Ghouls: Fatal Addiction is a sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade that studies the nature and position of ghouls and revenants in Kindred society.
Summary[]
From the White Wolf catalog:
- C'mon...Everybody's Doing It...
- It seems so easy. Just a sip, a taste, and you're better than all the rest. You can suck up a bullet wound to the gut. You can knock your enemies through walls with a shove. You can have all the night has to offer without sacrificing your body and soul to it. This deal is too good to be true.
- Yeah. That's what Faust said. And now the Damned want their due.
- ...You Know You Want It!
- Ghouls: Fatal Addiction is a Vampire: The Masquerade sourcebook detailing the half-human servants of the Kindred. Whether you need a few new whipping boys or just want to taste the lash yourself, this book has everything you need to create ghouls as player or Storyteller characters.
- Watch out, though. This book just might make Renfield wake up and smell his fix...and the master who lives by blood might die by it, too.
- Ghouls: Fatal Addiction includes:
- Rules for creating vassal, independent and revenant characters.
- New Merits, Flaws, Derangements and other Traits to help you roleplay a codependent blood-slave.
- Secret societies, ghoul "games," and clan-specific information on how vampires treat their servitors.
Contents[]
Fiction: Blood is Thicker[]
A cleaner in New York unwittingly becomes a ghoul.
Introduction: The First Taste[]
Chapter One: A Clockwork Crimson[]
Covers the biological, psychological and game rule details of being a ghoul. Includes the article "The Physiology of the Ghoul" by Dr. Douglas Netchurch and an excerpt from "Current Perspectives on the Psychology of the Ghoul" by Nancy Reage, Ph.D.
Chapter Two: Masters and Servants?[]
Information on the position of ghouls in Kindred society, and how some ghouls manage to survive as independents. The beginning of this chapter mention Lucita and Beckett .
Examples of a few Ghoul secret societies and cults are listed.
These include:
- The Sanuinaries, a cult run by a mysterious Independent Ghoul named "Adam" and a Revenant from the Zantosa family. The operate mainly out of the US but their cult extended to Canada and South America.
- The Disciples of Set, a cult with the notion that two former Setite Ghouls are the true prophets of the Dark God Set. The Ministry find this cute and haven't made a decision on whether to bring them further into their coils or gobble them down like other food.
- The Unmastered
- The Young Bloods, a biker gang that made a deal with a fomori and have become a powerful force for Pentex.
- The Sacrament of the Reborn, is a blood cult mainly made out of former Gangrel, Ravnos, and Caitiff Ghouls. It is another cult run by a Setite Ghoul by the name of Reverend Kam. Kam's operation is in Brazil.
Chapter Three: Character Creation[]
Detailed rules for creating ghoul characters, including new Merits and Flaws, and Derangements. Introduction to three different types of Ghouls:
- Vassal - Those Ghouls that are blood bound to the Vampiric Dominitors (or Masters)
- Independents - Those Ghouls who have left the service of a Master usually due to the destruction of the Dominitor.
- Revenants - Ghoul Families bred to serve originally the Tzimisce.
The Revenant Families covered in this book were:
- New Abilities
- Talents
- Masquerade
- Knowledges
- Steward
- Vampire Lore
- Talents
- New Backgrounds
- Domitor
- Recommended Merits and Flaws
- Psychological
- Recommended: Berserker, Dual Nature, Compulsion, Short Fuse
- Disallowed: Prey Exclusion
- Mental
- Recommended: Lightning Calculator, Eidetic Memory, Weak-Willed
- Disallowed: Deep Sleeper
- Awareness
- Recommended: Acute Hearing, Acute Vision
- Disallowed: None
- Aptitudes
- Recommended: Computer Aptitude, Pitiable, Natural Linguist
- Disallowed: Eat Food
- Supernatural
- Recommended: True Love, Medium
- Disallowed: Inoffensive to Animals, Taint of Corruption, Repulsed by Garlic, Repelled by Crosses, Can't Cross Running Water, Light-Sensitive
- Kindred Ties
- Recommended: Enemy, Twisted Upbringing
- Disallowed: All Others (Ghouls are not Kindred, and are treated accordingly.)
