Lost Souls Corebook.pdf

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Adventures in the Afterlife

By Joe Williams & Kathleen Williams

Additonal Material by

Richard Sanders • Todd Downing • Samantha Downing • Allan McComas

Boneworld chapter by Richard Sanders

Lost Souls 1999 Edition

1999 and 2007 revisions by Joe Williams

Email me at: freeRPGs@comcast.net

First Edition, 1991

Second Edition, 1992

Cemetery Plots, 1994

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Table of Contents

Consistency of Items..................123

15 Haunted Places...........208

Gear...................................................124

A World of Spirits........................208

PlayerÔs Section

Scarum & Fraidy’s Three Ring

Circus................................................208

Ghostly Animals...........................125

Creating Weapons.......................126

Lost Souls at the Museum.......210

1 Introduction........................3

Special Items.................................129

Alcatraz............................................215

Cassandra’s House of Apports.....215

Journey To Limbo..............................3

Overview...............................................4

Hampton Court.............................216

2 Character Creation............7

Referee's Section

The Hospital of Horror..............218

Outline of Character Creation......7

Theatre Royal................................220

Profession.............................................7

Camp Foxglove..............................221

Lost Soul Type....................................8

9 The Afterworld..............135

Abilities..................................................8

About the Afterlife......................135

From Here to There....................223

Other Information..........................10

Realms..............................................142

Flight 401........................................223

Powers................................................12

Gates.................................................143

Sanctum..............................................13

The Spirit of St. Louis.................224

The Mentor....................................143

Character Background.................14

Hindenberg.....................................225

Flying Dutchman..........................225

10 Running the Game.....145

3 Professions....................... 23

The Titanic......................................226

Adventures.....................................146

Bonnie & Clyde Death Car.......227

A to Z....................................................23

Campaigning in the Afterlife..149

Ghost Cart........................................228

4 Lost Soul Types ............... 49

Role Playing Horror...................152

The Appeal of Horror................153

A to Z....................................................49

Orient Express...............................229

Creating Horror...........................155

Humor..............................................157

Trolley No. 13................................230

5 How to Play....................... 61

Game Basics......................................61

17 Boneworld....................231

Play Sequence..................................62

11 Non-Player Characters .159

Denizens of Boneworld.............232

Using Attributes & Skills.............63

Running NPCs...............................159

The Roll Required..........................65

The Skeletal Legion of Count

Monterrant.....................................233

Roll Shorthand.................................67

Creating NPCs...............................160

Adjusting the ART..........................67

Ossia..................................................235

Special Ability Rolls.......................68

Demons............................................183

Uses for Boneworld....................237

Inspiration Points...........................69

Will To Live.......................................71

Karma..................................................70

Hazards...............................................73

13 Living NPCs ..................185

18 Fears...............................238

Combat................................................74

The Staff...........................................239

Seeing Ghosts................................185

A Ghostly Bar.................................238

The Gang..........................................242

Other Human NPCs....................191

6 Abilities.............................. 81

14 Famous NPCs...............194

Introduction......................................81

A to Z....................................................82

Afterlife-styles of the Rich and

Famous............................................194

Power Descriptions.......................93

8 Gear...................................123

School of the Damned................212

Widowmaker Ranch...................217

16 Haunted Vehicles.......223

Outer Planes..................................140

Visage...................................................12

U Boat U-65....................................226

Adventure Ideas..........................148

Sim’s Carriage................................228

Narrator Tips................................151

Background....................................231

Bone Weapons..............................235

12 Supernatural NPCs....163

7 Supernatural Powers.... 93

Powers List........................................94

Chapter 1

Introduction

Journey To Limbo

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The nagging sound of sirens still rings in your

ears as you float down a long tunnel. The walls of

the tunnel swirl around you like the clouds of a

hurricane, yet there is no wind, only an unrelenting

force that pulls you forward. A sense of unease

builds in you, until a familiar figure steps out of the

glow at the tunnel’s end. It’s your dear old granny!

You’re so pleased to see her that you only vaguely

remember that she’s been dead for ten years.

“Yumyums!” she shouts, greeting you with a

childhood nickname you haven’t heard in ages. You

feel absurdly safe as she beckons you out of the

tunnel and into a wide, white room. Soft clouds

form over-stuffed chairs and low coffee tables. On

the tables are old issues of National Geographic and

Boy’s Life.

