Freebie: Haunted Sites

The stubborn dead aren't an entirely uncommon phenomenon in Outer World. Death is normally the end and for some folk that simply won't do. Corpses walk and occasionally talk, little spirits flutter about, skeletons get some really big ideas. It might not be the norm, but it's not going to surprise anyone too much when it happens.

However, there are times when someone refuses to pass on in a far more dramatic and dangerous way. They become tethered to a place, becoming a part of it and emerging as a menace to anyone who dare venture into their domain.

This is an entry about Ghosts and the Haunted Sites they reside in.

Ghosts

Ghost is a general term for an undying spirit that haunts a particular place or area. Their presence makes an Adventure Site into a Haunted Site. Normally, a ghost cannot be confronted materially - they do not have a physical form and strike at invaders using a sort of phantom magic (as noted in the Haunted Sites rules) until the interlopers leave or join the ranks of the dead.

There is no one sort of ghost. When creating one, it's important consider the following aspects:

• What tethers their malice to this site? They might be a parent looking for their lost child in the aftermath of a tragedy, a slain tyrant skulking the halls of their ruined castle in search of traitors, or a beast whose blood lust was stronger than the death brought on by the spear and bow.
• Once you know what they are, you can decide on their themes. This helps with providing flavor for Haunting Effects: the lost parent's presence may be heralded by soft beckoning and visions of bodies riddled with wounds from the tragedy, the tyrant may lash at targets with chains and edicts, the beast's would likely include guttural roars, crawling vermin, unseen claws and teeth.
• What happens when the Ghost's Manifesting Rite is performed. Do they depart from this mortal coil thanks to some truth being revealed? Or do they take on a physical form and attack those who dared confront them? If it's the latter, you'll want to make an adversary entry for them. They tend to have a menace level of Mega-Boss and a rank of 6 or higher, but weaker, lower ranked ghosts aren't impossible.

Manifesting Rite

As stated previously, it's normally impossible to deal with a ghost by normal or even magical means. They have no material form, and are instead existing within the mana of the place they haunt. If someone wants to exorcise a ghost, they must perform a task that draws them into the physical world known as a Manifesting Ritual.

Manifesting Rites are not uniform. They might involve returning a sacred item to its proper place, righting some ancient wrong, or proving that whatever the ghost is waiting for is long gone from the world. The only thing they all have in common is that they should all involve traversing the ghost's Haunted Site in some way.

Once the Manifesting Rite is complete, the ghost takes on a physical form. They then either accept their passing and disperse permanently or to attack whoever completed the rite.

Haunted Sites

A Haunted Site is an Adventure Site that a ghost is present in. These sites function normally in regards to the exploration rules (though the ghost's presence could have an effect on the nature of the site or how the inhabitants act) but have the additional consideration of Haunting Effects.

Haunting Effects occur in the following circumstances.

• Every other time the party moves to a new point (including back-tracking) on the adventure site map.
• Any time the party decides to investigate or linger at a point.
• Whenever someone does something connected to the ghost's reason for haunting the site or something that might upset or anger the ghost, at GM's Discretion.

Whenever one of these comes up, you should roll once on the Random Target Table to decide which member of the party is the potential target of the haunting, then roll on the Haunting Effect Table and then play out the effect. In the case of someone doing something that would catch the ghost's attention, you may also simply target them instead of rolling for a random target.

Random Target Table (Re-Roll in the case of tie)

• 1- Character with the lowest Might
• 2- Character with the highest Might
• 3- Character with the lowest Deftness
• 4- Character with the highest Deftness
• 5- Character with the lowest Grit
  
• 6- Character with the highest Grit
  
• 7- Character with the lowest Insight
• 8- Character with the highest Insight
• 9- Character with the lowest Aura
• 10- Character with the highest Aura
• 11- Character with who was most recently injured
• 12- Character who last failed a check or attack roll
• 13- Character with the highest bright allegiance
• 14- Character with the highest dark allegiance
• 15- Character wearing the brightest color
  
• 16- Character with the least amount of inventory slots full
  
• 17- Character who last used a magical ability
  
• 18- Character who last shouted
  
• 19- Character who last drew blood
  
• 20- Character who is having the worst day

Haunting Effect Table

• 1-10: Something spooky and characteristic of the haunt happens, but no harm comes to the party. These usually come in the form of noises, apparitions, or paranormal events appearing in front of or around the group. They may hint at what needs to happen to manifest the Haunt.
  
• 11-15: The haunt appears and performs some terrifying action that inflicts a Physical Jinx on a randomly selected target unless they can make a Deftness Check to dodge it. These Jinxes last until the haunt is exorcised, placated, or the target remains away from the haunted site for at least a week.
  
• 16: A personalized vision of terror flashes through the mind of the target, striking at the core of their psyche. They let out a loud cry of anger, dismay, or terror and incur two random encounter rolls unless they make a Grit check to steel themselves.
  
• 17: A voice that sounds like someone the target loves or trusts beckons them elsewhere. They move towards the most dangerous adjacent point in the Adventure Site unless they make a Insight check to keep their senses.
• 18: The haunt attempts to posses the target, and will do so unless they succeed on an Aura check to assert their sense of self. The haunt then attempts to do one action to hinder the party as best they can, snuffing out a torch, using a destructive ability, etc, before departing with a cackle or threat.
  
