The Risen are wraiths who have mastered the ultimate art of crossing the Shroud, and have reclaimed their earthly bodies. The art of Rising is a closely guarded secret of the Guild of Puppeteers, and the Hierarchy tries to stamp out all rumors of its existence. But the rumors persist, and there will always be wraiths who are willing to pay any price to once again walk in the lands of the living.
The ‘walking corpse’, or zombie, is a gruesome idea, and one that suits the horror of the World of Darkness. I, however, do not much care for most of the rules in the book about the Risen, and so have changed them as I saw fit for my own use. All the needed rules are collected here, with additions and alterations by yours truly.
– Rules –
The first and most important part of becoming Risen is that both the Psyche and Shadow must agree to the transition. Without this pact, the Psyche cannot make the final step and must limit himself to standard Puppetry or Embody. However, the Shadow Rises separately from the Psyche. It is still able to manipulate and influence the Psyche, which is inhabiting its old body, but instead of being a part of that body it takes up residence in one of the Psyche’s Fetters – the Conduit. The strenuous relationship between this object (or creature) and the Risen is the source of much of the energy that allows the dead to walk among the living. For every hour the Risen has no physical contact with his conduit he loses one Pathos. As long as the Risen has no line of sight to his conduit, he cannot regain Pathos.
The other requirements are that the former body of the wraith must be reasonably intact – the shriveled remains of the heart and brain must exist in the Skinlands. Finally, the Risen-to-be must possess at least the first level of Puppetry, as he must Skinride his body in order to claim it.
– Risen and Pathos –
The driving force behind the Risen is their burning desire. The energy derived from that desire, Pathos, is what keeps their dead bodies animated and relatively lifelike. As you can imagine, this requires tremendous effort on the part of the restless spirit.
The walking dead gain Pathos in the same way as wraiths, when experiencing their core Passions. But they need it more desperately than wraiths do, for it is what keeps their dead bodies from decomposing. When a wraith first attempts to Rise, he can try to rejuvenate his physical shell by spending Pathos, 1 Pathos spent equals three months of reversed decay. So a wraith dead for 8 months would have to spend 3 Pathos when crossing the Shroud to arise looking like he did when alive. The killing wound, if one is present, requires 1 additional Pathos to heal, all other damage is healed along with the rejuvenation. If this Pathos is not spent, the Risen is animated but is visible as being in the normal state of decay. This Pathos does not have to be spent all at once, the corpse can rise in a state of putrefaction but resume its former state with time.
After the resurrection, Pathos has to be continuously expended in order to keep the body fresh. 1 Pathos has to be expended every 24 hours, or the body will start to decay once more. Each day Pathos is not spent, the body ages 3 months, up to its original state.
If the Risen runs out of Pathos, his Shadow automatically assumes control. The Psyche is forced into the Conduit, otherwise it functions just like Catharsis. When the Psyche resumes control the Risen has one Pathos, and probably a lot of things to do.
– Risen and Health –
Since the body of a Risen and a human differs very little in construction, all Risen have the normal seven health levels connected with mortals. They do not suffer dice pool modifiers, however, as they do not feel pain, and they are able to heal one health level per turn by spending 1 Pathos. Aggravated damage does cause dice pool modifiers, and can be healed only through a successful 8 hour Slumber and the expenditure of 3 Pathos. The Risen can obviously not fade into a Fetter, but his Conduit counts as one, so Slumbering is essentially just a period of total inactivity, during which he must be in physical contact with his Conduit. Risen cannot soak the effects of fire, but can soak claws, teeth and most other sources of aggravated damage (not true Faith). They also halve all bashing damage, like vampires.
If the Risen loses all his health levels, but still has Pathos, he falls unconscious. The length of unconsciousness is determined by a Stamina roll (difficulty 10 minus the amount of Pathos he has):
– Successes Duration –
| 5 . | One turn |
| 4. | One scene |
| 3. | 10 minutes |
| 2. | One hour |
| 1. | Six hours |
| 0. | 12 hours |
A botch means the Risen falls into a Destruction Harrowing, see below.
