Ghouls that are not undead creatures

[Christopher]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

The Main Book for 6th edition Champions.

Champions is only one setting for the Hero System. A long time ago the system and champions were synonymous, but that is no longer the chase.

 

The names are the one lucius wrote. They can usually be bought as bundle (since allone they don't make much sense):

https://www.herogames.com/viewItem.htm?itemID=240443

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I have accesss to both of the books you mentioned. I made a mistake when I said I do not have then or access to them.

[Christopher]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I have accesss to both of the books you mentioned. I made a mistake when I said I do not have then or access to them.

Access like "in my arms reach", "I can take a look once per week" or "one of my players has them"?

 

Whit your ideas and especially when you want to make the GM, you certainly need direct access to the books.

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I was thinking the character turned into a ghoul by being cursed.

 

Where do I find out about doing paralyzation in the books for 6th edition Champions.

 

How would I make the assume the form of the animal they are based on? How many of that animal would be a good number to be able summon and control at will?

 

Why would you say make them jackals?

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

Paralyzation is typically done with the power Entangle.

 

Shapeshift or Multiform. I personally do not like Summon, so my answer would be 'zero'.

 

I wouldn't; I'd say make them whatever you want them to be.

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I want them to able to actually turn into a hyena not just type the shape of one.

 

How do I give them an ability to crack open bones so they can eat the marrow? Would having heavy powerfully built jaws or large massive jaws help them in cracking open bones?

How about these for their suymmoning hyenas?

Hyena summons: Summon 50-point creatures, Difficult To Dispel (x2 Active Points; +1/4) (12 Active Points)

[Lucius]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I was thinking the character turned into a ghoul by being cursed.

 

Where do I find out about doing paralyzation in the books for 6th edition Champions.

 

You can try using the index.

 

Personally, however, I think the simplest solution is to use an attack with the Advantage of Attack Vs Alternate Defense, All or Nothing, and define what makes someone immune to the power. Then add a -1/4 Limitation that the target always remains conscious and aware, but just can't move.

 

How would I make the assume the form of the animal they are based on?

 

This question was already answered. Why do you ask it again?

 

How many of that animal would be a good number to be able summon and control at will?

 

Depends on too many factors to even begin to answer. The Summon Power is set up to summon creatures in multiples of two. Or you could give some Ghouls a set of animal Followers, which is again set up for multiples of two. Or you could give them Animal Handler skill and they have to find or breed the creatures and train them.

 

Why would you say make them jackals?

 

Because you wanted them to not be like Gnolls. If you don't want them to be like Gnolls, why make them like hyenas?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Just don't make them like palindromedaries. I wouldn't like that.

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I really want them to be less like Gnolls. So what animals are assoicated with death and the dead and which animals eat bones.

 

I am going to give them the animal handler towards the animal they are based on. What if they have animal friendship towards the animal they based on?

[Lucius]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I want them to able to actually turn into a hyena not just type the shape of one.

 

And I say again, the question was already answered by Christopher, here.

 

Best way? Do they really get a hyena, or do they only look like one?

Shapeshift allows look like, but without changing abilites.

Multiform allows becoming somthign totally different. Just make the Hyena form, with all the abilites and complications for that and you are set.

 

So I have two questions.

 

1. Why are you asking questions that have already been answered?

 

2. Why do you want a ghoul to be able to change completely into a hyena, given that this will almost certainly make the ghoul weaker?

 

How do I give them an ability to crack open bones so they can eat the marrow? Would having heavy powerfully built jaws or large massive jaws help them in cracking open bones?

 

Write down somewhere in the description "Their jaws are powerful enough to crack open bones to eat the marrow."

 

This doesn't need to be bought with points any more than a Human character needs something for "As a tool using species, frequently uses tools and technology even for such basic tasks as eating, often using fire to prepare food by heating it (especially meat) and using specialized tools when actually consuming food. Specific tools used are culturally determined, i.e. one Human may employ chopsticks and another a knife and fork because they come from different cultures."

 

How about these for their suymmoning hyenas?

Hyena summons: Summon 50-point creatures, Difficult To Dispel (x2 Active Points; +1/4) (12 Active Points)

 

Why make it Difficult to Dispel?

