Cunning (WTF Gifts)

Cunning is a set of Auspice Affinity Gifts for Irraka and cannot be learned by Uratha of other auspices. All Cunning Gifts can be taught by Irralunim, in addition to any other type of spirits listed under their respective descriptions.

Powers

• Wolf-Heart Lies: Sometimes, it just doesn't pay to be a werewolf. Hostile spirits and Pure can sense the Primal Urge inside one of the Forsaken and then things go all to hell. In fact, one of the Forsaken occasionally wants to go unknown among his own. Maybe he needs to violate the territory of another pack or he's just hoping to go incognito through an unknown area. With this Gift, a New Moon can quell the subtle scent of his Primal Urge, so that it becomes difficult or even impossible for other werewolves to know him for what he is.
• Crack in the Armor: While Glory inspires and Wisdom teaches, Cunning seeks out and exploits flaws in individuals, societies, devices, or whatever else. An Irraka had to be ready to take advantage of any weakness and, to do that, she first needs to be able to find those hidden vulnerabilities. Upon activating this Gift, the New Moon's player adds the character's dots in the Cunning Renown as bonus dice on any roll to to discern flaws, weaknesses, or other shortcomings in a person, organization, structure, item, or any other thing; an Intelligence + Crafts roll to find the breaking point for a powerful fetish, for example, or a Wits + Socialize roll to determine the best manner in which to infiltrate a secret society.
• Deep Pockets: Part of the creed of Cunning is the ability to conceal what must remain hidden, even from the most intense scrutiny. An Irraka who learns this Gift finds that his feats of legerdemain are more than mere parlor tricks. With a single success, the character can hide an inanimate object of up to Size 3 untraceably upon her person. Alternately, the Irraka may hide an item (of up to Size 6) that is not carried on her person: a big-screen television, for example, or even a door. The Gift's effects last for a scene or less, should the Stalker wish to end it prematurely, and any successes beyond the first rolled in the Gift's activation are automatically applied to the results of any roll that the Irraka's player must make to keep the object hidden from supernatural scrutiny.
• Reshape Ban: Calling upon his nature as a shapeshifter and a trickster, a New Moon is capable of temporarily altering even the seemingly-immutable laws that govern the realm of spirits. With a successful use of this Gift, the Irraka can redefine a spirit's ban for the remainder of a scene and so gain great power over it (or, in some cases, remove others' power over it). This new ban must be comparable in severity to the spirit's true ban, for a general sense of the relative severity of various sorts of bans), but can otherwise be radically different: a spirit who suffers lethal damage from the touch of purified salt, for instance, may be rendered incapable of crossing any barrier anointed with holy water. Likewise, one that must kill any human child that it sees might be compelled to flee from any object made completely out of metal. A willing spirit need not resist having its ban changed, though few trust the Uratha enough to allow a werewolf to influence such fundamental aspects of their nature.
• Cheating Fate: Some believe that luck is what it is: uncaring fortune that the individual must simply endure, whether for good or for ill. Those chosen by the Stalker's Moon, however, know that luck is a learned skill, the same as any other. By embracing the path of Cunning, the Irraka discovers that it can be far better to be lucky than good, gaining a second chance when she most needs it. This Gift enables the werewolf's player to re-roll any dice that do not come up as successes on a die roll; effectively, she retroactively gives the action the rote quality. As per a normal rote action, she may do so for a failed action, though not a dramatically failed one. This gift may only be used once for any given use of a particular action. (In other words, the player may not pay the cost for this Gift repeatedly until all of her dice come up as successes.)

Simplified Gifts

Cunning Gifts aid werewolves in remaining unnoticed and using clever tactics while fighting or hunting.

Example Gifts

• Cuckoo's Lies: So many times, gaining entry to a person or location is just a matter of telling someone what they need to hear. Spend 1 Essence to add the character's Cunning to add Social roll meant to get past an obstacle or gain access to a secured location or individual. Cuckoo-spirits can teach this Gift, but so can certain moth-spirits, caterpillar-spirits and any other spirit of a creature that masquerades as something it's not.
• Follow-Up: The character waits for a packmate to attack, and then makes a follow-up attack meant to savage the opponent. Spend 1 Essence and sacrifice Defense to add Cunning to one attack roll. The target must have already been attacked that turn. Wolf-spirits give this Gift.
• Raccoon's Nimble Fingers: The character's sense of touch is hyper-acute, at least when filching and similar activities are concerned. Spend 1 Essence to add the character's Cunning to her Larceny rating for a turn. As the name implied, raccoon-spirits can teach this Gift. Octopus-spirits can give this Gift as well, but they're harder to find.