#crinos from

[furiarossa]

Oh my, why were we obsessed with Furiadoro in a suit and tie in 2011? She doesn't like wearing a jacket and tie, she would like to go around naked (or at most in a tracksuit). But oh well, it seemed to us that she was fine and so... here she is, with all her possible forms (at least the feral one doesn't have a tie!). Aside from the evolution of Furia's design, we can't help but notice how the illustration style at the time was influenced by certain manga styles.

★ FurAffinity|Deviantart|Commission prices|Tapas|Pillowfort★

[oinonsana]

found out that Werewolf 5 is out and it looks rlly prtty and i want to run it eventually but the blurb is giving me pacified twitter advertisement... that is NOT what werewolf is about!!

werewolf is about how Gaia is fucking dead.

The icebergs are sliding into the sea. Coastal cities are ravaged by the strongest fucking typhoons and hurricanes humanity has ever experienced.

The forests are on fucking fire while your corpse of a politician is wondering how else they can justify sending soldiers to the Global South to cut down trees and steal oil.

What does this fucking look like to you, huh? The Apocalypse is here? The Apocalypse has BEEN here. The Wyrm is fucking feeding on the corpse of the Divine Mother.

And what are you doing about it? All sad, languishing in your fucking desks. 

Don’t you hear it? Your heartbeat? The only thing left of Gaia is wrath. Your heartbeat is her heartbeat now. Your heartbeat is her ANGER. Her MADNESS. Her FRENZY.

YOU GAROU, WARRIOR SHAPESHIFTERS, SO-CALLED CHAMPIONS OF THE EARTH! Choose: a fucking desk job, or your closest friend ripped apart by techgnomachinery? A normal family life or a huge fucking caern where your lover will mourn you potentially the next day? A little piddly gun or a huge fucking klave?

CHOOSE ANGER. CHOOSE FRENZY. CHOOSE DELIRIUM. LEAP AND FUCKING KISS THE MOON. DIE IN A HEAP OF SILVER BULLETS AND BLADES. TEAR DOWN THE GATES, SHATTER THE SKYSCRAPERS, BURN DOWN ESTABLISHMENTS, RIP APART WALL STREET, CHOOSE THE WORST FUCKING MARIJUANA, CHOOSE A SHITTY 10 YEAR OLD TSHIRT AND SOME DUSTY ASS COMBAT BOOTS

You’ll die either way. So,

will you choose to take this shit on your knees, or will you CHOOSE TO RAGE RAGE RAGE RAGE RAGE

[kiddphel]

this is the same man

[aztarion]

trash the trail cam before you go crinos

my disaster pup from werewolf: the apocalypse — the book of hungry names 🐺

[songoftrillium]

HEARTHBOUND IS NOW A BESTSELLER

HOLY SHIT! A friend pointed out to me that Hearthbound is now a bestseller on Storytellers Vault! I never expected it to do so well, and I'm honored it's had such a positive public response.

If you've ever wanted a turnkey solution for confronting the less savory aspects of the Garou Nation in Werewolf: the Apocalypse, look no further!

When you take away the safety, agency, and credibility of a people, abuse them, and push them to the edges of society, it's only natural that they'll turn to each other for support. Hearthbound is an exploration of subculture that I feel will resonate with many of you.

Long ago held beneath the heels of the Garou Nation, Kinfolk have begun helping Crinos-Born defectors seeking to escape their Septs. Raising them in loving homes, these Crinos-Born have grown into a new tribe. They reflect the values and people of the cultures that raised them, proudly bearing the names their families gave them.

Existing as the children of Shantar, the Hearthbound value inventiveness above all else, finding unconventional solutions to deeply complex issues, both in the literal and abstract. Adhering to the Codes and Creeds of renown, they judge those in the Garou Nation who would use their power to abuse those weaker than them.

This module is usable in any edition of Werewolf: the Apocalypse and provides all the patron, tribe, gift, spellwork mechanics, and story seeds needed to work this new tribe into your new or existing tables!

