Post by Storyteller on Dec 8, 2015 23:04:54 GMT
Society builds institutions. As cities are raised, they form gatherings of expertise that are manipulated by people in their midst. If you have Influence, you can sway the direction of some areas of mundane society. Your Influence can be used to strike indirectly at your foes while protecting your own assets, or to gain information and special resources.
Influence comes in many different areas. You must allocate Traits separately to each Influence; thus, if you have Legal x 4, you could still have Police x 3 independently but you would have to spend the Traits for each.
You cannot manage more influence than the sum of your permanent Physical, Social and Mental Traits combined. This limit counts against all of your total Influence -your combined levels cannot exceed this total. After all, there is only so much you can do in a day. When you exercise Influence, you expend temporary Influence Traits. The tables for Influence areas detail the sort of things you can do with a specific number of Traits. Performing an action requires a number of Traits equal to the level of the action; you must use three Traits to perform an action listed at the third level of the Influence chart, for instance. Thus, with high levels of Influence, you can perform many small actions, or a few significant ones.
Certain levels of Influence gift you with items, money or aides. Unlike the Resources Background, money and equipment garnered with Influence does not come automatically each month. If you want a steady income from Influence, you must direct your Influence in that direction continually, and this income does not come with any associated trappings of wealth (you’d have to buy a house and car separately, for instance). Aides garnered with Influence generally help only for one specific task, and they usually only have one level of Ability in their area of skill - for more competent and readily available help, take the Allies Background.
Most cities have only a set amount of Influence in various areas. For instance, San Diego has a great deal of Transportation Influence because it is a hub of travel while New York City would have a lot of Finance and High Society Influence. A Rust-Belt city where manufacturing and heavy industry has all but disappeared would have little to no Industry Influence. There are three places to hold influence in this game locally Preston , Mirrormont, Issaquah, each location has it's own breakdown on how much of each influence is there. If you want more than a town has... make the town have a reason to grow the influence.
Bureaucracy
You can manage various government agencies and bureaus. By dealing with social programs and public servants, you can spin red tape, bypass rules and regulations or twist bureaucratic regimentation to your advantage. Bureaucracy is useful in operating or shutting down businesses, faking or acquiring permits and identification papers and manipulating public utilities and facilities. Government clerks at the city and county level, utility workers, road crews, surveyors and other civil servants are potential contacts or allies.
Cost Effect
1 Trace utility bills
2 Fake a birth certificate or driver’s license
Disconnect a single small residence’s utilities
Close a small road or park Get public aide ($250)
3 Fake a death certificate, passport or green card
Close a public school for a single day
Shut down a minor business on a violation
4 Initiate a phone tap
Fake land deeds
Initiate a department-wide investigation
5 Start, stop or alter a city-wide program or policy
Shut down a big business on a violation
Rezone areas Obliterate records of a person on a city or county level
Church
Though the modem church has arguably less control over temporal society than it did in the Middle Ages, its policies still exert considerable influence over the direction of politics and communities. Knowing the appropriate people allows insight into many mainstream religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Shinto or Buddhism (fringe or alternative groups, such as Scientology, are considered Occult). When you exercise Church Influence, you can change religious policy, affect the assignment or clergy and access a variety of lore and resources. Contacts and allies affected by Church Influence would include ministers, priests, bishops, Church-sponsored witch-hunters, holy orders and various attendees and assistants.
Cost Effect
1 Identify most secular members of a given faith in the local area
Pass as a member of the clergy
Peruse general church records (baptism, marriage, burial, etc.)
2 Identify higher church members
Track regular church members
Suspend lay members
3 Open or close a single church
Find the average church-associated hunter
Dip into the collection plate ($250)
Access private information and archives of a church
4 Discredit or suspend high-level church members
Manipulate regional branches of the church
5 Organize major protests
Access ancient church lore and knowledge
Finance
Manipulating markets, stock reports and investments are a hobby of many people, especially those who use their knowledge to keep hidden wealth. Though your actual available money is a function of your Resources, you can use Finance to start or smother businesses, crush or support banking institutions and alter credit records. Clearly, such power over money is not to be trifled with - fortunes are made and destroyed with this sort of pull. CEOs, bankers, stockbrokers, bank tellers, yes-men, financiers and loan agents are found among such work.
