Ghost

Undead · Medium

Ghost
Marley's ghost appearing to Scrooge, hand-coloured etching by John Leech, 1843 · John Leech, illustration for Dickens's A Christmas Carol, 1843, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

A ghost stays bound to the house, ship or ruin where an unfinished matter holds it, and walks through walls to drive out the living. Folk advice is to learn what it wants rather than fight it, since a ghost laid to rest does not come back.

Danger
A fight to fear
How it is met
Alone, by night
Challenge
4
SRD 5.2.1 stat blocks
Ghost
Pathfinder Second Edition
Ghost Commoner (level 4, Monster Core), Ghost Mage (level 10, Monster Core)

Hear it

Where it is met

Haunted Temperate Forest, Haunted Temperate Conifer Forest, Haunted Bog, Haunted Marsh, Haunted Grassland, Haunted Tundra, Haunted Hot Desert, Haunted Rocky Shore, Haunted Cave, Haunted Mine

Also: Dwelling, Ruin, Ethereal

Gives

Ectoplasm Portion

Stat blocks (D&D 5e)

Ghost

Medium Undead, Neutral

AC 11 · Initiative +1 (11)

HP 45 (10d8)

Speed 5 ft., Fly 40 ft. (hover)

StrDexConIntWisCha
7 (−2), save −213 (+1), save +110 (+0), save +010 (+0), save +012 (+1), save +117 (+3), save +3

Resistances Acid, Bludgeoning, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Piercing, Slashing, Thunder

Immunities Necrotic, Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained

Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Passive Perception 11

Languages Common plus one other language

CR 4 (XP 1,100; PB +2)

Traits

Ethereal Sight. The ghost can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane when it is on the Material Plane.

Incorporeal Movement. The ghost can move through other creatures and objects as if they were Difficult Terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) Force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

Actions

Multiattack. The ghost makes two Withering Touch attacks.

Withering Touch. Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 5 ft. Hit: 19 (3d10 + 3) Necrotic damage.

Etherealness. The ghost casts the Etherealness spell, requiring no spell components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability. The ghost is visible on the Material Plane while on the Border Ethereal and vice versa, but it can’t affect or be affected by anything on the other plane.

Horrific Visage. Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 13, each creature in a 60-foot Cone that can see the ghost and isn’t an Undead. Failure: 10 (2d6 + 3) Psychic damage, and the target has the Frightened condition until the start of the ghost’s next turn. Success: The target is immune to this ghost’s Horrific Visage for 24 hours.

Possession (Recharge 6). Charisma Saving Throw: DC 13, one Humanoid the ghost can see within 5 feet. Failure: The target is possessed by the ghost; the ghost disappears, and the target has the Incapacitated condition and loses control of its body. The ghost now controls the body, but the target retains awareness. The ghost can’t be targeted by any attack, spell, or other effect, except ones that specifically target Undead. The ghost’s game statistics are the same, except it uses the possessed target’s Speed, as well as the target’s Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution modifiers. The possession lasts until the body drops to 0 Hit Points or the ghost leaves as a Bonus Action. When the possession ends, the ghost appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the target, and the target is immune to this ghost’s Possession for 24 hours. Success: The target is immune to this ghost’s Possession for 24 hours.

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.

This product is licensed under the ORC License located at the Library of Congress at TX 9-307-067 and available online at various locations including paizo.com/orclicense, azoralaw.com/orclicense, and others. All warranties are disclaimed as set forth therein. Attribution: this rules layer is based on the following Licensed Material: Pathfinder Player Core © 2023 Paizo Inc., Designed by Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Mark Seifter. Authors: Alexander Augunas, Kate Baker, Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Carlos Cabrera, Calder CaDavid, James Case, Eleanor Ferron, Steven Hammond, Joan Hong, Vanessa Hoskins, James Jacobs, Jenny Jarzabski, Erik Keith, Dustin Knight, Lyz Liddell, Luis Loza, Patchen Mortimer, Dennis Muldoon, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Mikhail Rekun, David N. Ross, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Kendra Leigh Speedling, Mark Thompson, Clark Valentine, Andrew White, Landon Winkler, and Linda Zayas-Palmer; Pathfinder GM Core © 2023 Paizo Inc., Designed by Logan Bonner and Mark Seifter. Authors: Amirali Attar Olyaee, Logan Bonner, Creighton Broadhurst, Jason Bulmahn, James Case, Jesse Decker, Eleanor Ferron, Fabby Garza Marroquín, Jaym Gates, Matthew Goetz, James Jacobs, Brian R. James, Jenny Jarzabski, Dustin Knight, Jason LeMaitre, Lyz Liddell, Luis Loza, Ron Lundeen, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, David N. Ross, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Owen K.C. Stephens, Amber Stewart, Clark Valentine, Landon Winkler, and Linda Zayas-Palmer; Pathfinder Monster Core © 2024 Paizo Inc., Authors: Alexander Augunas, Dennis Baker, Kate Baker, Joshua Birdsong, Joseph Blomquist, Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, James Case, John Compton, Paris Crenshaw, Adam Daigle, Darrin Drader, Brian Duckwitz, Robert N. Emerson, Scott Fernandez, Eleanor Ferron, Leo Glass, Matthew Goodall, BJ Hensley, Thurston Hillman, Vanessa Hoskins, James Jacobs, Jenny Jarzabski, Miko Kallio, Jason Keeley, Jeff Lee, Lyz Liddell, Luis Loza, Ron Lundeen, Robert G. McCreary, Philippe-Antoine Menard, Jacob W. Michaels, Dave Nelson, Jason Nelson, Tim Nightengale, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Mikhail Rekun, Patrick Renie, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Chris S. Sims, Amber Stewart, Jeffrey Swank, William Thompson, Jason Tondro, Clark Valentine, Landon Winkler, Tonya Woldridge, and Linda Zayas-Palmer. If you use our Licensed Material in your own published work, please credit us as follows: Biomes, Pathfinder Second Edition rules layer © 2026 Michael Ghelfi. Reserved Material: the names of Biomes and its catalogues, its descriptions, sounds, art and code. Pathfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Inc.; this site is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Inc.

Open it in Biomes — MGS Toolbox