Banshee Wail

[mayapuppies]

Hello all,

I was working on a ghost that haunts one of my worlds towns and I noticed that she tended to show up to predict some tragedy or another. So I started thinking about how that would manifest to the players and started playing the movie in my head.

She shows up at a distance and ten suddenly appears within inches of the target characters face. her mouth opens and releases a terrible wail that sounds like a thousand tortured voices all screaming at once.

The characters hair and face is pummeled by her chill breath, turning their white. The character catches glimpses of the ghosts death as well as the impending doom of themselves or someone they know. Just before they collapse and are weekend from their encounter with the grave.

Here's the writeup

Doom Wail: (Total: 170 Active Cost, 90 Real Cost) Drain CON 2d6, Based On EGO Combat Value (Mental Defense applies; +1), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Day; +1 1/2) (70 Active Points); Incantations (-1/4) (Real Cost: 56) plus Precognitive Clairsentience (Mystic Group), Usable By Other (+1/4) (50 Active Points); Limited Power (Only To See Another Persons Death; -1), Linked (Drain; Lesser Power can only be used when character uses greater Power at full value; -3/4), Incantations (-1/4) (Real Cost: 17) plus Ego Attack 5d6 (Human class of minds) (50 Active Points); Linked (Drain; Lesser Power can only be used when character uses greater Power at full value; -3/4), Limited Power Power Does Only STUN (-3/4), No Range (-1/2) (Real Cost: 17)

[NuSoardGraphite]

The Wail looks pretty good. Keep in mind though, that a 2D6 Con drain would on average drain only 3.5 points of Con from a person and while this would make the average individual feel quite weak for a day or so (until the points return) I think the Wail of the Banshee is a bit more effective than that...as expensive as it would make it. I would go with a 3D6 or maybe even a 4D6 drain. That would put people in the sick bed for a few days at least.

And for the record, the actual name is Bean Sidhe. Banshee is simply an english phoenetic spelling of the Irish/gaelic word.

[mayapuppies]

Wow, I was actually afraid of making it too expensive...then I remembered that this is for a monster/npc.

Bring on the points!

And I like the gaelic name much better...gonna use it.

[Thia Halmades]

Wow. Double trumped. Nice one, NSG.

-- Raise the drain.
-- Yeah, it's a Bean Sidhe.

Other than that, I got nothin'. :p

[Susano]

From a DH article I worked on:

Banshee: This female spirit is found in the legends of both Ireland and Scotland. An omen of death, it is usually associated with certain families and appears to announce the death of a family member. It does so by singing or crying sorrowfully, not wailing as is commonly thought. Normally invisible, the banshee sometimes appears as a woman dressed all in white or red, with long hair. Banshee may also be spelled ban-sidhe.

A variation of the banshee is the bean-nighe. Said to be the spirit of a woman who died in childbirth, the bean-nighe foretells a person’s doom by appearing next to a stream, washing the victim’s bloodstained clothing in the water.

[FireTiger]

Let's see... European Enemies for 4th ed. had a villain Banshee, an EC (Ghost/Banshee Powers) was the idea they went with. Most of the slots in the EC were for variants of the wail, and would be quite a departure from what you're working with.

Just a thought... would you actually need the Usable By Others on the Precognition? (The text would seem to indicate that someone with this power can already see events that aren't directly connected to themselves.)

Haunted Heroes for 4th ed. has a short section on these critters, but doesn't add all that much. It does note three versions, though.

The common Banshee (Bean Sidhe, as others have noted) — usually connected to a particular family or clan, they let loose the wail three days before the demise of a true member of the family (blood relations). For other members of the family, they're never seen, only the wail is heard. They're also described as being seen to kneel upon the roof of the family home when really important members of the family (like the head of the family) are due to die.

The Bean Nighe (ben nee-yah) is the second type noted. When they appear they're supposed to foretell not the demise of the person who sees her, but rather someone very close to that person instead. This type doesn't wail but rather whispers the name of the person about to die into the ear of the person visited.

The last noted in Haunted Heroes is the Washer Woman. This is described as the only voiceless type. She is described as appearing to those who are about to go into battle and are not expected to survive. She's described as appearing by a body of water if outdoors (a sink or some such if indoors), washing the bloodied garments of the soon-to-be victim.

Other than that, increasing the number of dice in the CON Drain as NuSoardGraphite suggests is probably a good idea.

Added: The version of the creature in the Hero System Bestiary for 4th ed. had the wail written-up like this:


3d6 RKA, Indirect (any location/direction), Time Delay, Affects Solid, No Conscious Control, only after wailing (-1⁄2), IIF, 1 Charge

[tkdguy]

Interesting ideas, guys! And great writeup, mayapuppies. :thumbup:

[McManus]

On the name (from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee)) -
The term banshee is an anglicization of the Irish bean sí, or the Scots Gaelic bean shìth, - both meaning "woman of the fairy mounds" or "woman of peace". Both names are derived from the Old Irish ben síde: bean: "woman", and sídhe: "of the mounds".

I have seen there are variations of ways Gaelic (Irish or Scottish) can be spelled. But it is a long time since I studied it.

When I first read your description of the Wails effect (not the power but the narrative) I got out that the Wail turns the hearer's hair white. I think that is a really cool effect that could be done with a linked Transformation that might "heal" as new hair the original color grows out, or might be permanent. Fear turning someone's hair white is a venerable tradition. It would be cool to see it in a game and would give the player something to think about for a while without actually damaging the character.

I may steal that idea for my game.

[Thia Halmades]

On the name (from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee)) -

I have seen there are variations of ways Gaelic (Irish or Scottish) can be spelled. But it is a long time since I studied it.

When I first read your description of the Wails effect (not the power but the narrative) I got out that the Wail turns the hearer's hair white. I think that is a really cool effect that could be done with a linked Transformation that might "heal" as new hair the original color grows out, or might be permanent. Fear turning someone's hair white is a venerable tradition. It would be cool to see it in a game and would give the player something to think about for a while without actually damaging the character.

I may steal that idea for my game.

All Transforms heal back, but you could make the condition, "Heals back after moment of foretelling has passed." Almost as though you've been 'touched by death,' and once you're through it, it'll start to heal back.

*rolls that around a bit*

That'd work. I like the flavor.

[mayapuppies]

Really cool stuff, folks, thank you very much!

Just a thought... would you actually need the Usable By Others on the Precognition? (The text would seem to indicate that someone with this power can already see events that aren't directly connected to themselves.)
The power is actually only available for the Banshee herself, the person targeted by the Wail is given the premonition hence the Usable By Others.

[FireTiger]

Really cool stuff, folks, thank you very much!

The power is actually only available for the Banshee herself, the person targeted by the Wail is given the premonition hence the Usable By Others.

"Oh. Nevermind." :D I had an idea that was the intent, but I just thought I'd ask. You've got a neat idea there too, makes your version of the creature rather unique.

[mayapuppies]

Thanks! I thought it would be neat to "inflict" the vision of impending doom on the target.

[FireTiger]

Thanks! I thought it would be neat to "inflict" the vision of impending doom on the target.

I like that, it isn't just evil, it's GM-Evil.

I know some of my characters would really get messed by that.