Wraith: The Oblivion FAQ
This FAQ is based on the Wraith-L FAQ compiled by Winter(Sagasto@odin.comp.ilstu.edu) Additional help by J.W. Woodward (oodward@io.com)
What is Wraith?
Wraith is the fourth
in a series of five games in the modern Storyteller Series, by White Wolf
Publishing. It involves ghost stories and tales of passion, beauty, horror
and other fun stuff. You play a member of the Restless Dead, still tied
to Earth because of your Passions and unfinished business. You and your
friends get to weave stories of intrigue, horror and emotion.
What should I get if I want to play Wraith?
First
off, you need the main rulebook: big, gray and mean-looking. You will also
probably want the Storytellers Screen. It comes with a nifty book called
Buried Secrets, which includes extra nasty stuff.
What's with the missing paragraph from the
Beast? (or WAIT?!?!! How do I regain Pathos?!?!!?!?)
Where is everything?
Courtesy of
Rick Jones (<rick@blkbox.com>):
How do the Shadowlands and the Tempest relate
to the Umbra and the other planes?
The Shadowlands is part of
the Dark Umbra, a part of the Umbra more-or-less sealed off from Garou,
mages and anyone who isn't dead. The Tempest is also part of the Dark Umbra.
The Deep Umbra and the Horizon Realms have essentially nothing to do with
the cosmology of Wraith.
What's the deal with that whole insubstantial/Rule
of Ouch thing?
Wraiths are normally in a corporeal, that is
"solid," state. When in this state, wraiths can suffer damage
from the Skinlands. Any object - a bullet, a speeding car, a forcibly thrown
Bon Jovi CD, that hits the wraith AND WHICH WOULD NORMALLY HURT A HUMAN
inflicts one level of Corpus damage and turns the wraith incorporeal for
a number of turns equal to his Stamina rating.
What is the Shadow, and what motivates it?
The
Shadow is the part of a wraith that wants to die, to embrace Oblivion.
It is the "anti-self" whereas the Psyche is the "self."
This is the only motivation that all Shadows share. However, those parts
of a wraith's personality that he wishes to submerge or hide often get
bound into his Shadow. This is what differentiates self and Shadow, and
which gives Shadows their Dark Passions. Anything that encourages Oblivion,
on a personal or a global scale, can be part of a Shadow's motivation.
What is a Shadow's potential motivation for
helping the Psyche out?
There are many possibilities. Many Shadows
have perverse pride in their Psyches (especially those Shadows of the Parent
Archetype). Others enjoy the anticipation and the hunt, and drag out the
pleasure of their Psyches' damnation. Some prefer to use their Psyches
to ruin the Psyches' friends or Fetters, giving the dominant personalities
enough rope to hang themselves (and there's always the possibility of hooking
a Psyche on Shadow dice and then withdrawing them at particularly dangerous
times). The word "sadistic" can be applied to almost all Shadow
Archetypes; taking someone directly to Oblivion by the quickest means possible
is no fun at all.
Can you smelt Spectres?
Yup. As
a matter of fact, only criminals and Spectres can be smelted legally. For
more details, check out Guildbook: Artificers.
Are Shades sentient?
Shades, the
biggest, nastiest Spectres that characters are likely to meet, are only
vaguely sentient. For the most part, this translates to a Willpower of
0, because if you don't have a mind you can't really set your mind to something.
However, for resisting Willpower-based attacks, treat a Shade's Angst as
its Willpower. Even if an animal doesn't know what's hurting it, it will
resist as much as it can.
Who runs a Harrowing, the Shadow or Spectres?
Harrowings
(psychodramas that wraiths fall into when they run out of Corpus or Willpower,
or when their Passions or Fetters are destroyed) are run by Spectres, with
help from the victim's Shadow. As explained in Dark Reflections: Spectres,
certain Spectres have the ability to communicate with a wraith's Shadow.
These Spectres dredge up the Harrowing's source material through conversations
with the Shadow. Spectres also plot and "perform" the Harrowing
within the Labyrinth, drawing forth from the Tempest any of the props,
tools or other items needed to make the experience as unpleasant as possible
for the trapped wraith. The Shadow, while fully conscious of what's going
on (and giving advice and encouragement to the Spectres), is not in charge.
It just sits back and waits for a chance to take over for good.
Why do the low-level Inhabit Arcanos abilities
all involve computers?
Space in Wraith was limited, and those
abilities are among the most relevant for modern-day wraiths and chronicles.
Obviously, other uses of Inhabit exist, and they will be detailed whenever
possible and appropriate. Guildbook: Artificers contains several examples.
As always, we encourage players and Storytellers to use their own imaginations.
Is Charon Abel?
The short answer:
NO!!!!
Who is Charon, then?
No one really
knows, except perhaps the Lady of Fate.
What happened to Charon, his mask and Siklos?
