Nuwisha are werecoyotes, part-human, part-coyote, and part-spirit. They are clever, sneaky, skilled survivors, curious explorers, and born tricksters. Nuwisha are the teachers of the Changing Breeds, who prefer to instruct their students through jokes, pointing out flaws, and hiding lessons in riddles. They value quick thinking over prowess in battle, and will often go out of their way to knock chips off shoulders and deflate overblown pride. Nuwisha themselves are not terrible foes in a fair fight, but the point is that a good Nuwisha will never fight fair. And if the Nuwisha is allowed to determine the sort of battle it will be, they almost never lose. Even if they do lose, well, it all makes for a good story that will probably make people laugh.
The rules on this website are based on those from the Revised Edition of the Werewolf: the Apocalypse game, the Nuwisha Changing Breed book, and the Player's Guide to the Changing Breeds by White Wolf. It is highly recommended that players of the Moebius Circle purchase and read this rulebook. Everything here is written with the assumption that the player has a working knowledge of Nuwisha and can thus follow the changes listed.
To hear a Nuwisha tell the story, Coyote was the maker of the world, creator of all the animals, and the one responsible for making humanity. Of course, the Nuwisha themselves tend to laugh when they tell these stories, so it's hard to say how much they believe in the tales.
Nuwisha are native to North America, but as natural explorers they have traveled across the Earth and through the Umbra. They delight in new experiences and can be found almost anywhere there are humans, watching and laughing.
The Nuwisha remained apart from the Wars of Rage for a long time, even after the Wars came to the Americas. They are not naturally inclined to fight, and so they tried to advise all sides to stop and listen to each other. When this did not work, and some Nuwisha were killed for getting in the middle, they then turned their attention to teaching painful lessons to the combatants; messing with scouts, confusing all sides, making the battlefields as dangerous as the warriors, and more.
Unfortunately, this backfired after several on all sides suffered injury or death after a few of the most dramatic of the Nuwisha pranks. Suddenly they found themselves without few friends and a lot of enemies. The Nuwisha suffered many losses, and soon retreated into the Umbra to protect themselves.

Homid
Human-born, these Nuwisha are trouble-makers throughout their lives. They are often charming in an incorrigible sense, but have a talent for finding exactly the wrong business to put their noses into. They used to be primarily Native American, but now can have almost any ethnic background.
The Nuwisha rarely has any clue what they are before their First Change, even if they are raised by Kin or their actual coyote parents. This is because the Nuwisha think it's useful (and funny) to see how the child will react the first time he grows ears, a tail, and has to run on all fours. Most Nuwisha tend to be shocked and then delighted at the transformation, but a few cannot handle the change and will try to run away. Sometimes they're even allowed to go.
A Nuwisha tends to be good-looking and have a rangy build and bright eyes. There are as many homid as latrani Nuwisha, not so much out of a concerted effort as that's just how things seem to work out.
Breed Abilities: Dodge, Endurance.
Initial Gnosis: 1.
Beginning Gifts: Master of Fire, Persuasion, Smell of Man.
Latrani
Coyote pups are cute and curious, and their number-one danger to overcome while growing up is themselves. They tend to be given a lot of room to run and explore, because their parents know that whatever trouble they're getting into now will be nothing like what they'll face when they're older.
Latrani Nuwisha learn the ins and outs of survival fairly quickly, and are consummate thieves from a young age. When they First Change, they are often very happy at the ability to open doors with their hands and to sneak through windows without a loud ruckus.
The latrani adapt quickly to human societies after their change, since they have usually spent their lives living in humanity's shadow. They are often more wild and open to their instincts than the homid breed, but that is usually only visible in that their jokes tend to be more crude and blatant.
There are large numbers of coyotes in the Americas, and a few have cropped up in Asia, Europe and parts of Australia.
Breed Abilities: Awareness, Endurance.
Initial Gnosis: 5
Beginning Gifts: Hare's Leap, Heightened Senses, Speed of Thought.
