So you want a Phase Panther?

So you've decided that you want a Phase Panther? This Guide will go through the OOC mechanics of gaining said phase panther, as well as the costs and benefits. __________________________________________________________________

Joining the Guild

To join the guild, you must be a member of the Shadow Riders Guild. Phase panthers are discerning creatures and do favour guild members for the skills and personalities they tend to cultivate
The first step in your quest to obtain a Phase Panther, is to Join the Shadow Rider's Guild. You must start at rank 1, Shadowcub. To join, you must petition a Shadow Rider or senior guild member to sponsor you. You will also need to pay your way for the first couple months to a year (RP dependent). This may mean an "afterschool Job" or services to the guild. You cannot bypass this step and you cannot buy rank with XP. Rank will be awarded by the STs.
This is a very RP dependent guild. You have been warned. Membership is also for life and you will be expected to uphold the guild's ideals.

• Prerequisits: Vampire, Mortal, Purified

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So You're an Shadowcub? What now?

At this rank your PC will be learning all about the care and feeding of Phase Panthers. How they work, their anatomy, how to safely approach them. This will be mostly theory, though you will be expected to clean the Phase Panthers' areas with a senior member of the Initiate ranks! That's exciting! You are considered to have rank 1 within the Guild, and have the title of Shadowcub.
Other duties at this rank also include the learning of combat and running errands for the Shadow Riders.
Skills that you may be learning or will come in handy later:

• Crafts (for repairing equipment)
• Medicine (With a specialization in Phase Panthers)
• Occult and/Or Academics (with a specialization in Phase Panthers)
• A sense of martial skill, fighting styles and understanding of stealth

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A Step up, Shadow Squire am I

Once you have RP'd your way out of running from the Phase Panthers within their territory while you maintain the area, you will be hand selected by one of the Shadow Riders to act as their . You could be selected by a PC, or an NPC, depending on RP with the characters.

You are now considered to have rank 2 within the Guild. At this rank, you will no longer be mucking out the territories, but you will have a host of other duties, such as: Caring for the Shadow Rider's Equipment (Saddles, Bridles, weapons, armor and gear) Assisting the Shadow Rider in the care of their Phase Panther (also includes cleaning the phase territories, HAHA I lied). Accompanying the Shadow Rider to minor tasks. Running errands for the Shadow Rider.
Skills that you may be learning or will come in handy later:

• Drive (Phase Panther)
• Athletics
• Fighting Style (Shadow Combat)
• Stealth
• Fighting Styles
• Combat related skills and Powers

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Okay, but I can have a Phase Panther now right? Becoming a Shadow Rider

There are a few prerequisites to becoming a rider. If you do not meet the following requirements, you will not be selected by a Phase Panther:

• Rank •• - You must be Part of the Shadow Riders's Guild and a Shadow's Attendant (this is non negotiable)
• Medicine • - specialized in Phase Panthers
• Drive ••• (Specialized in Phase Panther Riding)
• Animal Ken ••• (Specialized in Phase Panthers)
• Fighting Style: Phase Panther Combat
• Stealth •+(Specialized in Camouflage or similar skills)

All Shadow squires, regardless of how long they have been an Attendant, attend the Skulk.
Skulks are predetermined by the STs using several random rolls to determine the size of the litters. Though Phase Panthers are discerning, how they choose their partners is highly subject to rumour and speculation. If you are not chosen, Your skills may be lacking in specific specialties and time may be needed. Attending multiple Skulks is not uncommon.
Once selected by a Phase Panther, you immediately move to the Rank of Shadow Rider gaining Status •••. You must also purchase the Shadow Rider Merit

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New Merits

Fighting Style: Panther Combat • to ••••

Level
•	Steady Saddle	+3 to stay mounted during combat.
••	Intimidating Pass	Presence + Intimidation vs Resolve + Composure to inflict a -3 action penalty to multiple targets.
•••	Skirmishing	Take a -2 attack penalty for +2 Defense and gain an attack halfway through your mount's movement.
••••	Rearing Beast	Roll Wits + Animal Ken as teamwork to enhance your mount's attack, adding your total successes as a bonus to your mount's attack

Panther Rider •••••

Prerequisites: Medicine • (Phase Panther Care Specialization), Drive ••• (Phase Panther Riding Specialization), Animal Ken ••• (Phase Panthers), Fighting Style: Panther Combat •, Shadow Ridern Status ••

