From: Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim) <jogle@aoc.nrao.edu>
Subject: Re:  Thanks! And heres a new template : )...
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
X-Gated-From: torg mailing list
Organization: University of North Texas
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Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 09:14:44 GMT

Brother Andrek writes:

>   Here's a new template I have come up with: Tell me what
> you think!

> GHOUL (Orrorosh)
>   The vampyres of Earth Legend often had human servitors
> to assist them during the day, when they themselves were
> vulnerable. These creatures, called Ghouls (Ghuls) in some

I believe that there are already ghouls of some kind in one of the
cosms (Aysle or Orrorsh), and I know that there is a ghul in Tharkold
so a different name will be necessary....

>   Normally, Ghuls are evil, and bound to their masters. However,
> when a vampyre is killed, it's Ghouls are released and become
> free willed...however a few remember the fear and pain they 
> suffered as normal humans: these tortured souls fight for the forces
> of goodness.

The bit about being "bound" needs to be better detailed, since it is
entirely likely that a vampire would work to Corrupt his vassal as
quickly as possible - if the vampire can force the vassal to do just
about anything then any and all of these ghouls are probably going to
be Corrupt to some extent (unless they were freed before their master
had any opportunity to force them into performing Wicked Acts.)

> Creating a Ghoul
>   It is assumed that ALL PC Ghouls are free willed...otherwise, 
> the Ghoul would be completely at the mercy of it's master.

Perhaps the GM should make some kind of Corruption check to determine
any starting Corruption for the player.

[...]

>   Ghouls also automatically have an up condition whenever
> they are outside at night. Note that the Ghoul MUST be outdoors
> and exposed to moonlight, starlight, or even a cloud covered night.
>   In contrast, Ghouls suffer a Stymie whenever they are exposed
> to sunlight. They take no actual damage, so unlike many vampires,
> they can stand under the sun. But they don't like it.
>   Ghouls also suffer a stymie from garlic, and a holy symbol
> presented by anyone possesing at least one add in Faith(any).
>   Ghouls can also purchase up to 3 power points to spend on
> darkness powers (See the Orrorosh book). Each power point
> purchased has an adventure cost of 1 possibility point. If
> the point is not paid, the power is lost until the cost is
> paid.

Perhaps instead of giving all ghouls the same basic powers and
weaknesses it should be made a bit more random, as with all the other
Horrors in Orrorsh (I would do the same thing with the Werewolf
template too.)

>   If darkness powers are taken, the player automatically
> has a coruption level of 8 plus the number of power
> points taken, minus 1.

Since the Up Condition is technically a dark power for Horrors, maybe
the character should automatically start with a certain level of
Corruption, modified up by any extra powers he takes?

The adventure cost should be higher, IMHO, for dark powers otherwise
you can easily build an unstoppable character (all those nifty
resistance powers and things like armor defeating attacks!).

Keeping the character short on Possibilities is in line with the way
Heketon works too - a character short on Possibilities will be more
tempted to perform that Wicked act to get an Up result....

>   Ghouls are not true vampyres, but they have vampyre blood
> and needs. When ever a Ghoul is exposed to blood (if
> anyone within 10ft of a Ghoul takes a Wound...including the
> Ghoul himself), he must make a Resist Bloodlust check. This
> check is made using the Resist Bloodlust skill, which is
> based on Spirit. The difficulty of the check is ten plus any   
> shock points the Ghoul has taken. If the test fails, the
> Ghoul becomes a Gamemaster character for an amount of time equal
> to the amount that the roll failed by, in minutes (An Ghoul
> who needed a 15 but rolled a 12, who be a gamemaster character
> for 3 minutes). In this respect, Ghouls are like Shapeshifters --
> some times there dark side takes over....

Don't forget that every time they lose control they should have to
check for Corruption.  You may want to base the difficulty of the
check on the amount of blood (ie wound level) instead of just a flat
10 plus shock damage; maybe 13 plus shock for a Heavy Wound, 15 plus
shock for a Mortal Wound, and 18 plus shock for Dead (with maybe a
bonus for really gory means of death...keep him outta Tharkold! 8-)

Kansas Jim (jogle@aoc.nrao.edu)
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg