LIFEWEB

Lifeweb is the study of the ties between wraiths and the living world. A master of this Arcanos’ secrets can sense and manipulate the bonds of the Fetters, handling their energy as a weaver manipulates her shuttle and loom. Lifeweb allows a wraith to monitor her Fetters’ energy, keeping track of them even at a distance. Some sit at the heart of these webs, extending their senses to any “trouble spot” as it is disturbed. Others actively walk among people, places and things, marking some as temporary Fetters in order to watch over them more efficiently.

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DIFFICULTY:

Under normal circumstances, Fetters reside in the Skinlands, so when a Lifeweb art affects a Fetter,

The difficulty is 7+ the Shroud rating at that Fetter’s location.

 

If the Fetter somehow winds up in the Underworld, the difficulty is as follows.

• If it’s in the Shadowlands, 14+ 

• If it’s in the Tempest 16+

• If it’s in the Labyrinth, closest to Oblivion 18+ 

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SHROUD THICKNESS RATING

RATING                       AREA                                           

    1                             Cearn                                                

    2                             Node/Graveyard                               

    3                             Deep Wilderness                                 

    4                             Rural Countryside                               

    5                             No mans land                                     

    6                             Most Urban Areas                             

    7                             Downtown alley

    8                             Downtown interior locations

    9                             Downtown Mainstreet.          

    10                           Technocratic Lab*   

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DETECTION:

Even the subtlest Lifeweb uses can have an observer effect, potentially warning the target that the Monitor is examining him.

When a wraith is subject to any Lifeweb art that isn’t immediately obvious through other means...

ROLL: PERCEPTION + OCCULT

DIFFICULTY 14+  

SUCCESS:

• One success alerts him to the fact that someone’s toying with part of his being.

• With three or more successes, he identifies the Monitor as the source.

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LIFEWEB COMMON

◉ SENSE STRANDS (COMMON)

The Monitor develops a constant intuitive awareness of her Fetters’ locations. By concentrating on one, she can extend her perceptions to its immediate vicinity. 

SYSTEM I: Locate Fetter

PASSIVE:  Once the wraith learns this art, she always knows where their Fetters are. No roll is necessary.

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SYSTEM II: Fetter Sense

FREE ACTION:

The Monitor extends her senses to one of Their Fetters.

ROLL:  PERCEPTION + LIFEWEB RANK 

DIFFICULTY: 7 + Shroud Rating (of fetters location)

SUCCESS:

Allows the wraith to perceive a five meter per success radius around her Fetter with normal, (If death sight is normal) vision for 1 turn per success 

The wraith may also spend 1 Pathos to  make Perception + Occult rolls to sense any supernatural activity around or near their fetter (Supernatural activity other than her own.) Difficulty to detect (but NOT identify source of) Supernatural activity is 12+

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◉◉ STRAND CHANNEL (COMMON)

The wraith can extend her presence to a Fetter, channelling her voice and Arcanoi as if she were standing beside it. 

SYSTEM:

NORMAL ACTION

SPEND 2 PATHOS

ROLL:   INTELLIGENCE + LIFEWEB RANK

DIFFICULTY:  7 + Shroud Rating (of fetters location)

SUCCESS:

• For one turn per success, the wraith may use any Arcanos art she knows as if she were at the Fetter’s location

• She may still use Arcanos normally at her own location if she so chooses

• She also may speak through the Fetter, with her voice seeming to originate from it. 

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If the wraith isn’t already using Sense Strands to perceive her fetter’s location, every two successes on the roll to activate Strand Channel count as one success for Sense Strands.

This applies even if the Monitor doesn’t know Sense Strands. (although the perception + occult roll is NOT possible this route)

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◉◉◉ SPLICE STRAND (COMMON) 

From sensing and using existing Fetters, the Monitor moves to building new connections to the world of the Quick. Through intense concentration and physical contact with a person, place, or thing, she can establish a temporary Fetter bond with it — or between it and another wraith.

SYSTEM I: Temporary Fetter Self.

NORMAL ACTION: The character first touches the living being, place, or material object that she wants to make into a temporary Fetter.

SPEND: 3 PATHOS

ROLL: INTELLIGENCE + LIFEWEB RANK

DIFFICULTY:  10 + Shroud Rating (of fetters location)

SUCCCESS:

With any successes, the target becomes a new one-dot Fetter for the Monitor. This lasts one day per success rolled. This one-dot fetter must be attended as with any one-dot fetter or it will deteriorate. This fetters loss will -not- cause a harrowing upon its loss.

No wraith may have more than one temporary Fetter at a time through this art. 

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SYSTEM I: Temporary Fetter wraith.