You have joined a knightly order, sword to protect the land and have been chosen by one of the Panthers to be its rider. These Phase Panthers can teleport.
Benefits: Phase Panther select riders that embody their own personalities. This brings out the best in both Rider and Panther, enhancing their good qualities

• You have a Phase Panther with base stats +5 points to spend.
• You have a telepathic link to your Phase Panther, allowing you to communicate
• Your Phase Panther can "blink"
• You gain a bonus as determined by your Phase Panther type.  Once you pick the benefit, it cannot be changed

Negatives: Because Phase Panthers select riders that embody their own personalities, they also bring out the worst in each other, enhancing their negative qualities as well

• Gain a negative to a roll as determined by you Phase Panther type. Once you pick the negative, it cannot be changed

Phase Panther Type	Bonus	Negative
Smoke (Grey)	+1 to rolls involving Occult or +1 Awareness Rolls	-1 to rolls to resist curiosity or -1 to resist possessions
Black	+1 to Stealth rolls or +1 Subterfuge	-1 to rolls involving empathy or -1 to social rolls when you are the center of attention
Tawny	+1 to rolls involving leadership or +1 to rolls involving expression	-1 to manipulation resist manipulation or -1 to resist enacting your virtue
Spotted	+1 to resist fear or +1 to rolls involving determining the strength of your foes	-1 to walk away from a fight or -1 on willpower rolls related to mercy and forgiveness
Striped	+1 to any roll involving stamina or +1 on investigation	-1 to any roll where you must be patient or -1 on empathy rolls deciphering subterfuge

Phase Panther • to •••••

Each point of this merit gives you 5 dots to spend on your Phase Panther. You may select from a predetermined list. You may only select from the Universal list, or your Phase Panther's colour

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Building a Phase Panther

Base Stats for an Phase Panther

Health: 31
Willpower: ••••••••••••• (13)
Essence: ••••••••••••••• (15)
Size: 5
Armor: --
Speed: 8, full out run 16
Defense: 7
Initiative Mod: 11

Base Phase Panther Points: This is inherent to the Phase Panther and does not count towards the merit. +5 points to spend as you wish on your Phase Panther.

Attributes

Power = 7	Int •••••••	Str •••••••	Pres •••••••
Finesse = 5	Wit •••••	Dex •••••	Man •••••
Resistance = 6	Res ••••••	Stam •••••	Comp ••••••

Skill

Mental	Physical	Social
Occult ••	Athletics •••• Brawl ••• Stealth ••• Survival •••	Animal Ken •• Empathy ••• Intimidation ••• Socialize •

Powers and Benefits:
Imprinted bond: Reaching across space and language, a Phase Panther can “talk” and “listen” to their Rider without saying or hearing a word. An instinctive telepathy allows him to speak with his Rider. On top of this, a Rider and Phase Panther always knows the state of the other, physically and emotionally. In fact, the longer a Phase Panther and their rider are bonded, the more they will begin to be influenced by the emotional states of the other.
Blink/Teleport: The Phase Panther uses this power to blink from one location to another. The location must be somewhere the Phase Panther is familliar with and needs to have enough room for the Phase Panther to appear. To teleport the Phase Panther spends 3 essence and visualizes the location he is traveling to, then rolls power + finesse. It costs an additional 2 essence per passenger. The journey only takes a moment.
Tentacles: Phase Panther have long powerful tentacles thet end in a barbed pad This gives them a +2 to grapple (though some phase panthers may have additional abilities). Tail Bash: Roll the Phase Panther's Strength + Brawl. Damage: 4 Bashing
Claws: All predators have such tools for, digging, climbing, as well as attacking/defending. Claw Attack: Roll the Phase Panther's Power + Brawl. Damage: 3 Lethal
Bite: Long terrible and sharp, they serve a single purpose to tear and rend. Bite Attack: Roll the Phase Panther's Power + Brawl. Damage: 2 Lethal
Cat's Grace: All Phase Panthers have +1 to stealth and balance while moving (this does stack with Catwalk)
Cat Eyes: Ignore all dice penalties for darkness and halve all other dice penalties to visual actions

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Universal Powers

Celestial Attunement (•) A Phase Panther with this power has an innate link to the passage of time and the movement of the celestial bodies. He can estimate the time until sunrise or sunset within a matter of a couple moments, and can follow the phases of the moon in his head.
Direction Sense (•) A Phase Panther with this power has an innate sense of direction that instinctively allows him to remain oriented. He can enter unfamiliar territory and always retrace his steps back to his starting point, and can orient himself to any of the compass points (i.e., face north, face south) without references.
Echolocation (• or •••) A Phase Panther with Echolocation can use sonic echoes to “read” his immediate surroundings without actually having to see them. He can ignore all visually-based penalties such as darkness, fog, smoke or blindness (see “Fighting Blind” in the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 166). If the Phase Panther has the three-dot version, he’ll enjoy two additional benefits: The character cannot be surprised unless asleep (see “Surprise,” pp. 151–152 in the World of Darkness Rulebook). Also, she has a permanent +1 bonus to her Defense, because the echolocation allows her to be more acutely aware of incoming attacks.
Attunement (••) This Power allows a Phase Panther to attune to their surroundings. Scenting the wind or feeling the trembles of the earth, he can “scan” his surroundings for trouble. In game terms, the Phase Panther takes a half action to get a feel for the territory, and then makes a Finesse roll to spot potential threats, trespassers or meals within 500 feet or so of the Phase Panther. The Attunement roll enjoys a bonus, depending on the Phase Panther's surroundings and circumstances. In natural surroundings, the Phase Panther gets a +3 bonus; in urban settings, the bonus drops to +2. If the Phase Panther knows his surroundings well, the dice pool receives an additional +1 bonus; if not, no further bonus applies. Other perception-based modifiers also apply, however, up to a maximum bonus or penalty of +5/–5. This
Carnivore’s Puissance (••) The Phase Panther regains essence by eating the heart of an animal, ½ an essence per dot of size the animal has
Shared Vision (••) You share a keen eyesight with your Phase Panther. The difficulties of all dice rolls that relate to vision are reduced by one. This can be combined with other merits or abilities that heightened senses (Applies to both Rider and Phase Panther)
Brave Escape (•••) The Phase Panther can double their speed for a turn by spending 1 essence
Catwalk (• to •••••) The Phase Panther has +1 per dot to stealth and balance while moving
Clamber (• to •••••) The Phase Panther has +1 per dot to climb
Rank (•••••)
This can be purchased a total of 3 times, to a maximum of rank 5. Each purchase of Rank gives 5 dots to spend amongst Attributes (Power, Finesse or Resistance), 5 dots in Skills and increases Essence by 5.

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Smoke (Grey)

Grim Sight (•) As per Mage Death 1 spell, Grim Sight. Roll Finess+Occult and spend 1 essence
Second Sight (•) As per Mage Spirit 1 spell, Second Sight . Roll Finess+Occult and spend 1 essence
Countermagic (••) As per the Mage Prime 2 Spell Counterspell. Power+Finesse vs Spell Potency
Spiritual Communication (••) Phase Panthers can commune with spirits, ghosts, and other ethereal beings, gaining insights and guidance from the spirit realm. Spend essence and roll Finess+Occult to and speak to spirits or ghost. You may only speak to one type at a time (Ghosts or Spirits)
Ricochet (•••) As per the Mage Prime 3 Spell Price of Hubris. Power+Finesse vs Spell Potency
Foretelling (•••) Looking into a possible future, this Phase Panther and their Rider receives visions of what might transpire. These visions are vague and unreliable, but somewhat accurate regardless.
In game terms, the Storyteller describes vivid impressions that the character receives in connection with a certain character, setting or event. In the process, the Storyteller silently decides how accurate those visions are, and then makes a point of having some element of them come true later. For guidance, the Storyteller might make a secret roll on the player’s behalf. Using the Phase Panther's as a dice pool, he determines whether or not the character saw a true vision of the future; the more successes he rolls, the more accurate the Foretelling will be. This is a free, reflexive action on behalf of the character. Naturally, the Storyteller is under no obligation to tell the player whether or not the vision was accurate, and he is not compelled to make the Foretelling come true a certain way. Prophecy is notoriously uncertain, open more to interpretation than to literal fulfillment.
Road Master (••••) As per Mage Spirit 4 spell. Allows the Phase Panther to transition to and from Shadow. Roll Power+Occult and spend 1 essence (+1 essence for every additional person the Panther wishes to take with them
Twilight Shift (••••) As per Mage Death 4 spell, Twilight Shift. Allows the Phase Panther to transition to and from Twilight. Roll Power+Occult and spend 1 essence (+1 essence for every additional person the Panther wishes to take with them
Spirit's Slumber (•••••) As per the Werewolf Warding 5 Gift, Ward of Spirit Slumber. Put all spirits in the vicinity to sleep. Spend 1 essence and roll Finess + Occult
The Long Goodbye (•••••) As per the Werewolf Death 5 gift, Vengeance of the Slain. A Phase Panther armed with this ability can defy Death itself, but only for a short time. This capability allows a Phase Panther to return a soul to its body briefly. This cannot prevent death; it can only delay it for a few short time. Unlike the werewolf gift, Phase panther can use this power on any living creature except those classified as Mythical. Spend 1 essence and roll Power + Occult

