Older characters may begin with better Traits, but in exchange they suffer penalties that represent their extended un-life spans. Players may select a higher maximum for all of their Attribute categories: eleven, twelve, thirteen, or fourteen. Each point increased costs the wraith a permanent Corpus level or a fetter, and adds a permanent Angst Trait to her total. (A character can never lose or remove her starting permanent Angst Traits.)
For example: Bill creates a wraith with Attribute maximums of thirteen. He starts with four permanent Angst Traits, and chooses to sacrifice one fetter and two permanent Corpus levels.
Wraith characters also increase their Attribute maximums naturally through time in play. A character that has been in play for more than six months has an Attribute category maximum of eleven. This increases to twelve after one year in play, thirteen after eighteen months in play, fourteen after two years in play, sixteen after four years in play, and eighteen after six years in play.
For example: Bill’s wraith already has Attribute maximums of thirteen, so they do not improve until the character has been in play for two years. At that time, its maximums increase to fourteen.
A Thorn is assigned when twenty Experience Traits have been earned. A new Thorn need not be assigned until another twenty Experience Traits have been earned, and so on. If a two Trait Thorn is assigned, the character doesn’t get another until fifty more Experience Traits have been gained. A three Trait Thorn means the character doesn’t get another until ninety more Experience Traits have been earned. A four Trait Thorn prevents another Thorn from being gained until one hundred and forty additional Experience Traits are earned, and a five Trait Thorn staves off the next until two hundred more Experience Traits have been earned.
The following expands the list of Thorns to give players more options when fleshing out their characters. Every wraith's Shadow starts off with two Traits of Thorns. Additional Thorns may be taken in lieu of Negative Traits, but the character is still limited in the number of Negative Traits it can take (these extra Thorns do count against that maximum).
Dark Allies [1 Trait/level]
The character's Shadow communicates regularly with specific specters, and can call on them for assistance.
Death's Sigil [1-3 Traits]
The character carries a prominent sign of Oblivion's touch: wings of choking smoke, footprints of sea water, the smell of a charnel house, and so on. Each Trait of Death's Sigil reduces the wraith's effective total Social Traits by one for the purpose of ties and overbids. The character can spend a Willpower Trait to stifle (negate) the effects for a scene.
Infamy [1 Trait/level]
Similar to Memoriam, this represents the measure of fear and loathing the character inspires in the living. Each time the character falls into slumber, the player must make one Simple Test per Trait of this Thorn. Each test that she does not win or tie gives the character a temporary Angst Trait.
Deafened Ear [1 Trait]
The Shadow may spend a temporary Angst Trait to inflict total deafness on the wraith for fifteen minutes. This can be done once per session, and does not grant the wraith immunity to Keening and other sound-based powers.
Mirror, Mirror [1 Trait]
Whenever the wraith sees itself in a reflective surface, the Shadow can activate this Thorn. Everyone who sees the reflection sees it as horribly distorted, in whatever manner the Shadow desires. This costs nothing to activate, but repeated usage mutes the surprise and shock value it can have.
Nightmares [1 Trait]
The Shadow can inflict wracking nightmare on the Psyche. The Shadow spends a temporary Angst Trait and engages in a Static Challenge of the wraith's permanent Angst against its Willpower (no Traits bid). Success means the Shadow causes the Psyche to immediately wake from slumber without the usual benefits.
Shadow Face [1 Trait]
The wraith can take on a completely different appearance when the Shadow takes over (should it desire to do so).
Shadow Call [2 Traits]
The Shadow can use this only when the wraith is in the Tempest or near the mouth of a Nihil. For each Trait of permanent Angst the wraith possesses, the Shadow can spend a Trait of temporary Angst and perform a Simple Test. Each win (not loss or tie) summons a specter, the exact nature of which is decided by the Storyteller.
Wrack [2 Traits/level]
The Shadow can inflict the Psyche with shooting pain during a Physical Challenge. The Shadow simply spends a temporary Angst Trait, and forces the wraith to bid an additional Trait per level of this Thorn. A Willpower Trait can be spent to negate the use of this Thorn for a scene.
Silenced Tongue [3 Traits]
The Shadow can (once per session) spend a Trait of temporary Angst to render the wraith unable to make any sound for thirty minutes. The wraith cannot use any sound-based powers, though it can communicate by writing, gesturing, and the like. Remember that writing implements are rare in the Shadowlands.
Honeyed Tongue [3 Traits]
The Shadow can spend a temporary Angst Trait and engage its target in a Social Challenge. If successful, the next sentence the Shadow speaks will be believed by the target (until irrefutable evidence is shown to the contrary). The Psyche can spend a Willpower Trait to negate this effect.
Shadow Mentor [3 Traits]
The Shadow can tap into the Hive-Mind to produce knowledge (Lores) for the Psyche. The player informs the Narrator that he wishes to gain some knowledge, and that he is making a pact with his Shadow. The narrator then determines the level of Lore required for the information, and that number is then added to the wraith's temporary Angst Traits. As a side effect of these frequent pacts, each time the Psyche gains any Lores on its own, the player must make as Simple Test for each level learned, with a loss giving the wraith one temporary Angst Trait.
Shadowplay [4 Traits]
The Shadow can offer an additional action to the Psyche after the wraith uses up all of its normally available actions for a turn. This offer is at the discretion of the Shadow, the Psyche can't ask. If the Psyche agrees, it losses one, two or three Pathos Traits (win, tie or loss on a Simple Test). It gains one, two, or three temporary Angst Traits (win, tie or loss on another Simple Test). This affect can be offered only once per scene. The Psyche must spend a Willpower Trait in order to resist when the Shadow offers this.
Tainted Touch [4 Traits]
The wraith becomes a psychic Typhoid Mary. When the character brushes against another's corpus (or vice versa), he must engage that individual in a Physical, Social, or Mental Challenge (whichever is his strongest category). If successful, the other character gains a temporary Angst Trait. Willpower cannot be used to negate the effects of this Thorn, nor does this Thorn work when the character is in combat.
Whispers [4 Traits]
The Shadow can speak directly to other Shadows, without the Psyche's knowledge.
Manifestation [5 Traits]
The Shadow can take on independent corporeal existence, with the same Traits as the Psyche. The Shadow must spend three Traits of temporary Angst for every ten minutes that it wishes to maintain its manifestation.