Ghouls
A mortal or animal who drinks a vampire’s Blood becomes something both more and less than what they are, for a time. Derisively called a ghoul by western vampires the imbiber gains a smidgeon of the power of a true vampire. The vitae consumed not only brings a rush, but also arrests the aging process. The effects are temporary, however, and if weaned off vampire Blood, the mortal deteriorates rapidly, as the years catch up with their halted aging. Vampires use ghouls as retainers where loyalty outweighs keeping the Masquerade, since a single Kindred can Blood Bond as many ghouls as they can manage.
Unlike the Embrace and Blood Bonds, vampire Blood does retain its ghoul-sustaining properties for a few days while stored in an airtight container and not exposed to sunlight. Vampires usually only provide their vitae in such manner after having established a proper Blood Bond with a ghoul.
A Rouse Check’s worth of vitae bestows the following benefits to
a mortal or animal for approximately a month:
■ The master grants the mortal the first dot from one of the disciplines the master knows, along with a single level 1 power possessed by the vampire.
■ The aging process halts, some- times even setting the clock back a few years.
■ Wounds heal twice as fast, unless caused by fire.
Ghouls who use powers above level 1 (thanks to Draught of Elegance or similar powers, alchemical effects, or other causes) take 1 point of Aggravated damage to their Health instead of making a Rouse Check.
Any Kindred can maintain any number of ghouls in theory. Ghouls operate on typical blood bond rules, so it takes 3 drinks for maximum influence, but after that one drink a month is typically sufficient to keep them as ghouls and loyal.
Here are the concerns:
-
feeding multiple ghouls can be taxing on your own hunger
-
Ghouling a mortal incurs a stain on humanity. And a blood bond is an invitation for further stains
-
long-time ghouls go a bit ... wrong. They are likely to start twisting mentally and morally in ways their friends and family might notice. Each ghoul is a walking Masquerade breach
-
if you stop feeding a ghoul, they are going to try to seek out other blood. Former ghouls are weak points for enemies to exploit. You could kill ex-ghouls to prevent this, but that’s more humanity stains
-
a reliable long-term ghoul is going to be a retainer, and should probably be “locked-in” with an XP purchase or via the Project rules.