything to do with
traditional secual reproduction. Since the character has recently completed
great deeds (again, see above), the Sept had hoped that she would take the time
to raise a child. The Sept indeed still thinks that this is a good idea,
offering the character full use of proven Kin "studs" for the purpose of siring
the child. Whilst a lot is said about how the character's Mate will not be
ill-treated or thought any less of -- and how the stud will only be the father
in the biological sense -- there is a definite attitude that she is a
second-class Kifolk. Perhaps surprisingly, this comes more from other Kin than
from the Garou of the Sept. The truth is worse than it seems. The Kin who is
chosen as the stud has a problem. He believes that he is most worthy of mating
with a Garou and of siring a Garou child simply because he doesn't bring
anything to the Sept that other Kin already do. Feeling shunned by his "people",
he decides to exert both control and revenge in the only way he can think of --
Sex. He found a way to render the character's Mate sterile, and has claimed in
private that he has a cure. The only way the Mate is getting the cure is if he
renounces all claim on the child. Without that, his situation is only going to
get worse. Does the character discard her Mate in favour of the stud? Or does
she continue to be Mated to a Kin who can no longer produce children? Does she
go along with the charade that the child is nothing to do with the stud, and if
she does what's the next step the stud will take? Can the Mate be cured? Is
there any right answer?
[1]: To break from tradition, the Kin will be referred to as male and the Garou
as female. This is only ever a conceit to save time, not to suggest that this is
the only way it could play out.
57. The Crossover That Works:
Nothing too complex or ornate. Simply put, the PCs find themselves hounded
by people or beings that seem to be everywhere that they are. Any attempts to
get close to them meet with evaision. Finally, while the PCs are sleeping, or at
a weakspot, they come face to face with a well trained, heavily armed group of
soldiers who manage to take them down, possibly simply, with gas or
tranquilizers, or brutally beating them into submission. This game involves alot
of 1 on 1 playing, as the pack is bound and separated by their assailants in
some sort of bizare prison. Play up that they're weakend, that big brother is
infact watching them, and that they really have no idea whats going on. Have the
PCs unable to step sideways, somehow. Have them questioned about their recent
activities. I'd say make the antagonist DNA or Pentex, or even the Arcanum, but
I don't think that they would be good choices because the players already know
of them. Any supernatural you feel would be interesting should be tossed into
the mix, also being held, studied, prodded, poked, and vivisected. The rub of it
all comes when a PC formulates a plan of escape, that requires either the
manipulation and co-operation of the other denizens of the facility, or if the
PCs are slow to pick it up, a vampire or something comes and makes the proposal,
begrudgingly. The mood should be very uncomfortable, and confrontational between
the inmates. Once they manage to get out, if anything survived the escape, they
come to the hard part- do they assail those who helped them escape (Combat the
Wyrm, always), or do they get out of there? Do the other supernaturals attack
them when they get out?
58. The Apoaclypse Club:
A group of Fianna (And other hangers on of other tribes) blow into the Septs
territory (I'm seeing them as a motorcycle gang) and start causing a ruckus. The
PC's meet them and they call themselves 'The Apocalypse Club'. Their philosophy
is Garou life is miserable, and they might as well enjoy themselves before The
End of the World, which they are sure is soon. Its a futile battle anyway.
Better than actively participating in the misery of Garou lives. They're heavy
partiers and cocky risk takers with no respect for the litany or Garou
tradition. I see them as being bullies who threaten the veil. The PCs deal with
them- Does their carefree lifestyle appeal to them? Does the Club go too far and
need to be put down? Do they come in peace, or with hostilities? Can they be
convinced to help the sept in a big fight comming up?
59. Don't Fear the Reaper:
One of the Sept's Garou has outlived himself. Growing older and older, he is
in the unique position of being still alive. He has thrown himself into suicide
missions but has beaten the odds every time. However, he is not a young Garou
and is taking ill. His joints are afflicted with arthritis, and he stubbornly
demands that he will not suffer the Sept to tend his sickness, instead demanding
to be allowed to die like he feels he should have months ago. He sets off into
the Umbra to find one last battle -- and the PCs are the Pack the Sept relies on
to record the tales of his deeds. The group finds a powerful spirit, along with
a cloud of attendant Banes. The Elder challenges the Spirit to single combat,
leaving the characters to deal with the Banes (a reasonably easy task). When
they get the chance, they see that the Elder's fighting style is brash like an
untamed Fostern, and only luck is keeping him alive. Every opening is ignored by
the Spirit, but that's not enough. The Elder makes a stupid mistake, and falls.
The wounded Spirit then figures that the characters would make a good main
course. Once they beat it off they still have to return to the Sept and decide
how the tale of the Elder's Last Battle will be recorded for all time. Make it
obvious that this is the main kicker, but don't make the Elder into an uber-NPC.
As soon as the characters have almost finished the Banes, whack, the Elder is
dead. The tale of his fall is the important part.
60. Angel in Aspic:
The Elder from the last tale had a bit of a secret, which his Kin confidant
knows -- He was cursed by a Spirit to find it nearly impossible to die. Said
spirit is a near Incarna-level Jaggling embodying the concept of Death, and the
Elder encountered it on his last foray into the Scab, in the Umbral reflection
of the city morgue. The Death-spirit was apparently tired of the way humanity
monopolised it's time and attention -- even going far enough as to leave it
wearing the shape of the Angel of Death -- and wanted an escape to the old ways,
culling the weak and overseeing the end of life among everything that lives. The
Elder refused to help it, for whatever reason, and it placed a curse upon him
that as he ignored it, so would it ignore him. For all anyone knows, the spirit
is still trapped in the morgue. There's more to it than just finding and freeing
the spirit. It's a talkative sentient embodiment of concept, explaining to all
who listen how it wishes the world were like it was before "Everything went
insane". Freeing it is a matter of unbinding it from the location by destroying
the anchor, a human skull -- yet another symbol of how much humans monopolise
it's time. Don't overdo the spiel, but make it plain that this is not an
interesting or happy Jaggling. Hopefully, this will rub off on some of the
characters. This is the point where the shape of the spirit becomes apparent for
the clue it was: The Death-spirit is (Was? Soon enough!) a member of the Brood
of the Nameless Angel, the Majelin Incarna of Despair[1]. Whilst it isn't
amazingly hard to kill, it has subtle charms that it has been employing causing
the characters to doubt their own potential, which can be just as bad. [1]:
Break out the Book of the Wyrm. Grin. You know how to do this.
