So your dead. Now what? You thought it would be easy right? Everything all over? Perhaps a nice stretch of clouds or a quick trip down. Whatever it was you were expecting this wasn't it. Ruined memories the past. Decay as far as the eye can see. Would you like a cookie? A medal? Come on, lets get the details of your life worked out and then you can get on to living your death.

Creating character for Wraith is about choice. Choices in life, choices in death. The system is designed to be flexible to accommodate any realistic character idea you might come up with. Its best to read through these rules in their entirety imagining a picture of the role that would interest you to play before you start filling out anything in the character sheet. A wraith is a person or at least the memory of one with the same variety of allegiances, goals, individual goals and qualities. This range of possibility can increase the difficulty in creating your character without adequate preparation. The first choices you need to make are often the most difficult and those that you would wait until the end when using some other system. Who was the person in life and what sort of person are they? Most role-playing systems you first pick a clan, tribe or class and most of your choices follow from that one choice. In this system once you pick one grouping you still have to decide if you want the character to belong to another organization at the same time.

The beginning of a characters history begins at her birth not her death. Every aspect of a wraith's deathly existence revolves around her existence in life, her struggles, her triumphs and most importantly her failures. Looking at the character sheet start begin in the section with the Oblivion key symbol.

Name: Whatever you wish your characters name to be write it here. Remember most people have first names and last name so even if she has some unique nickname you should note what her full name is as well.

Player: This would be you. I assume you are familiar with yourself. If not I suggest seeking out a highly trained member of the psychiatric community. The purpose of this space is so that if you should lose the lovely sheet someone can return it to you. Brilliant, eh?

Life: Who was your character in life? For most people ones sense of identity in life is ones job but it does not have to be that way. Was she an engineer, student, poet, or bum? Answers to this question can be of any length even though the character sheet only has room enough for a few words. This is a great opportunity to develop your characters background at length. What sort of relationship did she have with her parents, family and friends? Did she have trouble with the law? The questions that can be asked here are universal and unique to each individual character history.

Death: How did your character die? Was it an accident? Suicide? Murder? Disease? Does your character even know how she died? (Even if your character has no idea it is still a good idea to go over how it happened with the storytellers.) What were the details surrounding the characters death? Were there any mysterious events surrounding her death? What were her final thoughts? Most wraiths tend to obsess about their death to no small degree and so it is a good idea to have as many details worked out as you can about how she died.

Regret: Perhaps the single most important aspect of any wraith character it is the reason why she is still around. What did she fail to do that was crucially important to her? Whether by neglect or incompetence the wraith feels and overwhelming sense of compulsion to complete the actions stated here. A regret can be thought of along the same lines as a driving goal, a compulsion that never really can be fulfilled though maybe not as potent. Without a regret a wraith would have either transcended or obliviated upon death it is only those who died unhappily who stay around.

Nature: This is the characters true self, the deepest aspect of her personality. This part of her is often known only to a few closest friends and family. Usually it is a one word description that refers to a larger definition. These can be selected from a list provided here or if none of them works or one can be picked from one of the tabletop books which provide a much more detailed selection.

When picking a nature for your character you should consider how your character would have responded to all the events in her life and death. Did the hardships she had to face make her stronger or weaker? Was she embittered by all that happened? How does she respond to certain kinds of situations like, for instance, when someone is rude to her or threatens her. All too often players pick a nature thinking that it sound nice or appropriate without thinking about how it is a guide to a characters emotional responses to situations.

Demeanor: This is the aspect of your characters personality that she shows to other people. This is the first impression that she will display to other characters upon meeting them. A demeanor is picked in much the same manner as one would pick an archetype except that this is the characters shell. It has developed due to the same causes that have influenced the characters nature and controls how she will appear to respond.

Often times a great deal of character depth can be generated by unique combinations of nature and demeanor. Too often however people pick the fall back "survivor" without really taking the time and effort to pick an appropriate Nature/Demeanor combination. Remember a character is not you, its a role much like one you would play in a theatrical production, a completely different person who you are imitating not becoming.

Archetypes for Nature and Demeanor: [Insert List Here]

Haunt: Where can the character normally be found?

Attributes: This system uses the same trait system as that in other Minds eye theater games. There are three categories of traits representing your physical social and mental attributes respectively. Within each category there are a variety of traits each describing some aspect of your wraith's characteristics. For example in the physical category, how nimble is your character? How strong is she etc.? Each of these traits will be used in different sorts of encounters but not others. These traits should be viewed as a means to round out the character's description. Each character has a category that she is best at and one that she is the weakest. The best category is refereed to as the primary one followed by the secondary one and the worst the tertiary category. In the primary category select seven traits. In the secondary category select five and in the tertiary category three. How traits are used in evaluating the success of challenges will be discussed in the rules chapter.

• Physical Traits: Agile, Brawny, Brutal, Dexterous, Enduring, Energetic, Ferocious, Graceful, Lithe, Nimble, Quick, Resilient, Robust, Rugged, Stalwart, Steady, Tenacious, Tireless, Tough, Vigorous, Wiry.

• Social Traits: Alluring, Beguiling, Charismatic, Charming, Commanding, Dignified, Diplomatic, Elegant, Eloquent, Empathetic, Expressive, Friendly, Genial, Gorgeous, Ingratiating, Intimidating, Magnetic, Persuasive, Seductive, Witty.

• Mental Traits: Astute, Attentive, Clever, Creative, Cunning, Dedicated, Determined, Discerning, Disciplined, Insightful, Intuitive, Knowledgeable, Observant, Patient, Rational, Reflective, Shrewd, Vigilant, Wily, Wise.

Max Traits: The starting maximum trait level for each category is 10. This increases by one for each dot taken in the age background. It also increases by one for each year that the character is in play. There is an absolte trait maximum of twenty for any wraith regardless of age of length of play.

Optional rule: Instead of a starting trait max of10-10-10 players may choose to have a trait max along the lines of 11-10-9. Bonuses for age and time played would still add to the trait max as before. There is still a maximum of 20-20-20 even with this rule.

Abilities: A wraiths abilities play a much more significant role than in other MET game systems. In addition to being used as retest for the various arcanoi they serve an important role in and of themselves in the completion of actions. Just about all of the abilities listed in all of the live action books are available to wraith players. Many will even be available in the Necropolis Libraries. This includes but is not limited to the following. Some however still require ST approval.

Every wraith gets two free linguistics abilities free. They are the wraiths native language, usually English and one free level of the language of the dead. This is a special language restricted to members of the underworld. It can not be learned by mortals.

The maximum ability levels a wraith may posses is five of each ability with a few exceptions. There is no cap on linguistics abilities since players can learn any number of languages that they can find teachers for. Performance skills are each considered separate skills as a lores and craft skills. However, when performance or crafts is designated as the retest each player who has multiple forms of the respective skills must designate one as their retest. For instance a character has three levels of performance(voice) and one level of performance(guitar) must pick one of those two (either voice or guitar) to be her skill for retesting keening.

Academics - A persons level of ability in academics represents their total knowledge in the humanities. It is a broad discipline covering aspects or politics, cultural studies, history, philosophy and theology. Characters possessing high levels of this ability have received the equivalent of a strong liberal arts education in addition to whatever other skills they possess. Characters can use their knowledge of academics as an aid to research or in the identification of the historical significance of a particular object or location.

Alertness - A character's awareness of the world around her. Alertness measures a characters ability to notice events and details around them. It aids in sorting out those subtleties which are important from those which are merely distractions. Alertness is a matter of instinctive training born out through exposure to dangerous situations. Alertness can help a character in finding hidden objects, traps, and ambushes.

Animal Ken - Civilization has a strongly subduing effect on a person's instincts. We become dependent on technology for survival. This make them a more effective predator and distances themselves from other life on this planet. Both of these factors make animals tend to fear and distrust humans at every level. Wraiths with this ability have learned to subdue their civilized side and make animals trust them more. They can calm down a frightened or wounded animal and have a better idea of how to keep animals from attacking them.

Archery - Many wraith predate the modern era and the technological innovations that brought. For them the bow was a tool of survival both for hunting and as a weapon. Knowledge of this ability allows a wraith not only to fire a bow but also to make simple repairs such as restringing a bow or fixing quarrels.

Finally, someone with Archery can use mental traits instead physical traits when firing a bow if they choose. They also gain the benefits of an ability retest in archery combat.

Athletics - Athletics represents your general skill at all manner of physical activity including team sports, track and field, jumping, running etc.. People with this skill have learned to augment their physical grace with training and perseverance. For wraiths this ability has particular benefit. In hand to had combat with spectres when a spectre is killed there is a wormhole that opens up around them. This wormhole will envelop any and all who get in the way. This ability can be used as a retest to escape the wormhole's grasp.

Awareness - The ability to sense when something is amiss, sort of a supernatural perception. This is different from alertness in that alertness deals solely with physical perception: sight sound smell etc. while awareness is more a sort of sixth sense. Awareness does not usually give specific information, just a vague sense that something is wrong like a feeling in the pit of your gut.

Blindfighting - Even with wraiths supernatural senses there are still places beyond the shroud where even a wraith can't see. In these places a wraith would be nearly helpless in a fight even if they were well trained in brawl or melee. Blindfighting requires the use of the other sense (mainly sound) to determine the relative location of enemies in your vicinity and as such will not work if other senses are shut off as well. Many of these sorts of places are in the labyrinth and this skill is only common among doomslayers. In general a Blindfighting retest can be used in any combat challenge where a wraith can not use her eyes to see but does have hearing available to her.

Brawl - This ability represents a wraiths skill in unarmed combat. It applies to any natural weapon fist, feet, teeth or even moliated weapons. A wraiths training in brawl could be the result of military training or just life in the back alleys of modern metropoli. The primary use of brawl is as a retest in combat either to avoid an attack or to ensure an unnamed attack is successful.

Computer - For anyone, the knowledge of how to operate computer technology is a powerful asset. Even for wraiths the knowledge of how to access computer and how to manipulate them can be extremely valuable. For a wraith this skill is common among artificers who know that playing around in machines can be extremely dangerous for the unprepared. Many hunters will attempt to trap wraiths within machines. This ability gives a wraith the ability to operate program and even to administrate machines as well as the ability to repair many of the more common software problems.

Crafts - The ability to fashion things creatively. A specialty must be chosen for each crafts trait and is in effect a separate skill which can be bought up from one to five levels. Examples include leatherworking, carpentry and masonry though any manufacturing based ability falls into this category. Each craft skill counts as a separate skill and it is possible to have training in many different craft abilities. Successful use of this ability requires having the appropriate materials which can often be difficult on this side of the shroud.

Dodge - The ability to avoid being hit in combat. Can only be used by a wraith when she is not attacking the attacker. In that case melee or brawl would be the appropriate retest. Dodge can be used against any form of attack including firearms, melee, brawl and archery. It may not be used as a retest against any arcanoi, such as brawl, even though those use brawl, melee, etc. as their retest.

