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[Ana Mizuki]

Plus, as stated in another recent thread, in other games it is entirely justified that the player character is not fresh from their initiation when the game starts. Yet I often see people basically treat a lupus character as if they had only had 2 months or so of training, none of it in blending in with humanity or in language and were then rited fast.

Essentially, they are making playing lupus much harder by these restrictions homid nor metis characters are given....

[Ana Mizuki]

There is also the fact that a lot of this language discussion... doesn't really go into play much. Unless STs force you to never use any human language, after a few session the pack should communicate together fine. Unlike the alpha or no alpha or heritage of the tribes discussion, the language issue of the lupus is mostly backstory restriction....

[Ana Mizuki]

We are playing magical werewolves who go into spirit worlds and are joined by a slew of other animal changers. If wolves are smarter than IRL, I don't think it breaks the game....

[Ana Mizuki]

Depends heavily on how the metis is treated, while some are certainly living in a sept, others are kept in basements. Plus, metis have 10 years to teen years, lupus have 2. A lupus, with added intelligence, can pick up a language within a couple of years. Given how young they'd be post-first change (around 14-17), I'd say they would be under teaching for a couple of years. Unless Red Talon.

Another question is, of course, why does this language thing matter so much? I understand people want to play to realism, but garou all are part spirit and it is that spirit part that allows them...

[Ana Mizuki]

OOCly, Uratha are still the main player characters and the Pure are presented as their foes. That was the mentality I used when I thought about this.

But yeah, if you spin it the way you did, absolutely Pure can be seen as noble....

[Ana Mizuki]

I'll be honest, the whole 'Pure are subject to Harmony' in 1st ed was one of my least favourite aspects of it. I don't like the idea that the antagonist faction is literally shown to be wrong through the morality stat, it removed a lot of vagueness from the conflict. The idea that the other werewolves are rejecting the moon outright was cool and the idea that they MIGHT have a point was good fodder for ambiguity.

The new Harmony being more fluid, it is easier to accept and less clear on who is in the right.

I mean, yeah, the Pure do TERRIBLE things and I'm not here to...

[Ana Mizuki]

Quattuor is an adorable derp, especially its accidental rise to internet fame. I just imagine it just standing there all baffled until it disappeared.

The Geryo are pretty neat, there is a clear sense that they are still people despite being monsters.

[Ana Mizuki]

Some thoughts on the werewolf foes.

-Aishah is a good example of a Bale Hound. Not some gibbering cultist, not some corrupted person. A lonely girl who changed and then found her ONLY solace in a poisonous friend who listened. Her story has a lot of meaning.

-I love the how the Pure NPCs are so varied not just by race or breaking the tribal molds, but also showcasing minor modifications in the uratha. Tejumola being an Ivory Claw is such a great showcase of the tribe not being a WASP hive.

-Oh man the Ghost Wolves. I love the tyrants so much.

[Ana Mizuki]

Look at what I linked in the first post, there are VERY MUCH people who want to play a wolf and have done for for years. Hence why I used them as an example.

It is just that these people often do not play WtA or know about it. But I came from that world and I very much wanted to play wolf. Just different RP circles....

[Ana Mizuki]

Chapter 4, page 61.




Okay, it does say in W20 that the language is taught, but it does also say that most of it is instinctive. I do find it rather strange, as generally you'd think it would be taught ASAP so the cubs would understand each other and the concepts presented before them. Nevermind metis who literally only have garou tongue as their only language.

I do wonder if it is meant that the more proper version is taught.

EDIT: The arguments you have presented here also very much are the reason why people see playing lupus as hard....

[Ana Mizuki]

This is why Rage Across the World stated that lupus get the human development on their brain and knowledge of a local language as they change.

But also, the lupus most likely can speak garou.

But yes, the biggest issue IS that people have built that sort of mentality about lupus. Hence this topic to dispel the myth and offer an example of how to do it easier....

[Ana Mizuki]

Think of the Hisil in Forsaken as the Fallout Wasteland, while they are organizations around it is mostly small fiefdoms.

Meanwhile the Umbra in Apocalypse is a long tended and structured society with long-standing pacts.

[Ana Mizuki]

One of the most common things in WtA circles you end up hearing is that 'lupus are too hard for people to play' or 'they need an experienced player.' While the latter is sort of true, it needs to be said that the arguments stated seem to always circle around one issue.

Playing a wolf and not a human is hard.

However, to that, I want to note that many adults have played intelligent wolves in mature stories successfully. They just haven't played them around WtA players, which makes sense. Most of these RPs take place in Deviantart. Despite the cartoony styles the wolves...

[Ana Mizuki]

I agree, ronin are SO interesting if you just think of them beyond lost cubs or washout garou. Given how often the Impegrium comes up here as a negative, having garou reject it makes sense.

They also offer a sort of space between the Nation and the BSDs, to showcase how varied garou can be.

[Ana Mizuki]

The more I've grown, the more I've noticed that I like there to be non-typical factions in my settings. With WtA, I feel it could do more to invokveactual werewolf myths and tropes at times.

Hence, this thread.

These are just my ideas, but you are free to add your own or use these.

Curers- Sometimes, a garou changes from a very distant ancestry or even in a place where no garou exist. While some learn to embrace their nature, others seek to cure their condition any way they can. Some try to drink wolfsbane tea, others seek help from faiths. Those who are...

[Ana Mizuki]

Mouse from BG revised is a single garou totem, mostly used by the rabble (aka, quasi-ronins.)...