Encounter Idea 13 – The Ghost
So here we are at role-playing encounter idea number 13, one fourth of the way there!
This week’s encounter idea is ‘The Ghost.’ This idea can spark many role-playing opportunities provided of course that you give the ghost the ability to communicate with the group beyond a simple moaning sound.
To start things off you need to determine who or what the ghost is. If you want to get the maximum impact on your players have the ghost be someone they knew; a loyal henchman, a relative or my personal favorite – a former character. By using someone the party is familiar with you can hopefully stop the two typical responses, “Let’s get out of here!” or the ever popular, “Charge!”
Once the group starts to interact with the ghost you can use the opportunity to pass along information to start a new plot line, close one up or to help a stalled one move along.
Some ideas:
– The ghost forgives one of the characters for killing them (lay the guilt on thick here)
– The ghost is bound to its location and cannot rest until a specific artifact is found and used
– The ghost is seeking revenge against those that wronged them and wishes to strike a deal with the party
Keep in mind that you don’t have to make this a one time encounter, especially if you can work the ghost into the role of a mentor similar to what Terry Brooks did in the Shannara series with the shade of Bremen and later the shade of Allanon.
Got an idea on how to use a ghost? Feel free to post it and share!
Be sure to check out these additional encounter ideas
if you start a campaign and plan on having a ghost encounter, then have an npc that might die be the ghost later on, that way a player doesnt have to lose a character. if you are running a campaign that people plan on dying then either npc or old player characters work as well. at the start of the campaign or during the campaign make the npc/pc friends with at least 1 or 2 characters. that way you can have an easier time making the party do what you want them to do if the ghost asks them to do it and they were friends at one time.