White Wolf Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers is a splatbook for Wraith: The Oblivion detailing the Pardoners, users of Castigate and Puppeteers, users of Puppetry.

Summary[]

From the White Wolf catalog:

Pardoners
Your sins cry to me from the depths of your Shadow. Yield to me, and I will grant you absolution and healing. If you resist, I will still aid you. It's just going to hurt a lot more.
Puppeteers
Hiya, bunky. Guess what? You're a passenger in your own body right now, so sit back and enjoy the ride. I've been watching you for a while, and it's pathetic. So I think it's time that this dead man showed you how to live. Hope your credit cards aren't maxed out, 'cause we're gonna need 'em.
It's Getting Crowded in Here!
The Puppeteers: renegades who challenge Charon's Law every time they practice their powers of possession. The Pardoners: confessors and healers of the Dead, but they harbor a terrible secret. Both groups work toward what they see as the ultimate good for the Underworld — but would any other wraith agree if he knew what these Guilds are hiding?
Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers is the fifth in the continuing series of Guildbooks for Wraith: The Oblivion. The first Guildbook to contain two Guilds under one cover, Puppeteers and Pardoners includes everything – new Arcanos Arts, Merits, Flaws, Artifacts, histories, and more – that you need to play a fully realized member of either of these Guilds.
Guildbook: Pardoners and Puppeteers contains:
  • The real reason the Puppeteers turn the Risen loose upon the world
  • The hidden link between the Pardoners and Charon's destruction
  • New uses for Puppetry and Castigation, and much more!

Chapters[]

Guildbook: Puppeteers[]

Ghost Story: A Road of Steel and Souls, Part V[]

A group of Puppeteers use their arts to compare notes in the safety of the Skinlands.

Chapter One: No Strings Attached?[]

This details where the Puppeteers pull their recruits from, how they manipulate their affairs, and why they like testing the strength of the strings of society.

Chapter Two: Waiting for Fate[]

A history of the Puppeteers through a living host body, and the confused Skinlands reaction.

Chapter Three: The Puppeteers and the Risen[]

The Puppeteers are the greatest ally of the Risen, but they have their own reasons for why they seemingly give their help away.

Chapter Four: Pulling Strings[]

New Arcanos arts for both animals and humans, the effects of Puppetry on other denizens of the World of Darkness, Merits and Flaws, Puppeteer-specific archetypes, and Guild Artifacts.

  • Animal Arts:
    • Menu hover bulletMenu bulletMenu bulletMenu bulletMenu bullet Skinride Animal
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bulletMenu bulletMenu bullet Control Creature
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bulletMenu bullet Obliterate Animal
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bullet Manipulate Herd
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bullet Shadow Possess
  • Medicinal Arts:
    • Menu hover bulletMenu bulletMenu bulletMenu bulletMenu bullet Analyze
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bulletMenu bulletMenu bullet Alter Vital Signs
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bulletMenu bullet Healing
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bullet Faint
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bullet Marionette
  • Merits and Flaws:
    • Outrageous Accent (1 point Flaw)
    • Enemy Consort (2 or 4 point Flaw)
    • Gender Bender (3 point Flaw)
    • Racism (3 point Flaw)
    • Sticky Plasm (5 point Flaw)
    • Friendly Consort (2 point Merit)
    • Risen Contact (2 point Merit)
    • Discreet (3 point Merit)
    • Confessor (3 point Merit)
    • Friends in High Places (3-6 point Merit)
  • New Archetypes:
    • Addict
    • Megalomaniac
    • Dependent
  • Artifacts:
    • Hoodoo Doll (Level 2 Relic)
    • Marionette Strings (Level 5 Relic)

Chapter Five: Behind the Puppet Show Curtain[]

Puppeteer character templates from a diverse set of people.

  • Nightmare Author
  • Heretic Legionnaire
  • Mole in the Big Anthill
  • Puppetry Junkie
  • Filmflam Artist

Appendix: Punches and Judies[]

The master manipulators of the Puppeteer Guild.