[gayfandomblog]

I’m going to be homeless in 2 days because my landlord is illegally kicking me out to do cosmetic renovations on the condo in order to sell it. He never officially gave me 30 days’ notice. I don’t have a place to go and I’m going to be homeless as of Thursday. Everyone is telling me to find a pro bono lawyer or claim squatter’s rights etc but I’m SO scared

Edit:

A really kind person messaged me asking if I need financial help. To be honest, I do. I’ve prevailed and am prevailing upon financial help from my extended family and local homelessness prevention resources, and I’m searching diligently for a roommate/place to live, and I’m trying for a second job, but the only way forward I can see for the immediate future—without losing everything—is to board my parrot, rent a storage unit for my belongings, and either book a motel or find a shelter. And after that, I still need to be able to make rent, and maybe a deposit, on whichever apartment or room I end up in.

If you want to help out, my Venmo is @Christina-Crino. Thank you to everyone who’s expressed kind words and concern.

[hegorys]

Why do 90% of Sterek werewolf fics only have the beta transformation which is the 75% human and 25% wolf phase and the full phase which is 100% literal wolf? Like, they are werewolves, their best way to fight would be using the crinos form which is 50% human and 50% wolf, basically that werewolf form from the movie Van Helsing or Underworld, honestly it's a bit annoying as the coolest and most powerful form for they is to become a wolf whose only way to fight is to bite and scratch, the crinos form is totally for brutality and I don't understand why it isn't used much in TW's fics

[newwavenosferatu]

finished reading W5 and pretty disappointed. I thought the changes made were a good step forward but damn was I wrong.

Werewolf is the epitome of a problematic fave. It has more racism baked in than pretty much any game I've heard of. Such weird ideas of ancestry, culture, birth, etc. The orientalist view of the indigenous people of the Americas is absurd. The game uses "influences" from these cultures when in reality painting all indigenous peoples from all over the world the same. Fans will know some of the most egregious, such as the name of Crinos-born Garou, the name of the tribe now called Galestalkers three fate of the Bunyip and third indigenous tribe.

At the same time, the core theme of the game really resonates with me. Fighting the Apocalypse because no one else will, finding yourself one day in a world that is wildly different from the one you've lived so far. Living in a dying world, trying to do whatever you can to fight something that effects everyone

So, to avoid ranting any more, can Werewolf be saved? I really don't know. Removing the cultural ties to the tribes in W5 seemed like a good idea, but resulting in a monotonous collection of eurocentric werewolves. A lot of people will say just play Forsaken, and I do like Forsaken, but it's not WTA. I have great faith in the Werewolf the Essentials project happening here on tumblr and the WOD community as a whole to make and run a better version of Werewolf, but it's a lot of effort.

tldr I like WTA but trying to start a new chronicle is difficult because I need to homebrew stuff and do research, the game is horrendous in many ways yet I'm still drawn towards it. What needs to be done to make WTA a game removed from white supremacy? is it even possible? I don't know

[reikiajakoiranruohoja]

WoD5 thoughts: Why limits don't work

Preface; Liking WoD5 is not bad, finding it the best edition is fine. What I am talking about in this mini-essay is the more technical side of things. The reason the way WoD5 limits what you can play bothers me, is that I have seen why limiting options never works and in fact creates a lot of elitism within the community. To explain, in Revised edition it was very common for VTM sourcebooks to have a new bloodline or clan with cool new powers. Only for the book to say it was not meant to be played. They did this multiple times, if you have V20 just look at the bloodline section. While WtA didn't suffer from books inventing new fera left and right, the community itself started putting very harsh limits on what sort of character was acceptable. Thanks to lupus having 5 gnosis, the breed was deemed 'too hard to play' or 'only for power gamers.' Crinos-born baaarely squeaked through. It was clear most wanted everyone to just play homids of tribes that originated from Europe. Any other breed, tribe or Fera was seen as Snowflaky. (I cannot say anything about the rest of the games.) When the Revised edition ended in the setting ending, it took old-White Wolf/Onyx Path a bit to find their footing with the New World of Darkness/ Chronicles of Darkness. But once they did, the mentality towards unorthodox characters changed. Now, everything was given rules and ideas on how to play them. More importantly, since NWoD was not meant to be one cohesive setting but a toolbox for the ST to use, there was no longer a pressure to fit every supernatural into specific games. Once the 20th editions came around, they followed the same mentality found good from NWoD; The ST chooses what applies and what does not. You could now play all the bloodlines in VtM and for WtA lost tribes and fera were given full character creation rules (White Howlers even got their own tribebook!) No longer was it seen as snowflaky to play a non-homid or a fera. As long as the game functioned, it was fine. So, now with WoD5, it feels strange to see how limited your playable options are. Not to mention, there is a lot of morality tied to why you cannot play them. Second Inquisition is bad because The Man and fundamentalism, Sabbat is bad because they are in a cult, Cult of Fenris is bad because the writers want to make them neo-nazi, stargazers are bad because...reasons, as are tribeless werewolves.

