The Ghoul Condition

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While most of these rules can be found in V20, I thought I'd put them here for easy reference. This post will serve as an index for the rules.

The Blood Bond
Disciplines
Physical Alterations
Frenzy
Clan Weakness

The Blood Bond

• First drink: The drinker begins to experience intermittent but strong feelings about the vampire. She may dream of him, or find herself “coincidentally” frequenting places where he might show up. There is no mechanical effect at this stage, but it should be roleplayed. All childer have this level of bond toward their sires, for the Embrace itself forces one drink upon the childer; they may love their “parents,” hate them, or both, but are rarely indifferent toward them.

• Second drink: The drinker’s feelings grow strong enough to influence her behavior. Though she is by no means enslaved to the vampire, he is definitely an important figure in her life. She may act as she pleases, but might have to make a Willpower roll to take actions directly harmful to the vampire. The vampire’s influence is such that he can persuade or command her with little effort (Social rolls against the thrall are at -1 difficulty). For ghouls, they are considered to be under an effect equivalent to a Vinculum score of 5 (You respect the individual and help him out so long as it’s no huge risk or bother).

• Third drink: Full-scale blood bond. At this level, the drinker is more or less completely bound to the vampire. He is the most important person in her life; lovers, relatives, and even children become secondary to her all-consuming passion.
At this level, a regnant may use the Dominate Discipline on a thrall, even without the benefit of eye contact. Merely hearing the regnant’s voice is enough. Additionally, should the thrall try to resist the Dominate (or similar mental control power) for some reason, the difficulty of such resistance is increased by two. Naturally, a higher-Generation vampire still cannot use Dominate on a lower-Generation thrall.
The blood bond is true love, albeit a twisted and perverse version of it. Ultimately, we can’t reduce the vagaries of love down to a simple “yes/no” system. Some thralls (particularly people with Conformist or other dependent Natures, or with Willpower 5 or less) will commit any act, including suicide or murder, for their beloved; other characters have certain core principles that they will not violate.

Ghouls with Willpower scores of 5 and below may have to make Self-Control rolls to avoid taking a third drink, and even ghouls with high Willpower scores may have to roll if (in the Storyteller’s opinion) the temptation to drink is strong. Unlike vampires, ghouls may actually “wean” themselves off a blood bond by refusing to accept blood from the domitor.

A full blood bond, once formed, is nearly inviolate. Once bound, a thrall is under the sway of her regnant and her regnant only. She cannot be bound again by another vampire unless the first blood bond wears away “naturally.” A vampire can experience lesser (one- and two-drink) bonds toward several individuals; indeed, many Kindred enjoy such bonds, as they create artificial passion in their dead hearts. Upon the formation of a full blood bond, though, all lesser sensations are wiped away. Vampire lovers occasionally enter into mutual blood bonds with each other; this is the closest thing the undead can feel to true love. Even this sensation can turn to disgust or hate over the centuries, though, and in any event few Kindred trust each other enough to initiate it.

A blood bond is a mighty force, but it is at its most potent when perpetually reinforced with further drinks. Feeding a thrall often reinforces the bond, while depriving a thrall of vitae may cause the bond to grow tepid over time. Like any other relationship, treatment and courtesy play a part in the dynamics of the bond. A thrall who is treated well and fed often will likely fall even more deeply in love, while a thrall who is degraded and humiliated may find resentment and anger eating away at the bond.


Breaking the Bond: It is possible, though difficult, for a ghoul to temporarily resist a blood bond. Doing so requires the player to make a Willpower roll (difficulty is typically 8, though this can be modified depending on the regnant’s treatment and the thrall’s Nature) and accumulate a number of successes equal to the number of times the thrall has partaken of the regnant’s blood, to a maximum of difficulty 9. The thrall must then spend a Willpower point. Upon doing so, the bond is negated for a variable amount of time: from one scene (if the thrall merely wishes to plot against the regnant, deliver confidential information to an enemy, etc.) to one turn (if the thrall wishes to attack the regnant physically). The thrall can continue to expend Willpower to extend the duration of “freedom,” but once she ceases doing so, the blood bond resumes at full force.

