Open Projects

(Updated 5/05/04)



A lot of what's contributed to the Wraith Project are things that are the work of one creator, who maintains total control over the submission and sees it through until it's sent in for consideration.

However - there are certain "shared" creations, where outside contribution is both appreciated and asked for. These are known as Open Projects, and anyone is welcome to contribute writing, art, ideas or other materials to them. (It's a good idea to read the Project's contents as well as the submission guidelines, first, though)

Our current Open Projects are summarized, below. Anyone who wants to float an idea for an Open Project need only contact J. Edward at reggies_ghost@hotmail.com and ask about its feasibility.

 

Goblyn's Market
Murder Rooms
Time of Judgment: Oblivion
Victorian Age Wraith


Goblyn's Market

Contact Person: J. Edward Tremlett (reggies_ghost@hotmail.com)

What It Is: Almost every Necropolis has at least one Relic salesman: wraith who gets his shady hands on cherished, remembered - or feared - things, and then puts them on sale. The salesman may or may not know for certain what they do, but will sell them, anyway, since goods are so scarce.

Goblyn is one such wraith, and he prides himself at having almost anything you could want - anything at all. Row upon row of curios greet the discerning consumer. But just remember that everything here has a history, and sometimes that history carries a price beyond what you're willing to pay. Caveat Emptor...

What's Needed: items for sale (there's no need to state a price). And we only want one of each item: if someone's already made a Relic book, then that's all the books Goblyn has. You could, however, have a different kind of book (a hardcover, softcover, folio, scroll, etc.)

How We Want It: Each item should have

  • A name
  • A short (50 words max) description
  • A short (700 - 1500 words) story that goes along with it, explaining the pivotal moment which infused the item with enough memories to become a Relic when it was destroyed. This does not need to be the moment it actually came through the Shroud, though. The stories should be third person past, ("he walked into the graveyard, with the knife...") and should not have a definate or conventional ending. And remember that Goblyn isn't telling these stories - in a sense, they're telling themselves...
  • Three short ideas on what it might do (30 words max each). Do not write up mechanics or stats, or even a Background level - leave these to the Storyteller. If you want to talk specific powers and levels, that should probably go as a regular article on Artifacts and Relics. Also, don't make the suggested powers too powerful.
  • One possible negative consequence of having the item - one hopefully going beyond 'the original owner comes and kicks your ass for having it.' Keep this short as well (30 words max)


Murder Rooms:

Contact Person: J. Edward Tremlett (reggies_ghost@hotmail.com)

What it is: Imagine there is a strange, sprawling mansion, at the far end of your Necropolis. It's so large that it seems endless, and no one has ever mapped out all its rooms. And it seems as though every single room has its own mystery - a mystery that you can never truly solve, but whose answer seems to resonate along with some song you heard once, a long time ago.

Care to come and help us explore...?

What's needed: Rooms! They don't have to be bedrooms, either - they can also be rooftops, gables, secret passageways, closets, foyers, dining rooms, kitchens, etc. (But try to avoid saying that this is the basement, the rooftop, the kitchen, and so on.)

How we want it: The description for each room should have a theme that's based - however loosely - on a song, and this song also provides the title for the room, itself, regardless of what the room might actually be. Please give the song title, the artist and the album it can be found on. The descriptions should be exactly 314 words - no more, no less. It should also be written in the present tense, from the perspective of second person. ("As you walk into the low-hanging room, you see a chair, facing the wall...")


Time of Judgment - Oblivion:

Contact Person: J. Edward Tremlett (reggies_ghost@hotmail.com)

What It Is: Pretty much what it sounds like - a Time of Judgment book for Wraith: the Oblivion, with the same notion of the big threat (Gehenna, Apocalypse) or promise (Ascension) coming around at last. For Wraiths, that means Oblivion, and with it the coming of Doomsday, itself. Or does it? That's part of what we'd like to have you help answer.

Ends of Empire may have handled the collapse of Stygia, itself, and the coming of the 6th Great Maelstrom, but it didn't handle Doomsday. Likewise, Endgame for Orpheus may have posited a potential end, but Orpheus is not exactly Wraith. We want to put together a wraith-centric Time of Judgment book that can stand alongside Gehenna, Apocalypse and the like as the definitive END of Wraith as we know it.

What's Needed: We need...

  • Ideas on what Doomsday actually is - concepts that go in hand with the traditional viewpoint, as well as beyond it, or sideways to it. Does this have to be the final end for the Underworld, or just some sea-change?
  • Lead-ups to The End - players in the drama, back history, what's going on (and maybe why), etc. These can devolve from Ends of Empire, or take advantage of any plot points that came out before (or after, in other products)
  • TOJ Scenarios - either full-blown epics or short proposals, ranging from huge political battles to small, personal visions of The End.
  • After the Fire - what happens when it's all over? Ideas on a world without an Underworld, or what really happens to those devoured by Oblivion at this time, or whatever...
  • Fiction, images, vignettes, quotes... whatever you've got that would complement the project.

How We Want It: No real restrictions, other than the usual ones given in our submission guidelines. Surprise us!


Victorian Age Wraith:

Contact Person: J. Edward Tremlett (reggies_ghost@hotmail.com)

What It Is: Wraith: the Oblivion presented during the Victorian era, much in the same way that Victorian Age Vampire gave players and Storytellers the tools and information needed to run Vampire games in that same time period.

What's Needed: in specific, we are looking for:

  • Details on what the Underworld of the time was like, either in large swaths or in small studies, especially the major Necropoli.
  • Run-downs on what established groups were doing.
  • Descriptions of groups would have been unique to this era.
  • Art aplenty (period pictures, pictures in the period, illustrations for the major groups, etc.)
  • Mechanical matters (such as Thorns, Arts, Artifacts and Relics, etc.)
  • Roleplaying advice.
  • Anything else you would care to send.

Remember that, although the Victorian Era stretched from when Queen Victoria took the throne in 1837 to her death in 1901, we'll take things concerning the entire 19th century, given how long-lived wraiths can be. An ultimate goal for the netbook would be to help Storytellers set a Wraith Chronicle anywhere in 1800's, and bring it as far forward within that century as they'd like - maybe even up to Wraith: the Great War...

How We Want It: Since a lot of people may be speaking up - or speaking for - various pre-established groups, it's better to speak in generalities and questions than in specifics and definite answers. The more wiggle room you leave others, the better.

Also, try to avoid explaining the great mysteries or atrocities of the age as having been wraithly in origin. It's okay to intimate that Spring-Heeled Jack was suspected of being of Haunter, but presenting him as a Haunter destroys his enigma, and also boxes Storytellers and players into a smaller corner. To echo the great Justin Achilli, the first person to suggest Jack the Ripper was a Proctor gets kicked in the ding ; )

One further thing to keep in mind: we are going from the understanding that the Shroud in Victorian-era England - as well as Europe, Russia and North America - is stronger than it was, previously, but is less than it was during Wraith's modern era. Conversely, the Victorian era saw a massive interest in spiritual matters, with a great deal of ghostly goings-on in the air. How the two facts can be reconciled is one of the aims of the Netbook - hit us with your best cryptic answers...


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