Granny wears white robes and under one arm

she carries a slate inscribed with numbers. “Now

let’s see if you’ve been behaving yourself.” She

peruses the column of figures. “Tsk, tsk, Yumyums.

You’ve been rather slack in collecting Karma. In

fact, at your current level, you’ll be reincarnated as

something between a worm and pond scum. I told

your mother to keep an eye on you, but would she

listen? Oh, no. She knew how to raise her child . . .”

Suddenly, it hits you—this is no dream! The

last thing you remember is crossing the street

against the light and a horrible screeching of

brakes. Then the tunnel—the light—and your dear,

departed grandmother. It all adds up to one

terrible conclusion. You never made it across the

road!

Granny fondly pats your shoulder. “Don’t

worry, dear. You’ll make wonderful pond scum,

and the experience will do you good. I spent many

incarnations as an intestinal parasite, and now look

at me!”

You fall to your knees, blubbering that you

didn’t mean to cross the street against the light, but

you were in a hurry, and everyone else was doing

it. It isn’t fair that you got nailed instead of

someone who really deserved to die.

“You mean you perished in an accident?”

You nod weakly.

“I thought I sensed the Will to Live in you!”

Quickly she consults the last row of figures. “I’ve

made an awful mistake, Yumyums. I was so excited

to see you that I forgot to check the schedule. You

see dear, it wasn’t your time. You aren’t slated to

visit us until they pay off the national debt.”

Your heart fills with sudden hope. Why, if

current politics are any indication, you might live

forever! Now they’ll have to send you back. You’ll

get a second chance to do good deeds, collect more

Karma, and avoid being reborn as pond scum.

What a golden opportunity!

B!Mbtu!Dibodf!

Granny shakes her head. “Now Yumyums, this

isn’t a Frank Capra movie. Dead is dead, and there’s

no going back to that used-up bag of bones you

used to be. But you can still earn Karma.

“You see, you can’t be reincarnated until your

Will To Live is totally gone, and because you died

so suddenly yours is still strong. You’d be surprised

how often this happens. The afterlife is full of

! ! !

Chapter 1: Introduction

people like you, lost souls unable to let go of their

lives. Perhaps you can help one another.

“You must return now to the world of the

living, and set right the unfinished business that

still holds you to the earth. Only then can you grow

and find peace.”

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To enjoy Lost Souls, you will need:

•

The Lost Souls rulebook.

•

Paper (graph paper is good for sketching

maps).

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•

Pencils & erasers.

•

Character sheets copied from the one

provided in this book.

Taking you by the hand, Granny leads you

down a cloudy corridor. “Now, I can’t go with you,

but I can give you some advice. Stay clear of evil

spirits who have given up the search for Karma.

They’ve grown powerful feeding off the Will To

Live of others, and they no longer seek to be

reincarnated. Some have been around for

centuries; others have gone completely mad, and

they’ll hurt you just for fun.

“Watch out for demons, too. They’ll try to trick

you into rebirth before you’re ready, or else drive

you insane. They might even trap you in another

plane of eternal torment.”

Granny pauses beside a vast door. “I’m

sending you back now, Yumyums. You’ll grow used

to being a lost soul.” And with that the door opens

and she gives you a mighty, ungranny-like shove.

As you plummet wildly into the grainy darkness

you hear her voice far above you: “Welcome to the

afterlife!”

•

Percentile dice (also called d100).

•

At least one six-sided die (d6).

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Die rolls help you determine exactly what

happens to your character out of a range of

possibilities. They provide uncertainty and

excitement.

Percentile dice consist of two ten or twenty-

sided dice, which you can purchase at most hobby

or game stores. It’s usually best to have a pair for

each player. Together, these two differently

colored dice are used to generate numbers from 1

to 100. To do this, designate one color as high.

Then roll both dice simultaneously, and read the

high die first. If both dice show zero, the result is

100 (also called 00, or double zero).

Example: A player rolls a red and a white die,

calling red as high. The red die rolls a 3, and the

white die comes up 7. The result is 37.

