A ghost event is a manifestation of the ghost in the mortal world other than a hunt and which does not directly interact with the environment (unlike an interaction). Ghost events vary from full on physical apparitions to mere balls of smoke and usually produce sound (hissing, moaning, chanting etc.) perceivable without the use of specialized equipment.
Mechanics[]
Triggering ghost events[]
When the ghost attempts to perform a ghost event, it will check for players in the investigation area within a certain range (tested to be 15 metres) on the same floor. If successful, the closest player within the range will be chosen as the ghost event's target each time. If the ghost chooses to manifest, it will be teleported to near the player first. Ghosts do not teleport for airball events. An EMF 4 reading will be generated at the point where the ghost is at the start of the event.
Players can trigger ghost events by drawing The Devil card from a deck of Tarot Cards. Some other cursed possessions can trigger specialised ghost events. Otherwise, ghost events are random, and a lower average sanity increases the chance of them occurring. Neither smudging nor verbally provoking the ghost will increase the chance of a ghost event.[1]
Blacklisted rooms[]
Ghosts cannot perform ghost events towards a player if the latter is standing in the following rooms:
| Bleasdale Farmhouse | Point Hope | Prison | Brownstone High School | Sunny Meadows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Ghosts and airballs can still follow a player into these rooms from an adjacent room. Events caused by cursed possessions can also bypass this restriction.
Currently, the general rule of thumb is that if the targeted room does not have any doors connected to it (i.e. actually linked to the room, meaning they close when using the Monkey Paw's trap wish), is not part of a basement, and is not on a small map, then the ghost will be unable to perform an event by itself. Maple Lodge Campsite does not have blacklisted rooms as the ground floor/camping grounds is actually considered a basement.
The "fake hunt without vocalisations" ghost event is still possible in these rooms (but this type of ghost event is currently bugged, see below). It is unknown whether this is intended.
Types of events[]
Manifestation[]
When the ghost chooses to manifest, there are several subtypes which it may perform:
Vocalisation during singing events for male ghosts.
Vocalisation during singing events for female ghosts.
Vocalisation during singing events for the Forest spirit model during Easter events.
- The ghost stands in one spot and sings; this is usually known as a singing event. Male ghosts will hum an unknown, low-tone tune, while female ghosts will sing Ring a Ring o' Roses.
- For the Krampus model during the Winter's Jest event, this was another ~30-second tune.
- For the forest spirit model during Easter events, this was the female vocalisation played backwards.
- For the snowman model during the Holiday 2023 event, this was a variation of Jingle Bells.
- The ghost remains stationary. One of three things will happen:
- No additional features other than the lights in the room turning off.
- All lights in the room will be glowing red for the duration of the event before turning off.
- All lights in the room will flicker (if turned on), then shatter at the end of the event.
- The ghost chases and walks towards the player who triggered the event. If it goes near enough to the player, it will disappear and hiss sharply. Otherwise, it will disappear without any sound if enough time has elapsed. The ghost will walk at the standard ghost speed of 1.7 m/s, regardless of ghost type or ghost speed settings. This is known as a fake hunt event.
- The fake hunt event has a variant where the ghost does not produce vocalisations. This event can't occur if the room the target player is in doesn't have lights. This variant is bugged since 0.10.0; the event will only turn the lights off and the ghost will spawn in, visible for a single frame.
In all subtypes except for the singing event, the ghost will select a random hunt vocalisation.
During the event, many things will happen:
- The ghost will manifest in either its full form, a shadow which is only visible under light, or a jelly-like, almost see-through form.
- Nearby electronics will malfunction and lights will flicker, giving the impression of an ongoing hunt.
- For singing events and fake hunt events, all doors in the room where the target player is will close (including exit doors, but without locking them), and the lights in that room will also turn off.
- The fake hunt without vocalisations does not close doors and will end prematurely if the player turns on a light or leaves the room the event started in.[2]
- Light switches cannot be toggled in the room where the ghost event occurs if the lights will shatter at the end of the event.
