A Fright of Ghosts (2e)

[Second Chances]

Now that we gave Geist's rules for ghost creation, we can start making some of our own. Post your's here!

[21C Hermit]

Not an entry, but a request from someone who doesn’t have access to the Kickstarter previews; what would a Sadako expy look like under the 2e rules?

[ArcaneArts]

Not an entry, but a request from someone who doesn’t have access to the Kickstarter previews; what would a Sadako expy look like under the 2e rules?

Like a creepy Japanese girl ghost.

Yuk yuk yuk.

(I haven't seen the movie, so I can't actually help.)

[Wormwood]

The Beast
Type: Barghest
Rank: 3
Power: 9
Finesse: 3
Resistance: 7
Numina: 4
Anchor: Crossroads where the rabid dog was burned, tree that grew on its ashes
Ban: Church bells - must dematerialize when hearing them
Bane: powdered pearl
Influence: Anchor 2, Canines 3, Fire 2
Manifestations: Twilight Form, Materialize, Possess, Fetter, Claim
Numina: Awe, Firestarter, Regenerate, Speed, Seek

This is basically an attempt to recreate and adapt the final boss of The Witcher 1's chapter 1, a Barghest called the Beast.

[21C Hermit]

The Beast
Type: Barghest
Rank: 3
Power: 9
Finesse: 3
Resistance: 7
Numina: 4
Anchor: Crossroads where the rabid dog was burned, tree that grew on its ashes
Ban: Church bells - must dematerialize when hearing them
Bane: powdered pearl
Influence: Anchor 2, Canines 3, Fire 2
Manifestations: Twilight Form, Materialize, Possess, Fetter, Claim
Numina: Awe, Firestarter, Regenerate, Speed, Seek

This is basically an attempt to recreate and adapt the final boss of The Witcher 1's chapter 1, a Barghest called the Beast.

Hmm, ghosts have “Influence: (My) Anchor” after all?

[21C Hermit]

Like a creepy Japanese girl ghost.

Yuk yuk yuk.

(I haven't seen the movie, so I can't actually help.)

Angry ghost is colocated in video files and can Materialize when any copy of the video is played, gruesomely cursing/killing the watcher

[Wormwood]

Hmm, ghosts have “Influence: (My) Anchor” after all?

Yes: at least one dot is usually Influence (Anchors).

[21C Hermit]

Yes: at least one dot is usually Influence (Anchors).

Is it about the specific thing they’re Anchored to, Anchor-ness in general, or their own Anchor-ness?

[wyrdhamster]

Now that we gave Geist's rules for ghost creation, we can start making some of our own. Post your's here!

Where in Kickstarter Preview are Ghosts rules? In Chapter 4? Are not those typical rules for Ephemeral Entites, like in every other CoD 2E rulebook? Absent - playable ghosts - were not uncovered yet, yes?

[Satchel]

Hmm, ghosts have “Influence: (My) Anchor” after all?

It turns out that Sanctity of Influences is also a thing, and the emphasis on Anchors as Things That Were Important To The Ghost And/Or Their Death, combined with the ability to use more tenuous personal connections to subjects from their lives to apply the Condition to those things through magic (and, of course, the body or gravesite being a common Anchor), makes the notion of Influence: Things That Fall Within The Ghost's Sphere Of Influence not quite as redundant as initially surmised.

The fact that ghosts are inherently temporary and have greater access to a universal Open Condition makes the notion that they could theoretically run out of viable Anchors less of an issue, and Rank working the way it does means ghosts technically having Influence: My Own Life doesn't break much.

[Wormwood]

Is it about the specific thing they’re Anchored to, Anchor-ness in general, or their own Anchor-ness?

Far as I can Remember Right now, it is the specific place, thing or person.
So rather than *Anchor 2, as I wrote, I should have written Crossroad 2.

[21C Hermit]

It turns out that Sanctity of Influences is also a thing, and the emphasis on Anchors as Things That Were Important To The Ghost And/Or Their Death, combined with the ability to use more tenuous personal connections to subjects from their lives to apply the Condition to those things through magic (and, of course, the body or gravesite being a common Anchor), makes the notion of Influence: Things That Fall Within The Ghost's Sphere Of Influence not quite as redundant as initially surmised.

The fact that ghosts are inherently temporary and have greater access to a universal Open Condition makes the notion that they could theoretically run out of viable Anchors less of an issue, and Rank working the way it does means ghosts technically having Influence: My Own Life doesn't break much.

Ah, so Anchors are broader and more flexible than what I thought. Cool.


* groundless speculation time
A while ago I floated around the possibility of playable ghosts being playable by virtue of being more connected to their human identities, represented by having Influence over their Anchors instead of things like Sadness or Fire, which I expected would also make player-controlled Influence more manageable. Now, Anchors really do seem to be intimately connected to a ghost’s “past” life, or at least their memories of it. And the Absent, the playable ghosts, have been mentioned to be able to do something with memories. Hmm...

[21C Hermit]

Far as I can Remember Right now, it is the specific place, thing or person.
So rather than *Anchor 2, as I wrote, I should have written Crossroad 2.

Hmm, this kinda clashes with what Satchel just wrote, with Anchor as Influence essentially being “Things Important To Me,” doesn’t it?

... Or I’m suffering dice penalties to Reading rolls due to exhaustion, and failed a roll somewhere. Quite likely.

[Satchel]

Ah, so Anchors are broader and more flexible than what I thought. Cool.

It's more flexible in aggregate, but the practical reality is still typically "these one to three specific things, folded under an umbrella category of 'Anchors.'"

Numina and Manifestations and Plasm fill the gap vis-a-vis ghostly supernatural phenomena; the mechanics paint a pretty clear picture of the Underworld as not really where ghosts are supposed to go, and the nature of Anchors seems to be part of that.

[21C Hermit]

It's more flexible in aggregate, but the practical reality is still typically "these one to three specific things, folded under an umbrella category of 'Anchors.'"

Honestly that’s still broader than what I used to think, so I’m happy.

the mechanics paint a pretty clear picture of the Underworld as not really where ghosts are supposed to go, and the nature of Anchors seems to be part of that.

To the starry fields of A’aru, then!