History TabletopGame / WraithTheOblivion

* WorldWreckingWave: ''Six'' of them. Five of the Great Maelstroms were caused by historical events that thrust large numbers of the dead into the Underworld at once: the fall of Rome, the Black Plague, the Conquest of the Americas, World War I and the Spanish Flu, and World War II, the atom bombs, and the Holocaust. The relic of one of said atom bombs caused the Sixth and final Great Maelstrom when it was accidenally set off near the mouth of Oblivion.

* WorldWreckingWave: ''Six'' of them.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Imagine that nearly all the historical figures from the other gamelines that weren't secretly a supernatural end up in the Shadowlands eventually. On the actual "historical influence" level, it's revealed that Guy de Maupassant's nervous breakdown and death was the result of his pissed-off brother's wraith, who screwed with his dreams using Phantasm.

* FanNickname: "The Big Grey Book of Depressing", because of its less than cheery subject matter, and White Wolf's decision to print the books in grey ink on grey paper.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There was a ''Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah'' video game planned, which was intended to be an educational game about the Holocaust. It never ended up being released, due to controversy. ExtraCredits has done an episode on the game, defending its right to exist, and what good games have the potential to do as a medium.

This game contains examples of:

''Wraith'' was considered a tough concept to handle, even for the World of Darkness. The characters were constantly at war with themselves (and sometimes each other) while trying to find their place in both life and death. The concept required advanced troupe-style roleplay, with each player playing their own character, someone else's Shadow, and occasionally other characters. The first edition focused more on the personal struggles than the actual setting; it took the second edition to truly flesh out the Shadowlands. ''Wraith'' was the first and only gameline in the Old World of Darkness to be cancelled before TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

The game later received a spiritual sequel in the form of ''TabletopGame/{{Orpheus}}'' (which dealt with humans and ghosts who dealt with troublesome spirits and investigated the wreckage of the Shadowlands). The [[TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness New WoD]] gameline ''[[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Geist: The Sin-Eaters]]'' is another spiritual sequel, delving into the [=NWoD=]'s Underworld, with the [=PCs=] basically being half-human spirit mediums who have merged with mostly beneficial -- if unbalanced -- ghost partners.

** {{Narm}} example: the baby ghosts of dead [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse werelizards!]]

The game later received a spiritual sequel in the form of ''{{Orpheus}}'' (which dealt with humans and ghosts who dealt with troublesome spirits and investigated the wreckage of the Shadowlands). The [[NewWorldOfDarkness New WoD]] gameline ''[[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Geist: The Sin-Eaters]]'' is another spiritual sequel, delving into the [=NWoD=]'s Underworld, with the [=PCs=] basically being half-human spirit mediums who have merged with mostly beneficial -- if unbalanced -- ghost partners.

* ElectromagneticGhosts: ''Artificers'', wraiths who learn the Inhabit Arcanos, can [[HauntedTechnology posess machines]] and even travel along communication networks.

* MagicalSociety: The Guilds, organisations specializing in a particular Arcanos, who each fill a particular role in wraith society.

** There's one more version of the game, with the Shadows having their own players - every character is then played by two people, one of which has completely no reasons not to be active.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There was a Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah video game planned, which was intended to be an educational game about the Holocaust. It never ended up being released, due to controversy. ExtraCredits has done an episode on the game, defending its right to exist, and what games have the potential to do as a medium.

''Wraith'' was considered a tough concept to handle, even for the World of Darkness. The characters were constantly at war with themselves (and sometimes each other) while trying to find their place in both life and death. The first edition focused more on the personal struggles than the actual setting; it took the second edition to truly flesh out the Shadowlands. ''Wraith'' was the first and only gameline in the Old World of Darkness to be cancelled before TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

* AfterlifeExpress -- The Midnight Express, which shepherds souls across the Shadowlands and serves as peaceful ground for all sorts of factions... including Oblivion.
* AndIMustScream -- Soulforging. That soulsteel sword you're holding, the kind of thing that makes mincemeat out of Spectres? Guess how fondly you'll look on it when you realize it's ''weeping''. The building blocks of Wraith technology are forged from Wraiths themselves.

