Dungeons & Dragons has a ton of iconic monsters, from the eponymous dragons to more unique monsters like Mind Flayer and Beholders. Although I have used, and enjoyed many of D&D‘s most iconic monsters, I keep finding myself coming back to one underrated enemy. While they aren’t nearly as powerful as some of the TTRPG’s other monsters, they do have one unique quality that creates very interesting role-playing scenarios.
In general, I like dipping into some of the aspects of D&D that don’t always get the attention I think they deserve. For instance, the game’s survival mechanics can be a lot of fun to play around with, and have inspired me to set several quests and one-shots in frozen tundras with inhospitable elements. One aspect of D&D that rarely plays into the game is a character’s chosen age, which is why I like using this monster that directly interacts with it.
Ghosts Are One Of The Best D&D Monsters
Ghosts Have Unique Abilities That Create Interesting Role-Playing Scenarios
In D&D‘s Fifth Edition (5E), Ghosts have the Horrifying Visage action. Unlike the version of ghosts from the D&D 2024 Monster Manual, 5E’s Horrifying Visage doesn’t do damage to players. Instead, it instantly ages them by anywhere from 10 to 40 years. While this won’t do a lot for a species like elves who have a long life-span, it does have very interesting effects on other types of characters.
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With an unlucky enough roll, a 20-year-old human character could suddenly be in their 60s. This can present a unique role-playing challenge for that character, as their entire sense of self has been drastically changed in an instant. If someone is playing an older character, or a species like Goblins which doesn’t have as long of a lifespan, then Ghosts can be a serious threat.
If a character’s age advances past the upper limits specified by the Player’s Handbook, that character immediately dies. This means that fighting a ghost can be a serious threat to certain characters, making the encounter very tense. While ghosts aren’t too difficult to defeat, knowing that Horrifying Visage is a possibility adds a fun ticking-clock element to the fight, in more ways than one.
Why Ghosts Are The Perfect Campaign Addition
Ghosts Can Be Easy To Include In Any Setting
Ghosts are perfect to throw into a campaign for a few reasons. First, they are very easy to include without having to bend over backwards to explain their presence. Maybe your party unknowingly stopped for the night at a haunted inn, or they were wandering through a town’s graveyard at night. Pretty much any location can be haunted given the right backstory, so it’s much easier to squeeze one in than, say, a Roving Mauler.
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Ghosts also strike a nice difficulty balance. They aren’t impossible to kill, but they will also create a unique and stressful encounter. Aside from Horrifying Visage, Ghosts have a variety of damage resistances and can disappear into the Ethereal Plane. This can make figuring out how to take them down more like a puzzle than a traditional D&D fight. If you’re a DM looking to shake up your next Dungeons & Dragons session, I strongly recommend considering the 5E version of Ghosts.
- Original Release Date
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1974
- Publisher
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TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
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E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
- Player Count
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2-7 Players