A blood bond can be broken, though this requires the thrall to not only avoid the regnant entirely for an extended period of time, but also spend great amounts of Willpower to overcome the addiction. As a general rule, a thrall who neither sees nor feeds from her regnant for a period of (12 - Willpower) months finds her bond reduced by one level (so, a fully bound thrall with a Willpower of 5 has her blood bond reduced to the equivalent of two drinks if she goes seven straight months without any contact with the regnant). If the bond is reduced to zero in this fashion (a feat typically accompanied by the expenditure of a great deal of Willpower on the thrall’s part, as she resists the gnawing urge to seek out her regnant), it is nullified entirely.

However, it is by no means easy to abstain. At the Storyteller’s option, a ghoul may have to spend Willpower points to avoid the enticement of an ex-domitor’s vitae until she is completely free of the bond. If the ghoul has an addiction-prone personality, such as a Conformist or Child Nature, she may never completely shake the craving.

Another, though somewhat less certain, way to be rid of the bond is to kill the regnant. Such a choice is extremely perilous on many levels, and makes no guarantees that everything will go smoothly. Those who have been released by such means claim the bond shatters like spun glass upon the moment of the regnant’s Final Death. The thrall’s Nature may play a large part in whether the control is completely ended, though, and such aftermath is best left in the hands of the Storyteller.

Disciplines

Ghouls have much more difficulty learning Disciplines than Kindred do. The powers passed down from Caine reach their full potency only in his childer; they are alien to mere mortals. Generally, a ghoul may learn only those Disciplines known by her most recent “donor.” An independent wishing to learn Obtenebration must spend some time feasting on Lasombra vitae; similarly, a Malkavian’s vassal is unlikely to pick up Necromancy. However, once she’s learned a Discipline, any form of vitae will allow her to use it. The exceptions are the physical arts of Celerity, Fortitude, and Potence, which are instinctive enough to be accessible to any ghoul.

Once a ghoul has learned a Discipline, the knowledge will likely stay with her even if she doesn’t practice it for a while (if her vitae supply is cut off, for instance). Once her diet is restored, she may use her Disciplines as usual. Of course, any unused talent will eventually atrophy — after six months without drinking vitae, a ghoul loses a dot in a Discipline. Each month after that, she loses another dot in a Discipline until all are gone.

Most ghouls and revenants don’t understand the Kindred well enough to teach Disciplines to them.


Donor’s Generation • Maximum Discipline Level
13th-8th • 1
7th • 2
6th • 3
5th • 4
4th • 5

Physical Alterations

Aging: A ghoul’s immunity to aging is contingent on her supply of vitae. If she misses her monthly feeding, she could be in real trouble. As long as she is still within her natural life span, she resumes normal aging. But if she’s lived from 100 to 250 years, then she begins aging at 10 times the normal rate — a year becomes a decade, and so on. Ghouls who have lived more than 250 years crumble instantly to dust if their supply of vitae falters.


Vitae Capacity and Overdosing: A ghoul's starting capacity of vitae is two points. Ghouls can take in more vitae than their mortal bodies can comfortably handle, but this often causes dangerous side effects. For each point of Stamina a ghoul has, she can “cram” an extra blood point into her body. If a ghoul imbibes more vitae than she can contain, she must make a Stamina check (difficulty . If she succeeds, she may use the excess blood normally.

If she fails, she suffers one point of lethal damage per blood point above her maximum. Moreover, the excess blood can’t be used. It takes a full scene of vomiting to burn off such “useless” blood points; until this takes place, the ghoul cannot use any blood points whatsoever.

While a ghoul is overdosed, her chance to frenzy becomes equal to that of a vampire’s, though certainly the ghoul will not hunger at this point. Reaction time increases (the ghoul temporarily gains a dot in Dexterity), but the overdosed ghoul must make a Perception + Self- Control roll each scene or suffer from violent hallucinations (effects are up to the Storyteller’s discretion).


Vitae Withdrawal: Withdrawn ghouls suffer symptoms for a period of weeks equal to six minus the ghoul’s Stamina. Whenever the opportunity to gain vitae arises, the ghoul must make a Self-Control roll (difficulty 7) or attempt to “score” however possible.

