Shapeshifter Flaws

Shapeshifter flaws refer to inborn disabilities, problems, or aversions that are exhibited only the Imbued, or rarely by other, more mortal types of supernatural hunters. They generally represent problems or struggles unique to them because of their origin as non-human creatures or close connection to the land and its spirits, and many of them, if visible, immediately indicate that the user must be supernatural in origin.

Some shapeshifter flaws are even more specific, being most often manifested only by members of a particular breed or species, although it is not always certain whether it is impossible for other shapeshifters to have these flaws or simply very, very unusual.

General Shapeshifter Flaws

Angry Ancestor: This shapeshifter has an ancestral spirit who does not approve of their behavior and refuses to help as often as they should, or even causes trouble on purpose.

Animal Musk: This shapeshifter always smells powerfully like an animal, even in human form.

Attracted to Humans: This shapeshifter is more interested in human society and philosophy than their own.

Banned Transformation: This shapeshifter can only change forms under certain circumstances (for example, they cannot shift unless the moon is visible in the sky, or they perform a certain ritual first).

Camp Enmity: This shapeshifter is hated by a particular group of Garou who will harass or even harm them if given the opportunity.

Charach: This shapeshifter has a lover who is another shapeshifter, placing them both at risk of being hunted down.

City-Panic: This shapeshifter hates and is terrified of cities and all the noise and bustle they contain.

Clawless: This shapeshifter's animal forms are lacking some or all of their natural defense mechanisms.

Devil's Own: This shapeshifter believes their powers are due to an evil curse or force and refuses to believe proof to the contrary.

Docile: This shapeshifter is naturally timid and has trouble accessing their supernatural powers.

Double Jeopardy: While all Metis shapeshifters are born with a disability, this one was born with two.

Forced Transformation: This shapeshifter can be forced to transform in certain situations (for example, the classic werewolf who must transform when the moon is full).

Harano Prone: This shapeshifter often slips into a deep depression about the destruction of the environment and has trouble being active or optimistic about anything.

Human Attention: This shapeshifter has been seen by humans in their animal form and is being actively hunted by animal control organizations.

Inauspicious Birth: This shapeshifter was born during a time of very poor omens and is considered bad luck to associate with.

Losing the Sun: This shapeshifter finds the Umbra and its secrets seductive and has difficulty returning to the normal world.

Mark of the Predator: This shapeshifter exudes predatory power and frightens off prey animals and even humans when they get too close.

Metis Child: This shapeshifter has a child who is Metis, marking them as a breaker of the Litany.

Monochrome Vision: This shapeshifter has truly black-and-white vision, with absolutely no ability to see color.

Moon-Mad: This shapeshifter becomes more aggressive and unstable the closer the moon is to full.

No Partial Transformation: This shapeshifter cannot perform partial shapechanging and must always make a complete transformation.

Pierced Veil: This shapeshifter for some reason does not trigger Delirium in mortals, who see and are horrified by their monstrous form.

Rival Clan: Another group of shapeshifters dislikes and competes with, or even tries to do harm to, this one.

Strict Carnivore: This shapeshifter can only digest and gain nutrition from meat.

Taint of Corruption: This shapeshifter has been tainted by the Wyrm and reads as possibly a monster to other shapeshifters, as well as attracting far too much notice from real monsters.

Territorial: This shapeshifter has the territorial instincts of their animal form and will fight to pretend their home to the death (even when it's a very bad idea).

Vegan: This shapeshifter cannot eat any food that came from an animal's body, nor use any materials made from animals.

Ananasi Flaws

Can't Eat Solid Foods: This Ananasi can only digest blood or liquefied flesh, even in their human form.

Emotional Attachment: This Ananasi still has more human emotions than most others and longs for human companionship in some form.

Empathy: This Ananasi is still profoudly affected by sympathy for others, which can be a severe problem when they need to feed or take expedient action that hurts others.

Limited Diet: This Ananasi can still eat solid food, but only incredibly soft things such as pudding, oatmeal, or gelatin without becoming ill.

No Fangs: This Ananasi has no fangs in any form, making feeding and fighting more diffiulty.

Unstable Features: This Ananasi is physically unstable and often finds their appearance shifting without their appearance, no matter what form they are in.

Vampirophile: This Ananasi is obsessed with vampires and believes that they may be one of them (or else wishes they were).

Bastet Flaws

Too Curious: This Bastet is not only unstoppably curious but also terrible at prioritizing their own safety when something is interesting.

Corax Flaws

Birdlike Mannerisms: This Corax still has surprisingly birdlike movements and habits when in human form.

Diet of Worms: This Corax struggles to eat the right food in each form and often craves inappropriate foods for their current shape.

Emu: This Corax's bird form is groundbound and cannot fly.

Garou Flaws

Kinslayer: This Garou has committed the heinous sin of killing another Garou, or else is prophesied to do so in the future, and is socially hated and feared.

Pack Mentality: This Garou is uncomfortable and less effective whenever they are separated from the rest of their pack.

Sign of the Wolf: This Garou exhibits the folkloric signs of being a werewolf, including a unibrow, hairy hands, and other similar problems.

Slip Sideways: This Garou sometimes accidentally slips into the Umbra when they don't mean to.

Unsuited to Tribe: This Garou is a poor fit for the culture and goals of their tribe.

Ward Pack: This Garou is in charge of protecting a vulnerable pack other than their own.

Wolf Years: This Garou has a wolf's shorter lifespan and probably cannot expect to live for more than 20 years at the most.

Wolf's Obsession: Like a wolf, this Garou mates for life and cannot let go of an important lost love in their past.

Children of Gaia Flaws

Ahimsa: This Child of Gaia has vowed never to kill any animal large enough to see with the naked eye.