Guildbook: Pardoners[]

Ghost Story: A Road of Steel and Souls, Part VI[]

Sister Acceptance ponders her past and the plans of the Guilds to locate Charon.

Chapter One: Spiritual Exercises[]

The Meditations of the Pardoners, telling who tends to become one, why Stygia hinges on their very existence, and how they go about saving souls.

Chapter Two: The Pardoner's Tale (History)[]

Sister Rapture gives her version of the history of the Pardoners.

Chapter Three: True Confessions[]

The Guild structure, including the ranks, divisions, methods of Castigation, and the Pardoners' vows to keep it all a secret. This is followed by sections on the relations of the Pardoners to other major Underworld organizations and how they deal with the Quick, Spectres, and other strange creatures.

Chapter Four: Secrets[]

A Pardoner's Shadow speaks out on all of the secrets that the Guild has managed to hold on to, including the truth about Gorool and Charon.

Chapter Five: The Art of Castigation[]

Guild-specific Arcanos abilities, merits and flaws, and the Artifacts of the Guild, including the Angst Battery.

  • Ancient Castigation Arts:
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bulletMenu bulletMenu bullet Mask Castigation
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bulletMenu bullet Transfer Angst
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bullet Mass Chastisement
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bullet Shadow Screen
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bullet Shadow Summons
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bullet Shadow Wrack
  • New Castigation Arts:
    • Menu hover bulletMenu bulletMenu bulletMenu bulletMenu bullet Attunement
    • Menu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu hover bulletMenu bulletMenu bullet Storm Quell
  • Merits and Flaws:
    • Storm Warning (1 point Merit)
    • Purity (4 point Merit)
    • Prejudicial Castigation (2 point Flaw)
    • Repulsive Technique (2 point Flaw)
    • Sympathizer (3 point Flaw)
  • Artifacts:
    • Instruments of Chastisement (Common, Level Two)
    • Iron Lantern (Rare, Level Three)
    • Soul Lantern (Luxury, Level Three)
    • Angst Battery (Singular, Level Five)

Chapter Six: Templates[]

Pardoner-based character templates. Religion is optional.

  • Evangelist
  • Drill Instructor
  • Darksider
  • Angst Junkie
  • Sin-Eater

Appendix: Who Was Who[]

The sisters and brothers who have influenced the Pardoners' Guild.

Background Information[]

  • This was the first Guildbook to contain two Guilds in one volume, a practice that would continue once more for Guildbook: Spooks and Oracles before the Guildbook line was discontinued. The book is labeled as being the 'fifth' book in the line on the spine.
  • Some other White Wolf books during 1996 (Such as Oblivion) had ads promoting Puppeteers (Summer 1997) and Pardoners (Fall 1997) as single individual Guildbooks before they were merged into one volume.
  • A note mentions that: Sister Acceptance was created by Jackie Cassada. Yaeko was created by Heather Grove. And Lord Ember was created by Richard Dansky.
  • Ads at the back of the book include: Changeling: The Dreaming Second Edition (August 1997), Vampire: The Masquerade CD-Rom (October 1997), The Essential World of Darkness (September 1997), Grails Covenant Trilogy: To Sift Through Bitter Ashes (July), Trilogy of the Blood Curse: The Devil's Advocate (October) and Aeon.

Memorable Quotes[]

(...)

Characters[]

