1 of 1

Write now Article Tools

In Werewolf: the Forsaken, a big part of the feel of the game is intended to be holding territory. Werewolves, like both regular wolves and humans, are territorial; the game exploits that fact to make the actual holding of land part of what makes a werewolf pack worthy of the name. "Territories", a supplement for Werewolf, expands on the theme, discussing the physical features of a territory, how to gain and hold it, and how Storytellers can use territories to make their games better.

The intro to "Territories" actually has some very useful information in it, as opposed to just laying out the rest of the book; mostly, there's a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of various means of territory creation. Do you want to use your own home area as a basis? Making things up out of whole cloth is tougher, but allows more freedom; using a real area that none of the group are really familiar with is also a plausible option.

In Chapter One, we get an overview of the kinds of features a territory can have-everything from caves and forests to museums and sports stadiums. The writeup for each kind of feature includes ideas about how to create or destroy one (Bar: get some permits, open for business. Mountain? Good luck.), and the advantages and drawbacks it presents a pack that has one. Plus there are some story hook ideas for each kind of feature. The latter half of the chapter introduces qualities for a territory as a whole-what does it mean, mechanically, if an area is "Dry" or "Cold"? Very good stuff here, including features that only werewolves and other supernatural types are liable to caer about, like loci. Last but not least are a bunch of merits that focus on territory and interacting with it, such as the one that allows bonuses to Perception for a character who knows all the good observation spots in the pack's area.

The second chapter is about the territory itself and how to integrate it into a game, things like how to encourage your players to care about their pack's territory in the same way that they care about their own real-life homes. There's all sorts of juicy stuff here, including ideas for changing a pack's territory in response to the characters' actions and a bunch of useful encounters ready to drop into the game.

In the last chapter there are five territories already worked out, ready for use. Sample humans to populate the places are given quick descriptions though no stats, along with some werewolves to use as rivals or foils and significant spirits of the area.

The first chapter of "Territories" is the one most likely to be of use to players, but anyone who enjoys Werewolf should take at least a look at the book; it's got all sorts of great ideas about making territory matter. And in a Werewolf game, that's very good indeed.

Learn more about this author, Carrie Schutrick.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Book review: Werewolf Territories (Werewolf the Forsaken) by Chris Campbell, James Kiley, Matthew McFarland and Peter Schaefer?
We want to hear your view. Write now!