*Here is some more material relevant to playing the Giovanni that isn't covered in the books that has been garnered off the NET*

Wraithly Retainers

the Giovanni Advantage

Clan Giovanni has an incredible advantage in that they may have wraiths as retainers. Many chronicles, however, are unable to adequately deal with this aspect of the game. The following, therefore, is offered as a guide to all live-action players and storytellers for the Giovanni retainers, and has been adopted for use in the Champaign-Urbana chronicle.

Wraithly Retainers are to be written out on 3x5 cards like items, and like items must be checked when arriving at a chronicle. Moreover, if (like Champaign-Urbana) there is an ongoing Wraith chronicle, the Wraith chronicle should be informed about said retainers.

The assumption here is that players are not all that familiar with Wraith: the Oblivion, nor need they be. These rules are an extremely abbreviated version of Oblivion, and are intended for Giovanni retainers and those with the flaw Haunted. Alternately, they could be used as an introduction to the world of Oblivion.

While this system may seem overly simplified, keep in mind that the purpose of the system is to stream-line NPC's; it is not meant for fully developed player characters. As such they can not have Xp spent on them. Moreover, the NPC's will not be as powerful as player wraiths in the same way that ghouled retainers are not as powerful as player ghouls. Every attempt to maintain this sort of balance has been maintained.

Player characters may not be wraith retainers but may play allies of wraiths. As such they would be made as normal wraiths according to the wraith LARP rules. 

In addition, Risen may not be taken as a wraith retainer.

Name - All Giovanni retainers should have a name.

Archetype - Sort of a nature and demeanor combined in one, this would be a one word description of personality.

Concept - Why is the wraith serving the Giovanni? This is very important. Is she a haunter who also wants to destroy the shroud? Has she been imprisoned by the Giovanni? Did she make a pact with them for power? Or is she a malevolent spectre that finds the ways of a vampire evil enough to comply with?

Attributes - 6/4/3, like ghouls. These do not have to be specified, save simply by number.

Abilities - Giovanni retainers get 5 abilities. Normally, these are Italian, a retest for all three starting arcanoi, and one specialty.

Passion - The player should pick one driving passion that drives the wraith, such as serve the family (loyalty) or destroy the world (megalomania). Once per night the Giovanni may have her NPC make an extended simple challenge to regain pathos if appropriate.

Fetter - Most likely the Giovanni have at least one fetter of the wraith in question. Which one would that be?

Backgrounds - The wraith may choose one of the following backgrounds to help flesh out the character. For greater retainers, multiples can be taken of individual backgrounds or can be spread out among any combination of the player’s choice.

Age - died up to one hundred years ago. Additional dots add another one hundred  years of wraithly experience.

Eidolon - Allows one retest to avoid thorns per night.

Memoriam - May begin with an additional point of pathos each night.

Relic - The wraith possesses one relic (probably a weapon) which may be used in the shadowlands.

Status - The wraith possesses a level of status, most likely in one of the guilds (esp. the Haunters).

Arcanoi - The wraith must choose three basic arcanoi from the list. One of these three must be pandemonium, one must be a common arcanos, and the other must be an uncommon arcanos. The arcanoi of Lifeweb, Fatalism, Puppetry, Flux, Intimation, and Mnemosynis are entirely forbidden to Giovanni retainers. (Three are lost arts, and the other three are unbalancing and difficult to apply to NPC retainers). 

Thorns - The Giovanni must pick a thorn with which the shadow tortures the wraith. ST's may (once per night) make a simple challenge to activate the thorn at any time. Only Eidolon may be used to retest this challenge.

Pathos, Corpus, and Willpower - The NPC begins play with 3 points of pathos, 7 corpus, and 2 willpower. While this is certainly less than starting level PC wraiths, keep in mind that these are NPC retainers that are to be balanced with the rest of game. Certainly no other clan has the option of having up to five NPC's floating around them at any given time.

A NOTE ON CHALLENGES

Normally most challenges for Giovanni retainers are simple challenges. This risks no trait. If the challenge wins or ties, it is effective. If the challenge is extended simple, then if the challenge is won the wraith counts a success and challenges again, counting each win and continuing. Any time the wraith loses, the challenge is over. If the wraith ties, the challenge is considered successful, but the challenge ends there.