61. When to Let Go?
The beloved Grand Elder at the local caern [name, setting, etc up to you] is
getting old. Very old. However, (s)he's still extremely charismatic, with a
natural gift for leadership that's been honed by years of practice and, on his
good days his sharp mind and the better part of a century's worth of experience
make him one of the best strategists the sept has. The problem is that the good
days are steadily becoming less and less frequent. Were he any less popular with
the rest of the sept, no doubt the portion of the Litany about not suffering thy
people to tend thy sickness would already be under serious consideration. As is,
out of devotion and a desire to hang on to someone who's still occasionally a
valuable asset, the other Elders there keep finding one reason after another why
that doesn't apply here, or can't be invoked yet. However, as his leadership
becomes worse and worse (although not really less inspiring to most of the Garou
around him) he begins making bad decisions in his position that increasingly
call into question whether he's still fit to act as Grand Elder for the sept, or
even to remain a part of it. Unfortunately, the Garou there who are in the
position to make such a decision have been with him for a long time and, perhaps
still hoping that he'll recover and once again be the leader he was, still do
nothing about it. What should the characters do about their leader who no-one is
willing to admit is no longer fit to lead? Would it be possible to help him to
regain his mental facilities, possibly with the aid of the right spirits? If
not, should they take other measures to deal with it? And what about the
consequences of his poor command decisions? What can the characters do to help
the other packs with the sept who are being put at risk by following orders?
What can they do to prevent themselves from being sacraficed to the elder's
senility as well?
62. Witch Hunting:
There is the smell of wyrm taint around the PCs' sept. Even amid the high
levels of gian energy of the caern. Repeated searches in to the bawn have
yeilded nothing. soon they begin to suspect one of their own. Chars with sence
the Wyrm notice that all of the energies of corruption seem to spiral to a focal
point around one the septs newest cubs. If confronted about this the cub will
proclaim her innocense, she will also claim iggnorance of why the seems to
conduct the energy. These claims ring true to the ears of the Philidox. The
other Garou wish to kill her, for the wyrm has often given its children the
powers of deception. The cub is understandably terrified. What do the PCs do?
63. Hell on Earth:
A Star Gazer comes to town, convinced that a group of Wizards hiding in the
areas Asian community are trying to suck a majour city into the high-tech hell
known as the 'Wicked City' as an offering for its masters. He implores the Sept
to help him, and the Elders assign the Pack to do so. The scary part is as they
investigate the group the Star Gazer beleives are Wizards, the pack discover
that he is right!!! Before they know it, the Wizards have began a long, slow
ritual, and all sorts of corrupt Weaver spirits and Cyber- Formorians are
popping up.
64. The Gathering Storm:
This is a nice one to drop into the middle of a story, especially if you
want to snapshot the players away from something for a while. If a player is a
Shadow Lord he will not be privy to anything that the tribe is up to. Word
reaches the sept that the Shadow Lords have disappeared. Not all of them, but a
large portion of the tribe has simply vanished with only a "skeleton crew"
behind to guard Caerns which they alone have control over. If the right spirits
are asked the say that the Lords have retreated to the mountains of their
spiritual homeland but other than that they cannot say. Spying on the Lords
should be a near impossible task (you're dealing with masses of Garou here) and
the other tribes are loath to do anything as the Lords technically haven't done
anything wrong - they're just being suspicious. When the Lords return they have
an openly hostile attitude towards many Garou but specifically the Fangs. Caerns
are taken overnight because others are "Unworthy" or "Lacking" in their defence
of the caern...perhaps even with proof of such. The Garou cry out at one, with
the voices of the Fangs louder than any, that the Lords are finally proving
their treacherous hearts and clawing for the Throne. Political ties are ruined,
even with the Margrave who is nowhere to be found in such pressing times. Then a
voice comes to the players Sept, a Shadow Lord who claims that he has been
ignored elsewhere. He is a known criminal, having received many rites of scorn
for "questionable" acts against the Fangs and other Garou to better his tribes
standing and his story is thus: 'With the rise of the Shadow Curtain in Russia
an aspect of Thunder, Typhon, was cut off from the whole. Typhon was corrupted
by the Wyrm and began making moves to usurp Thunder's control of the Tribe,
masquerading as Thunder himself. By presenting himself to packs as Thunder and
replacing Grandfather's brood with his own he was able to spread his influence
in the Motherland. As the curtain fell he was able to spread his influence
farther and farther. How Thunder did not see this I do not know but I do know
this; false belief in Typhon has weakened Grandfather and his Tribe is lost to
him. Worse still is that there are figures within the Tribe who know what's
going on and are allowing it to happen. We are being manipulated and no-one will
listen!!!' He cannot prove what he says, as it came to him in his nightmares
many weeks ago and now he hears it carried in the storm and on the wind. Even
the spirits say that he's talking nonsense. Of course he is laughed away as a
trouble maker, perhaps even interrogated as a possible 'smoke-screen' for the
Lords and sent away from the Sept with a close eye to be kept on him. The next
day he is found dead along with the Garou sent to watch over him. The Elders,
while keen to determine the cause of death of one of their own (which will be
attributed to a Fomori attack) put it down to either coincidence or as a play by
the Lords to make this idiot's story credible. Of course we hope the players are
thinking "What if he's right? Have we all been duped, especially the Lords? More
terrifyingly are Garou allowing this to happen? Where is the Margrave (and other
key elders) to explain this? Was this Lord killed to keep his mouth shut?"....
65. Vampires By Day:
For this story I am basing vampires off of the article in the White Wolf
Quarterly that suggest vampires are the product of blood banes possessing a
dying body. I have thrown out all the VtM metaplot so as to put my players on
the same footing as their characters, that is, they know very little about
vampires. I have kept the breakdown of vampires that is laid out in the
Storyteller's Companion as a starting point of what my players are able to
learn. For this story's purposes a vampiric siring is simply a rite of
possession. For it to succeed, the victim has to be near death and imbued with
the blood of a vampire. (Although I like the idea that vampire vitae is not
essential, which would allow for new vampires with out a sire. Someone near
death could be offered a chance at revenge by a blood bane and ta-da, new vamp.)
The weaknesses of a vampire arise from the death of the mortal shell, which is
necessary to make the possession complete. Well the crux of the story hangs on
an agent of the wyrm trying to figure out a way to recreate the rite of
possession with out the victim dying. The failing is that the resulting
"vampire" is a savage beast with only a trace of intelligence left. Over a very
short period of time all reason disappears leaving a snarling bloodsucker that
can move about during the day. Well once you have a good stockpile of these,
turn them loose near the werewolves territory and watch the fun ensue. Several
facets of this story can be altered to fit your needs but here is how I set mine
up. The wyrm agent is a fomor scientist who can alter his/her smell to seem like
an agent of the weaver. There are actually very few vampires in my story and
they remain hidden from the werewolves so as not to endanger the important
research under way. The one clue that the beasties are being made in the lab is
the presence of either metal bands or tattoos on their ankles listing serial
numbers. The creatures are very bestial in appearance but revert back to their
original appearance when they die. (This allows players to recognize the
occasional beastie after death.) They have claws and fangs that can do agg.
damage, can soak lethal, have six dice for every action, two actions per round,
and like to mob up. So it's a bit of a mystery who or what is behind all this.
