Sandy petersens cthulhu mythos (1) 29

ghouls that are

Society

more powerful or
more

It’s certainly easy for

headstrong

someone to look upon

are more difficult

a

to “save” in this

dead flesh might lead an

score

observer to view the entire

is reduced by 4 and

race as nothing but feral,

its Dexterity is reduced
by

2.

While

the

unsophisticated monsters.

physical

In truth, ghouls are, on

transformations that wrack a nascent
ghoul wreak havoc on coordination, the toll it
takes on the mind is greater.
The creature gains a bite attack as a secondary
natural weapon that inflicts damage as if the nascent
ghoul was a creature two size categories smaller than
its actual size (1d3 for a Medium nascent ghoul, for
example); a creature that already has a natural bite
attack does not change that value.
If a nascent ghoul goes for more than 24 hours
without feeding on the flesh of a creature of its type
(not necessarily the same subtype) that has been dead
for at least 24 hours itself, the nascent ghoul becomes
sickened until it feeds on an appropriate corpse.
The final trigger that enables a nascent ghoul to
make the full transformation into a ghoul varies.
Sometimes, it’s merely a matter of time—one year

or several years might pass before the transformation
completes suddenly. At other times, it requires the
consumption of a specific number of bodies, either of a
specific age or epoch, or perhaps of a specific race. The
actual trigger is left to the GM to determine, but once
it takes place, the nascent ghoul’s transformation into
a full ghoul is swift, painful, and permanent. Once
complete, only a miracle, wish, or similar effect can
restore the newly minted ghoul’s humanity.

22

make

of a ghoul devouring

creature’s

Charisma

and

assumptions. The sight

manner.
The

ghoul

average, more intelligent than

typical humans, and even when they are at their most
debased, they are never far from a keen insight into
the nature of their meal. Often, a clan of ghouls will
spend entire nights gathered in boneyards, perched
atop gravestones or lounging in opened and emptied
coffins, engaged in spirited debates about diverse and
esoteric topics.
Yet for all their intellect, ghouls have always lacked
something significant in their lives: a society they can
truly call their own. They rely upon humanoid society
for many of their needs, including food from their
graves and shelter in their tombs, yet they do not build
societies of their own. Distracted by the memories they
consume, it may well be that a ghoul’s mind is incapable
of the inspirational spark found in most humanoid
cultures that leads them to build civilizations. They are
voracious readers of texts of all types, yet few ghouls
can bring themselves to create texts of their own. They
model themselves after those they feed upon, seeing
themselves, perhaps, as the heritors of civilization.
And yet they are never truly a part of human society,
regardless of how much human flesh they eat or how
many human minds they experience.
Scavengers to the core, ghouls are the ultimate
outsiders, truly comfortable only alone or in small