What is a Ghoul?
A ghoul is a human with vampire blood in their system. The interaction between vampire and mortal blood is what makes a ghoul. To become a ghoul, a human must drink a full point of vampire blood. They remain so until they have had no vampiric vitae for a month.
What are the powers of ghouls?
- A ghoul has a maximum vitae pool of up to half the size of the pool of the vampire they most regularly feed from, or 5 if they don't feed regularly from the same vampire.
- They can use this vitae in all the same ways vampires can - except that they cannot heal aggravated damage with blood.
- While a ghoul is a ghoul, they don't age, and are immune to most diseases.
- Ghouls get Potence 1 when they have been a ghoul for an unbroken month. They lose it again when they are no longer a ghoul.
- Ghouls may, with difficulty, learn disciplines from vampires. The requirements for a teacher are the same as for teaching a vampire a non-clan disciplines - but the experience point cost is much higher. The maximum level a ghoul may learn a discipline to is 1, unless the teacher has Sanguinis of 7 or greater.
- Ghouls have no home lores. However, when learning lores from the vampire from whom they regularly feed, the vampire is considered to have Instruction 1 as to the ghoul.
What are the weaknesses of ghouls?
- Ghouls can fear-frenzy or rage-frenzy under extreme provocation. They can also gain Beast Traits in the same way as vampires, even though they don't start with any.
- Ghouls are usually blood-bonded.
- Ghouls lose one vitae point per month
What happens when a vampire feeds from a ghoul?
Nothing. Vampires cannot draw sustenance from ghouls. Each point of blood taken (perhaps because of a hunger frenzy) inflicts a point of damage on the ghoul (as it does with a mortal), without conferring any benefit to the vampire.
What about animal ghouls?
Animal ghouls typical have much smaller vitae pools than human ghouls, usually half the size that a human ghoul would have. They may get a different free discipline dot. Eg, while a dog ghoul gets Potence 1, a cat ghoul might get Celerity 1, etc. This will be handled on a case by case basis.
What happens when a ghoul expends or loses all their vitae?
- Nothing right away. However, precisely one lunar cycle - for our purposes, 30 days - from the time the last point of vitae leaves their system, the ghoul will return to human, unless re-fed in that time period.
- Upon returning to human, the ghoul will lose his/her Potence and any other disciplines, which he/she will not be able to regain if re-ghouled, except through being taught and buying them again with XP. Note that any blood bonds will remain intact.
- The ghoul will also, within a few seconds' time, progress to their natural age, an effect both horrific and fatal for those ghouls who are long past their mortal lifespans. Note that you should have at least Vampire Lore 3 to be aware of this fact ICly, although it is possible you may find out the truth the hard way.
The above effects are not coded, as we expect them to be a rare occurrence. Please inform Staff if there is danger of your character going unghouled.
Ghoul Theme
Ah, to be a ghoul in Los Angeles. Eternal life, power, and you don't have any of those problems like having to drink blood to survive, or coping with the Beast, or never getting to see the sun again. Best of all, you can still have sex! What a great deal!
Welcome to reality.
As a ghoul (also known as a retainer, or thrall) in vampire society, you are little more than a slave, bound to the vampire who feeds you. From the moment that first gush of vitae is swallowed, your will ceases to be entirely your own. Once a full blood bond is established, you will do nearly anything your master or mistress (also known as a regnant) asks of you, and although you may dally with others, perhaps even carnally, you will never, ever, know true love, except as the twisted and perverse version that the bond enforces.
Most ghouls become little more than extensions of their regnant's will, seeing to their affairs in mortal society, guarding them from harm, and running daylight errands and operations that the vampire cannot. Then there are those rare few who stand out and maintain some form of free will and initiative despite the bond. These are our ghoul PC's, who manage to keep a certain amount of their own lives and identities intact. They may even occasionally have the resolve to tell their regnant, "No". Or work in a way they think would best benefit their masters, even if the master may think otherwise.
However, just because you have an identity outside your master's, it does not change that ghouls are considered second-class citizens at best by vampire society as a whole. In fact, such willful behavior is often looked down upon, especially by elders. You are considered property, and it should be borne in mind that while breaking another's property is bad form, most vampires feel it is nothing to get truly worked up about, so long as it was provoked and adequate compensation or apology is given. It's not like a vampire died, after all. Unfair? Perhaps. But something to think about before telling that Primogen where he can stick his rules. You may be able to still tread beneath both sun and moon, but always remember to tread carefully.
Ghoul Status
It is a cautious path one must tread as a ghoul, whether Camarilla or outlaw. In the eyes of most vampires, ghouls exist as nothing more than property, at best having the status one would accrue to a favorite pet. Their knowledge is often woefully incomplete, but those that have been taught of the Sixth Tradition of the Camarilla are made aware of a chilling fact: it does not apply to them. This is what makes a ghoul's position so precarious, even moreso perhaps than that of a newly sired vampiric Childe. Technically speaking, a ghoul can be killed at any time, for any reason, and most vampires would not look upon this as murder, any more than most of humankind would consider killing an animal to be murder.
It is, however, considered to be "bad form" to slaughter another's ghoul, especially out of hand. The offending party is usually expected to offer some form of reimbursement for the loss, in the form of public apologies, boons to the regnant, and/or other compensation, depending on the importance of the ghoul in question. A fine racehorse can be worth quite a sum, after all. The offender might also see a drop in status should they refuse adequate compensation, or the killing is thought particularly senseless, but if a ghoul has a reputation for being belligerent towards its "betters", the killer's status might actually rise as a result of the powers that be considering the ghoul's death to be good riddance.
Naturally, the Prince of a Domain reserves the right to destroy ghouls without compensation in the same way they may destroy vampires, and it is also not unknown for a vampire of high status and standing to refuse reimbursement to one lower on the totem pole, without major consequence.
Therefore, it is more than simple politeness or obsequiousness that keeps wise ghouls waiting to speak until spoken to, deferent to those of standing and status, and otherwise on their best behavior in public. It is a matter of survival. Even if a ghoul manages to avoid physical harm for speaking or acting out above their place, their regnant's status may well suffer as they are criticized for keeping "too loose a leash" on those they are responsible for. When a ghoul's regnant suffers, it is almost assured that the ghoul will suffer in turn. And of course, regnants are certainly free to destroy their own thralls.
To be a ghoul, especially a player character ghoul, is to walk a tightrope between the oblivion that is loss of self-identity, and the more physical oblivion that awaits should your regnant or another vampire decide that you're quite literally "more trouble than you're worth". Some vampires are more enlightened and forgiving than others; in particular, it is said that in the former Domain of Los Angeles, the late Prince Cora and her ilk refused to hold to the traditional models of how ghouls are treated, which have such a ring of old-time slavery to them. Some anarchs in the border areas still aim to pursue her ideals, but there is no way they could publicly call for the death of a vampire in response to the slaying of a mere retainer; and regardless, it does little in the way of bringing the dead one back to life..
