Wynona Stalks-from-Shadow (Erica Clayton)
Homid Silent Strider Theurge
PL7/ 120 points
The solitary woman known as Stalks-from-Shadow has a certain quality about her. Her features at once speak of Native American, Asian, Latin and even Middle Eastern heritage. She is a striking young woman, carrying herself with more confidence than most males her senior. Her trench-coat, broken-in boots and well-worn Stetson suggests the attitude of a bounty hunter. But she is much more than that.
Wynona knows that there are other Garou out there - and in fact has met and even mentored a few of them - but she walks a solitary path in her search for knowledge and quest to protect people from the darkness that she has discovered.
Wynona Stalks-from-Shadows is the deed name of a relatively powerful werewolf shaman who seems to wander the frontier. She often appears from nowhere at just the right moment. In fact, most are unaware that the quiet and reserved woman travelling with them is in fact a werewolf of renown. The tales of her deeds are both sung in werewolf circles and told in human settlements to inspire courage against the things that go bump in the night.
Stalks-from-Shadows generally does not advertise her identity, preferring to remain in the shadows and often moving on before she attracts too much attention to herself. She will operate using any number of names, some of the more frequent being Erica Clayton, Patricia Owens and Jaimie Logan. Clayton is her preferred alias and the one she most commonly uses. She bears another name as per tribal tradition, the Egyptian name Kesi meaning "of a troubled father". In Garou circles, her proper name/ title is Kesi Stalks-from-Shadow.
The fact that she does not "advertise" who she is never seems to matter. Her deeds somehow get attributed to her, and in werewolf circles it seems that no matter what name she uses she is immediately known for who she is and what she has accomplished.
Born in a small town out in the frontier to a barmaid of the local watering hole, she didn't even know her who her father was. As she grow up, she felt a deep longing and desire to go somewhere and be something more than a simple townsperson with little to no prospects. At the age of fifteen, she finally gave in to her growing wanderlust and ran away. Sadly, she wasn't missed. Her First Change saved her from death at the hands of a Wyrm-infected animal.
She spent what felt like months, near death and delirious with thirst when an Owl appeared to her. It's mere presence cleared her mind and banished her hunger and thirst. It proceeded to lead her to a safe haven where others of her kind taught her who she was and what she had become. Here she was able to rest and recover. Soon after, a man claiming to be her father appeared. He explained that he was like her and that for this reason he was unable to remain with Wynona's mother, but Wynona did not quite believe him. She learned what she could from the man and moved on to carve a tale of her own.
In the scant years since, Wynona earned a deed name for her uncanny ability to appear from virtually nowhere at just the right moment to lend aid without stealing glory. She knows from experience how difficult the open road can be and tries to make it safer.
Abilities
Strength 3,
Stamina 2,
Agility 0,
Dexterity 2,
Fighting 1,
Intellect 0,
Awareness 2,
Presence 1
Powers
Garou Traits: (24 points)
Lupine Forms: Morph 2 [Lupine Forms; Metapmorph 2]
Alt: Wolf's Blood: Enhanced Trait 9 [Acute Smell, Low Light Vision, Scent, Ultra Hearing, Enhanced Skill (Intimidate) 2 (4 rks); Enhanced Advantage - Close Combat 1, Enhanced Fort 2, Enhanced Str 2]
Step Sideways: Movement 1 [Umbral Travel],
Enhanced Senses: Senses 4 [Detect Wyrm (2), Direction Sense, Tracking],
Spirit Speech: Comprehend 2 [Speak/ Understand],
Poison Immunity: Immunity 1
Human Form: (11 points)
Blissful Ignorance: Concealment 6 [(All Visual, Hearing); Limited to remaining still]
Alt: Staredown: Affliction 8 [Will Base - Dazed, Compelled to leave, Controlled (forced to leave); Sight Based]
Alt: Scent of Man: Affliction 7 [Forced to Leave Area; Burst Area 2; Limited Degree 2; Only versus animals]
Messenger's Fortitude: Immunity 3 [Starvation, Thirst, Exhaustion; Side Effect - must sleep for time equal to use of power after use],
Owl Companion: Summon 2 [Check Required (Expertise: Magic as per Ritual Casting)]
Klaive: (8 points)
Easy to Lose (-2 points)
Damage 4 [Strength Based; Penetrating, Affects Incorporeal 2]
Equipment
Weapons
Six Guns: Damage 3 [Crit 20], Knife: Damage 2 [Piercing, Crit 19-20]
Advantages
Close Attack 1,
Assessment,
Beginner's Luck, .
