Insight Gifts

Werewolf The Forsaken Sourcebook p. 122-125
Auspice, Lodges & Tribes
Elodoth, Bone Shadows, Lodge of Seasons (Autumn Aspect), Fire-Touched, Council of Eagles, Lodge of Praetors, Lodge of Quetzal, Lodge of the Einherjar, Lodge of the Empty Den, Lodge of Winter
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The supernatural is a reality that exists beyond ordinary human experience. To truly understand the realm of the occult, one must have senses that can delve further than the mortal. Gifts of Insight are ways of unlocking truly preternatural perception, teaching ways of “seeing with the third eye” or “perceiving the scents of the invisible world.” The Bone Shadows, bound as they are to learn the wisdom of other realms, have a particular affinity for Insight Gifts, although Ithaeur and Elodoth of all tribes find these Gifts useful.

Insight Gifts are taught by spirits associated with wisdom, and many have ties to the realm of Death as well. The dead perceive things that the living cannot. Spirits of owls and serpents are particularly appropriate teachers for these Gifts.

Sense Malice (•)

Hatred has its own scent. The werewolf using this Gift is particularly sensitive to the malice that lurks in other people’s hearts, and he can smell a soul tainted with hatred, anger or envy as easily as a predator can catch the smell of prey. This Gift is frequently used on the hunt as a means of locating a potential threat to a werewolf’s family or territory, but it also has uses as a warning against potential danger. This Gift does not detect the presence of all negative emotions, only those that are powerful enough to have a grip on the mind of a subject. A man who is irritated that he’s been turned down by a girl doesn’t register. A man angry that his girlfriend left him might be barely noticeable, while a man who caught his wife cheating on him with his best friend certainly qualifies. A mass murderer or serial killer might not register to this Gift unless he actively experiences a flood of negative emotion. This Gift works only on targets that a werewolf is close enough to scent normally (usually within the same room). This Gift doesn’t require physical scent, and powerful odors do not obscure the ability to detect malice. This power does not usually tell the user what has actually happened to a subject or why he is incensed, simply that he is.

If the subject’s Vice is Wrath or Envy, a +1 bonus is gained on the activation roll. The Gift user automatically senses the presence of anger or hatred in spirits that are the literal embodiments of such negative emotions (no roll is required). If a person or object is possessed by a spirit of anger, hatred or malice, a normal activation roll is required, but it gains a +3 bonus. At the Storyteller’s discretion, the strength of the emotion experienced may merit an additional bonus or penalty die, although not more than one.

Scent of Taint (••)

The smell of supernatural influence emanates from beings that are beyond human and mundane. A werewolf who knows this Gift can detect the presence of supernatural beings. Specifically, the user can detect powers in his vicinity that defy the natural order of the physical and spirit worlds, so that vampires, ghouls, mages, acolytes and beings bestowed or imbued with unnatural capabilities are evident. Scent of Taint does not indicate or set apart — and cannot be used to recognize — any of the Uratha or the wolf-blooded. Nor can it be used to detect supernatural objects or places.

Using this Gift to track^[1] a supernatural being offers a +2 bonus to rolls made for the effort. The Storyteller is advised to make activation rolls on a player’s behalf so that the sense of mystery about nearby beings is maintained, based on whether success or failure occurs.

Echo Dream (•••)

Werewolves quickly learn that events in the physical world echo in the spirit world, leaving strange psychic impressions. A werewolf who has earned this Gift has gained the ability to sense these echoes, even ones long past. By holding or handling an object, or resting her hand against a wall or tree, the Forsaken can sense spirit echoes of the object or area’s recent past. These echoes are couched in the symbolic language of the spirit world but often convey sharper truth than any forensics report might.

This Gift doesn’t work on sentient creatures, who generate their own spirit echoes. An attempt to use Echo Dream to read the recent past of a person results in contradictory, nonsensical images.

Soul Read (••••)

At increasing levels of perception, a Gift of Insight can lay bare the darkest secrets of a person’s soul. The character can look directly into the heart of a subject, reading the worst fears, secrets and sins hidden there.

Omen Gazing (•••••)

With this Gift, the werewolf has developed an inner sight so powerful that it can actually catch glimpses of the future. The character enters a meditative trance, clearing her mind of everything but darkness in order to welcome the visions. She might receive warning of an impending attack, foretell the arrival of a potential ally or even watch a betrayal unfold before it happens. Viewing the future accurately is impossible, though. No vision is guaranteed to come true. Worse, visions gained are more often signs of ominous events than they are promises of good fortune. Whether this is because the Gift’s “eyesight” is through a dark lens, or simply a cold reflection of the hard truths of a werewolf’s existence, none can say.

A character may not attempt Omen Gazing more than once in any 24-hour period.