Shadow Pack Rites

Rank • Pack Rites

Harness the Cycle (•)

The powers of the changing seasons bear immense power. This rite compels spirits of the seasons to give up a tithe of the burgeoning Essence that they glut themselves on.

• Symbols: The seasons, consumption, circles, blood, earth, sky
• Action: Extended (target=10; 1 roll per half hour)
• Success: This rite draws Essence from the changing of the seasons. It can only be performed on the seasonal equinoxes and solstices or, in the tropics, during the two days that mark the turnings between dry and wet seasons. All those participating in the rite gain a bounty of Essence equal to half their maximum Essence pool, or their entire Essence pool for the turning between wet and dry seasons. Those without Essence have their Willpower refilled and heal at twice the normal rate for a full month.

Taste of the Ancestors (•)

The ritemaster can determine if someone's lineage includes werewolf blood, and how far back that might go.

• Symbols: Blood, family trees, smoke
• Action: Extended (target = 5, 1 roll per minute)
• Success: Successful application of the rite reveals whether or not the target of the rite has werewolf lineage, back to three generations ago.

Totemic Empowerment (•)

Drawing deep on the pack-bond’s power, this rite turns a pack member into a vessel for the totem.

• Symbols: The totem, the pack, welcome, blood, strength
• Action: Extended (target = 10; 1 roll per minute)
• Duration: Until the next sunrise
• Success: The rite causes something akin to a temporary – and voluntary – Claiming by the totem. The totem must be present on the side of the Gauntlet that the rite takes place. This has the following effects on the empowered pack member:
  • They gain both the totem’s Ban and Bane.
  • They gain +1 to their Strength, Dexterity and Stamina, and a +2 to Perception rolls. They can perceive spirits in Twilight clearly.
  • They gain +5 to their Essence pool. If they do not normally have an Essence pool, they gain a pool of 5 Essence. This Essence comes from the totem’s own pool.
  • They gain the totem’s Influences and Numina.
• This is a breaking point towards Man for an werewolf with Balance, and an Integrity breaking point for those who use that system.

Rank •• Pack Rites

Sacred Hunt (••)

The Sacred Hunt, the Siskur-Dah, is the most holy of all rites, drawing into being something that is at the core of what it means to be a wolf. This rite may only be performed beneath a risen moon, and its effects last until moonset or sunrise, whichever comes first.

• Symbols: The hunt, prey, claws or weapons, blood
• Action: Extended (target = 10; 1 roll per minute)
• Success: Success has the following effects:
  • All participating packmates gain a Sacred Hunter Condition, based on what phase of the moon it is.
  • If the declared prey is a spirit, the magics of the Rite force it across the Gauntlet and into a material form. This transition pulls the spirit into manifestation into any place with a Gauntlet of 2 or less, meaning it most likely appears at a Locus or wilderness area. The spirit is aware of the Hunt.
  • If the declared prey is a human, the magics of the Rite invest them with absolute assurance that they are being hunted. If they know werewolves exist, they know they are hunted by werewolves; if they know the members of the pack, they know exactly who it is that hunts them. If they are ignorant of the supernatural, they suffer a severe attack of paranoia, similar to the symptoms of some psychotic breaks or schizophrenia.
  • If the defeated prey is powerful enough to grant a Primal Beat upon its defeat, it also grants a regular Beat.
  • If the defeated prey is a spirit, the pack may divide its Essence among themselves as they feast, causing it to discorporate.

Wellspring (••)

This rite invokes a pact between a pack and the spirit Courts that reflect a Locus’s resonance. In return, the locus becomes a wellspring that washes the Shadow with power.

• Symbols: Fountains or ignition, cleansing, energy, the resonance type
• Action: Extended (target = 20; 1 roll per 10 minutes)
• Duration: 1 month
• Success: The rite must be performed at the site of a Locus, which is then powerfully amplified. This has several effects:
  • Spirits and Uratha within one hundred yards per Locus dot, or within the entire territory (whichever is larger), add the Locus’s rating to all rolls for Influences that match its Resonance.
  • The Resonance becomes pervasive in general; a Locus of pain would cause low-level symptoms across the entire affected area, aggravating minor aches and intensifying the pain caused by an injury. This will have long-term effects on the Shadow and the material world.
  • Any pack member standing within the Locus itself may wield Influence (the Locus’s Resonance) of dots equal to the Locus’s rating, spending the Essence of the Locus to fuel it if they don’t have any themselves (such as for a human pack member).

In return, the rite mandates that the entire pack gains a Persistant Ban Condition for the duration. The Ban gained will reflect the Resonance of the Locus; Pain might mandate that pack-members must be suffering a single level of Lethal damage each dawn (forcing humans to remain wounded and Uratha to harm themselves each day), while Death might demand that pack-members carry a pouch of bones from a close relative at all times. If the Ban is ever violated, the effects of the rite immediately end and it cannot be subjected to Wellspring again for a year and a day. The Condition lifts when the rite ends.