I don't know how heavily interested people will be in this, especially with my tendency to forget about about things, but an idea I've been kind of debating for a while. I'm fine with giving the reigns to anyone who thinks they can manage the idea better, but I'll definitely try to run things properly. Player characters would be either ghosts or exorcists, with those powers as implied. Mostly free-form and I'm wondering if it would be based in modern times or in something like ancient Japan. I think modern gives more setting potential and the ability for players to be different cultures using their own methods of ghost hunting, or ghosts from different cultures depending on what they want to do. Thing to keep in mind is, while I won't tell people how they should or shouldn't use their powers, if I'm the GM, while players absolutely should take actions they want, I'm still the one who has to write it. Meaning, it's possible I may gloss over anything that feels too excessive, though I wouldn't really try for that to be the common practice with things. I don't know if this a thing people would be interested in doing really, but thought I'd bring the idea up anyway.
It sounds like it could be fun, but what would the goal of the ghosts be? Obviously the exorcist would be trying to get rid of the ghosts, but what would the ghosts ultimate goal be?
That’s most likely depending on their individual motives, which is whatever unfinished business/revenge they have. I’m trying to decide how disconnected they should be or if there would be a larger society to them, but how much they interact with each other is a tough question. The goal for a lot though would be sensationalism trying to capture feelings from when they were alive. A haunted mansion scenario might allow some of the ghosts opportunities to interact with each other without some larger scale society though, it might limit what the player has for options that way then. I may also base it slightly off a JHRPG I played once that I don't remember the name of, where the exorcists are trying to purge the ghost presence in areas across the city, but they just keep reappearing and the idea is to destroy the source. If I went that route, at least one player would be from the clan, but not necessarily all other exorcists would have to be.
So to share Wyrd's idea. I overall, like this. "Player characters will be staying at a castle in Turkey to celebrate Halloween. Who they are is up to them. Tourists, exorcists, newly wedded on a honeymoon, ghost enthusiasts, all are fair game. Also considering allowing them to optionally also take on the role of one of the ghosts, meaning they'd play two characters. The fictional castle has a long history, being first a part of the Byzantine empire, later the crusades, playing a part in the Mongolian invasion, before becoming a fortification in the burgeoning Ottoman empire. It still bears the mark of all of these historical events, from the many graves and tombs in the cellar, paintings of the lords and ladies hanging on the wall, to the western, eastern, and African artifacts whose journey on the Silk Road ended here. Today its a hotel with a twist. Staff is minimal, a (possibly literal) skeleton crew and do their best to stay out of the guests' way to make it seem as if they're all alone. And at night the floorboards creak, the twigs snap against the windows, the hinges of the doors squeak, and there are sound of voices sometimes singing, other times sobbing heard from somewhere within the sprawling castle. Joining the artifacts already present, are other items said to be haunted from Australia to the Americas. All part of the haunting atmosphere that is the hotel's main attraction. Needless to say, the players will be locked inside with no way to contact the outside world. As soon as the clock turns to midnight and pass over into the 31st of October it stops and stays there. Luckily, electricity still seems to work. Ditto the water. Pantries are refilled. Only issue are the ghosts/spirits/demons from all over the world are trying to kill and/or fuck the guests. Many of the artifacts are also cursed, others, however, may help." That being said, exorcists are there to purge spirits. If a ghost is more actively being a threat by just raping and murdering everything, then it's almost definitely going to be the first one that people decide to purge. Just as well, an exorcist doing TOO well might be considered more threatening than the rest and they're still subject to other ones simply refusing to help them if they end up acting too much like an asshole to everyone. That doesn't mean you can't play this way, necessarily, but it does carry a lot more risk. And again, I'm the one who still has to write it, so I don't feel like that's a totally unreasonable approach. Player to player interaction should also generally be agreed upon by the two parties involved. I'm thinking a slight variation to allow people to explore town during the day a little, but at night there's no way in or out of the castle, so your time to just do random things is limited and when in the castle, you're there for the night.
So my thoughts on how to handle character creation for exorcists. Largely remains the same as Tjf's system: Name: Gender: Occupation: Appearance; Background: Skills: Occupation/Lifestyle: +3 to one skill. This isn't necessarily your job, but what you're character deeply focuses on doing with their lives. It is a major portion of their lives that they can't imagine being cut out. Choose a major event in your character's life that influenced their outlook and life and their talents. This could be something like getting mugged and beaten causing them to train in martial arts and self defense(+2 to Hand To Hand) Choose two minor events that happened in their life that they learned something from or hobbies that they picked up skills from . It could be something like owning a dog teaching them about animals to a degree or passing out drunk at a party and embarrassing themselves taught them about self control. (+1 to Animal care, +1 to Temperance) Then there is the option to be a Generalist(+1 to two( Or three? Unsure by how much) other skills) or a Specialist (+3 to one skill). This should relate to your character's history or occupation. So I don't know. If people don't like it, we can just stick to the default format. I'll post the things for ghosts in a bit, since they'll have to work a little different.
Ghosts might be a little more tricky. Finetuning all the rules, I'm not sure what to go with so people are welcome to weigh in. Random example character(Though if you're desperately curious, she is explicitly stated to be at least 18-19. I checked extensively.) Name: ▇▇ ▇▇▇ Gender: Female Age of death: 19 Appearance: Memories: Cause of death: +2 due to circumstances. While a ghost might not remember everything about their past life, they will almost definitely remember how they died. The specifics do correlate into what abilities they have an affinity with(Death by fire, tends to make a ghost more prone to fire based abilities. +2 to Fire Manipulation) Past Life: +3 to a power related to what their former life was. Memories of your past life that you do remember. Something a large enough part of that person's life, they still carry a little bit of onwards. Things you still retain as knowledge from things you've done and experienced as a mortal. A ghost who was a musician in former life like still retains musical talent as a spirit. (+3 Music Hypnosis) Formerly a high school senior who wanted to become a rockstar, she was considered weird by a lot of the other students for her obsession with the punk rock lifestyle. Spending all night waiting for a boy that never showed up, she fell asleep and the candles she lit had ended up with her room catching fire while she was asleep. As a ghost, she wants to claim the popularity she never had in real life by using her powers of mind control to make everyone loyal followers of her music. Affinity: +1 to three others powers. In addition to the powers they have from these events, they still have affinity for some other powers. Usually these often translate in the natural stock abilities. +1 Flight, +1 Intangible, +1 Teleportation People: Important enough they still remember these people. Family to rivals to potentially their killer. It's something of an emotional anchor to them. It's entirely possible for ghosts to remember each other from when they were alive.
