Modifying the Rite of the Toxic Scar..

Does anyone have any suggestions on ways to modify the Rite of the Toxic Scar to allow other types of spirit familiars?

Do you have a page and book reference for that one?

It's in Night Horrors: Wolfsbane page 64

As I said, I'm basically looking for a way to tweek the Ritual to allow my Ithuar to have a different type of spirit as a familiar..

It really depends on what type of spirit you want to use. The main thing that is changed is the surviving the poison part, which you can change to something appropriate to the spirit type you are using. I altered it to use for Spirits of fear, which has the one undergoing the Rite experience a vision of his greatest fear come to life. The changing of the Rite is really not that difficult, it is just a need to change descriptions to relate to the Spirit type you are using and to change the descriptive effects of failure.

Yeah, it's a rather specific ritual. There are really three key points to it in terms of drama:

First the birthing of a new spirit within the Uratha, second the establishment of dominance over the spirit's aspect and third the marking of the Uratha to make it a suitable anchor for the spirit embodied by the ritual.

Fear, Flame, Disease, Rage, Madness and anything that can impose a condition upon the subject can all be substituted by changing the appropriate details. In all cases though, the situation must pose a potential risk should the subject fail to conquer whatever they are being pitted against.

In order to bond with something external that doesn't necessarily impose a condition upon the subject such as animal, nature or inanimate spirits the trial is going to be completely different. The Uratha cannot actually birth a spirit of such a thing within himself, so that step has to be altered.

For inanimate objects, the act of creation itself can serve as a suitable substitute. In this case, the Uratha does not anchor the spirit to himself, but rather to the object he has created. It would require similar steps to the creation of a fetish as far as cleansing the component parts and tools. Once the object is created then, the Uratha must awaken it and subject himself to some sort of trial. An appropriate one, would be to successfully perform a task that would require the tool he has created, without any tools whatsoever. For a vehicle, carry someone or something from point A to point B as quickly as possible. For a gun, slay someone from a distance. For a sword or knife, repeatedly parry an attack from someone with a sword or knife while unarmed. Something to prove your dedication, above and beyond the creation of the object itself and that you are more then the tool you choose to wield.

For animals, you could go the route of having to perform the ritual on the occasion of the birth of a living example of the animal you wish to bond with. Alternatively, it may require a variation on the Ritual of Summoning performed within the Shadow wherein you commune with what amounts to an Avatar of that animal and perform some task before the Greater Beast Spirit that amounts to gaining respect in its eyes. Successfully performing the task, then has the Great Beast Spirit gift you with an appropriate familiar. In either case, the key point to keep in mind is the subjugation of the beast aspect, not its death. You're not going to win the favor of a Bear Spirit by going into battle and slaying a bear. Something more appropriate might be to let it batter you with its paws and never fall down once. A falcon spirit might have you dive off a cliff and then avoid hitting the ground, in imitation of a falcon diving for prey and flaring its wings at the last moment to avoid plummeting to its death. A shark might have you try to find the animal it has bitten and left bleeding in the open ocean.

For plants, you may have to grow and tend to a specimen appropriate to the plant spirit you wish to impress, beginning the ritual as you plant the seed and completing it when the plant fully matures. In this it is an exercise in patience, as you must spend the better part of your day caring for the material plant. As with the inanimate object, you would also not be the spirit's anchor, instead it would be the plant you cared for.

I was thinking of some kind of night/shadow/darkness type spirit..

The character in question is a Bone Shadow Itheuar and has a thing for shadows..

I think a way to do the rite for a spirit of darkness would be to have the rite be performed in a small room lit only by a single candle in which they must protect the flame from being extinguished by the darkness spirit, possessing the werewolf's shadow, during the rite. If a dramatic failure occurs, the werewolf loses his sight due to being overcome by the spirit of darkness within him.

Hrm... I kindof like that.

As an addition though, maybe the darkness spirit doesn't cause the blindness itself and instead the Uratha has to use some substance that induces blindness, with a risk of permanent impairment. This would bring back the aspect of potential harm and the sacrifice portion of the ritual inherent in the original rite.

And instead of protecting a candle, the Uratha must bring light, lighting seven candles arranged around the room while the spirit of darkness attempts to stop him. You'll probably want to perform the ritual in some place that's reasonably fire proof... unless you like the added danger that if you miss lighting a candle you'll set the entire place on fire. And I'd say that would constitute a dramatic failure on the ritualist's part.

Scented candles would also probably help you out quite a bit.

I have an Ithaeur who justified retainer spirit stray dogs that for all intents and porpuses work as familiar to him. He uses them as spies, informants or guards. They used to run on a bigger pack of stray hound spirits, their alpha was begining to be consumed by wrath essence, about to mutate to a magath. My PC set a binding circle and taunted the pack of spirits to chase him, being the alpha, the spirit infected by wrath took the lead. The shaman lead them to an alley without exit on the shadow realm and before the spirits could taste the fear on his being, he bound the alpha with the sacred words. As such, everything he commanded to him (while it hoped it would get him free) was in turn commanded to the lesser hounds. The actual method by which the spirit bound would be free was "as long as you rest" since it was infected by wrath, it could not rest until it was depleted of essence, at which point it enters in dormancy, that is when my character slays it. The lesser dogs then recognised my PC as their "alpha" for the deed of slaying their former alpha. (if anyone wants to hear the story in details, send me a message.)