Fantasy AGE: The Ghuls of Camrinal

The blasted world of Sarvaelen is a place of haunted memories, hideous monsters and a bleak history tainted by old gods of the most capricious nature, exceeded only by the even bleaker future the land holds. It's one part post-apocalypse and another part dark fantasy, aimed at a land where populations really are small, and no strong unity exists among men or demihuman to stand against the encroaching darkness. Ghuls are a deliberate effort to emphasize just how wrong things have gone in this world....and to show how even the corrupted start off with minds and memories of their own, slowly eaten by whatever darkness has consumed Camrinal. 

Ghuls of Camrinal

0 Accuracy

-1 Communication

1 Constitution (stamina)

2 Dexterity (stealth)

2 Fighting (claws)

0 Intelligence

1 Perception

2 Strength (intimidation)

4 Willpower

Speed   12           Health  34           Defense               12           AR 0

Weapon (attack/damage)

Claws +4 to hit, 1D6+2 damage

Bite +4 to hit, 1D4+2 damage and ghul fever if damage is dealt (see below)

Special Qualities:

Favored stunts: knock prone, lighting attack (2 SPs)

Ghul Fever: once bitten by a ghul, the target must make a TN 11 vs. Constitution (stamina) of the bite or suffer from a debilitating fever. The principle effect is 1D6 minutes long and induces nausea and severe cramping, causing the target to suffer a -2 penalty to attacks, saves and any other physical prowess checks the GM deems appropriate.

Cannibals: Ghuls are known cannibals. The ghuls of Aelghast restrain themselves, and feed only on their own (so far as anyone knows) and the dead (suspected but not proven; they are very careful to avoid being caught). Any ghul that feeds off of living kindred flesh may immediately recover 1D6 health (per day). Ghuls experience a sort of hungry bloodlust when exposed to wounds on the living, and must make a TN 11 check against willpower (self-discipline) to resist attacking wounded beings.

Half-Dead Immortals: Ghuls don’t age. They look like zombies, with rotting skin and bones visible, clearly not being quite “alive” yet not dead, either. However they do breathe and effects which affect the living usually also harm them (except for diseases). They “appear” as undead on spells that detect such conditions, but with an eerie aura of half-life suggesting something unusual about them.

Seen Too Much: Ghuls have already experienced some amazing horrors in their time. Ghuls gain the willpower (courage) focus for this reason, but if a magical compulsion would induce fear they gain +4 instead of +2 on a resistance roll.

Disease Immunity: Ghuls are immune to the effects of all disease.

The ghuls are a survivor race, mutated descendants of a handful of Camrinal citizens that survived the apocalypse and kept their wits about them. Even hideously changed into half-dead beings the ghuls prosper, though in time it seems the madness inevitably creeps over them.

The ancient empire of Camrinal was a vast, dominant power that subjugated the old kingdoms to its rule about two hundred years ago. Camrinal not only ruled by force of arms but by force of magic as well, for it indulged the aristocracy of its era with a culture of free experimentation and arcane dabbling that eventually led to a magiocracy in which only those who demonstrated sorcerous talent were allowed to hold the reigns of power, ownership of property or positions of strength in the Empire. Magic had, in this now lost era two centuries gone, become ubiquitous.

When the fires of destruction rained down upon Camrinal in the Final Conflict, the vast majority of the old empire was wiped out, but many of its lesser citizens and a few elites survived. Today these survivors are mostly found as changed beings among the population known as the ghuls, but in some odd corners of the world there still exist untainted purebloods, though they often do not realize their own lineage.

As ghuls age they gradually begin to lose their mental faculties, and slowly go insane. When this happens they become feral creatures, driven purely by a desire to devour flesh. When a ghul dies or is slain, it returns within 1D4 days as an actual undead ghoul.

Undead ghouls gain the following modifiers: intelligence, willpower and communication drop to -2, constitution goes up to +2, health goes to 35, they lose the willpower (self-discipline) focus and they gain the Deathly Fortitude quality (like the Walking Dead, see entry in FAGE). Undead ghouls can survive indefinitely without sustenance, but must make a TN 18 willpower (self-discipline) check to resist attacking the living, as they are driven mad in the presence of live flesh.

Ghul Characters: Most ghuls are likely to be NPCs and those which have lost their minds or become true undead are inevitably going to be foes, but a certain number of ghuls walk a fine line between death and madness, retaining their sanity for decades or longer. These are possible player characters.

•          Ghuls which retain their sanity have strong wills, and so gain +1 to willpower
•          Ghuls have darkvision for 20 yards like elves
•          Ghuls are armed with a claws which deal 1D6+strength damage and start with weapon group: claws. The ghul also has a vicious bite dealing 1D4+strength damage; they start with Weapon Group (bite) as well. The bite exposes the victim a nerve-damaging bacteria which acts quickly, requiring a constitution check on the target vs. TN 11 or suffer from a debilitating fever. The principle effect is 1D6 minutes long and induces nausea and severe cramping, causing the target to suffer a -2 penalty to attacks, saves and any other physical prowess checks the GM deems appropriate.
•          Ghuls engage in cannibalism to revive themselves. Any ghul that feeds off of living kindred flesh may immediately recover 1D6 health (per day). Ghuls experience a sort of hungry bloodlust when exposed to wounds on the living, and must make a TN 11 check against willpower (self-discipline) to resist attacking wounded beings.
•          Ghuls have already experienced some amazing horrors in their time. Ghuls gain the willpower (courage) focus for this reason, but if a magical compulsion would induce fear they gain +4 instead of +2 on a resistance roll.
•          Ghuls are immune to the effects of all disease.
•          Ghuls get two rolls on the following benefits:

Ghul Benefits

2D6      Benefit

2          +1 Strength

3-4       Focus: intelligence (arcane lore)

5          Focus: communication (disguise)
6          Focus: willpower (self-discipline)

7-8       +1 fighting

9          Focus: communication (deception)

10-11   Focus: Strength (intimidation)

12        +1 Constitution