Your players who have played VtM well be second guessing everything of what is
going on. And how do you protect the veil with these crazy blood happy attack
monsters running around? What if your players wipe out the vampires involve? Do
they have friends (with phosphorous?) And the evil agent behind it all... who is
he/she working for? Can they call in reinforcements? Or if you kill them, who
will come looking for payback?
66. The Prophesy:
*The grayish waves move back and forth, crashing on jagged stones and shear
cliffs, a ghostly voice "cooommmme, we are past the stones and up the cliffs
awaiting your arrival", bleach white surrface, blinding, made of Ivory?, No,
Skeletons. "ignore the dead, we are waiting" the voice calls from a spire, rain,
lightning, "coommmmmmmme coommmme COOOOMMMMMMMMME" The face of dying Garou, the
Ghostly voice fades and the corpse like Garou speaks, her voice surprisingly
strong, "Find me pup and all will be explained" The Garou wakes screaming, or
howling mournfuly, the other chars and most of the sept appear in moments, when
the garou explains what happened, the other garou chuckle and tease him for
haveing waking them all over a nightmare. They are silenced when the eldest
among the gathered, a wise and much respected Theurge, steps forward and places
a circle of salt around the embarrased character. He burns a handfull of herbs
and thumbprints the ashes on the chars forehead and eyelids. The elder then
places some more herbs in a bowl and gets them smoldering, The smoke begins to
take on shapes from the dream. When at last the smoke-form crinos has vanished
the elder rises, " It was no mere dream that this pup has had, no, it was a
vision unlike most, I will contact the spirits and ask them for guidance. You",
he glances at the characters, "will stay with me. The rest of you should get
some sleep". The pack stays and gathers around the elder who sits silently, with
his eyes closed for hours. (the players should make stamina rolls to stay awake.
When at last he rises, he proceeds to slap all of the characters who have fallen
asleep. After they are all awake he speaks, "The garou you seek is named Alek,
Stride of Seven Leages". A Silent Strider Galliard who has made a name for
herself as an explorer of the Dark Umbra, she is actually quite healthy, she
just has the smell of death on her, and it colored the vision. Why did it have
to be a Strider? Damn wanderers never stick around long annough to have a good
chance of catching them." And he sends the characters away. If the find the
Strider she claims no knowlege of the characters fate. She says she'll travel
with them out of curiosty of what the vision(s) means. Along their travles The
pack is (seemingly) randomly ambushed by banes/fomori/BSDs/whatever. In the
battle that insues the strider is mortally wounded and dies. Even though she is
viably dead, she begins to speak in a voice that is not her own, "A child of
earth and moon shall be born, Whose head will shriek for its fate. Whose triumph
the great corrupter will mourn. Whose comeing the dragons await. Twards the isle
of death where fortunes are lost To the spire of saddness, atop mournfull shard
Whose promises lure but at sanities cost Your fate resides in the Boneyard".
What do the PCs do? What and where is this mysterious Boneyard? Well it is your
game, and I care very little, so you decide.
67. The Blood Red Sea:
A fisherman is rescued from his sinking ship by the coast guard, he claims
that a three large sharks of different species scuttled his boat. This story
gets back to the characters' sept. Could they be Rokea? The almost unheard of
wolves of the sea. Could it just be a bizare occurrence? The sept leader sends
the chars out to investigate. When they get there they find that more boats have
been sunk and four fatalities have been reported. Several experts on shark
behavior have been baffled by the new aggression of the animals. Whats more,
conventional shark deturent (netting, electric signals, ect) have failed to stop
the sharks. The fisherman are suggesting the use of drasitic measures. The
truely strange thing is that only fisherman boats seem to be being attacked. On
the first night in town one of the chars (probably the theurge) is contacted by
a remora spirit. "set out to Sea tomorrow we shall find you." So the chars rent
a boat and head off they sail for hours without incident when suddenly dorsal
fins break the waves, and begin to circle the boat. A woman climbs on board "We
have been waiting, and we know why you have come. We did not sink those craft.
We have seen what happens when we sink human ships. They come with more ships
and kill hundreds for every one life lost to the sea. Something is hopeing that
the humans will blame us." What do the characters do?
68:
And just to add my own nutty idea, have your players eventually make a visit
to CyberRealm. On the way there, have them be sucked into some sort of spiritual
pocket of telemarketing. Drive them nuts with the constant sounds of ringing
phones and monotone salespeople. Perhaps they need to haggle a long-distance
plan to escape, or simply ask to be taken of the "call list".
69. Harrier:
Simple plot, could be made more complex, or addapted to fit into your
story's metaplot. Based off of TB: Red Talon's section about Hunters (Capital
H). A group of (H?)hunters, armed with twinkish amounts of silver enter cross
over a line of territory that puts them dangerously close to the Caern. To
attack the group head on would probobly result in the death of at least one of
the PC's, who's pack is on guard duty. However, they are in the woods, and they
can turn the tables on these would be werewolf hunters by using the territory to
their advantage. Using a map of the region, keep track of where everyone is,
while the Garou harry the hunters and try to wear them out and take them down
when able, and make sure that they don't retreat. They shouldn't leave that
forest alive. Don't let them sleep at night. Scare them. Co-erce them into going
through poison Ivy. Wear them out by making them run, or taunt individual ones
into leaving the main group. Use spirits to pesture them. This obviously would
work best for a young pack in a rural setting, and one of the less
technologically inclined tribes (Ie. no firepower. Defeats the real challenge
when you can use a sniper's rifle to drop a hunter at long range).
70. Texas Tea:
The characters manage to recieve a deed to land that they managed to save from
being developed as housing, or a strip mall, or perhaps they recieve it for
other reasons. Reguardless, when they get the land, they find out it has
hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil under it. People are looking to
develop it to get the oil. Maybe the government tries to buy it out, or Pentex
starts getting really agressive. The clincher, is challenging the PCs- With the
millions, they could do alot of good for the Garou Nation, save alot more land
then the space with the oil in it- but can they sell out? Challenge each of the
PC's with money problems to make it all the more tempting.
71. Untitled:
One of the packmember's kinfolk has a child with a terminal illness. It has
maybe 3 months to live. The pack is called by this kinfolk's spouse who believes
something horrible is going on. In the kinfolk's search for aid to save the
child, they come across a fraud, and believes that the child is actually
recieving help, when clearly they are just being fooled for their money. When
the PC's pay the family a visit, they find that the child is reeking of Wyrm
taint. If the PC's pay this fraud a visit at his clinic, they find a syrum being
used, that stinks of the Wyrm. Further investigation reaveals it is vampire
blood, being harvested by mortals in a facility, and being distributed as a
wonder drug. The PC's have to deal with the spread of people addicted to Vampire
blood as well as the inevitability of the child's death, and the kinfolk's faith
in the practice of administering the syrum.
