Title: The Agent
Status: Mortal
Blurb: In your line of work, you’ve seen a lot: gruesome murders, government crises, buildings levelled to the ground. Ghosts, even. But never before have you seen anything like this. As soon as you got your hands on the case file, you realised why the authorities wanted this place dealt with. The amount of death and decay that this hotel has been a catalyst for is… unnerving. But the potential is too great to be ignored, seen both as an asset and as a threat. So long as that weird nut job from the technological division gets the job done.
[Your relations may include: An annoying foil]
Title: The Author
Status: Mortal
Blurb: Ten years ago, you were living the high life. Happily married to your high school sweetheart and with a bestselling debut novel, you couldn’t ask for anything more. Well, except maybe longevity. Now, three divorces and a lifetime’s worth of writer’s block later, you’re down on your luck and in desperate need of inspiration. In a move that just might be your most desperate yet, you’ve booked a long-term stay in a famously haunted hotel in the hopes that something strange might happen. Something worth writing about, that could give your career the boost it so desperately needs.
[Your relations may include: A ghost from the past]
Title: The Catfish
Status: Serial Killer
Blurb: There was no such thing as the internet when you started your scheme. You did it the old-fashioned way: newspaper ads. You invented fake people, names and appearances, personalities. Then, after a few letters you showed them how gullible they were for trusting a stranger from a newspaper. It was fun to you, and oh so satisfying. When you met the one person smarter and stronger than you, you allowed them to be the last person to see you alive. If there was only one person who could outsmart you, then it was only right that they should be the one to kill you.
[Your relations may include: Someone to rekindle your passion with]
Title: The Chameleon
Status: Mortal
Blurb: Ever since you were a child you have been good at being whoever you needed to be to get by. You would change yourself to get out of trouble, to survive, to get what you want. Now as an adult you don’t know how to let people get close. When your situation gets too messy or hard, you simply leave, dropping everything you have to vanish into thin air. You’ve done it plenty of times before. This time is no different. Or is it? Maybe this time you will be confronted by your past, forced to confront your choices.
[Your relations may include: Someone you left behind]
Title: The Cleanser
Status: Serial killer
Blurb: The feeling started when you were young. Everything was dirty, and wrong. You could never make that feeling go away. Your first victim was a mistake. You were overwhelmed and angry. You snapped and swung a rock at their head. When your adrenaline started to subside you felt the panic rise. Making sure to clean the body and everything around you with bleach, you dumped the body. As you breathe out you could finally feel clean. After that revelation you longed to do it again and again. Over time you developed your method of forcing your victims to drink bleach.
[Your relations may include: Someone who could follow in your footsteps]
Title: The Copycat
Status: Serial Killer
Blurb: You spent a long time undetected thanks to the fact that you copy other serial killers’ methods. Being a lawyer really helped to get the background information needed to sell the murders convincingly as someone else’s. Eventually though not getting credit for your work got the better of you. So you went public, sent a letter to a journalist. The delicious satisfaction of recognition was almost worth getting caught. Dying in prison was not fun though. You felt like you and your talent were wasted. Only the press attention your trial and execution attracted made it bearable.
[Your relations may include: Someone who’s given you a lot of inspiration]
Title: The Dancer
Status: Mortal
Blurb: In death, everyone is equal. You are dancing with death, have been for a long time. As a mortician, you have buried the rich and the poor, the sinners and the saints. The dead tend to dance with you silently, but one has taken it upon themselves to show their thanks… differently. This dance partner has shown you new steps. Has had your back, oddly, and is always there for you. They are sad that their family doesn’t visit their grave, but now they have you. They invited you to a party at a hotel and how could you say no?
[Your relations may include: Someone who wants to ruin this dance for everyone]
Title: The Dollmaker
Status: Serial Killer
Blurb: You have that gift that makes you see the beauty in every person you meet. They are just so pretty, so captivating. Your mother never allowed you to play with dolls, but you wanted them so badly: To dress them up and brush their hair, do a little make-up, to just admire them and love them so, so much. After your mother died, you started making your own dolls. You would break their legs. And when they misbehaved, their necks were next. You died in prison, but you are still searching for more beautiful dolls to love.