* BackFromTheDead -- In a way. It's possible to permanently yield some power to your Shadow in order to reenter your body and become one of the Risen until you take care of some unfinished business. Yup; you become Franchise/TheCrow.
* BlackBugRoom -- Harrowings. If your corpus is damaged past the point of coherency, you end up facing down your own worst nightmares, proudly fueled by Oblivion.
* CosmicHorrorStory -- You're stuck in a godless afterlife facing down the soldiers of Oblivion, one of which has a key position in the back of your mind. Have fun.
* CrapsackWorld -- Not only is this the World of Darkness, but you're "living" in the [[UpToEleven darkest, grimmest, most hopeless place in it!]]

* CreepyChild -- The Striplings, Spectres of those who died before they went past 10 years old. Form a society unto themselves, with their own Malfean. Even other Spectres (including the Malfeans) find them creepy.

* {{Crossover}} -- The supplement ''Ghost Towns'' is a crossover with ''[[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse Werewolf: The]] WildWest''.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy - Wraith was one of the OldWorldOfDarkness' less popular titles, and this criticism was frequently leveled at it. It even extends in universe. Many a wraith can easily fall to Oblivion through simple despair.

* DeaderThanDead -- Soulforging is often considered a form of this.

* DealWithTheDevil -- The Shadow is capable of offering temporary rewards to its host if they give it a little bit of power.

* DreamWeaver -- The Sandmen, masters of the Phantasm Arcanos.
* EldritchAbomination -- The Neverborn are entities born directly of necrotic essence, intertwined with the power of Oblivion. They maintain the HiveMind network that runs through all the Spectres and seek to devour reality. And then there's the Kraken, an enormous tentacled monstrosity that occasionally pokes bits of itself into the Shadowlands and is believed by many to be an Eldritch Abomination of some sort.

* TheEmpire -- Stygia, as embodied by the Hierarchy.
* EnemyWithin -- The Shadow, which keeps trying to get you to make deals with it and give into its will. Ironically, Spectres ''also'' have an EnemyWithin, the Psyche, that drives them to remember who they were in life and do good things.

* EvilIsEasy -- One book eventually revealed that Spectres have an EnemyWithin, the Psyche, that was able to cause a HeelFaceTurn. Of course, the odds of that happening were ''much'' lower than a Shadow causing a Wraith to undergo a FaceHeelTurn.
* FanNickname -- "The Big Grey Book of Depressing", because of its less than cheery subject matter, and White Wolf's decision to print the books in grey ink on grey paper.
* FateWorseThanDeath -- Oh, are there ''ever''. First of all, there's becoming a Spectre, which means your self is lost to eternity as you become a foot soldier for Oblivion. And then there's soulforging, wherein you are sentenced by the Hierarchy for crimes you have committed (or even ones you haven't) to have your corpus ''boiled into molten ore and forged into an object.'' Those who carry soulsteel swear they can hear it ''weeping'' at times.
* FunctionalMagic -- The Arcanoi, Inherent Gifts based on manipulation of life energy.

* TheHeartless -- Shadows and Spectres.
* HumanoidAbomination -- The Onceborn. As opposed to the Neverborn, they were human at one point, but they were such bastards that upon death, they plummeted right into becoming Spectres, and then ascended to the grand ranks of the Malfeans.
* HumansAreBastards and/or {{Tearjerker}} -- ''Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah'' deals with Wraiths spawned from the Holocaust. There's no "BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy" here; humans are perfectly capable of atrocities on their own. It is considered by some to be the single darkest sourcebook White Wolf has ever released. While many titles in the Black Dog line were simply RatedMForMoney, this one truly is ''not'' for the faint of heart.

* MagicalSociety -- The Guilds, organisations specializing in a particular Arcanos, who each fill a particular role in wraith society.
* {{Mana}} -- Pathos, emotional energy that wraiths gather by feasting on examples of their guiding Passions.

* TheNecrocracy -- The Hierarchy, rulers and supporters of Stygia, the Dark Kingdom of Iron. There are several other Kingdoms in the Shadowlands, such as the Dark Kingdom of Jade (the Far East); some (such as the Dark Kingdom of Obsidian, the {{Mayincatec}} Shadowlands) were even wiped out by an expansionist Stygia.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent -- They're either perfectly reasonable folks tied to this world by old bonds... or evil spirits bent on destruction.
* PowerOfTheVoid -- You ''saw'' the title, right? Same thing applies to all Oblivion's soldiers -- the Neverborn, the Onceborn, and the Spectres alike.