72. Three Wolves and a Baby:
A good one after a perticually intense story.Have one of the characters wolf
mothers find them and drop a baby on their doorstep, pleading with them to mind
it for a week and to make sure they don't give it up to anyone. After a day or
two of trying to care for this child the sept will contact the pack demanding
they return the child to the sept. They will not tell them why, only that they
must. That night have a small pack of BSD attempt to steal the baby from their
protection, have the sprials lose somehow. The next day the sept will send some
of its warriors to collect the child, the mother will also return early to
collet the child. The mother and sept warrior group will collide and the pack
must chose. Do they help the mother who raised them and disobey their elders and
to hell with the consequences? Do they does as they are ordered and tear a child
from its mothers claws, doubtless making a powerful life long enemy in the
process? What is so special about this child? "Padre I Have Sinned"
73. Alien Race:
The PC's are ordered by a sept Elder to run under the command of a Red Talon
elder for a while (A lupus of another tribe will do, perhaps even a Talon. But a
conservative Garou works best). The purpose of this story is to re-enforce that
the PC's are alien creatures to humans, while not being a big gory blood
splatter fest. They're not of the Wyrm, but they are not human beings. This also
isn't supposed to glorify murder, infact, if played right, it should make the
PCs feel horrible. The Red Talon orders them to run security for the sept at
night, under the pretense that it will help them commune with nature and build a
stronger sense of what it is to be a wolf. However, they are their to learn a
lesson that is neither wolfish, nor the way of man- it is something that is
Garou. The Elder approaches them and orders them to kill a group of men hunting
deer near the boarder of the Sept. They are not an immediate source of danger,
and aren't really that good at killing the deer they're after. They're really
just hanging around, knocking back brews and bonding away from the city, their
families and their jobs. Maybe they litter a little bit, or don't put out their
fires exactly. The hunters put up no resistance, aside from maybe trying to grab
their hunting bows or a bolt action .22 calibur rifle. They're simply too
horrified. If they look over the corpses of the hunters, they find wallets
filled with photos of children and loving families, maybe even something a child
hand crafted for them to bring with them. The Red Talon goades them on as human
lovers, ignoring what it is to be Garou- that humans are not their people
anymore, if they are homids. The humans would persecute Garou if they realised
they were there. Humans have ruined the planet, and breed to the extent that
they are choking Gaia. This, however, seems to just be Garou Nation propaganda.
These men were doing no harm, even respecting the land. The players need to
dispose of the bodies and try to make sure the authorities don't search the
region further, although it was far enough from the bawn to be safe. They need
to feel dirty and horrible about what they've done- like they truly are
monsters. If the PCs ignore the orders of the Elder, they may have a moral
victory, but they may be penalized, or simply chewed out and sent back home in
disgrace, but perhaps earning the attention of someone prominant who respects
what they've done. This story strives to add a personal element to the theme of
savage horror, and bring in what it means to follow orders that are unjust, or
challenge what they think of as justice.
74. Possession:
A Child of Gaia Theurge is caught with a good deal of Marijuana (It takes
alot of cheeba to get a Crinos high) that was to be utilized for spiritual
purposes (Sacrifice for spirits/Payment for favors/Utilizing for vision
quests/Meditation). Rather then just take out the feds and risk rending the veil
as well as needlessly taking innocent life, the Theurge has opted to try more
peaceful means. He is being held on account of possession with intent to
distribute. How do the PCs handle things? Do they try to take the stand as
defense? Do they sidestep into the preceint to remove the evidence? Do they
bribe the cops? Do they try to utilize allies/contacts? Do they try to make a
deal with the cops that benefits them and their cause? Blackmail? Further, was
their any foul play involved at the sept, IE someone trying to keep the Theurge
in prison, or perhaps even setting them up?
75. In-pound-ed:
A Red Talon cub comes to the PC's asking their help (Or perhaps its the sept's
elders, trying to cover up a first change, whatever the case, a human gets iced
and it looks like a werewolf did it). He recently assailed a human he found.
Those who find the body believe it was a wolf attack. They comb the region and
capture a wolf, and bring it back to an animal control center for testing, to
make sure there isn't a strain of rabies floating around. Once they check out
the wolf, it has a date with the gas chamber. The PCs are to liberate the wolf,
which is actually kinfolk, and possibly mother, brother, mate, sister or father
to at least one local Garou, if not one of the PC's themselves. How do they do
it? Do they raid the place and try to free the wolf by force? Do they try to see
if it can learn resist toxin? Do they substitute one of themselves to 'play
dead' in hopes that they can use a gift or fetish to survive the gas and fake
death? Do they masquerade as Animal Control officials moving the wolf to another
facility? Do they rally the local anti-animal cruelty extremists to help free
the wolf? Can they convince the local Red Talons/Lupus that the humans were just
trying to protect themselves, other wolves and their livelyhood by destroying a
sick wolf, and that a counter attack would only bring more dangerous attention?
76 When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears:
News somehow reaches the pack that there is some trouble in the Aetherial Realm.
The Sept of the Stars and the realm it inhabits, now unguarded by the
Stargazers, is under attack from the Star spirits that travel through the skies.
They are not tainted by the Wyrm and only explain their actions with the
enigmatic phrase "A thousand doors, a thousand masks, hiding unknown treachery".
What is hidden within the Sept's tower? Can the characters unlock the
labyrinthine code of walls and mirrors to reveal the truth behind this strange
occurence?
77. M*A*S*H:
The PC's are called to a neighboring sept that has just raided a hive or
WICK. They don't go in time to deal any of the damage, but they are called in to
help supplant the security of the Caern as well as tend to the wounded, which
seem to be arriving in waves. Hopefully they'll establish some sort of triage,
deciding who has a chance to live, and who has to die. Wyrm poisons torment the
wounded, limbs need to be sewn back on, fetishes/gifts used, as well as good ol
fashon medical practices. Some homids may even need to be loaded into a station
wagon and sent to a human hospital to be delt with if the Caern gets overworked.
Play up the horror of war, and the need to pick and choose life and death for
others. Wear the PC's down- no gnosis, run out of medicine, just trying to keep
people alive. Make them calloused by the end of the game. Have them deal with
mourners. Let them all contribute in the way they are all best able- maybe some
missing people need to be recovered, and a group of the balziest Ahrouns around
need to go see if there are any potential survivors, or some family needs to be
comforted, or some shell shocked cubs need to be talked to, or spirits of
healing petitioned. Do the Wyrm's forces try to stage a rapid counter attack
when the Caern's defenses have taken alot of losses?