Doomslaying - Part survival, part stealth part psychology. This skill determines just how well a wraith knows how to survive in the harsh reality of the labyrinth. With it a wraith can attempt to fool spectres into ignoring them or making them believe that she is also a specre. However, the latter usually requires the dark arcanoi Hive Mind to be successful.

Dreamcrafts - The ability of those with Phantasm to alter the nature of the Dreamscape. Dreamcrafts is a type of craft skill but has a very strong lore component to it. The reason for this is the fact that knowledge of the dreamlands grants the ability to manipulate it, what you believe the dreamlands to be is what it becomes. A strange concept certainly but one very central to the very nature of the dreamlands itself.

Drive - The ability to drive a car or similar vehicle. Some vehicles may be more difficult to drive than others. Only a fraction of wraiths posses this ability as many never had it at all and most of the rest have lost the ability due to the lack of cars on this side of the shroud.

Empathy - The ability to relate with others and discern their motives and goals. With this ability you can discern something of another character's mood or demeanor.

Enigmas - A wraiths ability in enigmas is a measure of their ability to solve various puzzles. Whether a labyrinth or logical conundra their level determines the skill they have in overcoming such difficulties. This skills is also closely related to ones ability in chess.

Etiquette - A wraith with etiquette is familiar with the rules and mores of society. They know which unspoken rules apply to any situation and ca use that knowledge to enhance the impression they leave on others in social situations. Etiquette can be used in diplomatic situations as well as seduction or at parties.

Expression - Expression refers to the creation of art in a purely physical form. Whether that is poetry, writing, painting, sculpture etc. Each is treated as a separate skill for the purposes of determining the potential quality of the work produced and as such must be specified as to they type of expression.

Finance - While most people these days can balance their checkbook a wraith with the finance ability can do much more in the world of money. She could trace financial records, perform audits and make sound investments. This skill also provides and understanding of the principles of market economics.

Firearms - A character with this ability is experience with the handling and use of hand held guns. The knowledge of how to use artillery pieces, rocket launchers, bows, and other thrown objects is not covered by this ability. A wraith with this ability may identify specialized differences between different guns and fix jams. A character with this skill can recycle ammunition with the proper materials and equipment.

Finally, someone with firearms can use mental traits instead physical traits when using a firearm if they choose. They also gain the benefits of an ability retest in firearms combat.

Fortune Telling - A talent that lets you successfully "read the future." Note that without Fatalism, this is merely a sham, but the ability allows you to convince others of your sincerity. Most fortune tellers have a preference for one form of divination, palm reading, tarot I-ching etc. However, unlike expression and performance skills the use of all of these is covered by Fortune Telling they are all one skill not many different skills.

Intimidation - The use of intimidation is to inspire a sense of fear in another. The methodologies vary but can use physical force or even authority. This ability is based on the use of threats not actual physical violence.

Investigation - A wraith with this skill is capable of conducting a full criminal investigation. This skill aids in the discovery of overlooked clues and of the ability to string those clues together to deduce the modus operandi and crime scene. Additionally with a mental challenge, a wraith with investigation can spot a hidden weapon.

Law - The Law ability provides an understanding of the rule of law. For most player characters this will be the Law of Stygia, a mishmash of legal principles founded in the roman era and suffering through two thousand years of modifications and reinterpretations. A wraith with this ability can prepare a case for trial, determine the legal holes in an opponents arguments, and crate contracts. The difficulty and number of successes required will vary enormously depending on the difficulty of the case.

Leadership - A measure of a wraiths ability to influence others. It is a measure of the respect and fear held toward her by her subordinates. A wraith with this ability may make one reasonable request of a subordinate. The request may not put the subordinates life in danger or may it violate her nature.

Linguistics - Each level of linguistics is another language that a wraith knows. With this ability they can communicate in that language as well as translate between any two languages that they posses (usually requires a mental challenge). Any language modern or ancient can be learned provided the character has an in game means of finding a teacher. Ancient languages are often especially difficult to learn.

Lore - (Hierarchy, Wraith, Spectre, Vampire, Labyrinth, Giovanni, Necromancy, Tempest, Guild(Harbinger, Pardoners, etc.) etc.) Any appropriate knowledge of the supernatural world around you. Each different creature, reality, or organization counts as a separate skill. There is no limit to the number of different lore skills that a character may posses, in each skill she may have up to five levels of ability.

It is not necessary for wraiths to buy wraith lore. With experience they will pick up basic knowledge of their experience. Anything they learn through role-play they are considered to know. They do not have to buy a level of wraith lore to represent that knowledge. This does not include any knowledge the player might know through the reading of published books. It is important for every player to differentiate between that which her character knows and that which she as a player knows and not to use player knowledge in game.

Renegade Lore and Heretic Lore are not being used due to the diverse nature of these groups, while Renegade Lore would tell you something about the Renegades of a particular town it would be almost useless one town over.

Medicine - This ability imparts to a wraith a knowledge of the physiognomy of the human body. With it a wraith can treat wounds and diseases as well as minimizing suffering of wounded patients. While not specifically applicable to wraiths as such, it is a very valuable knowledge for many wraiths to have. Many puppeteers and spooks have found knowledge of human biology valuable but not necessarily for the most noble reasons. The power to heal is also the power to harm and wraiths with this ability have a good sense of a mortal's vulnerable points.

Meditation - The wraiths ability to look within yourself for strength and power, and to focus her thoughts and energies. In the eternal battle between wraith and shadow the use of meditation is of supreme importance.

Melee - While anyone can pick up a weapon and use it in hand to hand combat, a wraith with melee is skilled in its use. Melee applies to any hand held melee weapon from a broken bottle to a sword to a scythe. A level of melee can be spent as a retest in melee combat.

Memory - This skill covers all manner of techniques for enhansing memory of facts and information. It includes aspects of psycology and neurlogy as both are necessary to understanding how the brain works to retain memories.

Occult - More the realm of rumor and legend than of actual fact, a wraiths knowledge of the occult represents her knowledge of what is believed about the supernatural world. It can cover all realms of the supernatural including information about creatures, history and books. However, it must be remembered that this information more interesting than accurate.

Parapsychology - A mortal skill usually, the ability to detect the traces of a wraiths presence and know certain things about the restless dead. A cross between wraith lore and hearth wisdom. It is not an effective wraith detector by itself. Additionally, characters possessing parapsychology have a knowledge of the history of parapsychology and the attempts to prove the existence of life after death.

Performance - A wraith with a performance ability has some measure of artistic skill available to her. Performance skills cover a broad range of artistic endeavors including acting, singing, dancing, choreography, etc. A performance skill refers to a type of art that must be performed each time in order to be appreciated (recordings not included). Each of these would be treated as separate skills in much the same ways as crafts and expression skills. The quality of a work is based on the number of successes scored in an extended challenge with one being awkward and rough while five would be a world quality performance.

Politics - A wraith with this ability has an understanding of the ways and means of power. She would know the right ears to whisper into and how to get legislation moved through a political body. It differs from bureaucracy in that bureaucracy deals with the purely administrative aspects of government while politics is focused on policy making.

Psychology - The ability to discern mental states and emotional states in your subject, and the motivations therein. A wraith with this ability has an understanding of the workings of the human mind both on a cognitive level and to a certain extent a biological one as well. With a mental check a wraith with this ability can determine the current emotional state of a wraith that they are talking to.

Puppetry - A specific performance skill, the fine tuning necessary to remotely control the movements of another. Predominantly, this ability is used by mortals to control dolls on strings. However, to wraiths it has a more devious motive, it aids in the control over a mortal's body forcing them to respond to the wraith's intent.

Repair - This ability gives a wraith the knowledge to fix all manner of electronic and mechanical devices. It even includes the knowledge of how to fix computer hardware problems. The use of this skill requires having the appropriate tools and parts for the repair job. Additionally, a knowledge of repair is very useful for saboteurs who can use this knowledge to pinpoint the best spots to break something.

Science - Knowledge of the physical nature of the universe is covered by this ability. It breaks down into many branches each of which can be a separate skill, such as chemistry, biology, physics, geology, metallurgy etc. A wraith with this ability could perform experiments on a subject related to her area of expertise. This skill only grants the knowledge of a subject to actually build something with it would require the use of some sort of crafts skill.

Security - A wraith with security knows about the means to protect locations. This skill covers all manner of locks, cameras, and alarms as well as the use of guards. It vies a wraith the ability not only to set up such defenses with the proper equipment but also the ability to bypass security defenses set up by another.

Soulforging - This is the hallmark ability of the artificers and is the key to their power. Soulforging is extremely demanding both physically and emotionally. It requires a chained thrall or drone or spectre, a forge, appropriate tools, ten points of soul fire, a narrator and ten hours worth of time. Once reduced to a globulous pile an extended physical challenge is required to convert that mass into a useful object.

Soul Shaping - The ability to shape corpus into other forms. Much like sculpting clay the use of Moliate to shape corpus is something of an art. However, corpus is a substance unlike any other and understanding it particularities is a part of this ability.

Stealth - The ability to avoid detection and to hide. A wraith with this ability knows how to use shadows and tricks of the light to avoid detection. It is possible to use this ability to sneak past a guard and avoid detection.

Streetwise - A wraith who lives on the street waking its alleys and byways leans to sense the signs of dangerous situations and knows how to survive. With streetwise a wraith may gather information from the inhabitants of the city. She can also find second hand goods. These will more often as not be used items but should be functional or require only a minimum amount of repair. The means for acquiring items in this way is not always honest but it will not cost money.

Subterfuge - In social situations the truth is often a slippery substance. Subterfuge is the ability to use little white lies and vagaries in the truth to conceal your real intentions. It can also be used to manipulate others into revealing information they may not wish to reveal. Once per evening per character a wraith may make a social challenge with that character. If she wins then the target must reveal one following pieces of information of the first wraith's choice: the target's name, a negative trait, nationality, the name of a friend or the name of an enemy. This ability may be spent as a retest in a subterfuge challenge.

Survival - Survival measure a wraiths ability to find food, water and shelter from the elements in a natural setting without the aid of technology. She will know how to find terrain features that will keep a wraith alive in the harsh realm of the maelstrom and the tempest.

Theology - Familiarity with religious observances, doctrine, and to a limited extent religious history is covered by this ability. With it a wraith can identify which religious form a garment is associated or identify a religious ritual if they have the opportunity to observe it. Theology is chiefly concerned with the outward aspects of religion as opposed to the personal aspects of belief.