Restricted Abilities: Beginning latrani characters do not have the benefit of years of school and training in human society. There are several Abilities they may not have at character creation, although they may learn these with experience points during play. These Abilities are: Academics, Business, Computers, Crafts, Drive, Engineering, Firearms, Linguistics, Science.
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The followers of each Totem have affinities for certain Abilities. If a Nuwisha changes Totem, he does not forget what he's learned, but he picks up new Favored Abilities. The former Abilities become unFavored, requiring more effort to learn. The Storyteller may not permit a Nuwisha character to change Totems if it's clear the shift is meant only to provide a temporary benefit to buying a desired Ability.
Obviously, the Nuwisha may purchase these Totems as Backgrounds to gain additional benefits. However, they do not have to spend Background points to gain the Totem Abilities and follow the ways of their chosen face of Coyote.
Chung Kuel
A Chinese god of fortune and chance, who usually directs bad luck against his enemies. He can also grant good luck to approach him in the right way, but this happens far less often. Nuwisha who follow Chung Kuel often find the chaos in bureaucracies, politics, and finance. They will work pranks that can expose corruption in the system and delight in bringing down large corporations and political figures.
Totem Abilities: Business, Socialize.
Kishijoten
The most considerate and kind of the Trickster's faces. Kishijoten is the gentle chiding mother who defuses situations with an ironic joke and who will comfort people with good humor. She will try to ease suffering when she can. This Totem is difficult for most Nuwisha to follow; they often have to fight the urge to savage with their words or to play pranks which will hurt others. However, Kishijoten can be a rewarding example to the right kind of Nuwisha.
Totem Abilities: Medicine, Rapport.
Loki
The Nuwisha are not warriors by nature, but Loki likes a good fight. He encourages the Nuwisha to fight dirty, fight smart, and to win at all costs, but in the end, there will probably be fighting. Loki's pranks usually hurt someone or will get the fight rolling at some point, and then he's ready to lay the hurt down on someone who really deserves a good punch in the mouth. Loki Nuwisha get along very well with the Get of Fenris, but tend to be the ones who say "Do you want to step outside" to a vampire while knowing the pack of Get are outside wondering who stole their beer money.
Totem Abilities: Brawl, Melee.

Ti Malice
A queen of spiders, carefully plotting and building. Coyote once fell for Ti Malice's beauty, but after she rejected him, he took her form to work against her interests. Those who follow Ti Malice appear to be devoted to the same goals she is; creating structure and enforcing rules. However, they are truly learning how things are put together and the way they work only to show their flaws when they can. Ti Malice Nuwisha are expert saboteurs and rabble-rousers.
Totem Abilities: Engineering, Presence.
Xochipilli
The followers of Xochipilli love long odds — the more improbable it is something will work out, the more willing they are to take the chance. They are known for throwing caution to the winds and diving headlong into whatever crazy adventure comes their way. The Xochipilli Nuwisha have a tendency to survive even when the odds are against them, but they never take this luck for granted.
Totem Abilities: Athletics, Probabilities.
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Being one of Gaia's Chosen confers many benefits.
The Many Forms
A Nuwisha can naturally shift between homid and latrani forms, and three in-between forms including the swift manabozho battle-form. The Nuwisha is lucky enough to be able to shift forms even without Rage, although if he runs out of Gnosis he will have to return to breed form. When a Nuwisha shapeshifts, he must pass from his current form through every intermediate form into his desired shape. This process takes 1 action. He must roll Stamina + Endurance to shift into each form, difficulty based on the form he wishes to attain. 1 success equals one form he may shift into. So if a Nuwisha in homid form wished to become tsitsu, he needs 1 success, but if he wished to be latrani he must roll 4 successes.
