The wind howled through the desolate halls of Ravenwood Manor, the mournful cry weaving through the decaying tapestries and shattered windows. The Manor had stood silent for decades, its grand halls once filled with the laughter of the noble Lovelace family, not echoing only whispers from the past. But, beneath the layers of dust and the weight of time, there was a presence--a restless memory bound to the crumbling estate. Lady Coraline Lovelace, draped in the tattered remains of her evening gown, glided through the manor's shadowed passageways, her translucent form a mere wisp in the darkness, She had been dead for nearly a century, yet her sorrow-bound spirit remained, tied to the cold stone walls and haunted by terrible memories.
In life, Lady Coraline had been the heart of the manor, the love for her children, a beacon that shone through the gloom of the Ravenwood hills. Sadly, one tragic winter night, her youngest son had vanished, lured into the surrounding forest by something...unseen, something evil. Desperate and broken, Coraline had scoured the woods, calling for her son until her voice was raw, but Eamon never returned. The search ended with a body being found at the manor's gate, though she refused to accept it was her young child. As the years past Coraline would find death was not her end, her spirit lingering, tormented by the unanswered question that gnawed at her very essence: where was her son?
Each night, as the moon casts its pale light upon the manor, Coraline's ghost would awaken, her spectral form moving through the house as if guided by some unseen force. Drifting from room to room, her empty eyes scanning the shadows, her voice a frail whisper as she calls out for Eamon. But, the halls are empty, her cries only ever met with silence. The Lovelace family faded after her, new families moved in but as quickly as the came they left the haunted halls. They spoke of a ghostly figure seen at the edge of the forest, forever searching, forever restless. And so, Lady Coraline remained, bound by a mother's undying love, searching for her son, searching for answers...
Forever searching.
Overview
Ghosts!
We have all heard scary stories we tell each other as children, stories of haunted houses, cursed graveyards, belltowers where the restless dead watch over us with envy. Ok maybe that last one was just the Elementary School I went to as a child, but the point is we have all been told tales to the recently departed lingering among us to finish what they couldn’t in life. That, in a nutshell, is how ghosts are portrayed in D&D.
The dearly departed cling to the material plane to ensure a task is completed or sometimes, complete it themselves. This unfinished business is truly up to you, however simple or complicated it may be depends on how much time you want your party to invest into it. Let this singular focus be the only way to guarantee that the Ghost remains at rest. If the party decides its better to be Ghostbusters than to be more like Demi Moore in Ghost—hell your Ghost can be a shirtless hunk too, I wouldn’t complain1— have the Ghost come back after a few days.
As your PCs get close to the Ghost, describe the emotions they feel, which are extensions of the Ghost itself. You can take a look at “real” Ghost encounters for inspiration for when a player encounters where the Ghost haunts. Some of my personal favorites are: faint whispered voices, cold spots in rooms, doors slamming shut, or carried objects appearing on a table behind the PC as they search a room. These effects of the Ghost’s haunting are not controlled by the Ghost, they may be involved but any act the Ghost takes is involuntary and just an manifestation of their powerful emotions.
Stats
Let take a look at what out beastie can do.
Ghosts have a low armor class and one of the lowest Hit Point totals in CR 4, however the Ghost isn’t meant to be tanky. It’s power comes from the ability’s the ghost has and their resistances.
Speaking of, Damage resistance to Acid, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, and non-magical BSP. Two of the most common damage types only deal half damage to Ghosts, and for the level the players will more than likely be at, it is safe to act like the Ghost’s Hit Point total is actually 90.2
Next, Damage immunity from Cold, Necrotic, and Poison. Resistance to some of the most common damage types is already bad, but tack on Immunity to two of the more powerful low level spells and the players may have a problem on their hands.
The standard condition immunities for the undead, really, nothing special here.
