Totems of Wisdom are those Totem spirits who (plainly enough) consider Wisdom the highest virtue. These spirits expect their followers to exercise superior scholarship, insight, and creative thinking toward the betterment of Gaia.

 

Related Pages: Packs and Personal Totems - Totems - Totems of War - Totems of Respect - Totems of Cunning

 

Players may search the Werewolf source material to discover many, many more Totems than these. As the Storytellers approve new Totems of Wisdom to enter play, this page catalogs their rules.

 

Aeolus (Fog)

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5
• Description: A Totem of mystery and secrets Fog/Aeolus is a spirit of both knowledge an stealth. Favored by Mystics and spies alike, fog knows much but teaches slowly, imparting the value of patients with subtlety to his children.
• Benefits: You gain the abilities Subterfuge x1, stealth x1, occult x 1 and Enigmax1. He also allows his children to use Gift: Curse of Aeolus without effecting their packmates.
• Ban: A child of Fog may not reveal a secret to anyone outside of their sept or pack. If thy break tis code they will permanently lose one willpower.

 

Akwiindimaa, The leviathan of the deep

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood:  Turtle
• Totem Background Cost: 8
• Description: This ancient spirit of wisdom lived in the purelands, at the deepest part of any lake, river and sea often only traveling our of the corner of your eye or in the shadows. She is often what you feel in the water but can not see. She protects lost treasure, lore and the knowledge that others forget. She is, like all who served Turtle, prideful and stubborn. Just because she protects these things does not mean she is always willing to share them with others. She never forgets even when she shares her knowledge. Rumors exist that unlike the rest of Turtle's brood who migrated to other tribes or slumbered she took turtle's eggs and protects them in the deep waters of the umbra.
• Benefits: You gain the ability to get a +2 bonus on finding lost objects and Learn the Uktena gifts: Shroud, the Wendigo gift: Camouflage and the Croatan gift: Turtle Shell.
• Ban: You must help a purelander when asked and always ensure packmate's children are cared for.

 

Bacchus

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5
• Description: This ancient Incarna of intoxication, sex and fertility has been dubbed with the name Bacchus by the Ancient Romans, and does not seem to object to this.  He has traded favors with the Black Furies as a fertility god, blessed the brews of the Fianna, and been at home at innumerable raves with the young Glass Walkers.  But those who see Bacchus only as a reveler miss the darker mysteries into which he inducts his children and the terrible rage he can bring upon those who would deny him.  Those Silent Striders interested in the Dark Umbra often see the once-dead Bacchus as a guide to these lands.
• Benefits: You gain the abilities Occult x3 and Enigmas x2, the physical trait Tough (or a synonym) and one additional Rage.
• Ban: Those who follow Bacchus tend to be strongly connected to their baser natures.  If a character has a chance to indulge a strongly felt desire, they must succeed in a static Willpower Challenge (difficulty is their own Rage) to do otherwise.

 

Bat

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Grandfather Thunder
  
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: As far as most Garou know, Bat is a Totem of the Wyrm. For the most part, that's true -- the fall of his children the Camazotz centuries ago drove him insane and into the service of the enemy. But a small group of Shadow Lords operating in Mexico were recently able to redeem the totem, or at least one of his aspects. Even those Garou who are aware of this development don't know what to make of it, and treat followers of Bat with great suspicion. The redeemed Bat urges his new Garou followers to listen for the voice of Gaia, continuing the work of the lost Camazotz.
• Benefits: You gain the Mental Trait Perceptive x1 (or a synonym) and the Abilities Enigmas x3.
• Ban: You must never fight with Gaia's other children -- including other Gaian Garou. Even ritualized or honorable combat is forbidden. The redeemed Bat hates Gaian-on-Gaian violence, and requires that you find other ways to resolve your disputes.

 

Bougoodoogahdah the Lyrebird

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background cost: 5 traits
• Description:  Bougoodoogahdah is a secretive bird who mimics the cries of other Dreamtime dwellers. He has a drab, brown body, but a spectacular tail, shaped like a lyre.
• Benefits: Children who follow Lyrebird gain Performance 2 and Subterfuge 2. They can also make a static Social, retest Performance, to mimic common sounds. This challenge in vs. 10 traits to mimic a person's voice, 14 for animals, and 16 for other sounds such as mechanics or footfalls. These numbers may be changed at ST's discretion based on the individual difficulty of the sound.
  
