Dread Ghoul

For I had known ever since it had first been upon mine lips:

O hunger, o hunger.

There are few members of the so-described Living Dead more canny and cruel than the dread ghoul, a creature unique to the demiplane above that of ghasts and even ghoul lords. They alone may suppress their ghoulish mien to transform into a form “alive”—for a time. Though this may grant the dread ghoul unprecedented ability in infiltrating humanoid societies, no dark gift is without consequence beyond the Misty Border and these beasts bear no exception. While transformed their hunger simmers just under the surface; latent, watching and never satisfied. Should the dread ghoul ever fail to fulfill their appetites, the monster formerly lurking shall burst from them though as easy as ripping away a second skin, no less ravenous than the starving carrion feeders they would have decried as “lesser” kin.

Description

When transformed, the dread ghoul is a vision of who they were in life—they espouse no obvious signs of undeath other than a lack of aging. They undulate, produce breath steam and their blood is likewise “warm”, though becomes cool and black mere seconds after leaving their bodies. Any scar or impairment they had prior to death are also present, though the supernatural strength and dexterity which follows into transformation compensates unless the dread ghoul chooses to feign continued disability.

As the ghoul, their complexion becomes pale, gaunt and severe, with enormous, keratinous claws launching from every fingertip. These beasts are built lean, even emaciated; most identifiable are the white, hateful state of their eyes, burning like bright coals in the dark. Their teeth are inhumanly sharp, designed to rip through flesh though each its own butcher’s blade. Their tongues are likewise long, lashed things, latching on to suck away ichor and marrow.

There is a distinct, malodorous odor about these monsters, and never does this come clean. Even transformed, though the dread ghoul ceases to emit any peculiar smell to others, worrying after it anyway, they are likely to wear heavy perfumes or colognes in an effort to mask this for themselves and only ever to middling effect by their own perception..

Creation

The mechanism by way a dread ghoul occurs is consistent—they are the result whenever a soul sufficiently strong or interesting to the Mists succumbs to ghoul fever, the same terrible disease responsible for common ghouls and ghasts. How an individual contracts ghoul fever may change—most often, it is in victims who survives ghoul attacks but leave bitten, yet may also manifest in individuals who feast on the dead dishonorably, typical with cannibals or, tragically, out of desperate survival.

Once contracted ghoul fever is terminal until the sufferer dies or is cured. The primary symptom of this disease other than bloodshot eyes and the fever itself is the wasting hunger that it precipitates—a sufferer is doomed to feel forever starving for red meat until they perish from this “starvation”, no matter their actual intake of food and full belly.

Ghoul fever is a supernatural disease and cannot be cured other than with restoration; even upon receipt of restoration, the sufferer must succeed at a DC 17 Will save as they smother their hungry urges or else their symptoms will only be staved away rather than the disease cured. Further restoration attempts will not roll to cure for 48 hours IRT.

Strong willed suffers may survive ghoul fever for weeks, even a few months, but none ever defeat this pox without intervention. Assuming their body is not destroyed, they will rise as a dread ghoul 3 days later IRT. The dual natures of such creatures work to ensure they rise transformed—stories of spontaneous, miraculous “resurrections” are not uncommon in the Realms of Terror and are often framed that way by the nascent dread ghoul themselves, but the Craving is never long behind.

Feeding

A dread ghoul, unlike the common ghoul and ghast, cannot sustain themselves solely on carrion. Their simplest hunger persists in needing 20lbs of red meat be it dead, alive or rotting per day. Diligent dread ghouls are able to fulfill this requirement while transformed, though there is always an element of palpable excitement around food which makes maintaining appearances difficult, as they must produce patience to wait until such food is prepared in a manner polite as opposed to raw and still bleeding.

More troublesome is their need for complex, sentient flesh—a dread ghoul must again eat 20lbs of this meat once a week or the ghoul will be forced out and sent into a hungry frenzy until satiated. Conversely to vampires, their quarries need not be alive to honor the Craving, but many dread ghouls find their palates ever-shifting such that rationing victims to last is not effective—evidence, perhaps, that the dread ghoul requires thrill in the kill for it to pass muster. Particularly insidious dread ghouls may prefer living quarries, though their attacks' brutal nature makes their work far less subtle than a vampire bite.