- Mortal Society
- Recommended: Most Ties Merits
- Disallowed: Anachronism (not appropriate for player characters, but possibly for supporting cast), Hunted
- Physical
- Recommended: Double-Jointed, Efficient Digestion, Huge Size, Allergic, Short, Disfigured, Child, Monstrous
- Disallowed: Selective Digestion, Permanent Wound, Thin-Blooded
- Psychological
- Merits and Flaws
- Pale Aura (1 pt. Merit)
- Blood Flaw Immunity (3 pt. Merit)
- Benevolent Domitor (3 pt. Merit)
- Kinfolk (4 pt. Merit or 4 pt. Flaw)
- Supernatural Companion (4 pt. Merit)
- True Rom (5 pt. Merit)
- Unbondable (6 pt. Merit)
- Vicissitude Modifications (Variable pt. Merit)
- Requires the flaw, "Monstrous"
- Circular Vision (1 pt.)
- Fangs (1 pt.)
- Digestive Modifications (2 pt.)
- Spurs (2 pt.)
- Carapace (3 pt.)
- Patagia (4 pt.)
- Requires the flaw, "Monstrous"
- Vicissitude Modifications (Variable pt. Merit)
- Virulent Strike (7 pt. Merit)
- Artificially Aged (2 pt. Revenant Flaw)
- Domitor Pariah (2 pt. Flaw)
- Romantic Notions (2 pt. Flaw)
- Vitae Sink (3 pt. Flaw)
Chapter Four: Storytelling[]
Advice on using ghouls in a Vampire chronicle and details of some significant ghoul characters, including the "Core", the founders of the Unmastered, a group of free ghouls.
- Templates
- Vitae Hunter - Ghoul, Stats
- Revenant Agent - Ghoul, Stats
- Szlachta - Ghoul, Stats
- Vozhd - Ghoul, Stats
- Animals
- Alligator/Crocodile - Ghoul, Stats
- Ape/Gorilla - Ghoul, Stats
- Leopard/Mountain Lion - Ghoul, Stats
- Lion/Jaguar - Ghoul, Stats
- Wolf/Large Dog - Ghoul, Stats
- Oversized Rat - Ghoul, Stats
Chapter Five: Templates[]
Four character templates for different types of ghoul characters.
- Patron of the Artist, Vassal
- The Revolting Revenant, Bratovitch
- Rebel Without a Regnant, Independent
- Le Femme Serpentina, Vassal
Background Information[]
- Rather than the usual list of special thanks, Ghouls: Fatal Addiction includes a "sneak preview" of many of the titles coming up in '97-'98, including Werewolf: The Wild West, Changeling: The Dreaming Second Edition, Transylvania by Night, ÆON, and the main titles for the Year of the Lotus (Kindred of the East, WOD: Hong Kong and Demon Hunter X).
- This book is the Year of the Ally supplement for Vampire.
- Ads at the back of the book include: To Sift Through Bitter Ashes (July), The Devil's Advocate (October) and the Vampire: The Masquerade CD-ROM (Oct. 1997).
- A Louisiana cell of unmastered ghouls disappeared all at once from an attack by a "dinosaur or dragon." This event is also referenced in Mokolé.
