My Thoughts on Werewolf: the Apocalypse

(This is Part 1 of a long 2-part post I have been writing on and off since early January about two tabletop RPG games, both werewolf-related and made by the same company)

For those who don’t know what Werewolf: The Apocalypse is, it’s a pen-and-paper role-playing game similar to Dungeons and Dragons.  Basically, you play by using your imagination and acting as your character while keeping track of any damage, experience points or rewards you receive.  Despite owning several RPG books, I’ve never actually played out any of the games.  As sad as that sounds, the stories for the World of Darkness books are very entertaining and (I’m assuming) fun to play out.

To understand Werewolf: The Apocalypse, you first need to know about its setting, a game line with a multitude of games making up this particular world.  Werewolf: The Apocalypse is set in what is called a “Gothic-Punk” version of our world.  “Gothic-Punk” that while everything is the same as we know it, the buildings are in worse shape (and there are more gargoyles and gothic architecture), it rains more, the rich are richer and the poor are poorer, more murder, rapes and thefts.  Just imagine every bad thing in our society today but make it worse.  On top of that, monsters of myth and legend exist amongst us in secret, with their own agendas.  And, as a cherry on top, the world’s on the verge of ending.  Welcome to the World of Darkness.

The World of Darkness games from 1991 to 2004 were made up of (along with a bunch of smaller spin-offs) :

• Vampire: The Masquerade
• Werewolf: The Apocalypse
• Mage: The Ascension
• Wraith: The Oblivion
• Changeling: The Dreaming
• Hunter: The Reckoning
• Mummy: The Resurrection
• Demon: The Fallen
• Orpheus

• Kindred of the East 

As you can see, each game focuses on a different race of supernatural beings, with their own storyline, powers and villains.  I’m going to talk about Werewolf, seeing how it’s the one I know the most about and what got me interested in the WoD games in the first place.

In WtA, you play as a werewolf, or as they call themselves, a “Garou” (which is the French word for “wolf“).  Rather than being mindless monsters, as you see on movies, they are the soldiers and protectors of Gaia, the personification of the Earth and in later games, Life itself.  Who are they protecting the earth from? 

The Wyrm!

While Gaia represents the Earth and Life, the Wyrm represents Death, Decay, and Corruption.  In WtA, the Wyrm is pretty much responsible for every awful thing in our world.  Murder?  The Wyrm’s fault.  Racism?  Blame The Wyrm.  Drug and Alcohol Addiction?  The Wyrm.  Destruction of the Environment?  The Wrym.  Real Estate Scams?  The Wyrm, dammit!

Well, to be truthful, the Wyrm isn’t the direct cause of these things, however, it feeds on and grows more powerful on the negative, destructive emotions of human beings as they perform these acts so it does what it can to manipulate us.  Unfortunately, it has some powerful allies in the form of a mega-corporation called Pentex, which in addition to a love of making money anyway they can, the higher-ups directly answer to the Wyrm and have a sick joy of spreading misery around. 

Being as Wrym-corrupted as they are, Pentex’s products, I might also add, have the tendency of leaving you possessed by a demonic Wyrm-spirit called a bane.  Rather than just giving you the Linda Blair treatment, being possessed by a bane actually mutates you in usually some God-awful manner.  Say you switch to a new beer, which is made by a brewery owned by a company owned by Pentex.  Not only will you become hopelessly addicted to the beer, by the end of the year, you’ll probably have sprouted a new set of arms, fangs, and a third eye that can see through walls.  Congratulations, you’ve now become a formori, a monster solider for the Wyrm.

I think this sums it up pretty nicely.

 “But Jacob, isn’t this game about werewolves?”  I know, I’ve rambled long enough about the damn Wyrm but it‘s hard to talk about WtA without mentioning the ridiculous lengths the Wyrm goes to to fuck up existence.  However, now that I’ve talked about the setting and what you’re up against, I need to talk about the stars of the game.

You start your character off as a newly initiated Garou, who, for the most part, have their own society and rules, outside of human observation.  Also, in the game, it is impossible to be transformed into a werewolf by a bite or scratch.  You either have werewolf genetics in your bloodline or you don’t.  Even then, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be a Garou. There are three breeds you can pick from:

• Homid - You were born as a human being  (The most common breed of Garou)

• Lupus - You were born as a wolf either in the wild or captivity

• Metis - You were born a deformed offspring of a Garou  (Now here’s where it gets complicated.  Due to the spiritual nature of the Garou, mating with another Garou is a type of incest, even if your mate is from another country and have no family ties whatsoever.  Because it’s considered inbreeding, the offspring of two Garou is always born with some defect, either physical or mental)

Now that you have a breed, you now pick an auspice, which determines your role in Garou society.  How this is determined is by which phase of the moon you were born under.  There are five auspices in total:

• Ragabash - Born under a new moon, you’re a trickster or spy  (it’s kind of vague what the ragabash is supposed to do, but the book says that his or her role is to constantly question everything usually, but not always, in a non-serious behavior.  Also, they have the most stealth powers, making them excellent spies.)

