TRAUMA GAMES PRESENTS:

MURDEROUS GHOSTS
©2011 by D. Vincent Baker
Night Sky Games
MC BOOK
Images
© Andrey Kiselev | Dreamstime.com
© Benjamin Haas | Dreamstime.com
© Eric Basir | Dreamstime.com
Editing
Evan Torner
Inspiration & live development
Elliot Baker, Emily Care Boss, Epidiah Ravachol
Evan Torner, F. Sebastian Baker
Julia Bond Ellingboe, Meguey Baker
External playtesting
murderousghosts.com/playtesters

This is the Happy Halloween ’11 edition.

 MURDEROUS GHOSTS
MASTER OF CEREMONIES BOOK
To play, you’ll need: The basics:
Another player, called ”the other player.” Take turns with the other player. On your turn,
This book for you, and the player book for the read an entry in your book and do what it tells
other player. you to do. It might have you describe something
30–60 minutes of uninterrupted time. from your imagination, make judgments about
what the other player’s describing or what
A deck of playing cards, jokers removed,
you’ve described. It might have you ask the
shuffled.
other player questions or answer the other
Murderous Ghosts is the story of an player’s questions. It might have you draw a
urban explorer trying to escape the haunted card, or it might tell you to have the other player
basements of an abandoned factory. The other draw a card.
player takes the part of the explorer. You take
Each entry will have you turn to a new entry, or
the part of the ghosts and their environment.
it’ll tell you to have the other player turn to a
You play your book and your imagination against new entry.
the other player’s book and her wits. You
Eventually you’ll come to an entry that says “the
both draw cards as you go, to determine what
end.” That’s the end of the game.
happens next.
To start:
To win:
Read The Draws, The Entries, and Before
You win if you create ghosts so scary that you Play.
creep yourself out, and if you leave troubling
questions unanswered. If you haven’t played before, you can start without
reading through the books. Just take the time to
The other player wins if she escapes at the end. read each section fully when you come to it.
These aren’t mutually exclusive! You can both
win. If you do look through the books before you
play, especially notice entries 3, 13 and 19, the
You lose if your ghosts aren’t murderous. If the “core loops,” in this book. You’ll come back to
other player stops trying to escape and manages those regularly.
to help a ghost find rest instead, you lose.
 THE OTHER PLAYER’S DRAW YOUR DRAW
The other player draws cards at turning points in You draw cards as the other player moves
the story of the game, to determine whether the toward escape, to track her progress.
best possible thing happens, a middling thing
To start play, draw one card face down into your
happens, or the worst possible thing happens.
hand, without looking at it.
The other player’s hand is always face up.
Your hand starts face down. Turn it face up
She starts play with an empty hand. when you draw your 4th card.

Before any draw, she may discard her entire Whenever the other player moves closer to her
hand, if she chooses. eventual escape, draw another card into your
hand, face down.
She draws the card from the top of the deck,
face up, and adds it to her hand: The number of cards in your hand keeps track
Aces add 1. of the other player’s progress toward escape.
Number cards 2-10 add their value. 1 card in your hand means that she’s far from
escape. 4–7 cards in your hand means that
All face cards add 11. she can escape soon or now.
It’s the sum of her hand that matters: The number of suits in your hand determines
The best possible thing is a sum 13-20. whether the other player can escape:
The middling thing is a sum 6-12. 4 suits: the other player can escape now.
The worst possible thing is a bust: a sum 3 suits: the other player can escape soon.
1–5 or a sum 21 or higher. 2 suits: the other player might be able to
When she busts, she discards her entire hand. escape soon, but might be lost.
1 suit: the other player is lost.
When the deck’s exhausted, reshuffle.
Count cards if you want, but it’s bad form to For complete details, see 45 and 47.
look through the discards while you’re playing.
 THE ENTRIES
• In this book, all the entries have odd numbers. All the entries
15 in the player book have even numbers.
EXAMPLE ENTRY
• Many entries first remind you what’s going on.
A ghost is reacting to the other player’s
presence. • Some entries call for you to choose between options (a) and
(b). The entry before tells you which: “turn to 15, and choose
option (a)
option (a),” for instance.
Choose for yourself whether it looks at her,
speaks, reaches out to her, or just stops still. • Most entries tell you to describe something.
option (b) • Some entries offer you quick ideas or prompting in another
The other player tells you which it does. entry. The advice entries will help you create your ghosts,
Say what the ghost is like as it acts. Remember especially the first few times you play, so be sure to read them.
the violence that it represents and the menace
it carries. • Many entries ask you to judge something or decide
For some quick ideas, keep your place here
something for yourself, or to answer the other player’s
and consult 51: what ghosts are. questions. Use your best judgment and follow your gut. When
in doubt, go for what would scare you.
Decide for yourself whether the ghost
approaches the other player directly now, or • All entries tell you to turn to another entry, or to have the
forgets about the other player and goes back to other player turn to an entry.
its original doings.
• Some entries include gameplay advice.
If it approaches the other player, turn to 17.
• Some entries tell you to go back and forth with the other
If it loses interest in the other player, tell the
other player to turn to 4.
player until one of several possible things develops.

