Metis Gifts

Garou Gifts

Sense Wyrm

Rank 1 Metis Gift / Rank 1 Theurge / Rank 1 Black Furies / Rank 1 Silent Strider / Rank 1 Silver Fang / Rank 1 Stargazer / Rank 1 Uktena / Rank 1 White Howler

The werewolf can sense manifestations of the Wyrm in the nearby area. This Gift involves a mystical sense, not a visual or olfactory image, although werewolves using the Gift sometimes say things like, “This place stinks of the Wyrm” (with a few more colorful adjectives). Garou should remember that the Wyrm’s taint can cling to relatively blameless souls. Werewolves may sense an innocent person who happens to work in a Wyrm-controlled factory or who has eated tainted food. This power requires active concentration. Any spirit of Gaia may teach this Gift.

System: The player rolls Perception + Occult. The difficulty depends on the concentration and strength of the Wyrm’s influence. Sensing a single fomor in the next room would be difficulty 6, while detecting the stench of a Bane that was in the room an hour ago would be difficulty 8. Vampires register as Wyrm-tainted, save those with Humanity Traits of 7 or higher.

Source: Core book revised / 20th Anniversary

Primal Anger

Rank 1 Metis Gift / Rank 1 White Howler Gift

The metis learns to focus the anger within her heart and use it to increase her Rage. The anger takes a physical toll on the werewolf, and it is up to her to unleash it on her enemies. The spirits of ancient metis teach this Gift. Few members of other breeds have suffered enough shame and suffering to learn this Gift.

System: A character with this Gift may sacrifice a single health level, once per scene, and gain two extra points of Rage in exchange (even if doing so takes her above her permanent Rage rating). The health level is treated as aggravated damage for purposes of recovery.

Source: Core book revised / Past Lives

Shed

Rank 1 Metis Gift

The Garou knows the trick of shedding and growing fur at an alarming rate. This Gift makes the Garou especially difficult to grapple successfully; opponents find themselves holding tufts of fur instead of their target. The Garou can also slide through tight spaces using his shedding fur as natural lubrication. A lizard-spirit or snake-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: The Garou may use his slick outer coating to avoid being grappled. With a successful Dexterity + Primal-Urge roll (difficulty 7), he can free himself from any successful grappling attack. The fur also reduces by two the werewolf’s difficulty whenever he squeezes through tight spaces or slips restraints, such as handcuffs.

Source: Player’s Guide Second Edition.

Create Element

Rank 1 Metis Gift

The metis has the power to create a small amount of one of the four basic elements — fire, air, earth or water. In this way, she can replenish the air supply in an airtight room, make a rock to throw at someone, create a fire without matches or wood, or even fill a bathtub without any faucet or pipes. The metis cannot create specialized forms of any element. Precious metals (especially silver), lethal gases and acid are beyond his reach. This Gift creates only natural air, earth, fire and water. Elementals teach this Gift.

System: The werewolf’s player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis. Each success allows the character to create approximately one cubic foot of the desired element, to a maximum weight of 100 lbs, anywhere he can see within 60 feet. The element remains in existence until used up (breathed in the case of air or burned up in the case of fire without any fuel to keep it going). The flames created with this Gift are genuinely hot, but they are no substitute for a flame-thrower. They inflict one health level of damage per success, to a maximum of three health levels of damage.

Source: Core book revised.

Form Mastery

Rank 2 Metis Gift / Rank 2 Black Furies Gift / Rank 2 Fianna Gift

This Gift empowers the Wyld spark that resides in all Garou, granting the character greater control over her shapeshifting abilities. A wolf-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: When shapeshifting (see p. 285), all difficulties are reduced by 1. Additionally, when enacting partial transformations (see p. 286), the player need no longer spend a Willpower point, and the difficulty of the roll is 7. This Gift’s effects are permanent.

Source: 20th Anniversary Edition

Curse of Hatred

Rank 2 Metis Gift / Rank 2 Silent Strider (Camp: Bitter Hex) Gift

The metis may verbalize the hatred in her heart, disheartening opponents with the intensity of her emotion. A spirit of hate teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends on Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Expression (difficulty of the opponent’s Willpower). If she succeeds, her opponent loses two Willpower points and two Rage points. This Gift may be used on an opponent only once per scene.

Source: Core book revised / Tribebook: Silent Striders (revised)

Stoat’s Guise

Rank 2 Metis Gift

In a world where he must fight fang and claw to fit in, the metis can use all the help he can get. This Gift allows him to change superficial aspects of his appearance, blending in or standing out as he wishes. The spirit of any animal that changes its color seasonally can teach this Gift, such as the stoat or ptarmigan.