[Your relations may include: The one that got away.]
Title: The Enthusiast
Status: Resident ghost
Blurb: Dying is the best thing that ever happened to you. You enjoy every second of watching the world pass by without having to take any part in it yourself. It’s always been like this, even when you were alive. Although your responsibilities were minimal as an entertainer playing weekly gigs at the hotel, you still didn’t like having them. In a way, you want to thank that maniac who stalked and eventually killed you. Unfortunately they’ve been elusive so far. You’ve always been a prankster. Messing with the living and sometimes other ghosts without consequence is your style.
[Your relations may include: Someone who’s intriguingly different]
Title: The Escapist
Status: Mortal
Blurb: You’re here on vacation with your family, making memories, family bonding time, bla bla bla. You wanted to stay in your room and read an epic fantasy novel, but you compromised to reading by the pool instead. In spite of your best efforts, you made a friend. Together you’ve been exploring the weird parts of the hotel, talking about books, movies and creepy ghost stories — anything but the real world, which looms ever closer as your vacation draws to an end. You don’t know how you’ll keep your facade of apathy up when you leave, or if you even want to.
[Your relations may include: A mutual dislike you keep under wraps]
Title: The Fallen
Status: Resident Ghost
Blurb: [CW: Sex] It should have been more. Your every thought consists of longing for things you’ll never have. Once, you dreamed of becoming famous. You wanted to save money while working in housekeeping. One year ago, you befriended a married couple who stayed at the hotel. It felt like magic. And you knew you could make serious money charging them for what you’d let them do to you at night. On the last night, an accident happened. You were still alive when they left, but soon after died of unexpected complications. Of course they don’t know, but they promised to come back…
[Your relations may include: Love against all odds]
Title: The Ghost-Buster
Status: Mortal
Blurb: It has always been easy for you to draw people in and make them excited about what you do. Views on your Youtube channel about paranormal activities and lost places are going through the roof. Even though everything is fake. You are a modern con artist, fooling them all and you love it. Your internet persona is your mask you put on every day. There are no more than three people in your life anymore who know the real you. Now, you’re planning your biggest video event: staying at a haunted hotel on Friday the 13th. What could possibly go wrong?
[Your relations may include: A voice of reason you’ve been ignoring for too long]
Title: The Guillotine
Status: Mortal
Blurb: People say you’re crazy. You have carried out many a death penalty on sick, homicidal individuals and what happens? They just keep coming back. The obsession with ghosts doesn’t come from fascination, but from your sense of justice. You’ve spent a long time learning everything about them and made it your life’s mission to finish what you started. You don’t want to help them move on, you want them to vanish; painfully, if possible. This has led you to a certain hotel with a mysterious history, where you hope to be able to put an end to all of this.
[Your relations may include: A reunion of most cynical proportions]
Title: The Heir
Status: Mortal
Blurb: [CW: Death of a parent] What you want is what you get. Because your parents cater to your every wish, you’ve grown up rich and spoiled. While everyone around you suffers from your hot temper, you still are capable of planning ahead. Like now. You want to turn this area into a huge shopping mall and have already bought most of the property in the area. Except for this hotel. You know its dark reputation and hope to kill two birds with one stone: Acquire the real estate you need, and make the last relative who stands between you and a hefty inheritance “disappear”.
[Your relations may include: Someone you dangerously underestimate]
Title: The Hornet
Status: Resident Ghost
Blurb: [CW: Domestic Violence] You are proud and expect to be respected. It has always been that way. You come from old money derived from your family’s hotel empire. Your background and upbringing means your opinion matters the most. Because you are the perfect advisor, the others tend to listen to you, even the owner. They had better. Being murdered by your ex-spouse ten years ago for your money was a massive blow to your ego. You are impatiently waiting for the day she will return here, so you can settle this marital dispute once and for all. They shall suffer as you do.