Choose for it to approach, unless you have a • Some entries tell you to draw. Some entries tell you to have
very good reason otherwise. the other player draw.
• Three entries are “core loops”: 3, 13 and 19. You’ll come
back to them throughout play. They’re the backbone of the MC
book.
 BEFORE PLAY 1
Think of the extensive basements and Describe the space the other player is in.
subbasements of a big abandoned factory.
Describe the evidence of violence that remains
Some kind of terrible violence happened here. here. The evidence can be either real and
Not just an accident — terrible human violence. physical, or supernatural and ghostly, but it
should be absolutely apparent to the other
Imagine what kind of violence it was. Bring to it
player, and the worse the better.
some or all of betrayal, cruelty, madness, fear,
revenge, sorrow. You’ll come up with more of Tell the other player to turn to 2.
the story as you play, so feelings and imagery is
Answer the other player’s questions.
all you need for now.
Make details up as you need them, following
This violence and its aftermath created the
your gut and the imagery you’ve already
ghosts that now haunt the place.
thought about. If it scares you, say it!
Imagine some of the evidence that remains of
it. Blood, bones, ruined clothing, things lost and
discarded. No need to hide it or make it cryptic.
The worse the better.
Imagine scary ghost visuals. Think of the ghosts’
bodies, eyes, faces, hands, smell, and voices.
A ghost is a creature of sorrow. A murderous
ghost is a creature of sorrow turned to violence.
Every ghost here — victim, perpetrator, witness
— their world is all violence now. Imagine how
they’ll carry with them the deadly menace of the
violence they experienced.
To start play, draw a card face down from the
top of the deck into your hand, and tell the other
player to turn to Start.
 3 5
CORE LOOP: NO GHOST, YET
Ask the other player what she does. Keep your place here and consult 45: the other
Unless something interferes, she’s free to move player’s movement. (In brief: if the other
around the space, investigate, handle what’s player’s closer to escape, draw a card. If you
here, whatever she likes. Tell her what she finds have 4 or more cards in your hand, check 47 to
and what happens. see if the other player can escape.)
Answer her questions. Ask her questions of your If the other player has now escaped, turn to 41.
own. Otherwise, the other player has entered a new
Make details up as you need them, following space. Briefly describe the transition and the
your gut and the imagery you’ve already said. If new physical space. Don’t describe a stairway or
it scares you, say it! other way to the surface, or the entrance back
into the sewers, unless your hand and 47 tell
Stay with this entry, going back and forth with the you to.
other player, until one of these develops: If you’ve already said that there’s a ghost here,
She leaves this space for another. Turn to 5. turn to 11, and choose option (a) or (b).
You decide that she’s uncovered new evidence. Otherwise, have the other player draw:
Turn to 7. 13–20: Turn to 3.
Choose this option only once at most. Otherwise 6–12: Turn to 11, and choose option (a).
bring a ghost in instead.
Bust: Turn to 11, and choose option (b).
You decide to have a ghost enter. Turn to 9.

