Short post today, heavy audience participation with luck.
Werewolf‘s built on an interesting framework. It incorporates myth, zoology, ecology, and splatter horror into a combination that manages to work as a whole. It’s hard to imagine another game that could be prepped for by consuming Silent Spring, Egil’s Saga, The Mind of the Raven and C.H.U.D. But if you know Werewolf, then you know how each of those things could inform a chronicle. You also know that actual werewolf books and movies can sometimes be conditional — Van Helsing, for instance, has a pretty good CGI Crinos who uses Razor Claws, but not a whole lot else — while stuff without a werewolf in sight can be dead-on target (those The 13th Warrior aficionados know what I’m talking about). I can put together a list of sources I think are useful, but I imagine everyone’s is different.
So today’s question is:
What sort of sources do you think make optimal viewing, reading or other inspiration for Werewolf: The Apocalypse?
Comments
86 responses to “Sources of Inspiration”
I’ve been watching the hell out of a documentary series called River Monsters- there are lots of nasties lurking in freshwater that give superstitious locals a hell of a scare and could, in the WoD, be Gorgons or Fomori.
The Call of Cthulhu mythos is a good inspiration for more big, unpleasant wyrm nasties and creeping-fear , and I’ll be drawing on some of it in the future.
It may be an odd choice, but I’ve also been drawing on The Wire. The first season (and the third to an extent) is a perfect example of WoD-esque urban decay, dodgy coppers and ends-justify-the-means ethical corner cutting.
“Wolf’s Rain” for Lupus, at least as far as I got to see, which is admittedly not much.
“Dog Soldiers”.
Werewolf-less, you have to watch “Band of Brothers” series for what is a sept at war (and as close to real life events balanced with cinematic storytelling you can get).
It depends, really on what kind of chronicle I want to run. For instance, I’m currently reading a book on Irish history and it inspires me to run a Irish chronicle (with a lot of Fianna of course).
I have found that the quintessential Werewolf “film” was Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki: it has all the major features and themes of Werewolf.
Dog Soldiers shows the effectiveness of pack tactics for both werewolves and humans; most werewolf movies show singular protagonists. Also, Sean Pertwee.
An American Werewolf in London, just because.
Your taste is as flawless as ever, Stew!
First, something REALLY obscure for anyone not from either Japan or Finland: Ginga Nagareboshi Gin is an anime about dogs going to fight a giant bear. Now, unlike so many other stories about these things, Ginga is not a cutesy story. It plays itself quite seriously, with brutal fights between the dogs.
Why is it a good thing to check out in terms of Werewolf? The dogs are honorbound to kill the bear, and act like samurai. It’s got a very garou feel to it, plus the characters have some moves that would fit fighting in lupus form.
Another story I think fits WtA well is Thor the book or the movie based on it, Bad Moon. Thor is a bit lighter reading, but Bad Moon takes a look at the often ignored part of werewolves. That they are wereWOLVES. Thor is a german shepherd who protects his mistress and her son, his life becomes difficult when the brother of his mistress comes to live with them and turns out to be a werewolf. The interaction between the two is really interesting, as the werewolf starts claiming Thor’s territory and Thor is helpless trying to warn his family about the danger.
Possibly one of the few werewolf movies where the werewolf is actually a lupus, Romasanta gives another unique look at the mindset of a werewolf. Romasanta is not a drooling monster, but a clever and subtle hunter, who none the less is frightening in his lack of empathy towards his victims.
As for music, Sonata Arctica has a song that fits the garou perfectly. This ain’t your Fairytale .
This ain’t your fairytale works great,Specially if you’re talking about Red Talons.
But Sonata has a lot of wolf related songs, Fullmoon, the cage, and of course, wolf & raven.
I had to argue strongly for my favorite band, Moonspell, specially in the first and last albums. Songs like Earth of Mine,Full Moon Madness, Lickanthrope, Luna, Wolfshade and whole lot more.
And of course, nothing compares to Alma Mater, which exemplifies perfectly what being a werewolf is.
Full Moon is a just a decent general werewolf song. The Cage for a werewolf trapped by DNA, I guess.
As for Wolf and the Raven, I really don’t think it’s about werewolves as much as using a wolf and a raven as symbols for the singer’s betrayal. Though, it could be used for a metis who has to betray their tribe and elders.
One song that could also be used is O’ Fortuna. No, seriously, if you look at the lyrics, they do fit.
And, if we are further talking about bands, Nighwish has two songs that really fit WtA. Planet Hell for Black Spiral Dancers and Blood of Mary’s Creek for the Pure Ones.
I’ll have to listen to Moonshade, thanks for the tip ^^
Sacrament of Wilderness also stucks out as probable origin myth or a song made by a werewolf about Gaia, I’m thinking either Bone Gnawers or Children.
God knows, Marco can easily pass for a werewolf.
I find a lot of inspiration in music, often in industrial and thrash metal. Stuff like most of System of a Down’s Toxicity album give me the tinge of urban decay and the frustration and anger as a response to it that I need to get my gears going for writing stories.
Another good source of inspiration for me are photographies; urban slums, industrial areas (“I want my players to raid this”), and natural spaces to set caerns in are all good imagery to work with. Perhaps less visual than movies, but it does the trick for me.
Want to see a Werewolf pack in action? Check out the TV show “Leverage”.
