Mediums Revised

by J. Edward Tremlett (reggies_ghost@hotmail.com)

Summary: Mediums for Wraith Revised Edition.
This article originally appeared on Ex Libris Nocturnis at the URL:
http://www.nocturnis.net/articles/wraith/default/2000/August/184/page1.html
For Mediums, the time of the 6th Great Maelstrom is both the best of times and the worst of times.
The best because those who actively seek contact with the dead have more opportunities than ever
before. With the fall of the Hierarchy, the Dictum Mortuum is no more. Many who wouldn’t have
dared speak to the Quick before that time are doing so now. And those who never followed that rule to
begin with are enjoying the vindication of their beliefs.
The rewards for a Medium willing to brave the world of the dead are coming into their own, now.
With the Storm winds blowing, many Wraiths are needing to have a mortal on the ground who can
hear their pleas for aid in the Skinlands. Such persons can go out into the street to retrieve small Fetters
to safer, or closer, locations, thus helping those Wraiths whose Fetters are too far from their Haunts to
risk a run for it.
And so, it is a great time to have the sight.
But at the same time, the Storm has brought terrors untold of. The ghosts that the others hold in dread
-- known as Spectres -- are here in ever-increasing numbers. Many seances have been disrupted by
such violent and destructive beings. Even worse, those who have the sight but don’t really want it are
finding themselves beset by these foul creatures, just for the ease with which they can be found.
Those who can hear the world of the dead, or see it in its entirety, are now witness to the horror that
comes with the Storm. Some are fortunate enough to only hear its rumbling and the screaming of its
riders. Others are cursed with seeing it all unfold, making their own understanding of reality a tenuous
thing.,
And so it is a horrible time to carry the curse.
Good, ill or indifferent, the landscape of the dead world has changed forever. And with that change
comes new challenges and obstacles for those mortals who would divine its secrets. It’s not going to be
easy or pretty though: don’t say we didn’t warn you.
The following rules are meant to update the Medium-based Merits and Flaws that were given in
Mediums: Speakers with the Dead for the time of the Maelstrom. In many cases, the points given for
flaws were increased to reflect certain physical and social realities. In others, certain Merits have to
have new Flaws attached due to the Maelstrom itself.
Future installments for Mediums Revised will have in-depth rules for Spectre Cultists, new
organizations (and what could have happened to the old ones) and new Medium-based Merits and
Flaws to add to your Chronicle.
Changes to Older Merits and Flaws:

The following Merits and Flaws have not changed significantly from their descriptions on pages 17 -
19 of Mediums: Speakers with the Dead:

* Creepy Feelings: + 1
* Dead Connection: +2
* Small Gift: +3 The new flaw The Horror cannot be taken with this merit since the Medium can
always turn this Merit’s effects off.
* Easy Consort: +4
* Deathsight: -4 This is NOT showing the Shadowlands, but rather giving a mortal all the drawbacks
of Deathsight without any of the benefits.
The Wanted Flaw (-1) is not valid for post Ends of Empire Chronicles since the Hierarchy no longer
exists in the sense that it once did. It could still be used in any Wraith: The Great War Chronicles
where Mediums are used.
The Following Merits and Flaws have undergone some changes that should be noted, but otherwise
they work as described in Vampire: The Masquerade Rev Ed (Medium) and Mediums: Speakers with
The Dead (everything else):
* Medium: +2 MAELSTROM CHANGE: This merit is always on, technically, and anyone who takes
it must also take the “Distracted” Flaw (-1) during the time of the Great Maelstrom
* Speaker With the Dead: + 5 MAELSTROM CHANGE: Anyone who takes this must take the Flaw
“The Horror” (-2) during the time of the Great Maelstrom.
* Extremely Depressing: -3 MAELSTROM CHANGE: The character shows up like a bright spot of
anti-light for any Spectre’s Perceive Contamination rolls (-2 Difficulty for them to spot). With the
increased number of Spectres roaming around, the character is bound to make a lot of new,
questionable friends…
* Mobbed: -4 MAELSTROM CHANGE: Now that the Dictum Mortuum no longer exists in any sort
of enforceable form, the Character is being sought out more than ever before.
* Poltergeist Party: -4 MAELSTROM CHANGE: As with “Mobbed,” now that the Dictum Mortuum
is dust, the character is likely to attract even more of the bastards than ever before, and there is no one
on that side to stop them, now...
* Spectre Meat: -5 MAELSTROM CHANGE: There are more Spectres out there than ever before to
bother your character now.

