Wraith

Wraith

Wraiths are the spirits of humans that are tied to the material by a fetter preventing them from passing on and are fighting between the chance at reincarnation and oblivion.

Wraiths live in a vast reflection of the material world called the underworld with three main layers, The deadlands, The tempest, and the labyrinth. Wraiths are more powerful the farther from the material plane, or skinlands as it’s known in the underworld, they reside in.

Wraiths' powers are called Arcanoi they are fueled by pathos, the power of emotion. All Wraiths also have a shadow, a dark mirror of themselves that gives them access to Dark Arcanoi which are fueled by angst, the power of oblivion and despair. Wraiths that give in to their shadow become dark servants of oblivion called spectres.

Wraith guilds and legions follow a code called dictum mortuum which forbids contact with the skinlands. Not all wraiths follow these rules. Mortals are also affected by a phenomenon called the fog when they see wraiths similar to garou’s delirium, the fog causes humans to forget ghostly events.

Wraiths build Artifacts out of other wraiths through a brutal process known as soul forging. These Artifacts are like treasures or fetishes. Objects in the shadowlands that are reflections of things lost in the skinlands are called relics. Relics are mostly just equipment.

Traits

Circle	Max Traits	Ability max	Max Will	Pathos	Corpus(health)	Max Fetters	Discipline Retests
1	13	5	10	12	12	3	None
2	14	5	12	14	14	5	Physical
3	15	5	14	16	16	7	Mental and Social
4	20	7	18	20	20	9	??
5	??	??	??	??	??	??	??

Circle

Wraiths have 3 circles denoting their power. Oblivion wraiths or below are almost exclusively spectres or very old ghosts. Circles above 3 are whispered of but not seen and cannot be achieved by completing harrowings, plasmics and kerberoi claim these levels of power, as do transcended wraiths who stay behind, but the only wraith definitively above circle 3 is Charon.

1. Deadlands/Shadowlands wraiths (13 12 11 max traits) max will 10
2. Legion/Tempest wraiths (14 13 12 max traits) +2 corpus/pathos max will 12
3. Labyrinth/Malfean wraiths (15 14 13 max traits) +2 corpus/pathos max will 14

Gaining Circle: Wraiths gain circle by completing a number of harrowings equal to their max fetters. Spectres gain circle by defeating and consuming other wraiths equal to 10*their max fetters.

Pathos

Wraiths Have pathos pools equal to 12/14/16 increasing with their circle. Pathos is Used to fuel arcanoi.

Corpus

Wraiths Health is equal to 12/14/16 increasing with their circle.

Fetters

Wraiths can have a maximum number of fetters equal to 3/5/7 depending on their circle. Wraiths regenerate a number of pathos and health/night equal to their number of fetters when they slumber. Fetters are what connects a wraith to the world of the living, such as childhood toys or family members.

Discipline retests

Wraiths become more powerful the more fettered they are to the world, at 3, 5, and 7 fetters they gain one of the types of discipline retests(might, persistence, awe) of their choice.

Negation A wraith can destroy a fetter to negate a single attack against it as the fera ability negation. A wraith that has all its fetters destroyed is lost to oblivion. The fetter is unharmed in this process if it is a creature and cannot be reconnected. Wraiths that use this power don’t enter a destructive harrowing for the fetter till the end of the scene.

Passions

Wraiths have 3 passions and 3 dark passions Once per night per passion when acting with a passion wraiths gain 2 pathos or angst and 1 willpower. Example passions include: “Protect my family” “Destroy those who harmed me in life”, “fuck jimmy!”. Wraiths that do not act on their passions at least once a year receive a destructive harrowing on that passion.