[Your relations may include: A long awaited confrontation]
Title: The Inspired
Status: Mortal
Blurb: [CW: Toxic relationships, sexual contents] You are soft-spoken and kind. With a great deal of luck you were able to turn your hobby into your profession: Stage magic! The community gives you strength and support. You always assume everything is for the best. Trust is a precious good and you almost give it out for free, despite having seen and done atrocious things yourself. But you don’t want to think about the past, only your bright future. Coming back to this hotel, where a terrible accident happened a year ago, makes you feel queasy, but you’re sure it’s gonna be fine. Right?
[Your relations may include: An idol you thought you’d never meet]
Title: The Journalist
Status: Mortal
Blurb: Your passion is serial killers. You pride yourself on the breadth and depth of your knowledge on the subject. You have written many articles, even some award-winning ones. The praise you get most often is for the insight and immersiveness of your theories, speculations and conclusions. The methods you developed to get those insights are not something you’ve discussed with anyone or ever wish to discuss however. Now you’ve finally gotten the chance to visit the famous hotel known for the many deaths and weird things that happen. Maybe this will be the story that can set you up for life?
[Your relations may include: Someone you worship]
Title: The Keeper
Status: Mortal
Blurb:
[This character comes with some degree of off-game responsibilities on site, like light cleaning / tidying]
You didn’t expect to stay a janitor for this long but, the job has proved to have its perks. You’re an obsessive people watcher. You catalogue everyone who comes through here. You overhear their conversations and write them down on scraps of paper filing them away once home, at the end of the night. The cleaning uniform and mop conveniently mean no one pays attention to you, so you can go anywhere unimpeded. You know the secrets of everyone around you, and that power exhilarates you. You haven’t given any secrets away yet, but might do so for a high enough price.
[Your relations may include: someone you know you could incriminate]
Title: The Lover
Status: Mortal
Blurb: All your life you searched for that one thing: Love. You tried online dating for a while, but… nothing. It just didn’t feel real. Actually you hate chat rooms and messengers and texts. You love handwritten letters. Out of sheer coincidence, you found an unconventional penpal: A convicted serial killer. For months you wrote back and forth. You fell in love. Unfortunately, not long ago, your lover was executed, leaving you with a broken heart… until you received a new message. You so want to believe this is real and you can finally meet the love of your life.
[Your relations may include: A person to make you feel really special]
Title: The Magician
Status: Serial Killer
Blurb: You’ve always had a type: young, trusting, and impressionable. Luckily, your profession as a travelling stage magician put plenty of those people right in your lap. They were as delighted to be your assistant as you were to have them. In your days, you had a legendary reputation – hypnotist, charmeur, conjurer. You became everything the crowd wanted with no effort at all. Your pièce de résistance, however, was the disappearing act. An act so splendid, so lively and colorful that no one dared to question where the vanished assistant had gone. Or why they never seemed to appear ever again.
[Your relations may include: A devoted admirer]
Title: The Masked
Status: Mortal
Blurb: You wish people would listen to you. You’ve been a doormat your whole life, so you try to bring situations under your control and get frustrated when no one listens. You’re obsessed with keeping up appearances, convinced that if everything looks good on the outside, it’ll be fine on the inside. The divorce and your child’s withdrawal make you look bad and feel worse. That’s why you’re taking this family vacation with your new partner, so they and your child can have some quality time together and you can look like a perfect head of household.
[Your relations may include: A begrudging child.]
Title: The Medium
Status: Mortal
Blurb: Ghosts and supernatural phenomena are bullshit. At least that’s what you’ve always thought, until things started happening to you; real things; things you can see, and feel, and hear, and touch. You’ve been running a Youtube channel with your friend, and they mustn’t know you don’t think everything is fun and games anymore. They would mock you mercilessly for sure. But the spirits are real, they scare you, but also you’re curious about these powers you seem to have. What can you do? Could you maybe even help a ghost move on to the next realm, or whatever?
[Your relations may include: An estranged childhood friend]
Title: The Musician
Status: Serial Killer
Blurb: In your day you were a respected violinist, concertmaster of the finest orchestra in the city. One day, after a particularly grating dress rehearsal for a Mozart opera, you snapped. You took a spare string out of your violin case and strangled the lead soprano in her dressing room. Ever since then, every person you hear sing out of tune you dispatch as quickly as possible. Beyond that, you’re a fastidious perfectionist. Hair and clothes are perfect always, elocution precise and to the point. The only thing you hate more than sloppiness is people who sing in the shower.