A NOTE ON GREATER RETAINERS

Rather than have five lesser retainers, a player might prefer to have one or more greater retainers. For each additional point spent on a retainer (maximum of four additional points), the wraith gains the following:

+1 attribute

+1 ability

+1 background

+1 willpower

+1 basic arcanoi

Note that two additional basic arcanoi may be "cashed in" for an intermediate arcanoi. This does not apply to the initial three arcanoi allowed. Two additional arcanoi may also be "cashed in" for an advanced arcanoi. Obviously a wraith may not have an intermediate arcanos without first knowing the basic. Thus only a level 3 or higher wraith may have an intermediate arcanos, and only a level five retainer may have an advanced art.

A NOTE ON MAELSTROM AFFECTS

The 6th maelstrom affects Giovanni retainers just as much as it does other wraiths. If the maelstrom is level zero or one, there is no affect. At level two and above, the player must make a simple challenge for each wraithly retainer. The result of this simple test can be seen in the table below. This is basically just a simple challenge as no traits are risked or compared but a tie haas very different effects from a win. Wraith retainers are not allowed during a level five maelstrom, as the damage they would suffer for even a few seconds outside would shred them utterly.

If the retainer suffers a harrowing they lose the retainer for a week. It takes a day for the wraith to go through the harrowing and then a week to slumber and restore the lost corpus. When a wraith suffers a harrowing they are returned from the Labyrinth with only one health level.

THE ARCANOI

Note that all basic arcanoi cost one pathos to use (whether or not the art is successful), all intermediate arts cost two pathos to use, and all advanced arts cost three pathos to use.

PANDEMONIUM (retest Occult)

Basic - Befuddle - The wraith engages the target in a mental challenge. If successful, the target is down one trait for the next action.

Intermediate - Foul Humor - A simple challenge is made to evoke truly weird effects, like bleeding walls and raining frogs, that last for one scene.

Advanced - Tempus Fugit - The wraith may make a simple challenge. If successful, the target may make one additional action this round. This may not be combined with rage or celerity. Alternately, this power may be used to cancel an action of a target with a mental challenge.

THE COMMON ARCANOI

ARGOS (retest Survival)

Basic - Enshroud - The wraith may turn invisible (from mediums, necromancers, and other wraiths) for a scene with a successful simple challenge. The wraith may not attack while enshrouded.

Intermediate - Jump - The wraith may "fair escape" home to her fetter with a simple challenge, even in the middle of combat.

Advanced - Oubliette - The wraith may banish another wraith into the tempest with a successful physical challenge.

CASTIGATE (retest Meditate)

Basic - Bulwark - The maelstrom is considered one less for wraiths with Bulwark. This is particularly useful on the initial challenge for brining wraiths to chronicles with a maelstrom.

Intermediate - Purify - The wraith may use purify to bring another wraith's thorn under control with a simple challenge. This will not work on herself.

Advanced - Defiance - The wraith may now bring her own thorn under control and effectively cancel it out with a simple challenge.

MOLIATE (retest Soulshaping)

Basic - Imitate - The wraith may moliate herself into any humanoid figure with a simple challenge.

Intermediate - Martialry - The wraith may moliate her arms into weapons (+3 traits) with a simple challenge that last for the duration of the night.

Advanced - Bodyshape - The wraith may shape another wraith (or herself) into any shape imaginable (simple challenge on self, physical challenge on another).

THE UNCOMMON ARCANOI

EMBODY (retest Empathy)

Basic - Whispers - The wraith may make a simple challenge to whisper one sentence across the shroud.

Intermediate - Phantom - The wraith may appear as a hazy figure across the shroud with a simple challenge. The wraith may whisper at no cost as well. This lasts for five minutes.

Advanced - Materialize - With a simple challenge, the wraith may cross the shroud for one round, and may act during that one round. All relics travel with the wraith across the shroud. While across the shroud, the wraith may use only the arcanoi of Keening, Usury, Pandemonium, and Phantasm. The wraith loses any moliated form when crossing the shroud.

