Ghost Face Rework Concept: The Call
Hello Behaviour and the Dead by Daylight community,
I'm a relatively new Dead by Daylight player, and I recently started thinking about what I would personally love to see from Ghost Face.
This is not meant to be a definitive balance proposal, but rather a fan-made concept built around one idea:
What if Ghost Face's main weapon wasn't information, mobility, or raw chase power — but paranoia?
Ghost Face is already a stealth killer, but I think he could become something much more unique by making the survivor's uncertainty itself part of his power.
The Core Idea: The Call
Ghost Face could gain a new ability called "The Call".
At certain intervals, Ghost Face can call a survivor who is currently visible to him.
The survivor receives a telephone call and automatically hears a short, pre-recorded Ghost Face voice line.
Importantly, Ghost Face does NOT receive any information about what the survivor is doing after the call starts.
There is no wallhack, no aura reading, and no tracking.
The entire purpose of the ability is to make the survivor wonder:
"Is Ghost Face actually coming for me?"
Or:
"Is he trying to make me think he's coming for me?"
That creates a mind game between both players.
Telephone Booths
The survivor cannot simply press a button to cancel the call.
Instead, several telephone booths would be placed around the map.
A survivor affected by The Call has to leave their current objective and reach one of these booths to end the call.
This creates an interesting decision:
- Stay on the generator and continue progressing while the call remains active.
- Leave the generator and lose valuable time looking for a telephone booth.
- Try to predict whether Ghost Face is actually nearby.
- Risk staying because you believe the call is a bluff.
And Ghost Face does not know which decision the survivor made.
He has to read the situation just like the survivor does.
The Psychological Aspect
The Call could have several stages.
For example:
Stage 1 – Uneasy
The survivor hears a relatively subtle voice line.
"You should look around."
Stage 2 – Nervous
The dialogue becomes more threatening.
"I can see you."
Stage 3 – Terrified
The final voice lines become much more personal and threatening.
"You're still working on that generator?"
The longer the survivor remains under the effect of the call, the more difficult it becomes to perform actions safely.
This could be represented through an increasing Panic effect.
Panic
While affected by The Call, the survivor gradually gains Panic.
Higher Panic could cause:
- More frequent Skill Checks.
- Smaller Great Skill Check zones.
- Slightly increased consequences for missed Skill Checks.
- Additional visual or audio hallucinations at maximum Panic.
The important part is that Ghost Face doesn't have to be there for Panic to be effective.
He could call someone, leave the area completely, and go pressure another generator.
The survivor might still abandon their generator and run toward a telephone booth because they believe Ghost Face is approaching.
Ghost Face has therefore gained pressure without actually being there.
Ghost Face's New Passive: "No Warning"
I think this is the part that would make the whole concept work.
Ghost Face would have no Terror Radius at all.
A survivor could be repairing a generator while Ghost Face is only a few meters away and receive no heartbeat warning.
This would make The Call much more interesting.
Imagine:
The survivor receives a call.
They hear:
"I'm right behind you."
They look around.
Nothing.
No heartbeat.
No Terror Radius.
They continue repairing.
But Ghost Face really is standing behind a wall nearby.
The survivor has no reliable way of knowing whether the threat is real.
That is where the mind game begins.
The Important Balance Rule
Ghost Face should NOT receive any information about the survivor during the call.
He shouldn't see their aura.
He shouldn't know whether they are still repairing.
He shouldn't know whether they are heading toward a telephone booth.
He shouldn't know whether they are hiding.
He only knows that he made the call.
This means that Ghost Face is taking a risk too.
He has to decide:
"Do I actually go after this survivor?"
or
"Do I trust that they'll panic and leave?"
That creates a high skill ceiling.
The Bluff
This is where I think the concept could become really special.
Ghost Face calls Survivor A.
Survivor A assumes Ghost Face is coming.
They leave their generator and run toward a telephone booth.
But Ghost Face has already left the area.
He's actually gone to another generator.
Survivor A has just lost 20–30 seconds because of a threat that wasn't even real.
Later, Ghost Face calls them again.
This time, the survivor thinks:
"He's bluffing again."
So they stay on the generator.
And this time...
Ghost Face actually comes.
This would allow Ghost Face players to develop their own psychological playstyle.
Survivor Counterplay
I think strong counterplay would be extremely important.
Survivors should always have options.
They can:
- Leave the generator.
- Search for a telephone booth.
- Stay and take the risk.
- Communicate with teammates.
- Try to visually locate Ghost Face.
- Learn the Ghost Face player's habits throughout the match.
The best survivors would eventually learn:
"This Ghost Face always comes after calling."
Or:
"This Ghost Face almost never comes after calling."
And Ghost Face could then adapt.
That creates an actual psychological battle rather than simply a stronger stealth mechanic.
Possible Killer Power Name
Some possible names:
- The Call
- Dead Air
- Unknown Caller
- Last Call
- Wrong Number
- The Stalker on the Line
Personally, I like The Call because it's simple and immediately understandable.
Possible Perks
If the rework also introduced new perks, I would love for them to reinforce the same psychological identity.
1. "Who's There?"
When a survivor performs a conspicuous action, they briefly hear a directional sound effect suggesting that the Killer is nearby.
The effect does not reveal the Killer's location.
The survivor simply has to decide whether the sound is real or misleading.
2. "Paranoia"
Whenever a survivor loses sight of Ghost Face after being chased, they suffer a temporary penalty to Skill Check consistency and become more likely to receive additional Skill Checks.
The idea is that escaping Ghost Face doesn't immediately make the survivor feel safe.
3. "Wrong Number"
After Ghost Face successfully interrupts a survivor's objective without dealing damage, that survivor becomes temporarily more vulnerable to The Call.
This would reward Ghost Face for creating pressure through deception rather than simply chasing everyone.
Why I Think This Could Work
The goal wouldn't be to make Ghost Face the strongest Killer in the game.
The goal would be to give him an identity that is extremely difficult for another Killer to replicate.
Myers is the silent stalker.
The Pig creates pressure through traps.
The Cenobite creates pressure through the Lament Configuration.
Ghost Face could become the Killer who makes survivors question their own decisions.
His power would essentially be:
"I don't need to know where you are. I need you to be afraid of where I might be."
That would also make Ghost Face interesting from the survivor perspective.
A good Ghost Face player would be unpredictable.
A good survivor would learn not to panic.
That creates a genuine battle of psychology between the two sides.
Final Thought
I don't expect this concept to be implemented exactly as written.
There would obviously be many balance, technical, accessibility, animation, voice acting, map-generation and gameplay considerations that would need to be tested.
But I think the core idea is worth exploring:
Give Ghost Face a telephone.
Let him call survivors.
Let survivors wonder whether he is actually nearby.
Let them decide whether to stay, run, hide, or call his bluff.
And make the Ghost Face player just as uncertain about the survivor's decision.
I think that could create some of the most memorable horror moments Dead by Daylight could produce.
Thank you for reading.
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