Charon
went down in a whirlpool fighting the great Malfean Gorool in the aftermath
of the Fifth Great Maelstrom in 1945. His blade Siklos vanished with him,
and neither has been seen since. Charon's mask was left behind in the Citadel
but mysteriously vanished after Charon's putative demise. It has not been
seen in decades.
How can I use Wraith with the other WoD games?
Wraith
can be used to keep a favorite character who has died in the game. Certain
inhabitants of the World of Darkness (sluagh, Giovanni, Samedi, Tremere,
the very few Nagaraja out there, Silent Striders, and Euthanatos and Dreamspeaker
mages) have a lot of contact with wraiths, making for good crossover potential.
Then there's the Risen, wraiths who traipse around the Skinlands in their
decomposing bodies.
Do wraiths have minds that can be affected
by Magick/Gifts/etc.?
Yes and no. A wraith in the Shadowlands
can only be reached by, for example, a mage using Mind, but only if Spirit
is used too. A wraith who is Skinriding can be affected "normally."
When a mage makes contact with a wraith, the mind contacted will be whichever
is dominant: Psyche or Shadow.
Can wraiths talk to any supernatural beings
without using Arcanoi or spending Pathos?
Wraiths cannot just
"talk" to other supernatural beings, or indeed anyone in the
Skinlands, for free. At least basic knowledge of Embody is necessary before
a wraith's voice can be heard (albeit faintly) in the Skinlands, without
cost.
Can <blank> become a wraith?
Vampires
can become wraiths if they are not diablerized or do not achieve Golconda.
However, vampires tend to have lots of enemies waiting for them on the
other side, and ex-Kindred wraiths are prize catches for Giovanni.
How do I decide if my character becomes a wraith
upon death?
Basically, if you can think up reasonable Passions
and Fetters, your Storyteller agrees on it, and it makes the story better,
your character becomes a wraith. There is no chart ("12% of all people
killed in drive-by shootings become wraiths") nor rolling of dice.
Just see if it makes sense for your character.
Did Samuel Haight become a wraith?
Samuel
Haight is dead and did become a wraith. He was Reaped by the Hierarchy
and put to use serving that august body to his best capacity; to wit, he
is now a small and delicately worked ashtray on a Hierarchy functionary's
desk.
Are Soulforged or Moliated objects conscious?
Do they have Shadows?
No, Soulforged objects are not conscious,
nor do they have Shadows, or at least not that anyone has noticed (though
there are unpleasant rumors). Accepted wisdom is that Soulforging destroys
the personality of the soul being hammered. Moliating does not.
Is there anything at all about Wraith on the
net?
Yes. Tons. Well maybe not tons, but several pounds.
When my wraith talks to his Shadow, can other
wraiths hear it?
No, that conversation is strictly internal.
How about when Spectres talk to Shadows? Can
that be heard by others?
Nope. Again, such a conversation is
entirely telepathic. For more information, see the Dark Arcanos Contaminate
in Dark Reflections: Spectres.
How can I tell if my Shadowguide is playing
my Shadow or her own character?
Suggested ways of differentiating
between Shadow and character include having the Shadowguide put on a black
domino mask when playing the Shadow, using a different voice for the Shadow,
or whispering to portray the Shadow's voice. The best method is simply
to arrange an agreed-upon method of Shadow identification before each session
starts.
Shadows now get experience. Who spends it?
The
Psyche's player does, though input from Shadowguide and Storyteller is
recommended.
I have enough Shadow experience to buy my Permanent
Angst up to 10? What happens now?
In a perfect world, you spend
your Shadow experience on something else. Permanent Angst should not be
purchased above Permanent Willpower with Shadow experience. Why would you
want to turn your character into a Spectre, anyway?
My wraith has just been turned into a Spectre.
Can I keep playing her?
Sure, though Dopplegangers are a lot
easier to roleplay than Shades or Nephwracks are. If your Circle will accept
your explanation for having vanished into the Tempest for an long period
of time, and your Circlemates are willing to welcome your character back,
go for it.
One of my Fetters was destroyed. Can I keep
its relic as a Fetter?
Certainly not. Fetters must be physical
objects (people, places or things) in the Skinlands. Underworld objects
and denizens can not be Fetters.
What if a Silent Strider werewolf picks up
my Fetter and carries it into the Dark Umbra? Is it still a Fetter?
Yes,
because it has crossed into the Underworld physically as opposed to by
means of being destroyed. However, this sort of situation is extremely
rare.
Can I have Passions centered around the Underworld?
Most
certainly. Most older wraiths have Passions almost exclusively devoted
to the Shadowlands and the Tempest, and few or none dealing with the living.
How fast can a wraith move when using Ride
the Electron Highway (Inhabit ··), and can she take along
passengers?
Wraiths moving through electronic equipment move
at the speed of thought, which is pretty fast. This sort of ease of movement
has led to many Artificers abandoning the Tempest as a method of travel
between Skinlands points, as moving through circuits is as fast and often
safer. However, it's hard to select where you're going, it's very easy
to take wrong turns, and competing for space with data packets can get
dangerous. However, wraiths traveling the electron highway can not take
passengers with them, limiting the art's use.
