Shadow Lord Ragabash?
Alik Widge
and I began pondering how the various tribe/auspice combinations work
together. The above-mentioned combination really threw me, though -- I
can't figure out how you combine a relentless drive to succeed and be
master of all with a trickster/questioner archetype.
There's a story in Hengeyokai about a Hakken who laughs at everything, and
that seems close, but the Hakken aren't really Shadow Lords. Suggestions?
Alik
Sakura
Alik Widge <alik....@dartmouth.edu> wrote:
>I'm finally getting around to reading the 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players' Guide,
>and I began pondering how the various tribe/auspice combinations work
>together. The above-mentioned combination really threw me, though -- I
>can't figure out how you combine a relentless drive to succeed and be
>master of all with a trickster/questioner archetype.
Questioning, etc could be the Raga's method of getting control - make the
opposition doubt themselves, and they will be less effective. Similarly,
their tricks would be aimed at decreasing the target's control (and
thereby increasing their own.) The Raga Shadow Lord could be the Devil's
Advocate, exposing every hole in a plan or a defense, challenging every
assumption.
Remember, the 'trickster' archetype need not mean 'prankster'. Odysseus
is a great example of this - he used his wits to get out of situations
more often than he used his brawn. A SL Raga could be built on such a
model - still every inch the driven warrior, but a warrior of the mind
rather than a tower of furry frenzy like a typical Get Ahroun.
J
--
Hostes aliengeni me abduxerent. Jeff Johnston - je...@io.com
Qui annus est? http://www.io.com/~jeffj
Kioma Winterwolf
> can't figure out how you combine a relentless drive to succeed and be
> master of all with a trickster/questioner archetype.
Well, here's a possibility:
Name: Ivan 'Laughs-at-Misfortunes' Skankovich
Breed: Homid
Auspice: Ragabash
Tribe: Shadow Lord
Nature: Visionary
Demeanor: Director
History
-------
Ivan Skankovich grew up in the poorer part of New York City, raised by an
embittered Russian widow, his Kinfolk mother. Their home was bordering on
a slum and his mother had to hold down three jobs to keep the two of them
fed. Ivan remembers his childhood as blurred years of hunger, fear of God
and incredible torment. He struggled through school positively tortured by
his classmates, a skinny, timid boy with no self-confidence. The torment
didn't stop there, but followed him into his early secondary school years
until finally he snapped. Two children had cornered him in the school's
single chemistry lab and were teasing him about his mother (who was dying
in hospital of pneumonia at the time), when he picked up a jar of sulfuric
acid and broke it over one of the boys' heads. The other was treated to a
flurry of kicks, punches, scratches and bites that left him with severe
bruising and three broken ribs.
The children of his school would have been happy to leave him alone after
that but Ivan, his natural drive coming to the fore at last, began to
needle and worry them until he had collected together a sizeable band of
followers, with which he began to terrorize the school. His sardonic humor
and quick wit made a fool of any child who stood in his way.
His First Change came about with the death of his mother, who had been
hanging in for several years. Mad with grief, he Frenzied and tore a large
part of his neighborhood up before being found and subdued (quite forcibly)
by a wandering pack of Bone Gnawers. Delivered to a Shadow Lord who would
serve as his mentor for his introduction to Garou life, Ivan earned his
name by constantly ridiculing and pestering those who fell behind or
slacked off in their duties or development, spurring them on to greater
efforts (usually).
Ivan sailed through his Rite of Passage like a knife through air. He
quickly established himself as Alpha of the pack of timid, uncertain Garou,
and led them on to earn a surprising amount of glory in the eyes of the
Sept.
Notes
-----
You are a hard-headed man, driven to control your surroundings as much as
possible - after all, so many Garou seem to be making bad choices,
desicions not even the dumbest of your pack would dare contemplate!
Reserve your tricks for when someone needs teaching a serious lesson, and
then let your dark, quick wit do its work. Ridicule those who show
weakness - it's the only way they will learn to be better, and Gaia knows
they need it!
-----------------
> There's a story in Hengeyokai about a Hakken who laughs at everything,
and
> that seems close, but the Hakken aren't really Shadow Lords. Suggestions?
Indeed not. Hakken ARE what the Shadow Lords CLAIM to be. :) As you
might've guessed, I'm not fond of Shadow Lords, but they have their place.
