Vampire/Bloodlines/Gangrel/Dead Wolves

DEAD WOLVES

Parent Clan: Gangrel
Sobriquet: Abominations
Source: W:tF Second Edition
Disciplines: Animalism, Nightmare, Protean, Resilience
Revised by: Aleks and Jack

BACKGROUND

This story is a lie.
A Savage blood-thief once lived in the waters of the Amu Darya river delta in central Asia, one thousand years ago. She crossed hills, mountains, deserts, seas of grass and seas of water, all to find her way to this desert paradise. She lived as a beast of the field, rising from the river banks to steal blood from the local humans. She avoided the cities and others of his kind alike, fearing above all the coming of the Smoke-Owls. She had fled from them her entire unlife, for as long as she could remember and well beyond. When the blood-thieves of Khwarezm learned of her flight from the Smoke-Owls, they shunned her in fear that if they aided her, they would be hunted in turn. She turned in desperation to a shaman of Siberia, who told her that her salvation lay in the blood of the Wolf. Should she Embrace a child of Wolf who had not yet changed, then that childe and his lineage would protect her blood from the Smoke-Owls so long as he exists.

So the blood-thief returned to the land of Khwarezm, seeking her savior. After many nights of hunting, she found the wolf-blooded sleeping on the chest of a wolf by the riverbank, alone. She changed into the form of a lion and pounced, slaying wolf and man before they could react. She made the wolf-blooded into a blood-thief, and when he rose from death, so did his wolf. He called himself the Dead Wolf, after his slain familiar who walked with him still.

The Dead Wolf and blood-thief slept in the mud of the river, where she taught him to hunt for blood as she did. He grew strong, and began to change in ways the blood-thief had never seen before. She taught him the lore of the blood-thieves, and of her flight from the Owls. So the Dead Wolf waited for the Smoke-Owls to approach. When at last one showed to claim the blood-thief, the Dead Wolf was ready. He drove a wooden tent peg through the blood-thief's heart and left her chained to a rock for the Smoke-Owls to claim, and once she was fully possessed he bade her follow him into the Shadow, where he obliterated the Smoke-Owl and his creator in one with the aid of Fire-spirits. After all, the shaman never said the blood-thief herself would live.

The Dead Wolf returned to his village at night, showing them his new power. For it he was cast out in fear and revulsion, and wandered the desert for many nights, crossing seas of grass and water, hills, mountains and rivers. The Dead Wolf's pack swelled with more like him, all accompanied by fierce corpse-wolves. They established a warrior lodge high in the Carpathian Mountains, and took up the device of the Chimera on their battle standard. The last of them still dwell there, so it is said. Doubly cursed, they exist tonight in defiance of all curses.

The truth is more complicated than the legends would have it. Most of the time when a vampire Embraces a Wolf-blooded, the Blood erases all traces of lycanthropy along with their bodily life. Only the Gangrel Embrace may produce a Dead Wolf. Even then it takes conscious choice on the part of the fledgling to dredge the Wolf back up and reconstitute it into a bloodline. Such 'originals' retain the Tell they bore in life, warped by the corruption of Vitae into Blood Tells. If such an original manages to Embrace another, their childe may activate their sire's bloodline as normal, inheriting the sire's Blood Tell. Gangrel who have no active bloodline may also choose to Avus into the bloodline following the usual requirements, inheriting their Avus' Blood Tell.

Kindred and Uratha have competed over territory since time immemorial. The Dead Wolf is a distant legend, thought an impossible fantasy to most and a worrying prospect to a knowledgable few. Given that they can crop up anywhere vampires and werewolves cross, Dead Wolf backgrounds range from the clueless fledgling who just activated their bloodline to centuries-old dynasties stretching back to antique nights of sin and conquest. Notably, the Ivory Claws have long held their own version of the Dead Wolf legend, casting them as abominations that must be destroyed where found lest their corruption drives the spirits to abandon them. This tale found its way around the world, leaving Dead Wolves with a sinister reputation even among the Urdaga. Whether each individual Dead Wolf unlives it or not is up to them.

BLOODLINE GIFT Regardless of origin, Dead Wolves count as Wolf-blooded for the purposes of forming and joining packs, participating in pack tactics, and buying the Pack Bond and Totem merits. They may participate in Pack and Wolf Rites, but may never learn Uratha Rites themselves.

BLOODLINE BANE All Dead Wolves are allergic to silver, much as werewolves. They take aggravated damage from silver weapons, though the weapon must be made of at least 80% solid silver. Touching silver does not cause direct damage, but makes the Beast recoil in terror. When in direct contact with silver, the Dead Wolf must roll to resist Frenzy at a -3 modifier for every round contact continues.

BLOOD TELLS In addition to the bloodline gift and bane, Dead Wolves manifest a Blood Tell, the calling card of their vampiric lineage. A full list may be found here.

BLOODLINE DEVOTIONS

Dead Wolf’s Senses (Resilience o)
Your Kindred Senses have begun to change. The full range of lupine senses opens up to you, combining the senses of Kindred and Wolf. In addition to Kindred Senses, you may also use Wolf Senses in any form, which you may extend up to +4 by taking on the body of a wolf, or by using Protean 2 to manifest an appropriate nose. You may track targets via smell as a werewolf does, and may make Tracking rolls with Wolf Senses to hunt down prey. At Blood Potency 4, you gain a permanent +1 bonus to Tracking rolls, rising to +2 at Blood Potency 6, +3 at Blood Potency 8, and +4 at Blood Potency 10.

This devotion costs one Experience to learn.