Hunter gets it the worst, though, with hunter organizations being automaticly bad, even if they are based on a group of people trying to get rid of illegal sex tourism in their country. And what of the lupus? How many games allow you to play as wolfborn in W5? How many people wanting to get, once again, told to just play humanborns? WoD works best when it is open for players to explore. Not when you get shamed for trying to play something different.

[gnost-stories]

Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition is an edition of Werewolf: The Apocalypse I can actually show to my friends without accompanying it with an asterisk for each chapter. The Tribe renames actually serve to make tribes more global and reduce the actual limitation of tribes to certain ethnicities or national identities.

Not to mention the Tribe now called Galestalkers used to be named something you're not supposed to say according to the First Nation it is from.

It's not as if the renames are eurocentric in nature either, because even the Hart Wardens got changed from what they used to be.

The removal of the crinos-born means there's no longer in-universe Proof That Eugenics Is Justified and they're no longer using the name of a marginalized group that's frankly been through enough bullshit in 500 years.

Thank Gaia for Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition.

[tee-hee-heidi]

Nymphs and Satyrs - Introduction

Aaaaaah we’re here guys! Apparently I can’t help developing Lore Trademark for everything I do, no matter how small. Anyway, I had planned a very long post about the lore of Mythical Lovers, but that would have been way too much in one single sitting, so I decided to split it into smaller posts. Let’s hope I don’t get too carried away lol.

Satyr and nymphs are a type of mythical creature I started calling Lesser Deities of the Woods, which is probably not super accurate to Greek mythology but I needed a single name for the both of them and I could only come up with this. So if you see me writing about Lesser Deities in this post (and future ones too), assume I’m talking about nymphs and satyrs as a whole.

Anyway, these Lesser Deities usually live in forests, woods, near lakes or swamps. They’re very elusive, but this doesn’t mean they hate humans, quite the contrary! While some communities are more secluded than others, most Lesser Deities don’t mind intermingling with humans, and even take human spouses. Still, they don’t really engage with humans on the regular, preferring to live far from civilisation. As Deities, both satyrs and nymphs are immortal, though they can still die from violent means or illness (something that can’t happen to Major Deities and full Gods) and while they do not die from old age, they can age! Sort of. While their body doesn’t change the way a human’s does, the older a satyr gets the whiter his fur becomes (a fully white coat is considered a great achievement for a satyr!) while older nymphs are almost completely covered in flowers. This usually takes centuries.

Moreover, both satyrs and nymphs have powers! It comes with being deities. They’re not as strong ad Godly powers, but Lesser Deities are still greatly respected and feared by humans. I’ll eventually make a completely separate post about nymph and satyr’s powers but for now the very short version

Nymph powers: related to plants. Both growing plants, reviving them, and using their natural properties to aid in various illnesses etc. A good example of their powers would be reviving a dead piece of wood, or making natural fibres bloom, or even increasing the potency of a plant, so that its natural effect is even stronger.

Satyr powers: this is still up in the air and probably subjected to change but, satyrs are really great at enticing humans and even hypnotising them with their songs and dances. Usually they use their powers either to protect their communities from humans, driving them away from their place of living, or to attract humans so they can take advantage of them. It depends. If their goal is to attract humans, their traces (hoofprints etc.) can glow, so that humans can follow them better.

Both their powers can be influenced by mood, and especially nymphs need to stay in contact with nature to be able to tap into their powers. Droughts, pollution etc. can seriously impact their magic.

And now, last but not least… children! But wait, how can satyrs and nymphs have children if they’re all male/all female?

When approaching this story I’ve kept in mind that female satyrs didn’t exist in Ancient Greek mythology. That’s a later invention (I think Roman, but don’t quote me on that), I’ve decided to build up on that when conceptualising my world, and since the female counterpart of the satyr is the nymph… I’ve technically made them the same “species” which means that unions between satyrs and nymphs are fertile and will produce offspring. Unions with humans will also result in children, but they will always be either nymphs (if female) or satyrs (if male). A Lesser Deity’s children are always Deities themselves, even if the other parent is a mortal human. The only exception would be if the other parent is a full God (like in Bia’s case)

Children are never considered bastards, even if the father is unknown. The family name (is there is one) is passed by the mother to her children.

