I) CHARACTER CONSTRUCTION
Abilities
A) Blood Pool—This is constructed as an END Reserve that can only be filled with the Aid used to simulate the ingestion of Vitae. A ghoul who has fed on Vitae nightly for over a month has 100 END in his Blood Pool END Reserve. To maintain the END Reserve at this level, the ghoul must feed at least once every three nights. If more than three nights passes without a draught of Vitae, the END Reserve drops by 10 END per three nights as the Vitae in the ghoul's body is gradually replaced with ordinary human blood. The last 10 END in the reserve disappears after a month. To bring the END Reserve back up to 100 END, the ghoul must feed on Vitae nightly for over a month.
Because ghouls are living beings that can die from blood loss, spending more than 50 END of Blood Pool END will cause damage to the ghoul, as outlined in the Disadvantages section below.
Blood Pool: END Reserve,100 END, Only 10 END can be spent/phase (-1/4), 10 END of Reserve becomes unavailable per 3 nights of not feeding on Vitae (-1/2)
Active Cost: 10 points for 100 END
Real Cost: 6
B) Vitae Ingestion—The means by which the Blood Pool END Reserve can be replenished. Ghouls can ingest more Vitae than their END Reserves can handle, but using this additional END requires a CON roll. Failure of the CON roll means that the ghoul cannot use any of his Blood Pool END until he spends a phase or two regurgitating the excess, and he also takes 1 BODY of damage per 10 END over his END Reserve capacity that he ingested.
Vitae Ingestion—1d6 Aid to END Reserve, +48 to maximum roll, Fade rate 5 Active points/day (+1 3/4), Blood Pool END Reserve only (-1/4), Requires CON roll to use END in excess of END Reserve capacity and to avoid damage (-1/2), Focus (vampire blood, IAF, hard to recover, -1), Gestures (drink blood, -1/4)
Active Cost: 91
Real Cost: 30
C) Potence—Enhanced strength is the first gift that a drinker of vampiric blood gains, and it's the last gift he loses when he stops.
Potence—(a) +5 STR, 0 END (+1/2), Does not affect figured characteristics (-1/2), (b) +2" Superleap, up to +10" Superleap
Active Cost: 9
Real Cost: 7
D) Immortality—Aging ceases when one feeds regularly on Vitae. It resumes again when the ghoul doesn't drink for over a month.
Immortality—Life Support: Immune to Aging, Requires at least one drink of vampiric blood/month (-1/2)
Active Cost: 3
Real Cost: 2
E) Physical Prowess Boosts and Basic Healing—These Aids represent the ability of the ghoul to use his Blood Pool to make himself stronger, tougher, and faster, and to heal non-aggravated damage to his body. These Aids are best placed in a multipower. If they are placed in ultra slots, only one aid can be used at a time, but more powerful ghouls may wish to place them in normal slots so they can boost multiple characteristics at once.
All of these Aids are built with Self Only (-1/2) and powered by the Blood Pool END Reserve. Please note that the BODY Aid costs 6 END per application—healing burns up lotsa blood! Other advantages and limitations are noted below.
1) 1d6 STR Aid, +6 to maximum, Fade rate 5 Active points/5 minutes (+1/2)
Active Cost: 12
Real Cost: 8
2) 2d6 CON Aid, +12 to maximum, Fade rate 5 Active points/5 minutes (+1/2)
Active Cost: 24
Real Cost: 16
3) 3d6 DEX Aid, +18 to maximum, Fade rate 5 Active points/5 minutes (+1/2)
Active Cost: 36
Real Cost: 21
4) 1d6 BODY Aid, + 40 to maximum, Only to recover lost BODY (-1/2), Not versus aggravated damage (-1/2), Increased END (3X, -1)
Active Cost: 25
Real Cost: 7
F) Regenerating Lost Limbs, Organs, and other Massive Tissue Damage - The ghoul can regenerate lost limbs and organs and heal from traumatic injury, but it takes a considerable amount of time and Vitae. Note that each point of BODY recovered from such wounds costs 20 Blood Pool END and requires an entire day (and night) of inactivity. The ghoul must make a CON roll, and if he fails, he has severe difficulties in regenerating the damage and may not be able to regenerate it at all. This power doesn't regenerate injuries caused by supernaturally "aggravated" sources of damage (Prime blasts, werewolf claws, etc.)
