Milestone Gifts

Tribes of the Moon p. 12
Auspice, Lodges & Tribes
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Milestone Gifts are without a dot rating. One doesn’t purchase such an ability with experience points. So what is a Milestone Gift, and how is it achieved?

Milestone Gifts are bestowed by the Firstborn to a member of the tribe who has in some way embodied the ideals of the tribe and the totem. A Hunter in Darkness who comes a hair’s breadth away from dying to protect the sanctity of an ancient temple or a powerful locus may be a candidate; so, too, a Bone Shadow who single-handedly puzzles out the ban to an idigam raging across the desert with its mad army.

The bestowal of such a potent Gift is not something given lightly, and it does not occur without fanfare. Each werewolf experiences the gaining of the Gift in a different way. One might find an intensely spiritual and personal experience; called to the Shadow, a Blood Talon finds the jaws of Fenris on the back of her neck, and she is dragged to a mountain lair, where he teaches her. Another might experience something rather public: after negotiating a tricky peace between warring vampires using various half-truths and full lies, an Iron Master may fall to his knees in front of his pack, and they all hear the cacophonous whispers and distant howls of Sagrim-Ur whirling about their packmate.

Note that each Milestone Gift is given a set of prerequisites. Harmony is fundamental to gaining and keeping such a boon: if a character drops below Harmony 6, she has three cycles of the moon to regain that lost balance. Fail to do so, and the Firstborn will snatch the knowledge of the Gift in his jaws, withdrawing the ability forever (as in, the werewolf can never regain it). Many go at least a little mad with the loss of such knowledge, given that the werewolf becomes fully aware of just how keenly she has disappointed the tribal totem. Some even gain temporary derangements, lasting weeks or even months. A werewolf’s own sense of treachery or weakness might plague her endlessly until she is able to regain some measure of Harmony and find a rough semblance of calm.

Before granting a character access to a Milestone Gift, the Storyteller should discuss the opportunity and cost with that character’s player. Some such Gifts, while potent, are also with a troublesome cost. For instance, the Bone Shadow Gift: Eyes of Death Wolf results in the loss of a character’s eyes. The Gift compensates for this, of course, but if that character falls below Harmony 6 for too long and loses the blessing of the Firstborn… well, her eyes are still gone. And now the Gift does not compensate for the loss of vision, making that character blind. Therefore, it’s worth having a conversation with the player and ensuring that he is comfortable with the cost and repercussion. Great power, great responsibility, as the saying goes.

If the Storyteller so decides, a Milestone Gift can be purchased with experience points, though this is not the recommended fashion by which a werewolf would receive such a Firstborn blessing. The purchase of a Milestone Gift is equivalent to 30 experience points.

Gift List

Absolute Authority

Signs of the Moon p104

Prerequisites:

• Harmony •••••••
• Honor •••••

While most Elodoth come to the attention of the Elunim, only a handful in each generation lives up to the choir’s ideals. Those few feel the eyes of the spirits on them at all times, watching and judging them — but also reinforcing their judgments. A werewolf chosen by the Half Moon choir is no longer just an Elodoth. She is the spirits’ envoy, a walking paragon of honor and justice, an avatar of ultimate truth. But Lunes are dangerous spirits, and if their chosen ones anger the choir, their revenge is terrible. A werewolf who possesses this Gift instinctively knows how to find the truth in any conflict. She doesn’t just know which side in an argument is the closest to being right, but by careful questioning and investigation can discover the objective truth.

Any Empathy, Investigation, or Politics rolls made to uncover truth are Rote Actions (see The World of Darkness, p. 134).

Discovering the truth is just one facet of the Elunim’s ultimate Gift. The Elodoth is charged with enforcing that truth in the world — as walker of the boundaries, she must make sure everything remains where it should be. When she does so, half her body shines as if in moonlight and half is shrouded in darkness. She sees everything, including ghosts and spirits in Twilight. With a glare she can send the restless dead on to whatever awaits them, banish spirits to the Shadow and humans to the physical world, unravel illusions, and free minds from the influences of others.

