Houserules: Renown & Gifts

Note: rules under construction. GMs reserve the right to alter rules when required.

Renown is a key roleplaying factor in the Werewolf the Forsaken system, and hence in our Werewolves of London game. We expect to see characters acting according to their existing Renown and/or the Renown they desire to have, displaying the behaviour and performing the actions associated with the specific Renown in question. Please see Characterful: Episode Two for more on this.

Renown Development
Instead of being purchased with XP Renown will now be awarded by the GM team based on actions characters take during game, scenes and actions. Note the following:

• Renown can also be removed from characters who are not acting concurrent with those Renown.
  
• A single Renown can change only by 1 per month, in either direction.
  
• A maximum of 2 different Renown can be changed per month, in either direction.
  
• In the extremely unlikely event a character's actions require a more drastic change, GM Discretion applies.
  

To facilitate this we will also be asking players to fill out a brief feedback form after each game, to let us know about any character actions taken that GMs may have missed.

Starting Characters
Both becoming a Werewolf and joining a Tribe earns your character some renown in the eyes of the spirit world.
Additionally, at the same time, your character learns a gift from a spirit. This gift should be a level one gift appropriate for your Auspice/Tribe, and will not cost XP.

In the event a new character is created that might feasibly have greater than the starting Renown the GMs will review and assign the Renown appropriately.

Gift Acquisition
Gifts that were free will now cost XP. Penalties for not owning previous gifts in the list still apply, however those penalties can be refunded by purchasing the missing levels. Gifts are learned via actions, as per the below post.

Gifts are abilities that the Forsaken learn from the tutelage of spirits. Sometimes the Uratha bargain with the spirit, other times the tutelage must be coerced, or even fought for. Upon rare occasions a spirit will simply teach a Gift to a werewolf as recognition of their Renown.

Whichever method your character finds that works for the particular gift they are seeking, the crux is that it requires time and effort. Sometimes it’s finding the right spirit, others, it’s taking the time to convince the spirit they should teach the gift.

A new Gift can be learnt at any time, each new Gift carries a cost of XP. Additionally, a werewolf cannot learn a Gift that has more dots than his or her highest Renown.

Affinity is the natural talent that all werewolves have for learning Gifts from spirits. Affinity varies between both Auspice and Tribe, meaning that certain Gift Lists are easier for werewolves of those groups to learn and to master. The mechanical effect of this is that if a werewolf chooses to learn a Gift from a List that he or she has affinity with, the XP cost is (New Dots x 5), whereas to learn from any other gift list, the XP cost is (New Dots x 7).

Gifts are unique in that a character does not need to learn the entire Gift List sequentially. However there is an increased difficulty when learning a new Gift from a list that the werewolf has no experience in using, and this is reflected in the XP cost required. The mechanical effect of this is that if a werewolf chooses to learn a Gift from a List that he or she does not have the previous Gift on the list, the XP cost increases by 3 per Gift skipped.

Learning a Gift requires actions as follows:

• One Dot Gift : No action required, just XP spend
  
• Two Dot Gift : No action required, just XP spend
  
• Three Dot Gift : One Monthly Action Required
  
• Four Dot Gift : One Monthly Action Required
  
• Five Dot Gift : Two Monthly Actions Required
  

The XP cost of the gift must be paid at the time of obtaining the gift.

I wanted to begin our new year announcements by discussing Renown. Our system differs significantly from the core rules. In character, Renown isn’t assigned by other Uratha through a ritual recognising the deeds of a character, instead it is bestowed upon them by the Lunar Choir. London is a strange place. Even when Renown was purchasable with XP, the same was true, that a Lune would brand a character, with or without ceremony.
What this means system wise is that Renown is decided by the GMs. Our feedback form that is available to players supplements our decisions by letting us know opinions and what has happened that we may have missed, but at the end of the day, we decide, based on actions in character.

Ange has helpfully summed up the Renown System as follows:
1 dot of Renown means you did a thing.
2 dots of Renown, you did a damn good thing.
3 dots of Renown, other werewolves should model their behaviour off you.
4, dots of Renown, wow, that's super impressive!
5, dots of Renown, you have done something particularly spectacular.

Renown will continue to be important going forward, as it will affect how NPC Spirits or Werewolves react to your character. Higher Renown characters will find it easier to conduct spirit-based diplomacy and hence cultivate goodwill among the Courts and Packs of London.