Shapeshifting will probably destroy clothes and various pieces of equipment strapped to his body, unless these items are enchanted with Prime magics, are Fetishes or Talens, or have been dedicated to him with the Rite of Talisman Dedication or Rite of Adaptation. These objects are not available in other forms unless that is part of their specific enchantment or they were made to fit a specific form (for example, a piece of armor made to fit a manabozho Nuwisha, which may blend into his homid or latrani forms). The Storyteller is the final arbiter of whether an item will be available in certain forms. In general, soft items (such as clothes or which are made to expand and contract) will shift one form from its default size. Hard items (such as armor or metal weapons) will either meld into the Nuwisha's body, be destroyed, or simply be unusable.
If a Nuwisha is reduced to Incapacitated from bashing damage, he remains in his current form. If he is reduced to Incapacitated from lethal damage, he reverts to breed form and collapses.
Homid: The natural form for homid breed, this looks like an ordinary human.
Statistic Adjustments: None.
Tsitsu: Roughly 10 centimeters (4 inches) taller and 10 kilograms (22 pounds) heavier than a homid form, the tsitsu near-man form looks fairly human. A tsitsu has more hair, longer and thicker nails, and a deeper voice, but otherwise is unremarkable.
Statistic Adjustments: Strength +1, Dexterity +1, Stamina +2, Manipulation -1.
Manabozho: While the Nuwisha would never refer to it as a "war form," the manobozho is useful for combat and getting out of rough situations. Adding about .75 meters (2.5 feet) in height and with about 250% of homid mass, the manabozho form is strong, tough, and very quick. The manabozho is furred, with a canine head and tail, but with very dextrous hands and the ability to speak, even though his voice is very deep and gravelly. Many Garou are willing to accept the manabozho as a small crinos, a fact which the Nuwisha are happy to exploit. The resemblance to a Garou does mean that the manabozho form will inspire Delirium in witnesses, although they act as if their Willpower scores are +2.
Statistic Adjustments: Strength +2, Dexterity +3, Stamina +3, Manipulation -2, Appearance 0.

Rage
Nuwisha have no Rage. Coyote never asked for the favor from Luna, or maybe the few Nuwisha around when Luna gave Rage to the others all had something else to do that day. There are a lot of stories about why the coyotes are Rage-free, but they all come down to this: Nuwisha just deal with normal human tempers, not the roiling violence of Gaia.
This makes them unable to spend Rage for extra actions or any other benefit, but also means they cannot frenzy and they have no special vulnerability to silver.
Gnosis
This is the Nuwisha's connection to the Umbra and the spiritual might of Gaia. It can feel like the sensation of a warm spring rain or seeing a beautiful sunrise. Gnosis carries the grandeur of nature as well as joy in the world's beauty.
The basic rules for Gnosis appear in the Werewolf: the Apocalypse book, pages 126-127.

Stepping Sideways: Gnosis allows a Nuwisha to peer through the Gauntlet or simply step through it. He must roll Gnosis, difficulty equal to the Gauntlet, to do either. Staring at a reflective surface adds +1 die to step sideways. Peeking through the Gauntlet means the Nuwisha cannot see the world he is in, and is treated as if blind to attacks from this world. The Gauntlet is not consistent in all areas — in powerful Nodes, Nuwisha may have +4 or +3 dice to step sideways. In natural or spirit-attuned areas, the Nuwisha may have +2 or +1 dice to step sideways. In spiritually-distant or oppressive areas, the Nuwisha may be at +1 difficulty. In areas of stasis or horrible suffering, the Nuwisha may have +2 or +3 difficulty stepping sideways. In the most constricted and ordered areas, or those where massive harm was caused to both worlds, the Nuwisha may experience difficulties of +4.
Stepping sideways takes five minutes for 1 success, 30 seconds for 2 successes, and is instant for 3 more successes. Or, the Nuwisha may spend a point of Gnosis to step sideways instantly, so long as his Gnosis score exceeds the difficulty of the Gauntlet. This instant side-step uses no actions, and can be performed in the middle of another maneuver.
