Lovers, fast cars, and untimely deaths.

“Yeah, I know the story of that road; a friend of a friend of mine told me about it. Back in the days, highschool was just like highschool today. Jocks got the girls, and sometimes one of ’em went too far before the girl was ready. And sometimes, just like in the movies, the nice guy came along, picked up the girl in his crummy used car, and brought her back home after the horrendous experience she went through. That earns him a kiss on the cheek, and he goes back home the happiest man alive, hoping once again, after all seemed lost, that he might just have a date to bring to the senior prom.

The jock in question, though, was unusually jealous. He saw his girl climbing in another man’s car through the window of his bedroom, and decided to follow his rival. And once the girl got off the car and got in her house, the fight was on. The jock smashed the pedal to the metal, and BAM! There was an horrible car crash, body parts everywhere. And to this day, he haunts the road.

Huh? What do you mean, “who he?” How the hell should I know if it’s the jock or the nerd who got to hang around here for eternity!? Now shut the hell up, I see lights ahead! Gimme your cellphone, I gotta film this! YouTube baby, here we come!“

Legends abound relating to ghostly vehicles haunting the roads of North America. The story changes, the vehicule changes, but some elements remain the same. Always, it’s about lovers. And every single time, the car crash happens because some issue threatening to come in-between the lovers can only be resolved through high-speed driving.

The reason why almost all Ghost Car legends involve teenagers is fairly simple : at this precarious age, you’re more likely to be in love with love itself than with a specific someone. For that reason, whenever a teenager dies because he’s chasing after love, there’s a good chance he’ll turn into a revenant. After all, it’s sort of hard to admit to yourself that dying will get in your way when what you’re really in love with is the feeling itself.

In the case of our high octane story of love and tragedy, however, things get even weirder. When a tool becomes essential to attaining your obsession, that tool becomes a part of you. For this reason, when speed is the only thing that can help you be with the love of your life, your soul becomes intertwined with your vehicle – just for a little while. Of course, if you die while this is going on, you’re screwed big time.

“Okay, where am I, here? Oh, the road. Good. I think I belong there. Hm, where to? Come on, think! What was I doing, before? I’m lonely. Oh, that’s right! My lover… I was going to see my lover. She was just so cute, what with her lovely… err… that’s odd. What was she like again? I… I don’t remember! Oh well, plenty of fishes in the sea, right?

Woah! Talk about timing! Damn! Would you look at her?! Those rims, those cute rear lights. She is fine! I better honk at her! Crap, looks like she’s not noticing me. She’s way too cute for me to let her pass by just like that, though. It’s fate! A sweet body like that, there’s no way this one isn’t my true love!

I’d better go after her and get her to stop…“

The Ghost Car is the soul of a dead person who was so intertwined with his vehicle at the moment of his death that he now haunts the road in the guise of that very vehicle. This revenant doesn’t remember being a man, nor a car. From as long as he can remember, he has always been a car-person. Worse yet, the Ghost Car is unable to even grasp the concept of a regular car, or of a person. Worser still, the revenant is lonely and obsessed with love itself, ready to chase the tail of the first cute model that comes along.

When you encounter a Ghost Car, the first thing you should feel is pride, because it means that your wheels are bitchin’ enough to be love-worthy. Then, you should feel very scared, because that revenant will stop at nothing for romance. It expects your car to flirt with it, or even rock the casbah. Of course, there’s no such thing as car love and car sex, so it’s not technically possible. Still, in its own twisted logic, the Ghost Car feels it should be.

In other words, it’ll try to relate with your own car. It’ll speed either ahead of you or behind you, and maybe execute a few impressive manoeuvers for your enjoyment. If you’re lucky, it’s a tame one and it’ll stop at that. If you’re not, it’ll either try to get you to stop, or try to hug you because the way you turned slightly to the right was interpreted as a signal that you’re totally into its hot gears. Either way, the result is the same – it’ll head for you at top speed, and then…

… and then, nothing. The Ghost Car is immaterial, after all. It’ll just pass right through you, and disappear. It doesn’t mean you’re safe, though. The manoeuvre you did to try and avoid the imminent crash probably made you lose control of your vehicle. Or maybe you’re the one who just lost it, your self-control blown to bits by the sudden stress due to the violence of being wilfully rammed into or the fact that the approaching car just ain’t there anymore. And if that’s not enough, maybe the minor unnatural phenomenon or two occuring at the moment of the crash will do you in. When you’re driving at top speed, sudden frost appearing in your windshield or a tire puncturing can be a serious hazard. In any case, just because the Ghost Car doesn’t physically ram into you, it doesn’t mean it’s harmless. Far from it.

You can expect 3 to 5 minor unnatural phenomena per day to happen around the Ghost Car. Even though it doesn’t control them, they tend to happen when its active, which is to say chasing after sweet sweet engine lovin’. What this revenant does have control over, however, is when it manifests itself. Apart from the fact that it’s immaterial, a Ghost Car that manifests itself looks just like a real one. It usually does so at night, when there’s only one or two cars around. Intimacy is important, after all. When it does not manifest itself, some people can still spot it parked idly on the side of the road by rolling a Soul check under their stat but over 60. If they approach it, it will most likely start its engine and vanish into the distance. Whether or not those people noticed that there wasn’t any driver inside depends purely on a Notice check, provided they do see the car.

Revenant : Ghost Car (Significant)
High Octane Haunt
Points : 40 + (1d100)
Body : 0
Speed : 40-90
Mind : 10-20
Soul : 20-70

Special skill : Deathproof Driving: The Ghost Car has a Drive skill equal to its Speed stat. As the only thing it fears is missing a chance for romance, however, it is only required to roll when the result affects its direct chances of coming in contact with a car it has taken a fancy to. In other words, it can do complex manoevres without having to roll, but if the outcomes makes it more or less likely that it’ll get to ram the car that caught its interest (i.e.: once the car chase rules come out), it’s time to roll some dice.