• Ban:Children of Bougoodoogahbah must never be flamboyant. They must dress in drab color and may never be the center of attention. Their performances should be modest, always hidden from view.

 

Brighid

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Stag
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: Brighid is a spirit of inspiration and creativity. The ancient patron of smiths, poets and healers, she stokes the fires in the head and the heart like a forge.
• Benefits: Brighid's children gain two traits for use in creative endeavors (Such as crafts or Expression). Items created by Brighid's children are more likely to become fetishes (ritemaster gains a bonus trait for fetish creation challenges).
• Ban: Brighid's children must never fail to celebrate Imbolc, displaying a new work of art, song or craft.

 

Chameleon

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
• Description: Chameleon is a subtle and watchful spirit, quick to adapt to his surroundings but slow to act.  He is favored by Garou of similar temperament.
• Benefits: You gain the basic Ragabash Gift Blur of the Milky Eye and the Mental Traits Perceptive x3 (or synonyms).
• Ban: Never act without fully taking stock of the situation.

 

Chimera

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
• Description: Like the Stargazer tribe over that she guides, the Chimera is a mystery. A shapeshifter and illusionist, she wears many faces in her quest for inner enlightenment.
• Benefits: You gain the Mental Trait Perceptive x1 (or a synonym) and the Abilities Enigmas x3. You enjoy a two-Trait bonus to challenges that involve solving riddles, interpreting dreams, or other uses of the Enigmas Ability. In the Umbra, you may disguise yourself or something else by winning a static Gnosis Challenge versus seven Traits. The disguise is just that, a disguise. The user's general size and shape remains the same, but their appearance is different.
• Ban: You must seek enlightenment.

 

City Father/Mother

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 6 Traits
• Description: The personality and ethos of the city itself is embodied in this spirit, a Father or Mother who looks after the interests of the humans making it their home. Garou devoted to this Totem often share in its emotions: they might become giddy during a local celebration, or suffer a nosebleed during a major disaster.
• Benefits: You gain the Gift Attunement, and once per session one member of your pack may use it without paying its costs. You also gain the Abilities Streetwise x3. The Totem often sends you warnings of imminent danger to the city, usually by messenger.
• Drawback: If you claim a Wisdom for following this Totem one year, and you're not a Glass Walker or Bone Gnawer, you also lose one Honor. 
• Ban: Fulfill the favors your Totem asks of you, serving to aid the city.

 

Cockroach

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 6 Traits
• Description: No Totem of old has adapted himself better to the modern age than Cockroach. Resilient, clever, persistent, Cockroach is swift to colonize the constructs of man and master them for his purposes. Unlike many Gaian spirits, this totem feels utterly at home in the cities.
• Benefits: You enjoy a two-Trait bonuses on all challenges involving computers, electricity, and science. You enjoy a three-Trait bonus on all challenges to activate Gifts that affect technology. By winning a static Gnosis Challenge against the Gauntlet, you may view data that is stored or being transferred electronically.
• Ban: You must never kill cockroaches.

 

Corn Maiden 

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Turtle 
• Totem Background Cost: 5 
• Description: While it is both a Wyld and a Weaver spirit she tends to lean more towards Wyld. She draws her power from generosity and friendship.
• Benefits:  You gain +3 on social traits of your choosing and the gift Cookfire
• Ban: Must plant and harvest something each year. Must never allow an ally or an innocent to go hungry.

  

Danu

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Stag
• Totem Background Cost: 8 Traits
• Description: The Fianna believe their tribe and the Fae both trace their lineage back to this sacred Mother, whom they say to be an aspect of Gaia herself. A spirit of ancient histories, she links her packs to all those who have gone before them.
• Benefits: You gain three traits of something like Ancestors, representing primal memory rather than specific Garou. You gain the Lupus gift Sense the Unnatural, for discovering mysteries. Your storytelling, singing and howls gain the ability to entrance listeners if you can defeat them in a Social Challenge (retest Performance).
• Ban: Once each season, hold a moot in honor of Danu, telling tales old and new alike.

