Ghoul

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Ghoul (CR 5)

Ghouls are emaciated and pale humanoids, their skin stretched taut over their skeletal frames. Their eyes appear larger than normal, and their hair is wispy and thin. Unlike magically reanimated undead such as skeletons and zombies, ghouls are not able to reintegrate themselves after being slain. However, ghouls do not age, and will live forever if they manage to avoid being hacked to bits by some overzealous barbarian with a great axe. Curiously, ghouls can completely regenerate all injuries after a full night's rest, even regrowing lost limbs. This odd power of regeneration requires sleep, however, and gives them no advantage in combat.

Ghouls are spawned from the corpses of living humanoids slain by other ghouls, which raises the question of where the first ghoul came from, and if it is still around. The ghouls race's requirement of living humanoid victims to "reproduce" doesn't appear to have hampered their growth as a species.

The most defining characteristic of ghouls is their hunger. They are constantly and unendingly hungry for meat of any kind (they're obligate carnivores!). Ghouls will also eat vegetables, plants, rocks, or anything else that they can fit into their mouths, but vastly prefer meat, whether fresh or not-so-fresh, over anything else. Sadly, no amount of eating will ever satiate them, and they can quite literally eat forever, always yearning for more. In fact, watching a ghoul eat, you can actually see their frustration at not being able to eat faster.

Another interesting fact about ghouls is they are very intelligent. They live in communities, cooperate with one another, and will even, at times, interact (relatively) peacefully with other races (although their aching hunger often makes this very uncomfortable for them). Vampires and Liches in particular find ghouls useful neighbors.

Ghouls who live more than a decade or two tend to pick up several languages, and retain any languages they knew when they were alive. Many ghouls also share a secret sign language, which is unique to each ghoul community, but allows the ghouls to communicate while preparing to ambush prey. Ghouls also use the sign language as a way to hide their own intellect from the living races, preferring that they be forever underestimated by the day-dwellers.

General

CR 5 Hit Dice 7

XP 1,600

CE Medium Undead

Init +3; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Perception +10

Defense

AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 18 (+4 armor, +3 dex, +3 natural, +1 deflection)

hp 65

Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +8

Aura: -

SR: -

Special Defenses: ER 5/positive energy, healed by negative energy

Immunities:

• all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)
• disease, poison, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain
• death effects, necromancy effects, sleep effects
• nonlethal damage
• paralysis, stunning, fatigue, exhaustion
• any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless)

Weaknesses: -

Offense

Speed 30 ft.

Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.

Single Melee Bite +10 (1d8+3/×2) plus Paralysis and Disease

Full Melee Bite +10 (1d8+3/×2) plus Paralysis and Disease, 2 × Claws +10 (1d6/×2) plus Paralysis

Ranged -

Special Attacks Paralysis, Disease

Action Points 0

Statistics

Str 13, Dex 15, Con -, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 14

Base Atk +5; CMB +9; CMD 19

Feats -

Skills Stealth +8

Languages Onundur, Ghoul Sign Language, Thanic, Necril, Common

Special Abilities

Paralysis (Su)

Creatures damaged by a ghoul's natural attacks must make a successful DC 14 Fortitude save or be immobilized (cannot leave current space except by teleport or forced movement). A creature cannot be affected by a paralysis effect more than once per round (i.e. they do not stack). At the end of each of their turns thereafter, they must make another Fortitude save. If a second DC 14 save is unsuccessful, the condition worsens to paralyzed. The affected creature gets a new save at the end of each of his turns. A save after paralysis reverts to immobilized; another save after that reverts to the slowed condition.

Array: Paralyzed → Immobilized → Slowed

Disease (Su)

Ghoul Fever: Bite—injury; save Fort DC 14; onset 1 day; frequency 1/day; effect 1d3 Con and 1d3 Dex damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Charisma-based.

A humanoid who dies of ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the next midnight. A humanoid who becomes a ghoul in this way retains none of the abilities it possessed in life. It is not under the control of any other ghouls, but it hungers for the flesh of the living and behaves like a normal ghoul in all respects.

Immortality

While ghouls will never die naturally due to aging, starvation or other humanoid infirmities, they are susceptible to permanent death through trauma. If a ghoul is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, it dies. Injured ghouls will heal over time much like a humanoid, and negative energy will magically repair injuries the way a healing spell would regenerate a humanoid. A resurrection spell will bring the person who once lived in the body of the ghoul back to life, destroying the necromantic bond on its corpse. However, the resurrected human will have ghoul fever when it comes back to life, with the possibility of dying and becoming a ghoul again if the disease is left to run its course.

Treasure

sell value of approximately 1,375 gp

Combat Tactics

Given the choice, ghouls will eat carrion rather than tackling live prey, but since they are always insatiably hungry, ghouls are also very proficient (and prolific) hunters. They will set ambushes, even making odd sounds to attract the curious. They prefer to hunt along the outskirts of villages and towns to try to draw out farmers, children or even small parties of town defenders.

Ghouls will seek to paralyze all their intended prey and then begin feasting on their flesh (it is irrelevant that the prey might still be alive). They will utilize their numbers to good advantage, ganging up on foes who are particularly resistant to the paralysis until they are subdued, seeking out flanks, etc.

Ghouls are very driven by their hunger, but also consider their unlife something worth preserving, so they will retreat from losing fights if it seems practical. However, ghouls defending their community from intruders will always fight to the death.