What does the inside of the electron highway
look like, anyway?
The entire system is representational; what
it looks like pretty much depends on what each individual wraith moving
around in it.
What other Awakened beings am I likely to see
in the Underworld?
Not many of any stripe, but the most frequent
visitors are Silent Strider Garou, and Euthanatos and Dreamspeaker mages.
Void Engineers are occasional visitors.
What about Giovanni vampires?
Even
if they could travel to the Shadowlands, the masters of Necromancy would
know better than to meet wraiths on their home turf.
How is Stygia now governed?
The
Deathlords of seven of the Legions rule the Dark Kingdom of Iron in a semi-feudal
oligarchy. The Ladies of Fate, servitors of the one true Lady of Fate,
command their own Legion but do not usually dabble in Stygian politics.
So who's really in charge?
It depends
on whom you ask.
Where are the various Dark Kingdoms located
in relation to one another?
The true heart of each Dark Kingdom
is tucked away in an oasis of safety inside the Tempest, separated from
all of the other Kingdoms. However, each realm's Shadowlands occupies the
same physical space as does its Skinlands. Technically, a wraith could
walk from a Stygian Necropolis to the Bush of Ghosts or to the Yellow Springs.
Who controls the Shadowlands of the Middle
East?
Stygian Legions followed Roman Legions there two thousand
years ago, and haven't relinquished control yet.
One of my Fetters is a human being, and I know
he's going to die some day. If I get him ghouled or Embraced, do I lose
him as a Fetter?
You definitely wouldn't if he were simply turned
into a ghoul. A Fetter turned into a vampire is more problematic, as the
human being technically dies in order to receive the Embrace. In that instant,
the Fetter is lost but can later be re-attached through Lifeweb (after
your Harrowing, of course).
I have two Passions tied up in the same core
emotion. Do I roll for both if I'm in the presence of that emotion?
Yes,
though it's recommended that you not double up Passions on emotions. You
can even roll for a Passion and a Dark Passion simultaneously.
Can I convert one point of Permanent Angst
into 10 points of Temporary Angst?
Yes, but that defeats the
purpose of the exercise.
If my wraith gets pulled into a Sandman's dream
pageant, can he still use his Arcanoi?
Within the bounds of
the shared dream, most certainly.
So what's so bad about being a Spectre, anyway?
Other
than constant agony and the likelihood of being devoured by one of your
own allies, not much. Did I mention the incessant suicide charges?
What happens to a wraith caught in a Maelstrom?
Lucky
ones are simply whirled off to the Tempest. Unlucky ones fall prey to the
Spectres that ride the storm winds, or have their Corpus stripped away
by the sheer force of the wind.
Okay, so my wraith is about to be captured
by a bunch of slavers and sold to the local Artificer. Why not just have
my character dump himself into a Harrowing to avoid escape?
In
the short term, this is a good plan. On the other hand, what if the slavers
have someone skilled in Lifeweb with them? They'll just be waiting at your
character's Fetters if/when he emerges from the Harrowing, when he'll be
tired and depleted.
My vampire/mage/changeling/Garou character
just died. Can I bring her back as a wraith?
Any vampire who
is not diablerized and who did not reach Golconda before Final Death can
become a wraith. Most Garou are reincarnated or join their ancestors as
opposed to becoming wraiths, but certain werewolves with Wyrm-taint can
become Restless Dead. Any sort of mage can become a wraith, though she
won't bring her Avatar across the Shroud. Only changelings killed by cold
iron can become wraiths.
Will my vampire still have all of his Disciplines
once he becomes a wraith?
No. Any Awakened being of any type
who becomes a wraith starts out as a basic wraith - no Disciplines, no
Spheres, no Rotes, no Gifts, Cantrips or anything else. Most formerly powerful
supernatural beings take a while to adjust to the Underworld ("You
mean I can't throw fireballs any more?"). Sometimes that adjustment
period is too long for their own good. Also, a great many Awakened beings
rack up quite a few enemies before crossing the Shroud, and some of those
enemies are certain to be waiting, and have the added benefit of years
of wraithly experience.
What about that city of vampires that's supposedly
in the Underworld? Can't those vampires use their Disciplines?
Awakened
beings that are physically transported into the Underworld can still use
their natural (or unnatural) abilities. As for the City of Enoch, those
few wraiths who have heard of it alternately claim that it has its own
island in the Tempest, a la Stygia, or that it's one of the less popular
Far Shores.
My wraith was French. One of my Circlemates
was American. Another was German. How can we talk to each other?
The
language of death is universal. All of the wraiths from a particular paradigm
can converse, while their Linguistics ratings determines how well they
understand the languages of "foreigners" who speak in the Skinlands.
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Most recent revision Tuesday, September 30, 1997