[Your relations may include: Someone pulling on your heartstrings]
Title: The Owner
Status: Mortal
Blurb:
[This character comes with some degree of off-game responsibilities before the game and on site. The Owner will be frequently approached and their play might be intense and hectic due to being The Owner.]
You grew up in this hotel and feel very connected to it. Years ago, you inherited the business, But … you’re not happy. You’ve always known about the hauntings. For some reason, your family members have been mostly spared. But crikey, it’s annoying. Sometimes you feel as stuck as the ghosts here are, unable to leave. Being the owner of this shithole has never been easy or enjoyable. Every year on a Friday 13th, more ghosts gather and wreak havoc. You’ve had it. That is why you’re selling. You want to be your own person, not theirs.
[Your relations may include: A willing buyer coming to visit at a very inopportune time]
Title: The Passionate
Status: Mortal
Blurb: [CW: Sex and toxic relationships] You always end up in second place. You’ve worked tooth and nail your whole life, but never gotten far. Even now you’re no more than an assistant. Your ambition has turned bitter. Many nights you don’t sleep, but spend hours screaming into your pillow, or acting out your frustration and aggression during sex. At least you’ve always found partners who enjoy that, so that makes you feel like a bit of a winner sometimes. A year ago, you met somebody in this hotel and you can’t wait to see them again, for they can give you more than anyone you’ve ever met.
[Your relations may include: A partner who’s easy to manipulate]
Title: The Poltergeist
Status: Mortal
Blurb:
[This character comes with some degree of off-game responsibilities on site, like light cleaning / tidying]
You’re the reason everyone thinks the hotel is haunted. It started when you dropped your janitor’s mop and bucket down the stairs in the middle of the night when everything should’ve been silent. The next morning, you heard guests talking over breakfast about how something they heard in the night spooked them, reminded them of haunted houses in old movies. That got you thinking. You play pranks for the fun of it, moving things around when no one notices, going up to the roof at night and dancing in the moonlight. You only hope no one finds out it’s you.
[Your relations may include: someone who knows too much]
Title: The Protector
Status: Serial Killer
Blurb: Caring for the weak gives you purpose. You knew from the first day that you would do everything within your power to protect your own child from bullies, mean teachers and bad influences. You were able to do that for years and years, undetected. Unsuspected. You killed all of them. To save your kid from harm. But you got caught and you did what you had to do to escape from a life in prison. It’s been many years since you died and you’ve found a new purpose, but it’s never been the same. What you’d give to see your child once more.
[Your relations may include: An impossible choice]
Title: The Raven
Status: Mortal
Blurb: It all started out with a homemade ouija board. Now, you are a household name in all things supernatural. You give spiritual advice and even perform exorcisms. Your services are anything but cheap. However, having a lot of money leads to great boredom, which is why some months ago you took on your greatest challenge yet. Nobody asked you to do it, but this is your life now. You want to rid that cursed hotel of its ghosts. All of them. Unfortunately, one particular ghost is exceptionally annoying and just loves to interfere with your rituals, so you might need some help.
[Your relations may include: A very unexpected yet promising protegé]
Title: The Receptionist
Status: Resident Ghost
Blurb: When alive, you were the hotel receptionist. You lived and breathed your job, until one day you didn’t. You still stay in the hotel though; haunting the telephone lines, whispering messages to help people find each other in strange and interesting ways. That’s what you really loved about the job – the connections. You do your best to lead people to each other. Whether it’s long lost family members, lovers who haven’t met each other yet, or one of the murderers that haunt this place looking for their next victim. You bring people together in ways they wouldn’t imagine on their own.
[Your relations may include: your old boss you’re trying to find love for]
Title: The Saint
Status: Mortal
Blurb: [CW: Mental health] Throughout your life, darkness seems to have followed you with implacable determination. Deaths, betrayals, abandonment, all of the darkness one could imagine. But you’ve never let that stop you. You pride yourself on being a light in the dark, a shining sliver of hope for those in need. That role has served well to distract your focus away from the emptiness so far. As of late, however, things have stopped feeling so rewarding. You’ve been seeking out places of increasing destitution to try and fill the aching, and you just might have found a perfect place for the ultimate mission.
