20 Ghosts to Haunt Your Castle
In my quest to make certain that you have as many items as possible to help you create a better Halloween adventure for yourself and your players, I considered that you might need some ghosts to haunt your castle, manor house, sage's mansion, and/or haunted house. Here are 20 spooky encounters with spirits to dress up your haunt. Most of these are just servants or side-line spooks for whatever your main event is, but hopefully they will give you a good idea or two. As always, I hope that you enjoy. Have fun!
A ghostly nanny walks down a hallway, comforting a crying baby that she carries in her arms.
A ghost butler offers to take the PC's cloaks and hats when they enter the great hall.
As the PC's enter the remains of a grand dining hall, a well-dressed somlier will appear to ask what wine they would prefer. Before anyone can answer he will fall away to dust.
You notice a number of ghostly maids in a quiet argument over what to do with some gore-covered sheets. When they notice that you see them, they disappear, but the sheet does not.
A lady appears to beckon seductively to an armored party member from the top of the stairs. If the PC goes up the stairs, a dapper man suddenly appears and tries to push the PC down the stairs.
The ghost of a large, fat cook carrying a cleaver walks up to the group. She asks if they have seen a chicken and then walks off and vanishes a few steps later.
The PC's notice a ghostly pair of hunters carrying a dead ghost dear tied to a pole between them. They walk toward the kitchen and disappear after 10 steps or so.
A pair of horribly-burned children repeatedly attempt to frighten the PC's away from the place where the fire killed them.
A lady-in-waiting ghost walks the widows walk at night moaning over her centuries lost love.
The ghost of a clergyman paces back and forth in the study. Occasionally, he takes a book from the shelf, reads it for a short while, returns it to the shelf, and then resumes pacing. He does not speak or react to the PC's in any way.
You notice a young manservant working to start a fire. He is well-built, shirtless, and spectral in nature. He flirts wordlessly with any female PC's and then disappears.
Ghostly guards walk the halls of this place that look exactly like the old armor you occasionally see on display. Sometimes it's difficult to tell if it's armor or a ghost.
A pair of servants are struggling with a heavy treasure chest and complaining. Both feel the other one isn't carrying his part of the weight. They disappear after a few steps.
The PC's enter an old ballroom which is full of dancing ghosts for exactly one minute at midnight.
The first male PC to enter this room will be accosted by an angry tailor ghost. The tailor berates the PC for missing his measurements appointment and then graciously agrees (w/o being asked) to take the measurements now. The PC feels violated suddenly and the ghost chuckles and then fades away.
A young herald wearing the livery of some long dead lord wanders up and down the hallways as if looking for someone. He carries a message in his ghostly hand.
A former healer of the castle, now long dead, suddenly appears and leads the PC's to a secret compartment in a nearby room that contains healing potions. Once they touch the secret compartment's door the ghost disappears. It never speaks.
You see the ghost of a young maid watching a handsome stable-boy carry some luggage down the stairs. She giggles, then sees you and disappears.
A mischevious child ghost takes a small item from one of the PC's and runs deep into the house with it, laughing as she goes.
In every room, there is a ghostly picture of the room itself somewhere. Like the Portrait of Dorian Grey, damage inflicted on the house, appears in the portraits. When all the portraits are found and destroyed the PC's can escape the haunted house.