[Killer Rework & Survivor Concept] Ghost Face Modernization: The "Slasher Hotline" Update
[Killer Rework & Survivor Concept] Ghost Face Modernization: The "Slasher Hotline" Update
The Core Issue: Ever since his release in 2019, Ghost Face has been a community favorite, but mechanically flawed. He suffers from poor map pressure, an inconsistent third-person reveal mechanic, and zero anti-loop potential. Furthermore, despite being the most iconic telephone stalker in horror history, his phone remains relegated strictly to a Mori cosmetic.
TL;DR OVERVIEW
- The Core Fix: A complete 1v4 macro overhaul introducing physical Item Phones and a shared Battery/Charging Station economy to solve Ghost Face's map pressure.
- The Gameplay Loop: Ghost Face can dial survivors to stalk them over the wire; survivors can "taunt" dial Ghost Face to pull chase aggro or link up with each other to buff team actions.
- Licensing & Modes: Built strictly within the existing Fun World contract (zero movie copyright intrusion) and designed purely for 1v4 gameplay (does not impact or intrude on the 2v8 mode).
The Solution: Post-Roadmap 1v4 Rework. This proposal introduces a complete 1v4 macro overhaul for Ghost Face by introducing physical Item Phones and a shared Battery/Charging Station economy.
Note: To ensure zero intrusion on the 2v8 Class System and other killers' map props, Ghost Face remains entirely basekit/classic in the 2v8 mode. This rework targets 1v4 exclusively.
Disclaimer: This layout represents a baseline structural concept. All numbers, ranges, and specific status effects are completely open to developer testing, community feedback, and potential future revisions during the Public Test Build (PTB) or post-addition patches.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & LICENSING COMPLIANCE
To ensure seamless integration for Behaviour Interactive and their licensing partners, this concept has been built from the ground up to respect all existing legal boundaries:
- Strict Alignment with Fun World (Easter Unlimited Inc.): This rework operates entirely within Behaviour’s existing contract with Fun World Div., Easter Unlimited Inc. It uses the original, proprietary Ghost Face® trademark and "Ghost Mask with Shroud" design owned exclusively by Fun World since 1993.
- Zero Movie Franchise Infringement: This update features absolutely no proprietary elements, characters, names, locations, or dialogue from the Scream cinematic franchise owned by Paramount Pictures or Spyglass Media Group. The concept features Danny Johnson—Behaviour's own completely original, in-house character lore—utilizing generic, public-domain telephone-stalker mechanics that do not trigger movie copyright restrictions.
- Direct Merchandising Potential: The newly introduced physical map objects (Charging Stations) and custom Item Phones are designed to expand the Official Dead by Daylight Merchandise Catalog by Fun World, offering direct opportunities for real-world replica prop licensing.
THE NEW POWER: Slasher Hotline (1v4 Only)
Every survivor spawns into the trial with a generic cell phone equipped in a new, dedicated Pocket Item Slot. Ghost Face possesses a matching tactical device.
1. Ghost Face Dialing a Survivor
Ghost Face can pull up his HUD and dial a specific survivor to stalk them remotely over the wire.
- IF ANSWERED (1-Second Tap): The line connects, triggering a high-stakes double-blind. While holding the receiver, both the survivor and Ghost Face continuously see each other's auras, and the survivor suffers muffled environmental audio. However, Ghost Face's Stalk progression fills up twice as fast through the phone lines if he establishes direct line-of-sight while they are talking. The survivor can tap again to hang up at any time.
- IF IGNORED: The phone rings loudly in their pocket for 15 seconds. The ring volume is a tight 12-meter radius. The survivor receives a +300 Survival BP efficiency bonus but is afflicted with the Blindness status effect for the 15-second duration of the ring.
2. Survivor Dialing Ghost Face (The Brave Taunt)
A survivor can pull out their phone and dial Ghost Face directly to pull his attention away from teammates.
- IF GHOST FACE ANSWERS: Ghost Face drops his current stalk progress on all other survivors, transfers it entirely to the caller, and the line connects.
- The Killer Buff: While actively talking on the line, Ghost Face tunes out the rest of the map to lock onto his target. He gains a passive 5% Haste boost and 15% faster window-vaulting and pallet-breaking speeds for the duration of the call.