Should the dread ghoul be denied in excess of their hungry frenzy, they will enter stasis until food of any kind presents itself, whereupon they will immediately “awaken” and attack until it has been eaten or the dread ghoul destroyed. Ironically, once dead these creatures may never actually starve, though the Craving in them always urges otherwise.

Habitat/Society

Due to their transformations, a dread ghoul is attracted to any environment familiar to them when alive, and this is contrary to the common ghoul or ghast who range outside graveyards and other sites of mass death only when there are no more corpses to feast. In this way dread ghouls are found wherever society is found, as their more sophisticated appetites require their proximity to intelligent quarry.

Dread ghouls, though many times responsible for how others become one, are not social and do not espouse clannish behavior. Many find the primitive and savage “lifestyle” of their lesser kin as affronting to their transformed sensibilities, despite that they themselves are far more destructive when allowed to be as they really are.

A dread ghoul may preternaturally identify another of their “kin” even if both are transformed. Should their palates diverge enough to be complementary, they may even tolerate each other’s existence. However, as creatures thrust along by selfish compulsion, hunger and other hedonisms, these partnerships are scarce to last. After all, it is possible for a dread ghoul to cannibalize another—and they may even discover they like the taste.

A dread ghoul, like all undead in the Realms of Terror, are sterile even when transformed.

Likewise, the dread ghoul is unlikely to aspire to create more since they have no way of knowing whether a bitten victim will rise as a subjugated common ghoul or ghast and not competition in another dread ghoul. Therefore societies infiltrated by these creatures may breath some sigh of relief, as a single dread ghoul should not herald an infestation unless cornered and starving…

… but they are always starving, aren’t they?

Pathos/Combat

Though dread ghouls cajole and manipulate the living into believing their transformed selves are still like them—some with personalities so separate from the monster within as to be like two people—the truth is far less aggrandizing:

They are slaves to the Craving.

The Craving is their god before all gods; the Craving is the altar upon which only consumption may worship; the Craving is what gives definition to their facsimile of life, and will be there at their side when they reveal—not become—the beast that had always been. But what is the Craving, really?

It is bottomless.

Dread ghouls are ambush predators, advantaging the alone and unwary. They are dexterous, not strong for an undead, and are masters of sudden, overwhelming force. They may employ lesser ghouls and ghasts as minions where required, dominated by the dread ghoul utterly; it is not uncommon for the dread ghoul to dispose of these minions the same as they would their victims rather than share any part from their kills.

These creatures tend to vacillate between pride for their immortality and turgid, ugly jealousy for the truly alive, usually when excited by the Craving and helpless but to answer it. When a dread ghoul is “in control”, they are coy and glib—when confronted, they are but instinct and vitriol.

Though difficult, dread ghouls normally preserve enough presence of mind to flee when faced with insurmountable odds. This has made for elusive beasts who are difficult to rout until their salient weaknesses are understood so to force the ghoul out and not on their terms.

Weaknesses

The dread ghoul has few common weaknesses or allergens, even less when transformed. They retain discomfort around fire and aversion to platinum in both forms; great, mortal distress may also provoke the ghoul to reveal itself so to prevent destruction.

They are affected more from salient weaknesses—a dread ghoul Bard may take such offense at another’s performance that they will devour them believing that only this shall maintain their “perfect” voice, for example. In presence of their salient weaknesses, it is only a matter of time before any feigned pleasantries dissolve away into the Mists.

Dread ghouls denied feedings become frantic, propelled towards the quickest resolution to their Craving sacrificing any former sense. They cannot transform until satiated.

They are destroyed through annihilation, aided best by fire. A dread ghoul who lacks a head or otherwise cannot feed will enter stasis until the first ability and opportunity presents itself. Regeneration from a torso takes weeks; if they are only missing a head, then days.

Dread Ghouls in The Domains of Dread

Dread ghoul is an applied template with no associated MT cost, nor special considerations in the application process. It may be applied to existing player characters who were bitten and are dying or have died of ghoul fever, or from spontaneous manifest in dishonorable cannibals.

