By Corvus (corvus@eurekanet.com)
The Umbra lies next to, over, inside and around the world of matter, but is not a part of it. Once a part of the "real" world, it was separated ages ago and has remained separate. Very few can cross the Gauntlet and enter the Umbra; the Eternal are some of those chosen few.
Anything that can be dreamed can and does happen in the Velvet Shadow. Realms, pocket universes with their own laws of reality, spread out to infinity. Spirits populate it like living beings populate the physical world. The Umbra is thoroughly covered by both Werewolf and Mage and their various supplements, especially Umbra: the Velvet Shadow, Axis Mundi: the Book of Spirits, and The Book of Worlds.
Beyond the Penumbra lie the Near and Deep Umbras. The Near Umbra contains 13 known "Near Realms" and countless smaller realms called Domains and Zones. It is also divided into three areas: the High Umbra, or the world of thoughts and concepts; the Middle Umbra, or the world of spirit; and the Low or Dark Umbra, the land of the Restless Dead. Most of these realms are described in Werewolf and Mage; the Underworld is described in detail in Wraith. The Deep Umbra is the home of three great archetypal spirits, called the Triat by the werewolves: the Weaver, personification of pattern and order, the Wyld, a gestalt spirit of creation and chaos, and the Wyrm, at one time a destructive balance between the other two but now supposedly standing for corruption, annihilation and oblivion. Analogies can be drawn between the Triat and various aspects of the Elements, such as Earth to the Weaver, Fire to the (original) Wyrm and Energy to the Wyld, but that begs the question of, "What about Water and Air?" Between the Near and Deep Umbras lies another barrier, called the Membrane by the Garou and the Horizon by mages. It is here that many mages establish their chantries, isolated from the physical world and allowing them to practice their Arts without fear of Paradox.
There is another area of the Umbra, more accurately a state of existence, known as the Periphery. It is where the Umbra trickles across the Gauntlet to spill over into the physical world, and is felt only by some Awakened beings. Humans can enter the Periphery through rituals, drugs, religion, art, exercise, meditation and other methods; doing so allows them to surpass mundane reality just a little bit and glimpse some of the true nature of the universe. It is in the Periphery that humans can have contact with spirits, both benign and malevolent.
Areas with a weak Gauntlet are hotly contested by certain parties in the World of Darkness. The Garou guard their caerns jealously, and the mages defend their nodes with equal fervor.
Unlike the Garou, Eternal have an intuitive grasp of spirit speech. They can automatically understand the communication of any type of spirit by rolling Memory against difficulty 7.
Air Elemental
Willpower 3, Rage 8, Gnosis 7, Power 40
Charms: Airt Sense, Create Wind, Reform, Updraft
Earth Elemental
Willpower 10, Rage 4, Gnosis 5, Power 40
Charms: Airt Sense, Armor, Materialize, Umbraquake
Energy Elemental
Willpower 6, Rage 7, Gnosis 5, Power 40
Charms: Airt Sense, Control Electrical Systems, Lightning Bolts, Short Out
Fire Elemental
Willpower 5, Rage 10, Gnosis 5, Power 30
Charms: Airt Sense, Blast Flame, Create Fires
Water Elemental
Willpower 6, Rage 4, Gnosis 10, Power 30
Charms: Airt Sense, Cleanse the Blight, Flood, Healing
If the Storyteller is not using Werewolf or Mage, she can assign appropriate Birthrights for the Spirits to use. A Memory score can be created by averaging the given Rage and Gnosis; this score is used to attack and do damage, as well as being the dice pool for using Rights. Willpower stays the same. Treat Power as Health Levels with no dice penalties as well as Willpower and Memory "points"; any Willpower or Memory spent or damage taken is deducted from this total.
Air Fragment
Willpower 5, Rage 4, Gnosis 8, Power 30
Charms: Dream Journey, Insight, Umbrastorm
Earth Fragment
Willpower 9, Rage 4, Gnosis 6, Power 30
Charms: Disable, Ease Pain, Iron Will
Energy Fragment
Willpower 6, Rage 7, Gnosis 8, Power 30
Charms: Assess Character, Kindle, Suggestion
Fire Fragment
Willpower 5, Rage 8, Gnosis 6, Power 30
Charms: Inner Pain, Shapeshift, Suggestion
Water Fragment
Willpower 6, Rage 3, Gnosis 8, Power 30
Charms: Assess Character, Insight, Purify
Regardless of this setback, the Umbra is a source of power and wonder for the phoenixes. Its mystery and majesty can refresh the Memories of even the most jaded Eternal. Some have established homes beyond the Gauntlet, preferring the Umbra to the physical worlds. Sometimes Eternal reside with mages in their Horizon Realms as consors, and a few phoenixes have visited the courts of the Celestines.