As a Milestone Gift, only Elodoth who perform some great act that embodies their auspice can learn Absolute Authority (Milestone Gifts are described in the Introduction, p. 5). Normally, the Elunim choose those who try to live up to the inherent contradictions of the Half Moon, taking every role rather than focusing on just one side of things. If the character’s Harmony falls below 6 after he learns this Gift, he has one cycle of the moon to regain spiritual balance, during which time he must perform a feat of honor dedicated to the Elunim — striking a temporary truce between Forsaken and Pure against some far greater foe, or binding the Shadow Archon that troubled Lycurgus the Bold with a powerful oath. If the character fails, he loses Absolute Authority and can never regain it.

• Cost: 2 Willpower
• Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidation + Honor
• Action: Instant

Roll Results

• Dramatic Failure: The werewolf attunes himself to the true nature of the world, but it all happens too fast. Overwhelmed with confusing, conflicting information, she suffers a –3 penalty to all actions until the end of the scene.
• Failure: The Elunim withhold their authority for some reason. Has the character displeased them, or are the spirits merely fickle servants of the mad Mother?
• Success: With one eye pearly white and one absolute black, the Elodoth becomes gatekeeper to the world, returning things to their rightful place and showing illusions as falsehoods.
  • The werewolf can see creatures in Twilight, and can move them to where they should be. By expending a point of Essence, she can send a Twilight being to its rightful place — sending spirits into the Shadow and ghosts on to the Underworld. To resist the shift, a spirit or ghost spends a point of Willpower and rolls Resistance. If the immaterial being gets more successes than the werewolf did when activating this part of the Gift, it remains where it is. Beings that have Attributes and Skills such as disembodied mages roll Resolve + Composure instead. Uratha, being half-spirit, can spend a point of Essence to be forced into the Shadow rather than materializing fully.
  • She can also detect illusions by scent, and free those afflicted. By touching someone taken in by any illusion, she can spend a point of Essence to render that person immune to all illusions until the end of the scene.
  • The werewolf can also free people from all forms of mental control or compulsion, returning control of the target’s faculties to himself for a scene. She gains the benefits of this part of the Gift as soon as she succeeds at the roll.
  • The effects of this Gift last for a scene. At the end of that scene, the character loses all her remaining points of Essence, and for the next scene her Essence maximum is set to 0.
• Exceptional Success: The Elunim bless the character, leaving her with a small reserve of spiritual power rather than taking it all from her when the Gift’s effects end. The character loses all but two points of Essence (if she had more than two at the end of the scene) and for the next scene her Essence maximum is set to 2.

Backstage Synchronicity

Tribes of the Moon p149

Prerequisites: Cunning (5) •••••, Harmony (6) ••••••

Red Wolf grants this Gift to the select few who truly impress him. Those who receive this blessing are never out of the eyes of the Irralunim. They tap in to an ancient compact forged between the spirits and Red Wolf to send Essence flowing through the most audacious plans. When the pack members work in harmony to come up with new ideas and clever plans, Backstage Synchronicity rewards the pack with a gift of Essence from the watching Irralunim. This Gift comes into play whenever the pack plans something that counts as a notable feat of Cunning (see p. 194 of Werewolf: The Forsaken). The spirits must be impressed with the plan, but while the character remains one of Sagrim-Ur’s chosen, they consider all members of the pack equally. In addition, when the pack puts its plan into action, the character can tap into her innate cunning, increasing her pack’s chances of pulling the plan off. There is no limit to how close her packmates must be, though this Gift works only for deeds committed by members of a pack bound together with a totem. Others who hang around the pack, be they wolf-blooded, vampire, human or anything stranger, cannot perform the deeds required for this Gift. The Irralunim understand only the sacred bonds between pack members.

Since this is a Milestone Gift, only Iron Masters who perform some great service to their tribe can learn Backstage Synchronicity (see “Milestone Gifts,” p. 12). Normally, Red Wolf chooses those who come up with a truly unique means of pacifying opposition. If the character’s Harmony falls below 6 after he learns this Gift, he has one cycle of the moon to regain spiritual balance, during which he must perform a feat of cunning dedicated to Red Wolf. Sagrim-Ur won’t help Farsil Luhal who rest on their laurels. If the character fails, he loses Backstage Synchronicity and can never regain it.

