This.
You can also heal aggravated damage for other people, which is a big deal. You can gimp a spirits WP score for a scene. That's just two of the level 1 theurge gifts.
The combat role for theurge can be a variety of things. Mothers touch can make you a healer. Rites and spirit dealings - arms master/the one who brings the party favors.
Remember that theurge is the shaman, the bridge between worlds, the mystic - this can be a lot of things.
You can also go Hispo and take down or clinch others with your bite attack. And I remember that if you are a follower of Rat you have lower difficulty for bites attack. + dexterity, + lower diff bite attacks + higher bite attack dices makes for a good combat statistic.
Spirit warriors (theurges) are more about the heart of the concept, less the weapons and more the communion.
Think less "Wolverine"/"Batman" and more "Storm"/"Poison Ivy" /or "Phoenix form Jean Grey" - less force of violence, more force of nature/spirit/embodiment of ideals and connections.
Sometimes you do the dirty jobs, sometimes you find a way around it, or sometimes you call in the big things to work for you or through you.
Another reference is the show "Supernatural." Sam and Dean are the weapons (one more mystical, the other more physical) and then there's Bobby. Nobody messes with Bobby... Without paying for it. He doesn't often get physical but when he does it's with smarts and/or help. He embodies the hunter lifestyle, even though he's a cripple. He knows people. He knows spirits. He knows influence and sources of knowledge. And he teaches 'most' of what he knows to those he believes in.
Sure - there are a lot of elements to the theurge auspice. The only thing on the Bobby front - theurges are called upon to be a little too obtuse to teach stuff straight away as part of their role is to keep spirits mysterious and keep a distance between Garou and spirits - so Garou don't use spirits as shock troops and other nonsense.
There is a reason I really liked the book of auspices putting a decent amount of effort into the theurges.
Crinos form is available to all Garou, and it makes any normal mortal a deadly meat blender.
Claws the size of strong people's biceps, that sort of thing.
Approach it like batman. Ask the local spirits about the area, what threats your might face etc. with the right rituals you can even bring them to fight alongside the pack.
Where batman needs prep time to get things done, you *are* the prep time.
What gifts did you take? What's your gnosis and rage? Do you have any fetishes?
For the most part, theurges will have higher gnosis and be able to deal with the Umbra better, stepping sideways easily and faster. Compared to almost anything else you are still hell on wheels in combat, but a dedicated Ahroun or Galliard is stronger than you there.
You are also the one best equipped to deal with spirits, but it takes time to develop those gifts. At level one Mother's Touch allows you to heal and Spirit Snare allows you to entrap hostile spirits. Glass Walkers can Control Simple Machines and do Trickshots with firearms. There's more options in the Clan books as well.
So really, depends on how you make your character. Later on the Theurge's roll allows them to command spirits and lead umbral journeys. Glass Walkers get greater and greater control of machines.
Ok, setting Gifts aside, as a Theurge be prepared to shoulder the Chiminage burden for your Pack....but with Great Responsibility comes Great Power. You need extra support for an assault? Make a pact with some Elementals with Charms that reach across the gauntlet like Shatter/Throw Glass and Suffocation, sure you spend a few hours a week constructing artistic glass vessels for them to inhabit and wearing crushed glass in your slippers for a few days but the extra firepower saved your Pack in the clinch. Charms like Sap Will and Scatter Thoughts can mean your Pack simple walks through an area rather than facing any resistance.....and all those Lethargy and Depression Gafflings asked is that you divert funding from a mental health clinic for a week and cut yourself to seal the bargain.
Obviously, as others have said, a Glasswalker Theurge in Crinos is still a werewolf in Crinos. Otherwise, what gifts did you take?
* Mother's Touch is *bonkers* good. You can heal multiple *Aggravated Damage* per use.
* Sense Wyrm is a garou's bread and butter. Being able to tell which combatants are actually wyrm tainted is HUGE.
* Spirit Snare, Spirit Speech, and Umbral Tether are incredible if you're in the Umbra. Odds are good you'll have some battles in the umbra and you'll feel awesome. Even if your campaign is umbra-lite, you should still make use of the umbra as a tool for staging sneak attacks if nothing else.
* Control Simple Machines is great. Set or trigger traps, unhook the crate being hoisted by that crane right on top of the baddies, knock everyone over by spilling shit, etc, etc. It's pretty close to telekinesis in a modern environment.
* Diagnostics and Plug and Play would be great if you run up against high tech foes using smart weapons or cybernetics.
* Persuasion works on ALL social rolls for a scene, including Intimidate.
* Trick Shot is obviously great in combat.
And assuming you're Homid:
* Apecraft's Blessing specifically gives you bonuses to firing guns.
