Ghoul Families
Thralls are largely alone in this world, singular in their suffering and blessings. Yes, other Ghouls exist, but for the most, Ghouls remain unconnected, save for one or two others like themselves. A rare few aren’t even aware that there are other similar individuals out there, kept ignorant by their regnants in an effort to make them feel even more freakish and alone than they already are.
This isn’t always the case, however. Sometimes extraordinary circumstances occur and allow for a thrall to pass along her enhancements as well as her inclination toward servitude. The condition of being a ghoul is normally impossible to pass along to another. Only a vampire can invoke and enforce such a bargain. But sometimes, this control passes from a vampire’s hands, the blessed curse contained in the blood of a ghoul is passed to her child, and that child becomes something altogether different.
Most of the prominent information on the subject, regardless of its accuracy, comes from The Ordo Dracul. The creation of Ghouls and by proxy, ghoul families, falls within their range of interests. Furthermore, the Order holds the greatest number of thrall bloodlines operating in its employ and continues to experiment on these bloodlines in an effort to deepen its understanding of the subject. The Order’s conclusions on the current conditions of ghoul families are clear and able to be meted out with examination and experimentation. The conclusions gained about the history of thrall bloodlines is something few Kindred outside of the covenant are willing to agree with, much like the Order’s assertions about the history of vampires or its founder, the illustrious Vlad Tepes.
Ultimately, the Order claims that the first ghoul bloodline came from the powerful Vitae of Dracula himself. Unfortunately, the fog of history that plagues all vampires hasn’t made this assertion clear or provable. Some suggest that the Dragon lorded over a single family of powerful Ghouls, a bloodline born of the Bathory family. Others aver that Dracul left a legacy of many ghoul families, such as those plucked from the ranks of Turkish janissaries or the local boyars. Of course, none of these bloodlines are seen in evidence today, at least not in any known or public fashion. Either the lines ended in death, or such a story should be chalked up to covenant legend.
Most Kindred cry foul at the Order’s claim to be the origin of ghoul families, believing it to be as absurd as the ideas behind the Dragon’s own purported “origins.” Other covenants declare that they have evidence identifying the phenomenon of ghoul families as being significantly older. The Circle of the Crone, for instance, points to a few of its own thrall lines, such as the Nirriti Cult, as evidence of something supposedly far more ancient, older even than Christianity. Of course, the Kindred of The Lancea Sanctum scoff at the Acolytes for believing such nonsense, for surely the first ghoul bloodline originated at or around the time that Longinus speared the side of Christ. Their history offers that it could not have happened before that, because vampires did not exist before that. The Invictus is mostly mum on the subject, idly waving it off as something that surely grew out of the nights of ancient Rome. And the Carthians are not yet developed enough to have a unified opinion of this phenomenon.
Is there any truth to be found? The only truth that seems relatively certain is that, despite the contentions of The Ordo Dracul, ghoul families have been around longer than anyone knows. Beyond that, few facts are forthcoming.
Stranger still, while the body ages more slowly, the mind does not. Provided there’s nothing unusual about the health of the individual, the mind of a family ghoul develops at a normal rate, sometimes, even faster. This is advantageous, to a point, but also bizarre. A child of a ghoul family may truly be nine years old, but appears six; a 15-year-old looks 10. Mentally, the child is far more developed than she physically appears, creating the appearance of being hyper-intelligent and eerily aware. Provided she exists under circumstances that allow her to commingle with normal children, this development can create a number of problems. Wise Ghouls learn to “play dumb” when necessary in an effort to manipulate their lesser-developed “peers.” Still, though, it takes a toll on the mind of such a child. It’s for this reason that many children of ghoul families feel disengaged from the rest of the world, suspecting that they are somehow out of sync with Humanity. Many children of this ilk develop minor or moderate mental illnesses as a result. Some are labeled early on as “autistic” or as suffering from Asperger’s syndrome (a syndrome characterized by repetitive behavior patterns and impairments in social interaction, coupled with strange, early forming intelligence).
Note that this tractability doesn’t necessarily translate over to the ghoul’s dealings with humans (or even other supernatural entities). While it’s possible that the individual is generally submissive regardless, it’s just as likely that he’s a social powerhouse, even a dominating presence among others. But such authority and confidence goes quickly flaccid when confronted with the presence and power of one of the Damned.
While being a social pariah isn’t good, other potential drawbacks are worse. For one, many suffer from nightmares, often coupled with resultant insomnia. Their sleep is often plagued with horrifying dreams or hypnagogic hallucinations whose imagery often seems focused upon blood or faceless, shadowy apparitions. Some don’t experience these nightmares and must endure various mental illnesses instead. Such illnesses are rarely so extreme as Schizophrenia or sociopathy, but they are still persistent and troublesome. Such a person might become obsessive-compulsive at a very early age, or he might develop seemingly irrational phobias or neuroses. It’s even possible (though less common) that the individual shows signs of psychosomatic problems such as rashes, premature hair-loss or severe asthma.
For one, conception does not occur as often as it does among normal mortals. The chances of a seed fertilizing an egg decrease by two thirds from a regular human’s chances unless the copulation occurs between two Ghouls of extant bloodlines. The chances of conception are the same as those of the rest of Humanity provided both participants are of thrall blood.
The beginning of a ghoul bloodline is limited only to women. A ghoul male cannot pass along the condition initially. Such a state is conferred only when a pregnant woman is made a ghoul, or becomes pregnant as a ghoul, and the baby somehow survives. After the bloodline is established, however, men or women of the line can pass the condition along.
Breeding is still a complicated matter for ghoul families. Not only are they socially stunted, but the chances of procreation decrease if both parties aren’t of thrall lineage. Several families have their own tried-and-true methods of breeding, however.
Of course, “inbreeding” isn’t a popular term. Many prefer instead to call it by its scientific name, consanguinity. The problem with the concept is that the closer the genes of The Mother and The Father are, the greater the chance becomes that recessive genetic disorders will persist and occur in the offspring. For the most part, ghoul families who submit to inbreeding make sure that it happens only through cousins or more distant relations. The chances of mutation in this case are slim, but they become more viable as generation after generation continues to propagate the same sets of genes. The bigger issue at hand is that such breeding is socially taboo in Western civilization.
Of course, some families seem unconcerned with breaking such social norms. They might even engage in dangerous inbreeding between direct siblings or offspring and parents. Genetic mutations in this regard are far more likely, and they can create a number of problems in children. A single deleterious mutation can cause muscular dystrophy, mental illness, heart problems or physical disfigurements such as a cleft lip or an unformed limb. If such inbreeding occurs for generations, it wouldn’t be altogether unlikely to have a child with a club foot huddling in the corner eating roaches or his own fingernails.