INHABIT (retest Computers)

Basic - Surge - The wraith may short out an electronic contraption with a simple challenge.

Intermediate - The Electron Highway - With a simple challenge, the wraith may communicate through machinery, such as a CD player or computer. This lasts for five minutes.

Advanced - Claim - The wraith may utterly possess a piece of machinery or electronics, possessing it as if it were her own body with a simple challenge.

KEENING (retest Performance)

Basic - Dirge - The wraith may make a social challenge against a target. If successful, the target is filled with negative emotions.

Intermediate - Ballad - The wraith may make a social challenge to inspire lighter, pleasant emotions in a target.

Advanced - Crescendo - The wraith may make a musical blast with an extended physical challenge against all listeners (including those mediums and necromancers who may hear the wraith). Each success is one level of (soakable) damage to wraiths, and every other success is one level of soakable damage to non-wraiths capable of hearing the art. Be careful... this art can hurt other wraithly retainers.

OUTRAGE (retest Brawl)

Basic - Wraithgrasp - With a simple challenge, the wraith may make cause a simple movement across the shroud, such as pushing a button or lifting a brick. The wraith may only lift up to five pounds. Complex actions (such as writing and attacking in any way) are not possible.

Intermediate - Stonehand Punch - This feared art allows a wraith to attack someone across the shroud with an extended physical challenge. Each success is a level of bashing damage the target takes.

Advanced - Death's Touch - The wraith may ignite a target with an extended physical challenge. Each success is one level of aggravated damage the target takes.

PHANTASM (retest Dreamcrafts)

Basic - Elysia - The wraith may bring a sleeping mortal's soul across the shroud into the shadowlands with a physical challenge. If the dreamer suffers any damage in the shadowlands, she will instantly awaken. This art may only be used on one person at a time, and lasts for one scene.

Intermediate - Dreams of Sleep - The wraith may cause another to fall asleep with a mental challenge. This art has a variable cost: one pathos if used on wraiths, two if used on mortals, and three if used on supernatural creatures such as werewolves, mages, vampires, and the fae.

Advanced - Phantasmagoria - The wraith may make a simple challenge to create an illusion that affects all five senses in the shadowlands.

USURY (retest Science)

Basic - Assessment - The wraith may make a mental challenge to determine how many health levels a target has (potential and current).

Intermediate - Transfer - The wraith may engage another wraith in an extended social challenge to give or take pathos from a wraith. If the wraith resists, each success is one point of pathos so transferred. The other wraith must be touched.

Advanced - Exchange Rate - The wraith may engage another creature he can touch (either wraith or a creature visiting the shadowlands) in an extended physical challenge. If the subject does not relent, each success is one health level transferred. If health (or corpus) is stolen, each level is treated as a non-soakable, non-aggravated wound level. If health is given, it is considered to heal non-aggravated damage. The target may not gain more health than her normal potential.

THORNS

Unless otherwise noted, a thorn may only be activated once per night with a simple challenge by any ST. Only Castigate and Eidolon may affect thorns.

Death's Sigil - The wraith is always down three social traits when dealing with other wraiths. This can not be countered with Castigate, except to turn it off for one scene.

Wrack - The wraith is incapacitated for five minutes entirely from pain if the simple challenge is successful.

Van Gogh - The wraith may have all hearing cut off for an entire scene if a simple challenge is made.

Cat Food - The storyteller makes a simple challenge. If successful, the wraith may not speak for one scene.

Bad Luck - The storyteller may call for a wraith to retest a successful challenge. Eidolon can be used to cancel this art out. However, this art may be used three times a night (Eidolon may only be used once per night).

Freudian Slip - The storyteller can declare a single involuntary action or statement that the wraith may make. If the storyteller makes a simple challenge, such an action is completed. Arcanos may not be activated in this way, nor may attacks be instigated (although pulling the trigger of an already drawn gun is a different story).