I’m still undecided if Crino has a family name or not lol, we’ll see.

[wolf-among-mechs]

Well, now I got a few questions for you in return. Merc to merc, Clanner to... well, maybe someone twice removed from the Clan family tree.

🟡💛💳🌼🎵

Something along those lines yeah. It's... Complicated. Have a seat. I got a lot of stuff to talk about.

🟡 Where do I currently live. Where I have lived. I grew up on Hephaestus station. Lived a six months on the planet Milton in Lyran space in a dingy little apartment. Then... Dropships and barracks ever since. Had an RV to have my own space for a while. But then our company managed to acquire an Overlord to serve as our base and by our Steiner noble friend and lancemate we made it a lot more habitable with proper living quarters. The most of a home I have had so far.

💛What do I currently pilot. (OOC: It gets a little time fucky wucky here since Asuka here is part of an RPG campaign that hasn't gotten to the Clan Invasion yet. But this blog is an AU where she obviously got that far. Bear with me.)

I hate that my answer is that I am currently inbetween rides currently. My old clan ride got messed up so they are refitting a new one. So let me tell you about one of my favourites. My Marauder II. Designated MAD-5Xc formerly b. Nicknamed "Direwolf" by the crowds at the time. This was somewhat before the Daishis made an entrance in the inner sphere you see. You won't find it on any technical readout. Most our company refit mechs to suit our doctrines. The b model was built by Blackwell as part of a sponsored entry on Solaris in order to build the 'brand' as they were in negotiations with opening up sales to other clients than the dragoons at the time. It was built for me in particular to pilot which is why it has Triple Strength Myomers, a supercharger and a Guardian ECM system. Armed with an ERPPC and small pulse laser in each arm. Backed up by two SRM 6 launchers on the shoulders which always annoyed me slightly. I have always been adept at fighting things up close... Despite the fact that I have tried very hard to work from range.

It was refitted to have two LRM launchers instead but fitted slightly differently along with an Artemis IV system. Because the SRMs never really did really offer much when I had the ability to just run force and snap somebody's legs off by bullrushing them. Maybe you have seen an old holovid of what they called my glorykill on Solaris. Where I barrel into a highlander, snap its legs. Hammer the torso with the barrels furiously before rearing up and bringing the right barrel into the cockpit and fire the PPC as my voice echoes out over the comms and arena "AND STAY DOWN!" I was... A little bit upset at that man at the time.

I loved that mech. I wish I still had it.

My new ride is going to be a Kodiak. Though... Heavily customized. It is being refitted as I mentioned. It brings along a lot of what I enjoyed about the Marauder by removing the Autocannon and missile launchers for PPCs. A new myomer system, an active probe and jump jets. It will be designated Crinos... The reason it is taking so long is that it has a different headshape. More... Wolfish.

💳 Who is/was your most and least favourite client?

Hmm.... Tough. I had to think about my most favourite client. Probably Rasalhagians. They did not like us much when we first started, having bad experiences with mercenaries to start with but it mellowed out fairly quickly after they figured out that we were not a rowdy bunch

As for least favourite. I going to be weird and say probably Federated suns. Their lords have betrayed us four out of six times but at least people above them made steps to repair the relationship. We had one Baron I think he was who decided to turn on us and me specifically because I beat the snot out of his favourite officer in a perfectly legal martial arts tournament. He cheated first though.

🌼What do I think of the clans.

I was born into Wolf's Dragoons. Both mother and father were of the clans. Mechtechs both of them. I was probably going to become one too but I showed great aptitude with mech piloting. And fighting just in general. Probably owing to the fact I have inherited elemental genes from my fathers side. When they invaded the inner sphere I ended up among them. Not by my own will. I ended up prisoner and they after a while figured out that technically I was related to clan Wolf. I had to try for a bit to become a full member. I fought tooth and nail for that and got a trial of position and even managed to earn a blood name. I do not carry it though. During their invasion I came to understand myself through elementals and the clan. The severe mismanagement of operation REVIVAL made opinion of the clans thusly:

Eugenicists with little thought or preparation made for the totality of war. Admittedly I am also very annoyed at having been called freebirth over and over and over and being overruled time and time again despite the fact that I had more experience with the war in the inner sphere they were actually trying to fight. I also find their commitment to honour lacking. Rescinding it when they deem an enemy to be less than human or simply a problem and in the way. That is not to say all warriors of the clans are such nor do I treat them thusly.

