Around the long, narrow hall, under the fearful light that came from nowhere, but was omnipresent, swept a rushing stream of unspeakable horrors, dancing insanely, gibbering hideously; the dead of forty years.

-Ralph A. Cram, In Kropfsberg Keep

Whereas vampires are beings of selfish and destructive greed, the lingering spirits of the deceased are typically creatures of deep and abiding tragedy. Commonly called ghosts, these spirits remain trapped between worlds, held captive by the emotional power of their deaths. This tragic bearing can cause one to see ghosts as victims in need of assistance, and sometimes this is indeed the case. One should always be wary, however, for many ghosts were the architects of their own doom, and even those who were innocent in life may harbor deep hatred and bitterness in death.

Ethereal Resonance

One of the most intriguing results of Van Richten's research on ghosts is his theory of ethereal resonance, which explains how ghosts come to exist. According to the theory, the emotions felt by living creatures leave a psychic imprint on the Ethereal Plane, which surrounds and pervades the material world. These psychic imprints are known as ethereal resonance. This resonance is usually so slight as to be almost nonexistent, but particularly powerful or persistent emotions can generate resonance of a stronger, more lasting nature. Ethereal resonance is essentially a shadow of the Material Plane, cast on the Ethereal, that provides an ethereal image of a specific moment in material time.

To illustrate, picture a house on the Material Plane. The house is home to an average, content family. No unusually charged emotions have occurred within; thus, the house emits only the slightest level of ethereal resonance. To travels on the Ethereal Plane, the house would be barely detectable. They might get the sense that something was there but would be unable to perceive it in any concrete way. The living inhabitants of the home might be more easily detected, as they're the strongest sources of emotion in the area, but even they would be shadowy and intangible. Now imagine that the family was murdered within its home. The house has now been the site of very strong emotions; the fear and grief of the family and the rage and sadistic joy of the murderer. The ethereal resonance of the area suddenly increases dramatically. Now to ethereal travelers, the house stands out in full relief. Its walls are solid and opaque, and they can interact with it (such as opening the door). When the travelers open the door on the Ethereal Plane, nothing happens on the Material. The door remains closed because the travelers aren't interacting with the actual, material door. Instead, they're interacting with a "ghost" of the door, an image of the way it appeared when the murders occurred.

Ethereal resonance is divided into five ranks:

• Rank One is the lowest level of resonance. Devoid of any emotionally charged events, it may have been the site of one in the past, but if so it happened so long ago that it's been forgotten by the living. A person who suddenly died from a heart attack would probably generate only the first rank of resonance in the area. Minor arguments and celebrations are also rank one events.
• Rank Two resonance occurs in areas where an event of some emotional strength has occurred. Usually it's something brief, involving a small number of people, perhaps only one. A brief but terrifying murder might be sufficient to generate rank two resonance, as might a sorrowful suicide. A joyful reunion of long-lost family members might also reach rank two.
• Rank Three resonance occurs in areas that have been home to very high levels of emotion. Usually the emotions of several people are required to create this much resonance, though very powerful emotion from a single person might be sufficient, particularly if the emotion was sustained for a long period of time. A man tortured on a rack for days before being killed might build sufficient resonance to reach the third rank, as might a spirited worship service.
• Rank Four resonance is rare and requires either strong emotions from a large number of people or maniacal emotion from a single person. Events that create this much resonance are almost always tragic and gruesome. A ritual sacrifice or a mass murder might generate rank four resonance.
• Rank Five resonance is almost unheard of and requires that a great number of people experience strong emotion or that maniacal emotion from a single person be sustained for a long period of time. Brutal genocide might result in rank five resonance.

Ethereal resonance isn't permanent. Just as emotions create it, emotions are required to feed it, and without these emotions the resonance fades. Returning to the previous example, the imaginary house has been abandoned. No one goes there willfully, until over the years people begin to forget why no one goes there. The emotional power of the house has faded and the ethereal resonance of the house begins to fade as well. On the Ethereal Plane, it begins to look more and more hazy and indistinct. As the years pass its walls start to lose their solidity and become transparent and insubstantial. Eventually, it might fade almost entirely.

Living creatures can be imprinted on the Ethereal Plane just as objects can. As constant sources of emotion, living creatures always radiate low levels of ethereal resonance. Whenever an individuals emotions reach a charged peak, such as moments of extreme anger, fear, joy, or sorrow, a lasting phantom of the individual is created on the Ethereal Plane, composed entirely of ethereal resonance. These phantoms are mindless images; they aren't ghosts, though they may resemble them. The phantoms constantly reenact the event that led to their creation, without variation. These replays of past events can be witnessed by certain spells or individuals sensitive to the Ethereal Plane. Phantoms also fade over time, as all ethereal resonance does.

Ghosts

Ghosts are the souls of deceased creatures, trapped on the Ethereal Plane. According to Van Richten's theory, the interaction between human emotion and the ethereal can serve as a barrier in the event of an emotionally charged death. The resonance created by the event serves to bind the soul of the dying to the Ethereal Plane and prevent it from moving onward. Ghosts are tormented by the circumstances surrounding their death, for they prevent the ghost from resting peacefully. Whether Van Richten's theory is correct is impossible to say with certainty, but it fits all the available evidence.

Like ethereal resonance, ghosts are also divided into five ranks. Rank one ghosts are the weakest, products of sudden and unemotional deaths. Rank five ghosts are powerful, resulting from deaths of extreme emotion and great consequence. Whenever a ghost is created, the rank of ethereal resonance immediately rises to match the rank of the ghost. The resonance of an area haunted by a ghost doesn't fade over time, for the ghost itself serves as enough emotional fuel to keep the resonance strong.

The emotional energy unleased during a ghost's creation charges the ghost with power. Higher ranked ghosts are therefore more powerful than those of lower rank. A ghosts rank is fixed at the moment of creation and can't be changed except by extremely unusual circumstances, such as the intervention of the Dark Powers.

Ghosts and Resonance

Ghosts and other ethereal creatures experience resonance as though it were a physical, material object. Conversely, ghosts are incapable of interacting with physical, material objects in the absence of ethereal resonance.

A ghost passes through all material objects as if they don't exist. They can also pass through ethereal resonance of a rank lower than themselves if they wish, though they can interact with such objects normally if they choose. Ghosts are unable to pass through resonance of equal or higher rank than themselves; to them, it's completely solid and opaque.

Non-ghosts on the ethereal plane may or may not be hindered by resonance, depending on their Charisma and the rank of resonance. If the ethereal creatures have the minimum Charisma for a ghost of that rank, they may pass through the resonance, though they can interact with it if they choose. If they don't have the minimum Charisma, the ethereal resonance is treated as a solid, physical object.

Ghosts in Ravenloft may have powers and abilities beyond the normal variety specified in the Monster Manual.