Monster of the Month - Ghosts
So you've got a ghost. Its doing its haunting thing, causing a ruckus. You know just normal chill undead floaty ghost stuff. But those silly mortals are all terrified so they offer an award to whoever can deal with the situation. Enter in the adventuring party.
But we have a problem - spirits are great for your low level players BEFORE they get magic weapons. They are dangerous and a challenge and have that certain zing only a incorporeal can have. However enter the after of the players receiving their first magic weapons and the spirit might as well be a fart on the wind. Now in my opinion this is a disservice to the incorporeal, but fixable. I mean why else would I be writing a blog post, am I right my fellow non-ghost humanoids?
As before lets talk about the incorporeal that already exist in our beloved D&D 5e. Its important to see what stat block exists, what flavorings there are, and get an idea of realms covered but maybe previously glossed over. Just a quick list we have:
You could very well stop here and just use the incorporeal given to you by the books. All you would really need to do to freshen things up is minor tweaks like changing the size category, adding special attacks or spells, having creative team ups, and possibly overlaying the monster stat blocks over another creature's block for an extra zing. These are all very easy to do but would add alot more depth to the spiritual encounters that could happen in your game. To really throw your players for a loop you can even have an incorporeal switch out their stat block for another's. But as always I also encourage you to not to be afraid of the homebrew, release that pent up creativity.
Lets start with the basic for our homebrewing, more then one type of spirit. *mind blown* Brilliant right? No one else has ever- sorry I can't even be serious and finish that sentence because sarcasm doesn't do so well in text and I don't want my comment section to exploded. I get it 5e already has alot, just look at the list above. But they all feel very one toned to me. Looking to other cultures, to lore we can find so much stuff to have some fun with. Like not even joking ya'll. So. Much. Fun. Well, for the DMs anyways I've had some fist shaking from the occasional player before.
I've handled upping the anty with spirits a few different ways throughout my years of DMing. *cue smoking a pipe in a rocking chair* See the problem lies in the scope of what we think of when we think of the spirits. We think floating ghost, maybe a wraith. But literally spend two seconds in any other entertainment medium involving ghosts or hauntings and boy does your world open the heck up. Now being the hard core nerd that I am, I've taken the extra step of reading things like the Greater and Lesser Keys of Solomon and various other texts so you don't have to. I've also pulled from waaaaaaaaay too many shows, movies, lore, etc and gathered for you so of the best juicy bits as a DM.
For these purposes we will do what we did for the spiders and then I'll update when the stat blocks are available online. I have below for you a selection of some of my favorite homebrew spirits I've used throughout my time. So lets get to it!
Encounter 1 - Your Ideas Haunt You
(Tanmeaclu)
A city on the verge of spiraling into chaos as their paranoia grow. It is said a demonic spirit is killing people and drinking their blood. That they come for only the most pure to corrupt them and kill them in the act. It is said that the spirit grows stronger with each killing as they drink in their victims life force. That the spirit becomes a little more solid and closer to entering in fully to this side. The first night there a scream draws the players to a dark secluded alley just in time to see the spirit finish with their victim and disappear. When the party looks into it they find out that a local printing press has been doing a monthly printing of ghost stories and that one of their last publications contained a story of such a ghost. The printer admits it when questions but says its all made up, something his son dreamt up and that there isn't even any lore to go with it. Its purely imagination with no actual ties to anything. But a killing that happened the night after that publication went out was attributed to the spirit from the story as its description fit it perfect and hysteria grew. Could the city's hysteria and belief in the spirit actually be creating one?
Encounter 2 - Beware the Side Effects
(Vyctobol, Myardos)
The mayor's family seems to be cursed as of late. His son died in early spring and his wife in the summer. The daughter Josephine has been seeming weaker as of late and the village fears she will die before the end of winter. Many have been whispering that maybe the mayor offed them himself, he really hasn't been acting right. Tantrums, out of character acts of rage, and then pretending not to remember any of it. Its like its not even really the mayor. The fruit vendor on the corner said he once saw two mayors: one seemed to be stumbling about as if drunk while the other solidly walloped on a beggar in his way. Snooping around you find out that the family's woes happened after they received a mysterious trunk from a supposed dead relative, the postmaster marked it as strange since it came with messaged instructions saying strictly not to open it. But who listens to warnings like that? It was a real disappointment anyways since from what Josephine as said at market it was just full of clothes, a wooden box with a hand mirror, and a necklace.
