NeoSeraphi
2012-03-11, 08:59 PM
Ghoul
A Ghoul is a creature who has drunk, and continues to drink upon, the blood of a vampire (they call it "Vitae"). By doing so, a ghoul becomes a bound servant to a vampire, as Vitae and its effects are extremely addictive. Vampires often allow the services of one or two ghouls, however, possessing any more than that will often be a threat to the vampire's life, as he needs blood to survive as well.
Creating A Ghoul
"Ghoul" is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or animal creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
A ghoul uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type
Same as the base creature, however, if the base creature was an animal, its type changes to magical beast.
Hit Dice
Same as the base creature, however, if the base creature was an animal, its racial HD change to Magical Beast HD, and it must recalculate its hit dice, saving throws, and BAB accordingly.
Speed
Same as the base creature.
Armor Class
Same as the base creature.
Attack
A ghoul retains all the attacks of the base creature If the base creature can use weapons, the ghoul retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons
Special Attacks
A ghoul retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains the Blood Drain special attack.
Blood Drain (Ex)
A ghoul may suck blood from a vampire. If the vampire is unwilling, the ghoul may force it with a successful grapple check, allowing it to drain blood each round if it manages to maintain a pin against the vampire. A ghoul drains one pint of blood from a vampire per round. For each pint of blood a vampire loses, it gains one Exhaustion Level. Exhaustion Levels give the vampire the exact same penalties that negative levels give to living creatures. If a vampire has a number of exhaustion levels that equal or exceed its HD, it is immediately destroyed. There is no magical way to remove Exhaustion Levels, though a vampire automatically removes one Exhaustion Level per 4 points of Constitution damage it inflicts with its Blood Drain special attack.
The ghoul gains special qualities based on how many pints of vampire blood it drinks. (See "Blood Pool", in the Special Qualities section below).
Special Qualities
A ghoul retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains the Blood Pool special quality.
Blood Pool: A ghoul gains a number of bonuses based on how many pints of blood it has drank from a vampire. For each pint the ghoul has drank, he gains one temporary Blood Point. Blood Points fade after 24 hours. However, for each 5 temporary Blood Points a ghoul gains, he also gains one "permanent" Blood Point. Permanent Blood Points fade in one month. The ghoul gains bonuses based on the total number of Blood Points it possesses, shown in the table below. The bonuses are cumulative.
{table]Number of Blood Points | Bonus
1 | Undying Ghoul
4 | Str +2
6 | Dex +2
8 | Superhuman Strength
10 | Superhuman Speed
12 | Greater Blood Drain
15 | Servant of the Undead Lord
[/table]
Undying Ghoul: The ghoul cannot die of old age. The ghoul keeps track of its true age, but as long as it has Undying Ghoul, it does not physically age, nor does it take any penalties to its physical ability scores. The ghoul still accrues bonuses to mental ability scores for aging, but unlike Timeless Body, it does not die when its time is up. The ghoul can live for eternity, if it continues to possess Undying Ghoul. If the ghoul's Blood Points drop to 0, the ghoul immediately gains any penalties to its physical ability scores it should have for its true age, and begins physically aging at an alarming rate. The ghoul ages at a rate of 10% of the gap between its appearance and its true age per hour, and after 10 hours, the ghoul will have reached its true age. (Restoring the ghoul's Blood Points stops the process, but does not reverse it. Whatever age the ghoul is when it gains Undying Ghoul, that is the age it will stay until it loses Undying Ghoul again). If a ghoul's true age exceeds its maximum age when it loses Undying Ghoul, when 10 hours pass, the ghoul dies.
Str +2: The ghoul receives a +2 bonus to its Strength score.
Dex +2: The ghoul receives a +2 bonus to its Dexterity score.
Superhuman Strength: The ghoul receives a +4 bonus to all Strength checks, Strength-based skill checks, and opposed Strength checks (such as grapple and trip). (This stacks with the ghoul's Strength increase).
Superhuman Speed: The ghoul receives a +4 bonus to all Dexterity checks and Dexterity-based skill checks. Additionally, the ghoul's base land speed increases by +10'. (This stacks with the ghoul's Dexterity increase).
Greater Blood Drain: The ghoul's fangs sharpen considerably as its thirst for vampire blood grows almost uncontrollable. When the ghoul pins a vampire and drains its blood unwillingly, it can drain 3 pints per round instead of 1. Greater Blood Drain does not work when the ghoul drains blood from a willing vampire.
Servant of the Undead Lord: The ghoul has drained so much of the vampire's power, the ghoul practically is a vampire. The ghoul gains all benefits of the vampire template, except that its type does not change to undead, and it does not gain Blood Drain, Children of Night, Turn Resistance, or Create Spawn. The ghoul does not gain any weaknesses associated with a vampire, nor does it gain the +8 Level Adjustment.
Abilities
Increase from the base creature as follows: Con +2. All that extra blood makes a ghoul much heartier than a normal creature. If the base creature was an animal, its base Intelligence rises to 10.
Skills
Same as the base creature.
Environment
Any, usually same as vampires in the current setting.
Organization
Solitary, generally accompanying a vampire with at least 3 more hit dice than the ghoul.
Challenge Rating
Same as the base creature +2.
Treasure
Double standard.
Alignment
Always evil (any).
Advancement
By character class (Humanoid). By racial HD (Animal).
