Pack Membership
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Most packs have at least three members. Few totems will willingly bond with a pair of Garou, and some conservative septs view a two-member pack as an invitation to violate the Litany. Garou Shall Not Mate With Garou, and two-member packs have a reputation for fostering bonds that are more romantic than comradely. In theory, the upper limit on pack size is anywhere up to fifty werewolves, depending on the territory the pack can claim, but these days it's rare to see a pack with more than ten members; the Garou just don’t have the numbers in modern times. Five members is often seen as the ideal size: small enough to stay flexible, but large enough that any pack member in trouble can count on backup. Many Garou consider five-member packs in which each
member embodies a different auspice as especially blessed.
Defining what "membership" means is simpler: a member of a pack is one who has undergone the Rite of the Totem and been accepted by the pack's totem spirit. Some packs treat cliath or new recruits as "probationary" members before they perform the Rite, and a rare few even treat Kinfolk as members in good standing, but most Garou feel that they can’t really count on a packmate until they share that bond.
Structure
Garou packs sit at the convergence point between the human impulse for hierarchy and the lupine instinct for a more holistic family group structure. Thus, while nearly every pack has an alpha who leads the group and makes decisions, it's a rare pack where the alpha is an autocrat or an absolute dictator. Most listen to their packmates' advice and heed their expertise, and if a certain problem falls under another pack member's bailiwick it's not uncommon for the alpha to delegate authority wholesale.
The Litany is very clear on when a pack can and can't challenge its alpha for leadership: at any time during peace, and not at all during war. The trick of an alpha declaring a state of perpetual warfare and thus eliminating challenges to her rule is so ancient that no one seriously tries it anymore unless they want to earn some very unflattering nicknames from the local Galliards. On the other hand, with the Apocalypse looming on the horizon "declaring perpetual war" isn't always a naked power grab. Particularly for packs on the forefront of the fight with the Wyrm, sometimes respite is a thing that happens to other people. Sept elders try to watch out for this and rotate packs off the front lines to give them an opportunity for internal reshuffling, but not all packs have the backing of a Sept and sometimes pulling warriors out of the fight isn't an option.
In fact, though plenty of pack alphas who would never admit this, packs need the occasional shift in roles. The constant pressures of leadership can eat away at the strongest, and Garou are no more resistant to post-traumatic stress than anyone else. Plenty of Garou tragedies feature the tale of an alpha trapped in an endless war, unable to step down and her pack unable to challenge her without violating the Litany. Those tales usually end in one of two ways: a Charge of the Light Brigade-style paean to duty over survival, or a Julius Caesar-esque horrible crime committed to avert a greater tragedy.
In smaller packs, the hierarchy is limited to "the alpha" and "everyone else." But just as human groups are compelled to increasingly add titles and positions the larger they get, Garou packs that get above a certain size find their members adopting some additional roles. The most common of these is the beta: the alpha's strong right hand, consigliere, and party whip. A good beta keeps his
ear out for grievances and concerns, ferrying them back to the alpha and, in turn, making sure that the pack carries out the alpha's intentions smoothly and efficiently.
Finally, some packs recognize one member as being the lowest in the pecking order. This "omega" isn't the pack's whipping boy or most useless member (though in some packs they're treated that way), but rather the member who needs the most support from his packmates. That might be due to skill set, natural temperament, or simply better suited to a supporting role. While the omega may come last when it's time to divide up the spoils of a hunt, he can rely on extra backup from the rest of the pack.
Wolf vs. Werewolf
A Garou pack is not a wolf pack. That much is obvious just by the nature of its members, but the two also have a fundamental psychological difference. Even a pack comprised primarily (or exclusively) of lupus Garou doesn't work the way a real wolf pack does.
A wolf pack is primarily a family unit: inasmuch as it has a "leader," the eldest breeding pair fill that role; they are often the parents of the other pack members. While individuals may squabble, it's rarely over questions of leadership or dominance.
A Garou pack, by contrast, is usually not formed along familial lines, but among relative equals in age and experience. Lacking that parental connection, the Garou pack has no avenue through which to express dominance and deference. Hence the invention of the "alpha" role and elaborate rules for determining who should claim it. Similar structures evolve among wolves in captivity, when several animals who aren't biologically related are placed in the same enclosure. This is an echo of the Garou pack, with unrelated members forced to work together through instinct.
Totem
No matter how long they've fought together, how closely related by blood or ordeal they are, a pack of werewolves without a totem is never anything more than "a group of Garou." The mystical bond between pack and patron is more than a collection of useful abilities, it's the thing that unites the pack members on a soul-deep level. Without a totem, a pack can't use pack tactics, and Gifts and rites that affect "packmates" don't work. While it's acceptable for a young, newly-formed pack to wait until it has a few missions under its belt before questing after a totem, going too long without taking a totem is seen as a mark of indecisiveness — or worse, disrespect to Gaia.
Auspice
Auspice holds an interesting and powerful role in the Garou Nation; it predefines a young werewolf’s role in her pack, in her Tribe, and in her society. No one Auspice bears the responsibility of being “the alpha Auspice” however, and how a given Auspice tackles the alpha role breeds a swath of diversity in pack dynamics.