Shadow Call - The storyteller may make a simple challenge. If successful, a sepectre appears and attacks the wraith. The stats for a few general spectres follow (this will be updated when the Dark Arcanoi are completely integrated into Oblivion). Stats are based upon those found in Dark Reflections: Specters

Vampire Crossover Rules

The issue of how arcanoi affect vampires and how disciplines, particularly necromancy, affect wraiths is a complex one. In order to simplify the question we have tried to break down powers into three distinct classes:

1. Those powers which are able to cross the shroud
2. Those powers which are unable to cross the shroud but can affect different creatures on the same side of the shroud.
3. Those powers which are limited to a particular physiology/biology.

Most wraith powers are designed to cross the shroud while only a few disciplines have that capability. Both groups have a number of powers which are specific to their own physiology. In each case we will list which arcanos/disciplines fit into each category and include some notes about certain special cases.

The notes presented here are guidelines mainly for Storyteller use in arbitrating cross shroud difficulties. For additional information see "Buried Secrets" for White Wolf's tabletop Oblivion series.

Wraiths affecting Vampires

For the most part vampires count as mortals with regards to wraithly powers. Anything that affects human will usually affect vampires in a similar manner. For additional guidelines see the Risen rules.

Class 1, Powers that cross the shroud: Embody, Fatalism, Flux, Inhabit (as appropriate), Intimation, Keening, Lifeweb, Mnemosynis, Outrage, Pandemonium, Phantasm, Puppetry, Usury.

• These arcanoi can be used by wraiths in the shadowlands and work on vampires in either the skinlands or the shadowlands.
• Usury generally costs an additional point of willpower when used on vampires.
• The power of Obliviate attacks he soul directly bypassing the flesh. As a result it negates any powers of fortitude the vampire may possess. However, since it is affecting the soul directly the vampire may spend one point of willpower for a retest on the extended challenge.
• Mnemosynis: will detect any vampire using obfuscate and astral projection. Vampires using possession will show up as two minds cohabiting the same body unless conditioning was used on the "suit".
• Any powers that allow a wraith to send her corpus across the shroud can only be used one at a time. For instance it is not possible to use the Inhabit power of Ride the Electron Highway while using Flux to create an automaton. The same holds true for trying to puppeteer while being Embodied. The wraith must drop the first power before initiating the second.

Class 2, Arcanos that will work on Vampires on the same side of the Shroud: Argos

• Since Argos draws its powers from the Tempest it generally only works on this side.
• Should Oubliette work on the other side of the shroud if invoked on this side?

Class 3, Arcanos that only work on wraiths: Moliate, Castigate, Displace, Connaisance, Behest.

• The damage from Moliate Arcanoi such as Martially will work on vampires on the same side of the shroud. However, any power such as rend which require the shaping of corpus can only work on wraiths/plasmics.
• Castigate powers generally only work on creatures with a shadow.

Ultimately, the storyteller should use a certain measure of common sense to work through any questions they may have about how arcanoi should interact with vampires.

Vampires Affecting Wraiths

The most important thing to remember is that virtually all vampires are unable to see across the shroud. Even mediums with their sensory awareness of wraiths in the local vicinity can not actually see them. This proves something of a disadvantage, countering the wraiths disadvantage of a lack of a physical presence. Most disciplines, while they will work on wraiths, will not cross the shroud. There are however a number of important exceptions.

Class 1, Disciplines which can affect wraiths on the other side of the shroud: Auxpex, Melpominee, Necromancy (certain paths)

• Auxpex will cross the shroud. However, it requires the ability to actually see the wraith in question, either through the use of shroudsight or speaker with the dead. Medium does not qualify as sight.
• The paths of Sepulcher and Ash are designed to affect wraiths and the shroud. Bone is specific to zombies and Mortus is specific to vampire biology so neither of them will affect wraiths.
• In the case where a wraith is on the same side of the shroud as the necromancer, the test for Necromancy is static.
• The bond created by Haunting is very similar to the connection binding a wraith to his fetters. As a result the lifeweb power of sever strand can be used to break the Haunting.
• Like Auxpex, Melpominee generally requires line of sight. If Melpominee is performed from within the shadowlands it will not cross back, however.

