Ten Tips to running the Cult of Fenris in W5

W5 Chronicle Tips

1. Ten Tips to running the Cult of Fenris in W5
2. Why metaplot matters in the World of Darkness 
3. 101 Adventure Hooks for Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition
4. Ten Tips for using Hauglosk in W5

    One of the most controversial decisions of Werewolf: The Apocalypse Fifth Edition was the fall of the Get of Fenris to hauglosk and becoming the Cult of Fenris. In simple terms, this means they went from being playable PC faction to being a non-player antagonist faction. This was upsetting to many people due to the fact that they were a very popular tribe and "Viking werewolves" was never going to not be a common choice of PC.

    In Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition, the Get of Fenris attend a moot with the rest of the Garou Nation and state that the only way to stop the Apocalypse is for the entire Garou Nation to launch a Ragnarok-esque charge against the Wyrm's home fortress. Remembering the fate of the White Howlers, most Garou refuse and the Get of Fenris withdraw from the Garou Nation while swearing eternal enimity against their former siblings. When next encountered, they are the Cult of Fenris and engaging in horrific atrocities out of a misguided belief they are Gaia's last chance. 

    The reasoning for this has been widely discussed and it has supporters as well as detractors over it. However, this isn't about any of that. Instead, this is about offering suggestions for those Storytellers who are intrigued by the possibilities inherent to another tribe of the Garou falling to the Wyrm (or Hauglosk in this case).. It is there offer tips for making it a source of interesting stories as well as roleplaying plus potentially the center of Chronicles. It is not an attempt to persuade you whether or not the action was justified or fits with lore but merely offer perspective on a way to do it in the best way possible for Storytellers as well as players' enjoyment.

    I hope both will find this useful.

1. Make sure longtime players are comfortable with it

    The first thing to understand is whether or not your players are interested in making the transition to W5 at all as well as incorporating the Cult of Fenris' rebirth from the Get of Fenris. Some players may have no interest in the topic and would prefer to stick to a more metaplot agnostic or previous edition version of the game. This is fine and shouldn't be forced. While there is plenty of potential for this transition, ultimately what serves the enjoyment of the people at the table needs to be considered first.

2. Make it an event

    There's never a more dramatic period during a coup than when it's actually occurring. This is probably the case during the fall of the Get of Fenris. Imagine you your player characters are attending the faithful moot when the Get of Fenris make their insane ultimatum. The player characters may react with the belief that they have a point, they are being stupidly rash, or are outright treasonous.

    This offers the player characters a chance to debate the issue and possibly win some Get packs over to their side or other Garou that agree with them. You can then reveal the Get are already doomed with the slow revelation that they've stacked the deck ahead of time by eliminating those leaders who weren't onboard with their treason. You can end up going Order 66 on the Get loyalists and reveal their treachery was in the works for some time.

    Much like the Convention of Thorns in Vampire: The Masquerade, the Grand Moot of Fenris (or whatever you want to call it) can be an opportunity for the player characters to meet with famous NPCs as well as have a direct effect on how things shake down. Maybe they'll prevent the assassination of Albrecht or the Margrave. Maybe they'll be the ones to discover that attempts to save the Get are doomed because it is Wolf itself who has been corrupted. Maybe they will lead the Loyalist Get to break ties even if it means severing their bonds to their fellows. It might be best to even start the game as Get characters.

3. Don't simplify it

    The corebook takes an almost comically simplistic interpretation of the Cult of Fenris. There's a lot more tragedy in the view that the Get of Fenris had a point but have since gone completely off the rails in their pursuit of it. Gaia is dying and they need to do something now to save the Earth. It may be stupid to believe you can defeat the Wyrm in Malpheas or triumph where the White Howlers failed but the call to action should not be dismissed out of hand. The player characters should now friends, loved ones, mentors, and others who have gone over to the other side even if they disagree with the cruelty. Extreme times calling for extreme measures is a seductive call for many, particularly the Garou who were aware the Earth was dying before most humans.

    It is fine that the Cult of Fenris are awful. That they represent the worst of Garou ideology, violence, and disdain for humans as well as other shapechangers. But there should be a method to their madness that allows Garou to know how they got from Point A to Point Z even if Z isn't helping.

4. Hauglosk is a symptom not a cause 

    Hauglosk is a state of fanaticism and zealotry so extreme that Garou who fall to it are effectively lost. Consumed by the Dark SIde of the Force or One Ring of Power if you will. It is easy, even in-universe, for the Garou to dismiss the Cult of Fenris as having fallen to this state and being unable to saved. However, a more interesting take on this subject is that is the result of their beliefs and behaviors rather than simply the means that all of the Cutl have gone nuts. "Redeeming" a Cult of Fenris member, either a cub or former friend, shouldn't have Mechanics but be the result of a Session of players doing their best to reach them. Getting past the rage and sense of fear that they have failed Gaia while offering hope there is another way.

