Gnosis

Using Gnosis

Much as Rage fuels battle and the physical world, the uses of Gnosis tend toward affecting insight and
the spirit world.

• Rage and Gnosis: A player cannot use both Rage and Gnosis in the same turn, whether spending
points or rolling the Trait. The only exceptions are certain Gifts that demand both to function. These
two forces are very powerful, and the Garou’s body is not strong enough to pull the power from these
two natures simultaneously. For example, a werewolf cannot spend Rage for multiple actions and
activate a fetish in the same turn.

• Carrying Silver: For every object made of or containing silver that a character is carrying, she loses
one effective point from her Gnosis rating. More potent objects will cause the character to lose more.
Luckily, this effect is only temporary, and it lasts only a day after the silver is discarded. More
information on the effects of silver is on p. 256.

• Using Gifts: Many of the Gifts the spirits have bestowed upon faithful Garou call for Gnosis
expenditures and/or rolls.

• Fetishes: Gnosis is used to attune or activate fetishes. The majority of fetishes are crafted from
natural materials (wood, hide, bone, clay), although this is more a preference of most spirits than a
hard rule — Glass Walkers, in particular, tend to bind spirits that prefer more modern, technological
housing. Few fetishes are nondescript; Garou adorn them with carved river stones, feathers, beads, and
other markings to honor and appease the spirit within.

To use a fetish, the Garou must first attune herself to it by making a Gnosis roll. The difficulty for this
roll is the fetish’s Gnosis rating. Attunement establishes a spiritual bond between fetish and user,
enabling the Garou to take the fetish anywhere in the Tellurian and providing instinctive
understanding of the fetish’s powers. Only a single success is required to attune to the fetish; failure
indicates that the fetish has rejected the character. Another roll may not be attempted until the
werewolf has somehow reached accord with the resident spirit. Attunement also effectively
“dedicates” a fetish to its wielder, as though the Rite of Talisman Dedication had been performed on
it. Since fetishes have their own Gnosis, an attuned fetish doesn’t count against the maximum number
of objects a werewolf can have dedicated to him.

Each time the wielder wishes to use one of the fetish’s powers, the player must make a Gnosis roll
(difficulty equal to the fetish’s Gnosis rating) to “activate” the power. Alternatively, she may simply
spend a Gnosis point to activate the power automatically. Rage may not be spent during the same turn
in which a fetish is activated.

• Walking Between Worlds: To step sideways, a werewolf needs to meditate on a highly reflective
surface, such as a clear pool of water or a mirror. When a character attempts this, roll that character’s
Gnosis; the difficulty is the strength of the local Gauntlet. The Gauntlet is strongest near certain types
of environments; every place on Earth has a Gauntlet rating between 2 and 9.
Gauntlet Chart

Area Difficulty Rating

Science lab 9
Inner city, downtown 8
Average city street 7
Rural countryside 6
Deep wilderness 5
Urban caern 5
Active caern 4
Powerful caern 3
Greatest caerns 2

Some shapeshifters cannot attempt this or have different methods for crossing the Gauntlet. The time it
takes to enter the Umbra depends on the number of successes on this Gnosis roll.

Successes Shift Time

Botch “Caught”
0 Failure (wait another hour before trying again)
One 5 minutes
Two 30 seconds
Three+ Instantly

If the roll is botched, the werewolf is “caught” in the Gauntlet, temporarily suspended between the
mundane Realm and the Umbra. He’s held in a web the Weaver has woven until assisted by another
Garou. Half of him is spiritual, and half is physical. While trapped, he’s subjected to soul-shattering
visions. Although the werewolf cannot be seen or attacked by physical entities (like human beings),
evil spirits wander the Gauntlet looking for trapped and vulnerable travelers. Another werewolf can
attempt to free the traveler by making a successful roll to step sideways; otherwise, the Garou must
wait in his shameful, dishonorable, and dangerous state for an hour before trying again. If that second
roll botches, he cannot leave on his own. Until he’s rescued, he’s trapped there forever.

Garou who have learned the Theurge Gift: Pulse of the Invisible don’t need to use a reflective object
when stepping sideways; they can enter at will. Even blind werewolves can enter the Umbra, as long
as they know that Gift. (At the Storyteller’s discretion, carrying your own reflective object may make
stepping sideways slightly more difficult, since the object isn’t “anchored” to its surroundings; in these
cases, increase the difficulty by 1.)

Werewolves in a pack may choose one among them to lead them into the Umbra; that individual
makes the Gnosis roll for all of them. (It’s usually the werewolf with the highest Gnosis, who may in
this instance act as the temporary alpha of the pack.) If the pack is caught, however, the shapechangers
can make their second attempts as individuals. Usually, the roll succeeds; all the pack’s members
arrive at the same time. All of the pack members must be capable of stepping sideways, and they must
all be willing. Garou (or other shapechangers) who are not part of the pack cannot travel with them;
they must travel through on their own. However, Garou with the Theurge Gift: Grasp the Beyond can
take non-Garou with them into the Umbra.
Gaining and Regaining Gnosis

Characters can regain their Gnosis in several ways.

• Meditation: When a character takes time to center himself and reconnect with the Sacred Mother on
a personal level, he can sometimes regain Gnosis. The character must spend at least an hour in one
place, focusing on his deeply spiritual side. The player rolls Wits + Enigmas (difficulty 8). For each
success, the character regains one Gnosis point, up to a maximum of one point per hour of meditation;
additional successes are lost. A Garou can only meditate to regain Gnosis once per day. The difficulty
increases by one for each extra day a character attempts it in the same week, to a maximum difficulty
of 10. The spirits are gracious, but not always generous.

• Sacred Hunt: The Sacred Hunt is one of the most frequently performed activities at Garou moots.
The chosen prey — an Engling — is summoned and then hunted down. This activity can be done in
either the Umbra or on Earth. After the prey has been caught and “killed,” werewolves who have taken
part in the hunt give thanks to the spirit for the gift of its life. All who participate in the hunt replenish
their Gnosis pools completely. See p. 371 for more information on Englings.

• Bargaining with Spirits: Ritual hunts are not the only way to get Gnosis out of a spirit; the soft sell
can work just as well. A werewolf can simply ask a spirit to share some of its Gnosis. The character
must be able to speak in the spirit language through the use of a Gift or similar. The spirit may ask the
character to perform some task before it shares its life force with the Garou. Once the bargain is
completed, the spirit spends an amount of Essence, and the werewolf gains that many points of
Gnosis.
• Between Stories: In the downtime between new tales, the players can make a Charisma + Enigmas
roll to regain some Gnosis. Each success on this roll refreshes one point of Gnosis.