Gurahl Merits and Flaws:

 

Gurahl may select Merits and Flaws according to the guidelines given in the Garou Merits and Flaws Section. Characters may have any Merits or Flaws available to Garou characters, with the following exceptions:

 

• Aptitudes: Ambidextrous, Daredevil

• Awareness: Pulse of the City

• Gurahl Ties (instead of Garou Ties): Social Outcast, Unworthy

• Human Society: No restrictions

• Mental: Weak-Willed

• Physical: *Strict Carnivore, other Merits or Flaws may need modification in order to apply to Gurahl

• Psychological: *Pack Mentality

• Supernatural: *Banned Transfomation, * Forced Transformation, * Gaia’s Fury, *LimitedAffinity to Gaia, *Moon Bound, *Natural Channel, *Sign ofthe Wolf, *Slip Sideways, “Taint of Corruption

 

Items preceded with an asterisk (*) are forbidden to Gurahl. Others are merely uncommon.

 

Early Maturation (3 Trait Supernatural Merit)

Due to circumstances occurring before your First Change, you emerged as an auspice other than Arcas. Perhaps you experienced your First Change late in life and had left your “childhood” years behind. Perhaps your early life contained so many stresses and traumas that you grew up before your time, never experiencing the simple pleasures and carefree activities of childhood - thrusting you into an auspice associated with a later stage in life. Whatever the specifics, you begin play as any auspice other than Arcas, whether Uzmati, Kojubat, Kieh or Rishi. This Merit differs from the Rip Van Winkle Merit in that the Gurahl is not one of the newly awakened Gurahl from the past but a recent addition to the Gurahl population. The character must choose her beginning Auspice Gift from the auspice she begins play with. Thus, if a Gurahl with this Merit begins as a Rishi, she should choose a Level One Rishi Gift as her auspice Gift rather than the Level One Gifts available to the Arcas (or any other) auspice. 

 

Garou Companion (3 Trait Supernatural Merit)

Despite the long history of hatred between Gurahl and Garou, you havemanaged to acquire a werewolf s friendship. Both of you have to work hard tokeep this relationship quiet lest your peers (and the Garou’s packmates) learnof your association and censure you for it -or worse. You value your friendshipfor the insights you receive about the volatile, hot-tempered race of Garou and for the steadfast loyalty of your friend. Your Garou companion may come fromany of the tribes, even thosenormally hostile to the Gurahl. You see each otherrarely and only occasionally travel together, but you feel that this bond youshare is an important step toward healing the damage done by the War of Rage.Your Storyteller will work out the details of your companion.

 

Umbral Affinity (3 Trait Supernatural Merit)

This Merit allows you to enter the Umbra in the same manner as Garou,without having to rend the Gauntlet physically. You need only concentrateon a reflective surface in order to “step sideways” (using the rules detailed inLaws of the Wild).

 

Rip Van Winkle ( 3-6 Trait Supernatural Merit)

You woke from a long slumber and now you find yourself a true strangerin a world you no longer recognize. Maybe you slept for decades; maybe yoursleep encompassed more than a century. In any case, you have much to learnabout the modern world. On the one hand, you are not a total innocent:Chances are, you have passed your childhood and perhaps have evenattained the maturity of middle age, so your mindset tends toward a greatersense of wisdom and sensibility. On the other hand, you have lost many ofyour memories of who you were and what you knew. You know that you area Gurahl, and you remember some of the Gifts you once leaned, but so muchlies buried in the fog of the past. In general, however, this new world elatesand surprises you. It seems that Gaia or the Great Bear has decided to giveyou a second chance at making your way in the world and doing what youwere placed here to do. Maybe this time, you can avoid the mistakes of thepast - you’re sure there must have been some.Gurahl who begin the game with this Merit may choose an auspice otherthan Arcas as their initial auspice. This Merit also enables a beginning Gurahla broader choice of Gifts, although he must still comply with the limitationsin the number of Gifts he may choose as a starting character. This Meritrequires the permission of the Storyteller since it may present problems in thechronicle to have a character with memories from the Middle Ages, pre-Colombian times or the early last century. Characters with this Merit should also pay attention to their initial Abilities, since few slumberers have modemskills such as Computer, Drive, Fireunns or Streetwise.The Trait cost for this Merit determines the beginning auspice for theGurahl who possesses it.

