Looking for your thoughts on the ghost sourcebook.

[mrloucifer]

If I ever get time to flex the writing muscle in the near future, I may get around to posting a few snippets and some of the plans that I have for both the ghost and the victims sourcebook on my "House of BTS" fan site.

[krate]

Best news I've heard! Can't wait to have those two books. Get crackin', Mr. Lou!

[gaby]

Well ther can be rules on making a Haunted House,with a list of Booby trapped and Secret passage ways in it,with a Map.
You need a list of all Ghost-like beings,both old and new.
Maybe ever a Alien intelligences,who,s life essence can be bond with house and other builting.

[Gangrel44]

Hey Mr. Lou,

It just dawned on me just this morning and I could kick myself for not having mentioned it sooner but I have to ask.....will this book have conversion notes for Rifts?

[mrloucifer]

I haven't thought of it till you mentioned it. And I'm all for Rifts conversions if Kevin is, but in my head, the version of BTS ghosts and entities I have planned (the "Human spirit") is geared more twords the subtly of the BTS world and might not convert to rifts so well.

But until its in the can, never say never.

[The Oh So Amazing Nate]

As far as buffer entities go, I plan to go into those as well. In fact one of the newer entities I introduced at the open house is one that absorbs samller ones to increase its ability.... kinda like a "big fish eats the smaller ones" mentality.

I think this kind of baddie was covered in an episode of The Ghostbusters cartoon (the one with the characters from the movie). It was frightening.

[The Oh So Amazing Nate]

The "Delusional Person who thinks their house is haunted when there is no evidence for it to be" was mentioned in an earlier post. My question can maybe be addressed under the "delusional" heading, but i think it might fit better elsewhere.

Does your Ghost book address spirits bound to the material plane by the grief (or other emotions) of those left behind? Is such a thing even possible (in your game view of ghosts)? I personally am not a believer in ghosts

Reading this thread, and my own personal experiences (This happened and then this happened next .. any replies of a personal nature just pm me) have made me wonder about it. I've not experienced any evidence of ghost/paranormal activity, but I've been having a lot of dreams. Most are short with the interaction limited to (encounter, what're you doing here/you're not supposed to be here, move on to the next dream sequence).

I'm just getting thoughts out of my head. By no means do I wish to derail your thread Lou.

Nate

[mrloucifer]

Does your Ghost book address spirits bound to the material plane by the grief (or other emotions) of those left behind? Is such a thing even possible (in your game view of ghosts)?

I'm not sure I understand the question; it sounds like your asking "is it possible that a spirit can be bound to the physical plane due to the emotions of those who are still living?"

If that's the question, the answer is yes. I have a rule set up where spirits can effectively be shackled to our world vie their P.P.E. being intertwined with the still living, and in some cases the can be shackled by other spirits that are also trapped/shackled to our world.

-In one example I plan to have several spirits of murdered victims that are trapped on this plane as they are attached to the serial killer who murdered them. They cannot rest until the killer is brought to justice somehow.

-In a similar fashion, I have one where the spirits of a murdered family are all shackled to the spirit of the father who killed them all, and is so sick with madness and grief that he refuses to let them find rest. The small boy in the family makes enough noise and trouble in a house that investigators are called in, and as they get the story of what happened from the boy, the angry father spirit starts attacking the intruder investigators.

[Cybermancer]

The more I hear about this the more interested I become.

How will these spirits interact with Mediums? Seems to me like this is a book that should really appeal to players of that class, so I would expect some goodies for them.

Are you going to touch on non-human spirits such as animals or supernatural creatures? Can I haunt my players with the ghost of the Werewolf they killed last session?

To any players who may be reading this post, I'm totally not planning that.

Honestly.

Really.

Nothing to see here, move along.

[Gangrel44]

In one example I plan to have several spirits of murdered victims that are trapped on this plane as they are attached to the serial killer who murdered them. They cannot rest until the killer is brought to justice somehow.

I like that Idea Mr. Lou....and would you think this also gives players and GMs the option and opening for said murdered spirits to become a bona fide Revenant? Especially if the characters cannot bring the Murderer(s) to justice and the spirit decides to take matters into it's own hands?