Ahroun, Galliard, Philodox, Theurge and Ragabash all working under the orders of their pack Alpha. Heck, one could even extrapolate different Tribes from each too, if one wanted to.
Sure their targets are mundane, and their plans go off way too well for as complex as they are, but the archetypes are there and work well.
The First Edition of Werewolf: the Apocalypse (core book) was dedicated to Neil Gaiman and the Sandman series.
“Dedication: This book is dedicated to Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman series of graphic fiction, for awakening in me as well as many others a new found regard for the golden twilight of thoughts that exist between dream and habit.
“We could change things back. If we believed. If we dreamed. We are dreams of the carrion kind, they say, and perhaps it is so. But if enough of us dream… if a bare thousand of us dream… we can change the world. We can dream it anew!”
From A Dream Of A Thousand Cats
Now, I’m not certain if this is a reflection of the aspirations of White Wolf and wanting to change the world, or if this was acknowledging that the dreamworld and such was an inspiration for Werewolf: the Apocalypse.
I’ll probably think of more later, but for now, those are two things worth mentioning. 🙂
Not for the reasons one might think, but the animated film “Alpha and Omega” has a great scene where the lead character diffuses a high-tension confrontation by being a bit foolish, but it’s entirely for the sake of keeping things from erupting into a fight. While that isn’t the defining purpose of the Ragabash, AKA “Questioner of the Ways”, it is one of their duties, at times, and it was a great example of how it could/should be done to me.
(The rest of the movie is fairly dumb… plus, the moon’s phases are backwards, which makes sense when you find out that the CG animation was done in the Southern Hemisphere.)
That movie was a big disappointment for me, although I did get a kick out of the hippie (Child of Gaia) wolves having a protest about eating meat.
“Stop the insanity! Go organic! ”
And you are right about the Omega/Ragabash connection. I’ve actually had a lupus ragabash ‘challenge’ for the Omega position. lol
I really liked the poster that said “The Wire.” I definitely agree about the sense of urban decay that show gives off.
Dog Soldiers: Pack tactics, nice scenery. Definitely an inspiration to me when participating in Werewolf games.
AWIL: Because AWIL.
Left 4 Dead: the group tactics needed to survive in the game echo, to me, a lot of the things necessary to include in a game of Werewolf. Also, the locations and sense of dread are good inspirations. I’m merely speaking of the first one, not the sequel.
Musically, I’ve always associated 90’s hip hop(Wu-Tang especially) with many of the tribes in Werewolf. Some of their songs are filled with spirituality, and the street knowledge that comes with it is also a great help(Glass Walkers, yo! :).
I haven’t seen Dog Soldiers myself; however, recently I undertook an examination of the “recommended reading lists” in my own WoD collection, and Dog Soldiers popped up all over the place with regards to Werewolf (both old and new).
As for new material…
Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher. Really, all of the Dresden Files are prime inspiration for just about all of the World of Darkness (I haven’t seen a mummy or a Promethean yet, but pretty much every other major template has been used). The four different types of werewolves give you plenty of alternate flavors, not to mention descriptions for most of the werewolf forms. The Alphas (a team of wolf-shifters) are also featured in Summer Knight, Dead Beat, and Turn Coat; of those Turn Coat is also important because of a major antagonist, who is pretty much a Rank 6 Black Spiral Fomori.
Codex Alera: Also by Butcher; this series is much more like Exalted, but I mention it for the Canim, a warrior species who are pretty much perma-Crinos. Also, I should mention the Vord, who play an interesting Weaver/Wyrm crossrole.
Anita Blake: okay, by book 10 it becomes extremely porny, and is for only the most mature readers; however, the various were-species present potential ideas for how Fera and Garou can live.
Nochnoi Dozor / Nightwatch is a great mood inspiration for werewolf games, and Russia has always been my favorite werewolf scenario. Metro 2033 and Singularity were average games with excellent mood.
Ministry has a truckload of inspirational songs: Cannibal’s Song, Burning Inside, NWO, Hezbollah, Dream Song, Unsung… the list goes on and on.
All books by Steven Pressfield, who always captures the warrior pathos perfectly… be it in ancient greece, 2nd WW or the present. Tom Clancy and Clive Barker would set the tone for the antagonists pretty well.
Oh yes the night watch 1 & 2 are truly excellent for WoD though they would fit even better with wod and its hunters than owod hunters.
Damn it all, I completely forgot Dog Soldiers existed (probably because I only saw it once, on a plane). Perfect example.
The Nickelback song ‘Kiss it Goodbye’ really reminds me of the Black Spiral Dancers. The easiest path to power is to simply fall to your knees (in worship, or not), the Gaians are blinded by bullshit, and everyone has their price. Lyrics are here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSE_yJcd3oU
The TV show Person of Interest is a good example of the flip side of the coin in dealing with the Weaver in a big city. One overall system of data that knows everything from your social security number to where you were last night, just from seeing your face in an ubiquitous CCTV system. I recommend the show in and of itself anyway because it’s a good show (as I recommend The Wire) but it’s an interesting example of how to approach a Weaver chronicle.
If you saw the trailer for Watch Dogs at this year’s E3, the protagonist’s abilities to disrupt nearby technology (knocking out cellphone reception or hacking traffic signals to cause a huge pile-up) are great examples of Glass Walker gifts.
