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Hey all. So, one of the PCs in my current Werewolf game wants to join the Lodge of the Seven Venoms (previously mentioned briefly in The Pack), and thus I've put together some draft rules. The usual disclaimer: None of this is official, just my fevered ramblings for my own game.
What I'm not going to do here is a full write-up of the Lodge background; my main concern is with getting a solid set of mechanics functional in time for the next session! However, rough summary, following on from The Pack - these are basically crazed poison-cultists and alchemists in service to a totem that I think is some sort of abominable magath-horror of venomous entities like centipedes and snakes, mixed in with toxic emotion elements. It hates/hungers for Hosts, and might be a thing that is caught in a semi-Host state; it needs the power and off-cuts of the Shards the cultists eat to prevent itself exploding into a myriad of lesser spiritual horrors in the manner of the true Hosts.
The great, gurgling, venomous nightmare literally needs its cultists to eat Hosts so that it doesn't become one itself.
Generally the Seven Venoms aren't looked well upon because their weirdness and bizarreness too easily leaks past attempts at maintaining a normal veneer. I won't write up a full Secrets of the Seven Venoms list of the batshit and heretical stuff they do as I want to keep that under my hat for my poor player, but suffice to say there are all sorts of rumours about how they keep menageries of poisoned (not poisonous) animals that they feed their own flesh and blood to, that they undertake horrific Essence alchemy experiments involving turning human victims into Resonance-tanks of befouled blood, that they don't just carve off pieces of their own flesh but pieces of their own mind, that they mutilate themselves in order to slice off warping fragments of their flesh and spirit that would otherwise bud the very Host Shards they've consumed back out of them, etc etc. Some say they actively and intentionally make Hosts somehow, processing the consumed Shards for some great and nightmarish project.
Anyway, here's the mechanics side of things:
Blessing: The Lodge member can ignore the effects and damage of the Poisoned Tilt or any substance with a Toxicity rating by spending a Willpower point. This does not remove the poison from his body; it merely renders him unaffected by it for its duration. The adherent may choose to transfer the poison on to anyone who attempts to consume his flesh or blood, such as via a bite, by spending a point of Essence. However, the adherent also gains the Addiction Condition for poisons and venoms, and gains the Deprived Condition if he goes without them for at least a day.
Aspiration: To be wounded or mutilated so that some of the adherent’s flesh is cut away.
Ban: The Lodge member must consume any slain or dying Host Shard that he encounters, or any prey that he poisons with the Sacred Hunt.
Sacred Hunt: The Sacred Hunt gives your character the ability to deliver a debilitating soul poison to the chosen prey via your natural weapons or your blood. This venom affects Hosts and other entities that have moved from one physical body to another. It inflicts the grave Poison Tilt on the victim, and the Discorporate Dread Power cannot protect the Host from the venom; the Tilt remains on the Shard that escapes the Host’s collapsing form. Similarly, other powers or supernatural abilities that would let a victim escape from the poisoned body do not help; the soul poison copies the Tilt across to the prey’s new body. Attempting to remove the venom via a supernatural power merely escalates the damage it causes to Aggravated.
Tools:
Shard Venom (Wolf Rite ●●●)
Turning her own body into a toxic crucible, the cultist transmutes the bilious soul-fragment of a Shard into a concentrated poison
Symbols: Poison, self-sacrifice, balance, transformation
Action: Extended (5 successes; 1 roll per 5 minutes)
Success: This rite can only be performed within a day of the Uratha consuming a Host Shard. It may be only performed once within this period. If the rite is successful, the adherent suffers one point of lethal damage as a single dose of a supernatural poison is produced from her body – a finger may blacken and rot off, she may vomit up toxic bile, a piece of her skin may blister with First Tongue sigils of sickness and peel away, etc. By itself, this venom does nothing, but if mixed with an existing poisonous or toxic substance then it infuses the admixture with one of the following properties, chosen at the time the Uratha performs the ritual:
Performing this rite is always a breaking point towards Spirit.
So, thoughts? Comments?
