Ghost
ghost 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 12 |
| Attacks |
Touch 1d1 |
| Base level | 10 |
| Base experience | 238 |
| Speed | 3 |
| Base AC | −5 |
| Base MR | 50 |
| Alignment | −5 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 0 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Cold, Disintegration, Sleep, Poison, Stoning |
| Resistances conveyed |
None |
|
A ghost:
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| Reference | monst.c#line2515 |
A ghost, , is a type of monster in that appears in NetHack. It is one of two members of the "ghost" monster class, along with the shade.
Ghosts are undead, incorporeal humanoid beings that are capable of flight and phasing through walls, and will follow you to other levels if nearby. A ghost's default glyph makes them difficult to see and locate properly, e.g. via telepathy - some players use the SYMBOLS option to give ghosts and shades a different appearance, such as X or 8.
Contents
Generation
Ghosts are not randomly generated, but appear in graveyards, including the Valley of the Dead's three large graveyards and the graveyard in Orcus Town. A ghost is also generated at level creation on the Rogue level, in Asmodeus' Lair, and in Baalzebub's Lair.
In addition, a ghost will occasionally generate when you step into a haunted temple, and quaffing a milky potion may also cause a ghost to appear.
Ghosts are not a valid target for genocide and are not a valid form for polymorph, and naturally do not leave a corpse when killed.
Bones
Ghosts often appear in bones levels: copies of levels where previous players died. Most causes of death for a player character will leave a ghost behind - see the article on bones files for more information and exceptions.
Player ghosts in bones files are generated asleep on top of their original inventories, and has the same name and experience level of that character; their pet(s) may be nearby, and depending on the circumstances may also be hostile. Any objects that were carried in the deceased player's main inventory have a 4⁄5 chance of becoming cursed, even if they were originally blessed. Other objects on the level and the contents of containers in the player's inventory maintain their beatitude.
Ghost names
Ghosts in bones files are named after the dead adventurer they represent. The ghost generated on the Rogue level is named Michael Toy, Kenneth Arnold, or Glenn Wichman. Ghosts created on other special levels have a 1⁄7 chance of being given the name of your character, or else of another character from the score list. Otherwise, they are given a random name from the following list:[1]
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Strategy
Ghosts are very slow and do very little damage, but they possess a very low AC, and will likely evade most attacks unless you have a decently enchanted weapon. If you meet one in the early game and cannot reliably dispatch them via regular attacks, using ray-type wands and spells can do the job - if all else fails, kicking the ghost will eventually bring them down.
In most scenarios involving a bones pile, the player ghost can usually be led away with little trouble, especially if you plan to use certain wands such as a wand of fire to destroy the ghost. Be sure not to forget about their original killer or their pets, or you may well become a ghost yourself.
Turning
Ghosts are affected by the turn undead spell and extended command like other undead. However, if you successfully revive the corpse of a dead player character while their ghost is on or next to its square, the ghost will be pulled into the corpse on the item pile, leaving behind a confused monster. This also works if the corpse is not of a standard playable race, provided the target was killed while polymorphed into that form (e.g., wearing an amulet of unchanging). If the ghost is tame, then the resulting monster will be tame, and is otherwise generated peaceful or hostile as normal based on your alignment and race.
Origin
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. Descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic, lifelike forms. The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead, is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead.
Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human-like essences, though stories of ghostly armies and the ghosts of animals other than humans have also been recounted. They are believed to haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life, either to communicate with the living or to seek vengeance for past wrongs.
Messages
- <Name>'s ghost is suddenly drawn into its former body!
- A wand or spell of turn undead revived the corpse of a dead player character by reuniting the ghost with its former body.
Variants
xNetHack
In xNetHack, the ghost's base level is reduced to 4, their speed is increased to 5, their AC is increased to 5, and their magic resistance is increased to 80. 1⁄3 of ghosts will generate invisible. Similar to shades, ghosts can only be hit by magic, blessed weapons, artifact weapons, or objects made of silver or bone; unlike shades, ghosts are not silver-haters.
Instead of their 1-damage touch attack, hostile ghosts turn invisible every so often and try to frighten the player by reappearing next to them. When this happens, the player is paralyzed for three turns. This is not prevented by free action, but it will not work if the player is able to see invisible or otherwise sense the invisible ghost.
Encyclopedia entry
And now the souls of the dead who had gone below came swarming up from Erebus -- fresh brides, unmarried youths, old men with life's long suffering behind them, tender young girls still nursing this first anguish in their hearts, and a great throng of warriors killed in battle, their spear-wounds gaping yet and all their armor stained with blood. From this multitude of souls, as they fluttered to and fro by the trench, there came a moaning that was horrible to hear. Panic drained the blood from my cheeks.
References
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.4. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-364}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
