Homebrew Ghoul v. 2 Species Details

After you’ve gobbled him down you’d be left alone to regret it while covered in blood and guts. That’s the hunger of a ghoul. That’s our destiny.

— Touka Kirishima

No one is quite sure when, where or why the first Ghouls ever appeared, but it is rumored that they were the result of a dark magic experiment with dragon, undead and human remains gone awry. They have to consume the flesh of other humanoid, sentient life in order to survive, although they prefer human flesh over any other. There is no central Ghoul nation or language, as the fear of the other races drive them to destroy any known Ghoul society. This has led Ghouls to hide amongst humans, as humans. The rumors they have garnered over the centuries is that of deceitful, vicious, cannibalistic monsters, although this isn't always true. Whenever a Ghoul is discovered, they are almost certainly attempted hunted down by the people that discovered them.

A Broad Spectrum

Ghouls are able to blend themselves in extremely easily with humans. The main difference is how a Ghoul is able to handle their hunger when it arrives. Some Ghouls act out in an uncontrollable blood frenzy, akin to a starving wild creature, attacking the first potential prey they see. They attack without rest until either they are dead or their prey is dead, then feast on the corpse. Other Ghouls act in a more quiet manner, preferring to stalk and ambush lone prey. Some, mainly Ghouls who have moral issues about killing, take it upon themselves to wait until conflict kills, and feast upon the corpses of those slain by battle, or if can, suicide victims to avoid taking a life.

Physical Description

Ghouls look completely identical to Humans in every way. The only difference comes in the form of a Ghoul's eyes. When chosen to reveal them, when angered, when starved, or during combat, a Ghoul's irises turn blood red,  the white of the eye turn pitch black, and thin black and red crack-like veins start to appear near their eyes.

The muscle-like protrusions that can emerge from their backs at will is another dead giveaway of a Ghoul. Luckily a person unfamiliar with these traits wont recognize it as a Ghoul, but rather a form of Dark or Evil magic. 

The bones, muscles and skin of a Ghoul is many times denser than that of a human. This gives them greater speed and strength than a human, and a sort of natural armor. They also live much longer than a human, regularly reaching the age of 150, but in extreme cases, can reach the age of 220. 

Reputation

Feared by most, understood by a few, loved by none

Just as readily as they mix with humans, Ghouls mingle with members of other races. They appear to get along with almost everyone, though they are feared by all. Ghouls are viewed by many as living scum, not worth the dirt they are standing on.

Tordek, Dwarf. “Never interrupt a ghoul during a meal...unless you want to be dessert. By the time you see the red in it's eyes it will be too late to stop them.”

Janai, Elf. “There is as many different kinds of Ghouls as there are plants in the forest, although most will eat you if given the chance ”

Ezram, Human. “If nothing else, they would make excellent executioners.”

Hunger

One of the more unique traits of Ghouls is their total inability to consume any form of normal food. Normal foods taste disgusting and uncomfortable. If ghouls attempt to eat normal food, they will be struck by a powerful urge to vomit. When forced or forcing themselves to digest such food, their physical condition will deteriorate. While ghouls cannot eat normal food, they are, however, able to drink coffee(and eat the beans), as well as regular drinking water. It is said that the taste of coffee in particular is extremely pleasurable for a Ghoul, but unfortunately can't nourish them, or quench their hunger for long. 

Ghouls can only get nourishment from the flesh of other sentient humanoid life. They prefer to consume human flesh, but it is not uncommon for them to eat other races, or even cannibalize one another. Flesh from anything other than a human is considered coarse and disgusting, but it has the merits of providing an alternative food source. When a Ghoul is deprived of sustenance for a longer period of time, they progressively go through several levels of hunger or starvation. When a ghoul enters an extreme state of hunger, they will suffer very painful headaches and their mental ability will be impaired, causing them to become driven by instinct alone. They will feed on any available source of meat to end this state, even that of close friends. This state of near-starvation is described by Ghouls as, "hell for any ghoul".

