Ghouls

Base Cost: 30 points

Origin:

As are their lesser counterparts, ghouls are formerly inanimate dead bodies that have risen from the grave. Whether the cause of this is a mishap of magic, nature, or science, ghouls possess much greater power and agency than their zombie 'relatives'.

Known Powers:

Agelessness: being physically dead, ghouls lack a metabolism to speak of. As such, they do not age whatsoever. If carefully maintained, a ghoul can last indefinitely for labor or other uses; they do not age, even if they can be destroyed by conventional means.

Biological Vampirism: while they lack a natural metabolism, ghouls can regenerate lost health and regrow missing bits - by consuming living flesh. This Excellent (20) ranked power lets them regain one lost Health for each ounce of living flesh or blood they consume.

Damage Reduction: ghouls are surprisingly tough, despite looking like they're falling apart much of the time. They enjoy -1 CS of Damage Reduction against all physical attacks that do not strike them in the head; other damage forms affect ghouls normally.

Darkness Generation: as undead creatures of some power, ghouls can access a strange, otherworldly darkness. This power initially only functions at Feeble (2) rank, and the ghoul must develop it from scratch (every practical use must be mastered per a power stunt).

Environmental Independence: no longer amongst the living, ghouls do not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. While they may find themselves immobile for long periods of time, ghouls are never 'unconscious' unless forced into such a state, and are always alert and aware.

Fangs / Lockjaw: one distressing new ability their status gives them, ghouls can clamp onto something with their teeth and hang on. This does not inflict additional damage each turn, but dislodging a ghoul's lockjaw requires winning a contest of Strength first.

Resistance to Cold and Pressure Variance: as walking corpses, ghouls need not worry about the rigors of extreme cold or pressure on their bodies. Possessing this power at Unearthly (100) rank, a ghoul can maneuver in the depths of the sea or in interstellar space equally well.

Limitations / Enhancements:

Curse of the Zombie: upon biting humans, a ghoul can transform them into more undead. Those bitten must pass a red Endurance (res) ACTION roll or be afflicted by one of the mechanisms that causes zombification, all of which progress in a like manner.

Once afflicted, the victim must pass an Endurance (res) ACTION each hour or lose one rank of such. Some time after the victim dies, their body will rise again as a zombie, assuming the ability scores and powers listed for them under most circumstances.

Exceptional victims of a ghoul may sometimes rise not as a zombie, but as a ghoul themselves, for the most part assuming the base ability scores and powers listed for them. Ghouls usually retain any other powers they possessed before being rendered an undead abomination.

This is a weak character limitation.

Languorous: the problem with ghouls, as far as a long-term existence is concerned, is that they have no metabolism. Since they have no bodily processes, with most of their frame slowly decomposing, ghouls lack the abilities that come with a metabolism - like healing.

In other words, once a ghoul takes damage, it cannot recover from it naturally. Bits that are chopped off become inanimate again, and do not grow back. However, as long as none of the damage taken is to the brain, a ghoul can persist indefinitely, even at only one Health!

Ghouls aren't necessarily doomed to a slow, agonizing dissolution through wear and tear, however. No, thanks to their biological vampirism, ghouls can at least patch themselves back together - assuming they can catch up with a living being to feed upon.

This is a weak character limitation.

Equipment:

While plain old zombies cannot make practical use of equipment, ghouls do not have this limitation (aside from a general manual dexterity problem). Ghouls may use any devices their living counterparts can, as long as they still have the bits required to do so with.

Quirks:

Unattractive: ghouls are icky! Even when their bodies are at their optimium state, a ghoul smells awful and looks at the very least freshly dead. This amounts to a level 1 variation on this quirk, though ghouls who are in extreme disrepair may garner more extreme reactions.

Talents:

Since ghouls possess all the intelligence they had upon dying, they retain whatever talents they learned in life. There are no 'stock' talents for ghouls on top of these, though, so just run with what they had before their 'change of status'.

Contacts:

Typically none. Ghouls, despite being able to remember former friends (and enemies!), often have a hard time retaining them after rising anew. That and their general behavior doesn't help in this regard, either. But some manage to keep friends from before (or make new ones).

Characteristics:

A ghoul typically retains all of his or her memories after becoming such. However, their personality can shift in any number of fashions as the new reality of their situation becomes apparent. One might be relatively the same, while another could totally crack upon reawakening.

Since one need not necessarily consume human flesh to persist, a ghoul can in fact avoid killing humans if he or she really wants to. This allows one to serve in either a heroic or a villainous role - whatever best fits the character in question, really.

Appearance:

Ghouls resemble the humans they descend from. Depending on their current structural integrity, they might appear to be relatively healthy, albeit slightly ashen in coloration, or could be a total mess. Their clothing often looks quite damaged, depending on their activity level.

Ecological Niche:

Just like zombies, ghouls are an aberration of nature. Whether formed due to a confluence of environmental conditions or created intentionally, such beings have no natural place in the world. In fact, the appearance of one is often the death knell of a society.

History:

An unnatural life form, ghouls have no specific history. They simply crop up every once in a while under the same circumstances that create several variations on this form of undead. The difference between zombies and ghouls is, of course, their mightier staying power.

While a crowd of ordinary humans may be able to handle a zombie outbreak if they keep it together, ghouls are a much more dangerous threat. Their higher number of unnatural abilities, coupled with their ability to readily plan, makes them particularly intransigent.

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