Whoops. Watch Dogs is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcMRkyoHKeA
4 Brothers. It is incredibly werewolf. The mix of violence and family is what clinches it for me. The main characters are 4 young men with no biological relation who are still a family. Dnd has parties, mages have cabals, werewolves have packs and your pack is your family. You’d die for them and they for you. The action is viceral and dangerous which is great for werwolf and the plot even has undercurrents that could easily be wyrm corruption: A gangster trying to take over the city, a dirty cop, it’s all very WoD.
Also, I want to add: Hatfields and McCoys from the History Channel.
The feud, that irrational hatred that those families have for each other, to me that’s very werewolf. Don’t believe me? What if the series were called: The Fianna and the Fenrir? or if one of the families was all female? Those characters display quite a bit of rage and I think it’s awesome
The Wolf Series by Alice Borchart, are great examples of lupus and homid differences of perspectives to cubs.
I already mentioned Moonspell is my favorite band and the one that makes me feel the most “wolfish”, but Sonata Arctica do have some very good wolf-themed songs.
Skinwalkers was a horrible werewolf movie but it did show how conflict between packs might work. And for all it’s faults True Blood does portray some good werewolves.
I believe the Werewolf girl in Dark Shadows could be a very good example of a cub who doesn’t really fit in with the rest of her family before she embraces her wolf side.
Van Helsing is my got to reference for Crinos, but forgive me if I could see some Hispo in the Twilight saga werewolves, and even some Uktena/Wendigo.
There’s a bunch of movies and books that i pull my inspiration from. when i picture a Hispo form i always imagine the “American Werewolf in London”. transformation into crinos, the one from “The Howling” i think was a good one. “Wolfen” is a good view of a lupus pack in the city. i’ve even played a werewolf based off “Kibakichi” in a hengoyokai campaign.
Small screen, “Being Human” i think is a good show for interaction of a werewolf and vampire outside the conventions of their respective “societies” or lack there of.
“The Gates” was another show, though not great IMHO, i thought was a good concept for showing various supes trying to live inconginto with humans.
“Wolf Lake” was great for showing a town full of wolves dealing with an outsider.
and finally “Wolf Rain” was another great lupus show.
I also loved “Dog Soldiers”!
Lots of good suggestions.
But no love for Ginger Snaps yet? Sure, singular werewolf, but that family dynamic just screams kinfolk. Nothing shows the kind of devotion kinfolk are expected to have than those two’s mother. The reaction of their mother when she hears her daughter is a monster that’s killed multiple people is priceless.
Movie:
Princess Mononoke as mentioned above my someone else IS the pure essence of a werewolf tale, they just forgot to put the werewolves in.
James Cameron’s Avatar, most werewolf players I know nearly made a real life rage checks when the tree falls.
Two brothers: A tale about two tigers as the main protagonists. Interesting and can help see from the eyes of an animal.
TV Show:
The “Tru Blood” TV Show is an interesting representation of the WOD in general, but very poorly portraits the werewolves. Ironically, the sub-plot with the panthers in season 4 are a lot closer to home on some aspects but they’re have some very dark/evil/unclean themes going on.
Avatar: The Last Airbender, one episode in season 2 (forgot which sorry) has Apa as the main character. Another great way to see from the eyes of an animal.
Music:
As far as songs go, I find that “The Humbling River” works a lot for me as a mood setter. “Rise Today” from Alter brige too and screams Children of Gaïa.
Games:
In games, Skyrim. The Werewolf storyline is fairly nice and works into the ancestors feel.
Documentaries: I do not remember the name of this one, but ever since I found it, it’s been my absolute source of inspiration for role playing a lupus. It’s about a man, who found a few pups and raised them. He spend a few years living with them in a zoo. He actually was pack alpha for some time and you can see him with them and communicating with them, not with words, but, as wolves do. It’s absolutely fascinating. There’s a lot to learn in there about wolves in a just a short hour.
I’ll come back if I find more.
“Avatar: The Last Airbender, one episode in season 2 (forgot which sorry) has Apa as the main character. Another great way to see from the eyes of an animal.”
It’s Appa’s Lost Days (Book 2, Episode 16). And it’s available on Netflix (along with the rest of AtLA which, if you haven’t watched, you need to).
In fact, A:tLA has a few other episodes to mention, since the Avatar is the bridge between the mortal and spirit worlds. The two Winter Solstice episodes (1.07 and 1.08) both involve it to an extent, though the first far more than the second. In addition, the two part finale also deals with spirits and the spirit world, and should definitely be watched (well, the whole series should definitely be watched, but those especially).
Most assuredly, Avatar is truly a magnificient show. My girlfriend has the DVDs so, we watched it together and again with friends who hadn’t seen it. Both viewings where quite enjoyable. And you’re right, there are several episodes that deal with the spirit world I’d forgotten about.
There is one which is truly the template of a typical pissed off “animal father” story nearing corruption in season…1 I think?
Movies (Part 2)
Back to Miyazaki, “Spirited Away” is all about the spirit world and has some pretty interesting ideas about wyrmtaint and cleansing.
If it’s the one I’m thinking of (with the Panda spirit and the burned forest), that’s Winter Solstice, pt. 1 (also called “The Spirit World,” appropriately enough).
