Ghouls
Base Cost: 30 points
| F Gd 10 |
A Pr 4 |
S Gd 10 |
E Gd 10 |
R Ty 6 |
I Pr 4 |
P Gd 10 |
Res Ty 6 |
Pop Ex -20 |
| *off Ex 20 |
*dex Fe 2 |
*mgt Gd 10 |
*res Ty 6 |
*log Pr 4 |
*alt Ty 6 |
*will Ty 6 |
*mat Ex 20 |
*pub Ex -20 |
| *def Ty 6 |
*bal Ty 6 |
*vgr Gd 10 |
*sta Ex 20 |
*mem Gd 10 |
*awr Fe 2 |
*pre Ex 20 |
*$ Fe 2 |
*sec Ex -20 |
| Health: Karma: |
34 20 |
NH: MH: |
22 22 |
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, and do not age whatsoever. If carefully maintained, a ghoul can last indefinitely for labor or other uses. While time is on their side, Ghouls can be destroyed by conventional means. (7 points)
Biological Vampirism: while they lack a natural metabolism, ghouls can regenerate lost health and 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.
Like all undead possessors of a form of vampirism, ghouls suffer a 1 CS penalty to their Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and their power ranks (aside from this one) every day they neglect to feed upon an amount of living biomatter, in ounces, equal to their power rank number.
If at a penalty, that much food will erase 1 CS worth of penalties they suffer from. Eating this much biomatter while at full Health and at no penalty from starvation, ghouls can instead receive a 1 CS bonus to the above ability scores and power ranks for 1d100 turns. (6 points)
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, though other damage forms affect ghouls normally. (1 point)
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 power stunts and other uses for it from scratch. (1 point)
Environmental Independence: ghouls do not need to eat normal food, drink water, 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. (7 points)
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. (4 points)
Resistance to Cold and Pressure Variance: as walking corpses, ghouls need not worry about the rigors of extreme cold or pressure. Possessing this power at Unearthly (100) rank, a ghoul can maneuver in the depths of the sea or in interstellar space equally well. (5 points)
Limitations / Enhancements:
Curse of the Ghoul: those slain by the vampirism power of a ghoul are doomed to rise as a ghoul themselves, cursed to spend eternity as one of the raving undead - at least until circumstances (or ghoul hunters) around them act to end their otherwise undending suffering.
But the initial survivors of a ghoul's vampiric attacks may still die as a result of their attacks. Those who fail an Endurance (res) ACTION after surviving a ghoul's vampirism may instead be afflicted by one of the mechanisms that causes zombification, possibly an even worse fate.
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.
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 optimum 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:
Ghouls are an entirely unnatural life form, created exclusively after the biological vampirism power is used to kill a living person. While they are most often the result of other ghouls feeding upon living people, it can also happen when living possessors of this power use it to kill.
Furthermore, the bite of a classic vampire can rarely produce one as well, when humans who survive their initial vampiric atttack succumb to the effects of their ichor. This effect is similar to how some survivors of a ghoul's vampirism ultimately die from their bite, and become zombies.
Occupying a sort of middle ground in the spectrum of biological vampires, ghouls who are clever can often subsist within a society like a classical vampire. On the other hand, those ghouls who rampage against humanity are usually put down as if they were the source of a zombie outbreak.
Which, of course, they tend to create.
New Ghouls
When an ordinary character is transformed into a ghoul, the game mechanics involved are quite simple, really. All one needs to do is 'add' in the above supernatural powers and hindrances, adjust the characters statistics some to reflect the alteration in physical capability that their new state confers, and then recalculate the character's cost to account for their new, considerable character limitations.
| F n/a |
A -1 CS |
S +1 CS |
E +1 CS |
R n/a |
I -1 CS |
P n/a |
Res n/a |
Pop Ty -5 |
Of course, the simple addition of a bunch of new powers and limitations isn't all that happens. The vast majority of new ghouls suffer a drastic personality shift for the worse upon realizing what they must now do to survive - unless they're already insane to begin with, and simply enjoy that sort of thing. Very few transformed humans can retain their pre-risen personalities.
Depending on the player and character involved, this may be a good opportunity to retire the now-undead individual. Some players don't want to play a murderous monstrosity, while others would... but the campaign itself is focused on more heroic endeavors. However, sometimes playing a ghoul attempting to redeem itself can be interesting, since this would involve a tremendous and constant struggle for their very humanity.
Which, admittedly, can make for a great story. But if retiring a character due to a sudden case of ghoulishness, it might be fun for them to go out in a blaze of glory and/or mayhem, taking all of one's enemies down with them. And can be a great excuse to move a campaign forward; both the hero's passing and whatever damage they inflict on their way out of the game can definitely make for a great turning point in the plot!
Legal Hoopajoob:
This Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine text is provided under the Creative Commons Attribution license. You may use this material in any way you see fit, whether copying, distributing, or displaying all or part of said text, as long as I am credited in works utilizing it.
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