Really scary ghosts

[Jack the Reaper]

An exposure to some very creepy pictures of supposedly-real ghosts, followed by a close encounter with Samara Morgan, have incited in me a new interest in ghosts. What I'm looking for is RPG sourcebooks (d20 or any other system) with info and inspiration about ghosts. But not just every ghost - I don't want the classic, typical victorian/gothic ghosts, but some truly horrid, murderous apparitions - the likes of the aforementioned Samara, for example. And I don't want books in which the PCs are ghosts either (e.g Wraith: the Oblivion, or Ghostwalk), but books about the PCs fighting them. (And of course I already have CotN:G, so don't bother with it).

Thanks!

[MichaelTumey]

Well... for Japanese Ghosts, the first and second adventure in my Curse of the Golden Spear trilogy for Kaidan: a Japanese Ghost Story setting, features some scary ghosts and haunts the party must face. The first adventure, called The Gift features a haunted ryokan (rural inn) with a rather powerful ghost, some ghouls and multiple related haunts. Later in that same adventure the party camps beside what turns out to be a Well of Drowned Children, which is mostly a complex haunt with some zombie children. Dream sequences are featured in both encounters that add to the backstory and the terror. In the second adventure, Dim Spirit (which means 'ghost' in Japanese, as a direct transliteration), the heroes rescue the merchant's daughter (the plot from the first adventure), but it turns out that though she appears normal, she is really a ghost who looks alive in the daytime, but is a horrible skeletal ghost that drains it's victims vital fluids at night. She can be killed, but will be back tomorrow...

I also have #30 Haunts for Kaidan supplement which features 30 different haunts. Haunts are kind of a cross between undead and a trap, but much more creepy in presentation than a trap. It's one of my favorite new mechanics from the Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide. Of Rite Publishing's 4 supplements on haunts, #30 Haunts for Kaidan is the most interesting, with the most backstory - plus it features a few new types of undead. I always mix haunts with my ghost encounters, these days.

All these products are highly rated by the reviewers - don't just take my word on it.

We plan to release more ghostly beings in upcoming adventures and supplements.

[Five]

"Van Richten's Guide to Ghosts", and its inclusion in "Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium Volume II" is the most effort I have ever seen put into ghosts in an RPG supplement to date. Hands down, so says my eyes. Not rated R, but it is solid enough to get there. As with anything RPG, you just have to stamp it yourself.

To me, those three volumes are the monster manuals for RL. Everything else is breadcrumbs and Darklords.

[Dion of the Fraternity]

It takes tweaking, but trust me when I say that it was the ONE accessory that scared my players crapless; they didn't want to leave their gaming seats for two hours after the game ended.

[HuManBing]

I found one!

[lostboy]

Coming Full Circle by Pagan Publishing for Call of Cthulhu. There's two ghost stores in it and a bonus one on vampires (whihc is pretty good in a non-gothic kind of way) and one about a satanic witch coven (based on a old hammer film) and no tentacleyness in sight. The ghost stories are pretty good revolving around a classic haunting but with a real emphasis on the creepiness of the setting and the emotional ties the pc's have with those that are victimised. There's also some good old possession thrown in as well.

[The Lesser Evil]

If you don't mind adventures, there's the Haunting of Harrowstone (first part of the Carrion Crown adventure path for Pathfinder). A whole bunch of imprisoned serial killer spirits are brought back into existence and haunt an abandoned prison, occasionally seeping out into the nearby town of the same name.

[Five]

It's not a RPG supplement, but lately I've been thinking of ways to include the vardøger in Ravenloft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vard%C3%B8ger

Vicious apparitions that murder, pillage, and rape their way through unsuspecting coastal communities. Maybe they are the evil spirits (projections) of a decent folk who appear later to trade for sustenance, only to find horrific scenes of death and destruction instead. Saddened by this all too familiar discovery, the semi-starved sailors/explorers head back to their ships (somehow they are bound to the sea and can only make landfall for a limited period of time) and set sail into the mists in the hopes of finding more hospitable lands...

A PC expedition with this group would make for quite an interesting tale of horror and mystery, I think. Stranded on one of the islands, the PCs are only too relieved to join their saviours and set out for home (or the nearest thing to). Little do they know, this band carries with them an ancient curse of despicable Valhallian violence.

[Jack the Reaper]

Thanks for all the ideas! None of them was exactly what I was looking for, but some are worth checking.