Of course, not all Kindred accept such social connections for their thralls. A regnant whose family begins to interbreed with another similar bloodline must then deal with that family’s master. Like two elders, they must come together and decide the fate of both families and the resultant children. Which family does the child join? Is the child sought after, or does neither vampire want such an awkward addition? Plus, it’s not guaranteed that both Kindred even want to deal with one another. Creating such a bond between thrall families connotes at least an unofficial alliance between the two vampire regnants, which might not be possible for a number of political or social reasons. If the two masters are of the same clan or same covenant, it becomes easier. If not, political and ideological disagreements are likely to rise and stop any such breeding from happening. (And woe to the families who secretly agree to such allegiance without the express consent of their regnants.)
The other solution is kidnapping. Some families actually have a long-standing tradition of “raiding” other ghoul families like an invading tribe, stealing a suitable breeding partner, and bringing them back to the kin. Unfortunately, such “stolen mothers” rarely fare well within their new families. They are typically treated poorly (sometimes even shackled up in cellars or attics), and further function as a brood-mare for all the males of the family. Some are accepted as parts of the family, but most are considered lesser beings worthy of spite and abuse.
Some Ghouls in this situation know that they are potentially destroying the life of their mate and simply don’t care. Others take it further and attempt to enforce some kind of twisted eugenics program by “breeding in” desirable traits to the family from the outside. Blond hair? Fair skin? No heart murmur or deviated septum? Any number of traits (or negative traits) may be sought after in such a system. Anything to keep the family strong and pure.
Some Kindred seek to create their own ghoul bloodlines, fostering such families into being. Doing so is never easy, and attempts end in failure far more often than in success. Still, some vampires have actually had some measure of victory.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, such awkward experimentation ends in miscarriage or stillbirth. Repeated biological failures take quite a toll on a female, as even her more vigorous ghoul condition can handle this constant physical and emotional burden for only so long. Eventually, the process either deadens a woman’s womb or simply kills her.
Of course, the improbable sometimes happens and a woman remains “blooded up” (as vulgar Kindred call it) with child. The child is born alive and in relative health, even if The Mother perishes. From such an event, a ghoul bloodline is born. But such an occurrence is so rare as to be almost unattainable.
Most of these rituals originated with The Ordo Dracul, as that covenant is ostensibly responsible for more ghoul bloodlines than any other. These rituals, of which there are dozens, are said to be contained in a book called the Libret al Cal Pur-Sânge (Book of the Blood Mule). Many of the written ceremonies are simple. The pregnant ghoul might merely need to drink larger draughts of the regnant’s Vitae during the nine months, or she might instead need to consume more obscure reagents (such as the distilled afterbirth of a stag, the blood of an infant, potions of blended maggots). On the other hand, some rituals are impossibly complex. One ritual, the Sarpe din Mormânt, involves binding the motherto- be to a wooden chair, and applying 144 leeches to her naked flesh. During the time of the ritual, which lasts a full week, she is also fed small but constant amounts of mercury (though some older Order Kindred insist that adder venom is a better poison). At the end of this ritual, it is expected that The Mother will die but that the child will not only live, but be quite strong and stalwart.
The Circle of the Crone are said to have a number of rituals to ameliorate the conception of thrall bloodlines, as well. Most of these rituals involve just as many obscure reagents and elements as the Order’s rites, though the Circle tends to have more natural and mystical elements, as opposed to the Order’s more occult/scientific “techniques.” The number of Circle rituals pale in comparison to the elaborate catalog of ceremonies held in secret by The Ordo Dracul, however.
For one, if a vampire knows of a pre-existing ghoul bloodline, he might try to negotiate with that family’s regnant. Such negotiations involve trading Ghouls, favors or territory for such a “special” thrall. It’s also possible that the two Kindred engage in a kind of alliance, offering to serve common interests while also sharing the two ghoul bloodlines that emerge. Such alliances are more likely to occur when the two vampires are of the same covenant, but this certainly isn’t a requirement.
Of course, some negotiations fall apart or never happen in the first place. Some vampires simply kidnap members of other ghoul bloodlines and bring them home to their own Ghouls. The abductee (almost always a woman) is raped repeatedly until her womb bears the fruit of a splinter bloodline. From there, she is either incorporated into the vampire’s own stable of Ghouls (if possible) or is simply killed.
No single set of qualities makes a woman a good ghoul mother or a man a good ghoul father. Certain things are helpful, though. High Stamina is very helpful. For the male, it means he is more healthy and virile, increasing the chances of conception in general. For the female, high Stamina means the body has more support to give the child when it comes to carrying the baby to term. High Willpower is also helpful on both parts, because the will of the individual does influence the power of the Vitae within them. Those with high Willpower can overcome some barriers imposed by being ghouls through the strength of their desire. Still, unless the Storyteller says that the particular conditions needed according to research and/or experimentation have been met, a ghoul mother has very little chance of conceiving and delivering a living child. Even if the Storyteller determines that the conditions have been met, the chances don’t improve much.
The process of research — be it textual study, searching out knowledgeable Kindred or performing sexual experiments — involves an extended roll. Asking around and textual study should probably be roleplayed in more detail than the experimentation, unless your troupe is mature enough to handle the subject and everyone present is comfortable with it. In any case, the specific roll made is up to the kind of research being done.
Asking around might involve Manipulation + Persuasion, Intimidation or Socialize, depending on how the questions are asked. Persuasion involves direct, but wheedling questions. Intimidation is direct and commanding. Socialize is subtle and indirect, and it takes much longer. Subterfuge would be another option for asking around cryptically, but doing so takes even longer than Socialize. If the character has contacts in an appropriate field, the player may add a bonus die to each roll. Allies, Mentor or Status also provide this bonus if they represent an appropriate person or group. Each roll takes one night of work.
Study of texts both ancient and cutting-edge could involve several Skills as well. Intelligence + Academics, Computer, Investigation, Medicine, Occult and Science could all apply. Academics shows that the character knows how to do research. Computer helps a vampire access online databases faster and makes the data more likely to come for free than otherwise. Investigation is a helpful skill when determining whether information is true and relevant. Medicine provides knowledge of how the body works, so it is perfect for identifying relevant details in modern medical science that could explain what’s happening in the ghoul’s body and find a way around it. It might also represent more traditional, holistic medical knowledge that would give some insight into the conditions necessary for procreation under adverse circumstances such as a ghoul’s body. Occult similarly helps with knowing the nature of Vitae. Science works on a similar theory to Medicine in the modern sense, allowing the character access to modern knowledge and techniques of doing things with technology that could help. Each roll requires one week of work (at least 25 hours).