It may seem a bit odd, but Digimon comes to mind. Specifically, Season 2 is what I’m thinking of – the characters jaunt back and forth across the Gauntlet to deal with issues on that side, and later have to maintain the border between the two worlds from this side. Season 3 also has some of these elements, where spirits verge into our world.
Yup! That’s exactly it, the Panda one. 🙂
I’d reccomend The Thirteenth Warrior again, because it’s perfect for Gaian Garou fighting the Wyrm. Thirteen big, burly, and powerful warriors (alright, twelve and Antonio Banderas as a scared little Arab scholar) fighting massive barbarian cannibal hordes whom live deeep underground in a complex cavern system.
As for music, I find Týr to have many perfect tracks for Werewolf, especially the Get of Fenris for obvious reasons. While the Norse Myth may indeed just be a Human perversion of the Get’s own legends, it still works beautifully.
While I hesitate to bring up another Franchise here, I’d also reccomend any Warhammer 40,000 novel involving the Space Wolves Chapter of Space Marines, for the same Tribe.
And I’d also reccomend George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, though most people know it better as Game of Thrones, thanks to HBO not bothering to rename the second season/book. It illustrates how Tribal politics can be. I can easily see the Silver Fangs as House Lannister (incest and golden hair), and the Fenrir as the Greyjoys of Pyke…
Backing this up 100%. A song of Fire and Ice has helped me tremendously in setting up the politics behind my current campaign. It’s absolutely brilliant. Especially the first book, you get several themes and moods straight out of Werewolf. It’s also a great perspective into the gaps between feodal socials stratas which could be useful for a dark age game or help guide you into seeing what might have been in the past with the tribes with royal blood and how they have evolved. Like, how they’d once have expected to be treated, and how now they’re not.
Continuing with the Warhammer 40k theme for a moment, I find the Dark Angels chapter to be excellent inspiration for the Uktena, with their focus on forbidden knowledge and how far they’ll go to keep their secrets.
You said it once and it’s still true: You couldn’t make a more relevant movie than Princess Mononoke if you tried.
I get most of my inspiration from the news these days.
Stuff like Anders Breivik -The psycho Norwegian and that Mexican man eater & death god worshipping-cult that sacrificed humans or the Mozambican “rape squad” of women who kidnapped and “milked” lone men to use their semen for magical rites… Sometimes It’s really hard for fiction to beat rl when it comes to horror.
Historical figures and weird/funny conspiracy theories are also fair game.
To get it feel like an apocalypse… Just picture that same thing happening weekly instead of say once in a decade (like they happen in irl) and you’re good go for the end of days sightseeing tour.
Theme songs… hmm yeah Metallica’s wolf and man and master of puppets obviously 🙂
Kill Bill soundtrack also fits in nicely when things get tough.
Books; Jack London, Farley Mowat’s cry wolf, also that other guy from the same period as London who also wrote about alaska, wolves & dogs, Nigh eyes the wolf from the Farseer books by Robin Hobb, Kwaidan by lafcadio hearn and as a last resource the various travel books; either tourist guides or stories about travelling to get the feel of the place where a chronicle is to be set and happen.
As a Norwegian, I’d like it if you didn’t mention the greatest blemish upon my nation’s history as a source of inspiration for a fucking RPG, thank you very much.
Eh. Lotsa folk mine tragedy for story. In mid 2002, my group ran a werewolf story in which our pack (5 garou and a nuwisha hanger-on) were forced to take a cross-country flight to escort a large fetish in the cargo-hold. Take a guess what happened.
Attempting to deal with a group of suicidal, idealistic hijackers on a crowded, panicky plane without crashing the plane or breaching the veil made for an incredibly tense session, and the fact that something similar had *just* happened made it that much more real. It wasn’t silly or disrespectful, it was just…harrowing.
A few more ideas, while I’m waiting at work for my boss to send something else my way…
Naruto: Yes, it’s cheesy as hell. But it also shows what it’s like to live with Rage in your life, and is a pretty good demonstration, early on, as to the Curse (assuming that’s still part of the canon). Later episodes should be watched more for the visuals, but there are still some useful ideas to be found.
Bleach: Another one that probably gets ridiculed, it’s still an interesting look at dealing with the spirits that haunt the night, in various forms. Again, it kind of turns into pure fighting as time goes by, but especially pre-Soul Society Arc and with the Arrancar arc, it’s sure to inspire someone.
The Gunslinger/Dark Tower series: Definitely an unusual choice, I admit; however, there are forces that seek to break down the walls of reality, journeys between different worlds, and heroes who live by their own code of honor. Imagine the forces of the Red (i.e. the Man in Black, and his superior in the last novel) as agents of the Wyrm (or, again in the last case, an Aspect of the Wyrm itself), and Roland and his Ka-tet as a Garou tribe, and you have the fixings for an interesting campaign (also, imagine that the different worlds they visit are realms in the Umbra or Penumbra, and the Bear and Turtle as totem spirits).
Another idea struck me:
Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore. Sure, it is probably a far better book for Nuwisha inspiration, but it touches on plenty of things relevant to Garou; especially the Uktena. It is also, to me, a great example of mixing traditional stories with more modern styles for Galliards and Ragabash that want their tales to be living things that are adapted to the times.
I’d also like to mention Metroid Prime 2, actually. The dark world in that game functions thematically and mechanically as a corrupted Umbra- more or less the same as the light world with a few differences in doorways being accessible or blocked off, but with some nasty oilslick-looking shadow beasties lurking around.
