mbody is the art of physically manifesting in the mortal world. Like many Arcanoi, it defies Charon’s Code by its very existence; only the Deathlords have authority to reach across the Shroud with impunity. Still, the lure of the flesh is strong. The change in a wraith’s very senses when she manifests is powerful, and heady enough to tempt the most stoic Centurion.

The best way to learn Embody is to open one’s senses, focusing on the most intense sensory input available. Loud music, the heat from a radiator, the shimmering reflection in a lake – all can be the anchor with which a wraith can pull herself across the Shroud.

If a wraith Embodies physically, she opens herself up to mortal injury. Immaterial wraiths lose only one Corpus Level from a blow or gunshot, but those physically materialized take as many Corpus Levels of damage as they would have lost in Health Levels in life. If “slain,” and embodied wraith is thrust into a Targeted Harrowing as the Quarry.

Attuning oneself to a consort is particularly useful with Embody. One attuned, all difficulties for Embodying to that person (and that person alone) require no Pathos points to manifest to the subject. However only the Consort can see or hear the wraith. This can be a double-edged sword. Other mortals might consider the Consort crazy. Conversely, the subject may convince others of the wraith’s existence, thereby making it easier for the wraith to attune herself to them as well.

Use the Athletics Ability for retests with the Embody Arcanos.

Innate Abilities

Ghostly Touch:

The wraith can exert a tiny whisper of a touch to the material world, weaker than the Innate Ability of Outrage, Ping. The wraith may not even move anything larger than dust – about the most she can do is gently write on a fogged window, and this takes all her concentration.

System: This requires the wraith to make a Static Physical Challenge against a Narrator.

Maintain the Material Form:

This is not so much an ability in itself as the capacity to maintain an Embodied form for a longer duration.

System: This ability costs one Pathos to use, and the wraith must enter an Extended Static Physical Challenge. Each success adds to the number of successes already gained for the Embody power being used.

Basic Abilities

Phantom Whispers:

The wraith may whisper across the Shroud, letting his voice be heard faintly in the Skinlands. Alternately, he may manifest as a hazy, translucent figure, only vaguely reminiscent of his mortal body. This art is not necessary to speak with supernatural beings. On the other hand, mortals who notice a wraith who has manifested using this ability may well react with intense fear.

System: To use Phantom Whispers to speak, a wraith must enter an Extended Static Social Challenge in order to relay a short sentence for each success. To use Phantom Whispers to manifest, a wraith must spend one Pathos point and enters and Extended Static Social Challenge to remain materialized for two minutes per success. If the wraith attempting to manifest wishes, he may also attempt to frighten onlookers by making a Social Challenge against the onlookers. Horrific Moliation or other creative use of Arcanoi can modify any challenge. Phantom Whispers can be used to whisper and materialize at the same time, but each requires a separate challenge.

Statue:

This art permits the wraith to take a solid, if immobile, form. The embodied wraith seems to be an idealized version of himself, but with cold, hard flesh. While using Statue, the wraith cannot move, speak, or even breathe. Still, this art can be useful when avoiding Spectres or wraith pursuers. In a crowded subway for example, hunters may overlook the “sleeping mortal vagrant” in their haste to find their wraithly prey.

System: By spending two Pathos points and entering an Extended Static Physical Challenge to see how many times the character may be touched or how long (usually five minutes per success) the wraith may remain solid (whichever comes first). The player may be harmed as if he were mortal. Wraiths using this art should hold up a Statue card, available from the Storyteller at the start of the game.

Intermediate Abilities

Life-in-Death:

This art allows the wraith to manifest as her mortal body, more or less. Her Embodied appearance reflects her mildly spotty memory of her living self. As a result, most wraiths tend to idealize their appearance, becoming more beautiful when Embodied than they were when they were alive. The form this art creates usually ahs darker hair and paler skin than the wraith did as a mortal, but otherwise doesn’t appear as odd. The wraith using Life-in-Death has flesh colder than it should be, and will seem constantly distracted (a side effect of the concentration necessary to maintain this form). Although most onlookers won’t notice anything wrong with a wraith using this art, those close to her in life may pick up on the differences.

System: To use Life-in-Death, the wraith spends two Pathos points and enters an Extended Static Social Challenge in order to remain solid for five minutes per success. This form can only be used if the wraith currently holds a humanlike form (those Moliated into anything non-humanlike cannot use Life-in-Death). The wraith takes damage as a mortal would (i.e. she won’t go Incorporeal if damaged) while in this form.

Advanced Abilities

Materialize:

The wraith can assume an almost fully human form, briefly duplicating his mortal life. While materialized, he breathes, bleeds, sweats, and enjoys his former warmth. The wraith can do anything he could while he was alive. The only restriction is time – this form’s cost in Pathos and concentration is staggering. The sensation of this brief existence is almost overpowering, especially to wraiths who have been dead a long time.

System: The player must spend three Pathos points and one Willpower Trait, and enter an Extended Static Social Challenge. Each success allows the wraith to be completely solid for as long as it takes to draw one breath. If the wraith is Attuned to the person viewing him, he may manifest for one hour per success. While Materialized, the wraith suffers any damage as if he were still mortal.



Copyright:THE CAMARILLA, VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE, WEREWOLF: THE APOCALYPSE, CHANGELING: THE DREAMING, and WRAITH: THE OBLIVION are all registered Trademarks of White Wolf Game Studios. Any use of White Wolf Game Studios' copyrighted material or trademarks at this WWW site should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.