In Doyce Testerman’s game, we have an Outsider who’s a Civil War-era ghost. The Outsider moves imply an alien origin, so we reskinned them to be more appropriate. Here they are, for anyone who’s interested.
The unseen world: You can commune with other departed ghosts. Whenever you contact the unseen realm, roll +Superior. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2. On a miss, hold 1, but those beyond make an uncomfortable demand. Spend your hold 1 for 1 to:
– receive a cursed or spiritually potent item that will allow you to use any ability from another playbook once (choose the ability when you spend the hold)
– consult the memories of the departed to ask the GM a question about the current situation
– clear a condition through the comfort of contact with your home
Possession: When you touch a mortal object and empower it, roll +Freak. On a hit, you can use this object as a focus to do something impossible. When you roll a 10+, choose one:
– it works exceptionally well
– you get an additional use out of it
On a miss, the focus is effective, but it has a completely unintended side effect that the GM will reveal when you use it.
The past is a foreign country: Whenever you openly disregard or undermine an modern era custom in favor of one of your own era’s customs, shift Superior up and any other Label down.
Fetters: You have a set of physical fetters, some otherwise mundane items with special emotional significance to you such as a pocket watch or painting. Detail their history, and choose two strengths and weaknesses. When your fetters are present in the scene, you can use them to unleash your powers, directly engage a threat, or defend someone using Superior.
Strengths: Very portable, very concealable, usable as weapon, easily fixable, can shift between mundane and spirit world, can be used at a distance
Weaknesses: Requires ritual to empower, susceptible to ______, easily detectable, big and clumsy, difficult to repair
In good spirits: When you comfort or support someone by telling them how they exemplify the best parts of the modern world, roll +Freak instead of +Mundane.
History lesson: When you talk about your home time and place, roll +Freak. On a 10+, choose two. On a 7-9, choose one. During the conversation, you:
– confess a flaw of your home; add 1 Team to the pool
– mislead them about your home; take Influence over them
– describe the glories of your home; clear a condition
On a miss, you inadvertently reveal more about yourself than you planned; tell them a secret or vulnerability you haven’t shared with the living before now.
That looks really cool! Let us know how it plays out.
Very cool. I did something similar for my Outsider who was less ET alien and an actual angel of the Lord in an occult/magic themed game.
As an alternative to Fetters, we came up with this for the Kirby-craft replacement.
Mirror Mirror: Choose one type of medium between the real and unreal – mirrors, paintings, areas of deep shadow, crystal balls, television screens, or anything else the GM allows. Choose two strengths and two weaknesses. You can phase into or out of your medium. While ensconced in your medium, you can unleash your powers, directly engage a threat, or defend someone using Superior. You can also teleport between two instances of your medium, with or without passengers; the GM will tell you if or when this is possible and if anything else is required to do so.
Strengths: easily accessible, subtle or concealable, ubiquitous, easily replaceable, projectable
Weaknesses: requires ritual, susceptible to ______, easily detectable, big and clumsy, easily breakable, difficult to replace
Note: “projectable” means the Outsider can manipulate the medium to project an image or impression of some kind without a roll, such as speaking through a television or making a mirror show someone else’s reflection. I need a better name for this.