DFRPG Ghosts:Echoes and Phantoms

Introduction

It is said that true wisdom only comes to those who understand just how little they understand. This is nowhere more true than when dealing with those who are foolishly overconfident in their knowledge of what lies beyond the grave. Mortals with magical insight are as prone to this as mortals less well equipped, and more foolish as a result.

The wizard that claims full comprehension on the topic of Ghostly existence is displaying ignorance, at best, and more than likely no small measure of the hubris and arrogance that plagues their kind. There are many secrets lying hidden from the eyes of the majority of mortal practitioners. Those to whom the following information has become demonstrated fact are uncomfortably aware that what is described below merely scratches the surface.

And no mortal walking the earth, living or dead, knows the truth of what lies beyond the end of ghostly existence.

Echoes

Most widely held magical knowledge of the topic (i.e., the material in the DFRPG) focuses on Echoes -- beings such as Chicago's Agatha Hagglethorn. These entities are much as described by Warden Dresden: they are not really self-aware, incapable of change and growth, generally oblivious to the mortal world, single-minded, stuck re-enacting actions and feeling remembered emotions, etc. They are imprints, like a fossil leaf in clay left behind after the leaf itself decayed -- the last desperate attempt of a dying person to survive. And they are not especially high-quality imprints, at that.

But within of the circles of those who interact with Ghosts regularly (Ectomancers and Necromancers, mainly), a few have learned that there is more to the picture. Of course, ghostly lore bulges at the seams with all manner of spectral phenomena that don't fit, but being educated in the legends is different from being aware that more varieties of unquiet dead walk the Mortal World than just these vague reflections. These are categorized as Phantoms (aka Phantasms, described below), Revenants, and Apparitions.

It is certainly not common knowledge. For one thing, it is kept quiet by those in the know, as they suspect (with some justification) that the Wardens and Council will get up in arms if they catch on that ghosts can be more than "a mere recording". Also, Echoes are the most common type of ghost by far, and ghosts as a whole aren't exactly thick on the ground in most places to begin with, so many Wizards simply never encounter anything else.

Finally, the Fifth Law of Magic has the effect of discouraging the (law-abiding) Wizard community from serious research into the topic, unless perhaps their talents lean in that direction already. And naturally, the typical arrogance of Wizards reinforces their belief that they already have all the answers, rendering them inclined to doubt whispers to the contrary unless they are confronted with the truth.

Phantoms and their relationship with the Mortal World

If Echoes are like the Minor Talents of ghostly existence, then Phantoms would be more like Sorcerers and Wizards. This is not so much due to increased potency or a greater number of abilities (though these ghosts often do tend toward that end of the scale eventually). Rather, it's mainly due to the simple fact that Phantoms remain capable of learning and growth, and can build their power and skill over time, be creative, etc.

Whether they are the actual souls of the deceased, or merely much higher-fidelity recordings than Echoes really doesn't matter to most who interact with them. When it comes right down to it, Phantoms are apparently as sentient as anyone alive. They retain the same instincts that the living do; for example they have the same survival instincts, ability to become depressed, impetus to self-sacrifice, and so forth.

Perhaps because of their similarity to the Living, Phantoms also differ from Echoes in that they are much more strongly tied to the mortal plane than they are to the NeverNever. They don't automatically drift across the border or create realms of their own there, unless they have learned some power to enable this. They have to find (or learn how to open) portals, like most creatures. "Draw a door," so to speak.

Media Note: In terms of personality and feel, The Maitlands from Beetlejuice could be considered typical Phantoms (though technically, they'd be Haunts). So would Dr. Crowe from The Sixth Sense. Just ordinary people in an extraordinary situation, who either aren't aware of the change, or are trying to make the best of it. Mind you, they aren't entirely normal; they often look spooky and have a tendency to behave a bit weirdly at times, especially at times and around things relevant to their deaths.

Phantasmal Bodies

Like other Ghosts, Phantoms are largely insubstantial and invisible to most of the living (the exceptions being animals, and those with certain supernatural senses, such as The Sight or Ghost Speaker).

Phantoms do not need to acknowledge mortals in order to interact with them. Indeed, much to their regret, the opposite is true; most Phantoms find it difficult to get those without such senses to notice them at all. Unfortunately, Phantoms must make themselves noticed by mortals (through nonmagical means), in order to affect the mortal world.

A scientist would compare them to quantum phenomena; unless observed, the waveform of their actions do not collapse into something measurable. A Phantom could get into a bank vault with trivial ease, but they couldn't steal the cash unless someone else was in the vault to witness it, and the ghost could make their presence known to that person.

Some Phantoms can construct Ectoplasmic duplicates of their incorporeal appearance. This allows them to interact with the physical world far more easily. It is also known that a Ghost using a True Name immediately makes their presence known to the name's owner, and that they often know the True Name of the person responsible for their death, if they ever heard that person's True Name in life.

Death Marks and Names

Though they are complete as persons (as much as anyone else), Phantoms are often "incomplete" in other ways, at least when they are first formed. This renders the ghost more vulnerable than it otherwise might be.