Regeneration, 1 BODY/day, can recover lost limbs/organs, Only to regenerate BODY lost to traumatic injury and lost limbs/organ(-1), Costs Blood Pool END (-1/2), Increased END (10X, -4), Requires CON roll (-1/2), Side Effects (6d6 Suppress versus Regeneration for the particular wound being healed, 0 END Persistent, -1)
Active Cost: 20
Real Cost: 2
G) Vampiric Disciplines—Ghouls gain the ability to perform at least one power from any vampiric Discipline except Protean, Necromancy, or Thaumaturgy.
Disadvantages
| Disadvantage | Value |
|---|---|
| Normal characteristic maxima | -20 |
| Secret Identity: Ghoul | -15 |
| Frenzy I: Beserk when induced to frenzy (sight, smell, taste of blood; low amount of END in Blood Pool); uncommon, activation and recovery rolls variable | -5 to -15 |
| Frenzy II: Enraged when harassed, threatened, humiliated, or provoked; common, activation and recovery rolls variable | -5 to -10 |
| Susceptibility: 2d6 BODY Drain per 10 Blood Pool END spent over 50, uncommon, instant | -10 |
| Susceptibility: 1d6 STR Drain per 10 Blood Pool END spent over 50, uncommon, instant | -5 |
| Susceptibility: 1d6 END Drain per 10 Blood Pool END spent over 50, uncommon, instant | -5 |
| Susceptibility: 1d6 Drain versus vampiric disciplines (+1/4) per week after 6 months that ghoul goes without drinking Vitae, uncommon, instant | -5 |
| Psychological limitation: Habituated to drinking vampire blood, very common, strong | -20 |
Frenzy—The value of the Frenzy Beserk and Enraged are determined by the moral character of the ghoul, which is best represented using the Vampire's Humanity rating, as indicated in the table below.
| Path Rating | Frenzy Beserk/ Enraged Activation Roll | Frenzy Beserk/ Enraged Recovery Roll | Frenzy Beserk/ Enraged Bonus for Activation/Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 11- | 11- | -10 |
| 1 | 11- | 12- | -8 |
| 2 | 10- | 12- | -7 |
| 3 | 10- | 13- | -5 |
| 4 | 9- | 13- | -3 |
| 5 | 9- | 14- | -2 |
| 6 | 8- | 14- | -0 |
| 7 | 8- | 14- | -0 |
| 8 | 8- | 14- | -0 |
| 9 | 8- | 14- | -0 |
| 10 | 8- | 14- | -0 |
The values for different Beserk/Enraged Activation and Recovery rolls was parsed as follows:
| Roll | Activation | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
| 8- | -0 | -10 |
| 9- | -1.7 | -8.4 |
| 10- | -3.4 | -6.7 |
| 11- | -5 | -5 |
| 12- | -6.7 | -3.4 |
| 13- | -8.4 | -1.7 |
| 14- | -10 | -0 |
A player who wants a combination of Activation and Recovery rolls that differ from the Path table can use this table to determine the value of the bonus from a different combination.
Kicking the Vampire Blood-Drinking Habit—Although Vitae isn't physically addictive in the same sense as heroin or cocaine are, the ghoul does go through a period of intense craving for a period of weeks equal to 6—(CON/5) when deprived of it. During this period, the ghoul must make an EGO roll each week. If the ghoul fails his EGO roll, he must either try to score some Vitae if the opportunity presents itself, or sublimate the craving for Vitae in some disgusting and radically anti-social fashion (consuming human blood and/or flesh, indulging in orgies of sex and illegal drug use, etc.).
Merits
A) Unbondable—Some persons are, for unknown reasons, resistant to the effects of Blood Bond. They can still become ghouls and are still habituated to drinking Vitae, but they do not become the slave of any vampire from whom they drink three or more times.
Unbondable—12 points Power Defense, Only against Blood Bond Major Transforms (-1 1/2)
Active Cost: 12
Real Cost: 5