Experimentation takes time, but for Kindred with Lust as their Vice it might be the preferred route for precisely that reason. No systems are required. The ghouls are simply paired off and made to mate, just as any normal couple attempting conception. Innumerable wives’ tales exist regarding helping conception along (as do some legitimate facts on the subject), but it really boils down to persistence. Tracking the female’s ovulation is possible with over-the-counter implements, and it might add equipment modifiers to the conception roll.
Whenever the Kindred has his subjects and any other accoutrements prepared, the ghouls attempt conception. As stated, this act can take many attempts (even for a normal, mortal couple) and some Kindred have waited years to achieve positive results. Some, of course, become bored with the notion and give up, while others try to increase their chances by having several breeding pairs trying simultaneously. For every week of persistent attempts to conceive, the Storyteller should roll three dice, modified as follows:
Situation | Modifier
Every 5 successes on the Kindred’s extended roll | +1
Ghoul mother has the Iron Stamina Merit | +1
Father is not a ghoul | +1
Mother has proficiency in the Resilience Discipline | +1
Conception attempts timed with mother’s ovulation cycle | +1
Mother has been a ghoul longer than one full year | -1
Mother has proficiency in the Protean Discipline | -1
Father is a ghoul (but not a member of a ghoul family) | -3
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Conception occurs, but the mother’s body immediately and violently miscarries. Damage to the woman’s reproductive system means that any future conception attempts incur a –3 modifier.
Failure: No conception occurs. The couple may continue trying.
Success: Pregnancy occurs, but it is very high-risk. See “Ghoul Pregnancy.”
Exceptional Success: Pregnancy occurs, with slightly lessened risks for the mother. See “Ghoul Pregnancy.”
Situation | Modifier
Medical care | +1 to +5, depending on how much money is available
Mother keeps herself in good health | +1
Exceptional success on the conception roll | +2
Mother is not subject to intense emotional stress | –
Mother is traumatized or otherwise stressed | –1
Sub-par or no medical care | –2
Mother smokes, drinks or otherwise poisons herself | –2
Mother spends Vitae for any other purpose but this roll during the trimester | –3
If a woman becomes a ghoul while pregnant, the Storyteller should immediately roll her Stamina, subject to any of the above modifiers that might apply. The results of the roll are as follows:
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The pregnancy terminates and the ghoul gains a mild derangement. Future conception attempts suffer a –2 penalty.
Failure: The pregnancy terminates. Depending on the circumstances, the mother might gain a derangement (Storyteller’s discretion).
Success: The pregnancy remains viable, if high-risk.
Exceptional Success: The Storyteller need not make this roll for the next trimester. If this roll was for the third trimester, the baby is delivered without incident.
When it comes time for the baby to be born, the Storyteller once again rolls the mother’s Stamina. If this roll fails, the mother dies in childbirth or the baby does not survive the delivery. If the roll is a dramatic failure, both perish. On a success or an exceptional success, both survive. All of the modifiers listed for the trimester Stamina rolls apply, as do any others the Storyteller feels appropriate.
Raising the child presents its own issues. A regnant might like to think that he can raise the baby and thus control its personality and development, but no vampire is capable of raising a newborn because newborns require around-the-clock attention and care. Besides, while ghoul mothers might be fiercely loyal to their regnants, their devotion to their children is natural, and potentially stronger. The mother’s Resolve + Composure roll to be able to harm her regnant does not receive any of the normal penalties if her child’s safety is a factor. Whether she lets the vampire take her baby or attacks him and successfully rescues her child, the emotional consequences for her are staggering. The Storyteller may call for a degeneration roll or simply impose a derangement. Wise Kindred either work closely with their ghouls to raise such children or simply kill the parents off.
How the child or children are raised makes a lot of difference. Even if this process is being mostly glossed over in order to establish history, make sure to devote some thought to this part. Raising this first child establishes important precedents that shape how the family members relate to each other over the course of the family’s growth. The special difficulties mentioned here mesh with all the usual difficulties of raising a child. How is the child disciplined? What kind of schooling does he or she get? Public schooling is probably out, given the dilated aging inherent to the child’s condition. What kinds of friends does he or she have? Do the parents have more children at the same time, thus complicating the rearing of all of them? These questions and others like them should be considered, either over the course of a very involved story or over the course of a discussion of the family’s history.
Strengths and weaknesses should balance each other out, because the vampiric curse takes away at least as much as it gives. Particularly adverse conditions and more inbreeding are likely to create ghouls whose weaknesses outweigh their strengths, but strengths should never outweigh weaknesses. They can only balance equally because ghouls are not as fully cursed as their vampiric masters, who certainly suffer more curse than blessing with their bloodthirst and deadly sunlight allergy. Let the strengths and weaknesses of the ghoul families in this book serve as a guide to balancing what your ghoul families gain as they expand.
This isn’t always the case, however. Sometimes extraordinary circumstances occur and allow for a thrall to pass along her enhancements as well as her inclination toward servitude. The condition of being a ghoul is normally impossible to pass along to another. Only a vampire can invoke and enforce such a bargain. But sometimes, this control passes from a vampire’s hands, the blessed curse contained in the blood of a ghoul is passed to her child, and that child becomes something altogether different.
Birth
Under normal circumstances, if a pregnant woman is made a thrall by a Kindred, the pregnancy is terminated. She miscarries in a flush of blood and paroxysms of pain. If she doesn’t miscarry, the child carries to term but is stillborn. The same goes for a woman who becomes pregnant as a thrall. If she manages to conceive at all, the body aborts the child at some stage of the pregnancy.
An exceptional few children do survive, however. Despite a body’s attempt to rid itself of the fetus, the child somehow survives and ends up being born alive. The frequency of such an occurrence is miniscule, less than one percent of all possible cases. Moreover, the conditions that lead to such an event are unclear and seem different every time. The stamina of the woman is not a factor, for enthralled children have been born of women with both strong and frail constitutions. They have also been born from mothers with mental illness and mothers with a supposedly clean bill of health. Plus, to confuse the issue further, some women die during childbirth, where others do not.