 

This would let a Ghoul Summon one hyena, assuming a hyena can be built on 50 pts. You should build the hyena FIRST and then you'll know how many points it takes to Summon one. Note that this also summons a hyena out of nowhere. If you want the Ghoul to give a haunting, laughter like cry and hyenas come running out of the wilderness, you want "Must inhabit locale" and "arrives under own power" Limitations. Maybe even "Incantations."

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Summon Palindromedary

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

Forget about them being able to turn into hyenas, summon hyenas, or being bipedal hyenas.

I am sorry for repeating myself.

 

I am going to based them on the vulture or jackal as of right now.

 

I want the animal form they can assume to not weaken them at all when they assume it.

[Lucius]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I really want them to be less like Gnolls. So what animals are assoicated with death and the dead and which animals eat bones.

 

I am going to give them the animal handler towards the animal they are based on. What if they have animal friendship towards the animal they based on?

 

Animal Handler is probably cheaper for similar effect if you only want it to work on a specific species or type of creature.

 

As modern biologists have learned, the distinction between predator and scavenger is not as clear-cut as previously thought; as I understand it, zoologists now regard the hyena as being as predatory as the lion, and the lion is no less a scavenger than the hyena. But here's some creatures that definitely scavenge and have been associated with scavenging in Human thinking:

 

Hyenas

Fascinating creatures; their socieity is a femdom utopia.

 

Jackals

A good alternative to hyenas. If you describe something as "like a hyena on two legs" players will think "Gnoll!" If you say "a jackal on two legs" they may imagine something visually similar but won't automatically think "Gnoll!"

 

Dogs

A dog's proclivity for eating almost anything especially the distasteful has earned it a reputation as an unclean beast in a number of cultures.

 

Crows and Ravens

"Carrion crow" is such a cool phrase.

 

Rats

speaking of cool phrases, "Corpse rat" is one that was used by Erich Maria Remarque in All Quiet on the Western Front - supposedly what soldiers call the huge rats that fed on corpses in the battlefield.

 

Vultures or Buzzards

Strongly associated with deserts, famous for patience.

 

Various insects, such as Blowflies, Burying Beetles (who bury small dead animals as food for larvae) and Scarabs, who tie into all kinds of Egyptian associations if you want that.

 

 

This was posted while I was composing the above:

 

Forget about them being able to turn into hyenas, summon hyenas, or being bipedal hyenas.

I am sorry for repeating myself.

 

I am going to based them on the vulture or jackal as of right now.

 

I want the animal form they can assume to not weaken them at all when they assume it.

 

Then you want Shapechange, for the Sight and Touch groups. That would change their physical shape (which is I think what you were getting at) but they still have all the same powers and abilities. you might put a Limitation on it, though, to reflect the loss of hands so they can't use tools and weapons.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary reflects

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

The only problem is if I make them bipedal vultures is should they have wings which they can fly with?

[Lucius]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

The only problem is if I make them bipedal vultures is should they have wings which they can fly with?

 

Only if you want them to.

 

By the way, did you ever play GURPS? Steve Jackson has his own unique take on Ghouls.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary goes bump in the day

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

No I have not. So what do the ghouls look like in GURPS?

[Lucius]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

No I have not. So what do the ghouls look like in GURPS?

 

Actually, this is from GURPS Fantasy Folk. I am sure GURPS, being GURPS, has several versions of Ghouls for different genres.

 

They don't look much different from Humans and can pass as Human.

 

They are not undead. They are not (usually) evil. They feed upon the flesh of sentient humanoids, and in particular must eat brains to survive. They regard themselves as having an important role in the world, passing down from generation to generation a tradition that the Creator made them specifically to feed upon the dead so that corpses do not just lie around and rot, smelling everything up and making a mess. They are almost universally hated and feared by other people, so they live in secret, move very quietly, and even have a language including a lot of sibillants and avoiding harsh sounds easily heard at a distance. They do no harm unless their peculiar diet, which necessitates desecrating graves and corpses, is regarded as harm. They normally move into a graveyard and, in so far as possible, obtain their sustenance and live out their lives as quietly and invisibly as they can. Unless sought out and hunted down, they would usually pose no threat to adventurers.