NORMAL ACTION: The character first touches the living being, place, or material object that she wants to make into a temporary Fetter and the wraith she wishes to give the fetter to.

SPEND: 4 PATHOS

GAIN:  1 ANGST if the other wraith is unwilling

ROLL: INTELLIGENCE + LIFEWEB RANK

DIFFICULTY:  10 + Shroud Rating (of fetters location) OR

VERSUS:       Target wraith COMPOSURE + RESOLVE + SHROUD RATING if the wraith is unwilling.

SUCCESS:

If the Monitor succeeds, the temporary Fetter transfers from her to the target wraith. The effects of Splice Strand last for one day per initial success. After that, the wraith holding the temporary Fetter may pay 1 Pathos per day to maintain it.

No wraith may have more than one temporary Fetter at a time through this art. 

 

The Monitor may use Splice Strand to repair the effect of Sever Strand.

All difficulties increase by 2, but success restores the Fetter at its full strength and permanence (and ongoing Pathos maintenance is unnecessary).

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◉◉◉◉ SEVER STRAND (COMMON) 

This unwholesome art empowers the Monitor to rend wraiths from their Fetters. Unfortunate victims of Sever Strand suffer the usual effects of losing Fetters, plunging straight into Harrowings. Sever Strand closely resembles the dark arts by which some Spectres can rend Fetters, a fact which some critics have used to question the Monitors’ Guild’s relationship with the Labyrinth. 

SYSTEM:

NORMAL ACTION: The Monitor must touch the target Fetter.

SPEND:  3 PATHOS

GAIN:   1 ANGST per success

ROLL:     INTELLIGENCE + LIFEWEB RANK vs COMPOSURE + RESOLVE + SHROUD RATING

SUCCCESS:

• Each success reduces the Fetter by 1 dot

• If a Fetter is reduced in power but not completely severed, it recovers one lost dot per hour.

• A wraith whose Fetter is severed through this art (and who survives the subsequent Harrowing) may reattach the Fetter by touching it and spending 1 PATHOS per fetters dot ranking.

• As mentioned, A wraith who has his fetter severed  (Reduced to zero)  is plunged into a fetter harrowing.

 

Alternately, he may use Splice Strand (or seekout a friendlier Monitor) to repair the damage.

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◉◉◉◉◉ STRANDS INTERWOVEN (A.K.A Souls Interwoven )(COMMON)

A Monitor who masters the interplay of energy between wraiths and their Fetters may establish her own new, permanent bonds. The wraith using this art takes on a willing mortal as a Fetter. In return, the mortal can communicate with the Monitor at will. The mortal must enter into the bargain voluntarily, though the Monitor is certainly free to make promises she has no intention of keeping. That matter is between her and her Shadow.

SYSTEM

NORMAL ACTION: The Monitor must touch the being she wishes to bond as a Fetter.

SPEND 5 PATHOS

GAIN:   ANGST = to half the subjects combined COMPOSURE + RESOLVE if subject is a Vampire or Wan -Kuei  

ROLL:    INTELLIGENCE + LIFEWEB RANK vs COMPOSURE + RESOLVE + SHROUD RATING

SUCCESSES:

The number of successes determines the new Fetter’s strength:

1-2 successes Fetter ◉ 

3-5 successes Fetter ◉◉

6+ successes Fetter ◉◉◉ 

As long as the wraith has the subject as a Fetter, the subject can communicate with the Monitor, regardless of location or distance.

Each party must speak aloud to be heard, and any supernatural power relying exclusively on speech may pass over this link (in either direction).

DO NOTE: This fetter will require Maintenance appropriate for its fetter rank. (Meaning the wraith must visit the character fetter that often)

Use of Souls Interwoven is a blatant violation of the Dictum Mortuum, which is why sensible Monitors claim it’s impossible.

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LIFEWEB INITIATE

RESTRICTED TO

◉ MONITORS  ◉ PUPPETEERS  ◉ SOLICITORS ◉

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◉ VIBRATIONS IN THE WEB  (INITIATE)

While Sense Strands focuses on the Monitor’s own Fetters, this complementary art extends her perceptions outward, enabling her to perceive the connections between other wraiths and their Fetters.

SYSTEM I: 

FREE ACTION: The Monitor scans a wraith to determine its fetters.

SPEND: 1 PATHOS

ROLL: PERCEPTION + LIFEWEB RANK  vs COMPOSURE + RESOLVE + SHROUD RATING

SUCCESS: 

Each success gives the Monitor one piece of information about one of the target’s Fetters: location, physical description, or emotional significance to the target. 

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SYSTEM II: Scan Object/person

FREE ACTION: The Monitor examines an object or person to determine if it is a Fetter.