 

Dawn

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Stag
• Totem Background Cost: 6 Traits
• Description: She has many names to many people. She has often helped garou out of Harano and warned them of up coming danger. She is a beautiful women and if found of any type of music.
• Benefits: You gain Danger sense, Theurge Gift mother's touch  and a Dawn retest on resisting Harono. 
• Ban: You must perform greet the sun every day and as Dawn has a weakness for attractive people, her followers are also down -3 traits to resist those with 3 or more appearance traits.

 

Dolphin

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
• Description: Graceful and playful in the ocean, Dolphin watches the seas and acts as their guardian. Marine disasters sadden and frighten her, such as oil spills and the depletion of fisheries. Most of Dolphin's children are impressively active environmentalists, even for Garou, as they promote education, protests, and direct action. Such followers are known for interfering with whaling and oceanic waste dumping.
• Benefits: Followers of Dolphin gain Social Traits Charismatic x2, and the Ability Empathy x3.
• Ban: Dolphin expects her children to prevent the hunting of marine mammals where there is opportunity. All followers, especially those more land-locked, must work regularly to stop water pollution (fresh water or salt water).

 

Dragonfly

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Uktena 
• Totem Background Cost: 3 Traits
• Description: A fearsome pond predator, this spirit is constantly vigilant for prey or threats, and explodes into action when they are located.
• Benefits: You gain the Mental Traits Alert x2, and the Ability Brawl x1.
• Ban: Be patient and careful when making a decision, but then follow through with it decisively. Do whatever you can to protect dragonflies. 

 

East Wind

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: East Wind is a wind of storm, described as a turbulent wind during storms and tossing ships on the sea. 
• Benefits: You gain one Gnosis, and you enjoy a one-Trait bonus in Willpower vs. Rage challenges.
• Ban:  You must also keep reminders of the wind on your person at all times. 

 

Ethereal (Umbral) Wind

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description:   Ethereal winds cross the gauntlet, they are uncontrolled by the separation. They are the wind that brings you a sense of power and also fear when the wind blows in. Often called "Witching Wind".
• Benefits: You gain a two trait bonus to challenges involving the Gauntlet, and Lore: Umbra x1
• Ban:  You must also keep reminders of the wind on your person at all times. 

 

Greased Lightning 

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Rat 
  
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: Taking the name from the song and movie Grease about fixing up a beaten up car and turning it into the best hot rod anyone had ever seen. This totem is all about trash to treasure and requires constant love and attention.
• Benefits: You gain the Abilities Drive x2 and have a two-trait bonus to all drive challenges. You also gain two dots in Crafts, which can be distributed as you see fit. You gain an intuitive knowledge of all of America's highways, and many back roads in the deep south.
• Ban: You (or a member of the pack) must always have mechanics tools on you, and you (or a pack member) must spend an hour per day tinkering and repairing your vehicle.

 

The Great Trash Heap

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Rat 
• Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
• Description: A giant mound of garbage, or rather many mounds of garbage that together create The Great Trash Heap. Each heap has its own personality crafted by the collective memories of the garbage it contains. Trash heap is nearly omniscient as garbage can be found wherever there are people.
• Benefits: You gain the Abilities Enigmas x2 and Investigation x2. A great magnet for information, Trash Heap will answer one question for you once a session.
• Ban: You must care for and protect your individual heap. 

 

Hare

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 7
• Description: Hare, also called Mahtigwess or Great Rabbit, is a trickster and a provider, and often rescues the people of the world from hideous beasts. However, his strategy is trickery, not warfare. He produces food for those in need, making sure that none go hungry.
• Benefits: Followers of Hare are granted the Physical Trait Quick x1, the abilities Survival x2, Subterfuge x2, Athletics x1, and access to the Gift: Hare's Leap
• Ban: Hare asks his Children that all his kin be spared. 

