Rage Across Las Vegas Rules: Equinox Update

Intro

The Storm Eater, buried over a century before in this area, is growing in power once again. Desperate to stop its evil wiles, the Garou step into the Umbra and move backwards in time, to the 1880s. There they watch and learn, hoping for some clue. "How did our ancestors bury the Storm Eater before, and how can we prevent it from ever rising again?"

Through the Umbra, they watch the shadows of their past lives. They see tumbleweeds roll on a blistering wind through a moot of leather-clad humans and dust-beaten wolves. They gather just astheir modern descendants have done. They gather to fight the Wyrm. And a single question hangs in the air "When will y'all Rage?"

Welcome to Rage!

As your pack's leader, you have several pack members in play at the start of the game. These are your main forces. You also have a Sept deck and a Combat deck. Your Sept deck holds the various resources to which your pack may have access: Allies, Equipment, ritual magic, and other stuff. Your Combat deck has all of the nasty moves and tricks your pack knows; you'll use it when one of your characters gets into a fight.

You win when your pack gains enough Renown that other packs acknowledge you as the alpha pack of the Garou Nation, and you, as the leader of your pack, can lead them against the Wyrm.

Don't be intimidated by the size of these rules; the game is very easy to learn and play. First, separate your cards by type and compare them against the examples that follow. Then skim through the rules to get yourself familiar with them. Grab your cards, set up for a game, and bash itout! Refer to the rules as you need to.

What Is Werewolf: The Apocalypse?

The world of Werewolf is the world of the Apocalypse; the end is not coming, it is here. Now. Gaia-the Earth-is doomed, and the fault lies with its guardians, the Garou. They have failed in their sworn purpose to keep the Wyrm at bay. The Wyrm rises once again to consume Gaia, and the Garou are slowly but surely losing their eons-old battle. The Garou may struggle to slow the approaching doom or revel as best they can in the last days, but they cannot forget that it is the Apocalypse, and that doom is, at last, at hand.

Indeed, many Garou have given up, betrayed their kin, and joined the enemy in treacherous alliance. Nonetheless, these werewolves, so stained with evil, may still become heroes of uncommon valor and virtue. The characters in Werewolf are expected to be heroes-they must care about what they have become and about what they may soon be. And then they have to do something about it.

Their duty now is to teach, to fight, to overcome... to Rage.

Find out more about Werewolf: the Apoclaypse at White Wolf Publishing or at The Idiot's Guide to Werewolf

What Is a Trading Card Game?

But unlike baseball cards, you can play games with these cards! As you collect more cards, you'll be able to build your own deck (see pages 30-32), customizing its strengths to suit your plan for victory. Many people think deck-building is the most enjoyable part of TCGs.

Once you have a strong deck, consider entering tournament play at a convention or game store. Some tournaments will even have an effect on the Rage story. That's right-a continuing story will unfold through each Rage release, and no one knows how it will end.

The Story Thus Far...

Shadow Lord Killian Quicktalker brought word to the Get of Fenris that the Wyrm had corrupted the Wendigo caern. The Get launched an attack, but the Wendigo met them at Hoover Dam, and Marta threw Stillwater Packmother into the dam's generators.

As the Get reeled from the loss, the Red Talons began to hunt openly in Las Vegas, going so far as to attack the staff at the Ragnarok Hotel and Casino, owned by the Get. The Bone Gnawers fought back, and the war spread.

Finally, as the duplicity of the Shadow Lords was revealed, the Silent Striders stepped in. Natasha Moon Chaser gathered beta Garou to enter the Umbra and watch their past lives. "Our ancestors fought the Storm Eater before. It fell but did not die. Perhaps we can learn from their failure. Perhaps we can learn how to kill it for all time..."

The Cards

Tribe card

Garou Cards

Finally, some character cards include a paw print icon. This is used when the character is regenerating from injury. See regeneration below for how this works. Characters without a pawprint cannot regenenerate.

Sept Cards

Most sept cards list Requirements. You must have a character in your pack that meets those requirements to bring that card into play.

Allies, Enemies, and Victims

Battlefields

Battlefields have indigenous guardians. The guardians' keywords and stats are given on each card. The Battlefield itself also has keywords and a text box that describes the benefits it gives.

