What could a ghost give YOU?

[Mountain_King]

Okay, here's the deal:
I made this scenario (as part of the larger campaign). There's a ghost in it. He lost some stuff. If you help him find his stuff, he will reward you. If you get back his most prized possession, he will clear out all shroud on the map. What I'm wondering is: "What could this ghost reward you with that could possibly help in the future or in that scenario?" I need ideas for four different rewards, one for each item you return. It can't be gold, as the player is practically swimming in it at this time. I am entirely out of ideas on this. So I said to myself, "Self, one thing that the Wesnoth forums have in abundance is ideas. Maybe they have some ideas." That's what this thread is for. Have you got any ideas for what you could get from this guy in exchange for your help? Note: Just because it's in off-topic doesn't mean it can be stupid. However, I can use a reasonable amount of humor, so if it's a useful idea, don't be afraid to say it.

A thousand thank yous,
Mountain_King

[Daravel]

Ghost's generally stick around because they want to avenge their death or have unfinished business and often hang around where they died. Perhaps this ghost's body is hidden and on that body are 4 very useful items. He could also give you advice that helps with a later scenario or he could help you fight for a short time.

[Gambit]

A key. This key unlocks a door that leads to a tunnel that is a shortcut around a much much more difficult scenario. He gives you this key on the condition that you will also get rid of the thieves living in the tunnel who killed him and his [insert relative of choice].

What's his most prized possession? It could have belonged to his [insert relative of choice].

[Captain_Wrathbow]

Some sort of item or powerup. Then let the player choose which unit to give it to. Like... an amulet that makes the unit have +10% resistance to arcane, fire, and cold damage. Or armor that increases a unit's defense. Or a weapon that gives the unit a new attack. Or a magic ring to increase movement points. Etc.

[Zerovirus]

The ghost follows you around as a veteran unit (Wraith, Shadow, etc.) commensurate with how far you are in the campaign if you collected an at-that-time useless mcguffin in a previous scenario.

Alternatively, if the ghost doesn't want to move, it enchants one unit of your choice to change one of its attacks to cold and also add one strike. Like some sort of spectral strike upgrade. You can fluff it as the ghost imbuing the weapon with a piece of itself.

Or it just gives you a boring item equip, but it's obviously, as already said, boring.

Or it could add three lv1 ghosts to your recall list as loyal units, or some other sort of fluff-fitting undead.

The ghost itself could be a macguffin like Gambit said, that allows you to skip a scenario in the future with secret knowledge, or it could change the plot if you know the information in such way that you can make peace with an enemy in a difficult campaign and so bypass that scenario.

[johndh]

The ghost could also come back and provide a diversion of some sort.

[Mountain_King]

Looks like Zerovirus and captain wrathbow are currently closest to the mark with their suggestions.
To clear a few things up for everybody:

Ghost's generally stick around because...

This particular ghost is hanging around because he is a guardian of some sort, he essentially was waiting for the right person to show up (the campaign protagonist coincidentally IS the right person). He's been waiting around for several hundred years, so I don't think there'd be much left of his body.
@Gambit: The one locked door got unlocked immediately previous to helping the poor ghost. The thieves idea isn't bad, but it doesn't work well within the storyline.

What's his most prized possession?

Uh, heh. Actually, it's what one character describes as a peculiar smelling plant wrapped in colored paper. He's kind of addicted to them.
@ Cpt. Wrathbow: You kind of hit the hammer on the head. The point where I'm stuck is on exactly what to give. I already gave the player winged boots to a slow character to even things out, so I don't think the xtra movement would do any good except to separate the group.
@Zerovirus: I like the idea of "leaving a piece of himself". It's unique and creative.

The ghost itself could be a macguffin like Gambit said, that allows you to skip a scenario in the future with secret knowledge, or it could change the plot if you know the information in such way that you can make peace with an enemy in a difficult campaign and so bypass that scenario.

The McGuffin in this scenario is actually the reason for the scenario, some sort of ultimate magical artifact. Also...how did you read my mind?!?!?! I hadn't revealed the possibility of making peace with an enemy and modifying the ending plot! *Looks quizically in Zero's direction* You gave me an extra idea which I can also use later. Thanks!
@johndh: Come to think of it, that's not such a bad idea. Due to plot reasons, he can't come back later in the campaign, but the scenario he appears in is very large. He can show up later to help defeat a mini-boss.

