Werewolf Essence

The spiritual power that werewolves learn to draw upon to heighten and fuel their supernatural abilities.

Essence Pool & Expenditures

A werewolf's maximum Essence pool is equal to (5 + Primal Urge).

• An Omega or Beta werewolf may spend one point of Essence per turn.
• Alpha werewolves may spend two points of Essence per turn.
• Werewolves who are in packs may spend one additional point of Essence per turn if they are in the presence of at least one of their packmates.

Shapeshifting

Werewolves may spend Essence to facilitate shapeshifting.

• Hybrid Shift: A werewolf may spend 1 Essence to automatically shift into hybrid form.
• Wolf Shift: A werewolf must spend 1 Essence to make Shapeshifting rolls to shift into wolf form.

Side Effects

Spending Essence causes some effects into the environment. This power of Shadow tends to have a deleterious effect on delicate electronics and electrical systems.

Essence Expenditure	Effect on Electronics
3	New generation computerized equipment stops functioning. Radio communication (including cells that do still work) is very static-filled.
6	Older generation computer equipment stops functioning. All radio communication is useless. Electronic equipment that isn't computerized starts to flicker and function poorly.
12	Electronic equipment stops working, and basic electrical systems begin to flicker and function poorly.
20	Basic electrical systems short out or explode in showers of sparks. Unshielded batteries are drained of their electricity without display.
30	All now-burnt-out devices begin to crawl with non-damaging displays of arcing otherworldly electricity

Recovery

• Recover 1 Essence when performing actions in accordance with one's Feral Wolf archetype. This can be a minor stimulus for the Feral Wolf if this pushes the character's Essence pool above his current Willpower pool.
• Recover 1 Essence upon seeing the full moon for the first time. This qualifies as a major stimulus for the Feral Wolf, however.
• Recover an amount of Essence equal to Primal Urge upon recovering from the Feral Condition.
• Completely fill Essence pool upon recovering from the Feral Condition under the full moon.
• For every point of damage caused by a werewolf's bite, the werewolf may choose to consume that flesh, taking one turn per health level to do so. Each health level thus consumed recovers a point of Essence. This may only be performed on humans or other Essence-bearing creatures (including spirits).

The Lament

When a werewolf runs out of Essence completely, he is said to be in the grips of the Lament. The Feral Wolf has lost connection to the moon and seeks to find it again, like a wolf separated from its pack. The werewolf gains the Lamented Tilt.

Lamented

Effects: When a shifter exhausts all of his Essence, his shifter spirit loses its connection to the rest of the spirit world, and reacts with terror and fury: this is called "the Lament" by many. The Lament is marked by headaches, a ringing in the ears and - in moments of general quiet - audial hallucinations in tune with the theme of the shifter spirit. The shifter gains 1 Rage immediately, and the shifter is constantly distracted by the shifter spirit's thrashing, causing him to lose the 10-Agains quality from Social and Mental dice pools, as well as on all Dexterity-based dice pools. Cause: Shifter is reduced to 0 Essence. End: Shifter recovers Essence.