Standard Mythological Werewolf

[Dramin]

This is a template that I plan on using for an upcoming game my friend is running. I think I have all of the bugs worked out of it but since people here have way more experience with custom templates, I was hoping to get some suggestions.

The template is based on what people would consider the more typical werewolf from myths. The character is still using a "spell", like the Alphas, but it has been altered by the character's preconceived idea of what a "real" werewolf should be.

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+2   Human Form (Involuntary Change)
0     

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This is a variant of Wizard's Constitution that our GM allows to simulate a long lifespan, greater that human recovery, and the other advantages that you get from "Wizard's Constitution" but for other supernatural races

-2    Inhuman Strength
-2    Inhuman Speed
-4    Supernatural Recovery
+3   

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(Silver and Aconite/Wolf's Bane)

-1    Demonic Co-pilot
-1   

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(Anthropomorphic Wolf-form)

-1   

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(Raw Meat)

+1   Required Feeding
-1    Echoes of the Beast
-1    Claws
-7    Total Refresh

In game terms I have broken down the template's powers like this though.

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0    Human Guise
0    Supernatural Constitution
-2   Inhuman Strength
-2   Inhuman Speed
-2   Inhuman Recovery
+1  The Catch (Silver and Aconite)

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+1    Human Form (in situations of extreme stress or emotion the form becomes more animal like. Fingernails become claws, ears slightly pointed, eyes change to iris shape and/or become reflective)
-1    Claws
-1    Echoes of the Wolf
-2    Supernatural Recovery
+2   The Catch (Silver and Aconite)

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+1 

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(on the nights of the full moon the werewolf is forced to change into a full beast form becoming the anthropomorphic werewolf of legend)

-1   

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(anthropomorphic werewolf form)

-1   

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(on the nights of the full moon the spirit of rage that is channeled by the spell of changing gains in influence and encourages them to kill and spread their curse. Anyone that is attacked and survives is cursed by the spirit of rage and becomes a werewolf too)

-1   

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(Raw Meat)

+1 

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(They are forced to feed on the nights of the full moon. However, if they take precautions, they do not necessarily have to kill. They simple require raw meat. A secure cage and a supple of meat from the butcher shop will satisfy the requirement. They always want to kill though)

I borrowed from quite a few different sources for ideas on this template to try and have it make sense. I might have over-thought it though.

Thanks in advance for your help and critiques.

[Cadd]

It looks cool sort of a middle-of-the-road between Alphas-style and Loup-Garou. I like the concept of several "steps" of power for the character, am I understanding this correctly:

• Strong, fast human
• Go cave-man and rip things
• Flip out and kill stuff in wolf form under the full moon

A few detail-questions:
*It's only under the full moon that the actual shape of a wolf is taken, right? And only the full on wolf form actually gets the Skill Shuffle from Beast Change?
*There's Human Guise in the "Always On" section, how does the person look when it drops due to power use? (Whampires for example gets the metallic eyes and eventually the glowing skin). The "building block" powers doesn't make you need Human Guise to look human (in my view), but you can pick it for cool effects.
*Is the Feral Form available on-demand? You can choose to take this form, right?

Exactly what powers are affected by the Feeding Dependency? Because it might need a bit more shuffled to the full-moon-wolf-form to actually work as a dependency only active in that form. If you can manage without the +1 rebate from it, it might not even be needed - the healing from Blood Drinker might very well provide enough of a reason to eat, and compels on consequences from Demonic Co-Pilot can be used to "push" for it. Another option I think many have suggested instead of using Demonic Co-Pilot is to simply use the Sponsor Debt mechanic. If going that way, you could even drop both Demonic Co-Pilot and Feeding Dependency (keeping the net refresh cost the same) and replace them both with the ability to take sponsor debt toward the spirit/demon within.

If you want to keep both Co-Pilot and Feeding Dependency, specify which powers rely on the feeding dependency, keeping in mind it has to be at least -2 worth, and I don't think Blood Drinker can really be one of them.

[bobjob]

I think the math for the Toughness/Recovery powers are off. Other than that, I think the idea is pretty awesome.

[Cadd]

I think the math is sound - look at it in whole rather than in parts. In total there's a Supernatural Recovery (-4) w/ a Catch of +3. Part of the time only Inhuman Recovery (-2) is available, and at those points the catch can only give +1.

[Dramin]

Thanks Cadd. Yes, the intent was to show the template as a series of steps each one increasing in power. The second step can be gained but the character becomes more animal like in appearance and demeanor (although that part would need to be RP'd). The final form as I was envisioning it was less large wolf and more Lycan from Underworld.

I was using the human guise as a starting point for all of the abilities. As they are used more often the character begins to show the more animal traits until the second form triggers.

I was actually using the demonic copilot and feeding dependency as a reason for the character to be out of control during the full moon and spreading the "infection".

How would sponsor debt work for something like this? Could it be used in place of the other two powers to accomplish the same thing?

Thanks for help.

[Sanctaphrax]

Sponsor debt works quite well for this sort of thing, actually. Considerably better than Demonic Co-Pilot.

The system is really simple. You just let the character take debt when doing appropriate stuff, than use the debt to make them do the stuff they've gotta do.

There's a Power on the wiki for it, but it's so bare-bones that it's barely worth reading.

[vultur]

Yeah, I strongly support using sponsor debt to replace both Demonic Co-Pilot* and Feeding Dependency.

I think the main thing is to define WHAT you can take sponsor debt for. Sponsored Magic lets you do it when casting spells that fit a specific agenda (determined by the kind of Sponsored Magic). A werewolf might be able to take sponsor debt for Fists attacks when transformed, and for tracking people with Echoes of the Beast, etc. A Red Court Infected probably takes sponsor debt for rolls involving physical strength (Fists/Weapons/Might)... maybe dodging too.

The Tattoos of St. Giles would have to become something else under this model though.

*Which is kind of ironic to me now, because way back when I got started with DFRPG I was annoyed that the Denarians as-statted didn't have Demonic Co-Pilot [and also that a bunch of them were treated as plot-device characters when they totally aren't] and re-wrote them all to have it. I guess I need to go back and re-write them all again. someday...

[Cadd]

To be super clear, if the question was "how does sponsor debt work", it's essentially "borrowing" Fate Points from the sponsor (in this case the demon/spirit).
You take a point of sponsor debt to invoke an aspect without spending a FP, and the GM then later offers you a compel in line with the sponsors agenda. This compel will not give you a FP if accepted, but reduce Debt by one. Buying out of the compel costs one of you own, "real" FPs though.

It's all in all often neater and more intuitive than Demonic Co-Pilot, and Feeding Dependency is really kind of clunky.

[Dramin]

I can see how sponsor debt would work better from a gaming perspective. And thanks for helping understand how it would work. Since it would only be available in the final form I could see it affecting rolls for Might, Tracking, and Fists.

I was using the demonic copilot more for background, and feeding dependency as written never made sense to me. I normally used it as "Required Feeding" and treated it as a "Catch" for either blood drinker or emotion vampire. The opportunity to feed, as defined by the required feeding catch, caused a compel where the character either had to feed or pay a FP to resist the urge. It seemed to make more sense to use it that way for me, plus it opened up more opportunities for RP.

Thanks again for all the ideas.