Memorable Quotes[]
| “ | He laid his troubles out to me like a deck of playing cards
Well don't you know that I can tell the kings and jokers well apart" |
” |
| — Concrete Blonde, "Your Haunted Head" | ||
| “ | They are neither man nor woman - They are neither brute nor human - They are Ghouls | ” |
| — Edgar Allen Poe, "The Bells" | ||
| “ | You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being | ” |
| — James Baldwin, My Dungeon Shook | ||
| “ | Those who inflict must suffer, for they see the work of their own hearts, and this must be our chastisement or recompense. | ” |
| — Percy Bysshe Shelley, Julian and Maddalo | ||
| “ | First I taught them that they could not unseat me, and even rapped them sharply between the ears to impress upon them my authority and mastery. | ” |
| — Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Princess of Mars | ||
| “ | If the objects who serve us feel ecstasy, they are much more concerned with themselves than with us, and our own enjoyment is consequently impaired. The idea of seeing another person experience the same pleasure reduces one to a kind of equality which spoils the unutterable charms the come from despotism. | ” |
| — Marquis de Sade, 100 Days of Sodom | ||
| “ | Blood alone moves the wheels of history | ” |
| — Benito Mussolini | ||
| “ | That special someone. The jack of diamonds. The king of hearts. The grave digger. He who possesses an elixir not unlike that of a paregoric or a soothsayer. One night outa the gutter and into my arms... | ” |
| — Lydia Lunch, The Right Side of My Brain | ||
| “ | The dark horse will bring glory to the jailer and his men. It's always much more sporting when there's families in the pit and the madness of the crowd is an epileptic fit. In the colosseum tonight. | ” |
| — Tom Waits, "In the Colosseum" | ||
| “ | Jody: Shit. Why you think we gave you such a hard time grown' up here, boy? Trynna toughen you up. | ” |
| — Garth Ennis, Preacher | ||
| “ | Let those who serve be named greatest of the Children of Seth, and most privileged | ” |
| — The Book of Nod, "Of Those Who Serve" | ||
| “ | The more infamous a man is, the more we are inclined to endow him with intellectual force and moral courage | ” |
| — Octave Mirbeau, The Torture Garden | ||
Characters[]
- Carlos Fernandez - Nosferatu Antitribu, Sabbat
- Mary - Carlos' Ghoul
- Dr. Douglas Netchurch - The world's foremost authority on Kindred physiology
- Trimeggian - Netchurch's Sire
- Addemar - Trimeggian's Sire
- Lamdiel - Addemar's Sire
- Malkav - Lamdiel's Sire
- Dr. Nancy O. Reage, Ph.D. - Dr. Netchurch's ghoul and a student of vampire psychology
- Raoul
- Lucita - Lasombra ally of Beckett
- Beckett - Kindred Noddist scholar
- C. - Lucita's Camarilla Associate
- Briareus - Vozhd that retained its sentience and now hunts vampires
- "Adam" - Code Name for the Leader of the Sanguinaries, either Caitiff or Ghoul
- Aziza Mohareb - Setite Ghoul, Co-Leader of the Disciplines of Set
- Steven O'Malley - Setite Ghoul, Co-Leader of the Disciplines of Set
- Farouk - Setite Elder
- Timothy - Steven's enraged lover, Human
- Set
- Judas - Unknown Nosferatu Antitribu's Ghoul, Young Blood
- Dave - Unknown Malkavian Antitribu's Ghoul, Young Blood
- Reverend Kam - Setite Ghoul Leader of Sacrament of the Reborn
- Gregory Winter - One of the eldest Unmastered, also one of the Core
- Ginevra Salamanca - A rebellious Obertus revenant, one of the Unmastered Core
- Enrico Sagunto - Ex-member of Society of Leopold's Gladius Dei, Human, Died
- Philip Marshall - Independent Ghoul, vanished while tracking down information on the Inconnu in the 60's
- Carter - A secretive member of the Core who is actually a Wraith using Puppetry
Terminology[]
Animal Ghouls, Banality, Blood Bond, Blood Cult, Changeling, "Current Perspectives on the Psychology of the Ghoul" by Dr. Nancy O. Reage (Derangements: Severe Dysmenorrheic Psychosis, Animalistic Hysteria, Self-defeating Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder), Disciplines, Domitor, Garou, Ghoul (VTM), Ghoul Groups: The Disciplines of Set, Sacrament of the Reborn, The Sanguinaries, Test Group Alpha, The Unmastered, The Young Bloods; Fomori, Kinfolk, Kuei-jin, Lupine, Mage, Szlachta, Pentex, "The Physiology of the Ghoul" by Dr. Douglas Netchurch, Thaumaturgy Paths (Only Tremere Ghouls), Types of Ghouls: Independents, Revenant (VTM), Bratovitch, Grimaldi, Obertus, Zantosa, Vassals; Vozhd, Wyrm,
| Previous release | Game Books | Next release |
|---|---|---|
VTM: Cities of Darkness Volume 1  |
Vampire: The Masquerade books | VTM: Clanbook: Giovanni
|