Ghost

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v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

This article or section contains minor spoilers. You may want to avoid reading it.

After the death of an intelligent creature (or a dwarf), its soul may occasionally come back as a ghost Ñ. In a Dwarven fortress, dead dwarves have a chance of returning as ghosts if they are not properly buried or memorialized after their death. Ghosts often take to haunting their relatives and friends, following them around on the same tile, as well as lingering wistfully near areas they frequented in life or the spot they died. However, not all ghosts bear their anguish calmly.

Ghosts are able to pass through walls and cannot be harmed by atom-smashing. They can be targeted in the Squad kill screen (s,k) even though they won't actually be attacked. Ghosts can be dismissed by burying the remains or by building engraving rock slabs in memory of the deceased.

Paranormal Activity

Ghosts haunting the fortress will occasionally perform some of the following actions, based on their temperament:

• <ghost> sucks the wind out of <dwarf>
• <ghost> raises a high fever in <dwarf>
• <ghost> makes <dwarf> convulse and retch
• <ghost> inflicts excruciating pain upon <dwarf>
• <ghost> causes a spell of dizziness in <dwarf>
• <ghost> paralyzes <dwarf>
• <ghost> stuns <dwarf>
• <ghost> batters <dwarf>
• <dwarf> is throwing a tantrum, possessed by <ghost>
• <ghost> has risen and is haunting the fortress!
• <ghost> is following <dwarf>
• <item> has been misplaced. No doubt <ghost> is to blame!
• <ghost> is throwing objects around the fortress!
• <ghost> can be heard howling throughout the fortress!

The ghost's activities may be determined by the nature of its death and its personality traits using the following table, in order:

Type	Cause	Effect
Murderous Ghost	Had a fell mood, had low ALTRUISM, or slab/grave was deconstructed	Murders dwarves.
Sadistic Ghost	Had a macabre mood, or had low ALTRUISM	Batters, scares and paralyses dwarves. Capable of scaring a dwarf to death.
Violent Ghost	Was berserk, or had high ANGER_PROPENSITY	Batters dwarves, often but not always removing limbs.
Moaning Spirit	Was melancholy, or had high DEPRESSION_PROPENSITY	Troubles one unfortunate dwarf at a time.
Howling Spirit	Was stark raving mad, or had high STRESS_VULNERABILITY	Makes sleeping difficult.
Angry Ghost	Was possessed	Batters dwarves.
Energetic Poltergeist	Was in a fey mood, or had high ACTIVITY_LEVEL	Topples furniture, such as chairs.
Secretive Poltergeist	Was in a secretive mood, or had high BASHFUL	Misplaces Items.
Troublesome Poltergeist	Had high IMMODERATION	Misplaces items, may topple furniture and pull levers.confirm?
Restless Haunt	Had GREGARIOUSNESS at least as high as DUTIFULNESS, or never completed any jobs	Drifts around place of death and frequented locations. Also haunts dwarves, causing unhappy thoughts.
Forlorn Haunt	Did not satisfy any of the above checks	Drifts around place of death and frequented locations.

A "high" trait check will succeed 20% of the time for value of 76-90, 50% of the time for 91-99, and is guaranteed for 100. Similarly, a "low" trait check will succeed 20% of the time for 10-24, 50% of the time for 1-9, and always for 0. Having zero ALTRUISM will always result in a Murderous Ghost, never a Sadistic Ghost.

If a ghost is put to rest and subsequently re-raised (by deconstructing its coffin or slab), it will return as a Murderous Ghost.

Adventure mode

If you revisit your fortress during adventure mode, the ghosts found previously will still remain. Although, take care! The ghosts may attempt to 'scare you to death' almost instantly.

"Ghostly" Dwarves

When a dwarf dies and becomes a ghost, its Legends mode entry lists it as a "ghostly" dwarf. All actions taken by the dwarf during both life and death will then be attributed the ghostly dwarf. This will generate messages like "the ghostly dwarf Urist McHauntypants arrived in Cagesyrups" even when the dwarf was obviously not a ghost yet when it immigrated.

Science on Ghosts

Cave-ins do not kill ghosts, perhaps because they can walk through walls already.

Ghosts are put to rest when any part of their body is put in a burial receptacle.^[Verify] For example, should a dwarf lose a toe in a fight before dying, the toe can be recovered to put its ghost to rest.

Ghosts will also be put to rest if they are properly memorialized, which is usually preferable if the dwarf is not easily accessible.

Ghosts can open doors, even forbidden ones (leaving them unlocked).

Ghosts can and will grow up (if they came back as a child) and die of old age.

Ghosts can be frozen in water.

Ghosts can be murdered by dwarves taken by fell moods - the ghost's body is used to create the artifact. This is also amusing because when you look at a ghost's wounds with v, all body parts are listed grey, meaning that they are gone.

It is possible for a ghost to become the outpost liaison of a civilization.

Ghostly fisherdwarves will keep fishing in the afterlife, and ghostly animal trainers will gladly train your captured animals for you.

When a ghost rises, their entry in the Dead/Missing list will change accordingly. So, should a dead Cook return as a ghost, their profession in the Dead/Missing list will turn into "Ghostly Cook".

If a dwarf goes missing, is not memorialized, and returns as a ghost, the entry for the dwarf in the Dead/Missing list will become "Deceased".

Ghosts may disappear suddenly, and if they do, their entry in the Dead/Missing list will disappear as well. When they are put to rest in this state, their entry will reappear.