New laments - ways for your character to project - have been unearthed. Use at your own discretion.

"I look like death warmed over, do I? Well, guess what, sweetheart..."

(by Ravil)
Ghosts and spirits have long been associated with bad omens, but there are fewer signs more fundamentally troubling than gazing upon one's double, an apparition of a still-living person. Called "fetches" or "co-walkers" in English and Irish folklore, they have traditionally been known as signs of ill-boding, and to see one's own Fetch is supposedly to receive an omen of one's impending death.

The reality behind fetches is no less disturbing.

Fetches are spirits caught in a state of limbo, neither living nor dead. They are projectors, but only in the loosest sense, as they are the oft-unwilling psychic shards of a living soul. Separated from the rest of a psychically-sensitive person's psyche by some crisis (a near-death experience of some sort), a fetch is the ghost of a person who is still entirely alive, and most often unaware of their spiritual doppleganger.

A fetch retains full consciousness and awareness, but is utterly removed from its body and the person it once was. Its former self continues on as usual, living its life as it did before, breathing and laughing and crying, totally independent of the fetch...the player of this lament does not exercise any control over the living person, who (as mentioned) likely does not even know that the fetch exists. The fetch can never return to its body once so removed...only when the body dies are the two aspects of the person reunited in death, whereupon the fetch becomes either a spirit or a hue.

In the meantime, the fetch must learn to cope with the fact that it is neither dead nor alive. It is tethered to a living person, but can no longer experience what that person experiences. Fetches are often wracked with pain and remorse, as they know instinctively that their old lives still exist - and indeed, are still being lived - but that they are now forever removed from that. This knowledge drives all fetches past the brink of insanity.

If the still-living person who the fetch once was happened to be able to project as a sleeper or skimmer, that individual loses any ability to do so permanently.

Fetches are in no way associated with the Spectres of the same name.

Advantages: A fetch no longer has a body, but it does maintain some subtle, underlying link to its former self, and can draw upon the Vitality of the person it once was. A fetch regains Vitality twice as quickly as spirits, hues, or sleepers do (1 point of Vitality for every 4 hours of rest).

Disadvantages: A fetch remains tethered to its old self, and if that person dies, then the fetch immediately becomes a spirit or a hue (depending on the usual pigment variable), so they may feel that they have a vested interest in protecting their old selves.
Fetches, being spooks who have not yet left their old lives behind (in any sense), have had their minds broken by the process of being "ejected" from their former selves and then being forced to watch their lives go by helplessly from beyond the Veil. Upon becoming a fetch or starting a new character, the character automatically gains one Derangement.
If a fetch gains enough Spite to become a Spectre, the violent transformation kills the living person in the process, which is perhaps where the legends of these "co-walkers" originated from.

Frank Bannister: "I've gotta have an out-of-body-experience, and I've gotta have it right now!"
-- The Frighteners

(by Sake and Mythicfox)
Derogatorily called 'Suicide Kings' by insensitive peers, the flatliners are a unique (and, admittedly, kind of half-assed and disturbing) brand of projector. A flatliner is someone who, having learned about the 'other side' by some means, typically Pigment use or the misfortune of being caught at the epicenter of a particularly nasty haunting, sought to get there and check things out for himself. Of course, no one told him that, apart from those who up and die, the only 'visitors' the realm of the dead sees are those whose hold on their bodies has already been weakened, typically by multiple near death experiences.

A flatliner is someone who tried to force the issue, and the end result is almost never pretty. Flatliners spend a lot of time in hospitals, often comatose. You see, for these poor saps, meditation never worked quite right, and the drugs just weren't cutting it... so, lacking support from a projecting firm, and thus all the specialized equipment that makes 'sleeping' possible, these poor saps have taken to 'killing' themselves temporarily, taking stupid risks in an attempt to shock their souls out of their bodies through severe physical trauma, projecting while their tortured meat recuperates in a coma. For all intents and purposes, a flatliner is genuinely dead while his dormant meat struggles unconsciously to recover from the tortures he's inflicted on it. While flatliners are generally able to filter some of their Vitality back to their bodies, aiding in this recovery, they still play a dangerous game. Nonetheless, health professionals are almost always amazed by a flatliner's 'miraculous' recovery from his life-threatening injuries. (Of course, a flatliner's body is no less susceptible to possession by spectres than anyone else's, and there are all sorts of pointy things in hospitals, not to mention windows on the upper floors, with which an enterprising spectre can finish what the flatliner started...) Ironically, it's a flatliner's very attempts to force the issue of projection that render the 'standard' methods ineffectual. In a cruel sort of metaphysical overcompensation, the link between his body and his soul is actually strengthened by the tortures he inflicts on himself.