[Your relations may include: An insurmountable darkness]
Title: The Scientist
Status: Mortal
Blurb: Working for the most secretive part of the government is an honor. Aside from inflating your ego, this honor has only ever done good things for you. As the leading expert on supernatural energy and technologies, you rarely get to go out on field missions, but this time it’s big; REALLY big. Nothing could get you more excited, except maybe if the agent they sent with you for “protection” wasn’t such a killjoy. Either way, you’ve got the device, your toolkit and the largest gathering of occult energy ever recorded. This will surely be a field trip to remember.
[Your relations may include: More than you bargained for]
Title: The Sinner
Status: Resident Ghost
Blurb: [CW: Substance abuse] You were a movie star and had everything. What you didn’t have, you took. It was just that easy. Shortly before your untimely demise, you were supposed to attend a premiere gala event for your latest movie. You preferred to crash at this hotel and have your own little party with your entourage. You thought you knew your limits, but apparently not. The overdose meant you get to keep your beautiful face forever, but also you can’t leave. Nobody knows they could still be kissing your feet. You get incredibly bored and thus are looking forward to the annual event more than anyone.
[Your relations may include: An eternal admirer you only get to see once a year ]
Title: The Spawn
Status: Mortal
Blurb: [CW: Death of a parent] Kids are cruel and there has always been something about you that made them want to tease and bully you. You’ve taken your beatings with a calm and stoic attitude, but those bullies would soon regret it. Anyone who did you wrong would disappear. Even after you moved out in your teens, your parent never told you what happened. You just put two and two together to make assumptions, because you are smart. But you never forgave your parent for choosing the coward’s way out. Now you have come to this hotel to meet your parent and say something very important.
[Your relations may include: The one person who’s always got your back]
Title: The Spider
Status: Mortal
Blurb: [CW: Death of partner / Abusive relationships] This fortune is yours; you earned it. Maybe not in the most honest way, but that doesn’t mean it was easy. Killing your ex was hard, but worth it. You were excellent at playing the grieving spouse. Now after all your work, this little brat is trying to pull one over on you. Inviting you to this hotel, where so many have died over the years, under the guise of wanting to buy it was clever. But you knew the brat well enough to see right through the ruse. Maybe you could teach a lesson never to be forgotten?
[Your relations may include: A jilted ex lover]
Title: The Step-Parent
Status: Serial Killer
Blurb: You don’t believe in family anymore. It’s a construct, it’s a fantasy, it’s something for the smart to exploit. Families fracture, and that’s when you step in. Promising to mend the cracks, you find people reeling and hold their families together for a while. You’re their caretaker, their savior. Then you get them. You wash your hands, make sure there’s a clear scapegoat and in the end walk away with a smirk of superiority. This time it’s routine, the family is rich and taking you on fancy vacations. Nothing wrong with kicking back before the dirty work.
[Your relations may include: Someone from the old days who caught on]
Title: The Survivor
Status: Mortal
Blurb: It’s been so long since you’ve been able to go to work, or function properly, for that matter. It all started when you answered an ad in a newspaper. You had never done that before but, something drew you to it. The letters were so well written, almost seemed old fashioned yet charming. The next thing you know, you had to take a life to save your own. Your therapist says you need time, and maybe a fresh start in a new city will give you closure. Exploring your options, you check into this hotel, what could possibly go wrong?
[Your relations may include: Your biggest mistake]
Title: The Taurus
Status: Resident ghost
Blurb: Justice is all you’ve ever wanted in life, and now in death, too. You vowed never to rest until your ex-employee from your law firm pays for what they did to you. You feel very torn: On the one hand, you wish to move on, to leave this miserable existence behind. But on the other, you’re too hard-headed and scared to take that step. You’re still very similar to what you were like alive, stubborn and inflexible, unable to admit it when wrong. In true fashion to yourself, you have not even been able to accept your own death.