There are two ways in which this manifests, which can occur together or separately.

The first is their appearance. Phantoms, even more frequently than Echoes, tend to bear death marks ... persistent wounds, discoloring, environmental effects, etc. These traits are always related to their death in some way, and generally can't be affected through a ghost's natural ability to alter their shape. The more spectacular death marks, such as decapitation or burnt skin, make their ghostly nature hard to disguise, leaving them open to discovery.

The second is a form of selective amnesia that affects the ghost's sense of identity. Put simply, some Phantoms don't initially remember their name, sometimes in part, sometimes not at all. Who they are, or rather were, is left a mystery to them. Magically, this means that the phantom's identity is vague and undefined. Some believe this may tie into or be responsible for their ability to learn and grow, or the difficulty they have in being perceived, though neither trait goes away should the ghost ever learn who they were.

In any case, identity is a bulwark for existence in the mortal world, and lacking one weakens you. Many Phantoms don't learn their names until they are used against them in an exorcism. Phantoms who never regain such an important component of their sense of self don't tend to stick around long, even if they aren't actively destroyed. Sometimes they become Echoes, and sometimes they merely fade away altogether.

It is common practice among those who are friendly with ghosts and regularly interact with nameless Phantoms to gift them with an identity in place of their natural one (basically a nickname or pseudonym) to give them something to incorporate as the core of their sense of self. The only thing this semi-magical process requires is a mortal willing to do it, who has familiarity with the ghost in question, and a brief, mildly formal naming ceremony. In essence, such names arise from the mortal's own personality and opinions of the ghost, and represent the gift of a portion of the mortal's soul to "fill the gap." It's not quite as good as the real thing, but much, much better than nothing at all.

Isolation Stress

Note: This section is tenative, still under development.

A Phantom's natural urge is to remain attached to the mortal world (in other words, to survive). Unfortunately, such attachments erode over time if they are neglected. The Ghost will become lonely, and then hopeless, and eventually either go dormant, turn into an Echo, or fade out of existence altogether.

To represent this, Phantom characters have an additional trait called "Attachment" (which is merely the average of their Contacts and Rapport skills), and they have an extra stress track called "Isolation". The Isolation track works like the normal three stress tracks; it defaults to two boxes, and additional boxes are based on the Phantom's Attachment score.

(The idea of using the average of two skills is that both the quality and the breadth of a ghost's earthly ties help avoid Isolation. This way, a Phantom can know lots of people but not be very good at interacting with them -- high Contacts, low Rapport -- or the opposite, be very good at interacting with people but only maintain a few close friendships. Of course, if they are good at neither, they'll be vulnerable to Isolation, and if they are good at both, they'll be very well protected.)

Isolation Stress accumulates slowly but steadily, whenever the Phantom deliberately avoids interacting with the mortal world (perhaps one point per scene in which this happens).

Haunts

While Echoes nearly always suffer from restrictions on their manifestation, such as a specific time or place, this is fairly rare for Phantoms. Some Phantoms, however, suffer the problem of too much attachment; so much so that they have little freedom of movement, forever tied to a particular person, a family line, a specific place, or an object like an heirloom.

These Phantoms are called Haunts (or "Haints", if you are in the Southern US), and the subjects of their attachment are variously called by terms such as anchors, fetters, or bindings. They are tragic entities, as they are trapped much like an Echo, but with the misery of being able to wish otherwise.

Note: An active Haunt is probably not a good choice as a player character, given how restricted they are, but an exorcised Haunt might be. Just make it like an ordinary Phantom with an appropriate background. And of course Haunts work just fine as NPCs.

It's worth noting that a Haunt has a deep magical bond with whatever anchors it to this world, a bond that can sometimes overcome the Thresholds that affect most supernatural creatures:

• A Haunt that is tied to a static place with a Threshold is automatically "invited" across it.
• A haunt fettered to something mobile, such as a person or an object, will have an automatic invitation across whatever Threshold the Anchor resides in at the moment of the Haunt's death. They will not, however, automatically be invited when the subject enters a new Threshold. Still, this is only a temporary obstacle to the Ghost; if the subject spends any extended time within any Threshold (cumulatively), that Threshold will gradually lose its effect over the ghost.

Exorcism is a bit of a last resort for a Haunt. The ideal (and only positive) outcome, assuming the ghost doesn't want to cease to exist, is that it severs the connection with the thing they haunt entirely, basically turning them into a normal Phantom.

Another possibility is that exorcism will strengthen a Threshold and "disinvite" the ghost, which isn't kind to them. They are driven out and left stuck "on the outside looking in", compelled to return, but unable to accomplish it. If the Phantom remains fettered to the subject of the exorcism, this is usually only temporary, but it is rather heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, the most likely outcome is that an exorcism will disperse a Haunt entirely, or turn it into an Echo. Magic may alter the odds somewhat in the Ghost's favor, but it'd take quite a bit of time, effort, research, and dangerous experimentation for each case to sever a Haunt's ties without some risk of harming it.