Additionally, each week of withdrawal requires the ghoul to make an Intelligence + Self-Control roll (difficulty 6); if this roll fails, the ghoul begins to sublimate her cravings for vitae into a desire for human blood, flesh, or sex. A Willpower point may be spent to resist these cravings. If the roll is botched, no Willpower may be spent, and the victim must act on her urges.


Healing: Ghouls may heal by spending blood points from their Blood Pool, just as vampires do. Provided they have enough blood points, they can make an attempt to heal from their injuries, even if they are severe. For example, they might try to regenerate limbs or cure themselves of physical ailments.

Ghouls are technically mortal. However, the Blood does impact their physiology, and this is reflected in the damage they take. Ghouls take bashing damage normally, but may soak lethal damage with Stamina (+Fortitude) as a vampire might. Aggravated damage, however, affects them as if they were mortal.

Should a ghoul or revenant lose an organ or limb, the player will need to make a regeneration attempt. The player must spend a Willpower point, and the appropriate number of blood points (one for a finger or eye, two for a foot or forearm, three for an entire limb). Then, the player must make a Stamina roll (difficulty . If the roll fails or is botched, the ghoul may never re-grow the limb.


Physical Augmentation: The ghoul can spend vitae to raise one of their Physical Attributes by one dot per point of blood spent, to a maximum rating of 6. The increase lasts for the entire scene.

Frenzy

It is the Storyteller’s duty to decide what situations might provoke frenzy in a ghoul character. While any individual stimulus is relatively unlikely to send a ghoul into frenzy, ghouls experience provocation much more commonly than vampires do. Ghouls’ human natures battle constantly with their Beasts, and most are not given instruction in how to prevent their pseudo-vampiric natures from taking over. However, since the Beast is weaker in ghouls, they typically face lower difficulties (usually, a ghoul’s frenzy difficulties are three lower than a vampire’s).

In order for a ghoul character to resist frenzy, the ghoul’s player must make a Self-Control roll, the difficulty of which varies. The player must score five successes before frenzy is overcome completely. With each success rolled, frenzy is staved off for one turn.


Provocation • Difficulty
Scent of domitor’s vitae (when hungry) • 3
Sight of domitor’s vitae (when hungry) • 3
Taste of blood • 3
Threatened verbally by domitor • 3
Use of narcotics or hallucinogens • 3
Beaten by domitor • 4
Domitor endangered • 4
Domitor showing favor to another ghoul • 4
Not administered dosage of vitae • 4
Sight, smell or taste of human family member’s blood • 4
Attacked by a person other than domitor • 5
Overdose of domitor’s vitae • 5
Humiliation in front of mortals • 5
Humiliation in front of domitor • 6
Abandonment • 6

Clan Weakness

A few Clans’ vitae possesses contagious properties. Ghouls imbibing or injecting five or more blood points over time from certain Clans must make a Stamina roll (difficulty 5) or “inherit” a lesser form of the domitor’s weakness; this lasts until the ghoul starts taking in blood from a different Clan, diluting the influence. Fortunately for Giovanni ghouls, they do not risk manifesting the "Curse of Lamia." Instead their weakness manifests thusly:

Giovanni ghouls tend to think and act as if they were related by blood, even if they are not part of the Giovanni lineage. While they are not a revenant family, Giovanni ghouls retain close ties, and even go so far as to fight each others’ battles. All Giovanni ghouls suffer from the Vengeance Flaw found on p. 486 of V20. This Flaw manifests whenever the player character discovers that a member of the extended Giovanni family, either herself or another mortal, ghoul, revenant, or vampire, has been wronged. The player will take on other vows of vengeance as if she herself had been hurt. This Flaw may be resisted for a day by spending a Willpower point. Upon the Embrace, such familial notions fade as the Curse of Lamia takes over.

Vengeful (2pt. Flaw)
You have a score to settle, incurred either during your mortal days or after the Embrace. You are obsessed with taking your revenge on an individual or group, and it is your overriding priority in any situation where you encounter the object of your revenge. You may temporarily resist your need for vengeance by spending a Willpower point.