Ethereal Sight. This is an interesting ability, though it hits better as an ability for a PC if I’m being completely honest. It is beneficial that Ghosts can see into the Material plane while in the Ethereal (and visa versa) but, it really is only a way for DMs to explain how the Ghost can position itself while in the Ethereal plane, and Etherealness should only be used in dire situations or to be spooky.
Incorporeal Movement. This should be used every turn if possible, break sight lines make the players chase your ghost, hide in a place they cannot reach the go ethereal and reposition.
Withering Touch. This packs such a wallop, dealing 4-27 damage is wild. That will be leath to most characters at this point in their game, use it very carefully, I would recommend only using it frequently if you have players who are 4th level or higher.
Etherealness. The ability to no longer be targetable without the caveats that come with invisibility is big, yes it will take a turn to get out of the Ethereal Plane, but the quick turn (especially if the Ghost is hidden) may place a bit of terror in your players.
Horrifying Visage. Aging a character is such a horrifically way of dealing damage to a character. Now of course age doesn’t deal actual damage to the character, but watching a person go from 20 years old to 45 in mere seconds will scar the surrounding characters. For the longer living characters, your elves and dwarves, it is fair to have the multiplier be 25 to 50.
Possession. This, this should be your bread and butter when running a ghost. Possession is such a unique encounter ability, how often in D&D do you get to have your players fight one another3 and pull their punches. At earlier levels you can almost guarantee it will take hold, and when (not if, when) it happens you get to have any sort of fun you want. A personal favorite of mine is to end combat and have the possessed character go into a full sprint past the party to areas unknown, now begins the chase sequence. This could also be an opportunity for the ghost to voice its needs and desires to the party which could in turn help it pass on. Or you could just fight it out, that is always fun too.
A final note on possession, the Ghost is not targetable while they possess someone. However, turn undead will still effect them and casting out of the body they are inhabiting, and Dispel Evil and Good specifically calls out that it can end the effects of a possession.
Combat Encounter
Ghost encounters tend to be short, either the party turns the Ghost or the Ghost is killed before it can do anything significant. This is my experience if I let the party decide when and where they choose to confront the Ghost, so don’t let them choose. Your Ghost is singularly minded, they shouldn’t be easily pulled away from their unfinished business. If your party is brave and decides to attempt to talk to the Ghost, it can either ignore them entirely or be curt if they are not attempting to help it resolve their business, Let the Ghost dictate the terms of everything. Afterall what are the PCs gonna do kill it so it can come back later?
If your party is hell bent on fighting the Ghost, let them. However, maybe your Ghost doesn’t want to fight, maybe your Ghost really wants to finish their business. Well in that case there are some perfectly good people here that could definitely help your Ghost finish their business, all the Ghost needs to do is take control. It’s possession time baby!
This is really the best way to fight most encounters, yes you can try to fight fairly and use Horrifying Visage or Withering Touch but then it becomes a Hit Point grind, and there are plenty of creatures you can run that work better that way. Instead, Possess someone, THEN, use those other actions. You can lean into body horror if you want with the descriptions in the actions, the PC’s face contorting as they use Horrifying Visage or their body seemingly breaking itself to do so, have fun with it. And so that the player who has a possessed character isn’t out of the game take the time for them to be able to talk to the Ghost possessing them, or let them see the fading memories of the Ghosts life, this may spurn them towards helping the ghost.
Final Thoughts
The Ghost can be an excellent story piece for the campaign you are running. Their unfinished business can be wholly related to the story or a side quest that allows the players to level up as they work closer to their goals. Given the stats of the Ghost, I tend to treat them more as an NPC than a creature the party will fight, sometimes the Ghost is as corporeal as the rest of the party but just seems distant and forgetful, while being very singularly minded.
P.S.
This journal is going to be updated on Saturdays going forward, this is just to give me a little extra time to write throughout the week. It will, however, still be updated every other week as I said in the update post.
Ditto was such an hilariously bad send off.
Which effectively puts it in the top 20% of Hit Point totals for CR 4
I disallow PvP at my table unless both players agree before hand and plan out what the fight will be about and what possible outcomes might be.