Fear-filled Friday: Ghostbusting!

It's October. The dark night of Halloween is drawing ever closer. To help you get in the mood, we're going to bring you a series of ghost- and haunting-themed adventure seeds (and perhaps a few other goodies). Each post in this series will be rounded out by a fun cover of Ray Parker Jr.'s legendary "Ghostbusters" theme song.

Although saddened by the passing of Uncle Demitrius, the Pleasantons were thrilled to move into the isolated old house he left them in his will. At least they were until it turned out to be haunted.

Can the PCs get to the bottom of what's going on? (Roll 1d8 on the tables to randomly generate a Dark Old House ghostbusting adventure seed!

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE HOUSE?
1. Strange lights and sounds are waking the family up at night.

2. Items are being moved around and drawers are being emptied and the contents scattered.
3. Food in the fridge is spoiling and all liquids in opened containers (such as milk and juice) are evaporating overnight.
4. The family’s baby keeps disappearing from her room, but is always found safely in some bizarre part of the house.
5. The plumbing keeps going haywire with strong blasts of scalding or ice cold water, sinks and tubs backing up and causing flooding, or small fires keep erupting in the living room and bedroom.
6. Demitrius is heard uttering strange chants or vague threats.
7. Strange shapes appear in the bedrooms, waking family members at night, sometimes even grabbing them before vanishing.
8. Roll twice on the table, re-rolling any Sixes or repeated numbers.

WHY ARE THE SPIRITS RESTLESS?
1. They aren’t. A greedy real estate developer (and supposed family friend) is trying to scare the family from their home.
2. They aren’t. A crooked antique dealer (and supposed family friend) is sneaking into the house and searching for treasure that, according to old records he found, is hidden in the walls.
3. They aren’t. The angry lover of the husband (1-3)/wife (4-6) has used a magic ritual to bind a minor demon to the house to harass the family.
4. The kids played with a Quija Board and 1d6 poltergeists now inhabit the house.
5. When the old well at the bottom of the backyard was unsealed, elemental and nature spirits were awakened and released.
6. Children playing in the back yard awakened the cursed souls of cultists sacrificed by their leader to appease their dark god (and to prevent his discovery by the authorities).
7. Demitrius was murdered and his ghost is trying to warn the family that the are next if they don't leave... because a lunatic has decided he wants the house for himself.
8. Demitrius was a demon worshiper who traded his soul for theirs; the manifestations in the house is Demistrius summoning spirits and preparing to suck the souls out of the family so he may live forever.

A preview of 'OGL Potheads'

To amuse himself and his Facebook Friends, our fearless leader Steve Miller did some pothead releated d20 Sysetm content. The thing took on a life of its own, and a product thematically similar to OGL Drunkards may be forthcoming. Meanwhile, here's a draft of some of the potential content. (Like Secrets of the Witchkind drew some inspiration from the classic TV series Bewitched, so does this hypothetical product draw inspiration from Charles Bands' Evil Bong series. (All text for the rest of this post is released under the Open Game License. Copyright Steve Miller 2018.)
Comments are welcomed!

NEW STARTING OCCUPATION
Stoner
Prerequisite: Age 15+
Skills: Choose three of the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill the character selects is already a class skill, he or she receives a +1 competence bonus on checks using that skill. Craft (visual art or writing), Knowledge (arcane lore or popular culture), Perform (dance, keyboards, percussion instruments, sing, stringed instruments), Spot.
Feats: Select either Creative or Pothead
Special: Characters with this starting profession may select [Stoner] feats in place of bonus feats earned when advancing in their class.


NEW SKILL
Herbalism (Wis, trained only)
You can tell skunk weed from the good stuff, and you can tell what can be smoked and what shouldn't be smoked. You also know the ingridents for making simple herbal remedies. The DC of the skill check depends on what you are attempting to accomplish. Here are some examples:
   DC5: Tell catnip from pot
   DC8: Tell skunk weed from the good stuff.
   DC11: Make a hang-over remedy, or otherwise alleviate mild pain.
   DC15: Tell the good stuff from Magic Weed
   Special: If the character has 5 ranks in Herbalism, he or she gains a +2 synergy bonus to Craft (Pharmaceutical).


