Rules For Hauntings - Feedback Welcome

[clavis123]

HAUNTINGS

Sometimes when intelligent creatures die while experiencing profound emotion and with unfulfilled wants, their souls become bound to the material world. Attached to certain places, things, and even people, these souls become Hauntings capable of manifesting weird and often horrific effects. Some Hauntings are not even single entities, but are comprised of an amalgam of tragic souls. The restless souls remain trapped until the object that anchors them to our world is destroyed, they are exorcised, or a certain action is performed.

Hauntings are not like other Undead monsters, even incorporeal ones. They do not have Armor Classes, Hit Dice, melee Attacks, or any of the other ordinary characteristics of monsters. It is not actually possible to engage a Haunting in normal combat, as it would be with a Specter, for example. Usually, characters have to suffer the Haunting's magic-like manifestations, while trying to find a way to set the restless spirit to rest. Instead of ordinary monster statistics, Hauntings are defined by the following traits:
Cause:

The Cause of a Haunting is the tragic event that resulted in the binding of one or more souls to the material plane. Usually it involves a horrible crime and intense emotions, but dramatic accidents and natural disasters can also create Hauntings.
Anchor:

A Haunting's Anchor is the person, place, or thing that keeps the Haunting attached to the material plane. Typical anchors may be the weapon (perhaps a magical one) that the haunting soul used in life, the last remaining part of a corpse, an old castle, or the person who ended the hunting's mortal life. As long as the Anchor exists, a haunting cannot be be effectively fought. A Haunting has no body of any kind, not even an ethereal one, so there is nothing to attack. Should a Haunting's Anchor ever be destroyed, however, it's existence on the material plane is ended. Another way to permanently stop a Haunting is to successfully perform a rite of Exorcism upon the Anchor.

A Haunting has a 300 foot radius Zone of Awareness, focused on its Anchor. In cases where the Haunting's Anchor is a whole building, the Zone of Awareness covers that whole building, plus an area 300 feet around it in all directions. Since the Haunting is not a material being, it can hear and see everything within its Zone of Awareness, without regard for walls or other other obscuring factors. Conversely, a haunting is totally unaware of anything outside it's Zone of Awareness.
Release:

The Haunting's Release is an action, that if ever performed, will end the Haunting. Typical Releases may be proper burial of the Haunting's corpse (or corpses), the delivery of a lost love letter, or the avenging of a murder. Some Hauntings will try to make their Releases known, so they can be at peace. Other Hauntings grow to enjoy wreaking horror upon living things, and will try to hide their Releases.
Manifestations:

A Haunting's Manifestation are the changes it can create in the environment around its Anchor. They function much like cast spells, and can take effect anywhere within the Haunting's Zone of Awareness. Since a Haunting has no body, it must use Manifestations to communicate. It cannot usually speak, for example, unless it uses a Manifestation that involves speech. If the Haunting wants to appear, it must be able to use a Manifestation such as Minor Image to create the illusion of a body.

The Castle Keeper selects the Haunting's Manifestations from the list following, similar to the way he might select the spells for a Wizard character. Manifestations are ranked by Level, the same as spells. The way that a Haunting uses its Manifestations is unique, however.

A Haunting can only produce a limited and set amount of Manifestations, which must be determined by the castle Keeper. Once determined, the a Haunting's list of Manifestations does not change. At will, every Haunting can create a Ghostly Chill in a 10 cubic foot area, which decreases the ambient temperature to 50 F if the the temperature of the surrounding area is higher. Every Haunting also has at least one other 0-Level minor Manifestation that it can freely use. The Castle Keeper must decide what other Manifestations the haunting is capable of producing, using the provided list as a guide. A Haunting can be capable of producing as few or as many different Manifestations as the Ck thinks is appropriate. The CK should keep in mind the Cause of the Haunting as Manifestations are selected.

If a Haunting is ever ended, all unnatural effects caused by its Manifestations are immediately ended. Any damage suffered is immediately healed, items broken or destroyed by the Haunting are restored, and any undead created by the Haunting's Manifestations will fall down and become ordinary corpses. Character's actually killed by the Haunting, however, will not be restored to life.

A Haunting is unable to create any manifestation in an area touched by sunlight.
Maximum Manifestation Level:

As a general rule, a Haunting will be able to produce Manifestations of a maximum Level equal to the Hit Dice it had in life. Some hauntings can hold a lot of potential power, but their possible Manifestations are relatively weak. Conversely, some hauntings can only create effects infrequently, but are capable of terrifying displays of high-level power. When saving against a Haunting's Manifestations, the Challenge Level is equal to the Maximum Manifestation Level. The Maximum Manifestation Level is also the effective caster level of Manifestation, used to determine factors like duration and damage. Thus, it is relatively easier to avoid the worst effects of a 9th-Level Manifestation than it would be against the same effect caused by a cast spell.

