History TabletopGame / WerewolfTheForsaken

* TrueCompanions: Werewolf packs are supposed to have stronger interpersonal bonds than player parties in any other [=nWOD=] game.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Harmony is how in tune werewolves are with themselves. Since they're half human and half wolf-spirit, it really doesn't mesh up well with the human form of morality. For example, murdering humans "just because you can" is about as morally grating for werewolves as grand theft is for humans, while wielding silver or telling humans that werewolves exist is as bad for werewolves as a planned, deliberate murder is for humans. Killing another werewolf is even more damning for a werewolf than murdering a human is for a human, but so long as they have a reason, a werewolf can kill as many humans as they want without the slightest moral twinge. Meanwhile, betraying the pack is the absolute worst sin a werewolf can perform, the only other sin as bad as it being hunting werewolves for food.. Alongside the [[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Sin-eaters]], werewolves have the most alien KarmaMeter in the New World of Darkness.

* KarmaMeter: Harmony, a measure of how well a werewolf balances his human and spirit halves. Notable among TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness games in that it emphasizes how different werewolves are from normal humans -- for instance, killing humans isn't ''necessarily'' a sin, just killing them for no good reason.

''Werewolf: The Forsaken'' is the second game in the TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness line and the spiritual sequel to ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse''.

* SpiritWorld: The Hisil (also known as the Shadow, or the Other). Given that it's the twisted reflection of the ''World of Darkness'', it's not really surprising that it has more in common with ''Franchise/SilentHill'' than most. To give you an idea of the things that happen in there, mall-spirits lure other spirits and Werewolves into them, where they are then devoured by the greater building spirit. Rather like the mall in Discworld/ReaperMan, actually.

* ApeShallNeverKillApe: The Oath of the Moon says "The People Shall Not Murder the People" and the core rulebook makes it clear that it's a sin against Harmony to kill another werewolf. This makes dealing with the Pure a little bit of a headache, since they outnumber the Forsaken and don't seem to give a shit about that little provision.
** It also becomes something of a headache for the Blood Talons in the Second Edition as their preferred prey is other werewolves. The core rule book specifically mentions that hunting other werewolves can weigh heavily on a Talon’s Harmony and that they are expected not to show it around members of the other tribes.

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Werewolves are the most powerful starting level player characters in the TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness, but mages eclipse them at higher levels. That being said, higher level werewolf abilities are nothing to sneeze at, and mages have a huge weakness in their need for preparation-werewolves start excellent at both planning and reacting to ambushes and only get better.

Once upon a time, the physical world -- the ''Gurihal'' -- and the SpiritWorld -- the ''Hisil'' -- were one world, named Pangaea. The great spirit Father Wolf patrolled Pangaea, ensuring that spirits were kept in line and did not terrorize humanity. The first werewolves--beings part spirit and part human--were Father Wolf's children via the moon spirit, Luna, and were his followers and fellows in arms. But Father Wolf grew old and weak, so some of his children rose up and killed him (ostensibly for the greater good), and then all hell broke loose: The spirit world and the physical world were forever separated, and the descendants of the werewolves who struck down their own sire now inherit a grim legacy.

* '''Cahalith''': Glory-seeking prophets and storytellers. Cahaliths are usually the ones making sure the pack's morale high and the prey's low. They are linked to the Gibbous Moon. Their Auspice gifts are Inspiration, Knowledge, ''Gibbous Moon''. An alternate Auspice Gift was shown in the Onyx Path blog called ''Screaming Moon'' based on fear and madness.
* '''Elodoth''': Honorable judges and ambassadors. Elodoths make sure the pack's relationship with others are good and their prey's... non-existent. They are linked to the Half Moon. their Auspice Gifts are ''Half Moon'', Insight, and Warding.
* '''Irraka''': Cunning stalkers and murderers. Irrakas assassinate the pack's prey stealthily and quietly, killing them one by one. They are linked to the New Moon. Their Auspice Gifts are Stealth, ''New Moon'', Evasion.
* '''Ithaeur''': Wise shamans and spiritmasters, though they dislike that last one. Ithaeurs forge fetish and alliances with the spirit world. They are linked to the Crescent Moon. Their Auspice gifts are ''Crescent Moon'', Shaping, Elementals.
* '''Rahu''': The warriors who uphold the Purity of the Uratha. Rahu are the ones who strike hard after their pack soften the prey up or who make sure their attention are on himself. Their Auspice Gifts are Strength, Dominance, ''Full Moon''.