 

Harrier

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Falcon 
• Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
• Description: The patron of house Unbreakable Hearth is a small but wise bird. Harrier's wisdom exemplifies the virtue of cooperation. 
• Benefits: You gain one level of the Empathy Ability, and a two-Trait bonus in all Social challenges involving negotiation, truces and alliances. Harrier's swiftness grants you two additional steps of movement in combat.
• Ban: Listen before you speak. When there is debate, listen for at least five minutes before speaking yourself.

 

Ibis

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Owl
• Totem Background Cost: 6 Traits
• Description: The ibis has since ancient times been the symbol of Thoth, the healer, scribe, and keeper of mystic lore. Ibis's greatest gift to the Garou is memory: the Garou seldom record their thoughts, plans, or teachings. But Ibis does, and his writings are incorruptible and enduring. The Ibis guards many secrets that would otherwise be lost to the Silent Striders.
• Benefits: Ibis grants Medicine x3, and a 2 trait bonus to resist True Magick, hedge magic, and vampiric blood magics. Followers of Ibis can, with a Mental Challenge, ask after any specific memory recorded from any child of Ibis (difficulty based on the memory). This will take as long as the ST deems necessary.
• Ban: Followers of Ibis may not harm marsh birds, nor may they use throwing sticks as weapons (like the Wadjet's Fang talen). Since Thoth was the advocate for the dead, children of Ibis must also intercede on behalf of ghosts in need of help to continue their journey to the afterlife. 

 

Innovation

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: A small totem recently freed from captivity by Glasswalkers, Innovation is still weak in comparison to many other spirits that Garou seek out to pack under.  Those who seek out this fledgling spirit should devote themselves to pushing boundries, overcoming obstacles, and coming up with creative solutions.
• Benefits: You gain the Mental Trait Creative and one level of Crafts to four different Crafts of your choice (these are chosen when you take the totem, and may not be changed).
• Ban: Innovation requires that you don't dismiss any ideas prior to giving them proper consideration.  Even the most foolish idea can spark the creativity of others when it is given time to simmer.
• Note: This is a custom totem created within this chronicle.  Storytellers may require additional roleplay on the part of the petitioner before they will be allowed to follow this totem.

 

Monkey King

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 8
• Description:  The Monkey King is an ancient spirit, favores by the Boli Zouhisze but also popular among some Western packs. Hatched from a Stone Egg, this spirit was originally not a king but merely a monkey, albeit one made from stone. But the nature of Monkey was irrepressible, and soon he had studied under a Taoist wizard to learn the 72 transformations. Still not satisfied, he confronted Heaven and demanded an office, and when he was cheated into becoming a stable hand, he fought Heaven itself and was only defeated when tricked by the Buddha. The King of Monkeys. The Great Sage. Equal to Heaven. God of Victorious Strife. The Monkey King is both student and warrior, booth the trickster and the tricked. He is a powerful totem, who champions rebellion and learning.
• Benefits: A stealthy escape artist, teaches his students the Gifts "Blur of the Milky Eye" and "Open Seal", and they receive a +2 bonus on all evasion or escape rolls. They may also purchase Doppelganger, and may learn Speed of Thought as though it was a Glass Walkers Gifts. 
• Ban:  Monkey King is a rebel spirit, and demands that his students never stand for the curtailing of another's freedom. Although he allows for imprisonment of servants of the Centipede (Wyrm) he will not tolerate forcing a spirit into servitude within a Fetish. This also includes human's rights, and he is fond of Glass Walkers interested in political causes such as freedom of speech or oppressed peoples. The Monkey King also never forgot the monkeys whom he first ruled, his students lose Honor if they abandon someone they have befriended or are responsible for.

 

Merlin

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Stag 
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: This small bird of prey is a master of secrets, knowledge, and magic. Though a small totem of Wisdom, Merlin fights the Wyrm bravely.
• Benefits: You gain the Mental Trait Alert x1, the Abilities Enigmas x1, Occult x1, Primal Urge x1, and Rituals x1.
• Ban: Never destroy knowledge. 

