Hunting in the Spirit Wilds

So, because of fate's command I ended up as the Storyteller a game with my friends.

whenever possible you should involve your players. I have always found that involving the players in totem creation to be the best way to do it. Usually totem spirits are beings that fill a gap in the pack, for instance a pack of blood talons would all be warriors so why would they bother getting a warrior totem? They would need a different kind of spirit to fill in the gap whether it be healing, knowlege, stealth, or whatever else they might find useful but dont have access to. The same could be said for a pack of Hunters of the darkness and a stealth spirit.

After the creation of each character youll get a good idea of what the player characters are capable of and what they are lacking. This is when you sit down with everyone and say "Ok time to design a totem, heres what I think you guys are lacking and these are the totem spirits that I think would fill that gap." They might take your advice or they might choose something completly different, either way youll be alright. At that point, find out their total totem points and give whatever you feel is an appropriate ban but let the players choose what bonuses their totem points give them. The ban is the only part that I feel the Storyteller can have absolute say in but even then it should be fair for the severity

Quick answer: don't worry about the Totem Merit points until the pack chooses the spirit they want as their totem.  Then apply the points to customize it before or after you describe the bonding process and voila!  They've hunted down a totem, bound it to their pack and strengthened it (and themselves) in the process. 

Bruce Leenomorph:

Quick answer: don't worry about the Totem Merit points until the pack chooses the spirit they want as their totem.  Then apply the points to customize it before or after you describe the bonding process and voila!  They've hunted down a totem, bound it to their pack and strengthened it (and themselves) in the process. 

I agree.