Argos is one of the thirteen primary Arcanoi from Wraith: The Oblivion. Users of Argos can manipulate, navigate, and travel through the Tempest.
Users of Argos are one of the more welcome groups in the Shadowlands. The Tempest is a hazardous and tricky place to journey through, and those with the ability to travel through it relatively unscathed are able to sell their services easily. It is much easier to find a wraith with Argos than a Ferryman, though a Ferryman’s services are almost guaranteed, where with a Harbinger, there is always a small chance of danger.
Harbingers can carry as many "passengers" as they desire, but at the risk of raising the difficulty of their actions. All of them must be in bodily contact and willing to travel; those who resist can make any actions using Argos extremely difficult and dangerous for everyone involved.
When Argos doesn’t work properly, it frequently spits the user out in Tempest in an unknown location. It takes some time for the Harbinger to find their location, during which they are subjected to any number of dangers: Spectres, enemy wraiths, or Maelstroms are some of the more common.
Basic Abilities[]
The basic Argos arts allow a Harbinger to pass through the Tempest.[1]
- Orienteering: A Harbinger can find their location in the Tempest and the closest, easiest path through.
- Tempestpeek: A Harbinger can look into the nearby Tempest.
- Tempest Threshold: A Harbinger can open their own nihils into the Tempest.
Standard Powers[]
First / Second Edition[]
More advanced arts allow a Harbinger to travel more swiftly, to conceal themselves, or even attack using the power of the Tempest.[1]
Enshroud: A Harbinger can temporarily cloak themselves in shadows.- Phantom Wings: A Harbinger can grow wings to glide through the Tempest and Shadowlands.
- Flicker: A Harbinger may bend the Tempest to teleport themselves to another location.
- Jump: A Harbinger may rapidly travel to any of their Fetters.
- Oubliette: A Harbinger may send another wraith directly into the Tempest.
20th Anniversary Edition[]
Basic abilities were dropped in the 20th anniversary edition.
The standard powers of Argos are the same as previous editions, with the following exceptions, which replace the skills of the same level or where noted.[2]
- Weather Eye: A Harbinger is always aware of current conditions in the nearby Tempest, and can take shortcuts between two Shadowlands locations.
- Stormreader: A Harbinger gains an intuitive sense of the Tempest, allowing them to cut travel times when traveling to or from a location in the Tempest, and to navigate so as to avoid a Maelstrom or mitigate its effects.
Additionally, Jump was replaced by the 
Lifeweb Initiate art Walk the Web, along with a general rule allowing Harbingers to reduce the difficulty of Argos arts used to travel to a fetter by the fetter's rating (to a minimum of 4).
Alternate Powers[]
Wraith: The Great War[]
Argos abilities during the Great War are the same as the basic abilities and standard powers with the following exceptions, which replace the skills of the same level or where noted.[3]
- Maelstrom Navigation: Allows a Harbinger to safely navigate the Shadowlands during hazardous conditions. Replaces Orienteering.
- Tempest Glimpse: The same as Tempestpeek above, plus the additional ability to communicate with wraiths in the Tempest.
- Storm Robes: A Harbinger can create protective robes that ward off Maelstrom effects.
- Travel: A Harbinger may manipulate the metaphysical shortcuts through the Tempest.
- Maelstrom Bridge: This allows a Harbinger to cause a Maelstrom to manifest in the Skinlands.
In addition, there is the following alternate power:
- Tempest Slip: A Harbringer can open a nihil and guide a naval vessel through.[4]
20th Anniversary Edition[]
The 20th anniversary edition introduces the initiate arts, a set of Argos abilities available to members of the Harbingers' Guild with sufficient standing.[2]
- Enshroud: A Harbinger can manipulate the membrane between the Shadowlands and Tempest, allowing them to enter the Tempest without opening a Nihil or use the Tempest for concealment.
- Wayfarer's Resolve: A Harbinger can ignore the weight of their Fetters when travelling the Tempest and the locations it bounds.
- Turn the Anemoi's Wrath: A Harbinger can resist damage from environmental sources and Pandemonium arts.
- Tempest-Rider's Canceleer: A Harbinger can grow metallic black wings, allowing them to glide, attack, and protect others.
- Maître après Dieu: A Harbinger can apply travel-related Argos arts to a relic or Artifact vehicle they control and command.
Other Books[]
- Fix Bearings[5]: A Wraith can determine their exact location while in the Shadowlands by extending their senses into the Tempest.
- Return[6]: A Harbinger may travel from any location in the Tempest to their home by the fastest route possible.
- Tempest Run[7]: A Harbinger can ride natural currents and winds to keep ahead of a Maelstrom.
- Moving Haunt[7]: This is a Tempered Arcanoi. Along with Lifeweb, a Harbinger can turn a mobile object, such as a car, ship, or train, into an Artifact, no longer consuming pathos to move. It also has the advantages of a Haunt.
- Forbidden Paths[8]: Edward Teach, the legendary Blackbeard, is the only one known to possess this Art, which allows him to navigate hidden Spectre-claimed byways in the Tempest.
- Safe Passage[5]: This art allows a large single object to be pushed between the Shadowlands and the Tempest. The Lifeweb art Comrades in Arms must be used to allow anything that's not a part of the object to travel with it, else be left behind.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 WTO: Wraith: The Oblivion Second Edition, p. 136-137
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 WTO: Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition, p. 151-153
- ↑ WTGW: Wraith: The Great War Rulebook, p. 115-116
- ↑ WTGW: Wraith: The Great War Rulebook, p. 75
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 WOD: Blood Dimmed Tides, p. 55
- ↑ WTO: The Hierarchy, p. 105
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 WTO: The Sea of Shadows, p. 89-90
- ↑ WTO: Haunts, p. 91
| Wraith: The Oblivion Arcanoi | |
| The Great 13 | Argos · Castigate · Embody · Fatalism · Inhabit · Keening · Lifeweb · Moliate · Outrage · Pandemonium · Phantasm · Puppetry · Usury |
|---|---|
| Forbidden | Flux · Intimation · Mnemosynis |
| Dark Arcanoi | Blighted Insight · Contaminate · Corruption · False Life · Hive-Mind · Larceny · Maleficence · Shroud-Rending · Tempest-Weaving · Tempestos |
| Risen | Fascinate · Serendipity |
| Jade | Chains of the Emperor · Way of the Artisan · Way of the Farmer · Way of the Merchant · Way of the Scholar · Way of the Soul |
| Miscellaneous | Alloyed · Behest · Connaissance · Displace · Kinesis · Leechcraft · Tempered |