Appearance: This ghost usually only appears as a moving shadow, accompanied by a drop in the surrounding temperature and the smell of stale alcohol. While no real features are discernable those seeing it get the distinct impression that the ghost is male and sorrowful. The shadow most often appears between 1 am and 3 am. Those who have seen this ghost call him The Shadow Man, The Bartender, or 2am Charlie.
The Situation: As hauntings go the Ghost of John McSorely is a mild haunting. He haunts a large set of apartments in an urban area. Victims are never intentionally harmed; there are no moved objects, strange sounds, or physical contact. However, the ghost does possess occupants of the apartment, to leave the house. They wake up hours later, usually at home, but sometimes in their cars, on a park bench, or an alleyway. Their wake up with wallets devoid of cash, stinking of alcohol and tobacco, the world spinning with a hangover, and no idea how they got there.
The History: In life John McSorely was a hardworking, blue collar man. He grew up with neglectful and abusive parents, then bounced between relative and foster families. When he reached adulthood be began working and built a life for himself. He married, had children, and worked diligently to support them, his main goal to give his family the support and stability he never had. While his children adored him his wife was unsatisfied. While a good father, his wife felt he was emotionally distant, likely due to his childhood drama. She pushed for more out of him constantly and rather than argue or fight back John McSorely turned to drink.
He would sneak out in the middle of the night, go down to his favorite bar, and drink for a few hours before stumbling home. The longer this went on, the worse the fights became, and the more serious the drinking became. One day he came home from work and his wife and family were gone, a note saying she was moving many states away to live with family and was filing for divorce. That night John got very drunk drowning his sorrows, and was struck and killed by a bus while trying to stumble home.
The Ghost: This shadow struggles to come to terms with where his life went wrong. He tried as hard as he could to support those in his charge, to be the father he wished he had and a better husband than his own father was. It was never enough; he was never enough. What was the point of even being alive if there was no one to love you, no one for you to love, no one to listen to your pain or remember you when you were gone? In life, his only comfort was drinking old fashions at his local bar, talking to bartenders or other patrons, who sometimes seemed to care. So, this is what he craves to do in death.
Attacks: This ghost only attacks sleeping victims, with an opposed POW check. If the Ghost succeeds they take over the person’s body. If they fail, the ghost loses 2D10 POW and the victim awakens to see the shadowy figure looming above them. At this point the ghost usually gives up, fading away in the shadows of the apartment. If pressed, the ghost could attack to drain spiritual energy, and will do so to defend itself, but it really doesn’t want to hurt anyone.
INT: 45 POW: 85 Sanity: 1/1D6 to see the Ghost of John McSorely
Resolution: This ghost just wants someone to listen to his story, show him some kindness and sympathy, and tell him that the way things turned out wasn’t he fault. If investigators join the ghost when he’s possesses someone’s body, talk with them, and make a successful Psychology roll to explain that given their past this was the best he could do. They were victims of a cycle that started long before they were born. If they research his family investigators learn his children did not struggle with drink, and both married and had happy lives, they can tell him that the cycle was broken, and his efforts in life contributed to that. They also learn his wife married two more times, both ending in divorce; never finding anyone able to meet her demands. If they add this information, or lie about it (successful Fast Talk roll), they get a bonus dice to the Psychology roll. If the investigators manage to console the ghost of John McSorely in this way, he smiled, and thanks them before paying his tab and excusing himself. The person they possessed then awaken with no memory of the conversation, and the Ghost of John McSorely passed peacefully into the next phase of existence.
