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	Disclaimer I: I have seen in reviews that the content had "spoiler" ascribed to it. I feel that if you are reading a review, you invite that upon yourself. If you don't want "spoilers," why would you read a review of a product you do not own? I will not use the phrase of "Contains Spoilers" in my reviews, if you want a non-biased review that doesn't reveal content-look elsewhere. Disclaimer II: The majority of this review is opinion; your actual enjoyment of this product should vary accordingly.
"… When creating adventures for and running a Ghostwalk campaign, remember that a fair number—perhaps a quarter—of the NPCs that the characters interact with should be ghosts. There is no better way to accentuate the factors that make this setting unique than to make them an everyday part of the world that the PCs encounter..." (Ghostly Adventures, p. 118)
WARNING SHOT: "You're dead; live with it." In my live-action days, I came up with this saying while watching Near Dark with the gang. In a regular Dungeons & Dragons game, when a character dies the party either buries the fallen or passes around the collection plate for a raise dead or resurrection. Ghostwalk tries to change all that by having your dead character pick up the pieces and drag their own corpse to get raised.
I have a friend who at times has played the role of gaming librarian. We have traded copies of books back and forth, and since he's got more money then I do, I wanted to see what was so special about the book formerly known as Project G. He has it, I don't. My gaming group had voiced an opinion of wanting to play Slimer in a D&D game. Long short story, I got to read the book over and give a quick run down of the book's parts I spent the most time on. Ghostwalk is a D&D 3.0 book, filled with new rules and feats, etc. for playing ghosts in a new "campaign option." Some sidebars cover adding the Ghostwalk ghosts to the other D&D settings (Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk). The book is rife with what changes having these new types of ghosts places on the rules. When your character dies in this campaign, an ectoplasmic version of him shows up after about ten minutes. The ghost can pick up the fallen body and make for the city of Manifest for a raise dead. While a ghost, characters can advance in one of two new classes, the ediolon and the eidoloncer. Eidolons are generic ghosts, a filler class that you advance in while your mortal coil is coiled at your feet. Eidolons gain ghost powers (advanced as feats) and have moderate hit dice advancement (a d8). The ediolon class grants free multiclassing, and once raised, your characters can convert ghost-gained levels into regular class levels (through life epiphanies). The core drawback to an ediolon is the lack of spellcasting advancement. That's where the eidoloncer comes into play. With a slower ghost feat progression and slightly lower hit die (d6), the edioloncer makes up for its slight (ghostly) disadvantages by continuing spellcaster progression (each level except 20th, grants the character access to their spells as if they were continuing in their living class). The drawback to playing a ghost, and advancing as one, is the Calling. A setting way of keeping the adventurers in check and living, as opposed to making the book come across as a D&D-Wraith: the Oblivion hybrid. The Calling pulls your character's soul into the True Afterlife and starts once your ghost levels outnumber your living levels. This was a little disappointing, having no save to keep this from happening. There are sidebars that address not having the Calling, they say that taking away the Calling reduces the setting (a ghostly commoner that kills his family to keep them from a harsh winter of starvation, a rise in the dead population, etc.). However, it reduces the role of ghosts in Ghostwalk to mere henchmen, out to lug their bodies and treasure back so that the "real" party can go on. I guess I misread the "continue playing your character after they die" bit. Though the setting details follow the character creation section, the book's four prestige classes come before we can get a decent feeling for the whole Ghostwalk setting. The prestige classes are Arboreal Guardian, Bone Collector, Deathwarden Chanter and Ghost Slayer. Also, a decent amount of feats and spells appear in this book from the other D&D books (natural spell from Masters of the Wild and Surelife from Oriental Adventures are two examples). In the magic item section, we discover that Ghostwalk has unique magic item names, even if they are a common +1 longsword (the Ghostwalk name for it could be Nelg's Bane). After the character section, the book turns us finally to the city of Manifest, which is the de facto city of the setting. It seems, in times past, someone discovered that the lands of the dead were underground. However, it could only be accessed by way of a huge gate guarded by dwarves. So, a city was built over the gate, and people flocked there to pay respects, converse, etc. with their dearly departed. As ghosts can take physical form due to the local area's magic, the city took on the name of what the ghosts did there (manifesting). We are treated to more history, and a rough sketch of why the local villains (some yuan-ti and murderous humanoid tribes) want to destroy the city and take charge of the lands of the dead. But mostly, Ghostwalk is a quiet setting. The Manifest chapter details the gods of the world, races in Manifest, adventuring and goes over the city ward by ward. Manifest has a few organizations that may play out in your campaigns, but mainly they come across as flavor text. Some of these groups are in favor of a clear definition between life and death, treating the dead of Manifest as abominations (Knights of the Quiet). And the city of the dead is bound to attract necromancers, so a group can be found lurking in the city's catacombs (Necromancers of Night Alley). The book ends with monsters, an adventure and a look at the countries surrounding Manifest. The book also covers running a Ghostwalk adventure/campaign, by highlighting some of the things your dead characters may explore. Overall, the Ghostwalk campaign option is for those looking to spice up their D&D games with a small nod into quick Wraith-like play. Those hoping for some rules to add to their games, they can probably allow the regular ghosts (not the Ghostwalk ghost outsiders) to use the feats presented in the book to kick their ghosts in new directions. The book features new ideas that run aground by trying to keep the focus on keeping the player characters alive (or raised back to life). Becoming a ghost in Ghostwalk keeps your character continued, but makes the ghost part a lackey to the living.

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