Ghouls
The ones who can not Stop.
'Spare me your pity, give me your blood.'
It’s the rush, really, the freight-train running through your veins, the way your skin’s sensitive to every little thing except pain, the feeling that you’re just on the edge of death and have never been so alive.
That’s what the Blood does. That’s why ghouls keep coming back for more. There have always been ghouls. Whatever vampire first thought to give a drop of his blood to a
living paramour is lost to history. Maybe nobody was human back then. Maybe that’s how far back it goes.
Doesn’t matter. What matters is now. The now of the need. The now of the fix.
The way now becomes forever when you’re never going to age.
Why you want to be us
Being a ghoul is incredible. You’ve got the best parts of being a vampire.
The youth, the supernatural edges, the knowledge you’re just better than everybody else.
Then there are the parties. The Elysium and everything else. Being surrounded by the beautiful and the eternal, being part of a world that only comes to life after dark. All that for just a few ugly little favors.
Except none of it’s really yours. Miss a dose, and the train rushing through your veins derails.
The withdrawal’s bad, so bad. But there’s something worse. All of a sudden, with just a missed taste of Vitae… you’re normal.
Mundane. Prole. Rat in a cage.
So don’t miss a dose.
Why you should fear us
Ghouls aren’t just mortals with a taste for Vitae. They’ve got a little bit of Kindred will in them, and the Kindred will is nothing if not an urge to treachery. As a ghoul, you’re
simultaneously the most trustworthy and most dangerous of servants. A vampire who doesn’t respect his ghouls is a fool. A vampire who trusts them too far is a mark.
Why we should fear ourselves
You want to be a ghoul, yes? How much more do you want it than anything else?
How much do you value your career?
Your partner? Your kids? Even your life… would you really want it anymore if it meant getting off the red?
Sure you want blood. But don’t you want it all? Fear how far those wants will take you.
Creating a Ghoul
Your character becomes a ghoul when a vampire feeds her a point of Vitae, and invests it with a point of Willpower (temporary, only when created). The ghoul receives both the point of Vitae and the point of Willpower (temporary, only when created) to use as her own. The feeling is supremely invigorating; the ghoul feels reenergized and capable of anything.
To create a ghoul player character, first follow the character creation instructions in The World of Darkness Rulebook. Save some room for the Merits later in this chapter, then come back here.
Add Ghoul Traits
Clan:
Your ghoul has a regnant, usually the vampire who first gave her Vitae and spent a point of Willpower on her. The Regnant is usually another player who plays a Vampire, or a NPC who is a Vampire (noone else can make ghouls).
Disciplines:
The most obvious benefit to becoming a ghoul is the access to the regnant’s Disciplines. As per this character-creation template, you may select two Discipline dots that the ghoul can use. One of those dots must be the first dot in the physical Discipline that is in clan for his regnant. For quick reference, the inclan physical Disciplines for the five main clans are as follows:
Daeva: Celerity or Vigor
Gangrel: Resilience
Mekhet: Celerity
Nosferatu: Vigor
Ventrue: Resilience
Aside from that first dot in a mandatory physical Discipline, the second dot is available from a wider variety.
As long as it comes from a Discipline that is in clan for the regnant, the ghoul character can have it.
If, when he creates the ghoul, the ghoul’s regnant is an active member of a bloodline — be it his sire’s bloodline, a clan bloodline or a bloodline of his own inception — the bloodline’s Disciplines are all considered inclan for the ghoul’s purposes. (So yes, if a Morbus vampire makes some poor bastard a ghoul, that ghoul can have one dot of Cachexy on top of his single dot of Celerity at character creation.)
If the ghoul’s regnant has more than one in-clan physical Discipline when he creates the ghoul, such as a Daeva or a member of the Bruja or Toreador bloodlines, the mandatory physical Discipline dot can come from either Discipline.
That choice is up to regnant, based on how he most needs his ghoul to serve him.
Any other Discipline dot comes only at the regnant’s behest and with his express teaching.
Blood Potency:
Your character gains the Blood Potency trait at 0, allowing him to store and spend Vitae. This trait cannot be increased with Experiences or time.
This is a technicality and dosnt have to be on the sheet. If your a ghoul its so, and nothing will change it in either direction.
Effects of Being a Ghoul
Aging:
Ghouls do not age so long as they remain ghouls. Hair and fingernails continue to grow, but they don’t go through puberty or develop crow’s feet. Even better, any disease they suffer from stops in its tracks, progressing no further from the point the character becomes a ghoul.
Physical Intensity:
Ghouls are able to use Physical Intensity in exactly the same way as Kindred. The physical sensations are a bit different, with the ghoul feeling his heart pumping and his muscles burning in a way a vampire never will.
Healing:
Ghouls can heal much like a vampire. For one point of Vitae, a ghoul may heal two points of bashing damage or one point of lethal damage. Given two consecutive nights
and five Vitae, a ghoul may heal a point of aggravated damage.
(The ghoul does not have to spend all five points at once, meaning that the expenditure is not affected by the ghoul’s Blood Potency.)
Endurance:
Like Kindred, ghouls do not fall risk falling unconscious when their Health tracks fill with bashing damage.
Refined Palate:
Although ghouls do not possess Kindred Senses, they may attempt A Taste of Blood (as described on p. 91, VtR;2e).
Disciplines
Ghouls can use most Disciplines, including bloodline Disciplines, but suffer some restrictions.
Learning Disciplines:
Ghouls may learn Disciplines under the same rules as Kindred. They may not learn Coils or Scales of the Dragon.
Contests and Resistance:
When a Discipline would be contested or resisted by one of the Kindred, the ghoul may not add his Discipline dots to his own roll.
If he has any stage of blood bond to the vampire, the Discipline fails automatically.
Spilling Blood:
If a Discipline power requires the user to spill blood or feed it to someone (such as Raise the Familiar), the ghoul may not use it.
You as a player may buy the power on the way to purchasing another one, however.
Fixes and Withdrawal
A ghoul needs his fix. He needs it to feel right, even to feel normal. And it goes without saying he needs it to maintain his supernatural powers.
A ghoul automatically spends one point of Vitae per month to maintain his ghoul state.
If, at the end of the month, he has no Vitae to spend, he must somehow acquire more. Any Vitae a ghoul imbibes becomes part of his Vitae pool.
If a ghoul doesn’t get his fix, he gains the Deprived Condition (see p. 302 VtR: 2e).
In withdrawal, he begins to age towards his natural age, at a rate of one year per week. This aging remains even if he gets his fix and resolves the Deprived Condition.
To end his withdrawal and resolve the Deprived Condition, he must ingest a number of Vitae equal to the Blood Potency of the last vampire he dosed from.
If this is more Vitae than his Stamina dots allow him to hold, he retches the rest up violently, but resolves the Condition and is no longer in withdrawal.
A ghoul in withdrawal cannot use any Disciplines (even those that do not cost Vitae or which have persistent effects), but retains knowledge of them if his withdrawal ends.
