Homebrew Ghost Species Details
Ghosts are more like sentient illusions rather than actual humanoids. They are the after-image of deceased beings that have somehow escaped the afterlife. They mostly float around in a depressed state watching their former friends and family live on without them. Ghosts can show themselves to other beings, but most prefer to keep to themselves. They can fly, move through solid objects, and even possess other people. Ghosts can make powerful allies, and dangerous enemies.
Ghost Traits
All ghosts have the following abilities.Ability Score Increase
Your Dexterity score increases by 1.
Age
Ghosts appear as the age at which they died, and with any wounds they died with. Ghosts can stay on the Material Plane almost forever, but most fade away after they fulfil their purpose.
Size
Ghosts are the size they were in life. Your size is either Medium or Small.
Speed
Ghosts can't touch solid objects, including the ground, so they don't have a walking speed. Instead they can fly and hover with a flying speed of 60 feet.
Darkvision
Breaking free from the limits of their mortal body, ghosts have heightened senses they wouldn't normally have in life. You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Ethereal Resilience
Because ghosts aren't alive, they are immune to poison damage, and resistant to necrotic damage.
Ghostly Form
Ghosts cannot touch solid objects, so they can pass through walls of any material other than lead. They can also pass through spaces that are occupied by other creatures. If they end their turn inside a solid object, they take 1d10 bludgeoning damage. They are also immune to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical weapons. If a missile is fired at them, it will instead try to hit any creature behind the ghost.
Ethereal Weapons
A ghost has any weapons that they died with, but can only use them to attack undead. Any other creature is immune to a ghost's attacks, unless they are spells. Ghosts cannot cast spells that require material components unless they died with an arcane focus on them. They can't pick up or discard any weapons they have with them.
Possession
Ghosts can possess other beings. As an action you can attempt to possess a creature only if you are in the same space as them. The creature must then make a Wisdom saving throw with a DC equal to your Wisdom score. If they succeed, you take 2d10 psychic damage and must move to a space 5 feet away from them. If the creature fails the saving throw, they lose control of their body and can attempt to free themselves by making another saving throw on their turn. On your turn, you can cast any spells you know, but you can only use the weapons that the creature has with them. You cannot use any ghostly abilities while in someone's body, as your only abilities are that of the possessed creature. Any damage the creature takes, you take as well. If the creature dies and you still have hitpoints left, you leave the creature's body and regain your ghostly abilities. You can use an action to leave a creature's body at any time. When you leave a creature's body, you also gain one level of exhaustion. You can only attempt this action once per long rest.
Ghostly Invisibility
As a ghost, you can become invisible at will. Only people with truesight can see you while invisible.
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