Level Adjustment
Same as the base creature +2.
A Ghoul is a creature who has drunk, and continues to drink upon, the blood of a vampire (they call it "Vitae"). By doing so, a ghoul becomes a bound servant to a vampire, as Vitae and its effects are extremely addictive. Vampires often allow the services of one or two ghouls, however, possessing any more than that will often be a threat to the vampire's life, as he needs blood to survive as well.
Creating A Ghoul
"Ghoul" is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or animal creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
A ghoul uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type
Same as the base creature, however, if the base creature was an animal, its type changes to magical beast.
Hit Dice
Same as the base creature, however, if the base creature was an animal, its racial HD change to Magical Beast HD, and it must recalculate its hit dice, saving throws, and BAB accordingly.
Speed
Same as the base creature.
Armor Class
Same as the base creature.
Attack
A ghoul retains all the attacks of the base creature If the base creature can use weapons, the ghoul retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons
Special Attacks
A ghoul retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains the Blood Drain special attack.
Blood Drain (Ex)
A ghoul may suck blood from a vampire. If the vampire is unwilling, the ghoul may force it with a successful grapple check, allowing it to drain blood each round if it manages to maintain a pin against the vampire. A ghoul drains one pint of blood from a vampire per round. For each pint of blood a vampire loses, it gains one Exhaustion Level. Exhaustion Levels give the vampire the exact same penalties that negative levels give to living creatures. If a vampire has a number of exhaustion levels that equal or exceed its HD, it is immediately destroyed. There is no magical way to remove Exhaustion Levels, though a vampire automatically removes one Exhaustion Level per 4 points of Constitution damage it inflicts with its Blood Drain special attack.
The ghoul gains special qualities based on how many pints of vampire blood it drinks. (See "Blood Pool", in the Special Qualities section below).
Special Qualities
A ghoul retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains the Blood Pool special quality.
Blood Pool: A ghoul gains a number of bonuses based on how many pints of blood it has drank from a vampire. For each pint the ghoul has drank, he gains one temporary Blood Point. Blood Points fade after 24 hours. However, for each 5 temporary Blood Points a ghoul gains, he also gains one "permanent" Blood Point. Permanent Blood Points fade in one month. The ghoul gains bonuses based on the total number of Blood Points it possesses, shown in the table below. The bonuses are cumulative.
{table]Number of Blood Points | Bonus
1 | Undying Ghoul
4 | Str +2
6 | Dex +2
8 | Superhuman Strength
10 | Superhuman Speed
12 | Greater Blood Drain
15 | Servant of the Undead Lord
[/table]
Undying Ghoul: The ghoul cannot die of old age. The ghoul keeps track of its true age, but as long as it has Undying Ghoul, it does not physically age, nor does it take any penalties to its physical ability scores. The ghoul still accrues bonuses to mental ability scores for aging, but unlike Timeless Body, it does not die when its time is up. The ghoul can live for eternity, if it continues to possess Undying Ghoul. If the ghoul's Blood Points drop to 0, the ghoul immediately gains any penalties to its physical ability scores it should have for its true age, and begins physically aging at an alarming rate. The ghoul ages at a rate of 10% of the gap between its appearance and its true age per hour, and after 10 hours, the ghoul will have reached its true age. (Restoring the ghoul's Blood Points stops the process, but does not reverse it. Whatever age the ghoul is when it gains Undying Ghoul, that is the age it will stay until it loses Undying Ghoul again). If a ghoul's true age exceeds its maximum age when it loses Undying Ghoul, when 10 hours pass, the ghoul dies.
Str +2: The ghoul receives a +2 bonus to its Strength score.
Dex +2: The ghoul receives a +2 bonus to its Dexterity score.
Superhuman Strength: The ghoul receives a +4 bonus to all Strength checks, Strength-based skill checks, and opposed Strength checks (such as grapple and trip). (This stacks with the ghoul's Strength increase).
Superhuman Speed: The ghoul receives a +4 bonus to all Dexterity checks and Dexterity-based skill checks. Additionally, the ghoul's base land speed increases by +10'. (This stacks with the ghoul's Dexterity increase).
Greater Blood Drain: The ghoul's fangs sharpen considerably as its thirst for vampire blood grows almost uncontrollable. When the ghoul pins a vampire and drains its blood unwillingly, it can drain 3 pints per round instead of 1. Greater Blood Drain does not work when the ghoul drains blood from a willing vampire.
Servant of the Undead Lord: The ghoul has drained so much of the vampire's power, the ghoul practically is a vampire. The ghoul gains all benefits of the vampire template, except that its type does not change to undead, and it does not gain Blood Drain, Children of Night, Turn Resistance, or Create Spawn. The ghoul does not gain any weaknesses associated with a vampire, nor does it gain the +8 Level Adjustment.
Abilities
Increase from the base creature as follows: Con +2. All that extra blood makes a ghoul much heartier than a normal creature. If the base creature was an animal, its base Intelligence rises to 10.
Skills
Same as the base creature.
Environment
Any, usually same as vampires in the current setting.
Organization
Solitary, generally accompanying a vampire with at least 3 more hit dice than the ghoul.
Challenge Rating
Same as the base creature +2.
Treasure
Double standard.
Alignment
Always evil (any).
Advancement
By character class (Humanoid). By racial HD (Animal).
Level Adjustment
Same as the base creature +2.