Failure to step sideways means the Nuwisha cannot step sideways at this spot for at least an hour. Botching traps the Nuwisha in the Gauntlet, and he has to struggle out, rolling at +4 difficulty every 2 minutes (4 rounds). The Nuwisha may lead others of his pack who have the ability to step sideways through the Gauntlet, using his successes.
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Healing
Nuwisha are not the warriors the Garou are, but are just as hard to kill. They will recover from almost any wound, given time. If a homid or latrani is in breed form, he will heal 1 bashing wound level every hour and 1 lethal wound level every day, as long as he can rest. If he is in any other form, he will always regenerate at the in-combat rate.
In combat: A Nuwisha will heal 1 bashing level every round. He will regenerate 1 lethal health level every round he does not actively fight, or if he makes a reflexive Stamina + Endurance roll at +2 difficulty at the end of the round.
Aggravated damage: A Nuwisha will heal 1 aggravated damage every day if he rests in a form other than his breed form (i.e., a homid resting in latrani form). If he rests in breed form, he will regenerate aggravated damage as fast a normal human heals from lethal damage. He will not regrow limbs or other organs in any form; such kinds of healing require more powerful magics.
Disease and Toxins: A Nuwisha will never notice minor ailments such as a cold or flu. He may roll to recover from major illnesses every day, and cannot botch this roll. He may also ignore mild poisons like alcohol unless he is in breed form, and even then he is at +2 dice to Stamina + Resistance rolls. This difficulty modifier applies to stronger toxins such as narcotics, but not to military-grade toxins, which are resisted as listed in the toxin's description. Supernatural diseases or poisons, particularly Wyrm-tainted toxins, have normal effects and may cause aggravated damage.

Happy Thoughts requires the Nuwisha to roll Gnosis, resisted by the target's Rage roll. If the Nuwisha has more successes, the Gift works as listed.
Xochipilli's Touch successes can be used either to reroll a given action, to add dice to a roll, to subtract difficulty penalties, or be thrown "to the winds" for whatever benefit the Storyteller chooses to give. A Gnosis point will add +3 successes to the Gift.
Gifts do not have variable target numbers. Gifts listed with variable target numbers work in one of two ways: if the Gift aids the Nuwisha or another person, or affects the environment or inanimate objects, then assume a listed target number of 3 is +3 dice, 4 is +2 dice, 5 is +1 die, 6 or 7 is normal difficulty, 8 is +1 difficulty, 9 is +2 difficulty, 10 is +3 difficulty.
If the Gift targets a sentient being or spirit to cause some kind of harm, where the listed difficulty is equal to a Trait or combination of Traits, assume the target may roll these Traits as a reflexive resistance to the Gift. When two rolls are asked for, one from the Nuwisha and one from the target, with variable target number difficulties based on different statistics, or when a Gift directly damages the target, use the list given above for bonus dice or difficulty penalties.
Rites: Rituals are a slower and sometimes more powerful way of focusing a Nuwisha's spiritual energies. The Nuwisha may start play with 1 level of Rites per dot in Rituals. During play, he may have no Rite of higher level than his Rituals score. The rules for Rites and list of basic Rites appear in the Werewolf: the Apocalypse book, pages 154-167, or the Player's Guide to Changing Breeds, page 136. Note that for the purposes of group rituals, any 5 paranormals participating in the Rite adds +1 die to the roll for the ritual. Willworkers may use Spirit magic to add successes to a Rite.
Use the rules for Gifts to determine difficulties for a rite. If a rite has a listed target number of "8 - Rank" or "8 - Caern Level," assume Rank or Caern 1 gives no bonuses, with +1 bonus die for every 2 Ranks or Caern Levels above this.
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Merits
These Merits may not be taken: Favored by Coyote, Guardian Angel, Lack of Scent, Past Life (see the Background), True Faith, True Love.
These Flaws may not be taken: Addiction to Caffeine, Dark Fate, Harano, Lifesaver, Pacifist, Soft-Hearted, Taint of Corruption (see Tainted), Territorial, Inept, Uneducated, Unskilled (for these latter three Flaws, reduce total Ability Points by 8).