This can also cause dissonance, strife, and grief in cases where a werewolf walks her line too hard. If an alpha aligns too strongly with her Auspice as she makes leadership choices, her packmates will likely begin to doubt her decision-making and adaptability. After all, leadership is about making choices. Anyone can adhere lock-step with the role Luna chose for her, but doing so ignores context and nuance. At least on the surface, anyone can make those non-choices. Ask any Garou “What would an Ahroun do here?” and she will probably answer “attack.” If that’s the best decision-making the alpha can accomplish, she’s not much of an alpha. In some, more pragmatic packs, this sort of non-decision-making becomes a problem because it limits potential Renown for other Auspices; more packs, however, find themselves in scenarios where the alpha’s rigid thinking leads to dead werewolves and furthers the Wyrm’s aims. Lucky packmates have a chance to challenge their alpha before that happens, but other Garou never get that chance.
Tribes
Tribes also add a great deal of depth to the dynamics of the pack. This runs deeper than Auspice, as there are more possible combinations, and more inherent conflicts and history between the tribes. One given Garou can interpret her Auspice’s role in an unusual way, and it simply shakes up the pack’s expectations. Different interpretations of tribal views and practices could mean different Garou are incapable of sharing a pack with members of other tribes.
Most packs contain a mix of tribes, at least in theory. Many packs feature a majority of one tribe with one or two members who break the tradition, while others form a balance between two tribes. Some packs, especially those made up of younger Garou, have each member from a different tribe, which provides a wide range of insight, and greater potential for conflict.
Balanced packs consist of werewolves each of different tribes. These packs are classically considered to be the most reasoned and versatile. Also, if you ask most Garou outside tribal pressures, they’ll tell you a balanced pack is probably closest to what Gaia would want. The needs of tribal politics and of old-fashioned werewolves who long for the days when the tribes didn’t need to mix so much have made balanced packs rare historically, though increasingly young werewolves see no need to hold with history.
Temporary Packs
When a group of individual Garou come together to deal with a specific task, they may bond as a temporary pack. This is exceedingly common during war. These hyper-focused packs benefit from a mission-oriented existence; they don’t have to deal with wide-ranging, long-term concerns, they can put all their organizational effort toward getting the job done. While this doesn’t breed the strong familial relationships of a long-term pack, task-oriented packs tend to get along well and forge fast bonds because of their shared specializations. Ahroun especially find wartime packs refreshing, since everyone’s on the same page as them.
In some temporary packs, individual identity becomes just as temporary as the pack at large. Members adopt specific deed names that begin and end with the pack’s stated task. This offers the members a bit more solidarity, and helps distance them from outside concerns. In some cases, a temporary pack forms such a strong bond that they cannot bring themselves to disassemble after their mission is over. They form what is essentially a new pack, needing to find a new totem since the original spirit only agreed to sponsor the pack for a limited time.
Temporary packs aren’t just a function of wartime, though. Often, Garou on pilgrimage will join or band with temporary packs, if only to stave off Harano. Silent Striders and Stargazers are the most familiar with short-term packs; some members of both tribes only join temporary packs, never settling down throughout their lives. These werewolves teach their tribemates to follow the same path, and to avoid settling down or getting too connected to one group of Garou. To the Silent Striders, temporary alliances are a means to an end, and should not risk the greater journey; though if their allies are willing to join the journey, most Silent Striders see no problem with making the pack permanent. To the Stargazers, however, temporary packs form a lesson to be learned, and staying with the pack sullies the purity of the lesson.
Large Packs
Any pack with more than about ten members doesn’t usually last long. This isn’t to say that they break apart, but they almost always become septs, as parts of the pack group together for specific purposes. The Bone Gnawers and Children of Gaia both take radically inclusive approaches to pack composition, so they’re highly prone to heavy adoption, and dramatically increasing pack size. This approach also makes them also prone to fracturing, or growing into full septs.
Most people think of packs as containing three to six Garou, but larger packs do exist, and some last a very long time, even across generations. Not having the same degree of tight focus as smaller packs boast is both beneficial and detrimental. A small pack can fit in a single room, and every member can hear the alpha’s voice directly. Larger packs must rely heavily on delegation, and trust.
Tutelary Packs
Often temporary and large at the same time, tutelary packs are far from a regular occurrence, and only exist in places with a very strong, very active sept. When cubs enter the sept, they join a tutelary pack to get used to the pack instinct and hierarchy before their Rite of Passage. They learn from one or more experienced Garou, until such a time they’re ready to step out on their own. This is particularly common in places with many “orphans,” particularly in areas torn by war, in places where the tribes have been devestated, leaving Kinfolk with children lacking mentors and safeguards.
Many tribes see this sort of pack as coddling, raising spoiled, weak cubs. Then again, when a sept doesn’t have enough Garou to train new cubs in addition to their other duties, these complaints are in passing; immediate, overwhelming need supersedes argument. Someone must take care of the young and make sure they’re ready to face the Apocalypse. Active packs have their hands full, so a tutelage pack is a temporary bandage slapped on to fix one particular wound.