System: The player rolls Manipulation + Subterfuge (difficulty 6). Each success allows the werewolf to alter one aspect of his appearance for the scene. Examples include: hair/fur color or length, skin tone, eye color, and height or size by about a fifth in either direction. This Gift can alter or hide tribal markings and lesser scars, but it’s never potent enough to hide metis deformities completely.

Source: Changing Ways W20

Wriggle

Rank 2 Metis Gift

Metis sometimes have to hide in all the wrong places at the wrong times. With this Gift, they can take best advantage of their surroundings to get away and take a breather. The spirit of a Cockroach teaches this Gift.

System: Spend a Gnosis point, and the Gift takes effect immediately. For the rest of the scene, no matter what her form, the metis can squeeze into a space no less than half the size of her body. Storytellers should make judgments on space limitations.

Source: Guardians of the Caerns

Burrow

Rank 2 Metis Gift

Those who learn this Gift gain the ability to burrow through the earth. They make a real tunnel, and others can follow them through it. The digger creates a burrow just large enough for her to go through. Others may follow, but they are limited by the size of the hole. The werewolf must be in Crinos, Hispo or Lupus form to use this Gift as she needs her claws for digging (although even metis without claws can use this Gift). The tunnel is not structurally sound, and it will collapse over time. Mole kindly teaches this Gift to all metis who seek him.

System: The player rolls Strength + Athletics against a difficulty depending on the substance to be excavated (4 for loose mud, 9 for solid rock). Some alloyed metals (such as titanium steel) and other reinforced structures will not yield to the werewolf no matter how hard she digs. The character can burrow one yard per turn for each success. After the initial roll, the character doe snot need to roll again to continue at the same speed.

Source: Core book revised.

Shell

Rank 3 Metis Gift / Rank 3 Croatan Gift

Consider the state of a metis cub. He is outcast from birth, knows this from the moment he can talk, and is trapped within a body that reacts powerfully to his slightest emotional twinge. Once you appreciate this state, it becomes easy to understand how this Gift was first learned. Shell places an emotional and instinctual barrier around the metis. A turtle-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: While active, the metis cannot use Rage nor achieve any successes on Rage rolls, nor will mind-altering Gifts or magic affect him. However, he can also not attempt any rolls using Empathy or Primal-Urge, and suffers a -1 penalty on all initiative rolls.

Updated System from 20th Anniversary Edition: The player rolls Willpower (difficulty of the character’s own Rage). Success insulates the metis for a scene behind a mystical and psychological barrier, immunizing him against mind-altering magic of all kinds for the rest of the scene. However, he cannot gain any successes on Empathy, Primal-Urge or Rage rolls, nor can he spend Rage points.

Source: Players’ Guide to Garou (revised) / 20th Anniversary Edition

Mental Speech

Rank 3 Metis Gift / Rank 3 Philodox Gift

This Gift grants metnal communication, even over vast distances. The user must either knownthe target personally (although he does not have to be friends with tat person) or have something that belongs to that person, such as a lock of his hair. Bird spirits and spirits of intellect teach this Gift. Owl is a particularly sought-after teacher, and those who learn from him claim to have enhanced abilities at night.

System: The player rolls Charisma + Empathy (difficulty 8) and expends a Willpower point; the effects last for a scene. His character may hold a mental conversation with a target at a maximum distance of 10 miles per success. It does not allow mind reading, but the werewolf may use social Abilities, such as Intimidation.

Source: Core book revised / 20th Anniversary Edition

Rage of the Underdog

Rank 3 Metis Gift

Among the Garou, the metis are the ultimate underdogs, born to a stigma they never asked for. Reminders of this can fuel their Rage in battle. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: Whenever the werewolf suffers wound penalties and makes a successful attack against a less-wounded opponent, he may spend one point of Rage to add dice of damage equal to the difference between his wound penalties and those of his target. If he deals enough damage to cause wounds at least as serious as his own, he regains the point of Rage he spent. This Gift’s effects are permanent.

Source: Changing Ways W20

Frozen Form

Rank 3 Metis Gift

Homids and lupus have no idea what it’s like to grow up as a metis, never changing from Crinos form for years upon years. This Gift, taught by any aerial spirit, lets a metis give other a taste of what spending extended time in Crinos is really like.

System: Spend a Willpower point and roll Stamina + Primal Urge, difficulty 6. For each success, the target must spend one full day in Crinos, consecutively if more than one success is rolled. This Gift works only on other Garou, including Black Spiral Dancers.