Gifts

You always place a Gift under a character and use it from there. Play Gifts containing the words "Pre-Combat:" under Garou as you would with other Gift cards, not as you would play Combat Event cards. A character can never have two copies of the same Gift card attached at the same time. Unless stated otherwise, only Garou can have Gifts.

Rites

Each Rite has a Gnosis cost, because it takes concentration. The text box tells you what the Rite does, and the paw print icon determines how long it takes to complete the Rite. some Events card have the keyword "Minor Rite", but they do not consume Gnosis or have pawprints on them. Play them like Events.

Equipment

Past Lives

Totems

Events

You must choose one pack member to 'play' each Event card you play during a turn. You can never target a character or player with a given Event twice in a turn; however, a character can play a given Event more than once per turn, as long as a different target is chosen each time.

Moots

Combat Cards

Combat Events

Combat Actions

Setting Up

Building a deck

Select a Tribe card. The majority of your character should be from this tribe as you cannot have more Renown of any tribe or faction than you do of your tribe. This is not a concern with Auspice 'Tribe' cards as you have no cohorts.

Next, choose your starting shapeshifters. You can choose members of your Tribe, Garou that have the Tribe Friendly trait for your Tribe, members of cohort Tribes (as listed on the back of Tribe cards, later printings may list more cohorts than earlier ones), and alternate shapeshifters. The total Renown of your starting shapeshifters cannot exceed the game's Renown level. Garou from cohort Tribes cost extra Renown, as given on your Tribe card. You cannot use Garou who are not either from your Tribe or cohorts of your Tribe. You cannot have more than one copy of any Garou (although, as with Tribes, two or more players can have the same Garou). Place your starting Garou in your Staging Area with the Breed (non-Crinos) side face-up. Metis start in Crinos as this is their breed form.

Choose your Sept cards. You must have at least thirty cards and no more than three of any card unless you have a Cub character that allows you to have more. Some Cubs allow you to start the game with a specific kind of card in play. This cards are still considered to be in your deck for card limit purposes.

Choose your Combat cards. Your Combat deck must have at least twenty cards and no more than two copies of any card. It must also have equal numbers of new- and full-moon Combat cards. Again, some Cubs may allow you to to have additional cards. Shuffle your decks and have an opponent cut them.

Setting up

Put a marker on the "7" spot of the Umbral Chart, which you can remove from the center spread of a rulebook or print out from a website. Some Cubs may alter the starting Umbra level. Check to see if any are in play. It cannot start below One. Designate one player to be in charge of adjusting the Umbra level during the game.

Areas of Play

Your Staging Area is in front of you. Here you keep your characters, decks, discard piles, and Victory Pile. Players can examine your discard piles and Victory Pile at any time; they cannot change the order of the cards.

Ground Rules

Basics

• Card text overrides printed rules, and later rules versions override earlier versions. Exception: A player can never control both Hunter and Prey simultaneously (see "Combat").
• You can only use a Main action or Combat event on a card (Gift, Ally, etc.) if it was in play at the start of the Phase.
• Characters cannot have negative Rage. If an effect causes a character to lose more Rage than it has, it is reduced to 0 Rage.
• Unless a card states otherwise, always reshuffle your deck after you search it for any reason. Reshuffling does not include your Discard Pile.
• If two cards have timing conflicts, both cards take effect, in the order played. If this is not possible, the card played last takes effect. For example, Dave plays a card that gives him the first alpha action, and later Sarah plays the exact same card. Dave's card, played first, takes effect first, so he can now take his alpha action first. Then Sarah's card does the same, so the order for alpha actions is Sarah, then Dave, then everyone else. If both cards had let the players act "before anybody else," Dave's card would have been canceled and Sarah's would have taken effect.

Card Requirements and Benefits

Attached Cards

Some attached cards have additional requirements, noted by the word "Requires:" in the text area. A character must fulfill the requirements to attach such a card, with the exception of Breed: even if your shapeshifter is stuck in Crinos form, you can attach a card whose only requirement is that the character be of a certain Breed. (The abbreviation for a character's Breed is in the top left corner of the card.)

A few sept cards have "Benefits". These can be attached to any character that meets the requirements, but can only be USED if they currently meet the Benefits. See Combat cards for more on Benefits.

A Spirit Ally can only attach Gifts, and only if the Gifts require the Tribe required by the Spirit. For example, if you have an Rat Spirit that requires Bone Gnawers, it can take any Gift that requires a Bone Gnawer. The Gift must require "Bone Gnawer," not "Garou."