I simply believe that they are flawed much like the inner sphere. There are heroes and villains under every banner in the Galaxy. The Clans, the houses of the inner sphere and mercenaries.

🎵 What is a piece of music you enjoy, that you would play in combat on a loop?

I was really hoping somebody would ask me this. I really was. Allow me to send a few sound files your way.

In the cockpit:

It keeps my heart pumping in the midst of combat. It has a really nice melody to me.

In my head:

(OOC: Warning for a bit gore. It is Doom 2k16 after all)

This feels a lot how it feels inside my during a battle.

But. Also an honourable mention to kuritan holovids, they based a villain on me. Well me and my old Black Knight. It sounded a bit like this.

I think after all of that. I owe you at least a few drinks.

[unicornacopia]

S.O.S Character design help!

Hi guys! I'm here with another OC from the RP server, and this time it's a villain! I was wondering if anyone with some drawing skills might want to take a crack at him? Even just a rough sketch of your impressions of what he might look like from the description below. Trying to get my players avoid using AI as much as possible and figured I'd see if anyone wanted to give this fella a try. Anyway, Thank you so much for reading and considering. Character details are below:

Character name: Maksim Baerun Age:38 Gender:** Male

Class/Title/job:** Blacksmith, but dresses very well.

Where are they from?: Way up North

Physical description: Roughly six and a half feet tall. Long oily black hair, that is almost pearlescent to white when the light hits it, shaved on the sides and always tied back. He has eerie ghostly blue eyes, several ear piercings, and 2 brown piercings very close to the skin. The right side of his mouth has a large scar deforming that part of his face slightly.

Typically wears tailored slacks and nice leather boots. Linen shirt and leather vest with either a long coat or the sleeves rolled up. Usually has a cigar hanging from his mouth. His Gurahl essence is that of a Polar bear, all forms except his human reflecting that. His frame though is imposing, being tall and bulk with muscle (Not body builder cant put arms down big, but just *THICK*)

Special abilities/powers: Gurahl (werebear,) Commands the Forces of Nature. Similar to a lycanthrope but slightly different, Gurahl are not always bound to change by the moon and often retain their human intelligence and abilities despite their form. Because of where he grew up, far in the northern frigid mountains and ice of the Motherland, his Gurahl form has the features of a Polar Bear.

Background: A child of a powerful Romani healer and a Mob boss, he was found at a young age to be gifted in the natural magic arts. Though he was the younger of two brothers and the more gifted naturally, he tended to get overlooked for his brother. This was especially hurtful because their father left when Maksim was a toddler, and because he looked and acted similar to his father, it caused his mother to become cold and distant with him. As he grew into adolescence and his abilities grew, he began to get cocky, hunting larger and larger prey, usually solo.

At 16 he attempted to track and kill a feral dire bear on his own. He managed to finally down the beast, but was mortally wounded in the process, he barely made it back to town alive and very nearly died on his brothers table. Mikhail managed to tap into his Romani roots and managed to restore Maksim to life, but very badly scarred. Even though he felled the bear alone and survived, the praise was given to his brother for saving his life. Tired of living in that shadow, he left. At just 17 he was on his own, left to fend for himself. What he didnt realize is that the Romani magic his brother accidentally tapped into, as well as the latent power in his blood, changed him into a creature known as a Gurahl in Romani culture, or a Werebear.

After two years living partially in the wild and partially on the streets of various cities, while learning to control his newfound abilities, he made his way to the capital. There he made a name for himself in the fighting pits, catching the attention of his father. He brought him in as muscle, after a few years working with his father, a bad deal ended even worse, sending him into Crinos form in a full feral rage. Most of the crew was killed including their father. Maksim ashamed and enraged left The Motherland forever.

[robotslenderman]

I was thinking about your dark materials/masquerade au last night.

Few questions on vampire deamons-

Are vampire daemons as invulnerable to harm as vampires (ie regular bullets not too bad and survivable). Or just as vulnerable as human daemons. Are they more vulnerable to fire, sunlight and true faith etc. I think big daemons make easier targets to aim for hearts or with fire weapons too.

