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I was trying to think of a good character concept for a spooky campaign and came up with a kid with a ghost. Maybe a beloved relative who guides him, or maybe Capt. Howdy, not sure yet. But anyone have any suggestions on how I might go about building this?
My first thought was as a summoner and just skin his eilodon as a ghost. There's an Undead Appearance evolution in UM, but it costs 4 points. I could get there with the Extra Evolution feat, but that would be all it'd have. I'd be okay with it starting out almost like a haunt and getting stronger as he levels, but I'm not sure if summoner/eilodon is the best way to do it.
Anyway, brainstorming and suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
I was trying to think of a good character concept for a spooky campaign and came up with a kid with a ghost. Maybe a beloved relative who guides him, or maybe Capt. Howdy, not sure yet. But anyone have any suggestions on how I might go about building this?
My first thought was as a summoner and just skin his eilodon as a ghost. There's an Undead Appearance evolution in UM, but it costs 4 points. I could get there with the Extra Evolution feat, but that would be all it'd have. I'd be okay with it starting out almost like a haunt and getting stronger as he levels, but I'm not sure if summoner/eilodon is the best way to do it.
Anyway, brainstorming and suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
The summoner is one good way to do it.
Another would be to choose oracle with the haunted curse and roleplay the ghost.
Yet another would be something like a fighter with prestiging into shadowdancer later. The shadow would be the manifestation of your ghost which then becomes physically visible to all and able to assist you.
I like the first and last the best :-) You could even combine #2 and #3 though...
Oh, another idea: Pick any kind of class and skill focus:knowledge arcane, eldritch heritage: arcane, take the familiar and then improved familiar.
You could stylize it as the manifestation of your ghost friend, and since it becomes more and more intelligent and gains speech, it would have some credibility.
I still prefer the shadowdancer, though :-)
Just in case it interests you: I did a sample fighter/shadowdancer build here
Besides that, considering the background of your character and the ghost:
- violent background: Family was murdered, died in a fire, died due to disease... In that case it could be a loving relative, trying to guide it on its path, protecting it from that. It could even urge your character to some extreme caution based on the background, e.g. warning you to always be distrustful of people you do not know or just anybody (case of murder), urging you to leave buildings with hearths or staying away from campfires (fire), avoiding sick and being extremely clean (disease)...
- unfulfilled destiny: Your parents died, and your stern father wants you to achieve what he could not see you achieve while he was still alive. He always demands more of you, and you fervently work to fulfill his post-mortem wishes. Sometimes your mother could appear instead to care for you and give you the hugs you need. That kind of switch could rather be played with something like the shadowdancer, not so well with the more fixed summoner.
- ghost attracter/medium: Those damned ghosts just won't leave you alone! They always come and want to talk to you because you can hear them. But they only talk about their dreams, their cookie recipes, the weather they cannot feel anymore... Great for your DM to guide the party with the occasionally good hints.
- "shaman king": if you do not know that anime series, it might be fun to check out. It's about a kid who can basically melt with ghosts to obtain their powers and abilities for a short time, like the fighting prowess of a samurai. You might be able to achieve that with the summoner and the evolution surge spells, applying different evolutions each time to sort of customize your humanoid advisors and supporters
Maybe there's something in there for you :-)
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Or just play any character type as completely crazy and talking to empty space all the time. Whether or not there's really a ghost there is a matter of opinion.
In an ongoing campaign, a DM might even take this and run with it, making your ghost turn out to be real later in the campaign, after everyone (including you) has just come to accept it as your crazy character's quirk.
My friend did a similar thing, but she played a Synthesist Summoner creep little girl who is often possessed by her demonic watcher.