Kioma
--
"Human hurt Gaia, catch him, rip him to pieces!"
-- Original Red Talon quote, W:tA Rulebook (1st Ed.)
none
P
Alik Widge wrote:
> I'm finally getting around to reading the 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players' Guide,
> and I began pondering how the various tribe/auspice combinations work
> together. The above-mentioned combination really threw me, though -- I
> can't figure out how you combine a relentless drive to succeed and be
> master of all with a trickster/questioner archetype.
>
> There's a story in Hengeyokai about a Hakken who laughs at everything, and
> that seems close, but the Hakken aren't really Shadow Lords. Suggestions?
>
> Alik
Wanderer
>I'm finally getting around to reading the 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players' Guide,
>and I began pondering how the various tribe/auspice combinations work
>together. The above-mentioned combination really threw me, though -- I
>can't figure out how you combine a relentless drive to succeed and be
>master of all with a trickster/questioner archetype.
>
Well, there are two ways offhand ...
1.) Ragabash are the questioners of the ways ... so to succeed as a
questioner of the ways, one must question *all* ways ... but especially the
ways of other tribes.
2.) Question the ways of one's superiors ... then, when one *is* the
superior, one may question one's own ways ... alone.:>
Yours imaginatively,
The fast-thinking,
Wanderer**wand...@applink.net
Where am I going?I don't quite know.
What does it matter where people go?
Down to the woods where the bluebells grow.
Anywhere! Anywhere! *I*don't know!
caps...@geocities.com
alik....@dartmouth.edu (Alik Widge) wrote:
> I'm finally getting around to reading the 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players' Guide,
> and I began pondering how the various tribe/auspice combinations work
> together. The above-mentioned combination really threw me, though -- I
> can't figure out how you combine a relentless drive to succeed and be
> master of all with a trickster/questioner archetype.
Simple. Think of the Ragabash not just as the tricksters but as the spies and
you're on the right track. I played a SL Ragabash for a long time, and had a
blast with her. Her "tricks" tended to involve manipulating people into
thinking she was far more stupid and gullible than she was, and as a result,
digging up all the dirt in the sept. She even had the Silver Fang sept leader
believing she had a mad crush on him.
*evil grin*
Trickster doesn't = light-hearted.
Lori
--
Home: http://anima.home.ml.org
"If nobody else was violent, I could conquer the whole
stupid planet
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Trickster
>
> I'm finally getting around to reading the 2nd Ed. Werewolf Players' Guide,
> and I began pondering how the various tribe/auspice combinations work
> together. The above-mentioned combination really threw me, though -- I
> can't figure out how you combine a relentless drive to succeed and be
> master of all with a trickster/questioner archetype.
>
> that seems close, but the Hakken aren't really Shadow Lords. Suggestions?
>
they were a major part of the intrigue of my 3 and a 1/2 year Vampire
game set in New Orleans as well.
I believe that a SL Ragabash could take many, many forms. I will
list a few off the top of my head.
1. A SL ragabash thief with a thick russian accent. He uses his
accent to put people at ease, then steal from them liberally. Think
pickpocket meets Yackoff (sp) Sminoff.
2. A SL warrior who has high Rank, and uses this power to demean
lower Garou with petty and cruel insults. The "trickster" part of his
auspice would be expressed in his ability to cause the lessers to doubt
themselves.
3. Read the SL book. There is a killer Ragabash story at the
beginning of one of the chapters. Good example.
4. A SL ragabash could attend court, play the fool, always using
his jokes and pranks to alleviate any suspiscion. Then, (since Truth of
Gaia would catch him in most cases), he could leak information back to
the court, rather than taking a great deal of information *away* from it.
5. A SL ragabash could act much like the early Savage Dragon
issues (sorry, I used to love that comic!). He was one bad dude, but when
he was kciking the crap out of you, he also mocked you at the same time.
verrrry demoralizing.
6. A SL ragabash could pass himself off as the fun guy, the guy
that all the younger Garou love to party with. He could get them stuff
that other elders wouldn't even suggest, much less allow. Then, he could
have the next egenration in his pocket, knowing all the dirty things they
did as pups and also knowing their likes and dislikes in order to tempt
them.
There, that's five off the top of my head and a tribebook
reference. I figure they're good examples of a Ragabsh who still plays
the SL dominance game, and keeps within their auspice.
Hope it helps!
Trickster