If the Risen finds itself without any health levels or Pathos, his journey is over. He falls into a Destruction Harrowing – if he succeeds he returns in the Shadowlands, with one permanent and temporary Corpus, and can never again try to Rise. If he fails, he is dragged screaming to Oblivion. In any case, the dead body is once again inanimate and probably pretty decomposed.
– Risen and Arcanoi –
The Risen are initially lost regarding how to use their arcane powers, but through experimentation they soon learn which of their Arcanoi they are able to use to affect the living world. Castigate and Usury are usually highly prized by those Risen who possess them, as well as Keening and Pandemonium. After becoming Risen it is usually very difficult to learn new Arcanoi, with the notable exception of Necrologia. The only likely possibility for learning is from other Risen, Puppeteers and Proctors.
At a point some Kindred thought the Risen could learn Disciplines like Potence and Fortitude, but this was a misapprehension.
– NECROLOGIA –
The Arcanos developed exclusively by the Risen gives them the power to use their reclaimed body to the best effect. Since few Risen meet others of their kind, this Arcanos is usually developed individually and nearly all Risen seem to have the potential to learn it.
Basic Abilities:
Sense Conduit
If ever Pathos is lost from being separated from his conduit, a Risen with this ability may simultaneously spend a willpower point to receive a general idea of where his conduit is currently residing. A roll of Wits + Awareness is needed to activate Sense Conduit.
Necroempathy
The Risen can determine the approximate time of death of a corpse simply by looking at it. A simple Perception + Medicine roll determines how much information can be gleaned. Note that this only works on bodies where aging has actually set in, so not on vampires.
1 Fear of Death
By a combination of his faint odor of death and subtle body language the Risen can make the living feel uncomfortable, nervous and self-conscious. Without knowing why, the target(s) will have a strong urge to go home and crawl under the bed, feeling only dread and ill omen. It generally requires the expenditure of a willpower point to continue what they were doing undisturbed.
System: This art can be directed either at a specific person or all targets in the user’s vicinity. The feeling of uneasiness disappears when no longer in the revenant’s presence. This art gives the user 1 Angst, automatically doubled to 2.
2 Death’s Resilience The dead flesh of a revenant is no longer bound by mortal hindrances, but can be taken far beyond the scope of any living creature. With this art the Risen’s body becomes supernaturally solid and enduring.
System: The art can be invoked instantly at any time, and costs one Pathos. Make a permanent willpower roll, difficulty 8. A point of temporary willpower can be spent to decrease the difficulty by 1, down to a minimum of 6. The number of successes gained are added to the character’s stamina score for the duration of one scene.
3 Sepulchral Potency
Just as the flesh of the Risen can be enduring, it can be powerful. This art works exactly as Death’s Resilience, except that the attribute increased is strength rather than stamina.
4 Mortal Remains
This horrid art allows increased flexibility with the undead form of the Risen. When used, it allows the character to rapidly decompose, turning into a pile of soil, bone dust and ashes in a matter of seconds. Not only can it be handy for avoiding detection, but using the art in front of an audience can be most disturbing for the onlookers.
System: It costs nothing to decompose, and can take from one turn to five minutes depending what the user wants. Reforming one’s body, however, costs 1 Pathos and takes at least five minutes. While ashen, the Risen need not spend Pathos to sustain his mortal form, however he cannot see what goes on around him. If activating Heightened Senses, he can discern whether there are people nearby with a successful Perception + Awareness roll.
5 Tearing the Shroud
Using their basic powers of Heightened Senses, the Risen are able to detect wraiths nearby in the Shadowlands. When Tearing the Shroud, they can affect them physically. This impressive art stems from a psychic merging of the psyche with the reclaimed corpse. This insight gives new proportions to the worlds of living and dead. Few Risen are able to reach this level of acceptance, being preoccupied with whatever Passion brought them across the Shroud in the first place. To Heretic Risen this art is usually one of their goals, as it is believed to be first step toward Transcendence. Many Risen are wary of this power, as their Shadows gain way too much power when in control.
System: The expenditure of a point of willpower allows the user to take an action that affects the Shadowlands, like an attack, an embrace or an inscription. If used to attack a wraith, the user gains 1 Angst, doubled to 2.