Ghosts

[The Dark One]

how would you build the power too see ghosts and obatin useful information from them? I have some ideas(like astral perception) but wasn't sure if there was a more "official " way to build them

[Steve Long]

Re: Ghosts

 

Since this is a "how-to," I've moved it to the Discussion boards.

 

For my own general take on ghosts, see HSB 120. You can also find some unusual Oriental ghosts in the Asian Bestiaries. The Ultimate Mystic and The Mystic World have information about the astral planes and related subjects.

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Ghosts

 

You have stumbled upon one of the principles of Hero here.

 

What you have to do is sit down and really think hard in normal language what it is you want to be able to do.

 

You say you want to be able to speak to ghosts and get information from them.

 

What kind of information do you think you will get from ghosts? When you work that out it becomes easier to consider.

 

There are a number of ways to do things and they will often depend on the background work the GM has done in the setting.

 

If the GM has a well developed spirit world with good ideas of what kind of ghosts exist and what they know, when you might meet them and what they would be able to tell you then it may be that all you need is a way to travel to the ghost plane and use normal communication skills.

 

It may be the GM has no such information and is not likely to develop it just for you. Instead you might purchase Retro-cognition which lets you see what happened in the past at a certain place or to a certain object, the special effects being that you speak to ghosts hanging around that provide you with the information.

 

So. What do you want to be able to do?

 

 

Doc

[Sean Waters]

Re: Ghosts

 

If the GM has not already defined 'ghosts' int he game world, there are lots of potential ways to build them, or shade int heir presence, depending on what you want:

 

Extra Dimensional Travel, either to send you there or get them here.

 

Summon, possibly.

 

Clairsentience (see the past, sfx, the past appears in the form of ghost images).

 

The list goes on, and gets more and more complicated. Doc's excellent advice is the starting point thought - decide what the effect will be, then build it (and they will come).

[Spence]

Re: Ghosts

 

All of the above is spot on, but remember this is Hero. So once you decide what you actually want the result to be, there will most likely be a dozen different builds to achieve the result. None of them will be wrong, and none of them will be the "correct" one. What is important is which build better fits your game.

[Rockhoof]

Re: Ghosts

 

Speaking to ghosts is all SFX. Figure out what you want the character to do then build from there, Spence is exactly right.

 

Some examples:

Deduction; SFX: You can catch a glimpse of what happened at a particular location,

Science: Chemistry; SFX: Your great, late grandfather was a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, he guides you through your experiments.

Knowledge Skill: City of Gotham; SFX: You have a rapport with several of the city's resident ghosts, whom you can freely call upon and ask for information.

 

Contact could be used with a ghost SFX, and with a bit of stretching, so could almost any power.

[Spence]

Re: Ghosts

 

Speaking to ghosts is all SFX. Figure out what you want the character to do then build from there, Spence is exactly right.

 

Some examples:

Deduction; SFX: You can catch a glimpse of what happened at a particular location,

Science: Chemistry; SFX: Your great, late grandfather was a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, he guides you through your experiments.

Knowledge Skill: City of Gotham; SFX: You have a rapport with several of the city's resident ghosts, whom you can freely call upon and ask for information.

 

Contact could be used with a ghost SFX, and with a bit of stretching, so could almost any power.

 

great examples.......

[Cancer]

Re: Ghosts

 

If you've been reading one of Tamora Pierce's latest and are looking to replicate that, I'd go for Clairsentience with OAF: pigeons.

[Rockhoof]

Re: Ghosts

 

I'd make the pigeon's OIF.

 

Have you ever tried to catch a pigeon?

[SteveZilla]

Re: Ghosts

 

I'd make the pigeon's OIF.

 

Have you ever tried to catch a pigeon?

 

Not to mention that it's not any one single pigeon -- it's the whole lot of 'em. And there's a lot of 'em. (I.e., the Multiple-Foci rules).

[Basil]

Re: Ghosts

 

Actually, the first thing is: What does your GM say "ghosts" are? If he hasn't decided, ask him to so you know where to start from.

 

If he says he can't/won't decide, threaten to do if for/to him; that should get him in motion.

 

OTOH, if he asks what you want them to be, pick any of the above ideas, or something of your own.

 

BTW, there's always the idea they're devils, making themselves look like the departed in order to lead people away from the Path To Righteousness®

[SteveZilla]

Re: Ghosts

 

how would you build the power too see ghosts and obatin useful information from them? I have some ideas(like astral perception) but wasn't sure if there was a more "official " way to build them

 

22 Third Eye: Detect Ghosts & Spirits (Mental Sense Group, Passive, Detect A Class of Things), Sense, Discriminatory, Targeting. (The Mental Sense Group provides Ranged for free)

 

40 Contact The Spectral Mind: Telepathy 12d6 - Only Vs Ghosts & Spirits(-1/2)