Make Ghosts Formidable in D&D 5e | DM Advice | TTRPG | DnD 5e

[@Tysto]

Many years ago, i created an elaborate mythology around ghosts & other spirits for RPGs. Undead are bound by a “silver thread” to a “spirit anchor”-some physical object or structure that had a strong meaning to them in life. Ghosts, phantoms, banshees, & the like are created when events of great psychic trauma trap the victim's spirit (energy of pure desire, hunger, & anger) on the material plane while the soul (energy of contentment, bliss, & love) passes on. This leaves a kind of half-mind, unable to think of much beyond its trauma & unfinished business. They haunt the living to feed off their psychic energy in its most powerful form: fear. (Altho some haunt places filled with love, kindness, & sadness.) Destroying the spirit anchor banishes the spirit to the Netherworld. But they can also be consoled & freed by completing the spirit's unfinished work (bringing their murderer to justice, securing their child's inheritance, etc.) or banished by exorcism. These also break the silver thread.

[@SandyTaylor-tv6fc]

It'd be interesting if you had a ghost who could only affect light. They could conjure blasts of fire, areas of bitter cold, blind characters, create illusions or trick the characters into fighting each other

[@Babbleplay]

Also recommend digging online for the old 2nd Ed 'Van Richten's Guide to Ghosts' None of the stats or numbers will be current, but, that's only a fraction of the content. Most of the book is ideas and atmosphere suggestions. Different traits for ghosts that don't tie to stats, such as making your ghost mutable; able to briefly become corporeal to manipulate objects, alternate powers tied to how they died/lived, etc.

[@GhostfireGaming]

Love all of that! Might have to dig for a copy. Those exact sort of powers beyond just the stat block are what can make ghosts feel really distinct from other more mortal monsters.

[@eliotoole4534]

I suggest the revenant if you want a recurring ghost who possesses corpses, or even their own. (Any/all)

[@andydamato5357]

I love ghosts so much! They are one of my favorite things to add to a session. When I first started DM'ing I just ran the stat block and felt the whole experience to be underwhelming. This is one of those creatures you have to put some work in to make work, but the pay off is so great! I love to make a ghost haunting an investigation with haunts. I am hoping to run the House of Lament from Van Richten's Guide at some point! Great vid :)

[@yurimiyama9825]

I fell in love with using ghosts after trying out Dael's method for running them. There are just SO many story elements that a ghost can provide. And now with the information this video provides, I can't wait to put a side quest with ghosts in my current campaign.

[@GentleIceZ]

Imagine putting this on in the background, podcast style, then for some reason you switch over to the tab at 8:12, and you see THAT by sheer coincidence. I am so glad I was watching this during the day >_>

[@GhostfireGaming]

Noon Wraith and Plague Maiden design from Witcher 3 is intense! 😄 It's part of what makes them such evocative and terrifying monsters to hunt.

[@Nurog_handle]

This deserves so many more views and likes, it helped me so much to make my own ghosts.

[@GhostfireGaming]

Thanks so much Jotaro! Feel free to share the video around, it really helps the channel grow and getting more views on future vids.

[@danrimo826]

Came here for tips for my next session and now I've gone and freaked myself out 😫

[@GhostfireGaming]

Not gonna lie, I love this comment!

[@Neutral_Tired]

Fun idea for a ghost. Have a PC get possessed without anyone noticing and don't tell the other players, tell the possessed player what the ghost wants, give them maybe a sentence or two about its personality, and have them play the possessed party member until someone figures them out.

[@jessicabrooke6111]

I am designing my own game, and your advice has been very useful, thank you.

[@Midastouchvr]

The ghost at 8:14 actually got me so scared for a second 💀

[@davidmccall4024]

I was not expecting that voice being used in the intro.

