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Ghost Estate • 2017 rpg

Coman Fullard • Twitter Handle: @ComanFullard

Idioms are made flesh in the reality fractured Irish village of Ballynagopaleen. 

You are spirits squatting in a ghost estate in the, otherwise typical, village. Describe yourselves, when and how you died, and what's left unfinished in your previous lives. Completing those tasks (however metaphorically) allows your spirits to pass on - your ultimate goal.

You have two pools: SPOOKY for spectral actions, & NOGGIN to interpret the modern world.
			
	Dead (years)		     SPOOKY		     NOGGIN
	===========================================
		1		        	1			           5
		10			        2			           4
		50			        3			           3
		100			        4			           2
		500+			5			           1

One action costs one point. Resolve competitions with a D6, modify rolls with points.

Points refresh by "invoking" new idioms (once per idiom). Describe how that idiom manifests and cope with it - many will turn sinister. You are permanently banished to limbo if both pools zero-out.

Idioms emerge during play or when the GM rolls on the:

	Random Idiom Encounter Table (extend / amend / localise as desired):
	======================================================
	"Celtic Tiger" - green, stripy, tooth and claw, successful attacks drain points
	"Raining cats and dogs" - plummeting pets
	"Christ on a bike" - wheelie based messianism
	"Hungry grass" -  vicious landscaping
	"Chance your arm" - roll those bones, risk your pool
	"Story horse" - distracting narrative equine 

Author Comments

The initially unconscious influence of “The Third Policeman” is plain enough on reflection (and ultimately made manifest in my naming of the village where this is set). The sayings or idioms are real and reflect my own usage, and the idea offers much scope for localisation. The real challenge will probably be in limiting the official “invocations” … as we dont realise how much our speech is peppered with this weirdness.

A “Ghost Estate” is a phenomenon that has emerged as a result of the recent economic troubles in Ireland … newly built housing estates remained unsold and unoccupied. Like boom and bust ghost towns of the old west they are a potent symbol of how it can all came crashing down around our ears.


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