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Most of the Spectre sheet remains the same from Dark Reflections. A few adjustments are made in character creation, though. THE CONCEPT Name, Player, Nature, Demeanor, Life, Death, and Devoured all remain the same However, replace Psyche with Plague. Once a wraith becomes a Spectre, or even if a human soul is devoured instantly by Oblivion upon death, the Psyche permanently dies. For the forces of Oblivion, there is no hope of redemption. If the Storyteller wishes there to be a way for a Spectre to become a wraith again, it is up to him or her and the players to determine how to go about it. Otherwise, there's no turning back. Replacing the "Psyche" slot on the character sheet is a new trait: a particular role a Spectre falls into - or is selected for - in the Labyrinth's Hive-Mind hierarchy. This role is called a "Plague." There are 5 possible Plagues that spectres fall into: Spy, Priest, Warrior, Diplomat, or Artisan. ATTRIBUTES { 6 / 5 / 4 } The Attribute categories and Attributes themselves are the same as they are in Wraith: The Oblivion and Dark Reflections: Spectres. The only thing that's changed is the point spread: 6 for primary, 5 for secondary, and 4 for tertiary. ABILITIES { 12 / 9 / 6 } The Abilities themselves are the same as they are in Wraith: The Oblivion and Dark Reflections: Spectres. The only thing that's changed is the point spread: 12 for primary, 9 for secondary, and 6 for tertiary. ADVANTAGES All spectres receive 5 points in the Backgrounds category. Available Backgrounds are as follows: Allies: This is a rare Background in the Labyrinth, but not beyond the realm of possibility. Artifacts: Artifacts and Dark Artifacts are easy enough to find or create. Contacts: A tad more common than allies, but only a tad. Haunt: It's not common to find a Spectre that has a haunt in the Shadowlands, but it can and does happen, especially with Doppelgangers, spies, and even diplomats. Legacy: No more common or uncommon than any other wraith. Mentor: Surprisingly common. Many powerful spectres, if not the Malfeans themselves, pick out favored pawns and watchdogs - or personal servants and slaves. The Labyrinth is built on a cruel hierarchy, after all. Memoriam: The Spectre can only gain power from this Background if there is Angst involved in the memories of the living. Notoriety: This dark reputation of the character can hinder or hurt the Spectre depending on where he travels. A well-known Spectre that makes a trip to the Shadowlands may find himself hunted by mobs, while he can use this same "fame" to throw his own weight around in the Hive-Mind. Relic: While Artifacts aren't uncommon in the Labyrinth, actual Relics may be a bit hard to find. The reason for this is that so few relics drift down into the Labyrinth. Most relics found in the Labyrinth were snatched out of the Tempest, and relic-fishing tends to take a mix of talent, patience, and luck than the average Spectre is sadly lacking in. Shadowlands: If the Spectre has extensive or lengthy dealings with the Shadowlands, he can certainly take this. No Spectre may take Wealth, Eidolon, or Status. The latter is taken care of with another trait - the Hive-Mind trait. No longer an Arcanos, the Hive-Mind is a trait in and of itself. All spectres, regardless of caste, get 8 points to spend on Dark Passions. As for Fetters, some spectres retain the ability to keep Fetters, and some are so lost in Oblivion that they remember little, if anything, about their breathing days. The caste write-ups will detail whether a particular caste will retain enough memories to manage Fetters. Angst, Being and Corpus Angst is the hate that fuels a spectre's powers. All spectres start off with 5 Angst points, but have a maximum Angst pool of 10. A Spectre can renew its Angst by pursuing its Dark Passions. Being is the "Willpower" trait; spectres can slumber like wraiths do, but they don't regenerate Corpus points - they regenerate their Being points: a spectre's violent dreams remind it of who and what it is, motivating the fallen soul in a dark way. A spectre's starting Being rating is determined by the rating of its most driving Dark Passion. A spectre's Corpus determines how much damage it can take before ceasing to exist. A Spectre can only regain its Corpus by cannibalism: physically devouring the Corpus of other spectres, wraiths, drones, or plasmic entities and monsters it may come across. FREEBIE POINTS The system for freebie points remains the same as the Chart
