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Ghostwalk
The city of Manifest rests atop ruins from ancient times and far above the entrance to the land of the dead. Here, the world of the living is shared equally with the deceased, who linger in physical form before finally passing through the Veil. Whether currently living or dead, residents and visitors are assured of an eternity of action and intrigue.
Ghostwalk contains everything needed to run a stand-alone campaign in and around the city of Manifest, or to integrate it into an existing world, including rules for playing ghost characters and advancing in the new eidolon and eidoloncer classes, several new prestige classes, over 70 new feats and 65 new spells, three complete adventures, four highly detailed encounter sites, and fourteen new monsters and templates.
To use this accessory, a Dungeon Master also needs the Player�s Handbook, the Dungeon Master�s Guide, and the Monster Manual. A player needs only the Player�s Handbook.
Ghostwalk contains everything needed to run a stand-alone campaign in and around the city of Manifest, or to integrate it into an existing world, including rules for playing ghost characters and advancing in the new eidolon and eidoloncer classes, several new prestige classes, over 70 new feats and 65 new spells, three complete adventures, four highly detailed encounter sites, and fourteen new monsters and templates.
To use this accessory, a Dungeon Master also needs the Player�s Handbook, the Dungeon Master�s Guide, and the Monster Manual. A player needs only the Player�s Handbook.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2003
9 people want to read
About the author
Monte Cook
211 books124 followers
The game designer
Monte Cook started working professionally in the game industry in 1988. In the employ of Iron Crown Enterprises, he worked with the Rolemaster and Champions games as an editor, developer, and designer. In 1994, Monte came to TSR, Inc., as a game designer and wrote for the Planescape and core D&D lines. When that company was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, he moved to the Seattle area and eventually became a senior game designer. At Wizards, he wrote the 3rd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide and served as codesigner of the new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game. In 2001, he left Wizards to start his own design studio, Malhavoc Press, with his wife Sue. Although in his career he has worked on over 100 game titles, some of his other credits include Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, The Book of Eldritch Might series, the d20 Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, The Book of Vile Darkness, Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved, Ptolus, Monte Cook's World of Darkness, and Dungeonaday.com. He was a longtime author of the Dungeoncraft column in Dungeon Magazine. In recent years, Monte has been recognized many times by game fans in the ENnies Awards, the Pen & Paper fan awards, the Nigel D. Findley Memorial Award, the Origins Awards, and more.
The author
A graduate of the 1999 Clarion West writer's workshop, Monte has published two novels, The Glass Prison and Of Aged Angels. Also, he has published the short stories "Born in Secrets" (in the magazine Amazing Stories), "The Rose Window" (in the anthology Realms of Mystery), and "A Narrowed Gaze" (in the anthology Realms of the Arcane). His stories have appeared in the Malhavoc Press anthologies Children of the Rune and The Dragons' Return, and his comic book writing can be found in the Ptolus: City by the Spire series from DBPro/Marvel. His fantasy fiction series, "Saga of the Blade," appeared in Game Trade Magazine from 2005–2006.
The geek
In his spare time, Monte runs games, plays with his dog, watches DVDs, builds vast dioramas out of LEGO building bricks, paints miniatures, and reads a lot of comics.
Monte Cook started working professionally in the game industry in 1988. In the employ of Iron Crown Enterprises, he worked with the Rolemaster and Champions games as an editor, developer, and designer. In 1994, Monte came to TSR, Inc., as a game designer and wrote for the Planescape and core D&D lines. When that company was purchased by Wizards of the Coast, he moved to the Seattle area and eventually became a senior game designer. At Wizards, he wrote the 3rd Edition Dungeon Master's Guide and served as codesigner of the new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game. In 2001, he left Wizards to start his own design studio, Malhavoc Press, with his wife Sue. Although in his career he has worked on over 100 game titles, some of his other credits include Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, The Book of Eldritch Might series, the d20 Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, The Book of Vile Darkness, Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved, Ptolus, Monte Cook's World of Darkness, and Dungeonaday.com. He was a longtime author of the Dungeoncraft column in Dungeon Magazine. In recent years, Monte has been recognized many times by game fans in the ENnies Awards, the Pen & Paper fan awards, the Nigel D. Findley Memorial Award, the Origins Awards, and more.
The author
A graduate of the 1999 Clarion West writer's workshop, Monte has published two novels, The Glass Prison and Of Aged Angels. Also, he has published the short stories "Born in Secrets" (in the magazine Amazing Stories), "The Rose Window" (in the anthology Realms of Mystery), and "A Narrowed Gaze" (in the anthology Realms of the Arcane). His stories have appeared in the Malhavoc Press anthologies Children of the Rune and The Dragons' Return, and his comic book writing can be found in the Ptolus: City by the Spire series from DBPro/Marvel. His fantasy fiction series, "Saga of the Blade," appeared in Game Trade Magazine from 2005–2006.
The geek
In his spare time, Monte runs games, plays with his dog, watches DVDs, builds vast dioramas out of LEGO building bricks, paints miniatures, and reads a lot of comics.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 20, 2019
Disclaimer: I did not participate or run an Ghostwalk campaign, so this is purely opinion from just reading the campaign setting.
So in regular D&D, when a character dies, the player would either roll up a new character or the party members pool their resources for a resurrection spell. Ghostwalk basically takes on the premise where this doesn't need to happen - the dead character can keep on playing as a ghost.
A ghost here is defined as "not undead" - just a special kind of existence at a very specific location in the world. That location has a city on it, named Manifest, a place where the living and the dead co-exist. The dead character appears in or near Manifest, and hopefully, their friends or kind strangers will send their body along to be reunited with the ghost. This is all given an overview at the start of the sourcebook.