Cost Effect
1 Learn about major transactions and financial events
Raise capital ($1,000)
Learn about general economic trends
Learn real motivations for many financial actions of others
2 Trace an unsecured small account
Raise capital to purchase a small business (single, small store)
3 Purchase a large business (a few small branches or a single large store or service)
4 Manipulate local banking (delay deposits, some credit rating alterations)
Ruin a small business
5 Control an aspect of city-wide banking (shut off ATMs, arrange a bank “holiday”)
Ruin a large business
Purchase a major company
Health
It might seem odd that Garou, who can heal all but the most catastrophic injuries in a few hours, would need Health Influence, but for repairing the Veil or to help human Kinfolk this resource can be invaluable. You might also acquire a couple of veterinarians to assist with lupus Garou or Kinfolk. Most medical research and development fall under the purview of Health Influence. Coroners, doctors, lab workers, therapists, pharmacists and specialists are just a few of the folks found in this field.
Cost Effect
1 Access to a person’s health records
Fake vaccination records and the like
Use public functions of health centers at your leisure
2 Access some medical research records
Have a minor lab work done
Get a copy of a coroner’s report
Instigate minor quarantines
3 Corrupt results of tests or inspections
Alter medical records
4 Completely rewrite medical records
Abuse grants for personal use ($250)
Have minor medical research performed on a subject
Institute large scale quarantines
Shut down businesses for “health code violations”
5 Have special research projects performed
Have people institutionalized or released
High Society
The glitterati at the top of society move in circles of wealth and elegance. Though many Garou do not find such positions appealing, there is the rare exception that indulges in the passions of the famous and wealthy. Access to famous actors, celebrities and the elite rich grants a certain sway over fashion trends. A modicum of High Society Influence turns a werewolf into a debonair darling of the most exclusive social circles. Among these circles, one finds dilettantes, artists of almost any stripe, old-money families, models, rocks stars, sports figures and jetsetters.
Cost Effect
1 Learn what is trendy
Obtain hard-to-get tickets for shows
Learn about concerts, shows or plays well before they are made public
2 Track most celebrities and luminaries
Be a local voice in the entertainment field
“Borrow” idle cash from rich friends ($1000)
3 Crush promising careers Hobnob well above your station
4 Minor celebrity status
5 Get a brief appearance on a talk show that’s not about to be cancelled
Ruin a new club, gallery, festival or other posh gathering
Industry
The grinding wheels of labor fuel the economies and markets of the world. Machines, factories and blue-collar workers line up in endless drudgery, churning out the staples of everyday living. Control over Industry Influence sways the formation of unions, the movements of work projects, locations for factories and the product of manufacturing concerns. Union workers, foremen, engineers, construction workers, manual laborers and all manner of blue-collar workers exist among these ranks.
Cost Effect
1 Learn about industrial projects and movements
2 Have minor projects performed
Dip into union funds or embezzle petty cash ($500)
Arrange small accidents or sabotage
3 Organize minor strikes appropriate machinery for a short time
4 Close down a small plant
Revitalize a small plant
5 Manipulate large local industry
Legal
This Influence, like many others, is not directly related to a Garou’s daily life, unless you are a Glass Walker or Bone Gnawer. Even the smallest bit of legalese can keep a werewolf out of trouble in mortal society, though, and there are no arguing Legal’s benefits for repairing the Veil. Of course, a bit of Legal Influence is also excellent for harassing an enemy’s assets, too. Such Influence ranges from law schools and firms, to lawyers, judges, DAs, clerks and public defenders.
Cost Effect
1 Get free representation for minor cases
2 Avoid bail for some charges have minor charges dropped
3 Manipulate legal procedures (minor wills and trusts, court dates)
Access public or court funds ($250)
Get representation in most court cases
4 Issue subpoenas
Tie up court cases
Have most legal charges dropped
Cancel or arrange parole
5 Close down all but the most serious investigations
Have deportation proceedings held against someone
Media
Directing media attention away from werewolf activities, save for those that would preserve forests and other natural habitats, is a key component of the Veil. Putting specific emphasis on certain events can place an enemy in an uncomfortable spotlight or discredit a rival. With Media, you can crush or alter news stories, control the operations of news stations and reporters and sway public opinion, with DJs, editors of all varieties, reporters, camera operators, photographers and broadcasters at your disposal. At Storyteller discretion, Media may also allow access to the more technical areas of television, radio or movies.
