Okay, bewarned that this is a rather long document that has taken some time to do. I am trying to establish some way of using spirits in D&D without having them be just evil, ethereal undead that devour souls. I am planning on adding some additional things to the document, such as more Powers, more sample Spirits and some Prestige Classes. Creating a spirit is very open-ended and the DM is generally free to pick and choose the stats and powers of the spirit himself. I didn't add any Challenge Rating for the spirits, even though those able of using Animated Manifestation might deserve one.
Spirits
Spirits are not ordinary monsters. They are the remains of the dead, wandering ghosts that found no peace after death. The reasons why the spirits remain are many. Some were betrayed in life, some died of horrible and unnatural causes, some have living foes they did not defeat.
Spirits can be found of varying strength. Some are mere whispers of their former self, whereas others are powerful and dangerous. The following chapter contains guidelines for creating spirits. The spirits are not intended to be normal adversaries and are not given a challenge rating. When creating a spirit, you start out by selecting an emotion. This emotion represents the reason why the spirit has remained in the world of the living, instead of passing on, as the souls of the dead normally do.
Emotion describes the various feelings that can be selected as a basis for the spirit. After the basic emotion has been selected, the various attributes of the spirit needs to be chosen. Awareness is a measurement of how outgoing the spirit is. Some spirits are unable of registering what occurs in the world around them, whereas other spirits take a great interest in the lives of the living. Communication defines how the spirit can talk to the living. Some spirits are weak, being almost unable of affecting the living, having only the ability to project the most basic of their emotions. Others are stronger and can have entire conversations and discussions with living beings. Sentience defines the mental capacities of the spirit. Some spirits are as cunning and clever as they were in life, whereas others are merely the spiritual remains of a dire or tragic event, lingering memories without any real sentience. Memory is another important aspect of the spirits. Some spirits have died recently and remembers their entire life, remembers the friends they used to have and their family members. Others have been spirits for so long that they remember almost nothing of the life they once had. For example, ancestral spirits that look over a household might remember every person to have entered that household in the last fifty years, but they don’t remember the life they once had in that very same house. The Bond of a spirit describes what kind of connection it has to the world of the living. Many spirits are tied to the world, some being tied to a specific area whereas others are tied to an item or person that they cannot leave. A few spirits are roaming spirits, able of travelling anywhere they desire.
Manifestation defines the spirits ability to directly animate itself on the plane of the living. Some spirits cannot manifest, having the power only to guide the living. Other spirits can animate existing materials or take over the bodies of the living.
The last thing that needs to be defined when creating a spirit is the powers they posses. Some spirits can cause fertility, some can create emotional effects in the living, some can cause diseases and plagues. It all depends upon the Emotion of the spirit.
Emotion
There are, as mentioned, varying reasons why a spirit has lingered on after death. This reason has a great deal of influence on the spirit and its powers. Below are some of the most common reasons why a spirit has remained. The first step of creating a spirit is to select the emotion that fuels it. It is possible for a spirit to be fueled by more than one emotion.
Betrayal: If a deep betrayal leads to the death of someone who did not deserve death, that person might linger on. A mother who turns over her child to slavery, well knowing, that the child will probably die after but a few months of labour. An old friend of a paladin lures his friend into a trap, simply to earn some money. Both are reasons where a Betrayed spirit might return. Some Betrayed spirits have a great lust for revenge, others don’t know that they were betrayed or why they linger on. Most common alignment is any Lawful.
Rage: Evil, bloodthirsty people can become spirits as well. Some people are so bloodthirsty, so cruel, that they cannot find rest even after death. Some might even have been so cruel, that the gods are not willing to accept their spirit until they redeem themselves. A brutal, barbarian warlord, known for impaling and maiming enemies. An insane cleric, misinterpreting his teaching, hunting down “heretics” without the approval of the church. Both could become Raging spirits, so filled with a lust for blood that they cannot be satisfied should they depart the world of the living. Most common alignments is any Evil.
Hate: Hate can be a powerful emotion, an emotion anyone can have. If someone is slain before they have the opportunity to defeat their foe, they can occasionally turn into Hating spirits. If the person is slain by their foe, the chance of them turning into a Hating spirit is even greater. A paladin on a quest to slay a Necromancer. A young child, making a feeble attempt to attack the slayer of his parents. Both could become Hating spirits, having such great hate and anger inside that they will not rest until their foe is slain. Hating spirits can be of any alignment.
Despair: There are occasions, when someone dies alone and abandoned, that they cannot go to rest. Despair and sadness can even turn people insane, so the Despaired spirits are some of the hardest to communicate with. A mother, slowly withering away to a horrible disease, holding her already dead child. A traveller, lost in the desert with no water or food. Both could become Despaired spirits, having died in a situation that left them no hope, no reprieve. Despaired spirits can be of any alignment.
Honour: In some countries, duty and honour are of paramount importance. When you accept a given task, you have an obligation to see that task completed, no matter the cost. Sometimes, the sense of duty can be so great that it transcends death. Some of the Honour spirits that remain have failed to do their duty; others have simply been given such a great task that it could not be completed in their lifetime. A royal guard, having failed to protect his king. A master armorer, having failed to complete his masterpiece before his death. Both could return as Honour spirits, feeling an obligation to complete or prevent something they could not complete or prevent in life. Most common alignment is any Lawful.
Love: The last, powerful emotion that can transcend the border between the living and the dead is love. If someone dies with their loved one living on, they can sometimes remain on the material plane, as spirits looking over their loved one. A loving mother, a young couple. As long as there are deep feelings of love, love for a person, love for an item, a Loving spirit can be born. Most common alignment is any Good, but there have been some Evil spirits created from the love of gold or power.
Elemental: The Elemental Spirit doesn’t have any special feelings towards most living creatures. An Elemental Spirit is normally summoned and bound to this plane. Therefore, the actions of most Elemental Spirits are dictated by their master. An Elemental Spirit will simply leave this plane once it is no longer bound. A few Elemental Spirits can be found at locations where one element is abundant. Fire spirits often live around active vulcanoes. Some might even live in a fireplace or forge. Earth spirits are often found deep underground. Some dwarves praise the spirits of the earth before they enter their mine tunnels. Water spirits can be found anywhere there is water, in lakes, ponds, rivers and the open ocean. Some are regularly worshipped by sailors and fishermen. Air spirits can be found anywhere in the open air. They prefer living in high altitude. Some aerial creatures worship the spirits of the air. Elemental spirits are always the easiest to appease. They seldomly have strong feelings towards anyone and will happily assist those that tend to it.
Nature: The Nature Spirit can be found in the forests, plains and mountains. A Nature Spirit can generally be found where the land hasn’t been altered by the hand of man. They do not like living in cities or on cultivated land. Nature Spirits are often worshipped by elves, druids and rangers. Their task is to protect the wilds from anything that might threaten it. Some Nature Spirits use harmful powers to punish those that abuse nature, whereas others prefer to use their powers to benefit those that respect nature. Nature Spirits are the most chaotic and mischievous of all spirits.
Awareness
The level of Awareness defines how the spirit is able of sensing the world around him. The scale starts with the completely ignorant spirits that cannot sense anything that occurs around them and ends with truly enlightened spirits that can sense and see things hidden to mortal beings.
Awareness Level
1 - Ignorant
2 - Energies
3 - Sight / Sound
4 - Scent
5 - Emotions
6 - Planar
7 - Full
Ignorant: Spirits that have Ignorant Awareness are completely unable of sensing anything around them. They can still have various powers, but they are unable of locating anyone against which to use them. An example of a completely ignorant spirit is the castle ghost, a transparent spirit that walks the hallways as it did in life, without interacting with anyone it encounters.
Energies: Other spirits have the ability only to sense energies. They can sense when any living creatures are nearby and they can sense the general size of these creatures. Normally, they can also tell the race of the creature, but they cannot sense other variations, such as the sub-race or appearance of that person. The remnant of someone who drowned in a swamp and now manifests to warn anyone that approaches the place where he died, is a good example of a spirit that can only sense energies.
Sight/Sound: A spirit with this level of Awareness can see and hear like a living person. Since the spirit can still sense energies as well, it is almost impossible to hide from the spirit. A spirit with this level of Awareness is considered to have 20 ranks of Spot & Listen for the purpose of detecting living creatures. An ancestral spirit that looks over a household, keeping watch for its residents is a good example of a spirit with this level of Awareness.
Scent: The spirit also has the ability to smell, enabling it to appreciate the smell of food and wine. Since spirits are unable of getting gratification from eating or drinking anything, some monk have been known to burn incense and prepare food to honour their ancestors. Since the ancestors can smell the incense and food, it is more valuable to them than it would have been if the monks had sacrificed silver or gold. A spirit with scent is considered to have 25 ranks in Listen & Spot for the purpose of detecting living and unliving creatures.
Emotions: Some more powerful spirits gain the ability to sense things that living creatures cannot. Some spirits can actually sense the basic emotions of any living creatures that approach them. Many spirits even feel some form of gratification when they sense certain emotions. Some evil spirits feel joy from inducing fear or hopelessness in those that approach them, whereas good spirits might try to induce sadness or happiness in those around them, depending upon the nature of the spirit. The spirit is considered to have 30 ranks in Listen & Spot for the purpose of detecting living and unliving creatures.
Planar: Some spirits have developed their senses to a degree where they can sense intrusions from other planes of existence. Spirits with the Planar level of Awareness is able of seeing ethereal creatures, they can detect magical energies and they can even determine the approximate power of any living creatures around them. The spirit can tell what level and what class any creature near them is, since they can sense the energies within that persons body and mind. The spirit is considered to have 35 ranks in Listen & Spot for the purpose of detecting living and unliving creatures.