Template Adjustments

Attributes
STR +2
DEX +6
CON ∅ (10)
INT +2
WIS +2
PRS +4

Skills
+6 to Stealth, +4 to Persuasion, Deception and Intimidation, +2 to Tumble and Intuition (both forms)

Typing and Immunities
Gains undead racial typing unless transformed, whereon they instead have the same racial typing as they had in life. Shares all common immunities with the undead racial type unless transformed.

Combat
d12 HD (retroactive)
+3 untyped AC
+3 resistance against turn, rebuke and control undead
15% fire damage vulnerability (ghoul)
5/+2 DR (ghoul)
3 fast healing (ghoul)
Hostile NR if uncovered in all major domains unless transformed
Dominates lesser ghouls and ghasts, will not be attacked by other AI-controlled undead unless transformed
Ghoul claws (Ex): Replaces natural weapon with 2d4+2 slashing damage, 1d6 necrotic damage claws; the dread ghoul cannot wield weapons or shields unless transformed, but may use off-hand equipment. Provokes DC level+PRS Will save against daze per attack. These claws behave as though under keen weapon with 18-20/x2 threat range, and have an additional 1d8 slashing damage explosion die on critical.
Ghoul bite (Ex): Activate to replace next attack with a 2d6+2 crushing damage, 2d6 necrotic damage bite. This attack replaces all others which would have occurred in a flurry, but uses the highest available AB. Provokes DC 12+PRS Fortitude save versus disease to not contract ghoul fever.

Non-Salient Abilities
Ghoulish mien (Su): At will, so long as their simple and complex hungers are satiated, the dread ghoul transforms into a form equivalent, if superficially, to being alive. They lose any immunities as consequence of suppressing their undead racial type, and are no longer healed by negative energy nor are harmed by positive energy. As this is a transformation, it is not a disguise that may be pierced per Disguises and Personae, however will load a different description set in the specialty disguise area of that menu.

Any salient weaknesses still affect the dread ghoul while transformed and may force the ghoul out if they are not removed from their triggers, subject to a DC 15 Will save that may be called for by a Game Master or privately rolled by the dread ghoul themselves.

Supernatural detection such as undead awareness register the transformed dread ghoul as alive, but will still provoke a Will save to notify that detection was attempted.

Dread ghouls benefit from all abilities, salient or otherwise, as they would normally while transformed other than hungry frenzy, which if activated will automatically force the ghoul out.
Ghoul gaze (Su): At will, the dread ghoul takes an action to attempt to paralyze a living target with a look, provoking a DC 2+level+PRS Will save versus mind-affecting as a gaze attack. If the target fails, they are paralyzed for 1d4 rounds plus half the dread ghoul's level, rounded down. If the target saves, they are immune to any further ghoul gaze attempts for the next hour IGT and are notified that a hostile action was performed on them.
Devour flesh (Ex): The dread ghoul abandons all other actions to partake in the bloody feeding of a corpse or downed target. If the target is not sentient, they will satiate their basic hunger for 24 hours IRT; if sentient, they satiate their complex hunger for 1 week IRT.

Devour flesh may be performed on corpses that dread ghoul spawns, but will generate a descriptive bloodstain at site of the act. If the victim is a downed player character, after 90 seconds IRT they will be maimed per Death, Dying and Maiming. The dread ghoul restores 20% of their maximum HP every round while feeding.
Hungry frenzy (Ex): As a free action the dread ghoul enters a berserk state, dealing an additional 1d4 negative energy damage on their claw attacks and restoring their health for the negative energy damage dealt. They gain +2 STR and DEX while frenzied, increasing to +4 should they or an ally kill or incapacitate a living target. This state persists for a quick duration, refreshing per successful kill or incapacitation (once per target).

The dread ghoul cannot cast spells unless they lack somatic components while in hungry frenzy and should it or its allies fail to refresh hungry frenzy at least once, all will suffer -2 STR and DEX for another quick duration. The dread ghoul cannot transform while in any phase of hungry frenzy.