SPEND: 1 PATHOS

ROLL: PERCEPTION + LIFEWEB RANK 

DIFFICULTY: 7+ SHROUD RATING

SUCCESS: 

Each success gives the Monitor one piece of information about one wraith who has the target as a Fetter: location, physical description, or emotional relationship with the Fetter.

If the Monitor is trying to determine whether the subject is a Fetter for a particular wraith, this is the first piece of information she gleans.

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◉◉ MOVEMENT  IN THE WEB  (INITIATE)

Once the Monitor learns to perceive the energy traces that bind the Restless to their Fetters, she can refine this sense to uncover more subtle relationships between the wraith and the world of the Quick. Movement in the Web reveals the emotional resonance between a given wraith and the collective minds of humanity.

SYSTEM:

FREE ACTION:

SPEND 1 PATHOS

ROLL:    PERCEPTION + LIFEWEB RANK vs COMPOSURE + RESOLVE + SHROUD RATING

SUCCESS:

Each success reveals one key fact about one of the target’s Backgrounds that involves a connection to the living. Typically, these will be Legacy, or Memoriam or Soulforging school or relics.  If the scrutinized wraith has none of these Backgrounds, that’s useable information, too…

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◉◉◉ WEB PARASITE  (INITIATE)

A Monitor who fully understands another wraith’s reflections in mortal memories can attune herself to those connections, using their power as if they were her own. In doing so, she also assumes a portion of her victim’s psyche. It’s an unsettling metamorphosis, but one that’s necessary to deceive the Underworld’s metaphysics. Oblivion, of course, is not so easily fooled, and the Monitor’s Shadow sometimes gains unpleasant insight into the victim — insight that the victim’s Shadow reciprocally shares when Web Parasite’s effects lapse. 

SYSTEM:

NORMAL ACTION: The Monitor must understand (through Movement in the Web or basic investigation) another wraith’s connection to a Legacy or Memoriam Background and must be in a place with an actual or symbolic connection to the Background in question.

SPEND: 1 PATHOS & 1 HEALTH

GAIN:   1 ANGST per Success 

ROLL:     PERCEPTION + LIFEWEB RANK

SUCCESS:

Each success transfers 1 dot of the Background from its rightful owner to the Monitor.

The Monitor also gains the target wraith’s strongest Passion at 1 dot. 

It also gains the strongest Dark Passion of the target wraith’s Shadow at 1 dot.

DURATION: 

Web Parasite’s effects last for one week.

This art is immediately obvious, though the victim doesn’t automatically know who’s leeching his connections to the Quick.

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◉◉◉◉ WALK THE WEB  (INITIATE)

Drawing on the spiritual tug of a Fetter, the Monitor can travel to it with breath taking speed. This allows not only convenient travel for ordinary business but a swift rescue of a threatened Fetter. However, a wise Monitor looks before leaping— threatening a Fetter to lure a wraith into ambush is a time-honored tactic.

SYSTEM:

NORMAL ACTION:

SPEND: 3 PATHOS & 2 HEALTH (+1 Pathos per passenger)

ROLL: PERCEPTION + LIFEWEB RANK

DIFFICULTY: 7 + SHROUD RANK (at location of Fetter) (+1 per additional passenger)

SUCCESS 

Successes determine travel time, regardless of distance:

• 1 success One hour.

• 2 successes 15 minutes.

• 3 successes One minute.

• 4 successes 15 seconds (5 turns).

• 5 successes One turn. 

While traveling via this art, the wraith is a hazy, intangible presence in the Underworld. To her perceptions, her surroundings are likewise a gray blur, save for a shining silver network of links between wraiths and Fetters. She may take no other actions while traveling, including using other Lifeweb arts. 

The Monitor may bring along companions. All members of the group must hold hands.

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◉◉◉◉◉ MASTER IN THE WEB  (INITIATE)

For all its powers of manipulation, Lifeweb is an Arcanos of seeing and knowing. Elder Monitors who study Lifeweb’s signs and symbols in detail can transcend their perceptions to a state of near-omniscience. However, the constant, inescapable flood of information grinds away the Monitor’s Psyche — and invigorates her Shadow with visions of the damage it can do.

SYSTEM:

PASSIVE:

The monitor may use

◉ SENSE STRANDS  (COMMON)

◉ VIBRATIONS IN THE WEB (INITIATE) 

◉◉ MOVEMENT IN THE WEB (INITIATE) 

• Without paying PATHOS so long as the art in question does not BOTCH!

• She also gains 3 additional successes if she rolls 1 success on these arts.

• HOWEVER: The wraiths shadow automatically gains +1 on all rolls it is required to make and Catharsis rolls the wraith make now have an Additional +1 difficulty.

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