• Cost: None
• Dice Pool: Wits + Occult Skill + Cunning
• Action: Reflexive

Roll Results

• Dramatic Failure: The plan may be good, but the Irralunim have seen vital flaws that offend their mercurial nature. They strip two points of Essence from the character.
• Failure: The spirits do not notice, or are not sufficiently impressed by the act to think it worth reward.
• Success: The Irralunim are impressed. When the plan is formed, they grant the every pack member two points of Essence. Pack members may havemore Essence than their Primal Urge score would normally allow, but any excess points are lost at the end of the scene. When carrying out this plan, the werewolf can tap in to her reserves of cunning. She adds a number of dots equal to her Cunning to any pack member’s Wits — she can use this bonus herself, or donate her expertise to help another. This bonus lasts until the end of the scene, or until the plan is complete (whichever comes first), and can only be used once for each plan. If her pack came up with the plan more than a week ago, the Irralunim lose interest, and she must activate this Gift again in order to tap her Cunning.
• Exceptional Success: The spirits let the character know just how impressed they are. In addition to the effects of a success, the character regains two points of Willpower.

Eyes of Death Wolf

Tribes of the Moon p78

Prerequisites: Wisdom 5, Harmony 6 or greater

Death Wolf herself bestows this Gift upon deserving Bone Shadows, and the method isn’t at all pleasant. The Bone Shadow has dreams for a month, during which Lunes and other spirits congratulate him on receiving the honor of the Eyes of the Death Wolf. Then, when the werewolf steps into the Shadow, a great wolf-spirit pounces and drags him into the darkness. His packmates can give chase, but wind up pursuing phantoms and smoke. Death Wolf has the Uratha now.

Back at her den, Death Wolf attacks the werewolf and plucks out his eyes, consuming them. The Uratha spends hours (though to her, the wait is interminable) blind in the den of his tribal totem. At last, Death Wolf instructs the werewolf to pluck out her eyes — carefully! — and replace his own with them. From that point onward, the Bone Shadow can see into or out of the Shadow merely by concentrating.

He can’t see both areas at once, but he can identify Ridden and other possessed beings on site, and the player can spend one Essence point for the character to know the name of any spirit he encounters.

As a Milestone Gift, Eyes of the Death Wolf is only available to Bone Shadows who perform some great service for the tribe or their packs, usually in the name of protecting werewolves or wolf-blooded from spirits or otherwise upholding the tribal vow (see “Milestone Gifts,” p. 12). If the character’s Harmony drops below 6 after he learns this Gift, he has three cycles of the moon to regain this level of spiritual balance, during which he must perform the Rite of Contrition to Death Wolf. If he fails to do this, he loses the Eyes of the Death Wolf and can never regain it — which unfortunately means he goes blind, forever.

Luna’s Gaze

Signs of the Moon p180

Prerequisites: Purity 5, Harmony 7+

Any werewolf can fight, but only a few are true warriors. Luna sometimes sends her Ralunim to bestow this Gift upon Rahu who are diligent in protecting and guiding their packs, and who maintain their commitment to Harmony no matter what the cost. In order to be granted this Gift, the werewolf must fulfill three criteria.

First, he must suffer temptation to break the Oath of the Moon and resist it. The temptation that he suffers need not be commensurate with his current level of Harmony (that is, it might be as simple as being tempted to forego a hunt for a more human concern, such as a good friend’s wedding), but often the temptation involves one of the most important precepts of the Oath. The Rahu might meet a werewolf that he feels would make an ideal mate — or, conversely, that he feels the world would be better off without. In any case, no matter what justifications he might otherwise be able to make for breaking the Oath, he must keep to the precepts of Purity.

Second, the werewolf must uncover a serious threat to his pack before it gains an advantage on him. Learning that a local vampire is gathering data on the pack and eliminating said muth luzuk would qualify, even if the vampire had no immediate plans to harm the werewolf.

Finally, the Rahu must earn Purity in a manner that catches the attention of the Ralunim (since the Gift requires Purity 5, this is usually not a problem).

