What's forsaken here is Tradition.
So, with the vampires leading the charge with the Requiem, the next supernaturals to come out were the Werewolves. My experience with Werewolf was a brief one, and... Honestly, I'm not all that into it. It's weird, there's a lot about Werewolf that I like in terms of the lore, though I feel like there are other media that do a lot of what Werewolf does, but... I don't know, I feel like I like it in those other media better. I'll get into that more, so without any further ado, let's get into Werewolf: The Forsaken.
Mechanics
So how do werewolves work in this game? Well, first off, the transformations are voluntary, aren't transmitted by bites, and have nothing to do with the phases of the moon.
... I just lost half of you, didn't I?
Yeah, this goes so far off the rails of the traditional western werewolf that it's basically unrecognizable from one. If heavy revisionist mythos isn't your thing, this is definitely not your game. The only thing that even remotely resembles traditional werewolves is that they can turn into wolves or wolf-like forms, that silver kills them faster than normal, and that they regenerate really quickly.
Werewolves are their own species with their own culture, and they call themselves "Uratha," a word in a language called "The First Tongue," the language of spirits. Werewolves are born in nWoD– they generally only mate with humans, and the child that comes as a result has a 25% chance of being a werewolf. Mating Werewolves with Werewolves produces a ghost child, which is an abomination that wreaks havoc in the spirit world, hence the necessity to have children with humans.
Generally, these children will be watched over by a pack of werewolves for warning signs– shorter tempers and affinity with canine animals. Eventually, the nascent werewolf's first change occurs when their lives are threatened somehow– sometimes by the pack of werewolves following them. After that, they go through all five renditions of their Man-To-Wolf forms in an excruciating explosion of pain and confusion.
Generally, these children will be watched over by a pack of werewolves for warning signs– shorter tempers and affinity with canine animals. Eventually, the nascent werewolf's first change occurs when their lives are threatened somehow– sometimes by the pack of werewolves following them. After that, they go through all five renditions of their Man-To-Wolf forms in an excruciating explosion of pain and confusion.
Werewolves are half-spirit creatures, and are capable of communing with spirits. What a spirit is in this game (and in every other nWoD game) is an embodiment of a particular concept, objects, even animals– everything except humans. Ghosts seem to fill in that role. Humans do, however, have a profound amount of effect on the spirit world, as their actions hold a great deal of influence over what kind of spirits form, especially negative emotional spirits like fear, anger, hatred, and other such wonderful things. Spirits tend to eat those similar to themselves, but when they eat something different, they assimilate it and become both that spirit and themselves. At the same time, they answer to this really weird feudal hierarchy, probably to avoid getting eaten and to acquire power. Those ranks are pictured below.
When you change werewolf forms, your attributes change with each one, and you can change at will. There's five of these forms, as mentioned earlier, pictured below.
From left to right: Hishu (Human), Dalu (Near-Man), Gauru (Half-Wolf-Half-Man), Urshul (Near-Wolf), Urhan (Wolf)
Seeing a werewolf in any of the in-between stages (read: anything that isn't fully human or fully wolf) invokes lunacy, a sort of insanity that causes people to forget about what they saw. What a coinkidink. Morality is replaced with Harmony, the werewolf in tune with its nature, and the supernatural potency stat here is Primal Urge.
Oh, and if you've been wondering under which circumstances werewolves would kill humans, it's either usually in the throes of a death-rage, a berserk state that's triggered by moments of great stress, or to deal with humans that would make a certain kind of spirit far too abundant in an area. They hunt a lot, and not only hunt humans, but also spirits and supernaturals that may be hazardous to the spiritual climate. Also, a werewolf will start to crave raw meat– the bloodier, the better.
Yeah, if you're not into any of this stuff, you're probably not going to be all that interested in Werewolf: The Forsaken. It's interesting, for the most part, but honestly, it's a whole lot of information to memorize, and I'm just giving you the cliffnotes, here. You also have to keep track of the stats for the various werewolf forms, which is pretty standard for playing shapeshifters in any game, but instead applied to every playable character in werewolf. Be prepared to memorize a lot of jargon and a lot of stat changes. If this isn't your speed, this isn't the game for you.
