Let's face it, transforming is ugly.
Werecreatures, also more politely known as Changelings, refers to any shapeshifting human. The most common are Garou (werewolves) but there are also many types of Fera (non-werewolves). In the Earth Federation, they were all drafted into the Tech Infantry and forced to serve for five years before being granted citizenship. Many of the Tribes that existed before Gehenna have either been eliminated or surpressed, and as a result, many of the Gifts and Rituals have been forgotten.
Legends[]
In legend, they were all created by Gaia to serve some function. Gaia created the Garou to be her fangs and claws, yet long before them were the Fera. The Garou were jealous of their Fera neighbors and so exterminated many off in the War of Rage. This weakened Gaia's children as a whole, which led to the rise of mages and the Technocracy.
Types[]
- Ajaba: Hyena-Shifters, tend to hide from the Raptors through homeless populations.
- Ananasi: Spider-Shifters, supposedly not created by Gaia, but rather Queen Anansi, they are rather limited in numbers today. They were easily mistaken for Arachnids and killed during Gehenna.
- Apis: Auroch-Shifters (Wild Ox), supposedly lost in the the War of Rage, but many bloodlines reemerged as a result of Project Exo-Genesis. Even today, they are small in number.
- Bastet: Cat-Shifters, a very strong clan in modern times, thanks to the elevation of Arthur Clarke as Chairman.
- Camazotz: Bat-Shifters, extinct.
- Corax: Raven-Shifters, limited numbers.
- Garou: Wolf-Shifters, the largest single type of werecreature, although most lack tribal identity.
- Grondr: Were-Boars, limited numbers, often serve as medics in the Tech Infantry.
- Gurahl: Bear-Shifters, another strong clan, thanks to their combat effectiveness in the Tech Infantry.
- Kitsune: Were-Foxes, mostly existing in the former Eastern Bloc and New Tokyo.
- Mokolé: Lizard-Shifters, limited numbers, but respected throughout the Tech Infantry.
- Nagah: Were-Snakes: limited numbers, serve mostly in intelligence gathering.
- Nuwisha: Coyote-Shifters, like the Ajaba, tend to cluster silently among the Fed's homeless.
- Ratkin: Were-Rats, very strong clan, adapted to many planetary environments well.
- Rokea: Were-Sharks, extinct.
- There are very small numbers of other miscellaneous werecreatures, including Were-horses, Were-rhinos, Were-sheep, and Were-penguins (among others), and a few hybrids such as were-ligers, all mostly as the result of recent magical or technological tampering with werecreature bloodlines, such as in Project Dawkins.
Shapeshifting[]
- Homid is the standard human form for all garou. It is relatively difficult to tell a garou in homid form apart from that of a normal human without supernatural assistance.
- Glabro allows them to gain height and weight as compared to homid form, as well as added strength. Werewolves in this form tend to take on some characteristics that of old werewolf horror movies; additional hair, sharp nails, sharp teeth, etc. Most people can realize that a werewolf in this form is not a normal human. However in some cases, a garou is able to still pass for that of a bulky human.
- Crinos is the war form of the werewolves. They gain exceedingly more mass and become incredibly strong in crinos form, which stands roughly around nine feet tall. The head becomes savagely wolflike as the rest of the body is covered in fur, the subject gains a tail, and the body adjusts to that of what could be explained as a bipedial canine. The claws and teeth of a crinos become weapons of destruction, able to cause massive damage easily to most anything that can be torn into.
- Hispo form resembles that of a dire wolf. It appears to be a large, prehistoric-looking beast with great power. The hispo form is quadrupedal, however the claws are capable of massive damage similar to that of the crinos form. The hispo's jaws are stronger than Crinos jaws, and thus ravaging an opponent with even more damage.
- Lupus form is the standard wolf form for the garou. As said before, it is difficult to tell the garou apart from that of a normal wolf without some sort of supernatural aid. This form is lithe and agile, making it the best form for running long distances in.
Behind the Scenes[]
Since most of the information on werecreatures is from the White Wolf books, it made sense that I would crib most of this page from here and here. Changelings are also the name of an entirely different form of magical creatures from the White Wolf universe, but since none of us played that spinoff game, that's one part of the mythos that we didn't import into TI.