Once the character has fulfilled all of these criteria, Luna sometimes, though not always, sends a Lune to open the character’s eyes. The Ralunim grasps the werewolf by the head and exhales moonlight into him. The character becomes blind, but the Lune informs him that this is a Gift from Luna and he must not question it. He remains blind until the next full moon. If he rails against his fate, curses Luna or complains even the slightest bit, his sight returns, but he risks degeneration (roll three dice) and can never gain this Gift. If he suffers this test well, his sight returns as the full moon rises, and his eyes forever after glow with faint moonlight.

The character can always see in even pitch dark.

In addition, the character is impossible to surprise. Reaction to Surprise rolls always succeed, but the player should still roll to check for an exceptional success (see p. 46 of the World of Darkness Sourcebook).

Finally, the character cannot fail rolls to spot hidden opponents; opposed rolls to find such characters always have at least one success, regardless of what the player rolls. In addition, ties always go to the Rahu on these actions.

Songs of Uplifting Glory

Sign of the Moon p144

Prerequisites: Glory 5

To satisfy the Cahalunim that a Cahalith is a walking legend among her people, she must honor an ancient pact with the Gibbous choir by showing visions of the past, present, and future. To do this, she must arouse the interest of Luna herself, so that she sends her emissaries, Ubita, Uda and Egir. To satisfy Ubita, Lune of Glories Past, the Cahalith must in some way restore a story or tale that has been otherwise lost from the world. A snippet of private information from a slumbering spirit is not enough, as indeed the story restored must be something of lasting impact. Revealing the past names and bans of an idigam would suffice, while recounting an older story about a minor rage spirit would simply not satisfy Ubita. To satisfy Uda, the Lune of Glories Now, the werewolf must be of such fame or notoriety that Cahalith on five separate continents must have sung the praises of the character at the same time. (This usually requires the character having at least a Glory of four or five dots.) To satisfy Egir, the Lune of Glories Yet to Come, the Cahalith must have had a vision of a terrible fate to befall her, and accept Luna’s cold grace. Furthermore, the Cahalith must have done nothing to prevent that fate from occurring, enduring it instead. Simply knowing that a date will go poorly, or that a fight might not be successful but going through it anyway will not do. In the case of Egir’s blessing, the Cahalith must face some terrible reality; maybe the inevitable death of a packmate, or even the destruction of a locus, but no matter what, he face the fate unflinchingly. Of course, telling which visions are meant to be changed and which are meant to be accepted is no simple thing, and so this is a mark of a truly great Cahalith.

Once the Cahalith has satisfied the Three Sisters in these ways, she may be considered an inspiration to any and all around her, but one final hurdle awaits. Once charged by the Three Sisters, the Cahalith must find a potent spirit (at least a lesser Jaggling), and tell hat spirit a story that evokes an emotion contrary to its nature. The Cahalith might seek out a spirit of murder and tell a tale so sad that it is driven to tears, or seek out a spirit of sorrow and make it laugh. With that complete, the Three Sisters call their choir together to sing the story of the Cahalith and infuse her forever with those songs of praise.

This Gift does not require activation. Once the Cahalith has learned it, its effects are permanent, adding additional advantage to Willpower expenditure. A legend of this caliber does not just succeed; she excels, she inspires, she overwhelms opposition. More importantly, she never fails when it matters.

Any time the Cahalith spends a point of Willpower to enhance her rolls, she does not get the traditional three-dice benefit. Instead, if her roll fails, count the roll as having a single success. If her roll succeeds with fewer than five successes, consider the roll to have resulted in five successes. If she attained five or more successes, not only does she not lose the Willpower point spent, but also she gains an additional point of Willpower, not to exceed her limit. With any use of this power, all those favorable witnesses to her greatness gain a point of Willpower, similar to the use of the Inspiring Merit.

Storm's Whisper

Tribes of the Moon p184

Prerequisites:Honor 5, Wisdom 2, Harmony 6 or greater

Honor is a duplicitous thing. Luna is divided by honor: one side of her face is dark and punishing, the other light and rewarding. Those with profound Honor, those within the Storm Lords, must walk the line between those two realms. The proper Storm Lord is just and generous, and has the authority to dole out rewards, or mete out justice.

