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using shapechange to assume dragon form does not pass immediately to the True Afterlife if slain. The soul determines the result, not the physical body.
ALL ABOUT GHOSTS
CHAPTER 1:
GHOST TRAITS Although ghosts do not need to breathe, eat, or do most other things that living beings do, every ghost has an unusual attachment to one aspect of its former life. Ghosts feel strange urges to eat food they enjoyed when living, to visit people or places they knew in life, or to engage in the same recreational activities they did when living. These urges are not magically induced and are not a curse or a disease that can be removed with magic (although a calm emotions spell suppresses the urge for the duration), but simply an extension and exaggeration of part of the ghost’s actual life. These urges, called ghost traits by the people of Manifest, usually take the following forms. Auditory: The ghost has an unusual attachment to a particular kind of sound or noise. A ghost might need to hear the pounding surf, a particular musical instrument played at great volume, or people arguing. Some evil ghosts have acquired a need to hear people screaming, so they kidnap and torture victims to meet this need. Other ghosts have a taste for magically created sounds and hire illusionists or use magic items to create these exotic sounds. Hunger: The ghost needs to eat large quantities of food on a regular basis. Unlike with the oral trait, the emphasis is on quantity rather than quality, and it’s not the taste that matters. Since a ghost doesn’t feel discomfort from eating too much (without a stomach it’s not possible to feel stomach pains), he is free to gorge himself, and he can only satisfy this urge by eating enough food in one sitting to sate a very large and gluttonous person (typically three full meals’ worth of food). Flesh: The ghost has cravings for sensations of the
flesh. Different ghosts meet this need in different ways—massage, sex, or self-mutilation are common methods—but they always seek intense sensations to overcome their dim senses. Home: The ghost has an attachment to a particular building or place and must spend at least 8 continuous hours at that place to feel normal. The ghost may haunt the site (if it has appropriate ghost powers), guard it, repair it, or perform any other obvious activity (the trait is about being recognized as part of that place, in addition to merely being there). The chosen site is normally one associated with the death of the person, or some place to which she had a strong attachment in life. People killed far from Manifest rarely acquire this ghost trait, or, if they do, they never make it to the city. Ocular: The ghost is obsessed with certain sights or images of certain creatures, places, or things. A ghost needs to observe the chosen sight for at least 1 hour without serious distractions (such as participating in combat, magical research, or anything that requires concentration) to satisfy this habit. If the sight is a person, the ghost may be thought to be a malevolent haunt or stalker. People, buildings, landmarks, or a kind of monster are all appropriate targets, as are dramatic visual events such as a popular play, a burning building, or an earnest lethal combat. Sometimes a surrogate obsession (such as a person that resembles the target or an illusion of a burning building instead of an actual fire) is satisfactory for the purpose of meeting this need. Oral: The ghost fixates on food and needs to eat a significant meal that it can actually taste on a regular basis. Because ghost senses are dulled, this is usually strong and spicy fare and the same kind of food the person enjoyed when alive. For example, a ghost who was fond of steaks in life might feel the need to eat a steak laden with peppers and garlic and marinated in a strong wine. In some cases, the craving is for exotic
pqqqqrs A GHOST IS NOT A GHOST The Monster Manual describes a ghost as a restless spirit that for some reason cannot give up its ties to the living and haunts a particular location or item. These ghosts are undead creatures of many different types (humanoids, giants, magical beasts, and so on) and have many strange powers that make them incredibly dangerous combatants. Furthermore, killing them is usually only a temporary solution, for they rejuvenate and return to their old haunts. The ghosts described in this book are not that kind of ghost. Ghosts in the Ghostwalk campaign are merely the souls of living creatures (humanoids, with only a few exceptions) existing in another state. They are not tied to one site, do not suddenly gain a suite of fantastic powers, and—most important—are not undead. They are simply people with a slightly different shape.
Whenever this book refers to a “ghost,” it is not talking about a Monster Manual ghost. In fact, because being a ghost is so common and easily achieved, the ghosts described in the Monster Manual are almost unheard of. The few references in literature that speak of these undead ghosts refer to them as “undead skulkers,” “undead haunts,” or “undead spirits,” and have problems differentiating between them and other incorporeal undead such as spectres and wraiths. These references and the people of this world never confuse these creatures with the sort of ghosts who inhabit Manifest. To avoid confusion and preserve the flavor of this campaign, undead ghosts should rarely, if ever, be used in the context of a game. The line between the spiritual dead (ghosts) and undead of any kind is a strong one in this setting, and including an undead sort of ghost blurs that line and reduces some of the impact of all undead being evil.
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