Full: The greatest of the spirits have gained such insights into the workings of the universe that there is little that is hidden from them. The spirits that have Full Awareness can glimpse into the future, transcending the borders of time itself. A spirit with Full Awareness is impossible to hide from. It can see anything and everything, no matter what is done to obscure the spirits vision. If the spirit can Manifest itself in a physical form, it gains a +5 bonus to its AC, since it can predict attacks. The spirit doesn’t have any ranks in Listen & Spot, it is considered to automatically have rolled a natural 20 for al Listen & Spot checks.
Any spirit that has one level of Awareness is also considered to have all the lower levels of Awareness automatically. Thus, a spirit with the Planar level of Awareness is also considered to have the Energies, Sight/Sound, Scent and Emotions levels of Awareness. When describing the Awareness level of a spirit, it is thus only necessary to mention one level of Awareness. If a spirit has a high level of Awareness, but one of the lower levels of Awareness isn’t amongst its abilities, it can be noted by describing its Awareness as:
Awareness: Planar [-Scent]
This means that the spirit has Planar Awareness, but lacks the capacity to smell the odours of the material world. Sometimes, a spirit will have the ability to sense things that are otherwise beyond its level of Awareness. An example of this is:
Awareness: Ignorant [+Emotions]
This means that the spirit has no sense of Energies, Sight/Sound or Scent. Yet, it can sense Emotions.
Communication
The level of Communication defines in which ways the spirit can converse its feelings and opinions unto living beings. Some are completely unable of affecting the material world whereas others can communicate just as well as any living creatures.
Communication Levels
1 - Sensations
2 - Dreams
3 - Whispers
4 - Images
5 - Telepathy
6 - Speech
Sensations: Sensations means that the spirit can only send one specific feelings to those that it can sense. On top of that, it can only send the most rudimentary of feelings, such as fear, hate, sadness, joy, hunger, contentment etc. Sometimes, guardian spirits have been known to follow their protégés, sending them feelings of fear when something dangerous is near. At other times, the spirit doesn’t really control the feelings that it sends out. For example, if someone comes near an old mass grave, the spirits that reside there send out feelings of fear, even though there is no danger around.
Dreams: The spirit can send rudimentary dream messages. It cannot talk directly in its dreams, but it can show images of the things it knows. For example, if a spirit wants to warn someone that they will be ambushed the next day, the will send images of that person being struck by arrows coming from the woods. It cannot simply tell the person directly, that they will be ambushed the next day. It is not always that the person being spoken to in his dreams can interpret the message correctly.
Whispers: The spirit can communicate by whispers only. Anyone within a few feet of the spirit can hear the whispers, but the spirit can only communicate one word each minute. Anyone hearing the whispers will hear what sounds like a myriad of voices all whispering the same word. It is possible for a spirit to finish whole sentences, but it would take too long. Therefore, spirits communicating by whispers prefer to say only the important words. For example, if a spirit was trying to warn someone of an ambush, they would utter words such as “danger”, “ahead”, “woods”.
Images: This form of Communication is very similar to the Dreams level of Communication. The only difference is that images can be sent even when the recipient is awake. The person simply sees the images inside his head. The spirit can transmit any images it desires, but it still cannot speak directly to its target, nor can it send letters and text in the images it transmits.
Telepathy: Telepathy means that the spirit can actually make full conversation with its intended target. It just does so in the mind of the recipient. It can only communicate with one person at a time, with a maximum of one person in a round. It can make any kind of conversation that it likes, the recipient can even talk back telepathically.
Speech: The spirit is able of communicating in the exact same manner as any living creature. It can talk and converse with living, sentient creatures just as if it was there in physical form. Off course, unless it is manifesting itself, the spirit cannot use hand gestures.
As with Awareness, a spirit is considered to not only have the level of Communication noted in its description, it is also considered to have the modes of Communication below the one noted. Normally, its level of Awareness dictates the limits on its modes of Communication. It is very hard for an Ignorant Spirit to have anything higher than Sensations or Dream, for example. As with Awareness, it is possible for a spirit to have a high level of Communication while still lacking the ability to use some of the lower forms of Communication. Use the same system when noting this as with the Awareness levels.
Sentience
Sentience is the most important part of the spirits being. Its ability to think constructively, to use the powers it has available, everything comes down to sentience. Some spirits are mere shadows of their former selves. Left without the capacity for independent thinking, the spirits are merely something to be pitied, not revered.
Spirits that have sentience can actually develop their mental capacity over the years. Some ancestral spirits that watch over households or entire tribes have been known to have become very wise, learning as the travel through the centuries. Others have such limited mental capabilities that they are unable of learning. Whatever the capacity of the spirit, Sentience is the most important aspect of the spirits personality and behaviour.
Sentience Levels
Level Primary Secondary Skill Point Pool
1 2 0 0
2 4 1 4
3 8 4 8
4 12 6 16
5 16 9 24
6 20 11 36
7 24 14 58
8 28 16 90
9 32 19 140
10 36 21 212
11 40 24 302
12 44 26 426
Level: This is simply the level of Sentience the spirit has. A mindless spirit will be a level 1, a newly created spirit from a commoner will be level 2, a newly created spirit from someone unusual (such as a high priest, an archwizard etc.) might be as high as level 6 or 7. Over the years, a sentient spirit will increase in level.
Primary: This is the spirits primary attribute. The Sentience level only dictates Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, since the spirit doesn’t have the three “physical” attribute scores. The primary ability score is actually a loose term. Off course, the spirit of a high priest will have Wisdom as its primary attribute whereas a wizard will have Intelligence. The DM can even decide, when creating a spirit, that the spirit will have more than one primary attribute, if it befits the spirit. The spirit of a grand paladin could for example had both Wisdom and Charisma as his primary ability scores. The spirit will have the number noted in the ability score that the DM chooses to be its primary. A newly created spirit does have one limitation though. It cannot gain a higher ability score than it had in life. It is possible to locate spirits that have no primary ability score.
Secondary: This is the score the spirit has in the abilities that are not its primary abilities. Thus, if a high priest dies and the DM wishes to create a spirit of him, deciding that he should have a Sentience level of 7, his scores would be Intelligence 14, Wisdom 24, Charisma 14 (If the DM chooses that he doesn’t want him to have Charisma as a primary score as well). As with the primary score, the spirit cannot have a higher score than it had in life (at least not when it is first created. Over time, it can gain a higher level of sentience).
Skill Point Pool: This is the number of Skills Points the spirit has available. A spirit can choose any number of skills that have one of the three “mental” ability scores as primary ability.
Memory
Some spirits are nothing but memories. They have suffered great misdeeds while they were alive and are thus bound to a hollow existence of memories, being forced to relive the pains of their life even after death. Other spirits have completely forgotten who they were when they lived. Some ancestral spirits that watch over their old village might know the name of every person in that village as well as the name of every person who has visited the village for decades, but have forgotten everything from their old past. Sometimes, they cannot even remember their own name anymore, being too absorbed in the task of looking after the living.
Memory Levels
1 – None
2 – Fragments
3 – Incomplete
4 – Complete
None: The spirit cannot remember anything of what happened while it was alive. Many spirits who have some task they pursue forget themselves, becoming so engulfed in their task that they cannot recall even important events from their own life.
Fragments: The spirit cannot remember anything concrete from its past. If asked to tell its life-story, it will have little or nothing to tell. Yet, spirits with fragmented memory sometimes stumble across something that fascinates them, something that might vaguely remind them of something from their past. The spirit might see a little girl wearing a dress that is similar to a dress the spirits wife or mother wore in life. Even though the spirit cannot remember where it has seen the dress before, it will become fascinated and intrigued by it. The spirits that have fragmented memory are often the ones that behave in the most sporadic way, since they are occasionally let astray by their memories.
Incomplete: The spirit can remember most general facts about its life. It can remember its name, it can remember its former occupation, it can remember the names of those that it held dear. Yet, after having existed for some time in the spirit realm, the spirit has forgotten many details of its life. Incomplete Memory is the most common amongst spirits.
Complete: The spirit has only passed on to the spirit realm recently and can still remember its life. Most spirits will forget many details of their own life and after 10-20 years, they will have Incomplete Memory. Yet, some especially determined spirits can sometimes retain their own memory for centuries. These determined spirits are extremely rare though.
Bond
The thing all spirits have in common, is that there is something that ties them to the material world. Something has caused them to linger on.
Bond
Person
Location
Family
Roaming
Person: The spirit has one specific person that it either wants to harm or protect. Whatever the reason, the spirit cannot go further than 60 ft. away from the person it is bound to. It cannot sense anything that is further than 120 ft. away from the person it is bound to.
Location: Some spirits are strongly bound to a certain location. It might be their old home or it might be the place where they either died or was buried. The spirit cannot leave this location. It’s senses only allows it to detect anyone that is within 60 ft. of this location.
Family: Most spirits that are tied to a family are called ancestral spirits. Some spirits hate the family that they are bound to, trying to harm it whenever they have the opportunity, whereas other spirits will protect the family at all costs. The spirit will even follow the family around if the family should ever move. Family sprits are sometimes generations old. A spirit bound to a family can only sense things that occur within 60 ft. of one of the family members.
Roaming: The spirit is completely free and can go anywhere it chooses. Roaming spirits aren’t rare, but most of them lack the drive possessed by other spirits. Therefore, they seldomly have the same powers as bound spirits. Most nature spirits are roaming.
