House Rules/Ghoul

House Rules Ghoul "Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood." -Friedrich Nietzsche

Domitor The Domitor house rules do not exactly match the canon concept or game mechanics from G:FA 71. They're intentionally altered to put ghouls with PC/NPC domitors and revenants all on an equal footing. All ghouls must have Domitor set on their sheet. This may be set to "NPC". It is recommended (but not required) that Ghoul PCs OOCly seek out a PC domitor prior to approval. NPC domitors generally result in other PCs pushing to replace the NPC, since they can't be held accountable if the ghoul misbehaves. For revenants, this may be set to "None". Raising disciplines above 1 requires "Domitor (background)". Unlike canon, it is not tied to the domitor's Generation. Revenants instead use Blood Donor background to represent appropriately powerful donors (their self-produced vitae is insufficient). Can be bought with XP like most other backgrounds. Background level Cap for Subrace:Ghoul Cap for other ghouls 1 no bonus yet no bonus yet 2 2 no bonus yet 3 3 no bonus yet 4 3 2 5 4 3 (These caps were derived by replacing the Generation ratings from G:FA 82 with the corresponding caps from G:FA 71, using the more generous option for Subrace:Ghoul.) See also: Multiclass Embrace Disciplines are retained when a Ghoul is embraced. However, if the Ghoul has dots in a restricted discipline and Clan changes, those dots must be moved into a Common or clan-appropriate Proprietary or Restricted discipline. e.g. Bob is a Ghoul of Clan:Samedi with Thanatosis:2. Through a cruel twist of fate he's embraced Clan:Toreador. Bob must remove his Thanatosis:2 and take a discipline like Celerity:2 or Obfuscate:2 If Bob were embraced into Clan:Followers of Set, he would be able to take Serpentis:2 Ghoul (verb) For regular Mortals (ie, not Mortal+), getting ghouled IC is free. Other splats must purchase the Ghoul 5-point merit. Ghouls via merit have effective 3 in each virtue for purposes of things like frenzy checks. The following are capable of being ghouled: Race:Mortal Race:Mortal+/Sorcerer-Psychic (Post-chargen only) Race:Mortal+/Possessed (Type:Fomor, Type:Kami) Post-chargen and PC-Domitor only for Type:Kami, and even then only for Kami with human or animal host bodies (you can't ghoul plants). Ghouling a Kami will permanently put the Domitor at risk 3 towards everyone with Faction:Gaian that finds out about the transgression. An IC post will be made by staff to Gaian BBoards to represent the spirits TELLING all locals of Faction:Gaian what happened and who did it. (You have been warned.) Fomor Ghouls are nearly unaffected by the Blood Bond unless they have high Autonomy, and they tend to frenzy a lot. Powerful, but unstable. Race:Mortal+/Kinain Race:Mortal+/Kinfolk See Also: Cgen, Buying Disciplines, XP Costs Miscellaneous All ghouls must have Clan set on their sheet. Upon becoming a ghoul (Cgen or IC), the Ghoul gets Potence:1, and 1 dot of an in-clan discipline. If Potence IS an in-clan discipline, and the ghoul has at least 4 points in the Domitor background, they can put both dots into Potence if they so desire. Ghouls may have the Potent Blood flaw (gain 2 blood by drinking 1 of theirs), but it cuts both ways (must feed them 2 blood for them to gain 1). Revenants Revenants follow all the same game mechanics as ghouls, unless house rules explicitly state otherwise. As in canon, revenants produce their own vitae and don't need a domitor. They do need Blood Donor background to raise disciplines above 1 (same game mechanics as "Domitor (background)" does for ghouls); see '+rules domitors' for details. Western dhampirs also count as revenants (Time of Thin Blood 81). Asian dhampyrs are covered under the Kuei-jin rules. Vitae, Ghouls, Thralls, and Blood Bonds Vitae Vitae is powerful stuff, but some of its potency/magic/essence doesn't last once or leaves the Vampire's body. A new vampire can only be created when fed directly from their Sire. Even when the Vitae is preserved magically. Blood Bonds and Ghouls can be created by Vitae that has been placed in a cup, bottle, or some other means of containment. But, the Vitae loses its supernatural properties if the Vampire wanders off. If the Vampire spikes a drink and then leaves the room, the Vitae loses its ability to form a Bond within 2-3 minutes. Vitae preservation - Vitae can only be preserved through the use of blood magic, or similar. But, once the container preserving the Vitae is opened, it will lose its ability to Bond or sustain a Ghoul within 2-3 minutes. It will still provide sustenance to a Vampire and taste far better than Mortal Blood, but that is all. Ghouls A Ghoul is someone that has ingested at least one Blood Point worth of Vitae. About 500ml, or a Pint. A Ghoul must have 1 Blood Point worth of Vitae in their system at all times, or they stop being a Ghoul. Without Vitae in their system, a Ghoul will rapidly age, to their actual chronological age. Ghouls over a century old will crumble to dust quickly. Ghouls can become addicted to Vitae, and control of that supply is the primary way that ghouls are managed by their domitors — in addition to more traditional techniques like Dominate. Ghouls can Frenzy. Thralls Someone that is 3 levels Blood Bonded to one of the Kindred. Thralls, like Ghouls, can be addicted to Vitae, and control of that supply is the primary way that Thralls are managed, in addition to more traditional techniques like Dominate. Not all Thralls are aware that Vampires exist, only that there is someone in their life that is insanely important to them. To the point of obsession. Blood Bond A Blood Bond is formed in three steps. It is possible to be Bonded to more than one Vampire, but the moment a 3 step Bond is formed, it washes away all other Blood Bonds. Blood Bonds are formed when a small amount of Kindred Blood is ingested. A drop or a sip is more than sufficient. This does not mean that the victim has been Ghouled. Blood bonding a PC requires the vampire to directly provide the blood to a specific victim. There are no mass or accidental blood bonds. The Vampire must be physically present to blood bond a victim. When a blood bond on a PC is added/changed/removed, both vampire and victim should set a +note and ask staff to approve it. In case of ambiguity, staff will err in the direction of assuming that no bond exists. Blood bonds range from 1 to 3. Initiating and increasing a blood bond requires a drop of blood and each must be administered on separate nights. A blood bond does not provide any Ghoul powers or abilities, just emotional attachment; Ghouling requires giving them more blood (A full Blood Point.) More information can be found: +rules blood bond levels Ghoul and Revenant Blood Pools Amount of blood you can spend per turn is limited the same way as a 13th Generation vampire. Ghouls: Your Blood pool is 10, same as mortals. The cutoff point between vitae and regular blood is (8 - Domitor background). Anything above the cutoff point counts as vitae, and can be regained by having a vampire top you up. If you drop below the cutoff point, then you take penalties as if wounded. Example: If your cutoff point is 8 and you drop to 6, then you take penalties as if you were down 2 health. This doesn't actually reduce your health levels, you just take penalties as if you were wounded that badly. If you're actually wounded worse, then you take penalties based on your actual injury level instead. You regenerate 1 blood per day (same as mortals), but only up to your cutoff point. Revenants: Your Blood pool is 10, plus 1 for each full century that you've lived. (Age is capped at 150 + 50*Stamina years.) This all counts as vitae, and you can regenerate these points on their own, 1 per day. You can also have a vampire top you up. What you can spend it on (VtM 275): You can spend blood to heal, same as vampires. If you don't, then you heal naturally, same as mortals. You can spend blood to raise physical attributes, same as vampires. You can't bond/ghoul someone else by feeding them your blood. You (probably) already look human without needing to spend blood. You can spend blood to activate disciplines. See Also: Camarilla Ghouls