If the other player has just helped a ghost

resolve its unfinished business and find rest,
turn to 43.
Remember that if the other player helps a
ghost resolve its unfinished business and find
rest, you lose.
 7 9
The other player has uncovered new evidence of A ghost comes in, doing what it does when no
the violence that took place here. one else is around.
Describe it. It must be more complete and more Describe the ghost. Mention at least two of: its
explicit than before. The worse the better. body, its eyes, its face, its hands, its smell, and
its voice.
It can be real, physical evidence, or it can be
supernatural and ghostly. If the latter, it can be Every ghost here will murder the other player, if
a ghost in its own right. she attracts its attention in the wrong way (or at
all). Include at least one menacing detail.
If the evidence is a ghost, turn to 11, and For some quick ideas, keep your place here
choose option (a). and consult 49: what ghosts do.
Otherwise, tell the other player to turn to 2. Make details up as you need them, following
your gut and the imagery you’ve already said. If
Answer the other player’s questions. it scares you, say it!
Make details up as you need them, following Have the other player draw:
your gut and the imagery you’ve already said. If 13–20: Say what the ghost is doing. Tell the
it scares you, say it! other player to turn to 4. Answer the other
player’s questions.
New evidence won’t drive the game forward!
Try to avoid returning to this entry. 6–12: …But when the other player enters,
the ghost takes immediate notice of her and
approaches her. Turn to 17.
Bust: …But when the other player enters,
the ghost immediately notices and reacts
poorly. Turn to 17. However, when you get to
19, consider her to already be confronting the
ghost.
 11 13
CORE LOOP: A GHOST, AS IF ALONE
A ghost is here, doing what it would do if no one The ghost keeps doing what it would do if no one
else were present. else were present. Tell the other player what it
does.
Describe the ghost. Mention at least two of: its
body, its eyes, its face, its hands, its smell, and Ask her what she does.
its voice.
Tell her what happens.
Every ghost here will murder the other player, if
she attracts its attention in the wrong way (or at Stay with this entry, going back and forth with the
all). Include at least one menacing detail. other player, until one of these develops:
For some quick ideas, keep your place here She leaves this space for another. Turn to 5.
and consult 49: what ghosts do.
You decide that the ghost reveals new evidence.
Make details up as you need them, following Turn to 7.
your gut and the imagery you’ve already said. If Choose this option only once at most. Otherwise
it scares you, say it! have the ghost notice her instead.
option (a) You decide that the ghost takes notice of her and
Say what the ghost is doing. responds to her presence. Turn to 15, and choose
Tell the other player to turn to 4. option (a).
Answer the other player’s questions. She tries to do something that might attract the
option (b) ghost’s attention, but hopes that it won’t notice.
Tell her to turn to 30.
The ghost reacts to the other player’s
presence. Turn to 15, and choose option (a). She tries to hide. Tell her to turn to 32.
You decide that the ghost has finished doing what it
would do, uninterrupted, and departs. Turn to 3.
 15 17
A ghost is reacting to the other player’s A ghost is directly approaching the other player,
presence. with its full attention upon her.
option (a) All murderous ghosts exist in a nightmare state
Choose for yourself whether it looks at her, made of the violence that created them. They
speaks, reaches out to her, or just stops still. can experience nothing else.
option (b) For some quick ideas, keep your place here
The other player tells you which it does. and consult 51: what ghosts are.