It is possible for a haunting to have an Maximum Manifestation Level of 0, which means it is unable to create any Manifestations other than 0-Level ones (such as Ghost Chill).
Energy:

This is a number that represents the amount of power a Haunting has available to create Manifestations. To find a Haunting's Energy, simply add up the Levels of the Haunting's Manifestations. In order to create a Manifestation, a Haunting must spend an amount of Energy equal to the Manifestation's Level. 0-Level Manifestations cost no Energy, and can therefore be used at will. Energy regenerates at a rate of one point per hour at night. A Haunting cannot regenerate or otherwise gain any Energy during the daylight hours.

Certain actions and situations increase the Energy of a haunting if they occur within its Zone of Awareness at night, adding points immediately and even allowing the haunting to exceed its ordinary maximum Energy.

Bloodshed: 1 point of Energy per 5 hit points of damage inflicted by anyone on anybody.

The Presence of an Adolescent: 5 points of Energy

The Presence of a Grieving/Brokenhearted/Suicidal/Vengeful Person: 1 point of Energy per Level of the person.

It is possible for a Haunting to have an Energy of 0, which means it is unable to create any Manifestations other than Ghost Chill and other 0-Level ones.
Saves:

For Purposes of determining any necessary Saving Throws, Hauntings are both Physical and Mental and nature, and therefore use a Challenge Base of 12. As Undead, Hauntings are always immune to mind-affecting effects, as well as poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease and death effects.
Intelligence:

Whatever the Haunting's level of intellect was in life, all Hauntings have Average Intelligence. Hauntings have no sense of the passage of years, and they never realize that it is no longer the day of their death. They are completely overwhelmed by the emotions they felt when they died. While all-perceiving within their Zone of Awareness, Hauntings are completely unaware of the world outside of it, and can never be convinced of any new information. They simply ignore anything that doesn't fit their existing world-view.
Alignment:

Hauntings can be of any Alignment, but a Haunting's Alignment is often different from that which they possessed in life. Typically, Hauntings that are the result of murder become Evil in Alignment, although they tend to remain Lawful or Chaotic if they were in life.
Type:

Hauntings are Unique Undead, and they confer the immunities of the Undad type to their Anchors. Conversely, items that inflict extra damage or effects upon Undead will also inflict them upon a Haunting's Anchor.
TURNING HAUNTINGS

Hauntings can be turned by Clerics as Unique Undead. Their effective Hit Dice for that purpose is equal to their Maximum Manifestation Level. In order to Turn a Haunting, however, the Cleric must be in the presence of the Haunting's Anchor. A Turned Haunting is made dormant for 10 rounds, unable to create any Manifestations. If the Cleric manages to achieve a Destroy result in his turning attempt, the Haunting is deactivated for the lifetime of the Cleric. Upon the cleric's death, however, the Haunting will return (if its Anchor still exists).
EXPERIENCE POINT AWARDS FOR DEFEATING HAUNTINGS

Castle Keepers can award Experience Points for overcoming hostile hauntings using the following chart:

Maximum Manifestation Level | XP Award

0 | 11

1 | 11+1 per point of Energy

2 | 22+2 per point of Energy

3 | 45+3 per point of Energy

4 | 100+4 per point of Energy

5 | 200+5 per point of Energy

6 | 300+6 per point of Energy

7 | 350+7 per point of Energy

8 | 700+8 per point of Energy

9 | 1100+9 per point of Energy


POSSIBLE HAUNTING MANIFESTATIONS

0 Level (usable without expending Energy)

Dancing Lights

Darkness

Ghost Sound

Ghostly Chill (see above; possessed by all Hauntings)