Benefit 1 [Rank/ Renown]
Close Attack 5,
Defensive Roll 2,
Eidetic Memory,
Equipment 3,
Hide in Plain Sight,
Improved Initiative 1,
Languages 2 [Latin, Garou, Spanish (English)],
Ritualist,
Well-Informed,
Skills
Athletics (+3),
Close Combat: Klaive 2 (+9),
Deception (+1),
Expertise: Survival 4 (+4),
Expertise: Magic 7 (+7),
Insight 1 (+3),
Intimidation (+1),
Investigation 7 (+7),
Perception (+2),
Persuasion (+1),
Ranged Combat: Six Shooters 4 (+6),
Stealth 9 (+9)
Offense
Initiative +4
Unarmed +7, Damage 1
Klaive +9, Damage 5
Six Shooters +6, Damage 5
Defense
Dodge 8,
Parry 7
Toughness 4 (Def Roll 2),
Fortitude 9,
Will 5
Power Points
Abilities 18 + Powers 43 + Advantages 20 + Skills 17 + Defenses 22 = Total 120
Complications
Haunted - Attract the Restless Dead (ghosts). (Normally, in Werewolf, this is limited to when Stepping Sideways, but I leave the GM more latitude with it.)
Protector - Will go out of her way to protect runaways, hating to see people suffer who don’t deserve it."
Enemy - There are some particularily nasty wyrm creatures that are at the top of Shadow's list - a walking wasp swarm in a human body, , a vampire and a were-spider.
Restless - Stalks-from-Shadows is loathe to remain in one place for too long. She has a wanderlust that is often difficult to ignore.
Vulberable - Silver - None of Shadows' lupine-enhanced traits are effective versus silver. Merely holding the element can cause discomfort and sometime pain. The exception to this last is her klaive, an item that was attuned to her through a long and demanding ritual.
Primal Aura - Natural born animals - including horses - are skittish in her presence. This is to the point that she cannot ride a horse under normal circumstances. The complication can be mitigated with her Scent of Man gift.
Involuntary Transformation - Under the light of the crescent moon, Shadows assumes her wolf man form. She can spend one HP per hour to hold off the transformation or revert to human form.
Design Notes
* Created as an application to a Deadlands game on the forum, what I have here is an approximation of a Rank 3 Homid Silent Strider Theurge from Werewolf The Apocalypse. I've chosen to go with Morph at rank 2 (lupine forms) with Metamorph 2. For my own sanity, I'm putting the forms in different character sheets so that the bonuses stack and balance properly. I am working with notion that Crinos and Hispo (which I am calling Wolfman and Dire Wolf, respectively) are one form, Glabro (Near Man) is another and finally Lupus (Wolf Form) is the third. I do not, however, envision the character constantly shifting from one form to the other - likely staying in human form as much as possible. Further, I have chosen to forego Glabro completely.
* I have chosen to go with separate stat blocks to represent the various forms so that I have fully calculated and ready to play stats at all times. I believe that this is easier than a full-out shape-shift which would be more powerful (and skirt the edges of the already banned variable power...)
* Due to point constraints, she is missing some of the skills that I would have liked to give or enhance - Intimidation, Survival among others. However, given her powers of Staredown, Scent of Man and Messenger's Fortitude, these issues are well compensated for...
* I envision the notion of Partial Transformations to be a Power Stunt off the morph - Shapeshift, Limited to lupine traits. This might enable her to Power Stunt things like low-light vision, dog-like hearing, claws...