Cost Effect
1 Learn about breaking stories early
Submit small articles (within reason)
2 Suppress (but not stop) small articles or reports
Get hold of investigative reporting information
3 Initiate news investigations and reports
Get project funding and waste it ($250)
4 Ground stories and projects broadcast fake stories (local only)
5 Kill small local articles or reports completely
Occult
The hidden world of the supernatural teems with secrets, conspiracies and unusual factions. Obviously, a Garou is aware that there are strange things out there by dint of his very existence (after all, if werewolves exist...), but hard knowledge of such things is a function of Abilities. By using Occult Influence, you can dig up information to improve your knowledge, get inside the occult community and find rare components for rituals. Cult leaders, alternative religious groups, charlatans, occultists, New Agers and a few more dangerous elements can be found here.
Cost Effect
1 Contact and make use of common occult groups and their practices
Know some of the more visible occult figures
2 Know and contact some of the more obscure occult figures
Access resources for most rituals and rites
3 Know the general vicinity of certain supernatural entities and (possibly) contact them
Access vital or rare material components Milk impressionable wannabes for bucks ($250)
Access occult tomes and writings
Research a Basic rite
4 Research an Intermediate rite
5 Unearth Advanced rites
Access Minor Fetishes
Police
“To protect and serve” is the motto of the police, but these days, Garou and mortals alike may have cause to wonder who is being protected and served. That said, Police Influence can be very handy to assist with the Veil, to protect one’s holdings or to raid the assets of another. After all, attitude won’t save the Glass Walker whose townhouse is the target of a police raid. Police of all ranks, detectives, clerical staff, dispatchers, prison guards, special divisions (such as SWAT or homicide) and local highway patrol make up these ranks.
Cost Effect
1 Learn police procedures
Hear police information and rumors
Avoid traffic tickets
2 Have license plates checked
Avoid minor violations (first conviction)
Get “inside information”
3 Get copies of an investigation report
Have police hassle, detain or harass someone
Find bureau secrets
4 Access confiscated weapons or contraband
Have some serious charges dropped
Start an investigation
Get money, either from the evidence room or as an appropriation ($1000)
5 Institute major investigations
Arrange setups
Instigate bureau investigations
Have officers fired
Political
Garou don’t do well in deals with bloodsucking leeches; they tend not to work with vampires, either. Altering party platforms, controlling local elections, changing appointed offices and calling in favors all falls under the purview of Political Influence. Well-timed blackmail, bribery, spins doctoring or any sundry tricks are stock in trade on both sides of this fence. Some of the likely contacts and allies include pollsters, lobbyists, activists, party members, spin doctors and politicians from rural zoning committees to the mayors of major cities or Congressional representatives.
Cost Effect
1 Minor lobbying
Identify real platforms of politicians and parties
Be “in the know”
2 Meet small-time politicians
Garner inside information on process, laws and the like
Use a slush fund or fundraiser ($1000)
3 Sway or alter political projects (local parks, renovations, small construction)
4 Enact minor legislation
Dash careers of minor politicians
5 Get your candidate in a minor office
Enact encompassing legislation
Street
Ignored and often spat on by their “betters,” those in the dark alleys and slums have created their own culture to deal with life and any outsiders who might come calling. When calling on Street Influence, you use your connections on the underside of the city to find the homeless, gang members of all sorts, street buskers, petty criminals, and prostitutes, residents of the slums or barrios and fringe elements of so-called “deviant” cultures.
Cost Effect
1 Open an ear for the word on the street
Identify most gangs and know their turfs and habits
2 Live mostly without fear on the underside of the city
Keep a contact or two in most aspects of street life
Access small-time contraband
3 Get insight into other areas of Influence
Arrange some services from street people or gangs
Get pistols or uncommon melee weapons
4 Mobilize groups of homeless
Panhandle or hold a “collection” ($250)
Get hold of a shotgun, rifle or SMG
Have a word in almost all aspects of gang operations
5 Control single medium-sized gang
Arrange impressive protests by street people
Transportation
Most Garou have very little need for any sort of transportation other than their own two feet or four paws. However, when traveling across metropolises and other highly populated areas where Leeches have control, Transportation can mean the difference between a major skirmish and riding through town unmolested. Getting access to special supplies and services can also take measure of Transportation. Most all of these things can be controlled with a bit of sway over truckers, harbors, railroads, airports, taxis, border guards, pilots and untold hundreds.