The realm of Air is a world of endless sky and small floating islands, filled with winged creatures both mundane and mythical, including Air elementals. Winds billow and drift in all directions, never ceasing. The world is lit as if on a bright, sunny day, but no light source is visible. Small cities dot the skyborne rocks, abandoned and dusty. The previous residents have left no trace of their existence beyond the buildings, a mystery that is still unsolved.
The realm of Earth is a world of caverns in stone, full of glowing crystals, minerals and soil, thriving with plant life. Again, abandoned cities lie silent, their secrets unfathomable, and the light seems to come from all around, especially the crystals. Tunnels appear and disappear as the world shifts and unseen creatures, including Earth elementals dig and consume.
The realm of Water is an infinite fresh-water sea of rock islands adrift in the expanse of watery light. Once again, abandoned cities can be found, their architecture resembling spiraling conch shells and coral reefs. Leviathan beasts patrol the ocean devouring everything smaller than they are, and being eaten in turn and fought by Water elementals. The realm of Fire is a plane of lava, glowing stone and blazing infernos, a sulfurous atmosphere and a blood-crimson sky. On what little solid surface exists stand the empty cities. The lava-seas are home to fire dragons, salamanders and Fire elementals.
Finally, the realm of Energy is a mysterious combination of all the others, a dark, roiling expanse of lashing storms and flashing lightning filled with varied islands of rock, some volcanic, some covered with small lakes, some wreathed in growing forests. Energy elementals play in the tempest, and the abandoned cities hold silent council.
Each of these Realms contains small portions of the other Elements, and oftentimes these "pockets" are portal passages to the other Realms.
Eternal visiting the Realm of their Element are immune to its adverse effects, if any, but others must take special care. Eternal of the corresponding Element to a Realm find their Willpower and Memory refreshed up to normal maximums upon first entering that plane, though one of their Phantoms will make a Level Four Subversion attempt (the phoenix is, in some ways, "coming home").
Mysteries abound in the Elemental Realms, the most prevalent being the source of the ancient, silent cities that are found in each Realm, similar, yet different. Another unanswered (and, some say, unanswerable) question is this: are these Realms the true home of the undying Elemental souls of the Eternal? No one can say for sure. If these planes are not the birthplace of the Eternal race, they make a good adopted home.
Those phoenixes who subscribe to the theory of the five elemental Celestines propose that these great god-spirits have Incarna avatars that reside in the Elemental Realms, but none have ever been found.
The High Umbra can also be a dangerous place, with mental tricks and traps ready for the unwary and denizens unforgiving of trespassers lying in wait. Seekers should be cautious when exploring these fantastic places, as in all the spirit worlds.
Phantoms are not visible in the Low Umbra. They become hidden aspects, much the same as they are in the physical world, and can be sensed by those wraiths who have power over the Shadow. Like Shadows, Pardoners and other practitioners of the Castigate Arcanos can affect Phantoms in various ways, though any Pardoner would be incredibly surprised and frightened by a being with "multiple Shadows," many of which are working in perfect harmony with the being they see before them. Shadows and spectres can also sense the presence of Phantoms, and try to lure them to Oblivion.
Eternal who know all agree that falling into Oblivion is certainly another way to destroy a phoenix, but even they will not allow themselves to think of what might happen if, like some spectres, that Eternal were spat out to wreak havoc on the Shadowlands, and then the physical world...
Should the Memory trait ever reach zero, the phoenix has in effect retreated back into the Shell and loses the use of all Birthrights until she "hatches" once more, repeating the process she went through originally.
Memory can be "regained" by reconnecting with one's past, either through research or physical contact (touching something you used to own, visiting a place you used to live in, meeting people you once knew) with things from either the past of the current life or previous incarnation. This connection is vital to all Eternal and the need to keep in touch with the past can become a consuming passion.
In game terms, the Memory trait limits the number of successes a phoenix can obtain on any roll for a Birthright power. She can roll no more successes than she has permanent Memory. More importantly, a phoenix can use no Birthright of a level higher than her permanent Memory score. While the knowledge of such powers is unaffected, the ability to put them to use is restricted. If a phoenix's Memory drops below his rating in a Right, he simply can not use the higher-level Right power until his Memory increases once more.