 

Mouse

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Rat 
• Totem Background Cost: 1 Trait
• Description: One of the lowliest of all totems, you follow this spirit with the understanding that you will find a more permanent arrangement eventually. Mouse is quiet and small enough to hide from predators, and understands the struggle of being out on your own.
• Benefits: You gain the Ability Stealth x1, and the Gift Tagalong.
• Ban: If a follower of Mouse has not joined a pack with Tagalong, they must uphold the high ban and stay in homid form until they do, and if wounded must go to the umbra if they wish to shift for healing. 

 

Mustang Sally (Black Beauty, Black Betty, Elenore, Christine, Baby)

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: There was a time and a place where a specific car grips the consciousness and ideals of the general public. A kind of car that implants itself in your mind where every time you see it your heart races, where seeing it makes you yearn. This is the totem spirt of the mythical car. The car that starts you obsession with cars. The car that you wish and yearn for. 
• Benefits: You gain the Abilities Drive x2 and have a two-trait bonus to all drive challenges. You also gain x2 Repair, when behind the specific car you have graced with her name you gain the Merit: Crack Driver
• Ban: She is a jealous car. You have only her and no other cars in your pack. Anytime you drive a car that is not her you must perform Rite of Contrition to her. the car is your totem and she needs to be your main focus.

 

New World Trinity

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Unicorn 
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: This triune spirit is a fusion of the three birds that symbolize the hopes of the Founders of America: the Eagle, the Turkey and the Dove. The Eagle is John Adams' ideal of a warrior who fights that his children may become philosophers. The Turkey is Benjamin Franklin's proud individuality, disregarding appearances for internal virtue. The Dove is Thomas Jefferson's ideal of peaceful commerce with all, and entangling alliances with none.
• Benefits: You gain a three-Trait bonus when using a Gift that calls for a Social Challenge. You also gain the Philodox Gift Wisdom of the Ancient Ways and the Galliard Gift Dreamspeak, with which you can give Gaian visions to influential humans.
• Ban: Promote peace, seek justice, and build communities without compromising individuality.

 

North Wind

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits (4 traits for Wendigo)
• Description: The North Wind is cold and the bringer of winter, and often the wind that brings signs of trouble. 
• Benefits: Followers of North Wind gain Occult x3, and Enigmas x2.
• Ban: You must also keep reminders of the wind on your person at all times. 

 

Otter

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5
• Description: It is said that the secrets of shamanism are contained on the tip of Otter's tongue. He is a being who know how to navigate between worlds, from the Earth World to the World beneath the Water. He is at peace in this world and the Ghost World.
• Benefits: Followers of Otter gain the Gift: Pulse of the Invisible, the Physical Trait Quick x1, and Dodge x1
• Ban: Followers must enter the Umbra at least once per moon cycle (from new to full), and follow a random Moon Path while there.

 

Owl

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 6 Traits
• Description: Like a phantom in the forest, Owl brings death on wings of silence. He holds hidden wisdom into the ways of life and death, and guides his tribe, the Silent Striders, to do likewise. No Totem is more learned in the land of the dead; followers of Owl know "the Dark Umbra" is more than a rumor. Also, Owl's taste for Rat is infamous; followers of that totem mistrust followers of Owl with good reason.
• Benefits: In the Umbra, you manifest the wings of Owl, granting you the power of flight. You enjoy a three-Trait bonus on challenges involving silence and stealth. You are able to interrupt your movement to attack, then resume your movement.. Sometimes, Owl packs in danger are aided by Silent Striders arriving in at just the right moment.
• Ban: You must leave small rodents in the woods, upon which Owl and his children will gleefully feast.

 

Peregrine Falcon

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Falcon 
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: Once the ubiquitous representative of Falcon's brood, today the Peregrine Falcon is in decline. Its house, Wise Heart, is waning in the world, and pesticides kill its mortal brethren. Nonetheless it remains a potent totem of knowledge and learning.
• Benefits: You gain a one-trait bonus on Enigmas and Occult challenges.  You are also blessed with an increased capacity for learning, gaining the Mental Traits Intelligent x2, and Academics x1 (general).
• Ban: You must destroy the source of all pesticides and weed killers that you happen across. You must also expand your learning by spending at least 1 XP per month on Lores or other knowledge-type Abilities -- Academics, Law, Medicine, etc.