Calculate Movement
Movement rates usually only apply during combat or other crisis scenes. When not in a crisis, assume the character can move where necessary. The Storyteller may choose not to worry about movement even during a combat, but there are times when a character's placement in an environment is dramatically important.
Characters may walk 7 meters in a round. While walking, the character can take other actions as normal.
Running movement is (Dexterity + 12 meters) in a round. Running is one action, and the character may only take other actions if they use multiple actions. Always assume the run is the "first" action in a round in terms of calculating penalties for other actions.
Sprinting movement is ([Dex x 3] + 20 meters) in a round. Characters may not take other actions while sprinting, although they may choose to stop running to dodge a single attack.
Manabozho form adds +2 meters to each of these rates. In sendeh form, all movement rates are multiplied by 1.5 (round up). In latrani form, movement rates are doubled.
At this point, the character should spend Freebie Points.
Advancement

Characters can gain anywhere from 1 to 3 experience points after each session, with more possible from end of story and special awards.
Improving part of one's self, or discovering new skills, is not merely a matter of spending points. Time needs to be spent studying and practicing. This study time takes several hours every day. If the character is trying to improve more than 1 kind of trait at once (for example, working on 2 Abilities at the same time), the training time for both are doubled. However, the character can study more than 1 trait at once (for example, improving Strength while studying Brawl while learning a Sphere) with no penalty.
Note that participation in most missions might prevent a character from actively working to improve a statistic. Discuss individual cases with the Storyteller.
A Nuwisha can improve an Attribute through exercise, learning social graces and working on his looks, or through study and practice of intellectual skills. It takes at least 3 hours per day of exercise to improve a physical Attribute, at least 4 hours a day of learning the rules of etiquette or learning how to better deal with individuals, or at least 6 hours per day of study or a challenging mental task to meet the requirements of this improvement.
Abilities simply require training and practice. This assumes at least 3 hours a day spent working on the new skills. Note that some Abilities, such as Engineering or Might, naturally lend themselves to fulfilling the requirements for training an Attribute as well. Because Favored Abilities come naturally to the character, or because his Order is simply better at training students in these Abilities, it takes less time and experience to learn such Abilities.
Initiative can be improved by combat training, especially through sparring, firearms obstacle courses, and surviving crisis situations. Note that while a character can improve Dexterity or Wits, which will improve one's initiative score, improving Initiative on its own has no effect on these Attributes.
A Background is not normally improved through training, although training can help develop better Backgrounds — for example, making new Contacts while learning to Socialize, or improving one's Resources while practicing Business skills. Some Backgrounds are granted simply through role-playing, and in these cases the character does not have to spend experience. However, the Background's improvement comes more from the player's desires and most of the efforts to earn the Background take place off-stage, then experience may be required.
A Gift or a Rite is learned either from a Garou, a spirit, or another Bete. If the instructor is a Nuwisha, then he will probably only teach those he considers worthy, such as someone with the same Breed or someone who passes a challenge. Spirits will always require some form of chiminage, and for high-level Gifts, these payments may be very high. Other Bete must be negotiated with, but few of the Changing Breeds will willingly teach others, especially since Wars of Rage have been fought over special Gifts or Rites. A Nuwisha may only learn a Gift of the same level as his Rank, or lower.
Willpower is usually increased by dealing with challenges that arise during missions or other undertakings. It is possible to train oneself with meditation, martial arts, or other techniques, but these are of limited usefulness.
Rage is usually increased through constant combats or by exploring one's inner turmoil. It takes deep contemplation along with violent activity to fill a character's inner being with more of the storm, and most of the training time involves learning to cope with this additional power.
Gnosis is improved by studying nature and one's connection to it. It can involve deep meditation in wild places, visionquests, and discussions with spirits and wiser Nuwisha.
