Ghosts, Revenants, and the Undying

The Stonetop dead come in two broad shapes: ghosts (souls that linger as spirit) and revenants (corpses animated by soul, demon, or foul magic). Both are undead. Ghosts also carry the spirit tag and need a manifestation move; revenants are physical and don't.

A ghost is bound to a tether — its corpse, the place it died, its grave, the weapon that killed it, an item it cherished, or the focus of whatever magic binds it. The tether anchors it and is its vulnerability. Harming the tether harms the ghost; destroying it destroys the ghost (or at least weakens it terribly).

When building a ghost, ask:

• What does it need to move on? Kindness, justice, a proper burial, a reunion, the truth, an oath fulfilled, its tether unmade, or just to be put down.
• How does it manifest? Whisper or wind, shadow or cold, spectral form ethereal or horrible, a body of soil or rags, a solid body horrific or seemingly alive.
• How tightly is it bound? Trapped in its tether's presence, on the premises, within a few miles, or roaming widely with periodic return.

Reducing a ghost's manifest form to 0 HP ends the manifestation — it retreats to its tether, usually until next sunset. Existing seeds: Wraith, Specter, Shade, Dool Spirit, Tomb-Bog Spirit.

A revenant is a body called back by a thirst for vengeance, a longing that transcends death, stubbornness or habit, guilt, an oath, a curse, the revenant's own dark ritual, or another's working. Their visage ranges from bare bone through rotting and gaunt to seemingly alive but for a few telltale signs. Existing seeds: Anan Gllo, Pyped, Ghostly Legion.

Those with the Sight and a morbid curiosity become Necromancers. The dead have all manner of secrets to teach — and the entities darker than the dead are often listening. Beyond active undead, a haunted scene can lean on creepy effects (flickering torches, cold spots), superstition affecting NPC behavior, rising dread and terror, curses on tomb-goods, and disease from rotting corpses.