Cost Effect
1 Know what goes where, when and why
Travel locally, quickly and freely
2 Track an unwary target if he uses public transportation
Arrange passage safe (or at least concealed) from mundane threats (robbery, terrorism, hunters, etc.)
3 Seriously hamper an individual’s ability to travel
Avoid most supernatural dangers when traveling (such as Leeches)
4 Shut down one form of transportation (bus lines, ships, planes, trains, etc.) temporarily
Route money your way ($500)
5 Reroute major modes of travel
Smuggle with impunity
Underworld
The world of crime offers lucrative possibilities to strong-willed or subtle leaders. Guns, money, drugs and vice -such delicious pastimes can be led by anyone talented or simply vicious enough to take them. Underworld Influence lets you call on such favors for all manner of illegal dealings, and the Mafia, La Cosa Nostra, and drug dealers, bookies, Yakuza, tongs, hit men, fences and criminal gangs fill its ranks.
Cost Effect
1 Locate minor contraband (knives, small-time drugs, petty gambling, and scalped tickets)
2 Obtain pistols, serious drugs, stolen cars
Hire muscle to rough someone up
Fence stolen loot
Prove that crime pays (and score $1,000)
3 Obtain a rifle, shotgun or SMG
Arrange a minor “hit”
Meet someone in “the Family”
4 Make white-collar crime connections
5 Arrange gangland assassinations
Hire a demolition man or firebug
Supply local drug needs
University
Institutions of learning and research are the purview of the University Influence. Access to the halls of learning can help you with any number of resources, from ancient languages to research assistance to many impressionable young minds. School boards, students from kindergarten through college, graduate students, professors, teachers, deans, Greek orders and a variety of staff fill the ivy-covered halls.
Cost Effect
1 Know layout and policy of local schools
Have access to low-level university resources
Get records up to the high school level
2 Know a contract or two with useful knowledge or abilities
Have minor access to facilities
Fake high school records
Obtain college records
3 Call in faculty favors
Cancel a class
Fix grades
Discredit a student
4 Organize student protests and rallies
Discredit faculty members
5 Falsify an undergraduate degree
Influence comes in many different areas. You must allocate Traits separately to each Influence; thus, if you have Legal x 4, you could still have Police x 3 independently but you would have to spend the Traits for each.
You cannot manage more influence than the sum of your permanent Physical, Social and Mental Traits combined. This limit counts against all of your total Influence -your combined levels cannot exceed this total. After all, there is only so much you can do in a day. When you exercise Influence, you expend temporary Influence Traits. The tables for Influence areas detail the sort of things you can do with a specific number of Traits. Performing an action requires a number of Traits equal to the level of the action; you must use three Traits to perform an action listed at the third level of the Influence chart, for instance. Thus, with high levels of Influence, you can perform many small actions, or a few significant ones.
Certain levels of Influence gift you with items, money or aides. Unlike the Resources Background, money and equipment garnered with Influence does not come automatically each month. If you want a steady income from Influence, you must direct your Influence in that direction continually, and this income does not come with any associated trappings of wealth (you’d have to buy a house and car separately, for instance). Aides garnered with Influence generally help only for one specific task, and they usually only have one level of Ability in their area of skill - for more competent and readily available help, take the Allies Background.
Most cities have only a set amount of Influence in various areas. For instance, San Diego has a great deal of Transportation Influence because it is a hub of travel while New York City would have a lot of Finance and High Society Influence. A Rust-Belt city where manufacturing and heavy industry has all but disappeared would have little to no Industry Influence. There are three places to hold influence in this game locally Preston , Mirrormont, Issaquah, each location has it's own breakdown on how much of each influence is there. If you want more than a town has... make the town have a reason to grow the influence.
Bureaucracy
You can manage various government agencies and bureaus. By dealing with social programs and public servants, you can spin red tape, bypass rules and regulations or twist bureaucratic regimentation to your advantage. Bureaucracy is useful in operating or shutting down businesses, faking or acquiring permits and identification papers and manipulating public utilities and facilities. Government clerks at the city and county level, utility workers, road crews, surveyors and other civil servants are potential contacts or allies.
