Ghost (5e Race)

Ghost

“	In life, Karn Gardenoak was a silent giant of a man, who would frequently be seen on the ramparts of the Old Wolfstone Castle, peering out into the darkness with his piercing blue eyes. In death, the guardian of Wolfstone had not changed. He still was silent, his figure still massive, and he continued to watch the walls of the broken citadel. The only difference was his body was now flickering and transparent, as if he was made from the thick fog that surrounded the castle, and 10 orcish arrows now adorned his chest, covering his breast plate with shimmering silver blood.	”
—Fragment of "Legends for brave kids" by Felidula, the Grand Wizard. Page 163

Remnants of a past life that keeps regrets, ghosts are, by far, some of the most mysterious beings. Damned to walk the earth by the torment they cause themselves, they can only keep one thing in their heads: The mission they are here to accomplish.

Physical Description

Source

Ghosts are flickering remnants of their past lives, appearing as they did before death, however they are now transparent and have a coloured tinge to them that drowns out all color of their body. This tint varies in tone for multiple reasons, From pure white of those that died peacefully to red of those dying in a fire, green if poisoned, blue if water was their ending or yellow if thunder.

Ghosts are very different from most of the undead: the difference to the lich is that they didn't ask for becoming undead, at least not directly. Mummies also have a mission to fulfill, but their corpse got conserved by some mean. Zombies lost their will and are forced to submit to other beings. Ghosts died and lost their body, but the will to fulfill their last pendant was so intense that death could not take their spirit: Ghosts are basically coming to terms with death and rejecting it, just to get a second chance.

Most ghost's appearance tends to reflect how it died. For example, a ghost that had drowned in a previous life may be dripping with glowing water droplets that disappear as soon as they hit the ground. A ghost that died in battle may still have the wounds it sustained in life- open and flowing with silver blood. A ghost that died while sleeping will keep its eyes closed, but will see perfectly.

Similarly, if the ghost instead is more transfixed by guilt or regret at its previous life it is instead wrapped in ethereal chains. This is because the image of a ghost is controlled by its own mental state and such transduction with death or regret manifests in its image on the Material Plane.

It is possible for ghosts to be completely free of regret or transfixed by its death, but it would mean that the only thing tying it to the Material Plane is the ghost's own willpower, which makes its bond to the Material Plane weaker than the other two types of ghosts. This ghosts tend to disappear soon after being formed.

History

Ghost have been present in the world since the earliest days of creation, especially around places where the influences of the Shadowfell are the strongest and there has been abundance of death. War zones, castles, sea tragedies, volcanic eruption sites... All these places have a good possibility of having at least 1 ghost.

Some societies even attempt to draw forth the ghosts of their ancestors for guidance in a sort of benign necromancy. However, in general ghosts have been feared more than revered as the reasons why a ghost lingers on the Material Plane may not always be considered good.

Society

Ghosts sometimes form societies in long-dead crypts or abandoned cities in an attempt to preserve what little feeling of life remains. When these societies are formed, they are usually full of many types of undead or shadowfell creatures. However, often those societies do not last long as either too many ghosts pass on from the Material Plane or the ghosts lose hope and wander away from the settlements.

In most haunted places, like forests, clears, and castles, tends to be at most one or two ghosts, usually related by either blood, ties or history. As they tend to be isolated places, most creatures living there adapt to the ghost or even cherish it, mainly hags and vampires. In some cases even, these creatures help ghosts to leave the material plane by chance, so most cark creatures coming into contact with ghosts try to learn the task the ghost has, then simulate to help them or tergiverse it enough to make the ghost a servant.

Ghost Names

Ghosts often take the name they had before their death. However, some take on the name of the goal they are trying to achieve in their new unlife.

Ghost Mission Names: Vengeance, Penance, Help, Light, Lament, Fear

Ghost Traits

Death is less permanent than you think.
Ability Score Increase. An ability score of your choice increases by 2 and one other ability score increases by 1.
Age. A ghost can "live" for a very long time as they can remain on the Material Plane as long as their willpower allows them, though they usually pass on after they fulfill a goal they could not accomplish in life.
Alignment. Trying to complete the pendant goal they have, most ghosts have a lawful neutral alignement. Anyway, it is not unheard of Chaotic ghosts. Although ghosts tend to retain the moral alignement they had in life, it is not rare that some of them change alignement into good or evil, specially those with goals with extreme moral charge, like domination of nations, discovery of cures or important secrets; or vengeance
Size. Ghosts have no weight and are as tall as they were in life. Your size can either be Small or Medium.
Speed. Your speed is 30 feet. You always hover 1 feet over the ground, but can't fly. If you end your turn more than 1 feet over the ground, you start falling.
Ghostly Nature. Your creature type is undead. You do not require air, food, drink, sleep and you are immune to being poisoned, poison damage, and diseases. Your ghostly form still takes damage from various sources as it exacts a mental toll on you, making it harder for you to keep your form planted into the mortal plane.
Ethereal Form. Thanks to your ethereal form, certain advantages and limitations have been granted to you. You may now move through any creature or object as if it were difficult terrain, taking 1d10 force damage if you end your turn inside a creature or object. In exchange, you can only carry ten specific items on your person, of which you must spend 8hrs trying to incorporate said items into your ethereal form with any kind of armor equipped taking up four of these limited item slots. It'll take another 8hrs to remove an item from your form, the item returning to its original physical form once done so and freeing up an item slot.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Languages. You can write, read and speak Common and one other language of choice.

---

Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Races