While not officially a "limited cycle" like the later lines of ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'', ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' and ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'', Werewolf did have the fewest official sourcebooks of an "unlimited cycle" (like ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' and ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'') released before White Wolf declared they were giving up traditional print for [=PDFs=] and print-on-delivery.

** Lunacy is also the term werewolves used for the aura of spiritual power they have that drives humans who behold them crazy. [[CaptainObvious It doesn't appear at all in human or wolf forms]], but its potency is affected by which form the werewolf is in. Strangely, the near-human form is actually weaker in terms of its Lunacy aura than the near-wolf form, despite the fact the former looks more like the classic cinema "WolfMan" type werewolf.

** The Hishu (human) form is [[CaptainObvious most likely to pass among mortals]] and best suited for social dealings.

* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: One werewolf lodge, the Lodge of the Fallen Idol, is dedicated to bringing an end to all religions because they view them as the most dangerous and destructive of all human concepts. They began as a lodge for "alternative beliefs" in medieval Europe, but after Christian werewolves helped the inquisition kill off most of the members, the survivors regrouped, took a serpent spirit of truth as their totem, and vowed to bring down religion by any means necessary. Their symbol is even a snake coiling around a shattered cross. That's not to say that they don't recognize the existence and power of powerful supernatural beings, like high Rank spirits and [[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening Archmages]], they just don't believe anyone, humans especially, should be worshiping them. This may also be why they tend to focus primarily on human religions.

** Ansar-zalag, an idigam who devoured a star-spirit and got it's powers. It usually attacks and burns down every werewolf it can find not for revenge but ForTheEvulz and ego.

*** They have Lunacy on their side, which sends PrimalFear through all the nearby humans and makes them forget what scared them so much...unless they already have a viewpoint that allows for werewolves to exist. In which case they may in fact be killed

* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: ''[[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil Spirit Slayers]]'' introduced The Bear Lodge; an organization of American big game hunters that realized that werewolves are real and decided they would look good on the trophy wall. Interestingly, they sometimes will let a werewolf live, so long as it has not killed a human being. (It probably helps that werewolves, and their parts, revert to human form when they're killed.)

** One of the supplement books, ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Skinchangers-World-Darkness-Chris-Campbell/dp/1588463354 Skinchangers]]'', has a character in it called Shuichi Kurama; who is possessed by a fox-spirit named Yoko. The manga/anime series ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' has a fox demon named Yoko Kurama who was mortally wounded and took refuge in the womb of a pregnant woman, Shiori Minamino, and was reborn as her son, Shuichi Minamino. Even the description of Shuichi Kurama -long black hair, a pleasing face, a friendly demeanor, dresses in traditional clothes when he can get away with it and school uniforms when he can't- matches the one of Yoko Kurama in the manga (anime changed his hair color from black to red).

** All of the tribes are Expies of ones from ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse.'' Some are blatantly obvious: the Blood Talons are the Get of Fenris; the Iron Masters are the Glass Walkers with just a little of the Bone Gnawers tossed in; the Predator Kings are the Red Talons; and the Storm Lords are the Shadow Lords. Others are a little mix-and-match; for example, Bone Shadows combine aspects of the Silent Striders and Uktena. It goes for the Auspices as well with Rahu being the new Ahroun or Irraka equals Ragabash.

* {{Eagleland}}: A unique variant. Irinam the Colossus is a ''magath'' formed from a [[AmericaTakesOverTheWorld Manifest Destiny]] spirit...who backed the wrong horse during the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]] and found herself partially embodying a country that no longer existed except through a NostalgiaFilter. Her entire ethos is based around eating enough of the right Essence to embody America itself and regain her sanity, but since no majority is actually sure what America ''is'' her quest is doomed to failure (the Rumors section outright calls the idea of Irinam being purely the embodiment of capitalist greed to be stupid, since she's also devoured utopian dreams, individualism, civil liberty, bureaucracy..).