78. Heads Will Roll:
One of the PCs (Preferably with high Ancestors background, has re-occuring
dreams where they are taking part in some sort of archaic battle, and they
loose, their heads being hacked off. Finally, they recieve visions from a very
upset Ancestor spirit... lacking a head. It becomes clear to the pack that the
spirit will only know peace when the head is found and properly disposed of. The
head was taken as a trophy, with the belief the head is the seat of a warrior's
power, and somehow supernaturally imbued, thus not permitting the spirit to know
completeness and peace. The next part is up to the ST. Who took the head? I have
a couple of ideas- 1. The Fianna- These Garou have fought other Garou many
times, and many are known trophy hunters. Perhaps the head sits in a vault in
Silver Tara. Getting there would be hard enough, trying to challenge/negotiate
to get the head back would be difficult. 2. Humans- An ancient family line of
werewolf hunters keeps the head in a trophy room. They would not be so happy to
negotiate with their enemy. 3. A group of mages inherited the head from their
ancestors, who once warred with the Garou. They're actually a very modern group
now, buisness men who use their proficiency in magic to make a profit and
support their chantry, and they're friendly with the Garou if approached in that
respect. However, they get very upset concerning returning the head- its part of
their cultural heritage, and they feel they have a right to it. 4. Black Spiral
Dancers. The trophy sits deep in a pit, in the trophy room of an ancient foul
Black Spiral warrior. Some story twists: The owner of the head to challenge the
Garou to mortal combat- if the PC's win, they get the head back. If the NPC
wins, they get to take a new head to keep the old one company. Perhaps there is
some sort of concession that the head's owners would make to get the head back,
a trading. Perhaps the Garou own something of theirs, or perhaps its information
they're after. It could come down to bartering an agreement out. Perhaps the
heads owners respect the spirit world, and after understanding the situation,
would be willing to hand over the head. If the PC's re-capture the head reward
them as you see fit, though the addition of a newly-headed ancestor spirit would
be appropriate. Perhaps they are able to give an important forgotton history, or
the location of a lost Fetish/Caern that was taken. Or, you can use the Ancestor
spirit to advance your story however you would find useful.
79. Ragabashed:
Ragabash traditionally look for weaknesses and exploit them in their
enemies, or aid their allies in covering their hides. This story crafts a fair
antagonist. A Ragabash of moderate Rank Gone bad. After a mediocre experiance in
Garou life, despite having a talent for ferreting out weaknesses, this Ragabash
went renegade. Exploiting weaknesses, blackmail, in both the mortal and Garou
relm. This Ragabash is also willing to work for the highest bidder, and then
probobly betray them for a greater profit. I'm thinking Glass Walker, Shadow
Lord or Silver Fang. Perhaps the Ragabash tries to blackmail an elder in the
sept, and its up to the PC's to do the elders dirty work. Perhaps the PCs
themselves are the target. Perhaps they just feel the ragabash is just too great
a threat. What it comes down to is outwitting a genius, and maybe trying to get
them back on the right side of the good fight. A nice twist would be the
Ragabash turning the tables on the PC's and giving them some information that
might trick them into doing his dirty work, or turning on the Elder.
80. Wesley Crusher Syndrome:
Halfway through a wild, heart-pounding adventure, your sept alpha asks you
to take along a young pup for his right of passage. The pup's young, clumbsy,
but manages to survive by sheer luck. Hillarity ensues. Hillarity suddenly
screeches to an end when the pup awakens from a meditative trance, claiming to
have had a vision about a local Red Talon pack turning and attacking the other
garou. Lots of political tension ensues. The Talons, when they find out, are
understandably angry. We play up the difference in the tribal structure here -
still a lot of paranoia and intertribal distrust. If you don't have Talons,
replace with any other suitable tribe. If the PCs don't jump at the chance to
play diplomats, the elder nudges them into the role. With the two tribes on the
verge of all-out war, the pup nervously shuffles his.. ermm.. footpaws (?) and
says "Well.. I was kidding about the visions, I only did it to get attention" or
some such. PCs are left to decide how to deal with it.
81. Let's Build A Snowman:
This story is centered around good RPing, so it might not work for some
groups craving action, and certinly isn't appropriate for a starting game. It
is, however, a Wild West game! The PCs are escorting some migrating Kinfolk out
west. After following some faulty directions and mishap, they find themselves in
a situation where they're trapped in a valley in the dead of winter as a
blizzard hits. The trip is already taking longer than it should, and the food
supply is nearly gone. The pack realises they're gonna have to either push
through and get aid or try to stay put till conditions let up, perhaps for weeks
or months. There is no food to be find, and even a player with high survival can
only turn up minimal nourishment. Certinly not enough for a werewolf pack and
kinfolk. The regions game is also gone. If the PCs try to get out of the valley,
give them hell. It shouldn't be at all easy. If they stick around, eventually
have one of the kinfolk die, of exposure, frostbite, starvation, or maybe
something else. Have tension run high. Lots of potential insanity from the
nervous kin realising they're surrounded by starving werewolves. Eventually, it
comes down to this- Everyone is starving and there is at least 180lbs of good
meat on the dead kinfolk that isn't doing anyone good just sitting there. Do the
Garou break the litany? Does the devourer Wyrm pay them a visit, or drive the
kinfolk insane, wanting to eat more and more, and eventually targeting the
Garou? How does it play out? Mmmboy! Tastes like chicken.
82. The End Has Finally Come:
The End of the world has finally come. Wars rage across the face of Gaia,
whole tribes may have given their lives to stop horrible things from happening.
Encourge the St to be as creative as possible for the changes to the setting.
The pack should be slightly-less war-inclined than most. The World-Tree squirrle
spirit (whose name I can't remember right now), comes to the pack in a dream. He
asks the pack to find a group of just normal humans to take away from the world
so that the squirrle can hide them within the limbs of the world tree for use
after the massive fight. How does the pack handle this? The squirrle gives the
pack directions but he can't offer much more than that. Does the pack resent
being sent on the errand? Does the pack care about humanity enough to even want
to save some? More importantly, how do they get a group of normal humans to work
with them?
83. Understanding:
The eve of Apocalypse is nigh, and the world can feel it. Which is why the
PCs are confounded when they are asked to escort a group of Fae to the gates of
Arcadia, by the Ard Righ himself. Bron requests the PCs do this, as a part of a
Fianna agreement with the Fae and possibly to gain their favor in the comming
battle, and perhaps gain their oath to fight beside the Fianna. The PCs' think
its wasteful and know its a bad idea (I'm thinking it needs to be a Fianna only
game, or maybe a Fianna/Silver Fang mixed pack game, or maybe a mixed pack game
entirely with a trustworthy reknowned Fianna in the mix). The PCs meet up with
the Fae, still with a bad additude, but as they move through the Umbra with
their charges, they realise how tragic things are for the Fae, and gain true
insight into their world. Big teary scene at the End when the Fae get to where
they're going, and perhaps when the PCs return home to prepare for the comming
battles with an idea of something beautiful that has been lost, perhaps a fear,
a death of innocence, and the loss of a truely remarkable people- Or perhaps
they draw strength from it and hold onto hope steadfast.