- The Close-Range Play (Within 24m): If you survive the killer's chase buffs and keep the line open for 15 seconds, the line overloads. Ghost Face's mechanical buffs vanish, his camera is hit with a forced electrical screen-glitch that blinds him for 3 seconds. The caller receives a +1,500 Boldness BP event and is granted a temporary 7% Haste effect for 5 seconds to gain distance.
- The Cross-Map Play (Beyond 24m): If you keep him talking for 15 seconds from across the map, you jam his receiver. Ghost Face is hit with a screeching tone inflicting the Deafened status effect for 8 seconds. The caller receives a +1,500 Objective/Survival BP event, and all other survivors currently on generators receive a 15% Repair Speed Progression chunk instantly added to their current objective.
- IF GHOST FACE IGNORES IT: Ghost Face retains his current stalk meters and receives a +300 Deviousness BP bonus, but his earpiece rings loudly. The signal leaks into the fog, completely revealing Ghost Face's aura to all 4 survivors map-wide for the 15-second duration of the unanswered ring.
3. Survivor-to-Survivor Network & The Wiretap Intercept
Two survivors can connect their devices via a 1-second instant tap to share an aura-reading link and a 6% Action Speed Buff to healing and unhooking.
- The Intercept: If Ghost Face is within 16 meters of either calling survivor, he can press his active ability button to silently tap the line.
- The Reward: Ghost Face gains 100% perfect Aura Reading on both survivors, and his Stalk meter charges twice as fast if he looks at them.
- The Counterplay: Survivors receive no visual indicator, but a subtle, low-frequency breathing sound plays in their earpieces, warning them that Ghost Face is revealing the line.
BATTERY & MECHANICAL BALANCE
To govern this system, 4 Wall-Mounted Charging Stations spawn on the map (permanently fixed to neutral structures like the Killer Shack, Main Building, or jungle gyms).
- Survivor Battery: Connected survivor-to-survivor calls drain the battery at 1% per second. Panicking and hanging up mid-call (Early Hang Up) instantly vaporizes 25% of the battery. Hitting 0% kills the phone. Survivors charge from 0% to 100% in 10 seconds at a station.
- Ghost Face Battery: Dialing a survivor costs a flat 15% battery. Intercepting lines drains 2% per second. At 0%, Ghost Face relies purely on base Night Shroud. Because he is backed by the Entity, he siphons power extremely fast, charging from 0% to 100% in 4 seconds at any station.
CONSOLE & SWITCH CONTROLS (Cross-Play Optimized)
This power utilizes simple, layout-friendly inputs optimized for controller joysticks and Switch performance:
- The Pocket Slot Input: Interacting with your phone uses the standard "Active Ability Button" (L3/Left-Stick Click or R1/RB on PlayStation/Xbox, and L-Stick/R on Nintendo Switch).
- Tactile Immersion: When Ghost Face dials a console player, their controller will haptically vibrate in a distinct "ringing phone" rhythm directly in their hands to trigger slasher panic.
ALL-NEW ADD-ONS (Hotline Specials)
- Telecommunications Manual (Common): Increases the range at which Ghost Face can hear an ignored survivor phone ringing from 12 meters to 16 meters.
- Rosewood County Map (Uncommon): While Ghost Face is actively intercepting a survivor call, his standard red stain is completely hidden.
- Ol' Ghost Album (Rare): Survivors who choose to Ignore a call from Ghost Face suffer from the Exhausted status effect for the duration of the ringing.
- Knife-Scratched Receiver (Very Rare): If a survivor panics and slams the phone down mid-chase (Early Hang Up), they break the phone and are instantly afflicted with the Broken status effect for 60 seconds.
- Journalist's Audio Tape (Ultra Rare): When Ghost Face successfully marks and downs a survivor who is actively on the phone with him, all other survivors on the map instantly scream and drop whatever item they are currently holding. Their pocket phone batteries are immediately drained by 50%.
NEW SURVIVOR TEACHABLE/GLOBAL PERKS
To launch alongside the overhaul, these teachable/global perks give survivors tools against Ghost Face’s mechanics while remaining top-tier meta choices against all other killers.
1. Counter-Spy
- Against Ghost Face: If Ghost Face wiretaps your call, the creepy breathing is amplified by 100% and his aura is revealed to you for 6 seconds.
- Against All Killers: Whenever the Killer reads your aura via a perk (Barbecue & Chili, A Nurse's Calling, etc.), the Killer's aura is immediately revealed to you for 4/5/6 seconds, and you gain a 5% Haste effect for the duration.
