Sense Wyrm Difficultys?

[Prince of the Night]

Was looking at some gift that increases difficulty of sensing wyrm taint.

And was wondering whats the difficulty of sensing say...

a Vamp

A BSD

a Ferectoi

A knowing dancer kinfolk

a Charach

A child molestor

A human serial killer

a Gorehound.

[Heavy Arms]

The difficulty is contextual. There isn't a set rating based on type like Scent of the True Form.

How long ago the Wyrm presence was there, how far away it is, what else is around, etc. are all factors.

Vampires have a note specifically about their Humanity (or lack there of like Paths) before they're detectable, but not consideration about them beyond that.

BSDs, actively participating dancer kin, formori and so on are all creatures of the Wyrm where contextual factors matter more than anything else.

"Actions" of the Wyrm that might leave a lingering taint don't have a set difficulty. A Chararch that sinned 20 years ago is different from one that did so yesterday (if you even want to claim there's Wyrm taint from that, which seems excessive).

[Prince of the Night]

would it be safe to say a Charach would probably be cleansed of any wyrm taint by a rite ofo cleansing, if he'd done so 20 years ago.

[Heavy Arms]

Breaking the Litany doesn't inherently taint you with the Wyrm in the first place. The point is that Sense Wyrm explicitly says that time since the Wyrm has been there matters.

[Prince of the Night]

oh gift I was thinking of is repress Taint

[Su-tehp]

Wait, isn't a charach just an insulting term for a werewolf who sleeps with another werewolf? Why would two Garou getting it on with each other result in Wyrm taint? Why would that even be possible? The Wyrm has nothing to do with that.

[Black Fox]

The amount of Wyrm taint detected really depends on what you think "Wyrm Taint" means. As such, reasonable people will disagree as to what constitutes things. Rules that make sense in one chronicle might be different in another. And proximity and time are always important factors in determining difficulty.

In my chronicles, it is not a Detect Evil alignment spell in D&D. "Wyrm Taint" is indication of "anti-Gaian" energies or pollution - things that are decidedly "unnatural" or spiritually polluted. Usually I limit that to supernatural exposure or natural effects that are inherently life destroying or ecosystem ruining (like nuclear radiation or certain environmental contaminants. Here is what I would use in my campaign.

Vampires - Vampires are detectable unless their Humanity (and a few other non-monstrous Paths) rating is 7 or higher. This is straight out of the rules (W20, pg 156 in the Sense Wyrm gift itself)

BSD - Completing the BSD rite of passage (walking the spiral) should be the same as a fomori. (Difficulty 6 in close proximity)

Ferectoi - unless the Fomori has a power that hides Wyrm Taint (like Deception or Triatic Scent), then it is standard difficulty. Fomori are an abomination.

Knowing Dancer Kinfolk - Simply being a kinfolk to BSDs should not be detectable. However, a knowing Dancer kinfolk could very well be involved in activities that cause Wyrm Taint to accrue and that could be detected.

Charach - No. Metis don't normally detect as Wyrm tainted despite being deformed so their parents shouldn't be.

Child Molestor - Not in the sense that you can use it to identify criminals so you can target them. However, I might rule that particularly heinous acts temporarily causes Wyrm Taint to accrue, but which dissipates over time. So you'd have to get very lucky to use Sense Wyrm to catch a perpetrator. However, I'd also rule that victims of such abuse would also detect having such taint temporarily. Again, Sense Wyrm is not Detect Evil, but detects the spiritual presence of some horrible violation of Gaia's order. The younger the victim (and thus the more likely long term damage it will do) the likelier it will cause taint. Normally do, I don't have Sense Wyrm detect real world crimes. If such activities were a result of certain evil occult rites evoking supernatural powers, then taint would be found.

A human serial killer - Not normally. However, again particularly heinous acts might cause short term temporary taint that could be detected.

Gorehound - unless the Fomori has a power that hides Wyrm Taint (like Deception or Triatic Scent), then it is standard difficulty.


I also have advanced stage cancer detected by Sense Wyrm, particularly that caused by things like environmental pollutants, and certain horrible diseases like Ebola or Black Death. So that coal miner detecting as Wyrm might simply have black lung disease.

In my chronicles I want Sense Wyrm to be used in a way that tells the PCs that there is something they may want to start investigating. Not something that clearly identifies enemies that are to be killed.

[Prince of the Night]

I know that wouldn't advise Killing Charach's either.