Vargar

The Vargar are a lupine Fae race that possess wolfish characteristics similar to the hybrid image of a werewolf and have the ability to morph their shape, partially or completely, from fully humanish to that resembling a mundane wolf. Unlike the wild best men of werewolf legends, Vargar are a noble race in complete control of their behavior and transformational abilities.

When choosing a Vargar as a player character race, choose the Shape Change (wolf) Boon and one (1) additional Boon. Then choose two (2) Scourges from the lists below. It’s helpful to consider the character’s lupine heritage when making your choice to ensure that each ability represents the ancestry, culture, and interactions of your kind.

NOTE: The lists below represent some of the abilities exhibited by creatures of lore, but it should not be considered definitive. Please work with your GM if you have different concepts in mind for your character.

Boons

Ageless: The Fae are incredibly long lived. After reaching adulthood, this character ages at one-tenth the normal rate for humans.
Armor: A thick hide covers this character with Natural armor and the character receives a +1 to Toughness.
Animal Affinity: This is identical to the Beast Master Edge.
Bard: Start with d6 in the Performance skill.
Claws: The character has claws which form natural weaponry. When fighting barehanded, the character inflicts Strength + d6 damage.
Fae Beauty: +2 Charisma. This is not beauty as we normally think of it, but rather a supernatural attraction. For example, characters with this Boon may be monstrous in appearance and still recieve the Charisma bonus.
Fleet Footed: Pace of 8, d10 running die. For characters with Aquatic or Fly, this may be applied to those forms of locomotion instead. Each form of locomotion requires a separate buy of Fleet Footed.
Innate Magick: Innate Magick is an innate, limited version of the new Fae Magick Arcane Background that has the following restrictions. Innate Magick cannot benefit from advancement, meaning no new powers can be learned (ex. as gained through the New Powers Edge) and no additional Power Points can be gained (ex. as are normally granted through the Power Points Edge). Additionally, a player with the Innate Magick boon does not gain the ability to use Cantrips. Finally, the Innate Magick boon has no Arcane skill as it reflects the innate magic of the Fae. All attempts at using Innate Magick are resolved with a Spirit roll.
Note: A player may still select the Arcane Background (Fae Magick) Edge with Glamour (Spirit) as its Arcane Skill at any time they would normally be able to do so and follow the normal rules associated with that arcane background including the ability to use Cantrips (as well as the ability to expand their spell casting abilities normally using the Power Points and New Powers Edges). Should a player do so, the starting Power Points do not stack.
Immunity: This Fae is immune to a particular substance (poison, alcohol), environment (cold, heat, water), or condition (sleep deprivation, hunger, disease).
Large: Not all the Folk fit the image of the diminutive flower faery. This character stands nearly 8 feet tall, and has a +3 Toughness modifier. They are easier to hit however, so opponents gain +2 when attacking a Large Fae.
Low Light Vision: This Fae suffers no effects when acting in low light conditions. In total darkness, they are at –2 for all actions requiring vision.
Innate Resistance: This boon is identical to the Arcane Resistance Edge.
Roar: Once per encounter, the Vargar can let out a blood curdling roar which causes opponents in a Medium Burst Template to make a Spirit roll or become Shaken.
Rend: A powerful bite that inflicts Strength + d6 Damage.
Shape Change: Can shape shift to a single animal form. The transformation can be complete, or partial. For example a human body with an animal head, or legs, or the hybrid image of a werewolf.
Sneaky: +2 to Stealth rolls.
Strong: Start with d6 in Strength.
Tinker: Per the McGyver Edge. Ignore the requirements for this Edge.

Scourges

Slow: Not all Vargar are fleet of foot. Some are slow and ungainly, though just as deadly. This character has a pace of 4, and a d4 Running Die.
Bestial Rage: Whenever this Vargar smells fresh blood, they risk going into an uncontrollable rage. While enraged, they will attack the nearest person, friend or foe. To see if Bestial Rage takes them, players must make a Spirit Roll. If they succeed they resist their bestial nature. If they fail they become enraged. While enraged, the player must make a Spirit roll each round to regain control. After a critical failure, they may only make the Spirit roll every 2 rounds.
Blood Thirst: Vargar with this Scourge must consume 1 pint of blood per day, or suffer a Fatigue. At the end of the third day without blood, the character is incapacitated. Each day after, they suffer 1 Wound. If they do not receive blood by the seventh day, they die.
Environmental Dependence: Some Vargar are dependent on a particular type of environment for survival. They must spend at least one hour per day in that environment, or suffer a Fatigue. At the end of the third day outside their environment, the character is incapacitated.
Environmental Weakness: Vargar with this weakness are particularly susceptible to a specific environment (Cold, Heat, Wet, Dry). All Vigor rolls are at –2 while in this environment.
Folk Bane: Most Fae are susceptible to an object, substance, or action. This can be anything from herbs and metals, to prayer or wearing ones clothes inside out. All actions against someone possessing a Folk Bane are at –4, regardless of proximity.
Frail: This Vargar may be small, older, or suffer from some malady. They are at –1 Toughness.
Night Thing: Not all Vargar are at home in daylight. Some only thrive in the night. A Night Thing suffers a –1 penalty to all actions taken between dawn and dusk.
True Speak: This character cannot tell a deliberate lie. They may use half-truths and deflection, but if asked a direct question, they must answer truthfully.
Ugly: Some Vargar are downright hideous. This Scourge is the same as the Ugly Hindrance in the Savage Worlds rules.
Vulnerability: Folklore often tells of a Vargar weakness to silver, which is partially true. Many of the Fae races have a weakness to weapons made from a certain substance. It may be iron, silver, gold, or a type of wood like pine or mahogany. The Vargar suffers an additional d6 damage from attacks made with a weapon crafted their scourge substance.