While projecting, a flatliner is easily mistaken for a spirit, and is generally identical to one in every way, with one significant difference. Flatliners look nasty when they project. Their spirit forms typically reflect their self-inflicted wounds, even to an exaggerated degree. An individual who threw himself from a rooftop may find himself lurching around on seemingly broken legs, while the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest might find himself wearing a blood-soaked shirt and would leak reddish plasm wherever he went. This sort of marking, while intensely disturbing, is always purely cosmetic. Even in the flesh, a flatliner is usually easy to recognize, as he will typically bear all manner of ugly scars and lingering disabilities from his self-inflicted injuries.

Granted, there are slightly less physically traumatic methods of inducing cardiac arrest -- electric shock, asphyxiation, overdosing while freebasing -- but if you haven't got an outlet, a noose or the appropriate drugs handy, and you really have to get out of your body in a hurry, you may have to resort to methods which are slightly more... messy. Many flatliners are addicted to cocaine, due to the strain it places on the heart, and will confront great terrors in the hopes of inducing a heart attack. For many, this involves a jump from a great height, though that sudden stop at the end is a real bitch. A pistol is an easy ticket to the afterlife, though all too often that ticket is one-way, so the use of guns is ill-advised unless one has a great knowledge of human anatomy or is truly desperate.

As hard as it may be to believe, some flatliners actually find themselves employed by Orpheus or another projecting firm. After all, a fearless agent with one foot already in the grave is an attractive acquisition, and flatliners tend to rack up hefty medical bills, a powerful incentive for them to accept nearly any offer of gainful employment. Granted, more strongarm recruitment tactics are typically the purview of Terrel & Squib. Orpheus often makes with the iron hand in a silk glove, offering flatliners the use of its stasis cradles while they project. Granted, sleeper technology is, for whatever reason, largely useless to flatliners, but it is a relatively safe place to store their meat, preventing their condition from deteriorating while simultaneously surrounding it with medical personnel. It should be noted, however, that a flatliner can only benefit from this treatment after he's already caused himself to project through injury. The empty shell can be frozen after the fact, but a flatliner whose body is frozen with him in it will just be put to sleep.

Flatliners rapidly become well-acquainted with pain. Many are masochists, and some simply fancy themselves too tough to let the pain slow them down. Still others were suicidal to begin with, readily accepting the low chance of success of the Lament's unhealthy method of projecting. Just as many are thrill-seekers, well acquainted with injury and the interior of a hospital, doing what they feel they must in order to explore the last mysterious frontier of human existence.

Then again, a lot of them are probably just stupid.

Advantages: Theoretically at least, a flatliner can project at will, more readily even than a skimmer. All he has to do is incapacitate himself with injury. Any time an injury, self-inflicted or otherwise, would reduce a flatliner to the Incapacitated health level (while he's still in his body, of course), he automatically projects. While projecting, a flatliner is virtually indistinguishable from a spirit (though he won't get the 5 bonus freebies unless he actually dies, of course!), existing as pure Vitality while his body, still technically alive, slowly heals. Generally, this necessitates that the character spend quite a long time away from his body, but the flatliners do have one big advantage over sleepers. They can spend Vitality to heal their bodies... albeit very slowly. Five points of Vitality can be spent to heal a health level of damage, above and beyond the body's natural healing, but only once each week. It should also be noted that a flatliner whose dormant body undergoes cryogenic suspension after the fact can't expect his body to heal during that time. It will have to be thawed before the natural healing process will resume, though he can still spend Vitality to heal his body as normal, though it's generally hard to explain how his flesh managed to knit itself back together while frozen solid. Furthermore, strangely, the drug Pigment has no effect on flatliners whatsoever. They can already see ghosts, they can't use Pigment to help them project, and it doesn't even get them high.