Some Kindred (those aware of the possibility of thrall bloodlines, for such a thing is not common knowledge) speculate that the women who are capable of birthing ghoul children must already be descended from a ghoul family somewhere down the line. Once a child is born in this way, that child’s female descendents continue to pass along the tainted blood, creating new family thralls. Even men of a ghoul bloodline have the chance to pass this along, whether impregnating another ghoul or a mortal. (The chances of a ghoul’s seed fertilizing an egg and causing the birth of a thrall child are far better should he impregnate another ghoul as opposed to a “normal” human, though.) Because the women of a ghoul family spawn infant thralls almost 100% of the time, it’s believed that when a seemingly mundane ghoul (i.e., a ghoul not of an analogous bloodline) manages to carry a thrall child to term, that woman must unknowingly be part of a ghoul bloodline.
Others consider such speculation idle and baseless. Plus, it presents a “chicken and egg” enigma. Somewhere in history, perhaps as far back as the origins of the Kindred themselves, a woman must have had a ghoul child survive to birth, and that woman could not have been part of a ghoul bloodline. But how could she have given birth if such a thing didn’t exist? Which came first, the ghoul child, or the ghoul legacy?
It asks a lot of troubling questions and provides few answers. Do all ghoul families technically descend from a single bloodline, existing as distant branches of a very strange lineage? Or is the phenomenon isolated and unique, popping up here and there merely as an act of chance? Is there even a way to predict which women are capable of carrying such a glorious abomination to term?
An exceptional few children do survive, however. Despite a body’s attempt to rid itself of the fetus, the child somehow survives and ends up being born alive. The frequency of such an occurrence is miniscule, less than one percent of all possible cases. Moreover, the conditions that lead to such an event are unclear and seem different every time. The stamina of the woman is not a factor, for enthralled children have been born of women with both strong and frail constitutions. They have also been born from mothers with mental illness and mothers with a supposedly clean bill of health. Plus, to confuse the issue further, some women die during childbirth, where others do not.
Some Kindred (those aware of the possibility of thrall bloodlines, for such a thing is not common knowledge) speculate that the women who are capable of birthing ghoul children must already be descended from a ghoul family somewhere down the line. Once a child is born in this way, that child’s female descendents continue to pass along the tainted blood, creating new family thralls. Even men of a ghoul bloodline have the chance to pass this along, whether impregnating another ghoul or a mortal. (The chances of a ghoul’s seed fertilizing an egg and causing the birth of a thrall child are far better should he impregnate another ghoul as opposed to a “normal” human, though.) Because the women of a ghoul family spawn infant thralls almost 100% of the time, it’s believed that when a seemingly mundane ghoul (i.e., a ghoul not of an analogous bloodline) manages to carry a thrall child to term, that woman must unknowingly be part of a ghoul bloodline.
Others consider such speculation idle and baseless. Plus, it presents a “chicken and egg” enigma. Somewhere in history, perhaps as far back as the origins of the Kindred themselves, a woman must have had a ghoul child survive to birth, and that woman could not have been part of a ghoul bloodline. But how could she have given birth if such a thing didn’t exist? Which came first, the ghoul child, or the ghoul legacy?
It asks a lot of troubling questions and provides few answers. Do all ghoul families technically descend from a single bloodline, existing as distant branches of a very strange lineage? Or is the phenomenon isolated and unique, popping up here and there merely as an act of chance? Is there even a way to predict which women are capable of carrying such a glorious abomination to term?
First Family
Where did ghoul families come from? The truth of the matter is relative to the teller. Few Kindred agree on the subject, and even less care enough to inspect it beyond a cursory examination.Most of the prominent information on the subject, regardless of its accuracy, comes from The Ordo Dracul. The creation of Ghouls and by proxy, ghoul families, falls within their range of interests. Furthermore, the Order holds the greatest number of thrall bloodlines operating in its employ and continues to experiment on these bloodlines in an effort to deepen its understanding of the subject. The Order’s conclusions on the current conditions of ghoul families are clear and able to be meted out with examination and experimentation. The conclusions gained about the history of thrall bloodlines is something few Kindred outside of the covenant are willing to agree with, much like the Order’s assertions about the history of vampires or its founder, the illustrious Vlad Tepes.
Ultimately, the Order claims that the first ghoul bloodline came from the powerful Vitae of Dracula himself. Unfortunately, the fog of history that plagues all vampires hasn’t made this assertion clear or provable. Some suggest that the Dragon lorded over a single family of powerful Ghouls, a bloodline born of the Bathory family. Others aver that Dracul left a legacy of many ghoul families, such as those plucked from the ranks of Turkish janissaries or the local boyars. Of course, none of these bloodlines are seen in evidence today, at least not in any known or public fashion. Either the lines ended in death, or such a story should be chalked up to covenant legend.
Most Kindred cry foul at the Order’s claim to be the origin of ghoul families, believing it to be as absurd as the ideas behind the Dragon’s own purported “origins.” Other covenants declare that they have evidence identifying the phenomenon of ghoul families as being significantly older. The Circle of the Crone, for instance, points to a few of its own thrall lines, such as the Nirriti Cult, as evidence of something supposedly far more ancient, older even than Christianity. Of course, the Kindred of The Lancea Sanctum scoff at the Acolytes for believing such nonsense, for surely the first ghoul bloodline originated at or around the time that Longinus speared the side of Christ. Their history offers that it could not have happened before that, because vampires did not exist before that. The Invictus is mostly mum on the subject, idly waving it off as something that surely grew out of the nights of ancient Rome. And the Carthians are not yet developed enough to have a unified opinion of this phenomenon.
Is there any truth to be found? The only truth that seems relatively certain is that, despite the contentions of The Ordo Dracul, ghoul families have been around longer than anyone knows. Beyond that, few facts are forthcoming.