New Medium-Based Merits and Flaws

* Distracted: -1
The 6th Great Maelstrom is raging, and your character gets an earful of it. There are days when it’s a
dull roar of what sounds like falling meat, but there are also days -- sometimes whole weeks -- where it
seems like the whole world is full of endless screaming, spooky noises and terrible, unseen storms.
If the character is in any area of the Skinlands whose Shadowlands equivalent is exposed to the
Maelstrom, she suffers an increased Difficulty on her actions when the Maelstrom is raging. This takes
the form of a cumulative +1 Difficulty on all Social and Mental actions, as well as any Physical actions
requiring concentration, for every Force Level of the Maelstrom over 1. (A Force Two storm would
have a +1 Difficulty, a Force Three +2, and so on)
This can only be counteracted with the Normalcy Talent. Each success on a Wits + Normalcy roll (diff
7) makes the Storm sound as though it were one Force Level less than it really is, and may even block
out the sounds altogether. If this is done, then the Medium cannot hear ANYTHING from the
Shadowlands -- not even things she may want to hear.
This Flaw should only be taken in Chronicles that take place during a Great Maelstrom.
The Horror: -2
This is a bit like Distracted, but it’s worse because your character can actually SEE what is going on as
well. The horrors of the Maelstrom are yours to endure, including the waves of writhing horrors, the
endless charges of Spectres and foul plasmics and the oncoming rush of spectral debris and tempest-
tossed stormfronts. It’s not a pretty sight at all, and your character has had it superimposed over her
reality.
Whenever a character is in any area of the Skinlands whose Shadowlands equivalent is exposed to the
Maelstrom, she suffers an increased Difficulty on any Perception-based Actions when the Maelstrom is
raging. This Difficulty is also applied to any rolls for ranged combat. The penalties are dependent on
the Force of the Storm currently raging, and can be found in the table below.
Force OneAll Perception rolls are at +1 DifficultyForce TwoAll Perception rolls are at +2
DifficultyForce ThreeAll Perception rolls are at +3 DifficultyForce FourAll Perception rolls are at +4
DifficultyForce FiveAll Perception rolls are at +5 Difficulty
This problem can only be counteracted with the Normalcy Talent. Each success on a Wits + Normalcy
roll (diff 7) makes the Storm seem as though it were one Force Level less than it really is, and may
even block out the sounds and sights altogether. If this is done, then the Medium cannot hear or see
ANYTHING from the Shadowlands -- not even things she may want to.
As with Distracted, this Flaw should only be taken in Chronicles that take place during a Great
Maelstrom.

The “Normalcy” Secondary Talent

For those whose senses are constantly open to the world of the dead, the ability to feel, hear and/or see
that place atop the “real” world one lives in takes major effort. Fortunately, the strength of the human
mind is such that there are defenses against such things. This is represented by the Normalcy
Secondary Talent.
Normalcy (found in Mediums: Speakers With the Dead, pg. 23) can be bought by any character who
has a Medum-Based Merit that they cannot turn on or off. This includes Creepy Feelings, Medium and
Speaker with the Dead. Normalcy is the only way the information that comes in through those Merits
can be dimmed or blocked.
This Talent, like these Merits, are open to any kind of Character -- except Wraiths, obviously -- who
have, or develop, such Merits. No one else can learn this: anyone who tries gets no effect at best, and
bleeding ears and headaches at worst.
Successful use of Normalcy can block a Wraith’s use of Whispers (Embody 1) or Black Whispers
(Maleficence 1), but is useless against Keening or anything where feelings or images are transmitted
rather than words. It is also useless against Puppetry and Corruption.
The rules for this are on page 23 Mediums: Speakers with the Dead. Other than a broadening of its
scope, and an update for the Maleficence Dark Arcanos, it works as it is specified there.