BlackWyrm Publishing have just launched Michael Surbrook’s Ghosts. Ghouls, and Golems on Kickstarter. Ghosts. Ghouls, and Golems is a guide for Hero System, Savage Worlds and Mutants & Masterminds that explores the darkness-dwelling creatures from myth and folklore.
Emphasis has been placed n presenting these creatures as close to their traditional descriptions as possible – although a few “cinematic,” Hollywood-inspired versions of some of the more popular entries are included. In this book you will find information on vampires, lycanthropes, ghosts, ghouls, wights, and zombies, as well as more obscure creatures like the old hag and the witiko. There are dozens of “monster” sheets, each representing a basic creature template you can further customize as desired. Finally, there are a number of sheets for such infamous beings as Dracula, Jack the Ripper, and the Beast of Le Gevaudan.
What’s In This Book?
Ghosts, Ghouls, and Golems is divided into nine sections of various lengths. They are as follows:
Section One: Things That Go Bump In The Night, looks at the most classic of supernatural entities, the ghost. The presentation of this section sets the pattern for most of the sections to follow, in which the general nature of ghosts are discussed, then a number of famous hauntings are presented, followed by a descriptive list of ghosts from around the world. The section ends with three character sheets, one for a generic ghost, one for a poltergeist, and one for the night terror known as an "old hag."
Section Two: Blood Brothers, discusses vampires. It follows the same format at Section One, mentioning not only historical cases of vampirism, but also a few more modern cases where murderers went so far as to drink the blood of their victims. The section ends with character sheets for a traditional Slavic vampire, an American cinematic vampire, a dhampir (the human child of a vampire), the Greek lamia, and Count Dracula (as seen in the Bram Stoker novel Dracula.)
Section Three: The Beast Within, examines lycanthropes and other shape-shifters. While it concentrates mostly on accounts of werewolves in Europe, attention is also paid to various theriomorphic beings from around the world. Character sheets include one for a traditional European werewolf, an American cinematic werewolf, and the Beast of Le Gévaudan.
Section Four: Back From The Grave, is all about zombies, wrights, and other forms of animated dead. It is divided into two small parts, the first detailing various type of zombies, the second discussing wights. The included character sheets are for a traditional zombi, a cinematic zombie, and the Norse draugr.
Section Five: Eaters Of The Dead, looks at the Arabic ghul, a corpse-consuming form of djinn.
Section Six: “It’s Alive!”, details man-made monsters and other artificial
life. While most of the creatures listed aren’t as unpleasant or inimical as the average vampire of werewolf, they still provide a wealth of ideas for GMs of all genres. The sample characters include the Ebony Horse from One Thousand Nights and a Night, Frankenstein’s Monster (as seen in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein), and the Jewish golem.
Section Seven: Witiko, examines the legend and lore of the North American Indian creature of the same name (better known to most as the wendigo.)
Section Eight: A Pair Of Jacks, discusses two individuals of the Victorian era, both named ‘Jack.‘ They are Springheeled Jack and Jack the Ripper.
Section Nine: Twentieth Century Terrors, presents several unique beings from the Twentieth Century. They are the alien Greys, the strange Mad Gassers, the eerie Men in Black, the frightening Mothman, and the Internet meme Slender Man!
The Kickstarter is running until Thursday 13th April.
Emphasis has been placed n presenting these creatures as close to their traditional descriptions as possible – although a few “cinematic,” Hollywood-inspired versions of some of the more popular entries are included. In this book you will find information on vampires, lycanthropes, ghosts, ghouls, wights, and zombies, as well as more obscure creatures like the old hag and the witiko. There are dozens of “monster” sheets, each representing a basic creature template you can further customize as desired. Finally, there are a number of sheets for such infamous beings as Dracula, Jack the Ripper, and the Beast of Le Gevaudan.
What’s In This Book?
Ghosts, Ghouls, and Golems is divided into nine sections of various lengths. They are as follows:
Section One: Things That Go Bump In The Night, looks at the most classic of supernatural entities, the ghost. The presentation of this section sets the pattern for most of the sections to follow, in which the general nature of ghosts are discussed, then a number of famous hauntings are presented, followed by a descriptive list of ghosts from around the world. The section ends with three character sheets, one for a generic ghost, one for a poltergeist, and one for the night terror known as an "old hag."
Section Two: Blood Brothers, discusses vampires. It follows the same format at Section One, mentioning not only historical cases of vampirism, but also a few more modern cases where murderers went so far as to drink the blood of their victims. The section ends with character sheets for a traditional Slavic vampire, an American cinematic vampire, a dhampir (the human child of a vampire), the Greek lamia, and Count Dracula (as seen in the Bram Stoker novel Dracula.)
Section Three: The Beast Within, examines lycanthropes and other shape-shifters. While it concentrates mostly on accounts of werewolves in Europe, attention is also paid to various theriomorphic beings from around the world. Character sheets include one for a traditional European werewolf, an American cinematic werewolf, and the Beast of Le Gévaudan.
Section Four: Back From The Grave, is all about zombies, wrights, and other forms of animated dead. It is divided into two small parts, the first detailing various type of zombies, the second discussing wights. The included character sheets are for a traditional zombi, a cinematic zombie, and the Norse draugr.
Section Five: Eaters Of The Dead, looks at the Arabic ghul, a corpse-consuming form of djinn.
Section Six: “It’s Alive!”, details man-made monsters and other artificial
life. While most of the creatures listed aren’t as unpleasant or inimical as the average vampire of werewolf, they still provide a wealth of ideas for GMs of all genres. The sample characters include the Ebony Horse from One Thousand Nights and a Night, Frankenstein’s Monster (as seen in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein), and the Jewish golem.
Section Seven: Witiko, examines the legend and lore of the North American Indian creature of the same name (better known to most as the wendigo.)
Section Eight: A Pair Of Jacks, discusses two individuals of the Victorian era, both named ‘Jack.‘ They are Springheeled Jack and Jack the Ripper.
Section Nine: Twentieth Century Terrors, presents several unique beings from the Twentieth Century. They are the alien Greys, the strange Mad Gassers, the eerie Men in Black, the frightening Mothman, and the Internet meme Slender Man!
The Kickstarter is running until Thursday 13th April.