Source: Guardians of the Caerns

Chameleon

Rank 3 Metis Gift

Like the Gift’s reptilian namesake, the Garou can blend with her natural surroundings. Unlike the lizard, the werewolf shifts fluidly with changing backgrounds, thus allowing the Garou to move about and even attack. A chameleon- or octopus-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: The player spends one Gnosis point to activate the Gift. Anyone trying to see the werewolf, even in open ground, must make a Perception roll (difficulty of the Garou’s Wits + Stealth) to detect her. Once the Garou attacks, the difficulty drops by 3. The Gift affects only sight; it does not mask the Garou’s sound or scent.

Source: 20th Anniversary Edition

Eyes of the Cat

Rank 3 Metis Gift

The werewolf may see clearly in pitch darkness. His eyes glow a lambent green while this power is in effect. Any cat-spirit can teach this Gift, although werewolves who make enemies of the Bastet will have trouble finding teachers.

System: The character must state when the Gift is in effect, but it requires no roll or expenditure. The character suffers no difficulty or dice-pool penalties from darkness.

Source: Core book revised.

Splintered Claw

Rank 3 Metis Gift

This painful Gift causes the metis’ claws to splinter as they pierce flesh. Tiny bits of claw imbed themselves deep in the victim’s body, thus causing tremendous irritation. Healing such a wound without first removing the splinters is both painful and stupid. Unfortunately, the Gift’s user loses her claws until she spends a round regenerating new ones. A tree-spirit teaches this Gift. Glass Walkers or Bone Gnawers can learn this Gift from spirits living in houses or other wooden constructs.

System: After a successful attack that causes at least one Health Level of damage, the Garou may spend a Rage point to activate the Gift. Any damage that the target does not soak cannot be healed until he removes the bits of claw. As with all other werewolf claw attacks, the wounds are aggravated.

The attacking Garou receives one automatic nonaggravated wound. The werewolf cannot soak this wound but can heal it as normal. Until the Garou heals the wound, he has no claws.

Source: Player’s Guide Second Edition.

Badger’s Heart

Rank 4 Metis Gift

Metis often possess angry hearts, and in their own way, they have a keen understanding of Rage, no matter what their auspice. This Gift allows them to affect the Rage of other werewolves, causing their enemies to expend more of it than necessary. A Badger-spirit teaches this Gift.

System: Spend a Gnosis point and roll Willpower, difficulty 7. Three successes are necessary, but if the roll is made, the target expends twice as many Rage points as he normally would. For example, if Merryk Winterchase successfully uses this Gift on Mari Cabrah while theyr’e in combat, each time she spent one Rage point, she would actually use two, without gaining the benefits of the second Rage point. This Gift’s effects last for a day.

Source: Guardians of the Caerns

Tenacious Fury

Rank 4 Metis Gift

Survival at any cost and victory at any price; these are the tenets that keep the Garou fighting in the face of overwhelming adversity, and the metis understands them well. He can pour his Rage into the single-minded pursuit of his goal, keeping himself going when many others would have fallen. Spirits of fury or servants of Boar teach this Gift.

System: When making a Rage roll to remain active after falling below Incapacitated, the player may spend up to a number of Rage points equal to his Willpower. Each point spent adds one success to the roll’s result. The metis cannot spend Willpower to avoid frenzying as a result of this roll, and it only requires three successes to frenzy, rather than four.

Source: Changing Ways W20

Rattler’s Bite

Rank 4 Metis Gift

The metis’s eyeteeth lengthen, and she can inject a deadly poison with her bite. Some elder Garou look down upon this Gift as a deformity. Spider- and snake-spirits teach this Gift.

System: The player spends a Rage point when attempting to bite an opponent. If the bite is successful, any remaining damage after soak is doubled. If the attack fails or causes no damage, the Rage point is lost.

Source: 20th Anniversary Edition

Gift of the Porcupine

Rank 4 Metis Gift

When using this Gift, the werewolf undergoes a startling transformation. Her fur becomes elongated, bristly and sharp like the quills of a porcupine. This change makes her an even more fearsome killing machine. A werewolf must be in Crinos, Hispo or Lupus form to use this Gift. Porcupine teaches this Gift, and he has a great fondness for metis.

System: The character spends a Gnosis point to sharpen his fur. Anyone whom the metis tackles, grapples or immobilizes takes aggravated damage from his new found quills (Strength +1). Furthermore, anyone who strikes him with bare flesh (and scoring fewer than five successes on the attack roll) takes damage based on the attacker’s own Strength, although the metis still takes normal damage. This Gift lasts for one scene or until the werewolf wills his fur to return to normal.