Disadvantages: Well, obviously, the flatliners' major disadvantage is that they have to severely injure themselves to project at all. Poison, a plunge from a rooftop, even a bullet (be damned careful there, though!) will do the job, but regardless of the exact method involved, a flatliner has to push himself to the brink of death before his soul will leave his body. Pigment has no obvious effect on them, they just can't get the hang of skimmer-style meditation, and Orpheus' sleeper cradles just put them into frozen stasis without allowing them to project (at least under normal circumstances -- see above). Flatliners can only change their Lament by dying, becoming either a spirit or a hue as normal. (That's right... Even though Pigment doesn't work for them, the drug still leaves its stain on the soul. Flatliners are just as prone to becoming hues after death as anyone else.) Additionally, a flatliner's gauze reflect the self-inflicted torment that shook his soul loose from his body. His appearance will always reflect a Vitality score of five less than he actually has. Most of the time, a projecting flatliner looks like the walking dead.

(by TheUndying)
For centuries there have been those who claim to be able to speak with the dead, while almost all of these individuals are nothing more then con men and charlatans, there are a few case where communication with the dead is totally genuine.

Mediums are those rare people who are able to see and speak to the dead, for some this chilling ability has been with them all their lives, for some a traumatic experience such as losing a loved one or experiencing an NDA may have awakened their ability to commune with Ghosts.

However a Medium developed such skills the whole experience is frightening to begin with, some Mediums may believe themselves insane and do their best to ignore what is happening to them, a few of them embrace their ability.

It doesn’t take long for a Medium to discover that the Ghosts around are looking for help, some of the more self aware Ghosts may want messages delivered to living relatives or other such tasks that are beyond them, Mediums also help in aiding Blips and Drones in breaking their routine and in moving on from this world to transcend.

Mediums are prised by Orpheus Group for those said abilities, any Mission that involves awakening a Drone or helping a Ghost Transcend are greatly benefited by the presence of a Medium.

Default Abilities: Mediums begin the game with the following Default Abilities: Dead Eyes, Sense Life-line (Costs 1 Willpower), Sever the Strand (May be used on any Ghost regardless of Nature Groupings, the Medium may use Willpower instead of Vitality, this act requires 6 Willpower).

Psychic Phenomenon: Telepathy (Sandman, information gathering only), Channelling (Puppetry), Ghost Possession (Vector, not useable on Spectres/projectors).

Advantages: All Mediums have a deep insight into the motivations and Tethers of a Ghost, all Medium characters begin the game with the Background: Ghost Insight at 3.

Disadvantages: Mediums traffic with the dead on a regular basis, and often serve as conduits for the restless, a Medium character will find himself bothered by Ghosts, often at awkward times and at night, try as he might a Medium cannot block out the needs of the dead around him, this Disadvantage is a Storyteller tool, at any time the Storyteller wishes he can have a Ghost contact the Medium and demand a service, if the Medium refuses he will find himself being Haunted by the spook until the Medium helps it out.

(by TheUndying)
The world is an ugly place; full of violence, suffering and pain, in a world so full of apathy is it any wonder that the planet is dying.

But not everyone is so grim, not everyone is so prepared to ignore the pain and misery around them, for these people the world is a wounded place but that wound can be healed, with understanding, and love. The Empath is a person who has transcended such words like, ‘Understanding’ and ‘Caring’ for them such concepts defines their very essence.

Many Empaths are born with their latent psychic talents, such people find jobs suitable for their giving natures, Social Workers, Carers and Healers, these people find peace in helping others and joy in easing the suffering of others, nothing is trivial to these people and they find true reward in seeing a smile that they helped to create.

Most times these Empath’s never develop and Psychic talent beyond knowing how to ‘read’ a person and understand how to help them, but a rare few do manage to awaken their potential, like the Medium a traumatic experience can affect the Empath, however instead of breaking down and allowing themselves to drown in self pity, these true Empath’s pick themselves up and use their new found abilities to the betterment of the world around them.

Orpheus Groups also employs Emapth’s, these talented people are experts in easing suffering and can often gain access to people who otherwise may not wish to deal with a Crucible member, bereaved relatives and individuals detached from the world around them through sorrow are hard to reach and may often have information crucial to a Crucibles success, this is where the Empath truly shines, but they do not do this kind of task mealy to help out their Crucibles mission, they do so because they truly wish to help those in need come to terms with their problems.