NEW FEATS
Emptyhead [Stoner]
You can clear your mind and gain amazing results.
   Prerequisite: Pothead
   Benefit: Roll a Concentration skill check (DC11+your INT bonus) and meditate. For each round spent in meditation to clear your mind, the character gains a +2 bonus to the next Resarch, Gather Information, and Spot skill checks you make.

Greater Emptyhead [Meta-Gaming, Stoner]
The wide open spaces of your mind can yield unusual insights.
   Prerequisite: Emptyhead
   Benefit: Roll a Concentration skill check (DC13+your INT bonus) as a full round action. If the check is successful, you may ask the GM three questions geared toward solving whatever problems or mysteries the characters are trying to overcome in the game. The GM must give you an honest and helpful answer (like an obvious clue or the outright solution). The GM does not necessarily need to provide the means to resolving the problem or evidence to prove the solution to the mystery, just provide the answers to the questions. If the question has no answer, the GM can say that he or she doesn't know. (In game terms, these answers come to the character using the Greater Emptyhead feat as flashes of brilliant and cosmic insight.)

Master of the Emptyhead [Stoner]
Your mind is a gateway to other times and places and worlds
   Prerequisite: Greater Emptyhead
   Benefit: Roll a Concentration skill check (DC13+your INT bonus). Meditate for three rounds. At the end of the third round, your mind becomes a dimensional portal and you and all creatures within 30 feet of your location are transported to a random time and place. [TBD = Table to be Designed]


Pothead [Stoner]
You toke 'em when you got 'em.
    Benefit: Gain a permanent -1 penalty to Initiaive checks, but a +4 bonus to Will saving throws to resist mind-affecting magic and spell-like effects.
    Special: You gain a +2 bonus to Wealth checks made when scoring weed.

A preview of "The Elementals"

This material will appear in a slightly different (as in edited) form in NUELOW Games' next release The Elementals for the OGL d20 System. First up, is an optional part of modifications to the character generation system that determines which Great Dragon's magic impacted the character's ancient ancestors.


HOW WERE YOUR ELEMENTAL POWERS AWAKENED? (Roll 1d6)

Art by Storn Cook

   1. You have always felt attracted to the element you draw your power from, but as you entered your teens, you began to develop the powers you now possess.
   2. You almost lost your life in a situation involving the element your powers are drawn from; in the aftermath, you discovered new abilities.
   3-4. Your family has always been key members of a global cult devoted to worshiping the dragon spirits. You were identified as one of the Blessed and prepared for the day when your powers would manifest themselves.
   5. You were doing yoga, meditating, taking mind-altering drugs (or some combination thereof) when your mind was flooded with flashes of a long-gone age when Great Dragons watched over Earth and all life on it. You fell into a coma 16 hours, and when you recovered, your powers had developed.
   6. A strange old man approached you and said that you were the heir to a great and ancient gift... and that you were to take over the role he had filled for the last several decades. After showing you his power, he trained you in the use of yours.


HOW DID THE PLAYER CHARACTERS MEET? (Roll 1d6)
   1. At the funeral of a shared mentor.
   2. They are abducted and imprisoned together for reasons they initially don't understand and must work together to escape and figure out why.
   3. They were raised in the same secret society and brought together when the time was right.
   4. They each felt drawn to the same isolated castle in Ireland.
   5. They are the sole survivors of a natural disaster.
   6. While they are individually being hunted by assassins, they each recieved a message (and the means) to travel to a remote building in the Mojave Desert in order to discover the key to survive and the reason for why they are being hunted.


NEW FEAT
Here's a feat that may be included... the editor is still mulling over a few last minute brainstorms that I had regarding what could go into The Elementals.

Sense Elemental
You can sense when you are near someone else who carries a spark of a Great Dragon within them.
   Prerequisite: Child of a Great Dragon, Spot 4 ranks.
   Benefit: When your characer is within 60 feet of another Elemental, the GM tells you the character feels as though something is "off" or as if "someone just walked over your grave" or some other statement to show you are sensing something unusual. Upon making a successful Spot skill check (DC12), you can identify the source of your unease--another Elemental. If the Elemental is out of your line of sight, you know exactly where he or she is. You may The sense of unease ends as soon as you recognise the other Immortal.)
   The sense of unease also ends if the Spot check reveals some other threat or mystery that draws your attention.