Wraith House Rules

This is a current (but subject to modification) list of house rules. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask appropriate Staff.

Character Creation House Rules

At this time the sphere is closed to new Wraiths. The below are only for if the sphere reopens.

Banned Splats

  • The Following Splats are not available in cgen at the present time:
      • Ferryman 
      • Spectres
      • Jade Remnant/Dark Kingdom of Jade Characters

Restricted Splats

The following splats are restricted, requiring demonstration of facility with and knowledge of the splat, and pre-clearance with Staff:

    • Non-Stygian Wraiths/Arcanos
    • Risen

Stats, Backgrounds and Powers and Stuff

  • Dark Arcanoi are not allowed at this time. Characters who already possess Dark Arcanoi are grand fathered in.
  • Characters may be of multiple factions. Multi-faction allegiance must be reflected in your backstory as to how you manage to keep your nose clean. You may be able to gain Status in multiple factions in character after hitting the grid.
  • Guildwraiths may only purchase Initiate levels of Arcanoi of their specific Guild at cgen. Initiate levels of Arcanos are capped at your character’s Status rating at cgen.
  • Pact of Doom
    • Pact of Doom may be bought as a standard Shadow power with any of the listed Arcanos per Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary as available to be taught. Pact of Doom will always cost 1 Permanent Angst per level acquired in this way. Arcanos learned through Pact of Doom do not cost Experience points.
  • Wraith 2nd Edition Merits, Flaws and Powers: Stuff found in wraith 2nd edition splatbooks (Doomslayers: Into the Labyrinth, the Hierarchy, Guildbooks), are subject to Director Approval. Merits and Flaws will be added to the Merits and Flaws approved list as they come up in Approvals. This is to offer the opportunity for greater variety among Factions.
  • Resources: This may be purchased by Wraith characters. The economy of the afterlife is considerable less advanced and more complicated than that of the living world. Goods and services purchased through a mix of bartering, favors, wagers, pathos, and oboli (the coin of the dead). Resources therefore doesn’t represent to a wraith how much physical cash they earn each month, but their ability to purchase goods and services in the afterlife. Wraiths enjoy a 1 dot discount within any faction they have Status in.
    • Resources 0-1: You cannot afford the good and services of any of the Guilds. You may still be able to make a deal with a Guild wraith to perform a task in exchange for their services, but you will need to perform your part of the bargain before receiving said services. At Resources 1, you may be able to purchase services from the less mercenary Guilds (such as Pardoners.)
    • Resources 2-3: Your credit is good with the local Guilds when it comes to purchasing services. You can hire transportation across the Tempest, get a Monitor to track down your lost fetter, or have a standing appointment with your Pardoner.
    • Resources 4-5: You are about as wealthy as it gets for a Wraith. You likely have a personal Usurer to handle your exchanges of Pathos and Corpus. Sandmen and Chanteurs gladly provide entertainment at your events. You likely have become immune to the unsettling feeling of having Oboli in your pocket. Resources at this level can be justification in and of itself to occasionally purchase Relics and Artifacts with XP.
    • Mortal Resources: It is entirely possible for a Wraith, through the use of mortal allies or Arcanoi, to have possessions and even wealth in the Skinlands. While a ghost’s ability to earn income may be severely limited by the Shroud, that is somewhat offset by their low cost of living. If another appropriate Background is connected to the Wraith’s Resources (such as alternate identity, ally, retainer, etc.) then they can consider themselves to have an equivalent amount of Resources in the Skinlands for purposes of spending money in scenes. (IE: You can buy a drink at the bar for someone, pay for a cab, etc.)
      • Also note: A wraith will have to plan ahead if they want to make use of this in scenes. When you Embody into the Skinlands, you don’t show up with money in your pocket. (Though if you use Puppetry to take control of a mortal, you do have access to the money in their pocket.)
      • Access to Mortal Resources should be explained in the character’s backstory, or through on grid RP, not just from a collection of stats.
    • Resources and Influence: When a Wraith uses their Resources to interact with the games Influence system, it only can be used to Influence the Shadowlands. Mortal resources cannot be safely spent to influence the Skinlands without drawing the attention of the Hierarchy, and their subsequent wrath.
  • Allies/Contacts/Retainers/Etc: When a Wraith takes these backgrounds, they might represent either another Wraith or a mortal NPC. Wraith NPCs represented by these backgrounds cannot have Arcanoi that allow them to interact with the Skinlands (unless the Wraith PC takes the Powerful Ally merit.) Mortal NPCs represented by these backgrounds do not have the ability to perceive wraiths or the shadowlands beyond those possessed by any normal vanilla mortal NPC (unless the wraith PC takes the Powerful Ally merit.)
    • Wraiths who are already on the grid with Allies, Contacts, etc. that would run afoul of this rule may continue to make use of those Backgrounds, but they should buy the Powerful Ally merit to come into compliance as soon as they have the required XP.

The Shadow House Rules

The Shadow, your greatest adversary, requires a level of maturity from players and staff than other games often demand. With this in mind the following house-rules are followed to ensure the theme of the Shadow is preserved while preserving your rights as a player.

  • Liberation MUSH follows the Deterministic Shadowguide model from Wraith 20th Anniversary at the present time meaning that most of the time, the player is both Psyche and Shadow. Players are obligated to be mindful of their Shadow, it’s goals and ambitions in RP and react accordingly. Shadowdice can only be offered by a Director or Shadowguide Producer unless otherwise able (through Coax). Deterministic Shadowguiding requires the following from you the player:
    1. Dark Passions Must Always Be Rolled: If you are in a scene where your Shadow stands a chance to gain Angst due to Dark Passions, you are obligated to roll your Dark Passion at it’s listed difficulty for what it is. If in doubt a roll is necessary, you must yield in favor of the Shadow – not your PC. The Shadow is your greatest enemy because it is you, and it seeks your downfall. Indulge your inner nihilism when it rears it’s head.
    2. The Shadow will always choose to Catharsis: When a Wraith’s temporary Angst exceeds your permanent willpower, the Shadow has an opportunity to take control. You are obligated to represent this dark possession if your temporary Angst ever goes above your permanent Willpower, and this must occur either within the scene where you gain the temporary Angst, or in the next scene you are in. You may delay Catharsis for a moment that better benefits the Shadow (such as not doing it when the Pardoner is around), but not for a moment that better benefits the Wraith (such as delaying until the Pardoner is around.) Here is what you do:
      1. Burn a temporary Angst
      2. Roll the Shadow’s new temp Angst vs 6, and your Willpower vs 6. You may choose to roll an additional number of dice up to your Eidolon rating on your willpower roll. Whoever wins takes your body. Should you Catharsis, the scene you are in AND the next scene are done through your Shadow rather than the Psyche.
      3. The Shadow will always block the Psyche’s awareness. What dots of Eidolon you chose not to use for your Catharsis roll, you may use to make an Eidolon roll at diff 7. A single success is needed for your PC to be aware of the Shadow’s actions. If you fail, the Psyche does not know what it did.
      4. The Shadow will wait for the next time it gains Angst before it tries to Catharsis again. The Shadow will not Catharsis ad infinitum until it is below your Willpower. It will wait until the next time it gains Angst before doing so again.
    3. You play your Shadow outside of Director-narrated scenes and Shadowguided scenes during Catharsis: Remember, the Shadow has plans for you. You decide how this traumatic event will unfold. You must keep in mind to act in the Shadow’s best interests, even if it is detrimental to your character. This is a good time to help narrate your own PC’s trauma and suffering by being the hand that feeds it to you. If all else fails, the Shadow will hunt for Angst (and fulfill Dark Passions).
    4. Track your Angst: Use +note Temp Angst=# to keep track of your angst when you gain or lose angst.
  • Directors and other staff may join your scene as a Shadowguide at any time. Staff will always ask if you are willing to be Shadowguided before entering a scene. Refusing to be shadowguided by staff will not result in penalty in and of itself, but it may result in increased scrutiny.

Dishonesty, Conflict of Interest, and Cheating

  • As mentioned above, Wraith is a complex game, and the use of deterministic shadow guiding requires that players are capable of playing two different characters with a complex personal dynamic that are frequently working in opposition to each other. If staff determines that a player is not capable of this level of maturity, then the case may be referred to Sundance and it may result in the loss of their Wraith character.
  • As with any instance of cheating, if a player is caught cheating outright, purposefully, willfully, and with full knowledge of the fact they are cheating, then the case will be referred to Sundance and may result in the player being banned.

XP HOUSERULES

  • You are responsible for leveling your Shadow. Somewhere around 10-20 XP mark, you should start looking at spending your Shadow XP, which is one third of your total XP.
  • A good rule of thumb is to have your Shadow’s XP purchase mirror the Psyche’s where possible, and the Shadow should spend XP about every 3rd spend the Psyche makes.
    • Example: The Psyche raises one of their Passions. This is a good time to have the Shadow raise a Dark Passion. The Psyche buys an Arcanoi. This is a good time to have the Shadow buy a Thorne.
  • Not spending your Shadow XP may fall under the above Dishonesty, Conflict of Interest, and Cheating policy.

BASIC ABILITIES

  • Life Sight: Lifesight is the ability common to all wraiths to see the life force still extant within a living being. This manifests to a wraith’s eye as an aura, with the color and strength of the aura relating to the subject’s mood and health.
    If a wraith wants to try reading the aura, the roll is Perception + Empathy, difficulty 5. The greater the number of successes, the deeper the wraith’s understanding of the target’s current health, mood, and state of mind. One success gets a general sense for how the mortal is feeling, while four is practically reading their mind.
    (Important notes: this is not Aura Reading as with Auspex. The wraith sees -A- aura of vitality, but not the subjects actual psychic aura, which might reveal information that Life Sight does not. The difficulty of this roll already has the Wraith’s Heightened Senses accounted for.)
  • Death Sight: Deathsight lets wraiths view the Oblivion within all things. Objects and individuals appear not as they are but as they will be, gaunt and decayed. However, wraiths can use Deathsight to measure the amount of Oblivion in something. This enables a wraith to spot weak points or determine how much health a living being has. To exercise Deathsight in this fashion and either Discern Weakness or Sense Health, the wraith rolls Perception + Awareness, difficulty 5. The number of successes indicates the detail the wraith is able to observe. One success might let a wraith know that a mortal is ill, while four successes pinpoints a yet-undiscovered tumor that’s sapping their life. A weak spot identified through Deathsight, be it on a building or a person, offers a -1 difficulty to hit.
    Important notes:

      • While Deathsight is part of how Wraiths view the Skinlands, it is only one part. A wraith might see an old woman as a worm eaten cadaver under the lens of Deathsight, and yet still be able to accurately describe every detail about her living appearance.
      • Deathsight allows a Wraith to see Deathmarks on the (soon to not be) living, as well as damage that might be soon inflicted. The key and somewhat vague term here is soon (as in both future and imminent) Deathsight does not show what someone will die of in 50 years, nor does it show damage they previously sustained but have healed.
      • Vampires do not appear as decayed and rotting corpses under Deathsight. They will still display their Deathmarks, which will almost universally be some kind of extremely bloody bitemark. This mark is visible through clothing.
        • A wraith must have already met a vampire that they know is a vampire in order for this to let them identify future vampires they meet.
      • As with Lifesight, the difficulty of the above roll already accounts for a Wraith’s Heightened Senses
    • Heightened Senses: Wraiths are unusually well attuned to the world. They hear more clearly, see more sharply and sense more accurately the state of the world around them than the living. That makes them good at overhearing whispers, noticing small details and otherwise picking up on things that a mere mortal would have missed. All Wraiths have -2 on Perception rolls to use their physical senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell). This does not extend to all uses of Perception. For example, Perception rolls to activate certain Arcanoi use Perception, and would not benefit from Heightened Senses.
    • Insubstantiality: Perhaps the defining trait of a wraith’s existence, Insubstantiality is both a blessing and a curse. With a minimal expenditure of Corpus a wraith can walk through walls – or bullets, but without the help of Arcanoi the simplest touch into the Skinlands is beyond them.
      • Wraiths can pass through any object or being in the Skinlands, but may incur a loss of Corpus as a result.
      • The “Rule of Ouch” governs whether or not a Wraith loses Corpus. Essentially, replace the Wraith with a living person in a given scenario. If the person would say “Ouch” then the Wraith loses a corpus. Thus can a ghost stand in the rain without being annihilated, but loses a corpus when a baseball is inadvertently thrown through them.
        • When walking through a barrier, you have to imagine whether a person would be hurt getting thrown through it. Thus concrete walls cost a corpus, but cardboard ones do not.
        • All attacks that could deal damage to a living being will always trigger the rule of ouch.