Shadows

Wraiths have a darker side of them called a shadow, when the shadow takes over due to a failed virtue check or a failed dark arcanoi roll, causing a frenzy. They act as a spectre of the same rank as the wraith. They take control of the wraith for the scene and try to fulfill the dark passions of the wraith. Some shadows protect their hosts and some would like nothing more than for them to die crying and fall into oblivion. Shadows are Immune to dominate and direct mental/social commads,as described in catharsis be careful dominating a wraith as suppressing the psyche may cause the shadow to take control.

Catharsis (Frenzy)

Catharsis can be triggered in one of three ways: Losing a self-control challenge when the storyteller calls for one in a particularly stressful circumstance. Losing a challenge to activate a dark arcanoi. Or with the active shadow flaw the shadow can spend a temp angst to attempt to gain control once a session in this case, the shadow uses it’s temp angst as traits vs the target’s willpower.

If the shadow takes over it gains 3 angst, and immediately heals it’s corpus by 3 health levels. The shadow is immune to mental and social challenges. It then proceeds to gleefully kill whatever is in front of it in a manner most befitting it’s dark passions, similar to a Rage frenzy. It is almost impossible to tell when a wraith is in catharsis if the shadow doesn't make it obvious and cunning shadows may use their time in control to make a more long term gambit towards the wraith’s destruction. Catharsis always lasts for the scene regardless of the trigger.

Spectres

Some wraiths lose all sense of attachment to the world and become servants of oblivion called spectres. Spectres are more deadly and prone to anger than wraiths and employ dangerous Dark Arcanoi. Spectres are immune to most oblivion and similar powers(3 or lower, or entropy spells with entropy sphere 1 or lower) and all oblivion rituals, due to their connection to Oblivion Spectres gain +1 max and current trait in the dead lands, +2 in the tempest and +3 in the labyrinth, so for example a circle 3 wraith with 15 max traits who enters catharsis in the deadlands has 17 traits with a max of 16, and a specter walking around in the deadlands just has 17 traits with a max of 16. If a wraith’s permanent angst is ever equal to or greater than their willpower they become a spectre.

Angst

Spectres and shadows have an additional pool of angst equal to their willpower. They get 1 angst once a night and 1 for every creature they kill. Shadows can access this pool when they are in control of a wraith during catharsis, and to activate thorns and flaws. Wraiths must rely on their shadow when they wish to cast dark arcanoi which can be dangerous. Permanent angst increases as the wraith gets older and when they lose to the shadow. Wraiths have permanent angst in addition to their shadow's pool, when a wraith’s permanent angst exceeds or equals their willpower they become a spectre. Permanent angst is most commonly gained by failing a dark arcanoi check, or failing a harrowing.

Temptation of the shadow

The shadow can offer aid to a wraith in the form of power or help. You can use your shadow's help on your own without a storyteller, but you will fall to becoming an unplayable spectre if used to often. The psyche can offer this aid to a spectre if it wishes. Calling on the shadow's power more than 3 times in a night gives the wraith a permanent angst.

• A shadow can offer a 1 to 5 trait bonus on any challenge, if the wraith accepts they gain temp angst equal to the trait bonus.

• A shadow can offer to use it’s dark arcanoi for the wraith automatically giving the wraith temp angst equal to the level of power activated.

• A shadow can offer to refill up to 3 of the wraith’s skill, if the wraith accepts they gain temp angst equal to the number of skills refreshed.

Stygian Steel

Wraiths take agg from stygian steel, a material found only in the underworld. The stygian steel tag is identical to the cold iron tag but deals its damage to wraiths.

Corporeality

A wraith not using the Embody arcanoi ability Materialize,or that has not jumped the shroud in another way, can be momentarily disrupted by an object that would deal damage passing through their corpus. This causes the wraith to become immune to damage and challenges from sources in the skinlands for 3 turns. Wraiths disrupted in this way cannot attack or declare challenges against creatures in the skinlands, until those 3 turns are over.

Heightened senses

All wraiths have heightened senses as an innate ability, and can see the level of oblivion a kindred has achieved, and the levels of entropy a mage has achieved.

