Homebrew Ghost Species Details
Physical Description
Ghosts are flickering remnants of their past lives, appearing as they did before death, however they are now transparent and have a coloured tinge to them that drowns out all color of their body. This tint varies in tone for multiple reasons, From pure white of those that died peacefully to red of those dying in a fire, green if poisoned, blue if water was their ending or yellow if thunder.
Ghosts are very different from most of the undead: the difference to the lich is that they didn't ask for becoming undead, at least not directly. Mummies also have a mission to fulfill, but their corpse got conserved by some mean. Zombies lost their will and are forced to submit to other beings. Ghosts died and lost their body, but the will to fulfill their last pendant was so intense that death could not take their spirit: Ghosts are basically coming to terms with death and rejecting it, just to get a second chance.
Most ghost's appearance tends to reflect how it died. For example, a ghost that had drowned in a previous life may be dripping with glowing water droplets that disappear as soon as they hit the ground. A ghost that died in battle may still have the wounds it sustained in life- open and flowing with silver blood. A ghost that died while sleeping will keep its eyes closed, but will see perfectly.
Similarly, if the ghost instead is more transfixed by guilt or regret at its previous life it is instead wrapped in ethereal chains. This is because the image of a ghost is controlled by its own mental state and such transduction with death or regret manifests in its image on the Material Plane.
It is possible for ghosts to be completely free of regret or transfixed by its death, but it would mean that the only thing tying it to the Material Plane is the ghost's own willpower, which makes its bond to the Material Plane weaker than the other two types of ghosts. This ghosts tend to disappear soon after being formed.
History
Ghosts were the souls of a deceased sentient creature that had been bound to haunt a specific area, object, or creature that held significance to them when they were alive. Often this state of existence was because of a soul having been horrendously evil in life, their deaths being tremendously emotional, being denied a proper burial, or because they had unfinished business.
Attitudes and Beliefs
A ghost's behavior is typically similar to the personality they had in life. But in some cases, their personalities were altered by the process of death. Some seek meaning in their undeath. Some Ghosts know why they are still bound to the material plane. Ghosts come in all beliefs and attitudes, but most of the time their beliefs changed to an a little less serious version of themselves when they became undead.
Ghost Traits
Creature Type: Humanoid (Undead)
Size: Medium (about 5–6 feet tall)
Speed: You're speed is 20 feet, you can hover and have a flight speed of 10 Feet.
Ethereal Vision
Ethereal Sight. You can see into the Ethereal Plane, all out to a range of 30 feet.
Undead Nature
Undead Nature.
- Your creature type is undead.
- You do not need to eat, drink, or breathe.
- You do not need to sleep. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours doing light activity rather than sleeping.
- You are immune to being poisoned and you are immune to poison damage.
- (optional) You are immune to necrotic damage but vulnerable to radiant damage.
Incorporeal Fortitude
You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks. Weapons just slide through you, only ripping small parts of your ethereal form with them as if they were hitting some kind of slime or thick air.
Pull of the Ethereal
When you drop to 0 hit points you are pulled towards the afterlife. When this happens your death saving throws become wisdom saving throws with a DC of 12. On three successes you immediately regain one hit point, and the DC for the death saving throws increase by 5. On three failures you are permanently pulled into the afterlife, and you cannot be revived with anything short of a resurrection spell. On a long rest, the DC resets to 12.
No Organs
You are not affected by exhaustion and bleeding.