Horror Between The Void - Ghosts In OSR Spacccee!

 When it comes to setting the scene in space for a monster one that seldom get's mentioned is 'the ghost'! A menace that has far more in common with a haunted house then a space craft. But why!? Ghosts are a perfectly suitable horror for an OSR  Science Fiction rpg. 

So in that vein we've been looking into James Mishler Games Ghost -- The Incorporeal Undead  which gives quite a few OSR style options to make a memorable intersteller menace. 
The idea that a human or even an alien undead is waiting an eternity for some fool to stumble upon their wreck or ruin of a space craft is an idea as old as Pulp Science Fiction. Sure there's been variants on the idea over the years but most of the time it's an idea that get's buried at the back of the dust bin of fictional history. 
Space craft wrecks stalking the Heavens looking for victims of the space ways has been an idea that's been in my head since '04 when I got back into retro gaming before the OSR. 

Imagine a crack team of Colonial Troopers going up against an alien ghost that has 10,000 years of experience on them. They'd need a psychic with experience handling such menaces. And its that unknown factor that can scare the Hell out of a group of experienced players. No clerics or exorcists to help them unless they've got one in spare. 

Colonial Troopers advertises itself as a Hard Science Fictional OSR rpg and it does fit the bill in spades. With all of the Bugs terror, carnage, battles, etc. their battle fields are a prime breeding ground for such undead horrors. Will the troopers be under the control of Bug necromancers or are they going to be on a tear for vegence againt their enemies or a bit of both?! Here's an example of a undead waiting between the void. 

Major Tom 
No. Enc.: 1d8 (1d20) Alignment: Chaotic (Special) Movement: N/A Fly: 240’ (80’) Armor Class: 3 Hit Dice: 3*** Attacks: 1 Touch Damage: 1d6 plus Fear Save: F3 Morale: 10 Hoard Class: XXI XP: 95

Specials: Blinking, Blinking Ectoplasm, Chained Ghost ( Major Tom must remain within 60 feet of his corpse 

Major Tom was the pilot of the radium ore hauler Coming Home on its route through hyperspacial locations. Major Tom had noticed the weird hyperspacial  anomalies which tore him from his body. His soul was wrenched from existence & only through sheer force of will was he able to make it back to his remains. Now Major Tom drifts between universes with a fortune of radium in his cargo bay but he's so drained of energy and incredibly hungry. He feeds on life forces of those he encounters but its such as effort to hold himself together. Bits and pieces fade in and out of the real & unreal ever 1d4 rounds and his touch damages those he tries to warn away. Major Tom's  hoard of radium is what often attracts & dooms adventurers!  Major Tom continues to sail the space ways between universes inspiring dread & fear in all of those he encounters! 

Dretches On Hold Enter Sir John & Philip - Tegel Manor Session Report #4

So in last night's Castles & Crusades/Victorious rpg game one of my player's completely had his PC walk right by the important NPC & the build location within Tegel Manor Village. Then the PC had a confrontation with a group of dire bats & was able to nail one of them. That's when the PC stumbled across the corpse of an adventurer named Philip Le Diamona. Philip had been beheaded & his corpse cooling in the night air. Our adventurer had literally just arrived in Tegel Manor Village.. He somehow had gotten all of Philip's equipment. 

The adventurer in question was a bounty hunter who working for Amazon Mutual . Amazon mutual basically recover adventurer's bodies for resurrection contracts. The village watch walking along the village road meeting Philip Le Diamona mistook the PC for him. They led him back to the village lock up where he was confronted by Sir John the slayer. Sir John had destroyed a local bar down to the foundation killing everyone within! His bounty was being picked up by Baron Ronald Rump & the bounty was to be turned over to Sir John's enemy the Duke De Lamont in 1870! That didn't happen.
After a series of rolls & lots of role playing the PC was able to get Sir John into his custody & even blag a cargo wagon. But they went back to grab Philip Le Diamona corpse for resurrection at the local temple of Freya where arrangements had been made ahead of time.
For now the PC agreed to take the place of Philip Le Diamona's role with Sir John on the recovery of adventurer's contract.



Switch to my other player's whose been keeping an eye on Bark & Byte bar. Where the bard was keeping an eye on the interests of the Romps. That's when a very attractive girl walked in & bought the bard a drink everything went down hill. Our other player's new PC walked into the village & found one of the 'local's feeding on a group of sailors. He went into melee with her & it was on! The melee took the better part of a half an hour. The dice were flying & he got off a very lucky shot. The player staked her! 


Deodanth concept art by Greg Espinosa for the Arduin Monster Cards,1977 The attractive lady in bar went white & her skin changed shape into a deodanth momentarily as they left the bar with the two sailor victims that they had charmed. The bard followed the 'girls' & the PC's got into straight one on one combat & things turned nasty! There was a ton of melee action as one of the PC's let loose. The player's weren't taking changes with these deodanth vampire sisters. The ladies were stalked after a longed out & dragged out melee. Then the player's PC's were confronted by the vampire's spawn who had shape changed into wolves.

Wolf, Fuchs und Schaf by Christopher Paudi 

The bard dropped two chem ex grenades he had grabbed on his time on Cha'alt. And then the whole scene turned into an inferno! The vampire sisters, the spawn, & the sailor victims were all destroyed. All except one spawn who got away who fled to the Manor & went back to his master's side!

This leaves the question of where & when they will be dealing with the manor, the slavers, the pirates, & the undeath influence of the Romp's legacy. So what do I do to deal with really bring the needle up to eleven with my take on the Undead. And that's where James & Jodi Mishler's Ghosts the Incorporal Undead comes in. The perfect little gem to add into the alien weirdness of Tegel Manor & the rest of this nasty little business of a campaign.

I'm already working on a few James Ward Tainted Lands NPC's to sprinkle into the back ground of Tegel Manor village. There's also a number of ghost cults that have been rattling in the back of my demented mind.

The liches of Orcus are also on the boil a council of lich royals that control several of the cults of the undead demon lord but what's the connection to the Romps!?