"Spare me your pity, give me your blood."

In humans, Kindred Vitae teases at the gifts of the Requiem. When mortals taste Kindred blood, Kindred can give them a hint of their power. These mortals are called ghouls. They enjoy limited access to certain Kindred advantages. They quickly heal wounds, no longer age, and exhibit increased physical potency. They may even use some Disciplines. However, these gifts are fleeting; they depend completely on the ghoul’s continued reliance on Kindred Vitae. If a ghoul goes without for a month, she loses all these gifts as if she never had them.

This phenomenon serves as a great advantage to Kindred; it’s a powerful tool for tempting mortals into the blood bond, and thus helping to maintain the Masquerade in their servants. Ghouls make for loyal and effective aides; their ability to maneuver uninhibited during the day means that many Kindred use them to maintain their mortal personas or watch over their havens.

Most cities see ghouls as a necessary burden. Some Princes outlaw the practice of ghouling, as a ghoul is arguably not “of the Blood.”

In Paradi City, ghouls are allowed, and even welcome on Elysium grounds, but they must be on their best behavior.

Typically, a ghoul is considered slightly more significant than a mortal, but less than Kindred. Trespasses and transgressions against ghouls are generally allowed, and ghouls are expected to respect “their superiors.” Most cities treat killing or maiming a ghoul identically to attacking the owner’s haven, as older Kindred see ghouls as valuable property.

On an individual level, Kindred defend their ghouls fiercely. Even an abusive regnant will grow violently defensive over his ghouls; after all, a ghoul is an investment of Vitae, the very thing that keeps the vampire rising from night to night. An underground initiative within the Carthian Movement — the Anti-Obstructionist Army — dedicates itself to eliminating Kindred interference into the lives of humans. Generally, this means eliminating those Kindred who maintain large stables of ghouls. The Movement publicly eschews this philosophy, but has made no major steps to eradicate it from their ranks.

As a character, the unique ghoul is one-of-a-kind. He was chosen to become a part of the Kindred’s Requiem because of vanity, curiosity, or obsession, but this is not a ghoul selected lightly. His uniqueness will draw attention to him at every turn, and power plays could happen between she who is his regnant and those who would be his regnant. He may be on the path to Embrace, but the question should remain, will the Embrace destroy him? The infection of Vitae has not, at least not yet, but is it a risk worth taking with such a marvelous rarity?

Ghoul Traits

Ghouls function as mortals except as below;

• Clan: The ghoul has a regnant, usually the first vampire who gave her blood.
• Disciplines: The ghoul gains 2 dots in Disciplines that are in-clan for their regnant (see below).
• Blood Potency: Ghouls gain Blood Potency 0. This cannot be increased with XP or time. Ghouls can hold 1 Vitae per dot of Stamina.
• Aging: Ghouls do not age so long as they remain ghouls. Any disease they suffer stops in its tracks and will not bother them.
• Physical Intensity: Ghouls are able to spend Vitae to augment their physical actions like a vampire can. The physical sensation is different, with the ghoul's heart pumping and muscles burning like a vampire's never will.
• Healing: Ghouls heal 1 Bashing wound per turn automatically. They may spend 1 Vitae to heal 2 Bashing wounds or 1 Lethal wound. They may spend 5 Vitae over 2 days to heal 1 Aggravated wound (they do not need to spend all 5 at once).
• Endurance: Ghouls do not fall unconcious when their Health track is full of Bashing damage.
• Refined Palate: Though ghouls do not have Kindred Senses, they can attempt A Taste of Blood.

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. 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.

The Blood Bond

When discussing the blood bond, Kindred often speak of total domination, witlessness, and complete servile, submissive behavior. This is a popular image, but very far from the truth.

The mechanics are outlined here. The blood bond does not leave you without free will or helpless. Rather, it means you are more likely to agree with what your regnant wants, or at least argue your points less. It also means that you have trouble thinking about bringing harm to that person, and actually acting on the desire to do direct or indirect harm to them requires a heroic effort. A thing most ghouls will never accomplish, or want to.

How the relationship builds from there depends on the Kindred and the ghoul. Is it a relationship based on a distant, paternal, heroic figure the ghoul sees only on occasion but worships none the less? Is it hot and intimate? Are there cycles of honeymoon and rage? Those are choices only players can make for their characters, and consent on the player side is very important if everyone is to have fun.