• Theruge - Born under a crescent moon, you’re a shaman or magician-type  (Theruges are the ones who are most comfortable communing and working with spirits)

• Philodox - Born under a half moon, you’re a judge or mediator (Philodoxes are the ones to settle disputes between Garou and are usually the ones picked as leaders of packs, seeing as they’re supposed to make good decisions.)

• Galliard - Born under a gibbous moon, you’re a storyteller (Although it sounds odd to be a storytelling werewolf, most of Garou history is oral, passed down from galliard to galliard, making them responsible for keeping their history alive and well known amongst the Garou.  Plus, they are usually the ones making rousing speeches before and during battle)

• Ahroun - Born under a full moon, you are a warrior (Pretty straight forward as Ahrouns are usually the ones itching for a fight and are always the first into battle)

Being a Garou means you have the ability to see spirits and go into the Spirit World, known as the Umbra to the Garou.  When I say spirits, I don’t mean ghosts.  Rather, they speak with spirits in a animistic way as in that every thing in existence has a spirit or soul.  The trees, rocks, water, animals, even modern devices such as cars and guns all have spirits in the World of Darkness.  Because of this close relationship between the Garou and spirits, the Garou are able to learn “Gifts”, certain powers they can perform due to a favor or reward from a spirit.  However, the majority of gifts are breed-, auspice-, or tribe-specific, which are usually passed down between certain members.

Another interesting part of being one of the Garou is the forms they can shapeshift into.  Unlike most books and movies, werewolves can turn into four different forms (five if you count their original form, human or wolf)

(artwork by jiggsokeken at DeviantArt)

• Homid - Your basic human form.  Unlike most legends, there is no way to identify that you are a werewolf and silver does not harm you in this form.

• Glabro - This is your human form if you grew another foot, got hairier, gained a good amount of muscle and grew fangs and claws.  The glabro form is similar in appearance to the Lon Chaney Jr. Wolf Man or the werewolves in the film Skin walkers .

• Crinos - This form is the most feared and powerful as you transform into a hulking wolf monster about 8 to 9 feet tall on average.  Crinos form is the form most Garou will take in battle as it is the most strongest and durable.

• Hispo - This form is in the shape of an enormous dire wolf out of prehistoric times.  It is usually used for faster travel while maintaining claws and fangs that can tear most men to pieces.  In fact, the jaws in this form are supposed to be even bigger than the Crinos‘ jaws!   

• Lupus - A basic everyday wolf (Well, only if you live in an area where wolves are plentiful).  For some werewolves, this is their original form.

Now comes the most interesting aspect of character creation (to me at least): picking a tribe.  Tribes are a specific group of werewolves usually representing either a country or a certain philosophy.  Usually if your Garou bloodline stems from a certain tribe, that’s the tribe you go with.  However, you’re free to pick whatever tribe suits you.  Also, each tribe has a totem, a powerful spirit that guides the tribe.  There are (technically) 13 tribes:

• Black Furies - An all-female tribe originating out of Greece with Pegasus as their totem.  Black Furies tend to display aspects of the Amazon warrior of Greek Myth and tend to shun modern society, preferring the wild.

• Bone Gnawers - An urban tribe usually made up of the homeless or downtrodden with Rat as their totem.  Although often ignored or even scorned by other tribes, the Bone Gnawers tend to be the word on the street, keeping a close watch on Wyrm-activity as most would never think of the bag lady as being capable of transforming into a werewolf.

• Children of Gaia - The Children of Gaia are usually the peacekeepers of the Garou with the Unicorn as their totem.  This tribe usually tries its best to maintain a balance between the Garou and the rest of the world, usually being typecasted as the hippies of the Garou.

(The reason for the horns is because he's a metis)

• Fianna -  Even though auspice usually determines your role, members of this tribe originating from Ireland tend to be the strongest lore keepers, regardless of auspice.  Their totem is the stag.  Also, apparently due to their Irishness or rather their ancestors being Celtic, they tend to be the best with communicating with the Fae (Fairies, elves, trolls, etc.)