[@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954]

I do love the idea of death omen spirits that warn NPCs, and maybe ultimately player characters, of some other threat that is stalking them in a suitably unsettling manner. Perhaps victims of a particularly savage and vicious monster might be left unable to rest in peace, trying to help others that the beast is now stalking but rendered incapable of doing more than issuing unsettling, whispered prognostications of doom while still bearing the horrific wounds of their own mauling at the talons and fangs of the monster. Perhaps such a unquiet shade might, if left unbanished, even attempt to lead party members to clues as to the nature or weaknesses of the monster that killed them. Though equally the Party cannot be sure as to the true nature and intentions of such an ominous spirit, and it might just as readily be an extension of the predatory monster's power, leading the credulous to their deaths.

[@TrashTalesDnD]

See I had a boss that went down too easily...so I brought him back as a ghost for boss fight part 2 electric Boogaloo

[@GhostfireGaming]

That's a great idea! I did a similar encounter where the party killed a bunch of foot soldiers, which then rose as specters there and then to fight the party again (a two wave combat).

[@philipkhan7715]

9:20 can confirm i got burned alive

[@grimgrimly]

How do you picture ghost attacks as per the canonical monsters in the monster manual? I'm having problems thinking through how it looks, feels, and works.

[@benbyrne2429]

It's a great question and I think it depends thematically on what you want the ghost to do. Most times the touch of a Wraith, Spectre, Banshee or other necrotic dealing undead is described as a touch or grab that physically drains the target. They grow gaunt, their skin becomes pallid, their veins and bones protrude. It's a sort of aging or withering effect. But it leaves no physical mark or scratch, except maybe a handprint. For more thematic attacks based on a specific ghost, however, I've described the touch of a spirit that drowned to cause the target to sputter up muddy water and struggle to breathe. I've had spectral weapons spread black tendrils beneath the skin from the point of contact, almost like a morgul blade. If the damage type is psychic, I've had victims have flashes of their worst memories that bring up a gout of emotions that make it difficult for them to fight on.

[@Tomha]

As a DM, I flavor my spirits attacking in 1 of several ways, depending on the being. 1) Possession/Poltergeist. People possessed jerk and twitch uncontrollably as they awkwardly attack a target. Demonic Possession includes the possessed will bleed/ooze out their openings. Weapons dance and fly as they spin and thrust wildly. Maybe the team archers arrow springs to life and hits a friend infront of them, inciting in-fighting. 2) Elemental, with freezing cold Fog, boiling Mist, or wind cutting you like a blade. Maybe the ghost is on fire and you have a flaming hand strike at you to spread the fire. Maybe the ghost consists entirely of a poisonous cloud. The first "The Suffering" game employed elemental ghosts representing executions like the Gas Chamber, Electric Chair and Witch Burning. 3) Every attack pulls what appears to be your soul and more damage pulls more of you as it tries to withdraw back into you. Think of the Dementors from Harry Potter or Hades soul stealing from God of War. Death applies when they tear you soul out completely. 4) Have them attack the victims Shadow and apply the effects onto the body. A knife buried into the shadows shoulder could have the body gush blood from a fresh stab wound on his own. This could also potentially bypass defenses they prepared in advance as that magic shield won't protect your shadow. Admittedly I stole this from Vampire Hunter D monster named Benge. He was an illusionist assassin that can slither and meld into shadows and killed a vampire hunter by stabbing his shadow. 5) Have the victim visibly wither away. Fighting dark spirits might reduce a lesser man to a mummified husk with a screaming expression frozen across their face.

[@dannyboy2525]

I just started my players on curse of Strahd after throwing 90% of the module away cause I hated how it was written, Strahd is so forgettable as a villain I mean sure he’s tough till the players find all these vampire killing things but still his story is so plain, these videos though are helping me make cool combats they will remember and I can’t wait to get my hands on the monster Grimoire

[@GhostfireGaming]

I'm glad you're enjoying them, Danny, and they're helping spice up your Strahd campaign. Speaking of which, maybe we need to put werewolves on the list of creatures we cover? 🤔

[@wbbartlett]

A ghost with an aussie accent is the exact opposite of scary :D

[@GhostfireGaming]

Do as I do, not as I say… or the way that I say it. 😆

[@amehayami934]

I know why, because you can't kill anything that you can see or touch. Unless ghost touch weapons existed we're kinda screwed 😊

[@Enrico_Palazzo_opera_singer]

8:12...