Here come the Black Hats – This week, we're talking about all the nasties, as it were. Each day this week, we'll give you a little insight into the antagonists from the World of Darkness Rulebook and Vampire: The Requiem.

Who you gonna call? – Ghosts are the spirits of mortals that linger in the physical world. Some are mere echoes of the dead, the residue of a soul eternally repeating a simple pattern of actions like a looping videotape. Others are true spirits that have become "lost" after death. Unable to continue on into the spirit realms, they haunt their old homes or workplaces, growing ever more lonely and frustrated with each passing decade. Still others cling to the physical realm through sheer force of will, unable to leave behind unfinished business.

Ghosts linger in the physical world because something anchors them there. Every ghost has at least one anchor rooting it to the physical world, while powerful spirits have more. The number and nature of a ghost's anchors depends on the individual and the circumstances surrounding its death. In most cases, an anchor is a physical place or object that held great emotional significance to the ghost during its mortal existence. For instance, a man who carried a valuable pocket watch wherever he went might become a ghost anchored to the watch, haunting those who come to possess it. Occasionally, ghosts can be anchored to people rather than to objects. A woman murdered by a jilted lover might find herself anchored to him, sustained by a bitter desire for revenge.

If it must be done, a ghost can be removed by performing a successful exorcism (it's not just for demons anymore), destroying all of its anchors or defeating it with weapons that are either enchanted or blessed. (Normal weapons merely pass through a ghost.) Alternatively, if the anchors are resolved, such as by a group of players enacting the pocket watch owner's desires, the ghost can release its ties to reality and leave the mortal realm.

It Only Hurts When I Haunt – Speaking of exorcism, Mark A. Nelson gives us a very vivid image of just what it entails in this piece from the World of Darkness Rulebook