I’m amazed no one mentioned “Captain Planet” 🙂
+1 for those who mentioned Cthulhu Mythos, An American Werewolf in London, and The Howling.
Also I add An American Werewolf in Paris, The Thing (80s).
And as for music, this is a song from XIII Stoleti, a czech band: Transylvanian Werewolf: http://grooveshark.com/s/Transylvanian+Werewolf+remix/4vucdY?src=5
Now, for the cosmology behind Werewolf, there are a few Hellblazer arcs very interesting (I don’t recall which ones, but most likely the earlier arcs). And also Hellboy 🙂
One last thing, can’t wait for W20!!!! 😀
visually, its more focused on Vampires but the werewolves on “Requiem: Vampire Knight” are awesome. And there are a few other wierd creatures that fit perfectly into the fera, the Dragons fit extremely well with the Mokolé if you ask me.
For a kind of lupus/frenzy out there feel I like the movie Ravenous.
I’ve always loved Tyler Durden from Fight club as the ideal Black sprial or Bone Gnawer Alpha. “We are the all singing all dancing crap of the world.”
If you’re playing cineamatic Kill bill is a werewolf pack of crazy people. They have code names, play with swords and kill for fun or profit and they learn skills and gifts before politics and corruption tear them apart.
As slow and Boring as it is at some there is something to be said for Inglorious Basterds. The Bearjew is a personal favorite for a character type but the whole crew is pretty snazzy for a behind the lines group of characters.
If you want an idea of what it’s like to be a Get without your tribe you can’t get much better than Conan the Barbarian. He is strength and is tempted by the riches and decadance of a world that doesn’t understand him.
Musically I have to Lean on the classics Metallica’s Of Wolf and Man. Warren Zevon’s Werewolves of london. John Prine’s Exciteable boy. Throw in some wolfmother and Manowar and you’ve got fight music that won’t quit. Not great as a playlist but it’s all about informing the theme of the game there.
Books are Tougher without relying on the actual novels. I think Patricia briggs does a spin off series about a town full of werewolves out in montana or something. i wasn’t impressed but it’s not a bad example of a kinfolk heavy community.
I would suggest the Comic series The Boys from Dynamite. A small group working against corporations and people with superpowers while trying to come to grips with the violence and hypocricy of their own leaders.
Oh lord, The Boys is an excellent read but it’s about as un-worksafe as you can possibly get.
I like the various native tales; being from Australia drawing from the Dreamtime for inspiration is fantastic. Tidalick the frog and the Giant Devil Dingo have stuck with me since I was a kid and bringing them into this mythology was great.
I’m sure someone’s mentioned the Gargoyles cartoon. Great beasts-in-the-shadows there; and some very mature story telling (who doesn’t remember the Broadway and the gun?)
Bits of Cyberpunk 2020 for Glasswalkers – but not too much. I much prefer the savvy wolf who talks to the city rather than the OMGCyberFurries.
A friend who knows how werewolf obsessed I was bought me “Brother Wolf” – a book devoted to regular wolves but wow it had some good insights.
And also “Thor” by Wayne Smith for Lupus – the main character is a German Shepherd and it’s his take on a werewolf joining the family. Very cool viewpoint.
I’m fond of silent hill as visual inspiration for those times when you’re wandering around in the umbra and suddenly realize you’re in a *really bad neighborhood*.
The anime/manga Ghost Hound and Mushishi are both really good to mine for spirit/umbra stories as well. They take a distinctly japanese approach to a lot of things, as you might expect, but it can definitely be adapted across the board. Ghost Hound is especially good at reflecting how human emotions and tragedies can echo in the other world.
As much as people like to use Sandman, Lucifer (set in the same universe, by Mike Carey) tackles a lot of mythology that Sandman never touches, especially in the really early stories, and I find that a lot of it is more suitable to werewolf than most of the stuff in sandman. Cestis of the Dancing Flesh, the voyage through the Navajo spirit world and the Shinto Hell, spirits of silence granting wishes, ancient gods laying down curses and then becoming too weak to reverse them, that sort of thing.
Speaking of Mike Carey, his Felix Castor books are more about ghosts than anything else, a bit of a cross between the exorcist, and a British Harry Dresden, but they offer some really interesting takes on werecreatures, and are generally a joy to read.
Oh, and I guess while I’m verbally giving Mike Carey a back massage, I should mention “Crossing Midnight” as the most blatantly animist comic I’ve ever read. It is another japanese (and therefore shinto-themed) one, but good as a resource. Or if you happen to be running a hengeyokai game.
Seconding the Mushishi! It’s a very good portrayal of a traveling theurge handling spirit matters, and there is a sense of neutrality towards the whole thing. That sometimes, there is nothing wrong to let a spirit affect the physical world if it harms nobody.
What I find the most tricky is finding ways of displaying/communicating human NPCs that have been corrupted by the Wyrm- especially since it embodies both not just physical but spiritual degeneration. For that, I turn to the films of Takashi Miike, a Japanese director with some truly violent and disturbing films to his credit. Ichi the Killer IS the perfect example of how Bane possession/influence can create psychotically warped individuals, whose brief flashes of humanity only lead them into further degradation.
