Homebrew Ghost Species Details
When a being dies, their souls sometimes linger behind. Whether they have unfinished business in the mortal world or vendettas against their killers, these beings refuse to die. Most of the time, these ghosts lose their sanity in the process, becoming vengeful wraiths or maddened banshees. You, however, are an exception. A ghost who has retained your sanity.
When creating your character, keep in mind the fact that you have already died. Ghosts aren't born from nothing, so think about why exactly your soul is staying behind. Perhaps they still wish to take their vengeance upon your killer? Or perhaps your untimely death left a child of yours an orphan, and the thought of leaving them caused your soul to remain after your death? Ghosts are typically also bound to locations or objects of significance, such as a family heirloom, the location of their death or simply their grave. You will probably want to think of at least one such significant item or location.
Ghosts are bound to the ethereal plane. Stronger ghosts can shift between the material and ethereal planes, but you bargained away that ability in exchange for your (at least partial) sanity. In your true form, you exist in the ethereal, and cannot interact with anything in the material plane. You can manifest your appearance in the material, so that mortal creatures can see and hear you, but you can neither affect or be affected by anything outside of the ethereal
Ghost Traits
As a ghost, your only real way of interacting with the material plane is through spells that can transport you there, or through possessing mortal creatures.Ability Score Increase
Your Charisma score increases by 2, and one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Ethereal Existence
Being trapped in the ethereal plane, you can neither affect or be affected by any effects that don't originate in that plane, or ones that are able to traverse planes. You are not hindered by the ethereal fog, and you can see and hear effortlessly into the material plane.
Manifest Spectral Form
As a ghost, you are perpetually locked inside the ethereal plane. As an action, you can manifest a spectral from within the material plane. This form can take any appearance, but is always visibly transparent and ghost-like. It cannot be affected by any effects, and only disappears if you die, choose to end it, a spell such as Dispel Evil and Good is cast or another form of exorcism is performed. While in this form, you can speak to any creatures as if you had a physical form.
Possession
As an action once every 24 hours, choose one humanoid creature within the material plane. The creature has to make a Charisma Saving Throw, with a DC equal to your Charisma Modifier + your level. A creature can volunteer to fail this saving throw. If they fail the save, you gain total control of their body. You instantly lose access to all your racial features except your languages, ability score improvements and this ability. You keep all feats, class features and mental ability scores (Int, Wis and Cha). All other ability scores are copied over from the possessed creature, as are your hit points. After 12 hours of keeping this form, the ability scores and hit points revert to your original one.
The possessed creature remains aware of their surroundings, but you have total control over their actions. Once every hour, they can reattempt this saving throw. On a success, they revert back to normal and you are flung back into the ethereal plane. If you maintain the possession for 24 hours, the body's original owner is considered dead, and you can no longer be expelled from the body by means such as the Dispel Evil and Good spell.
If a creature you can see is reduced to 0 hit points and does not make death saving throws, you can immediately possess them, no action required. This automatically succeeds, though you must immediately begin making death saving throws.
You can end your possession at any time, no action required. If the body's owner is still alive, they regain control. If they aren't, the body drops dead and decay starts. You can reenter your body at any time as long as you can see it, but rot causes it to lose 1 hit point every 10 minutes, plus 1 more for every time this effect has triggered before. For example, if your body is left unattended for an hour, it has lost 21 hit points.
Hardened Against Death
Whenever a form you are currently possessing dies, you can make a Charisma Saving Throw, with a DC of 5 + the amount of damage left behind after you hit zero hit points. On a success, you simply return to the ethereal plane. On a failed save, you are dead permanently.
Languages.
You can speak, read and write Common and one other language of your choice.
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