Poltergeist

Activity

• When it interacts with an object, it has a 20% chance to throw it. If that fails, or if the object can’t be thrown, it enters the favorite room state.
• That’s why it can’t light fires, set off the car alarm, teleport toys, move mannequins, or do any other interaction that isn’t a throw.
• During a hunt it throws an object (if there’s one nearby) every 0.5 s, every time; other ghosts only have a 50% chance.
• It throws harder: 2 to 6 horizontally and 3 to 6 vertically, versus 1 to 3 and 1 to 5 for other ghosts.

Ability: multi-throw

• Every so often it throws every object within its range at once.
• It leaves an EMF 2 reading at the height of its head (each thrown object gives EMF 3).
• Every player in the same room as it loses 2% sanity for each object thrown.
• It can use it with the lights on and even with no objects nearby.
• It has four variants: direct throw, levitate then throw, levitate then drop, and levitate then throw toward a player. The levitation lasts 1 to 3 s (normal ones, 0.5 to 2 s).

How to identify it

Ruling it out. Since it only interacts by throwing things, if the ghost knocks on a window, sets off a car alarm, lights a fire, leaves dirty water, or turns on a radio, it’s not a Poltergeist.

By its throws.

• Scatter objects around its room. If you see one get flung hard, or several thrown at once, it’s probably a Poltergeist. A normal ghost’s throwing force and the Poltergeist’s overlap a bit, and it’s harder to notice in small rooms.
• Several small piles spread around beat one big one: if it isn’t near the pile, it won’t touch it.
• Don’t guess it from unclear signs: interactions are fairly random, and other ghosts can throw a lot too.
• Turn off the lights to get more activity if you want to watch it throw things normally.
• On the flip side, turning on the lights helps you notice its ability: the Poltergeist can throw with the lights on and other ghosts can’t. Seeing objects thrown in a lit room, especially several at once, points strongly to it. But watch out for red herrings, especially when it’s a single object:
  • Interactions depend on range, so any ghost in a dark room can throw something through the wall into the lit room next door. Check where the ghost is.
  • Make sure the object was in the lit room and didn’t come from a dark one next door. This matters most where there are no clear boundaries, like the outdoor areas of Camp Woodwind.

During a hunt. Scatter objects around the area. If it throws something every 0.5 s and with a lot of force (across entire rooms, or from one room to another), it could be a Poltergeist. On Camp Woodwind, for example, it can throw objects from the entrance straight into the truck.

Trivia

• A poltergeist is a ghost known for causing loud noises and moving or breaking objects. Accounts of phenomena like this go back to the 1st century, but poltergeists are mentioned more often from the early 17th century on. The word comes from the German poltern (“to make noise, to rumble”) and Geist (“ghost, spirit”): “noisy ghost.” Researcher René Sudre proposed thorybism as a synonym, from the Greek thorybein (“to make an uproar”).
• Its ability also drains sanity from dead players, who can come back with less sanity than they had if they’re revived.

Change history

Version	Change
Alpha, 13 March 2020	Requires Ghost Particle as evidence instead of Bug.
Alpha, 14 April 2020	Can throw objects with more force than other ghosts.
0.3.0	Before this version, its evidence was Spirit Box, Fingerprints, and Ghost Orb.
0.5.2.0	Its ability lowers the sanity of all nearby players, not just one.
0.7.0	Gets the Oni’s object-throwing ability. Interacts with objects more during hunts.
0.9.4.0	Its ability can no longer throw the Ghost Writing Book.
0.18.0	Can now only throw when it interacts with objects.