#w5

Dita Von Teese

Here's the 1st one I've drawn, intentionally left without any game specific labels so that people can fill it in and customize it into whichever game they are using

New Orleans, Louisiana

I think Werewolf is an inherently queer medium

This is all a part of a larger long-term project.

I am trying to hold the World of Darkness to higher standards of inclusivity

Read our introductory comic here

Werewolf: the Essentials Project Update 04/02/2025

Hello, Kinfolks. Woof. What a time to be alive. This is a period that's been reflected many, many times in the past under many different names. It seems like every time I pick up my phone there is always some new awful thing awaiting us. The intentional composition of the writers on this team are diverse and come from cultures across the world, and what ties us together has been our queerness, our passion for Werewolf, and our commitment to let our passions fuel our writing. The result has been a product that shows the passion from one page to the next.

In short, the state of the world has impacted the pace at which we're working on the book. The priority right now is survival, and surviving is the task that has consumed most of the attentions of those helping with W:tE. It should come as no surprise that people who passionately care about Werewolf also care about the world around them at large, and that is exactly what many of us are doing.

All the same, what's agreed between everyone on the team is that we all feel the work we're doing matters, and in many ways it can be a good way to keep one busy when the other option is the good-old doomscroll. And so, work is still happening, and beyond that, its starting to pick up again.

So, what work remains?

Writing

Writing is more or less finished. Editing is ongoing and as small issues or missing mechanics come up we've been working them in. Chapters 1-7 are complete, and Chapter 8, our storytelling and chronicle section, is in its last few pages before calling it done. We have a small number of writers still working on this, and so far we're looking at 100 Rite of Passage Story Seeds, and 40-60 Cliath Story Seeds. All in all we're handing Storytellers enough game material to be able to keep their tables plenty busy for at least a year of weekly game sessions. Also as a spitball number, by the time this book hits shelves we are looking to be at around 450 pages.

Layout

We are at the 75% complete mark! Chapter 6 of 8 is underway. Due to an influx of support, we're able to have one of our editors pick up work on a more daily basis, so this process should similarly be speeding up in the immediate future. It always feels like the work is neverending, but slowly and surely we're making progress. I've promised myself once this book enters preflight I'm taking a long vacation.

Now, onto the fun stuff:

New W:tE Preview - Meet the Gaians!

With our full tribe writeups completed, we're happy to entice you with a new preview. For those ko-fi subscribers on the Fostern tier or above, you can now read not just our society and history dives, but can now see all the new tribes as written for Werewolf: the Essentials! This massive 80 page preview encompasses all twenty tribes of Gaians represented in Gulaka'i including background, territories, patron, and an all-new cultural outlook section!

All proceeds from ko-fi supporters help fund our commitment to using cultural consultants on our project!

To sign up and gain access to previews and our exclusive BTS discord to our project, subscribe to our ko-fi today! We've already raised $2,450 of our $3,500 goal!

So I was not expecting to publish another W5 rant so soon, but dear lord this preview of the Umbra book is bad. Let's start with the first issue; Again, we are told that the best way to keep history is to write it down. The idea that there is zero downtime where stories are shared is frankly baffling. Every single gathering of people I've been to has had stories shared. Second, "Garou are not a culture one is born into", and "Those joining in the ranks are usually young adults, already preoccupied with the concerns of this modern world." First of all, even if one isn't born into a culture, joining a tribe should include having the basics of the tribal culture shared. Unless the implication is that Patrons just accept garou willy nilly without the input of the tribe. (Also, no one is born into a vampire clan and yet THEY get to have histories.) Second; before W5 came out, I joked about garou in W5 being basically weekend warriors. This text implies that, yes, garou do garou stuff on the side while their main concern is their mortal life. Rage Dice making that hard has clearly not crossed the writer's mind. Once more, when a group of people gather, they tell stories. Whether it is joining the army, joining a new job, moving to a new place, etc. There is always some oral history going on.