Rage Rolls
At the storyteller’s discretion, any of the following may call for a Rage roll:
- Embarrassment/humiliation (e.g botching an important roll)
- Any strong emotion (lust/envy)
- Extreme hunger
- Confinement
- Helplessness
- Being taunted by a superior enemy
- Large quantities of silver in the area
- Being wounded
- Seeing a packmate wounded
The difficulty of the roll is determined by the moon phase. Fera always use difficulty 6, unless otherwise stated.
| Moon Phase | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| New | 8 |
| Crescent | 7 |
| Half | 6 |
| Gibbous | 5 |
| Full | 4 |
Using Rage
Rage points are spent at the beginning of a turn, in the declaration stage. You can spend Rage only in times of stress.
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Frenzy: Frenzy is the violent outburst, the untamed savagery, the animal instinct for blood and brutality that lurks in the heart of every werewolf. Whenever a player gets four or more successes on a Rage roll, the character enters a frenzy. See Frenzy on p. 261 for more information on the causes and resolutions of frenzies.
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Extra Actions: A player can spend Rage to give her character extra actions in a single turn. However, a Garou cannot spend more Rage points for actions in a turn than half of her permanent Rage rating. See p. 266.
Extra Action Restrictions
- Rage Score: Within a single turn, a player can spend up to half his character’s permanent Rage score in Rage points (rounded up) when getting extra actions. A Garou with Rage 5, for example, can spend three Rage for three extra actions that turn. The player could spend more Rage in order to ignore stunning or pain, but cannot get more than three extra actions that turn.
- Timing: Rage spent for extra actions must be declared at the beginning of the turn. Other Rage expenditures can be declared at any point within that turn.
- Speed: In a single turn, a character can take only as many “normal” extra actions as she has dots in either her Dexterity or Wits, whichever is lower. A Dexterity 4/Wits 3 Garou, for instance, could take only three extra actions without incurring a penalty. If her player chooses to exceed that limit, she suffers a +3 penalty to all difficulties that turn. Essentially, the werewolf is trying to go too fast for her body (Dexterity) or mind (Wits) to process. If she happens to be in frenzy, however, her Rage actions are limited only by her Dexterity, as she’s pretty much “beyond her wits” to start with.
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Changing Forms: A Player may spend a Rage point for his character to change instantly to any form he desires, without having to roll Stamina + Primal-Urge. See p. 285.
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Recovering from a Stun: If a character loses more health levels in one turn than his Stamina rating, he is stunned and unable to act in the next turn. By spending a Rage point, the werewolf can ignore the effect and function normally.
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Remaining Active: If a character falls below the Incapacitated health level, a player can use Rage to keep her character going. Doing so requires a Rage roll (difficulty 8). Each success heals a health level, regardless of the type of wound. A player may attempt this roll only once per scene. If this roll fails, the character doesn’t recover. However, this last-ditch survival effort has its price. Like all Rage rolls, the character is still subject to frenzy. The wound will also remain on the Garou’s body as an appropriate Battle Scar.
Beast Within
Occasionally, a Garou is more a snarling monster than man or beast, and she must pay the price for it. For every point of Rage a character has above her Willpower rating, she loses one die on all social-interaction rolls. People, even other werewolves, can sense the killer hiding just under her skin, and they don’t want to be anywhere near it.
Losing the Wolf
If a character has lost or spent all his Rage and Willpower points, he has “lost the wolf,” and he cannot regain Rage. The Garou cannot shift to anything except his breed form until his Rage returns. The character must regain at least one Willpower point before he can recover any Rage.
(Re)gaining Rage
The Rage pool fluctuates from session to session and from turn to turn. Rage replenishes itself in several ways.
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The Moon: The first time a werewolf sees the moon at night, the Beast inside stirs, and Rage floods back into her. Under a new moon, the character gets one point; under a waning moon, two points; under a half or waxing moon, three points; and under a full moon, four points. If the moon phase corresponds with the character’s auspice, she regains all of her Rage. This phenomenon only occurs when the character first sees the moon each night.
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Botch: If the Storyteller approves, a werewolf might receive a Rage point after a botched a roll. Rage comes from stressful situations, and seeing the action you were attempting blow up in your face, sometimes literally, can be a very stressful situation.
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Humiliation: Rage will also come rushing back if anything a Garou does proves particularly humiliating. The Storyteller decides whether a situation is embarrassing enough to warrant a Rage point. Garou tend to be very proud, and they don’t take being laughed at well.
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Confrontation: Again at the Storyteller’s approval, a character could receive a Rage point at the beginning of a tense situation, in the moments right before combat starts. This gain accounts for the anticipation and hackle-raising that happens just as tempers start to flare.