Blood Ties
Belonging to a family of Ghouls can be a very different experience from being a single thrall to a Kindred regnant. Knowingly or not, a thrall enters into a supernatural contract, a bargain of the blood. Such a bargain could be theoretically aborted before it begins, if the potential thrall became wise (or lucky). Moreover, the death of a regnant or other rare occurrences could grant precious freedom to an enthralled mortal. Such is not the case for members of a ghoul family. They are born into it, so escape comes only with death The elements of being a ghoul within a bloodline can vary in other ways, as well. These differences are not always obvious.Age
Unlike regular thralls, members of a ghoul bloodline do not suddenly relinquish their supernatural condition when their source of Vitae is withdrawn. Some bloodlines are disconnected from their original vampiric masters. Some families are so far removed from their regnants that only the eldest among them even knows the truth about what lies dormant among the roots of the family tree. As such, aging does not catch up with those without a source of Kindred blood. In fact, thralls from a bloodline age more slowly than mortals, even without vampiric Vitae coursing through them. Such Ghouls physically age about two years for every three they live, existing half again as long as the average human. If a mortal’s expected age of death is 80, his ghoul counterpart lives to approximately 120 (provided the ghoul belongs to a bloodline). Moreover, when the ghoul actually has Vitae in his system, he stops aging altogether, much like the average ghoul. Returning to a state without the Vitae does not then suddenly invoke a grotesque spate of aging.Stranger still, while the body ages more slowly, the mind does not. Provided there’s nothing unusual about the health of the individual, the mind of a family ghoul develops at a normal rate, sometimes, even faster. This is advantageous, to a point, but also bizarre. A child of a ghoul family may truly be nine years old, but appears six; a 15-year-old looks 10. Mentally, the child is far more developed than she physically appears, creating the appearance of being hyper-intelligent and eerily aware. Provided she exists under circumstances that allow her to commingle with normal children, this development can create a number of problems. Wise Ghouls learn to “play dumb” when necessary in an effort to manipulate their lesser-developed “peers.” Still, though, it takes a toll on the mind of such a child. It’s for this reason that many children of ghoul families feel disengaged from the rest of the world, suspecting that they are somehow out of sync with Humanity. Many children of this ilk develop minor or moderate mental illnesses as a result. Some are labeled early on as “autistic” or as suffering from Asperger’s syndrome (a syndrome characterized by repetitive behavior patterns and impairments in social interaction, coupled with strange, early forming intelligence).
Subservience
Ghoul families were and are used for their servile qualities. Whether such breeding was purposeful or eerily serendipitous doesn’t much matter. Ghouls belonging to a bloodline are supernaturally tractable. Their blood calls to serve, it begs to be submissive to the superior will of the Kindred. A vampire can easily step in and invoke her will upon a thrall belonging to a bloodline, regardless of whether that individual is technically anybody’s ghoul or not. Moreover, forming the regnant/thrall bond is simpler, as well. The vampire needn’t extend as much of herself into the process, for it seems that the will required to keep a ghoul from aging is already in place.The programming not only makes the ghoul more susceptible to a vampire’s mind manipulations, but ameliorates the creation and maintenance of the bond in general. The vampire needn’t exert her will. The strength of Vitae is enough.Note that this tractability doesn’t necessarily translate over to the ghoul’s dealings with humans (or even other supernatural entities). While it’s possible that the individual is generally submissive regardless, it’s just as likely that he’s a social powerhouse, even a dominating presence among others. But such authority and confidence goes quickly flaccid when confronted with the presence and power of one of the Damned.
Curses All Their Own
Individuals who belong to ghoul families but who have not been made into Ghouls run the gamut of strange experiences. No matter who they are or where they live, they often seem somehow out of step with the rest of the world. They are the weird children who know too much, the strange adolescents in dark clothing, the malcontent artists and the sexual deviants. Some are able to turn their outsider Status to their advantage, using it as a way to stand out and eventually become popular. Others are doomed to discontent and exile, accepted only among the others of their family (or other such black sheep), for they are the only ones who understand.While being a social pariah isn’t good, other potential drawbacks are worse. For one, many suffer from nightmares, often coupled with resultant insomnia. Their sleep is often plagued with horrifying dreams or hypnagogic hallucinations whose imagery often seems focused upon blood or faceless, shadowy apparitions. Some don’t experience these nightmares and must endure various mental illnesses instead. Such illnesses are rarely so extreme as Schizophrenia or sociopathy, but they are still persistent and troublesome. Such a person might become obsessive-compulsive at a very early age, or he might develop seemingly irrational phobias or neuroses. It’s even possible (though less common) that the individual shows signs of psychosomatic problems such as rashes, premature hair-loss or severe asthma.
Breeding
Obviously, ghoul bloodlines survive because of breeding. While normal Ghouls aren’t afforded the chance to propagate normal humans much less thralls, members of such a supernatural lineage pass their condition to their children. Breeding isn’t as simple as it is for non-ghouls, however. While a female of a thrall family isn’t prone to miscarry, the process still carries certain stipulations.For one, conception does not occur as often as it does among normal mortals. The chances of a seed fertilizing an egg decrease by two thirds from a regular human’s chances unless the copulation occurs between two Ghouls of extant bloodlines. The chances of conception are the same as those of the rest of Humanity provided both participants are of thrall blood.
The beginning of a ghoul bloodline is limited only to women. A ghoul male cannot pass along the condition initially. Such a state is conferred only when a pregnant woman is made a ghoul, or becomes pregnant as a ghoul, and the baby somehow survives. After the bloodline is established, however, men or women of the line can pass the condition along.
Breeding is still a complicated matter for ghoul families. Not only are they socially stunted, but the chances of procreation decrease if both parties aren’t of thrall lineage. Several families have their own tried-and-true methods of breeding, however.
Inbreeding
As mentioned, the chances of conception are far greater when the sex occurs between two individuals of ghoul bloodlines. It’s only rarely that one ghoul family is even aware of others like it, and while members might accept the possibility that others like them exist, they certainly don’t have names or addresses. Add in the fact that many ghoul families are intensely insular (and frankly, dysfunctional) anyway, and the logical choice for procreation is inbreeding.Of course, “inbreeding” isn’t a popular term. Many prefer instead to call it by its scientific name, consanguinity. The problem with the concept is that the closer the genes of The Mother and The Father are, the greater the chance becomes that recessive genetic disorders will persist and occur in the offspring. For the most part, ghoul families who submit to inbreeding make sure that it happens only through cousins or more distant relations. The chances of mutation in this case are slim, but they become more viable as generation after generation continues to propagate the same sets of genes. The bigger issue at hand is that such breeding is socially taboo in Western civilization.
Of course, some families seem unconcerned with breaking such social norms. They might even engage in dangerous inbreeding between direct siblings or offspring and parents. Genetic mutations in this regard are far more likely, and they can create a number of problems in children. A single deleterious mutation can cause muscular dystrophy, mental illness, heart problems or physical disfigurements such as a cleft lip or an unformed limb. If such inbreeding occurs for generations, it wouldn’t be altogether unlikely to have a child with a club foot huddling in the corner eating roaches or his own fingernails.