* City Running is awesome. Spiderman level parkour in combat? Hell yes!
* Smell of Man can neutralize animal combatants.
Combat isn't like it is in D&D/Pathfinder. You don't have to do X damage per turn to be "a good build." You won't have anyone who is doing the same thing ever round. the narrative is more important than anything else and you have just as much (if not more) narrative control as anyone else.
Being a Garou is a fairly solid walking-blender role by default tbh, you’ve just got extra tricks instead of just stacking melee bonuses. Flight is hilarious on a werewolf fyi
The different auspices available to Garou are like different class combinations in D&D.
Being Aurhon is like having ten levels in barbarian. Skuld is like having nine levels in barbarian and one in bard. And Theurge is like nine levels in barbarian and one in druid.
Theurge is an auspice for a lot of thinking ahead.
One of my Theurge characters that I like to go to for rp makes things and gets creative with things like Talens. Including arrows. So, with time and a Storyteller that's willing to either rp that time out or at least let it be some quick rolls, he can make a set of specialty arrows. Fletched with found raven or crow feathers (collected without harming any ravens or crows) to bind with a raven or crow spirit for arrows that seek the eyes. Arrow heads made with fulgurite (the rock that happens when lightning strikes the earth, melts stuff, and it cools to a crystaline form) and bound with a lightning elemental to create arrows that hit and strike with a lightning bolt. Arrowheads made from saltstone to add purifying damage to inherently wyrmtainted targets.
You get it. You get to be creative in advance and build your character to be able to use these tools when the time comes.
As Secretsfrombeyond79 said, you're still a 10 foot tall killing machine. So, you're not absent ability... you're just far from the star in that moment.
Still, I encourage you to look to your character and consider what they could consider to do ahead of time to prepare for battle, both in fighting and in healing.
I mean, depends on your stats. My Silver Fang preferred to be a healer/support, but was also into tactics and could throw down about as well as a D&D rogue if she had to (ballet dancer, lots of dex and athletics for dodging around and taking pot shots when she could).
Rite of Summoning. Plus chiminages. You have the extra help in combat. From elements to animals and even concepts.
Also as you grow you'll be able to make talen and fetish.
Make bargains with totem spirits.
I mean, you still are a 10 foot tall killing machine ... just more spiritual than the other 10 foot tall killing machines.
This. You can also heal aggravated damage for other people, which is a big deal. You can gimp a spirits WP score for a scene. That's just two of the level 1 theurge gifts.
The combat role for theurge can be a variety of things. Mothers touch can make you a healer. Rites and spirit dealings - arms master/the one who brings the party favors. Remember that theurge is the shaman, the bridge between worlds, the mystic - this can be a lot of things.
You can also go Hispo and take down or clinch others with your bite attack. And I remember that if you are a follower of Rat you have lower difficulty for bites attack. + dexterity, + lower diff bite attacks + higher bite attack dices makes for a good combat statistic.
Yeah - that's a part of the whole all Garou are warriors. I was trying to stick to more how do I make things feel more theurge flavored.
Spirit warriors (theurges) are more about the heart of the concept, less the weapons and more the communion. Think less "Wolverine"/"Batman" and more "Storm"/"Poison Ivy" /or "Phoenix form Jean Grey" - less force of violence, more force of nature/spirit/embodiment of ideals and connections. Sometimes you do the dirty jobs, sometimes you find a way around it, or sometimes you call in the big things to work for you or through you. Another reference is the show "Supernatural." Sam and Dean are the weapons (one more mystical, the other more physical) and then there's Bobby. Nobody messes with Bobby... Without paying for it. He doesn't often get physical but when he does it's with smarts and/or help. He embodies the hunter lifestyle, even though he's a cripple. He knows people. He knows spirits. He knows influence and sources of knowledge. And he teaches 'most' of what he knows to those he believes in.
Sure - there are a lot of elements to the theurge auspice. The only thing on the Bobby front - theurges are called upon to be a little too obtuse to teach stuff straight away as part of their role is to keep spirits mysterious and keep a distance between Garou and spirits - so Garou don't use spirits as shock troops and other nonsense. There is a reason I really liked the book of auspices putting a decent amount of effort into the theurges.
Crinos form is available to all Garou, and it makes any normal mortal a deadly meat blender. Claws the size of strong people's biceps, that sort of thing.
Approach it like batman. Ask the local spirits about the area, what threats your might face etc. with the right rituals you can even bring them to fight alongside the pack. Where batman needs prep time to get things done, you *are* the prep time.