Default Abilities: Detect Nature Group (Detects targets exact Nature, may be used on any Group), Misery Loves Company (Costs 1 Willpower), Thievery (Works in reverse, the Empath may give others his own Willpower Points).

Psychic Phenomenon: Empathy (Unearthly Repose), Psycometry (Forebode, works only on Objects), Telepathy (information gathering only). All three may only be used on the living.

Advantages: All Empath’s begin the game with the following abilities at no extra cost, Empathy 2, Intuition 1.

Disadvantages: An Empath exists to ease the suffering of others and as such they find extremely difficult to inflict suffering of nay kind, an Empath must make a Willpower roll at Difficulty 8 in order to inflict pain on anyone or stand by and let someone else try to, an Empath will always try another route, doing their best to come to and understanding, this is a disadvantage because the Empath can seriously get himself injured and still refuse to hit back, although an Empath may defend himself by blocking and dodging he cannot attack back unless he succeeds in the Willpower roll, this roll must be made every turn the Empath wants to continue to hurt someone.
The Empath can be become an inconvenience in combat, not only to themselves but also to the whole Crucible as they refuse to stand by and let someone get hurt.

"Life is nothing but pain. Trust me, death is no different."

(by White Oak Dragon)
The spooks of Orpheus thought they’d seen it all. With the discovery of the Orphan Grinders and the Marrows, they believed that they’d finally accounted for all the Shades that the personality archetypes indicated existed. They were wrong. The Orphan Grinders, being an unnaturally occurring Shade, was not in fact one of the ones they’d expected to find. The ‘lost’ natural Shade was the Wraith.

Suffering is the only common thread that runs through every potential Wraith, although whether this suffering was inflicted upon them or others can vary. Many Wraiths found the way they wished to go through life was to inflict pain upon others, either for their own ends or for its own sake. It is not uncommon for there to be a history of animal abuse or criminal activity in potential Wraiths. Other Wraiths are found among those who suffered great personal agony in life, often at the hands of one they trusted. Sadists, abuse victims, and even social bullies are all potential future Wraiths.

Wraiths tend to be highly tormented spirits. Their connection to pain and the dark side of the human spirit tends to make them ill at ease among others, and distrustful towards all they encounter. It also goes a long way towards explaining why they are so hard to find. While the natures of Wraiths are not uncommon, it is uncommon for them to last long once they’ve died. Most fall immediately to their Spite, becoming Spectres immediately upon or soon after their demise. This is probably for the best, though, as it means that few learn about their Horrors before becoming Spectres, which minimizes the number of them with access to the disturbing Horrors of the Wraiths. Of course, spooks that have witnessed the use of Wraith Horrors would probably be hard pressed to tell the Wraith from a Spectre in the first place.

The few Wraiths that manage to hold onto themselves tend to be those who feel remorse for their crimes, or those who have a positive goal they feel they must accomplish. Even the noblest of Wraiths tend to have a cruel streak, however, and are generally more than willing to inflict as much pain as possible to achieve their ends. Pain is their very essence, after all, and misery loves company.

Horrors: Stigmata, Inner Demons, Larceny, Army of Darkness.

Manifestation Forms: For zero Vitality points a Wraith can manifest as an aura of discomfort and paranoia. Although invisible and unable to communicate in this form, the Wraith does tend to make people jumpier, giving them the distinct feeling of being watched by someone hostile and dangerous to them.
With one Vitality point, the Wraith can manifest as a dark, skeletal figure. This figure is quite disturbing to any who see it, especially those not used to dealing with ghosts. The Wraith can speak normally in this form, although the voice is hollow and echoes. In this form, the Wraith can utilize its Attributes and Abilities at half value.
At two Vitality points the Wraith manifests fully, looking much as it does in its regular life, although it is still rather unnerving to the living. It is difficult for a manifested Wraith not to seem threatening to those unfamiliar with the supernatural. In this form, the Wraith has full access to its Attributes and Abilities.

Base Vitality: 5
Base Spite: 3
Base Willpower: 5

Recommended Natures: Addict, Barbarian, Deviant, Grotesque, Monster, Wretch.

"'Bad Trip' does not even begin to cover it."

