A final note, I am no longer in the Camarilla and haven’t really been interested in getting involved in the New World of Darkness world, mainly because there is no form of Wraith game at this time. But, while I was in the Camarilla I eventually was placed in the Regional Storyteller position for Wraith where I was over Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana and overseeing the Wraith Venue for all these states. Since then my love for the game of Wraith has not diminished and because of this I have continued to leave and work on this website to help others to understand Wraith better. This site is not like other sites that outline someone’s personal character. This site has the content to learn and play the out of print/discontinued Wraith game of the Old World of Darkness. I hope you enjoy it.
Welcome to the Wraith Live Action Role-play Website. What I have attempted to do here is to help you, the player, get a better understanding of the Wraith world section of the Old World of Darkness. This entire website has been constructed in an “easy to read” format with direct content from the important sections of the out-of-print Oblivion Live Action Role-Play book. I have also pulled information from the tabletop books as well to help with description, setting, and in order to enhance the overall feel and understanding of the Wraith game world.
When I first started playing LARP Wraith, I did the typical thing: I bought Oblivion (I was in the Camarilla organization at the time). In it I read about all the different factions you could play: Spectres, Hierarchy, Renegades, or Heretics. Most games I went to were fun but they seemed a little two-dimensional… a sort of follow-the-storyteller mindset. Then our storyteller stepped down and I was put in charge of the Wraith Venue of our local Camarilla chapter. I then consulted the tabletop books for greater depth and detail because I realized that there was no way White Wolf could condense their entire Wraith line of books into just one - Oblivion. It was inevitable that some things would have to be left out or severely condensed. So, I began reading to try to change Wraith’s two-dimensional aspect and emulate the three dimensional play of Kindred (Vampire: The Masquerade, for those who remember the Old World of Darkness. In the New World of Darkness world in play at this time, it is: Vampire: The Requiem). The biggest thing I found LARP Wraith lacking was Politics. Kindred had lots of politics and intrigue and at many levels which is why many people played it more than Wraith. As I read I discovered Wraith could be equally political and was packed with intrigue, possibly even more (Dare I say?) than Kindred. The elements and potential for role-play were staggering.
The second element I had to work out was continuity. How would one take a venue that had typically been run in troupe format and change it to emulate the global game that the Camarilla proposed? Where, at the time, anyone could play any faction they desired and the bad part was the only common thread between the factions was hating and being bent on the destruction of the other?! I poured through the books even more and discovered the Hierarchy to be the solid force on which to establish a political game. Neither Renegade nor Heretic factions are able to compare to the political structure of the Hierarchy nor the intense levels of possible intrigue within. The Hierarchy also is the biggest form of organizational structure, bearing the brunt of responsibility for the organization of the Underworld, and also acting as the main peacekeepers and Oblivion fighters. True, it’s fun to play the revolutionary fighting for freedom or the religious zealot bent on the conversion of their fellow restless (I realize there is more depth to both than that and to slight them is to slight the game as a whole, which is not my intention), but to make Wraith successfully playable in the Camarilla’s global format, some guidelines had to be instituted. The faction with the most politics and depth had to be the foremost played, and by far the Hierarchy in the Wraith Underworld was the deepest and most fleshed-out faction.
Throughout every Wraith book the primary theme is either concentrating entirely on the Hierarchy or on how smaller factions deal with them. Whether it is playing a member of the Hierarchy, fighting against them, trying to convert them, or dragging them down into Oblivion, the Hierarchy is the common denominator. For those who have played LARP Kindred, imagine play where anyone could play in any faction they wanted: Sabbat was played with Cam (with no capped limits of Sabbat), Anarch was played with anyone, and Clan limits did not exist. It would be utter chaos and not very conducive to play except at the local Chapter/troupe level. This (in my opinion) was what had been stifling the progress of Wraith from taking off on the global scale of the Camarilla. It is impossible to have global, national, or even regional storylines of political intrigue if there are no common denominators to play, not to mention the ensuing difficulties just attempting to play with other chapters in your own Region.
Lastly, I found that Wraith could be hard to read and not always presented in an orderly manner. Oblivion also has some gaps in information that is necessary to have in order to play successfully in a LARP setting. You pretty much had to be a die-hard Wraith fan to wade through the stories, opinions, or vagueness presented in the books. The concept of Wraith can also be hard for many players to grasp. It’s easy to play a werewolf, fairy, mage, or vampire in a world that you and I go about in every day. But it takes a lot more work, imagination, and role-play to play with abstract concepts such as the Shadowlands or the Tempest, which both defy all physics and accepted laws.
This is why I have created this site. I have (and continue) pulling from every Wraith source I can get my hands on, wading through the concepts, and trying to compile THE spot for any and all questions, education, or desires a player or storyteller could have. I have tried to present it in an easy to read direct approach. I hope in this way that players will be able to discover Wraith even if they cannot find the out-of-print books… and hopefully Wraith can become the game it was designed to be: a storytelling/role-playing game filled with danger, politics, horror, and adventure that can be experienced by all.
So, look through the site then email people and encourage them to make a character and play. You don’t need anything but the desire to have fun and the open mindedness to try a game that is nothing like you’ve ever played before. Thanks all!!!! Hope to see you at a game!!!