Cost Effect
1 Trace utility bills
2 Fake a birth certificate or driver’s license
Disconnect a single small residence’s utilities
Close a small road or park Get public aide ($250)
3 Fake a death certificate, passport or green card
Close a public school for a single day
Shut down a minor business on a violation
4 Initiate a phone tap
Fake land deeds
Initiate a department-wide investigation
5 Start, stop or alter a city-wide program or policy
Shut down a big business on a violation
Rezone areas Obliterate records of a person on a city or county level
Church
Though the modem church has arguably less control over temporal society than it did in the Middle Ages, its policies still exert considerable influence over the direction of politics and communities. Knowing the appropriate people allows insight into many mainstream religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Shinto or Buddhism (fringe or alternative groups, such as Scientology, are considered Occult). When you exercise Church Influence, you can change religious policy, affect the assignment or clergy and access a variety of lore and resources. Contacts and allies affected by Church Influence would include ministers, priests, bishops, Church-sponsored witch-hunters, holy orders and various attendees and assistants.
Cost Effect
1 Identify most secular members of a given faith in the local area
Pass as a member of the clergy
Peruse general church records (baptism, marriage, burial, etc.)
2 Identify higher church members
Track regular church members
Suspend lay members
3 Open or close a single church
Find the average church-associated hunter
Dip into the collection plate ($250)
Access private information and archives of a church
4 Discredit or suspend high-level church members
Manipulate regional branches of the church
5 Organize major protests
Access ancient church lore and knowledge
Finance
Manipulating markets, stock reports and investments are a hobby of many people, especially those who use their knowledge to keep hidden wealth. Though your actual available money is a function of your Resources, you can use Finance to start or smother businesses, crush or support banking institutions and alter credit records. Clearly, such power over money is not to be trifled with - fortunes are made and destroyed with this sort of pull. CEOs, bankers, stockbrokers, bank tellers, yes-men, financiers and loan agents are found among such work.
Cost Effect
1 Learn about major transactions and financial events
Raise capital ($1,000)
Learn about general economic trends
Learn real motivations for many financial actions of others
2 Trace an unsecured small account
Raise capital to purchase a small business (single, small store)
3 Purchase a large business (a few small branches or a single large store or service)
4 Manipulate local banking (delay deposits, some credit rating alterations)
Ruin a small business
5 Control an aspect of city-wide banking (shut off ATMs, arrange a bank “holiday”)
Ruin a large business
Purchase a major company
Health
It might seem odd that Garou, who can heal all but the most catastrophic injuries in a few hours, would need Health Influence, but for repairing the Veil or to help human Kinfolk this resource can be invaluable. You might also acquire a couple of veterinarians to assist with lupus Garou or Kinfolk. Most medical research and development fall under the purview of Health Influence. Coroners, doctors, lab workers, therapists, pharmacists and specialists are just a few of the folks found in this field.
Cost Effect
1 Access to a person’s health records
Fake vaccination records and the like
Use public functions of health centers at your leisure
2 Access some medical research records
Have a minor lab work done
Get a copy of a coroner’s report
Instigate minor quarantines
3 Corrupt results of tests or inspections
Alter medical records
4 Completely rewrite medical records
Abuse grants for personal use ($250)
Have minor medical research performed on a subject
Institute large scale quarantines
Shut down businesses for “health code violations”
5 Have special research projects performed
Have people institutionalized or released
High Society
The glitterati at the top of society move in circles of wealth and elegance. Though many Garou do not find such positions appealing, there is the rare exception that indulges in the passions of the famous and wealthy. Access to famous actors, celebrities and the elite rich grants a certain sway over fashion trends. A modicum of High Society Influence turns a werewolf into a debonair darling of the most exclusive social circles. Among these circles, one finds dilettantes, artists of almost any stripe, old-money families, models, rocks stars, sports figures and jetsetters.
