The darkness is made all the more disturbing by the feeling that someone… or something… is just out of sight, watching you. If you listen carefully, you can almost hear them whispering to you.
Basic Information
A ghost is the disembodied spirit or soul of a deceased person. Traditionally, a ghost appears if the person's death was especially violent (possibly a suicide or murder), or if the deceased had unfinished business to attend to.
Many different powers are attributed to ghosts, and these powers vary not only from culture to culture but from ghost to ghost. Some may manifest physically and be indistinguishable from a living person for a time, while others can interact with the mortal world only when summoned or questioned via a medium or a séance.
Ghosts may be vengeful, violent, and dangerous, or they may be helpful and sympathetic. They may even be mindless 'echoes' of their mortal life, doing nothing except repeating or replaying scenes from their life.
See Also
- Aufhocker
- Bedsheet Ghost
- Beware Of Hitchhiking Ghosts
- Cute Ghost Girl
- Ghost Amnesia
- Ghost Butler
- Ghost City
- Ghost Extras
- Ghost In The Machine
- Ghost Lights
- Ghostly Chill
- Ghostly Goals
- Ghost Memory
- Ghost Planet
- Ghost Ship
- Ghost Song
- Ghost Town
- Ghost train (spiritual entity)
- La Llorona
- Spirit Advisor
- Stringy Haired Ghost Girl
- The Ghost
- Undead
- Virtual Ghost
- You Look Like You've Seen A Ghost
- News: Farang ghosts haunt local Thais in Phuket, Phi Phi, Khao Lak
- News: Spooky Mystery At Bergen Museum
Sources
Game and Story Use
- Adventure Seed: The Newspaper Ghost
- Ghosts may be minor or major antagonists in any genre which allows for them; even in 'hard Sci-Fi,' ghosts may be simulated by AIs or recorded personalities.
- Ghosts might be useful sources of information for characters who have the means to question them.
- A Ouija board could be used by untrained characters.
- A professional medium could perform a séance for the characters (if they can't themselves).
- Since ghosts usually cannot be "killed" via conventional means, the PCs must often help resolve the ghost's unfinished business. Figuring out what must be done to lay the ghost to rest often results in an investigative adventure.
- On the other hand, maybe there is some equipment which can dispose of ghosts - but that doesn't mean that ghosts will be pushovers. An entire campaign can be built on hunting down and defeating ghosts.
- This is the premise of the move Ghostbusters and its franchise - including a greatly lauded, but now sadly out-of-print role-playing game.
- Becoming ghosts might be a way for player characters to continue in a campaign even if their character has been killed.
- The RPG Wraith - The Oblivion assumed ghosts as player characters. This is also possible in the Exalted RPG and the Orpheus RPG.