Get of Fenris Flaws

Wotan's Curse: This Get of Fenris is especially vulnerable to being harmed by any dead or undead creature or power.

Stargazer Flaws

Enraged Ancestor: This Stargazer is far more likely to frenzy than others of their tribe.

Mewa Birthmarks: This Stargazer is covered in small round birthmarks and is able to more easily use divination powers.

Tranquil Soul: This Stargazer can easily slip into a meditative state.

Gurahl Flaws

Abandoned Cub: This Gurahl never had a mentor from among their fellows and is lacking both knowledge and psychological stability.

Dancing Fool: This Gurahl loves to dance, which makes them looked down upon by other Gurahl who stigmatize the activity.

Mokolé Flaws

Bad Mnesis: This Mokolé holds an extremely horrifying memory that is difficult to recall accurately and causes trauma when accessed.

Cold-Blooded: This Mokolé is poikilothermic and cannot regulate their own body temperature, even in human form.

Diurnal: This Mokolé has great difficulty staying awake at night and is groggy and clumsy if they do.

Dream Hunter: This Mokolé is being harassed by a Dream Hunter that has awakened and targeted them due to appearing in one of their memories.

Exclusive Herbivore: This Mokolé can only digest plant matter and becomes violently ill if they eat animal products of any kind.

Eyes of the Tyrant: This Mokolé has trouble focusing on anything that is not actively moving and may lose enemies if they freeze.

Fallen Clutch: This Mokolé comes from a clutch or was taught by an elder who has fully fallen and become an evil creature, making them at bare minimum highly suspicious to other shapeshifters.

Great Fossil Lizard: This Mokolé does not appear like a true animal that ever lived on earth in their animal form, instead turning into the popular caricature of a dinosaur they grew up seeing.

Infamous Clutch: This Mokolé comes from a clutch or was taught by an elder with a very bad reputation that spills over onto them.

Insane Elder: This Mokolé works with an elder who is slowly going mad from bad memories and often gives them incorrect information.

Limbless: This Mokolé's animal form has no limbs (or the limbs it does have aren't very useful).

Migratory Urges: This Mokolé has an instinctive drive to migrate at certain seasons, most likely as a throwback to their ancestry.

Molt: This Mokolé regularly molts not only their animal scales but their human hair and upper skin as well.

Monogamous: This Mokolé is biologically incapable of having any sexual interest in any being except their mate.

Scavenger: This Mokolé can only eat dead and decaying flesh when in their animal form and suffers from terrible nausea if they try to eat anything fresher.

Slime: This Mokolé is naturally slimy and disgusting and leaves a trail behind them in animal form.

Speechless: This Mokolé cannot speak with other Mokolé while in their animal form.

Stench: This Mokolé exudes a hideous reptilian stink in all forms.

Wall Eye: This Mokolé does not have binocular vision, even in human form, and must turn their head to look at things.

Zhong Lung Flaws

Fear of Iron: This Zhong Lung can be frightened or banished by iron, which strikes unreasonable fear into their heart.

Fertie Essence: This Zhong Lung is so fertile that others who only briefly exchange fluids with them, even just sharing a swimming pool or drinking from the same glass, can become pregnant.

Stone Blind: This Zhong Lung genuinely cannot see or examine stone or anything made of it, perceiving only the impacts or vague shapes of stone objects.

Nagah Flaws

Defanged: This Nagah was born a snake and was defanged by a human before awakening, and now has no fangs in their animal forms.

Inauspicious: This Nagah awoke during an out-of-sync time and has more trouble than most when using gifts or accessing their auspice.

Largely Deaf: Like most true snakes, this Nagah is completely deaf in animal form and very hard of hearing in human form.

Weak Venom: THis Nagah's venom can weaken and harm others, but is not nearly as lethal as it should be.

Nuwisha Flaws

Bad Moon: This Nuwisha is afflicted by the demands of a Garou auspice, but gains none of the benefits from it.

Harano: Unlike most Nuwisha, this one can be affected by harano.

Overlarge: This Nuwisha is much larger than a normal coyote when shapeshifted, causing them to be easier to spot and capture and more likely to be mistaken for a wolf or other large canine.

Ratkin Flaws

Adrenaline Addict: This Ratkin is drawn to things that can and almost definitely will kill them; even when it's obvious that it threatens their life severely, they want to be where the action is.

Incoherent Speech: This Ratkin was born a true rat and has great difficulty speaking understandably in human languages.

Pack Instinct: This Ratkin does not like being separated from their pack and panics whenever they are.

Pack Rat: This Ratkin steals and hoards small objects from everywhere, regardless of whether they are useful (or safe, or healthy).

Rat Fink: This Ratkin compulsively collects secrets and blackmail material - and is known to use them.

Technological Delusions: This Ratkin is so opposed to technology that they have wild conspiracy theories about the most innocuous of machines and systems.

Rokea Flaws

Betweener Sympathizer: This Rokea is sympathetic to those Rokea who live on land, making other less tolerant sea-dwelling Rokea suspect them of treachery.

Known Betweener: This Rokea splits time between the sea and the land and is considered a traitor by ocean-dwelling Rokea, who may hunt them for it.

Shark Teeth: This Rokea still has shark teeth in their human form, making them look noticeably frightening.

Short-Lived: Unlike other Rokea, this one continues to age at a human rate and will eventually die of old age.

Tonic Immobility: Like a true shark, this Rokea becomes catatonic and cannot move when flipped on their back in any non-human form.

Uncontrolled Lust: This Rokea is overcome by their mating urge any time they set foot on land.

Unsure Footing: This Rokea struggles with walking on two legs and suffers from vertigo and other balance problems on land.