Light

Mage Hand

Message

Open/Close

Putrefy Food and Drink

1st Level

Bane

Bless

Cause Fear

Create Water

Daze

Entangle

Faerie Fire

Hold Portal

Silent Image

Sound Burst

Unseen Servant

2nd Level

Animal Messenger

Charm Person or Animal

Desecrate

False Trap

Fire Trap

Fog Cloud

Heat Metal

Hold Person

Levitate

Magic Mouth

Minor Image

Produce Flame

Pyrotechnics

Scare

Shatter

Silence

Sleep

Summon Swarm

Warp Wood

Web

3rd Level

Animate Dead

Cause Disease

Create Food and Water

Curse

Dispel Magic

Gust of Wind

Hallucinatory Terrain

Illusory Script

Major Image

Nondetection

Stinking Cloud

Stinking Cloud

Suggestion

Summon Lesser Monster

4th Level

Confusion

Control Plants

Control Water

Emotion

Faithful Hound

Fear

Illusory Wall

Minor Creation

Mirage Arcana

Phantasmal Killer

Quench

Secure Shelter

Seeming

Shout

Sleet Storm

Solid Fog

Spike Stones

Summon Animals

Telekinesis

Wall of Force

5th Level

Control Winds

Dream

Ice Storm

Insect Plague

Magic Jar

Summon Monster

Transmute Mud and Rock

Wall of Fire

Wall of Ice

Wall of Stone

Wall of Thorns

6th Level

Antilife Shell

Create Undead

Guards and Wards

Major Creation

Mass Suggestion

Move Earth

Repel Wood

Veil

7th Level

Control Weather

Creeping Doom

Insanity

Maze

Vision (inflicted on others, and can reveal information the Haunting doesn't know)

8th Level

Antipathy

Command Plants

Create Greater Undead

Earthquake

Repel Metal or Stone

Summon Planar Ally

Sympathy

Whirlwind

9th Level

Disjunction

Energy Drain

Gate

Storm of Vengeance

Time Stop

Weird


SOME SAMPLE HAUNTINGS

The Haunting of Gerezar's Sword

Cause: Gerezar was a legendary freedom fighter who fought against the oppression of his people at the hands of the cruel tyrant of Syderea. He was killed in combat with the Royal Bodyguard before he could slay the King.

Anchor: The Sword of Gerezar

Release: Killing the King of Syderea with the Sword

Manifestations: Ghostly Chill, Message, Silent Image, Hold Person

Maximum Manifestation Level: 3

Energy: 4

Saves: P+M

Intelligence: Average

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

XP: 57

Gerezar's Sword is a +2 Weapon, with an etched blade, a hilt of black metal, and an opal set into the pommel. Although in life Gerezer was a good man who fought for liberty, in death he is completely consumed with hatred for the Kings of Syderea. He will use Message to communicate, trying to get some new warrior to take up his cause and release his soul. He will also use Silent Image to show scenes from the oppression of his people, and the struggle against the King. The Haunting will want to save the use of its Hold Person manifestation until Sword's wielder is in engaged in a fight with the Syderean Royal Bodyguard, or the King himself. If the sword's current owner has no plans on battling the King of Syderea, the Haunting will use Message and Silent Image to tempt someone else to kill the Sword's owner and claim the weapon for himself. The Haunting will then attempt to make the new owner battle the King of Syderea.

Unfortunately, Gerezar was killed over 500 years ago, and he will now never believe that fact that the last King of Syderea was assassinated just 50 years afterwards.

The Haunting of Castle Wylderiver

Cause: The First Lord of Wylderiver was a powerful warrior who was poisoned by his wife. In his will, he had wished for his skull to be displayed in his Castle. His body was quickly buried, however, on his wife's orders.

Anchor: The castle itself

Release: Placing the skull of the Castle's First Lord on display in the Castle.

Manifestations: Ghostly Chill, Mage Hand, Open/Close, Darkness, Entangle, Unseen Servant, Animal Messenger, Fog Cloud, Summon Swarm, Animate Dead, Faithful Hound, Guards and Wards, Control Winds, Insect Plague, Control Weather, Storm of Vengeance

Maximum Manifestation Level: 9

Energy: 47

Saves: P+M

Intelligence: Average

Alignment: Lawful Evil

XP: 1,523

The first Lord of Wylderiver was a low-born man, who by dint of acquiring great fame as a swordsman, was awarded a small territory by the King. He built his castle there, a gray, imposing affair situated near a waterfall. His wife, however, took a lover, and together they conspired to murder the Lord. Fearing that anybody should examine the Lord's poisoned body closely, the Lady had him buried as quickly as possible.

The current Lord of Wylderiver no longer dwells in the Castle, his family having long ago fled it for a mansion in the city. The Lord is still the lawful owner of the Castle, however, and will occasionally sponsor attempts to to rid it of its Haunting. The Castle is the subject of horrifying folktales, and even bandits will avoid it. The Haunting is consumed with hate for the living, and will attack anyone who dares to stay in the Castle.

The Haunting of the Royal Beacon

Cause: The Royal Lighthouse Keeper was drunk one night, and forgot to light his Beacon on time. A ship subsequently broke up on the rocks, and in his guilt the Lighthouse Keeper hung himself.