Manifestation
Spirits are found of varying power. Some of them have the power to manifest, to either animate dead matter or to appear in a shadowy form of their former self. The stronger spirits can manifest almost as often as they like, whereas the weaker spirits come to life only a few times in a year. Normally, a spirit will only manifest itself on special occasions. Hating spirits will only manifest when the subject of their hate is close. Raging spirits will manifest at the possibility of bloodshed. Betrayed spirits will manifest if they have possibility to convey the feelings they have, to receive the sympathy they did not receive in life.
Whatever the reason, when a spirit manifests, it has the ability to affect the world of the living. What it uses the power for depends on the spirit.
The power of the spirit defines the power of its manifested form. The table below gives the stats for manifesting spirits. There are, as mentioned, two ways in which a spirit can manifest. It can choose to take over something with an existing physical form. This can be furniture, weapons and corpses. Even living creatures can be seized, if the spirit has sufficient will power. When a spirit chooses to use the Animating Manifestation option, it becomes a physical entity, with hit points, armor class etc. Most spirits can only use Animating Manifestation once each year or less. The Dungeon Master must decide how often the spirit can use Animating Manifestation when creating the spirit. When they use Animating Manifestation, they cannot use any of their powers.
The other option for Manifesting is the Ethereal Manifestation. The spirit creates a transparent body of Ethereal matter. It becomes visible, able of conversing with living beings. It doesn’t have the power to influence the living directly, as it lacks physical form. It can though offer its advice and suggestions to the living. Some spirits take the Ethereal form to harass the living, whereas other spirits take to the Ethereal form to offer advice and guidance.
Animating Manifestation - A
Level HitDice HitPoints AC AttackBonus
1 3d12 19 11 (+1 natural) +0
2 4d12 26 12 (+2 natural) +2
3 5d12 32 14 (+3 natural, +1 dex) +3
4 6d12 39 15 (+4 natural, +1 dex) +5
5 7d12 45 16 (+5 natural, +1 dex) +6
6 8d12 52 18 (+6 natural, +2 dex) +8
7 9d12 58 19 (+7 natural, +2 dex) +9
8 10d12 65 20 (+8 natural, +2 dex) +11
9 11d12 71 22 (+9 natural, +3 dex) +12
10 12d12 78 23 (+10 natural, +3 dex) +14
11 13d12 84 24 (+11 natural, +3 dex) +15
12 14d12 91 26 (+12 natural, +4 dex) +17
Animating Manifestation - B
Level Strength Dexterity Speed Initiative
1 8 10 30 ft. +0
2 10 10 30 ft. +0
3 12 12 30 ft. +1
4 14 12 30 ft. +1
5 16 12 40 ft. +1
6 18 14 40 ft. +2
7 20 14 40 ft. +2
8 22 14 40 ft. +2
9 24 16 50 ft. +3
10 26 16 50 ft. +3
11 28 16 50 ft. +3
12 30 18 50 ft. +4
The Animating Manifestation bring with it two options. Either the spirit can take over inanimate matter, like furniture, weapons or corpses. It can only take over an object that is one size bigger than the spirits size. A spirit has the same size as it did in life. Thus, a human spirit can take over a large object. The object gains the stats mentioned above. The object has the armor class penalty or bonus relevant to it’s size, just as any other creature has.
The Dungeon Master is left to decide if a spirit can take control over a living body. If the spirit can take control over a living body, the target will be allowed a Will save to resist the control. The DC will be 10+ the spirits Charisma or Wisdom modifier (whichever is highest). The controlled body will have the same stats as mentioned above on the Animating Manifestation chart. It is important that you keep track of the hosts hit points as well as those of the spirit. It is possible for the host to be slain even if the body hasn’t taken enough damage to drive out the spirit. Even if the body dies, the spirit can still control it and use it to attack its enemies. There is three ways in which the spirit can be removed.
1: The spirit can be convinced to leave the body. Some spirits can be lured with the promise of something they desire.
2: The body can be destroyed, which will cause the spirit to depart. This is not always a good option, since it will also kill the host.
3: The Exorcism ritual, found under Spirit Rituals, can be used to drive out the spirit.
Powers
The list of powers which can be given to spirits is not definite. If the Dungeon Master chooses, he can invent new powers if he so pleases. Most normal spirits will only have one power normally. Some might even have none. Only greater spirits have several powers. Only a few mortal spirits have directly offensive powers. When a spirit decides to intervene on the world of the living, it will most often have to do so indirectly.
Recommended Use is a guideline for the Dungeon Master. He must choose when creating a spirit how often it can use the power.
When a power has a saving throw, the DC is modifier by the spirits Charisma or Wisdom modifier (whichever is highest). This will simply be noted as spirit modifier.
Accident
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Reflex DC 10+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Hate, Rage
The Accident power cannot be used always. Often, the spirit will wait until its target is in a situation where it can harm him. The target will suffer 2d6 points of damage unless he succeeds with a Reflex saving throw. If he succeeds, no damage is taken. An Accident can manifest itself as many things. Sometimes a heavy pot or bowl will fall from a shelf, sometimes a crossbow will go of at a bad time, sometimes the person will trip into the fireplace. If a person who works in an especially hazardous environment (for example, a forge, mine or quarry) is being haunted, the Accident could cause even greater damage than 2d6. Most people will notice something is wrong after they have been subjected to a couple of strange Accidents. Generally, it is up to the Dungeon Master to decide if the target is in a situation where Accident could be used.
Aid
Recommended Use: One to three times each week
Duration: One skill check
Saving Throw: Will DC 10+ spirit modifier (Harmless)
Typical Spirits: Honour, Love, Elemental
The Aid power enables a spirit to assist a living creature in a task. The spirit can only aid the target with performing well in a skill when the spirit knows the skill in question. The spirit must be able of communicating with whispers as a minimum. The target receives a +2 spirit bonus to one skill check.
Bad Health
Recommended Use: One to three times each year
Duration: One Year
Saving Throw: Fort DC 10+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Hate
Bad Health is mostly used by malevolent spirits against their enemies or people they hate. If the target fails his Fortitude save, he will become very vulnerable to diseases and other afflictions for a year. For the duration of the power, the target will have a –4 penalty to all saving throws vs. disease and poison. Bad Health can counter another spirits Good Health power.
Control Air
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: Ten Minutes
Saving Throw: Fort DC 12+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Any (Air spirits will almost always have the power)
The Control Air power enables the spirit to perform a number of things with air. The spirit can make the air thinner or denser. Thin air will cause anyone in a 60 ft. sphere to become fatigued unless they roll a successful Fortitude save. They must roll a Fortitude save every round. Once they have failed one save, they are fatigued and are not allowed a new save unless they leave the area and enter again. If the air is made denser, it will enable everyone within to breathe more easily. Anyone in the area will receive a +4 bonus to Constitution for the purpose of resisting the effect of performing hard labour or running for an extended period of time. Control Air can also create wind in the area. This wind will cause all ranged attacks to suffer a -4 attack penalty, both attacks from someone firing into the area as well as from someone firing out of the area. This will not affect ranged spells and effects.
Control Temperature
Recommended Use: One to three times each week
Duration: One Hour
Saving Throw: None
Typical Spirits: Any
The spirit can increase or decreases the temperature in an area. This area can be no larger than a circle with a diameter of 60 ft. The spirit can always choose to make the area smaller. The temperature can never be increased or decreased so greatly that it causes harm. Some spirits will use the Control Temperature power to underline their mood, making it colder when they are angry and soothingly warm when they are happy.
Curse
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: One Day
Saving Throw: Will DC 12+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Hate, Nature
The Curse Power enables a spirit to affect its target long after the target has left the spirits presence. The target is allowed a Will save to completely resist the effect. If the target fails it’s Will save, it has a –2 penalty to all attack, damage and skill checks for one full day.
Fertility
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: One Year
Saving Throw: Fort DC 12+ spirit modifier (Harmless)
Typical Spirits: Honour, Love, Earth, Nature
Fertility will grant one creature extraordinary fertility for a full year. A spirit that uses this ability to affect livestock will enable a household to produce twice as much meat, milk, eggs and wool in a year. If the spirit uses the power on other creatures, it ensures that their offspring will be born healthy with no chance of miscarriage. Fertility can counter another spirits Infertility power.
Fire
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will DC 10+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Hate, Rage, Fire
The spirit can cause combustible materials to catch fire. Some hateful spirits will try to use this ability to set a house on fire. The spirit can use this power directly against a creature. The creature must roll a Will save or take 2d6 points of fire damage. Some clever spirits will use this ability to startle mounts that are being used by someone they hate, in an attempt to dismount them.
Good Health
Recommended Use: One to three times each year
Duration: One Year
Saving Throw: Fort DC 10+ spirit modifier (Harmless)
Typical Spirits: Honour, Love, Nature
Good Health will keep a living creature safe from disease and similar afflictions. For a full year, the target will have a +4 bonus to all saving throws versus disease and poison. Is mostly used by honour and love spirits on those they protect. Good Health can counter another spirits Bad Health power.
Greater Fire
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will DC 12+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Hate, Rage, Fire
Same as the Fire power. The Greater Fire power causes 4d6 points of fire damage. A will save will negate all damage caused by the power.
Infertility
Recommended Use: One to three times each year
Duration: One Year
Saving Throw: Fort DC 12+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Hate
Infertility is the opposite of Fertility. It will make the targeted creature barren for a full year. This power is harder to utilise than Fertility and is often used on sentient creatures. Spirits that harbour ill feelings towards certain living creatures will often use this power against them regularly. Infertility can also counter another spirits Fertility power.
Minor Mirage
Recommended Use: One to three times each week
Duration: Ten Minutes
Saving Throw: Will DC 10+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Any
The spirit can create an illusion. This illusion can be an object or a creature. The power only enables the spirit to create an illusion of a creature no larger than medium-sized. The illusion also includes limited sound, but no scent. The spirit cannot make the illusion talk, but the illusion can make simple sounds, such as screams, howls, grunts and whispers. A successful Will save will allow any spectators to disbelieve the illusion.