Intermarrying
Sometimes, a ghoul family learns of another like itself. Perhaps the family’s regnant provides this information, or perhaps a particularly cunning (or lucky) family member finds it out for himself. In such cases, some families decide to intermarry, or at least, breed with one another. Not only is conception normalized by this act, but the chances of problematic genetic disorders are made insignificant. Moreover, it expands the bloodline’s social unit. The families might be isolated from the rest of so-called normal Humanity, but they have more in common with others like themselves.Of course, not all Kindred accept such social connections for their thralls. A regnant whose family begins to interbreed with another similar bloodline must then deal with that family’s master. Like two elders, they must come together and decide the fate of both families and the resultant children. Which family does the child join? Is the child sought after, or does neither vampire want such an awkward addition? Plus, it’s not guaranteed that both Kindred even want to deal with one another. Creating such a bond between thrall families connotes at least an unofficial alliance between the two vampire regnants, which might not be possible for a number of political or social reasons. If the two masters are of the same clan or same covenant, it becomes easier. If not, political and ideological disagreements are likely to rise and stop any such breeding from happening. (And woe to the families who secretly agree to such allegiance without the express consent of their regnants.)
The other solution is kidnapping. Some families actually have a long-standing tradition of “raiding” other ghoul families like an invading tribe, stealing a suitable breeding partner, and bringing them back to the kin. Unfortunately, such “stolen mothers” rarely fare well within their new families. They are typically treated poorly (sometimes even shackled up in cellars or attics), and further function as a brood-mare for all the males of the family. Some are accepted as parts of the family, but most are considered lesser beings worthy of spite and abuse.
Normal Is As Normal Does
Not all Ghouls of an appropriate bloodline seek to mate with others of their kind. Many choose to emulate a normal lifestyle and have children with normal, nonghoul humans. Doing so comes with consequences, however. Not only are the chances of conception greatly reduced, but bringing a normal human into the demented world of a ghoul family is an exercise in cruelty. Even if the family is kind to the newcomer, the vampire regnant probably won’t be, either outright murdering the individual or properly humiliating him and subjecting him to The Vinculum.Some Ghouls in this situation know that they are potentially destroying the life of their mate and simply don’t care. Others take it further and attempt to enforce some kind of twisted eugenics program by “breeding in” desirable traits to the family from the outside. Blond hair? Fair skin? No heart murmur or deviated septum? Any number of traits (or negative traits) may be sought after in such a system. Anything to keep the family strong and pure.
Fostering Thrall Bloodlines
Many ghoul families occur inadvertently. A child of a ghoul mother inexplicably survives, and generally, a bloodline is born whereupon the thrall condition can be carried through generations.Some Kindred seek to create their own ghoul bloodlines, fostering such families into being. Doing so is never easy, and attempts end in failure far more often than in success. Still, some vampires have actually had some measure of victory.
Repeated Attempts
One method of cultivating a ghoul bloodline is the old “try and try again” method. A vampire regnant with one or more Ghouls commands his servants to mate. Most attempt to have Ghouls mate with other Ghouls, provided the regnant has access to enough Ghouls of both sexes. Eventually, a female ghoul becomes pregnant. Alternatively, a male ghoul might impregnate a mortal woman and have the vampire make her a thrall in turn.Ninety-nine percent of the time, such awkward experimentation ends in miscarriage or stillbirth. Repeated biological failures take quite a toll on a female, as even her more vigorous ghoul condition can handle this constant physical and emotional burden for only so long. Eventually, the process either deadens a woman’s womb or simply kills her.
Of course, the improbable sometimes happens and a woman remains “blooded up” (as vulgar Kindred call it) with child. The child is born alive and in relative health, even if The Mother perishes. From such an event, a ghoul bloodline is born. But such an occurrence is so rare as to be almost unattainable.
Rituals
Some covenants, or particularly old individual elders, claim to have rituals that increase the chances of success during a ghoul’s pregnancy. Their respective keepers guard these rituals closely, regardless of whether they succeed in fostering a thrall bloodline.Most of these rituals originated with The Ordo Dracul, as that covenant is ostensibly responsible for more ghoul bloodlines than any other. These rituals, of which there are dozens, are said to be contained in a book called the Libret al Cal Pur-Sânge (Book of the Blood Mule). Many of the written ceremonies are simple. The pregnant ghoul might merely need to drink larger draughts of the regnant’s Vitae during the nine months, or she might instead need to consume more obscure reagents (such as the distilled afterbirth of a stag, the blood of an infant, potions of blended maggots). On the other hand, some rituals are impossibly complex. One ritual, the Sarpe din Mormânt, involves binding the motherto- be to a wooden chair, and applying 144 leeches to her naked flesh. During the time of the ritual, which lasts a full week, she is also fed small but constant amounts of mercury (though some older Order Kindred insist that adder venom is a better poison). At the end of this ritual, it is expected that The Mother will die but that the child will not only live, but be quite strong and stalwart.
The Circle of the Crone are said to have a number of rituals to ameliorate the conception of thrall bloodlines, as well. Most of these rituals involve just as many obscure reagents and elements as the Order’s rites, though the Circle tends to have more natural and mystical elements, as opposed to the Order’s more occult/scientific “techniques.” The number of Circle rituals pale in comparison to the elaborate catalog of ceremonies held in secret by The Ordo Dracul, however.
Crossbreeding
Some Kindred are aware that it’s easier to start with a member of a pre-existing thrall lineage than it is to create one’s own. Such vampires have occasionally accomplished such crossbreeding through a number of methods.For one, if a vampire knows of a pre-existing ghoul bloodline, he might try to negotiate with that family’s regnant. Such negotiations involve trading Ghouls, favors or territory for such a “special” thrall. It’s also possible that the two Kindred engage in a kind of alliance, offering to serve common interests while also sharing the two ghoul bloodlines that emerge. Such alliances are more likely to occur when the two vampires are of the same covenant, but this certainly isn’t a requirement.
Of course, some negotiations fall apart or never happen in the first place. Some vampires simply kidnap members of other ghoul bloodlines and bring them home to their own Ghouls. The abductee (almost always a woman) is raped repeatedly until her womb bears the fruit of a splinter bloodline. From there, she is either incorporated into the vampire’s own stable of Ghouls (if possible) or is simply killed.
Rumors
The process of creating a new and future bloodline of Ghouls is awash in esoteric lore and legend. Like any inscrutable and seemingly impossible event, the very concept is informed by a number of rumors, some of which include:- A pregnant ghoul will not miscarry or give birth to a dead child if she is made to drink a weekly draught of mandrake lacrima. Other variants of this legend suggest that she must be injected with the lacrima, or must have the mystical “mandrake tears” inserted vaginally.
- Only women born under the second day of a new moon are able to give birth to a thrall child. Alternatively, some suggest that only a woman born on a Friday the 13th can carry a ghoul child to term, whereas others add that she must also be the seventh daughter of a seventh son.