Once attached to a character, cards remain attached. Cards cannot be moved unless card effects require it. If a character loses whatever traits a given attached card required, that card remains attached to the character anyway. The only exception is where they no longer have enough Gnosis to meet the requirement, in which case they lose all attached cards.

Independent Cards

Combat Cards

Discard Rules

Many effects, such as "Discard all Rage 1 cards," require a player to discard all Combat cards of a certain Rage cost. If, later in that combat, a player draws a card of the sort that was discarded, that card must be shown to all players immediately.

There is no penalty for having no cards in your Sept deck or hand. Effects that force you discard from your deck or hand, respectively, are automatically fulfilled; however, you cannot use an effect in which you voluntarily discard a card from your Sept deck or hand (respectively).

You cannot voluntarily discard cards from your hand for no effect. You must have an effect calling for a discard from your hand.

Switching to Crinos form or switching to the Umbra (or back to the real world from the Umbra) are the only non card initiated discards.

The Keyword Rule

Keywords also apply to card types. The above card is a Garou card, a character card, and a Homid card (if that were the character's Breed).

Sequence of Play

Start of Turn Phase

A Rite does not advance if the shapeshifter performing it entered a combat or the Hunting Grounds at any time during the last turn unless card text says otherwise. A Rite that turns right-side up detaches from its shapeshifter, is placed in your Staging Area, and becomes active. The Gnosis that the Rite was using is now available again.

Sept Draw Phase

If a player has no cards in her Sept deck, that player draws no cards. If no players can draw cards during the Start of Turn Phase, the Renown level of the game drops by one, permanently. This effect accumulates from turn to turn.

Main Phase

• Set a pack member to regenerate. Rotate a wounded character so the paw print is upward. Characters without paw prints cannot regenerate. Once you make a play other than setting a character to regenerate, you cannot set any more characters to regenerate this turn.
• Play a card from your Sept hand. How this is handled depends on the card. You must meet a card's requirements to put it into play.
  • Allies are added to your Staging Area. They are considered characters.
  • Totems are also added to your Staging Area. Totems are not considered characters. A pack can only have one Totem in play at a time.
  • Victims and Enemies are played in the Hunting Grounds. They can be hunted by any player. If an Enemy or Victim card has the keyword "Umbra," it starts in the Umbra and, if forced out of the Umbra, returns to the Umbra immediately after combat (see "The Umbra"). Enemies and Victims are considered characters.
  • Events are played, then discarded when their effects are complete. Choose one of your characters to perform each Event as you play it. A player or character cannot be targeted by the same Event more than once per turn.
  • Moots are played on, or "called by" Garou. A Moot requires a vote in the Garou community. A Garou can call one Moot per turn. Moots are not resolved immediately; Garou vote on them in the Resolution Phase.
  • Gifts and Equipment are attached to characters. A character attaching such a card must meet the card's requirements. These cards 'fill up' some of a character's available Gnosis.
  • Rites attach to shapeshifters. Like Gifts and Equipment, they require Gnosis. Each Rite has a paw print on one side. Play a Rite adjacent to and below the shapeshifter performing it, with the paw-print side upward. (This turns most Rites upside-down.) Such a Rite is "in progress." It becomes "active" when it is right-side up. Once the Rite is active, it no longer uses Gnosis; detach the card and leave it in play in your Staging Area. Once active, a Rite stays in play even if the shapeshifter who conducted it is killed. A shapeshifter can only have one Rite in progress at a time.
• Use a Main action on a card. A Main action is an ability on a Gift, piece of Equipment, face-up side of a character, etc., labeled "Main:" in the text box. To use a Main action, you must have put its card into play before the start of the Phase. You can only use each Main action on a card once per Phase unless otherwise stated. Playing a Sept card, setting a character to regenerate, and passing are not considered Main actions; they are simply plays you can make during this Phase.
• Pass and do nothing. You can still take a Main action later in the Phase, if no other players pass. When everyone passes sequentially, the Main Phase ends.

Resolution Phase

Players vote on Moots in the order that the Moots were played. Some Moots target characters or players; those targets are not declared until right before players vote on such a Moot.

Only Garou can vote; Spirits, Allies, and alternate shapeshifters cannot. Regenerating Garou and characters in the Umbra cannot vote. Each Garou has votes equal to its Renown and can only vote on one Moot per turn.

