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Wraith: The Oblivion
The storytelling game of passion and horror. This isn't heaven. This isn't hell. This isn't anything you could have imagined. Death wasn't the end. Death wasn't the answer. Death was just the beginning. So what do you do? Do you listen to the voice inside your head telling you just to let go? Or do you still fight, still love, still feel the passion that won't let you rest? Oblivion's the easy way out. Life after death is hard. Choose. You have eternity to weigh the consquences.
292 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
4 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Richard Dansky
104books81followersBy day, Richard Dansky works as a professional video game designer and writer for Red Storm/Ubisoft, with credits on games like Splinter Cell: Blacklist. By night, he writes fiction, with his most recent book being the short fiction collection SNOWBIRD GOTHIC. Richard lives in North Carolina with his wife and their inevitable cats, books, and collection of single malt whiskys.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 15, 2008
I have read several reviews for Wraith: The Oblivion and am rather perplexed; the reviewers just don’t seem to get the point of the game. This is precisely what kept Wraith sales down and led to the early cancellation of the series. In order to run a Wraith game you need players, and more importantly a storyteller, who really GET the point of Wraith. Let’s break it down by the main complaints. I have heard it say that the characters are underpowered, compared to other World of Darkness creatures, and that is it not fun because you can’t interact with the physical world. I believe this is the ghost of old-school hack-n�-slash gaming rearing its ugly head again. Sure, you can have a lot of fun with a Vampire: The Masquerade game where you ruthlessly gain power, vanquish your enemies, and size control over a city’s assets. But you also could have a game where you explore the personal horror of becoming an undead thing, struggling with the beast within, the hunger, having to feed off of life to sustain your horrid semi-life. Wraith serves the latter style. The point is to explore the metaphor and meaning of the ghost story, not to crawl through dungeons with your +12 broadsword looking for gold pieces. Of course your character will have little interaction with the physical world, their dead. That really puts a serious hamper on your social life. As one Amazon reviewer put it “Imagine the frustration, pain, and tragedy of being able to see and feel and hear the world you left behind... but being unable to move or manipulate that world. Imagine seeing your ex-wife grow old and die... or feeling the impotent rage of watching the bastard who raped and murdered you stalking his next target.� Most of the conflict is internal; your own worst enemy is yourself, or rather the shadow of your nature (according to Jungian philosophy, if I remember correctly). Your Shadow is played by another player, which is an interesting twist. The ideal Wraith game is played with at least three players and a Storyteller, so that no two players play their opposite’s Shadow. The internal conflict, the pathos at being separated from loved ones, from whatever your player loved when he or she was alive (or things he/she hated, such as your murderer?), the struggle to hold on to your being while Oblivion pulls at you, THAT is the core of Wraith, and if that doesn’t sound like fun you should really look elsewhere. If it does sound like fun, well then being dead isn’t the handicap it used to be in the olden days. It doesn’t screw up your career like it used to. ;)
June 10, 2017
The bad news is: you're dead. At least it can't get any worse, right? Of course it can.
Wraith was an interesting concept, setting up the players as ghosts who cannot move on after death due to strong attachments to their previous lives. Like most World of Darkness games, it centers around the angst of being drawn to a world you can never fully be a part of. A game about the loss of what one holds dear, and literally losing oneself in the process.
Where I feel that it falls short is in the execution. Firstly, the requirement of having each player play a dual role; they play as both their own character and the dark side of a different player's character. This requires players to spilt their focus and can easily lead to anger at the table. Secondly, in establishing a land of the dead setting, it takes characters away from thoughts of the things that hold them to the world and instead fosters an always dull sense of bureaucracy. Feeling like you're navigating the DMV isn't more interesting when you're a ghost. Last but certainly not least, Wraith doesn't integrate well with the broader setting. Every other World of Darkness line can mesh into a shared setting and interact either directly or indirectly, but Wraiths are so far removed from the "living" world that only those supernatural creatures who are specially adapted to work with ghosts/spirits can have any meaningful encounters.
That said, there is one positive to the Wraith system: a supplement entitled "Risen" which was essentially World of Darkness rules for how to be a "The Crow" style revenant.
In closing, unless you have a group of players jonesing to all play ghosts, and capable of playing dual roles simultaneously while also being capable of handling intragroup conflict in a mature and respectful fashion, maybe give this one a pass.
Wraith was an interesting concept, setting up the players as ghosts who cannot move on after death due to strong attachments to their previous lives. Like most World of Darkness games, it centers around the angst of being drawn to a world you can never fully be a part of. A game about the loss of what one holds dear, and literally losing oneself in the process.
