Iron Master Fetishes

For the tribe that other werewolves consider most human, the Iron Masters don't have a wide range of fetishes made from modern technology. A laptop is plenty useful enough, but at the end of things, it's just a tool - a fetish is something more. The spirit within the object gives it resonance and meaning, elevating a fetish beyond the realm of tools and into prized positions and ritual items. While it's possible for a Farsil Luhal to get attached to her smartphone, it will never hold the same impact for her as her grandfather's engraved watch. One of those has an impact that goes beyond familiarity and habit, and this is a fitting home for a spirit. In this world of disposable tech and constant upgrade cycles, there's precious little that holds enough meaning. Some Iron Masters even make fetish firearms - preferably old revolvers - but they are careful never to call them klaives. The respect that a Farsil Luhal has for the housing of a fetish extends to her choice of spirit. Some will choose a local spirit in order to empower the fetish with an emissary of their territory; others honor their territory without trapping part of it in material confines, questing elsewhere to find the spirit that will power their fetish.

Iron Master Fetishes

Sucker's Tell (Talen): Society shows that a person is more than just his physical form: databases and filing cabinets the world over hold everything from a person's shopping habits, address history and sensitive medical records. People believe the information on identity documents even when they don't know the issuing authority. They trust the simple existence of a document as proof that someone has taken the time to validate the person holding it. In real life, records are filed wrong or go missing, databases get corrupted and all a photo ID really proves is that the bearer has access to a printer and laminating machine. The Sucker's Tell grabs human misperception and gives it a good, hard twist. This talen takes the form of a fake ID. When the werewolf burns it, someone within eyesight assumes the character's negative social modifier associated with his Primal Urge score. For an hour, that target now bears the curse of Rage, and the werewolf can engage in a social situation without the obstruction of her own feral nature. If the werewolf didn't see anybody while activating the fetish, it has no effect. To create this talen, a werewolf binds a minor spirit of information into a laminated fake ID bearing his picture.
Action: Instant

Iron Tongue: Many Iron Masters create fetishes that help them use tools. The Iron Tongue is a common fetish among the tribe, and many werewolves make one for packmates who have a hard time with technology. A truck lightbulb threaded onto a necklace, this fetish allows the werewolf to talk to the spirit of the machine. She can ask the spirit to cut her some slack and help her out. Simple objects with no moving parts find it hard to comply with most requests - unless the werewolf asks a knife to be a bit sharper, there's not much it can do for him. Devices with moving parts work best, though the werewolf cannot cajole a device that relies on electrical or chemical energy. She could cajole a crossbow to hit her target, but a rifle wouldn't listen. Activating the fetish allows the werewolf to plead with one object, effectively allowing her to improve its disposition to her with a standard Presence + Persuasion roll. A success when asking the object to "work better" improves the equipment modifier of the object by +1; other entreaties should be handled on a case-by-case basis - asking a wagon with a wrecked axle to keep going until the next garage is one thing, but "just keep going" will buy you five minutes running on splinters at best. Spirits of community are the most popular choice to power this fetish, though plover-spirits also work.
Action: Instant

Backbiter: The first Backbiter was a silenced TT-33 automatic pistol, an assassin's tool used in the Soviet Bloc to silence 11 people that then turned on its former owner. She vowed that she would have her revenge, and when an Iron Master offered her the chance to get even, she agreed. Bound to the pistol, she served him well. That Backbiter killed far more people after that, and eventually slew the ghost's betrayer - though that didn't sate her lust for treachery and revenge. Backbiters are always made from automatic pistols, usually ones used in betrayals. The bullets from an activated Backbiter don't do any more damage - the fetish isn't intended for a fair fight. Instead, the bullets transform inside the victim, morphing into small venomous snakes and scorpions that crawl from the bullet holes. These creatures may sting or bite, but as they used to be the bullets, their transformation removed forensic evidence. The fetish has the characteristics of a silenced automatic pistol. Some werewolves bind spirits of treachery and vengeance to make a Backbiter, though cold war veterans know that spirit-bound weapons are but pale imitations of the original. They seek out the ghosts of those silenced before their time, offering them a chance for revenge.
Action: Reflexive