The Memory trait itself can be utilized as a dice pool when the character is attempting any feat of memory (guidelines for appropriate situations can also be found in World of Darkness: Mummy, using the Memory Virtue). This roll can be modified with other traits or in difficulty when the gamemaster decides situations are similar to something the character has encountered before, whether in this lifetime or in a past life. A Memory roll is made when encountering significant people, places and things from the past, with a difficulty determined by the Storyteller based upon that significance; average difficulty for this roll is 7. Each success allows the Eternal to regain one temporary point of Memory, to a maximum of their current pemanent Memory.
Characters can regain their temporary Memory on their own, spending time reminiscing and perhaps meditating on their pasts. If the character makes an effort to remember, he or she will regain a point of Memory every two or three game days, at the Storyteller's whim. A successful Perception + Meditation roll (difficulty 8) might yield a Memory point as well; this method should take several hours of deep, uninterrupted meditation.
The "average" Eternal's Discord rating will be three. This represents the most natural state of balance between past and present.
The game traits of Memory and Discord are linked. Any reduction in permanent Memory will cause a gain of an amount of temporary Discord equal to half the Memory score that was lost, rounded down; i.e, if a Phoenix dropped from Memory 4 to Memory 3, he would gain 2 points of Discord (5 lowered to 4 would also be 2 points). A rise in permanent Memory will cause a gain of temporary Discord equal to half the Memory score attained, rounded up; to go from Memory 3 to Memory 4 causes 2 points of temporary Discord, while 4 to 5 causes 3 points of Discord. These increases can be combated by Concord.
Should permanent Discord reach ten, the phoenix is in danger of complete insanity. Each day the Eternal's permanent Memory will increase by one as the floodgates swing wide open (this will not affect Discord). When Memory reaches ten, the phoenix has lost all ability to distinguish present and past, reality and fiction. If the character can not diminish his Discord by this point, the character should be handed over to the Storyteller. Phoenixes who succumb to Discord can sometimes be helped, but it is very rare.
Discord normally can not be reduced below 1 except by the Concord Birthright. Should this somehow occur, the phoenix has become so ingrained into his current life that he will lose all Memory and cannot be brought back out of the Shell in this lifetime. He will not remember anything about being an Eternal and will usually discount such things as rubbish.
Being wounded to the Incapacitated level will give a Phoenix one temporary Discord points. Botching a Memory roll will grant temporary Discord as well, one point for every "1" rolled in the botch (it takes more ones to cancel more successes; this represents the forces of Memory surging to the fore, then turning chaotically lose through the Eternal's mind). Botching a Willpower roll will give the Eternal one point of temporary Discord.
Discord has one other game mechanic function, representing its influence over a phoenix. Once per game day, the Storyteller should roll the character's Discord rating against a difficulty of 6. For each success, one mundane Ability roll that day will increase in difficulty by one as the character finds himself battling confusion and discomfort. Alternatively, the Storyteller can apply multiple penalties to one roll, "using up" the modifiers.
Starting characters have 5 dots of Integrity to assign to Phantoms (Solari have 6). Phantoms can be assigned these dots from a rating of one, indicating that the life's personality has achieved a degree of coherence, up to a rating of five, which indicates that that particular life is nearly as clear and distinct as the character's current lifetime. Integrity also is an indication of the Phantom's relative strength of will.
At the first level of Integrity, a Phantom is like a background noise, hiding in the buzz of Memory. A one-Integrity Phantom can very rarely communicate directly with the Phoenix, but more often generates empathic impressions and vague images, and the communication is never thorough. To contact the Phantom, the Eternal must concentrate on that past life and actively seek communication.
Phantoms with an Integrity of two resemble seldom-seen acquaintances, speaking only when the situation concerns them. Two-Integrity Phantoms will carry on short conversations with the phoenix, offering viewpoints and opinions, but usually not much else, and a conversation with one is likely to be only partially successful. Finding a Phantom of this strength is much easier, requiring only partial concentration.
At the next level of Integrity, a Phantom is a constant presence, like someone watching over the phoenix's shoulder. The Eternal can speak with the Phantom without needing to "search" at all, often at surprising moments, and they can often offer several options.
A Phantom with an Integrity of four is a companion, a "roommate in the head". The Phantom will make commentary, answer questions directed to the Eternal, offer advice and chatter on as it pleases about anything it likes. They can be quite a nuisance to the phoenixes carrying them around.
Phantoms of Integrity level five resemble bodiless people, with all the attendant moods, preferences, prejudices and attitudes. These strongest of Phantoms are most often the ones to contest control of an Eternal's body. Imagine being attached to someone for all of eternity -- that's the relationship of a phoenix to a Phantom this strong.
