Did you look at Ghostwalk? What did you think?

[Herobizkit]

I completely LOVE the concept; it gives me such a "Soul Reaver" (for the PSX/PS2) feel to know that when you die, you simply "faze out" of reality and into some shadowy otherworld.

What I DISlike is the treatment of the Ghost "class". In essence, you give up class abilities in exchange for ghostly ones. A great concept, but I'd prefer to handle such abilities in much the same was as Bloodlines from the Unearthed Arcana. I've never tinkered with the concept in a d20 Fantasy game before.

I DID allow a PC to play a Ghost template in d20 Modern, though, and that just reeked of awesomeness.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Logistics-wise, I've always wondered how exactly I could make a Ghostwalk campaign work where all the players are ethereal. Can't really see that happening anytime soon, but something that piques my interest big-time is a solo PbP where just the one PC is a ghost, trying to influence the material prime. I can see some really complex and interesting rp springing from a lone ghost PC who's been charged with contacting and guiding a group of NPC adventurers.

Might have to give that a shot some time down the road.

 

[Ahnehnois]

There should have been another option:
I like Ghostwalk. I like playing when you die and I like how they did it.

There is a huge difference between like and love. Anyway, this is where I stand.

Thia is pretty much my opinion. A player as the book and I took a quick read-through. The book itself was, as stated, a game mechanics nightmare. But settings aren't about game mechanics, or even specific background info. They're for ideas. Ghostwalk struck me as being highly original and specific to D&D, both very good things. The execution, both ruleswise and fluffwise, could use a lot of improvement. I could see doing a Ghostwalk game, but I'd have to do a lot of my own woek on the setting.

I'd rather see a 4e Ghostwalk than a lot of the other settings that have been put out there, but I suppose I wouldn't be playing it regardless.

 

[Goobermunch]

I ran a Ghostwalk campaign. It was awesome, though we never managed to finish it.

The central plot involved an incursion from the Far Realms of kaorti psions (and their dromite and thri-kreen servitors) who sought to take the city of Manifest and seize the portal to the afterlife. I built upon the material provided and decided that as souls do what they do in the afterlife, their essence creates a gigantic reservoir of psionic energy. The kaorti wanted to claim that energy.

Had the players made it to the end, an NPC they encountered early on (the six year old daughter of a necromancer (who was killed by her father who then raised her body as a zombie and bound her ghost into it)) would have been able to harness that energy to ensoul dwarven constructs (the birth of warforged in my world).

Warforged are the only race immune to sanity damage.

--G

 

[Najo]

@ Those who do not like it: What about ghostwalk didn't work with your style of play? How could the concepts of ghostwalk be changed to work with how you play?


@ Those who liked it but didn't like the mechanics: How could they have improved the mechanics? What were the main hang ups? What sort of issues did you run into with a party that had partial ghosts and partial living?


@ Those of you who liked it but would make changes to the setting: What changes to the setting would you make? What about the afterlife did or didn't work for you?


@ Anyone who incorporated elements of Ghostwalk into their normal games: What parts did you incorporate and how well did it work?

 

[ZeroGlobal2003]

@ Those who liked it but didn't like the mechanics: How could they have improved the mechanics? What were the main hang ups? What sort of issues did you run into with a party that had partial ghosts and partial living?

The main problem for me was the difference in abilities between a ghostly player and a living pc. I ran a first level adventuring group through two adventures, but things got wonky when 2 people died. Suddenly the could do some nifty stuff others couldn't do, and it caused problems.

@ Those of you who liked it but would make changes to the setting: What changes to the setting would you make? What about the afterlife did or didn't work for you?

Ditch the material about how happens in the afterlife; I think it works better when its a mystery. It gives the "Calling" or whatever it was that ghosts undergo a more regretful/ominous feeling. I'd also like to see more to draw people to Manifest other then "to find a dead person".

@ Anyone who incorporated elements of Ghostwalk into their normal games: What parts did you incorporate and how well did it work?

I've used some of the monsters, a PrC, and some of the deities. I really think the basic pantheon is really nifty and works quite well, even out side of the setting. Several of the monsters are very evocative and interesting... the undead ram thing, the ectoplasmic bugs and all that.

 

[Odhanan]

Loved it. Use it in my games.

 

[Najo]

Any more input?

 

[Glyfair]

I choose the first option, but I'd definitely say I like it rather than loved it. The concept of playing after you died was nice and I liked how they did it. I didn't quite cry out "you must play me" though, it just seemed like a nice concept to perhaps use or borrow from some day.

 

[Baron Opal]

It was an interesting concept but not one I was interested in pursuing. If I was going to pursue an "alternate reality from mideval" style game it would be plane hopping.

I'm more interested in Orpheus than Casper.