Chapter 1 begins by defining the rules surrounding ghosts. A character can switch between a living and ghostly existence at will, as long as they have the money/resources to transition. A character can choose to level up as a ghost (two classes available), earning special ghost-themed abilities. Why not stay as a ghost? Because the longer you stay as a ghost and the more you level up as a ghost, there's this chance that your character really gets tired of life and wants to finally move on.
There are also 4 prestige classes, none of which are particularly interesting to me, personally. And, as you can expect, new skills, feats, equipment, and spells to go along with the new ghost existence, some of which are rather thoughtful and interesting.
Chapter 2 is the bulkiest chapter - it details the city of Manifest and its immediate surroundings. New deities specific to this world are introduced in this chapter. I didn't find them particularly interesting - the pantheon feels a bit unbalanced. The rest of the stuff are fun to read - how each of the core races view life and death, relations between the living and the dead, and the history of the world and Manifest itself. It then digs down further by detailing how the city is laid out, the present-day politics and organisations within in, and specific locales in the city.
Chapter 3 touches on how to actually run a Ghostwalk campaign, specifically, with the existence of ghosts and all. It includes things like how to mix in dungeon crawls and non-combative adventures all within the city of Manifest, providing suitable organisations, foes, and plot arcs that can be played. One particular bit that (I feel) took up too much space is that it actually provides the answer to what's "beyond the veil". It's marketed as the "final adventure" for adventurers to discover just what lies beyond. It's kind of interesting to read, but I'm not sure how fun it'll be to play, given some of the rules surrounding it.
After all that world-building and lore, chapter 4 throws in some more by expanding the campaign setting and detailing the six surrounding countries/nations (Manifest is in a neutral area). It's definitely a good start to fleshing out the world, with a good mix of different people types.
Chapter 5 is a short chapter of new monsters and some templates unique to Ghostwalk, and chapter 6 is a chapter that containing several nicely-detailed adventures and plot hooks.
Overall, if the idea of being able to continue adventuring even after a party member has died is an interesting premise for you, then this campaign setting could be worth exploring. For characters learning that it's easy to "come back" will certainly change perspectives and outlooks about dying.
So in regular D&D, when a character dies, the player would either roll up a new character or the party members pool their resources for a resurrection spell. Ghostwalk basically takes on the premise where this doesn't need to happen - the dead character can keep on playing as a ghost.
A ghost here is defined as "not undead" - just a special kind of existence at a very specific location in the world. That location has a city on it, named Manifest, a place where the living and the dead co-exist. The dead character appears in or near Manifest, and hopefully, their friends or kind strangers will send their body along to be reunited with the ghost. This is all given an overview at the start of the sourcebook.
Chapter 1 begins by defining the rules surrounding ghosts. A character can switch between a living and ghostly existence at will, as long as they have the money/resources to transition. A character can choose to level up as a ghost (two classes available), earning special ghost-themed abilities. Why not stay as a ghost? Because the longer you stay as a ghost and the more you level up as a ghost, there's this chance that your character really gets tired of life and wants to finally move on.
There are also 4 prestige classes, none of which are particularly interesting to me, personally. And, as you can expect, new skills, feats, equipment, and spells to go along with the new ghost existence, some of which are rather thoughtful and interesting.
Chapter 2 is the bulkiest chapter - it details the city of Manifest and its immediate surroundings. New deities specific to this world are introduced in this chapter. I didn't find them particularly interesting - the pantheon feels a bit unbalanced. The rest of the stuff are fun to read - how each of the core races view life and death, relations between the living and the dead, and the history of the world and Manifest itself. It then digs down further by detailing how the city is laid out, the present-day politics and organisations within in, and specific locales in the city.
Chapter 3 touches on how to actually run a Ghostwalk campaign, specifically, with the existence of ghosts and all. It includes things like how to mix in dungeon crawls and non-combative adventures all within the city of Manifest, providing suitable organisations, foes, and plot arcs that can be played. One particular bit that (I feel) took up too much space is that it actually provides the answer to what's "beyond the veil". It's marketed as the "final adventure" for adventurers to discover just what lies beyond. It's kind of interesting to read, but I'm not sure how fun it'll be to play, given some of the rules surrounding it.
After all that world-building and lore, chapter 4 throws in some more by expanding the campaign setting and detailing the six surrounding countries/nations (Manifest is in a neutral area). It's definitely a good start to fleshing out the world, with a good mix of different people types.
Chapter 5 is a short chapter of new monsters and some templates unique to Ghostwalk, and chapter 6 is a chapter that containing several nicely-detailed adventures and plot hooks.
Overall, if the idea of being able to continue adventuring even after a party member has died is an interesting premise for you, then this campaign setting could be worth exploring. For characters learning that it's easy to "come back" will certainly change perspectives and outlooks about dying.
December 4, 2020
There's something really satisfying to me about a campaign setting that explains why people might be so cavalier about their lives in a world with a reasonably high standard of living (as most D&D settings are). It is also nice to give players the option to keep playing after death rather than rolling a new character, and to be resurrected without that becoming a major adventure all on its own. The feel of a city where ghosts and living people cohabitate openly is really fresh, especially since it avoids the baggage of necromancers and necrocracy.
I have just begun DM'ing a campaign in D&D Fifth Edition, using this sourcebook for the setting. Even after so many changes and intervening editions, about 80% of the material in the book is still applicable and works very well. I ran the level one adventure about a malfunctioning magic lantern almost verbatim, and my players really enjoyed it.
I have just begun DM'ing a campaign in D&D Fifth Edition, using this sourcebook for the setting. Even after so many changes and intervening editions, about 80% of the material in the book is still applicable and works very well. I ran the level one adventure about a malfunctioning magic lantern almost verbatim, and my players really enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews