By Timothy Toner (thanatos@interaccess.com), for the Mumblers camp.
Gnawers with this Gift effectively cut out the middleman. By babbling out a plethora of disparate dissonant and assonant syllables, they try to evoke the effect of true name manipulation. There is no rhyme or reason. All they do is speak words, and observe the effect it has on the target. No attempt is made to record the proper combination for future reference, since most Gnawers think such actions diminish the flexibility of the Gift.
To use the Gift, the Gnawer must create an image of the object in its changed state in her mind. After this is done, and described beforehand in as much detail as possible, the Gnawer begins to talk about the object, and talk about changing the object, and talk about the obstacles to changing the object. As before, this seems to be an audible babbling, but a casual observer can pick up on the nature of the message (it seems to be about an object in the area. To notice that the object is changing in accordance to the Gnawers words requires an Intelligence + Alertness roll, diff 8. Otherwise, a viewer notices no change, and merely assumes the Gnawer is describing the existing object).
One of the more frustrating aspects of this Gift is that humanity has become far too complex in the way it views objects. Cars are not cars; they are an agglomeration of disparate parts, consisting of tires, glass, a metal bodyframe, consisting of 4 doors, which consists of...etc. Sometimes this complex outlook infects the Gnawer, and works against successful application of the power. To avoid taking it all in, a Gnawer, as soon as the image is created, must convince himself that it is wholly one object. To do this, he rolls Perception + Appropriate skill (diff 5). The appropriate skill depends on the object being changes, and to what depth the character understands the object. Thus, to change something mechanical would take Mechanics. If the character possesses no appropriate skill, Alertness is used. In any event, the full dice pool must be rolled. For every success scored, the Gnawer must spend 1 point of Gnosis to change the object. Thus, ignorance of an object is bliss.
One way of avoiding this is merely to spend a single willpower point, gaining the necessary autosuccess. This indicates the Gnawer is deeply focussed, and needs only spend one gnosis to create the effect.
Of course, the gnawer can choose to affect a smaller part of an object, in the hopes of simplifying the effect. In that case, the ST must decide what level the difficulty of the Per+Skill roll should be raised to reflect the more general application. Thus, asking that only a car engine would change would be a +1 diff, since everybody knows that an engine consists of a block, pistons, plugs, oil, etc., while a car hood would probably be a +3, since it is such a simple object. Realize, however, that some basic understanding of the object must be made (one success), or else the power does not function.
Once the gnosis is spent, the object starts changing in reference to the words spoken, and, more importantly, how they are spoken. The Gnawer rolls Wits + Appropriate skill (see above) diff 7. The more successes gained, the more successful the effect was.
| Success | Effect |
| 1 | Simple, minute changes in the overall composition of the object. Enough to make an owner doubt ownership of an object. Scratches can be made or removed, finishes can be tarnished or buffed. Strictly cosmetic. |
| 2 | Color can be changed, as well as inducement or reduction of decay. The efficiency of the object can be raised or lowered by 1 diff (gun works better or worse. |
| 3 | Objects can be reshaped at will, taking on new forms and patterns. Shapes will be rough, and someone will tell immediately the change was not natural. However, a 2 ounce rubber ball remains 2 ounces of rubber, regardless. This greatly enhances or diminishes the effectiveness of an object (+/- 2 diff to use) |
| 4 | The object becomes putty in the mind of the Gnawer. A block of brass, steel, and gunpowder becomes bullets. Further, bullets in a gun will reduce to their composite parts in the clip. Objects changed take on a worked finish. Given enough time to chatter, the Garou can change a mass of raw materials, and turn it into a VCR. An object can be incredibly ravaged, taking on a +3 difficulty. Improving beyond -2 becomes difficult, unless the object was already damaged. In that case, the maximum improvement is base diff of new object +2. |
| 5 | At this level, the Garou has tapped into the raw essence of the name, and can completely rename an object. Given enough time to babble, anything is possible, from creating a loaded gun out of thin air, to turning a door into Big Macs. However, something cannot be made from nothing. If something is made out of "thin air," there is a noticeable whump, as air rushes in to replace the air which has become the object. As always, the more complex an object, the longer it takes to fully describe it, and thus the longer it takes to form. |
Living matter can be fashioned by use of this power, but because all thing have an inherent name that binds them to their state, this first must be divined and defeated before the object can be manipulated. The Garou must first get 3 successes to learn the name, then must reapply the power to gain control over the object. If the object moves out of line of sight, or drastically changes state (taking 3 levels of damage counts) enough to warrant a "name" change, the Gnawer must start from scratch. All difficulty penalties or bonuses are applied to all the rolls the creature makes.
How long does it take? Usually this is left to the storyteller, but a good rule is three minutes for each success. Remember that this must be uninterrupted talking, and any interruptions halt the object at its current level of change.
The effect lasts until the next time the user's auspice shines in the heavens.