Thoughts and questions on New Werewolf
Oddly enough, with the recent visit to Chi-town and mixing with Moon's Irish Catholic family, I got to thinking on Werewolf.  This, coupled with recently starting a New World of Darkness Hunter game and watching a bit of this Sons of Anarchy show led me to pick up my copy of Werewolf: the Foresaken and thumb through it.

(it's interesting the trend in the last so many years for FX and other stations to bring mini-series, and popular ones at that, that focus on gritty, violence laced protagonists that are reprehensible yet compelling and the fans end up cheering for.  Ex. The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, The Shield, to a lesser extent, Rescue Me, etc.  Are these dark anti-heroes, hrm, sympathetic principal characters just a new upswing in the old gangster movie popularities?  Because they work outside standard morals and laws do they represent the latest batch of Outlaw narratives?  Are they indicative of a popular support or acceptance of post 9/11 doing what needs to be done, no matter the cost actions, ala 24?  Thoughts for another post entirely) 

So, the ideas of tight knit, familial, violent and loyal clans or communities started to crop up in my head.  It is worth noting that I do enjoy some of the aspects of New Werewolf.  I'm not trying to or going to argue the preeminence of New over Old Werewolf.  However, I'll note some of the differences.  The NWoD seems to favor a distancing from the massive, mystical metaplot theme that ran, like a river giving life to all around it, through all the OWoD games.  In comparison (and more from a New point of view, admittedly) the OWoD, and Werewolf, was a bit more massive, elaborate, metaphysical and mystical.  There was more of a focus on Powerz, nearly deific entities and cosmic implications that was in the feel of OWoD.  To focus on Old Werewolf, the Triad was a critical portion of OWoD metaplot, to my rather poorly read understanding.  Werewolves were more like Lord of the Ring style adventurers or Beowulfian soldiers in this massive battle of metphor and cosmic workings, compratively.  The New WoD focuses more on the mood of conspiracy theory and horror or thriller films.  They also seem to try and limit things far more to the individual titles, perhaps as a reaction to the amount of, occasionally, cheezy cross-polination that would happen in OWoD.  Mind you, I do not condone or decry either style of setting, just trying to lay out what I think the major differences are.  For new Werewolf, the idea is that Father Wolf was a great spirit in the days when the Real World and the Spirit were more or less one.  (Yes, I'm sure I'm butchering this story).  His role was one of policing these meshed realities.  Then, for reasons I quite forget, he fell ill or became weak or somehow jeapordized his job.  Many of his spirit progeny then decided that the job must go on, and so slew their father, whose death howl created a massive seperation beween the two worlds, as never before.  Then they're job came to be taking over his and policing the congress between the now more seperated worlds.  Whereas the Old Werewolf focused more on the nature and relationship of the universe (the Triad) the New focuses more on the job of being spirits of liminality, warden-spirits, if you will, of this world and the other.  There is still room for Massive Epic Plot to Rescue the Metaphysical World, but the focus of the book seems to steer away from that more.  There is also a marked difference in the social structure of the New Werewolf.  Before you had continental and world social heirarchies of Werewolf governments, if you will, that featured in Old Werewolf.  The twist of New Werewolf is the idea that each pack mostly tends to its own area and the shadow of overarching order or political rule doesn't spread much beyond them.  This is where I begin to wonder.

The assumption in New Werewolf is that wolves are terretorial creatures and so aren't naturally inclined to roam beyond their territories.  For werewolves this is proposed as being equally true, and so most werewolves find it annoying to outright buggy to be outside of their territory.  What's going on back home?  Did some new murder spirit get uppity and cross over?  Are those pesky vamps making a power play?  Did that annoying ass pack of up-starts in the town over try and take over that park?  The logic here, then, is that a higher society of packs is hard to organize when most of the 'wolves invovled get ancy leaving Their (tm) patch of governance.  I can accept this line of thinking.  The big question is when does keeping up the myth that werewolves don't exist override this philosophy of locality?  The answer could be that you're sposed to govern your own pack, and local alphas and packs are always meant to look into each other.  If someone fucks up, let's their pup go trotting around in Direwolf form, lets the sprit cat out of the bag, deeply ingrained taboos against this will kick in and a rather unsophisticated policy of 'kick the squealer' will take place.  This should make most alphas and packs relatively conservative in their views on public awarenes of 'wolves, and packs naturally inclined to cuff the showy members.  However, I can't still help but think that occasionally, an 'inquiriy' of several werewolves from several packs would be formed to look into something particularly suspicious.  My view would be that, while in this NWoD world, there aren't any High Councils or meetings of Werewolf Court, it's much more in fitting with established game feel that every so often an older werewolf will get on the horn with some guys/gals he knows from other packs in the state/tri-state area and mutter 'I think Callahan's gettin' outta line.  Yup.  Glad to hear it.  Meet you in [town] in three days.  Bring a band-aid.'  I think the appropriate mood and genre to go with this New Werewolf style is the informal one of organized crime or partisan fighters or loose cops.  While the natural tendancy might be to go for logical orginization or far-reaching societies, the idea is these are under the radar, clannish people.  The rules are more out of a sense of 'If ya got fucked up, probly a reason.  If the reason is right, but controversial, make sure you can back it up, by not gettin' fucked up.'  Of course, this also means that intercine warfare on ideological grounds should also be put forth by the Storyteller as common place, and it is not at all out of character for there to be character's who shake their head at such a thing.  Heck, a really good story could be made out of ideological grudes that pervade pack dealings in a particular region, drawing material from the struggles of the Irish, etc.