- If the woman is forced to drink her own blood (or in some rumors, consume her own flesh), she is able to deliver the child alive, though she herself will perish. Other legends demand that she not consume her own blood, but instead must drink the blood of The Father.
- Some say that the act of conception must occur in certain places for the child to survive. Some of those potential places include the following: hallowed ground, on top of a child’s gravesite, at the nexus of ley lines, at the very spot the woman’s regnant was Embraced or at the spot where Lucifer supposedly fell from the sky and struck the earth.
- One of the more popular legends is that the chance for success in creating a ghoul family is doubled or tripled if the regnant is also of a unique vampire bloodline.
Ghoul Bloodlines
The families detailed in Chapter One are only a few of those currently in existence. Some of them are highly visible, such as the Crassus, but most are small. They receive little notice from their masters, let alone other Kindred. Still, the potential for servants who can be maintained at smaller personal expense of Vitae is attractive, so many other ghoul bloodlines might exist. It happens by accident, as in the case of the Nirriti Cult, or by design, as with the Gravenor family. These families might have wealth, power and influence like the Crassus or be subject to poverty, hardship and anonymity like the Alley Men. In any case, should you want to create these families for your own chronicle, this section contains the systems for doing so. (Storytelling advice for creating ghoul families can be found in the Appendix.)the First Generation
Ghoul families have to start somewhere. Did some debauched Daeva simply end up with a pregnant ghoul after one too many orgies? Or, perhaps a more calculating Ventrue desired a permanent staff of thralls and sought the means to carry out that desire. Was the project motivated by the ideology of a covenant, such as a Dragon whose interest lay in studying this aspect of the Kindred condition? Or was it a personal project, unrelated to the vampire’s grander aims?Fertile Ghouls
The first step in creating a ghoul bloodline is finding ghouls who are capable of having babies. Doing so generally involves a lot of experimentation of a carnal variety, which raises all sorts of questions. Does the Kindred join the fun? Does she watch for pleasure? Does she watch out of detached interest? Is this simply a clinical breeding process? Of course, finding a mother and father for the bloodline might also involve searching through libraries of ancient texts and compiling a list of the proper qualities that allow a woman to be fertile, and a man to be virile, as a ghoul. Depending on whose libraries are consulted, the information will differ, both in flavor and in accuracy. Lancea Sanctum texts are likely to say that God will grant only girls of proper morality this favor, and their paramour must be similarly virtuous. Ordo Dracul libraries, on the other hand, are likely to yield up odder combinations, such as a virgin boy of 13 with his close relative, and both must drink each others’ blood on the night of the full moon, copulating at midnight. The Circle of the Crone might espouse extreme fertility, with texts recommending that a potential ghoul parent already have sired or birthed several children. Regardless, it should take a significant amount of effort in research, experimentation or both to find a breeding pair. Finding more than a single pair could be the focus of an entire story.No single set of qualities makes a woman a good ghoul mother or a man a good ghoul father. Certain things are helpful, though. High Stamina is very helpful. For the male, it means he is more healthy and virile, increasing the chances of conception in general. For the female, high Stamina means the body has more support to give the child when it comes to carrying the baby to term. High Willpower is also helpful on both parts, because the will of the individual does influence the power of the Vitae within them. Those with high Willpower can overcome some barriers imposed by being ghouls through the strength of their desire. Still, unless the Storyteller says that the particular conditions needed according to research and/or experimentation have been met, a ghoul mother has very little chance of conceiving and delivering a living child. Even if the Storyteller determines that the conditions have been met, the chances don’t improve much.
The process of research — be it textual study, searching out knowledgeable Kindred or performing sexual experiments — involves an extended roll. Asking around and textual study should probably be roleplayed in more detail than the experimentation, unless your troupe is mature enough to handle the subject and everyone present is comfortable with it. In any case, the specific roll made is up to the kind of research being done.
Asking around might involve Manipulation + Persuasion, Intimidation or Socialize, depending on how the questions are asked. Persuasion involves direct, but wheedling questions. Intimidation is direct and commanding. Socialize is subtle and indirect, and it takes much longer. Subterfuge would be another option for asking around cryptically, but doing so takes even longer than Socialize. If the character has contacts in an appropriate field, the player may add a bonus die to each roll. Allies, Mentor or Status also provide this bonus if they represent an appropriate person or group. Each roll takes one night of work.
Study of texts both ancient and cutting-edge could involve several Skills as well. Intelligence + Academics, Computer, Investigation, Medicine, Occult and Science could all apply. Academics shows that the character knows how to do research. Computer helps a vampire access online databases faster and makes the data more likely to come for free than otherwise. Investigation is a helpful skill when determining whether information is true and relevant. Medicine provides knowledge of how the body works, so it is perfect for identifying relevant details in modern medical science that could explain what’s happening in the ghoul’s body and find a way around it. It might also represent more traditional, holistic medical knowledge that would give some insight into the conditions necessary for procreation under adverse circumstances such as a ghoul’s body. Occult similarly helps with knowing the nature of Vitae. Science works on a similar theory to Medicine in the modern sense, allowing the character access to modern knowledge and techniques of doing things with technology that could help. Each roll requires one week of work (at least 25 hours).
Experimentation takes time, but for Kindred with Lust as their Vice it might be the preferred route for precisely that reason. No systems are required. The ghouls are simply paired off and made to mate, just as any normal couple attempting conception. Innumerable wives’ tales exist regarding helping conception along (as do some legitimate facts on the subject), but it really boils down to persistence. Tracking the female’s ovulation is possible with over-the-counter implements, and it might add equipment modifiers to the conception roll.
Whenever the Kindred has his subjects and any other accoutrements prepared, the ghouls attempt conception. As stated, this act can take many attempts (even for a normal, mortal couple) and some Kindred have waited years to achieve positive results. Some, of course, become bored with the notion and give up, while others try to increase their chances by having several breeding pairs trying simultaneously. For every week of persistent attempts to conceive, the Storyteller should roll three dice, modified as follows:
Situation | Modifier
Every 5 successes on the Kindred’s extended roll | +1
Ghoul mother has the Iron Stamina Merit | +1
Father is not a ghoul | +1
Mother has proficiency in the Resilience Discipline | +1
Conception attempts timed with mother’s ovulation cycle | +1
Mother has been a ghoul longer than one full year | -1
Mother has proficiency in the Protean Discipline | -1
Father is a ghoul (but not a member of a ghoul family) | -3
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Conception occurs, but the mother’s body immediately and violently miscarries. Damage to the woman’s reproductive system means that any future conception attempts incur a –3 modifier.
