Delerium - Pray you never need it

Werewolves preyed on humans for over 3000 years, and while most humans have no idea that werewolves truly exist, a part of them remembers. The horrible wolf-man, the Crinos form, incites a kind of madness in humans that Garou call the Delirium.

The stronger a human's will, the more clearly she can deal with seeing a werewolf. Most humans, however, either panic and run, or they just collapse. Even stronger-willed people tend to forget the encounter later, either by rationalizing what they saw ("A bear! I'm not kidding!") or by omitting the entire incident from their minds. The Garou refer to this subconscious denial as the Veil, and they look at it as one of their greatest assets.

The following chart shows what a human will do when he sees a Crinos as per his Willpower score. The chart also shows whether and to what degree the human will forget the encounter. Students of the occult might gain some bonus on this chart. Storytellers may choose to allow such humans a Wits Occult roll (difficulty 9), with each success moving the human up one level on the chart. In addition, members of cultures that didn't suffer the Impergium to a great degree (such as Native Americans and Australian Aborigines) might also be granted a bonus. Photographs or such evidence don't trigger any fear reaction, although human witnesses will probably rationalize the photos away as publicity stunts or some such unless they have a Willpower of 8 or higher. Kinfolk are immune to the Delirium. Also immune are Vampires and Mortal with 3 or more levels of a single power.

Willpower/ Forget?/ Reaction
1/ Yes/ Catatonic Fear: The human collapses and whimpers or perhaps even faints

2/ Yes/ Panic: The human runs in fear, trying to put as much distance between himself and the Garou as possible.

3/ Yes/ Disbelief: The human refuses to accept what he sees, and he will likely retreat to a corner and stare at the "hallucination" until it passes.

4/ Yes/ Berserk: The human takes some sort of aggressive action, be it firing a gun (he won't have enough presence of mind to reload, however), throwing crockery or even leaping at the "monster."

5/ Yes/ Terror: Much like panic, except with more reason. The human will be rational enough to lock doors behind him or to get in a car and flee

6/ Yes/ Conciliatory: The human will try to plead and bargain with the Garou, doing anything possible so as not to get hurt.

7/ No */ Controlled Fear: Perhaps this person is a soldier. Although terrified, he does not panic. The human will flee or fight as appropriate, but remains in control of his actions.

8/ No */ Curiosity: These people are dangerous, because they remember what they saw (more-or-less), and they might well investigate the matter further. Conspiracy theorists and cryptozoologists often fall into this category.

9/ No/ Bloodlust: In the far reaches of this human's mind, he remembers the depredations of the Garou, and he refuses to take anymore. The human is afraid but angry and he will remember the Garou and probably even try to hunt it down.

10/ No/ No Reaction: The human is not the slightest bit afraid or bothered by the Garou. Even Kinfolk aren't this stoic, so Garou tend to be very suspicious of such folks.


* The human will remember, but will rationalize what he saw.