This Gift is granted by Skolis-Ur himself in recognition of a Storm Lord who embodies the ideals of his tribe and of Honor Renown. Winter Wolf recognizes the role of arbiter and ruler in this werewolf, and grants his child a measure of judgment.

For some, this Gift is both boon and bane. Once per game session, the Storm Lord imbued with this Milestone Gift mustselect one member of her pack to receive a blessing from Winter Wolf, and one to receive castigation from Skolis. The blessing is a +2 bonus to all rolls, while the castigation comes in the form of a –2 penalty to all rolls. These modifiers last for one lunar cycle, or until the Storm Lord uses Storm’s Whisper to select new recipients of the reward and punishment. How she selects the chosen members of her pack is up to her: she can accept input from the pack, or she can decide in her own authoritative manner. Perhaps she always chooses the lowliest member of the pack to receive the curse and the alpha to receive the blessing. She may not select herself for either of them. Her decisions, however she makes them, are sure to earn her some level of enmity from her pack, but this is by Winter Wolf’s design: leaders and judges are not to be loved, only to be obeyed.

Note that this Milestone Gift is named after the legendary member of the tribe, Storm’s Whisper (p. 168). When the werewolf possessing this Gift uses it to choose the two packmates, she must whisper in each Uratha’s ear to deliver the boon or bane. It’s said that her voice is different during that whisper: a sentence delivered not by the Storm Lord but by Storm’s Whisper.

As a Milestone Gift, Storm’s Whisper is available only to a Storm Lord who performs some great service to his tribe or pack, often heroically demonstrating the skills of a leader or a judge — one who offers only strength and never weakness (see “Milestone Gifts,” p. 12). If the character’s Harmony drops below 6 after he learns this Gift, he has one cycle of the moon to regain this level of spiritual balance, during which he must perform the Rite of Contrition to Winter Wolf. If the character fails to do this, he loses Storm’s Whisper and can never regain it. In addition, he gains a mild derangement as a result.

The Destroyer's Jaws

Tribes of the Moon p46

Prerequisites: Glory 5, Honor 3, Harmony 6 or greater

This Gift is granted by Fenris-Ur himself, in recognition of a Blood Talon who embodies the warrior ideal. This blessed personage need not be a Rahu; the Destroyer Wolf recognizes the role of the warrior in all his children. This Gift allows the Blood Talon to take on an aspect of his patron spirit’s terrible destructive rage, losing himself in a killing frenzy that inspires witnesses to recall stories of Shiva, or the Fenrisulfr of Norse mythology.

Once earned, this Gift is permanent and requires no activation roll. Any time the Talon enters Death Rage, he takes on the Destroyer’s Jaws: his muzzle becomes a huge, distended mass of razor-sharp and saw-edged fangs, and when he opens his jaws to bite, witnesses see only an utter, absolute blackness like the end of all things. His howls seem to make reality itself shake on its foundation, and in the power of his limbs, it seems as though the glory of Father Wolf is come to the world once again. The Destroyer’s Jaws is devastating in combat: whenever the Blood Talon fills an enemy’s rightmost Health box, that enemy dies instantly. Even if the wound was only bashing or lethal, it is instantly fatal. The recipient of this Gift gains a point of Essence for every creature he kills while in Death Rage.

As a Milestone Gift, the Destroyer’s Jaws is available only to a Blood Talon who performs some great service to his tribe or pack, usually heroically defeating a superior enemy or destroying a grave threat to the tribe (see “Milestone Gifts,” p. 12). If the character’s Harmony drops below 6 after he learns this Gift, he has one cycle of the moon to regain this level of spiritual balance, during which he must perform the Rite of Contrition to the Destroyer Wolf. If the character fails to do this, he loses the Destroyer’s Jaws and can never regain it.

The Hunter's Bounty

Tribes of the Moon p112

Prerequisites: Purity 5, Harmony 6 or greater

This Gift, granted by Black Wolf herself, allows the Hunter to replenish his spiritual energy simply by hunting and catching his own food. Any werewolf can hunt and kill wolves, humans or other werewolves and steal their Essence, but this is a grievous violation of Harmony and the Oath of the Moon, and those Uratha who practice such cannibalism wind up Zi’irin short order. A Meninnawith this Gift, however, can hunt and kill any animal that would serve as prey for a wolf and regain Essence from it. The Hunter’s Bounty allows the wolf to consume prey animals only for Essence; while a wolf might conceivably eat other predators if it had the opportunity or grew hungry enough, Black Wolf frowns on hunting such animals for food.