** Lodges have several examples themselves. The Lodge of the Screaming Moon are obsessed with fear and the ability to cause it...in creatures that have already made their living by driving innocent people to utter terror and nightmares. The Eaters of the Dead do exactly that in service to a mad Firstborn...[[CrazySane who went rational again at some point]] and just wants to be accepted by her family again, by proving her "new Tribe" have a vital purpose in hunting malignant undead.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: The Nidmuzug, from the ''War Against the Pure''. They're human beings who can turn into either a swarm of five hundred plus 4-6 inch long cockroaches... ''or'' a human-sized and crudely anthromorphic cockroach. They're surprisingly pitiable creatures, because they didn't ask to be like this (all they did was eat a perfectly ordinary piece of food...but there had been another Nidmuzug within a mile or so, so it was tainted and turned them into more were-roaches) and they're still fairly human in terms of mentality--they don't even get the healing powers that all other shapechangers do. Their name translates as "the Unclean".

* '''Ithaeur''': Wise shamans and spiritmaster, though they dislike that last one. Ithaeurs forge fetish and alliances with the spirit world. They are linked to the Crescent Moon. Their Auspice gifts are ''Crescent Moon'', Shaping, Elementals.

Werewolves, as the children of the moon spirit, take their calling in life from the phase of the moon their power and personality are most closely linked to, also known as '''Auspices'''
* '''Cahalith''': Glory-seeking prophets and storytellers. Cahaliths are usually the ones making sure the pack's morale high and the prey's low. they are linked to the Gibbous Moon. Their Auspice gifts are Inspiration, Knowledge, ''Gibbous Moon''. An alternate Auspice Gift was shown in the Onyx Path blog called ''Screaming Moon'' based on fear and madness.

* CannotHaveSexEver: Continuing the trend from WerewolfTheApocalypse, sex between two werewolves is forbidden and has dire consequences - in this case, one becoming pregnant with and violently giving birth to an abominable spiritual abortion called a Ghost Child, whose sole motivation is to destroy all their parents hold dear for giving them existence. Presumably in response to the abundance of gay werewolves created for Apocalypse (which some players figured out had to be okay, since it wouldn't involve any weird births, and which the developers reportedly thought of as them attempting to smartass their way out of the forbidden love drama), Forsaken went on to specify that Ghost Children happened in ''all'' instances of werewolf on werewolf sex - ''even when both are males''. Naturally, this backfired by filling the internet with mpreg jokes and the whole idea seems to have been abandoned for 2e, which conspicuously doesn't even mention any unusual consequences for werewolf on werewolf sex.

* TakeThatUs: The game's primary antagonist faction, The Pure, is essentially a giant Take That to the Garou Nation from WerewolfTheApocalypse - or at least to the {{Flanderization}} they underwent later down the line - with their rabid, religious zealotry, bigotry, obsession with eugenics and hatred of mankind being presented as exactly as twisted as they are.

* IThoughtItMeant: A Fetish is a magic item. [[{{Fetish}} Get your head out of the gutter]].

** One weakness of the Pure Tribes is that they do not have Auspices, said to be because they refused to accept any guilt for Father Wolf's death and thus never got back on Luna's good side. They also actively hate Luna, and reject any association with her or her laws. One of the conditions for Forsaken uratha to defect to the Pure is to undergo a ritual which permanently destroys their auspice.

The game presents a nest of unsettling dilemmas for characters: They grew up believing themselves to be human, but now find that they are part of a larger and more dangerous world where the human way of acting (and feeling) can be a detriment. They've inherited a legacy and blood-war not of their own making but which poses a dire threat to themselves and everyone around them anyway. And they have the unenviable job of navigating and policing a strange and alien world of totally inhuman entities who by their nature resent and fear them. The only thing they have to rely on is each other...if that?

* Sex Shifter: The Luna's embrace gift in 2e allows any werewolf with at least one dot of honor renown to do this.