Homebrew Ghoul Species Details

Ghouls or necrotic post-humans are decrepit, rotting, zombie-like mutants. Intense and prolonged radiation has ravaged their skin, much of their flesh and in some cases many of their ligaments. Paradoxically, they also have greatly extended overall lifespans and are, allegedly, immune to (and even healed of damage by) background radiation and/or nuclear fallout.

Consistent exposure to concentrated levels of background radiation for an extended period of time will randomly result in humans undergoing a mutation/transformation into the ghoul species. Nevertheless, for typical humans, any serious exposure to background radiation levels results in sickness, shortly followed by death. Ghouls from other regions most likely originated from opportune or home-made shelters. Such shelters were not adequate to fully protect against all the effects of nuclear fallout. Radiation levels in some areas were such that they were low enough not to kill people, but high enough not to leave them unscathed.

"Without medical technology, all of us ghouls are going to die off in the next 20 years, anyway."  -Gordon

Ghoul Traits

Ghouls are able to do many things due to their extreme transformation. These include breathing underwater for an "extended" period of time, immune to radiation, and can see in dark areas, just to name a few.

Ability Score Increase

 Your ability scores each increase by 1.

Age

Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.

Alignment

 Humans tend toward no particular alignment. The best and the worst are found among them.

Size

Humans vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. The languages of pre-war have been found all around the wastes, these include Russian, Chinese, Japanese, German, Polish, Spanish/Mexican, and Latin. (Place one of the extra languages in your notes.)