(by White Oak Dragon)
Some pigment users are able to use their drug to learn to skim. Others don’t get a choice in the matter. These unfortunate souls find themselves forced painfully out of their body every time they feed their addiction. At one point in time, deadheads may have had an innate talent for skimming, if they’d only known to develop it. The introduction of pigment into their system has made that possibility considerably less likely. Their bodies and souls have come to crave the drug, and will not tolerate being denied their fix. While the drug does enable them to enjoy the benefits of being out of body, the price it costs their body is seldom worth it. All deadheads become hues upon their death, due to the spiritual taint inflicted by the pigment.

Advantages: Deadheads are able to prolong the time they’re out of their body beyond the usual duration of burst transmission by taking multiple doses of pigment at once. Each additional dose extends the duration of their projection by another scene. Their connection to their body is weak like that of a sleeper, so their wounds are not revisited upon their body. Additionally, deadheads are able to focus on their connection to their body, and ravage it to draw vitality back from it into their spirit. By inflicting an unsoakable level of lethal damage on their body, a deadhead can regain four vitality.

Disadvantages: Deadheads are only able to project through burst transmission (see Crusade of Ashes, p. 116), although in their case, the Willpower roll is needed to prevent projection, rather than to initiate it. Deadheads still suffer all the ill effects of burst transmission, just as a sleeper would. Any dose beyond the first also requires a Stamina roll (difficulty 5 + # of doses taken) to prevent death by overdose. Additionally, all deadheads have the Addiction (Pigment) Flaw, without receiving any points for it.

(by ThaUndying)
A Revenant is a Spirit who has made a terrible bargain with its Spectre twin in order to posses its body once again.

It is believed that Revenants have existed for a long time, longer than Orpheus or anybody else suspects, indeed stories of such creatures have been told for centuries, stories of ghosts so driven by their passions that not even the barrier of death could keep them from fulfilling their goals.

Revenants by their very nature are lonely creatures, each one has come back from the dead with a specific objective in mind, unless other spooks somehow fit into that objective the chance of the Revenant working along side them are slim indeed, throw in the fact that at any moment the Revenant can turn into a Jason and you have even less of a reason for hanging around with one of the walking dead. At present Orpheus Group does not employ any members of this Lament but does know of their existence, however this information is classified at present.

When a Spook becomes a Revenant he becomes something more and less than what he once was, on the plus side he now has a body and does not have to rely on Manifesting and Horror use to inhabit a shell. However a Spirit is not alone in his body, his Spectre twin is also residing within and the risk of losing control of the body to the Spectre is very real.

Advantages: Undead Frame - The Revenant is Undead in the true sense of the word, he does not need to eat, drink, sleep or breathe, nor is he affected by disease and poisons (Including drugs like Pigment). This undead state has several game effects too, for one the Revenant is immune to wound penalties, he simply feels no pain nor does he take lethal damage from firearms as he body is unaffected by the huge amounts of trauma these weapons inflict.
Restore Corpse - The Revenant can heal his body with the expenditure of Vitality, 1 Vitality will heal one level of Bashing damage per turn or 2 Vitality will heal one level of Lethal damage per turn, note that this ability is reflective, the Revenant character may still act during a turn in which he heals.

Disadvantages: Spectre Possession - The Spectre Twin inhabiting the Revenants corpse with him is always on the offensive in the hopes that it may take control of the body, if the Revenant ever reaches zero tempary Willpower or botches a Spite roll than the Spectre Twin takes over the body, becoming a Jason for the duration of the scene, the Revenant has no memory of what occurs during this time.
Spite Magnet - Having your dark side so close to you is not a great idea, the Spectre Twins mere presence is enough to draw Spite to Revenant like moths to a flame, any Spite the character receives is DOUBLED. Also note that because of his material nature the Revenant is unaffected by Stains, instead of receiving these spiritual blights, the Revenants body begins to erode under the pressure of Spite as the entropic force rots away the Revenants shell, any time the Revenant would have received a Stain on the account of increased Spite he instead looses a Health Level and a Dot of Appearance permanently as his corpus rots away, these effects can be reversed through the lowering of the characters Spite.
Final Death - A Revenant whose body is destroyed does not become a Spirit but is instantly destroyed; it is believed that the close presence of the Spectre twin causes the Spirit to be instantly consumed by Oblivion.
Banned Horrors - Revanant characters may not use several Horrors; however, they may still be learned in order to use a useable Horror at a higher Tier. Listed below are the Horrors that a Revanant may not use.