Major Mirage
Recommended Use: One to three times each week
Duration: Ten Minutes
Saving Throw: Will DC 15+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Any
Major Mirage is the improved version of Minor Mirage. The spirit can create an illusion of several creatures or objects. It can create an illusion of as many creatures it likes, but it cannot create the effect in an area larger than a 30 ft. sphere. The illusion has both sound and scent. The spirit can even duplicate speech with it’s illusion. A successful Will save will allow any spectators to disbelieve the illusion.
Protection
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: One Minute
Saving Throw: Will DC 12+ spirit modifier (Harmless)
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Honour, Love, Elemental
The Protection power enables the spirit to protect one person for a short period of time. The target will receive a +4 deflection bonus to its AC for the duration of this effect. Some Betrayal spirits will use the Protection power on a living creature that is in a situation similar to their own. Protection can also counter another spirits Accident or Curse power.
Storm of Anger
Recommended Use: One to three times each year
Duration: Ten Rounds
Saving Throw: Reflex DC 12+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Hate, Rage, Despair
Storm of Anger is a strong power only possessed by a few spirits. It is an advanced form of telekinesis that allows the spirit to manipulate all small objects in a 60 ft. sphere. If it is indoors, pots, pans, plates, knives and chars will fly around violently. Outdoors, it will be leaves, branches and rocks that will attack those in the sphere. Anyone inside the sphere must succeed with a Reflex save each round or suffer 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage. Some spirits will use the Storm of Anger power not out of malice, but because they have no other ways of expressing their opinions.
Telekinesis
Recommended Use: One to three times each day
Duration: Five Rounds
Saving Throw: None
Typical Spirits: Any
A spirit with the Telekinesis power can move around physical objects with it’s will alone. It can only move one object with this power and the object must weigh 20 lb. or less. It can move the object at a speed of 15 feet per round. Anyone that grabs the object will be able of holding it still with no effort. The power isn’t strong enough to move something that is being held by a living creature. Some mischievous spirits will use this power to hide things from their owners when they aren’t looking.
Quench
Recommended Use: One to three times each day
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Typical Spirits: Water, Nature
The Quench power doesn’t conjure any water, as one might suspect from its name. It simply has the ability to stop fire. If the power is used on a small natural fire, it will cause it to extinguish. It can extinguish a normal bonfire, but nothing bigger. The power can also be used to hinder the casting of fire based spells. If the spirit uses the power on a fire spell when it is cast, that spell will cause two less dice of damage (for example, a Fireball cast by a, 8 th-level caster will only cause 6d6 points of damage instead of 8d6). Quench can counter another spirits Fire or Greater Fire power.
Sample Spirits
Family Ancestor
The family ancestor spirit watches over a household. Some times, the household will not know of its presence. At other occasions, the household will know of the spirit and the spirit might even act as advisor to the household elder. Some cultures worship family ancestors, something that enables them to use their powers more frequently. Since most households have one craft or professions their existence depends upon, the family ancestor spirit will often know a great deal about this craft or profession as well. Sometimes, the family elder will even consult the ancestor spirit when performing an especially difficult task.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Emotion: Love
Awareness: Scent
Communication: Telepathy
Sentience: 6 (Wis 20, Int 11, Cha 11)
Skills: Knowledge (Local) 12 ranks, Knowledge (History) 12 ranks, Craft or Profession (the households normal trade) 12 ranks.
Memory: Incomplete (seldomly remembers its own life)
Bond: Family
Manifestation: None
Powers: Aid 2/week; Fertility 2/month; Good Health – 3/year; Protection 1/month
Forest Sentinel
The forest sentinel spirit is a protector of the wilds. Normally, these spirits will just frolic about in the forest, but should anyone try to harm the forest in which they live, they will use their powers to harm and annoy the intruder. This sample spirit is a relatively weak nature spirit. The older a forest is, the stronger are the spirits therein. Some ancient forests have so strong spirits that no one could possibly hope to harm the forest. The forest sentinel will sometimes taunt intruders that it dislikes, even if they haven’t harmed the forest. The forest sentinel will try to assist any druids, rangers and fey in its forest, if they are in trouble. The spirit will use its Accident and Curse powers to harm intruders. If anyone begins cutting down trees in the forest, it will use its Control Air power to make the task harder. It will use Quench to prevent forest fire. Sometimes it will even use the power to put out a camp-fire.
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Emotion: Nature
Awareness: Scent
Communication: Sensations
Sentience: 4 (Wis 6, Int 6, Cha 12)
Skills: Knowledge (Nature) 8 ranks, Knowledge (Spirits) 8 ranks
Memory: Incomplete (has very short memory)
Bond: Location (the entire forest or part thereof)
Manifestation: None
Powers: Accident 1/month; Control Air 3/month; Curse 1/month; Quench 3/day
Forge Spirit
The forge spirit can sometimes be found a dwarf smithy. The dwarves know of the existence of spirits and some have even learnt how to get one to reside in a forge. The spirit of fire that resides in the forge is worshipped by the dwarves that work with the forge, to ensure that it will help them with their work. They make sure that the forge never runs cold, which would cause the spirit to leave. The spirit in turn uses it’s Aid power on the dwarves when they are working in the smithy and its Control Temperature power to keep the temperature bearable around the forge.
Alignment: True Neutral
Emotion: Elemental (Fire)
Awareness: Sight/Sound
Communication: Sensations
Sentience: 4 (Wis 12, Int 6, Cha 6)
Skills: Craft (Weaponsmithing) 8 ranks, Craft (Armorsmithing) 8 ranks
Memory: None
Bond: Location (the forge)
Manifestation: None
Powers: Aid 3/week; Control Temperature 3/week
Haunting Ghost
The haunting ghost can be found in old castles and manors. Most haunting ghosts have a good reason for being there. Some haunting ghosts were cruel or wicked people who were killed for crimes committed, whereas other ghosts were good people who were betrayed or wrongfully convicted of a crime. In most cases, those that were responsible for the demise of the creature that became a haunting ghost are long dead. Some haunting ghosts try to keep people away from the place they haunt, whereas other ghosts try to enlist visitors to help them. Sometimes, a haunting ghost wasn’t buried in sanctified ground, which is why it cannot rest. Such a ghost would try to get visitors to help it locate its remains, so that they could be moved to a suitable location. The spirit will use its Minor Mirage and Telekinesis powers if it is trying to explain sometimes. If the spirit is hostile, it will use its Telekinesis and Storm of Anger powers to harm the intruders.
Alignment: Any Chaotic
Emotion: Betrayal
Awareness: Sight/Sound
Communication: Whispers
Sentience: 2 (Wis 1, Int 4, Cha 1)
Skills: Knowledge (Local) 4 ranks
Memory: Fragments
Bond: Location (the haunted house/castle)
Manifestation: Ethereal 10 minutes/day
Powers: Minor Mirage 3/week; Telekinesis 3/day; Storm of Anger 1/year
Spirit Rituals
Exorcism
The complicated ritual of Exorcism can force a spirit out of another persons body. The ritual requires some divine spellcaster for it to work. Most large temples have dedicated exorcists that have the required skills to perform the ritual. Most smaller temples will not be able of conducting an exorcism. Druids are able of performing an exorcism, but they are often more reluctant to do so than clerics and paladins. Since druids have a deep respect for most spirits, they would want to investigate the nature of the spirit first and its reason for inhabiting the body.
The ritual itself requires the target to be held in some manner. Since most spirits will try to attack if they are being exorcised, the wisest choice would be to either bind the target or to use some form of restricting spell. Keep in mind that spirits are immune to enchantment spells such as Hold Person. The exorcism ritual takes one hour for each Animating Manifestation level the spirit has. At the end of the ritual, the character rolls a Will save. The DC is equal to 10+ the spirits Charisma or Wisdom modifier (whichever is highest). If the character succeeds with his Will save, the spirit departs. If the character fails his saving throw, the ritual can still be performed again.
Requirements
Knowledge (Spirits) 8 ranks
Ability to cast divine spells
Various herbs and incenses (costs 50 gp)
Spirit Worship
The spirit worship ritual is mostly conducted by people who know that a certain spirit is present. This can be any kind of spirit that they wish to appease. Many cultures conduct this ritual dedicated to their ancestors.
The ritual only affects those spirits that the character wants to affect. When conducting spirit worship, the character must say which spirits he is worshipping. It is okay simply to say “I worship any ancestral spirits present” or “I worship any spirits here that are malevolently inclined towards me”. Spirits that are not mentioned will not receive the benefit of the spirit worship. Any spirit that is so worshipped can use it’s powers twice as much as it normally could for one week. This means that the ritual has to be repeated once every week if the spirit is to have the effect constantly. The ritual takes one hour to conduct and it is up to the Dungeon Master to decide exactly how it is conducted.
Requirements
Knowledge (Spirits) 4 ranks
An altar dedicated to the spirits in question (costs 50 gp to produce)
Various herbs and incenses (costs 2 gp)
Spirits & Spells
Some spells have the ability to affect a spirit. Most of the spells mentioned are divine spells. Arcane spellcasters seldomly have the ability to affect spirits. No enchantment or illusion spells can affect a spirit, even when it is animated.
Detect Thoughts
Can be used on a spirit if the caster also has some way of detecting the spirit first (such as Detect Spirits).
Protection From Chaos/Evil/Good/Law
Anyone affected by this spell receives a +4 bonus to their saving throw to resist being controlled by a spirit with the Animating Manifestation power (and the ability to use this power on living creatures).
