Black Spiral Dancers as Player Characters in Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Introduction
These are my house rules for Black Spiral Dancers in Werewolf, you may think they're good, you may think they're crap, but they've served me well.
These rules are by no means finished, and I am constantly improving them, so if you have any suggestions for changes or additions to these rules, E-mail me and I will seriously consider your suggestion (honest!).
Tribe Description
For a description of Black Spiral Dancers see pages 252-253 of Werewolf: The Apocalypse.
Tribal Totem: Whippoorwill
Initial Willpower: 5
Backgrounds: Black Spiral Dancers may not buy Past Life, Pure Breed or Kinfolk.
Beginning Gifts: Poison, Sense Wyrm
Physical: Black Spiral Dancers are most often Metis, and are deformed to reflect this. In wolf form the Black Spiral Dancers resemble the classic 'Hound of Hell' complete with jet-black fur, and glowing red or green eyes.
Territory: The Black Spiral Dancers tend to live underground, usually near areas of radiation, or extreme biohazard.
Protectorate: Hah! The Dancers look out for number one, and no one else.
Quote: "This is the end for you, child. You foolishly followed me to my lair - a place where only the Dancers are welcome. You must come to the Black Spiral with me and perform the Danse Macabre! Oh come, come. The brave young cub sheds tears, do not cry. It is a waste of good suffering! Now walk this way, I want you meet my friends..."
Black Spiral Dancer Gifts
The Gifts given to Black Spiral Dancers embody corruption and madness.
Poison (Level One) - This Gift allows the Garou to introduce a small amount of poison into someones blood stream. While the poison is non-lethal, it is certainly inconvenient. This Gift is taught by a Blight Child.
System: The Garou rolls Manipulation + Medicine (difficulty of victim's stamina) to 'poison' the victim, the poison is non-lethal, and doesn't cause any damage, but the victim may not do anything for the rest of the scene (he's too busy being violently ill!)
Sense Wyrm (Level One) - As Metis Gift.
Ears of the Bat (Level Two) - As Black Spiral Dancer Gift (page 253 of Werewolf: The Apocalypse).
Nightmarespeak (Level Two) - The Garou can enter another's dream and transform it into a horrific nightmare (this serves no particular purpose, but by the Wyrm is it fun!). The Garou need not be near the dreamer but must know or have seen the victim. This Gift is taught by a Kalus.
System: The Garou rolls Wits + Empathy (difficulty 8). If the dreamer awakens while the Garou is still in the dream, the Garou is thrown out of the dream an loses a Gnosis point.
Patagia (Level Three) - As Black Spiral Dancer Gift.
Foaming Fury (Level Three) - As Black Spiral Dancer Gift.
Smog (Level Three) - The Garou may blanket a 10' diameter area of ground with thick smog. This Gift is taught by a Blight Child.
System: The Garou rolls Manipulation + Science (difficulty 7, max distance from Garou 20 yards). Anybody in the cloud may not fight in close combat or shoot out from the cloud, they may not move unless they pass a Willpower roll (difficulty 8). The cloud stays in place for a number of turns equal to half (rounding up) of the Garou's Willpower, any additional turns after this require the expenditure of a Willpower point.
Crawling Poison (Level Four) - As Black Spiral Dancer Gift.
Eyes of Darkness (Level Four) - The Garou's eyes are totally black, with no distiguishable whites, irises or pupils. So black light just seems to fall into them... and so black that you could lose yourself forever... This Gift is taught by a Kalus.
System: The Garou must have eye contact with the victim. The Garou rolls Manipulation + Empathy (difficulty of the victim's willpower). If the Garou succeeds the victim will remain transfixed for a number of turns equal to the Garou's number of successes. When the appropiate number of turns is over the victim must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8). Success indicates that the victim has managed to break free, and may not be transfixed again, a failiure indicates that the victim will go into a state of Catatonic Shock for the rest of the scene and a botch indicates that the victim is under the Garou's control for the rest of the scene.
Balefire (Level Five) - As Black Spiral Dancer Gift.
Mindwarp (Level Five) - This Gift is the most dangerous of the powers given to Black Spiral Dancers. It is used to induce a state of madness in the victim's mind. This could be as subtle as amplifying a particular emotion when under stress, or as devastating as reducing the victim to a drooling psychopath. This Gift is taught by a Totem avatar of Whippoorwill.
System: The Garou must make eye contact with the victim. The Garou rolls Manipulation + Empathy (difficulty of victim's Willpower). The Garous simply describes the mental condition he wants to inflict to the victim, this derangement lasts for as long as the target lives. A failiure indicates that the victim wasn't "Mindwarped" this turn, but may be Mindwarped again (although not by the same Garou). A botch indicates that the victim becomes permanently immune to being Mindwarped.
Whippoorwill
Background cost: 5
The Totem of the Black Spiral Dancers, Whippoorwill, personifies madness and corruption. Where Garou have been lead astray you can be sure that Whippoorwill is involved somewhere.
Traits: Dancers chosen by Whippoorwill may soak damage caused by Radiation or Toxic Waste even though normal Garou suffer aggravated damage from contact with such materials. In addition, if Whippoorwill is a Garou's totem, he may more effectively control frenzies (He will frenzy under the normal situations, but may also roll Willpower (Difficulty 5) at any time to make a 'voluntary' frenzy.
Bans: Whippoorwill asks that his followers never aid any follower of Gaia.
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