Say what the ghost is like as it acts. Remember Tell the other player to turn to 6, 10, 14 or 16
the violence that it represents and the menace (choose freely, they’re all good).
it carries. Keep your place here.
After she draws, turn to 19.
Decide for yourself whether the ghost
approaches the other player directly now, or
forgets about the other player and goes back to
its original doings.
If it approaches the other player, turn to 17.
If it loses interest in the other player, turn to
13.
Choose for it to approach, unless you have a
very good reason otherwise.
 19 21
CORE LOOP: A GHOST’S ATTENTION
Weigh what’s happened so far. Say what the For some quick ideas, keep your place here
ghost does, ask the other player what she does, and consult 51: what ghosts are.
and say what happens.
Is the ghost intent upon revenge?
Stay with this entry, going back and forth with the
other player, until one of these develops: Is the ghost a recurring pattern of action, not an
unquiet soul, and its pattern includes attacking
You decide that the other player has provoked the
someone?
ghost to violence. Turn to 29.
Then the ghost assaults the other player. Turn
The other player is trying to get past the ghost to
to 29.
leave. Tell her to turn to 12. Keep your place here.
You decide that the other player is confronting the Otherwise, in life, was the ghost the
ghost. Tell her to turn to 34. perpetrator of violence?
You decide that the other player has roused the Then the ghost investigates the other player,
ghost’s curiosity. Tell her to turn to 36. preventing her escape if necessary. Turn to 27.
You decide that the other player has roused the
ghost’s pity. Tell her to turn to 38. Otherwise, the ghost hesitates, steps back,
or withdraws slightly. Describe it. Perhaps it is
The other player is trying to hide. Tell her to turn to startled or affronted.
32. Keep your place here.
Turn to 19. However, if the other player
The other player has managed to leave the room. immediately makes a move to leave the room —
Turn to 5. or if she’s already doing so — then the ghost will
The other player does something that you feel will let her go; turn to 5. Otherwise, consider the
test her ability to stay calm. Tell her to turn to 6, ghost now to be on the very verge of violence,
8, 10, 14 or 16 (choose freely, they’re all good). so that almost any action provokes it.
Keep your place here.
You’ve said that the ghost departs. Turn to 3.
 23 25
For some quick ideas, keep your place here For some quick ideas, keep your place here
and consult 51: what ghosts are. and consult 51: what ghosts are.

Is the ghost trapped here, but not intent upon In life, was the ghost the victim of violence?
revenge or violence?
Then it punishes the other player by murdering
Then the ghost investigates the other player. her. Turn to 35.
Turn to 27.
Otherwise, is the ghost NOT trapped here, but
Otherwise, the ghost’s curiosity is fleeting. instead staying here by choice, intent upon
Describe its very brief investigation. violence?
Tell the other player to turn to 8. Keep your Then it assaults the other player. Turn to 29.
place here.
After the other player draws, turn to 19. Otherwise, is the ghost an unquiet soul, not
However, on a 6–12, consider the ghost now to just a recurring pattern of action?
be on the very verge of violence, so that almost Then it investigates her. Turn to 27.
any action provokes it.
Otherwise, the ghost lets her go. Tell her so.
Turn to 13.
 27 29
A ghost is investigating the other player. A ghost is assaulting the other player.
Describe it. Make it unpleasant. Decide how the ghost intends to kill her:
Tell the other player to turn to 6, 8, 12 or 16 By direct violence.
(choose freely, they’re all good). By environmental danger.
Keep your place here. By supernatural violence.

After the other player draws… Describe the moment of the attack, when the
other player’s reaction will or won’t save her life.
Ask her what she does, and tell her what the ghost Has this ghost already attacked the other
does. Go back and forth until one of these develops: player before? Then it murders her. Turn to 35.
The other player does something that you feel will Otherwise, tell her to turn to 40. Keep your
further test her ability to stay calm. Tell her to place here.
turn to 6, 8, 10, 14 or 16 (choose freely, they’re all
good). Keep your place here. After the other player draws:
You decide that the ghost loses interest in her. Tell In your judgment, will the other player’s action
her it lets her go and goes back to its own doings. realistically let her survive to flee the ghost’s
Turn to 13. assault? Then tell her to turn to 42.
You decide that the ghost has decided to assault Otherwise, no ghost can relent until it believes
her. Turn to 29. its victim dead. In your judgment, will the other
Otherwise, turn to 19. player’s action realistically let her survive the
ghost’s assault, even though the ghost thinks it
has murdered her? Then tell her to turn to 44.
Otherwise, the ghost murders her. Turn to 35.
 31 33
The other player has fled the ghost’s assault, The other player has survived the ghost’s
but has suffered for it. assault, but has suffered badly for it.

What’s the outcome? What’s the outcome?

If she’s managed to leave this space for If she’s managed to leave this space for
another, turn to 5. another, turn to 5.
Otherwise, if you decide that the ghost has lost Otherwise, if the ghost has departed, turn to 3.
interest in her, turn to 13.
Otherwise, the ghost has lost interest in her,
Otherwise, bad luck for her. Turn to 19. believing her dead. Turn to 13.