Torture - The methods of inflicting pain on others beyond their scope of understanding, the chance to cause serious but non-lasting wounds. Torture is very often used as a means of gaining information. It is however a very unreliable means of doing so. In order to torture another a wraith must have control over their victim. The means of control is secondary whether they are imprisoned through chains or fear, they must have total control. After a scene of torture, the torturer makes a social challenge against the victim. If she succeeds then the victim must answer on question truthfully. A point of willpower can be spent to negate this challenge. The other option if the victim loses and she possesses psychology she may make a mental challenge against the torturer. If she succeeds then she learns the answer the torturer wants to hear. She may use that as her true answer.

Other skills may be introduced at the discretion of the storyteller. However, storytellers should be careful to make sure not to create skills that are already included in another skill or to create too many skills that would unduly complicate the process.

Like LotNR, wraiths will now get five background points to spend on various backgrounds, a list of which follows. They do not however get the free status trait, they must buy it from the five background points.

Age - You died a while ago, and thus are afforded greater potential. For each dot of age purchased, the player gains one to his trait max and loses one passion of fetter (players choice) . Thus a wraith with 2 Age traits would have a maximum of 12 possible traits in attributes. This would raise to thirteen after 6 months of play. Age traits may also be bid in lieu of the History ability to try to learn information the character may have remembered.

Number of traits Years since Death

1 50 years

2 100 years

3 500 years

4 1000 years

1. 2000+ years

As a result of the nature of th age background it is not possible to buy age after character creation.

However, older wraiths become jaded. For each Age trait taken, decrease the number of passions and/or fetters by that amount. Thus a wraith with 5 Age traits might have 2 passions and a fetter, or 2 fetters and a passion. Note: Fetters and Passions can be regained if a Wraith is encountered with sufficient skill in the Arcanoi Lifeweb, however these individuals are rare. This requires Storyteller approval and the expenditureo f two experience points.

Artifact - An item that has been fashioned by wraiths for a set purpose, artifacts are often powerful and highly desired. Various Table-Top Wraith books have sample artifacts, and Oblivion gives a few suggestions as well.

Eidolon - Your higher self, Eidolon represents your ability to withstand the shadow. It is almost impossible to gain Eidolon after character creation, and STs should be very careful in delivering it out. Eidolon is the only retest allowed in a harrowing, and can be spent to change aspects of a harrowing. Eidolon may also be used to thwart your shadow. An eidolon trait may be spent for a full hour of relief per night from the shadow. These are temporary traits, and are refreshed at the next game session. To summarize the uses of Eidolon:

• One point can be spent for the night to silence your Shadow for 1 hour
• Eidolon is the only thing that will allow you to have a retest during a Harrowing.

Haunt - This background indicates that the wraith has a home or safe location that they can hang out. The rating in this background subtracts from the rating of the maelstrom felt in that location. The size of the Haunt is also determined by its rating as well, one point indicating a structure the size of a broom closet while a five point haunt would be a large building.

Income- The character has secured a means of a small income. It should be decided in consultation with the storytellers what the source of this income is. It could hinge on an ability, for instance if she is a great gambler or a skilled Fortune Teller or if she is a member of the Harbingers guild she might also be a proficient smuggler. The size of the income is determined by the background points spent.

1 point - 1/8 Oboli per month

2 points - 1/4 Oboli per month

3 points - 1/2 Oboli per month

4 points - 1 Oboli per month

5 points - 2 Oboli per month

Legacy - You find it easier to affect the other side of the shroud when concerning certain... special cases. The levels are as follows:

1 pt - Very rare types of people (triplets, albinos), a single day a year, very obscure practices (i.e. Egyptian death rights).

2 pt - Rare people (immediate families), a few hours every quarter, unusual customs (i.e. hanging dream catchers).

3 pt - Uncommon people (lefthanders, redheads), one day per month, occasional habits (i.e. praying, baseball).

4 pt - Common people (Africans, Catholics), once per week, well practiced rituals (i.e. bathing, cooking)

5 pt - Broad group of people (men, children, Caucasians), a specific time every day, a common practice (reading, writing, eating).

When dealing with the Legacy, the shroud actually lowers for the wraith. A one point legacy lowers the shroud by five, a two point legacy lowers the shroud by four, and so on.

Note that in different chronicles, different legacies may have different values. In chronicles that cross over with vampires, vampires may be considered a 4 pt. legacy, while specific clans are 3 pt. legacies, and certain bloodlines are 2 pt. legacies.

Memoriam - This represents how well you are remembered, and thus how much pathos you may draw from the living. At the start of each game session, a simple challenge is made for each memoriam trait. Each success (win or tie) gives you a bonus pathos trait for the evening.

Mentor - A mentor is someone who trains you in the ways of the world. Arcanoi have been divided into four categories: common, uncommon, guild, and rare. Common Arcanoi can be learned by anyone and do not require any sort of teacher. Uncommon require a mentor either of the in-game or out of game variety. For every dot of mentor one can learn all of the uncommon Arcanoi of one arcanos or any one rare. In either case the wraith must have fulfilled all prerequisite levels before being taught the Arcanoi in question. Guild Arcanoi can only be learned by members of that guild. Wraiths are only allowed to be members of one guild at most. The final category, Rare, represent Arcanoi which are known only by individual wraiths or by only a select handful. As such they should be extremely limited in any chronicle. Guild arcanoi can be learned by wraiths who are not part of the guild as per the rare rules at storyteller discretion.

Relics - Similar to an artifact, relics are the memories of objects, as opposed to objects specifically fashioned for wraiths post mortem. Relics are often very personal, and the newly dead are most likely to carry relics. The following is meant as a guideline for creating relics:

1 pt. - Small things like a wristwatch or a set of keys.

2 pt. - Something useful, like a knife or a chair.

3 pt. - Something enviable, like a sword or a pistol.

4 pt. - Something great, like a rifle or a television.

5 pt. - Something incredible, like a car or a computer.

Resolution - For each dot of this background she has resolved one passion or fetter. It is necessary for you to specify what the passion or fetter is that has been resolved. The maximum level that a wraith may take this background is that of her age.

Status - Your status represents how much clout you have in a particular organization. If you are in the Hierarchy, at least one point of status (specific to a particular legion) must be taken. The following are the levels of status, and which Hierarchy positions (military and civil) that correspond to it, as well as equivalent Guild standing and Spectral standing. Note that Renegades and Heretics are as diverse as day from night, and thus no such list is provided for them.

1 Legionnaire Clerk Initiate

2 Centurion Adjuster Apprentice

3 Marshal Inspector Journeyman

4 Regent Minister Craftsman

5 Overlord Chancellor Master Craftsman

Certain positions (such as Anacreons and Governors, not to mention the Death Lords themselves and the Guild Masters) are the equivalent of status 6+. This should only be allowed to players with extreme caution, and the ST is perfectly in her rights to retire characters whose status rises above 5.

Status for Heretics and renegades does not have ranks as do the other organizations. Instead status is a measure of respect held from other renegades or Heretics.

Note: The first level of Guild status costs an additional point. Thereafter, each additional level costs but one point like other forms of status. This is done for two reasons, the first level of guild status gives an additional point of mentor in the guild they are joining. Second, the guild represents a whole new organization of allies and benefits. It is most definitely worth it.

Wealth - Your character has saved up a small amount of money. It is important that you write up a short description (a few sentences) of how she came about her wealth. Did she find it? Was she a former merchant? Slave trader? Entertainer? The amount of money possessed by your character at character creation is determined by the number of points spent on this background.

1 point - 1 Oboli

2 points - 2 Oboli

3 points - 4 Oboli

4 points - 8 Oboli

5 points - 16 Oboli

If storytellers allow you to buy this background up during the game then you get the difference of the level you are buying to minus the level you currently posses.

This stage can be the most daunting portion of the character creation process. Given there are 16 arcanos to pick from each with 20 or more arcanoi. This range of choice can be quite overwhelming for new players. This is compounded by the fact that a players choices should reflect who her character was is life. For example if the character was a priest they may want to start with Castigation or a contortionist in a circus might start with Moliate. The easiest way to begin making these choices is to start with the list of Arcanos and to pick from one to five of them that sound relevant to the wraith's history:

Argos (retest Survival) - Wraiths with this art may survive in the depths of the tempest and travel throughout the underworld.

Castigate (retest Meditate) - This arcanos allows a wraith to resist her shadow, and help others to do the same.

Embody (retest Empathy) - With this arcanos a wraith may materialize in the lands of the living, if only briefly.

Fatalism (retest Fortune-Telling) - Wraiths skilled in this arcanos may read the weave of fate and interpret the future.

Flux (retest Repair) - This Forbidden arcanos allows a wraith to manipulate the composition and properties of an object.

Inhabit (retest Crafts or Computers) - Those skilled in this art may possess objects and machines to do their bidding.

Intimation (retest Investigation) - This Forbidden arcanos allows one to read and manipulate the desires of a target.

Keening (retest Performance) - This musical arcanos can manipulate the emotional state of a target.

Lifeweb (retest Awareness) - Wraiths skilled in these arts can track and manipulate fetters in the skinlands.

Mnemosynis (retest Psychology) - This Forbidden arcanos allows the practitioner to read and manipulate memories.

Moliate (retest Soul Shaping) - This art allows the wraith to shape her very corpora (or another's) into any desired shape.

Outrage (retest Brawl) - Wraiths skilled in this arcanos can telekinetically focus their fury on either side of the shroud.

Pandemonium (retest Occult) - The wraith with this arcanos can cause classic haunting effects and weird occurrences.

Phantasm (retest Dreamcrafts) - This arcanos allows its practitioner to manipulate the very stuff of dreams.

Puppetry (retest Puppetry, Animal Ken or Medicine depending on path) - This unusual family of arts allows for the possession of a living target.

Usury (retest Science) - Wraiths skilled in this arcanos can interchange the various forms of energy available to wraiths.

Once that is done you now need to pick five dots or levels of arcanoi that your character possesses from your list. Each time you take the first level of an arcanos you get the innate arcanoi free, except if your already have another level one arcanoi of that arcanos. For instance, lets say you want to buy Enshroud one of the level one Argos arcanoi. You spend one of your dots and in addition to gaining the ability to hide yourself using Enshroud you also get the powers of Orienteering, Tempest Peek, Tempest Threshold, etc. (The rest of the innates require either a mentor or guild status). Once that choice is made you can now select either another 1^st level power (with the appropriate mentor or guild status) or pick a 2^nd level power such as Phantom Wings, if you so desire. Buying another 1^st level power such as Lightning's Call would not grant access to any innates as the character already possesses the Argos innates. If a 2^nd level power is bought then a third level power can also be bought each costing one dot. Additional 1^st through third level powers can be bought as dots remain but 4^th and 5^th level powers can only be bought with freebie points or experience.

Three of the Arcanos require guild status in the appropriate guild(s) in order to purchase powers. They are Flux, Intimation, and Mnemosynis. In the case of Flux one can either be an Alchemist or an Artificer with a mentor in Flux. Artificers are the only wraiths who can buy a mentor in Flux.