  • Jericho - Puppeteer
  • Katerina - Puppeteer
  • Yaeko - Puppeteer
  • Seth - Monitor
  • John Miller - Overlord of the Emerald Legion in Boston, Hierarch
  • Susan Lawrence - Emerald Legion Centurion from Boston, Hierarch
  • Father Ron - Mortal Priest
  • Father Michael - Mortal Priest possessed by a Puppeteer
  • Angie - Wraith, Unofficial Pardoner
  • Mitch - Puppeteer
  • Ben Pollack - Wraith Slaver from Pittsburgh, Has been soulforged
  • Linda Howe - Puppeteer
  • Erik - Renegade
  • Andrea - Mortal Host to a Puppeteer
  • Conner - Mortal
  • Colin - Puppeteer, Puppet Master of New England and Canada
  • Marionette - Puppeteer, Renegade, Puppet Master
  • Marie - Puppeteer, Went through a Harrowing
  • Doctor Nina Peguero - Mortal, Psychiatrist
  • Maryel Hinman - Mortal Secretary
  • Yuji Pegureo - Mortal
  • Adrian Horne - Mortal, Possessed by a Puppeteer
  • The Puppet Master - Charon's Lackey
  • Lance Salles - Puppeteer, Spectre
  • Lady Joan - Puppeteer, Guild Leader, Skinrides animals
  • Dove - German Shephard-Lab Mix, Dog Possessed by Jerry's Shadow
  • Kirk Armstrong - Mortal, Inquisition Hunter
  • Jerry - Risen, Destroyed by Kirk Armstrong
  • Richard McConnaughey - Puppeteer
  • Brigitte Gebauer - Puppeteer
  • Rasputin - Puppeteer, Heretic
  • Misha - Puppeteer, Heretic
  • Colin Grant - Puppeteer
  • Sister Pride/Mother Pain - Pardoner Names
  • Brother Reliant - Pardoner Guildmaster
  • Sister Fidelity - Pardoner
  • Brother Loyalty - Pardoner
  • Mother Faith - Pardoner, Editor of Guildwraiths Among Us: True Secrets of the Pardoners
  • Brother Angyr - Master Pardoner from the San Francisco Necropolis
  • Sister Acceptance: Aka "Inachus of Mycenae," Charon's personal confessional and now sorrowful head of the Pardoners' Guild.
  • Sister Rapture: A high-ranking Pardoner concerned with Sister Acceptance's weak state.
  • Brother Tenacious: Aka "Juan de Manresa," Another gifted Pardoner who has an ongoing dialogue with his Shadow.
  • Mother Joyous - Pardoner
  • Father Compassionate - Aka "Hippocrates," Pardoner, Disappeared

Terminology[]

Apprentices/Postulants, Artificers (Pardoner Allies), Book of Pardons (Book), Boston, Castigate, Chapter Houses, Conduits, Consorts, Changelings, Decree of Breaking, De Natura Specrorum by Sister Fidelity (Book), Dictum Mortuum, Exercises, Fire and Angel (Haunt), Giovanni, Grand Masters/Master Pardoners, Guildwraiths Among Us: True Secrets of the Pardoners by Brother Tenacious's Shadow (Book), Harbingers (Pardoner Allies), Haunters (Pardoner Enemies), Hosts, The Inner Lantern, Journeymen/Pledges, Mages, Martyr Knights (Doomslayers, Pardoner Allies), Masters/Pardoners, Mnemoi (Pardoner Enemies), Monitors (Puppeteer and Pardoner Allies), Necromancy, Order of the Unlidded Eye, Pardoner, Pardoner Groups/Factions: Confessors, Inquisitors, Psychists, Scourges; The Pardoners' Oath, Pardoner Philosophical Divisions: The Ablutionists, The Reclamationists, The Cult of Inner Flame and Darkness (Pardoner Group Banned from the Guild), The Fallen (Pardoner Spectres); Pardoner Special Interest Societies: Missionaires, Darksiders, The Beacon; Puppeteer, Puppet Masters (Higher-ups in the Puppeteer Guild), Puppetry, Risen, River of Death (Location), Silent Striders (Pardoner Allies), Skinrider/Skinriding, Sluagh, Spear of Longinus (Artifact), Spectral Risen, Spooks (Pardoner Enemies), The Supreme Master (Pardoner), Usurers (Pardoner Enemies), Vampire, Werewolves,

References[]

Previous release Game Books Next release
WTO: Guildbook: Haunters Buy it from DriveThruRPG! Wraith: The Oblivion books WTO: Doomslayers: Into the Labyrinth Buy it from DriveThruRPG!
Advertisement