Cost Effect
1 Learn what is trendy
Obtain hard-to-get tickets for shows
Learn about concerts, shows or plays well before they are made public
2 Track most celebrities and luminaries
Be a local voice in the entertainment field
“Borrow” idle cash from rich friends ($1000)
3 Crush promising careers Hobnob well above your station
4 Minor celebrity status
5 Get a brief appearance on a talk show that’s not about to be cancelled
Ruin a new club, gallery, festival or other posh gathering
Industry
The grinding wheels of labor fuel the economies and markets of the world. Machines, factories and blue-collar workers line up in endless drudgery, churning out the staples of everyday living. Control over Industry Influence sways the formation of unions, the movements of work projects, locations for factories and the product of manufacturing concerns. Union workers, foremen, engineers, construction workers, manual laborers and all manner of blue-collar workers exist among these ranks.
Cost Effect
1 Learn about industrial projects and movements
2 Have minor projects performed
Dip into union funds or embezzle petty cash ($500)
Arrange small accidents or sabotage
3 Organize minor strikes appropriate machinery for a short time
4 Close down a small plant
Revitalize a small plant
5 Manipulate large local industry
Legal
This Influence, like many others, is not directly related to a Garou’s daily life, unless you are a Glass Walker or Bone Gnawer. Even the smallest bit of legalese can keep a werewolf out of trouble in mortal society, though, and there are no arguing Legal’s benefits for repairing the Veil. Of course, a bit of Legal Influence is also excellent for harassing an enemy’s assets, too. Such Influence ranges from law schools and firms, to lawyers, judges, DAs, clerks and public defenders.
Cost Effect
1 Get free representation for minor cases
2 Avoid bail for some charges have minor charges dropped
3 Manipulate legal procedures (minor wills and trusts, court dates)
Access public or court funds ($250)
Get representation in most court cases
4 Issue subpoenas
Tie up court cases
Have most legal charges dropped
Cancel or arrange parole
5 Close down all but the most serious investigations
Have deportation proceedings held against someone
Media
Directing media attention away from werewolf activities, save for those that would preserve forests and other natural habitats, is a key component of the Veil. Putting specific emphasis on certain events can place an enemy in an uncomfortable spotlight or discredit a rival. With Media, you can crush or alter news stories, control the operations of news stations and reporters and sway public opinion, with DJs, editors of all varieties, reporters, camera operators, photographers and broadcasters at your disposal. At Storyteller discretion, Media may also allow access to the more technical areas of television, radio or movies.
Cost Effect
1 Learn about breaking stories early
Submit small articles (within reason)
2 Suppress (but not stop) small articles or reports
Get hold of investigative reporting information
3 Initiate news investigations and reports
Get project funding and waste it ($250)
4 Ground stories and projects broadcast fake stories (local only)
5 Kill small local articles or reports completely
Occult
The hidden world of the supernatural teems with secrets, conspiracies and unusual factions. Obviously, a Garou is aware that there are strange things out there by dint of his very existence (after all, if werewolves exist...), but hard knowledge of such things is a function of Abilities. By using Occult Influence, you can dig up information to improve your knowledge, get inside the occult community and find rare components for rituals. Cult leaders, alternative religious groups, charlatans, occultists, New Agers and a few more dangerous elements can be found here.
Cost Effect
1 Contact and make use of common occult groups and their practices
Know some of the more visible occult figures
2 Know and contact some of the more obscure occult figures
Access resources for most rituals and rites
3 Know the general vicinity of certain supernatural entities and (possibly) contact them
Access vital or rare material components Milk impressionable wannabes for bucks ($250)
Access occult tomes and writings
Research a Basic rite
4 Research an Intermediate rite
5 Unearth Advanced rites
Access Minor Fetishes
Police
“To protect and serve” is the motto of the police, but these days, Garou and mortals alike may have cause to wonder who is being protected and served. That said, Police Influence can be very handy to assist with the Veil, to protect one’s holdings or to raid the assets of another. After all, attitude won’t save the Glass Walker whose townhouse is the target of a police raid. Police of all ranks, detectives, clerical staff, dispatchers, prison guards, special divisions (such as SWAT or homicide) and local highway patrol make up these ranks.
Cost Effect
1 Learn police procedures
Hear police information and rumors
Avoid traffic tickets
2 Have license plates checked
Avoid minor violations (first conviction)
Get “inside information”
3 Get copies of an investigation report
Have police hassle, detain or harass someone
Find bureau secrets
4 Access confiscated weapons or contraband
Have some serious charges dropped
Start an investigation
Get money, either from the evidence room or as an appropriation ($1000)
5 Institute major investigations
Arrange setups
Instigate bureau investigations
Have officers fired
Political
Garou don’t do well in deals with bloodsucking leeches; they tend not to work with vampires, either. Altering party platforms, controlling local elections, changing appointed offices and calling in favors all falls under the purview of Political Influence. Well-timed blackmail, bribery, spins doctoring or any sundry tricks are stock in trade on both sides of this fence. Some of the likely contacts and allies include pollsters, lobbyists, activists, party members, spin doctors and politicians from rural zoning committees to the mayors of major cities or Congressional representatives.