In theory any wraith can learn any arcanoi. The only limitation is the ability to find a teacher. In some cases finding a teacher is a trivial matter, other times it can be nearly impossible as certain arcanoi are in the strict keeping of a guild or even the knowledge of just a single wraith. While it is possible to develop new arcanoi it is the work of many decades and it would not be possible to complete the task in the normal span of time for a chronicle.

In order to take into account the difficulty in finding a teacher arcanoi are divided into separate classes. There are four classes of arcanoi each class being known by fewer and fewer wraiths. They are common, uncommon, guild, rare. Provided the wraith satisfies the requirements for learning one of these arts, she can learn them at any time even at character creation. Class requirement describe what sort of teacher the player needs to be able to learn the art but does ameliorate the expenditure of XP. Furthermore, players must still follow all level requirements even if the have an appropriate teacher.

Common arcanoi are practiced by the general public, and may be learned up by anyone. They are not restricted in any way, and it is assumed that any PC or NPC with the requisite knowledge may teach the said arts. Wraiths who desire to learn one of these arcanoi merely need to spend the experience, freebie points or dot and it is assumed that she was able to find someone to teach her that arcanoi.

Uncommon arcanoi may only be learned by someone with a mentor background or by those with at least one point of guild status in the respective guild. For example, a wraith spends one of her dots of mentor background on Argos after that she can learn all of the Uncommon arts in Argos by spending the appropriate points. Guild status works similarly, any wraith with at least one level in the Harbingers guild would be considered to have mentor in Argos. If they joined the guild during play and had already spent a mentor point on Argos then they could switch that mentor to something else. The storyteller must approve the choice that the player makes.

Guild arcanoi are carefully guarded secrets, and are never taught to those outside the guild. They may only be purchased by those with at least two levels of the appropriate guild status. Some arcanoi such as Mnemosynis and Intimation are restricted in their entirety to guild arts. There is one exception to this rule. If a player who is not a guild member of the appropriate guild wishes to join one of the guild arts then they can spend a point of mentor to learn that one arcanoi. This works much the same as learning a rare arcanoi.

Rare arts are just that, and are only possessed by a select few individuals or even just a single wraith. They may only be taught by a mentor who knows that art. Because of the limited number of people who know any given rare arcanoi (may be as few as one) knowing a mentor for that will only allow you to learn that one arcanoi. In many cases this can still be worthwhile.

Any player character can serve as a mentor with a few restrictions. First, she may only teach those arcanoi which she herself possesses. Second, the character learning the arcanoi must spend background mentor points as they would for any other arcanoi. They can not spend just one mentor point and learn anything that the other wraith knows. The reason for this is a matter of game balance. If one mentor point could be used to learn everything another PC knows then it would be entirely too powerful.

Storytellers may choose to require players to write up background descriptions of her mentor(s). Usually only about a page is necessary to flesh out the relevant details. A background should contain a general picture of the mentor, including history and the reason why the mentor is helping the character. This can be very useful in devising plot lines as mentors can expect return for their favors, leading to a variety of interesting adventures.

It should be noted that the thorn Pact of Doom ignores both class distinction and experience costs (i.e. you don't have to spend experience points for the arcanoi you gain), and is about the only way one can acquire arts otherwise unavailable such as Dark Arcanoi. The use of Pact of Doom requires careful storyteller oversight to make sure it is not abused. Even with Pact of Doom, however, the appropriate prerequisite arts must be known, and "skipping" levels is still impossible.

Pathos

Pathos is the energy that sustains wraiths. As wraiths are often considered to be emotional memories of beings from the past the energy that sustains them is that of pure emotion. Every wraith starts each game session with five points of pathos (more if she possesses Memoriam background) and can hold no more than ten points at any given time. Pathos traits do not have labels of any sort, i.e. they do not have an associated emotion. Wraiths can utilize pathos in an number of ways:

• One point can be used to heal on level non-aggravated damage. (Important note there is no such thing as bashing damage in Oblivion, treat all bashing damage as if it were lethal or non-aggrivated damage as these two are equivalent).
• Wraiths can not spend pathos (with or without willpower) to heal aggravated damage.
• Pathos is necessary to fuel many arcanoi.

Pathos traits are restored through fulfilling passions either by carrying out the action in the passion, watching someone else carry out the action, or just feeling the emotion. More on this will be discussed in the Passions section and the Rules chapter.

Every wraith starts out with ten permanent corpus traits. Each level of corpus is one level of damage the character can absorb before succumbing to either a harrowing or destruction. Every time a character takes a wound level of damage they lose one temporary level of corpus. It is important to keep track of what sort of damage caused the loss of corpus. If a wraith loses all of their health levels to aggravated damage then they will not go into a harrowing they will be completely destroyed.

It is possible to lose permanent levels of corpus. The only way this can occur is if a wraith loses a harrowing. More about corpus and harrowing is discussed in the Shadows chapter.

Willpower represents a wraiths personal determination and strength of identity. A character with high willpower will be more confident and will be able to draw on that confidence to increase the success of their endeavors. Willpower is measure in traits much the same way as Pathos or Corpus. These traits do not have names or specialties every willpower trait works the same way as any other willpower traits. In game terms willpower serves a number of purposes:

• A willpower trait can be spent as a defensive retest on any challenge.
• A willpower trait can be spent to restore all traits lost in any one category. This can be used only once per night for each category mental, social, and physical.
• A willpower trait can be spent to allow you to enter into any challenge for which you lack the appropriate ability. If willpower is used in this way it may not be used again as a retest.
• Certain arcanoi require the use of willpower to fuel them.

A note: on the use of willpower on defensive physical challenges. Since wraiths are not actually physical being but rather a sort of memory of someone who once existed made real there is no such thing as true physical interaction. Physical combat is really just what wraiths think should happen made manifest. As such it is actually a form of mental conflict. If this makes no sense at first don't worry there is much about the metaphysics of wraith that may seem strange and confusing.

Willpower refreshes completely twice a month: on the first of the month and on the 14^th of the month. Sometimes storytellers can allow a player to refresh an additional point of willpower or particularly excellent role-playing of their nature. Just playing the nature out is not enough, the actions should be particularly notable. One example, would be to play out a wraith's nature even if it put her or her friend's life at risk.

Passions are one of the quintessential aspects of wraith and one of the hardest to come to grips with. A wraiths passions are a key part of the nature and function in many ways like driving goals. They serve to propel and motivate a wraith, guiding their actions. Every passion has an action that must be fulfilled and an underlying emotion that drives that passion.

Often times a passion can be driven by a variety of different emotions. What emotion is chosen can completely change the nature of the particular passion. For instance the passion: Protect my daughter out of hope, is very different from Protect my daughter out of envy. Care should be made in constructing both components, action and emotion, of the passion as they will strongly define both the nature of the wraith and of the direction the character will take in the chronicle.

Some sample passions:

• Protect friends and family(love)
• Protect friends and family(jealousy)
• Create works of art(hope)
• Seek the truth(Righteousness)
• Collect stuff (greed)

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Any action and emotion combination is in theory a viable passion. In practical terms a passion should not be overly vague nor too specific that it will never come into play. Judging whether a passion meets these criteria is the responsibility of the storytellers.

Fetters are the physical connections that bind a wraith to the skinlands. Fetters are things that were of importance to the wraith while she was alive. Many of them will tie into the wraiths regret. Any person place or thing may be taken as a fetter, the only requirements being that they must have been important to a wraith in life and that they must be real not artifacts or relics. Every wraith has four fetters unless they take the age background in which they may have fewer or more if she buys additional fetters using freebie points.

We recommend taking one person, one place, one object and one other fetter for their choices. Some possibilities include but are not limited to their body, their murder weapon (if appropriate), where they lived, died, got married etc., a friend or family member, spouse, a favorite pet, etc.. The possibilities are limitless only by the players imagination.

Formulating the shadow will be discussed in detail in the Shadows chapter. What follows is a brief summary for the purposes of character creation. The shadow is a wraith's dark side an amalgamation of all of her doubts, fears and self loathing made sentient. Every wraith has one, a little voice in her head whose goal is to drive her into despair and eventual spectrehood or oblivion.

For each shadow pick an archetype. Part nature part demeanor a shadows archetype describes his principle modus operandi. In picking an archetype players should consider what personality type would be the most successful at making their character feel utterly worthless.

Second, two dark passions need to be selected. Dark Passions work much the same as a wraiths passions except that when dark passions are fulfilled a wraith gains angst not pathos.

Third, pick five points of thorns. Thorns bear certain similarities to merits and flaws for wraiths but are only accessible to a wraiths shadow.

For more information on shadows see the shadow chapter in this book.

Thousands of years ago Charon created the first government of the dead. Founded on the Isle of Stygia, the Republic of Stygia was crafted. Charon and his Senators governed the nascent organization, its purpose to help its citizens along towards transedance and deal with whatever issues still prevented them from attaining resolution.

As the centuries passed, the Republic of Stygia became the Empire of Stygia, also called the Dark Kingdom of Iron due to its reliance on soulsteel. Charon ruled openly as Emperor, and his Senators were now his Deathlords, each in charge of a Legion of the Dead. Each of the eight legions drew its membership from a particular caste, determined by cause of death. Charon himself ruled the empire efficiently and strictly, commanding equal parts fear and respect from his citizens. Dedicated to protecting its citizens from the encroaching hordes of Oblivion, the Empire of Stygia grew and expanded, and began to overwhelm even itself.

As it consumed itself in beauracracy, the Hierarchy, as it eventually came to be known as, grew to expand much of the Western world. These days the Hierarchy encompasses Europe, the former Soviet Union, most of North America, and much of South America, as well as a few other scattered holdings throughout the shadowlands. The seat of the Hierarchy is still the Isle of Stygia, despite the half century absence of its Imperator.

Recently the Hierarchy has fallen on hard times, as the Sixth Maelstrom devastated much of Stygia and cut communications between Stygia and her Necropoli. Darker rumors whisper of a sizeable upset among the Deathlords. Nevertheless, the Hierarchy continues to exert its control where it can, and may well still be the only force capable of withstanding Oblivion.

All citizens of the Hierarchy are classified into one of two categories: military or civilian. Those in the military take a more active approach to combating the forces of Oblivion (or other enemies of the Hierarchy), while the civilian branch of the Hierarchy deals more with the day to day functioning of such a large and Byzantine civilization.

Every member of the Hierarchy is provided with minimum lodging facilities. This comes in the form of a Haunt that is the size of a closest (or 1 point Haunt) it will usually have a Maelstrom protection rating that is higher than 1. The rating is equal to that of the citadel.

Blood calls out for blood. In the world of violence there are no winners only victims and soon to be victims. As a result the Grim legion has never lacked for recruits. Composed of those who died from violence the Grim Legion has continued to do well through two world wars and a century of violence. It is one of the largest legions with only the Iron Legion and the Gaunt Legion rivaling it in size.

