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ORIENTAL GHOSTS

This is a bit of a catch-all of common Oriental ghosts which essentially use the 5e ghost as the base.  Where they diverge significantly a new statblock may be provided as time goes by.

GHOST

In Oriental Adventures, ghosts (yorei) have the spirit subtype. A ghost — whether ethereal or manifested — cannot pass through jade or crystal, nor can it lift objects made of these substances. The Monster Manual describes many common powers of ghosts, including corrupting touch, frightful moan, and corrupting gaze. Certain ghosts in Oriental Adventures have unusual powers not listed in that book. Additional ghostly powers are described below.

SPECIAL ATTACKS

If a special attack allows a saving throw, the DC is 8 + proficiency bonus + the ghost’s  Charisma modifier.

Disease. Many possessing spirits cause disease in the people they possess. Ghosts with this ability have the Possession power, but when they possess a character they do not exercise control.  Instead, they inflict a disease (any disease described in the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide) that cannot be cured until the spirit is cast out of the victim’s body.

Energy Drain. Some ghosts drain life energy, just like other undead such as vampires or wraiths. Replace the withering touch attack with an energy drain attack:

Life Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature.
Hit: 17 (4d6 + 3) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.

Laughter of Madness. The ghost can laugh as an action. All living creatures within a 20-foot sphere must succeed at a Wisdom save or take 2d6 points of temporary Intelligence damage and 2d6 points of temporary Wisdom damage.  A creature who has their wisdom score dropped to 0 falls in to a coma.  An character who has an intelligence score reduced to 0 becomes a mindless creature and will act purely on instinct (but is not necessarily aggressive).  The creature regains 1 lost ability point per long rest.

Vampiric Touch. The ghost’s touch acts as a vampiric touch spell, dealing 17 (4d6 + 3) necrotic damage and giving the ghost temporary hit points equal to the damage it inflicts. The temporary hit points last for 1 hour.

Withering. The ghost’s touch diminishes the targets ki  in addition to its other affects, dealing 1 level of exhaustion if the target fails a Constitution saving throw (normally DC 13).

SPECIAL QUALITIES

Some ghosts in Oriental Adventures have additional defenses beyond those common to undead and incorporeal creatures and the additional defenses listed in the Monster Manual. These might include one or more of the following:

Magic Resistance. Certain ghosts have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Resistance or Immunity. Ghosts are sometimes immune or resistant to one or more forms of energy, including acid, cold, fire, and lightning.

COMMON GHOSTS OF ORIENTAL ADVENTURES

Akikage: An akikage is the undead spirit of a ninja assassin who died while stalking an important victim. In life, the ninja was obsessed with duty and discipline, and this obsession prevents it from resting in death until it has completed its last mission. It retains its ninja class abilities and may also know martial arts per the feat.  In addition, it has the additional ghost special attacks of vampiric touch, and the special quality of cold immunity. The only way to destroy an akikage permanently is to kill or permit the death of its intended victim, or to trick the spirit into believing its victim is dead.

Chu-u: A chu-u, or legless ghost, is the restless spirit of a mortal who was neither virtuous enough to be rewarded nor wicked enough to be punished in the afterlife. As a result, it wanders the earth, pulling itself along with its arms in terrible agony, hoping to convince someone to testify to the judges of the dead on its behalf, persuading the judges to let it enter the afterlife. When it encounters likely prospects, it begs them to listen to its life story. If they refuse to listen, interrupt the story (which typically lasts 2d4 hours), attack the chu-u, or refuse to intercede with the judges on its behalf once the story is told, the chu-u swears vengeance on them and disappears. Vengeance may take years to arrive, but a chu-u never forgets a person who has wronged it. A chu-u can use ghost light as an innate spell-like ability at will.  In addition, it has the vampiric touch ability, as described above.

Jkiryo: The ski-ryo are undead in spirit form who posses creatures and attempt to drive them to the point of suicidal fury.  An ski-ryo forms when a person dies during an act of anger.  The fort of the spirit is too strong to allow it passage from this world as a ghost.  The ski-ryo tries to posses the newest living humanoid closest to its own former race, then unless the hostility it has been unable to vent since its death.  This ghost posses by touch and must make a successful melee attack against the target before it can trigger its possession ability.  Once it possesses a creature the target is under the affect of a permanent rage (as the barbarian ability) until the jki-ryo is exorcised or the host falls dead.  The jki-ryo seeks out any and all targets to attack and beat unconscious.

Hanging Ghost: Those who commit suicide are doomed to become ghosts, their spirits lingering in the Material Plane until they convince another person to kill themselves. Hanging ghosts use powers of illusion to tantalize people who are already imbalanced, showing them how a quick death solves their problems. A hanging ghost can use the following innate spelllike abilities at will: silent image, nightmare, and programmed illusion. It has no ability to compel another creature to commit suicide even if it possesses a victim.  It is otherwise identical to its Monster Manual counterpart.

Kuei: A kuei, or phii ha, is the spirit of a humanoid that died by violence unavenged or with a purpose unfulfilled.  It is actually a revenant with the spirit subtype.

Shiryo: Is the ghost of the dead who don’t realise they are dead and tend to loiter around where they use to live.  Each day they go through the pantomime of their previous lives before returning to their graves at night.  Usually they are harmless unless provoked and are not normally evil in alignment.

Ubume: The “mourning ones” are the spirits of women who have died in childbirth or while pregnant. The mother and child cannot pass into the afterlife until the child is “born.” An ubume appears as a weeping woman dressed in white, its hair long and unbound, usually flapping as if in a strong wind. It is often encountered haunting a roadside, asking passers by to hold its child. If a character refuses to hold the child, the ubume screams and its appearance transforms into a vision of horror.  If a character agrees to hold the child, it grows increasingly heavy, forcing the character to make three successful Strength checks (DC 10, 15, and 20).  A failed check means the character drops the unnaturally heavy child, again provoking the ubume’s scream and horrific transformation.  If the character succeeds at all three checks, he finds himself with a newborn child in his hands, while the ubume passes on to the afterlife.  An ubume usually gives a successful character some reward.

White-Haired Ghosts:  Spurned brides and jilted grooms, abandoned apprentices, powerful wizards, and lovers who have slain themselves in a love suited, any soul with a tragic story and a young death may refuse to enter the Kingdom of the Dead.  These spirits become white-haired ghosts, refusing to accept their fate an ignoring the demands – at least temporarily – of the Celestial Order.  Instead they flout Heaven and Earth, returning to the world of the living to avenge themselves on their tormenters, and indeed, all living things.   White haired ghosts resemble their human forms, with long claw like fingernails and snow-white hair.  They were long robes and scarves, and often carry the marks of nobility: waklizashi, fans or mirrors.  Only their cold skin betrays the fact that they are no longer amoung the living.  A white haired ghost is implacable in pursuit of those it feels have wronged or betrayed it, especially former lovers, traitors husbands and sorcerous rivals.  They fight only by night returning to darkened haunts by daylight, though they never sleep.  A white-haired ghost is a 9th-level wizard specialising in necromancy.  It’s spell casting ability is Intelligence. They may use their cloths or hair as rope of entanglement.  It also has an additional trait:

Determination. If it has a phylactery, a destroyed white-haired ghost gains a new body the next night, regaining all its hit points and becoming active again. The new body appears within 5 feet of the phylactery.

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