OD 10.8.2001 [4:54 p.m.]

[This one was weirdly full-circle, because years ago Liz had sent ME an email about making BSDs.]

...aka, Wyrm stuff.

This is all you need to know (I think) to make a BSD - I included Rachel in the mailing, though, cuz I think the Urge Wyrm info is good for her Infernalist.

Anyway, this is just gonna move down the char sheet...everything I don't address is the same as WtA proper.

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NAMES

1) Every BSD that's danced the Spiral has a Wyrm name. It's composed of the first syllables spat out as the BSD dances into the Spiral; hence, it tends to be guttural sounding. Ik'cha, Zhyzhak, Ir'lax'tha. You get the idea.

2) They might also have a Garou name (a deedname), and a human name.

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BREED

1) Metis tend to have it better than most other Garou. They don't get any particular stigmas. Though they're still sterile, they typically get as much sex as the next BSD (which is a lot). The whelps they help "father" or "bear" are sometimes turned over to them for babysitting while the true parents go off and do other shit. This is considered an honor.

2) All breeds have a high incidence of deformities, since they all seem to live close to radioactive balefires (the blood of the Wyrm...not the sort of balefire that changelings hang out around).

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PACK TOTEMS

The Gaian totems don't answer BSD calls. BSDs, luckily, have their own bane totems, which are split among their three "virtues": Strength instead of Glory, Corruption instead of Honor, Cunning instead of Wisdom.

1) Strength Totems:

-Green Dragon. 9 points. Fuckin' cool. Big badass green dragon - a symbol of power and strength.

Perks: +1 soak, can breathe fire 3x a day. Inflicts 2 health levels of damage; diff 9 to soak. Dodge with dex+dodge vs diff 6, must have at least 4 successes. For every additional pack member breathing fire, dodge diff rises by 1.

Bans: Cowardice is VERY frowned-upon.

-The Bat. 4 points. Ambush master.

Perks: +1 intimidation, stealth and survival. Teaches gifts Ears of the Bat and Patagia. Harder to rise in rank early on (ranks 2 and 3); after rank 3, all gifts involving sonar and flight are -2 diff.

Bans: must breed a family of bats. When they eat, the pack must also eat. Insects, that is. Bleech.

-Hakaken, Heart of Fear. 5 points. Liz, this is Na'd'gaj's totem if she's in Kaj'sha's pack (which I assumed she was). He's already paid all 5 points, so whatever you add on will be perks. But since I'm not making a big deal of dots and points, we won't worry too much about that. On with the important stuff: Hakaken was a Shadow Lord Ahroun, one of the two BSDs EVER to dance to the ninth circle of the Black Spiral Labyrinth (that's as high as you can go, y'all).

Perks: +1 Intimidation. Gifts: True Fear, Icy Chill of Despair.

Ban: Must instill fear before killing.

2) Corruption Totems:

-The Dark Fungus, His Mycological Majesty. 3 points. Quite possibly the stupidest totem WW has EVER thought up, this is basically a giant magic mushroom.

Perks: +1 Enigmas and Occult. Also, typically has access to some really good shit.

Bans: Must tend mushrooms wherever they grow (honestly...).

-Relshab, the Faceless Eater. 10 points. Really disgusting and perverted fat monster.

Perks: Gift: Whelp Body. Can also lower WP w/ that gift instead of traits. Can use 1 Gnosis to eat anything (ANYTHING) smaller than head. Some bastards also learn the fomori gift, Stomach Pumper.

Bans: If you put food in front of them, they'll eat it. They also have a real grudge against Unseelie redcaps.

-G'louogh, the Dance of Corruption, the Demon Goddess. 15 points. A giant ball of chaos that buds banes off her body - from little Jagglings and Gafflings to big badass Nexus Crawlers.

Perks: Gift: Fabric of the Mind.

Bans: Must be capricious in behavior. Must sacrifice 1 mutilated limb per month. If the pack can't find one, G'louogh will randomly pick someone from the Hive to mutilate.

3) Cunning Totems

-Whippoorwill. 6 points. Tribal totem. Nocturnal bird drawn to people about to die/bane totem drawn to people about to fall to the Wyrm.

Perks: Can imitate ANY bird song. Can communicate w/ bird songs. +2 perception when spotting enemies at night.

Bans: A moot in its honor 2x a year. May not harm birds of any kind. As to why Whippoorwill would give a flying fuck about Mr. Blue Jay happily singing to the spring, I can't imagine.

-Kirijama, the Hidden Foe. Shadow-bastard. His bastards like to lurk in shadows and be silent. When they speak, only one of the pack may whisper at any one time.

Perks: +1 Stealth. Gift: Invisibility. Can also cast false shadows or leave false clues regarding presence.