Voting for a Moot starts with the Garou who called the Moot. This Garou must vote for the Moot, if possible. Thus, the Garou usually cannot vote on another Moot this turn.

The chance to vote moves clockwise around the table. When a player has an option to vote, she must do one of the following:

• Have one Garou vote for the Moot.
• Have one Garou vote against it.
• Pass.

Players that pass can no longer vote on the current Moot. Voting on each Moot continues until all players pass. If there are more votes for a Moot than against it, it passes and takes effect. If there are more votes against, or if votes are tied, the Moot fails and is discarded. Once a vote is finished, players vote on the next Moot.

after all Moots have been voted on, any characters who were in the Umbra can return to the real world for free, no discard is required.

Once all Moots are completed, players pick their alphas. Start with the player to the left of the last player to play a card and pass (the same person both plays the last card and passes last) during the Main Phase, and go clockwise. Each player picks a pack member as his pack's alpha and places it in the Hunting Grounds. As you pick your alpha, you can shift it into Crinos form, if applicable, by discarding a Sept card from either your hand or the top of your Sept deck. You can also shift your Alpha to the Umbra at this time, see below.

Players must pick alphas. If effects eliminate all of a player's choices, that player still chooses an alpha, ignoring all effects (except wounds). regenerating Garou can be forced into being Alpha. Turn them right side up and cancel their Regeneration. they still have all their wounds.

If you have no characters, you are removed from the game. Other players still get Renown for your cards, credited to their Victory Piles. You can still win the game: if all players are removed in this way, the player with the most Renown in her Victory Pile wins.

Alpha Phase

Each alpha gets one alpha action. The alpha with the highest Renown goes first; other players follow in order of Renown. If Renown is tied, the alpha with the higher Tribe Fury goes first.
These are the possible alpha actions:

• Attack a character in the Hunting Grounds. This cannot be refused; combat begins. If a pack member kills a character (i.e., causes wounds equal to or greater than the character's Health if the character cannot flip to Crinos form or has already flipped), the character goes to the Victory Pile of its killer's pack. If an Enemy or a Victim is in a combat, someone other than the alpha's player fights as the Enemy or Victim. In this case, the other players decide which of them will fight; if they can't agree, decide randomly. Generally, the player with the least to gain from the combat should defend for the Enemy or Victim. If an Enemy or Victim kills a character, the character is removed from the game and no one scores its Renown. Note: Some player's like to stick alpha's killed in this manner under the Enemy or Victim in question as a mark of how dangerous an opponent it is. They are still considered to be "removed from game".
• Attack a Battlefield in the Hunting Grounds. It is defended by the guardian listed on the card. Some other player should play cards for the guardian.
• Attack a Battlefield controlled by another player. Any non-alpha character she controls can defend the Battlefield, or she can opt not to defend. Combat ensues as normal. If the defender is defeated, or the players chooses not to defend, move the Battlefield back to the Hunting Grounds.
• Challenge a pack member in a Staging Area. The challenged player can refuse at no penalty. If the player accepts the challenge, her challenged pack member enters the Hunting Grounds. The challenged player can shift her character to Crinos form by discarding a Sept card from either her hand or the top of her Sept deck. Fight a combat. After combat, the challenged pack member stays in the Hunting Grounds but does not get an alpha action, nor is it considered an "Alpha" for card purposes. If the character dies in combat, it goes to the Victory Pile of its killer's pack or, if killed by a Victim or Enemy, is removed from play.
• Take an "Alpha:" action. An "Alpha:" action is an ability on a card, labeled "Alpha:" in the text box.
• If in the Umbra, the Alpha can pass to lower the Umbra by two points.
• Wuss out. The alpha does nothing.

When all alphas have taken their actions, this Phase ends.

End of Turn Phase

Winning the Game

If two players both go over the Renown level simltaneously, the player with the highest Renown total wins. If they are tied, play continues until one of them gains more Renown than the other (or a third player gains enough to pass them both). It is possible for a player with no characters left to win the game. At game's end, return all cards to their owners.

Combat

Combat Basics

• Attacks do damage; they are played when you have initiative in combat.
• Defense cards block damage; they are played when your opponent has initiative. They can also be played in reaction to damage.
• Flexes can be played as attacks or defenses. When you play a flex as an attack, you use only the Damage number. When you play a flex as a defense, you use only the Block number.
• Counterattacks damage your opponent when he has initiative, instead of blocking damage. They CAN NOT be played as regular attacks when you have iniative.
• Combat Event cards are played between combat rounds, before combat unless otherwise indicated. Attached cards containing the words "Pre-Combat:" act like Combat Event cards, but you play them as you would an attached card and do not discard them after they take effect.

