The Endless Haunted House [forum game]

[The Final Door]

Just watched the first half of Stephen King's "Rose Red". While I have very little interest in the "psychics examine strange phenomenon" angle, I looooove haunted houses! I always wanted to do a huge haunted house as a campaign, full of strange rooms and their ghosts. So I thought this might be an interesting game for a forum...

Each post is a description of a room (or hallway, or the like). It can be as detailed or vague as desired, and the room can be as logical or bizarre as you like. It must be a room, however! You can add ghosts or strange artifacts, but you must describe the room.

The house is a gigantic structure. It was first built in 1608 as a mansion, already of impressive size, and was originally finished in 1632. But the year after, the owner, a widow of a wealthy aristocrat, started adding to it. And she continued, for the rest of her life. After that, others continued the work, whenever they took over the possession of the house or even just because they wanted to. The house seems to motivate people to build attachments. Thus, it has many different ages in it, with parts from 1608 and parts from this very decade. Oddly, people who go in rarely encounter anyone actively building on it, though they often find unfinished sections, some with material signs of being in active construction.

The secret of the house is as such off-limits; nobody can say that "this is why the house is like it is." However, ghosts in it have their own theories, and those theories can be anything you want, rational or not. Ghosts may even think they can explain other rooms (rooms posted by other people).

NOTE that you are, of course, free discuss various other ideas or comment on what others say (including "Oh man cool room" or "how does your ghost know that" posts). HOWEVER... you may only post such a comment along with a new room. So if you want to comment on someone's idea, the cost is an additional room for the house.......... It wants you to build....... Build.......

And now for my required room, the price of me even posting this first post....

Along one of the southern walls, facing a lush and now overgrown garden, is a large room containing an indoor swimming pool. The pool is small by modern standards, no greater than what might be found in the better part of surburbia, but for its time, it was a great luxury. The water has no chlorine or filtering, and is thus not entirely clear, but it is surprisingly clear enough for a swim, provided one washes afterwards. The outer wall leading to the garden is as much glass as the period could handle (the room was added by a group of local contributors for no apparent reason in 1842). Two glass doors lead straight into the garden, allowing anyone to go from the pool into the garden or vice versa.
Three ghosts inhabit the room. Two are a brother and sister, the boy 13 and the girl 9. They do not remember their deaths, and simply play in the pool from early morning to early evening, then disappear until morning next. They are shy, and will only be seen by people who seem kind and safe, though anyone might hear them by chance from the garden or right outside one of the doors leading out. They are not very mature for their age, clearly having lived protected lives, but they are good kids, well-behaved and respectful (the boy calls everyone Sir or Ma'm).
The third ghost is an old man. He is found sitting in a flimsy garden chair, looking into the pool's water. He only appears if there is a period of absolute silence, and never leaves the chair. He does not speak, and does not look at anyone, only at the water. In perfect silence, someone listening closely might hear him mumble softly in his long, white beard, repeating conversations with a woman of affection, perhaps his wife. He mutters only to himself, though, not to anyone else, including this unseen wife.

Happy building!

[ladyarcana55]

This sounds like a really interesting game, interesting concept and such. I'll have to read it over and think about it some more but I do have one question...

Shouldn't this be in the Play by Post forum?

[The Final Door]

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

This sounds like a really interesting game, interesting concept and such. I'll have to read it over and think about it some more but I do have one question...

Shouldn't this be in the Play by Post forum?

It's not a play by post game. It's a forum game. If the powers that be feel it is a pbp, no problem, but it is not a roleplaying game. It's a collective writing game. I might instead have written "does anyone have ideas for rooms for a huge haunted house?", but I thought making it a game might make it survive longer, since forum games seem to thrive in many forums (I hate the 'vending machine game' so bad, though....). Think of it as a more advanced, brain-powered version of SJGs "Message from the Illuminati"!

Of course, you broke the only real rule: No matter what you write, you must include a room in your post. Including if you just write a single question. And since I am posting an answer, I have to create a room, too:

The room is small, and looks like a private study at first, with several shelves of books and two comfy reading chairs. But there are also strange mechanical toys in the room, things that look like clockwork playthings for older children, but not with any clear function or real-world likeness. They are large and complex, and look horribly delicate, as if a single touch would break something. There are no visible ghosts in the room, but talking of certain topics in the room will make the clockwork toys start to move. For example, any talk of WWII will make what looks like a knee-high tower begin to slowly spin its three vertical sections. Talking about music will cause a UFO-like thing on a small table to change (mechanically, not magically) between different general shapes. Sometimes, the movement of toys is accompanied by a faint sound of a youthful giggle.

