Taint Haunting Presences

Overview

Sometimes when undead are created they come into being without a physical form and are merely presences of malign evil. Haunting presences usually occur as the result of atrocious crimes. Tied to particular locations or objects, these beings might reveal their unquiet natures only indirectly, at least at first.

As a haunting presence, an undead is impossible to affect or even sense directly. A haunting presence is more fleeting than undead who appear as incorporeal ghosts or wraiths, or even those undead enterprising enough to range the Ethereal Plane. Each haunting presence is tied to an object or location and can only be dispelled by exorcism or the destruction of the object or location. Despite having no physicality, each haunting presence still possesses the identity of a specific kind of undead. For instance, one haunting presence might be similar to a vampire, while another is more like a wraith.

The Haunting: Whenever an undead appears as a haunting presence, it haunts an unattended, mundane object or location. The DM, using the same decision-making process as for populating an area with a standard monster, chooses an unattended, mundane object or location as the subject of a haunting presence. The DM also determines the variety of undead (skeleton, zombie, wraith, or whatever) that serves as the source of the haunting presence. An undead can haunt a discrete object of at least Tiny size and no larger than Huge size. Items (both magical and mundane) currently in the possession of a character (often referred to as attended items) cannot be haunted. Unattended magic items receive a saving throw as if a spell were being cast upon the item (DC 10 + ½ the undead's HD + the undead's Cha modifier).

A haunting presence becomes a part of the object or location haunted. Haunting presences are always aware of what is going on around the object that they haunt. They can see and hear up to 60 ft away (but do not gain blindsight). A haunting presence cannot be turned, rebuked, or destroyed while the presence remains immaterial (but see Exorcising a Haunting Presence, below). Normal vulnerabilities of a particular kind of undead do not apply to the haunting presence of that undead. For instance, the haunting presence of a vampire haunting a fire poker is not destroyed if the poker is brought into sunlight.

Effects of a Haunting: A presence haunting an object can do so in a couple of ways. Undead of fewer than 5 Hit Dice can use only one form of haunting, but undead of 5 or more HD can make their presence known using either of two methods-impermanent home or poltergeist.

Impermanent Home: An undead presence haunting an object or an area can sometimes become more than a presence, actually taking corporeal or incorporeal form a number of times per week equal to the undead's Hit Dice (this includes haunting presences that manifest as incorporeal undead). The presence that takes form does so anywhere within the location it haunts, or in the closest empty space adjacent to the object it haunts. A presence that takes form can remain in its form for up to a number of minutes equal to its HD. An undead that takes form can choose at any time to return to its haunting presence status, but it must take a move action to do so.

While in physical form, the undead can take any actions normal for an undead of its kind. It can attack, take damage, and even be destroyed. If it is destroyed, the haunting presence is also permanently eradicated, unless it is a ghost, lich, or some other sort of undead resistant to destruction. Most undead will attempt to return to their haunting presence status if threatened with such destruction.

Poltergeist: If an object has parts that move (a wagon, a clock, or a crossbow are examples), a haunting presence can control the object's movement. The object will move no faster than the undead itself could move in its normal form. Thus, a wagon can be made to roll out of a stable with no horse pulling it or steer toward a pedestrian on a street. A clock can slow or run backward. A crossbow can cock and fire (but not aim or load itself).

An undead with at least 10 HD and a Charisma score of 17 or higher can actually force an object with no moving parts to animate (see animated objects on page 13 of the Monster Manual), based on the object's size. No undead, no matter how many Hit Dice or how high a Charisma score, can animate an object that has a higher Challenge Rating than its own.

If a location instead of an object is haunted, the haunting presence can animate a number of objects equal to its HD at one time.

Other Effects: No matter how the haunting presence makes itself felt, the haunting presence of a sentient undead can always choose to speak to nearby creatures, most often in a whispery or incoherent voice that seems to come from the air. However, haunting presences are usually not much for conversation. Characters might note at times that the object they have found or the location they inhabit has a strange air or an appearance that is somehow off (with a successful DC 15 Intelligence check).

Exorcising a Haunting Presence: No matter how a haunting presence chooses to reveal itself, it is subject to being discovered and destroyed. Unfortunately, a cleric's turning ability generally has no direct effect on haunting presences, other than to irritate them and focus their attention on the cleric. Something more is called for an exorcist. Exorcism is a ritual, a spoken formula that calls upon one or more deities to drive out a haunting presence. Exorcism of a haunting presence is a two-step process-first, forcing a presence to become physical; then, once the undead has revealed itself, destroying it.