Source: Core book revised.

Wither Limb

Rank 4 Metis Gift

With a snarl and an angry gaze, the werewolf forces a target’s arm or leg to twist, desiccate and wither, making it useless. Creatures with regenerative abilities will restore the limb to full function after one scene; otherwise, the effects are permanent. Snake-spirits, spider-spirits and other venomous spirits teach this Gift. Some werewolves even invoke spirits of disease to learn this Gift.

System: The player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Willpower (difficulty of the victim’s Stamina + 4). The victim adds two to the difficulties of all Dexterity rolls. If his leg is affected, he can move at only half of his normal speed.

Source: Core book revised.

Protean Form

Rank 5 Metis Gift

Born misshapen, the metis takes her deformity and makes it a source of power. She can twist her flesh in any number of ways, sprouting a number of unnatural features, from extra limbs to additional mouths to grasping tentacles. A Chimerling teaches this Gift.

System: The character’s ability to partially transform (see p. 286) is permanently modified, allowing her to make almost any grotesque modifications the player can imagine. These modifications must logically bestow one of the following benefits: +2 dice on a certain category of attack rolls (extra clawed limbs for claw attacks, tentacles for clinches, etc), +2 damage on a certain category of attack rolls (a chest-mounted squid beak for extra damage on clinches, arms coated in shark teeth for boosted claw attacks, etc.), or +5 yards per turn of movement (extra legs, vestigial wings, etc.).

Source: 20th Anniversary Edition

Totem Gift

Rank 5 Metis Gift

Due to the metis’ strong ties with Garou society, she can plead directly with her tribal totem, gaining some of its power. The effects of this Gift depend on the nature of the tribal totem power. Rat (totem of the Bone Gnawers) might send swarms of rats to attack the Garous’s enemies, and Grandfather Thunder (totem of the Shadow Lords) might smite the Garou’s enemies with a blast of thunder and lightning. The potential of this Gift depends only on the favor of the totem, and it may cross over into the miraculous. Only the tribal totem teaches this gift.

System: The player spends on Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Rituals (difficulty 7). The greater the number of successes, the more dramatic the effects. One success might cause a minor distraction, whereas 10 successes is the dramatic equivalent of summoning a localized twister to destroy the metis’ foes.

Source: Core book revised.

Twist of Fate

Rank 5 Metis Gift

Some Stargazer metis have used this Gift to deliver a fatal blow to unsuspecting enemies, even knowing that the cost will be their own lives. After a Garou has been dealt her own deathblow, if she invokes this Gift, she may strike her enemy once more ere she dies. It’s bittersweet but often leads to an enemy falling dead alongside the metis warrior. This Gift is taught by a Cobra-spirit.

System: The player need only spend one Rage point to get that final shot; no wound penalties apply. The attack doesn’t automatically land, although the metis may spend Willpower to add to the attack roll’s successes (even though she’s already spent Rage in the turn). The metis’ damage pool is increased by ten dice — a metis’ parting shot channels a lifetime of Rage, and is almost always lethal.

Source: Guardians of the Caerns

Umbral Body

Rank 5 Metis Gift

The metis body is strange. Born in a form not intended by Gaia or nature, deformed and occasionally showing signs of animals entirely unrelated to man or wolf, it is little wonder the breed has been outcast and hated. But some metis have used this body to their advantage, and it is perhaps this strangeness that allows their body to withstand the pressures this Gift inflicts. With this Gift, the metis can partially reach into the Umbra, sending certain body parts into the Umbra while maintaining others in the physical world. Doing so makes the metis difficult to hit in combat, to say the least. A Pattern spider teaches this Gift.

System: The metis rolls Gnosis (difficulty of the local Gauntlet) and if the roll succeeds spends 1 Gnosis. For the rest of the scene, the metis receives one extra automatic success on all Dodge rolls.

Source: Players’ Guide to Garou (revised)

Madness

Rank 5 Metis Gift

The metis struggles his whole life to find a place, a purpose and a sense of stability in his horrifying existence. With this Gift, he can force others to face their inner demons, including insanity and madness. The nature of the derangement varies among individuals, but it will always be severe, making it impossible for the victim to function normally. Lunes, along with spirits of trickery and madness teach this Gift.

System: The player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Intimidation (difficulty of the victim’s Willpower). The insanity lasts a number of days equal to the successes rolled on the attempt. During this time, the metis can increase or decrease the effects of the madness, granting the victim lucidity and then driving him into psychosis. Even after the Gift has ended, the repercussions from the bout with madness often haunt the target for the rest of his life.

Source: Core book revised.