Friday, October 5, 2018

Octhorrorfest, Ghost Stories: 1D12 Hauntings Tables For OD&D and other RPGs

Octhorror is here again! That means, of course, several supernatural posts and game aids for your help get your game in the spirit of the season! You should be able to tell from the title that, this year, will be focused on dealing with the spirit world!

I typically give stats for a creature, or a specific rule to use in play. The first post of the year is going to be a little more generic. This post is intended to help those Referees that want to add a bit of the supernatural to the game, or run a Halloween session, without having to do a ton of prep. To this end I give you tables to create a sandbox ghost story for your players to deal with. The intent here is that the players will discover the haunting and have to deal with putting the spirit to rest. This post assumes that D&D or another fantasy game is being played. Enjoy!

D12: What Is Being Haunted?
  1. A castle/manor
  2. The local inn/tavern
  3. Someone's home
  4. An old abandoned house
  5. A cemetery or barrow
  6. A magic item the PCs have discovered
  7. Mundane treasure (gold, jewelry etc.)
  8. A common item (used adventuring gear, a farmer's plow etc.)
  9. A holy site (temple, grove, cemetery etc.)
  10. An item owned by an NPC
  11. An NPC (see rules for possession and obsession)
  12. One of the PCs (see rules for possession and obsession)
D12: Why Is the Spirit Earthbound?
  1. The spirit does not realize it has died
  2. The spirit was murdered and must be avenged/murderer brought to justice
  3. They died while on a quest. The quest must be completed for the spirit to move on.
  4. An item was stolen from the home or resting place of the spirit and must be returned
  5. The spirit was bound to the haunted (see table above) by means of a spell.
  6. The deceased deliberately became a ghost, specter etc, hoping to gain power as an undead spirit
  7. A curse separates this spirit from the spirit of it's one true love, who has passed on to the other side.
  8. A part of the spirits corporeal body is missing/stolen and must be returned to it's place of rest.
  9. The spirit broke an oath before dying and is now cursed until it proves it's worth.
  10. The body of this spirit is alive, but the current possessor of it's body severed it's ties to get rid of the proper owner.
  11. The spirit is a loved one visiting from the otherside. It is not truly earthbound but may not be able to find it's way back.
  12. The spirit was a being resurrected, but the attempt failed and now is stuck between two worlds.
Halloween Ghost by Tom Shropshire

Speaking of Ghost Stories, if you haven't done so already, head on over to the Appendix N Entertainment Store at DriveThruRPG to pick up my first adventure, "Hidden Hand of the Horla" PWYW for a limited time!