 

Peyote

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
• Description: Used in religious ceremonies before colonization, Father Peyote is a very serious totem and does not take to those who would use or talk to him in a "recreational" way. 
• Benefits: You gain the Abilities Rituals x1 and Enigmas x1, and enjoy a two-Trait bonus on Gnostic Challenges.
• Ban: You must take peyote in a sacramental manner at least once per season, and you must uphold your cultural values.

 

Radio

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: For many years radio was the quickest and best way to receive information and entertainment. As video became a more prevalent form of medium this spirit found itself abandoned in all areas other than cars and some stores. Garou who follow Radio often appreciate the good old days of radio play, and the versatility of newer, more customizable mediums like XM radio for music.
• Benefits: You gain the Social Trait Persuasive x1, the Ability Performance x2, and the Gift Mindspeak.
• Ban: You cannot watch any video program, and you must actively encourage people to listen to radio. 

 

Rattlesnake

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Turtle 
• Totem Background Cost: 7
• Description: A venerated spirit of the Pure Ones, Rattlesnake has both compassion and fury in tremendous amounts, and while his followers (like him) often have great patience, they do not forget a slight easily and seldom leave many foes standing when they finally choose to strike.
• Benefits: Rattlesnake’s children gain the Gift: Pulse of the Invisible, and can entrance listeners by singing or howling with a successful Social Challenge. Subjects do not become willing slaves or easy targets, simply a bit more pliant to carefully couched suggestions, putting the character two traits up on subtle Social challenges (seduction, casual cons, etc.). The pack also gains the Background Ancestors x3; this is not actual contact with ancestors, but simply a reflection of the long ancestral memory Rattlesnake possesses. Wendigo and Uktena tend to look favorably on children of Rattlesnake.
• Ban: None of Rattlesnake’s children may attack a serpent, and they must honor the Pure Ones whenever they can.

 

Raven

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: Among the cleverest of birds, Raven is in equal parts playful and avaricious. He allows others to kill first, then feeds on what they leave behind. He has long been companion to wolves, who can watch him on the wilderness for signs of dead prey or omens of trouble. In his own way, Raven is a totem of wealth as well -- through trickery and opportunity, this totem sees that his wolves want for nothing.
• Benefits: You gain the Abilities Survival x3, Subterfuge x1 and Enigmas x1. The Corax will be more sympathetic to you than they are to most Garou.
• Ban: You may carry no wealth; Raven wants you to trust him to provide for your needs.

 

Rooster

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Stag 
• Totem Background Cost: 3 Traits
• Description: This proud totem is not as popular in the Americas, but its ability to warn others of danger and scare it away is invaluable. 
• Benefits: You learn the Gift Sense Wyrm.
• Ban: Never eat domesticated animals.

 

Salamander

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
• Description: Salamander finds wisdom in stealth and adapting to your surroundings.
• Benefits: You gain the Abilities Stealth x2, and the Gift Blissful Ignorance. You are able to survive underwater without air for one hour per day.
• Ban: Never harm salamanders, and protect their natural habitats. 

 

Sirius, the Dog Star

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Owl 
• Totem Background Cost: 4 Traits
• Description: A spirit of noble loyalty and speed. Favors Silent Striders and Lupus more than others.
• Benefit: You gain the Mental trait Intuitive x1 (or synonym), Physical trait Quick x1 (or synonym), Enigmas x2, and a two trait bonus to perform seasonal rites.
• Ban The Dog Star's children must mark the yearly rising of Sirius over Egypt with an elaborate ritual, no matter where they may be. 

 

South Wind

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: He was associated with the desiccating hot wind of the rise of Sirius after midsummer, was thought to bring the storms of late summer and autumn, and was feared as a destroyer of crops. He is the warrior aspect of wind. 
• Benefit: South Wind grants his children the ability to see up to a mile away and the Physical Trait: Tough x1
• Ban: You must also keep reminders of the wind on your person at all times.  

