Need to come up with a Ceremony to get rid of a Ghost

[Trum4n1208]

Morning all,

So in the game I'm running, the players were at a feast when an apparition appeared, and tried to kill the local Lord. Now the players are going to investigate the circumstances of this haunting whilst protecting the Lord, and eventually discover what happened (in this particular case, the seemingly good Lord had had his wife and son killed, believing that the wife was cheating on him and the child wasn't really his). The ghost (the spirit of the child, though I'll have the wife be the 'red herring' so to speak) is seeking vengeance, and the players can only get rid of the ghost through a ceremony.

Now herein lies my issue. I don't know how,exactly, to do the ceremony. I had planned on it involving the Lord burying his wife and child in a proper grave whilst the players hold off the ghost and some summoned baddies, but can anyone help me come with a appropriately dramatic ceremony, number of rounds they have to last, etc?

Like I said, I've got an idea, but it's kind of a rough outline at this point.

Thanks all!

[JackPhoenix]

First thing first: Are you sure players are going to go with that? If the characters are lawful good or similar alignment, they may side with the ghost when they discover the circumstances of his death and bring the murderer to justice. That would fulfil the ghost's purpos (per MM), but it's not what you have in mind.

[ES Curse]

I actually came up with something for an "evil specter of the black forest" type of ghost way back. Use a ritual to set up a mirror to trap him in (not RAW, but awesome imo), then Magic Circle the ghost in place while the ritual sucks him in. You can then question the ghost through the mirror or magically destroy the mirror and ghost inside.

If you've seen the movie "Constantine", the opening scene was where I got the idea.

[RickAllison]

In our Hunter:the Vigil campaign, we liked to eliminate spirit foci by rendering the area's emotional resonance the opposite of the spirit's. Once we had a focus based on depression and so my PC spent his part cracking jokes, telling happy and goofy stories, and playing some upbeat music. A similar idea could be used here.

Since the ghost is focused on vengeance, creating an aura of mercy and forgiveness could be a great plot hook. Maybe the party has to find a feuding couple on the verge of divorce and get them to forgive each other where the ghost is haunting.

[Democratus]

Since the ghost is focused on vengeance, creating an aura of mercy and forgiveness could be a great plot hook. Maybe the party has to find a feuding couple on the verge of divorce and get them to forgive each other where the ghost is haunting.

Excellent idea.

What if the ritual involved having someone dress up and play the part of his departed wife. They then play out a scene where the 'wife' forgives him and asks the child to do the same.

[Regitnui]

Place the target of the ghost's rage in a magic circle and try to talk it down. You say it is a child's ghost, so it will act appropriately. Perhaps it has poltergeist abilities. By RAW, the fastest way to get rid of a ghost is to sort out the ghost's unfinished business; what does the ghost want?

[Easy_Lee]

As always, I think there should be multiple solutions.

Goodly way: placate the ghost by meeting its demands, so it passes on willingly.

Neutral: dismiss the ghost with magic. One minute cleric ritual at the appropriate place, defend the Cleric while he concentrates. Probably a third level or higher spell slot for the Cleric.

Evil way: destroy the ghost, destroy everything the ghost is attached to, burn the village down, kill anyone the ghost possesses, etc.

[R.Shackleford]

Morning all,

So in the game I'm running, the players were at a feast when an apparition appeared, and tried to kill the local Lord. Now the players are going to investigate the circumstances of this haunting whilst protecting the Lord, and eventually discover what happened (in this particular case, the seemingly good Lord had had his wife and son killed, believing that the wife was cheating on him and the child wasn't really his). The ghost (the spirit of the child, though I'll have the wife be the 'red herring' so to speak) is seeking vengeance, and the players can only get rid of the ghost through a ceremony.

Now herein lies my issue. I don't know how,exactly, to do the ceremony. I had planned on it involving the Lord burying his wife and child in a proper grave whilst the players hold off the ghost and some summoned baddies, but can anyone help me come with a appropriately dramatic ceremony, number of rounds they have to last, etc?

Like I said, I've got an idea, but it's kind of a rough outline at this point.

Thanks all!

Ceremony

3 virgin chickens

2 freshly squeezed newts

3 gallons of tears of an owlbear

1 vial of holy water.

Mix the holy water and the tears of the owlbear under the full moonlight as you dance with a devil. Sacrifice the chickens and let their blood run I to the mixture.

Later, but within 39 hours Draw a magic circle with two lines that are intersecting but make them parallel to each other.

Get the ghost into magic circle.

Splash the mixture in the ghost and then squeez the newts.

The ghost will be all "what the hell dude, not cool, I'm out" and leave.

[solidork]

This reminded me of a hilarious Tumblr story where someone pretended to do an exorcism.

http://thefourthvine.tumblr.com/post/142851099256/chris-the-ghost-and-mono

[Trum4n1208]

First thing first: Are you sure players are going to go with that? If the characters are lawful good or similar alignment, they may side with the ghost when they discover the circumstances of his death and bring the murderer to justice. That would fulfil the ghost's purpos (per MM), but it's not what you have in mind.

Well, in this particular case the child's spirit needs to be laid to rest, or it will stay in the world and haunt a particular area(I'm having the child's spirit manifest as a Black Dog, a la English local legend. Since those tend to haunt one area for generations, I figured that Black Dogs in this world become more or less permanent if they can't be laid to rest, hence the need for the ceremony). I figure they can deal out justice after the ceremony is complete and they keep the area from gaining a permanent and very dangerous ghost.

As for everyone else, appreciate the answers! Especially yours, Shackleford =P

Rick, I really like yours, actually. I think I'll try and use elements of that.

[Cespenar]

This might be extremely coincidental, but look up the ending of the "Bloody Baron" questline in Witcher 3.