Frenzy

Moon Phase	Difficulty
New	8
Crescent	7
Half	6
Gibbous	5
Full	4

Any Rage roll can lead to a frenzy, even if it’s used to activate Gifts. All Rage rolls represent an attempt to awaken the primal beast that drives the Garou. If a Rage roll scores four or more successes, the character frenzies. The player can spend a Willpower point immediately to halt the frenzy, but her character can’t take any further actions that turn.

Garou who have permanent Rage ratings lower than four can still frenzy, but only under circumstances that touch on a particular psychological trigger: locking a claustrophobic werewolf in a confined space, or an arachnophobe coming face-to-mandible with one of the Ananasi werespiders. When a werewolf encounters that level of stress, his temporary Rage can exceed his permanent rating. Use the higher of the two ratings for all Rage rolls.

Berserk Frenzy

The werewolf can only see moving targets — targets she wants to reduce to bloody lumps of mangled meat. A berserk Garou shifts immediately to either Crinos or Hispo form (the player decides which), and attacks something.

Whom she attacks depends on the circumstances. If the Garou’s permanent Rage does not exceed her permanent Gnosis, she will not tear into her packmates — unless she’s in the Thrall of the Wyrm. Anything else is fair game, including other were-creatures who are not members of her pack.

A Garou whose permanent Rage exceeds his permanent Gnosis attacks anything that moves. He can’t distinguish between targets unless his player spends a Willpower point, in which case he can select his victim. If he doesn’t have the Willpower to spare, the Storyteller chooses who he attacks. Werewolves in this state don’t remember what happens to them during frenzy. Many collapse once the frenzy is over.

Fox Frenzy

The werewolf does everything in his power to escape. He takes his Lupus form and runs. The only time he attacks is when something gets in his way, and only for long enough to get past his opponent. The character runs until he can find a safe hiding place, where he will remain until the frenzy passes.

Info

Whether in berserk or fox frenzy, combat maneuvers and pack tactics require a level of thought and control that a frenzying werewolf does not have. He has three options: bite, claw, or run. He can spend Rage for extra actions, but can’t split dice pools, use Gifts, or step sideways. A frenzied werewolf does not feel pain, and ignores all wound penalties.

A werewolf can only come out of frenzy once the triggering situation is over. Once he’s escaped, the player rolls Willpower (difficulty equaling the Garou’s own Rage) to escape the frenzy. If the roll fails, the player can try again next turn with no increase in difficulty.

Thrall of the Wyrm

A werewolf’s Rage is not just the supernatural anger of Gaia, caught in the webs of a mad Weaver. It’s also a gate that the Wyrm can use to seize control of a Garou when she loses control.

When a player rolls six or more successes on a Rage roll, the character enters a berserk frenzy. All the Willpower in the world won’t give her a second’s control. The character is in the Thrall of the Wyrm. In addition to attacking anything that she can see, with the Storyteller picking her targets, the Thrall brings an even more horrific twist.

Each breed of Garou has an affinity to one of the heads of the Triatic Wyrm, and it is that facet that works through them in their worst frenzy.

• Homid: Eater-of-Souls holds humans as its special children. This twisted favor extends to homid-breed Garou. This Wyrm drives its minions to eat humans, wolves, and even other Garou. A werewolf in this Thrall must roll Wits (difficulty 7) whenever she kills or incapacitates an opponent. If the roll is a botch, she must stop for a turn and eat her kill.