Spectral Hound Class

Spectral Hounds are warrior-mediums.
They can see ghost and can make alliance with them.
They manifest their soul as a ghost hound that shepherd the spirits of the deceased.

Requisite: STR 9, WIS 9, CHA 9
Prime requisite: WIS and CHA
Open to: human, elf, half-elf, half-orc
HD: as cleric
To Hit; as cleric
Saving Throw: as cleric
XP: as cleric
Weapons: short swords, staffs and spears
Armors: leather armors

Special abilities

Turn Ghosts
Can turn or command ghosts and non-corporeal undeads as a cleric of the same level.

Summon Ghosts
When near a grave or corpse, the medium can summon the spirits of the dead to speak with them. Use the turn undead table VS the HD of the deceased. On a turn result the medium can speak with the spirit of the dead. Make a reaction test to see how helpful the ghost is. On a destroyed result the medium receive 2 bonus points on their reaction test.

Ghost bounding.
The medium can bound a summoned ghost to herself. Use the cleric spell table to see how many ghost can be bound. Spell levels are ghost HD.
Exp a Labyrinth Lord level 3 Spectral Hound can bound two 1HD ghosts and one 2HD ghost.

Bound ghosts can be manifested for 1 turn (10 rounds) by HD.
Each round they can:

• Spook: force a moral test.
• Haunt: inflict a saving throw and to hit penalty equal to their HD.
• Poltergeist: work as a invisible servitor.
• Guard: fight other non-corporeal beings.
• Lore: give advice.

Ghosts can only be unbound through a psychopompe test (see below).

Honoring the dead
Once you manifest a ghost you can't manifest it again until you spend time to honor the dead just like a cleric would pray to prepare his spells. When the medium honor the dead she speak with the ghosts, telling their live stories and listening to their complains.

Extrude ectoplasm
At level 3 the medium can manifest their bound ghosts as ectoplasms.
The medium choose a type of ectoplasm manifestation at level 3 and a new one each time they level up.

To manifest a ghost eactoplasm, the medium make a saving-throw vs Death. On a success everything is ok. On a fail the medium loose as many HP as the ghost HD.

Ectoplasmic spends spend the ghost HD permanently, once a ghost reach 0 HD it become too weak to manifest itself. Ectoplasms remain for 1 turn by HD of the ghost (before spentding).

Ectoplasms can form:

• Armor: The ghost spend it HD to add to the medium's AC. The remaining HD of the ghost protect against level draining and are consumed instead of the medium's levels. 
• Weapons: The ghost form a weapon doing d4 dmg that can hurt magical beings. The ghost can spend their HD to add: +1 to hit or +1 to dmg or to raise the WP damage die by one die step (up to d10).
• Ectoplasmic bolts: the medium can vomit 1 ectoplasm bold for each HD of the ghost. Each ectoplasm bolt do 1d6 dmg and hit automatically, passing through materials.
• Creature: form a ectoplasm creature that have 1 HD, AC12 and do d4 dmg. The ghost can spend their HD to add +1HD, +2AC or to step up their damage die. 
• Veil: the ghost can veil the presence of the medium and grant it a stealth skill of 1 on a d6 plus 1 for each HD spend.

Shepherd the souls
Instead of resting or to honor the dead, the medium can act as a psychopompe and guide a spirit to their after life. To do so they must enter in a trance for four hours and make a reaction using their WIS bonus. The psychopompe journey will refresh the ghost HD, this is bad news if the test fail.

Psychopompe reaction (2d6 + WIS mod - how many HD the ghost have spent or lost)

• 2 or less - The soul is lost and become a angry ghost, it gain a extra HD and will come back for revenge in d6 nights.
• 3-4 - The ghost is trap in a delusion and will haunt the current location, trying to hinder the group. 
• 5-6 - The ghost is stuck here for now and it learned something negative about their past. The ghost remain in service of the medium but become uncooperative. A new attempt can be made when the medium level up. 
• 7-8 - The ghost is stuck here for now but it learned something positive about their past. The ghost remain in service of the medium. A new attempt can be made when the medium level up. 
• 9-10 - The ghost reach the afterlife. 
• 11 - The ghost reach the afterlife and reveal something important to the medium.
• 12+ - The ghost reach the afterlife, it reveal something important and bless the medium (the medium gain two extra levels to make their next turn undead test) 

A ghost that reach the afterlife grant 100xp per HD to the group. 

Spectral Hound 
At level 5 the medium can manifest her soul as a ghost hound.
The medium must take a turn to enter into a state of meditation, then she must make a saving throw against Death. On a success she manifest her soul as ghost hound that share her HP and AC and who do 2d4 of spectral biting damage. Non magical corporeal attacks do half damages to her spectral HP.  The medium can maintain this form for 1 turn (10 rounds) by level.

On a failed save the medium is stuck in her trance for d6 turns, harrowed by angry shades. She may receive a vision of despair that reveal a dangerous haunting or a future threat.

The medium can also manifest her ghost hound when she reach 0 hit points.

While in ectoplasmic form, a medium will usually leave a few of their ghosts in guard duty to protect their defenseless body.

If her ectoplasmic form is destroyed, the medium is violently projected back into her body, she is shaken and will receive a two levels penalty for her next turn undead test. 

If the medium's body die while she is manifesting her soul, she will fade away in a number of days equal to her level. If she is filled with negative emotions, she may remain as a dark hound.

Starting Ghost
A level one Spectral Hound start with a random bound ghost of 1 HD
This ghost is the spirit of ... (d6)

1. a ancestor (+1 to the reaction test) 
2. a family member (+1 to the reaction test) 
3. a friend or lover (+2 to the reaction test) 
4. a child (not related to the medium) 
5. a stranger 
6. a foe (-1 to the reaction test) 

Make a reaction test to establish the relation between the medium and the ghost.

Generic Ghosts
Simple stats for generic ghosts:

• They have AC as leather armor
• Non magical corporeal weapons are useless against their spectral form. 
• In spectral form they can inflict dice roll penalties equal to their HD. 
• Non magical corporeal weapons do half damages against their ectoplasmic form.
• In ectoplasmic form, ghosts can ignore armors and inflict d6 damage on a hit. 
• If their ectoplasmic form is destroyed, they reform d6 nights later. 

Retrieving the corpses of heroes and adventurers

This was written with B/X, S&W or Labyrinth Lord in mind.  

XP/level are awarded for the level of the fallen character. Level 0 character are considered level 1/2.

• Bringing back the corpse of a fallen comrade or follower: 200 xp/level
• Mounting a expedition to retrieve back their corpse: 500 xp/level (awarded when reaching the corpse, cumulative with bringing back their corpse).
• Being the ones who haul back the corpse: 10% of the total reward of the session.
• Bringing back their meaningful items and bequeathing them to their relatives or love ones: 50 xp/level for each item. (x2 for magical items, x5 for powerful items) 
• Marking their place of death: 50 xp/level   
• Slaying the monster that killed them: monster XP worth x2. 
• Slaying their undead form (if any): monster XP worth x2.
• Forgiving their killer if it was a accident or a misunderstanding by becoming their ally: 200 xp/level. 
• Proper funeral and burial in their hometown: 100 xp/level (need to spend as much gold)
• Carousing in their honor: 50 xp/level  by night of carousing (need to spend as much gold) or +25% to the carousing XP award if you use a carousing system.
• Funeral and carousing XP are worth half without the corpse.  

So if the group mount a expedition to bring back the body of their level 5 comrade: 

2500 xp for retrieving the corpse + 1000 xp for bringing it back + 250 xp for giving their blade to their son and +250 xp for giving their helm to their daughter, +250 xp for marking their place of death, +500 xp for a hometown burial, +750 xp and a big headache for 3 nights of carousing. For a total of  5500 XP for the group. 

When the group is mounting a expedition to retrieve the body of a fallen comrade or a hero, there is a 1 chance on a d6 by dungeon level that the dungeon influence spread to their corpse.  (By dungeon level, I mean the deeper into the dungeon). To be able to prep the encounter roll when the group decide to form the expedition but keep the result secret.

If the dungeon influence spread over the corpse, roll a d20 to determine what happened:

1. The corpse have been perfectly conserved, bringing it back will grant a blessing. 
2. The corpse vanished but one of their meaningful items remain behind as a magical item. 
3. Their ghost will help the group to retrieve their corpse. 
4. Their angry ghost haunt their place of death, blaming themself or their group for their death. 
5. Local creatures moved the corpse for a purpose of their own. 
6. Vegetation, moss, or mushrooms protect the corpse. 
7. A mimic consumed the corpse and absorbed their memory, they now believe to be the fallen person. They are helpful but they can sometime try to eat people and not remember the incident. 
8. The dungeon formed a shrine or tomb around the corpse, resting there grant a boon or blessing, taking back the corpse trigger a magical curse or trap. 
9. They have risen as a mindless undead that have as many HD as their level.
10. They have risen as a sentient undead obsessed with unfinished business. 
11. The corpse have been desecrated, consumed or mutilated and can not be brought back in it entirety. Bringing back their bones give half the xp. 
12. The corpse have been looted, local creatures or scavengers keep their meaningful items. 
13. When the corpse is retrieved, their ghost will help the group until their corpse is brought back home or buried. 
14. A dangerous worm or insect creature nested in their corpse. 
15. Their undead corpse will walk back home with the group, complaining about everything along the way. Once they arrive back home, their spirit will thanks and compliment the group then leave their corpse. 
16. Their corpse fused with the dungeon and became a "special" feature that grant boons and curses like a magical pool.
17. Their ghost befriended a fellow ghost and ask the group to also recover their friend's corpse. 
18. Their corpse is encased in a armor grew from the dungeon itself and is now a dangerous golem. The corpse remain intact inside the armor. 
19. They have been brought back to live, they reroll their HP, they are now cursed  with the ability of seeing the tormented spirits of the deaths. They are waiting for the group at their place of death, harrowed by ghosts. Maybe something in the dungeon can quiet the ghosts. 
20. They have been reincarnated as a young level 01 PNJ of a different appearance or gender, they keep their old stats but are now wiser and gain +2 to their WIS and gain a bonus of +4 to save against death. They are waiting for the group at their place of death. They may have learned something about the dungeon or gained a special insight.