84. Cluedo:
The pack wakes up in the Caern one morning and realise (one way or another) that
they have no recollection of the previous few days. Their minds have blanked!!
Not only that, but each of them has on them a disturbing piece of "evidence"
connecting them to the murder of one the Elders that a "friendly" grou of Garou
from the sept has come to talk to them about; blood, a piece of clothing, a
rather convincing looking murder weapon, that sort of thing. Given that the
characters can't remember a thing (Truth of Gaia will help them prove this) and
that the other Garou are sure that there was only *one* attacker, the pack are
now in a race against time to find what happened, who the killer is and why
they're being framed [1,2] before another Garou pins the crime on them
conclusively. (This of course assumes that the pack are fairly well trusted
around the caern and the Elders are therefore willing to give them the benefit
of the doubt.) The spirits aren't talking and if they are they seem confused
about what exactly has happened. All the characters have is a murder scene and
their own senses and instincts to guide them. Will it be anough?
[1] It could be that one of your players *is* the killer. He may have killed the
Elder in Frenzy or cold blood (it helps if they didn't actually like the elder)
but I'd be sure to clear this with the player first.
[2] I ran a story like this in which *all* the players murdered the killer, even
though the Elder was only killed by one man. In this story a rather unstable
Vortex had manifested and travelled through the area, screwing around with all
sorts of probabilites. The end result was that the evidence pointed to all of
the pack while simultaneously pointing to one individual. It took some rather
clever thinking on the part of the players to get the spiritual connection to
the vortex from a seemingly enrelated incident in the papers :)
85:
One of your PCs (prefferably a city-based garou, maybe a GW would work best)
has a mobile phone. One day while using it, he hears a strange clicking in the
background. Investigating this, he finds out that Pentex has been using the
phone to keep tabs on this person's movements. Slowly, other things become
gradually obvious - maybe he's being followed by a black sedan, or perhaps he
notices that there's a camera recording him from behind the glass of his tv set.
Use this to isolate him from the rest of the pack - keep the events more and
more unbelievable, until (if he does decide to tell the rest of the pack at
all), he sounds like a crazed conspiracy-theorist. Given that they decide to do
anything, it should be fairly easy to defuse the situation with some threats and
broken stuff, but this can also set up as a precursor for later events. And it
works well to throw a spanner into a pack. Make 'em work for it.
86. Teen Angst:
The sept has uncovered a lost cub that no one knew of. This young teenager
feels ostriscised and troubled because they cannot fit in. They are just comming
into lycanthropy, and while they have yet to have their first change, they're
starting to feel rage building up within them. Because of this, the young'n has
decided to pull a school shooting. Calling togeather a coterie of fellow
miscreants, they have trained and planned for their attack. It is up to the
player's pack to obtain this lost cub. If they find out about the shooting, it
will be theirs to deal with, as there is urgency, and it will almost definately
be carried out by the young'ns friends.
87. Trailer Park of Doom:
The local sept of a fairly rural caern has to look into a set of grisly murders,
mostly children, at a trailer park in the nearest town. This is known to be one
of the nastier places humans reside in, and frankly, nobody other than the Bone
Gnawers and a few Children of Gaia even have hope for the residents there. The
only reason it's come to their attention is that a couple of kinfolk nearby have
also turned up dead, and all of the murders seem ritualistic, and have the Wyrm
written all over them. Tensions have mounted, as yet another kinfolk sent to
check things out has been murdered, and this time is related to one of the more
militant sept leaders. The more militaristic tribes are up in arms, and want to
just wipe this place off the map. Perhaps there's even some news coming in that
it's really cover for a Hive or something. The PC's are contacted by a less
angered party, probably a Child of Gaia, or a Bone Gnawer concerned over a
handful of kinfolk living there, who want to root out the real problem before
losing the entire place. Besides, should't Gaia's warriors be spending the
energy on what they can prove is truly a breeding ground of the Wyrm? This works
best if the PC's tend to be slightly more concerned with humanity or realize the
local sept is misdirecting it's anger. On arriving to the park, they realize it
really is one of the nastiest places people have ever set up. Even small
children are hostile and taunting, but, although there are banes feeding off it
all, nothing seems to be actively causing the problem. Whatever it is doing
this, it can't actively be in the park. Since this is mostly a mystery type of
story, there should be a good deal of investigation. Show the PC's some
depraved, possibly red herring humans[1], as well as the occasional poor soul,
who is worth keeping alive, and stuck here due to economic reasons only. Also,
sure enough, there are a couple Bone Gnawer kinfolk, who've been scoping it out
for a while, as well as making due. Treat them well, and they'll have all sorts
of info. But then, who wants to treat BG kinfolk well, let alone trust them? If
the PC's don't just decide to put these people out of their misery (which,
hopefully they won't, as there are a several unlucky innocents here), they'll
find the real answer is in the woods behind the park. It's bad enough that for
years, people have been throwing trash back here, and well, there's even the
"militia", which trains back here. Well, they claim to be the militia anyway,
but in reality are just some redneck youths who like to play army, and do so
with real guns.[2] No, the real answer is just a bit farther back into the
woods. . . Once the PC's find whatever's there, this is where the real fun
starts. The real killer is a fomori created from a teenage boy who "made a pact
with the devil" to get out from his abusive, supposedly religious father. If the
PC's hit the right door, they may have met his father, who honestly doesn't come
off as the type to be abusive. There should be some real tragedy in realizing
that this poor kid has simply traded one abusive master for a larger one. . .
one that sends him to kill. There might be more back here, though. . . As for
anything else in the woods, it's up to the ST based on the power of the pack, as
well as what the mood of the game is. If you wanted to focus on the mystery
mostly, and have the real killer truly be just this kid, and all that anger
among the local sept be over nothing, go for it. If you want this to lead into
at least a little more splatter for the pack, who spent all this time searching,
then add a cult. If you really want to take that riled up sept and send them to
do dirty work, well, sure enough, there's a small BSD hive operating back here,
that's just been under the radar of the sept for a while, due to the more
obvious trailer park. Personally, I prefer the first option, because it focuses
on the mystery aspect, and really does show the local sept that sometimes going
on a hunch isn't a good thing. At any rate, though, the theme here is
that humans can be unwittingly doing the Wyrm's work, with only a teeny bit of
extra supernatural stuff going on, but that there's also, even amongst the worst
taint, some folks who really are worth saving.
[1] On running this once, I made the trailer park manager rather corrupt, and
she also happened to have a skin condition that led to very, very dry and flaky
skin. Sense Wyrm did go off, for all the wrong reasons, and the paranoid PC
happened to take the bait that she had dry, almost scaly feeling hands. Needless
to say, she nearly got killed.
[2] Again, a trigger happy player mistook these mostly harmless teenagers for
trouble, and ended up killing all by the one who got away. If it weren't a
one-shot game, he'd have had hell to pay later.
