Please help to flesh out a Werewolf Revised story

[tcrudisi]

Prior to a couple of weeks ago, I had not picked up any of my WoD books in years. I have just been feeling a strong desire to play. Well, to be honest, that's not going to happen. But running? I could probably find a way to ST a game.

Normally I struggle with the overarching plot. What's the main idea? I'm good about letting the players fill in the gaps, or making up the details as it goes along. The problem is that, this time, I've got the overarching plot ... but no idea how to go about it. This is where you come in. Would you be so kind as to help me, please?

It will start off as a Werewolf game. I'm actually thinking that they'll be rank 2 or 3. The apocalypse hasn't happened yet, but it's damn close. Some elders have figured out that they are going to lose. It's not even a matter of the tribes coming together for the final battle - even with their combined forces, they are destined to fail. So they got together and started pitching ideas to each other. Crazy idea after crazy idea was floated until one of them mentioned reconciling with the other shifter breeds.

He was laughed at, of course. They are all dead, having been slaughtered by the werewolves so long ago.

But ... what if? What if they aren't all dead? The Corax are rumored to be alive; they sometimes make an appearance at moots, though these particular elders have never seen one. What about others? Is it possible?

To that end, they have tasked the party with finding the other shifter breeds. Specifically the Ratkin, Mokole, Corax, Gurahl and Bastet. (Why those? Well, those happen to be the books that I own. heh) Their objective? To convince each breed to have a representative of their kind to join a pack - 1 of each shifter breed (including werewolf). Can these shifter breeds all work together in a more efficient way to help stop the Wyrm's eventual victory? Can this pack begin the process of healing the relations between their breed and the werewolves?

Each player would play a different breed. So there would be 1 Ratkin, 1 Mokole, 1 Corax, 1 Gurahl, 1 Bastet, and 1 Werewolf in the pack. Yeah, that's completely screwed up. I'm not normally one for cross-overs, but at least this one has the reason why built in and it doesn't involve things like Changelings or Vampires (at least as PC's, though I don't normally even throw them in as bad guys because I detest cross-overs that much).

That is what I have. The question then, is how to proceed? What should the wolves have to do to find these different breeds? Each breed is going to be different and have a different set of challenges, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how, exactly, they could go about doing this. After all, they've remained successfully hidden for a reason.

And then what? They've finished the prologue, ditched their werewolf characters, and created new shifters. What kind of challenges would a pack like this face? It's so vastly different that I'm not sure where to go with it.

I really like the overall idea, I'm just struggling to fill in the details. Help, please!

[SaurOps]

This might help. (http://whitewolfblogs.com/w20/2013/06/29/deluxe-changing-breeds-full-text/)

[illyahr]

Why are you trying to defeat the Wyrm? The Wyrm is only doing its job. Defeat the Weaver as it's the one that is screwing everything up. They Wyrm's job was initially the same as the cleansing wildfire that clears away dead overgrowth or the flood that brings in new silt. It could very well be that the Black Spiral Dancers are the good guys trying to save the cosmic order and the Gaians are the ones that are causing the apocalypse. Just a thought. :smallwink:

[Driderman]

As I see it, one of the major reasons why the Garou will inevitably lose the battle of the Apocalypse is that most of them have no understanding of what battle it is that they should be fighting if they want to win. The Ratkin approach is probably a lot closer to something that would actually work (curb the weaver, restore balance of the triad) but then again, the real problem of the Apocalypse is that by now it's such a mess that any attempt to actually resolve the major issues that factor into it will have so many unforseen and uncontrollably repercussions that it'll just add to the problem rather than the solution. Unless something radical and game-changing that none of the Fera has thought of yet is introduced to the equation, Team Gaia lost around the time the Impergium was started, or stopped, depending on your philosophy..

