10-15-2019, 03:56 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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[Horror/Spirits/Urban Fantasy] Ouija boards in GURPS games
The ouija board, also called a spirit board or talking board, has been pretty common in occultism since the 19th century, to the point that it has a short entry in GURPS Horror for 4e (on p47), probably due to it's use in a number of horror films, books, and TV series (and people who do believe in spooks, many of whom generally recommend avoiding these things entirely, as they 'could invite anything in').
I found myself wondering if anyone has had characters using them in their games; not necessarily the PCs, either: some horror films (and some alleged possession cases in RL) start with a character getting possessed by something that was attracted to a ouija board, and you could potentially do a game where the PCs are spirits who were drawn to a group of teenagers playing with a spirit board in an abandoned house... along with Something Else. Also sort of wondering if anyone has done house rules for spirit boards.
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10-16-2019, 06:23 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Dec 2008
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Re: [Horror/Spirits/Urban Fantasy] Ouija boards in GURPS games
I've had house rules for similar objects. I forget the details off hand but I recall it being a simple Roll vs 6 with modifiers based on Advantages/Disadvantages to pick up a spirit. Arriving spirit rolls Reaction and the fun begins.
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10-16-2019, 11:42 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Sep 2018
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Re: [Horror/Spirits/Urban Fantasy] Ouija boards in GURPS games
I've used non-Ouija spirit boards as a focus in a RPG but mechanically it was just a +1 to skill tool.
I like the concept, since the possession is required for the premise to work perhaps you shouldn't deal with the possession mechanically. You could say the "enchanted" Ouija Board allows the possession without a roll. |
10-16-2019, 12:24 PM | #4 |
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Re: [Horror/Spirits/Urban Fantasy] Ouija boards in GURPS games
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10-16-2019, 01:03 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: [Horror/Spirits/Urban Fantasy] Ouija boards in GURPS games
In order for spirit boards to work ghosts have to be able to control the motions of the board or the players. The basic assumption is that spirits have at least a limited ability to move real world objects but it could also be done with limited possession.
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10-16-2019, 05:12 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: [Horror/Spirits/Urban Fantasy] Ouija boards in GURPS games
Quote:
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Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life. "The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates." -- Tacitus Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted. |
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10-16-2019, 06:52 PM | #7 | ||
Join Date: Nov 2008
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Re: [Horror/Spirits/Urban Fantasy] Ouija boards in GURPS games
Quote:
Quote:
Most expectations of a Seance in fact would be represented by Channeling.
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10-16-2019, 09:25 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Feb 2007
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Re: [Horror/Spirits/Urban Fantasy] Ouija boards in GURPS games
Note that it's very much in the spirit of horror genre to make the concept of 'consent' very tricky and much easier to grant than to rescind.
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10-17-2019, 05:58 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: [Horror/Spirits/Urban Fantasy] Ouija boards in GURPS games
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Certainly in any self respecting horror game you must be barking mad to get a Ouija board out. "The thing that wouldn't leave" is definitely your theme one way or another. |
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10-17-2019, 12:47 PM | #10 | |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: [Horror/Spirits/Urban Fantasy] Ouija boards in GURPS games
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Oh, yes, very much so. My usual assumption is that anyone playing with a ouija board is offering an open invitation to whatever is out there, even if they don't believe in spooks. Playing with things like that in a Horror game is dangerous, and it's not that much safer in many other genres related to Fantasy or Urban Fantasy.
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Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life. "The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates." -- Tacitus Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted. |
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Tags |
horror, spirits, urban fantasy |
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