5. Define the spiritual nature of the crisis 

    Related to the above Hauglosk entry, addressing how the Cult of Fenris have affected the Spirit World of the Garou is certainly worth a Storyteller's time. The obvious question is whether or not Wolf has been corrupted by Hauglosk or fallen to the Wyrm itself. As the totem animal of the Garou as a whole, are they all being affected or it limited to the Cult? Is it possible to heal Wolf or replace it with one of its cubs as Totem of the Get/Cult? Must it be slain? Is it even Wolf at all or is it being impersonated by the Beast of War?

    What affects has the tribe's fall had on their fetishes, caerns, compacts, and other spiritual relations? In previous editions, the Garou might have taken a lengthy journey into the Umbra for these answers but now might have to seek powerful new magic to survive anything longer than a short journey. Perhaps Hauglosk is a new condition and less of an innate evil fo the Garou than a sign of Wolf's own corruption spreading to their children.

6. The Cult's evils as Garou evils not human evils 

    The corebook heavily implies that the Cult of Fenris has dealings with white supremacist ideology and past groups that were wiped out by the Get of Fenris from within their ranks. In my opinion, and fully aware this going against the "killing Nazis is fun" ethos of W5, I believe STs should ignore this element. There's plenty of villainous motivations with the dying of Gaia, Garou supremacy, denial of the failure of violence as a means to save Gaia, and so on. The Cult don't need to be racists against different kinds of humans to make them even more hate-able. It's not even just in poor taste but doesn't make sense. The Cult should have its own biases and not be a vessel for white supremacy.

7. Muddy the Cult's membership a bit 

    One of the loresheets in the corebook is Renunciate of Fenris (page 298), which in its simplest terms means the player character used to be a Get of Fenris but had to join another tribe because his own went mad with Hauglosk. You can't continue to be a Get of Fenris if Wolf (Fenris) is all on Team Fanatic. The numbers aren't clear about how many of the Get who stayed behind are but you could easily go with a tenth or even up to a third without violating the spirit of things. 

    It's possible to even have these ex-Get hoping to find a new Totem for their ex-tribemates or the PCs to want to help them. Perhaps, at the height of a campaign, the Children of Garm may emerge from Wolf's brother or the new Winter's Teeth.

    Equally as important is to make the Cult of Fenris not necessarily all ex-Get. Surely there are Red Talons, Gatestalkers, Silver Fangs, Shadow Lords, and others who found succor in a violent  but heroic death for Gaia. If but a small number of every tribe defected to the Cult of Fenris, you may explain why the Get fell but the Cult is too powerful for the Garou as a whole to face. A bit like the antitribu of the Sabbat but, presumably, lacking their former spiritual patronage. 

8. Using the Cult as Dark Mirrors 

    On a fundamental level, the Cult of Fenris is making things worse not better because they're fighting their fellow Garou instead of the Wyrm as much as anything else. However, you can use the Cult of Fenris as a way to show exactly where the Garou erred. For example, a Cult of Fenris pack may massacre a megamart full of patrons and the State Governor may declare a national order to kill all wild wolves in the state after claiming there was an outbreak of rabies. The Cult of Fenris may start a war with the local Leeches or shapechangers because even if they're trying to heal the land, this is doing SOMETHING. There is a seductive appeal in lashing out and stupidly rushing forward that young Garou (and even many old ones) may like. 

9. The Cult of Fenris as wildcards 

    If you remove the white supremacy angle and dial down the attempts by the corebook to let us REALLY KNOW the Cult are the bad guys (I think most of us can figure that out for ourselves), the Cult of Fenris becomes an interesting thing to throw into encounters that might otherwise be straightforward. The PCs may want to stop a human trafficking ring of corporate bigwigs wanting to kidnap poor migrants to experiment on. 

    The Cult of Fenris may show up to try to slaughter everyone, human victims included. Maybe the PCs want to take down a chemical plant illegally poisoning a town and the Cult offers to help (offering a temporary truce) but it will make things far wilder as well as more explosive. What if the Cult and PCs both find a Lost Kin girl but the Cult offers to just let them both explain their sides so she can choose for herself? 

10. Remember this is a tragedy

    The most important thing to remember when using the Cult of Fenris is to not dismiss their tragedy or fall. They were formerly warriors of Gaia and still consider themselves to be so. In living memory, they were the kind of people that would fight by our heroes' side and probably did. However, now they are consumed by hatred and easy answers. Their solution of simply trying what hasn't worked in the past and making it ten times more violent has no chance of working but seems better than just wringing ones claws. Now the Get kill as many Garou as the Black Spiral Dancers used to and weaken the Garou Nation's already slim chance of saving the world.