Bans: Can never become famous. Rises slowly in rank.

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URGE WYRMS

All BSDs tend to serve one particular Urge Wyrm. Though many have alliances to several, they typically identify with one stronger than the other. The Urge Wyrms are about a step higher than Totems on the power ladder, and also that much rarer to see in play. Rachel, feel free to adapt any one of these as Mercedes' Demon Prince.

In case any of y'all are curious, I'm fairly sure Kaj'sha pledges loyalty to either Foebok or Mahsstrac.

1) Foebok, Urge of Fear. Speaks thru Hakaken.

2) Vorus, Urge of Greed. Speaks thru Relshab.

3) Mahsstrac, Urge of Power. Speaks thru Green Dragon.

4) Karnala, Urge of Desire. Has a servant Maeljin Incarna: Empress Aliara, the Countess of Desire. As to why an Empress is also a Countess...who knows?

5) Abhorra, Urge of Hatred. Maeljin Incarna: the Duke of Hate, Lord Steel. Stupid name if you ask me.

6) Angu, Urge of Cruelty. Maeljin Incarna: the Caliph of Pain, Lady Aife.

7) Ba'ashkai, Urge of Violence. Maeljin Incarna: the Chieftain of Rage, General of the Armies of the Wyrm and Patron of Abuse, Hellbringer.

8) Khaaloobh, Urge of Consumption (and Indulgence, and Decay). Maeljin Incarna: Knight Entropy, the Wyrm's Spawn.

9) Pseulak, Urge of Lies. Maeljin Incarna: Corruption's Advocate, the Chamberlain of Lies, the Honorable Maine duBois, Esquire. COCKROACHES AND LAWYERS!

10) Sykora, Urge of Paranoia. Maeljin Incarna: Archbishop of Madness, Doge Klypse.

11) Gree, Urge of Despair. Maeljin Incarna: the Nameless Angel of Despair (now THAT'S a cool name).

12) Lethargg, Urge of Apathy. Maeljin Incarna: the Master of Stagnation, Lord of Disease, Thurifuge.

There's also a coupla Elemental Wyrms, which I'll throw in here for completeness:

1) Hoga, Smog --> dark mirror of the Air element. Maeljin Incarna: Lord Choke, the Master of Smog.

2) Furmas, Balefire --> reflection of Fire. Maeljin Incarna: Lord Kerne, Master of Hellfire.

3) H'rugg, Sludge --> reflection of Earth. Maeljin Incarna: Lord Collum, the Master of Sludge.

4) Wakshaa, Toxin --> reflection of Water. Maeljin Incarna: Lady Yul, Mistress of Toxins.

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TRIATIC WYRMS

Even higher up on the totem pole, the Triatic Wyrms are the basic three heads of the Hydra, from which all other heads erupt. Of course, at the base, there is the Primordial Wyrm...the original Balancer - but that one, as we all know, is mad as a doornail, and all these other Wyrms are products of its sickness.

Or so the Gaian legends go...

Anyway, BSDs tend to align themselves to one head of the Hydra, too.

1) Beast-of-War: The Calamity Wyrm. Maeljin Incarna: Hellbringer, also associated w/ Ba'ashkai. Supposedly a twisted reflection of the Wyld.

2) Eater-of-Souls: The Consuming Wyrm. Maeljin Incarna: Thurifuge, also associated w/ Lethargg. Apparently we're supposed to think this is a reflection of the Weaver. I haven't the faintest idea why.

3) The Defiler Wyrm. No Maeljin Incarna needed, as it is the most intelligent and self-aware of the Triatic Wyrm. This is the Wyrm's reflection of itself.

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ATTRIBUTES AND ABILITIES AND BACKGROUNDS

...are pretty much the same.

BSDs, however, either have Pure Breed 5 (those who were born BSD) or 0 (those who are corrupted over from other tribes). I think that's how it works, at least...

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GIFTS

Ooh, boy, this section's nasty. Heh. So much crap to type up.

1) General Gifts:

-Bane Protector (lvl 1) - manip+leadership + 1 gnosis = banes come to aid. It doesn't say how many, so I guess the successes determine that.

-Rat Head (lvl 1) - Roll Gnosis. If success, BSD can squirm through any opening larger than a quarter. Takes 1 turn, usually. Obviously, this is really, really disturbing to onlookers.

-Sense Wyrm (lvl 1) - as the Metis Gift: percep+occult vs. variable difficulty (depending on how many Wyrm-critters there are, and large the area being scanned is).

-Toxic Claws (lvl 1) - 1 Rage, 1 turn of concentration. +1 damage to claws, and leaves residual wyrm-taint on anything slashed.