88:
Rescuing a wolf kinfolk from a pen, papers linking the other wolves of the
zoo to a nuclear research lab are found. It seems at least 6 wolves has been
bought/caught and then shipped off to this remote place. There a Pentex station
with captured wolves, and perhaps even werewolves is the arena for research on
the wolves that are attacking the plants. Since it is nuclear it is hazardous
for the PC's and a great Wyrm Creature is watching the umbra. The characters
must find the floorplans, a guard scheduele, etc and break in the conventional
way! It really works best if they discover several clues to this pentex station,
preferably in other adventures. Maybe the chieftain's mate is captured or a new
cub. Make it really count to get inside. Explosives should not be an option
because of the nuclear reactor(s).
89. Countdown to Doomsday: As the Final Battle approaches in the year
2004, the fate of the free world will also be decided by the coming presidential
election. A promising young Senator and would- be President (one the characters
have heard much about) wins the Democratic primary and is on the road to the
White House. However, the PC Garou have had a vision in which the new President,
who is either Wyrm tainted/supernatural (Nephandi?)/or just plain power-hungry,
ushers the country into World War 3, complete with nuclear devastation on a
global scale, ensuring the Wyrm's victory and dreams of oblivion. What do the
PCs do? Can they stop the man, who is probably protected by supernatural and
mundane forces? Maybe public assasination is the only way, and possibly further
rending the veil. I obviously borrowed a lot from Stephen King's Dead Zone for
this one, but I like the idea and I'm planning on running it for my players.
90. Debt of Honor:
The pack have been given the task of escorting a wayward Garou back to his own
sept to face punishment. He had committed [insert crime of your choosing]
againts his sept and was caught on the run near the character's Caern. Whilst
travelling to their destination some unforseen circumstances crop up, such as:
1) Attack from outside forces 2) The chance to help others against the Wyrm The
criminal in question becomes central in helping the characters get through this
new trial, afterwards asking for their mercy and to let him go. Maybe he
explains the extenuating circumstances of his crime or maybe he's just hoping
that his good deeds have won him a pardon. Can the characters turn a blind eye
and let him escape or do they continue with the duties handed to them?
91. The Unthinkable:
A pack of Red Talons has violently siezed a nuclear silo, slaughtering
everyone inside, and managed to arm the missile inside. Both military forces,
and Garou have been tipped off, perhaps by a Red Talon that has a good idea of
what kind of destruction such a weapon can cause. He believes the pack is
completely ignorant of what a nuclear weapon does, and believes they think they
are just turning one of humanity's weapons against them. The player characters
must race against time before the Red Talons either manage to launch the
missile, or the military forcefully enters the silo, causing more bloodshed, and
possibly damaging the Veil. Can the characters convince the Red Talons to stop
their plan, or will they have to use more violent means. The Red Talons
obviously had help in executing their plan. Are there others inside the silo
helping the Red Talons? Perhaps the Red Talons have been manipulated by enemies
within the Garou Nation, who want to see the tribe be ostrasized and destroyed.
92:
The local sept currently has a cease fire of sorts with the local vampire
population. (for whatever reason will work in your story) One of the provisions
is that one of the sept leaders and one of the vampire leaders meet ever couple
of months to work out conflicts. Each leader gets to have some bodyguards and
this time your pack is it. During the meeting it gets attacked by hunters.
During the fighting the pack looses sight of the elder for a bit, only to find
him as the fighting is winding down. The elder demands to be taken back to the
caern at once and that he has important information for the rest of the sept.
Along the way the players start getting hints that something is wrong, and at
some point realize the elder isn't the elder person they started out with
(probably a vamp looking like him/her) Will the players figure out the imposter
before his/her nefarious scheme succeeds? Can they stop said scheme? Where is
the real elder? How much renoun do you loose for misplacing the person you are
protecting? Find out next week! Same were-time! Same were-channel!
93. Invasion:
This scenario could easily be expanded into an entire chronicle. Over a
week's time, all the major Septs in Britian and Ireland are assaulted by
combined forces of Black Spiral Dancers and Fomori. At first, the attacks are
small, and the enemies retreat after being engaged, almost like they are probing
the Sept's defenses. But, the attacks are becoming more frequent, and occuring
on a larger scale. It should become apparent to the characters, or maybe an
Elder NPC if the characters don't come to the realization, that in order for the
BSDs to attack so many Septs at once, there must have been a major influx of the
Wyrm-Wolves into the British Isles. If the characters manage to capture and
interrogate a high- ranking BSD (or servant), they will discover, to their
horror, this is the case. The Black Spiral Dancers, sensing the end is near, are
mounting a campaign to conquer the British Isles, and strikes a blow that the
tribes, particularly the Fianna, might not recover from. The characters' pack
will be tapped to help start building alliances among the tribes in the British
Isles, to start building a coordinated defense, or go beyond Britian to find
allies to help in the defense. Or, they could go another route. Someone may
realize that with so many Black Spiral Dancers invading the British Isles, they
may have left their Hives with little defense. The characters might be able to
organize a counter- offensive, in hopes of either eliminating the Hives, or
forcing the Black Spirals to withdraw from their invasion.
94. Buried but not Forgotten:
A new find in the Valley of Kings sends the Silent Striders on a frantic
search for allies. It seems that some archeologist have found new tomb in the
VOK, and are waiting to have permission to open it. Thing is, the Striders don’t
want what ever is buried to awaken. Egypt is dangerous for them, (as well all
know) but it seems that keeping this secret is worth any risk. Your Garou are
asked to travel to Egypt to play their part in all of this. This offers a lot of
different options for the ST: 1. What is buried there? Perhaps a Metis of great
renown is buried there, big time break of the Veil if he’s found. Or perhaps an
old ancient enemy has lain in rest, only to awaken once his tomb is open and
disturbed. 2. The garou can either be a part of the group trying to keep this
buried, fighting off what ever enemies come out of the wood work, or working to
keep the archeologists, from opening the tomb. 3. Then again, what are they
guarding anyways, the Striders aren’t telling, even though they need the help.
Overly curious characters could be in for a surprise...
95. Reintroduction:
The players awake. They remember little about anything, and don’t recognize the
forest they are in. They know they are werewolves, but little more than that.
They have no concept of tribes, breeds or auspices. For some reason, they don’t
want to leave the area, (abut 5 square miles of forest.) Players keep sensing
that they are being watched... What now? What has happened is that the
characters have been experimented on by DNA, thing is, they have had their
memories wiped clean. Amnesia, they know how to live, and shift, but no
specifics as to what they are. DNA has "reintroduced" them to this territory,
much like wolves being reintroduced to the wild. The scientists are interested
to see the garou in their natural habitat. Each character has a radio chip
implanted in him, also, a little electronic chip. Know those dog fences that you
bury, and attach the little thing to their collar, so they wont cross the
invisible line? Think that on a bigger scale to keep these fuzzies from straying
to far. DNA have many well hidden cameras and agents studying the werewolves.
