Wraith: The Oblivion 2nd Edition cover |
|
| Designer(s) | Mark Rein·Hagen, Sam Chupp, Jennifer Hartshorn |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | White Wolf |
| Publication date | 1994 (1st edition) February 1, 1996 (2nd edition) |
| Genre(s) | Horror |
| System(s) | Storyteller System |
Wraith: The Oblivion is a role-playing game set in the afterlife of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness. In the game, players take on characters who are recently dead and are now ghosts. The difference between Wraith: The Oblivion and other games of its sort are that the society of wraiths is deeply described and explains the interaction that occurs when ancient dead souls mingle socially with the more recent dead; the society is both a dystopia and a heterotopia.
Wraith: The Oblivion has been described as the most artistically consistent of the World of Darkness series line (due to its rich depiction of the afterlife and steadfast dedication to thematic integrity), but also is the least commercially popular. White Wolf discontinued their production of the game line long before having published all material that was originally planned.[1]
White Wolf revisited some of Wraith's themes in their role-playing miniseries Orpheus, and in a recently-published collection of adventures called Ghost Stories, but have no official plans to revisit Wraith as a setting. Geist: The Sin-Eaters, the new World of Darkness game line which came out in 2009, is also partly inspired by Wraith. Much of the game's mythology and terminology has found its way into White Wolf's Exalted role-playing game line.
Contents |
The world of Wraith: The Oblivion takes place partly in the Underworld (this is typically called the Dark Umbra by those who know of its existence). Near the realm of mortals (sometimes called "The Quick") is a realm known as the Shadowlands that mirrors our world. Beyond this surface layer is the Tempest, a massive storm in which distance in the traditional sense has no meaning. Within the Tempest are realms and empires of wraiths, as well as the elusive Far Shores, fabled places mirroring the heavens and hells of many faiths. Very few who die go directly to Transcendence (a blissful state of being; a placated acceptance) more succumb to Oblivion (not existing), but wraiths remain tethered to reality by Fetters, which are items, places, or people of great importance to their former life with which the wraith in question has unresolved business.
The world of Wraith is overrun by a force called Oblivion, a pervasive force of distantegrating nothingness and nihilism that acts on everything in the Shadowlands and the Tempest. Every wraith has a sliver of such nihilism, known as a Shadow, embedded in their minds. This Shadow is essentially a secondary personality that, if the wraith's primary personality (or Psyche) becomes vulnerable, asserts control of the wraith's body and senses for a time. These episodes, called Catharsis, only end when the primary personality manages to reassert itself. Wraiths who succumb entirely to their Shadows are known as Spectres, and represent an omnipresent threat through the lands of the dead, especially in the Tempest where Oblivion is stronger.
Wraiths have a variety of motives. Some seek to resolve their Fetters, ending their connection to the mortal world and travelling to the Far Shores. Others hover close to the mortal world to watch over their Fetters. Still others embrace their wraithly nature and seek knowledge, power, and prestige in wraith society. All of these motivations, called Passions, are a wraith's weapon against Oblivion, and give wraiths the strength necessary to resist their Shadows. Spectres, no longer having mortal (or even wraithly) Passions, seek nothing less than the unravelling of reality, driving Oblivion forward.
Wraith: The Oblivion primarily takes place in the Deadlands of the western world, which is ruled by the Empire of Stygia (also called the Dark Kingdom of Iron), founded by the legendary Charon. Stygia's authoritarian governing body, The Hierarchy stands opposed to the disparate Renegades, who seek the freedom of an anarchic state, and to the Heretics, cults formed in search of Transcendence (officially proclaimed by the Hierarchy to be neither possible nor desirable) from the underworld to a higher state beyond the Far Shores. Unaffiliated wraiths are referred to as Freewraiths. Ferrymen also exist, lone pathfinders who exist above political concern and act as guides through the Tempest.
A tradition of Guilds, officially disbanded by Stygia (especially the Hierarchy), remains active among the dead, each specializing in one of the Arcanoi, or spiritual arts. Mastery of an Arcanos (the singular) often has visible effects on a wraith's physique and personality, making such categories a matter of generalization. The Guilds, as defined in the Hierarchy, are:
A handful of other pseudo-guilds exist, but their ranks are few due to the rarity (or illegality) of the Arcanoi they specialize in.
