Wraith: The Arising

*A Storytelling Game of Flying-By-The-Butt* (paraphrased from the author's own words).

In the beginning was The Word.
The Word was Light - The Light was Life.
The Gods found them Good and Gold.

Nothing Good and Gold can stay.

—The Book of Old Times, first Stanza

Wraith: The Arising is a remake of Wraith: The Oblivion set in the New World of Darkness, with some elements of Orpheus and Exalted: The Abyssals, written by J. Edward Tremlett and Chris Jackson and with some illustrations by artists Taz Jurz and Lost Soul. The story behind the game's genesis is explained in its Statement of Intent.

Every Wraith is visually and mentally marked by the way they died. Each Death carries it own benefits and flaws.

Wraiths of Violence died by the hand of another person. They find it easier to induce fear and move objects, but may fall prey to their Shadow more easily.
Wraiths of Sickness/Starvation died of disease or deprivation. They find easier to manipulate the living and create phantasmal effects, but are surrounded by a sickly miasma that is off-putting to others.
Wraiths of Old Age died when their aged bodies could no longer sustain themselves. They find it easier to manipulate the living and inanimate objects, but are more prone to Ossification.
Wraiths of Happenstance died in an accident. They find easier to move objects and manipulate fortune, but sometimes suffer flashbacks to their deaths.
Wraiths of Insanity died when their minds failed. They find easier to induce fear and fight the Shadow, but are permantly deranged in some mild fashion.
Wraiths of Mystery don't know how they died. They may be particularly skilled in any single Numen, but are compelled to find out how they died.
Wraiths of Fate died because Fate decided it must be so. They find easier to create phantasmal effects and manipulate fortune, but risk becoming puppets of Fate.

All Wraiths are cursed with a voice in their head known as the Shadow, a reflection of all the darkest aspects of their personality. The Shadow exists to indulge itself at the expense of the Wraith in question, but they may prove to be useful allies if one can accept the cost. Shadows are able to manipulate their host by using Thorns, which can produce things like hallucinations or Freudian slips.

While every Shadow is unique, they are generally categorized by a personality "type" that follows certain parameters, which correlates with the Seven Deadly Sins, or more disturbingly, the Seven Heavenly Virtues.

The Martyr, Shadows of Charity
The Zealot, Shadows of Faith
The Complicated, Shadows of Fortitude
The Deluded, Shadows of Hope
The Vigilante, Shadows of Justice
The Coward, Shadows of Prudence
The Restrainer, Shadows of Temperance
The Jealous, Shadows of Envy
The Pig, Shadows of Gluttony
The Hoarder, Shadows of Greed
The Violator, Shadows of Lust
The Primadonna, Shadows of Pride
The Lump, Shadows of Sloth
The Rager, Shadows of Wrath

Because of the Shadow, all Wraiths have a risk of becoming one the Lost, Wraiths who have lost touch with reality due to the meddling of their Shadows (but frighteningly, this is not always apparent to others), or one of the Damned, Wraiths who have been permanently subsumed by their Shadows and exist only to cause suffering and destruction.

In the distant past, when enough Wraiths congregated together, they formed political and philosophical factions known as the Concords, which exist to this day.

Believers, who believe that Paradise exists beyond the Barrier. They see the Ferrymen as angels, and devoutly follow their few words. The Believers are the proprietors of the Anchorage Numen, which lets them provide valuable Anchor-related services to other Wraiths, including the creation of new Anchors. However, their ties to their own Anchors are ironically weaker than that of other Wraiths.
Freewraiths, who choose to live by their own rules, without regard for religion or organized government, seeing the Ferrymen and the Order as liars and fools. They are the proprietors of the Shaping Numen, which they use to produce goods to sell to the other Concords. Those who join the Freewraiths have the "colors" of their allegiance tattooed to their Corpus.
Haunters, who choose to scare the living for essence. All the other Concords distrust them, in many cases to the point of violence. Even amongst themselves, they do not tolerate mistakes.
Messengers, who act as guardians and angels to the living. They are the proprietors of the Regis Numen, allowing them to read and control the minds of others. As part of their initiation, they are mystically bound to protect human life.
The Order, an organized government who follow and enforce the Injunction, a series of laws laid down by Charon in ancient times. Their traditions date back to the Etruscans, and their structure has shades of theocracy. As part of their initiation, members are mystically bound to uphold the Injunction, and must pay a tithe to the Order.
Pardoners, who wage war against the Shadow and are constantly on the lookout for the Lost and the Damned. They are the proprietors of the Castigate and Shaping Numina, but their initiation requires them to permanently sacrifice some of their strength to their Shadow, making it stronger than the Wraiths of other Concords.

Wraiths are not alone in their twilight state. Joining them are the Ferrymen, enigmatic beings that may serve the role of Psychopomps. The Ferrymen rarely speak, save to tell the Wraiths to "have faith." If they are not careful, and wander to the outskirts of the Necropolis, a Wraith may encounter Reapers, strange creatures that hunt ghosts for sport and drag them off to some horrible fate. Even worse are the Dark Walkers, vicious killers similar to Ferrymen at a distance, given away by their inability to speak. All of these beings originate from beyond the Barrier, an imaginary wall that separates the land of the living from the "true" afterlife, which virtually no Wraith has ever seen. Those rare few that claim to have traveled beyond and returned are invariably insane, making it impossible to determine the truth of their claims.