ARCANOS HOUSERULES

  • Learning Initiate Arts:
    • You can learn Initiate Arts by having the appropriate level of Status in the corresponding Guild, or by having Status with an allied guild two levels higher than the level of the Initiate Art that you want to learn.
    • You can use the Mentor background to justify learning Initiate Arts. Your Mentor is considered to have Status in their guild equal to their Mentor level. (IE If you have a Mentor 3 who is a Pardoner, then they have Status 3 within the Pardoner’s guild. They then could teach you Initiate Arts in Castigate 1-3, Intimation 1, or Mnemosynis 1)
  • You may freely learn any Stygian Arcanoi’s Common Arts.
  • Learning Non-Stygian Arcanoi:
    • To learn either the Common Arts or Initiate Arts for any Non-Stygian Arcanoi, you must have an appropriate Mentor at the same level of the Art you wish to learn. Once you’ve learned the first Common Art, you may continue to learn higher Common Arts without the need of the Mentor. Initiate Arts are always locked behind the Mentor requirement.
      • Mentors of Non-Stygian Arcanoi do not provide access to learning any additional Arcanoi’s Initiate Arts (unless part of a larger organization that provides access to such Arts.)

Castigate

  • Soulsight (Level 1 Common Art): This art works on Spectres, and they show up as always having higher Angst than the Pardoner using the art, regardless of their actual Angst rating. This does not reveal the true nature of Spectres that otherwise can blend in with normal Wraiths.
  • Bulwark (Level 2 Common Art): This can be used to avoid detection by Spectres when in the Tempest, with a difficulty of 9.

Embody

  • Whispers (Level 1 Common Art): The successes from this Art may be spent through out the scene. For example, if a player rolls three successes, they may speak 3 short sentences, spread out however they choose.
  • Maintain the Material Form (Level 1 Initiate Art): When used in conjunction with Whispers or Phantom, this Art extends the duration of those Arts to the entire scene.

Fatalism

Fatalism and Wheaton’s Law: “Several Fatalism arts allow the Storyteller to provide answers that are less than straightforward. In all such cases, it’s essential to keep in mind that the player paid experience points to buy the art with the understanding it would be useful. Don’t provide answers solely designed to frustrate and confuse your players. The information gained from Fatalism should always be worth the price of Guild admission.” – Wraith 20th Anniversary Edition, page 165

Like wise, players whose characters possess Fatalism should keep in mind that the ST can’t actually see the future. If you ask, “What would happen if I walk into Elysium while corporeal?” The answer “Probably something bad.” might be as exact as you get, because the ST probably doesn’t know exactly who will be kicking your ass and with what exact vampiric powers.