Anchor: The mirror of the Beacon.

Release: The current King must express forgiveness at the Keeper's grave.

Manifestations: Ghost Chill, Dancing Lights, Light, Produce Flame, Minor Image

Maximum Manifestation Level: 2

Energy: 4

Saves: P+M

Intelligence: Average

Alignment: Lawful Good

XP: 30

A rare benevolent Haunting, the Haunting of the Royal Beacon is well known to the coastal villagers. Every Lighthouse Keeper reports incidents of the Beacon lighting itself, of lights shining where there were no flames or torches, and the image of the Old Keeper crying and hanging himself. It is said that Lighthouse keepers must be teetotalers, because bringing alcohol into the Lighthouse will result in terrifying visions.

The Haunting of Nylabo the Killer

Cause: Nylabo is a heartless thief who killed a woman in anger when she had no money to steal. Now she haunts him wherever he goes.

Anchor: Nylabo himself.

Release: The death of Nylabo

Manifestations: Ghost Chill, Ghost Sound, Open/Close, Mage Hand, Message, Putrefy Food and Drink.

Maximum Manifestation Level: 0

Energy: 0

Saves: P+M

Intelligence: Average

Alignment: Neutral Evil

XP: 11

The criminal Nylabo is the subject of a comparatively minor Haunting, but it is sufficient to drive him to the brink of madness. During the day he remains unmolested, but at night he constantly experiences chills, hears a sound like a faintly sobbing woman, sees small objects move and form threatening phrases, and has his food spoil on the plate. Worst of all, he can faintly hear the voice of his victim, whispering that he will soon be joining her in Hell.

[anonymous]

Much too powerful. A dead 9th level character shouldn't be able to summon a demigod.

[Go0gleplex]

I agree. seems a bit much power-wise, though the concept and such behind it is pretty cool. Make for some great story hooks.
_________________
The obvious will always trip you up FAR more than the obscure.

Baron Grignak Hammerhand of the Pacifica Provinces-

High Warden of the Castles & Crusades Society

[serleran]

Are these supposed to be rules for PCs? If so, they are beyond powerful. If for NPCs, then I fail to really see the need for them, but hey, codified systems for creation of things helps many people, so that's good... would not use them, myself, but I could see them being interesting in a haunted house adventure.
_________________
If it matters, leave a message at the beep.
Serl's Corner

[clavis123]

serleran wrote:
Are these supposed to be rules for PCs? If so, they are beyond powerful. If for NPCs, then I fail to really see the need for them, but hey, codified systems for creation of things helps many people, so that's good... would not use them, myself, but I could see them being interesting in a haunted house adventure.

Definitely not originally intended for use by PCs! The whole thing started out with me wanting to create a "haunted dungeon" that could recreate the feel of a haunted house movie, where small, strange things start happening and finally climax in fearsome storms, bleeding walls, demonic attacks, etc. I wanted rules, because I wanted the PCs to feel like there was a way to actually stop the haunting, if only they could figure it out from clues they uncover. Then I also thought about stories that involved haunted items, and even people. I think of hauntings as more like plot devices, or ticks/traps, than regular monsters. I didn't want the solution to be a straight-up fight, but rather a mystery that that has to be solved.

I do see what has been said about the power level, though. That's why I posted the draft rules here, to get some feedback. Perhaps if the power level was toned down it might be interesting to have a slain PC continue to haunt their favorite weapon, for instance... Hmmmmm.... Maybe say, making the Haunting's Maximum Manifestation Level be equal to 1/2 of it's Level in life?

[Go0gleplex]

I think a larger issue is the relation between haunting level and number of energy points.

Let them start with EP equal to level/HD, but double the cost of the manifestation in EP.

Scrap the bonus energy unless it is the manifestation that causes harm or forces the PCs or victims to cause the harm as a result of the manifestation (ie the fighter sees bugs crawling up himself, so begins stabbing at them...finding out several painful wounds later they're illusions. Or the cleric sees the young girl as a beastial demon and strikes to slay her causing a grievous wound...only to find she is merely a girl)

I'd also look at your spell list of effects. Many of those could, and should, be more illusory based or created as an illusion. That would ratchet the power level down as well, yet still give you the terror effect you're wanting. example: spike stones, create undead, summon monster...could all be replaced by illusions that create the seeming of the creature there then it's poof. gone. screws with the mind more rather than devolving into being hammered by what amounts to an omni-present archmage.