What I'm not going to do here is a full write-up of the Lodge background; my main concern is with getting a solid set of mechanics functional in time for the next session! However, rough summary, following on from The Pack - these are basically crazed poison-cultists and alchemists in service to a totem that I think is some sort of abominable magath-horror of venomous entities like centipedes and snakes, mixed in with toxic emotion elements. It hates/hungers for Hosts, and might be a thing that is caught in a semi-Host state; it needs the power and off-cuts of the Shards the cultists eat to prevent itself exploding into a myriad of lesser spiritual horrors in the manner of the true Hosts.
The great, gurgling, venomous nightmare literally needs its cultists to eat Hosts so that it doesn't become one itself.
Generally the Seven Venoms aren't looked well upon because their weirdness and bizarreness too easily leaks past attempts at maintaining a normal veneer. I won't write up a full Secrets of the Seven Venoms list of the batshit and heretical stuff they do as I want to keep that under my hat for my poor player, but suffice to say there are all sorts of rumours about how they keep menageries of poisoned (not poisonous) animals that they feed their own flesh and blood to, that they undertake horrific Essence alchemy experiments involving turning human victims into Resonance-tanks of befouled blood, that they don't just carve off pieces of their own flesh but pieces of their own mind, that they mutilate themselves in order to slice off warping fragments of their flesh and spirit that would otherwise bud the very Host Shards they've consumed back out of them, etc etc. Some say they actively and intentionally make Hosts somehow, processing the consumed Shards for some great and nightmarish project.
Anyway, here's the mechanics side of things:
Blessing: The Lodge member can ignore the effects and damage of the Poisoned Tilt or any substance with a Toxicity rating by spending a Willpower point. This does not remove the poison from his body; it merely renders him unaffected by it for its duration. The adherent may choose to transfer the poison on to anyone who attempts to consume his flesh or blood, such as via a bite, by spending a point of Essence. However, the adherent also gains the Addiction Condition for poisons and venoms, and gains the Deprived Condition if he goes without them for at least a day.
Aspiration: To be wounded or mutilated so that some of the adherent’s flesh is cut away.
Ban: The Lodge member must consume any slain or dying Host Shard that he encounters, or any prey that he poisons with the Sacred Hunt.
Sacred Hunt: The Sacred Hunt gives your character the ability to deliver a debilitating soul poison to the chosen prey via your natural weapons or your blood. This venom affects Hosts and other entities that have moved from one physical body to another. It inflicts the grave Poison Tilt on the victim, and the Discorporate Dread Power cannot protect the Host from the venom; the Tilt remains on the Shard that escapes the Host’s collapsing form. Similarly, other powers or supernatural abilities that would let a victim escape from the poisoned body do not help; the soul poison copies the Tilt across to the prey’s new body. Attempting to remove the venom via a supernatural power merely escalates the damage it causes to Aggravated.
Tools:
Shard Venom (Wolf Rite ●●●)
Turning her own body into a toxic crucible, the cultist transmutes the bilious soul-fragment of a Shard into a concentrated poison
Symbols: Poison, self-sacrifice, balance, transformation
Action: Extended (5 successes; 1 roll per 5 minutes)
Success: This rite can only be performed within a day of the Uratha consuming a Host Shard. It may be only performed once within this period. If the rite is successful, the adherent suffers one point of lethal damage as a single dose of a supernatural poison is produced from her body – a finger may blacken and rot off, she may vomit up toxic bile, a piece of her skin may blister with First Tongue sigils of sickness and peel away, etc. By itself, this venom does nothing, but if mixed with an existing poisonous or toxic substance then it infuses the admixture with one of the following properties, chosen at the time the Uratha performs the ritual:
- The venom will affect entities in Twilight.
- The venom inflicts the Exhausted and Shadow Paranoia Conditions.
- The venom inflicts the Moon Taint Condition.
- The venom cannot be removed via supernatural means.
- The venom inflicts the Addicted Condition for the basic poison that the supernatural venom is mixed with.
- The venom will purge the victim of other venoms and poisons.
Performing this rite is always a breaking point towards Spirit.
So, thoughts? Comments?
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