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Ghoul

You're not dead yet, but you're on the waiting list.

What Are You?

You're a mortal who drank a vampire's blood, and it changed you. You're stronger, tougher, and slower to age than any human has a right to be; you might even have access to a sliver of your patron's supernatural abilities. In exchange, you're bound whether you like it or not. The Blood Bond ties you to the vampire who feeds you their Vitae with a devotion that borders on worship; part gratitude, part addiction, part something deeper and uglier that you probably don't want to examine too closely. You might call this vampire your domitor, your patron, your boss, your partner, or just their name. Whatever the label, you belong to them, and there's not a lot you can do about it.

Ghouls exist in the margins of Kindred society. You handle daytime errands, maintain mortal cover stories, guard your patron's haven while they sleep, and do whatever else needs doing while the sun is up. Some Ghouls are treasured confidants or collaborators. Others are disposable tools. Most fall somewhere in between, clinging to the hope that loyal service will eventually be rewarded with the Embrace. That hope keeps you obedient, and your patron knows it and depends upon it. In a Coterie, you're the one who can walk into a police station at noon, pick up groceries, and check whether that suspicious building is actually abandoned during working hours; all things your undead companions literally cannot do. You're indispensable during the day and completely outclassed after sunset.

The cost is the dependency. Without regular doses of Vitae, your borrowed gifts fade, your body starts aging again, and the withdrawal hits like nothing you've ever experienced. You are, at the most fundamental level, an addict whose dealer is also their landlord, their boss, and possibly the love of their life. Every Ghoul tells themselves the arrangement is temporary and that the Embrace is just around the corner. Most of them are wrong. Will you be?

Disciplines

Choose 1 Discipline from those available to your patron's Clan.

Bane: Blood Bound

You are supernaturally bound to the vampire who feeds you their Vitae. This manifests as an unbreakable Debt that your patron holds over you. They can Cash In this Debt a total number of times equal to their Blood Potency without depleting it, and can Invoke it just as many times per night. You cannot refuse, erase, or transfer this Debt by any normal means. The Blood Bond persists until you are Embraced or your patron meets Final Death.

Additionally, your stat array is reduced: distribute +1 | +1 | +0 | -1 | -1 instead of the standard spread. You are mortal. You are outmatched.

Compulsion: Dark Devotion

When your patron expresses displeasure with you, or when you feel your position in their service is threatened, you feel an overwhelming need to prove your worth and secure your place.

Until you perform a meaningful act of service for your patron or the perceived threat passes, take an Ongoing penalty equal to your patron's Blood Potency to all rolls that don't directly work toward earning their approval.

Mortal Perks

You get 3 unique abilities:

Still Kicking: Your Blood Potency is 0 and cannot increase through normal advancement, but you're alive! You have a heartbeat, body heat, and a functioning digestive system. You can eat food, walk in direct sunlight, pass any medical examination (hopefully), and interact with mortal society without restriction. You cannot use Blush of Life because you don't need it.

Borrowed Time: When you consume Vitae from your patron, they gain 1 Hunger, you reduce your Hunger by the usual amount, and choose one: heal Harm (Superficial or Aggravated) equal to their Blood Potency, or gain Advantage on the same number of rolls to use your Discipline until you sleep. The Vitae sustains you in ways that go far beyond slaking thirst — for a brief, intoxicating moment, you feel what it might be like to be one of them.

Unshackled Servant: You have no Beast, no Predator Type, and you never Frenzy. Stay Chill still applies for stress, danger, and resisting manipulation, but never for rampage resistance. Your Hunger represents Vitae dependency, not a monster clawing at your insides. At 5 Hunger, instead of going wild, you enter withdrawal: you lose access to your Discipline and have Disadvantage on all rolls except those made to Feed until you consume Vitae (ideally from your patron).

Mortal Experience

Once each per session, gain +1 XP when you...

  • Accomplish something for the Coterie that required daylight, mortal access, or your humanity to achieve
  • Put yourself in genuine danger to protect or serve your patron
  • Resist the urge to obey your patron when their demands conflict with your Convictions

If You Are Embraced

Should the fiction lead to your Embrace — whether through the Advanced Feed Move, a narrative milestone, or a dramatic turning point — retire this Playbook. Choose a Clan Playbook; your patron's Clan is the default, but others are possible if the fiction supports it.

Rebuild your character using that Clan's Playbook, transferring all your Convictions, Touchstones, and any Debts. The Blood Bond transforms into a standard Debt between you and your sire, or is erased entirely; your choice. Your stat array changes to the standard spread, and may be reassigned however you like. All XP you earned as a Ghoul carries over and may also be reassigned. Welcome to the night.

Archetypes

  • Enthusiast: You're here because you want to be, and you can't wait for the night they finally turn you.
    • Blood -1 | Shadow +0 | Resolve -1 | Demeanor +1 | Wits +1
  • Pragmatist: The arrangement has its perks. Whether you actually want the Embrace is a question you keep dodging.
    • Blood +0 | Shadow +1 | Resolve +1 | Demeanor -1 | Wits -1
  • Captive: You didn't choose this. The Bond chose it for you, and now you can't leave even if you wanted to.
    • Blood +1 | Shadow -1 | Resolve +1 | Demeanor -1 | Wits +0
  • Custom Archetype: Create your own by distributing these stats: +1 | +1 | +0 | -1 | -1