For legionaries in this legion life is brutal and hard. The Grim legion is the most militaristic of all the legions. Most of the Grim did not have time to come to terms with the fact that they were going to die however their desire for revenge manages to sustain them through the crucial initial transition period. Most Grim legionaries are obsessed with that one act of revenge.

The leader of the Grim legion is known only as the Smiling lord. He understands and supports his troops desire for revenge and will often set up trials (usually by combat) where a "victim" from the Grim Legion can confront her murderers.

Every member of the grim legion is allowed one chance at revenge even if it means breaking the dictum mortum. Regardless of whether the attempt succeeds or fails the legionnaire is not allowed to break the dictum mortum a second time.

Those who died of old age find themselves conscripted into the Iron Legion. While most people (in the Western World) die of old age, or the problems associated therein, the majority of these people were ready to die, and pass on quite willingly beyond the shadowlands. Those that remain behind, therefore, are those whose will to live was still so great that they would not pass gently beyond.

The Ashen Lady traditionally rules the Iron Legion from the Seat of Shadows. Long has her legion vied for the position of prominence, and with the recent advances in medicine and life preservation, her legion has finally achieved its goals, although it is only larger than the Gaunt and Grim legions by just a few souls.

Having lived as long as they have, most members of the Iron Legion tend to be rather patient and persistent. Nevertheless, they have a razor sharp intellect and a drive to create something of lasting value, a trait that not only binds them together but may explain their reluctance to fade away. The legion is known for its political acumen and organization, as well as its espionage and intelligence. Interestingly enough, though, are the scientists and artists among the aged. The Iron Legion boasts numerous artists, poets, writers, and thespians in its prestigious Salon, well supported by the Ashen Lady herself. The Maelstrom Preparation and Prediction Unit is another group that bears mentioning. Although they are open to members from other legions, thus group of scientists is largely of the aged, and operates under Iron jurisdiction.

As one of the largest legions and the one with the largest civil service the Gaunt Legion is probably the most bureaucratic of all the legions. The Gaunt legion is composed of all those wraiths who died from death and disease which even in the days of "modern" medicine is still a sizable fraction of deaths overall.

The Gaunt legion is led by the skeletal lord or Mr. Bonyhands to those speaking about him behind his back. He is a complete lunatic who believes himself to be the biblical embodiment of pestilence. One day he and Charon (Death) will ride forth heralding the apocalypse.

The Gaunt legion has an extremely developed social order revolving around the nature of the fatal disease. For instance Tuberculosis is much more prestigious a death than say Bubonic plague which was seen as a commoners way to die. AIDS is very chic. One example of a social club is the Mary Mallon Club composed of wraiths who all acquired Typhoid from "Typhoid Mary".

Of all the legions those who are a part of the gaunt legion are often the best prepared for death as diseases will often take months or years to kill. During that time a wraith has time to come to terms with the idea of dying and can prepare herself emotionally for the experience.

Not every one who dies intends to die, or is even ready for it. Those who die of Happenstance, that is, by pure accident, inevitably find themselves in the Emerald Legion. Be it a slip from an icy step, a car crash, or an athletic injury that was fatal, the members of the Emerald Legion have little in common, save an untimely death.

The Emerald Legion is ruled by the Emerald Lord, who governs his charges from the Seat of Thorns in Stygia. The Seat of Thorns is an impregnable fortress, surrounded as it is by a wall of thorns, the origin of which remains a mystery to this day.

The Emerald Legion is run more than just efficiently; it is run well. The Emerald Lord treats his charges with respect, and operates under four simple laws, called the Emerald Values. First, determine the risk involved, and if possible, improve your odds. Second, cogs turn wheels. In other words, actions (and those who perform them) get the job done, and thus deserve respect. Third, throw it up and see if it flies. Never be afraid to try. Failure is acceptable, lack of action is not. Finally, talk emeralds, not thorns. Discuss solutions to problems rather than bemoaning their existence. With these values, the Emerald Legion has always been a proactive and positive legion, capable of getting the job done. Many of the most creative inventors in Stygia are members of the Order of Archimedes' Bathtub, an elite research and development branch of the legion. The Emerald Legion is also well known for its superb fighters and guardians of the labyrinth; indeed, the Emerald Legion is in charge of maintaining the Venous Stairs.

Madness comes in all shapes and sizes, and all forms of death as well. To say one was killed by madness itself opens up more questions than it answers. Was someone killed by the mad, or was that person killed while mad? It could be argued that war itself is madness, and that all victims therein are potential members of the Penitent Legion.

The Laughing Lady is in charge of the Penitent Legion, and oversees her charges from the Seat of Succor. She is not necessarily remarkably well liked by her wards, but does a good job keeping the two major factions at bay. For the Penitent Legion is split in two: those who died while mad, and those who were killed by the mad (often by the former). The former are often claimed by the Quiet Lord as victims of suicide, while the latter are claimed by the Smiling Lord as victims of violence. The Laughing Lady does well to keep her two factions from destroying each other and under the same banner.

A few factions bear mentioning. The military branch of the legion is split into five corps of fighters. The Skirmisher Corps are the fast and furious fighters in initial assaults. The Phalanx Corps is the largest of the units, and contains the bulk of the Penitent Legion's fighters. The Beast Corps are a special faction that employs barghests as the bulk of its strategy. The Flesh Corps use sick and creative uses of moliate and soulforging to craft large behemoths to combat the enemy, while the Machine Corps use soulforged machines to destroy the opposition.

Two other orders exist worth mentioning. The first is the Order of Keepers, an inter-legion secret police force that subtly and decisively takes care of the problems (perceived or not) of the other legions. Finally, the Storm Maidens are the personal elite fighters and helldivers of the Laughing Lady.

For suicide victims life on the other side can be especially difficult. Most attempt to kill themselves again and usually fail as the same methods don't work on this side of the shroud. As a result the silent legion has taken a decidedly different stance on the issue of treatment of legionaries. The Silent legion is probably the most kindest and gentlest towards it recruits making sure that each and every individual soldier is transitioning effectively to life on this side. This is done out of necessity the silent legion is already on of he smallest legions, without this policy they would cease to exist.

The Silent legion generally stays out of inter legion politics. As a result many of their recruits have been claimed by other legions most notably the Paupers legion who likes to claim as many suicide victims as they can as victims of madness. Their major source of influence in the other legions is by way of councilors who aid in the transition of wraiths to life on this side of the shroud regardless of what legion they fall into.

There are a couple of exceptions to the save everyone policy in the legion. The first are the Warriors of Lethe which can be described most succinctly as an elite kamikaze squadron within the legion. The second are the Steel Martyrs wraiths who volunteer to be soulforged in order to find peace. The silent legion is desperate for goods and supplies and so must look to its own to provide those goods. They do try to check their volunteers for shadow influence but ultimately the forgers will take anyone.

Sometimes its good to be the underdog. As long as no one views you as a threat you can get away with nearly anything. Composed of those whose deaths were a mystery, the paupers legion is an eclectic bunch. Some it paupers legion truly have no knowledge of how they died while others are just fuzzy on the details like which of their selfish shallow kids murdered them for their inheritance.

Life in this, the second smallest, legion is a daily struggle to obtain new souls and supplies. As such a little "creativity" is an essential life skill for any Pauper legionnaire. Rule number one in the Pauper's legion is don't get caught. By any means necessary is a second rule and Pauper's are the masters. There are more shady dealings in this legion than any others. They get away with it because they are so small, and can hover under the radar of the larger legions which are more concerned with their own politics.

The smallest of the legions is the most removed from the politics of Stygia, and the most diverse in nature. No one knows why the Legion of Fate picks those that it does. The only explanation given is that it was decreed by fate that its members belong therein. As the Legion of Fate rarely claims anybody, the other legions (begrudgingly) allow Fate to claim who it will.

The Legion of Fate is also the only legion that is not governed from Stygia. The Lady of Fate supposedly directs her legion from the Isle of Eurydice, another island in the Tempest. Few, however, have ever seen the Lady of Fate, and her edicts generally come down through the ladies of fate, her proxies.

Politically, the Legion of Fate makes its decisions based upon whims and criterion that those outside the Isle of Eurydice are unaware of. That the legion is highly skilled in Fatalism and Lifeweb comes as no surprise, and it is through these two arcanoi that the legion can appear to be so prescient. The ladies of fate can never be curried or bullied, and as such they are generally disliked by the other Deathlords; in the game of politics, no one likes a conscientious objector.

There are those who question the loyalty of the Legion of Fate. If the Lady of Fate is disloyal to Charon and the Hierarchy (as some suspect), could she pull an entire legion out of the Hierarchy? After all, they aren't even located on Stygia.

Two specific orders bear mention. The Cataphractoi are warriors extraordinaire among the legion, and with the Silent Warriors of Lethe, are most feared. Fate also commands the Order of the Silver Hammer, a group of soulforgers who produce a unique material known as Glisten.

The one universal thread among various renegade groups is that there is no universal thread. The only commonality is that they are not apart of the Hierarchy. Renegades are divided from town to town in small groups, cells and clutches. As such it is terribly difficult to classify them. There are however a few broad trends which we can use to describe the various factions.

• Revolutionaries - From the earliest days of the Hierarchy there have been groups dedicated to the complete overthrow of the Hierarchy. To them the Hierarchy s a monstrous tyrant. They operate in cells like terrorist organizations which is not surpassing since many of them are terrorists. Revolutionaries have a strong code of honor and are almost fanatically loyal to their cause. Their aim is nothing less than the total destruction of the Hierarchy.
• Idealists - Other wraiths exist who are opposed to certain aspect of Hierarchy practices. More reformers than outright revolutionaries, they seek to end corruption and certain despicable practices. Many idealists absolutely oppose the soul forging of wraiths and the use of barghests. Others oppose the restrictions that are placed on wraithly life in the shadowlands others the militaristic attitudes. Most just want to see governing done better. Many are intellectuals, Political Scientists, Economists, Scientists or just people who would like to see a better future for wraiths.
• Cons - In every society there are criminal elements who live outside the law. Stygia is no exception. Anything can be had from these people provided you have the money to pay and the strength to keep them from striping you bear. Smugglers, Slave traders and thieves all fall into this category. Most have little or no regard for the sanctity of life or of law, only greed.
• Dropouts - By far the most disparate grouping, the dropouts are those who have tried the hierarchy out and have decided to shove it. Dissatisfied with the rules and the bureaucracy they have simply decided to walk away. Many eke out an existence in the shadowlands and the tempest surviving as best they can. Others are shroud breakers and pleasure seekers desiring a return to the pleasures of mortal life and freedom from the oppression of the shadowlands.

The Hierarchy considers many other groups to be renegades as well, most notable the Heretics and Guilds. However, because of the fundamental differences between these groups and their importance, they are considered in separate sections.