Arcanoi

Arcanoi are the powers of wraiths, some are powered by contracts, strong emotions, and great heroes, but all are shapings of the underworld to the wraith's will.

Alloyed Arcanoi

Alloyed arcanoi are combination powers that require one or more arcanoi to Use.

Dark Arcanoi:

Every time a wraith uses a Dark Arcanoi with their shadow’s help they gain temporary angst equal to the level of power used. If they attempt to bypass their shadow to use their arcanoi they must make a self-control check to avoid becoming catharsis equal to the level of the power used. Succeeding the check gives the wraith one angst which can be used to activate the power. Failure on the check causes the wraith to become a spectre if their current willpower is lower than their current permanent angst, otherwise their shadow takes over in catharsis for the scene and they gain a permanent angst. Wraiths with permanent angst equal to their willpower automatically become spectres, unless their shadow has been removed.

Dark Arcanoi

Risen

Wraiths that are haunting their own decaying bodies

Wraith Retainers:

(Here are the adjusted player rules for necromancy users) Player retainers are always deadlands wraiths, and they can’t have Arcanoi above level 2 or dark Arcanoi. Arcanoi for retainers cost 10xp flat. Retainers always have puppetry 2, and 1 other Arcanoi at 1. Player retainers always have only 1 fetter, the body they’re riding in. Aside from these changes they operate just like ghouls.

Q: How do I, the player of another supernatural type use wraith powers or artifacts for myself? A: You can't. Die better.

Ghouling: They don't have bodies

Embracing: How would you try

Harrowings, passions and fetters, and bluebook actions

Harrowing diff 4 occult, empathy or survival.

• With a successful difficulty 4 mentals(occult), socials(empathy) or physicals(survival) check. A wraith descends into the labyrinth via a nihil to endure a trial to resolve one of their fetters furthering them towards circle advancement. The trial is run by the shadow, and is extremely dangerous.(Requires an action and 2 xp) They are deposited back to their starting location via the nihil if they succeed or don’t die. Conscience is the check made to exit a harrowing when the wraith feels they have finished the harrowing, it starts at diff 4 and is reduced as the wraith progresses through the trial by Staff and any specter participants to a minimum of 1. They can only make the check when they have either successfully escaped a destructive harrowing, or saved the object of a targeted harrowing. A destructive harrowing is slightly different that the above in that a wraith can be sent into it when thier passion or fetter is in danger and failure permenantly destroys their passion or fetter.

Harrowing duel

• When wraiths of sufficient power(Oblivion circle) fight it is a duel of emotions and willpower mechanically and literally as the labyrinth makes it so. When Wraiths engage this way they bring a pocket of the labyrinth into the real world as the shadows engage in a destructive harrowing of the two wraiths, with each other as quarry. This results in a small explosion of labyrinth material and creatures into the shadowlands and possibly the skinlands, but is normally contained by the shroud...normally.

Gaining Passions and fetters

• Wraiths can gain a new passion or fetter after a minimum of 1 session in contact with the passion or fetter and by spending 5 bluebook actions growing the passion or fetter. They still pay for the new fetter as normal. Passions may be swapped this way if one feels their passion is waning.

Bluebook actions

• Wraiths get 3 bluebook actions. A wraith can get up to 2 additional actions by giving the shadow 5 temp angst per action, such actions cannot be used to meditate. Wraiths can use the meditate action to lose a temp angst, they cannot reduce their temp angst below their permanent angst this way.

Wraith Experience

Thing	XP Cost
Background Dot	3(Character creation only)
Virtue	3xDesired Rating
Willpower	Desired Rating+1
Ability	2xDesired Rating
Attribute	1-10 = 1 / 11-20 = 2
Specialty	1
Arcanoi	5x Level of Arcanoi
Dark Arcanoi	4x Level of Arcanoi
Fetter	5
Alloyed Arcanoi	15
Ritual	7
Merit	4x Rating