My actual reason for this post (yes, there is one, even after all that) is this bit of gristle I've been gnawing over about Tribes.  It's a natural outcome of gaming and White Wolf's style to divide the subject's in question into a selection of characteristic groups that the player can choose from, usually followed by an additional characterisation made from profession/role/sub-race/etc.  For Werewolf these two are Tribe followed by auspice.  The Tribes are supposed to be different in character because the are founed and, to some degree, counseled by powerful spirit patrons and founders, namely the aforemetioned progeny of Father Wolf.  Further, each of these Wolves took some tenet of the Werewolf Code (whatever it's called) to heart, and this strongly held principle, above all others, influenced what the Tribe holds as ideal, and therefore the character of its members.  Further, with these in mind, the Tribe then is full of these people brought up to venerate certain mores and outlooks who all further reinforce, in different ways, these ideals in others in the Tribe.  However, and here's my sticking point, is that Tribes implies a group of people who share, usually, a common geographical location, and all actually live together, which reinforces these cultural norms, norms that set them apart from the other Tribes.  (Blood Talons revere warrior ideals while Iron Wolves hold innovation and modernity in high esteem).  Yet it is clearly implied that the pack the characters are going to be members of are cross Tribal.  Where, then, does acculturation take place?  Particularly if the implication is that 'wolves don't travel much, where does the acceptance of Tribal ideals come into play?  I recognize the argument that, largely, werewolves tend to pack up in packs mostly of one type of Tribe.  I dislike the idea, then, of the PC's being one of the few exceptions.  Just as I sometimes prefer that the party not be that one earth shattering choosen one group that is warrant for their individuality, I feel it tastes a bit artificial to have the PC's be that 'one pack' who is the latest Captain Planet mish-mash.  There should be a more compelling, natural reason that existed outside of the PC's for why mixed-Tribal packs exist.  Also, werewolves are born, not created, like vampires.  The idea is that a family with more begatting with werewolves is more likely to produce one.  Therefore, a lot of territories, presumably, spring up around established 'wolf families.  While I can accept that most pack mates will be related (very lupine) it's hard to imagine that every pack will be blood relatives.  Some will be from other Tribes, and some will be from other kin.  The attrition rate from battle would seem to demand this.  Also, all the 'found' 'woves, one's who are raised unaware of their heritage, would lend to the composite nature of packs.  What happens to all the young wolves who just change?  Do they forever stay with their pack, or do they make their own?

My idea is that, in New Werewolf, there is more to the setting than just the werewolf packs.  Yes, they are the powerhouses and power players within their territory.  However, they are the byproduct of a bunch of humans mating, their family, shape-shifter or not, and that family is still important to them.  Therefore, for every pack formed of werewolves, there is at least one, if not several wolf-blooded humans who back them up.  Werewolf packs are the strong arm and forefront of the werewolf society.  Not only because of their immense physical capabilities, but also becaus they are the only in this society who are equipped to handle the spirit world.  However, just because your Mom didn't change doesn't mean she's still not your mom.  Therefore, like a lot of organized crime, behind every made man is an extended family who backs him, belittles him, runs guns for him, works books for him and passes along a variety of info and gossip.  The Dons and Bosses of Werewolf are, undisputedly, the 'wolves themselves, and there should totally be tensions between the wolf-blooded and the Shifters themselves.  However, where the social infrastructure and politics can be found is within these families of near-humans who make up a large part of the werewolf landscape.  They all work (or don't work, as the case may be) roughly alongside the 'wolves, and usually take care of more mundane matters.  For instance, the acculturation of new werewolves, the drumming in of Tribal ideals into new werewolves would be done in part by the 'wolves themselves, but also by the cousins, aunts, uncles and other wolf-blooded families the pup would know.  For the wolf-blooded, the great Spirit Wolves are certainly real, but more like gods whom they venerate, and whose notions on life they hold dear.  This would mean that, in my take on the game, there would be a bit more travel and information passed on betwen the packs.  Certain families would rise to preeminance and, perhaps, dominance, depending on their control of both terrestrial and spiritual resources.  While the mistake could be made (and sometimes is, by 'woves) that the organized crime activities of these families is for the same ends as the Mafia has, really, the amassing of power is for the packs abilities to keep the spirit world in check.  Interworking between packs would be on regional lines (i.e. the packs in the Appalachians all having something of a knowledge of each other, and network amongst themselves, or the packs in L.A., etc.).  The dichotymy, then would be that those werewolves raised in this culture of loosely organized, cuff upside the head families have the benefit of knowing the cultural norms of their Tribe, knowing the taboos of their society, and being able to easily navigate the practical politics of 'wolf society.  The lost pups, those werewolves who were born to unknowing families and are suddenly brought into this society are put through a short and rigorous cultural school of hard knocks.  The packs then, still operate at the forefront of policy making within their territory.  It just can't be done without the influence of the families that make up the Society nearby, the constituents, if you will.  The most interesting thing, I think, is that many werewolves packs might find college to a nessecary part of life for new 'wolves (depending on the local alpha's mood and Tribal outlooks) either for the chance to have 'woves more capable of messing on human affairs, for having educated or specialized members, or simply because it keeps up appearances more.  Iron Masters would be the forerunners in this thought, with Hunters in Darkness almost unaquivacobly against.  That's why I think that cross polination between packs would be more common practice, particularly amongst packs situated around campuses.  "Hey Hank.  Yeah, remember Jane, the Green's kid?  Yeah, she's just about that age.  Wonderin' if you got the room to look after her for four.  Yep, box of Talens, same as last time."
 
Bah!  Way too much time spent thinking about this.  Mostly, what are your thoughts on this question of how New Werewolf society as a culturally surviving entity should be portrayed?  What are it's big stumbling blocks?  What are some ideas you've had on how to make Tribes more feasible as acculturating assemblies?  Am I using the word 'acculturate' properly?

Tanx n' splosions,
Crow