Encounter 3 - Help From Beyond
(Spiritual Protector, The Path Finder)
Your party is lost in the caves being chased by something that you can't see. But you hear it, its breathing hard behind you as it seems to gain ground with each turn of the tunnel. Suddenly you scramble as you run into the back of a party members and looking around them you see you've hit a dead end. The beast that skids around the corner is snarling, saliva pooling from its mouth as razor teeth keep it from fully closing. It rears back as flashes of deadly claws catch the party's torchlight. As it charges you think you and your friends are dead but then you hear a thud and look up. There standing before you is the visage of a knight decked out in regalia and gear, but they are strange. They look like the knights from books your mother read to you as a child. You can see through them and their feet don't seem to be touching the ground even as they are pushed back by the creature ramming into them a second time. A cold chill shoots through your body and buries deep in your bone as you look down to follow its source and see a bent over old lady tugging at your arm to follow her. She seems like a beggared or an outcast, but strangely strong as she tugs at your arm again before moving to another party member and doing the same. A loud crashing sound from the beast's battle shocks your group into motion and you follow her towards the dead end, you are about to say something when she turns at the very last second and seems to disappear. It seems you have been lead to a very tight well hidden tunnel your party can just barely squeeze through in single file, one that would be better suited for a badly nourished old lady. She is no where to be found when you all tumble out on the other side but the howling of the beast's frustrations reverberate behind you. It isn't done hunting you but you've escaped for now. But how? Who where they?
Encounter 4 - The Infestation
(Poltergeist)
When a place is so purely a person's sometimes in death their soul can become fused with the place in such a way that they are now a living location. Pouring bits of their soul into it during life through building, restoration, care, etc they tie bits of themselves forever to that location. The longer they are there the more deeply their soul soaks into the location. A poltergeist is then created. These are not always malevolent in nature but trying to change or destroy their location will cause them to go into a frenzy rage. The tower of Hyenda is one such location where the poltergeist and residents live in harmony. It was built on order of the ruler but its creation, care, and upkeep were overseen by Madame De Reparti who spent great care in every aspect of it. She herself would often sit in different spots through the tower sketching out ideas or just lovingly roaming in it during her free time. Most of her days were spent in it as she was also charged with overseeing the towers defenders as they provided an early warning system for the ruler. Now Madame De Reparti protects the new defenders in the tower and fights viciously against any attackers that happen to make it inside. The tower is the last thing in the way from an easy victory for the opposing nation.
Encounter 5 - Scary Things in the Dark
(Minyak)
Sometimes that chilling feeling of being watched isn't a lie. Your body knows when its being hunted, your eyes see flickers of movement in their corners. You could almost feel the breath of something behind you on your neck. But there isn't anything there. They stalk you in your own shadow, watching and waiting. It could be decades before they decide to attack or mere hours. No one is really sure how they choose their victims. Once their prey is dead they must find another quickly. There form without a shadow to hide in is extremely tall and lanky, it seems almost like a black oily substance. No face is visible more their hands do have long then fingers with what looks to be the curl of claws at the end. For new prey their favorite thing is children, sometimes being so excited as to goggle them up right away. They roam looking for a home with a child that has forgotten to lock its windows and doors. Slinking in soundless to loom over its victim in the middle of the night till a bit of light can create a shadow of its victim for it to merge into. Stories say that those with one of these monsters living in their shadow live strange and cursed lives.
Encounter 6 - Doggone Days
(Grim)
Tales say that the first body buried in a place of rest is tied to that land. They can not leave it and must instead protect it, those buried there, and guide their souls to the other side. This strange limbo isn't a fate any would wish upon their loved ones so instead the most beloved animal that dies first in a new village instead is the first buried. A strangely shifting black cat sitting on a headstone with bright yellow eyes. A black dog pacing the fence line. A swirling black cow lazily grazing between graves. We can't see them unless death is upon us or we are ourselves dead, to feel its cold touch is to see more around you. But they are always there and are often the first victims in a Necromancer's attempt at a reign of tyranny.
Now this is just a small selection for the many crazy things you can homebrew for your games. I can't express enough how big of a homebrew fan I am. We don't exist in a bubble ya'll any other entertainment media, lore, and more is up for grabs for inspiration. But I have a little surprise for you my dear and lovely readers, a ghostly bonus if you will. I also like to have a special set of rules for what I'd call.... 'hauntings'. Something tied very closely to a location or an object that ramps up to a showdown throwdown.
Over the years I have piece mealed many a thing for this group of fun houses of doom and gloom encounters. These have come from, but aren't limited to because my memory just sucks so I apologize to any I forget - Dael Kingsmill, Matt Colville, WebDM, Angry GM, and probably more that my feeble brain has lost the grasp of. Again apologies.