- Ghosts will not leave fingerprints when interacting with doors or causing light switches to turn off.
The ghost event will end prematurely if the ghost goes near enough to the target player, making it disappear.
Airball[]
The ghost will turn off all lights in the target player's room and cause a small white cloud to appear in the room. The cloud will then begin floating toward the player, and if it reaches them it will disappear and cause a sharp hissing sound, in which the pitch and duration is always the same. If the player keeps their distance from it long enough, it will eventually vanish without hissing (or draining any sanity).
Though the airball is unrelated to the ghost's actual location, it can still trigger motion sensors.
This event goes by multiple names, such as "smoke ball", "ghost ball", "ghost mist", or simply "mist".
Note that there are other "mist"-like things or graphics effects that can all be confused with each other, such as freezing breath, incense smoke, or lighting bloom.
Summoning[]
This event can be triggered by using a Summoning Circle or the Monkey Paw's "I wish to see the ghost" wish. When used, the ghost will be teleported to the circle (or stay at its current location instead when using the Monkey Paw), become visible and remain trapped there for 5 seconds. Afterwards, it will begin a cursed hunt on the spot.
Music Box[]
This event can only be triggered by using a Music Box. If the ghost is within 5 metres (2.5 metres for Yokai) of an actively playing music box, it will become visible and begin walking towards the box. If it walks for 5 seconds, touches a player holding the music box, or the music box is dropped, it will begin a cursed hunt.
Sanity drain[]
If the ghost event target collides with the ghost or the airball, causing it to disappear, 10% of their sanity will be deducted. For light-shattering events, the player has to be near the ghost when the event ends. Some ghosts have differing rates of sanity drain:
- Banshee: 15% sanity instead of 10% if:
- The ghost event is of the singing type, and
- The ghost event target is also the hunt target.
- Oni: double sanity drain for all types of events.
- Phantom: Additional 0.5%/s sanity drain if the player is within 10 metres of the ghost while in pseudo line-of-sight (where heartbeats play).
Ghost event rates and preferences[]
Some ghosts have a preference for certain types of ghost events, or have modified rates of ghost events:
- Banshee: Higher chance of singing ghost events.
- Mare: Higher chance of light-shattering ghost events.
- Oni: Will never perform the airball ghost event, and is more likely to appear in its full form when manifesting.
- Shade: Higher chance of shadow model for manifestation events, and increasing sanity (above 50%) corresponds to decreasing chance of ghost events overall.
- Also has a chance of showing up as a shadow model when summoned via the summoning circle, the music box, or the monkey paw, for the duration of the ghost event.
- Thaye: Initially 100% more likely to perform ghost events. Every time it ages, the likelihood decreases by 15% in absolute terms, decreasing to 50% once it has aged completely.
Non-ghost events[]
The following are not considered ghost events:
- A hunt or a cursed hunt.
- Any ghost activity occurring during a hunt.
- Room lighting fading or dimming for 1-2 seconds.
- Firelights burning out by themselves.
- Any interaction.
- The Yurei's ability to shut a door and deduct nearby players' sanity.
Tips[]
- Although smudging is not known to directly increase the chance of a ghost event, doing so when sanity is very low may allow the ghost to perform a ghost event instead of hunting.
Related difficulty settings[]
- Main article: Difficulty
- Event frequency: The chance for the ghost to trigger an event
Objectives[]
- Main article: Objectives
| Objective | Actual requirements |
|---|---|
| Have a member of your team witness a Ghost Event | Have a ghost event occur |
Trivia[]
- Ghosts will always produce a photographable interaction (EMF 4) at/near the position where they performed the ghost event.
- Due to a bug, this interaction cannot be photographed after using the Summoning Circle in Grafton Farmhouse and Sunny Meadows.
- Doors being closed during a ghost event will create a photographable EMF 2 or 5 interaction.