Metis Deformities

This list provides a number of possible deformities for Garou or Bastet metis characters to take. Note that only Garou and Bastet metis take unique deformities. Other Changing Breeds that have metis breeds are either not deformed (Kitsune, for example) or all bear a similar deformity (Ratkin and Ajaba, for example).

• Albino: You suffer from extreme albinism: your eyes are red, and your hair and skin are pale white. You sunburn easily and must wear protective clothing in the harsh sunlight or else overlong exposure can cause you damage. Your eyes are very sensitive to light; you must wear sunglasses or risk a loss to your Dice Pool when acting in sunshine or bright light.
  
  
• Bad Sight: Your sight is defective; there is a +2 difficulty to any dice roll where good eyesight is essential. You do not receive the Lupus form Perception bonus. This disfigurement is neither nearsightedness or farsightedness; it is a minor form of blindness, and is not correctable.
  
  
• Bestial Reflection: You have a strange and mystical disfigurement: you reflect only your natural breed form (Crinos) in all mirrored surfaces, no matter what form you are wearing. This makes it extremely hard to pass unnoticed in human society, but many Philodoxes and Theurges believe it a sign of your inner honesty.
  
  
• Blind: You automatically fail all dice rolls involving vision. You cannot see -- the world of color and light is lost to you. You receive three bonus freebie points for this disfigurement.
  
  
• Brain Damage: You were born with noticeable levels of dysfunction of the brain. Consequently, you are "slow" in your processes: add +2 difficulty to all Mental rolls. Your sense of equilibrium also suffers, adding +1 difficulty to Dexterity-based rolls. Philodoxes often keep an eye on you to make sure you don't pull a "Of Mice and Men". Taking this disfigurement grants a bonus of three freebie points.
  
  
• Cleft Lip: A split in your upper palate malforms the front of your mouth. This cleft gives you a slight speech impediment and detracts from your appearance. For some Garou, this isn't much of a problem. For Galliards, however, it may be a major handicap. Add two to the difficulties of Social rolls involving performance (especially singing) or seduction.
  
  
• Deaf: You cannot hear sound and automatically fail any rolls that require hearing. You receive one bonus freebie point for this disfigurement.
  
  
• Fragile Claws: Your natural weaponry is faulty; if you botch a slashing attack, you risk doing damage to yourself as your claws break off. Claws may grow back, but it takes weeks. When a character with this disfigurement rakes someone, he risks losing some claws. On a botch, claws break and fall out (how many is up to the Storyteller; generally one per wound level he would have inflicted on his foe, up to a maximum of five per hand).
  
  
• Gauntleted: Garou only. Your disfigurement is spiritual in nature; you find the Gauntlet harder to cross at all times. The Gauntlet rating is always 2 higher (maximum 10) for you.
  
  
• Hairless: Your body hair is mangy, patchy, or totally nonexistent. You take extra damage from cold and suffer from constant sniffles. In homid form, you look odd. In wolf form, you look downright vile. Dice Pools for Social rolls are reduced by one unless you are trying to intimidate someone. You may not take the Pure Breed Background.
  
  
• Hard of Hearing: Your hearing is defective. There is a +2 difficulty on any dice roll where hearing is important. You do not receive the Lupus form Perception bonus.
  
  
• Hooves: You have cloven feet when in Crinos form, and resemble a satyr out of Greek mythology. You receive no bonus or negative modifiers on movement, but are at +1 difficulty on most Social rolls among Garou -- hooves are for prey, not predators.
  
  
• Horn: You have a horn or horns sticking out of your head. This can be a unicorn-style horn (in which case, the Children of Gaia may respect you) or two knobby goat horns.
  
  
• Human Face: You retain your human face in wolf and near-wolf forms; your senses remain at the human level, and you look disgusting. Most Garou who do not know you will be horrified and might assume that you're a fomor or Black Spiral Dancer.
  
  
• Hunchback: Your back is bent; the difficulties of all Dexterity and Social rolls are increased by one.
  
  
• Hyperactive: You suffer the lycanthropic equivalent to ADHD. You can't sit still and are constantly moving, talking, doing. You are also constantly not paying attention. Despite this being a metis disfigurement, Elders have little patience for this kind of behavior. You'll either suffer Honor and Wisdom penalties or be given menial tasks to fulfill during solemn rituals. You yourself can barely execute rites and anything else requiring concentration and focus for more than one turn of action. In fact, you must roll Willpower (difficulty 5) or bounce off to some other activity.
  