• Get of Fenris - This tribe, originating from Scandinavia with Viking ancestors, end up being the fiercest warriors of the Garou tribes, easily going into a blood-soaked frenzy during battle.  Their totem is Fenris, the giant, savage wolf from Norse Myth.  As a result of their brutish nature, most Get of Fenris have trouble seeing eye-to-eye with other tribes.

• Glass Walkers - Another Urban tribe with the cockroach as their totem.  While the Bone Gnawers make up the lower classes in the city, the Glass Walkers are of the upper classes or at least, the best with technological knowledge.  The Glass Walkers’s job is to keep up with human progress, making them the best with current technology and like Bone Gnawers, are the best at urban combat.

• Red Talons - A tribe made up of all-Lupus Garou with , for some reason, the Griffin as their totem ( a half-lion, half-eagle monster).  The Red Talons, being born from wolves, are the tribe that hates Humanity the most, blaming them rather than the Wyrm for the problems with the environment and Man’s sour relationship with wolves.

• Shadow Lords - A proud tribe with Eastern European origins with Grandfather Thunder as their totem (a powerful storm spirit).  The Shadow Lords usually regard themselves as the rightful rulers of the Garou being one of the better organized and powerful tribes.  However, they have a reputation as schemers and back-stabbers which isn’t entirely unfounded.

• Silent Striders - A tribe originating from Egypt with Owl as their totem.  These nomadic Garou usually serve as messengers for the Garou Nation as they’re constantly on the move.  They’re also the tribe that has the closest relations with the dead, being able to speak with ghosts more easily than the other tribes.

• Silver Fangs -  If any of the tribes could claim leadership of the Garou, it’s the Silver Fangs.  Originating from Russia and with the Falcon as their totem, this tribe was once the royalty of the werewolves, however, they’ve fallen on hard times.  Like most royalties, they tended to breed within the family and as a result, most Silver Fangs have started to develop mental illnesses. 

• Stargazers - A tribe originated from Eastern Asia, the Stargazers live up to their name being the most inquisitive of the Garou tribes with the Chimera as their totem. (Not the Greek mythological beast but a powerful spirit whose form is always changing).  Their task is to battle the Wyrm in the places know no one would think to look such as high mountaintops or beneath the water.  Somewhat stereotypically, they also have their own form of martial arts. 

• Uktena - One of the Native American tribes, the Uktena represent the southern Indian tribes of the U.S. with a Uktena as their totem.  (A uktena is a water spirit with a cougar’s body, a deer’s antlers, and a fish’s tail)  The Uktena tribe has great knowledge of dark occult magics and are most familiar with how the Wrym works.  However, they are also a very secretive tribe and don’t like to share. 

• Wendigo - The other Native American tribe, The Wendigo are made up of northern Indian tribes with another Native American spirit as their totem, the Wendigo. (A very angry cannibalistic snow spirit)  While the Wendigo are tasked with protecting their northern homelands and are fierce warriors, they have a very, very strong grudge against anyone not Native American.

Once you’re settled, for the rest of the game is your character taking part in the Garou Nation’s battle against the Wrym and his minions and defending Gaia.  Like actual Native American tribes, your first big act as an established Garou gets you a “deed name” like “Wrym-slayer” or “Runs-through-Shadows.”

As for what I think of the game, as the title of the post has been claiming, I find it very entertaining and has been a great source of creative inspiration for me in the past few years even though I‘ve never played an actual session of the game. 

While the most frequent complaint I’ve seen on the internet about Werewolf: the Apocalypse is that the game is too preachy about the environment, it’s actually one of the reasons why I like it.  I think part of the reason is because it fills me with nostalgic memories of other pro-environmental media from my childhood like Ferngully: The Last Rainforest and Captain Planet and the Planeteers.  (I don’t know about you but during the late 80’s/early 90’s, I noticed there seemed to be an influx of environmentally-conscious programs)

And most importantly, it features one of my favorite monsters, werewolves, in the hero role rather than as a mindless beast killing innocent people. Instead, you get to kill not-so-innocent Wrym-monsters that kill or corrupt innocent people.  It seems like it would be a good game to vent out frustrations with.

Sadly though, all good things must come to an end as Werewolf: The Apocalypse was canceled along with the rest of the World of Darkness games on 2004.

But like a phoenix out of the ashes, the New World of Darkness gameline was created along with a new werewolf game…