• 19: A disorienting spatial wave washes over the entire party, and they are all thrown to a different point of the Adventure Site. This is either deep within the site's depths or at the entrance, depending on the temperament of the Haunt.
  
• 20: The target's body is contorted and twisted by the haunt's wrath. They incur a light injury unless they succeed on a Might check to resist the ordeal.

GM Tip!: A re-skinned Skelemonarch can make for quick and easy stats for a ghost. The shadow beast also works well. That said, it'd probably be more fun to make up your own.

Discord User Adversary Collection

A little bonus update this week - Discord user Quagg (an extremely good bean whose helped us in the past with hyperlinking and the like) has been collecting their own and other's custom adversaries into one large sheet that's available for anyone to use. There are 65+ entries and more being added every day. There is even a link to a form to submit your own creations. It's a great resource for anyone running a BREAK!! game.

Check it out:

BREAK!! Homebrew Compendium

Setting: The Eaten Isle

(I asked members of our discord to vote on what part of the setting to write for in October, and the Eaten Isle won out! So enjoy a bit of history of one of Outer World's spookier locales.)

 The Eaten Isle

Adrift in the Shadowed Sea is an accursed place called the Eaten Isle. So known due to its fractured landscape - particularly an inlet sea that formerly hosted a great city and green, fertile lands among other things. It is a dire place, ruined by magic pollution that has stripped away any proper life and leaving only behind bestial husks, twisted flora, and the stubborn dead to wander its many sprawling ruins and bleak landscapes. While certainly not the subject of great ballads and old tales, the Eaten Isle and its history are often on the minds of academics and weavers of magic: it is a shameful, harrowing, and cautionary tale.

So it was

The Eaten Isle was once known as Yeso the Splendid. It was chosen to be the seat of power during the reign of the Divine Rulers in the 2nd Aeon due to its natural beauty, and eventually hosted their holy capital. Great temples and other places of power were erected throughout the island, each intertwined with the forests and lakes around it and connected to the capital via sigil roads. While the Divine Ruler's reign was harsh, Yeso was the Queen of Crystal's favorite part of the realm and thusly spared the most tyrannical aspects of their leadership. Even the Iron King seemed to relax a bit when present on the island - though all living there knew not to cross their monarch, regardless of how his expression might soften.

This peace was disrupted during the 2nd Cataclysm, when rebels from either side of the empire brought the fight to the home of the Divine Rulers themselves. There is no need to go over the various stratagems that brought the insurrection victory, as all are well versed in the stories of how the first mages used the very sigil roads themselves to assault the holy capital, or how Princess Aken lost her duel with the Iron King but finally inspired the people of the island to rise up against him. But needless to say, when this great conflict was ended, Yeso lie in ruins.

Generations passed. From the ashes of the Divine Ruler's empire rose the nations of Akenia and Calian, and those nations grew into fearsome powers themselves. Yeso remained unclaimed by either country, those remaining there happy to rebuild their homes and live quietly among past glories.

Such is the way it went for some time.

During the height of the 3rd Aeon, a conflict erupted between Akenia and Calian. It was one of many small wars the two countries waged, so countless that most of them are forgotten to time. But this one was darker and fiercer than many of the others, as it erupted in the ruins of the holy capital, far away from the soil of either participating nation. Neither the spell-knights or master fleshwarpers there felt a need too hold back so they unleashed the full extent of their power. This drawn out affair ended in a dramatic battle between the Gigaframe Paladinius and a bio-titan called Ragnarok, the two weapons managing to smash each other's spellcore in a final exchange and causing a massive explosion that blasted away all that remained of the holy capital, leaving nothing but a crater behind. 

The mana from both machines infused into the very soil and water of Yeso, and even disastrously reactivated the broken sigil roads. The result was a burst of twisted magic that managed to corrupt the entire island and every living thing on it. It's very nature became crumbling and ruined, as if it was slowly being consumed by some unseen force. It was then the Eaten Isle was born.

So it is

After the incident nothing truly lived on the Eaten Isle. Plants grow in spite of being withered and gnarled, the dead walk and even carry on a semblance of their lives before. Insects and other pests have grown to an enormous size after glutting on the poison that infects the land. The crater that once was the holy capital flooded, creating a bay so deadly that even the fiercest of creatures avoid it. The air is thick with a miasma born of arcane pollution so strong that its impossible to safely traverse the surface of the island without a rebreather.

The Eaten Isle is dreadful place, and yet...

If one braves the writhing flora and gnashing creatures of the rotting forests, they may come across the temples of old and learn a great deal about the 2nd Aeon and its glories.

If one is willing to navigate through the mocking and hungry dead, they might be able to purchase some cursed wonder at the necropolis bazaar.

If one finds a way to plunge into the depths of the sea of slime, they may claim whats left of the very weapons that spoiled the splendid isle.

The Eaten Isle is a dreadful place, but it calls to the adventurous and foolhardy. 

As long as daring souls think they can discover something in that terrible place, it will never want for new dead to join the ranks of its inhabitants.