This Gift, once granted, is permanent. The Hunter in Darkness regains one point of Essence for every point of Health that the animal possesses, provided that he strips all usable meat from the carcass (that is, the werewolf doesn’t need to eat the bones). If the Hunter is part of a pack, he can regurgitate meat for his packmates (along with as much Essence as he wishes), which they can then consume to regain Essence. Since this treatment usually implies a mother-cub relationship, though, some werewolves don’t feel comfortable accepting such treatment from another Uratha (to say nothing of the fact that some werewolves might feel disgusted by the prospect).

As a Milestone Gift, The Hunter’s Bounty is available only to Hunters in Darkness who perform some great service for the tribe or their packs, usually in the name of protecting a sacred place (see “Milestone Gifts,” p. 12). If the character’s Harmony drops below 6 after he learns this Gift, he has one cycle of the moon to regain this level of spiritual balance, during which he must perform the Rite of Contrition to Black Wolf. If he fails to do this, he loses The Hunter’s Bounty and can never regain it.

Thief of Shadows

Signs of the Moon p34

Prerequisite: Cunning 5

Innumerable shadows exist under Mother Moon and countless strange creatures hide within them. Sorcerers cast ancient magics, while dead-but-living things feast upon the vitality of the herd, ghosts walk unseen through a dark reflection of life, and spirits exert their alien powers over the world in a multitude of ways. The Irraka walks within all of these shadows, impelled by Luna’s inviolable mandate.

Bound to the creed of Cunning, a New Moon steals what he needs from any and all who possess what he can best use to serve his pack and his People. Through careful observation, some legendary Irraka learn how to pilfer the secrets of the other entities that walk under the Mother’s concealing darkness, transforming their abilities into something like the Gifts of the Uratha.

The Irralunim, Nih Mehar — one of the Greater Incarnae, sworn directly in service to Amahan Iduth — judges the Irraka’s worthiness of this potent Gift through tests and trials, inflicted upon him without his knowledge. The spirit watches the Stalker’s progress upon the path, occasionally taking on earthly forms to help or hinder him (typically through good or bad advice from strangers or relatively insignificant spirits). Nih Mehar is much more interested in the Irraka’s ability to apply unorthodox thinking to the problems that beset him than in his success or failure; living up to every ideal of Cunning and falling short is infinitely preferable to succeeding through crude and unimaginative means. The Irralunim tests each of the other four Renowns, to see how the Stalker applies the tenets of Cunning to them.

First, the spirit challenges the Irraka with an ordeal of Wisdom, setting forth a quandary that can only be solved through clever thinking: a choice between saving the life of a beloved wolf-blooded mate and getting a message to one’s packmates regarding the imminent intrusion of a pack of Bale Hounds into their territory, for example, or the need to overcome a powerful spirit of reason in a weeks-long riddle contest with deadly stakes.

Only by applying trickery, treachery, and unorthodox thinking to the problem can the Stalker truly triumph. Next, Nih Mehar tests the Irraka’s Honor, offering temptation at the cost of Harmony, a violation of the Oath of the Moon, or even just personal principles: a potent fetish to be gained only through the breaking of one’s solemn vow or a meaningful victory against the Pure only attainable through betrayal of one’s pack. To succeed in the trial, the Stalker must find a way to gain the object of contention through Cunning means that break the rules of the test without neglecting the demands of Honor.

The spirit’s next ordeal is one of Glory, giving the Stalker the chance to take the spotlight, but at the cost of some significant advantage that could have been maintained had he remained in the shadows: defeating a powerful enemy spirit through an act that tips the pack’s hand and reveals the full extent of both its strengths and its weaknesses to other werewolves or being the lynchpin of the victory that ends a protracted war against a number of local Pure packs, only to lose a number of important territories. To overcome, the Irraka must somehow cheat his way through the choice placed before him to successfully perform the Glorious deed without relinquishing the threatened resource.