* [[RecycledInSpace Recycled IN DEATH!]] -- ''Wraith: [-THE GREAT WAR!-]'' (one of the very few games of any medium based on WorldWarOne) and ''Dark Kingdom of Jade'' (Wraiths [-OF THE EAST!-]) There were actually several Dark Kingdoms based on different cultures, but Jade is the only one that got its own book; the rest of the non-North American/European kingdoms were detailed in the ''Wraith Player's Guide''.

* {{Seers}} -- The Oracles' Guild, practitioners of the Fatalism Arcanos.
* {{Shapeshifting}} -- The purview of the Masquers, who practice the Moliate Arcanos.
* ShoutOut -- Compare [[http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm224/Zenoseiya/wraith2epg207.jpg this artwork from page 207]] of the Wraith 2nd edition rulebook to [[http://www.gnosis.art.pl/iluminatornia/sztuka_o_inspiracji/zdzislaw_beksinski/zdzislaw_beksinski_1971.jpg this piece painted by Zdzislaw Beksinski]].

* UnfinishedBusiness -- Represented mechanically by Passions and Fetters.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential -- In some editions, it was recommended that the ''players'', not the Storyteller, provide the voices of another character's Shadow. That went over real well, I bet.

Wait. [[ItGotWorse It gets worse]]. Also parking its tuchus in the Shadowlands is a grand malevolent force known as Oblivion. Seeking to drag all existence down its sinkhole, Oblivion sends its soldiers, the Spectres, out to make the world a much worse place. One of those soldiers is parked in your head. It's called your Shadow, and it's constantly going to wheedle you, cajole you, taunt you, set you up, and make your life a living hell until you give it what it wants -- that is, all control over you, making you a Spectre in full.

** [[ItGotWorse Even]] [[SenselessSacrifice worse]] when you learn that [[UsefulNotes/ChineseFuneraryCustoms hell money]] can send just about anything you want to the other side.

* {{World-Wrecking Wave}}: ''Six'' of them.

* BackFromTheDead -- In a way. It's possible to permanently yield some power to your Shadow in order to reenter your body and become one of the Risen until you take care of some unfinished business. Yup; you become TheCrow.

** The supplement, Risen, is basically a guide on how to turn your wraith into [[TheCrow the Crow]], but the most important step, after still having a corpse, is begging your Shadow to let you get back into your corpse.

* FateWorseThanDeath -- Oh, and are there. First of all, there's becoming a Spectre, which means your self is lost to eternity as you become a foot soldier for Oblivion. And then there's soulforging, wherein you are sentenced by the Hierarchy for crimes you have committed (or even ones you haven't) to have your corpus ''boiled into molten ore and forged into an object.'' Those who carry soulsteel swear they can hear it ''weeping'' at times.

* CrapsackWorld -- Not only is this the World of Darkness, but you're "living" in the [[BeyondTheImpossible darkest, grimmest, most hopeless place in it!]]

* SpiritAdvisor: Played straight with a Spectres' Psyche, subverted with a Wraith's Shadow.

* HauntedHouse / [[HauntedCastle Castle]]: There are Arcanoi devoted to hijinks you can use on [[BeetleJuice people who mess with your former home.]]

** {{Narm}} example: the baby ghosts of dead [[WerewolfTheApocalypse werelizards!]]

* ElectromagneticGhosts: ''Artificers'' can [[HauntedTechnology posess machines]] and even travel along communication networks.

* EvilIsEasy -- One splat eventually revealed that Spectres have an EnemyWithin, the Psyche, that was able to cause a HeelFaceTurn. Of course, the odds of that happening were ''much'' lower than a Shadow causing a Wraith to undergo a FaceHeelTurn.

* HauntedHouse / [[HauntedCastle Castle]]: There are Arcanos devoted to hijinks you can use on [[[[BeetleJuice people who mess with your former home.]]

* MagicalSociety -- The Guilds, organisations specializing in a particular Arcanos, who fill a particular role in wraith society.

** MummyTheResurrection has mummies [[OffstageWaitingRoom loitering]] in the [[TheUnderworld Shadowlands]] between deaths.