[ladyarcana55]

Oh! I thought it was an actual game, I didn't realize that it's more of a writing exercise! My mistake. I really like the idea!

I'm certainly in!

[hari]

Originally Posted by The Final Door

The house seems to motivate people to build attachments. Thus, it has many different ages in it, with parts from 1608 and parts from this very decade.

One of the newest additions might even be said to be from the future. Somewhere lost in the maze of tunnels that exist under the mansion for the purpose of bringing modern comforts to this ancient home, there is the strange little messy lab of a mad genius. Most visitors to the room never see him, but instead simply see his mess. The room gives off an impression almost like that of a jungle, as it is made of giant file cabinets towering upwards like trunks and of pieces of paper and piles of books strewn everywhere. Perhaps the most interesting things readily visible are small glass containers filled with a liquid in which miniature deformed creatures can be seen. A little more investigation will reveal the fact that although this lab is equipped with surprisingly archaic computers, it also houses some of the most fantastic technological creations ever seen. Although they are hard to find, set as they are behind a large and cluttered wall of file cabinets, upon seeing them there is no mistaking them. Large tanks of softly illuminated liquid hold the floating naked bodies of his creations. However, before any visitor has the opportunity to examine them, they are usually accosted by the mad genius himself. At this point he will come flying from his hiding place screeching demands that the interlopers leave him in peace. The last thing that most see is the flash of a hypodermic needle as it finds it's way to their neck. Most such interlopers are never heard from again.

Some of the mad genius's creations stalk the halls of the mansions. Among these, the most remarkable is perhaps a woman known by the name Sophia. Although her beauty alone makes her quite memorable, it is her cognizance of her situation that is most impressive about her. She cannot remember a time before the lab, but she will, if implored, share her suspicions about the lab and it's master. The mad genius is most likely a ghost of the future. Why he is here is still however a mystery. Is he here because his genius was rejected by the laws of nature perhaps? Or might it be due to something else, such as his death? And what is it about this building that attracted him to it? That is perhaps the biggest mystery. As for what he does in his lab, it is obvious that he is creating monstrosities of some sort. However, is he manipulating normal DNA? Or is he manipulating and perhaps slightly solidifying ghostly protoplasm? Sophia believes that the second answer is more likely. And where does he find subjects for his experiments? That's a question Sophia is unwilling to discuss, just as she is unwilling to show the hideous scares that are covered by her black flowing dress and hair.

Great idea. I love it!

But ladyarcana55! You are not "in". There is no "in" or "out". If you post in this thread, the rule is that you must include a room in the house, which you have failed to do twice. That's it, there's no signing up or anything like that.

Having said that, I'm curious The Final Door, that you say there are other games like this one. I want to play them, where do you find them? I suppose others could be started here as well, but no rush, not at all.

Thanks for the opportunity.

[Rocket Man]

The ballroom is a sad reminder of an older time, the once colorful tapestries now faded and torn. A grand stairway curves into the room from above, the railings of its bannister now cris-crossed with cobwebs, adding an odd silvery sheen to the dark room. The gigantic chandelier still hangs from the ceiling, but at least a third of the crystals are missing. The piano that would have once occupied the room is long gone.

Curiously, the floor is still as shiny and polished as it would have been in its heyday. The reddish wood of the floor comes to life at the slightest glimmer of an explorer's flashlight or candle, its beauty and warmth almost inviting the beholder to dance.

Once a year, on the night of a full moon (no pattern has ever been discerned), the ballroom remembers what it was. A dozen pairs of dancers glide across the floor, each from a different era of the ballroom's existence: Georgian flamboyance passes near Victorian elegance, and even a Tommy headed for the Somme enjoys a last dance with his girl. The dancers do not acknowledge the presence of anyone else.

At the end of the dance, one crystal falls from the chandelier and smashes on the floor below. The ghosts then vanish.

No one knows what will happen when the last crystal falls.

[LostPassWord]

Along a hallway leading toward the servants’ quarters is a narrow door. From the hallway, this door seems to be a closet. Behind the door is actually a steep, tightly wound spiral stair case made of wrought iron.

This stairway leads up to what can best be described as a green house, about 30 feet long by 10 feet wide. Three of the four walls of this area are exterior brick, with the long wall having several windows into a hallway. The framework of the green house is all wrought iron. The glass seems to have a green tint to it and is wavy like old glass. The floor is hard wood planks.