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Black

Natural Camouflage(•) These Phase Panthers can blend seamlessly into their surroundings, using their earth-manipulating powers to change the color and texture of their fur to match the environment. + 2 to stealth (•)
Grave Misfortune (••) Spend an essenceto bless another with bad luck equivalent to a -4 on a significant roll, the phase panther also receives bad luck to a lesser extent (-2)
Intuition (••) Black Panthers possess an innate sense of intuition and foreboding, allowing them to sense danger and impending threats. This heightened intuition makes them keenly aware of their surroundings and helps them avoid potential dangers. +2 to detect ambush
Darkness Manipulation (•••) Black Phase Panthers have a unique affinity for darkness and shadows. They can manipulate and control shadows, using them to obscure their movements and become nearly invisible in dimly lit or dark environments. This ability enhances their stealth and surprise when hunting or engaging in combat. Spend a point of Essesce and roll rolls Power + Finesse. Anyone Attempting to spot the Panther must roll for Wits + Investigation.
Intimidating Presence (•••) Roll Power + intimidation vs Composure to cause a group to flee
Breath Stealing (••••) Steal the breath of the living to replenish Essence as a touch, causing asphyxiative bashing damage. Power+Finesse - Stamina
Nightmare Realm (••••) As per Vampire Nightmare 4, Waking Nightmare. Create and control hallucinations. Spend 1 Essesnce and roll Power + Empathy vs Composure + Power Stat
Living Shadow (•••••) Black Panthers with this power becomes a living shadow. No physical force can harm her, because she isn’t solid. The Cost is 1 Essence, 2 to make their rider Shadow as well and then roll Power + Finesse. On a success the Panther becomes shadow
Fog of War (•••••) As per the Werewolf Evasion 5 gift, Fog of War. Summon a veil of confusion (-3 to all rolls for selected targets). Spend Essence and roll Finesse + Intimidation

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Tawny

Uplifting Howl (•) As Per the Werewolf Inspiration 1 Gift, The Right Words. The Panther lets out a Howl that positively affect morale (+2 to Social rolls to encourage or mollify). Spend 1 essence
(•)
Team Work (••) As Per the Werewolf Inspiration 2 Gift, Camaraderie. Help working together (+1 to resist Frenzy, +1 to Teamwork). Roll Finesse + Empathy
(••)
Leader of the Pack (•••) As Per the Werewolf Inspiration 3 Gift, True Leader. (•••) (••••) (••••) (•••••) (•••••)

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Spotted

Heavy Hiter (•) +1 damage to attacks

Enhanced Strength (•) Red Phase Panthers are physically powerful and can deliver devastating blows with their sharp claws and teeth. +1 Strength
Culling the Weak (••) Spend an essence and roll finess +empathy to determine the weakest member of a group
Bellow (••) This Power enables a Phase Panther to let out a blood-curdling bellow that causes an opponent to panic and run. The spirit spends a point of Essence and then rolls Power + Finesse – the opponent’s Composure. If the Phase Panther wins the contest, the victim must flee the Phase Panther’s presence for a number of turns equal to the number of successes achieved.
(•••) (•••) (••••) (••••) (•••••) (•••••)

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Striped

Aww!!! (•) +1 per dot to social rolls involving cuteness
(•) (••) (••) (•••) (•••) (••••) Rapid Regeneration(••••) They possess accelerated healing abilities, allowing them or their rider to recover from minor injuries quickly.
Dimensional Travel(•••••) They have the power to briefly open small portals, allowing them and their allies to move swiftly between locations. The location must be a place the panther is familliar with. Roll Finess+Occult. The Portal remains open for turns = successes
(•••••)

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