The Haunted Ruin

Explore the ruins of a haunted castle.

The castle was haunted long before it was ruined. The family who lived there were plagued by strange events and shadowy visions of a medieval woman. The castle was always cold, windows broke and objects moved by themselves, ethereal voices and music were heard, and the family was known for their volatile tempers. Their reputation declined, and at last, centuries ago, the family line died out, and the castle was abandoned.

Now, the building is in ruins. The upper floors have caved in, leaving strange patterns of rubble which have turned the ruin into a labyrinth. The villagers tell stories of stones moving by themselves, strange shadows seen in the ruins, and visitors disappearing, sometimes permanently.

You are a scholar attached to a nearby university. You have come here to explore. What are you looking for?

 

The Haunted Ruin is a collaborative interactive ghost story, or, if you prefer, a solo journalling RPG, inspired by the works of M. R. James and others. You will write two linked stories here: the story of your explorer in the (somewhat Victorian) present, and the uncertain, incomplete story of the ghost or the castle in the past.

The castle changes with every visit, so every playthrough and story will be unique. To play, you will need a deck of cards and a notebook. This work is based on the Carta system, from Leon Richardson and Peach Garden Games, and licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Content warnings: Hauntings, emotional instability, spiders (10 of spades only), academia.