(BTW, how am I supoosed to comminicate with a japanese ghost? All the japanese I know is some judo moves, and counting to ten. I don't think it will suffice... )

As to those vardoger, I think the mist claimer from VRG to the Mists may fit their description.

[MichaelTumey]

Thanks for all the ideas! None of them was exactly what I was looking for, but some are worth checking.

(BTW, how am I supoosed to comminicate with a japanese ghost? All the japanese I know is some judo moves, and counting to ten. I don't think it will suffice... )

As to those vardoger, I think the mist claimer from VRG to the Mists may fit their description.

The adventures are set in a pseudo-Japan-land, but you can easily pull the haunting/ghost encounter out of the adventure, and refluff for Ravenloft, rather than Kaidan. Just because the adventure says they're "Japanese" doesn't mean they have to wear a kimono. Change their clothes, names, replace any katana with long sword, and it fits a European analog.

Also the #30 Haunts for Kaidan, again are flavored especially for Japanese folklore. Replace any wording for samurai with knight, katana for long swords, personal names like 'Hideyoshi' with 'Bob' - the mechanics are still ghostly and ghoulie, and it will still serve you remarkably well, despite the intended Japanese theme of my setting...

[Zilfer]

Thanks for all the ideas! None of them was exactly what I was looking for, but some are worth checking.

(BTW, how am I supoosed to comminicate with a japanese ghost? All the japanese I know is some judo moves, and counting to ten. I don't think it will suffice... )

As to those vardoger, I think the mist claimer from VRG to the Mists may fit their description.

The adventures are set in a pseudo-Japan-land, but you can easily pull the haunting/ghost encounter out of the adventure, and refluff for Ravenloft, rather than Kaidan. Just because the adventure says they're "Japanese" doesn't mean they have to wear a kimono. Change their clothes, names, replace any katana with long sword, and it fits a European analog.

Also the #30 Haunts for Kaidan, again are flavored especially for Japanese folklore. Replace any wording for samurai with knight, katana for long swords, personal names like 'Hideyoshi' with 'Bob' - the mechanics are still ghostly and ghoulie, and it will still serve you remarkably well, despite the intended Japanese theme of my setting...

"Who build the tower in just one day? It's hideyoshi! Hideyoshi we praise!"

[Lucien Doomdark]

If you need some inspiration then can I recommend Ghostwatch? It was a BBC drama that was sparked a controversy when it was first shown. I watched it recently when it popped up in a DVD bargain bin at my local supermarket.

It scared the ever-loving crap out of my girlfriend and I.

On a more useful note, Orpheus is the sequel to Wraith: The Oblivion - it has a collection of vicious nasty spooks that you can use to haunt your players. It's available online as a PDF and a Print-on-Demand copy from DriveThruRPG. Though both of these are modern-set, the themes and moods are definitely transferable.

[Germaine]

While they aren't. exactly RPG products, I might recommend checking out the films "Insidious", " House on Haunted Hill"( yes, THAT one), "13 Ghosts" ( the DVD ghost backgrounds, anyway), and possibly "Haunted". Also, Robert Bloch's "The Hungry House" and a lot of the stuff by M.R. James and H.R. Wakefield. On the RPG front, there are a few good ideas in the old "Haunted Sites" netbook- if you can still locate a copy- and have you considered the potential of the House of Lament or Tinctnoire Manor?

[Rucht Lilavivat]

I have a perfect book for you - The Book of Unremitting Horror.

http://www.dyingearth.com/bouh/index.html

It is an excellent book with creature of the kind that you are looking for. It occurs to me, Jack, that you aren't necessarily looking for ghosts per se, but entities kind of like Samara. The Book of Unremitting Horror is full of those kinds of frights. And the artwork is absolutely amazing. Very inspirational.

[Jack the Reaper]

I have a perfect book for you - The Book of Unremitting Horror.

http://www.dyingearth.com/bouh/index.html

It is an excellent book with creature of the kind that you are looking for. It occurs to me, Jack, that you aren't necessarily looking for ghosts per se, but entities kind of like Samara. The Book of Unremitting Horror is full of those kinds of frights. And the artwork is absolutely amazing. Very inspirational.

Thanks Rucht; I actually already have the BoUH, and though it does contain some inspiring stuff, overall I found it rather disappointing... But it's just my personal feeling. And at the moment I do prefer to focus on ghosts per se, not just on any horrid entity. It seems that there are disappointingly few RPG products dedicated to ghosts; just compare it with the endless stuff about vampires, werebeasts or demons... Pity!