Hi all,

Long-time lurker and first-time poster. I have been reading many of the past (very useful) posts, and I am wondering how everyone is handling incorporeal entities such as ghosts, spirits, unmanifested demons, etc... I am planning a modern paranormal investigation setting (highly influenced by the fantastic Esoterrorists RPG). It will be a low, secret magic setting where supernatural effects are more subtle and may not be immediately obvious (Illusion and mind control rather than fireballs and telekinesis). I can't seem to find any information in the core book or posts about purely non-physical entities. My idea was that they could not be affected by physical means (with the exception of certain mystical items possibly), and the investigators would be forced to use rituals and/or magical lore to confront and defeat them. My combat-monster PCs would be ineffective in this case and forced to rely on the bookish occult scholar (don't worry; still plenty of thugs and cultists to physically thrash).

I can see using removing physical characteristics entirely, and using Strain instead of Wounds, but it seems incomplete. Would they get a Soak based on Willpower? Should there be a non-physical analogue to Wounds (Power or Energy maybe)? I would appreciate feedback on this, and I am curious if anyone else is doing something similar.

I'd been planning on using the Horror Trope rules (242-244). Ghosts aren't attacking, typically, as much as they're trying to scare you into insanity. And it'd be a game of time vs. checks. Figure out the haunt, figure out how to banish it, succeed at banishing it vs. an onslaught of Horrors.

I would still give your ghosts/demons/etc all 6 characteristics to avoid having to remap all the physical skills.

As for what to do to make them "untouchable" do you want them to be truly untouchable or almost untouchable? If you want them to be truly untouchable, then give them an ability that makes them immune to non-magic/holy/etc items and effects. If you want them to be almost untouchable, give them an ability that reduces damage taken by half (before soak) and an ability that increases the crit rating of all non-magic/holy/etc items and effects by 1 or 2.

And as @ElderKoala said, use the horror trope rules to make sure the PCs are being hit with insanity if they interact too long with the incorporeal entity.

I'm thinking an Item Quality such as "Ghost Touch" or similar would be appropriate which come equipped already or can be added to items as an attachment. This is where Hard Points on weapons is so important that I'm not sure why they didn't include them as a core rule rather than an optional one.

Thanks for the feedback. I do intend for Fear and Insanity checks to be a regular part of dealing with demonic entities and monsters. The advice not to change the base stats is good; no need to re-invent the wheel. As C_Beck suggested, I think that an "incorporeal" trait would be useful, rendering immaterial entities immune to non-magical/mystical damage (And sometimes even immunity to being perceived, except for a creepy, tingling shiver of dread, unless the character is one of the rare few born with the Sight). I think immunity instead of almost-immunity works better for my campaign, as I do not want players to take the massive damage route for destroying ghosts (read High Explosives). I want them to search out knowledge, rituals, and mystic means to deal with most entities (and save the high explosives for the cultist camp deep in the Burmese jungle). I like GM Hooly's idea for a Quality that empowers a material item to damage a spirit. Maybe a specially consecrated weapon, or one with mystic runes inscribed. I could even envision that the weapon itself is largely irrelevant except a a vehicle for the mystic power within. I could also see enchanted weapons being particularly useful against possessed adversaries, with the weapon harming the physical "vessel" and the enchantment harming the possessing spirit.

Anyway, thanks for the advice and inspiration.