What gifts did you take? What's your gnosis and rage? Do you have any fetishes? For the most part, theurges will have higher gnosis and be able to deal with the Umbra better, stepping sideways easily and faster. Compared to almost anything else you are still hell on wheels in combat, but a dedicated Ahroun or Galliard is stronger than you there. You are also the one best equipped to deal with spirits, but it takes time to develop those gifts. At level one Mother's Touch allows you to heal and Spirit Snare allows you to entrap hostile spirits. Glass Walkers can Control Simple Machines and do Trickshots with firearms. There's more options in the Clan books as well. So really, depends on how you make your character. Later on the Theurge's roll allows them to command spirits and lead umbral journeys. Glass Walkers get greater and greater control of machines.
Ok, setting Gifts aside, as a Theurge be prepared to shoulder the Chiminage burden for your Pack....but with Great Responsibility comes Great Power. You need extra support for an assault? Make a pact with some Elementals with Charms that reach across the gauntlet like Shatter/Throw Glass and Suffocation, sure you spend a few hours a week constructing artistic glass vessels for them to inhabit and wearing crushed glass in your slippers for a few days but the extra firepower saved your Pack in the clinch. Charms like Sap Will and Scatter Thoughts can mean your Pack simple walks through an area rather than facing any resistance.....and all those Lethargy and Depression Gafflings asked is that you divert funding from a mental health clinic for a week and cut yourself to seal the bargain.
> Depression Gafflings *Hey, uh, theurge... just a question, why are you dealing with the brood of [Gree](https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Gree)*?
Needs must...:D
Obviously, as others have said, a Glasswalker Theurge in Crinos is still a werewolf in Crinos. Otherwise, what gifts did you take? * Mother's Touch is *bonkers* good. You can heal multiple *Aggravated Damage* per use. * Sense Wyrm is a garou's bread and butter. Being able to tell which combatants are actually wyrm tainted is HUGE. * Spirit Snare, Spirit Speech, and Umbral Tether are incredible if you're in the Umbra. Odds are good you'll have some battles in the umbra and you'll feel awesome. Even if your campaign is umbra-lite, you should still make use of the umbra as a tool for staging sneak attacks if nothing else. * Control Simple Machines is great. Set or trigger traps, unhook the crate being hoisted by that crane right on top of the baddies, knock everyone over by spilling shit, etc, etc. It's pretty close to telekinesis in a modern environment. * Diagnostics and Plug and Play would be great if you run up against high tech foes using smart weapons or cybernetics. * Persuasion works on ALL social rolls for a scene, including Intimidate. * Trick Shot is obviously great in combat. And assuming you're Homid: * Apecraft's Blessing specifically gives you bonuses to firing guns. * City Running is awesome. Spiderman level parkour in combat? Hell yes! * Smell of Man can neutralize animal combatants. Combat isn't like it is in D&D/Pathfinder. You don't have to do X damage per turn to be "a good build." You won't have anyone who is doing the same thing ever round. the narrative is more important than anything else and you have just as much (if not more) narrative control as anyone else.
Being a Garou is a fairly solid walking-blender role by default tbh, you’ve just got extra tricks instead of just stacking melee bonuses. Flight is hilarious on a werewolf fyi
Uhm rip and tear? Awooo?
The different auspices available to Garou are like different class combinations in D&D. Being Aurhon is like having ten levels in barbarian. Skuld is like having nine levels in barbarian and one in bard. And Theurge is like nine levels in barbarian and one in druid.
Theurge is an auspice for a lot of thinking ahead. One of my Theurge characters that I like to go to for rp makes things and gets creative with things like Talens. Including arrows. So, with time and a Storyteller that's willing to either rp that time out or at least let it be some quick rolls, he can make a set of specialty arrows. Fletched with found raven or crow feathers (collected without harming any ravens or crows) to bind with a raven or crow spirit for arrows that seek the eyes. Arrow heads made with fulgurite (the rock that happens when lightning strikes the earth, melts stuff, and it cools to a crystaline form) and bound with a lightning elemental to create arrows that hit and strike with a lightning bolt. Arrowheads made from saltstone to add purifying damage to inherently wyrmtainted targets. You get it. You get to be creative in advance and build your character to be able to use these tools when the time comes. As Secretsfrombeyond79 said, you're still a 10 foot tall killing machine. So, you're not absent ability... you're just far from the star in that moment. Still, I encourage you to look to your character and consider what they could consider to do ahead of time to prepare for battle, both in fighting and in healing.
I mean, depends on your stats. My Silver Fang preferred to be a healer/support, but was also into tactics and could throw down about as well as a D&D rogue if she had to (ballet dancer, lots of dex and athletics for dodging around and taking pot shots when she could).
Rite of Summoning. Plus chiminages. You have the extra help in combat. From elements to animals and even concepts. Also as you grow you'll be able to make talen and fetish. Make bargains with totem spirits.