The Integrity rating serves two purposes. The first is aiding in Anamnesis. When attempting to use Manifest or Time's Window, each dot of Integrity for the particular Phantom involved can be added as an extra die to the roll. More coherent memories of past lives will be more readily accessible.
The second purpose is more of a plot device. Occasionally a Phantom will "come to the fore" in a process known as Subversion, changing how a character acts and reacts to situations. Every once in a while, when relevant experiences trigger memories, the Storyteller should choose one of the character's Phantoms and roll a number of dice equal to its Integrity against a difficulty of ten minus the character's Discord (10 - Discord). The character can resist by rolling Willpower against a difficulty of her Discord plus the level of the Subversion. The Eternal can spend Memory to lower the difficulty of resisting the Subversion by -1 for each point, to a maximum of -3, as well as the usual spending of Willpower for a success.
Subversions are not all the same. Events and places that resonate deeply with a Phantom will bring on a stronger attempt to gain control; thus, Subversions are given a rating of One to Five. The "level" of the Subversion is added to the Phantom's Integrity for the Subversion attempt dice pool.
Normally a Phantom will eventually give up control (no system required), but not always. To return forcibly from Subversion, the character's modern psyche must attempt to Subvert the Phantom, rolling Willpower against a difficulty of the Phantom's Integrity plus the level of the Subversion. The Phantom in control can resist with an Integrity roll against a difficulty of the character's Willpower, adding the level of its Subversion to its Integrity. The Eternal can spend Memory and Willpower in this effort.
A character can voluntarily accept a Subversion, lowering his defenses and attempting to coax a past life to the surface, often when a Phantom has a better chance of getting out of a situation than the Psyche does. If the Phantom doesn't want to come forth, good role-playing will be required to coax it out (or perhaps a good Charisma + Leadership or Subterfuge roll).
When dealing with the Inklings, characters will often times find themselves refreshing their Memories and battling Subversion attempts at the same time. It's a small price to pay for the strength the Eternal hold, and most phoenixes just accept it as the way of the world.
To develop a new power in an existing Birthright, the Eternal should spend at least a month studying (although the spontaneous creation of new effects under extreme stress is not unheard of). The cost for a new power is always two more points than that power would cost to be learned; thus, a new third-level power in Aeromancy would cost 26 points instead of 24.
Temporary Memory can also be spent for successes when making a Memory roll in an attempt to remember details.
The Eternal can spend temporary Memory points to cancel the gain of temporary Discord on a one-for-one basis. This really helps if nobody nearby has Concord.
Conversely, the player could decide to start with a lower Memory rating, inhibiting her character a little but gaining extra freebie points.
| Memory Rating | Freebie Points |
| 1 | +12 (27) |
| 2 | +9 (24) |
| 3 | +6 (21) |
| 4 | +3 (18) |
| 5 | +0 (15) |
| 6 | -3 (12) |
| 7 | -6 (9) |
| 8 | -9 (6) |
| 9 | -12 (3) |
| 10 | -15 (0) |
Analogous to the variable Memory, by spending freebie points, a player can lower his starting Discord. By taking extra Discord he can gain more freebie points.
| Discord Rating | Freebie Points |
| 1 | -10 (5) |
| 2 | -5 (10) |
| 3 | 0 (15) |
| 4 | +2 (17) |
| 5 | +4 (19) |
| 6 | +6 (21) |
| 7 | +8 (23) |
| 8 | +10 (25) |
| 9 | +12 (27) |
Note that these two methods somewhat balance out. For example, by raising Memory to 6 (taking 3 freebie points, for a total of 12 left) and then raising Discord to 5 (giving back 4 freebie points, for a total of 16) a more experienced character is possible.
Another option is to use Memory as an Arete-style rating. Using the given Elemancy powers as guidelines, Eternal can create effects at each level similar to those powers.
Extrapolation of this system can be made to non-Elemantic Birthrights as well, allowing the Eternal to accomplish a range of effects in a category. This makes the system completely freeform.
Hedge Magic is open to all Eternal characters. It can be purchased with freebie points during creation or experience points further along in the chronicle. Eternal, with their capacity for great power, can learn vampiric Thaumaturgical paths, with the appropriate substitutions of stats, but keep in mind that the Tremere and Tzimisce do not take kindly to outsiders who know the secrets of their power....
Rules for Hedge Magic can be found in World of Darkness: Sorceror, as well as in various other sourcebooks.
The spectacle of two or more Eternal clashing in open combat is an awe-inspiring event. Ages of memories flood to the fore, especially clashes the combatants have had in the past. Emotions reach the flash point and reason falls by the wayside. Adrenaline floods into veins and past pains become fresh once more. This optional combat system attempts to capture that pulse-pounding, sweat-dripping feeling.
