Ten Tips for using Hauglosk 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 more controversial elements of Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition is the introduction of the condition of Hauglosk. Hauglosk is effectively the opposite of Harano. While a Garou suffering Harano is someone who sinks into all consuming despair and depression from the futility of their struggles with the Wyrm, a Garou suffering Hauglosk throws themselves into the jaws of the Wyrm in hopes of clawing their way out from their stomach. 

    A werewolf suffering from Hauglosk is someone who is infected by a form of fanatical zeal that effectively turns them into a Gaian fundamentalist terrorist. W:TA's corebook says it best (page 52): "In a desperate fight against an overwhelming enemy, the ends justify the means. Everything is on the table. Victory at any cost. This is Hauglosk, the conviction that your absolute moral certainty justifies everything you do.Hauglosk is a state of extreme righteousness. A Garou in a state of Hauglosk believes that the cause is all, that their way is the only way."

    Given Gaia is dying, Hauglosk seems less like an overreaction and more like the proper attitude to the imminent end of everything. At least to some Garou. Even some long-time players question its utility as it seems like a mechanization of a roleplaying condition. Here are some thoughts on how I'm incorporating Hauglosk into W5.

1. Hauglosk is a choice

    Hauglosk should not be treated as the Dark Side of the Force or the One Ring of Power. It's more insidious than that but more a series of compromises and choices that a Garou proceeds to make before they gradually destroy everything worthwhile in them as an honorable warrior of Gaia. It is supernatural and a reflection of the Garou's rage and drive combined with their human minds but not so much that it is not identifiable as having a specific cause then effect. 

    Storytellers attempting to use Hauglosk in their games shoudn't rely on the mechanics of it versus the storytelling beats of it. At what point does a Garou cease caring about the collateral damage in their quest to protect Gaia? At what point does culling humans seem right? What about those Garou who are traitors because they're not pulling their weight? Hauglosk is a state that comes in degrees but one that are all too easy to make rationalizations before.

2. Hauglosk is fundamentalist 

    Hauglosk is religious fundamentalism, authoritarian militarism, and "my way is only way" blind unthinking fanaticism. Garou suffering for it believe their way is the only salvation for the world and everyone who believes otherwise is either evil or stupid. It can also manifest itself in multiple ways from the Gaian warrior who will do anything to save her to the Litany zealot who thinks any Gaia who refuses to follow ancient outdated interpretations is a blasphemer to the racial purist who has belief that only certain Garou families should survive. 

3. Hauglosk is self-defeating

    A thing that STs dealing with Hauglosk should remember is the fact that it's a condition that will utimately provide easy answers but, ultimately, wrong ones. The Cult of Fenris turned against the entirety of the Garou Nation because no one would agree with their plan to launch a suicide attack on Malfeas. Now they are warring with their fellow Garou, which certainly is not helping the war against the Wyrm. A Hauglosk infected Silver Fang may decide the only way to save Gaia is to reaffirm their tribes' position of absolute leadership and force all the other tribes to acknowlege it. Another might think the Impergium needs a sequel despite how impossible and stupid said idea is. Hauglosk provides a sense of you having figured out THE SOLUTIONtm and everyone else is just too dumb to see it.

4. Hauglosk has always been there 

    One interpretation of Hauglosk is the fact that it is a Garou condition that has been afflicting them since the Impergium and War of Rage but one that's never been wildly addressed among the Children of Luna. Zeal is a virtue among the Garou after all and blind unthinking fanaticism is something that religious cults (of which the Garou could be described as) often extoll rather than condemn. Recognizing it is a problem is, if not something new, something that the Garou are only now coming to terms with in the Modern Nights. However, that means the Garou have to go up against centuries, if not millennia, of institutional inertia.

5. Hauglosk is (probably) everywhere in the Garou Nation

    The Get of Fenris falling to Hauglosk is something that has massively damaged the Garou's ability to fight as well as their unity as a whole. Blaming it on Hauglosk is almost a cop out because that let's all of the other tribes off the hook. Except, what if they aren't off the hook at all? What if Hauglosk is rampant throughout the entirety of the Garou Nation? What if it has already taken one or more of them (*cough* Red Talons *cough)? 

    What if the only reason anyone noticed the Cult suffering from it was because they chose to turn against their fellows? What if most sufferers of Hauglosk are just on a downward spiral that will end with their "heroic" deaths and becoming examples for others? The Stargazers left the Garou Nation for a reason. Maybe it was because they felt their fellows couldn't be helped.

6. Can Hauglosk be cured? 

    There's no system for recovery from Hauglosk but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is incurable in-universe (or maybe it is--ST's perogitive). However, if you are going to allow it to be cured then there's no easy fix. Cult deprogramming is a debunked practice for good reason. However, people do escape from fudnamentalist views and extremist ideologies. It is just a long and difficult process. Storyteller's should determine whether it's possible to cure Hauglosk with either rites, roleplaying, or cleansing by spirits. However, it should probably be done by convincing a Garou to try to fix themselves.

7. Hauglosk should be tempting

    Despite Hauglosk being best used as a metaphor for fanaticism and single-minded obsession, it should be something that the Storyteller willingly inserts as a temptation for player characters. Think of it as the voice of the Shadow in Wraith: The Oblivion or the Devil on the shoulder. The ST should not necessarily be overt about it but present opportunities to increase Hauglosk through single-minded obsessive zeal. The chance to win over a clan by gutting a Child of Gaia who advocates for a more peaceful solution or mentioning how disgusting a Kin who has abandoned the war for Gaia to live a "normal" life is.

8. The downward spiral is not necessarily to be avoided

    This is something that should be suggested to a player before a ST starts the idea but the roleplaying of a character succumbing to their worst impulses isn't necessarily a bad arc to explore at one's table. If a player is game, his character gradually becoming more radicalized and fanatical in the service of Gaia then it could be a very interesting plot arc. Do they pull out of their nosedive in time or abandon themselves wholly to madness?

9. Identifying Hauglosk should not be easy

    Hauglosk is insidious and powerful because it is something that is entirely in line with a strict reading of Garou values. Its users want to save Gaia, its users want to fight the Wyrm, and its users argue that the situation is desperate--which is all correct. They do not so much hide behind tradition as believe that it is the failure of the Garou to do ENOUGH that has caused them to lose the Apocalypse rather than the idea they have gone too far. Many Garou agree with this sentiment even if they are not in agreement over what "enough" would look like. What is the difference between a Red Talon who wants to cull ninety-percent of all humans and one who has been consumed by their inner rage? Is there? And is the Garou Nation turning a blind eye to how deep the rot is?

10. Purging Hauglosk may require extreme measures

    One of the greatest victories the Garou achieved of the 21st century was the purging of Sword of Heimdall. It was an act that eliminated some of the worst of their kind and was done by the Get to try to redeem themselves. Sadly, it did not work. The Garou have been reforming themselves for the past two decades but that reform did not come fast enough for the Get and may not come fast enough for the Garou Nation to be saved. Ironically, an extreme solution may be the only way to end the extremism that would have the Garou all commit collective suicide by embracing worthless acts of fanaticism over seeking more cunning solutions. Is the man who suggests they slay all the Red Talons' favoring genocide insane, Hauglosk ridden, or correct?