Wraith 20th Anniversary Edition on Kickstarter
Wraith: The Oblivion was the fourth game in the original World of Darkness. Instead of playing immortal politicos, furry ecoterrorists, or even reality-bending philosophers, in Wraith you play people. Everyone dies, so anyone can become one of the Restless Dead. Not just a horror game, the underworld of Wraith is one of the best Dark Fantasy settings in gaming.
Wraith broke a lot of rules of the World of Darkness, and a few of roleplaying games themselves. Your character doesn't necessarily belong to any faction, inborn or adopted. She is defined not so much by her abilities or even her supernatural powers but by the emotions and memories that tie her to the mortal world. Wraith mechanized feelings years before the indie game movement made it the thing to do.
Perhaps the most groundbreaking feature of the game is the shadowguide. In a Wraith chronicle, you play a character made of the mostly positive side of a ghost, called the Psyche. The player next to you plays that ghost's Shadow, the embodiment of the soul's negative emotions given a voice and a drive to pull the Psyche down into Oblivion. The Shadow tempts the Psyche, offering short-term power in exchange for another step toward the inevitable.
Wraith was published 20 years ago, and as with the three earlier World of Darkness lines, it is receiving a 20th Anniversary Edition produced by +Onyx Path Publishing. A Deluxe hardcover printing is currently being funded on Kickstarter. Stretch goals include a short fiction anthology and an expanded appendix updating Orpheus, the short-run Wraith spinoff game from 2003. Judging by previous Onyx Path Kickstarters, the list will surely grow.
Wraith broke a lot of rules of the World of Darkness, and a few of roleplaying games themselves. Your character doesn't necessarily belong to any faction, inborn or adopted. She is defined not so much by her abilities or even her supernatural powers but by the emotions and memories that tie her to the mortal world. Wraith mechanized feelings years before the indie game movement made it the thing to do.
Perhaps the most groundbreaking feature of the game is the shadowguide. In a Wraith chronicle, you play a character made of the mostly positive side of a ghost, called the Psyche. The player next to you plays that ghost's Shadow, the embodiment of the soul's negative emotions given a voice and a drive to pull the Psyche down into Oblivion. The Shadow tempts the Psyche, offering short-term power in exchange for another step toward the inevitable.
Wraith was published 20 years ago, and as with the three earlier World of Darkness lines, it is receiving a 20th Anniversary Edition produced by +Onyx Path Publishing. A Deluxe hardcover printing is currently being funded on Kickstarter. Stretch goals include a short fiction anthology and an expanded appendix updating Orpheus, the short-run Wraith spinoff game from 2003. Judging by previous Onyx Path Kickstarters, the list will surely grow.
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