  • Kismet (Level 1 Common Art): This will reveal the nature of an undead creature, even if the user has not previously encountered them. It may also possibly reveal who the undead creature’s creator is.
  • Friendly Card (Level 1 Initiate Art): The Player may only ask to choose the option that most furthers the Story when in a PRP or Staff run scene, as a ST is required to make that determination. In any other scene, this power defaults to the most beneficial (or least damaging) choice.
  • Foreshadow (Level 2 Common Art): The second half of this power functions in this manner: Once per day, the wraith may spend 1 Pathos, concentrate for 10 minutes and roll Perception + Fatalism vs 6. Each success rolled may be spent on one of the following:
    • 1 success – The player may reroll a failed roll (but not a botch).
    • 2 successes – The player may reroll a botched roll.
    • 3 successes – The player may ask the ST for the course of action that best achieves their desired result (does not ensure they will be successful at it, just provides them with what the ST thinks is the best course of action.) The power only reveals the wisest course of action for the next 24 hours.
  • Reading the Bones (Level 3 Common Art): This art may be used to learn information about a subjects past as well as their future. While answers about the future may be “cryptic and incomplete” they should not be purposefully misleading or vague to the point of being no possible help. For example, an Oracle might ask, “Who will this Legionnaire meet with tonight?” The answer might be, “Justin, the Artificer.” or “An artificer in a long red coat.” or even “A soulforger in robes dyed with blood” or maybe even “Red Smith”; but not “A ghost” (too vague) or “A member of the Emerald Legion with a brown coat.” (even if the Artificer in question died of happenstance and their red coat is brown on the inside, this answer is clearly meant to lead the player to the wrong conclusion.)
  • Malocchio (Level 3 Initiate Art): A target of this Art, when in combat or other stressful situations where luck is a factor, must always reroll the highest die on their rolls to succeed at physical actions. (Attack, dodge, dance, throw a ball, etc. Damage and Soak are unaffected.) Additionally, spending a permanent Willpower only extends the duration to 1 month per success (rather than 1 year per success). The Wraith using this Art must set a condition the subject can meet to remove it, and that condition should generally be tied to the reason the Oracle is cursing them in the first place. (Apologize to the Pardoner, defeat a Spectre in combat, give back the stolen relic, etc.) They don’t necessarily need to tell the target what the condition is. If the player wishes for their Shadow to refund the 3 angst to add to the successes, they must have ST permission.
  • Breathing the Mists (Level 5 Common Art): This art must be renewed once a month with a +request under the heading “Sphere”. The player’s balance of successes must be tracked in a +note, and staff must be notified of spent successes. Any player caught cheating (IE: staff finds out you used successes from this power in a scene and didn’t alter your balance) will be subject to the standard rules of cheating (IE: Potential loss of character or ban from the game.)

Inhabit

  • Wirerider (Level 4 Common Art): The wraith may choose to use either Assume the Shell or Claim the Shell as part of the same action in which they use this Art, but only on a target object that is at the end of the ‘line’ that they are traveling. Thus, they could Claim a cellphone in Tokyo, but not the train that the person holding the cellphone is riding.

Intimation

This Arcanoi, amongst other things, allows a Wraith to add, remove, or edit wants and desires from another PC. It does not give you control over another player’s character. Repeated attempts at telling another player how their character should react to a given Imitation use may be grounds for removal of character.

Additionally, using this Arcanoi to try and make another character have sex with your own may result in the removal of your character or a ban from the game.

Intimate responsibly, or not at all.

Keening

This Arcanoi, amongst other things, allows a Wraith to cause other PCs to feel certain emotions. It does not give you control over how another player’s character. Repeated attempts at telling another player how their character should react to a given Keening use may be grounds for removal of character.

Mnemosynis

Repeated use of Mnemosynis on a character has the potential to essentially rewrite that character completely. If the potential OOC disruptiveness ever gets to a point where staff decides its not worth the headache, you may find that your character has forgotten how to use Mnemosynis.

Moliate

  • Armory (Level 3 Common Art): When the Masquer uses this art to create a melee weapon, they choose which weapon they are creating from the weapons table. The weapon has all of the stats that it normally would (difficulty to use, damage, special effects, etc.) The character then gains 1 additional attack die per success for the use of that weapon (and only that weapon). Multiple uses track successes separately.
  • Rend (Level 4 Common Art): The equation for this art looks like this (Successes)+(1 x Pathos Spent)=Damage die.

Phantasm

  • Sleepsense (Level 1 Common Art): In addition to merely spying on a mortal’s dreams, the Wraith may choose when using Sleepsense to physically enter the dream of a sleeping mortal (or any supernatural being capable of dreaming) and interact with it as though it were real.
  • Phantasmagoria (Level 4 Common Art): When used for the purposes of entertainment, the effects of this Art last for an entire scene. If a combat involving the Sandman begins while such a Phantasmagoria use is in effect, the Phantasmagoria ends immediately.

Puppetry

Use of Puppetry to attempt to force another PC into taking part in a sexual scene may potentially result in loss of character or a ban from the game.

  • Master’s Voice (Level 3 Common Art): The successes earned on the roll may be spent through out a single scene, instead of all at once.

Wraith