* She does not have a Glabro form
* The Crinos/ Hispo form has a Deathly Howl and the Lupus has Call of the Wyld. With the RAW there is nothing to "prevent" me from Power Stunting (and eventually paying) for the two forms to have those powers as AP. However, for flavor I really want to limit certain gifts to certain forms...
* The background needs a little more fleshing out, but the Garou-with-no-name sample character from the Silent Striders Tribe Book is really what I was going for, other than displaced a 120 years in time that is...
Wolfman/Dire Wolf forms wrote:
Abilities
Strength 5, Stamina 5, Agility 0, Dexterity 2, Fighting 1, Intellect 0, Awareness 2, Presence 1
Powers
Garou Traits: (24 points)
Lupine Forms: Morph 2 [Limited to Lupine Forms; Metapmorph 3],
Step Sideways: Movement 1 [Umbral Travel],
Enhanced Senses: Senses 2 [Detect Wyrm (2), ],
Spirit Speech: Comprehend 2 [Speak/ Understand],
Poison Immunity: Immunity 1,
Dedicated Clothing: Feature 2 [Clothing "adapts"" or disappears when shifting]
Wolfman/ Dire Wolf: (25 points)
Messenger's Fortitude: Immunity 3 [Starvation, Thirst, Exhaustion; Side Effect - must sleep for time equal to use of power after use],
Wolf Man Form: Growth 2
Speed of Thought: Speed 5,
Super-Tracking: Senses 8 [Accurate, Acute, Direction Sense, Distance Sense, Extended 1, Tracking 2],
The Great Leap: Leaping 3 [60 feet],
Staredown: Affliction 8 [Will Base - Dazed, Compelled to leave, Controlled (forced to leave); Sight Based],
Alt: Deathly Howl: Affliction 8 [Resisted by Will (Dated & Impaired/ Disable & Stunned); Extra Condition, Perception Area; Limited Degree, Tiring, Distracting]
Klaive: (8 points)
Easy to Lose (-2 points)
Damage 4 [Strength Based; Penetrating, ; Affects Incorporeal 2]
Advantages
Assessment,
Close Attack 4,
Defensive Roll 6,
Languages 1 [Garou (English)],
Eidetic Memory,
All-out Attack,
Improved Initiative 1,
Ritualist,
Benefit 1 [Rank/ Renown],
Benefit 1 [Strength for Intimidation]
Skills
Athletics (+5),
Close Combat: Klaive 1 (+6),
Deception (+1),
Expertise: Survival 4 (+4),
Expertise: Magic 7 (+7),
Insight 1 (+3),
Intimidation: 3 (+9), Note: Perm Growth modifier included.
Investigation 1 (+1),
Perception (+2),
Persuasion (+1),
Stealth (+0)
Offense
Initiative +4
Unarmed +5, Damage 4
Klaive +6, Damage 8
Defense
Dodge 1,
Parry 3
Toughness 11 (Def Roll 6),
Fortitude 9,
Will 5
Power Points
Abilities 24 + Powers 58 + Advantages 18 + Skills 8 + Defenses 12 = Total 120
Complications
As per human form plus:
Rage Machine - The Wolf Man form exists to kill. It wants to fight.
Design Notes
* The metamorph modifier in action
* There are traits available in human form not available in wolf man form and vice versa. This simply makes sense to me.
* This form is perhaps more powerful than the human form but is less refined.
* She maintains the ability to cast Rituals in this form - indeed, I imagine some rituals require this form, but loses the ability to call her companion.