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Rules for different forms
The following traits are added to Nuwisha in different forms:
Manabozho Latrani
Dexterous Dexterous
Robust Tireless
Quick x2 Quick
Brawny
Nuwisha do not take aggravated damage from silver, nor do they normally enter frenzy, though gifts and supernatural effects can cause frenzies in them.
Rank
            Glory    Wisdom    Humor
Rank 1         1         -       2
Rank 2         2         1       3
Rank 3         3         2       5
Rank 4         5         3       7
Rank 5         7         5       9
Rank one gets the basic gifts for breed, Nuwisha gifts and Ragabash.
Rank two can learn almost any basic werewolf gifts at five xp.
Rank three can learn intermediate breed, Nuwisha and Ragabash gifts.
Rank four can learn almost any intermediate werewolf gifts at ten xp.
Only rank five can get the advanced gifts.

Nuwisha
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For more information on Nuwisha (were-coyotes) , you are invited to read The Werewolf Players Guide from the paper game, pages 139 - 144.
Character Creation
Totem: Trickster spirits (most often coyote)
Breeds: Same as Garou with the same starting gnosis
Initial Willpower: Two
Backgrounds: Only two background points that can be spent on any background except pure-breed
Tribal Advantage: Umbra Knowledge
The gauntlet is halved for Nuwisha. They can avoid getting lost in the umbra by winning a simple test.
Nuwisha do not take aggravated damage from silver
Tribal Drawbacks: Notoriety
Nuwisha are seen by the Garou as having given up fighting for Gaia, and thus have to bid two traits in social challenges when dealing with Garou.
Nuwisha don't have any rage.
Gifts
Nuwisha can learn any Ragabash gift. Garou breed gifts are available to Nuwisha at the storytellers or spirit keepers discretion.
Basic: Rabbit Run, Spirit Speech
Intermediate: Sheep's Clothing, Blisters
Advanced: Trickster's Skin, Hidey Hole
Rabbit Run
Basic Gift
Same as the gift Speed of Thought
Spirit Speech
Basic Gift
Same as the Theurge gift
Sheep's Clothing
Intermediate Gift
This gift a Nuwisha to change his appearance, aura and scent into that of another shape shifter. This way they can still have use of caserns that they do not wish to occupy.
Use of this gift requires a gnosis trait and lasts for an entire scene. A Mental test must be performed against a difficulty of five traits for Homid form, nine for Crinos or wolf, and sixteen for bear, feline, gator etc. If successful, all senses (even supernatural) cannot tell the difference. If ties are lost, Gifts and Disciplines can tell the difference.
Blisters
Intermediate Gift
This gift inflicts painful blisters on the target, causing loss of fur and hair. The Nuwisha must first make contact with the target (physical challenge). A gnosis challenge is then made. If the Nuwisha win, the target is inflicted with the blisters for as many days as the Nuwisha has gnosis, minus the targets gnosis, minimum one day. The target gets the negative social traits of ugly and monstrous for the duration. This is one of the few gifts that does not take any gnosis to use.
Trickster's Skin
Advanced Gift
Probably the most dangerous gift in the right hands, Trickster's Skin swaps the appearance of the Nuwisha with that of the target. The unimaginative would use this after playing a big prank on a couple of stuck up Garou. Instantly the target gets bashed for a prank they didn't commit. This will make the target even more willing to pound the Nuwisha (sadly, most Garou lack higher social brain functions like HUMOR).
To us this from a distance, the Nuwisha spends a gnosis and must win a simple test. This can be role played by having the "Nuwisha" stand where the target was and have the target stand next to him and tell him what to do and say.
If this gift is used while in contact, the Nuwisha wins ties for the simple test.
Hidey Hole
Advanced Gift
This gift creates a small pocket haven or stash hole. They are almost undetectable, only those with heightened senses have a chance of finding one, and then win ties for the simple test only if they have seen the hole before. To use this, the Nuwisha must spend a gnosis permanently and win a mental test against the areas gauntlet rating. Subterfuge can be used to retest.
Rules for different forms
The following traits are added to Nuwisha in different forms: