Ancestors

From Masq
Category: Abilities
Subcategory: Primary Knowledge
Prerequisites: None
Reference: Werewolf: The Apocalypse (Revised edition/WW3801), page 120.


To humans, ancestral memory is a pseudo-scientific concept at best. To Garou it's a fact of life. Many werewolves have some of the memories of their distant ancestors; some even allow their forebears to take over their bodies.

Once per game session, the player of a Garou with this Background may roll his Ancestors Background (difficulty 8, or 10 if he's trying to contact the spirit of a specific ancestor). Each success allows the character to add one die to the dice pool of any Ability (even if the character doesn't possess that Ability). For example, young Emil, a pure flatlander, must scale an immense cliff to come to the aid of his embattled pack. Emil has an Ancestors rating of 4 and an Athletics of 0. He calls on his forebears to guide him, and Emil's player rolls four dice at difficulty 8. He scores three successes. Emil contacts his great-great-great granduncle Cragtamer who guides him over the sheer face and over the top. Now the player has an effective Athletics rating of 3 to make his climbing roll. If Emil had an Athletics rating of 2, then his effective dice pool would be 5. All effects last for only one scene.

While it is more difficult to contact a specific ancestor, successful contact may provide counsel or precognitive visions at the discretion of the Storyteller.

Botching an Ancestors roll may indicate that the character becomes catatonic for the remainder of the scene as he's overwhelmed by the memories of thousands of lives. Alternatively, the ancestral spirit refuses to relinquish the body. How long the ancestor stays depends on the Storyteller.


x Ignorant: Ignorant.
• Student: You have brief, hazy visions from the distant past.
•• College: You remember faces and places from past lives just as you remember those of your early childhood.
••• Masters: You put names to faces among your ancestors.
•••• Doctorate: Ancestors converse with you on a regular basis.
••••• Scholar: Your ancestors watch your adventures with interest, and they often come to counsel you.


Possessed by: None
Example Specialties: None