Adding stuff that hasn’t been mentioned so far:
The Graphic Novel: Strangeways Murder Moon by Matt Maxwell and Luis Guaragna.
The main story and time setting is more Werewolf: the Wild West, but the second comic “Rale: Lone” after it is very important.
It is in the three werewolves’ POV and backstory, how they were created, how they cannot fit within either wolf or human society and the conflicts that happen because of it. Illustrating how hard it is for the Garou sometimes as they are neither fully wolf or fully human.
And man, no one’s mentioned Sharp Teeth by Tony Barlow yet?
Jumping in yet AGAIN here…. Sorry, stuff just keeps occurring to me! I’d like to mention Preacher, or one specific aspect of it- John Wayne makes for a perfect example of a totem spirit.
Cassidy was also the ultimate vampire character, in my mind, too, though that’s neither here nor there.
The guy who wants to believe he’s a good guy, and wants you to believe it too, but at the end of the day…
Some really cool tales that one should be inspired to run a Werewolf chronicle: Kibakichi 1 and 2, a movie about a wandering Werewolf samurai warrior who vanquishes evil. Spice and Wolf: A anime series about a traveling merchant and a wolf-goddess who travel in a Renaissance-like Europe to find the goddess’ home.
The Secret of Kells: This is a story about a boy who struggles to get the lore of the land with the help of a faerie before Vikings will take over his town. The Maiden Among the Wolves: An excellent French film about not just the temporary end to the wolf but what happens in France during WWI.
As far as books, this could go for quite awhile. But in the end books like Of Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez, War Against the Wolf, Silent Spring, Gaia by James Lovelock, The Lives of Wolves, Coyotes and Foxes by Stan Tekiela, books about Paganism since Garou are spiritual creatures and are from around the world will help. Historical books since most tribes would benefit.
Also, Okami is a fantastic (if Hengeyokai-flavoured) take on the spirit world, in my opinion- running around as a lupine Gorgon using teeth and claws to beat back the Wyrm, and then spirit powers to restore the natural balance.
In other game inspirations, Zelda: Twilight Princess has an amazingly well-animated wolf, and the Twilight Realm works well as an Umbra-substitute.
I’ll add my voice to those who mentioned Mononoke Hime and Spirited Away by Miyazaki. Mononoke is just amazing in so many ways, and Spirited Away is a great take on a spirit world “court.”
Other than those, the only thing that comes to mind is the Kekkaishi anime (I haven’t read the manga). Most of the story is an urban fantasy about schoolkids trying to stop the spirit world from breaking into the physical world at what’s basically a caern/node. It is neither horrific nor animist.
However, the character Shishio Gen is very werewolf-ish. Through his whole arc I couldn’t stop thinking he was a lost cub who really desperately needed to meet others of his own kind, even before he revealed his true (crinos) form. It was a very good depiction of the Rage, first change, self-loathing, loneliness, fear of harming loved ones, inability to fit in, and desperation to suppress his wolf/monster side and hold onto his humanity. Said crinos form turned out to be disappointing, it didn’t carry the sheer horror a Garou lost cub would experience, and he was depicted as half-monster rather than half-animal, but it still felt spot-on otherwise.
Oh, I forgot to mention an episode that focused on the main character’s wolf spirit/ghost companion and his former comrade, with flashbacks to when they were some of the last living wolves in Japan, and how they were hunted down and destroyed. It reminded me a little of Princess Mononoke.
It’s been a while since I saw it, but I recall the movie _Dreamkeeper_ had some useful bits, especially for my Uktena game. No combat, but you have a boy learning about his culture under duress when his grandfather tells him the old stories. It even has a Lakota version of Uktena. Plus trickster spirits, how the soandso became suchandsuch, etc. In the end, the boy takes up the mantle of Storyteller. Watch it for inspiration about the non-rendy bits of Werewolf.
I will have to come back to this later when I have more time but I wanted to throw this out there.
A while back I was pointed at a book called City Magick by Christopher Penczak and I was thinking maybe I could use it for inspiration for a Mage game. Instead I found something that seemed perfect for Theurge Glasswalkers or really any Urban Shaman. There’s even a meditative excersize called “Side Walking” where you are meant walk the sidewalks and see the spiritual side of the city. It’s all very new agey pagan centric, but it inadvertantly fits my idea of City perspective for mystic inclined Garou. There’s even some blurbs about City totem spirits (City father or mother?) and urban animal guides (like spider, pigeon and cockroach). The purpose of the book diverges from a Theurge How-to guide, but the over all mood that the city is not a sterile man-made blight, but a living, breathing entity as wild and savage as any forest with dangers and power, if one knows how to look with the right eyes.
For anyone interested: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYBPY2?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1&ref=aw_bottom_links
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkein – I’ve always thought the themes of fighting a war that you know you are going to lose in the end… resonated well with Werewolf, also the sense of loss and despair, rage and betrayal.
Wolf’s Rain (Anime) – For a red talon/lupus take on things.
Serial Experiments Lain – For a glasswalker take on things.
Letters from Iwo Jima/Grave of the Fireflies – Again about fighting a losing war.
The Setting Sun – Osamu Dazai
Tribebook: Red Talons (Revised) – Best Splat Book ever written In my Not-So-Humble Opinion.
Blood of the Wolf (WtF) – a lot of good ideas about wolf physiology.
The Hobbit – Rankin/Bass, always felt it set the norse melancholic mood right.