  
• Hyper Senses: Your sensory abilities are stronger than those of other Garou. Lower all difficulties related to sensory input by two. However, characters with hypersensitivity may be injured temporarily by sudden powerful stimuli, such as blinding lights or explosions. The Storyteller should not hesitate to play up the bad side of this disfigurement.
  
  
• Lame: Your legs do not work effectively. There is a +2 difficulty to all rolls where movement is important, even in wolf or near-wolf forms.
  
  
• Loose Teeth: Your natural weaponry is faulty; if you botch a biting attack, you risk doing damage to yourself as your teeth break off. Garou teeth will grow back over time (about a month), but a character with Loose Teeth ought to avoid biting people. Unfortunately, Garou in a frenzy tend to forget about little things like this. When a character with this disfigurement bites someone, he risks losing some teeth. On a botch, teeth break and fall out (how many is up to the Storyteller; generally one per wound level he would have inflicted on his foe).
  
  
• Madness: Your curse has unhinged your mind, and you suffer from hallucinations, manic-depression, paranoia, a split-personality, or worse. Under stress, you must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 5) or succumb to your Derangement. This can be fun for the Storyteller and hell on the pack.
  
  
• Malformed Limbs: One or two limbs are gnarled and withered. Add two to the difficulties of all Dexterity rolls, and reduce movement speed by half in Lupus and Hispo forms (and possibly the other forms as well, if the character's legs are malformed).
  
  
• Malformed Tail: Your tail is stubby, overlong, or nonexistent. Though this deformity isn't obvious in Homid form, it induces chronic lower-back problems and a marred sense of balance. Add one to the difficulties of Social rolls when in wolf or near-wolf forms among Garou, and add one to Dexterity-based difficulties.
  
  
• Mange: Your fur falls out in clumps; your skin itches incessantly; your skin shows through in red rashes beneath whatever hair you do have. In short, you're nasty. Add two to all Social difficulties unless looking ragged adds to the effect.
  
  
• Mashed Face: Your nose and jaws look almost flat, even in Homid form. This not only looks odd, it makes breathing difficult. Your nose runs and your eyes water constantly. Reduce your Stamina Dice Pools by two dice for acts that demand endurance or clear breathing. This is more common among Bastet metis, but some Tribes (like Fianna) have been known to demonstrate this disfigurement.
  
  
• Misshapen Jaw: Closing your mouth completely is impossible -- your jaw juts off at an angle and your teeth poke inward, outward, or both. This makes biting and chewing difficulty (+1 difficulty) and really interferes with Social situations. Drool hangs from your lower lip and you bite your tongue on a regular basis. Reduce all Social Dice Pools by one and keep a napkin handy.
  
  
• Monstrous: There is something wholly monstrous about you, something that makes you hideous in the eyes of fellow Garou. Your Homid form scarcely looks human and your Crinos and Lupus forms look horrendous; in what manner you differ from the norm is up to you. Perhaps you have taken on the features of a reptilian animal and appear as as creature of the Wyrm to certain literal-minded Garou. Your Appearance is 0.
  
  
• Musk: Your body secretes a heavy pheromone; it may take the form of a predator's scent, overpowering sweat, or an ever-present stink of fear. The difficulties of all Social rolls are increased by one when the character deals with humans, or by two when he confronts animals or Garou. Depending on the nature of the scent, the character may be considered dangerous or cowardly, even if he is neither.
  
  
• Mute: Your vocal apparatus does not function, and you cannot speak at all. You can communicate through other means, typically writing or signing.
  
  
• No Claws: You have no claws and can't inflict aggravated damage with claw attacks; this deformity is worth a bonus freebie point as if were a serious Physical Flaw (which it is).
  
  
• Nocturnal: Most predators are nocturnal; Garou and Bastet certainly are. Your disfigurement heightens this natural tendency to up at night. You're so nocturnal that you can function only with stiff distraction by day. You suffer +1 difficulty to all rolls during the day.
  
  
• No Teeth: You have no teeth and cannot inflict aggravated damage with bite attacks; this deformity is worth a bonus freebie point as if were a serious Physical Flaw (which it is).
  
  
• One Arm: You have only one arm (choose which or randomly determine at character generation). It is assumed you are accustomed to using your remaining hand, so there is no off-hand penalty. However, there is a +2 difficulty increase to any dice roll where two hands would normally be needed to perform a task.
  