Some Combat cards have Damage Effects. These must do damage to have their effects work. If no damage is done, ignore the Damage Effects. Some Combat cards have Benefits, which apply to combatants who meet the requirements in parentheses. Some cards also have Requirements. When a character doesn't meet the requirements or benefits for a card, ignore the text box and treat any "X" on the card as a "1".

Combat follows these steps:

1. Prepare for combat.
2. Play Pre-Combat events. All Combat Event cards are Pre-Combat unless they include the words "Mid-Combat" or "Post-Combat."
3. Check initiative.
4. Player with initiative picks a card.
5. Other player picks a card.
6. Reveal Combat cards.
7. Apply any damage.
8. Apply any damage effects.
9. Play Mid-Combat events.
10. Repeat steps 3-9 as necessary.
11. Play Post-Combat events.
    Discard Combat cards after each combat. While combat is in progress, it is easiest to keep track of cards if they are stacked in the order they were played next to the character, with the name and cost showing. Cards that are discarded during combat should not be played in the stack, but directly into the Discard Pile. After any combat or the Alpha Phase is over, all characters return to their Staging Areas.

    If a character takes wounds equal to or greater than its Health, it flips to Crinos form (if it can) or dies and goes to its killer's Victory Pile, if there is one. (If the killer doesn't have a Victory Pile, the killed character is removed from play.)

    Prepare for Combat

    First, determine the Hunter and Prey. The Hunter is the alpha whose action caused the combat;the Prey is the target of the attack or accepted challenge. If an effect (like an Event) causes the combat, the effect details who is Hunter and Prey.

    Second, the combatants move to the Hunting Grounds. If either comes from a Staging Area, its player can discard a Sept card from her hand or the top of her deck to flip it to Crinos form.

    Third, each player draws five Combat cards from his deck. If your deck runs out, reshuffle the combat discards to make a new deck.

    Play Pre-Combat Events

    Starting with the Hunter and going clockwise, play one Combat Event card or Pre-Combat event at a time. These are In, Out, or In/Out events. You can use an In event only if it is on the card of (or attached to) the Hunter or Prey. Use an Out event only if it is not in the combat. In/Out events work either way. Cards with the "Pre-Combat:" ability use it once per combat. Go to the next step when all players pass consecutively.

    Check Initiative

    Unless specified otherwise by card effects, the Hunter has initiative in the first round. In subsequent rounds, initiative goes to the player who didn't have it the previous round.

    Player with Initiative Picks a Card

    The player with initiative picks an attack card to play from her Combat hand or passes. If the attack says you must discard a combat card to play, do so now. If she passes, this combat round ends and the players play Mid-Combat events. If neither combatant attacks in a round, combat ends.

    Other Player Picks a Card

    The other player chooses a defense or counterattack to play, or no card at all. If the Block syas you must discard a card to play it, discard it now. A player who picks no card has a base Block number of 0.

    Reveal Combat Cards

    Players reveal their Combat cards. Subtract the cards' Rage cost from the combatants' Rage. You cannot play Combat cards of higher Rage than you can afford (unless your combatant has Sustained Rage). For example, if you use all but 1 Rage, you cannot play a Rage 2 or greater card. If you run out of Rage, you cannot play cards with a Rage cost greater than 0. If a player must play an ineligible card, treat the card as though it has a Damage or Block of 0. The combatant must still pay the Rage cost, up to all available Rage. In friendly games, the opponent can choose to have the players draw new cards and replay the round.

    Some cards may have timing conflicts; in these cases, resolve the lowest-Rage-cost card first. If cards have the same Rage cost, resolve the card played by the player with initiative first.

    Apply Damage

    Compare the Damage number with the Block number. If the Damage is higher than the Block, the defender takes wounds equal to the difference. Mark the wounds with counters, then apply any Damage Effects. If the Damage number is lower than the Block number, nothing happens.

    If the defender played a counterattack, both combatants take damage. Mark the damage and apply Damage Effects. If one or both combatants would die from this damage, check to see if either Combat card has the keywords "fast" or "slow." A fast card does damage before a card that isn't fast. A slow card does its damage after a card that isn't slow. Cards with the same keyword (or lack thereof) do damage simultaneously.