Mechanics: 7/10
Character Creation
So, we know these werewolves are basically nothing like the traditional werewolves. What kind of werewolves CAN you play, then?
When an Uratha goes through the first change, it can occur under any of the lunar phases. They refer to the phase under which they undergone their change as an Auspice. A Werewolf's auspice defines a lot of their temperament, and the auspices and their associated traits are listed below.
We see part of the traditional werewolf show through with the Rahu. Full-Moon Werewolves are the ones we're used to seeing in the media. Auspice is a sort of the "Race" trait that you get with a lot of supernaturals, the inborn trait that they get once they become the new supernatural creature. It also acts as a sort of social role, Rahu being the warriors, Cahalith being bards, Elodoth being judges, Ithaeur being mystics, and Irraka being basically spies.
Along with social roles determined when they make their change, they also have subsects of their societies called tribes. These are the socio-political groups that we get for this universe, though while werewolves in these tribes will share similar ideals, a werewolf's first loyalty is to their pack, which is generally somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 members big. In regards to their socio-political affiliation, though, these are the ones that are available to them.
Both your Tribe and your Auspice influence your Renown, a sort of supernatural mark of status in a paritcular field, and Gifts, your superpowers for this game. The higher your renown in a particular field, the greater your recognition and respect by both werewolves and spirits. Gifts are essentially spiritual powers, and often revolve around what the spirits that can enhance their shapeshifting, give them specific boosts on powers, or even give them power over the elements.
When was the last time you've heard of a Werewolf calling a thunderstorm? Probably the last time you played WoW.
This game's a lot more combat-heavy than most nWoD games, except maybe Hunter: The Vigil. Your game is most likely going to be spent in conflict with one of the antagonists described in the setting part of this review, so if you're up for forming a battle party in your pack, that's probably what you should do. Hell, the book calls packs with one representative from every Auspice a "Blessed Pack," though these are considered in-game to be rare.
This character creation is, to me, incredibly limited. Those of you who thought vampires had limited selection, honestly, there's a lot less to distinguish between these different Werewolves. They feel kind of same-y to me and honestly, while there were some aspects of making a werewolf character that was kind of fun, it just feels like there weren't many options available. It doesn't really feel like your choices as far as tribes and auspice don't actually affect your character or gameplay all that much, even though it kind of does, it really plays against it. The traits provided by the Auspices are traits that could really have been decided by personality, and all the tribes work together anyway, and the only ones that are kind of outside the rest are the Iron Masters. Sorry, Werewolf, I'm going to have to ding this from your score.
Character Creation: 6/10
Setting
Given all of the revisionist stuff when it comes to werewolf lore, you'd at least expect the lore to be interesting and elaborate, right? Well, it's certainly elaborate, whether you think it's interesting is up to you.
So, a long time ago, the material world and the spirit world were one in Pangaea, a hunter's paradise that wasn't necessarily a paradise for humans. The one who kept the spirits and the mortals in line was a creature known as Father Wolf, the ultimate hunter who patrolled the marches between Spirits and everything else. He had the hots for the spirit of the moon, Luna, who also had the hots for the brave, strong hunter, and they banged and they had little shapeshifter half-flesh half-spirit creatures that would be the first werewolves.
While Father Wolf had kept balance for years in Pangaea, time came when he grew weaker, that age was starting to catch up with him. Spirits had crossed the Border Marches and had set up tyrannical Kingdoms with Humans as their fearful worshipers, and Father Wolf had began to have a harder time dealing with these intruders, and would miss a great deal more of them that slipped beneath his notice. As it says in the book, when the Alpha becomes too weak to hunt efficiently, one of two things must happen– either the Alpha is replaced, or the pack dies, and Father Wolf's children did not feel like dying, nor did they feel like letting the world fall into chaos.
So Father Wolf's children, with three notable exceptions who protested, conspired to slay their father so they would be able to take his place in keeping balance between the Spirit World and the World of Flesh. When they did, he let loose a death howl so terrible that spirits and humans cowered to their homes in horror, Mother Moon cursed her children in anguish and betrayal for killing their father, and the worlds of Flesh and Spirit were rent asunder, cut off from each other to this day by the Gauntlet.