Magic Circle Against Chaos/Evil/Good/Law
Anyone inside the circle is immune to control of spirits with the Animating Manifestation power (and the ability to use this power on living creatures).
Spirits
Spirits are not ordinary monsters. They are the remains of the dead, wandering ghosts that found no peace after death. The reasons why the spirits remain are many. Some were betrayed in life, some died of horrible and unnatural causes, some have living foes they did not defeat.
Spirits can be found of varying strength. Some are mere whispers of their former self, whereas others are powerful and dangerous. The following chapter contains guidelines for creating spirits. The spirits are not intended to be normal adversaries and are not given a challenge rating. When creating a spirit, you start out by selecting an emotion. This emotion represents the reason why the spirit has remained in the world of the living, instead of passing on, as the souls of the dead normally do.
Emotion describes the various feelings that can be selected as a basis for the spirit. After the basic emotion has been selected, the various attributes of the spirit needs to be chosen. Awareness is a measurement of how outgoing the spirit is. Some spirits are unable of registering what occurs in the world around them, whereas other spirits take a great interest in the lives of the living. Communication defines how the spirit can talk to the living. Some spirits are weak, being almost unable of affecting the living, having only the ability to project the most basic of their emotions. Others are stronger and can have entire conversations and discussions with living beings. Sentience defines the mental capacities of the spirit. Some spirits are as cunning and clever as they were in life, whereas others are merely the spiritual remains of a dire or tragic event, lingering memories without any real sentience. Memory is another important aspect of the spirits. Some spirits have died recently and remembers their entire life, remembers the friends they used to have and their family members. Others have been spirits for so long that they remember almost nothing of the life they once had. For example, ancestral spirits that look over a household might remember every person to have entered that household in the last fifty years, but they don’t remember the life they once had in that very same house. The Bond of a spirit describes what kind of connection it has to the world of the living. Many spirits are tied to the world, some being tied to a specific area whereas others are tied to an item or person that they cannot leave. A few spirits are roaming spirits, able of travelling anywhere they desire.
Manifestation defines the spirits ability to directly animate itself on the plane of the living. Some spirits cannot manifest, having the power only to guide the living. Other spirits can animate existing materials or take over the bodies of the living.
The last thing that needs to be defined when creating a spirit is the powers they posses. Some spirits can cause fertility, some can create emotional effects in the living, some can cause diseases and plagues. It all depends upon the Emotion of the spirit.
Emotion
There are, as mentioned, varying reasons why a spirit has lingered on after death. This reason has a great deal of influence on the spirit and its powers. Below are some of the most common reasons why a spirit has remained. The first step of creating a spirit is to select the emotion that fuels it. It is possible for a spirit to be fueled by more than one emotion.
Betrayal: If a deep betrayal leads to the death of someone who did not deserve death, that person might linger on. A mother who turns over her child to slavery, well knowing, that the child will probably die after but a few months of labour. An old friend of a paladin lures his friend into a trap, simply to earn some money. Both are reasons where a Betrayed spirit might return. Some Betrayed spirits have a great lust for revenge, others don’t know that they were betrayed or why they linger on. Most common alignment is any Lawful.
Rage: Evil, bloodthirsty people can become spirits as well. Some people are so bloodthirsty, so cruel, that they cannot find rest even after death. Some might even have been so cruel, that the gods are not willing to accept their spirit until they redeem themselves. A brutal, barbarian warlord, known for impaling and maiming enemies. An insane cleric, misinterpreting his teaching, hunting down “heretics” without the approval of the church. Both could become Raging spirits, so filled with a lust for blood that they cannot be satisfied should they depart the world of the living. Most common alignments is any Evil.
Hate: Hate can be a powerful emotion, an emotion anyone can have. If someone is slain before they have the opportunity to defeat their foe, they can occasionally turn into Hating spirits. If the person is slain by their foe, the chance of them turning into a Hating spirit is even greater. A paladin on a quest to slay a Necromancer. A young child, making a feeble attempt to attack the slayer of his parents. Both could become Hating spirits, having such great hate and anger inside that they will not rest until their foe is slain. Hating spirits can be of any alignment.
Despair: There are occasions, when someone dies alone and abandoned, that they cannot go to rest. Despair and sadness can even turn people insane, so the Despaired spirits are some of the hardest to communicate with. A mother, slowly withering away to a horrible disease, holding her already dead child. A traveller, lost in the desert with no water or food. Both could become Despaired spirits, having died in a situation that left them no hope, no reprieve. Despaired spirits can be of any alignment.
Honour: In some countries, duty and honour are of paramount importance. When you accept a given task, you have an obligation to see that task completed, no matter the cost. Sometimes, the sense of duty can be so great that it transcends death. Some of the Honour spirits that remain have failed to do their duty; others have simply been given such a great task that it could not be completed in their lifetime. A royal guard, having failed to protect his king. A master armorer, having failed to complete his masterpiece before his death. Both could return as Honour spirits, feeling an obligation to complete or prevent something they could not complete or prevent in life. Most common alignment is any Lawful.
Love: The last, powerful emotion that can transcend the border between the living and the dead is love. If someone dies with their loved one living on, they can sometimes remain on the material plane, as spirits looking over their loved one. A loving mother, a young couple. As long as there are deep feelings of love, love for a person, love for an item, a Loving spirit can be born. Most common alignment is any Good, but there have been some Evil spirits created from the love of gold or power.
Elemental: The Elemental Spirit doesn’t have any special feelings towards most living creatures. An Elemental Spirit is normally summoned and bound to this plane. Therefore, the actions of most Elemental Spirits are dictated by their master. An Elemental Spirit will simply leave this plane once it is no longer bound. A few Elemental Spirits can be found at locations where one element is abundant. Fire spirits often live around active vulcanoes. Some might even live in a fireplace or forge. Earth spirits are often found deep underground. Some dwarves praise the spirits of the earth before they enter their mine tunnels. Water spirits can be found anywhere there is water, in lakes, ponds, rivers and the open ocean. Some are regularly worshipped by sailors and fishermen. Air spirits can be found anywhere in the open air. They prefer living in high altitude. Some aerial creatures worship the spirits of the air. Elemental spirits are always the easiest to appease. They seldomly have strong feelings towards anyone and will happily assist those that tend to it.
Nature: The Nature Spirit can be found in the forests, plains and mountains. A Nature Spirit can generally be found where the land hasn’t been altered by the hand of man. They do not like living in cities or on cultivated land. Nature Spirits are often worshipped by elves, druids and rangers. Their task is to protect the wilds from anything that might threaten it. Some Nature Spirits use harmful powers to punish those that abuse nature, whereas others prefer to use their powers to benefit those that respect nature. Nature Spirits are the most chaotic and mischievous of all spirits.
Awareness
The level of Awareness defines how the spirit is able of sensing the world around him. The scale starts with the completely ignorant spirits that cannot sense anything that occurs around them and ends with truly enlightened spirits that can sense and see things hidden to mortal beings.
Awareness Level
1 - Ignorant
2 - Energies
3 - Sight / Sound
4 - Scent
5 - Emotions
6 - Planar
7 - Full
Ignorant: Spirits that have Ignorant Awareness are completely unable of sensing anything around them. They can still have various powers, but they are unable of locating anyone against which to use them. An example of a completely ignorant spirit is the castle ghost, a transparent spirit that walks the hallways as it did in life, without interacting with anyone it encounters.
Energies: Other spirits have the ability only to sense energies. They can sense when any living creatures are nearby and they can sense the general size of these creatures. Normally, they can also tell the race of the creature, but they cannot sense other variations, such as the sub-race or appearance of that person. The remnant of someone who drowned in a swamp and now manifests to warn anyone that approaches the place where he died, is a good example of a spirit that can only sense energies.
Sight/Sound: A spirit with this level of Awareness can see and hear like a living person. Since the spirit can still sense energies as well, it is almost impossible to hide from the spirit. A spirit with this level of Awareness is considered to have 20 ranks of Spot & Listen for the purpose of detecting living creatures. An ancestral spirit that looks over a household, keeping watch for its residents is a good example of a spirit with this level of Awareness.
Scent: The spirit also has the ability to smell, enabling it to appreciate the smell of food and wine. Since spirits are unable of getting gratification from eating or drinking anything, some monk have been known to burn incense and prepare food to honour their ancestors. Since the ancestors can smell the incense and food, it is more valuable to them than it would have been if the monks had sacrificed silver or gold. A spirit with scent is considered to have 25 ranks in Listen & Spot for the purpose of detecting living and unliving creatures.
Emotions: Some more powerful spirits gain the ability to sense things that living creatures cannot. Some spirits can actually sense the basic emotions of any living creatures that approach them. Many spirits even feel some form of gratification when they sense certain emotions. Some evil spirits feel joy from inducing fear or hopelessness in those that approach them, whereas good spirits might try to induce sadness or happiness in those around them, depending upon the nature of the spirit. The spirit is considered to have 30 ranks in Listen & Spot for the purpose of detecting living and unliving creatures.
Planar: Some spirits have developed their senses to a degree where they can sense intrusions from other planes of existence. Spirits with the Planar level of Awareness is able of seeing ethereal creatures, they can detect magical energies and they can even determine the approximate power of any living creatures around them. The spirit can tell what level and what class any creature near them is, since they can sense the energies within that persons body and mind. The spirit is considered to have 35 ranks in Listen & Spot for the purpose of detecting living and unliving creatures.