    Some counterattacks or damage-causing defenses allow the attacker to "react to this damage." In these cases, the attacker can play an additional flex or defense card to block the new damage, paying the Rage cost as usual. If the new defense is damage-causing and allows reaction to its damage, the defender can, in turn, play another defense card, and so on. A player cannot play a counterattack when reacting.

    Combat ends if:

    • Both players pass for their Attack Phases.
    • Both sides run out of Combat cards.
    • Either combatant takes wounds at least equal to its Health (Crinos-form Health in the case of shapeshifters), which kills it. There are a few cards which allow a Garou to continue to fight even if it has taken mortal wounds. In that case, combat continues until both pas their attack or run out of cards. Then the combat ends and the Garou dies, finally.
    If a shapeshifter (a character whose card has two different sides) in Breed form takes more wounds than its Health or its printed Rage, it flips to Crinos form and combat continues. All Combat cards the player plays while the combatant is in Breed form count against the character's Crinos-form Rage.

    Play Mid-Combat Events

    If combat has not ended, players can play cards containing the word "Mid-Combat" one at a time, starting with the Hunter and going clockwise, until all players pass consecutively.

    End of Combat

    If a pack member killed a character, put the character in the pack's Victory Pile. If an Enemy, Victim, or defender of an uncontrolled Battlefield killed a character, remove the character from play entirely. When a character is killed, put all attached cards in their owner's discard pile.

    Play Post-Combat Events

    Play cards containing the word "Post-Combat" one a time, going clockwise from the Hunter, until everyone passes sequentially.

    Both players then discard all Combat cards whether they played them or not and return their characters to their Staging Areas after the combat (or Phase, if it is the Alpha Phase). All Rage spent in combat replenishes at the end of each combat.

    Special Abilities

    Some characters have the abilities explained here.

    Derangements

    Due to inbreeding, most Silver Fang Garou have one of these Derangements-mental instabilities that impede their normal activities:
    • Amnesiac: This Garou cannot vote on Moots.
    • Demophobic: This Garou cannot participate in pack attacks or defenses (rules yet to come-in the meantime, ignore this Derangement).
    • Hysterical: Any time this Garou would frenzy, it must instead pass in the next round of combat.
    • Melancholic: This Garou cannot frenzy.
    • Manic-Depressive: This Garou cannot act as its pack's alpha two turns in a row.
    • Multiple-Persona: This Garou scores no Renown for kills it makes.
    • Obsessive: This Garou must declare what its alpha action will be when it is selected as alpha. If it chooses to attack or challenge a target character and the target is not alive when it is this Garou's turn to declare its attack or challenge, it must pass.
    • Paranoid: Treat all opponents of this Garou as if they had the keyword "Wyrm." This only applies in combat, and other Garou, for example, are treated as Wyrm opponents, not Wyrm Enemies.
    • Perfectionist: This Garou cannot voluntarily shift to Crinos form.
    • Powermad: This Garou must use its alpha action to attack the highest-Renown opponent it can.
    • Vengeful: If attacked before taking its alpha action, this Garou must use its alpha action to attack a character that attacked it this turn.

    Frenzy

    A Garou with the Frenzy trait goes berserk if badly wounded. The damage to trigger a frenzy depends on its base (printed) Crinos or Metis Health:
    • Health 7+: 3+ damage
    • Health 4-6: 2+ damage
    • Health 1-3: 1+ damage

    
    If a Garou takes or exceeds its Trigger Damage in wounds during a single round of combat, it frenzies and draws Combat cards equal to its Frenzy number. For example, Janus, with Health 5 and Frenzy 2, might take 3 points of damage in one round. This exceeds his Trigger Damage of 2, so he frenzies and his player draws two Combat cards.

    Insight

    Characters with Insight have a mental advantage in combat. Before the first Combat Event, such a character's player draws additional cards equal to the character's Insight, then discards that many cards. Thus, a character with Insight: 2 lets you draw seven cards, then discard back to five.

    Kailindo

    Kailindo is the Rage characters' martial art, primarily practiced by Stargazers. Characters with the Kailindo ability have this Combat event:
    Pre-Combat: For the rest of this combat, when this character uses a Combat card with a lower Rage cost than its opponent's card, this character's Rage is increased by the difference in Rage costs.