Other regions of the world are dominated by other forces. The Dark Kingdom of Ivory (called by its inhabitants the Bush of Ghosts) reigns in the African underworld, and the Dark Kingdom of Jade (called by its inhabitants the Middle Kingdom) dominates the Asian underworld. The Dark Kingdom of Jade is noteworthy for the proximity of Yomi, a series of hells with highly specific themes ruled over by the Yama Kings, demon monarchs at constant odds with one another. Other Dark Kingdoms include; the Dark Kingdom of Flint, the Native American underworld destroyed by the Stygian Empire; the Dark Kingdom of Obsidian (called by its inhabitants the Smoking Mirror), the underworld of Central and South America largely destroyed by the Stygian Empire; Khem or Duat, also referred to as the Dark Kingdom of Sand, the underworld of Egypt; The Sunless Sea, the loose conglomeration of underworlds of Polynesia; the Australian Dark Kingdom of Clay; the seemingly paradisical city of Swar which houses the Hindu dead; and the Enclaves of Wire, a loose conglomeration of protectorates held by the Dybuks, wraiths of victims of the Holocaust. New Orleans, officially a protectorate of the Ivory kingdom, is actually a largely independent state home to a faction of vodoun wraiths who call themselves "Les Invisibles"; they are also found throughout the Caribbean, and are distinguished by their open use of Puppetry on willing mortal hosts.
The Tempest also holds within its limitless depths a seemingly omnipresent region known as the Labyrinth. Always lurking beneath the Tempest's stormclouds, this region is home to the Spectres, and is ruled in sections by ultra-powerful beings known as Malfeans (nightmarish Entities that exist outside of reality). The Malfeans are divided into two castes; the Onceborn, who were once living people in their own right and who have risen to claim the title of Malfean, and the terrible Neverborn, servants of Oblivion who were, presumably, never mortal and who have always existed. The Malfeans chewed the Labyrinth out of the void when the Underworld was created, and spend eternity sleeping in vast abysmal caves. Their spectral servants derive instruction as to their Malfean masters desires by observing the Malfeans' dreams. Spectres can broadly be divided into Castes, based on their function in serving Oblivion. Spectre Castes include (from lowest to highest):
Two more castes exist outside of the traditional caste system.
Some wraiths are able to force their souls to reinhabit their deceased bodies. No longer part of the setting of Wraith: The Oblivion, they nevertheless remain wraiths (including their Arcanoi and their Shadows). The Risen that result from this phenomenon are essentially intelligent zombies who can think, talk, and interact with other humans, yet they are still undead corpses. Though few in number, the ranks of the Risen have grown considerably faster in recent years than they have in the past.
The Mummies of those game editions, that were prior to Mummy: Resurrection, were essentially humans. Since they were bound to be reincarnated they were considered Wraith, after their death. In those game editions years and even centuries could pass before a mummy's body reformed and the soul could return. Therefore the mummies had plenty of time to interact with other wraiths and learn Arcanoi, though they usually did not. Somewhere in the Shadowlands was a city-like place known as Amenti those special wraiths inhabited.
The process of reanimation is considerably more common in the Dark Kingdom of Jade, where the concept of karma makes the responsibility associated with life pervasive in its strength and Yomi makes the consequences of karmic failure especially nasty. This confluence of factors leads to a very different variety of Risen, whose physiological need to consume chi (in the form of flesh or blood) has led to their being confused with vampires. Called the Kindred of the East or Kuei-jin, the blood-drinking behaviors of these beings should not obscure their origins as souls who have crawled their way out of hell/yomi. Due to their similarities to the Risen, some confuse them for one and the same.
Wraith: The Oblivion uses White Wolf's Storyteller System, a d10-based system in which player characters are rated in various categories (general Attributes, particular Skills, and special Advantages); these ratings are used to calculate a dice pool which the player uses to roll for success or failure against a difficulty rating for the task at hand. The difficulty, and the number of dice that must be rolled above that difficulty, are set by the Storyteller according to certain broad criteria.
As in all Storyteller System games, there are several special rules and systems that support the theme of the game. The most notable are: