WRAITH DOWNTIME RULES

What do wraiths get up to when theyre not having adventures? This article helps answer
that question and offers rules to help Restless PCs gain small amounts of experience, acquire
temporary helpers, tools or weapons between stories and also earn oboli or alter their
Pathos or Angst.

Characters choose between Legion Work and Skin Work. Legion Work involves spending
time with other wraiths, carrying out duties to your factions and bosses or immersing
yourself in Stygian politics and culture. It frequently involves being assigned jobs by your
Hierarchy Legion, but for some wraiths it might include plotting with your Renegade band or
Heretic cult. Skin Work involves the spending time among the living, pursuing your Passions
and watching over your Fetters.

LEGION WORK

Roll your Status+Notoriety for the success of your Legion Work. Backgrounds like Mentor
could also add to the roll if the mentor is a figure with influence in the Shadowlands. Time
passes strangely in the Shadowlands, so the difficulty is not based on the duration of the
work but on interference from the Shadow (see below); in addition, Thorns like Aura of
Corruption add +1 to the difficulty of Legion Work.
-1 difficulty for Wraiths with Demeanours such as: Architect, Bureaucrat, Conniver,
Follower, Gambler (but only for Military Duty), Leader, Martyr, Mediator,
Traditionalist
+1 difficulty for Wraiths with Demeanours such as: Avant-Garde, Bon Vivant, Bravo,
Rebel, Visionary
Reverse these pluses and minuses for Work with Renegades or Heretics

Ties to the living world come as interruptions to Legion Work. Roll Legacy+Memoriam
(difficulty 8) and deduct successes from the overall effectiveness of the Legion Work. Overall
botches mean that the wraith has failed in her duties, broken Stygias laws or displeased the
Legion. This could lead to:
Temporary loss of Status (one point per botch)
Permanent loss of Status (for each botch left after Status has been temporarily
reduced to zero)
Alternatively, when Status temporarily hits zero botches could turn into Flaws like
Enemy or Hunted

The remaining successes can be spent on:

Military Duties

Some Legion Work involves dangerous military duties, like patrolling the Necropolis, raiding
Renegade or Heretic (or Hierarchy) haunts, standing guard at Nihils or protecting convoys
through the Tempest. This is dangerous work and the character rolls a single die and loses
that many Corpus levels; if the Shadow has Shadow Call or Dark Allies this can add to the
damage suffered. These levels are still lost at the start of the next Story. If all Corpus levels
are lost, the character will suffer a Harrowing at the start of the next Story. However,
successes from this work can be spent on these benefits:

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 Experience points directed towards Arcanoi such as: Argos, Castigate, Fatalism,
Intimation, Keening, Mnemosynis, Moliate, Usury
Experience points directed towards Backgrounds like: Allies (Restless), Artifact,
Contacts (Restless), Mentor, Notoriety, Relic, Status
Experience points directed towards raising Attributes

Remember, for every three experience points the character gains, the Shadow gains one
experience point too.

Civilian Duties

Legion Work can also involve more sedate civilian duties, like working in the soulforges,
keeping accounts, carrying messages or serving the Anacreons or Deathlords. Civilian duties
dont cause any harm but the successes are spent on the following benefits:

Temporary points in Backgrounds (Allies, Artifact, Contacts, Mentor, Notoriety, Relic,

Status) useful for just one story
A single use of an Arcanos at a rating equal to the successes, representing help from
an expert: commonly used to acquire high level effects from Argos, Fatalism,
Keening, Lifeweb or Castigate
Reduction in Angst, one point per success (reflecting time spent with a Pardoner
using Purify)
Buy Moliate changes to your Corpus: 2 successes buys cosmetic work (using Sculpt),
5 buys a Bodyshape makeover (including imitating someone else)
One obolos coin per success, representing Legion wages or services as an Artificer,
Usurer, Castigator, etc

SKIN WORK

Roll your Legacy+Memoriam for the success of your Skin Work. Backgrounds like Mentor
could also add to the roll if the Mentor has influence through the Shroud. Time passes
strangely in the Shadowlands, so the difficulty is not based on the duration of the work but
on interference from the Shadow (see below); in addition, Thorns like Deaths Sigil add +1 to
the difficulty of Skin Work.

-1 difficulty for Wraiths with Natures such as: Architect, Avant-Garde, Bon Vivant,
Bravo, Caregiver, Child, Explorer, Jester, Martyr, Rebel, Visionary
+1 difficulty for Wraiths with Natures such as: Bureaucrat, Follower, Leader

Duties in the Shadowlands come as interruptions to Skin Work. Roll Status+Notoriety

(difficulty 8) and deduct successes from the overall effectiveness of the Skin Work. Overall
botches mean that other wraiths are interfering with the characters Skin Work. This could
lead to:
Temporary loss of Fetters (one point per botch)
Permanent loss of Fetters (for each botch left after Status has been temporarily
reduced to zero)
Alternatively, when Fetters temporarily hit zero botches could turn into Flaws like
Enemy or Hunted

The remaining successes can be spent on:

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Haunting (violating the Dictum Mortuum)

Some Skin Work involves dealing directly with the Quick, appearing to them or possessing
them. This is draining work and stressful too, since it must be kept secret. The character rolls
a single die and loses that many Pathos points and/or Willpower points; the Shadow may ad
his Infamy Thorn to this number. These points are still lost at the start of the next Story. If all
these points are lost, the character will suffer automatic Catharsis at the start of the next
Story. However, successes from this work can be spent on these benefits:

Experience points directed towards Arcanoi such as: Embody, Fatalism, Flux, Inhabit,
Keening, Lifeweb, Outrage, Pandemonium, Phantasm, Puppetry
Experience points directed towards Backgrounds like: Allies (Quick), Contacts
(Quick), Haunt, Legacy, Mentor, Memoriam, Relic
Experience points directed towards raising Abilities
Experience points directed towards raising or creating new Passions or Fetters

Brooding (respecting the Dictum Mortuum)

Other wraiths prefer to watch the living without interacting directly with them. These
wraiths overhear many secrets, explore the Shadowlands and develop their powers more
cautiously. Successes from this work can be spent on these benefits:

Temporary points in Backgrounds (Allies, Contacts, Haunt, Legacy, Memoriam,

Mentor, Relic) useful for just one story
Successes can be invested in Attunement for Embody, Puppetry or Inhabit to create
Consorts - these successes replace Willpower points, though a wraith may need to
spend Willpower at the next story to "make up" the amount needed
Successes can be used to reap new wraiths (one success for a drone, two for a
wraith) who can be sold to the Hierarchy for oboli or developed into characters
Successes can count towards resolving a Fetter or Passion, using successes equal to
its current level to reduce the trait by 1; Fetters and Passions cannot be entirely
resolved this way: the final resolution ought to be part of a Story

THE SHADOW'S ROLE

The Shadow can make downtime easy or hard, depending on the Difficulty Angst
interference it creates. The Shadowguide can set the difficulty of 9 0
the downtime roll, in exchange for an amount of temporary 8 1
Angst. This can be subject to negotiation, but some Shadow 7 2
Natures offer only a "take-it-or-leave-it" option. The Castigate 6 3
power Coax can be used to "nudge" a Shadow away from its fixed 5 4
position by one step per success, up or down the chart. The Angst 4 5
gain for the Shadow isnt entirely automatic. If the character has Eidolon this can be used as
a soak roll (difficulty 6) to cancel out a point of Angst with each success.

The Shadow can also offer Shadow Dice for other Downtime rolls, gaining temporary Angst
for each 1 rolled, as normal.

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EFFECTS OF THE LEGIONS

Optionally, allow Legion affiliations to affect Downtime. Belonging to a Legion enables a