    Regeneration

    Wounds taken by a character remain until it regenerates. To set a character to regenerate, discard all attached Rites and turn the card so the paw icon faces up (this turns most cards upside-down) during the Main Phase. A character must have a paw icon and at least 1 wound at the start of the Main Phase to regenerate. Once a player makes any play other than setting a character to regenerate during the Main Phase, that player cannot set any character to regenerate for the rest of the turn.

    Regenerating character have several restrictions. While regenerating, a character cannot:

    • Vote in a Moot.
    • Use Combat events or Main actions (even if on Gifts, etc.).
    • Attach cards.
    • Act as a pack alpha. (If there's no other legal choice, turn the character right-side up and cancel the regeneration. Keep all wounds.)
    • Accept an alpha challenge. (If forced to accept, turn the character right-side up and cancel the regeneration. Keep all wounds.)

    
    A regenerating character can fight combats from Moots or other effects. If it does, turn it upright and cancel the regeneration, keeping all wounds.

    Regenerating characters rotate 90 degrees clockwise each Start of Turn Phase. Once a regenerating character turns upright, remove all wounds and flip it to its Breed side, if it has one.

    Sustained Rage

    A character with a Sustained Rage number can always play cards with that Rage cost or less. For example, if a character with Sustained Rage: 2 uses up its Rage in a combat (so it has 0 available Rage), it can still use cards with Rage costs of 2 or less. As long as the character has available Rage, such cards still use up available Rage.

    Special Places

    The Umbra and Battlefields are two significant locations in the Rage world.

    The Umbra

    The Umbra is a spiritual netherworld, a reflection of this world in which the intangible becomes tangible. Garou and spirits, seeing the world for what it is, can step sideways into the Umbra, and, once there, travel to different places and times. As the Wyrm grows in power and corrupts the world, the Umbra also becomes corrupt, and Garou have trouble operating. The more the Wyrm wins, the more spirits flee the area.

    The State of the Umbra

    View the Umbra chart

    The state of the Umbra is quantified in 5 levels of 5 points each. When you start the game, put a marker on the "7" spot of the Umbra chart. During the game, events and card effects cause the marker to move up and down the chart, tracking the changing state of the Umbra. If the Umbra changes by "points," move the marker up or down the corresponding number of circles. If the Umbra changes by a "level," move the marker up or down 5 points. The marker cannot move off the chart. These events affect the Umbra level:

    The Umbra moves up 1 point whenever:

    • A Wyrm Enemy is played.
    • A non-corrupt Spirit is killed.
    • A non-Wyrm Garou is killed.

    
    The Umbra moves down 1 point whenever:

    • A Wyrm Enemy is killed.

    
    The Umbra moves down 2 points whenever:

    • A Garou (not a Spirit) passes for its alpha action while in the Umbra.

    Entering the Umbra

    When you pick your alpha, you must decide if it will enter the Umbra (or enter the real world, if it is already in the Umbra). You must discard cards from your Sept deck to send your alpha from the real world to the Umbra (or vice versa). The number of cards you must discard depends on the Umbra level and that character's Gnosis:

    Umbra Level Discard

    • Level 1: 0 cards
    • Level 2: 1 card
    • Level 3: 2 cards
    • Level 4 & 5: 3 cards

    Gnosis Modifier

    • Gnosis 0-3: No modifier
    • Gnosis 4-6: -1 card
    • Gnosis 7+: -2 cards
    For example, if the Umbra level is 4, the base amount of cards you must discard to enter the Umbra is 3. But say your alpha has 5 Gnosis. This means you only need to discard 2 cards (3 - 1) to send him to the Umbra.

    Put a marker on any character who goes to the Umbra; such a character remains in the Umbra until the course of play causes it to leave.

    Immediately before an alpha takes its action, you can move it to or from the Umbra by discarding additional Sept cards from your Sept deck. This last-minute cost is not reduced by the character's Gnosis. Alphas in the Umbra can only attack targets in the Umbra; alphas not in the Umbra can only attack targets that are not in the Umbra.

    After Moot voting in the Resolution Phase, characters who ended the previous Alpha Phase in the Umbra can return from it for free if they wish. Garou in the Umbra cannot vote in Moots.

    Humans can't go to the Umbra. You do not need to discard to send a Spirit to the Umbra when it is your alpha, but you must discard to change its location right before it takes its alpha action.