Do vamp daemons have Disciplines?

Can tzmisce ones vicissitude? Pretend I can spell that. Or just not settle on a form only.

If they leave their shitty attitude vamp, are the vamp still in danger if their daemon is killed or is it like severing almost, (just no dead daemon.)

With sullivan (and trans people in general)- does the daemon consider themselves trans or just sullivan/their person only?

What's caine's daemon? Or is that debated by many. Also Calebros, Cock Robin, and Gerard rafins ones? Sorry I love nos

Are werewolves (if real) wolf daemons or can be any? Laughing at raging werewolf crinos and their angry pomeranian daemon.

phoenix daemons sound really magical. Is their a masquerade in your au. As it's quite fantastical anyway. Or are Kindred still at risk of hunters?

Can you ghoul or protein form into an armoured bear?

Sorry for a million questions. It's just kindred have such interesting implications on daemons in your au. I'm really interested if you didn't know lol.

Feel free to say some are to be revealed in story. Or answer privately, so others not spoiled.

So TL;DR the HDM!AU is an AU called His Dark Masquerade that me and several friends came up with. Everyone has their own distinctive headcanon for how daemons work in this universe (I think there's even one version where vampires don't have daemons at all, which die during the Embrace, and naturally cause Masquerade problems) so please keep in mind that these answers apply strictly to my version of His Dark Masquerade. While other people are welcome to adopt these headcanons for their own versions, I do not speak for anyone else and do not presume that this applies to all versions of His Dark Masquerade.

Also I'm completely shitfaced rn so apologies in advance if/when I make zero sense.

Are vampire daemons as invulnerable to harm as vampires (ie regular bullets not too bad and survivable). Or just as vulnerable as human daemons. Are they more vulnerable to fire, sunlight and true faith etc. I think big daemons make easier targets to aim for hearts or with fire weapons too.

So in my personal continuity of HDM(asquerade), daemons basically share Disciplines with their masters (for lack of a better term). A vampire who is bulletproof with Fortitude will have a daemon who shares that same resistance.

So daemons are just as susceptible to True Faith, fire, sunlight, etc. And as you point out, larger daemons are more vulnerable to attack as they're literally a bigger target.

In this continuity, Mithras has/had a daemon called Hvare Khshaetra. Hvarexaetra is Avestan for "the rising sun," and she shares all the Disciplines that Mithras has. Mithras has been diablerised by Olivia, so his Disciplines currently range from either not affected at all to quite watered down. Timaeus is currently very influenced by Hvare Khshaetra, but as the daemon represents their person's unconscious in the original HDM Timaeus is more heavily influenced by HK than Olivia is by Mithras.

Given Mithras's background (which, as of the current chapter, hasn't been completely explored yet), Timaeus is actually less influenced by the sun than most daemons would be, but that's because of his link to Olivia (and therefore Mithras) and not because daemons are less resistant to the sun. Most daemons will burn up in the presence of sunlight. While the daemons of Cainites can freely leave the sides of their Cainite, if either of them are confronted by sunlight, both of them will burn. They might be relatively independent of each other compared to humans with their daemons, but there still is a link between them, even if it's not nearly as significant as the human/daemon connection.

So basically... even if you haven't seen your daemon in two hundred years because they fucked off and ditched you when you were a neonate, they end up in a patch of sun, you both dead.

Do vamp daemons have Disciplines?

Yup! As per above -- they share the same Disciplines. Obviously a fanfic isn't the TTRPG, but if one burns Blood during a rouse check, they both gain a hunger point, and are both sated by one of them feeding.

Can tzmisce ones vicissitude? Pretend I can spell that. Or just not settle on a form only.

If their master has Vicissitude, the Daemon can use it as well. Tzimisce daemons never resettle after Embrace, but if a non-Tzimisce daemon has access to Vicissitude, they can change their form at will. Unlike Tzimisce daemons, however, they still have a "default" form.

If they leave their shitty attitude vamp, are the vamp still in danger if their daemon is killed or is it like severing almost, (just no dead daemon.)

So it's somewhat like the severing in that they can wander far from their masters and their masters won't know where they are (beyond maybe a vague sense of direction, if the abandonment is recent), but if one is destroyed the other goes with them.

With sullivan (and trans people in general)- does the daemon consider themselves trans or just sullivan/their person only?