When fighting against other Eternal, phoenixes regain three temporary Willpower at the beginning of conflict (just before the first Initiative roll), up to a maximum of their permanent Willpower. All phoenix characters must roll Willpower against difficulty equal to their Discord as the first turn's Initiative, reflecting the fight against an overwhelming flood of memories. Failure is treated as normal. Botches cause Subversion attempts by a Phantom that either is related to Phantoms of the opponents, or has a better chance to survive the combat -- either by fighting or running away.
If the Eternal in the combat have a Compact with each other, the emotions and memories become even more intense. In addition to the initial Willpower check as the first Initiative, each turn all characters must resist Subversion attempts by appropriate Phantoms before their first actions, at +2 difficulty. No Willpower can be spent to resist these Subversion attempts.
Eternal who possess 4-point Compact Flaws (or 4- or 5- point Compact Merits -- that kind of betrayal hurts!) with each other face an additional danger beyond Memory overload and Subversion. Upon being wounded to the Wounded (-2) Health Level, they must begin making Willpower checks at a difficulty equal to their Memory scores; if they fail, they enter a berserk state of frenzy, attacking all present, friend or foe. Once all foes have been Incapacitated, killed or otherwise eliminated, the frenzying phoenix may begin making Willpower rolls (difficulty of Memory) to "cool off" once per turn.
"Appropriate Phantoms" means those Phantoms who had the most important interactions during life, often those past incarnations who originated the Compact. Betrayals, murders, grand thefts and the like are good indications that Phantoms will come into later conflict. Also, note that if there are multiple Eternal on one side of a conflict and none on the other, these rules naturally do not apply. Should one phoenix turn traitor, however, they do come into effect.
| Willpower | Phantom | Integrity |
| 1 | No | N/A |
| 2 | No | N/A |
| 3 | No | N/A |
| 4 | No | N/A |
| 5 | No | N/A |
| 6 | Yes | 1 |
| 7 | Yes | 2 |
| 8 | Yes | 3 |
| 9 | Yes | 4 |
| 10 | Yes | 5 |
The "Integrity" column represents a number of dice the Storyteller rolls against a difficulty of 6. If successes are gained, the new Phantom's Integrity equals the successes rolled. A failure means the life becomes part of the Memory. A botch means nothing; it's the same as a failure. (Use the new Vampire botch rule on this roll, if you aren't using it for everything already. Those 1's come up more often than they have a right to.)
Storytellers can modify the results as they see fit in cases of extreme importance, following the guideline of story over numbers.
If the character's personality becomes a Phantom, its Archetypes, Attributes and Abilities are preserved. Phantoms do not have Birthrights of their own.
Integrating reincarnation into an existing chronice is problematic at best. Solutions such as time warps can ruin the flavor and feel of a campaign, engendering a blasé sense of, "Oops, I died, let me get my next copy of my character." Unless the Storyteller is willing to bend the already-bent reality of the World of Darkness even further, death is an incredible inconvenience for the Eternal, effectively removing the character from the game.
If the chronicle spans time periods, beginning in history and moving forward to modern time, the problem becomes a story plus. Players will have more in-depth knowledge of their character's pasts and will have experience with the Phantoms that reside in their Memories.
Because there are so many differing theories about reincarnation, its processes and implications, the issues and specific details of the experience of reincarnation are left up to individual Storytellers to create and tailor to their own chronicles. Possibilities include brief trips to the Shadowlands, Wraith-like confrontations with Phantoms, umbral encounters, Harrowing-style rides through the character's Memory, anything the Storyteller thinks is appropriate to her style of gamemastering and the character.
As well, when at the Crippled Health Level or below, Eternal do not lose a point from their Physical Attributes. The times for healing for phoenixes are given on the Healing chart in the Appendix.
When at the Incapacitated Health Level, the phoenix is one wound away from death, as is a mortal human. If any more damage is inflicted on the Eternal (or if bleeding can not be stopped) the Eternal will pass on into her next life.
Aggravated damage takes twice as long to heal as normal damage for Eternal. Thus, a phoenix healing from the Wounded Health Level normally needs one hour to move to Injured; if the wound suffered causing him to drop to Wounded was aggravated damage, it would take two hours to heal that Health Level.
Eternal can soak Aggravated damage with the usual Stamina roll, but the difficulty increases by one (to 7). Healing aggravated damage requires that the phoenix rest, not becoming involved in any stressful situations. This means no combat, no marathons, no love affairs, no golf, and plenty of tender loving care and easy listening music (just kidding!)