In Chill, a horror RPG I almost played in the early 90s (though I did end up converting some of its adventures for Dream Park), a "Spectral Remnant" is a type of ghost attached to some special task or place. It can manifest corporeally in a way normal ghosts can't (it can have a solid body) and has more powerful "Evil Way Disciplines". They were all failures in life and dwell endlessly on those failures. Three are detailed in the main (2nd edition) book - the Battlefield Remnant, the Theater Remnant, and the following...
Monster: Headless Horseman Spectral Remnant
Game/Product: Chill 2nd ed.Writing: David Ladyman. Art: Joe DeVelasco
Origin: The Headless Horseman - in some ways popularized by Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (and Disney's telling of the tale) - dates back to the Middle Ages when beheadings were more common. It was a part of Celtic, English and German folklore eventually adopted by Americans. It's what happens when a person's head isn't buried with its body, and so it will roam and chop its victims’ heads off believing it's their own stolen head.
Fear Level: Pretty high, just ask Ichabod Crane.
Danger Level: In the game, it has a special Discipline called Steal Head which aims all its attacks at a person's neck, and can throw its own severed head (as some legends have it carrying it) as a missile weapon. Though the Remnant then puts the stolen head on its own neck and rides away, it will be found the next morning, in a ditch or displayed to the public. Gruesome! And your Player Character NEEDS that head!
Famous examples: The Irish have the dullahan (a demonic fairy that holds its head under its arm). The Scottish have the vengeful spirit of a chieftain called Ewan, that was exported to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. The Welsh have a headless woman who rides a headless horse. Texas has El Muerto whose head dangles from his saddle. And of course, there's the famous one that haunts the woods of Sleepy Hollow.
I wonder if: We should also count the Green Knight from the Arthurian legends in there, even though he's more Fae than ghost.
Monster: Headless Horseman Spectral Remnant
Game/Product: Chill 2nd ed.Writing: David Ladyman. Art: Joe DeVelasco
Origin: The Headless Horseman - in some ways popularized by Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (and Disney's telling of the tale) - dates back to the Middle Ages when beheadings were more common. It was a part of Celtic, English and German folklore eventually adopted by Americans. It's what happens when a person's head isn't buried with its body, and so it will roam and chop its victims’ heads off believing it's their own stolen head.
Fear Level: Pretty high, just ask Ichabod Crane.
Danger Level: In the game, it has a special Discipline called Steal Head which aims all its attacks at a person's neck, and can throw its own severed head (as some legends have it carrying it) as a missile weapon. Though the Remnant then puts the stolen head on its own neck and rides away, it will be found the next morning, in a ditch or displayed to the public. Gruesome! And your Player Character NEEDS that head!
Famous examples: The Irish have the dullahan (a demonic fairy that holds its head under its arm). The Scottish have the vengeful spirit of a chieftain called Ewan, that was exported to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. The Welsh have a headless woman who rides a headless horse. Texas has El Muerto whose head dangles from his saddle. And of course, there's the famous one that haunts the woods of Sleepy Hollow.
I wonder if: We should also count the Green Knight from the Arthurian legends in there, even though he's more Fae than ghost.


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