 

Sphinx

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
• Description: Sphinx is both a wise guardian and a cunning warrior.  Though she is best known for her clever riddles, her claws are sharp, a fact that proves reassuring for many warriors.  A demanding mother, Sphinx only takes those who demonstrate intelligence and wit.
• Benefits: You gain the Mental Trait Wily x1 and the Shadow Lord Gift: Fatal Flaw.  In addition, once per round, you gain a free retest on an Enigmas-based challenge.
• Ban: Follows of Sphinx may never refuse a riddle contest.  Sphinx also will never take a follower that has less than 7 Mental Traits, or a pack that harbors such a fool.

 

The Spirit Without Name

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
• Description: This spirit most definitely does have a name, but it is unpronounceable by humans, and only conveyed by wolves through scent, body motion and instinct. Humans cannot name it, cannot comprehend it. Wolves cannot miss it, and see it in every motion of the breeze. It doesn't represent anything, for then it would signify that, and such semiotics are the thinking of humans. It merely is, signifies nothing, has very firm characteristics, and is deeply meaningful - if you're a wolf. Even if any human tried to say its name, they'd get it wrong. The spirit is the connection between the individual and the immediate, always fleeting environment surrounding him. It is the pack instinct. It is all things and the knowledge of all things. It is the here and now, not a second ago, not a moment ahead, but exactly at this instant, as any wolf will understand it to be.
• Benefits: You gain the Ability Primal Urge x2, as well as a 2-trait bonus to all Dodge challenges. By spending a Gnosis and making a mental challenge vs. 12 traits (retest Primal Urge) you can sense all events around you in a radius of 20 feet + 20 feet per mental trait spent up to 5. This lasts for one minute.
• Ban: The spirit cannot be sensed by nor will accept any followers with fewer than 3 Primal Urge. The Spirit will not accept any homid followers and their abilities cannot be used in the city.

 

Traveling Alchemist

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5
• Description: A master of alchemy but not in the sense of turning metal into gold. More in the ancient Chinese scientific approach cultivation developed from the traditional Chinese understanding of medicine and the body.
• Benefits: You gain an extra action each round that can ONLY be used to activate a talen that is ingested, thrown, or applied to the skin. You also gain the ability to make 2 extra talens per downtime.
• Ban: You may only wield one fetish, never make a fetish, and must always make Talens for your packmates when asked.

 

Twice Born

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Owl
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: Twice Born are manifestations of mouse spirits that have been fed to Owl. They appear are skeletal mice with carvings of secrets on their bones with piercing yellow undead eyes. All mice fear becoming Twice Born but Twice Born come to be with more knowledge and an understanding their fear came from the unknowing places of death.
• Benefits:  You gain the Abilities Enigmas x2, Occult x2, the ability to speak to the dead and the Silent Strider gift: Visions of Duat
• Ban: You must never allow harm to come to an owl or a mouse. They must also respect the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.

 

Twister

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: Chaotic, Enigmatic, and Destructive, Twister is part of the Wyld's voice, a brother of Earthquake and Volcano. Within his swirling winds, the eye of the storm sets things to calm, lending a voice of wisdom and clarity. His destructive nature belies a deeper purpose: Clear away the old, so that new may be rebuilt in the place of it.
• Benefits:  You gain the Physical Traits Strong x1 (or a synonym) and Quick x1 (or a synonym) and the Ability Primal Urge x2.
• Ban: Twister asks that no child of his leave a residential area without first destroying something. And there are an awful lot of trailer parks near the Cities...

 

Uktena

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
• Description: The Secretbreaker. An ancient water spirit and patron of his eponymous tribe, Uktena appears as a serpent with features of both a cougar and a deer. Lost and secret knowledge is his greatest prize -- he seeks it out in river beds, subterranean lakes, and all the dark forgotten places of the world. He guards such knowledge jealously, sharing it with none but the most worthy (and most secretive like himself). Non-Purelander Tribes may have a hard time gaining his notice.
• Benefits: Uktena empowers his followers in their quests to seek out the lost and the secret. Followers gain the Mental trait Perceptive x1, +2 traits on Stealth challenges, Investigation x1, and Awareness x1. Uktena tribe members often regard followers of their Totem as younger siblings.
• Drawback: Many Garou distrust the secret-hoarding nature of this totem; you suffer a one-Trait penalty on Social Challenges with werewolves of tribes other than Uktena and Wendigo.
• Ban: You must try to recover mystical lore, objects, places and animals from the Wyrm's grasp. You must also expand your learning by spending at least 1 XP per month on mystical knowledge -- namely Enigmas, Occult, Rituals, Lore, and Gifts.