-Wyrm Hide (lvl 2) - 1 point rage, spend a turn stomping around and taunting foes. Skin thickens. +3 soak dice.

-Ears of the Bat (lvl 2) - gives BSD ears like a bat. Lets them use sonar to "see" in darkness.

-Patagia (lvl 2) - batman!!! Gives BSD wings like a bat. Can glide at 25mph, roll Dex+athletics to avoid losing altitude.

-Terrify (lvl 2) - Charisma+intimidation vs target's WP. If successful, target is scared; all social rolls that intimidation would help in are done at -1 diff.

-Dagger of the Mind (lvl 3) - 1 point Gnosis; Gnosis roll vs diff 6, victim can resist w/ WP vs diff 6. If BSD wins, victim succumbs to whatever emotion (i.e.: Urge Wyrm) the BSD wants for an hour. For an additional WP spent by BSD, the dementia is accompanied by a brief, revelatory hallucination.

-Burning Scars (lvl 3) - grab target, spend 2 rage, roll wits+primal urge vs victim's stamina +2. Each success is one level of unsoakable aggravated damage that appears in the form of glowing Wyrm scars which work like battle scars - must be removed IN THE SAME scene by Mother's Touch, or they'll never come off. EVER!

-Foaming Fury (lvl 3) - rabies. Anyone bitten must roll stamina vs diff 8 (6 if have Resist Toxin), or fly into a Thrall of the Wyrm frenzy.

-Beautiful Lie (lvl 4) - 1 pt Gnosis, Wits+Subterfuge vs diff 6. If successful, the BSD can retell the story of what happened in the past few moments/hours. AKA, he might've just killed a schoolbus full of kids, but he can make all onlookers believe he gave them lollipops. Illusory evidence will remain for an hour to back the story up.

-Crawling Poison (lvl 4) - makes BSD's fangs drip poison. Roll gnosis vs. victim's stamina (stam+2 if victim has resist toxin) after a successful bite. Every success inhibits regeneration for an hour. If used on a mortal, the poison subtracts 1 from all physical attributes each hour. If Str or Dex drops to 0, victim cannot move. If Stam drops to 0, victim dies messily. Can be stopped by supernatural means ONLY.

-Doppleganger (lvl 4) - as Glass Walker gift. Lets BSD look exactly like any human, wolf or Garou. 1 Gnosis, Charisma+Performance vs diff 8. 1 day per success. Does not change traits.

-Call Elemental (lvl 4) - as the Uktena Gift, but always calls a Wyrm Elemental. 1 Gnosis, roll Gnosis vs Gauntlet rating to summon elemental. Then roll Manip+Occult vs diff 7 to make elemental favor the BSD calling it. Lasts 1 scene.

-Open Wounds (lvl 4) - as the Shadow Lord Gift. 1 Gnosis, Strength+Medicine vs diff 7. If next attack does any damage, target will bleed continuously, losing 1 health level per turn for a number of turns equal to number of successes on the roll. Damage is lethal.

-Totem Form (lvl 5) - 1 WP, Stamina+Primal Urge, diff 7. 1 turn to transform into totem form. ST decides exact effects.

-Avatar of the Wyrm (lvl 5) - 1 Gnosis, 1 Rage. Spend 1 turn, and then the BSD shifts to "Crinos", which looks like a small facet of the Wyrm itself, gets +1 to all physical attributes and 1 additional Bruised health level. Claws inflict an additional die of damage, and are unsoakable. Delirium is 3 levels worse to all onlookers.

-Balefire (lvl 5) - BSD can hurl balls of balefire at opponents for Dex+Athletics with standard ranged-combat modifiers. Victim resists w/ Stamina, diff 8. Successes must equal or exceed BSD's successes. If fails to resist, the balefire mutates the victim. Each success over the resistance is 1 level of unsoakable aggravated damage. Afflicted werewolves may grow extra (useless) eyes, lose all of fur or teeth, go blind, deaf or anosmic. Until she undergoes Rite of Cleansing, registers a strong Wyrm Taint.

-Mask Taint (lvl 5) - 2 Gnosis, roll Appearance+Subterfuge vs. diff 8. If successful, the BSD shows NO wyrm-taint to any sort of scan - except Sense Wyrm run by a Shadow Lord at diff 8. Those 'Lords sure do know Wyrm Taint well...

2) Ragabash Gifts:

-Touch of the Eel (lvl 3) - 1 Rage. Releases a charge that carries up to 30 yards through conducting materials. Does 3 dice of damage, diff 7 to soak; if someone touches the ragabash while he's doing this, it's 4 dice of damage.

3) Theurge Gifts:

-Blood Omen (lvl 3) - 1 point Gnosis, Intel+Enigmas: diff 7 for human, garou or wolf; 9 for any other warm-blooded critter. Allows Theurge to read future from the entrails of a warm-blooded creature.