[mrloucifer]

How will these spirits interact with Mediums? Seems to me like this is a book that should really appeal to players of that class, so I would expect some goodies for them.

While Mediums will be of importance and I will cover them, I'll also be hitting up an important point that not every character is a medium, and not every group has one; so what do they do about ghosts/spirits/mediums/etc.

I also plan to add at least 1 or two new P.C.C.s to the book, such as the "Spiritualist", who can communicate with spirits, but does not have a Spirit Guide to help them. These types come about due to a close brush with death somehow (either directly or indirectly) and has somehow become attuned to the spirit world. This gives them different abilities from the medium, but also inherit problems as a lack of a spirit guide makes dealing with the spirit world that much harder. The other one I'm planning is staying secret as explaining it will give away some of the surprises I have in store.

[mrloucifer]

Are you going to touch on non-human spirits such as animals or supernatural creatures? Can I haunt my players with the ghost of the Werewolf they killed last session?

This is another one I'm keeping close to the vest at this point. But I will say that animal spirits are not unheard of, but the lower the intelligence, the less consciousness it had to keep it bound to the physical plane. One of the themes I intend to go into is the idea that "We all see the ghosts we all need to see", and that plays heavily into animal spirits.

[The Oh So Amazing Nate]

Does your Ghost book address spirits bound to the material plane by the grief (or other emotions) of those left behind? Is such a thing even possible (in your game view of ghosts)?

I'm not sure I understand the question; it sounds like your asking "is it possible that a spirit can be bound to the physical plane due to the emotions of those who are still living?"

If that's the question, the answer is yes. I have a rule set up where spirits can effectively be shackled to our world vie their P.P.E. being intertwined with the still living, and in some cases the can be shackled by other spirits that are also trapped/shackled to our world.

-In one example I plan to have several spirits of murdered victims that are trapped on this plane as they are attached to the serial killer who murdered them. They cannot rest until the killer is brought to justice somehow.

-In a similar fashion, I have one where the spirits of a murdered family are all shackled to the spirit of the father who killed them all, and is so sick with madness and grief that he refuses to let them find rest. The small boy in the family makes enough noise and trouble in a house that investigators are called in, and as they get the story of what happened from the boy, the angry father spirit starts attacking the intruder investigators.

Yes, that is exactly the question I asked. The serial killer is an interesting angle, as is the murdered family (but I couldn't quite figure out who the living person was that they were bound to).

Will this work in a similar way?

The investigators are called to the farm of Mrs. Mabel Smith, by concerned neighbors, to investigate some paranormal activity. They learn that the late Mr. Smith was a devoted husband and that the couple loved each other greatly. At Mr. Smith's sudden passing Mrs. Smith was inconsolable with grief and everyone wondered how she'd make it without her husband. Neighbors report noises from the barn at odd hours of the night, claiming to see the tractor working in the field with no one at the controls, and smelling Mr. Smith's brand of pipe tobacco in the vicinity of an empty rocking chair that seems to move of its own accord. When interviewing the Widow Smith, she shows no signs of mental stress or other psychological disorder. In fact she seems to be the ideal sweet old grandmother lady, even going so far as to offer the investigators a hot meal and fresh pie.

(I'm getting tired of thinking this out, so I'm gonna break it down quick like).
The love that the Smith's had for each other + Mrs. Smith's grief have kept the spirit of Mr. Smith from moving on. At first it was as close to perfect as you could hope for. Mrs. Smith had her husband to talk to, watch her shows with, and lay down with at night (can spirits radiate an aura of love?). Mr. Smith's spirit even helped out around the farm a bit (given the limited physical interactions that spirits have on the material). But now, Mr. Smith's spirit is getting tired. He loves his wife dearly, but is ready to move on. Her love for him won't let him go; and it's making him grumpy. While not causing any harm (apart from slamming doors, stomping around, and (ghost) kicking the cat) he is throwing fits in his own ways (the loud noises from the barn, running the tractor at midnight and other ghostly tantrums). He doesn't want to cause problems, but without the investigators help in getting his wife to let him go, he's likely to become more angry and possibly even dangerous.