Full: The greatest of the spirits have gained such insights into the workings of the universe that there is little that is hidden from them. The spirits that have Full Awareness can glimpse into the future, transcending the borders of time itself. A spirit with Full Awareness is impossible to hide from. It can see anything and everything, no matter what is done to obscure the spirits vision. If the spirit can Manifest itself in a physical form, it gains a +5 bonus to its AC, since it can predict attacks. The spirit doesn’t have any ranks in Listen & Spot, it is considered to automatically have rolled a natural 20 for al Listen & Spot checks.
Any spirit that has one level of Awareness is also considered to have all the lower levels of Awareness automatically. Thus, a spirit with the Planar level of Awareness is also considered to have the Energies, Sight/Sound, Scent and Emotions levels of Awareness. When describing the Awareness level of a spirit, it is thus only necessary to mention one level of Awareness. If a spirit has a high level of Awareness, but one of the lower levels of Awareness isn’t amongst its abilities, it can be noted by describing its Awareness as:
Awareness: Planar [-Scent]
This means that the spirit has Planar Awareness, but lacks the capacity to smell the odours of the material world. Sometimes, a spirit will have the ability to sense things that are otherwise beyond its level of Awareness. An example of this is:
Awareness: Ignorant [+Emotions]
This means that the spirit has no sense of Energies, Sight/Sound or Scent. Yet, it can sense Emotions.
Communication
The level of Communication defines in which ways the spirit can converse its feelings and opinions unto living beings. Some are completely unable of affecting the material world whereas others can communicate just as well as any living creatures.
Communication Levels
1 - Sensations
2 - Dreams
3 - Whispers
4 - Images
5 - Telepathy
6 - Speech
Sensations: Sensations means that the spirit can only send one specific feelings to those that it can sense. On top of that, it can only send the most rudimentary of feelings, such as fear, hate, sadness, joy, hunger, contentment etc. Sometimes, guardian spirits have been known to follow their protégés, sending them feelings of fear when something dangerous is near. At other times, the spirit doesn’t really control the feelings that it sends out. For example, if someone comes near an old mass grave, the spirits that reside there send out feelings of fear, even though there is no danger around.
Dreams: The spirit can send rudimentary dream messages. It cannot talk directly in its dreams, but it can show images of the things it knows. For example, if a spirit wants to warn someone that they will be ambushed the next day, the will send images of that person being struck by arrows coming from the woods. It cannot simply tell the person directly, that they will be ambushed the next day. It is not always that the person being spoken to in his dreams can interpret the message correctly.
Whispers: The spirit can communicate by whispers only. Anyone within a few feet of the spirit can hear the whispers, but the spirit can only communicate one word each minute. Anyone hearing the whispers will hear what sounds like a myriad of voices all whispering the same word. It is possible for a spirit to finish whole sentences, but it would take too long. Therefore, spirits communicating by whispers prefer to say only the important words. For example, if a spirit was trying to warn someone of an ambush, they would utter words such as “danger”, “ahead”, “woods”.
Images: This form of Communication is very similar to the Dreams level of Communication. The only difference is that images can be sent even when the recipient is awake. The person simply sees the images inside his head. The spirit can transmit any images it desires, but it still cannot speak directly to its target, nor can it send letters and text in the images it transmits.
Telepathy: Telepathy means that the spirit can actually make full conversation with its intended target. It just does so in the mind of the recipient. It can only communicate with one person at a time, with a maximum of one person in a round. It can make any kind of conversation that it likes, the recipient can even talk back telepathically.
Speech: The spirit is able of communicating in the exact same manner as any living creature. It can talk and converse with living, sentient creatures just as if it was there in physical form. Off course, unless it is manifesting itself, the spirit cannot use hand gestures.
As with Awareness, a spirit is considered to not only have the level of Communication noted in its description, it is also considered to have the modes of Communication below the one noted. Normally, its level of Awareness dictates the limits on its modes of Communication. It is very hard for an Ignorant Spirit to have anything higher than Sensations or Dream, for example. As with Awareness, it is possible for a spirit to have a high level of Communication while still lacking the ability to use some of the lower forms of Communication. Use the same system when noting this as with the Awareness levels.
Sentience
Sentience is the most important part of the spirits being. Its ability to think constructively, to use the powers it has available, everything comes down to sentience. Some spirits are mere shadows of their former selves. Left without the capacity for independent thinking, the spirits are merely something to be pitied, not revered.
Spirits that have sentience can actually develop their mental capacity over the years. Some ancestral spirits that watch over households or entire tribes have been known to have become very wise, learning as the travel through the centuries. Others have such limited mental capabilities that they are unable of learning. Whatever the capacity of the spirit, Sentience is the most important aspect of the spirits personality and behaviour.
Sentience Levels
Level Primary Secondary Skill Point Pool
1 2 0 0
2 4 1 4
3 8 4 8
4 12 6 16
5 16 9 24
6 20 11 36
7 24 14 58
8 28 16 90
9 32 19 140
10 36 21 212
11 40 24 302
12 44 26 426
Level: This is simply the level of Sentience the spirit has. A mindless spirit will be a level 1, a newly created spirit from a commoner will be level 2, a newly created spirit from someone unusual (such as a high priest, an archwizard etc.) might be as high as level 6 or 7. Over the years, a sentient spirit will increase in level.
Primary: This is the spirits primary attribute. The Sentience level only dictates Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, since the spirit doesn’t have the three “physical” attribute scores. The primary ability score is actually a loose term. Off course, the spirit of a high priest will have Wisdom as its primary attribute whereas a wizard will have Intelligence. The DM can even decide, when creating a spirit, that the spirit will have more than one primary attribute, if it befits the spirit. The spirit of a grand paladin could for example had both Wisdom and Charisma as his primary ability scores. The spirit will have the number noted in the ability score that the DM chooses to be its primary. A newly created spirit does have one limitation though. It cannot gain a higher ability score than it had in life. It is possible to locate spirits that have no primary ability score.
Secondary: This is the score the spirit has in the abilities that are not its primary abilities. Thus, if a high priest dies and the DM wishes to create a spirit of him, deciding that he should have a Sentience level of 7, his scores would be Intelligence 14, Wisdom 24, Charisma 14 (If the DM chooses that he doesn’t want him to have Charisma as a primary score as well). As with the primary score, the spirit cannot have a higher score than it had in life (at least not when it is first created. Over time, it can gain a higher level of sentience).
Skill Point Pool: This is the number of Skills Points the spirit has available. A spirit can choose any number of skills that have one of the three “mental” ability scores as primary ability.
Memory
Some spirits are nothing but memories. They have suffered great misdeeds while they were alive and are thus bound to a hollow existence of memories, being forced to relive the pains of their life even after death. Other spirits have completely forgotten who they were when they lived. Some ancestral spirits that watch over their old village might know the name of every person in that village as well as the name of every person who has visited the village for decades, but have forgotten everything from their old past. Sometimes, they cannot even remember their own name anymore, being too absorbed in the task of looking after the living.
Memory Levels
1 – None
2 – Fragments
3 – Incomplete
4 – Complete
None: The spirit cannot remember anything of what happened while it was alive. Many spirits who have some task they pursue forget themselves, becoming so engulfed in their task that they cannot recall even important events from their own life.
Fragments: The spirit cannot remember anything concrete from its past. If asked to tell its life-story, it will have little or nothing to tell. Yet, spirits with fragmented memory sometimes stumble across something that fascinates them, something that might vaguely remind them of something from their past. The spirit might see a little girl wearing a dress that is similar to a dress the spirits wife or mother wore in life. Even though the spirit cannot remember where it has seen the dress before, it will become fascinated and intrigued by it. The spirits that have fragmented memory are often the ones that behave in the most sporadic way, since they are occasionally let astray by their memories.
Incomplete: The spirit can remember most general facts about its life. It can remember its name, it can remember its former occupation, it can remember the names of those that it held dear. Yet, after having existed for some time in the spirit realm, the spirit has forgotten many details of its life. Incomplete Memory is the most common amongst spirits.
Complete: The spirit has only passed on to the spirit realm recently and can still remember its life. Most spirits will forget many details of their own life and after 10-20 years, they will have Incomplete Memory. Yet, some especially determined spirits can sometimes retain their own memory for centuries. These determined spirits are extremely rare though.
Bond
The thing all spirits have in common, is that there is something that ties them to the material world. Something has caused them to linger on.
Bond
Person
Location
Family
Roaming
Person: The spirit has one specific person that it either wants to harm or protect. Whatever the reason, the spirit cannot go further than 60 ft. away from the person it is bound to. It cannot sense anything that is further than 120 ft. away from the person it is bound to.
Location: Some spirits are strongly bound to a certain location. It might be their old home or it might be the place where they either died or was buried. The spirit cannot leave this location. It’s senses only allows it to detect anyone that is within 60 ft. of this location.
Family: Most spirits that are tied to a family are called ancestral spirits. Some spirits hate the family that they are bound to, trying to harm it whenever they have the opportunity, whereas other spirits will protect the family at all costs. The spirit will even follow the family around if the family should ever move. Family sprits are sometimes generations old. A spirit bound to a family can only sense things that occur within 60 ft. of one of the family members.
Roaming: The spirit is completely free and can go anywhere it chooses. Roaming spirits aren’t rare, but most of them lack the drive possessed by other spirits. Therefore, they seldomly have the same powers as bound spirits. Most nature spirits are roaming.
Manifestation
Spirits are found of varying power. Some of them have the power to manifest, to either animate dead matter or to appear in a shadowy form of their former self. The stronger spirits can manifest almost as often as they like, whereas the weaker spirits come to life only a few times in a year. Normally, a spirit will only manifest itself on special occasions. Hating spirits will only manifest when the subject of their hate is close. Raging spirits will manifest at the possibility of bloodshed. Betrayed spirits will manifest if they have possibility to convey the feelings they have, to receive the sympathy they did not receive in life.