Afterwards, the surviving werewolves immediately began fighting amongst themselves, but Mother Moon had sent down Lunes, servant-spirits representing each of the Lunar Phases, each of them also representing a role Father Wolf played when keeping up the barriers– The Full Moon came with the memory of Father Wolf the Warrior, the Gibbous Moon with Father Wolf the Visionary, the Half-Moon with Father Wolf the Judge, the Crescent Moon with Father Wolf the Wise Man, and the New Moon with Father Wolf the Stalker of Prey. The Werewolves would be left with the responsibility to police the Spirit World and the World of Flesh, but Forsaken by both– the Spirits hating the fact that these half-flesh beasts can police them, and humans in fear of their old predators of myth.
Those who did not kill Father Wolf became the so-called "Tribes of the Pure," those who claim to carry on Father Wolf's legacy, and hunt down the Tribes of the Moon out of hatred. They do not have an auspice, for they did not claim Father Wolf's responsibility to patrol the borders of Flesh and Spirit, but maintain their hatred of the brethren that took away their hunter's paradise. To this day, the Pure act as antagonists to the Forsaken. The werewolves the players play have conflict from the Spirit World, the World of Flesh, and even their own kind.
This lore is phenomenal. It's easily the best part of Werewolf: The Forsaken, and if you can get past the revisionist Werewolf stuff, there's a lot to offer here. I gave you the cliff notes of the creation myth, but there's so much more to it. The Spirit World is incredibly well-thought out, the conflicts are really well-thought out, and the myths are all really interesting and cool. This is actually what got me wanting to play for a long time, though when I got to a game, it didn't really stick too closely with the lore, which is really too bad because it's fantastic. Serious props to the lore of The Forsaken. If for no other reason give it a read for this.
Setting: 9/10
Storytelling
So what kind of story can you tell with the Werewolf game?
It's very combat heavy, very conflict heavy, and probably very appealing for someone who's used to more traditional tabletop RPGs. A lot of fighting's going to be involved in virtually any game of Werewolf, so if you're up for that and playing an animistic warrior culture with a rich mythos, this is totally your game. However, don't expect to really find anything too far off from this without breaking the story's thematic elements– hunting is a big part of Werewolf, so you'll need to think of creative ways to twist that into a compelling and unique story with its own identity.
Personally, I prefer the warrior culture schtick when it's one of many options to choose from in a game world– like the Orcs in Warcraft, or the Klingons in Star Trek. That having been said, if this is appealing to you, go for it. Just try to either play it straight as you can or try and take a twist on what you're given without breaking the theme, otherwise it just won't feel right.
Storytelling: 7/10
Total Grade: 72.5% C
Werewolf: The Forsaken is a very rich, very detailed game that has a great set of lore to offer, though it really suffers from the very few options in terms of character creation, and is kind of bogged down by the incredibly heavy mechanics that comes with all the shifting. I feel like this is a very niche game, and someone who really wants to play as a warrior culture of shapeshifters that can be called Werewolves that don't necessarily match up with the traditional style will really enjoy this game. Personally, I couldn't get into it, but there's a lot to like from it. I'd say give it a look and if it really catches your fancy, by all means, start a game or join one. Me, it's not really my thing.
Next time on the retrospective, we look at the nWoD game that many people I've talked to or heard talk about consider the worst in the series: Mage: The Awakening. Just how bad is it? What do I think of it? You'll find out next time, but until them, Timere Defectum!
Werewolf: The Forsaken, Vampire: The Requiem, Mage: The Awakening and Hunter: The Vigil belong to White Wolf Publishing. World of Warcraft belongs to Blizzard Activision. Star Trek belongs to Paramount.
While Father Wolf had kept balance for years in Pangaea, time came when he grew weaker, that age was starting to catch up with him. Spirits had crossed the Border Marches and had set up tyrannical Kingdoms with Humans as their fearful worshipers, and Father Wolf had began to have a harder time dealing with these intruders, and would miss a great deal more of them that slipped beneath his notice. As it says in the book, when the Alpha becomes too weak to hunt efficiently, one of two things must happen– either the Alpha is replaced, or the pack dies, and Father Wolf's children did not feel like dying, nor did they feel like letting the world fall into chaos.