Wraiths may learn supernatural powers known as Numina, which allow them to interact with and manipulate the world around them. There are several different kinds of Numina, each with their own purviews. Numina are generally separated into Paths, which each manipulate a different aspect of that Numen.

Anchorage, which manipulates Anchors.
Bios, which manipulates the bodies of the living.
Castigate, which actively defies the Shadow.
Decay, which manipulates inanimate objects.
Embody, which creates illusory and physical manifestations visible to the living. It has no set paths.
Fate, which manipulates destiny and chance.
Fear, which manipulates waking nightmares and hallucinations.
Kinesis, which manipulates force, allowing the Wraith to touch and move objects and people.
Regis, which manipulates the minds of the living and dead.
Shaping, which manipulates Essence, the substance of the dead.

A character sheet has been made by both MrGone and Renfield286^{[dead link]}. Unfortunately, the game was never finished, although it is in a playable state.

Tropes used in Wraith: The Arising include:

Ancient Tomb—The Catacombs are essentially a gigantic network of tombs, accessible only to Wraiths. This overlaps slightly with Dungeon Crawling, as one of the reasons for entering the Catacombs is to acquire Relics (ghostly doubles of Liveworld objects). The Catacombs are also home to religious shrines.
And I Must Scream—The Freewraiths use this as a threat to those who serious piss them off.
Angst Coma—Some Wraiths come to think that this mockery of existence is pointless, and just stop interacting with the world. As their activity slows down and stops, their bodies begin to Ossify, their Corpus turning as white and unyielding as marble, cobwebs and chains appearing around their bodies to physically bind them where they stand. If the process is not stopped, the Wraith eventually turns into a lifeless statue, and forever falls Asleep unless charitable Wraiths decide to wake her up.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence—If a Wraith can resolve their ties to life, without falling prey to their Shadow or to Ossification, they can move on to the next life. Wraiths call this fabled goal Transcendance, but few of them take it seriously.
Badass Preacher—One nickname for the Pardoners is "shotgun priests." Sometimes quite literally.
Bazaar of the Bizarre—Wraith society often runs these, referring to them simply as Markets. The Freewraiths have a virtual monopoly on these, as they jealousy guard the secrets of the Shaping Numen, which allows users to create nearly any objects imaginable out of Corpus (ghost flesh).
Beauty Equals Goodness—Wraiths will begin to slowly grow uglier and uglier if their Shadow becomes more and more powerful, and we mean ugly. The horrifying and grotesque appearances of the Damned reflect their black, tortured souls.
Bigger on the Inside—Within the labyrinthine depths of the Catacombs, distances often behaves strangely. For example, if a Wraith has visited a particular landmark before, they will find it quicker to travel there on subsequent visits. Hypothetically, the Catacombs may be nearly infinite in size.
Canon Discontinuity—As Arising was written when the new World of Darkness was still only a year or two old, it contradicts the information presented in Geist: The Sin-Eaters and Book of the Dead. This is mandatory, as the standard setting precludes the existence of any kind of spiritual sequel to Oblivion.
Church Militant—The Pardoners. They wage war on the Shadow.
Council of Angels—The Order and the Believers consider the Ferrymen to be this, but for different reasons as their respective religions are vastly different. The Ferrymen are quite mysterious because so little is known about them, and they refuse to answers questions related to religion other than to say some variation of the phrase "have faith."
Delinquents—The Order considers the Freewraiths to be like this, and some of them are. However, most of the Freewraiths are simply not interested in following the rules of Order, and are otherwise generally decent people.
Eldritch Abomination—This is the standard for the Damned, the Reapers and the Dark Walkers, as well as the strange creatures that sometimes appear in the Wilderness follow this formula. It's possible that this is true for the Ferrymen, but they are quite benevolent compared to other examples.
Energy Economy—Essence is considered a valuable commodity, and Wraiths will trade different flavors of it for favors and other rewards. It is common practice to charge the Wraiths that live in a given Concord's Domain (Wraiths unaffiliated with that Concord are usually given leeway), payments usually taking the form of Essence. Favors are also a valuable commodity, their fulfillment being an actual law called the Rule of Four, and anyone who doesn't payback their debts will have to answer to the Magistrates in charge.
Generic Ethnic Crime Gang—Quite a few of the Freewraiths are actual criminals by the standards of the Order. They even go so far as to permanently tattoo their "colors" onto their members' bodies.
Genre Launch—Tremlett once jokingly stated the game's genre was "Gothic Horror Survivalist Heartbreak Psychic Trauma Brainfart Disco."
Haunted House—Unsurprisingly, Wraiths tend to live in these. Any anchor that happens to be a building is known as a Haunt.
Have You Seen My God?—According to the Order's official history, their founder was the Etrsucan god Charun. Charun vanished millennia ago beyond the Barrier, claiming he would one day return, so the Order steadfastly awaits his return.
Intangible Man / Invisibility—Wraiths exist in a state known as Twilight, where they may freely pass through physical objects and are invisible to the living, unless they wish to be seen. A Wraith's ethereal flesh is referred to as Corpus.