Nih Mehar’s final test is one of Purity. The Irralunim save this most perilous task for last, giving the New Moon the opportunity to satisfy his own wishes at the expense of what makes him Uratha: a chance to viciously ruin the life of and ultimately murder the Ivory Claw that killed his packmate or gaining great advantage for the members of his pack through encouraging them in acts that compromise their Harmony. Only by acquiring the object of desire while remaining true — necessitating deep, but subtle, treachery — does the Stalker satisfy the spirit.

Nih Mehar reveals itself to those few who meet or exceed its harsh standards, offering them the knowledge of its Gift. Those who are privileged with such lore soon come to perceive the invisible motions of the spirits behind all things, even the indirect ways in which they interact with powers alien to their kind… and to the Uratha. By studying the intricate weave of these energies, the Irraka can begin to replicate them by rote, compelling similar effects through duplicating the effects upon the spiritual environment.

Thief of Shadows enables a New Moon to purchase the supernatural powers of other creatures — vampires, mages, ghosts, spirits, and the like — as though they were Gifts. The Irraka must be able to closely study the power in use in order to make use of this ability. Merely having a paranormal ability used upon her isn’t enough; she must observe the power’s impact both in the material realm and in Shadow, and watch the way in which its use ripples outward among the spirits. Like making an image of something by using its impression as a mold, the Stalker gradually teaches herself to imitate the ability’s reflection in Shadow and, thereby, to mimic what she sees.

• Cost: 5 Essence per roll, plus 1 Willpower dotwarning.png"Willpower dot" is not in the list of possible values (Essence, Glamour, Mana, Vitae, Willpower, None) for this property.
• Dice Pool: Wits + Subterfuge Skill + Cunning
• Action: Extended (5 successes per dot level of the power, or 30 successes for a spirit of ghost Numen)

Roll Results

• Dramatic Failure: The Irraka may never gain the particular power that she is attempting to acquire and loses a dot of Willpower, anyway.
• Failure: The character makes no progress toward learning the power she wishes to replicate.
• Success: The character makes progress toward duplicating the supernatural ability in question.
• Exceptional Success: Significant progress is made.

Each time the New Moon observes a use of the specific power that she wishes to steal, her player may roll this Gift’s dice pool, spending the necessary Essence and banking her successes, if any. When the necessary number of successes is acquired, the character spends a permanent dot of Willpower (which may be repurchased at a cost of eight experience points) and may then buy the specific supernatural ability studied at a cost of eight experience points per dot level of the power. In other words, if the Irraka methodically haunts the steps of a vampire using the fourth dot of one of her paranormal abilities to repeatedly strike terrible fear into the hearts of others and the player eventually accrues 20 successes on the Gift’s extended roll while observing the power in use, then she may spend 32 experience points and one of the character’s Willpower dots to purchase that power for her character, who may use it as though it were a Gift.

The power uses the same Attribute + Skill combination as normal, though Cunning is substituted as the third component of the power’s dice pool. For spirit and ghost Numina, the Storyteller is instead encouraged to come up with an appropriate Attribute + Skill combination for the New Moon (a Numen intended to strike out at someone with telekinetic force might pair Strength and Intimidation, for example, while one that discerns the presence of strange phenomena might make use of Wits and Occult). The Irraka cannot teach these “pseudo-Gifts” to others; they are hers and hers alone.

Words of Power

Signs of the Moon p69

Prerequisites: Wisdom 5, Harmony 7+

The truly powerful shamans of old could call up and banish spirits with a single word, their very voices laden with the power of Father Wolf and Mother Luna. Some say those stories are just myths, that they exaggerated the abilities of their protagonists for dramatic effect, or that if such Crescent Moons did exist, that the days in which such things were possible are long gone.

They are wrong.

To earn the right to speak the Words of Power, an Ithaeur must pass three tests (the character is not aware that she is being tested, but Mother Luna and her Ithalunim watch all of her children for signs of greatness).