Beowulf
Now and Then Here and There (the anime), Evangelion, Puella Magi Madoka Magica – all mostly for the themes of child soldiers since usually most werewolves did not choose to be soldiers and began young. Sailor Nothing also fits in here.
Granted, I tend to run games with a high death rate, and often phyrric victories.
And of course forgot the scene of the ents marching on isenguard in the two towers film (not so much the book), made me immediately think of “the last march of the red talons” .
About Blood of the Wolf, I hate to say it’s a bit incorrect about wolf physiology. For example, it goes to paint wolves very poor hunters with weak bites. Wolves can and will break the strongest bones easily.
I’m surprised no on has mentioned Brian Williams/Lustmord and Kammarheit/Cities Last Broadcast yet. Their ambient music is great both as a source of inspiration for stories taking place in the Umbra and as soundtracks for the actual sessions.
I have a list of songs that are on my Werewolf Playlist.
~ Wolf and Man – Metallica (duh)
~ Howl – Florence and the Machine
(I actually based this werewolf picture after that song’s inspiration http://pookawitch.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4t76jo )
~ She Wolf – Shakira (for the pumped up Black Fury!)
~ Werewolf Baby – Rob Zombie
~ Animal I have Become – Three Days Grace
(great for those early years of adjusting to becoming a werewolf)
~Let the Bodies Hit the Floor – Drowning Pool (great frenzy/combat song)
~ Land of Confusion – Genesis (or Disturbed)
(Practically the theme song for my idealistic Child of Gaia Ahroun)
~ Strange Animal – Gowan
(for more open minded lupus)
~Hungry Like the Wolf – Duran Duran (heh, not fully, but it’s fun)
~ the Animal Song – Savage Garden (more light hearted feral)
~ Getting Away With Murder – Papa Roach
(again, great for that dealing with having to become a killer)
I have tons more on that playlist but they’re more character specific and not just werewolf inspirational.
Oh, I nearly forgot…
~ Not the One – the Offspring
~ Nobody’s Fault – Aerosmith
It’s more again for the theme of ‘world has gone to hell and we have to be the ones to fix it… or maybe we’re too late’ type of songs.
good playlist,
Savage Garden’s – The Animal Song is defo for the CoG.
The Tomahawk (Mike Patton side project) album Anonymous has lots of great songs inspired by traditional Native American music that would fit really well for Pure Ones in particular.
I really like the move 28 Days Later, not so much for the horror elements but for the group working together in a lost cause in the loss of humanity of the main character as he adapts to the environment that he now lives in so that he can survive. I think this could be a really good example of how folks change as they become werewolves and are forced to live in the hyper violent society of which they are now a part in what seems like a hopeless situation. You also get some good examples of true human nature with the solders as well.
I have been watching the show “Mountain Men” lately on the History Channel and I think that there is a lot of good examples of folks living in the wild and how dangerous it is to be there and would be good source material for a rural based game.
Also, the works of Edward Abbey are great for their descriptions of natural environments and he is just a great literary curmudgeon. I think his literary voice is one I can certainly associate with an elder werewolf. He also wrote the Monkey Wrench Gang if you are looking for some real life inspiration for “aggressive environmental activism” or ecoterrorism. It is the inspiration for a many real world organizations such as Earth First! and is the source of the term monkey wrench.
I would highly recommend other environmental authors as sources of inspiration for what folks are fighting for and so that you can steal ideas on how to describe the wonders of nature. Abbey, Leopold, Muir, Carson, Thoreau, Emerson, and Whitman are just a few names that you might look into if you are looking to read up on environmental literature. They can be a great source of information and can point out some environmental issues that you can amp up in your own campaign if that is something that you wish to do.
The recent british film ‘Kill List’ works quite nicely as a Gaian Garou descending into darkness and the Spiral.
A short lived and often horrendously acted show called “Wolf Lake”. Lou Diamond Philips plays a detective searching for his lost wife (or girlfriend) in her home town of Wolf Lake. A town run by and populated mostly by werewolves. Graham Greene plays a teacher and I think is about the best *almost* Nuwisha on television. The episode is called “Leader of the Pack* and it is very, very funny.
Some unusual options:
Last Action Hero – two worlds, fantasy elements + what being a hero means
The Italian Job (new) – I love the heck out of edward norton and this is a nice working together for unusual goals kind of movie.
The Fisher King – What happens when you fall between the cracks and what if the crazy guy is right and it really is a magic cup?
Troll Hunter- A very down to earth take on handling supernatural creatures. Great for DNA point of view.
Horus Heresy novels Prospero Burns, and Thousand suns.
Prospero burns is awesome. Just, just read the thing. Not even for the fight scenes, but for the social structures of the Space Wolves. The Space Viking flavor is thick, as it should be, but it can work for nearly every tribe somewhere in there.
Thousand suns is the twin to Prospero Burns, the same story told from the other side. The part of this book to take away is the wonderful arguments for, and against, using dangerous magic to win a conflict. There’s good food for Uktena in here, if you are patient enough to pick it apart down to bare themes.
Know No Fear, at it’s core, is a book about the home of a warrior band being attacked by base treachery and betrayal. So it’s Space Marines. So it’s a planet.
Here’s the excerpt that makes me get goosebumps even now, after the fifth read-through.
‘They can shoot him.