Whatever the reason, when a spirit manifests, it has the ability to affect the world of the living. What it uses the power for depends on the spirit.
The power of the spirit defines the power of its manifested form. The table below gives the stats for manifesting spirits. There are, as mentioned, two ways in which a spirit can manifest. It can choose to take over something with an existing physical form. This can be furniture, weapons and corpses. Even living creatures can be seized, if the spirit has sufficient will power. When a spirit chooses to use the Animating Manifestation option, it becomes a physical entity, with hit points, armor class etc. Most spirits can only use Animating Manifestation once each year or less. The Dungeon Master must decide how often the spirit can use Animating Manifestation when creating the spirit. When they use Animating Manifestation, they cannot use any of their powers.
The other option for Manifesting is the Ethereal Manifestation. The spirit creates a transparent body of Ethereal matter. It becomes visible, able of conversing with living beings. It doesn’t have the power to influence the living directly, as it lacks physical form. It can though offer its advice and suggestions to the living. Some spirits take the Ethereal form to harass the living, whereas other spirits take to the Ethereal form to offer advice and guidance.
Animating Manifestation - A
Level HitDice HitPoints AC AttackBonus
1 3d12 19 11 (+1 natural) +0
2 4d12 26 12 (+2 natural) +2
3 5d12 32 14 (+3 natural, +1 dex) +3
4 6d12 39 15 (+4 natural, +1 dex) +5
5 7d12 45 16 (+5 natural, +1 dex) +6
6 8d12 52 18 (+6 natural, +2 dex) +8
7 9d12 58 19 (+7 natural, +2 dex) +9
8 10d12 65 20 (+8 natural, +2 dex) +11
9 11d12 71 22 (+9 natural, +3 dex) +12
10 12d12 78 23 (+10 natural, +3 dex) +14
11 13d12 84 24 (+11 natural, +3 dex) +15
12 14d12 91 26 (+12 natural, +4 dex) +17
Animating Manifestation - B
Level Strength Dexterity Speed Initiative
1 8 10 30 ft. +0
2 10 10 30 ft. +0
3 12 12 30 ft. +1
4 14 12 30 ft. +1
5 16 12 40 ft. +1
6 18 14 40 ft. +2
7 20 14 40 ft. +2
8 22 14 40 ft. +2
9 24 16 50 ft. +3
10 26 16 50 ft. +3
11 28 16 50 ft. +3
12 30 18 50 ft. +4
The Animating Manifestation bring with it two options. Either the spirit can take over inanimate matter, like furniture, weapons or corpses. It can only take over an object that is one size bigger than the spirits size. A spirit has the same size as it did in life. Thus, a human spirit can take over a large object. The object gains the stats mentioned above. The object has the armor class penalty or bonus relevant to it’s size, just as any other creature has.
The Dungeon Master is left to decide if a spirit can take control over a living body. If the spirit can take control over a living body, the target will be allowed a Will save to resist the control. The DC will be 10+ the spirits Charisma or Wisdom modifier (whichever is highest). The controlled body will have the same stats as mentioned above on the Animating Manifestation chart. It is important that you keep track of the hosts hit points as well as those of the spirit. It is possible for the host to be slain even if the body hasn’t taken enough damage to drive out the spirit. Even if the body dies, the spirit can still control it and use it to attack its enemies. There is three ways in which the spirit can be removed.
1: The spirit can be convinced to leave the body. Some spirits can be lured with the promise of something they desire.
2: The body can be destroyed, which will cause the spirit to depart. This is not always a good option, since it will also kill the host.
3: The Exorcism ritual, found under Spirit Rituals, can be used to drive out the spirit.
Powers
The list of powers which can be given to spirits is not definite. If the Dungeon Master chooses, he can invent new powers if he so pleases. Most normal spirits will only have one power normally. Some might even have none. Only greater spirits have several powers. Only a few mortal spirits have directly offensive powers. When a spirit decides to intervene on the world of the living, it will most often have to do so indirectly.
Recommended Use is a guideline for the Dungeon Master. He must choose when creating a spirit how often it can use the power.
When a power has a saving throw, the DC is modifier by the spirits Charisma or Wisdom modifier (whichever is highest). This will simply be noted as spirit modifier.
Accident
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Reflex DC 10+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Hate, Rage
The Accident power cannot be used always. Often, the spirit will wait until its target is in a situation where it can harm him. The target will suffer 2d6 points of damage unless he succeeds with a Reflex saving throw. If he succeeds, no damage is taken. An Accident can manifest itself as many things. Sometimes a heavy pot or bowl will fall from a shelf, sometimes a crossbow will go of at a bad time, sometimes the person will trip into the fireplace. If a person who works in an especially hazardous environment (for example, a forge, mine or quarry) is being haunted, the Accident could cause even greater damage than 2d6. Most people will notice something is wrong after they have been subjected to a couple of strange Accidents. Generally, it is up to the Dungeon Master to decide if the target is in a situation where Accident could be used.
Aid
Recommended Use: One to three times each week
Duration: One skill check
Saving Throw: Will DC 10+ spirit modifier (Harmless)
Typical Spirits: Honour, Love, Elemental
The Aid power enables a spirit to assist a living creature in a task. The spirit can only aid the target with performing well in a skill when the spirit knows the skill in question. The spirit must be able of communicating with whispers as a minimum. The target receives a +2 spirit bonus to one skill check.
Bad Health
Recommended Use: One to three times each year
Duration: One Year
Saving Throw: Fort DC 10+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Hate
Bad Health is mostly used by malevolent spirits against their enemies or people they hate. If the target fails his Fortitude save, he will become very vulnerable to diseases and other afflictions for a year. For the duration of the power, the target will have a –4 penalty to all saving throws vs. disease and poison. Bad Health can counter another spirits Good Health power.
Control Air
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: Ten Minutes
Saving Throw: Fort DC 12+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Any (Air spirits will almost always have the power)
The Control Air power enables the spirit to perform a number of things with air. The spirit can make the air thinner or denser. Thin air will cause anyone in a 60 ft. sphere to become fatigued unless they roll a successful Fortitude save. They must roll a Fortitude save every round. Once they have failed one save, they are fatigued and are not allowed a new save unless they leave the area and enter again. If the air is made denser, it will enable everyone within to breathe more easily. Anyone in the area will receive a +4 bonus to Constitution for the purpose of resisting the effect of performing hard labour or running for an extended period of time. Control Air can also create wind in the area. This wind will cause all ranged attacks to suffer a -4 attack penalty, both attacks from someone firing into the area as well as from someone firing out of the area. This will not affect ranged spells and effects.
Control Temperature
Recommended Use: One to three times each week
Duration: One Hour
Saving Throw: None
Typical Spirits: Any
The spirit can increase or decreases the temperature in an area. This area can be no larger than a circle with a diameter of 60 ft. The spirit can always choose to make the area smaller. The temperature can never be increased or decreased so greatly that it causes harm. Some spirits will use the Control Temperature power to underline their mood, making it colder when they are angry and soothingly warm when they are happy.
Curse
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: One Day
Saving Throw: Will DC 12+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Hate, Nature
The Curse Power enables a spirit to affect its target long after the target has left the spirits presence. The target is allowed a Will save to completely resist the effect. If the target fails it’s Will save, it has a –2 penalty to all attack, damage and skill checks for one full day.
Fertility
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: One Year
Saving Throw: Fort DC 12+ spirit modifier (Harmless)
Typical Spirits: Honour, Love, Earth, Nature
Fertility will grant one creature extraordinary fertility for a full year. A spirit that uses this ability to affect livestock will enable a household to produce twice as much meat, milk, eggs and wool in a year. If the spirit uses the power on other creatures, it ensures that their offspring will be born healthy with no chance of miscarriage. Fertility can counter another spirits Infertility power.
Fire
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will DC 10+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Hate, Rage, Fire
The spirit can cause combustible materials to catch fire. Some hateful spirits will try to use this ability to set a house on fire. The spirit can use this power directly against a creature. The creature must roll a Will save or take 2d6 points of fire damage. Some clever spirits will use this ability to startle mounts that are being used by someone they hate, in an attempt to dismount them.
Good Health
Recommended Use: One to three times each year
Duration: One Year
Saving Throw: Fort DC 10+ spirit modifier (Harmless)
Typical Spirits: Honour, Love, Nature
Good Health will keep a living creature safe from disease and similar afflictions. For a full year, the target will have a +4 bonus to all saving throws versus disease and poison. Is mostly used by honour and love spirits on those they protect. Good Health can counter another spirits Bad Health power.
Greater Fire
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will DC 12+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Hate, Rage, Fire
Same as the Fire power. The Greater Fire power causes 4d6 points of fire damage. A will save will negate all damage caused by the power.
Infertility
Recommended Use: One to three times each year
Duration: One Year
Saving Throw: Fort DC 12+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Hate
Infertility is the opposite of Fertility. It will make the targeted creature barren for a full year. This power is harder to utilise than Fertility and is often used on sentient creatures. Spirits that harbour ill feelings towards certain living creatures will often use this power against them regularly. Infertility can also counter another spirits Fertility power.
Minor Mirage
Recommended Use: One to three times each week
Duration: Ten Minutes
Saving Throw: Will DC 10+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Any
The spirit can create an illusion. This illusion can be an object or a creature. The power only enables the spirit to create an illusion of a creature no larger than medium-sized. The illusion also includes limited sound, but no scent. The spirit cannot make the illusion talk, but the illusion can make simple sounds, such as screams, howls, grunts and whispers. A successful Will save will allow any spectators to disbelieve the illusion.