At the far end of the room from the staircase are two wicker chairs and a table, painted white. On the table sits a bottle of whiskey and two glasses with ice (which never seems to melt.) The whiskey is safe to drink.

If someone were to pour whiskey into the two glasses, a ghost of a well dressed man from the 1920's would appear, taking one of the glasses as if it were offered to him. He would sit in one of the chairs and start a conversation with whoever poured the drinks. Anyone else in the room is invisible to this ghost.

The ghost will stay as long as his glass is refilled with the whiskey. He knows something of the house, mostly about other places he added to the structure. However, as he drinks, he seems to get more inebriated and his speech slurs, his conversation becomes more disjointed and he finally ‘dies’ from alcohol poisoning when the whiskey bottle is empty.

The whiskey ‘reappears’ the next morning.

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by hari

But ladyarcana55! You are not "in". There is no "in" or "out". If you post in this thread, the rule is that you must include a room in the house, which you have failed to do twice. That's it, there's no signing up or anything like that.

Too distracted. But good point!

This used to be the sewing room. The former lady of the house was a very avid practitioner of embroidery and cross stitching. There are looms and frames of unfinished pieces and the walls are covered with finished pieces. Some are framed and some are hung on hooks or stands. There are collections of threads and patterns that will never be used and packets of needles rusting secretly. Everything is covered in dust and faded and the tattered faded curtains do nothing to protect them from the ravages of the sun. In the corner is an old gramaphone that no longer works. Everything is eerily still and the silence only drives home the point.

When it is late afternoon, the gramophone starts to spin for no reason and the ancient record on it starts to fill the room with songs that have been long forgotten. As the music starts, figures begin to appear. A woman in her mid-twenties sits in one of the chairs is busy cross stitching a piece in a frame on her lap. Another woman, in her late teens, sits across from her with her own frame. An older woman, in her late fifties, sits at a large frame working on a piece. In another part of the room are two little girls, no older than ten, are watching the women and imitating what they see with their own empty frames. They are all Southern Belles and they are dressed appropriately to the part. They sew, chat and laugh as one would expect in such circumstances. They continue to do so until the record ends, usually in the early evening past sundown. Then they put their projects away and they get up to leave the room. As they do so they fade away only to return the next day and everyday after.

[Mr_Sandman]

Could be a fun game.

A very small bedroom in the attic of the servant's wing, not much more than a dormer. A small cot with a little trunk at its foot are the only furniture in the room. The room has only one small window. It is cold in winter and stiflingly hot and stuffy in summer. Not much more comfortable in spring and fall.

There are no visible ghosts, but those who are sensitive will feel a presence.

If one enters alone, nothing happens, similarly if three or more are in the room at once it is just a small, uncomfortable room.

If there are two people in the room, however their attitudes start to change. One will become timid, afraid, their fears start to center on their other in the room.

The other will start to become impatient with their companion, finding fault, becoming demanding.

The longer they stay in the room the more it affects them. The timid one cringing, crying.

The other starting to shout, threatening.

Once they leave the room, the effect wears off completely. But if they go back more than once, the effects start to linger longer and longer after each visit. And after the first time, it doesn't matter how many people are in the room when they go back. If they were affected before, it will recur.

I never much cared for obvious, visible hauntings. Psychological effects get me every time.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by hari

Having said that, I'm curious The Final Door, that you say there are other games like this one. I want to play them, where do you find them? I suppose others could be started here as well, but no rush, not at all.

I recall these two:
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=29490
and
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=44510

Both of which sorta fizzled (and seem to suffer from people that were unclear on the concept, IMO).

Now to pay the Devil:

A narrow door "hidden" obviously among wood paneling opens onto a secret garden in an enclosed plaza set between wings. A path of smooth white pebbles leads to a door on the left hand wall. In the corner to the immediate left is a small pond with a few fat koi and a miniature waterfall. Across the path from the pond is a stone bench. Throughout the garden grows a profusion of manicured banzais, ferns, and mosses. Beneath the plants are hundreds of the tiny stone buildings and figures that are used in banzai. The garden is immaculately kept, although a gardener is never seen. If an explorer leaves an item on the ground it will disappear as soon as no one has eyes on it.

Despite the excellent condition of the garden the stone bench has a number of odd stains, they appear to be tiny blood stains arranged in geometric patterns, as though someone pricked themselves and decorated the surface one drop at a time. The truly observant might notice the "pebbles" of the path are actually hundreds of tiny human bones.