Rites
Hazer Tag
Level One, Mystic
The Ratkin have learned time and again that other shapeshifters, especially Garou, will blame them when things go wrong. This would not worry the Ratkin, except that some werewolves are also very good at tracking the rats back to their nests. This rite throws them off the Ratkin’s scent.
System: The Ratkin performs the rite over a sample of his own excrement before secreting it on an unaware patsy — often easier if the Ratkin uses droppings from his Rodens form. For (Gnosis) days, all attempts to locate the Ratkin will lead to the chosen patsy. Trackers using supernatural senses may find the Ratkin, but only if they roll more successes than the ritemaster.
Rite of the Birthing Plague
Level One, Mystic
Garou inherit a legacy of heroism; Ratkin receive a curse. During this rite, the Rat Totem leads the pack of wererats to their Kinfolk, and a solitary shapeshifter attacks and bites the victim, infecting her with the Birthing Plague. Ordinary humans and weak-blooded Kin die in agony; the strongest Kinfolk emerge as new Ratkin.
System: The ritual only affects Ratkin Kinfolk. After delivering the bite, the ritemaster rolls Wits + Rituals (difficulty 7). The victim must make a Stamina roll with a difficulty equal to (10 – the ritemaster’s successes) to survive the hallucinations, visions, and fevers of the Birthing Plague. If the target survives, roll one die. On a result of 8-10, the Kinfolk survives unscarred. 3-7 indicates that the victim survives, but with a new derangement. Only on a result of 1-2 (for humans) or 1 (for rats) does the victim emerge as Ratkin.
Fetishes
Standard Issue Sunglasses
Level One, Gnosis 6
The Ratkin get everywhere but tend to be twitchy and easily noticed in a crowd. An air-spirit bound into a cheap pair of sunglasses, this fetish helps deflect suspicion. These sunglasses make humans ignore the presence of the Ratkin as much as possible.
System: When the Ratkin activates the fetish she becomes practically invisible to humans, no matter what form she is in. Anyone looking for the Ratkin must make a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty of the fetish’s Gnosis); she needs to beat the Ratkin’s activation successes to find her.
Pain-Dagger
Level One, Gnosis 6
The Pain Dagger is a sacred blade crafted from something of significance to the Blade Slave and bound with a spirit of war, of disease, or of pain. It is an expression of the purity of a Ratkin’s devotion to the Warrior Aspect. The blade is only used in battle; once it is drawn, the Warrior’s pride is at stake. Only a Blade Slave can own and bond to a Pain Dagger — stealing one from a Warrior is tantamount to stealing a piece of their soul, and any non-Warrior to own a Pain Dagger will not live to know the prize they have stolen. The Blade Slave must treat the spirit inside the blade with respect or face a significant loss of Renown.
Drawing a Pain-Dagger takes a point of Gnosis, which automatically activates the fetish. It’s an easy weapon to use — the difficulty to attack with it is 5, and it deals Strength + 1 aggravated damage to anything except the wererat bonded to the Pain-Dagger.
Some Pain-Daggers allow the wererat to use a Charm of the spirit bound within. Each Charm increases the Pain Dagger’s level by one. The wererat must take two dots of the Fetish Background per Charm. Each use requires an activation roll for the fetish. Any of the following charms are available if the character has bound an appropriate spirit: Airt Sense, Armor, Blast, Create Fires, Create Wind, Freeze, Shatter Glass, Short Out, or Tracking. Use the successes on the activation roll in place of any required roll or spirit Traits — Armor or Freeze would use the successes in lieu of the spirit’s Rage or Gnosis, Shatter Glass or Tracking work as normal as long as the Fetish activation succeeds.
Merits
Gauntlet Runner
(2-pt. Merit)
The character is able to squeeze through the Gauntlet in the presence of any manner of company — even in front of a room full of human witnesses.
Backgrounds
Ratkin generally don’t have much in the way of Resources or Allies, and don’t have Ancestors or Pure Breed at all. Some wererats establish themselves under a permanent Totem, while others use a special rite to temporarily assume a Totem for the duration of only a single mission or quest, dissolving their bond to the spirit once their task is done
Secrets
| • | A small but noteworthy secret — a secret affair,a hidden sexual orientation, a minor crime. |
| •• | A moderate secret. The human identities of a Garou pack, the whereabouts of a criminal on the run, a significant crime, or evidence of two Garou sleeping together. Alternately, a few minor secrets. |
| ••• | A substantial secret, or equivalent amount of lessersecrets. A matter of life and death or utter ruination for someone. The location of a lost fetish that someone needs to stay lost. The identity of a murderer of one or more Fera. |
| •••• | A heavy secret, or equivalent amount of lesser secrets. The location of a national fugitive, a vampire’s “little black book” of contacts, the location of a Gurahl. |
| ••••• | An enormous secret, or equivalent amount of lesser secrets. A high-level Pentex plot. The location of a legendary cursed fetish. The secret weakness of an Incarna |