 

While have not read them myself, some of Niven's Ringworld stories also feature people called Ghouls. They are a hominid species, distantly related to Humans, who feed upon the dead of other hominids, and in many of the cultures of Ringworld are central to funerary customs - everybody knows and expects that when they die, they go to feed the Ghouls. I understand Niven's Ghouls also resemble jackals or hyenas with a pronounced muzzle. They can't speak Human languages (that pronounced muzzle causes mispronounced words) and use a sign language to communicate.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary really prefers evil Ghouls with infernal connections. Demons are a Ghoul's best fiend!

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I really enjoy your help Lucius. I read on tvtropes that Dresden ghouls are humanoid beasts that look like someone mixed a baboon with a hyena.

 

The Demon Ghoul also know as a dybbuk which is from Palladium looks like this.

The natural form of the demon-ghoul is a massive, barrel-chested humanoid with no neck, vaguely human, baldhead and a large maw rimmed with a double row of pointed teeth. In place of the arms are pair of oversized limbs, like those of an ape, thickly muscled, with massive, clawed hands, like shovels, that drag across the ground. These arms are used to dig up the grave of the dead and to rend flesh from large prey. Tucked under them is a second pair of arms; spindly and delicate, a little shorter than a human’s, and half as thick. The hands are small, with long fingers tipped with four inch long, razor sharp claws use to dismember its food and feed itself

 

I should go with the vulture then to make them less like the Ringworld Ghouls? I want my ghouls to be scary looking.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

The only problem is if I make them bipedal vultures is should they have wings which they can fly with?

 

Do you want them to be able to fly? You need to decide what abilities you want them to have.

 

Given you seem tied to the idea they can Shapeshift into the animal they are based on, perhaps only the Vulture form can fly. This might be a reason for them to use a weaker vulture form - it can do something not possible in humanoid form.

 

And, since we're listing different ghouls, Newhon Ghouls were basically human creatures with transparent flesh. They didn't seem to share the usual ghoulish trope of eating dead humans.

[Lucius]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

Do you want them to be able to fly? You need to decide what abilities you want them to have.

 

Given you seem tied to the idea they can Shapeshift into the animal they are based on, perhaps only the Vulture form can fly. This might be a reason for them to use a weaker vulture form - it can do something not possible in humanoid form.

 

And, since we're listing different ghouls, Newhon Ghouls were basically human creatures with transparent flesh. They didn't seem to share the usual ghoulish trope of eating dead humans.

"

 

On the contrary, they regarded it as a kind of sacred duty to transform "mudflesh" into their own transparent "crystalflesh" by consuming it.

 

Kreeshkra (I think was the name) so explained it to Fafhrd, but since she loved him and therefore didn't want to eat him, it never happened "on stage." He DID get to see her eat other food (their diet was not that restricted) giving him a rare glimpse of the process of digestion made visible (as the food is absorbed, it disappears from view.)

 

Granted, unlike many other Ghouls they seem to prefer fresh meat rather than digging up cadavers.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Swords Against Palindromedaries

[Christopher]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

Where do I find out about doing paralyzation in the books for 6th edition Champions.

Short term paralisation:

Entangle with "Takes no Damage from attacks" at +1 level.

 

Longer term:

Severe Transform (the highest level of Transform).

 

Note that "short term" is only true agaisnt superhumans. Most normal humans can't break out of a set of handcuffs (10 STR vs. 6 PD/6 ED, 3 Body) but only weak supers would even notice them.

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I wanted the ghouls to biped jackals. I know that D&D has the Marruspawn (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/sand_gallery/87628.jpg) which have jackal heads They have two other forms they can assume. The first is a vulture and the other is a jackal. They can summon jackals and vultures. To summon jackal the ghoul makes a howl like a jackal and to summon vultures it make the sound like that of a vulture. The animal forms let the ghoul hide from people and when in vulture form it can travel travel to place unreachable in its other forms.

 

The paralyzation ability I wanted to give them makes think D&D ghouls. I do not want them to have anything that make people think D&D ghoul/ghast in way.

[Christopher]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I wanted the ghouls to biped jackals.

Build as normal NPC. Add "Distinctive Features: Bipedal jackal". You have a character sheet for something that looks like a bipedal Jackal.

Add powers you think fitting for Bipedal jackals (or no powers, it's up to you).