Sanguine Lunacy (Nightmare oo, Dead Wolf’s Senses)
The trickle of lycanthropy in your blood has become a flow. From now on, those who taste your vitae update Vinculi and test for blood addiction as normal. Immediately after they must test for Lunacy if they have Integrity, as described on p. 101 of Werewolf the Forsaken. At Blood Potency 4 and 7, you apply a -2 modifier to all Lunacy you inflict, increasing to -3 at BP 8, -4 at BP 9, and -5 at BP 10. This does not stack with the Evil Eye Blood Tell.

At Nightmare 2, you may opt to inflict one of the three Lunacy Conditions instead of the Frightened Condition on success. At Nightmare 3, you may opt to give your target the Moon Taint Condition instead of Delusional Condition on success.

This Devotion costs two Experiences to learn.

Spiritualism (Animalism ooo, Protean o, Sanguine Lunacy)
Through great effort and suffering, you have managed to break through your limitations as an undead being to reach into the spirit world. Upon purchasing this devotion, the Dead Wolf may cross over at a Locus into the Shadow, rolling 10 - Humanity. When reaching back into the Flesh, roll Humanity. Reflective surfaces cannot aid the Dead Wolf in Reaching through, but entering their Unmarked Grave affords a +1 to the roll. If successful, the Dead Wolf re-emerges into the Shadow or Flesh. The Shadow is a dangerous and alien place for vampires, even to the Dead Wolf. When in the Shadow, the Dead Wolf’s Animalism shifts into Spiritualism, and once they leave reverts to Animalism once more.

Spiritualism 1 Ephemeral Whispers grants the Dead Wolf the Language (First Tongue) Merit on either side of the Gauntlet.
Spiritualism 2 Raise the Spirit allows the Dead Wolf to raise the closest spirit from Slumber, or to raise a particular spirit from Slumber who they already know. Raise the Spirit can only raise spirits of predators or scavengers.
Spiritualism 3 Summon the Haunt allows the Dead Wolf to spend a Vitae and summon the closest spirit, or to summon a specific spirit whose name they already know. Only spirits associated with predatory or scavenging animals answer the Summons.
Spiritualism 4 Spiritual Infection affects spirits, provoked to gluttony by the taint of Vitae. Spirits seized by the Spiritual Infection turn on and devour one another with no regard for consequences, which can result in the creation of magath.
Spiritualism 5 Sanguine Locus allows the Dead Wolf to set up a level one Locus within their territory, with a Resonance of Vitae. The Dead Wolf may invest Vitae into the Locus so long as the territory exists, and withdraw it by entering their Unmarked Grave within the Locus’ influence radius and willing the Vitae into themselves directly. This is the only known way for a Dead Wolf to replenish their Vitae stores in the Shadow outside of blood sorcery. The Dead Wolf must sleep on the territory as normal to keep it up. When the Lord of the Land effect ends, the Sanguine Locus disappears with all Vitae lost.

This Locus cannot generate Vitae on its own. Both Vitae and Locus may be reshaped by Resonance Shaping, but doing so converts all stored Vitae into Essence irrecoverably, and when all Essence is withdrawn the Locus fades and the Lord of the Land effect ceases.

The Bloody Crucible (Protean oooo, Spiritualism)

Existence as a vampire forces any Gangrel to endure terrible trials, and it is the power of Protean that allows them to survive. When a Dead Wolf learns to master the Unnatural Aspect, they may reach down with the Blood and recover the last and greatest gifts of the Dead Wolves. The mightiest of their number are rumored to hunt alongside the greatest Uratha.

Protean 2 - In addition to the three animal features, select Badass Motherfucker or Weaken the Prey as a fourth feature. When you activate Predatory Aspect, the fourth feature applies as well. It can be swapped out or removed in the usual way via slumber in the Unmarked Grave.
Protean 3 - You gain a wolf form that does not count towards your maximum number of forms.
Protean 4 - Your Predatory Aspect transformations now inflict Lunacy with a +2 modifier. Your Unnatural Aspect transformations inflict Lunacy with no modifier.
Protean 5 - At this stage, the hybridization of lycanthropy with a vampire is complete. When the Dead Wolf learns this power, the Savage Beast within them undergoes its First Change and is reborn. This form is the result.

When in this Killing Form, the Dead Wolf roughly resembles the Gauru form of their Uratha cousins, an undead version of the wolf-man of legend. However, the resemblance is imperfect. Its limbs are too long, its fur seems to stand up on its own as if floating, spreading shadows everywhere. Its skin is papery and cadaverous, and its glassy nightmare eyes are always yellow, no matter the color of the Dead Wolf’s own. It stands roughly one and a half times higher than the Dead Wolf in human form, and weighs approximately four times as much.

The Killing Form cannot be altered further by other Protean powers, and replaces Primeval Miasma.

While in this form, the Dead Wolf gains the following traits:

Claws and Teeth: The Dead Wolf gains Claws and Teeth as 2L weapons with armor piercing 2. They do not have to grapple first in order to bite, and if they succeed in damaging an opponent with their claws, they grapple them automatically.

Lunacy: The Killing Form inflicts Lunacy with a -2 modifier.

Perception: +3 to the use of Wolf Senses

Rage: While in the Killing Form, the Dead Wolf must either attack an enemy within range or spend their action moving closer to attack them next round. They do not have to keep attacking downed opponents if they do not wish to. If they cannot attack someone, they must attack something. Attempts to do anything else force a Frenzy check at -4 dice.

Traits: Strength +2, Dexterity +2, Stamina +2. Without water weight, this form is lighter and nimbler than its Gauru counterpart. Autofail at everything save intimidation, reflexive mental tasks (initiative, perception etc.) and combat.