First, she must fail in some important task or goal. This shouldn’t be a simple failure resulting from the luck of the dice (e.g. if it’s vitally important that a powerful spirit be bound into a fetish, a mere failure on the ritual’s roll shouldn’t count), but a true failing on the character’s part. Perhaps she underestimated the spirit’s power, or assumed (incorrectly) that she knew its ban, leading to her failure. Once she has realized her failure, the Ithaeur must learn from it and correct it. Wisdom does not come from perfection, but from making mistakes and learning from them. Second, the Ithaeur must venture into the Shadow and converse with a spirit of at least Rank 5 and come away from the encounter with knowledge. The nature of what she learns doesn’t matter to the Ithalunim, as long as it is knowledge the character needs. Not only must she gain knowledge, she must, in the eyes of the Lunes, have gotten the better end of the deal. This is largely up to the Storyteller’s discretion: if the Ithaeur gains some arcane piece of knowledge about an enemy but must give up half the loci in her territory to the spirit, that probably doesn’t count as the better end of the deal (unless, for instance, the knowledge gained from the exchange will later allow the Ithaeur to retake those loci).

Finally, the character must earn Wisdom Renown in a manner auspicious enough to draw the respect of the Ithalunim. Since even learning the Gift requires Wisdom 5, this requirement is usually the first one met. If all of these conditions are met, the Ithaeur might be taken deep into the Shadow, into places that have no reflection in the physical realm, by one of the Ithalunim. The character is stripped of all her possessions and told this is a test from Luna: if she can make her way back to the physical world before the next crescent moon dawns, she will be proven worthy. The Ithaeur may refuse the test, in which case the Ithalunim returns her to her territory, but she can never learn the Words of Power. Should she fail, she likewise cannot learn the Words of Power. If, however, she succeeds in the spirit’s challenge, the Ithalunim open her eyes and her mind, teaching her ancient, terrible words in the First Tongue, which no other Uratha knows.

• Cost: None (If the character wishes to use this Gift more than once per chapter, each subsequent use costs 5 Essence.)
• Action: Reflexive
• Dice Pool: None

Once per chapter, the Ithaeur may resolve any rite she knows as an instant action instead of an extended action. The mechanics of the rite remain unchanged, with the following exceptions:

• The rite’s action type changes to instant.
• The number of required successes is ignored. Like most other instant actions, a single success is enough to activate the rite, with five or more successes earning an exceptional success. If the rite’s effects are tied to the number of successes (for example, the Rite of Shared Scent normally requires five successes per pack member), reduce the number of successes to one. To continue the Rite of Shared Scent example, each success would allow the ritemaster to affect a single packmate.
• If the rite is contested, the target rolls its contesting dice pool as a reflexive action, and whoever earns the most successes wins the contest. This Gift does not remove any material requirements from the rite (for example, the Call Gaffling rite still requires “chiminage” and a howl of summoning, the Fetish Rite still requires a vessel).

Example: Jessie Shaker needs to banish the disease-spirit that just put her pack down back to the Shadow in a hurry. She uses the Banish Spirit rite (Werewolf: The Forsaken p. 152) in conjunction with Words of Power. This is the first time during this chapter she has used her Milestone Gift, so she doesn’t have to pay 5 Essence. Banish Spirit is normally an extended and contested action, with each participant aiming for 10 successes, but in this case the action is resolved in a single contested roll. Jessie’s player rolls Jessie’s Harmony of 8 and gets 3 successes, while the Storyteller rolls the spirit’s Resistance of 6 and gets 2 successes. The spirit vanishes and returns to the Shadow. Jessie’s roll is high enough to earn an exceptional success, but the Banish Spirit rite doesn’t have any additional effects for an exceptional success.

After the battle, Jessie wants to heal her gravely-injured packmates with the Rite of Healing (Werewolf: The Forsaken p. 159). She doesn’t have hours to sit around and perform the rite, so she again invokes the Words of Power. This time it costs her 5 Essence. Jessie’s player rolls Jessie’s Harmony and gets 5 successes. She can heal up to five points of aggravated damage with that roll, but each point healed costs 2 Essence. Jessie only has 8 Essence left after spending the Essence to use Words of Power, so she spends those 8 points and heals a total of four points of aggravated damage her packmates have suffered.