In any case, remember what she’s suffered In any case, remember what she’s suffered
or lost, and bring it back into play at every or lost, and bring it back into play at every
opportunity. opportunity.
 35 37
A ghost is murdering the other player. The other player has been left for dead by the
ghost, because she is dead.
If you have not already, decide how the ghost
will kill her: Ask her what she looks like, as a ghost.
By direct violence. Tell her to turn to 46.
By environmental danger.
Did you scare yourself? Did you leave troubling
By supernatural violence. questions unanswered? Then you win.
Describe the moment of the attack. The end.
Tell the other player to turn to 46. Thanks for playing!
Did you scare yourself? Did you leave troubling
questions unanswered? Then you win.
The end.
Thanks for playing!
 39 41
Congratulations. You’ve won the game by The other player has escaped unmurdered.
frightening the other player into quitting.
Tell her to turn to 50.
The end.
Wish her a long and happy life.
Thanks for playing!
Did you scare yourself? Did you leave troubling
questions unanswered? Then you win too.
The end.
Thanks for playing!
 43 45
THE OTHER PLAYER’S MOVEMENT
The other player has helped a ghost to resolve By default, when the other player moves, she’s
its unfinished business. moving toward escape. However, sometimes
she’ll go back the way she came, or try to make
Tell her that all’s quiet now, and that she can
her way around something, or take an evident
eventually make her way out. Tell her to turn to
wrong turn.
50.
If the new space is closer to escape than she’s
You lose.
been before, draw a card into your hand.
The end.
If you still have 1–3 cards in your hand, draw
Thanks for playing! face down, without looking, and return to 5.
If this is your 4th card, turn your hand face up.
Play with it face up for the rest of the game.
If you have 4 or more cards in your hand, the
other player might be able to escape. Don’t lose
your place on 5, but turn to 47: escape.
 47 49
ESCAPE WHAT GHOSTS DO
The suits in your hand determine whether the When a ghost is alone, it moves through the
other player can escape. space it’s haunting, lost in its nightmare world of
violence.
If your hand shows all 4 suits, then there’s an
access ladder or stairway here, leading up to the Does it relive its experience here in life? If so,
surface. Leaving this space, taking that way out, how has its ongoing nightmare ritualized and
means escape. Return to 5 and include this fact corrupted its actions?
in your description of the space.
Does it recreate the violence it experienced in
If your hand shows 3 suits, then continue play detail, concretely? Does it recreate the violence
with your hand face up, until your hand shows it experienced symbolically, or in abstract form,
all 4 suits, or until it reaches 7 cards. At 7 cards, instead?
consider it to show all 4 suits even if it doesn’t.
Does it represent only a single person in life?
Return to 5.
Does it amalgamate the experiences of several
If your hand shows only 2 suits, then the other people? Does it take different roles as it moves
player might be lost. Draw another card into through the space?
your hand right now. If now your hand shows 3
Does it use props? Do they continue to exist
suits, then continue play, just as above.
after they pass from its attention? Does it
If your hand still shows only 2 suits, or if it pantomime with objects that don’t appear?
shows only 1 suit, then the other player is lost. Does it respond to entities who aren’t otherwise
Tell her to turn to 52. present?
Did you scare yourself? Did you leave troubling The unfinished business of a murderous ghost is
questions unanswered? Then you win. murder, but the other player may be looking for
hints that the ghost has unfinished business she
The end.
can help resolve. Might it be true?
Thanks for playing!
When in doubt, if something would frighten you,
say it!
 51
WHAT GHOSTS ARE
Every ghost is unique.
A ghost is a creature of sorrow. A murderous
ghost is a creature of sorrow turned to violence.
A ghost has no capacity for growth or change. It
might be possible to lay it to rest — there’s no
guarantee! — but it can never learn.
Is this ghost reenacting the horrors that it
inflicted on others in life, or will it inflict on
others the horrors that it suffered?
Does this ghost see others as new victims, as
new embodiments of its tormentor, upon whom
it can take revenge, or as embodiments of itself,
to be punished for its own past weaknesses or
crimes?
Is this ghost a trapped soul, doomed to this
nightmare existence, or is it a repeating pattern,
an echo of the past, carried by the environment
or summoned by the other ghosts here?
Is this ghost staying here by choice, intent upon
the violence that is now its only experience, or is
it bound here, unreleased by its death?