Class 2, Disciplines which will not cross the shroud but will affect wraiths: Celerity, Chimerstry, Dementation, Dominate, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Obtenebration, Potence, Presence, Protean, Thaumaturgy (Conjuring, Flames, Mind)

• Physical disciplines require being able to touch the wraith in question. (Includes wolf claws, tongue of the asp)
• Chimeristry can only be used in the skinlands.
• Dominate: Forget Mind will leave a suture which can be seen by a mnemoi using an appropriate power such as soul keeper.
• Fortitude only protects against those powers that do physical damage, excludes such powers as Obliviate.
• Remember, wraiths can use their innate heightened senses to see through Obfuscate regardless of which side of the shroud they are on. However, the bonus trait system given in laws of the Night Rev. is not appropriate to wraiths using their innate Heightened Senses as there are no levels with a wraiths abilities. Therefore any challenges involving Auxpex/obfuscate and a wraiths heightened senses neither side gains any bonus traits.
• Generally, wraiths can not see through Obtenebration. However it only obscures what is seen in the skinlands, not the shadowlands.

Class 3, Disciplines which are specific to vampire physiognomy: Animalism, Obeah, Quietus, Thanatosis, Thaumaturgy (Blood, Destruction), Vicissitude.

• Embodied wraiths are not flesh. They are more akin to illusions made solid. Fire will damage but acids require a substance to react with.

It is not possible to characterize every possible interaction so storytellers are best advised to rely on common sense when the rules fail you.

Retests and Wraith Arcanoi
In most cases the issue of retests is straitforward one. For instance wraiths can learn most any ability that vampires can, certainly all of the abilities used for discipline retests are available to wraiths. However, there are a few of the arcanoi retests that vampires do not have access to. For each of these, we will give a recommendation for a possible substitute. Regardless of which skill is chooses as the retest be consistent. Pick one retest for vampires and stick with it, do allow ambiguity to multiply the number of possible retests.

Phantasm - Dreamcrafts: Since vampires have no direct contact with dreams (Excepting certain Sabbat Thaumaturgists) we recommend using the vampires primary Expression (Poetry, Art, etc.) skill. Art is the result of dreams and the creator of future dreams in others. Therefore an understanding of Art lends to it an instinctive understandings of the power that dreams have over mortals. Other options include:

Puppetry - Performance (Puppetry): While Puppetry is not a common skill it is one that vampires can learn. However, if you would prefer a more common skill we recommend that you use medicine for both the Human and Medicinal Arts.

Mnemosynis - Memory: Investigation or Subterfuge. Generally we recommend investigation as it is more appropriate to the nature of the arcanoi. However, it could be argued that subterfuge is appropriate for defending such an attack.

Moliate - Soulshaping: In general this arcanoi should never present a direct effect on a vampire. Most encounters with Moliate will usually involve powers like martialry. Therefore, the appropriate retest will be something like dodge, brawl or melee depending on the circumstances. If a vampire wishes to detect a Masque employing a high level of Moliate to blend into the surroundings (literally) or to detect changes due to moliation then the correct ability to use is bodycrafts. Obviously most vampires will not be able to due this unless they have some other supernatural power of detection.

Important: Wraith Lore should never be used as a retest for an arcanoi. Wraith Lore specifically deal with general knowledge about the world of wraith, its inhabitants, politics, and cultures. While it might tell a vampire what effects are possible to do with arcanoi, it doesn't deal with the specifics of how the powers operate.

Vampires in the shadowlands

There are a few rules regarding vampires in the shadowlands. The first is the difficulty that they have in feeding. There are no humans for them to feed. As a result it is necessary for them to return to the skinlands every time they wish to eat. Usury can (in theory) be used as a substitute for feeding.

Vampires however continue to need to sleep twelve hours every day. However, they will not be harmed by the daylight. This can create a strange situation with vampires sleeping at night and not the day if the vampire moved from one side of the earth to another time zone. However, if they return to the skinlands during the day they will find themselves overcomed by lethargy.

Necromancy works basically the same on either side of the shroud. For instance shroud sight will allow a necromancer to see from the shadowlands through the shroud and into the skinlands. Lifeless tongues works similarly allowing conversation to pass through.

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