The haunting presence can be forced to reveal itself through the use of a special ritual, one that is generally known to anyone with ranks in Knowledge (religion). It must be performed by an exorcist who spends ten consecutive full-round actions chanting the exorcising formula, at the end of which time the exorcist must make a DC 20 Knowledge (religion) check. If the exorcist's concentration is interrupted, the ritual must begin again. If the ritual is successful, the haunting presence becomes physical and must remain so for 1 full round. The exorcist's next action can be an attempt either to turn the revealed undead or to continue the ritual, with an additional DC 20 Knowledge (religion) check required at the end of each round. Each successful check forces the undead to remain in (corporeal or incorporeal) physical form for 1 additional round.

Even undead of 5 or fewer HD that normally haunt only as poltergeists are forced to take form by the exorcism ritual, as well as haunting presences that have already used up all their chances to take form for the week. Undead that are forced to take form usually use their actions to attempt to slay the exorcist before they themselves are destroyed, so exorcists generally bring along companions who can physically attack the revealed undead.

Haunted Sites

Traditionally, haunting refers to the presence of a ghost or similar undead creature, as described above. However, there might be reasons other than the direct activity of a creature that earn a site the reputation of being haunted. Some possibilities include the manifestation of an evil essence, a lingering curse, or the psychic resonance of terrible events that occurred in that place. These manifestations have more in common with dungeon hazards such as green slime than they do with actual ghosts, presenting a hazard or series of hazards but no foe that can be defeated.

Houses, castles, and cemeteries are common haunted sites and houses or castles built atop catacombs or ancient cemeteries are particularly prone to haunting. Any place can become haunted, however: temples, farms, schools, shops and marketplaces, bridges, ships and caravans, and so on.

The manifestations of hauntings fall into two broad categories: illusion effects and telekinetic effects.

Illusion Effects: Phantom knocking, rattling chains, the stench of death filling the air-these are illusory manifestations. Generally, they are figments-equivalent to ghost sound, silent image, and related spells-that activate under certain circumstances or at specific times. The sound of a child crying might manifest whenever one character is alone in a certain room at night. The sound of rattling chains might seem to move up a staircase every night at midnight. Another common figment is the phantom reenactment of events that occurred on the site-often a traumatic event such as a murder or suicide. Characters who interact with a figment or other illusion effect can make Will saves to disbelieve the effect as if it were a comparable illusion spell.

Sometimes, these manifestations are phantasms rather than figments, meaning only a single character can perceive them. Occasionally, they are patterns that are visible to all onlookers but carry mind-affecting side effects. Most phantasms and pattern hauntings cause characters who witness them to become affected by fear- characters who fail a Will save might become shaken (DC 12), frightened (DC 15), or panicked (DC 18). Phantasmal odors might instead cause a character to become sickened (Fortitude DC 13 negates) or nauseated (Fortitude DC 18 reduces to sickened). These effects can duplicate the phantasmal killer (DC 16) or weird (DC 23) spells in their most dangerous manifestations.

Illusory manifestations can also be glamers. Torches might seem to dim or change color. A character's reflection in a mirror might seem to be doing something horrible, or it might look like someone else. A close friend might appear as a horrific monster.

Occasionally, haunting effects that seem illusory are at least partially real, like shadow spells, and can cause real harm to characters. The sensation of fingertips brushing the skin might be a phantasm and the feeling of someone walking past might be a figment, but the sense of a sharp blow or a wound could be a shadow and deal real damage (generally 1d6, but sometimes more). Similarly, a feeling of unnatural chill in a room could be a harmless figment, but it could also be a shadow effect that deals 1d4 points of Strength or Dexterity damage or bestows a negative level.

Telekinetic Effects: A haunting can duplicate any of the following spells: mage hand, open/close, telekinesis, arcane lock, or knock. Hauntings often manifest in objects moving around a room, doors and windows opening or closing randomly, doors locking or unlocking on their own, and similar effects. When a character is subject to one of these effects, she receives a saving throw or other roll to resist it as if she were targeted by the duplicated spell.

Taint and Hauntings: A character who spends the night in a haunted location must make a DC 20 Will save or have his depravity score increase by 1. The saving throw DC might be higher in more severe cases of haunting.

Exorcising a Haunted Site: Just as in the case of a haunted presence, an exorcist can perform a ritual to cleanse a haunted site. If the exorcist successfully performs the ritual, which requires ten consecutive full-round actions and a DC 20 Knowledge (religion) check, the haunting energies coalesce into a form that renders them vulnerable to traditional methods of removing magical effects, such as dispel magic, remove curse, or break enchantment spells. A haunted site's effective caster level is the minimum required to cast the highest-level spell duplicated by the haunting. With a successful ritual, the haunting energies remain vulnerable for 1 full round, but the exorcist can continue the ritual, causing the haunting energies to remain vulnerable, by making additional Knowledge (religion) checks each round.