Major Mirage
Recommended Use: One to three times each week
Duration: Ten Minutes
Saving Throw: Will DC 15+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Any
Major Mirage is the improved version of Minor Mirage. The spirit can create an illusion of several creatures or objects. It can create an illusion of as many creatures it likes, but it cannot create the effect in an area larger than a 30 ft. sphere. The illusion has both sound and scent. The spirit can even duplicate speech with it’s illusion. A successful Will save will allow any spectators to disbelieve the illusion.
Protection
Recommended Use: One to three times each month
Duration: One Minute
Saving Throw: Will DC 12+ spirit modifier (Harmless)
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Honour, Love, Elemental
The Protection power enables the spirit to protect one person for a short period of time. The target will receive a +4 deflection bonus to its AC for the duration of this effect. Some Betrayal spirits will use the Protection power on a living creature that is in a situation similar to their own. Protection can also counter another spirits Accident or Curse power.
Storm of Anger
Recommended Use: One to three times each year
Duration: Ten Rounds
Saving Throw: Reflex DC 12+ spirit modifier
Typical Spirits: Betrayal, Hate, Rage, Despair
Storm of Anger is a strong power only possessed by a few spirits. It is an advanced form of telekinesis that allows the spirit to manipulate all small objects in a 60 ft. sphere. If it is indoors, pots, pans, plates, knives and chars will fly around violently. Outdoors, it will be leaves, branches and rocks that will attack those in the sphere. Anyone inside the sphere must succeed with a Reflex save each round or suffer 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage. Some spirits will use the Storm of Anger power not out of malice, but because they have no other ways of expressing their opinions.
Telekinesis
Recommended Use: One to three times each day
Duration: Five Rounds
Saving Throw: None
Typical Spirits: Any
A spirit with the Telekinesis power can move around physical objects with it’s will alone. It can only move one object with this power and the object must weigh 20 lb. or less. It can move the object at a speed of 15 feet per round. Anyone that grabs the object will be able of holding it still with no effort. The power isn’t strong enough to move something that is being held by a living creature. Some mischievous spirits will use this power to hide things from their owners when they aren’t looking.
Quench
Recommended Use: One to three times each day
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Typical Spirits: Water, Nature
The Quench power doesn’t conjure any water, as one might suspect from its name. It simply has the ability to stop fire. If the power is used on a small natural fire, it will cause it to extinguish. It can extinguish a normal bonfire, but nothing bigger. The power can also be used to hinder the casting of fire based spells. If the spirit uses the power on a fire spell when it is cast, that spell will cause two less dice of damage (for example, a Fireball cast by a, 8 th-level caster will only cause 6d6 points of damage instead of 8d6). Quench can counter another spirits Fire or Greater Fire power.
Sample Spirits
Family Ancestor
The family ancestor spirit watches over a household. Some times, the household will not know of its presence. At other occasions, the household will know of the spirit and the spirit might even act as advisor to the household elder. Some cultures worship family ancestors, something that enables them to use their powers more frequently. Since most households have one craft or professions their existence depends upon, the family ancestor spirit will often know a great deal about this craft or profession as well. Sometimes, the family elder will even consult the ancestor spirit when performing an especially difficult task.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Emotion: Love
Awareness: Scent
Communication: Telepathy
Sentience: 6 (Wis 20, Int 11, Cha 11)
Skills: Knowledge (Local) 12 ranks, Knowledge (History) 12 ranks, Craft or Profession (the households normal trade) 12 ranks.
Memory: Incomplete (seldomly remembers its own life)
Bond: Family
Manifestation: None
Powers: Aid 2/week; Fertility 2/month; Good Health – 3/year; Protection 1/month
Forest Sentinel
The forest sentinel spirit is a protector of the wilds. Normally, these spirits will just frolic about in the forest, but should anyone try to harm the forest in which they live, they will use their powers to harm and annoy the intruder. This sample spirit is a relatively weak nature spirit. The older a forest is, the stronger are the spirits therein. Some ancient forests have so strong spirits that no one could possibly hope to harm the forest. The forest sentinel will sometimes taunt intruders that it dislikes, even if they haven’t harmed the forest. The forest sentinel will try to assist any druids, rangers and fey in its forest, if they are in trouble. The spirit will use its Accident and Curse powers to harm intruders. If anyone begins cutting down trees in the forest, it will use its Control Air power to make the task harder. It will use Quench to prevent forest fire. Sometimes it will even use the power to put out a camp-fire.
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Emotion: Nature
Awareness: Scent
Communication: Sensations
Sentience: 4 (Wis 6, Int 6, Cha 12)
Skills: Knowledge (Nature) 8 ranks, Knowledge (Spirits) 8 ranks
Memory: Incomplete (has very short memory)
Bond: Location (the entire forest or part thereof)
Manifestation: None
Powers: Accident 1/month; Control Air 3/month; Curse 1/month; Quench 3/day
Forge Spirit
The forge spirit can sometimes be found a dwarf smithy. The dwarves know of the existence of spirits and some have even learnt how to get one to reside in a forge. The spirit of fire that resides in the forge is worshipped by the dwarves that work with the forge, to ensure that it will help them with their work. They make sure that the forge never runs cold, which would cause the spirit to leave. The spirit in turn uses it’s Aid power on the dwarves when they are working in the smithy and its Control Temperature power to keep the temperature bearable around the forge.
Alignment: True Neutral
Emotion: Elemental (Fire)
Awareness: Sight/Sound
Communication: Sensations
Sentience: 4 (Wis 12, Int 6, Cha 6)
Skills: Craft (Weaponsmithing) 8 ranks, Craft (Armorsmithing) 8 ranks
Memory: None
Bond: Location (the forge)
Manifestation: None
Powers: Aid 3/week; Control Temperature 3/week
Haunting Ghost
The haunting ghost can be found in old castles and manors. Most haunting ghosts have a good reason for being there. Some haunting ghosts were cruel or wicked people who were killed for crimes committed, whereas other ghosts were good people who were betrayed or wrongfully convicted of a crime. In most cases, those that were responsible for the demise of the creature that became a haunting ghost are long dead. Some haunting ghosts try to keep people away from the place they haunt, whereas other ghosts try to enlist visitors to help them. Sometimes, a haunting ghost wasn’t buried in sanctified ground, which is why it cannot rest. Such a ghost would try to get visitors to help it locate its remains, so that they could be moved to a suitable location. The spirit will use its Minor Mirage and Telekinesis powers if it is trying to explain sometimes. If the spirit is hostile, it will use its Telekinesis and Storm of Anger powers to harm the intruders.
Alignment: Any Chaotic
Emotion: Betrayal
Awareness: Sight/Sound
Communication: Whispers
Sentience: 2 (Wis 1, Int 4, Cha 1)
Skills: Knowledge (Local) 4 ranks
Memory: Fragments
Bond: Location (the haunted house/castle)
Manifestation: Ethereal 10 minutes/day
Powers: Minor Mirage 3/week; Telekinesis 3/day; Storm of Anger 1/year
Spirit Rituals
Exorcism
The complicated ritual of Exorcism can force a spirit out of another persons body. The ritual requires some divine spellcaster for it to work. Most large temples have dedicated exorcists that have the required skills to perform the ritual. Most smaller temples will not be able of conducting an exorcism. Druids are able of performing an exorcism, but they are often more reluctant to do so than clerics and paladins. Since druids have a deep respect for most spirits, they would want to investigate the nature of the spirit first and its reason for inhabiting the body.
The ritual itself requires the target to be held in some manner. Since most spirits will try to attack if they are being exorcised, the wisest choice would be to either bind the target or to use some form of restricting spell. Keep in mind that spirits are immune to enchantment spells such as Hold Person. The exorcism ritual takes one hour for each Animating Manifestation level the spirit has. At the end of the ritual, the character rolls a Will save. The DC is equal to 10+ the spirits Charisma or Wisdom modifier (whichever is highest). If the character succeeds with his Will save, the spirit departs. If the character fails his saving throw, the ritual can still be performed again.
Requirements
Knowledge (Spirits) 8 ranks
Ability to cast divine spells
Various herbs and incenses (costs 50 gp)
Spirit Worship
The spirit worship ritual is mostly conducted by people who know that a certain spirit is present. This can be any kind of spirit that they wish to appease. Many cultures conduct this ritual dedicated to their ancestors.
The ritual only affects those spirits that the character wants to affect. When conducting spirit worship, the character must say which spirits he is worshipping. It is okay simply to say “I worship any ancestral spirits present” or “I worship any spirits here that are malevolently inclined towards me”. Spirits that are not mentioned will not receive the benefit of the spirit worship. Any spirit that is so worshipped can use it’s powers twice as much as it normally could for one week. This means that the ritual has to be repeated once every week if the spirit is to have the effect constantly. The ritual takes one hour to conduct and it is up to the Dungeon Master to decide exactly how it is conducted.
Requirements
Knowledge (Spirits) 4 ranks
An altar dedicated to the spirits in question (costs 50 gp to produce)
Various herbs and incenses (costs 2 gp)
Spirits & Spells
Some spells have the ability to affect a spirit. Most of the spells mentioned are divine spells. Arcane spellcasters seldomly have the ability to affect spirits. No enchantment or illusion spells can affect a spirit, even when it is animated.
Detect Thoughts
Can be used on a spirit if the caster also has some way of detecting the spirit first (such as Detect Spirits).
Protection From Chaos/Evil/Good/Law
Anyone affected by this spell receives a +4 bonus to their saving throw to resist being controlled by a spirit with the Animating Manifestation power (and the ability to use this power on living creatures).
Magic Circle Against Chaos/Evil/Good/Law
Anyone inside the circle is immune to control of spirits with the Animating Manifestation power (and the ability to use this power on living creatures).
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