Long story short: I still need some specific ideas on what the ghost can give out, but it might be a good idea to use Cpt. Wrathbow's and Zerovirus' posts for partial inspiration.
Reminder:
There are four rewards in all. Each should help in a different way. Removal of shroud is already taken and so is "immensely powerful item that relies on earlier McGuffin". If you help the ghost in every way possible he can come back later to make it a bit easier.

Thanks everybody, please keep the ideas coming!
Best Regards,
Mountain_King

[Reepurr]

A spectral bangle. The bangle gives you a right-click option [sorry beetlenaut...] to - only once - summon lots of ghost goblins next to the bangle's owner. Of course, then the bangle breaks, which is a bit of a shame given it's made of platinum.

[bigkahuna]

I think he should give you some ability to recall some of your dead units as undead.

Either ghosts or skeletons (random), level 1s get recalled as level 1 ghosts or skeletons, level 2s as level 2 ghosts or skeletons, and so on. You would have to lower the cost of recalls to make it worth the cost, though.

Or you could simply give them straight to the player (not as fun ).

[Ken_Oh]

A little off-color, but it gives you an idea: http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF220-Passed_On.jpg

[boru]

A loyal undead yeti berserker, of course.

[Eleazar]

Q: What could a ghost give YOU?

A: Information. Seriously, one of the most valuable commodities in war.

[artisticdude]

Q: What could a ghost give YOU?

A: Information. Seriously, one of the most valuable commodities in war.

QFT. And there are virtually thousands of ways to play around with this. The ghost tells you that there is a trap in such-and-such an area of the map in X level. Or that there are allies to be found if you move your leader to X part of Y map in Y level. Or that there is a secret passage in X level that allows you to reach the enemy leader much more quickly than you would be able to otherwise. Or the tunnel allows you to grab that cluster of villages before the enemy and make more gold. Etc. etc. I personally would find something like that far more intriguing and unique than the old 'ring of swiftness' concept, which is quite common in campaigns. Not that that's a bad concept, but it's nice to find a new and unique one that furthers the plot and/or emmeshes with the story in an interesting way.

Just my two cents.

[Dunno]

What comes to my mind is that this ghost could enchant a unit with plague attack . Walking corpses have so many different sprites I've never seen, I think plague [acronym=as long as it's not unbalancing, of course!]should be[/acronym] more common in Wesnoth!

[Dixie]

It could be some object that gives the power to create dummies/illusions out of other units. Like, you right click a unit 2-3 tiles away from your leader, and it makes an identical unit next to the target, except it will die after it gets a single hit, and all damage it deals will be healed (it deals no damage). It could cost like 5 gold per use and illusions should be easily recognisable (a special ellipse? Or color-shift them to a white-blueish hue?). Such ideas have come out for custom eras and are detectable by other human players, but it could make some nice cannon-fodder in an SP campaign against an AI. You'd also need to make sure these aren't sent to the recall list.

Or it could be some kind of extra-life ring or something. You give it to a unit of your choice, and when that unit dies, it is insta-revived with all (or half?) of its HPs. Usable only once. Be wary if your plot includes/relies on a character who's supposed to die later on: if he gets the artifact, it could mess things up.

Or a teleportation ring of sorts. Usable once (or more, for a price in gold?), you left clic an unshrouded hex somewhere, and the bearer (and maybe all the units adjacent to him?) are teleported to the targeted hex.

Or make a unit some sort of were-wolf. When in chaotic tod terrain, the bearer becomes a powerful werewolf/ghost/whatever of chaotic alignment. He could have berserk, higher resists except to arcane, and some sort of plague that would create peasants (or a unit similar to the slain one), but with a wolf form in chaotic tod. Either changing restores the HPs to their value prior to change, either it's a % (like, if in normal state, the unit had 48/50, in wolf form he could have 96/100. He gets hurt to 20/100, so when changing back he has 10/50).

Note that I say "ring", but it can be anything that pleases your fancy. Could be magical bunny hears, if that amuses you