Rage
All Garou have Rage, an inner beast that is slave to everything from the moon phases to annoying individuals. It encompasses the inherent feral cunning and ferocity that compels werewolves, as well as savage bloodlust and mindless carnage. Rage is both a blessing and a curse, as it aides Garou in shifting to their warrior forms and
bestows other supernatural gifts while retaining its bane-like existence that throws them into fits of wild and oftentimes uncontrollable emotion.
RageTraits do not have adjectives. Rather each Trait simply represents the amount of rage within a werewolf. You have both permanent Rage - the total number of Rage you possess - and temporary Rage Traits, which you gain and lose throughout a story.
Rage Traits can be represented with cards. When a character gains Rage Traits by moon phase or other acceptable means, ask a Narrator or Storyteller for a card. Likewise when Rage Traits are spent, give the card to a Narrator or Storyteller. Your beginning Rage Trait total is determined by your auspice. The only way to increase this total is by purchasing them with Free Traits or gaining them temporarily when you are in an especially infuriating situation.
Rage replenishes when the moon phase is in your auspice, which not only refills completely but also often has adverse effects (see below). Rage Traits must be spent at the beginning of a turn in the declaration stage.
You can expend Rage Traits for a variety of functions:
- You can spend Rage to gain extra actions in a turn; however, you cannot spend
more Rage Traits in a turn than half of your Physical Traits.
- Spend one Rage Trait to change instantly to any form you desire, without the
standard test to shift forms.
- When you fall below the Incapacitated health level, you may opt to spend a
Rage Trait and make a Rage Challenge with the Storyteller. If you succeed, you
regain health levels up to Wounded. This effect may only be attempted once in a scene.
- Returning from near death doesn’t come cheap, though. Every time you attempt -
to cheat death in this manner, you suffer a battle scar
Regaining Rage
As noted earlier, there are many ways in which you can gain Rage. The means
often illustrate how Rage is both curse and blessing. The first time you see the moon at night, the Beast inside stirs and Rage floods back into you. Under a new moon, you get back one Trait; under a crescent moon, two Traits; under a half
moon, three Traits; and under a full moon you gain four Traits. But if the moon phase corresponds with your auspice, you regain all of your Rage Traits.
This phenomenon occurs only with the first sighting of the moon each night. When you lose a test in a particularly stressful situation, such as during life-or death situations, the Storyteller may allow you to gain a Rage Trait to reflect your building frustration and near-frenzied state.
The Storyteller may award you a Rage Trait when you fall into a humiliating situation, such as an inferior opponent knocking you down.
Should you spend your last Rage Trait, you automatically revert back to your breed form as your inner beast has temporarily lost its fire and ability to take your warrior form. This is known as “losing the wolf,” and you may not change forms until you regain at least one Trait of Rage.