  
• One Eye: You have only one eye (choose which or randomly determine at character generation). You have no peripheral vision on your blind side, and a +2 difficulty is added to rolls where a situation involves depth perception. This includes rolls for missile combat.
  
  
• Oversized Limbs: Your limbs are disproportionate to the rest of your body. Perhaps you have gorilla arms or kangaroo legs. Your balance is off kilter, and you look "odd" to others. The difficulties of all Dexterity and Social rolls are increased by one.
  
  
• Palsy: You suffer some inherent palsy and often shake uncontrollably. Typically, one or two parts of the body are almost always spasming, such as an arm, leg, or the face. Regardless of which parts of the body are affected, you suffer a +2 difficulty to all Dexterity-based checks. Depending on the nature of the palsy, you may also suffer a +1 difficulty to all Social rolls.
  
  
• Puny: You are of extremely small stature or scrawny build. You have Short Flaw and you do not have a Hurt Health Level. You receive a lot of bullying from Ahrouns.
  
  
• Serpent's Tongue: Your tongue resembles a snake's tongue, long and thin with a fork at the end. Many Garou see this as a taint of the Wyrm, and will treat you badly.
  
  
• Sickly: While you can recover from injuries well enough, you lack the constitution of most Garou. You're constantly catching colds and are as susceptible to all forms of disease and infection as normal wolves or humans.
  
  
• Silver Sensitivity: Your susceptibility to silver is worse than that of other Garou. Silver does an additional level of damage per turn of contact. If you carry anything made of silver, your Gnosis is reduced double the normal amount. Prolonged exposure to a large quantity of raw silver will make you ill even if you don't touch it. However, this disfigurement allows you to sense the presence of silver by the appearance of a rash or blisters on your skin; roll Perception+Medicine (difficulty 8) to detect silver. This will not tell where the silver is, just that the metal is near.
  
  
• Sluggish Regeneration: This dangerous disfigurement slows your character's ability to recover from injury. It takes two turns to regenerate one Health Level of lethal or bashing damage. It takes two days to regenerate one Health Level of aggravated damage. Battle Scars occur more frequently (add +5 to all checks for Battle Scars).
  
  
• Third Eye: You have a bizarre disfigurement: a third eye on your forehead. You have a +1 difficulty on any rolls involving appearance, and receive no Perception bonuses. However, some mystical Garou may treat you with respect. Whether or not your third eye can be trained to see mystical things is up to the Storyteller.
  
  
• Tongueless: You were born without a tongue. In addition to being mute (c.f.), the sense of taste is lost to you. Bastet suffer more: their unique sense of "distant taste and smell", called the Padaa, cannot function properly without a tongue, and Bastet lose their Perception bonuses in Feline forms. If you're Garou, you can take one extra freebie point for this disfigurement. It's worth two extra freebies for Bastet.
  
  
• Tough Hide: Poor you. Though your warty skin is resistant to damage (+1 to soak rolls), it is hot, uncomfortable, and ugly. You itch all the time. Your Appearance can never be higher than one and you add two to the difficulty of all Social rolls.
  
  
• Whiskerless: Bastet only. This seemingly minor handicap actually interferes with your spatial relations, throws off your depth perception, and leaves you a little off-balance. Whenever your Bastet is in Crinos, Chatro, or Feline form, increase the difficulty of all Dexterity rolls by two. Perception rolls are reduced the same amount, but only if they involve noticing something within reach (trying to find your way around in total darkness, as opposed to trying to spot a distant friend). On top of the penalties, a werecat without whiskers just looks odd. Bastet and cats will feel uncomfortable around one without whiskers, and may react badly to your presence.
  
  
• Winged: A pair of vestigial, twisted wings sprout from your back in all forms. Obviously, this will make it hard to blend into humanity. They also cause chronic back pains, adding +1 to all Dexterity-based difficulties. You'll have to customize your clothing for these wings. Note that these wings do not allow you to fly, of course, but can add a die to Dice Pools used for Gifts of flight, like Spirit of the Bird. Your wings can be leathery like a bat's or feathered like a bird's.
  
  
• Wolf Signs: No matter what you do, you cannot hide the signs of the Crinos predator from your other forms. Even in Homid or Lupus, you come across as dangerous and even supernatural. Your hair grows wild and shaggy, an animalistic musk pervades your persona, and a killer's gleam always burns brightly in your eyes. This adds +2 difficulty to all Social rolls except Intimidation. Worse, werewolf hunters will cue in on these signs and may track you down faster than other Garou.