on Pg. 32 of Dark Reflections: Spectres. NEW TRAIT: HIVE-MIND All spectres, regardless or Caste or Plague, have the Hive-Mind. There are two paths to follow on this road - each Spectre must make its own choice to follow the subtle and psychological Barrow Path or the physical, war-making Kindling Path. All Spectres start out with one dot in the Hive-Mind path of their choice. The Hive-Mind acts like a power meter as well as a Status meter. The more points a character has in the Hive-Mind trait, the closer it is to its Malfean patron and the more well-known it is among the Labyrinth. It should be noted here that just because a Spectre is well-known does not mean that it is well liked. This path to power comes with a price, however. The more connected a Spectre is to the Hive-Mind, the lower its Being rating is. The entity begins to trade off personal will and sanity for more power and a closer connection to its patron. Hive-Mind 1 - Being 10 {starting character} Gaining Hive-Mind points: This is done in character by following the rules of the Labyrinth, which is the basic unwritten law of the jungle: know your place, keep those below you where they are, fend for yourself, claw your way up, make yourself useful, and recognize and give sacrifice and respect to your local Malfean. There is no hard-and-fast system for gaining Hive-Mind points. It should be left up to the Storyteller when a Spectre has something truly noteworthy enough to grant it more power. Losing Hive-Mind points: Again, this is done in character. Let it be known that when a low-level Spectre disappoints his Malfean patron or other spectres, he is more often than not cannibalized for his failings. However, some spectres are harder to kill than others, so sometimes instead of being killed outright, they are simply brought down a peg or two. This strips them of power, but allows them a little more free will. Like gaining Hive-Mind points, the Storyteller best decides when a character loses points as well. Benefits of a higher Hive-Mind: For every dot in Hive-Mind, the Spectre knows a dark ritual of the path of their choice. They are also given more respect from their underlings {albeit a begrudging respect, perhaps mixed with a bit of fear.} Drawbacks of a higher Hive-Mind: For every dot in Hive-Mind
above the initial Hive-Mind level 1 all spectres posses, their
Being rating goes down by 1. That is, the closer they are to
their Malfean patron and the communal mentality of the Hive,
the more they lose of themselves as individuals who [formerly]
had distinctive personalities. HIVE-MIND RITUALS: To enact any of these rituals, a Spectre must spend an Angst point and roll Wits + Occult against a difficulty of 7. Keep in mind that these ten powers are the basic, default Hive-Mind rituals - other rituals may be discovered or unearthed at a later date. Barrow [Subtle] Path: Level 1: Friendly Face {One additional dot in Empathy, Subterfuge, and Etiquette for the rest of the scene.} Level 2: False Trust {One additional dot in Social Attribute of the players choice until the end of the scene.} Level 3: Exploit The Innocent {Two additional dots in Empathy, Subterfuge, and Etiquette for the remainder of the scene.} Level 4: Believe The Lies {Three additional dots in any Social Attribute trait or traits of the players choice until the end of the scene.} Level 5: Instill Dark Passion {The Spectre can spend three Angst points to create a level 1 Dark Passion one particular victim. The Dark Passion can be anything the Spectre chooses. The victim must roll Willpower against a difficulty of 8 to ignore this new dark compulsion when the situation to pursue it presents itself. Naturally, spectres tend to talk with a wraith's Shadow ahead of time to choose a particular Dark Passion that is especially harmful to the victim. The wraith's Shadow tends to have a field day with the victim once this ritual has been cast. The Dark Passion lasts for one month.} Kindling [Warrior] Path Level 1: Instill Fear {One additional dot in both Leadership and Intimidation for the rest of the scene.} Level 2: Taint Of Oblivion {One additional dot in Physical Attribute of the player's choice until the end of the scene.} Level 3: Malign Presence {Two additional dots in both Leadership and Intimidation for the rest of the scene.} Level 4: Blessed By Oblivion {Three additional dots in any Physical Attribute trait or traits of the player's choice until the end of the scene.} Level 5: Death Rattle {The Spectre hisses or rattles, and the sound will cause a number of non-Spectre entities [drones, wraiths, plasmics] to freeze in place in terror for three rounds unless they succeed a Willpower roll at a difficulty of 8. The number of entities affected equals the number of Angst points a Spectre has after successfully casting the ritual. Only wraiths and other entities within earshot can be affected, and entities that are deaf are not affected.} |