Ability Traits are Traits that characters can spend to gain additional traits during a challenge (Examples of Common Challenges ), retests on Challenges, to cancel other people's retests, and to achieve various other minor special effects. You may only use an Ability Trait for a retest or cancel once per Challenge. Abilities measure a character's skill, knowledge and training in the areas they describe. You may not even be able to attempt some Challenges without the relevant Ability: hacking a website, for example, requires that your character possess at least some Computer Ability.
You may possess a maximum of five Traits in any given Ability unless added by a totem. The totem abilities are counted on the amount you can add to the stack. There are a few ways to surpass this maximum by supernatural means, such as through the benefits of a Totem.
Some Abilities can be focused -- rather than be a generalist in an area, you master a specific discipline within the Ability. The Academics Ability can be focused on Literature, History or Theology, for example; Science can be focused on Biology, Chemistry or Physics. You can come up with your own areas of focus, although some are particularly common. Common focuses are listed below with the Ability description.
A specialization represents specific excellence within a particular subset of an Ability's use. You can specialize your Firearms Ability to reflect your advanced training with Rifles, for example, or specialize your Leadership Ability to reflect an emphasis on Battle Tactics. If you have a specialization, you are one Trait up in Challenges involving that specific use of the Ability.
If you have at least three Traits in an Ability, you may purchase a specialization for it at a cost of one Experience Point. If you have five Traits in the Ability, you may purchase a second specialization at the same cost. These Trait minimums can not include Traits gained through supernatural means such as Totem bonuses. Multiple applicable specializations do not stack: only one applies.
Specializations must be narrow -- you cannot design them so that the bonus Trait applies to almost all uses of the Ability. Taking a Brawl specialization in Claws is permissible since it excludes fist fighting, biting and grappling; taking a Brawl specialization in "Hand-to-Hand Combat" is not permissible, being overly broad.
These are the key Abilities common to most characters in the game.
Any study of the humanities or soft sciences that would be found in a college or professional setting. This is a broad stroke skill that shows you have a wide variety of study and understand how to learn as to retain knowledge.
You understand how animals communicate non-verbally, you can train eligible animals, and you know how to put animals at some ease or manipulate their fear of your rage.
Skill with bows and arrows.
Skill at running, leaping, climbing, swimming, and sports. Useful for keeping one's balance and performing acrobatic maneuvers.
A sixth sense into the influence of the supernatural.
The ability to fight hand-to-hand or tooth and claw, with no weapons beyond what your body provides.
The discipline of fighting without sight to guide you.
Skill at using computers: installing software, navigating databases and networks, writing code, hacking through security, and editing wiki pages.
Skill at creating new things with your hands. See Crafting Weapons and Armor for using the Crafts skill.
The training required to handle, set up and defuse explosives without blowing yourself to bits. This includes placement to control the demolition aftermath (implosion vs wonton collapse).
Practice at anticipating others' attacks so as to better get out of their way.
The ability to operate cars and trucks. Most human-born Garou can drive without this skill, but having it means you can drive defensively, use a stick shift, ride a motorcycle and hold your own in a car chase.
A sense into others' emotional state.
A knack for understanding riddles, puzzles, mazes and mysteries.
Knowledge of the correct behavior for a variety of social situations.
Skill with the written word, be it poetry or prose. This Ability is for authoring such works; Performance is for bringing them before an audience.
Knowhow for managing money, accounting and investing.
Marksmanship with all manner of modern firearms -- rifles, pistols, shotguns and machine guns.
The ability to frighten or force others to bend to your will, be it through physical threats or a cold and deadly gaze.
Reconstructing crime scenes, tailing suspects, collecting clues, tracking prey, and discovering hidden secrets.
Navigating the intricacies of the law, be it human tax codes or competing traditions within the interpretation of the Garou Litany. This is a broad stroke skill that shows you have a good concept of how law works, terminology, and comprehending legalese for reading and writing.
The confidence to take charge and set an example, the charisma to inspire others to give their all, and the guile to make the most of your tactical situation.
Fluency with languages other than English.
Lore is secret knowledge of the mysteries in the world. It is not casual acquaintance with trivia, or a few fun facts: it is in-depth familiarity with a subject, knowing its culture, background, names, practices, myths, legends and more. Nobody learns a level of Lore from one casual evening of conversation with an expert: it is gained from deep study and hands-on practical experience.
Other Lores than these exist, but fewer Garou study them. Speak with the Storytellers about the more unusual Lores or learn from other characters in play.
Knowledge of the living body -- particularly, of repairing it: first aid, combat medicine, pharmaceuticals, and surgery.
The discipline to still your mind, find inner peace, and connect with the transcendent spirit of Gaia.
Expertise in the use of hand-to-hand weaponry: swords, knives, clubs, axes, staffs and the like.
Less specific than the Lore ability, Occult covers a wide familiarity with secret magical practices and superstitions of the world.
Your flair for performing in front of an audience. This is a broad stroke skill that shows you have studied many styles of the performing arts and may be comfortable doing an impromptu display of your skills.
An understanding of social standing, duties and obligations, as well as hidden motivations and quid pro quo -- be that in human society or in the Garou Nation.
Your closeness to your feral instincts and spiritual essence. Primal Urge covers both your wolf instincts (hunting prey, staring down a rival) and your Garou nature (activating fetishes, stepping sideways, shapeshifting). Kinfolk characters may not possess Primal Urge.
A handyman's knack for fixing broken things, even jury-rigging solutions without proper tools.
Knowledge and practice of Garou Rites in all their intricacy and ceremony.
Expertise in an area of scientific inquiry. This is a broad stroke skill that shows you have completed a wide variety of science introduction level courses. You're much more likely to comprehend the basics when reading a scientific paper or providing input on how the rules of reality behave.
Familiarity with all manner of security systems, from the simplest locks to the most complex networked electronic systems. This applies for recognizing & breaking of locks or systems.
Knowing where to look to dig up just what you need in the moment; the trade of street people, prison procurers and antiques hunters.
The ability to move unseen and unheard, to find good hiding places, and to engage in illicit activity unobserved.
Area knowledge and survival skills for the city: knowing the good and the bad parts of town, reading graffiti, being familiar with local police and criminal elements, and operating confidently in the life of the streets.
Trickery, misdirection, disguise, and lying with a straight face; misleading your rivals into revealing more than they intend.
Keeping yourself alive in the most trying situations. You know how to take a blow so as to mitigate the worst of the damage; you also know how to find food and shelter in an unforgiving wilderness.
Skill at thrown weapons: knives, shuriken, spears, axes, and occasionally baseballs.
Tactics allows hunters to use good planning and teamwork to help level the playing field a bit against the monsters they’re after. To use this Ability, the hunters must actually draw up and discuss a detailed plan of action, assigning responsibilities to different team members and ensuring that everyone involved knows at least their role and their objective. Team members who aren’t present during the planning, who don’t pay attention to the discussion, who disagree strongly or who otherwise choose not to participate in the plan cannot receive the benefit of this Ability (be honest). It should be noted that Tactics is not limited to just combat situations - rescue missions, infiltration efforts, shadowing a target and other such activities can all receive the benefits of Tactics, with the Storyteller’s approval. At the same time, a Narrator should ensure that the hunters truly have a plan, not just an intuitive command for everybody “to do what works for them” or a variation on the ever-popular “Get ‘em!”
You can make up your own Abilities, but they cannot duplicate the meaning of the Standard abilities listed here. You cannot invent new Combat-related Abilities to give you more retests in typical combat situations. Lip-Reading, Piloting, and Whale Hunting are three examples of Custom Abilities that characters have purchased in the past.