I am playing a Whisper in a game currently and have a few questions. I know the supernatural elements are not fully described in the rules yet, but there are a few questions that have come up for me that I think would really help with the character.
I have a Ghost Key that can open ghost doors. What is a Ghost Door?
One of the special abilities says that you can consort with Demons, lost gods, and other entities. Does this mean that you can’t roll consort against a Demon without this ability?
There is mention of attuning with the Ghost Field to gather information. How is this done? Is it like gazing into the abyss in Monsterhearts?
A few points in the rules mention paying a whisper to exercise ghosts. If you are whisper how do you go about doing so? I have been starting business in a turf we are working to take over where I use compel to create a ghost problem then I then swoop in to deal with cheaper than the Rail Jacks. How would I best deal with an unquiet dead entanglement or generally clear out a real ghost infestation?
Brad Elliott, my Google-Fu is weak this morning. I want to point to the conversations we’ve had about ghost neighborhoods; the city remembers things even when they’ve been destroyed, and there are ways to get into those memories and traverse them if you can use ritual and skill to attune to the other dimensional frequency of the place. I’ve used the idea in a couple adventures.
The Tsathogua raid here: https://fictivefantasies.wordpress.com/2015/06/29/blades-in-the-dark-unrecommendables/
The slum traverse here: https://fictivefantasies.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/blades-in-the-dark-the-professors/
Anyway, a ghost key could be a short-cut; if you can attune with the presence of the remembered place, then you can use the key to enter it. That suggests either the key was important to the place when it physically existed, OR it has defenses put in place by focused whispers.
That’s just one use, there are many possible interpretations of ghost key. Another could be an object that is tuned to a ghost, like in the Professors adventure I linked to, a signet ring that belonged to the ghost in life. That could be a “ghost key” that allows manipulating that particular ghost very effectively, as though each ghost was a lock.
Regarding use of consort: the quick start suggests that most people freeze or flee when confronted with the supernatural, so only weirdos can avoid that consequence without taking stress. That’s big. I would also add that it probably includes knowledge of lore, like evaluating a ghost’s mental condition and figuring out how to speak to it, or having chants memorized to venerate a demon before the conversation begins (which might change position) and that sort of thing.
Regarding Attune. I use that to indicate that there is reality, then there’s what’s “behind the mirror” that is invisible but very present. Attune is something anyone can do, where they focus and sift instinct and feeling to see if something supernatural is present. Use Attune to see if a lock has a supernatural boobytrap, or if ghosts hover near (maybe even seeing their outline) or to sense a concealed keyhole for a ghost key. Shake someone’s hand and look into their eye and focus, really focus, to see if they are alone in their meat.
I think the one-two punch of attune then command is great for forcing ghosts to change their behavior. I also think you could justify bringing an energy source to bear (or in a pinch your own will, but that might have its own cost in stress or a condition) and wreck a ghost. I agree some formalization might be useful at your table, but not much.
Treat a ritual circle made with special chalk and ingredients and chanting as a shift in position towards control (depending on the power of the spirit, that could be important). Allow others to contribute dice and take stress by Attuning to the whisper’s field, to add life force to the push.
Attune to make contact with the ghost, then default to Command to push it out, and maybe spirits have a clock of 4, 6, or 8 segments depending on their strength. Maybe every round the clock is not full, the exorcist takes a condition of shattered nerve that can be resisted. That sort of thing.
Devil’s bargains include locks of white hair, a splinter of the ghost lodging in the whisper’s psyche, physical and mental damage to the host, inflicting conditions on all witnesses, and that sort of goodness.
Dealing with multiple ghosts could require standing INSIDE the protection, and dealing with scale modifiers.