[Your relations may include: Someone that actually makes your existence bearable]
Title: The Twin
Status: Mortal
Blurb: [CW: Death of a sibling] When your twin died, you lost everything you cared about. Raised in a cold and harsh foster system, you were the only constants in each others’ lives. Now, you have finally managed to trace your genealogy back to a particular town in the hopes of filling that familial void in your heart. So what if it’s an unhealthy way to cope? It’s the only thing that has made you feel anything at all since the accident. As long as it lasts, you’re going to make the best of it. Even if that means meddling in other people’s business.
[Your relations may include: An unexpected confrontation]
Title: The Untested
Status: Mortal
Blurb: You’re bored in this hotel, but at least it’s good material. You’re a sullen dishwasher by day, aspiring novelist by night. You used to write immature stuff; pretentious descriptions of autumn leaves, romances with yourself as the lead but, since working here, you’ve seen more of the world, more of the messed up stuff that goes on. You’re writing a novel about the hotel, only this time the rumors about it being haunted are true. You’ve been taking notes on the visitors tics and strange habits and their relations with each other. Sometimes you swap theories with one of the janitors. Then you immortalize it all in your writing.
[Your relations may include: An unconventional muse]
Title: The Unwilling
Status: Serial Killer
Blurb: [CW: Toxic relationships] You first killed when you were ten, your hands trembling and eyes squeezed tight in fear. The courts ruled “self-defense” and you wholeheartedly believed them. But then, it kept on happening, again and again. You began to believe you were cursed – trapped forever in a spiral of death where you were both the perpetrator and the victim. Accidents, self defense, or mere coincidences. Your heart was always in the right place but you were still in the middle. You can’t shake the feeling that you’re not as innocent as you seem. Someone will find you out soon. And maybe you want them to.
[Your relations may include: A long-awaited reckoning]
Title: The Vengeful
Status: Resident Ghost
Blurb: You find them when they’re bored and apathetic, pulling themselves away from the group. Loners, like you were. You lure your victims in by leading them through the hotel, befriending them and getting them to confide in you. That moment of vulnerability is when you kill. You relish the look of betrayal in their eyes. It soothes you, in a way, betraying others like you were betrayed many years ago. Forging relationships, breaking them, that’s the way it’s been for you always. This time, though, it’s different. You’ve become friends with the Mortal. You’re not sure what to do now.
[Your relations may include: An unsuspecting guest who’s starting to grow on you]
Title: The Veteran
Status: Mortal
Blurb: [CW: Death of a sibling] You’ve been around the block a few times. You’ve fought in wars and negotiated peace. You’ve both caused grief and experienced it. You know the balance of things, how precarious it can be, how satisfying it can be to upend and how much suffering comes from putting things back in their places. You’ve done your duty, and you’re happy with it. Mostly, anyway. One thing you never managed to sort out: over twenty years ago, your sister vanished, and now, you just might have found the culprit. You will make certain that person sees justice, no matter the cost.
[Your relations may include: An old colleague]
Title: The Wanderer
Status: Mortal
Blurb: You’re really only calm in the woods but, you’d do anything to help your friend. It feels weird to call them your ex because you never stopped being friends and grew even closer after you’d broken up, during their murder accusation and trial. You haven’t seen them in decades but the experience stuck with you. You hike long trails, surviving off of what you carry on your back for weeks at a time. It connects you with your spirituality, and you love to share that with other people. Generosity, that’s what informs everything you do. So, when you got the call, you came to this hotel; Not because you want to, but because you’d do anything to support those who need it.
[Your relations may include: the one person who you can lean on]
Title: The Youngblood
Status: Mortal
Blurb: Old money is good, but new money is better. You know that better than anyone. You were brought up in private schools, surrounded by snooty brats who expected everything to be handed to them. Your parents worked their way up from nothing, and you intend to do the same. Unlike the rich brats, you have drive and ambition. You revel in seeing the look of shock and dismay on their faces when something is put beyond their reach. When you heard your old classmate was looking to buy a hotel, you couldn’t resist the urge to snatch it away.
[Your relations may include: The other side of the coin]
S.T.A.Y. 