    Battlefields

    Battlefields are Sept cards and are brought into play in the Hunting Grounds just like Enemies or Victims. Paragraphs that begin with "Neutral:" on a Battlefield card take effect only when the Battlefield is in the Hunting Grounds. Paragraphs starting with "Controller:" have effects only for the player who controls the Battlefield.

    An alpha can attack a Battlefield as its action, either to 'conquer' the Battlefield, thereby taking control of it, or to 'liberate' it from another player and return it to the Hunting Grounds.

    When a player tries to liberate a Battlefield, any of the controlling player's characters not in the Hunting Grounds can defend it. (Such characters enter the Hunting Grounds but do not remain there after combat.) If the defender is killed, or if the controlling player didn't try to defend it, move the Battlefield to the Hunting Grounds if it is not already there.

    When attempting to conquer a Battlefield in the Hunting Grounds, the alpha fights a combat against the Battlefield's guardian. If it kills the guardian, the attacking player gains control of the Battlefield and moves it to his Staging Area and is now considered the contoller.

    At the end of a turn, you can "reclaim lost lands" by putting a Battlefield that you controlled for the entire turn into your Victory Pile and scoring its Renown. Other players can no longer attack it. You can only reclaim one Battlefield per turn.

    Other Shapeshifters

    Some shapeshifters are not Garou, but other werecreatures. These cards are two-sided and have foil on one side. Treat them as Garou for the purposes of everything except Moot voting: they cannot vote on Moots.

    Players can put these shapeshifters into any pack at the start of the game, paying only the base Renown cost; however, you can never start a game with more Renown of alternate shapeshifters in your pack than you have Renown of Garou from your Tribe.

    Definition of Terms

    • Auspice: The moon phase at a Garou's birth. This has a great impact on the lives of shapeshifters and defines their role in Garou society. A Garou can be any one of the following:
      • Ragabash (new moon): A Trickster who brings unwanted wisdom to those who think they already have it. Untrusted, Ragabash are tolerated as a necessary nuisance.
      • Theurge (crescent moon): An aloof Seer who prefers to commune with Spirits rather than other Garou. The arcane knowledge of Theurges helps them to guide their packs.
      • Philodox (half moon): A Judge who stands between dark and light, wolf and man, rage and gnosis. Philodox are honorable and balanced and act as leaders and mediators. On the flip side, they can also be hide-bound, inflexable traditionalists.
      • Galliard (gibbous moon): A Moon Dancer, both entertainer and lorekeeper, a singer of ancient songs and creator of new ones. Galliards preserve the souls of their packs.
      • Ahroun (full moon): A Warrior, Luna's rage made manifest. War is the feast of Ahrouns, blood their wine, the scream of terror their music. They are famous for bad tempers.
    • Available X (Rage, Gnosis, etc.): The printed value plus modifiers minus all costs.
    • Base X (Rage, Gnosis, Damage etc.): The value before modifications, printed on the card.
    • Breed: A shapeshifter's parentage. A (non-Metis) shapeshifter has two sides: a Breed side (such as Homid or Lupus) and a Crinos side (the wolfman battle form). A Garou can be any of one of these Breeds:
      • Homid: A Garou with one human parent and one Garou parent. They are the breed most adept at dealing with human society, politics, speaking, fashion and all the other trappings of culture.
      • Lupus: A Garou with one wolf parent and one Garou parent. They are most in touch with the primal side of the Garou and excel at hunting, tracking, fighting, and other survival oriented activities.
      • Metis: A Garou born of a forbidden union between two Garou. Metis are deformed and shunned. They are balanced between the world of the wolf and the human and have skills in both directions.
    • Character: A Garou, Ally, Enemy, Victim, or alternate shapeshifter.
    • Cohort: The political allies of a tribe as listed on their Tribe card. Note: Later printings of Tribe cards may list more cohorts than older ones.
    • Long: A keyword indicating that a Long Event or long effect remains in effect for a defined period of time not to exceed one turn.
    • Sustained Rage: The ability to always play cards of Rage cost equal to or less than the given number, regardless of available Rage.
    • Tribe: The group to which a Garou is affiliated.
    • Unblockable damage: Damage that cannot be prevented. No action can stop wounds from unblockable damage.
    • Unique: A card of which only one copy may be in play at a time. If a Unique card is killed or discarded, another copy can be played.