Failure: No conception occurs. The couple may continue trying.
Success: Pregnancy occurs, but it is very high-risk. See “Ghoul Pregnancy.”
Exceptional Success: Pregnancy occurs, with slightly lessened risks for the mother. See “Ghoul Pregnancy.”
Ghoul Pregnancy
Conception is only the first step. The living stasis in which all ghouls exist makes a ghoul child very difficult to carry to term. Every four months of pregnancy (i.e., once per trimester), the Storyteller should roll the female ghoul’s Stamina, with the following modifiers:Situation | Modifier
Medical care | +1 to +5, depending on how much money is available
Mother keeps herself in good health | +1
Exceptional success on the conception roll | +2
Mother is not subject to intense emotional stress | –
Mother is traumatized or otherwise stressed | –1
Sub-par or no medical care | –2
Mother smokes, drinks or otherwise poisons herself | –2
Mother spends Vitae for any other purpose but this roll during the trimester | –3
If a woman becomes a ghoul while pregnant, the Storyteller should immediately roll her Stamina, subject to any of the above modifiers that might apply. The results of the roll are as follows:
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The pregnancy terminates and the ghoul gains a mild derangement. Future conception attempts suffer a –2 penalty.
Failure: The pregnancy terminates. Depending on the circumstances, the mother might gain a derangement (Storyteller’s discretion).
Success: The pregnancy remains viable, if high-risk.
Exceptional Success: The Storyteller need not make this roll for the next trimester. If this roll was for the third trimester, the baby is delivered without incident.
When it comes time for the baby to be born, the Storyteller once again rolls the mother’s Stamina. If this roll fails, the mother dies in childbirth or the baby does not survive the delivery. If the roll is a dramatic failure, both perish. On a success or an exceptional success, both survive. All of the modifiers listed for the trimester Stamina rolls apply, as do any others the Storyteller feels appropriate.
Raising Ghoul Babies
Even if the baby and the mother survive the delivery, the first generation is far from secure, and the work is far from over. Raising the child presents all sorts of questions and complications. The very first question is, how to feed the child until she can eat solid food? Breast feeding might seem like a good option at first, but the mother is still a ghoul, and doesn’t produce nearly enough milk to sustain a child (since the Vitae in her body is constantly at war with the hormones that facilitate lactation). Baby formula is probably the way to go, as despite the clear health benefits of breast milk for normal children, ghoul children present quite a different set of problems.Raising the child presents its own issues. A regnant might like to think that he can raise the baby and thus control its personality and development, but no vampire is capable of raising a newborn because newborns require around-the-clock attention and care. Besides, while ghoul mothers might be fiercely loyal to their regnants, their devotion to their children is natural, and potentially stronger. The mother’s Resolve + Composure roll to be able to harm her regnant does not receive any of the normal penalties if her child’s safety is a factor. Whether she lets the vampire take her baby or attacks him and successfully rescues her child, the emotional consequences for her are staggering. The Storyteller may call for a degeneration roll or simply impose a derangement. Wise Kindred either work closely with their ghouls to raise such children or simply kill the parents off.
How the child or children are raised makes a lot of difference. Even if this process is being mostly glossed over in order to establish history, make sure to devote some thought to this part. Raising this first child establishes important precedents that shape how the family members relate to each other over the course of the family’s growth. The special difficulties mentioned here mesh with all the usual difficulties of raising a child. How is the child disciplined? What kind of schooling does he or she get? Public schooling is probably out, given the dilated aging inherent to the child’s condition. What kinds of friends does he or she have? Do the parents have more children at the same time, thus complicating the rearing of all of them? These questions and others like them should be considered, either over the course of a very involved story or over the course of a discussion of the family’s history.
Selective Breeding
Once the first child reaches maturity, the work of building the family really begins. It also becomes more complicated. The original pair of parents can continue to have more children, but unless congenital defects constitute an acceptable problem, it becomes necessary to find additional breeding stock. Conception and pregnancy works much as described thus far for a female member of a ghoul family attempting to become pregnant by a normal mortal or a male non-family ghoul, or for a male family ghoul attempting to impregnate a female ghoul. Only if both parents are members of a ghoul bloodline do conception and pregnancy chances normalize, which means inbreeding often really is the simplest solution, if not the most pleasant. Some Kindred think that “pleasant” is not worth the bother, and are simply content to kill off or ignore those children born defective.Strengths and Weaknesses
Generations of breeding and conditioning, along with the supernatural influence of the cursed Vitae they thrive on, changes members of ghoul families in fundamental ways. Just as Kindred have their specialized strengths and weaknesses, families of their thralls start to take on their own special qualities. Each of the ghoul families described previously in this book has existed for several generations, and thus has family strengths and weaknesses that reflect the conditions under which they developed. Over several generations, it is possible that player- or Storyteller-created ghoul families will develop such strengths and weaknesses as well.Strengths and weaknesses should balance each other out, because the vampiric curse takes away at least as much as it gives. Particularly adverse conditions and more inbreeding are likely to create ghouls whose weaknesses outweigh their strengths, but strengths should never outweigh weaknesses. They can only balance equally because ghouls are not as fully cursed as their vampiric masters, who certainly suffer more curse than blessing with their bloodthirst and deadly sunlight allergy. Let the strengths and weaknesses of the ghoul families in this book serve as a guide to balancing what your ghoul families gain as they expand.
So You Want to be a Family's Regnant...
Yes, Storytellers, you know it will happen: Inevitably, players will want to create their own families of Ghouls. Either they’ll want their characters to custom-design a pre-existing family and play a ghoul from that family, or their vampire characters will want to start their own. They might even want to have it both ways, with a character who starts off in possession of thralls from a previously existing family. What do you say to them?It depends on whether you want to focus the time and effort necessary on it. If it’s not something you want to focus on, then there doesn’t have to be much work involved at all. You can feel free to say no. You can also feel free to say, “Sure, you can start with a ghoul family. Buy them as several Retainer Merit dots.” The family probably shouldn’t have any special strengths or weaknesses, though, unless you and your players are willing to go through the entire process of creating the family and its history. For a simple family of household servants, a dot or two in Retainer for each should be fine. For anything more, not only would the cost in Retainer dots go up, but a suitable story should be involved detailing the search for fertile Ghouls and the pattern of breeding from that point, as well as the treatment of the family by its master over time.
Remember, though, that if your players are enthusiastic about having their characters do something, they’ll be enthusiastic about your chronicle if it lets them do it. Check out the first two commandments on p. 194 of the World of Darkness Rulebook and don’t shy away from the players’ desires.