This is probably a question better for Philip Pullman, but in my particular continuity some daemons can be trans like their master, but others aren't even if their master is. Sullivan's daemon, Molly, is basically cis. Sullivan does not identify as female and transitioned to male, but Molly has always been female.

I personally headcanon that same sex daemons can cause assumptions, in the modern era with our queer civil rights movements and numerous bigots, that their master is queer in some way, but that doesn't mean it's actually true. In Philip Pullman's continuity there's just no explanation as to why some daemons are same sex, and I adhere to that. Sullivan's daemon was same sex and he turned out to be trans, but I also have another OC (Frida) whose daemon was same sex, but she wasn't queer (beyond perhaps being on the asexual spectrum), her daemon just happened to be female.

What's caine's daemon? Or is that debated by many.

Not something I've put thought into -- either it's in the Bible as to what his daemon is (and given he almost certainly has Vicissitude his daemon can probably take whatever form she wants), or it's not and it's hotly debated.

Also Calebros, Cock Robin, and Gerard rafins ones? Sorry I love nos

Honestly have not thought that far ahead. Wendy's is a white ferret called Sammie, and Kaiser's is a burrowing owl, but I haven't thought about the other Nos.

Are werewolves (if real) wolf daemons or can be any? Laughing at raging werewolf crinos and their angry pomeranian daemon.

Haven't put that much thought into it tho I agree a pomeranian daemon standing by while their crinos master wrecks shit is hilarious.

phoenix daemons sound really magical. Is their a masquerade in your au. As it's quite fantastical anyway. Or are Kindred still at risk of hunters?

Yep, there's still a Masquerade, and daemons can either complicate it or simplify it depending on circumstances. Imagine being a young Neonate who's just been Embraced and you run into someone you knew when you were alive -- maybe you can pull off a "yeah I totally haven't aged in fifteen years", but it's a lot harder to explain your daemon suddenly taking another form.

Can you ghoul or protein form into an armoured bear?

Do you mean the Tzimisce warform? Have not put any thought into it so can't answer at this point in time.

[songoftrillium]

NEW on Storyteller's Vault: Hearthbound

I've published my first ever book! This is an early release of Dead Mountain content, is meant to help fund additional art for Dead Mountain, and it's Pay-What-You-Want!

Designed to bring some much-needed family ties, this Supplement is meant to give players and storytellers a framework for telling stories that confront the ugly sides of the Garou Nation.

Homecoming

Hearthbound gives you a new inclusive faction and multiple levels of intrigue to add to your Werewolf: the Apocalypse tabletop!  Long kept beneath the heels of the Garou Nation, Crinos-Born and Kinfolk have found solidarity in supporting each other, and have turned out en force to demand disruptive change from their Tribes.

Inside Hearthbound is a peek into the birth of a new kind of Tribe that venerates the ideals of Shantar, a patron of inventiveness and creativity, and keeper of The Loom. They are taking a critical look at the heart of the Garou Nation itself. Long sold on the lie that Kinfolk cannot raise Crinos-Born children, an awakening is happening within the Nation, where the families that raised these Garou, realize what they are doing to their Crinos-Born. This sparked a movement to help Crinos-Born looking to escape their Tribes come to be raised in Kinfolk homes. 

These Hearthbound, beholden to the people they love, act as judges of those Garou that abuse the Litany to systemically oppress each other. They are ambassadors to the spirits on behalf of their kin, Nannas to the Crinos-Born they help free, and Sorcerers capable of blending into societies and rewriting the Pattern Web itself.

There is a deep hurt within the Garou Nation.

The Hearthbound have risen up to protect those oppressed voices that have existed at the edges of the nation for millenia.

While this book is primarily written as a supplement for Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition, all concepts and features of this emerging tribe can find its place in any edition of this game, new or old. There are also translation rules for utilizing these gifts in 5th Edition (if so inclined).

Hearthbound: Tribe Supplement Features:

The background and rules for creating a Hearthbound up to Third Rank!

No original art!   

New Gifts!

Expanded Tribe histories and faction dispositions!

Guidance on confronting the Litany and Renown!

Story seeds on how to incorporate Hearthbound into your chronicle! 

[werewolf-girl-knot]

SO. About W5...

I ended up "legally acquiring" a digital copy of the core book and just finished my first read through of it. Some thoughts.

