Campfire Stories: Forever

By
GideonWhitlock

Human-written campfire horror for WoW: Forever. Tell classic ghost stories one line at a time, with a small window and your own story library.

Campfire Stories: Forever by Gideon brings 20 human-written ghost stories and dark folk tales to WoW: Forever. Gather around a fire, choose a tale and tell it one line at a time.

Human-written stories, with real sources

These are human-written stories, not ChatGPT-written or AI-generated tales. The old generated collection has been removed. The replacement collection comes from public-domain books by collectors and translators including Joseph Jacobs, Lady Wilde, William Henderson, Robert Hunt, W. R. S. Ralston and the Brothers Grimm in Margaret Hunt's translation.

The original story prose and endings are retained. Some real-world place names have been changed to geographically suitable in-game areas: the sea storm in Sarah Polgrain still happens off the coast, at Westfall's Longshore. Formatting is adjusted for chat, and print footnote numbers are omitted. Full credits, source links and every substitution are included in STORY_SOURCES.txt.

These are historical folklore and fiction for roleplay, not official Warcraft lore or claims of real events. Older expressions remain in the original wording.

Twenty tales for the fire

From stolen graves and midnight visitors to witchcraft and the restless dead. Each complete telling contains 261–955 words, split into 8–29 chat messages. Start story sends a short opening emote; Next line begins the original story. The familiar roleplay action is separate from the sourced narrative. No spoken introduction is added.

The collection includes The Golden Arm, The Hand of Glory, The Dead Mother, Frau Trude, The Coffin-Lid, Sarah Polgrain, The Headless Princess, The Warlock, The Shroud, The Two Corpses, Mr. Miacca, The Master and His Pupil, The Rose-Tree, The Death Sign, The Dead Hand, The Dead Soldier, The Lady Witch, The Fairy Changeling, The Dance of the Dead and The Demon Cat.

Choose a story. Start telling.

Pick a title or click Pick for me. Read the preview, press Start story, then use Next line for each following message. Reset story sits beside it. Story lines always need your click; they never advance automatically.

Use Small window for a compact, movable telling panel. Return to Library without losing your place. Random choices follow your current search and library, avoiding repeats until those matches run out.

Nearby players see the opening through /emote and hear the story through /say, or choose Your party only for a normal invited party. The preview shows exactly what comes next and who will hear it. Pacing and extra controls stay under More options and Settings.

Private source replies

If someone in your audience chat mentions AI, ChatGPT or similar terms after you have manually sent a line of an included story, the addon can whisper that speaker alone with the human source credit and the addon link. It never broadcasts a reply.

This setting is on by default and can be switched off in Settings → Source replies. It watches only the chat audience you selected (/say or party), never General/Trade or incoming whispers. Replies stop when paused, finished, closed or idle for 90 seconds, and do not run for personal stories. There is at most one reply per person per login, three people per telling, with spacing between replies. Chat restrictions are respected; blocked attempts are not retried. The detector matches words and phrases, not the speaker's intent.

Your own story library

Write, edit, rename and delete personal stories; copy an included tale; import/export text; and keep an external library backup. Player-written custom openings remain optional. Personal stories and settings are preserved during this update.

Old included tales are removed from active and recovery snapshots so Reset cannot bring them back. Player-made copies in your personal library remain under your control. Left-click the round minimap button to open the addon, right-click for settings, or type /campfire ui.

Campfire-and-book artwork

Version 3.0.3 introduces a bright campfire-and-open-book icon designed to remain recognisable in CurseForge search results, the AddOns list and at minimap size. It is an original AI-assisted illustration created for this addon, with no copied Warcraft artwork, text or logos. Earlier 3.0.0–3.0.2 artwork used Winslow Homer's public-domain painting Camp Fire (1880); full provenance is preserved in ARTWORK.txt.

Compatibility and testing

WoW: Forever 1.60.1, Interface 16001. Release 3.0.3. All 2,899 simulated Lua 5.1 checks passed again, together with exact source-wording checks and five deliberate corruption cases. Earlier live checks confirmed the compact interface, Next line, Reset story, a full telling and a personal story surviving /reload. This release changes artwork only; the new minimap texture passed image and package checks but has not yet received a native-client visual check. The restored opening emotes, replacement collection and automatic whisper feature also lack complete current-client live coverage; delivery still depends on the client's chat restrictions. Full-restart persistence and CurseForge app installation remain unverified.

An earlier Error 109 client freeze remains undiagnosed; this artwork update does not claim to fix it. Distribution uses the normal Release channel, without an alpha/beta suffix. Version 3.0.3 becomes available after its CurseForge file is approved.

Credits and support

Report problems in the enabled project comments with the addon version, client build, steps and exact error. Keep account details and private libraries out of public reports.

Code: MIT. Historical story texts and the earlier Winslow Homer source artwork: public domain, with their original creators credited. The current AI-assisted icon is included under the existing artwork grant to the extent applicable rights exist. See LICENCE.txt, STORY_SOURCES.txt and ARTWORK.txt. The restored opening actions retain their existing CC BY 4.0 licence and are separate from the historical stories. Your personal writing is not automatically licensed or shared. Addon development, icon creation and editorial/formatting work used AI assistance; the story prose remains human-written and source-verified.

No extra addon, companion service, adverts, telemetry or remote AI service is required. World of Warcraft and associated trademarks belong to their respective owners; no Blizzard endorsement is implied.

Support and source

Found a problem? Please include the Campfire Stories: Forever version, your WoW: Forever version and build, clear reproduction steps, the expected and actual result, relevant addons, and any exact error after removing personal information.

Report an issue · Source · Changelog