Basic Information

Dietary Needs and Habits

Vargars are primarily carnivorous, preferring their food freshly killed and uncooked. They can tolerate cooked food, particularly in human form, but will do everything reasonable to avoid it.

The Vargar diet usually consists of large hoofed mammals such as deer, elk, and moose. They will eat smaller prey such as beavers or rabbits, and will even subsist on nuts and berries during desperate times. They do not eat sentient beings regardless of what certain legends may claim.

As apex predators they help keep elk and deer populations in check allowing other Fae species, as well as other plant and animal life, to thrive by preventing overgrazing or defoliation while providing "leftovers" from their hunts for scavenging life forms.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Vargars are amongst the most social of the Fae races, they live, travel, and hunt in packs called vargflocks which are usually led by an alpha female (dame). Vargflocks are made up of large, extended family groups which include hunters and artisans as well as the valps (cubs or whelps) and elderly. The alpha dame often leads the hunt for prey, chooses dwelling sites, and establish the vargflock ’s territory.

The Vargar's societal system is matriarchal in which females or dames hold the primary power positions in roles of political leadership, moral authority, and social privilege.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Vargar are found almost exclusively in the Fae Wilds of Nehwon. Vargars are not farmers and tend to be migratory, periodically establishing new territories in the vast Fae Wilds to help keep their ecosystems balanced and healthy. Vargflock territories can be as small as just 20 square miles to as large as several hundred square miles depending on how plentiful their prey is.

Individuals will occasionally leave their Vargflock to travel the lands of Nehwon alone or with other Fae companions. They generally prefer natural habitats rather than urban living, though it is not uncommon for them to be seen on the streets of Mistas De Saard.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Vargar usually have a keen sense of smell and excellent eye sight. They often put these senses to good use when hunting foes and food alike.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Vargar naming conventions use a given or byname with the addition of a matronymic (a personal name based on the given name of one's mother's byname). To create a matronym, the suffix -valp ('cub' or 'whelp') is added to the genitive form of the mother's name.

Major Organizations

Vargar infrequently appear at The Fae Court and on occasion work directly with the Council of the Seven Winds.

Internal to the vargflocks, there exists a society of hunters and warriors who follow a strict set of codes known as the Way. The Way is a warrior tradition that emphasizes sincerity, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honour until death. The Way is overseen by a council of alpha dames and elder, former alphas, chosen from vargflocks across the Fae Wilds. Ultimately, the Way teaches that the only judge of one's character is oneself, however the Way Council helps guide the Vargar and prevents matters of honor from putting the vargflocks at risk.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Vargar's native tongue is Fae and in addition to their ability to learn additional spoken word languages, they have a complex system of communicating with each other that enhances the base language with a range of sounds, including barks, whines, growls, and howls, as well as through body language, and scent marking. Each Vargar has a unique howl, which allows other vargflock members to recognize them even over long distances.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

The Vargar have a complex history when it comes to their relations with mankind. Migratory vargflocks tend to range close to the frontiers of the The Fae Wilds abutting the lands of men, purposefully acting as a buffer between the races. The Vargar often act as guides to human hunters that enter the Fae Wilds, steering them clear of Fae habitations and dangerous regions, leading them to rich hunting grouds with an abudance of game. The Vargar also assist those seeking medical or alchemical ingredients which flourish along the Vena Creatrix or Ley Lines. Some vargflocks have even been known to leave the wilds to trade these wonderous ingredients in the cities and towns of men.

Some humans unfortunately do not avail themselves of the Vargar's services, instead choosing to make forays into the Fae Wilds on their own, often for less than noble reasons. Some come to hunt the Fae as exotic trophies, others seek to make potent magics from elements of the Fae's anatomy such as the wings of Faeries. The Vargar's role changes then from helpful Guides to dangerous Wardens who hunt as a pack to ensure that no poacher escapes the justice of their spears.

It is believed that many of the tales told by humans of the ferocious wolfmen who run on two legs and who's bite can damn men to a cursed life of howling madly at the moon have been spread by poacher's who managed to escape the Vargar Wardens. The Vargar don't do much to discourage these tales for they have the desired result of keeping human's from venturing too deeply into the Wilds. In fact, the Vargar are often amused by these stories, particularly the idea that any creature foolish enough to feel their fangs would survive the experience.

Amongst the Fae, the Vargar are well regarded, their nomadic lifestyle often bring them into contact with the large and varied populations of the Wilds. It is not uncommon for Fae to engage Vargar Wardens as traveling companions when they journey into the lands of men, seeking out the shape-changing lupines as both protectors and discrete guides able to navigate the complex world of men.

Vargar Dame

Scientific Name

Lupus Sapien

Lifespan

The average Vargar's lifespan is similar to Humans (about 80 years).

Average Height

Vargar's tend to be slightly taller than humans with males or sires averaging 6 feet in height. Females or dames, tend to be taller still, averaging a few inches over 6 feet.

Average Weight

The average Vargar sire weighs 200lbs. Dames, being the larger of the species, averaging 225lbs.

Average Physique

Vargar dames tend to be larger than the males of the species, both have builds from rangy to bulky.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Vargar's coats have a similar color combination to the Eurasian Grey Wolf (Canis Lupus) ranging from black, grey, off-white, brown, and silver. Multicolored coats are most prominent, but solid colored coats are not rare. In human form, Vargars tend to retain some of their wolfish characteristics, often having an abundance of hair (matching their natural coat), pointed features (ex. toothy smiles), and long nails (particularly dames of the species).