* FunctionalMagic -- The Arcanoi, Inherent Gifts based on manipulation of life energy.

* DeaderThanDead -- Soulforging is often considered a form of this.

** In a more literal example, certain items that are destroyed will make their way into the Shadowlands, from guns to [[Hindenburg rigid airships.]]

A tabletop role-playing game in the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness, considered by many to be one of the most depressing of the lot. First of all, [[DeadToBeginWith you start off dead]]. And we don't mean [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade undead]], we mean ''dead''. You've failed to pass on to the true afterlife, and your soul has ended up in the Shadowlands, a decaying spiritual reflection of the real world. You're bound to this side of reality by your Fetters and Passions, [[UnfinishedBusiness emotional and physical ties to your old life]]. You have to negotiate the viper's nest of politics that's been set up in the Shadowlands -- a three-way clusterfuck between the oppressive Hierarchy, the revolutionary Renegades, and the devout Heretics -- while trying to protect and, eventually, resolve that which ties you to this life and move on to the true afterlife.

* [[RecycledInSpace Recycled IN SPACE!]] -- ''Wraith: [-THE GREAT WAR!-]'' (one of the very few games of any medium based on WorldWarOne) and ''Dark Kingdom of Jade'' (Wraiths [-OF THE EAST!-]) There were actually several Dark Kingdoms based on different cultures, but Jade is the only one that got its own book; the rest of the non-North American/European kingdoms were detailed in the ''Wraith Player's Guide''.

The game later received a spiritual sequel in the form of ''{{Orpheus}}'' (which dealt with humans and ghosts who dealt with troublesome spirits and investigated the wreckage of the Shadowlands). The [[NewWorldOfDarkness New WoD]] gameline ''[[GeistTheSinEaters Geist: The Sin-Eaters]]'' is another spiritual sequel, delving into the [=NWoD=]'s Underworld, with the [=PCs=] basically being half-human spirit mediums who have merged with mostly beneficial -- if unbalanced -- ghost partners.

A tabletop role-playing game in the Old WorldOfDarkness, considered by many to be one of the most depressing of the lot. First of all, [[DeadToBeginWith you start off dead]]. And we don't mean [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade undead]], we mean ''dead''. You've failed to pass on to the true afterlife, and your soul has ended up in the Shadowlands, a decaying spiritual reflection of the real world. You're bound to this side of reality by your Fetters and Passions, [[UnfinishedBusiness emotional and physical ties to your old life]]. You have to negotiate the viper's nest of politics that's been set up in the Shadowlands -- a three-way clusterfuck between the oppressive Hierarchy, the revolutionary Renegades, and the devout Heretics -- while trying to protect and, eventually, resolve that which ties you to this life and move on to the true afterlife.

''Wraith'' was considered a tough concept to handle, even for the World of Darkness. The characters were constantly at war with themselves (and sometimes each other) while trying to find their place in both life and death. The first edition focused more on the personal struggles than the actual setting; it took the second edition to truly flesh out the Shadowlands. ''Wraith'' was the first (and pretty much only) gameline in the Old World of Darkness to be cancelled before TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

''A Storytelling Game of Death and Damnation.'' --1st edition tagline

''Wraith'' was considered a tough concept to handle, even for the World of Darkness. The characters were constantly at war with themselves (and sometimes each other) while trying to find their place in both life and death. The first edition focused more on the personal struggles than the actual setting; it took the second edition to truly flesh out the Shadowlands. ''Wraith'' was the first (and pretty much only) gameline in the Old World of Darkness to be cancelled before TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. It later received a spiritual sequel in the form of ''{{Orpheus}}'' (which dealt with humans and ghosts who dealt with troublesome spirits and investigated the wreckage of the Shadowlands).

The New [=WoD=] gameline ''[[GeistTheSinEaters Geist: The Sin-Eaters]]'' is another spiritual sequel; while the [[PlayerCharacter PCs]] have been explicitly stated not to be ghosts, it does explore the [=NWoD=]'s Underworld. The tone of Changeling: The Dreaming and Wraith: The Oblivion were basically swapped in the new World of Darkness for Geist: The Sin Eaters and Changeling: The Lost. In Geist, the [=PCs=] are basically happy half-human spirit mediums possessed by mostly beneficial -- if unbalanced -- ghost partners.