Again...I think you're on to something with this but it needs a mechanic to get the ride smoothed out.
_________________
The obvious will always trip you up FAR more than the obscure.

Baron Grignak Hammerhand of the Pacifica Provinces-

High Warden of the Castles & Crusades Society

[anonymous]

clavis123 wrote:
I do see what has been said about the power level, though. That's why I posted the draft rules here, to get some feedback. Perhaps if the power level was toned down it might be interesting to have a slain PC continue to haunt their favorite weapon, for instance... Hmmmmm.... Maybe say, making the Haunting's Maximum Manifestation Level be equal to 1/2 of it's Level in life?

I wouldn't use spells at all. It's like the giving the PCs an invulnerable Lich as an opponent. Since when were ghosts associated with summoning monsters, creating walls of ice or causing earthquakes? Maybe read some ghost stories or accounts of actual hauntings and tailor the rules to them rather than warping ghosts to fit the magic rules.

[Go0gleplex]

I can see the summon swarm being valid. All the bugs in a place being influenced/controlled by the haunting. But I agree Tenser. A lot of those spells should be tossed. As I noted above, you can get the same effects using various illusions which does give the players a better chance.

It seems to be going more for the Nightmare on Elmstreet/ Tommyknockers stuff it looks like. Needs to mix more Hitchcock in though, less slasher style.
_________________
The obvious will always trip you up FAR more than the obscure.

Baron Grignak Hammerhand of the Pacifica Provinces-

High Warden of the Castles & Crusades Society

[clavis123]

The list of spell-like effects could probably use some pruning. However, some of those spells do reproduce effects from the sources, both fiction and non-fiction.

I agree that the Manifestations of most Hauntings should be mostly illusion. That's why the Manifestations on the list are only possible ones. Every Haunting does not create Webs, or Storms of Vengence. Probably, that should be made more clear in the explanation of the rules. I wanted to be able to produce both low-key, unsettling hauntings (such as Jacksons's "The Haunting of Hill House"), and dramatic, Hollywood-style hauntings (Poltergeist, etc.). Also, some of the apparently stranger choices are there intentionally. Summon Monster for instance, allows reproductions of edge cases like the Skinwalker Ranch, where the lines between a traditional haunting, UFO activity, and cryptozoology get very blurry. Of course, the reports of many traditional Hauntings include strange blacks dogs, mysterious carriages, etc., all of which could be an illusion, but some of which might be real (for game purposes anyway). There are also a lot a lot of reports of people being actually attacked physically in haunted areas. As for things like Earthquake, how else to cause the haunted house to dramatically collapse at the end of the story?

I definitely now think one thing that I left out that should have been included is that Hauntings do not (or cannot) use their strongest effects immediately, but will always start out using weaker, less dramatic ones. Perhaps the stronger Manifestations might be limited to being used once a night, or once a month?

Also, I think it should be made clear that any Undead a Haunting creates are under its complete control.

In running a Haunting, presentation would be everything. Just having the PCs encounter constant unexplained spells probably would be frustrating for them. The Manifestations would need to be presented in the right way, emphasizing their inexplicable strangeness. They shouldn't be a hodge-podge of effects, but thematically related to the Haunting. Also, perhaps the Manifestations should give clues to the Haunting's Release.

Anyway, thanks for all the input so far.

[Go0gleplex]

Maybe rather than "create undead" clavis...give it a Spawn ability, wherein it can raise any creature killed within its influence zone as a lesser undead, (zombie, skeleton, or ghoul) under its control and influence. This would reduce some potential for abuse.

0 level stuff looks okay.

1st Lvl- I would drop Bane/Bless and Daze from the list. Give the haunting the option of having a Bane Aura in its sphere of influence...its eternal anger/sorrow/hatred/etc. influencing everything for no energy. It's that creepy feeling you get when you just know something is outta kilter.

2nd Lvl- I would drop Charm person, Desecrate, and Sleep as well. Desecrate can be rolled into the Bane Aura. Charm Person and Sleep give too much direct influence over the characters for something that should be indirect as much as possible. (I don't dispute that some effects should directly effect the PCs, but they should be limited in how much direct influence they give).

Just some suggestions. Work this idea out and it'll be pretty cool.
_________________
The obvious will always trip you up FAR more than the obscure.

Baron Grignak Hammerhand of the Pacifica Provinces-

High Warden of the Castles & Crusades Society

[clavis123]

So, so far it seems that:

1) The power level needs to be taken down.

2) There should be more more support for subtle, creepy hauntings versus dramatic, Hollywood-style ones.

I'll see what I can work out...