Wolf Form wrote:
Abilities
Strength 2, Stamina 3, Agility 2, Dexterity 0, Fighting 3, Intellect 0, Awareness 2, Presence -1
Powers
Garou Traits: (24 points)
Lupine Forms: Morph 2 [Limited to Lupine Forms; Metapmorph 3],
Step Sideways: Movement 1 [Umbral Travel],
Enhanced Senses: Senses 2 [Detect Wyrm (2), ],
Spirit Speech: Comprehend 2 [Speak/ Understand],
Poison Immunity: Immunity 1,
Dedicated Clothing: Feature 2 [Clothing ""adapts"" or disappears when shifting]
Wolf: Form (21 points)
Messenger's Fortitude: Immunity 3 [Starvation, Thirst, Exhaustion; Side Effect - must sleep for time equal to use of power after use],
Speed of Thought: Speed 5,
The Great Leap: Leaping 3 [60 feet],
Bite/ Claws: Damage 2 [Strength Based]
Super-Tracking: Senses 8 [Accurate, Acute Smell, Direction Sense, Distance Sense, Extended 1, Tracking 2],
Alt: Call of the Wyld: Communication 3 [Linked to Comprehend Languages 3 (Speak/ Be understood, limited to providing Direction/ Current Location); Area; Increased Action (Move), Limited to Providing Direction and Current Location, Tiring]
Advantages
All-out Attack,
Assessment,
Benefit 1 [Rank/ Renown],
Benefit 1 [Strength for Intimidation],
Close Attack 4,
Defensive Attack,
Defensive Roll 5,
Eidetic Memory,
Favored Environment [Forest],
Improved Initiative 2,
Languages 2 [Garou, Wolf, Spanish (English)],
Set-Up 2
Teamwork,
Takedown 2,
Skills
Athletics (+2),
Close Combat: Bite/ Claw 2 (+9),
Expertise: Survival 8 (+8),
Expertise: Magic 7 (+7),
Insight 1 (+3),
Intimidation 3 (+5),
Investigation 2 (+2),
Perception 4 (+6),
Stealth 7 (+9)
Offense
Initiative +10
Unarmed +7, Damage 4
Bite/ Claws +9, Damage 5
Defense
Dodge 4, Parry 6
Toughness 8 (Def Roll 5), Fortitude 7, Will 5
Power Points
Abilities 22 + Powers 44 + Advantages 25 + Skills 17 + Defenses 12 = Total 120
Complications
As per human form, plus:
Hunted by Man - Wolves are not looked upon favorably and man tends to hunt them
Design Notes
* The Wolf form does not wield a weapon but is no less dangerous than the Crinos/ Hispo forms
* This form is meant to survive, track and do other "wolfie" things.
* As with the Crinos form, I gave her the "rite of talisman dedication" in the form of a 2 point feature that adapts her clothing to her form (i.e. Quick Change 2)
* Both Crinos/ Hispo and Lupus forms have an extra complication over the human form
* There is no point benefit or complication because she can shift to human form, but in wolf form she cannot speak any language other than wolf and Garou
* Although she maintains her Expertise: Magic in this form, she cannot cast Rituals (and so loses the advantage.)
Owl Companion wrote:
Abilities
Strength -2, Stamina -2, Agility 2, Dexterity -2, Fighting 1, Intellect -4, Awareness 2, Presence -3
Powers
Owl Traits: (24 points)
Flight 3 [Wings; Subtle],
Use Feet as Hands: Feature 1,
Shrinking 8 [Permanent; Innate],
Low Light Vision,
Ultra Vision: Senses 2
Spirit Traits: (6 points)
Spirit Speech: Comprehend 2,
Step Sideways: Movement 1 [Dimensional Movement]
Advantages
Benefit 1 (Spirit Guide - Provide Flashes of Insight to those who spend a HP), Inspire 1, Leadership
Skills
Athletics (+-2), Insight (+2), Perception 6 (+8), Stealth: 2 (+12) Note: Perm Shrinking mod included.
Offense
Initiative +2
Defense
Dodge 6, Parry 5,Toughness -2 (Def Roll 0), Fortitude 2, Will 3
Power Points
Abilities -12 + Powers 30 + Advantages 2 + Skills 4 + Defenses 5 = Total 30
Complications
Design Notes
* The Owl is the primary spirit/ being that teaches Stalks from Shadow her gifts and acts as spirit guide in times of need.
* Although the inspiration (not inspire) requires Shadow to spend a HP, it functions just like any benefit that allows a character to roll or spend a HP for a special bonus to understand a situation.
* The owl can also lend aid in the form of Inspiration (as per the Advantage), Leadership (using the name of the advantage even if the descriptor is slightly different.