FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Cold Civilized Mountains], [Cold Civilized Swamp]), ([Cold Wilderness Mountains], [Cold Wilderness Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Temperate Civilized Mountains], [Temperate Civilized Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Temperate Wilderness Mountains], [Temperate Wilderness Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Tropical Civilized Mountains], [Tropical Civilized Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Tropical Wilderness Mountains], [Tropical Wilderness Swamp])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Dungeon Level V])

NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 0 <sw, mw: 0> / victim's AC
MOVE: 6" / as possessed victim
HIT DICE: 5 / victim's hp
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1/1, as 5 HD monster ~ 15
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below / by weapon
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Possession
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below / none
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Any
SIZE: M
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: IV | 165 + 4

SAVES, HAUNT:
SAVES, THE POSSESSED:
<is that right?>

    (Note: Where stats are separated by a /slash, those to the left,
    refer to the haunt in its natural state, those to the right are for the haunt
    when within a possessed victim.)

A haunt is the restless spirit of a person who died leaving a vital task unfinished.  <or soul> <see spirit, OA> <see spirit, DDG>
A haunt inhabits an AREA within 6" of the site where it died.
The haunt's sole purpose is to possess a living body && USE it to
complete the task, thus gaining a final release.

Haunts can assume either of 2 forms, at will:
    * a hovering, luminescenct ball of {light} (identical in appearance to a will-o-wisp) ||
    * a nebulous, transluscent image of the haunt's former body.
Haunts are similar in appearance to a groaning spirit, spectre, or ghost, for which they are often mistaken.

The haunt will USE the possessed body to complete its unfulfilled task,
which need nor necessarily be dangerous. Once the task is completed,
the haunt will pass on to its final REST, and the victim will regain control
of its body. When the haunt leaves a victim the character will have a
Dex of 3. Lost Dex may be regain at a rate of 1 point for each <alt/lnk>
turn of complete REST. If a haunt's possessed body is slain, it will haunt
the place where the body was killed.

If the possessed victim has an alignment opposite to that of the haunt
(good vs. evil), the haunt will try to strangle the character. It will fasten
its ghostly hands around the vitim's neck on a successful to-hit roll. The
victim will then take 1 point of damage the first round, 2 the second, 4
the third, and so on, doubling each round, until the victim is dead or the
haunt is driven off.

Haunts may not be turned because they are linked to the site of their <>
deaths. When in their natural forms, haunts can only be struck by silver and magical weapons and by fire.  <>
Weapons cause only 1 point of
damage per round, and magical fire will do full damage. Whena haunt is
reduced to zero <0> HP it will lose control of its ectoplasm && fade away.
The haunt will reform in 1 week to haunt its location again until its
task is completed. Exorcism will destroy a haunt forever.

Any attacks on a possessed characater will do full damage to the character.
The only safe ways to free a possessed character are an exorcism or a [hold person] spell.
When a [hold person] is used, the haunt must save vs. Paralyzation or it will be expelled from the body.

A haunt must remain within 6" of the place where it died until it possesses a body.
The best defense against a haunt is to leave the AREA it inhabits.

    <by Harold Johnson and/or Tom Moldvay>
 
 

<research: Benin-->Haiti-->N'Oleans>
<rcs>