 

I know that D&D has the Marruspawn (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/sand_gallery/87628.jpg) which have jackal heads They have two other forms they can assume. The first is a vulture and the other is a jackal.

Either take the Vulture/Jackal equivalent from the Hero System bestiary or make your own interpretation. Maybe upgrade the resilance (PE/ED, Body, STUN, Rec - that type of stuff) so he is not so vulnerable in those forms.

 

They can summon jackals and vultures. To summon jackal the ghoul makes a howl like a jackal and to summon vultures it make the sound like that of a vulture.

Summoning ([for however many points a Jackal or Vulture is/5] + 5 for every doubling of their number), must inhabit locale (-1/2), arrives under own power (-1/2), Incantations (-1/4) and maybe Obvious (the call must be audible over a large area).

You either need one summon for each animal (Summon Jackal and Summon Vulture) or expanded Class Adnvatage (+1/4; maybe only +0 depending on how dangerous Jackals Vulture in that number are for superhumans).

 

The animal forms let the ghoul hide from people and when in vulture form it can travel travel to place unreachable in its other forms.

Don't give the Jackal any distinctive Features. Give the Vulture form flying.

 

The paralyzation ability I wanted to give them makes think D&D ghouls. I do not want them to have anything that make people think D&D ghoul/ghast in way.

So, what now? Do you want to give them a paralysation ability or not? We can only make paralysation or not make paralysation.

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I do not want it to have paralyzation.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

I wanted the ghouls to biped jackals. I know that D&D has the Marruspawn (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/sand_gallery/87628.jpg) which have jackal heads They have two other forms they can assume. The first is a vulture and the other is a jackal. They can summon jackals and vultures. To summon jackal the ghoul makes a howl like a jackal and to summon vultures it make the sound like that of a vulture. The animal forms let the ghoul hide from people and when in vulture form it can travel travel to place unreachable in its other forms.

 

The paralyzation ability I wanted to give them makes think D&D ghouls. I do not want them to have anything that make people think D&D ghoul/ghast in way.

 

In a gaming group? Don't call it a ghoul, then!

 

Build as normal NPC. Add "Distinctive Features: Bipedal jackal". You have a character sheet for something that looks like a bipedal Jackal.

Add powers you think fitting for Bipedal jackals (or no powers, it's up to you).

 

Either take the Vulture/Jackal equivalent from the Hero System bestiary or make your own interpretation. Maybe upgrade the resilance (PE/ED, Body, STUN, Rec - that type of stuff) so he is not so vulnerable in those forms.

 

In building a character who had animal transform abilities, I established a set bonus to all characteristics which applied to the character in base (human - biped jackal in your case) form and then to each animal form. That is, a normal human is STR 10, and this character is S 25 in human form, so in jackal and vulture form, he adds 15 to the standard STR for a jackal or a vulture.

 

Summoning ([for however many points a Jackal or Vulture is/5] + 5 for every doubling of their number), must inhabit locale (-1/2), arrives under own power (-1/2), Incantations (-1/4) and maybe Obvious (the call must be audible over a large area).

You either need one summon for each animal (Summon Jackal and Summon Vulture) or expanded Class Adnvatage (+1/4; maybe only +0 depending on how dangerous Jackals Vulture in that number are for superhumans).

 

Most animals need their writeups beefed up to be any threat to a Super. Still, a large number would be a distraction or a nuisance.

 

Don't give the Jackal any distinctive Features. Give the Vulture form flying.

 

Maybe the jackal gets Striking Appearance - mundane unnoticed dog like creature, adding bonuses to all his rolls to convince onlookers he's nothing special, just move along.

[TheNaga]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

What if I make the Lord of the Ghouls have the appearance of a ghoul but with the wings of a vulture? The very first ghoul was cursed into the form of a ghoul. What suggestion could you give me on setting up the original of ghouls. I would also like my ghouls to scarier.

[Zen Archer]

Re: Ghouls that are not undead creatures

 

If the first ghoul was cursed, than he or she may well have committed some sort of transgression that ticked off a god/priest/sorceror sort, leading to the curse. How he or she bred from that point is an exercise for you and/or the GM.

 

First thing that comes to mind about making ghouls "scarier" is to up their PRE. Possibly give them some fear effect as well. (I'm not a 6th ed guy, so I don't know how if that's done different nowadays).