They can stab him.
They can grab him and tear him down.
They can kill him.
It doesn’t matter. It’s his turn. This is his turn.
This is what happens when you leave an Ultramarine alive. This is what happens when you make the foulest treachery your instrument. This is how it comes back to reward you. This is how Ultramar pays you back.
Carnage. Carnage. Absolute and total slaughter. The visitation of death in the form of a gold and cobalt-blue storm.’
Dan Abnett. Know No Fear (Kindle Locations 7733-7740). Black Library.
If that isn’t how your character feels when somebody hits the Caern, man, I don’t know.
Thinking about this for quite some time as I first thought there was nothing to compare it with.
But now I know and the answer seems so obvious.
The Silver Bullet.
Look at the werewolf as a black spiral dancer. Corrupting through priesthood, killing people who would stand in his way.
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs.
In fact, the entire Mercy Thompson series does the whole ‘dominance’ thing quite well, it made me re-think the entire idea behind by long time ShadowLord character.
I actually find unusual history and unsolved mysteries (rhyme!) as a my major source of storytelling inspiration. Like right now, I’m story telling a group’s campaign around North Carolina and the Roanoke Colony/Virginia Dare story. The word “Croatoan” was found carved there, which I’m sure is at least partially responsible for the Croatan Tribe. I have also used “The Bog Bodies” for a W:tDA campaign.
I dunno…I just love real life mysteries. The SS Ourang Medan, BEKs (black eyed kids), things like that…they just scream campaign material. And when mixed with current day conflicts and politics, they usually go over very well with the group =D
For me as a Storyteller the fundamental reference for running werewolf is aliens. The sense of tension and loss is always tantalized by the hope that there is a way out. Also the scene under the reactor is the baseline for what I think a pack going into a hive raid should look like.
Couple of bands which have some very werewolfy themes:
Poets of the fall: Carnival of rust -album and The Rasmus: into shadows -album
From these especially the Rasmus: in the shadows http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZcsnlMvLwE
and from Poets of the fall: locking up the sun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9vHb2WRlwI
The Black Dahlia Murder has some great lyrics and songs that fits awesome with Black Spiral Dancers, like “I´m charming”, “Climactic Degradation”, “Apex”, “Thy Horror Cosmic”, “Miasma”, “Moonlight Equilibrium” for some generic werewolf theme and my favourite anthem for The Battleground realm in the Umbra,”Warborn”.
I really like Amon Amarth as much as many folk and pagan metal bands for some Get of Fenris and Fianna mood (obviously). The ambient album Wardruna which is basically a norse spirituality homage fits perfect with Lupus Fenris.
Some old-school songs from Pantera, Sepultura, Soulfly, Machine Head, SOAD and Rage Against the Machine for Urrah´s playgrounds and urban badassery.
About movies, of course Princess Mononoke, the great Wolf´s Rain series, Dog Soldiers, the french Brotherhood of the Wolf (which has a total badass Wendigo), the 13th Warrior, Valhalla Rising, Severed Ways and Apocalypto for some gritty realism, Battle in Seattle for some Children of Gaia militancy, and the old school classics we all love and cherish (American Werewolf in London, The Howling and Wolfen, my perfect werewolf- themed trio)
P.S.: recently i watched The Grey with Liam Neeson. I absolutely loved the treatment given to that vicious, almost invisible, enormous Red Talons- like wolves. Many people complained about the film for being disrespectful and totally wrong with wolves behaviour, which is totally understandable, but wolves in this movie fits absolutely perfect with my beloved Red Talons
Robert Mccammon’s The Wolf’s Hour. S.P. Somtow Moon Dance always stood out to me for werewolf inspiration.
Dogsoilders, the squadies are an amazing pack. The warewolves are good too. Sausages 😉
For comprehending with Virtual Adepts and Glass Walkers,
I recommend, W.T. QUICK – DREAMS OF GODS AND MEN.
In the book there are “scientificly engineered, computer enhanced killing machines Werewolves”
A pretty good novel, father of cyberpunk/matrix fictions. After W. Gibson’s Neuromancer of course.
—-
other than this also just everyone said,
-Wolf’s Rain (Anime) is excellent for Lupus PCs and Gaia’s POV
-Brothers Grimm also a “must-be” source
-Orkhon inscriptions and Oghuz Khan Legend is also very helpful to understand tribe life and culture&myths.
Late to this party but; Sherman Alexie’s writing in general – both because he’s writing about what it’s like to be Native American living right here, right now (which is perspective a lot of us don’t have), and because he’s so consistently angry, that’s gotta be a lot of what it must be like to be Garou in general and Wendigo specifically. “Flight” especially comes to mind because it’s got some of what characters might experience with Ancestor or Past Life.
“Make Prayers to the Raven; a Koyukon View of the Northern Forest” is one of my favorite books in general. It’s a pretty good capsule summary of how mythology interweaves with real-world observation to make for a viable pre-industrial culture, and how some of that’s going to hang around when industrial technology shows up.
Anglo-Saxon poetry in general; “Deor,” “Wulf and Eadwacer,” “The Battle of Maldon.” On the other side of things, the Mabinogion, the Cattle-Raid of Cooley, Y Gododdin. Lots of warrior ethos, tragedy, and basically the sort of thing you want to be howling at the top of your lungs if you’re a Galliard.
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