First of all, let me say my major gripes about it re: indigenous and disability erasure remain present, and do end up being a deal breaker for me regarding Paradox and giving them any money.

Still, there's some interesting stuff in here. I am personally a V5 enjoyer. I dislike 'gothic superhero' type chronicles, cumbersome lore and mechanical bloat. I do like Personal horror, power that comes with serious costs, character-focused storytelling, urban fantasy that feels contemporary and grounded, and brave, direct political themes. so V5 ended up being a general improvement for me over V20, give or take some small things. These are the biasas I'm carrying into my thoughts on W5.

The good: Rage Dice make a return from V5's hunger dice, and with improvements! Hunger dice were controversial in V5, but personally I found them to be a fantastic way to keep the Beast as a present threat in your chronicle. Finally, a reason for being a vampire to actually feel like a curse! And Rage dice in W5 I like even more. I enjoy how they turn failure into success when you're trying to accomplish something violent, but otherwise can cause critical problems with your approach when you're *not* trying to be violent. It really encourages you to get into character and play your character more impatient and aggressive when your rage is higher. Finally, Rage that actually feels like a double-edged sword! The things Rage does is also an improvement for me. I dislike extra actions in TTRPGs, ironically I find that they just slow things down with too much dice rolling. Making Rage something you spend to regenerate faster is a much better idea.

The forms are more distinct and interesting now as well. This is one of the things W5 takes from Forsaken than it very good. Finally, a reason to use Hispo and Glabro! Crinos feels extra powerful, *and* risky, with its rule that it will enter a frenzy if you don't kill something that round making it much more threatening and dangerous, which is precisely how it's always been described in the lore, but never really represented in the game very well until now. Claws are high damage but only deal mundane types of damage and Bite is lower damage but Agg. Also good from a design standpoint, makes the rule about not eating human flesh finally matter.

Harano and Hauglosk. Harano finally becomes a present threat for Garou. Something they need to fight against, and help their pack against. It seems to operate a bit like a humanity stat, only that your sweet spot is in the middle. Too far in the other direction, and your character starts to flirt with fanaticism. This is just fantastic for making Werewolf have an actual morality system, a balance in their faith/convictions based on actions taken in the chronicle. Much more interesting than Gnosis as being an essentially meaningless resource. I have seen some braindead takes about this being a way for STs to punish players?? Don't play with STs who try to punish you and force you to do what they would do. Simple as.

The bad: new takes on the tribes. Generally I like how the book explains lore concepts, but the new tribes are so sanitized with any possible ounce of controversy taken out of them, that the political themes most of them were built to explore are totally absent, or significantly muted. In a vaccum I would think making the Get of Fenris fall would be a very interesting way to drive forward the plot, but the execution here makes them feel a little cartoonist. Very roundabout in saying that they've become werewolf eco-facists, a better way to do this be making a Hauglosk-ed version of each tribe to represent the corruption of each tribe's ideology. The cult of Fenris work as a general condemnation of the worst side of Garou in general, but having the bad guys camps in W20 just worked better for this, and had lots of room for improvement. As with all the other tribes, the Get of Fenris feels flattened and removed from its cultural context.

The Ugly: Paradox being horrible and racist. If you haven't read about this already, then... Idk how you found this post really. But this post covers it more thoroughly than I could.

The book attempts to address this with a note I put in the bottom, listing some facts about the issues experienced by indigenous groups, while making a half hearted attempt to connect it to the Garou. In the face of this erasure from their actual game though, it feels like a platitude.

As for the removal of crinos-born Garou, it's another flattening of a complicated part of the game's politics. It might have been nice to see Garou culture advance a bit, but removing them entirely removes the representation they embodied. Most of the direct representation in this game has been removed, but I think the the indigenous and disability represent the most egregious loss, especially in a game about those who are most actively being sacrificed in the name of capitalism. Which isn't some fandom interpretation, it is literally stated in the book.

This all leaves me very sour on the game's fiction, which for a storytelling game like Werewolf the Apocalypse, is important. Which is a shame, because I see a lot of good steps forward in the mechanics, making a game that's more fiction-first, without all the terrible attempts at capturing D&D's wargame combat. But frankly, it's hard to want a game who's treated it's writers so poorly to do well, even if I do think the current writers did very well with the constraints they were given. It's hard to recommend that anyone pay money for this.