Pandemonium (WTO)

Pandemonium
Guild	Haunters
Status	Restricted
Marking	Peculiar mannerisms, black cloak

Pandemonium is one of the primary thirteen Arcanoi from Wraith: The Oblivion. Wraiths who use this Arcanos can use the powers of chaos to create havoc in the living world.

Pandemonium is also called the Wylding, a very appropriate name as perhaps no Arcanos is more associated with the Fog than this one. Experienced Haunters can create spectacularly horrible effects that are usually dramatic. They are usually the ones responsible for many effects of the classic "hauntings" in history. Blood running down the walls, mists and sudden chills, and swarms of rats or insects are just a few of the more common effects that a Haunter can inflict on their targets. Many Haunters enjoy using this art, and tend to develop a very artistic sense around it. In some cases, their only limitations are their imaginations and the thickness of the Shroud.

Despite their view of their abilities as "art", Haunters are not accepted like the Chanteurs or the Sandmen, as the existence of their powers violates the Dictum Mortuum. In fact, Haunters are one of the most frequent violators of the law, and therefore are usually chased down by the Hierarchy. On occasion, however, the Hierarchy has been known to hire more respectable Haunters to "clean out" certain buildings of the Quick.

Backlashes of power are frequently a problem when a use of Pandemonium doesn’t go as planned. Objects a wraith didn’t intend to touch can become distorted or destroyed, or a wraith’s Pathos or Corpus can be accidentally stripped away.

Basic Abilities

• Sense Chaos: A Haunter can tell if something is being or has been manipulated by Pandemonium.

Basic abilities were dropped in the 20th anniversary edition.

Standard Powers

• Weirdness: A Haunter can cause a small, limited effect on a lone target.
• Befuddlement: A Haunter can completely confuse a target for a limited time.
• Strange Ether: A Haunter can tamper with the environmental conditions is a small area.
• Foul Humour: A Haunter can produce a strong, material effect through the Shroud.
• Tempus Fugit: A Haunter can manipulate distance and time on a limited basis.

Alternate Powers

Guildbook: Haunters

• Mouth of Madness: A Haunter can manifest Pandemonium arts through themselves.
• Scripture: A Haunter may communicate by writing with their Corpus.
• Wild Bloom: A Haunter can cause a small, withered garden to grow anywhere.
• Bite Me: A Haunter may create realistic-looking (but foul tasting) food with their Corpus.
• Fooled You: A Haunter may distort the distance at which an object appears to be.
• Stretching Reality: A Haunter can distort distances further, such as along hallways or roads.
• Stigmata: A Haunter may create the appearance of bleeding wounds on their target.
• Form of Chaos: A Haunter can make a rough humanoid form out of what appear to be foul objects (such as blood, maggots, insects, etc.)
• Death's Caul: A Haunter may use part of his Corpus to create a "caul" over the face of a mortal.

Wraith: The Great War

Pandemonium 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.

• Bewilderment: This is essentially the same as Weirdness.
• Haunting: A Haunter may call on the Wylding to create strange effects in the Skinlands.
• Wyldfire: This allows a Haunter to conjure up a Wylding-fueled flame that damages Spectres.

20th Anniversary Edition

The 20th anniversary edition introduces the initiate arts, a set of Pandemonium abilities available to members of the Haunters' Guild with sufficient status.

• Taste Chaos: A Haunter can see whether someone has been affected by Pandemonium, Spectre powers, or other manifestations of Oblivion.
• Postmortemscript: This is essentially the same as Scripture.
• Escher's Stair: A Haunter can link two doorways or other portals via the Labyrinth.
• Grotesque Apparition: This is essentially the same as Form of Chaos.
• Tesseract Bomb: A Haunter can turn a structure into a maze of nightmare geometry, making it impossible to enter or leave.

Other Books

• Tumorous Growth (The Book of Legions): A Haunter can cause a benign growth in a mortal.

Reference

• WTO: Wraith: The Oblivion Second Edition, p. 154-155
• WTO/cMET: Oblivion, p. 126-128
• WTO: Guildbook: Haunters, p. 42-47
• WTO: Wraith: The Great War Rulebook, p. 126-127
• WTO: The Book of Legions, p. 53
• WTO: Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition, p. 205-207