Spawn Wraith: whose free will, exactly?

[mattdm]

Spawn Wraith

  Any humanoid killed by a wraith rises as a free-willed wraith
  at the start of its creator’s next turn, appearing in the space
  where it died (or in the nearest unoccupied space). Raising the
  slain creature (using the Raise Dead ritual) does not destroy the
  spawned wraith.

So, what does "free-willed" imply exactly? Clearly the spawned wraith isn't dominated by the wraith which created it. And I can't, realistically, see it meaning anything but "free-willed, like, under the DM's control".

But I can see this as the source of much argument in the future — "My character was a free-willed Eladrin, and now I'm a free-willed Wraith. Cool!"

If the intention were for the risen wraith be under the DM's control, why bother saying "free-willed"? Why not just make it be under the original wraith's control so there's no question?

Or, would you play this as the character really does become the wraith, and hold the player to the Chaotic Evil alignment (even though alignment is not supposed to be prescriptive in 4E) and to the descriptive text ("This restless apparition lurks in the shadows, thirsting for souls. Those it slays become free-willed wraiths as hateful as their creator.")?

Eh?

And on another note, the whole line about Raise Dead not destroying the spawned wraith is no fun. It contradicts the idea given in the Lore that the wraith is very much comprised of the dead creature's spirit. More importantly, though, it cuts off in the bud some interesting story ideas that could arise.

And from a balance point of view, is it really that bad that an 8th-level ritual which takes 8 hours and costs 500gp to cast could destroy a 5th-level creature? Perhaps instead of saying it doesn't work, a better approach would have been to make it require a heal check (which Raise Dead normally doesn't).

 

[essenbee]

...the spawned wraith isn't dominated by the wraith which created it...

This. And the wraith is a monster under DM control, not a wraith PC.

 

[mattdm]

This. And the wraith is a monster under DM control, not a wraith PC.

I know the possibilities. And sure, as I said, that's gotta be the intention. But it's all kind of weird — from a player perspective, why is the term "free-willed" used to mean "your spirit rises, but you lose free will"? Doesn't that seem sort of opposite? Your one-line reply doesn't really address anything.

 

[Shabe]

Surely it means the wraith is now a mean spirited er spirit out to suck souls or whatever, it is under control of the dm but not under control of the wraith who created it, hence no uber wraith with tons of minions but a plague of wraiths causing wanton destruction.

Edit: I suppose it also means players who may or may not in the future get the chance to control or summon this undead won't have hordes of wraiths.

 

[darkadelphia]

I know the possibilities. And sure, as I said, that's gotta be the intention. But it's all kind of weird — from a player perspective, why is the term "free-willed" used to mean "your spirit rises, but you lose free will"? Doesn't that seem sort of opposite? Your one-line reply doesn't really address anything.

Personally, I have no time for players rules lawyering out of the MM. I don't care if you've read the MM cover to cover and have it memorized--fine. Don't throw it up in my face.

As far as "free-willed wraith" if you (or the player) thinks the player should be in control of it, fine, but it has to act like a wraith. Which means, per the MM, it has minimal personality and knowledge and stays where its physical form fell. The player now thirsts for souls and is as hateful as his creator. So, the player can control the new wraith that's trying to kill the remaining PCs.

This is not an excuse for "cursed with awesome."

 

[darkadelphia]

I know the possibilities. And sure, as I said, that's gotta be the intention. But it's all kind of weird — from a player perspective, why is the term "free-willed" used to mean "your spirit rises, but you lose free will"? Doesn't that seem sort of opposite? Your one-line reply doesn't really address anything.

Personally, I have no time for players rules lawyering out of the MM. I don't care if you've read the MM cover to cover and have it memorized--fine. Don't throw it up in my face.

As far as "free-willed wraith" if you (or the player) thinks the player should be in control of it, fine, but it has to act like a wraith. Which means, per the MM, it has minimal personality and knowledge and stays where its physical form fell. The player now thirsts for souls and is as hateful as his creator. So, the player can control the new wraith that's trying to kill the remaining PCs.

This is not an excuse for "cursed with awesome."

 

[Lord Sessadore]

This is not an excuse for "cursed with awesome."

QFT.

In my opinion, this is no excuse whatsoever for the PC to take control of the wraith, unless the DM wants them to. It is a fluff description and therefore a portrayal of how the monster acts in the game world (ie the fictional world that is unaware of the rules we use to run it).

It doesn't describe anything other than the new wraith's relationship to its creator. That's it, that's all. If the player really wants to play the wraith and the DM lets them, they have to play it like a wraith. It's just a wraith now, it's not the wraith of Fred the Fighter (in other words, it doesn't have any of his personality left, it's just a malevolent spirit out to kill things).

 

[Dausuul]

The purpose of stating that it's free-willed is to prevent the creation of enslaved undead armies using a single wraith.

In previous editions, a lot of undead had spawn capacity, and many of them automatically had control over their spawn. The result of this was that a single undead - particularly wraiths, with their 1d4-round spawn time - could start a chain reaction and spawn a whole army in a matter of hours, with the original undead as supreme commander. If that wasn't bad enough, all you needed was a way for the PCs to get that first undead under their control, and they had a legion of wraiths at their beck and call.

One of the most badass characters in 3.X was a 14th-level evil cleric. All you had to do was find a wraith, command it using Rebuke Undead, take it to a major city, and set it loose on the populace. Presto, instant horde. By the time anyone realized what was going on, you'd already have an army of incorporeal life-suckers numbering in the thousands. The city's high-level defenders would be swarmed under.

4E has clearly taken steps to prevent this. Most undead no longer spawn; from what I can see, only wraiths and vampires still have spawn abilities. And the undead that do spawn are engineered so they can't create vast armies of slaves. Wraiths can chain-spawn but don't control their offspring. Vampire lords control their spawn, but must create each spawn personally.