The Haunting hour now upon us lets think about what a location haunting means, what that would look like, what the effects that would be, and what the reaction from it would be. You know me I like a building approach to almost all things. So what is a location haunting?
Well through the lens of an encounter or other media we want to have the haunting increase in intensity the longer the player is there. We want to increase that tension, instill some fear, and rattle the nerves of our players. Its what any good ghost would do to us so we are just fictionally paying if forward. Here are my steps to a good haunting.
4 Hours till the Witching Hour
A great way to start things off is with that feeling that something isn't quite right. Movement out of the corner of a players eye, a sudden cold chill, objects moved when not observed. Don't be afraid to use some tried and true tropes here to help signal your players without being heavy handed. A spot of intense cold in the room is something anyone exposed to any show about ghost hunting knows. Thinking you see someone at the window in billowing cloak but when the others look its just a stuck curtain billowing. Keep it small, keep it infrequent. Give the players just enough time to forget the last thing that happened and then trigger something else. If you can get one or more of them alone for the event to only happen to them then all the better. They'll start recalling the other incidents and piecing them together.
3 Hours till the Witching Hour
Time to up the paranoia. Let the players start catching the objects actually moving. Give one of the players with the highest passive perception the sound of indistinguishable whispers. Have the group as a whole see something together that freaks them out. I like to make this specific to my group depending on the character's AND the player's fears. *cue maniacal laughter* If a player hates clowns let them hear the cackle of a creepy ass clown the others don't. Should they fear spiders (because of the last MotM post I'm partial to this one) then have ghostly ones suddenly be climbing up them in swarms and as they freak out and try to get them off the others see nothing. When the group finally gets through to the poor player they look and there are no spiders. For a group of them see the study's furniture float up into the air and dance around. These should be more frequent then before, a little more obvious but not life threatening.
2 Hours till the Witching Hour
One of my personal favorite parts to describe - the house warping. Think of the place your ghost(s) haunts as being closely linked to them. It is and isn't a solid place. The rules of space, of normalcy don't always work here when the ghost(s) are in full force. Hallways stretch out. Doors lead no where, or back in on themselves. What was downstairs is upstairs. Maybe that nice bed you were sleeping on is suddenly you sleeping on the kitchen table. Get as Escherian as you want with this. Literally my favorite part! Also add in a low dose of lethal danger with the normal hauntings on that you've been increasing. A classic is the flying kitchen knives with a chance of either hitting the player for damage, I'm a personal fan of it having a possibility of adding an injury as well, or barely missing them to embed into the wall. You could also have the floor or stairs drop out from under them for fall damage.
1 Hours till the Witching Hour
Things are really starting to get weird now. The whole house is changing into a dark, creepy, extreme version of itself. Its warped, its grotesque, and its dangerous. At this point the players should really be freaking out and ready to leave. But should they try they'll find out its too late. In fact once it gets to '2 Hours till the Witching Hour' the haunted place has looped in on itself to trap its victims. The DC for getting out at this point would be at ridiculous levels. They start seeing alot more glimpses of the ghost(s), quick and short. Some of my favorite jump tactics is having the ghost appear in a mirror behind them but when they whirl around they aren't there. Or having a player spot it just behind another one reaching for them before disappearing. Do what you need to but you want your players and their characters to be panicking and freaking out at this point. And don't forget - up the lethality again. Have bits of the house knock them about, have it actually actively try to kill them. As the hour wears on have it also start herding them to a particular spot, this spot will be where your witching hour occurs.
The Witching Hour
Now your ghost(s) is full manifested in their lair. That's right THEIR LAIR. Oh~ boy~ are you about to have some fun. I like to make my ghosts with personality, with hard hitting powers, and I like them to utterly terrify my players. IRL if you were at this point in a hauting you would be effed in the B AF. But you are a group of adventurers, people with powers above the normal everyday citizen. When you make your ghost for this point of things I encourage you to review your player's characters and their abilities. I also encourage you to think about how your players like to play those characters by thinking back on previous encounters. Use all of that knowledge and turn this MF group on its head. If you know they are all just going to spell sling away then give her buffs, resistances, and immunities that force them to confront the ghost. If they like to get in its face then make her shifty and hard to pin down, give your ghost friend devastating distance attacks. Give the ghost some serious teeth and make the players claw their way through it.