- Taking cues directly from Orpheus, even the most recently deceased Wraith is able to materialize and pass for human, negating much of Oblivion's angst about being separated from the living. Simple manifestations are not nearly as useful as using Numina, as the Wraith is cold, pale, and unable to do much physical labor.
Jacob Marley Apparel—Objects that are buried with the deceased (regardless of whether they become ghosts or not) will develop ghostly doubles known as Relics, and as long as the object continues to remain mostly intact in the Liveworld, the Relic will continue to exist for use by ghosts.
Lighter and Softer—Compared to Oblivion, at the least. Ghosts are no longer hopelessly separated from the living and slavery is no longer the norm.
The Lost Woods—This is the de facto state of the Deadlands outside of Necropoli (cities claimed by the Concords). Wraiths who venture outside of the cities are liable to encounter the Damned, Reapers, Dark Walkers, and stranger creatures.
Malevolent Masked Men—Wraiths frown on the use of masks, as these make it more difficult to use perception-based Affinities and Numina on the wearer. Wraiths place great emphasis on being exactly who and what you are, and anyone wearing a mask might be a potential Damned soul lying in wait.
Mana—Wraiths cannot exist without a continuous source of Essence (spiritual energy), which they usually obtain from their Anchors (or someone else's). Less commonly, they obtain it from the emotions produced when they haunt the living, when it is given freely by other Wraiths (using the Shaping Numen), or by stealing it (also using the Shaping Numen). Essence is used to power the effects of Numina and more quickly repair damage to a Wraith's Corpus.
The Necrocracy—This is the stated purpose of the Order, and to a lesser degree the other Concords. Any city inhabited by Wraiths is known as a Necropolis, and is usually split amongst multiple necrocracies in the form of the Concords.
Place of Power—Haunts act as these, providing valuable Essence to any ghost who enters, not just the one who owns it. As a result, Haunts are considered valuable property by the Concords due to both this and the security they provide. In fact, the Concords play a complex political game known as the "Game of Houses," where they collect Haunts to increase the power of their Domains at cross-purposes to one another.
Shadowland—Places where the Deadworld and the Liveworld meet are known as Shadowlands. Created by negative emotional energy, ghosts may freely interact with the living in these places as though they were fully solid. Due to their exceptional creepiness, ghosts also tend to stay away from these places.
- The concept of a shadowy reflection can also be applied to the Deadlands itself, but to a much lesser degree than in Oblivion. The Deadlands are not actually a plane of existence, but a state of being, like that presented in Orpheus.
Short Story—Tremlett wrote two short stories for the game, Stupid Little Fears and Old Scars for New Days.
Shout-Out—As a spiritual sequel to Oblivion, this is par the course.
- Grave Goods and Shadowlands are borrowed from Exalted: The Abyssals.
- The Barrier is a reference to the Stormwall in Orpheus.
- The Ferrymen are a much more mysterious counterpart of the faction of the same name in Oblivion.
- Many of the nicknames for users of specific Numina are taken directly from Oblivion, but they are often switched around since the author wanted to keep familiar readers on their toes.
- The Concords are reimaginings of a few of the factions and guilds in Oblivion.
- Projectors are mentioned as possible allies or antagonists.
Super Senses—In death, a Wraith's senses are heightened to a degree only dreamed of by the living, but they perceive the world through the lens of death: everything alive appears blurred and grey, while other ghosts stand out like beacons. Wraiths can sense the distance and depth of emotions, determine the health of objects and people, and even have brief premonitions.
The Theocracy—The Order. They worship ancient Etruscan deities, and venerate Charun as their founder.
Threshold Guardians—The Concords create things known as Terms to mark boundaries, using Numina like Shaping or Regis. These range across simple warning signs, intruder alarms, the ghostly equivalent of security cameras, and monoliths that can hold conversations. Some of these Terms may be the unfortunate victims of the Shaping Numen, while others manifest as feelings of dread or other programmed sensations instead of actual objects.
Trauma-Induced Amnesia—Ghosts spend their existence in a dreaming state called the Fugue, unaware of their death and mindlessly haunting their Anchors. However, some ghosts realize the truth and wake up from this state, and these lucky (or unlucky) ghosts are known as Wraiths.
Unfinished Business—All ghosts possess Anchors: objects, people, or places that were important to them in life (or became so at their death). A ghost cannot exist without their anchors, which provide them with the essence they need to stay around. If all of a ghost's anchors are destroyed, the ghost simply vanishes, never to be seen again.
What Could Have Been—Tremlett had originally planned to finish much more material, but then suffered a terrible case of writer's block. The netbook is mostly playable, but is missing sections for the Order (an overview, explanations of organization, titles/duties, members, beliefs, and rituals), the Freewraiths (likewise), Ghostly Society (social roles, customs, taboos, the favors economy, mortal/wraith relations, projectors, etc), Antagonists (Reapers, Dark Walkers, stranger things, etc), Ossification, and quite a bit of other details.