Packcard: Iron Masters craft these in ceremonies at their loci using an ordinary phone card and samples of the blood from all their current packmates. These Uratha may use these potent fetishes on any phone that accepts a phone card. Zipping the card sends out an information more to the any of the user's current packmates whom he names, causing the nearest phone to the recipient to ring. Any information-spirit can be used to craft this device, but the pack's totem has to participate in the ritual.
Durability 2 (reinforced to 5), Size 0, Structure 5
Action: Instant

Shifting Fang (Minor Klaive): The Shifting Fang is three feet of metal chain covered in sharp edges and spikes. The only concession to the wielder is a strip of black leather wound around one end to make a grip. The spirit within the weapon makes the chain jerk and twist in the wielder's hand. With some training, he can use the constant motion to his advantage, striking from unexpected angles - even goading the chain to bend in the same direction as a dodging opponent. When activated, the Shifting Fang twists and writhes in such a way that the wielder ignores his opponent's Defense. The one drawback to this klaive is that the spirit within refuses to fight the same opponent twice - while an Iron Master can use the ritual weapon against the same person any number of times, the werewolf can activate this fetish only once. To the spirit within, a "fight" isn't anything as civilized as "first blood." Once the fetish is activated, the bonus remains until the end of the combat scene - until the wielder, or his opponents, is unconscious, running away or dead. When fighting multiple opponents, only those whom the fetish hasn't fought in a previous scene lose their Defense, and only those damaged by the fetish count as having fought it for future activations. The spirit of a venomous snake fuels this weapon.
Action: Reflexive

Omnitool: Many humans carry pocket-knives or multi-tools in case they are caught without a knife, a screwdriver or a pair of pliers. The resultant tool is rarely as useful as a dedicated item, but it gets the job done. The Iron Master who created the Omnitool thought exactly the same thong. A battered metal box, eight inches square and three inches deep, the fetish doesn't look like much. When the owner is hunting, however, she sometimes needs something she doesn't have with her. In the space of one hunt, a werewolf might need a laptop computer to research the people his prey was meeting, and a set of lockpicks to investigate the secret rituals in a warehouse basement without the cult being aware. The Omnitool provides whatever she needs. Provided that the wielder is hunting, she whispers her need for a single item in the First Tongue as she activates the fetish. When she opens the box, she'll find something that she can use, crafted out of what looks like horn or bone. If the object produced by the Omnitool would normally provide a bonus on a roll, reduce that bonus by 1. The fetish cannot be used again until the user returns the item to the box - though caltrops are useful, recovering them is nearly impossible - and the werewolf can use the Omnitool only once per dot of Harmony over the course of a single hunt. When the hunt is over, the spirit within the fetish must rest for a full day and night before being used again. Spirits of nesting birds and tool-using animals can power the fetish, as can urban spirits of desperation.
Action: Instant

Liar's Delight: While an Iron Tongue lets a werewolf request favors of an object, Liar's Delight allows so much more. A cog no more than half an inch in diameter taken from a smashed-up pocket watch, a werewolf who places Liar's Delight under his tongue and activates it can talk to complex objects for one scene. Not only that - he can lie to them, and they may believe him. This fetish considers a complex device to by anything that relies on electricity or chemical energy to function - cars, guns, computers and so on. Simpler machines, from trebuchets to gumball machines, don't understand him. The werewolf can glean information about a device by asking it (Presence + Empathy), and can persuade or scare machines into functioning as he commands (Manipulation + Intimidation or Persuasion). He communes directly with the items' spirits in his native tongue, though only he can hear any responses. Devices can't do anything they couldn't normally do, but the werewolf can use his Social Skills to command anything that can hear him. With a successful Manipulation + Subterfuge roll and a point of essence, the character can convince a device of something that isn't true, though the roll is modified for how audacious the lie is. "You've got plenty of gas to get us across the state line," "I left one in the breech, so you're good for another shot," and "The rotors will hold until you land" are all potentially true if the werewolf is convincing enough. Spirits of advertising and politics can fuel a Liar's Delight, if the werewolf is canny enough to trick them into the fetish.
Action: Reflexive

References

• WTF: Tribes of the Moon, p. 146-149