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<blockquote data-quote="Peni Griffin" data-source="post: 3393768" data-attributes="member: 50322">I'm a big fan of research.&nbsp; Read up on Indian shamanism, spiritualism, pioneer superstition, American folk healing, and Chinese folk customs.&nbsp; Most of these will not have overt effects that are sensational enough for a game, but they can give you innocent-looking, appropriate starting points and accurate flavor.&nbsp; Mixing real-world trickery with authentic magic can keep your players off-balance and never quite sure what they're dealing with.One really weird case you should definitely read up on is the Bell Witch.&nbsp; It's antebellum Tennessee, but it's sensational enough for anyone - a poltergeist case that extended for years with multiple witnesses (including a future president!), apparitions, and a murder.&nbsp; This stuff is so complicated, so weird, and so violently sensational that the recent movie (An American Haunting) toned the events down to nothing in order to make them acceptable to a modern audience.&nbsp; I recommend The Bell Witch:&nbsp; The Full Account, by Pat Fitzhugh (2000, Armand Press, Nashville) as the most thorough collection of primary sources and folklore on the topic.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Peni Griffin, post: 3393768, member: 50322"] I'm a big fan of research. Read up on Indian shamanism, spiritualism, pioneer superstition, American folk healing, and Chinese folk customs. Most of these will not have overt effects that are sensational enough for a game, but they can give you innocent-looking, appropriate starting points and accurate flavor. Mixing real-world trickery with authentic magic can keep your players off-balance and never quite sure what they're dealing with. One really weird case you should definitely read up on is the Bell Witch. It's antebellum Tennessee, but it's sensational enough for anyone - a poltergeist case that extended for years with multiple witnesses (including a future president!), apparitions, and a murder. This stuff is so complicated, so weird, and so violently sensational that the recent movie (An American Haunting) toned the events down to nothing in order to make them acceptable to a modern audience. I recommend The Bell Witch: The Full Account, by Pat Fitzhugh (2000, Armand Press, Nashville) as the most thorough collection of primary sources and folklore on the topic. [/QUOTE]

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