Where I feel that it falls short is in the execution. Firstly, the requirement of having each player play a dual role; they play as both their own character and the dark side of a different player's character. This requires players to spilt their focus and can easily lead to anger at the table. Secondly, in establishing a land of the dead setting, it takes characters away from thoughts of the things that hold them to the world and instead fosters an always dull sense of bureaucracy. Feeling like you're navigating the DMV isn't more interesting when you're a ghost. Last but certainly not least, Wraith doesn't integrate well with the broader setting. Every other World of Darkness line can mesh into a shared setting and interact either directly or indirectly, but Wraiths are so far removed from the "living" world that only those supernatural creatures who are specially adapted to work with ghosts/spirits can have any meaningful encounters.
That said, there is one positive to the Wraith system: a supplement entitled "Risen" which was essentially World of Darkness rules for how to be a "The Crow" style revenant.
In closing, unless you have a group of players jonesing to all play ghosts, and capable of playing dual roles simultaneously while also being capable of handling intragroup conflict in a mature and respectful fashion, maybe give this one a pass.
October 23, 2017
Mucha gente considera que este es el juego injugable por excelencia. Y la razón no es porque el juego lo sea, sino porque su principal defecto es lo poco y lo mal que explica el mundo en el que tiene lugar, de modo que para el lector es un trabajazo imaginar en qué mundo vivirán las historias los personajes de los jugadores.
Salvando ese defecto, lo que tenemos es un clásico, es un juego personal como pocos, desafiante y original, que le da la vuelta a muchísimas convenciones de los juegos de rol, y que invita a los jugadores a participar en una experiencia diferente de la habitual, dado que cada jugador controla su personaje (o mejor dicho, la Psique de su personaje, que correspondería a la toma de decisiones habitual en un juego de rol) y además controla la Sombra del personaje de otro jugador (su lado oscuro).
De este modo, todos los jugadores pueden estar presentes todo el tiempo, en una capacidad u otra. Y es muy distinto tratar de interpretar el tener un lado oscuro que te empuja a hacer cosas innombrables (como en Vampiro) y otra muy distinta es que de verdad ese lado oscuro sea alguien distinto de ti. Alguien diferente.
Es un juego a revisar y redescubrir. Me ha encantado una vez más. Y eso que, para mi vergüenza, aún no lo he arbitrado.
Salvando ese defecto, lo que tenemos es un clásico, es un juego personal como pocos, desafiante y original, que le da la vuelta a muchísimas convenciones de los juegos de rol, y que invita a los jugadores a participar en una experiencia diferente de la habitual, dado que cada jugador controla su personaje (o mejor dicho, la Psique de su personaje, que correspondería a la toma de decisiones habitual en un juego de rol) y además controla la Sombra del personaje de otro jugador (su lado oscuro).
De este modo, todos los jugadores pueden estar presentes todo el tiempo, en una capacidad u otra. Y es muy distinto tratar de interpretar el tener un lado oscuro que te empuja a hacer cosas innombrables (como en Vampiro) y otra muy distinta es que de verdad ese lado oscuro sea alguien distinto de ti. Alguien diferente.
Es un juego a revisar y redescubrir. Me ha encantado una vez más. Y eso que, para mi vergüenza, aún no lo he arbitrado.
October 31, 2019
Я упереджена, ВоД мені подобається дуже давно. А от з "привидами" я ознайомилася щойно і система мені сподобадася (світ мені довподоби вже давно). Особливо ідея, що Тінь кожного гравця відіграє хтось інший. Але там багато інших звабних штук, сподіваюся, колись я таки знайду, з ким зіграти, або за привидами зроблять відеогру чи настолку. В книзі багато зауважень як грати етично, вроховуючи почуття та інтереси один одного (що важливо завжди, а в умовах некомфортного та небезпечного світу гри - тим більше). А з розділами про конструювання історії та створення і розвиток персонажів не завадило б ознайомитися і авторам деяких художніх текстів, які я мала необережність прочитати за останні роки.
January 9, 2021
One of the most complex and more rewarding character-driven RPGs. Beautiful and macabre, demanding in its narrative, but once you get into character, into the shadow, and live after death your passions, the experience is incredibly rewarding. This is not a RPG to begin with, nor for those OSRs or Adventure-driven players; this is for those who seek depth, for those that don’t fear to explore their emotions, for those that focus on creating.
September 13, 2019
I can't wait to play this
February 14, 2021
La ambientación pintaba genial, pero se va liando y complicando y acaba siendo demasiado tedioso e injugable.
December 26, 2012
Insanely cool book, simply incredible setting, White Wolf does atmosphere better than any other RPG developer out there in my opinion. I'm not exactly in the same camp as people who say this game is impossible to play, or that you need to have a super mature group to play it well, it seems really versatile to me. Although I have yet to try running a game, I think the thing I'm most excited about is figuring out things to do with the setting.
In the game, you play a recently deceased person who has been reborn in a parallel afterlife world known as the Shadowlands. Bound to existence by what the game refers to as 'Passions' and 'Fetters', the players play 'Wraiths' who - lost and alone - must do what they can to survive as they run the risk of being enslaved, killed outright by evil 'Spectres', or literally being smelted down and turned into material used to make weapons, bricks, coinage, and basically any other material imaginable in a world inhabited entirely by what are essentially ghosts trying to get by.