character to substitute an Ability for one of the traits in Legion Work or Skin Work. The
Legions convey other benefits as well, based on their culture:
Legion Trait & benefit
Emerald (Happenstance) Trait: Bureaucracy
Kindness: +1 success in civilian duties
Renowned Negotiators: adjust Shadows help 1 step
Military setbacks: -1 success in military duties
Doomed (Fate) Trait: Enigmas
Paper-work: Double oboli payments
Suspicions: +1 difficulty for Legion Work
Fated: roll two different Downtimes and pick the best one
Grim (Violence) Trait: Investigation
Chance for Revenge: dont roll Status+Notoriety to oppose
hauntings
Warrior mentality: +1 success in military duty
Dark mentality: Shadow gains +1 Angst each Downtime
Iron (Old Age) Trait: Leadership
Directed time: Roll a die for Downtime: 1-3 military duty, 4-6
civilian duty, 7-0 own choice
Dictum Mortuum: cannot improve Arcanoi through haunting
Training: +1 success in any Legion Work
Paupers (Mystery) Trait: Empathy
Unhappy with lot: +1 difficulty for Legion Work
Mystery to resolve: dont roll Status+Notoriety to oppose
brooding
Soft discipline: ignore 1 botch for Legion Work
Penitent (Madness) Trait: Intimidation
Policing the mad: double the number of botches overall
Elite Corps: +1 success in military duties
Hatred of the Shadow: deduct 1 Angst from what the Shadow
earns
Silent (Despair) Trait: Awareness
Subtle practices: -1 difficulty for Legion Work
Desperate missions:, +1 damage from military duty
Renowned Castigators: extra -1 Angst from civilian duty
Skeletal (Pestilence) Trait: Medicine
Forbidden Arcanoi: Cannot improve Embody, Flux Intimation,
Lifeweb, Mnemosynis, Outrage, Pandemonium, Puppetry
Archers: +1 success in military duties
External Affairs: Use a Trait from another Legion for rolling
towards civilian duties
Renegades Typical Traits: Subterfuge, Politics, Melee
Free agent: no Status+Notoriety roll to resist Skin Work
On the run: +1 difficulty for Legion Work, +1 damage from
military duty
Heretics Typical Traits: Awareness, Meditation, Occult
Example adjustment: no Harrowings from military duty but -1
success

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EXPERIENCE POINTS

Experience points from Downtime must be allocated immediately to the trait they are
improving they dont slosh around in the general pool of points. No trait can be improved
entirely from points gained in Downtime; at least one experience point for an increasing trait
must come from the Story.

MENTORS

Mentors are very helpful during Downtime, but the Storyteller might restrict their input to
particular types of Work. Typically a single mentor can help with one type of Work (military,
civilian, haunting or brooding). This should be chosen at character creation.

CAN I GET A ONE-SHOT BACKGROUND, LIKE MENTOR, AND USE IT IN THE NEXT
DOWNTIME INSTEAD OF DURING THE NEXT STORY?

Yes.

CAN I USE DOWNTIME TO PICK UP FORBIDDEN ARCANOI?

If the Storyteller allows it. If you are acquiring them as temporary Arcanoi, then they should
cost one extra success more than usual to pick up, unless there is a clear rationale in the
chronicle (eg your mentor is a banished Mnemoi or your best friend is a former Alchemist).

CAN I HAVE AN EXAMPLE?

Buckingham is a wraith of the Legion of Fate with Status 2 and Legacy 2 but he has Enigmas
3 which is Fates substitute trait. He tries Legion Work and his Shadow offers 3 Shadow Dice;
Buckingham can substitute his Enigmas of 3 for Notoriety, for a dice pool of 8. The Shadow
offers difficulty 4, but Buckingham is uncomfortable with granting the Shadow that much
Angst, so they haggle and agree on 6 so long as Buckingham stays away from the Pardoners.
Buckingham rolls his Eidolon of 1 and gets a success, so the Shadow only gets 2 Angst. The
player rolls 8 dice and gets 4 successes with no 1s on the Shadow Dice. He then rolls 2 dice
for his Skinlands commitments and gets one success, giving him 3 successes overall. He
decides to go for civilian duties. He could spend his time with a Pardoner, wiping out 3
points of Angst and leaving him better than he started. Alternatively, he could earn 3 oboli,
gain a one-shot use of a rank 3 arcanos power (like Splice Strand to gain a temporary new
Fetter somewhere important) or a temporary Background, like a 3 point Relic sword, for the
next Story.

As a Legionnaire of Fate, Buckingham can roll a second Downtime. He decides to try a

haunting. He rolls Legacy+Enigmas, with his 3 Shadow Dice at difficulty 6 and gets 5
successes, but with a 1 on the Shadow Dice, so the Shadow has now gained a total of 3
Angst. He rolls 2 dice for his Legion duties and gets no successes, so he has 5 successes in
total. These turn into experience points towards raising Abilities, Arcanoi or certain
Backgrounds. He decides to put a point into Relic and match this with one of his Story-based
experience points, taking Relic to 2; he decides this is a stash of Stygian paper for his relic
typewriter. He puts 3 points into Embody, but needs to earn a fourth point from a story to
raise this Arcanos to 2. The remaining point goes towards increasing his Stamina.

The player will probably decide to take the second Downtime, despite the big hike in Angst.