So, still stewing and putting together that chronicle I mentioned a while ago, and I'm now getting to the part of assembling together factions...including Heretics and Renegades.
Heretics and Renegades are potentially one of the most customizable aspects of, not just Wraith, but of World of Darkness in general.
1. Heretics and Renegades have no universal creed. Unlike equivalent factions in the other WoD gamelines (Vampire's Anarchs, Mage's Disparate Crafts, etc) Heretics and Renegades have no universal ideology that they follow. There's nothing like the Anarch Manifesto that binds every Heretic/Renegade together. The only thing that makes them remotely similar is their mutual dislike/hatred of the Hierarchy. Otherwise, they have nothing in common. And the books reiterate multiple times that it's not uncommon at all for individual Heretic/Renegade groups to war with each other. other.
So, because they have so few restrictions to make them consistent with each other, that leaves things open for them to take any form.
2. They fill in gaps within the setting. Wraiths are defined by what they DO with their afterlives. That often includes leaning into ideologies and beliefs to try to rationalize and figure out what to do with their wraith-ly lives. That despite the omnipresent Hierarchy/Dark Kingdoms, they're still able to foster their beliefs.
Especially since a large part of Wraith is coming to grips with the disappointment that the cultural afterlives taught and told stories about across the world aren't present in the Underworld, and what to do about that.
3. Increases diversity of Wraith…specifically in the Dark Kingdoms. In my conversations with non-Wraith WoD fans, a point that keeps coming up is their dislike of how Wraith treats PoC wraiths…or rather, the lack of it. Svarga seemingly being dominated by Hindu Indian wraiths, with any reference to the other religions of India. Or, more infamously, how the Islands of Flint, aka the home of Native American wraiths…and how by RAW, the island has been destroyed, due to white colonial wraiths tracking down Flint wraiths and re-killing them.
Heretics and Renegades would allow for side-stepping some of these elements without extensive re-writing of the setting.
Even in Wr20 core it hints at Renegade and Heretic-like groups: Jade Kingdom references "brushfire rebellions" and how Japan is still resisting against them, Svarga having the Naga and Asura factions, and the current Mexican wraiths lean on more Catholic beliefs then the Aztec ones of Obsidian, which suggest them identifying more with Day of the Dead depictions of the afterlife. And, while not directly called out in the text, I would think that any incoming Native American wraiths of this generation wouldn't take too kindly on being asked to assimilate into a different Euro-American empire. They might not call themselves Heretics or Renegades, but it sounds like they're there.
Otherwise it makes no sense for these places to not have their own equivalents in these groups.
(of course this is going off of what's depicted in the Wr20 core and having not read the Dark Kingdoms section in the still-upcoming Book of Oblivion)
I say untapped potential…because Wr20 itself doesn't tap into this potential. The book does not include any guidelines for making your own Heretic/Renegade groups, nor does it really talk enough about the customizable possibilities they offer. Reading it now, the blurbs
To me, the biggest flaw of Wr20 is not the perceived nerfing of Arcanoi, or of having no Merits and Flaws in the Wr20 core, or not offering Future Fates-esque options when it comes to the metaplot, …no the biggest flaw is not offering any Build-a-Gang/Cult guidelines.
I understand that because of Wr20's chaotic development that all devs involved couldn't fully develop or add any brand new ideas, and that they were probably more concerned about just getting the damn thing finished. So honestly, I can't get too mad at them. But viewing it apart from that lens, it is still disappointing that Wr20 didn't tap into and expand upon this aspect of the gameline.
So...what do you think? Agree/disagree, completely out of line on making this assumption on Wraith?
Heretics and Renegades are potentially one of the most customizable aspects of, not just Wraith, but of World of Darkness in general.
1. Heretics and Renegades have no universal creed. Unlike equivalent factions in the other WoD gamelines (Vampire's Anarchs, Mage's Disparate Crafts, etc) Heretics and Renegades have no universal ideology that they follow. There's nothing like the Anarch Manifesto that binds every Heretic/Renegade together. The only thing that makes them remotely similar is their mutual dislike/hatred of the Hierarchy. Otherwise, they have nothing in common. And the books reiterate multiple times that it's not uncommon at all for individual Heretic/Renegade groups to war with each other. other.
So, because they have so few restrictions to make them consistent with each other, that leaves things open for them to take any form.
2. They fill in gaps within the setting. Wraiths are defined by what they DO with their afterlives. That often includes leaning into ideologies and beliefs to try to rationalize and figure out what to do with their wraith-ly lives. That despite the omnipresent Hierarchy/Dark Kingdoms, they're still able to foster their beliefs.
Especially since a large part of Wraith is coming to grips with the disappointment that the cultural afterlives taught and told stories about across the world aren't present in the Underworld, and what to do about that.
3. Increases diversity of Wraith…specifically in the Dark Kingdoms. In my conversations with non-Wraith WoD fans, a point that keeps coming up is their dislike of how Wraith treats PoC wraiths…or rather, the lack of it. Svarga seemingly being dominated by Hindu Indian wraiths, with any reference to the other religions of India. Or, more infamously, how the Islands of Flint, aka the home of Native American wraiths…and how by RAW, the island has been destroyed, due to white colonial wraiths tracking down Flint wraiths and re-killing them.
Heretics and Renegades would allow for side-stepping some of these elements without extensive re-writing of the setting.
Even in Wr20 core it hints at Renegade and Heretic-like groups: Jade Kingdom references "brushfire rebellions" and how Japan is still resisting against them, Svarga having the Naga and Asura factions, and the current Mexican wraiths lean on more Catholic beliefs then the Aztec ones of Obsidian, which suggest them identifying more with Day of the Dead depictions of the afterlife. And, while not directly called out in the text, I would think that any incoming Native American wraiths of this generation wouldn't take too kindly on being asked to assimilate into a different Euro-American empire. They might not call themselves Heretics or Renegades, but it sounds like they're there.
Otherwise it makes no sense for these places to not have their own equivalents in these groups.
(of course this is going off of what's depicted in the Wr20 core and having not read the Dark Kingdoms section in the still-upcoming Book of Oblivion)
I say untapped potential…because Wr20 itself doesn't tap into this potential. The book does not include any guidelines for making your own Heretic/Renegade groups, nor does it really talk enough about the customizable possibilities they offer. Reading it now, the blurbs
To me, the biggest flaw of Wr20 is not the perceived nerfing of Arcanoi, or of having no Merits and Flaws in the Wr20 core, or not offering Future Fates-esque options when it comes to the metaplot, …no the biggest flaw is not offering any Build-a-Gang/Cult guidelines.
I understand that because of Wr20's chaotic development that all devs involved couldn't fully develop or add any brand new ideas, and that they were probably more concerned about just getting the damn thing finished. So honestly, I can't get too mad at them. But viewing it apart from that lens, it is still disappointing that Wr20 didn't tap into and expand upon this aspect of the gameline.
So...what do you think? Agree/disagree, completely out of line on making this assumption on Wraith?
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