THE CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT

By Jack Skoda (jskoda@ims.advantis.com)

Forward: My group likes to play cross-over with the Vampire and Werewolf games, but we never could come up with a good reason for the two to co-operate toward a common goal. Even if the reqards of co-operation where enough to cause the two to get along, at the end of the game there was always 'the battle' where thing broke down. Playing BSD's never worked out either. I set up this lost tribe to be a non-ecowarrior werewolf...

The Children of the Night are a splinter group of garou. They have lost their connection to mainstream garou society and Gaia. The origin of this lost tribe is shrouded in mystery. Some members say that their ancestors were the recipients of a terrible gypsy curse. According to some stories the tribe originated in Slovenia, near the city of Bratislava. Scholars within the tribe have traced back bloodlines to this region, the earliest known Child appearing around the beginning of the renaissance. A certain story is told to the young and is known as 'the legend'. The legend suggests that the Children of the Night are the product of a vampire's medical experiments on wolves. This tribe has no contact with any other tribe. Other garou view them as minions of the wyrm or disgraced ronin. The children's association with vampires helps facilitate the stereotype placed on them by the other tribes. Meetings between children of the night and other tribes almost always end in bloodshed. Werewolves that are not of the tribe are called 'demon wolves'. The Children shun all contact with any of the other tribes. Even Black Spiral Dancers don't associate with children, mostly out of jealousy and mistrust. This tribe has no knowledge of the Litany or other Garou ways; they are complete outsiders.

On the other hand, children of the night have no trouble interacting with vampire society, especially with Tremere. The Tremere and the Children have always seemed to get along as far back as either side can remeber. This odd alliance adds credibility to the 'the Legend'. The friendships are not limited to the Tremere clan and Children of the Night interact well with virtually all the other clans. The one exception is the Gangrel. Children of the Night are suspicious of Gangrel, especially those gangrel that associate with demon wolves. Children of the Night have even been know to run in Sabbat packs.

Taking no side in the ecological and spiritual war that the other tribes fight leaves the Children of the Night without the ability to enter the Umbra. They gain no spiritual insights and have no Gnosis. All Children of the Night are born homid. The wolf side of their existence is unwanted and seen as a disease. Many cannot control their change or do not retain their memories between forms. Between all these disadvantages and the fact that all other werewolves are out to get them, the Children of the Night do have some advantanges. They do have longer life spans than normal mortals and get all of the physical benefits as do other tribes. The can associate freely with vampires and often do. They can learn the secrets of Thaumaturgy, if they find a willing teacher. The long term exposure to vampires has given the Children of the Night an immunity to blood-bonds. It is also not uncommon for children to have hightened psionic abilities.

Totem: None. The Children of the Night have lost touch with Garou theology and fall back into normal mainstream religions. A great many of them are devout Christians, mostly Catholic or Russian Orthodox. A trend that seems to have started recently is a movement toward Pagan or Satanic religions; some of the outposts have been taken over by these ideals and they are not safe places for humans or Children non-believers.

Wolf Form: Children are ususally average sized wolves with black coats and golden or red eyes. The non-human forms often look unkept, matted, or dirty. This stems from the self-loathing that some Children feel toward themselves.

Meetings and Moots: Children of the Night dont have moots. They don't need them. Most packs are in constant contact with each other. Pack to pack communications occurs only in the face of an emergency. Most packs also have a 'safe haven' which is a friend in an outpost who will take them in if their pack is in danger.

Habitat: These Garou, without the guidance of Gaia, have nearly all migrated into the cities. A few outposts exist in remote locations, mostly in the north-eastern United States. These outposts are usually small isolated New England towns where the entire population is Children of the Night and their kinfolk. Those that do move to the city form small packs and usually move all into the same neighborhood. They are less motivated by wealth than the Glass Walkers and usually fit into the white collar middle classes. Most cities have a close-knit pack of children all living within a few blocks of each other. The packs have very little to do with the outside world, the name of thier game is survival.

Protectorate: Themselves and their loved ones. This may seem a little self serving but Children of the Night only protect their own families, the brood the run with, and the causes they believe in.

Quote: "It is our lot in this world to live with a terrible disease. We seek the company of fellow monsters and band together against those that would destroy us. We watch the normal world go by and only interfere when it suits us. Leave us to our secrets, friends, and families and we shall leave you alive, maybe."

The Legend: The legend serves as a history of the tribe. Here is a brief synopsis of the story: a young couple that defies their parents orders and runs off to be together. They happen on a castle and are turned to wolves by the castle's owner. The castle's lord is rumored to get his power from the devil. The pair is forced to serve as guards. The wolves mate and produce human offspring. These children are taken in by the castle's owner and also turned to wolves and called Children of the Night. The inhabitants of a nearby village rise up against the lord and his demonic ways, killing him and setting the wolves free. The Children of the Night seek to join the villagers and are cast out, they turn to the forests only to be run out of them by fierce wolves and ghosts. Alone the family bands together and finds a secret valley, well away from men and wolf and there they build a village for themselves.

GURPS Mechanics

Children of the Night are based out of the Werewolf, Vampire, Bestiary, and Psionics supplements.

Garou package (W:tA pg 45) [228]
No Step Sideways [-60]
No Enemy:Wyrm [+80]
Enemy:All Garou [-40]
Extened Life Span / 1 level [+25]

Children of the Night package [233]
Cannot take the advantages: Past Lives; Extra Gnosis; Pure Breed; Totem Spirit; any Garou Gifts.
Children of the Night get 100 point to put toward psionics or magery (thaumaturgy) powers and skills. These point would have normally gone toward Gnosis-related advantages and garou gifts.

Some good disadvantages are triggered change (Auspice moon); uncontrollable change; amnesiatic change.

New Disadvantages:

Triggered Change: (auspice moon) -48. A Garou with this affliction changes form during her auspice moon. The garou always changes into the same form. The change occurs at sunset and the character returns to homid form at sunrise. For example: Taralyn is a ragabash with the triggered change disadvantage, on the first evening of the new moon, at sunset she changes to crinos. At sunrise she will regain her human form. She can't change at will and cant select other forms.

Amnesiatic Change: -15. A garou with this disadvantage does not retain the memories of the other forms.