 

• 3 Traits The Gurahl begins as an Uzmati and may choose herbeginning auspice Gift from either the Arcas or Uzmati categories.

• 4 Traits The Gurahl begins as a Kojubat and may choose herbeginning auspice Gift from the Arcas, Uzmati or Kojubat lists.

• 5 Traits The Gurahl begins as a Kieh and may select her beginningauspice Gift from the Arcas, Uzmati, Kojubat or Kieh categories.

• 6 Traits The Gurahl begins as a Rishi and may choose her beginningauspice Gift from any of the auspice lists of Level One Gifts.

 

 

Dancing Fool (1 Trait Psychological Flaw)

Despite the stigma the Gurahl attach to public displays of dancing, youcan’t help but respond to music. Your feet start tapping, you sway to therhythms, and before you know it, there you are, out on the floor. You regularlygo club-hopping, seek out square dances -you name it, you’re there! You’reaware that other Gurahl look down on you for giving in to your urge. Thesymbolic reminder of the cruel treatment of bears by humans grates too muchon their sensibilities. Their disapproval, however, doesn’t stop you fromindulging yourself. You are one Trait down on all Social Challenges againstother Gurahl who know of your weakness.

 

Attracted to Humans (2 Trait Psychological Flaw)

Humans and their society fascinate you. You enjoy watching theiractivities, listening in on their conversations and trying to fathom theirmotives. In Homid form, this fascination does not pose a problem for you. If,however, you are in Ursus or Bjomen form, humans generally react in astrongly negative manner to your appearance in their midst. Unfortunately,the pull of human company is so compelling that you frequently forget to shiftinto Homid (or Arthren) form to speak with them. Whenever you are inUrsus or Bjomen form, you must win a Mental Challenge in order toremember to shift into a more human-friendly form in order to join a groupof humans. This Flaw is particularly appropriate for ursine Gurahl.

 

Clawless (3 Trait Physical Flaw)

The claws of a bear serve as more than just weapons. They assist inbalance, provide traction when traveling on slick or uneven surfaces andserve as scoops for snagging pawfuls of tasty grubs from rotten logs orspearing fish in a river. For some reason, your Crinos, Bjomen and Ursusforms do not come with claws attached. You’re not sure why, but this is howGaia (or Great Ursa) made you and you just have to live with it. You aredown a Physical Trait in any maneuver involving movement or graspingwhen in a form that would normally possess claws. Furthermore, you aredown two Traits in all combats in which you would normally use “naturalweaponry.” Needless to say, you cannot do aggravated damage with yournon-existent claws. You cannot leave messages in trees or on logs unless youcarve them with a knife - and you need hands, not paws, in order toaccomplish this task. (This Flaw is the closest to a “metis” disfigurementthat exists in Gurahl society.) Fortunately, you retain normal fingernailsand toenails in Homid and Arthren form.

 

Abandoned Cub (4 Trait Social Flaw)

Although you experienced your First Change alone, like many Gurahl,unlike other werebears, you never received a summons to lead you to amentor. Your lack of a Buri-Jaan forced you to learn about your strange new“self” on your own, coming to terms with your newfound “curse” (or“blessing”) without recourse to outside help. Perhaps you went insane for atime; you may have even required temporary institutionalization until you realized that you were not going crazy. Maybe youran away from civilization entirely, trying to hide your deformity in the wilderness. Eventually, you made contact with Gurahl society and found other werebears willing to take you under their wing and teach you the facts of life as a Gurahl. Now you know what you are, but the knowledge came at great cost and too late for you to avoid some of the psychological hang-ups caused by your early traumatic experiences as a Gurahl cub. If you choose this Flaw, you may not begin the game with the knowledge of any rites or rituals. You may not start
out with the Rites Background or Rituals Ability. You may acquire knowledge of rituals during the course of play or through buying them with experience gained from play. Your Storyteller may allow you to acquire a Buri-Jaan (or some other mentor figure) once you have become part of Gurahl society.