Welcome to the land of the living, also known as the “what” or “what next?” The Risen has emerged and this is as good as his body’s going to get: passably alive. This is everything he’s geared himself toward, pursuing the object of his obsession and putting matters to the right. This will not be the happy reunion a Risen expects, however. The Risen returns with senses that have beheld and were warped by the Underworld, and they can
never see the living, breathing world the same way. Everything is doomed to die, and the wraith will often fixate on the ebb of that cycle.

The lost human senses don’t return with the same clarity, and the reality of a rose cannot hold up against the memory of its beauty. More so, the Risen comes back with additional senses: their Deathsight, Lifesight, and Heightened Senses. Their eyesight and hearing are microscopes and microphones
held to the living world; they no longer perceive the painting as a whole, but rather see the individual brushstrokes of dried, cracked paint. How can one appreciate the beauty of life when all they can see are its imperfections?

Then there’s the obsession, the one compulsion that drove the wraith to risk damnation and destruction to get this far. The Risen is less likely to stop and smell the roses when all he can think about is his obsession. Everything becomes a distraction, with the clock ticking, the Shadow waiting, and the obsession that powered the wraith out of the grave not letting him rest.

As a result, Risen strive toward realizing the object of their quest with all speed. They don’t sleep, they don’t eat, and they power themselves endlessly toward their driving obsession. At the same time, they may need to collaborate with mortals to achieve their goals, and that means trying to fit in with humanity long enough to build the needed relationships to achieve the Risen’s ends. Making human connections could ameliorate the Shadow’s pernicious influence, but at the same time they could distract the Risen from the reason for returning, and that potentially opens the door to disaster. It’s a fine line to walk, and a Risen is always caught in that tension.

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NOTE: RISEN is not intended to be a full species choice. It is a status effect that wraith characters may take once in their wraith characters lifetime, and sometimes not even that. Risen are rare, extremely rare, Risen that stick around for more than a year, are unheard of, except in the East, but that's a different set of circumstances entirely. The only western Risen to consistently return was Persephone, but then she was Charon's Lover.... chances are you aren't the lover of the vanished creator of the underworld.

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NO SHEET CHANGE: The risen do not have a separate character sheet, because all the abilities a Risen have are derived from abilities the Wraith has. (This is another reason why can't simply start as Risen, you need a wraith sheet to play anyway. ) The only xp a Risen may spend is on gear and weapons purchased for Skinlands use. However these items will be lost once the character becomes a wraith again.

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The Arcanos of the Risen replace Redundant Arcanos that Risen cannot use. Likewise wraith who are not Risen may not use Risen Arcanos under any circumstances.

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Risen Arcanos make Risen quite formidable in the skinlands, along with their innate abilities. A wraith with a lot of Arcanos is likely to be very powerful when they become Risen. Without a doubt such characters need -focused- outlets, this is why storyteller must be involved with the creation of the risen goals. To make sure that the nuclear weapon is at least guided towards a specific target or set of targets. If these targets are NPC's all is good, if these targets are player characters, there must be history to justify it.

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THEME AND GAME OVER

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Ultimately, When white wolf first created the Risen back in the 1990's it was heavily influenced (as the Arcanos of the Risen can attest to) By the movie The Crow, and to a lesser extent the comic books that movie is based on.

 

One should remember those comics and that movie -ended-, just as a Risen Storyline must end at some point. The wraith storyline does not necessarily end with the resolution of the Risen chapter of their story, they will still have other unresolved passions that don't require the risen form.

 

However, in the unlikely event that the Risen resolves -all- passions during their return, they will of course enter a game over scenario and maybe -transcendence- ... of course there is always the possibility the shadow will use the opportunity of the return to -destroy- all the wraiths passions, thus leading to the ultimate destruction harrowing.

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Ultimately it is up to you to decide if your character still has unresolved passions when they return to wraith form after the risen chapter is concluded.

There are some things you need to consider though.

• Did you deal with your Risen chapter in a subtle way?

• Are the Hierarchy away that you broke the Dictum Mortuum? 

• Did your shadow use the opportunity to destroy your passions or fetters?

• Were your fellow wraith players with or against your rampage through the skinlands?

• All of these things can have an impact on your return to wraith form after your risen campaign. Your shadow might have messed up some things for your fellow wraith and damaged or destroyed their passions too... or they might have requested you deal with some skinlands issues during your Risen status..  all of this builds story and should be considered. If you are too overt, there's always the risk the Hierarchy will send their risen agents after you while you are risen. Then of course there are the Returned of the East, who may want you to be less overt, after all the Hierarchy doesn't really distinguish one type of risen over the other and neither does the second inquisition, this could lead to interesting conflicts between risen and returned, or they can potentially help your character, if anyone understands the risen condition, it is they.

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