So Father Wolf's children, with three notable exceptions who protested, conspired to slay their father so they would be able to take his place in keeping balance between the Spirit World and the World of Flesh. When they did, he let loose a death howl so terrible that spirits and humans cowered to their homes in horror, Mother Moon cursed her children in anguish and betrayal for killing their father, and the worlds of Flesh and Spirit were rent asunder, cut off from each other to this day by the Gauntlet.
Afterwards, the surviving werewolves immediately began fighting amongst themselves, but Mother Moon had sent down Lunes, servant-spirits representing each of the Lunar Phases, each of them also representing a role Father Wolf played when keeping up the barriers– The Full Moon came with the memory of Father Wolf the Warrior, the Gibbous Moon with Father Wolf the Visionary, the Half-Moon with Father Wolf the Judge, the Crescent Moon with Father Wolf the Wise Man, and the New Moon with Father Wolf the Stalker of Prey. The Werewolves would be left with the responsibility to police the Spirit World and the World of Flesh, but Forsaken by both– the Spirits hating the fact that these half-flesh beasts can police them, and humans in fear of their old predators of myth.
Those who did not kill Father Wolf became the so-called "Tribes of the Pure," those who claim to carry on Father Wolf's legacy, and hunt down the Tribes of the Moon out of hatred. They do not have an auspice, for they did not claim Father Wolf's responsibility to patrol the borders of Flesh and Spirit, but maintain their hatred of the brethren that took away their hunter's paradise. To this day, the Pure act as antagonists to the Forsaken. The werewolves the players play have conflict from the Spirit World, the World of Flesh, and even their own kind.
This lore is phenomenal. It's easily the best part of Werewolf: The Forsaken, and if you can get past the revisionist Werewolf stuff, there's a lot to offer here. I gave you the cliff notes of the creation myth, but there's so much more to it. The Spirit World is incredibly well-thought out, the conflicts are really well-thought out, and the myths are all really interesting and cool. This is actually what got me wanting to play for a long time, though when I got to a game, it didn't really stick too closely with the lore, which is really too bad because it's fantastic. Serious props to the lore of The Forsaken. If for no other reason give it a read for this.
Setting: 9/10
Storytelling
So what kind of story can you tell with the Werewolf game?
It's very combat heavy, very conflict heavy, and probably very appealing for someone who's used to more traditional tabletop RPGs. A lot of fighting's going to be involved in virtually any game of Werewolf, so if you're up for that and playing an animistic warrior culture with a rich mythos, this is totally your game. However, don't expect to really find anything too far off from this without breaking the story's thematic elements– hunting is a big part of Werewolf, so you'll need to think of creative ways to twist that into a compelling and unique story with its own identity.
Personally, I prefer the warrior culture schtick when it's one of many options to choose from in a game world– like the Orcs in Warcraft, or the Klingons in Star Trek. That having been said, if this is appealing to you, go for it. Just try to either play it straight as you can or try and take a twist on what you're given without breaking the theme, otherwise it just won't feel right.
Storytelling: 7/10
Total Grade: 72.5% C
Werewolf: The Forsaken is a very rich, very detailed game that has a great set of lore to offer, though it really suffers from the very few options in terms of character creation, and is kind of bogged down by the incredibly heavy mechanics that comes with all the shifting. I feel like this is a very niche game, and someone who really wants to play as a warrior culture of shapeshifters that can be called Werewolves that don't necessarily match up with the traditional style will really enjoy this game. Personally, I couldn't get into it, but there's a lot to like from it. I'd say give it a look and if it really catches your fancy, by all means, start a game or join one. Me, it's not really my thing.
Next time on the retrospective, we look at the nWoD game that many people I've talked to or heard talk about consider the worst in the series: Mage: The Awakening. Just how bad is it? What do I think of it? You'll find out next time, but until them, Timere Defectum!
Werewolf: The Forsaken, Vampire: The Requiem, Mage: The Awakening and Hunter: The Vigil belong to White Wolf Publishing. World of Warcraft belongs to Blizzard Activision. Star Trek belongs to Paramount.
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