For every religion that has ever been practiced in the skinlands there is probably someone practicing it on the other side of the shroud, and then there are probably a few more out there that have never been heard of in the skinlands. Many westerners see religion as merely some sort of Judeo-Christian monotheism. This dramatically undercounts the variety of religious possibilities that exist. The only common thread among Heretics is a belief in something mystical something beyond the natural. Given the very nature of the shadowlands there are no limits to the possible candidates. The following are suggestions only and not intended to cover the range of possible ideas.

• Monotheists - Good, Evil, Truth, Sin. The worldview of the monotheist is one of absolutes. They believe in a universal power of some sort, it can be male, female, both or neither and will often have an opposing power representing evil of lesser or equal power. The primary example of Monotheist heretics are the Fishers which rule a Far Shore kingdom. Monotheists tend to have very structured organization systems and can grow to be quite large.
• Pagans - Since the dawn of time there have been religious attempts to explain the mechanics of the universe. Attempting to explain such forces and the rising of the sun and the fall of rain many of these explanations attributed these sorts of phenomena to conscious being or gods. Many others believe in natural spirits or a GAIA like consciousness. Many pagan religions are thousand of years old while others have sprung up in only the last century. Most pagans are fiercely individualistic and are considered by many to be hedonistic. They are usually only loosely organized and tend to form informal groupings or communes.
• Death Cults - One universal truth among wraiths is the fact that they are dead. As a result this tends to be a major preoccupation with many wraiths. What happens to spirits after here? Is there resurrection? What is transcendence? Obliviation? Granted wraiths have more information about the nature of death than many humans but this only leads to more questions. Death cults are often obsessed with thanatology and necromancy as an effort to understand the essence of their own existence, many are quite nihilistic.
• Dream Weavers - Life is but a dream and death even more so. Wraiths are but dreams of the past and memories that refuse to surrender themselves. This is proven by Phantasms ability to enter an manipulate the world of the dreaming. As wraiths can enter dreams so to can phantasms leave meaning that the shadowlands are just another dream realm. All the dream worlds and shadowlands are but reflections of something greater and are not real unto themselves.
• Oblivion Cults - Predominately a spectral phenomenon, Oblivion cults believe in the inevitability of Oblivion. In essence this is a "reverse" religious claming what others believe to be good is actually false and vice versa. It is a sin to fight against the inevitability of what will come. They base their argument on the need to preserve the natural balance of the universe, that by denying souls to oblivion there is an inherent imbalance to the forces in the multiverse.

Heretics can be found nearly everywhere many congregate both in the shadowlands and in island kingdoms in the tempest referred to as the far shores. These islands are shaped to reflect the believes of the Heretical organization occupying it. Worlds of Heaven and Hell exist, occupied by plasmic angels and devils among other realms.

Finally, many Heretics believe transcendence, the idea that wraiths can rise above their ties to the skinlands and find some greater good within themselves. What happens to those who have achieved this state is unknown since none have returned to tell the tale of what happens when one transcends. For now transcendence is a matter of faith.

In the earliest days of Stygia, Charon and the earliest wraiths discovered that there were unique abilities and supernatural powers that wraiths could possess and learn with time and practice. It is said that Charon himself was the first to develop Argos, that the Lady of Fate discovered Fatalism, and that the High Smith Nhudri created Kinesis (which later split to become Inhabit and Flux). It did not take long for a rousing trade in knowledges to spring up. Always the architect, Charon helped to found schools that would teach the various arts of these powers, called arcanoi (sing. arcanos). The number of schools, like the number of arcanoi, varied over time. Some powers, like Kinesis and Pandemonium, later split or spawned other arcanoi. Other arcanoi eventually disappeared from public use entirely (rumors occasionally surface of the lost arts of the arcanos Incorporeality, for example). Eventually, however, the arcanoi stabilized at the number sixteen.

These sixteen schools grew in power and prominence, and as society advanced, so too did they. They gained political strength and clout, and reformed themselves into Guilds. These guilds developed total control over the disbursement of their respective knowledges, charging whatever fees and demanding whatever favors their clients could afford. As their power grew, Charon grew more and more distrustful of them. Some, like the Puppeteers and Proctors, blatantly broke the Dictum Mortum. Others, like the Solicitors and Usurers, were barely trusted.

In 1096, the guilds themselves erupted into open conflict, a fight that lasted until 1354, when Charon finally stepped in to declare the Artificers the "First of Guilds." In addition, Charon set the number of Guilds at 13, banishing the Lost Guilds for a variety of reasons. In 1598 the Artificers led the remaining guilds in attempted revolt against Charon. Due in part to treachery from within, the guilds were defeated, and the remaining guilds were also banished completely, the legions of the Hierarchy taking the place of the now defunct legions.

Despite the disbanding and banishment of the guilds, the guilds themselves still exist. While most citizens of the Hierarchy honestly believe that the guilds really were broken up, a select few know the truth: that to this day the guilds continue to ply their trade, and function all the more fully from behind the scenes.

The Guilds can be defined into four broad categories. The "Accepted Guilds" are the Artificers, Harbingers, Proctors, and Monitors. These guilds exist more openly than most, due in part to deals made with the Hierarchy. The "Entertainer Guilds" have banded together for mutual protection, travelling the shadowlands from Necropolis to Necropolis, plying their trade. These guilds include the Oracles, Chanteurs, Spooks, and Sandmen. The "Forbidden Guilds" include the Usurers and Masquers, who are largely distrusted, and the Haunters, Proctors, and Puppeteers, whose arts are such violent breeches of the Dictum Mortuum that no deals could ever be made with Stygia. Finally, the "Lost Guilds" are the Alchemists, Solicitors, and Mnemoi, who were banished before the other thirteen guilds.

Travelers and wanderers one and all, the Harbingers trace their arts back to the earliest days when Charon himself poled the River Styx in search of souls. The Harbingers use this as proof of their close ties to the Ferrymen, a tie that may not be as close as the Harbingers would like admit. Nevertheless, all Ferrymen do possess Argos, and their are certainly some similarities between the two groups.

Darker rumors, however, point to the similarities between Argos and the dark arcanoi of Tempestos and Tempest Weaving. While the Harbingers claim that Argos is only vaguely similar, their antagonists delight in postulating the sinister connection between the powers.

Harbingers will brave all but the worst maelstroms to get from port to port. It matters not that there even be a purpose to the journey; the journey, not the destination, is what matters most. Harbingers are far more likely to have discovered many of the other dark kingdoms and the terrors and delights that exist in such faraway places.

No guild wields more potential power than the Pardoners, for no guild is as vital to the well-being of Stygia as the Pardoners. Many wraiths can get by without travelling via Argos, and relics can be used rather than the artifacts of the Artificers, but all wraiths suffer from their shadows at one time or another, and thus all wraiths need their Pardoners. Luckily, the Pardoners take their job so seriously that their code of honor prevents them from using this against any opponents.

When Charon disbanded the guilds, it did not take long for him to realize that society without the Pardoners would spell disaster. And so Charon allowed the Pardoners to continue to ply their trade, hanging their traditional iron lanterns from their doorways to indicate that they are in for business. Thus the Pardoners continue to do what they do best, albeit from a slightly lesser official position than before.

Very few Pardoners refuse their services to anyone in need. Renegades, Heretics, and even other Guildsmen are as likely to receive services from a Pardoner as a Hierarch. Most Pardoners work exclusively in one location, however, and thus tend to gather a set group of clients. The client's secrets are absolute, and no Pardoner would ever betray that.

A curious faction within the Pardoners is the Darksiders, a group of helldivers that specifically focus their attention on protecting other helldivers from the ministrations of their shadows and on the possible redemption of spectres. This latter goal has yet to be achieved.

Some wraiths can never let go of the pleasures of the other side of the shroud. For the proctor's the shadowlands are more than an inconvenience, to them it is more of a prison. The proctors are the ultimate escapists. They want nothing of life in the shadowlands or of its politics. In fact they avoid all forms of rivalries with one exception. The Puppeteers and the proctors despise each other to no end. Despite the superficial similarity of their powers, the motivations underlying those powers are completely different. The proctors view the puppeteers methods as sadistic and cruel, a violation of the individual rights of the targets.

When the guilds were banned some 500 years ago the Proctors found themselves in a worse position than some of the guilds but better than most. On one hand they are shroud breakers, and their breaches of the dictum mortuum occasionally bring them in conflict with the Hierarchy. However, their passive nature and non-involvement in politics keeps them below the Hierarchy's radar as they are viewed as not enough trouble to be worth bothering about.

Most wraiths tend to look at the Proctors as little more than hedonists. The rest view them as harmless cranks. They tend to have close ties to certain nonpolitical renegade groups.

No guild is quite like the Oracles. No guild is quite the slave to its own arcanos as is the Oracles. They argue that, like the Legion of Fate, they id not choose their place, but rather were chosen for it. The similarities go beyond even this, however, for although not ruled by the Lady of Fate, the Oracles will generally pay her as much heed as the Legion of Fate does itself, and a strong undercurrent of activity takes place between guild and legion.

The Oracles watch the web of fate with a passion born from necessity; they must know what is coming up in the future. All their efforts are directed towards this one end. Directed from their Pantheon on Stygia, the Isle of Sorrows, the Oracles record all visions faithfully and fanatically in a desperate attempt to read the web of fate accurately, that they may com out on top of any situation.

Five factions make up the Oracles' Guild. The Delphics are the largest and oldest of the orders. They burn away corpus (not, however, their own) and thus discover the mysteries of the universe. The Augurs read fate in the entrails of a victim, which in the shadowlands is most likely going to have to be another wraith. The Clairvoyants take a more "new age" approach, utilizing tea leaves, crystal balls, or tarot cards for divination. The Gamblers run a game of numbers, following the odds and patterns of events and games around them. Finally, the Doomsayers preach Armageddon, throwing anything they can get their hands on (even each other) to Oblivion.

The mysteries of the universe reluctantly open up before us and only with the most diligent prodding reveal their secrets. Unlike the skinlands which have a clearly defined set of physical laws the metaphysics of the shadowlands are much more obscure. In fact many wonder if there is an extant set of rules.

In the beginning the Alchemists and the Artificers were once pat of the same guild. However as time passed directions in their arts differed. While the Artificers were more interested in the manipulations of machines the Alchemists were more interested in scientific research. Eventually the separated but retained close ties.

When the alchemists were forbidden by Charon a thousand years ago along with the Solicitors and Mnemoi, there was a strong since of disbelief. The Alchemist could not figure what they had done to deserve such a fate and wondered why nearly everyone had chosen to do nothing to protect them. The artificers took them in however and softened the blow hiding them from persecution. This relationship has remained up until this day with both groups exchanging knowledge of each other's work.

