The Undead, painted for this archive

Ghoul

Creature, The Undead

Gaunt, hairless, grave-scavenging undead with bat-like ears, glowing night-seeing eyes and a paralyzing bite. Nocturnal pack hunters that hate all life, sense the living at 100 feet, and take only half damage from normal weapons.

From the book

To Kvasir of Midgarth, ghouls are grave-robbing creatures of the dark and foes of every living thing; night is their element, the graveyard their home, and their packs hold sway from dusk until dawn. They are human-sized, gaunt and corpse-like, and they stink. Their gray-white skin is often covered in boils and sores, with the bones plainly visible beneath. Head and body are hairless, and the high domed skull and huge, almost bat-like ears give them an unearthly look. They have sharp fangs, long ripping talons and faintly glowing eyes that see in darkness.

They live mostly on corpses and bones dug up in graveyards and burial grounds. Hating all life, they attack and kill anyone who strays into their territory at night, using fang and claw, and their bite can paralyze most living creatures for 5-20 minutes unless the victim saves vs CON, and it may also pass on disease. By day they hide in dark places near their haunts.

They are not very bright, but their cruel cunning makes them hard to hunt down. Every ghoul can scent any living being within a hundred feet and puts this to many devious uses. Ordinary and natural weapons do only half damage to them, while magic and magic weapons do full damage. Humans a ghoul kills may rise as ghouls themselves unless precautions are taken, spell casters slain by ghouls may become Afiti, and barrow wights may be a kind of ghoul.

At a glance

Size: Human-sized
Appearance: Gaunt and corpselike, grayish-white skin with pustules and sores, bones visible; hairless high-domed head, large almost bat-shaped ears; sharp fangs, long talons, faintly glowing eyes adapted to darkness; foul stench
Diet: Corpses and skeletal remains scavenged from graveyards and burial grounds
Habitat: Graveyards; hide in dark places near their haunts by day; nocturnal; packs
Attacks: Fang and claw; bite can cause temporary paralysis in most living creatures
Senses: Sense living beings at 100 feet
Intelligence: Not very intelligent but cruelly cunning
Defenses: Natural and non-magical weapons half effective; magic and magical weapons do full damage
Related: Spell casters slain by ghouls may become Afiti; barrow wights may be a ghoul variant
Source cited: Kvasir of Midgarth, The Dark Undead
Height/Length: 5-6 + ft.
Weight: 100-150 + lbs.
STR: 15-17
SPD: 12
DEX: 12
CON: 19
INT: 5
WILL: 12
CHA: 2
PER: 15
Level: 2-4
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Damage: Bite: 1-4 (+ paralysis for 5-20 minutes unless a save vs CON succeeds, and/or disease), Claws: 1-6 (+ STR) each
Special Attributes: Scents living beings within 100 ft.; non-magical weapons do only ½ damage to it
Armor: Unarmored
Hit Points: 10-20
Found in: Atlantis, Hesperia, Gondwana, Jambu, Lemuria/Mu/Elysium Sea, Mediterranea, North Sea Region, Tamoanchan
Comments: Its bite usually paralyzes for 5-20 minutes (a save vs CON resists); humans slain by a Ghoul can themselves become Ghouls unless precautions are taken