Ghosts In the Game (or Unfinished Business)...

So, your character dies in the middle of an adventure.  It happens.  But with all that unfinished business, maybe they aren't ready to move on.  And in situations like this, maybe it makes more sense to hang around as a ghost.  Yes, this can be a viable option if done properly, and that's the theme of this week's frightfully haunted post...

So first off, the doomed character needs to die in the course of an adventure and leave some unfinished business to be tidied up before going to their final reward.  The referee can be liberal on this point, being free to imagine any conditions.  And the unfinished business need not relate to the current adventure, either.  Maybe it's back home.

Either way, the character rises as a non-corporeal ghost that otherwise resembles its former self, perhaps down to their armor and equipment, although these are non-functional.  The real items are left on the person of the deceased (assuming their friends don't shamelessly help themselves).  This ghost moves as per the applicable rules, being ethereal and capable of passing through solid walls and the like.  This makes them a useful spy, although they may not otherwise attack or affect the physical world (by any means) while in this state, the one exception being any spells already prepared.  Ghosts don't sleep, after all, and are therefore unable to recover or otherwise prepare new ones.  This applies to clerics as well, although given their ties to an actual deity, their ghostly state might be related to some holy work with miracles granted on a case-by-case basis.  There's no wrong answer here...

Finally, while the ghost can't be physically engaged, they can still be harmed with spells and magical weapons, where applicable, or by anyone going in ethereal form.   

Once the task is complete, the temporary spectre passes on, although the referee can be flexible here as well.  For instance, a successful resurrection may restore the character to life assuming the body is more or less in one piece.  And even if reduced to ash (or whatever, I've sliced, diced, and squashed 'em), they might be allowed to return minus an eye or limb or (better still) one or more levels!  Alternately, specialized dwarven smiths might be able to fashion a magical golem form, with details left to the referee.  These will perform as a regular character but cannot heal normally, requiring repairs.  Of course, the ghostly state might relate to some curse that must be broken.  This is chain-rattling adventure fodder...

And that's it.  Ghosts in the game.  Of course, the referee will have to do the heavy lifting here, but this shouldn't be too difficult, and there's lots of gaming potential.  Boooooo!