For my particular flavor of hauntings 'killing' the ghost in a fight isn't enough. That only helps for 1d4 +1 days before they are back. 'Killing' them gives the group enough time to figure out why the ghost is stuck there in the first place, to resolve their unresolved issue. Something happened on this spot that fused a soul and a place together. It could be a gruesome murder, it could be a dark secret they died for (by their hand or anothers), or it could even be an uncompleted task. The reason I like my ghosts having a personality and this background knowledge of who they were in my head is because of this house rule. A young mother whose child was taken from her because of father didn't want society to know what his shameful daughter had done, who then starved to death in her room. That ghost might want the child to have a locket of hers, or maybe to know the child's name. Someone murdered and buried in secret might want what happened to them known and have their body returned to their family for proper burial, or if the murder is still alive to have them brought to justice. Should the ghost be the murder they could just be mad and want to continue on with their killing spree....well what they need to complete their unfinished business the party might not like.
Which brings me to my next topic - hauntings tied to an object. Even with site hauntings I tend to have one thing that the ghost is more closely linked to then the other. It gives me room for the odd thing when the party tries to do weird things like locate spells or wanting to talk to the spirit. Should a spirit also get out of control its the heart of their tie to this realm, cutting it starts to unravel things. It cuts their power but doesn't cut the presence. As a fun bonus if you choose to have your haunting tied JUST to an object you can make the encounter happen in whatever environment that object happens to be in. You could even make it extra alluring to your players. I am personally a of fan of hiding it in things like maybe a stained glass that someone loving finds and restores to add to their new house. A gold door knocker found at a market day sale. An extra shiny ring in a store where your players are shopping.
Alt Rule Set
If you should think all of this may be more difficult on your players then you'd like I do have an alternate rule set to the unfinished business one that I swap out with it. Its a cleansing ritual that has to be preformed in the location or with the object AFTER THE SPIRIT HAS BEEN DEFEATED. My reasoning for having to defeat the spirit first is that is when its at its weakest and most venerable so its ties to this realm or at their most tenuous. To complete the ritual requires some special ingredients (which as you probably know by now I have a whole system for unique plants and things players can gather for monsters that can be used in the world I'll probably post that at some point, if it interests you just let me know in the comments down below), an incantation that needs some customization and at least two people capable of casting spells at 5th level.
Typically the ingredients in mine include: dirt of a fresh grave, holy water, burned leaves of the sinquoi, ground rot grub, a crushed jewel (100 GP) and the 'heart of the spirit' (this being either the place in the location where she is most closely tied to or the object). For the incantation the players need to know the spirits name and what happened to them and add it to:
"Child of earth now of spirit, *name* we call out to you. We hear your lament and know your pain. *what happened to them* These things are not forgotten by those who remain. *name*! We take on the burden of this remembering and release you from this place unburdened. Go now home to the great beyond and rest in peace."
When the incantation is completed the two people capable of casting spells at 5th level release those 5th level spells and the spirit must make a spell save against them. If the group has done really well in the ritual portion or has done something extra like try and reach out to the ghost before to find answers, you can give the spirit disadvantage on the save. I like to do this especially if RP wise it would make sense that the spirit is now at peace where it wasn't before.
For funsies you can also add in a skill challenge to the ritual part of things before the spells are cast to help determine what happens. Typically I would suggest a 5 success / 3 fail skill challenge but feel free to make it as hard as you like. Based off of the skill challenge you can set what you want the bonus to the spirit to be when making the spell save. You could also give the ritual a chance of failure in which case I would suggest looking into creating a twisted monster being from the now overly corrupted spirit. But you know, only torture your players as much as you know they can handle.
Now for the part that I love the most, getting my player to buy in so much that these hauntings and incorporeal scare the ever loving bejeebus out of them. If you are really going to do hauntings, the ghosties and scaring your players your world needs to be in it. There would be people who study these things. Books, texts, journals all logging different types and encounters. Some knowledge would be common place like a mixture of saltpeter and dried hawkweed (something that ties in to how my players can bring a character back from the dead which is another post). Others harder to get, like dismissing the spirit permanently, and others even harder to verify without trying them. There might be religious groups who becry the very lie that spirits roam the earth. Or maybe there are those who vehemently protect them claiming they have the right to be here. Weave it through your world its religion, its social interactions, its entertainment, its literature, its history, etc. Have fun with it~.
Your encounters, your monsters they don't live in a bubble separated from your world. They live in it and therefore affect it. Just like the world affects your monsters to shape your unique brand of encounters. If it doesn't feel right adjust it as needed. All you have to do is be upfront about that to your players. A quick "hey this feels off and wrong to me so I'm going to change it to this from this point forward". Just you know, maybe don't do it in a way that nerfs someones attack mid-combat.
With that little rambling over with, I’m JustKay your regular DM Dalliance on the web and I’ll see you next post.
UPDATE! - You can find 'Dalliance's Monster Compendium - Ghosts' on the DMs Guild now.