What happens when the characters figure this out?
96. Future Tense:
This can being one of two ways, with the characters waking up in the future,
or you preparing them with this info for a future chronicle. Well, the veil is
broken. People know about the Garou, and have known about them for a long time.
The garou had been all but wiped out, in the great scouring, when the veil first
came down. But sloly humanity changed its tune, and stopped the killing before
they destroyed all of Gaias defenders. The Garou are now part of a program
trying to reintroduce the werewolves back to the wild. Chances are they are part
of a breeding program, and are being trained, by zoologist and biologists to be
able to survive in the woods. Thing is though they can take a human form, the
emphasis should be that they are not seen as people. I suggest taking all the
info off of those Discovery channel type programs and apply it to this. And
alternate way of doing this, is the characters to find them selves in a zoo, in
a very similar predicament that the California Condors are in.
97. Haven’t we seen this before?
This might have had some similarities to a story in an anthology, but its
not a rip off, I assure you. A garou (perhaps a a PC or Kinfolk) is in the city,
and visits an Art gallery displaying a bunch of new works by a prominent artist.
Thing is these works look very familiar. The images are of Garou! Yup,
nine-foot-tall- screaming-fuzzies. The art can be In any style the ST wishes,
perhaps very abstract, or realistic. Either way, the news gets to the local
Caern, and causes quite a stir. Who is this artist? Does he/she know anything
about the garou, or is this just some weird coincidence? Its up to the players
to find out.
98. No wonder they hate us:
This works best if the characters are away from "home" or for those who
don’t have a base of operation, this works best in new territory. The characters
are sent to a local where there is a lot of talk about werewolves. Maybe just a
lot of rumors, or maybe the town is trying to use its legend as a tourist
attraction. The players elders believe that some one is breaking the veil, be it
Gaian or Spiral they don’t know, but they don’t like it. The characters explore,
and find that the town has a lot of info on classic werewolves, and it seems
that everyone accepts the fact that something is out in the woods. Needless to
say, when the full moon is rising, this town closes up shop, and no one leaves
their well locked houses until dawn. Characters out in the local woods find a
figure running though, howling, growling and attacking any livestock that
happens to be left out. (Maybe the city leaves a cow or sheep tied out during
this night to keep it away form the houses.) When the characters catch this
figure, or follow it until dawn, they find it turning into a human, classic
style. Perhaps the mayor or some one else they’ve met. Seems that he was bit by
a werewolf and changes every full moon. Whats going on: The figure is a classic
werewolf, he knows nothing of Gaia, or the Garou. He’s just cursed, and silver
hurts him badly. The ST has a lot of ways to take this one: Perhaps he’s a
fomori, or other sort of possessed type of figure, or maybe he’s just a real
classic werewolf. But if that’s the case, then there has to be more. So what do
the characters do with him? What happens if one of them is bit by him?
99. Dirge:
The world without the Silver Fangs. A co-ordinated attack by the Wyrm's
forces has cut the head from the Silver Fangs, and precision strikes both
physical and spiritual have dealt with the rest. There are maybe ten survivors
the world over, and they are brought to a Grand Convocation of the Garou Nation.
There, they find that Falcon has deserted them, lost to mourn her children. In
all but the bodies of these few, the Tribe is dead. Most of the remaining Fangs
(because you may have more level-headed PCs) talk of expending their energy in
one last strike against the Wyrm, bringing the vengeance of Helios, Luna and
Gaia to bear in their unbridled Rage. Others wonder at how the Wyrm managed to
co-ordinate so many forces, to destroy those Garou without enough losses to
count as a real battle. A young Glass Walker Theurge by the name of Etherkiller
isn't so sure. She's spent her life trying to map the datasphere, the lines of
the Weaver's web that transmit information across the planet. Recently, she has
seen a spike in activity, especially near the sites of these so called great
battles. While the rest of the Garou Nation mourns their dead, she works with
her Pack and any others she can convince (hint hint) to investigate. She
believes that this was the work of the Weaver, not the Wyrm, and that all is not
as it appears. Sure enough, investigating the battle sites will indicate that
the Silver Fangs were torn into the Umbra and relocated to the very top of the
CyberRealm, in a ploy to get Falcon to lead the Tribal Totems away from the
Garou by showing their leaders as weak. The obvious choices are to tell the
Garou Nation (they'll listen eventually, these are the PCs damnit) or go find
Falcon. Or both. Either way, some Wagner when descending on the Cyberrealm to
crack it open like an egg would be more than appropriate.
100. Funhouse Reflections:
This one comes in two parts, but is presented as one. London in the
mid-1980's is a strange place. It's even stranger in the World of Darkness. The
characters are part of/are visiting/whatever a Sept somewhere in the city which
is critically low on Garou. They have been asked to recruit four newly-Changed
Garou across the city. This takes them across the spread of the city, from
people living below the poverty line to the upper-class homes of those profiting
under Thatcher, silver spoon types next to people without enough money to pay
their water rates. It's up to the Pack to educate them in the ways of the Garou.
Don't skimp on this. They have to make sure that they know and understand the
Litany and respect their Elders -- by any means necessary. The second section
has the Cubs ready for their Rite of Passage. While they are preparing, word
comes back of teenagers and children being abducted. They follow no pattern any
of the Theurges can divine, but the last two have been Kinfolk to the local
Garou and they want this thing sorted. Rites have however located the next
target. Three guesses who gets the job. It turns out to be an underground
organisation kidnapping and brainwashing teenagers into it's service, performing
strange rituals deep below Parliament to ensure that the Government remains in
power. But can the characters explain to the new Cliaths the difference between
this cult and the Garou?
101. Orbital:
If you thought Dirge was a cop-out, read on. Etherkiller is back, with grave
news for the Garou. She's found nexi in the information flows, and they do not
look good. Conversing with more traditional geomancers, she's worked out that
these points lay in the perfect positions to manifest not the Wyrm, but the
Weaver. With rumours of the Apocalypse being close, the Glass Walkers gather and
decide their plan. The other Garou must fight a holding action against the
Drones, Men in Black (Weaver-spirits, put down that Mage book) and other
creatures of order that are breaking through to calcify Reality. When the
incursions happen, the Walkers are nowhere to be found. They are preparing a
Rite to do to the Weaver what the Croatan did to Eater of Souls, a Tribal
sacrifice to castrate the insane spider. The PCs should be in the thick of this.
If there is a GW PC, they are brought to the meeting and must decide whether to
tell their Packmates or to remain silent and save their worry. As the fighting
increases and spills onto the city streets and Umbral reflections the world
looks on in horror. One by one the battles are won, but the cost in Garou blood
is great. The PCs' place in the battle is the final stand. They must battle back
everything the Weaver can throw at them that their Glass Walkers may finish
their Rite. And even if they do... what will the world be like tomorrow?