[illyahr]

As I see it, one of the major reasons why the Garou will inevitably lose the battle of the Apocalypse is that most of them have no understanding of what battle it is that they should be fighting if they want to win. The Ratkin approach is probably a lot closer to something that would actually work (curb the weaver, restore balance of the triad) but then again, the real problem of the Apocalypse is that by now it's such a mess that any attempt to actually resolve the major issues that factor into it will have so many unforseen and uncontrollably repercussions that it'll just add to the problem rather than the solution. Unless something radical and game-changing that none of the Fera has thought of yet is introduced to the equation, Team Gaia lost around the time the Impergium was started, or stopped, depending on your philosophy..

I view it the same way. Stopping the apocolypse is impossible by now. The best that can be done is to batten down the hatches and some damage control.

[SaurOps]

Why are you trying to defeat the Wyrm? The Wyrm is only doing its job. Defeat the Weaver as it's the one that is screwing everything up. They Wyrm's job was initially the same as the cleansing wildfire that clears away dead overgrowth or the flood that brings in new silt. It could very well be that the Black Spiral Dancers are the good guys trying to save the cosmic order and the Gaians are the ones that are causing the apocalypse. Just a thought. :smallwink:

That's just what BSDs say while they [CENSORED] and then [EVEN MORE CENSORED] you in your [MAD CENSORED!]. And that's how you can tell that they're utterly insane nihilists.

[tcrudisi]

I view it the same way. Stopping the apocolypse is impossible by now. The best that can be done is to batten down the hatches and some damage control.

I'm not disagreeing. But the point is to try to do that damage control.

What challenges should the pack have to successfully navigate to find each different breed and convince them to form into a mixed pack? And once the players have successfully done this, what would be some appropriate challenges for such a pack of mixed breeds?

[illyahr]

I'm not disagreeing. But the point is to try to do that damage control.

What challenges should the pack have to successfully navigate to find each different breed and convince them to form into a mixed pack? And once the players have successfully done this, what would be some appropriate challenges for such a pack of mixed breeds?

Depends on how last-ditch effort we're talking here. If it's "OMG, the apocolypse is next week" sort of thing, try recruiting a BSD for some interesting party challenges. :smallbiggrin:

With that many different kinds of werecreature, maybe each one represents a different aspect of the wyld? Like pieces of a key, you might need a representative of each race in order to complete whatever McGuffin you decide on.

[comicshorse]

[QUOTE=illyahr;16153997
With that many different kinds of werecreature, maybe each one represents a different aspect of the wyld? Like pieces of a key, you might need a representative of each race in order to complete whatever McGuffin you decide on.[/QUOTE]

Or to prove to an ancient and powerful spirit (maybe even Gaia herself) that her squabbling children can co-operate and deserve a second chance at saving the world

[Driderman]

I'm not disagreeing. But the point is to try to do that damage control.

How exactly are you going to damage-control the utter and complete corruption (and possibly destruction) of both the physical and spiritual world? That's the whole point, you can't damage control, it's too late for damage control. Far too late.
The fight is completely and utterly lost (assuming you believe in the meta-plot and want it in your game) and the only thing the Garou can even hope to is to go down fighting rather than ending up as twisted mockeries of their former selves when they're thrown into the pits of Malpheas.

Personally, I'd try and play the Ratkin/Gurahl angle more than anything: Healing and balance of the Triad. I'd say that a mixed Fera "pack" would, in itself, be a sign of the End Times, since it has to be a real desperate measure for the Fera to even work together, especially with the Garou (War of Rage and all that).
Storywise, I'd try to strike a balance between doing quests of massive importance (finding epic fetishes, cleansing important areas and spirits, recovering the Last Croatan and whatnot, all to try and re-establish the balance between the Triad) while at the same time having to overcome the prejudices of their own kinds and weather the conflicts that should arise from several Fera cooperating.
Personally, I'd throw in some moral and political pitfalls for the characters to either overcome or fall into, making room for inter-party conflict.

For an endgame, I'd probably decide that the world, as is, is actually unsaveable and the only true solution would be to free the Wyrm from the Weaver's webs and let it destroy everything, so everything could be remade and started over from scratch. Of course, this should allow for some epic and dramatic moments where the players either pursue this course of action, or reject it.