 

Unicorn

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
• Description: The visionary spirit of the Children of Gaia, the Unicorn embodies harmony, purity, healing and peace. She recognizes that these good things require great sacrifice to achieve, but she never lets the cost pull her thoughts away from the all-encompassing love of Gaia.
• Benefits: Blessed with Unicorn's speed, you move at twice the normal rate in the Umbra. You gain the Abilities Brawl x1, Medicine x1 and Survival x1, and a two-Trait bonus to challenges involving healing or empathy. Children of Gaia always aid you in disputes, often taking your side.
• Drawback: Burdened by Unicorn's care for Gaia's children, you suffer a two-Trait penalty on challenges to harm other Garou not of the Wyrm. 
• Ban: You must help and protect the weak and exploited, except when doing so would aid the Wyrm.

 

West Wind

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5 Traits
• Description: The gentlest of the winds, West Wind, is known as the fructifying wind, the messenger of spring. 
• Benefits: West Wind grants Leadership x3, and three additional temporary Willpower. 
• Ban: You must also keep reminders of the wind on your person at all times.

 

White Doe, Princess of the forest

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Turtle 
• Totem Background: 5 traits
• Description: A mix of the Deer Women myth of the indigenous people of the United States. The Princess of the Forest is a spirit who believes in leadership and sacrifices to protect those under her charge. She is both the wife of Stag, a friend of Pegasus and known to the pure-landers. She is a spirit that conveys the idea of "the responsibility of powerful creatures to care for weaker ones". Princess of the forest often would take women and children away from a place that was unsafe for them to be. As she ruled the forests of the Americas she also was willing to give her life for the people to survive the harsh winters. Her skin is tough and she has a belief in a leader’s role to protect her people even if it is laying down her own.
• Benefits: Leadership x1, the Gift: Mother's Touch, and a two trait bonus on positive social interactions with kinfolk and Gaian garou of lower rank.
• Ban: Refusing to provide for your subjects when you could provide it

 

Winter Wolf

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 7 Traits
• Description: Winter Wolf moves like a ghost through some of the planet's harshest terrain. He survives where weaker wolves would starve or freeze. Deeply in touch with the Wyld, this wolf is a fierce and cunning predator, but also wise -- because sometimes one should conserve one's energy rather than wasting it on a foolish hunt.
• Benefits: You gain the Physical Trait Rugged x1 and the Abilities Animal Ken x1, Primal Urge x1, and Survival x2. Once per game session, you may spend one Gnosis to refresh three spent Willpower.
• Ban: During the harsh winter months, you must leave out food for those wolves who failed to heed your Totem's wisdom.

 

Wisakedjak, the Jaybird

• Type: Wisdom
• Totem Background Cost: 5
• Description: The classic, light-hearted trickster, Blue Jay's many tricks have brought much ease to the First Nations, and to the children of Wendigo.
• Benefits: You gain the Gift: Blissful Ignorance, the Social trait Charismatic x1, and receive a +2 trait bonus on all social challenges to fool another with words. 
• Ban: Each pack member must steal something once per moon cycle, whether it's a pack of gum at the store, or a BSD's fetish. 

 

Yale

• Type: Wisdom
• Brood: Stag
• Totem Background Cost: 3 Traits
• Description: Yale is the mystical side of stag, often appearing white in color.
• Benefits: +2 Gnosis, +2 traits on crossing the gauntlet, +2 traits on assisting getting someone from getting unstuck from the gauntlet.
• Ban: Yale can not be used as a pack totem due to his antisocial nature. He also bans his followers from using guns or mass produced weapons.