Shifting Alphas
Some packs change alpha depending on the task at hand; while not the rule, this is a particularly common phenomenon in blessed packs (see below). In this type of pack, the alpha's role shifts to meet immediate needs. When dealing with spiritual issues, the resident Theurge takes the helm, while the Philodox is in charge for times of mediation and judgment and the Ahroun leads the pack in battle. Theoretically, this is an ideal situation for the Garou Nation: the pack has an expert in every major field, and the best takes charge under her own specialty. Things are never so simple, of course. Some situations emerge where two or more pack members could take charge. For example, an Ahroun might argue that the pack is at war more often than not, so he should have disproportionate amounts of leadership time. Garou are always at war with the Wyrm, are they not? Even with an optimistic outlook, dangerous forces press down on the Garou from all sides, so her argument isn’t entirely without merit. Some packs push back too hard against this tendency, focusing too much on giving each potential alpha equal time in charge. In these cases, egalitarianism can get in the way of efficient problem solving. On the other hand, it can also lead to creative solutions that other packs wouldn’t come up with.
Strange Hierarchies
When most Garou think of packs, they think of a group of werewolves serving under an alpha and beta, perhaps with an omega to challenge the others, all bound together by the spiritual blessing of a totem. The alpha leads, the others respect that leadership. This is not how all packs work, however. Many packs very in basic structure and expectations. Some Garou might consider different groupings odd, particularly traditionalists from certain tribes, but a pack is a pack, and werewolves respect the need to be in a pack at an instinctive level. Some of the moralizing against nontraditional packs comes from a “kids these days” mentality, even though stories date back thousands of years about different packs with unique or nonstandard dynamics.
In some packs all the major decisions are left to simple democracy. One Garou, one vote. Most democratic packs work through simple majority, with every member having a single vote. This comes with all the normal concerns of a democracy. What should be up to vote, and what shouldn’t be? What about the under-represented, the effectively silenced members of the group? Some democratic packs attempt to address these issues. They frequently adopt a series of basic rules, things which members can and cannot vote on, or things that require more than simple majority. A common rule is that members cannot be exiled or killed without unanimous vote by all other packmates. Allowing new members to join the pack also typically requires unanimous vote, or close to it. Other democratic packs delegate all but the most important decisions, like a pack with shifting alphas. One such pack might decide that the resident Theurge has purview over most spiritual decisions, bringing only the most serious to a vote. If she makes a series of bad choices, however, the pack can vote to remove her authority.
One problem with democratic packs is that they’re a ripe orchard for those Garou who want power without the attendant responsibility. In a pack with five Garou, a would-be “alpha” only needs to convince two members to consistently vote with him, and he’s functionally in charge. When he makes a wrong decision, he can blame the vote, shifting responsibility to all the pack members rather than owning the issue himself. This all comes back to the question of instinct: Are those on his side simply following an
instinctual imperative? Nobody can say for sure.
Blessed Packs
A blessed pack features one representative of each Auspice. A blessed pack stands five strong, and is called blessed because, at least in theory, they’re prepared to handle all the major problems that face the Garou Nation. Particularly if coupled with five tribes, the pack has a broad range of Gifts and tribal lore that other packs lack. But a blessed pack is no more ideal than any other.
In a blessed pack, one member is always under her Auspice moon. The pack has no breathing room, no calm time. But is this part of the “blessing,” bringing with it balance? If one member is always under her Auspice moon, that means that only one fifth — never more, never less — under Luna’s influence. While it means the pack is a little unstable, it’s a manageable, consistent instability that gives the pack an edge all its own. As the Apocalypse cracks over the horizon, a good pack wants every slight edge it can get.
Blessed packs boast the most common occurrences of shifting zedakh leadership. This makes sense, as they have all major bases covered, but this comes with its own complications. Auspice alone does not confer experience or leadership ability. Where most packs learn to work together fluidly, a blessed pack suffers based on its greatest member. The best among them sets the bar high for the others, based on her accomplishments, her experience, and her leadership. The other packmates always fall a little short. This is a problem when blessed packs are often held up as the “rock stars” of their sept. Elders direct cubs to look to them as role models. Any member of a blessed pack had better hold tight to the Litany, lest their minor infractions snowball into major scandals.
Anonymous Leadership
Throughout history, a handful of packs have led by random, anonymous leadership. It’s luck-of-the-draw, and whomever gets the gig takes charge and redefines the pack. Most werewolves think that picking an alpha at random is reckless, and it’s a highly unpopular way to run a pack, but Garou believe in fate, destiny, and the righteousness of their role. These packs, lead as much by chance as their
individual members, are often highly effective. When they work, they’re very popular. When they fail, they’re object lessons in why the traditional pack structure is best. Accepting random chance does require members to devour their own egos, but in the end, that’s a boon for the pack.
Each packmate also needs to trust the others implicitly, since any of them can be in charge at any given time. Of course, some members chafe at the pack’s nature, either because they don’t feel fit to lead, or because they feel the need to challenge a weak alpha.