Oldest of the guilds (or so they claim), the Artificers are the craftsmen of Stygia, founded in ages past by the Grand High Artificer Nhudri. Although the Artificers claim that Nhudri still exists, the guild is led by a council of three. These three (named Lord Ember, Alais Capet, and Hugh Gannon) direct the guild in its dealings with others, its internal workings, and are the keepers of all secrets within the guild.

It has been said that the Artificers are more of a religious cult than anything else, and most Artificers would even agree. There is something spiritual, they would say, about crafting someone into an object. Indeed, it is this belief that has led to their oldest tradition, wherein the initiate forges her own hand in the searing soulfire flames into an amulet, to be worn as an eternal reminder of what they do.

There are those who wonder how a group dedicated to crafting objects from the corpus of others (soulforging) could become skilled in an arcanos that has such obvious skinlands application (inhabit). The answer is in the name of the guild itself. Be it by crafting a fellow wraith or by possessing an object in the skinlands so that it may become a relic upon destruction, the Artificers have always done what it takes to create the building blocks for Stygia.

The Solicitors always had it rough from the onset. The power of Intimation is insidiously subtle and, by its very nature, manipulative. Unlike the Mnemoi, who Charon had a use for, the Solicitors had trouble filling any role in Stygia but the villain, a role which they did well at making their own. This is not to say that the Solicitors are evil, but by and large they are devious and wary of all but each other.

The Solicitors are organized in a series of circles called Wheels. These wheels may overlap in places, but no one Solicitor knows who is in each and every wheel. If one wheel is compromised, the rest may continue their trade. Moreover, the wheels are controlled by wheels, and in the middle is the Center of the Wheel, a circle that controls the Solicitors. Don Salazar currently heads the Guild. Those few that know him wish they had never met him; no man is more feared or loathed than he. When the Mnemoi fell from grace, Salazar knew that his guild would be next. He took steps to insure his guild's survival. This required, however, the fall of the other guilds. But cogs turn wheels, and eventually all the guilds were banished. And the Solicitors survive to this day, hated by all. But should you need their unique service, just ask around. Eventually a catharine wheel might roll across your path. Know then that the Wheel has found you.

Life was always better when you were a child. It was simpler cleaner and the trees were some how greener, everything had a certain freshness it now lacks. Everyone has a part of them that looks to regain a sense of that long forgotten feeling. That is what the Chanteurs provide among other services. Like any artist forced on hard times there is little they wont stoop to. Once upon a time the Chanteurs were solely (or nearly so) actor, musicians, and artists. Now they are everything from traveling players, to spies, to con artists. It all comes down to necessity, no one really wanted it to be this way but there was really no choice. When Charon banished the guilds the Chanteurs were hit particularly hard. It was difficult for them to make a living outside of their powers which were distinctly obvious. They were fortunate in that Keening was not a shroud breaking power but even still they were forced into the back alleys of life with the rest of society's dregs.

Since then they have adapted. Everyone has vices whether they are willing to admit to it or not, and the Chanteurs are some of the best to provide. As a result Chanteurs are able to get nearly everywhere ingratiating themselves with whomever they need to. They are in the perfect place to gather and trade "stories" or secrets. Others get involved in the gratification end of the business finding ways to fulfil passions and desires. Not everyone stooped to this level. Many of the best artists were able to hold onto their principles a maintain a pure dedication to their art. However, it is by no means as easy as it once was.

Once the leaders of the stygian underworld the monitors were the equivalent of the stygian Mafia. They used their powers over fetters to trade favors and threaten people's ties to the skinlands. Leading up to the twentieth century, brutal rivalries with the spooks and other criminal guilds undermined their position of authority. Then came the turn of the twentieth century and things changed. Somehow, the Monitors acquired a position of legitimacy with the Hierarchy along side the Pardoners and Harbingers. How this came about no one can remember.

Now, the monitors hold a much more legitimate role providing services to ordinary wraiths interesting in protecting their fetters. There is still some degree of resentment from the spooks and others against their new found status.

The monitors are ruled by the seven families mysterious sub-organizations within the guild. These families control every aspect of guild organization. Little is known about the heads of any of them. Whether they were ruling a criminal organization or presiding over a legitimate business they are shrouded in mystery.

Of all the guild the Mnemoi are the most feared and the least understood. They are the memory makers. Once they were society's psychotherapists helping other wraiths come to terms with their memories of the past. It was said that they held an almost religious devotion to their work. However, due to the fact that they could read minds they fell under suspicion. Rumors were spread and finally when the conflict came they made the perfect scapegoats. So a thousand years ago the Mnemoi along with the Solicitors and the Alchemists were banished.

The truth is somewhat more complicated. The Mnemoi have secrets, secrets that go back to the beginnings of civilization. They are the greatest living memory outside the Hivemind. It is safe to say that they knew too much. Since then the Mnemoi lived in hiding. Other guilds had either taken them in or had been infiltrated by the Mnemoi.

The Mnemoi are the only ones who remember the great war for it was them who erased it from the minds of everyone else. It is strongly encouraged that Mnemoi are played only by the most experienced of players who are very familiar with the Oblivion world.

On the surface the Masquers appear to be simple shapeshifters and deceivers, capable of entertainment and the occasional much needed disguise. However, for the Masquers nothing is as it seems.

The Masquers are the best at what they do in the shadowlands, and what they do is quite a bit. Many are masters of disguise, changing people's shape and size for whatever reason is worth the cost of the guild. They are also artists, crafting elaborate statues and sculptures from the corpus of wraiths. But the Masquers are also spies and assassins, able to fit into any crowd in any guise, even if it be the very chair you sit upon.

The Masquers are also some of the foremost warriors, able to convert their very corpus into a veritable arsenal. And as Helldivers, the Masquers journey into the very heart of Oblivion, into the Labyrinth, to combat spectres from within, disguised as members of the dreaded Hive itself.

Few other guilds trust the Masquers. They and the Usurers were two of the first guilds to back out of the uprising in 1598, and they were able to help convince the Oracles and Harbingers to back out as well, thus assuring the fatality of the movement. And yet, there are always ghosts in enough of a need to hire out the Masquers, especially amidst the treacherous minefield that is guild politics.

On the surface the Spooks' Guild appears to be little more than a bunch of thugs and hooligans. This is, in a large part, what the Spooks want others to believe. The Spooks have been underestimated for so long that few suspect what fine-tuned control of outrage the guild actually possesses.

The Spooks' Guild itself is run in with a mob-like mentality. They refer to it as the Family, and even dress the part, complete with pin-stripe suits and relic tommy-guns. The run-of-the-mill Spook is called a Defender. Those next in rank are called Armadars. A Spook gang, called a Local, may consists of a number of Defenders and an Armadar or two, and is led by a Controller. Various Controllers answer to the Bosses. The Bosses, in turn, answer to the Commision of Five, called C5 for short. There are five Spectrums (factions) of Spooks. Each Commissioner heads one of the Spectrums.

The Lifeliners are the protectors, who hire out their outrage to protect others' fetters. They are the oldest of the Spectrums, and the one that originally broke away from the Haunters. Mementomorians are pathos smugglers, who harvest pathos from various haunts and sell it for a profit. Shroudbreakers are the down and dirty group that make relics (by destroying objects) and fight ghosthunters with their outrage. The Grey Gangs are the youngest and most violent of the Spooks, who specialize in rebellions and violence. Finally the Harrowsmiths are the torturers who know how to hurt a wraith the most, be it by destroying corpus or destroying fetters.

Welcome to chaos. The Haunters are about more than just scaring people. They are a dedicated if disorganized bunch dedicated to bringing down the shroud. The Harbingers embody the true nature of the wyld and their guild structure mirrors that nature. There are a number of factions unified only by chaos:

• The H.G. Dwellers are the traditionalists within the haunters guild. They seek to bring down the shroud through finding its weakest points where Pandemonium's effects will last the longest.
• The Mandelbrots seek to understand the nature of the shroud and its connections to the wyld. They are however completely amoral in their pursuit of this aim. Humans to them are merely test subjects.
• The Calegarians view Pandemonium as a drug. They are the ultimate Bacchaens. Calegarians are dark muses who view pandemonium purely as an art tool.
• The Dantists believe that the shadowlands are the biblical purgatory. They are predominately explorers dedicated to seeking out the sources of sin within the shadowlands.
• The Bedlameers are psychotic. They live off of torturing the weak willed and insane leaving their mark on those most receptive to it.
• The Order of the Glass Menagerie are the newest branch of the guild and the most rapidly growing. They believe in focusing their energies on attacking the fog that force which causes mortals to forget events that violate their sense of reality. Furthermore, they are the unifiers within the guild intermediating between the other factions.

The Haunters maintain a very close relationship with the Giovanni. This relationship is not one that every member of the guild agrees with. Many in fact view the Giovanni as opportunists who view the destruction of he shroud as a tool for power not as an act of intellectual purity.

Certain members of the guild have close connections with the Giovanni family and can claim a member of the family as a point of contacts.

What piece of work is a wraith? Are they the natural extension of life into another state or are they merely just a memory of the past? For Sandmen the afterlife is but a dream and the world of dream and reflection of the shadowlands. Sandmen are concerned with that reflection and the nature of the tapestry it represents. For a group which would appear anything but grounded in reality they are intrinsically concerned with the nature of that reality. The Sandmen are a very mystical group composed of actors, philosophers, hippies and drug addicts. As result of that and the fact that their arcanos has little effect outside the dreamlands they are readily dismissed as harmless cranks by other factions of shadowlands society.

It is within the reality of dreams that they are the masters. The dream world is to them as real as any other. It is their playground to be shaped and manipulated at a whim. There are many competing goals within the goals. Some seek an escape from the dreariness of the shadowlands, others wish to inspire those still alive, some wish to understand the metaphysics of not only the dreamlands but the whole multiverse as well. To this last group the dream realm is the key to understanding all other realms. If one can comprehend how dreams can be real then one should have the key to existence. No one yet knows if they are right.

No guild flies in the face of authority quite as much as the Puppeteers. Not only does their arcanos break Charon's Dictum Mortuum, but it takes advantages of its targets, stealing free will from the victims of puppetry. This, the Puppeteers feel, is a small price to pay for the freedom to move once again in the lands of the living.

The variety of Puppeteers is as great as the diversity of their motivation. Some are malicious, others well-intentioned. Many only skinride, preferring to simply experience, while others make a point of remaining in control for as long as possible. Some protect relatives, others hunt down their murderers.

A close relation exists between the Puppeteers and the Risen, those wraiths who have reclaimed their bodies in a form of zombie-like possession. All Risen know puppetry, and most of them were taught the tricks of rising from an experienced Puppeteer. The Puppeteers like the control they have over such a practice.

Guild politics don't usually matter too much to the Puppeteers. The exception to this is the Proctors. A healthy rivalry that borders on outright open warfare has developed between these shroud-breakers whose powers are so similar and yet so different.