Cost Effect
1 Minor lobbying
Identify real platforms of politicians and parties
Be “in the know”
2 Meet small-time politicians
Garner inside information on process, laws and the like
Use a slush fund or fundraiser ($1000)
3 Sway or alter political projects (local parks, renovations, small construction)
4 Enact minor legislation
Dash careers of minor politicians
5 Get your candidate in a minor office
Enact encompassing legislation
Street
Ignored and often spat on by their “betters,” those in the dark alleys and slums have created their own culture to deal with life and any outsiders who might come calling. When calling on Street Influence, you use your connections on the underside of the city to find the homeless, gang members of all sorts, street buskers, petty criminals, and prostitutes, residents of the slums or barrios and fringe elements of so-called “deviant” cultures.
Cost Effect
1 Open an ear for the word on the street
Identify most gangs and know their turfs and habits
2 Live mostly without fear on the underside of the city
Keep a contact or two in most aspects of street life
Access small-time contraband
3 Get insight into other areas of Influence
Arrange some services from street people or gangs
Get pistols or uncommon melee weapons
4 Mobilize groups of homeless
Panhandle or hold a “collection” ($250)
Get hold of a shotgun, rifle or SMG
Have a word in almost all aspects of gang operations
5 Control single medium-sized gang
Arrange impressive protests by street people
Transportation
Most Garou have very little need for any sort of transportation other than their own two feet or four paws. However, when traveling across metropolises and other highly populated areas where Leeches have control, Transportation can mean the difference between a major skirmish and riding through town unmolested. Getting access to special supplies and services can also take measure of Transportation. Most all of these things can be controlled with a bit of sway over truckers, harbors, railroads, airports, taxis, border guards, pilots and untold hundreds.
Cost Effect
1 Know what goes where, when and why
Travel locally, quickly and freely
2 Track an unwary target if he uses public transportation
Arrange passage safe (or at least concealed) from mundane threats (robbery, terrorism, hunters, etc.)
3 Seriously hamper an individual’s ability to travel
Avoid most supernatural dangers when traveling (such as Leeches)
4 Shut down one form of transportation (bus lines, ships, planes, trains, etc.) temporarily
Route money your way ($500)
5 Reroute major modes of travel
Smuggle with impunity
Underworld
The world of crime offers lucrative possibilities to strong-willed or subtle leaders. Guns, money, drugs and vice -such delicious pastimes can be led by anyone talented or simply vicious enough to take them. Underworld Influence lets you call on such favors for all manner of illegal dealings, and the Mafia, La Cosa Nostra, and drug dealers, bookies, Yakuza, tongs, hit men, fences and criminal gangs fill its ranks.
Cost Effect
1 Locate minor contraband (knives, small-time drugs, petty gambling, and scalped tickets)
2 Obtain pistols, serious drugs, stolen cars
Hire muscle to rough someone up
Fence stolen loot
Prove that crime pays (and score $1,000)
3 Obtain a rifle, shotgun or SMG
Arrange a minor “hit”
Meet someone in “the Family”
4 Make white-collar crime connections
5 Arrange gangland assassinations
Hire a demolition man or firebug
Supply local drug needs
University
Institutions of learning and research are the purview of the University Influence. Access to the halls of learning can help you with any number of resources, from ancient languages to research assistance to many impressionable young minds. School boards, students from kindergarten through college, graduate students, professors, teachers, deans, Greek orders and a variety of staff fill the ivy-covered halls.
Cost Effect
1 Know layout and policy of local schools
Have access to low-level university resources
Get records up to the high school level
2 Know a contract or two with useful knowledge or abilities
Have minor access to facilities
Fake high school records
Obtain college records
3 Call in faculty favors
Cancel a class
Fix grades
Discredit a student
4 Organize student protests and rallies
Discredit faculty members
5 Falsify an undergraduate degree