The most interesting part of this game to me from a gameplay standpoint is the idea of the Shadow. Every Wraith in the game has a dark side to his or her psyche which is called the Shadow. The Shadow acts as sort of a mini-character which tries to make the Wraith succumb to oblivion and either fade away into nothingness or worse; turn into a dreaded Spectre. The most interesting part about the Shadow in my opinion though is the fact that each person, in tandem with playing a Wraith, also plays ANOTHER PLAYERS Shadow. This means everybody gets double the roleplaying opportunity and gives the Shadow a lot more character than it might if it was just controlled by the Storyteller.
If I had to say this game is hard to run for any reason, it would probably be the setting itself. Any game with a campaign setting can be hard to nail perfectly since you're going into it with a lot of holes to fill, and a Storyteller who's not quick on his feet or confident in the setting he's building may find it a bit hard to deal with. Of course, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to nailing setting, so perhaps it's just me.
Anyway, if you're looking for an incredible game dealing with playing ghosts characters, or you just want some fantastic reading material and love RPG books, you should definitely give this a shot. Simply fantastic.
In the game, you play a recently deceased person who has been reborn in a parallel afterlife world known as the Shadowlands. Bound to existence by what the game refers to as 'Passions' and 'Fetters', the players play 'Wraiths' who - lost and alone - must do what they can to survive as they run the risk of being enslaved, killed outright by evil 'Spectres', or literally being smelted down and turned into material used to make weapons, bricks, coinage, and basically any other material imaginable in a world inhabited entirely by what are essentially ghosts trying to get by.
The most interesting part of this game to me from a gameplay standpoint is the idea of the Shadow. Every Wraith in the game has a dark side to his or her psyche which is called the Shadow. The Shadow acts as sort of a mini-character which tries to make the Wraith succumb to oblivion and either fade away into nothingness or worse; turn into a dreaded Spectre. The most interesting part about the Shadow in my opinion though is the fact that each person, in tandem with playing a Wraith, also plays ANOTHER PLAYERS Shadow. This means everybody gets double the roleplaying opportunity and gives the Shadow a lot more character than it might if it was just controlled by the Storyteller.
If I had to say this game is hard to run for any reason, it would probably be the setting itself. Any game with a campaign setting can be hard to nail perfectly since you're going into it with a lot of holes to fill, and a Storyteller who's not quick on his feet or confident in the setting he's building may find it a bit hard to deal with. Of course, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to nailing setting, so perhaps it's just me.
Anyway, if you're looking for an incredible game dealing with playing ghosts characters, or you just want some fantastic reading material and love RPG books, you should definitely give this a shot. Simply fantastic.
April 2, 2007
This game has been criticized for being unplayable, and perhaps its true - I only came across it once my connection to RPGs had moved from the actual to the theoretical. I tracked down a PDF of this game, and found it to be fascinating and well-written. I loved the ideas, the premise, and the system. Is it a good game to play? Players, not RPG academics like myself, will have to answer that one.
May 14, 2012
I had a great Wraith experience. I don't think that Wraith consistently produces great experiences, but I, and my friends, had one. So Wraith will always have a special place in my heart. The setting is evocative and kicks off some really great stories. The system is storyteller, so pretty garbage, but that's not a deal killer. On the plus side, Wraith has an additional element to the system: the Shadow. That part is way cool and sets it apart from other storyteller games.
April 7, 2008
All the things that bother me about White Wolf systems are brought to bare together in Wraith. From making Agnst an actual stat (like the typical white wolf player needs more of that) to seemingly discourage cooperation between characters it suprises me that this book managed to gain any following.
March 9, 2014
I never had the opportunity to play the game, but I loved reading the background material.
This book was a very dark. But what can you expect when the game revolves around spirits who can't or won't leave the realm of the living behind?
The information is written with such authenticity that it leaves you wondering "What does the author know, that I don't?".
This book was a very dark. But what can you expect when the game revolves around spirits who can't or won't leave the realm of the living behind?
The information is written with such authenticity that it leaves you wondering "What does the author know, that I don't?".
January 25, 2016
Superb book. Forget the RPG thing. You can read each and every Wraith supplement as a book. The stories oh my God the stories you see.
Wraith RPG books are ordinary books that you can also play as an RPG. NOT the other way around.
Wraith RPG books are ordinary books that you can also play as an RPG. NOT the other way around.
June 8, 2007
Good reading material; also the best role playing game ever.
July 22, 2008
Wonderful, dark, and twisted. The only thing that prevents this from being 4 stars is that it's a really hard game to run due to the Shadow.
April 12, 2008
Differentiation between different levels of reality is a bit lacking.
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