(Onyx Path; Chronicle of Darkness) Campaign idea discussion, seeking ideas and feedback

[Greylurker]

Ok so it's been a while since I ran World of Darkness anything and I've been missing it (and discovering they are all up into a 2nd edition and everything).

I am out of practice for horror and have been doing lots of Pathfinder and Mutants& Masterminds. But the horror is calling to me

Here is the basics of the idea
The year is 2001
The PCs are contestants on a Reality TV show, kind of like Big Brother, only the house is haunted. Anyone who stays in the place for the full 3 months splits the prize money.

At first I was thinking the House in question would be isolated like on an island in a lake or something. But I am wondering if it would be better to be closer or even in a city. I am also going to include some NPCs to serve as "competition". It starts with the show crew rigging the house with various scares but as things go the ghosts in the house start to actually get involved. At the climax people start dying.

News reports it as a horrible accident, show is cancelled, footage is buried, to be discovered years later by New PCs.

anyone have any extra advice or ideas for this?

[Syddin Anhyddin]

Interesting idea. I would suggest a growing horror kind of theme. Starting slow with flickering lights and maybe glimpses in mirrors/corner of the eye, or interference in the digital images. Have the ghosts contribute "pranks" like the crew, just getting more vicious over the story.

Maybe a PC or one of the Crew does something that makes the shift from background haunting to angered vengeance. An insulting joke or disparaging remark that hits home in the psyche of the entity/entities, or the breaking/damaging of an anchor. That way there might be a way for some PCs to appease them before they all die off.

If you do it in an Urban setting, play with left hand spanner or gremlin type activity with the tech, leaving messages/threats/garbled speech, locking doors and messing with heating/cooling. Fires and sprinkler systems could make a fun addition to a climax.

You can also use the Numina Emotional Aura and Agressive Meme to have the npcs and pcs create some of their own troubles or to up the stress and fear.

I am starting up my own nWoD/CoD Mortals game myself based on my half remembered ideas from an "Apartment of Doom" game that was posted on the old White Wolf Forums. You wouldn't happen to be the same Greylurker who posted the thread would you?

[Syddin Anhyddin]

Just thought of a specific example of when the shift to dangerous might begin.

Classic ghost aggressive scream or scare in a bathroom or dining room with a mirror. Mirror shatters, maybe spraying outward. "Someone could have been hurt!" After the PC's yell at the crew ( as they would have been caught by now at least once). The glass is cleaned up/gone. When the most aggressive of the accusers goes to bed, the broken glass is strewn in the sheets. Cue fun and excitement. /evil laugh

Hope that helps.