- Cooldown: 80/70/60 seconds.
2. Frequency Hop
- Against Ghost Face: Interacting with a Charging Station to juice up your Item Phone is 50% faster.
- Against All Killers: You unlock the ability to recharge any standard survivor item (Flashlights, Med-kits, Toolboxes) at the map's Charging Stations. Spending 12/10/8 seconds at a station restores 50% of that item's charges.
- Limitation: Can only be used 1/1/2 times per item per trial.
3. Trace Results
- Against Ghost Face: While connected to a teammate on a phone call, your line cannot be short-circuited by an Early Hang Up. The co-op action speed buff is increased to 10%.
- Against All Killers: Co-op repairing or healing for a total of 25/20/15 seconds earns a token. Press the Active Ability Button while standing near a completed generator or totem to reveal the aura of the Killer and the exit gates/hatch for 3/4/5 seconds.
VISUAL AND AUDIO EFFECTS
- The Screen-Glitch Effect: When Ghost Face is blinded by the close-range overload, his screen does not go pitch white like a standard flashlight. Instead, his view gets hit with a retro television static effect accompanied by a sharp phone line feedback sound.
- The HUD Indicators: When a line is actively tapped by Ghost Face's Wiretap Intercept, the caller portrait icons on the survivor UI pulse with a subtle red outline. This gives sharp solo-queue players a visual way to notice the danger if they miss the breathing audio cue.
INFO FOR BEHAVIOR AND BALANCE FAQ
- Q: Does this replace his standard Night Shroud power entirely? A: No. His standard stealth mechanics remain active. This hotline system sits on top of his kit as a macro power map management tool to fix his lack of mobility.
- Q: What happens if a survivor phone battery hits 0%? A: The phone goes dead and glows with a small red battery warning light on the hip. A dead phone stops you from using the survivor-to-survivor network or taunting the killer, forcing a trip to a charging station.
- Q: How does this impact the game's audio layout? A: The ringing sound is strictly localized within a 12-meter radius. This ensures the match doesn't turn into a constant, annoying wall of noise for players on the other side of the map.
Comments
It doesn't matter if Scream's Ghostface calls his victims on a phone. DBD's Ghost Face doesn't act like Scream's Ghostface because he isn't supposed to be like Scream's Ghostface.
Making him closer to that of Scream's Ghostface isn't an improvement, it's just going against his established characterization in the game.
Also Ghost Face doesn't use a phone during his mori on any of his cosmetics, it was only during his PTB that used a phone at all.
Thats nice rework concept, but calling feels underwhelming
Ghostface ignoring phone call penalty is useless since he has on-command undetectable. And i think ghostface shouldnt be punished for that either way.
Calling survivour seems pointless too, since survivour receiving only blindness and position whereabouts isnt that bad (when ignored). It would only work in lost survivour matches because then they hide often. Buff of doubling stalk is bad as well, since you lose surprise aspect.
Calling each other is fine, but since effect is so low no one would risk it.
And i dont like survivour perk ideas. Counter spy is just better OoO and We see you. Frequency hop is built to last but weaker and trace results is poised with extra steps.
And since bhvr removed adrenaline wake up (and i hope they will remove vigil hindered) because it was killer specifit i dont think We will see such perks
as before stated, it goes to a seperate version of going against other killers
Vigil affecting Hindered is probaly one of the stupidest things in this game
This isnt post about vigil, i used this perk (and adrenaline) as example of perks affecting specific killers, which bhvr wanted to remove in the past
This is flawed as stated before with my examples
My apologies
Feather, Your original take remains a masterclass in evaluating Survivor perk efficiency: noting thatCounter-Spyoutclasses passive or risky aura tools,Frequency Hopbehaves like a restrictedBuilt to Last, andTrace Resultsforces you through too many hoops. These concepts mirror that exact design philosophy by providing immediate, high-value utility against all Killers without making players jump through unnecessary, over-engineered steps.Please note that the following characters are purely conceptual pitches designed to expand theSlasher Hotlineupdate. In keeping with standardDead by Daylightstandalone chapter releases, onlyonefinal survivor from these options would actually make it into the Fog alongside Ghost Face.1. Valerie Vance – The "True Crime" Journalist
Perks
2. Sabrina Campbell – The "Reluctant Legacy" Final Girl
Perks
3. Toby Cross – The "Video Store" Cinephile
Perks