Overview

Welcome to Lost Souls. In most role playing

games, the object is to avoid being killed; in Lost

Souls it’s to avoid being reborn. Players take on the

roles of spirits who roam the earth and other

planes of existence, meet historical figures, and

battle diabolical demons while striving to become

Higher Beings.

People who like problem solving, puzzles, and

role playing will particularly enjoy Lost Souls. It

was designed to be as easy to play as possible, with

a strong emphasis on player participation. As such,

it is especially suited to “spontaneous” role playing,

where the narrator runs a game with a minimum of

advance preparation.

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Role playing games are unique. Instead of

moving tokens around a board, play takes place

solely within the imaginations of the participants.

Like all role playing games, Lost Souls requires two

or more players. One person takes on the role of

the narrator and the others play ghostly

characters.

Using an outline prepared beforehand, the

narrator describes what happens in the game in

response to the actions of the players. The narrator

serves as the player’s senses, relating settings,

situations, the passage of time, and all events that

lie outside the players’ control. By employing

dramatic and evocative language, a good narrator

! ! !

Chapter 1: Introduction

will capture the players’ interest and carry it

through to the game’s end.

The narrator also controls the characters the

players meet. The narrator assumes new roles as

needed, sometimes playing three or four

characters at a time. These characters are known

as non-player characters, or NPCs.

The players are impromptu actors within the

scenes set up by the narrator. Each player portrays

a single lost soul in the game, and reacts to people

and events according to the personality of their

role. The role taken on by a player is called a lost

soul or a character.

The players’ decisions directly affect the

course of the story. They decide where to go and

what to do, when to fight and how to solve

problems. The narrator must keep up with the

players wherever their decisions take the

adventure, improvising new situations as required.

The narrator is responsible for describing the

world around the lost souls, but the players get to

control what their characters say and the actions

they attempt. Typically the players will speak in

first person. Most of the time they will stay

together and work as a group to meet the

challenges presented to them.

opportunity to gain it in the afterlife by completing

Ghostly Vows. The characters return to earth

where they haunt familiar locations: their family

homes, the scene of their deaths, and their final

resting place.

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The newly departed may look whole and solid

to themselves and other lost souls, but when they

walk the streets of the living, no one can see, hear

or sense them in any way. To the living, they do not

exist. Lost souls can hear and see the living, but not

vice versa. Communication with the living is

impossible unless a lost soul uses a supernatural

power to interact with them.

Since most people who die are instantly

reborn, there are fewer lost souls in the world than

living people. Characters will meet an occasional

lost soul, a spirit like themselves seeking to climb

the karmic ladder. But they are not the only

incorporeal beings roaming the afterlife. Demons,

evil spirits and supernatural entities all inhabit the

world of the dead, and many of the them are

hostile and dangerous.

Many lost souls are content to exist forever in

the physical world. Some are afraid of what they’ll

be reincarnated as, others simply enjoy their

current incarnation. Most have unfinished business

on Earth that prevents them from finding peace.

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All characters in Lost Souls begin the game

after having died in some abrupt or accidental

manner. Perhaps one character is a scientist who

pulled the wrong lever, another a spy who was

shot down by enemy agents. Whatever the mishap,

their bodies are left far behind as they enter the

Afterlife.

Because they died before their time, their Will

to Live is so strong that they cannot be reborn. This

is good, for their lack of Karma indicates that if

they were reborn, their next incarnation would be

very low.

Karma is the compilation of good and bad

deeds in a person’s life. The next incarnation of a

character is based on how much Karma they have

accumulated. With enough Karma, lost souls may

become a Higher Beings. Only then can they escape

the cycle of life and death and discover what lies

beyond.

Since the characters didn’t get a fair chance to

collect Karma while alive, they now have the

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This manual is divided into two sections, one

for the players and one for the narrator. Players

should only read the first section; perusing the

narrator’s Section will reveal secrets they aren’t

supposed to know, and diminish the game’s air of

mystery.

The narrator has the daunting challenge of

reading both sections before attempting to run an

adventure. If the narrator is a seasoned role player,

with a good grasp on common gaming techniques,

they can easily teach the rules to the players during

the course of their first adventure.

Players should begin by generating a

character, as explained in Chapter 2: Character

Creation.

! ! !

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