Many Puppeteers have allies among the living, or among other supernaturals such as vampires or risen. By the same token, the Puppeteers have learned a fair amount of supernatural lores. They are also quite likely to learn more than one of their ability specialties: Puppetry (the ability), Animal Ken, and Medicine.

Once it was about money, now it's power. Even after the banishment of the guilds some five hundred years ago the usurers still find themselves in a position of importance. With their ability to manipulate energy, the Usurers have found themselves in a position of importance similar to that of the Artificers and distrusted for exactly the same reason. The Usurers are the bankers of the underworld and to have power over another is to breed resentment. Since they serve this vital role they tend to be immune from the majority of Hierarchy harassment, as long as they do not openly flaunt their guild status they are left alone to their business.

Usurers are a guild of business and science melded together. They are by no means as theoretical in their approaches as many of the other guilds but they do pursue research of their own. Most of this centers on the understanding of the universal nature of energy and all of its forms. There is of course a practical end in mind. Understanding the nature of energy allows one to harness that energy. More so than money the true form of power is the energies that compose the universe.

Freebie Points

Every wraith gets 5 freebie points to round out their character. These points can be spent on additional Arcanoi, abilities, attribute traits, backgrounds, passions, fetters as well as merits.

Also they can take up to a maximum of 5 negative traits, and a maximum of 7 points of flaws. They can also take an additional 3 points of thorns beyond the five that every wraith is required to take. Each of these three grants an additional freebie point as well.

Each negative trait or point of flaws counts as an additional freebie point which can be spent by the player at character creation. Negative traits should be selected from the following list:

Negative Trait List

• Negative Physical Traits: Clumsy, Cowardly, Decrepit, Delicate, Docile, Flabby, Lame, Lethargic, Puny, Sickly.
• Negative Social Traits: Bestial, Callous, Condescending, Dull, Feral, Naïve, Obnoxious, Repugnant, Shy, Tactless, Untrustworthy.
• Negative Mental Traits: Forgetful, Gullible, Ignorant, Impatient, Oblivious, Predictable, Shortsighted, Submissive, Violent, Witless.

Attributes - 1 point for each trait.

Abilities - 1 point each

Willpower-3 points per trait (maximum of ten)

Passions - 2 points for one passion (maximum of six).

Fetters - 2 points for one fetter (maximum of six).

All Backgrounds - 1 point for one background trait.

Merits - Equal to the cost of the merit. Costs can be found in the Merits and Flaws list. Character's may take a maximum of ten points of merits.

Arcanoi -

2 points for all of the innate arts of one Arcanoi.

2 points for one Arcanoi of first basic level.

3 points for one second basic Arcanoi.

5 points for one first intermediate Arcanoi.

6 points for one second intermediate Arcanoi.

9 points for one advanced Arcanoi.

• Freebie Points may also be spent to subtract freebie points from the shadow. This happens on a one for one basis.
• Note that under this new system, angst may not be taken in order to increase the number of freebie points.

Experience plays a vital role in any on going live action game. Closely coupled with the idea of character development it specifically refers to the advancement of talent. In many ways experience is the lesser second to the more abstract aspect of character development: the completion of goals, growing and maturing as an individual. These are not things generally quantified on a character sheet, they are carried in the players envisionment of the character.

It is important to players to feel that their characters are growing as the game progresses. The following experience system is designed to give a slow steady grow rate to increase what they are able to accomplish and their effectiveness at achieving it. Experience rewards should be allotted for three major categories.

Attendance - Every player should receive 1 point for participating in a game session. This means actually role-playing not showing up for the last half hour of the session, stand around for a while and go home. Every player should make a serious attempt at role-playing. For chronicles that meet more than once a week storytellers might want to consider reducing the experience rate to one point every other session.

Acting - For players exhibiting exceptional role-playing it is appropriate to reward that role-playing with a bonus experience point for the night. Bonus of this sort should be occasional events not every day occurrences. These are great tools to encourage strong acting and to drive player towards the completion of plots. If overused however they can have just the opposite effect. A good guideline is one point per storyteller per session.

Leadership - One point for players who take an active leadership role in organizing the game. Predominantly these points will go to storytellers and narrators but may also go to others who help out organizing sites for the game to play, helping out with supplies or refreshments etc.. For narrators the recommendation is one bonus point per month. For storytellers one point per week. This discrepancy assumes that storytellers hold weekly meeting to discuss rules question, plot directions and player issues.

Culmulation - Whenever the troup as a whole completes a plotline of significance every wraith receives a bonus esperience. These should only be given out once or twice a year a most and not for every minor subplot that is completed.

Shadow Points - "The Golden Angst" - Shadows can gain experience in much the same way as wraiths do. These points can be used to by thorns, dark passions, arcanoi and dark arcanoi that only the shadow can access. These can be handed out at any time by the storytellers for excellent role-playing of a wraiths shadow. It should also be given out on each anniversary of the characters creation and any month the player spends more than five points on their character in experience for a one month period.

IMPORTANT - Crossroads in the Dust does not acknoledge travel points. We do not give them out nor do we allow our players to accept them. Any normal attendence points may be alloted and any bonuses for excillent roleplaying as well but not travel points.

The experience point table shows the costs associated with different purchases. All purchases should go through a storyteller for approval. This should be a trivial matter for most expenditure but for things like merits and backgrounds storytellers may wish for the players to demonstrate role-playing that would justify their request. In the case of flaws and negative traits characters may buy them off, flaws at twice the cost and negative traits at two points each.

Merits and flaws represent the final way to embellish and round out your character. Characters may take a maximum of ten point of merits and seven points of flaws. Additional points of flaws can be taken, with storyteller approval, but any flaw points above seven will not count toward freebie point totals. Wraiths may select merits from the universal portion of the list and from the appropriate guild list, if she is a member of the guild. Other specialized Merits and Flaws (i.e. Spectral, Risen, Jade, any of the Guilds) may only be taken with permission of the STs). See the Merit and Flaw's table at the end of the chapter for descriptions of available choices.

In general Merits and Flaws are only taken character creation, in rare cases they can be taken later with Storyteller approval. This is usually done as a reward for excellent role-playing.

There are a number of different types of characters which storytellers should be cautious about letting players portray and certain ones they should ban outright as player characters. For instance if a player wishes to join a guild they should have a minimum level of experience with wraith and of the nature of the guild they are joining. Certain guild players should know even more than that. The following list should serve as a guideline or Storytellers in approving characters.

• No Ferrymen should ever be a player character. They are just to powerful and insular an organization. This goes for their arcanoi as well Ferryman arcanoi should not be allowed for any player character to learn. Becoming a ferryman can however be a great goal for a character to achieve and an exciting climax for a characters retirement.
• No Spectres should ever be player characters. It is very difficult to run a successful long term spectre's game. Occasionally, they can make an interesting short term interlude but if a spectre's game is allowed to run too long it will invariably degrade into a combat festival.
• Other Dark kingdoms can be played by players with sufficient experience with wraith and who also posses a decent understanding of the mortal culture supporting the kingdom that they wish to join. Both facets are essential to role-playing a character correctly.
• Certain guilds should be handed out with extreme reservation such as the three forbidden guilds. Among those any player wishing to play a Mnemoi should be especially well verse in table top wrath including the Mnemoi guild book and great war in addition to a solid general background to wraith in general.

The simplest way to convert a character from the early edition of wraith is to start from scratch and wherever possible pick up the same powers abilities etc.. In general it should not be difficult to get everything the character had before as there is a much greater quantity of freebie points available at character creation.

Code of Honor (1 pt. merit) You have a code of Honor which guides and controls your actions. On any challenge whose results would cause you to violate your code of honor you are two traits higher for the purpose of evaluating ties. The storyteller must approve the Code of Honor. A Code should be succinctly stated in no more than a few sentences. A good example would be "never kill an unarmed foe" or "never shoot someone in the back".

Higher Purpose (1 pt. merit) You have a higher purpose which guides and directs you life. On any challenge involving an attempt to fulfil your higher purpose you are up two traits for the purpose of evaluating ties. The storyteller must approve your Higher Purpose which should be stated in a sentence or two.

Compulsion (1 pt. flaw) You have a psychological compulsion for some sort of behavior. Examples include lying, stealing, bragging, cleanliness, or perfection. This behavior has a tendency to get you into trouble.

Echoes of the Past (1-3 pt. flaw) You subconsciously manifest in the skinlands physically. At one point, a familiar scent permeates your haunt when you are around. At the 2 point level, sounds manifest. At the highest level, visual images (i.e. glowing lights) mark your haunt when you are there. To detect any of these, a simple test need be made if in the haunt, or a static mental challenge outside the haunt (difficulty 3 for visual, 5 for auditory, 7 for olfactory).

Intolerance (1 pt. flaw) You have an unreasoning dislike of a certain person, group or thing. You will be extremely uncomfortable in its presence and will be down one trait on all challenges as a result. You can spend a point of willpower to turn the effect of this flaw off for a scene.

Overconfident (1 pt. flaw) You have an unwarranted and unshakable opinion of your own abilities and worth. You will not hesitate to throw yourself headlong into danger because you feel you are not at risk. As a result you may not use awareness to determine if a given situation is dangerous. Furthermore, any arcanoi which would not work to put our life in danger will work on you. This flaw can be turned off for a scene if a willpower point is spent.

Phobia (Mild) (1 pt. flaw) You have an unreasoning fear of a certain person, group or thing. You will be extremely uncomfortable in its presence and will need to spend a mental trait to remain in its presence for more than a few seconds. If you spend the trait you will be able to remain in is presence for a scene before needing to spend another mental trait.

Shy (1 pt. flaw) You are extremely uncomfortable in social situations. As a result you are down one trait on any social challenge. In any case where you are in a group of ten or more you are down two traits.

Addiction (1 - 3 pt flaw) Even in the after life there are still addictive substances. You suffer from some manner of these. What is different is the focus of the addiction. As there is no chemistry on this side of the shroud drugs are out. Possible addictions include: pathos drinks, pathos, sunlight (for proctors), sex and violence. Each of these has its drawbacks. If a pathos related addiction is take you must actually burn the pathos for the emotional rush that it gives you in order to sate the addiction. Any pathos used in this fashion is wasted. If you do not get your fix, you will be down a number of challenges equal to the severity of the flaw. This means that if you have this flaw for three point and you need one success on a challenge you will now need four successes to complete the action.

Curiosity (2 pt. flaw) A mental challenge must be made to avoid looking into the unknown, which you find absolutely irresistible. The difficulty can vary, depending upon the temptation. "I wonder what's in the cabinet" might be a five, but "What's in the Marshall's personal library" might be a nine. This flaw will get you into trouble.

Obsession (2 pt. flaw) Something overwhelms you. If Elvis, then you are obsessed with getting all the Elvis stuff, including making regular pilgrimages to Graceland. You may not believe the King is still alive, but you obsess over Elvis. Other obsessions include football, guns, role-playing games...

Vengeful (2