4) Philodox Gifts:

-Smell Fear (lvl 1) - Percep+Empathy, diff = target's WP. Can tell if anyone's afraid, or is using Sense Wyrm. Drains 1 gnosis per hour.

-A Thousand Voices (lvl 2) - creates 1 illusory ally per WP. Perception+alert for each witness present to see who falls for it; diff = 4 to 9, depending how much cover there is. If the BSD using the gift is spotted, the Gift stops working. Affects ears and nose, but not sight.

5) Galliard Gifts:

-Allies Below (lvl 3) - causes an earthquake. 1 Gnosis is a small tremor; 3 knocks trees down; 5 topples buildings. In any case, victims must roll Dex+dodge or athletics to stay on their feet.

6) Ahroun Gifts:

-Horns of the Impaler (lvl 2) - permanent horns. Twice a turn, the BSD may use the horns for str+2 damage; once a turn, the BSD may charge an opponent and ram him for str+5 damage.

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RENOWN AND RANK

1) We've already gone over Renown...Strength instead of Glory, Corruption instead of Honor, Cunning instead of Wisdom.

2) Ranks. There are nine possible ranks, though for the most part BSDs only go as high as 5, occasionally 6. Before the BSD can rise in rank, she must dance into the Spiral, going past the appropriate Circle. The Nine Circles (of Hell) are:

-The Dance of Insight (1)

-The Dance of Rage (2)

-The Dance of Endurance (3)

-The Dance of Cunning (4)

-The Dance of Combat (5)

-The Dance of Corruption (6)

-The Dance of Loyalty (7): I gotta make a note on this one cuz it's cool. This dance requires the BSD to sacrifice something dear to him in the name of the Wyrm. This means overcoming his greatest taboo, facing his greatest fear, or sacrificing his greatest love. Often, the BSD must sacrifice a link to the sane, human world that he has kept hidden all this time.

-The Dance of Paradox (8)

-The Dance of Deceit (9)

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TEMPERS

Rage and Gnosis work as usual. Base WP for a BSD is 3.

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WEAKNESS

Dancing the Black Spiral Labyrinth often screws a BSD up badly. A lot of them have derangements. Some sample derangements:

1) Amnesia or Delusion - "blessings from Pseulak".

2) Berserker - Beast-of-War's touch. -2 diff on Rage rolls.

3) Grandeur - Mahsstrac. You believe you're destined for greatness.

4) Hallucinations - Kirijama's influence.

5) Klazomania - this one's great. The books says, "The voices in your head won't stop, and you can only quiet them by screaming at the top of your lungs. You can't speak without shouting, and your glorious words echo through the polluted air that H'rugg taints every day."

6) Masochism - Karnala's little gift.

7) Misomania - you hated EVERYONE. Abhorra.

8) Multiple Personalities - you have multiple personalities, each w/ a diff name, serving a diff auspice, obeying a diff Hydra of the Dark Trinity.

9) Paranoia - Sykora's taint.

10) Phagomania - you eat everything you kill. Eater-of-Souls.

11) Sadism - Angu.

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THE DARK LITANY

1) Serve the Wyrm in all its forms.

2) Beware the territory of another.

3) Slay those who will not join you.

4) Respect all those who serve the wyrm.

5) The Veil shall not be lifted.

6) Do not suffer thy people to tend thy sickness.

7) The leader may be challenged at any time in peace.

8) The leader shall not be challenged in time of war.

9) Ye shall take no action that causes a Pit to be violated.

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MISCELLANEOUS

Okay...this is just the crap that I couldn't fit in elsewhere.

1) Every Hive (Sept) has a Pit (Caern). The one y'all should be concerned about is the Trinity Hive, which occupies the Trinity Caern, which is located inside the gut of a giant thunderwyrm, Grandmother Thunderwyrm. Kinda like Grandfather Thunder. Heh. I really wonder about all these links between Shadow Lords and the BSDs. Too bad no one's playing a Lord.

2) Every Hive has 3 "Grand Elders": one for each Head of the Hydra. When they have a moot, everyone talks at once, and the Elders move among the crowd, listening in and talking. Eventually everyone gets down, gets high, and gets laid.

3) BSDs have fetishes and rites of their own, but unless y'all REALLY wanna know, we'll ignore that. Bane Klaives, btw, are level 5, gnosis 7 fetishes. They do Str+3 silver, toxic, aggravated damage - which makes it unsoakable to just about everyone, and also makes the damage take twice as long to heal. Nasty bastards.

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...okay. I do believe I'm through. You guys owe me big time! Heh. J/k. Just save this and don't make me type it all again.

-Damon