Ghouls do not need to eat regularly like other races do. They can survive for up to one or two weeks on just one body before feeling the effects of hunger. However, some ghouls eat merely for pleasure

 

Kagune - Dragon parts

A kagune is a Ghoul's predatory organ and functions as their weapon and claws. It is usually as red as blood, flexible like the flow of water, but firm and sturdy. The kagune is a hard, muscle-like protrusion described as their claws. It can take the form of a pair of sharp wings, tentacle-like appendages, a tail, or a blade-like object, and can even be detached from the ghoul, depending on the ghoul's type of kagune. More experienced Ghouls have learned to use their kagune for unique abilities. It is speculated that the different natural weapons that a Ghoul posses, referred to as "Kagune" amongst themselves, originate from the dragon-parts used in the creation of the first Ghoul. 

in general, there is four different types of kagune, depending on where it emerges out of the back: 

Dragon wing - Ukaku

An ukaku kagune ("feather-red") is spread out like feathers and is released from the shoulder area, it specializes in high speed attacks, most of the users seeming to have highly enhanced speed. The kagune is lightweight and can be used to deliver high-speed attacks against an adversary, the primary method of attack is crystallizing their kagune to deliver a high speed torrent of spike-like projectiles, however whilst crystallized they are much stiffer and cannot be used for short range combat; at least one ukaku-type can generate powerful lightning-like bolts, a possible rare ability. While the kagune is suited both for short-distance and long-distance attacks, short-range is considered their weakness. Several are capable of shaping them into sharp blades reminiscent of a swords to aid in close quarters.

Dragon skin - Koukaku

A koukaku kagune ("shell-red") is released below the shoulder blade. Due to its high density of muscles, it is heavy and extremely robust, giving it the greatest sturdiness and making them very well suited for defense. Normally, they are generally shaped into armors or shields, but on the offense, they can be shaped like melee weapons such as drills, hammers, blades, and swords.

Due to its high weight, a koukaku's speed is inferior to all other kagune types and the kagune is difficult to wield.

Dragons claws - Rinkaku

A rinkaku kagune (Demon Tails "scale-red") has an appearance similar to scaled tentacles and is released at the back around the waist. A rinkaku wielder has powerful regenerative abilities and some could even survive the most critical of damage. Its peculiar appearance and structure yields superior striking power and they excel in brute strength. Some rinkaku users are able to manipulate the shape of their kagune, such as changing its usual tentacle form into swords or claws.

Some rinkaku users can bind their multiple tentacle-like kagune together to make a larger, stronger kagune. So far the number of tentacles that rinkaku users can create are from one to eight tentacles.

Dragons tail - Bikaku

A bikaku kagune (Fish Tail "tail-red") typically has a tail-like appearance and is released around the tail-bone. It is good for medium-distance attacks and has decent offense, defense, and speed. Thus, they have no notable strengths or weaknesses like the other kagune types. The number of tails a bikaku user can create is usually one, but some can create more.

 

Ghoul v. 2 Traits

It’s hard to make generalizations about Ghouls, as they appear almost completely human in appearance. But in general, Ghouls have these traits:

Ability Score Increase

 Your strength and dexterity scores each increase by 2.

Age

Ghouls reach adulthood in their late teens and live regularly 150 years.

Size

Ghouls 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 45 feet.

Languages

Ghouls speak Common. The Ghoul society has no language of their own, but gives some words double meanings in order to hide what they actually mean from other races. Ghouls typically learn languages the same way humans does. They are fond of sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Orc curses, Elvish musical expressions, Dwarvish military phrases, and so on.

Kagune - Parts of the dragon

A kagune is a Ghoul's predatory organ and functions as their weapon and claws. It is usually as red as blood, flexible like the flow of water, but firm and sturdy. The kagune is a hard, muscle-like protrusion described as their claws. It can take the form of a pair of sharp wings, tentacle-like appendages, a tail, or a blade-like object, and can even be detached from the ghoul, depending on the ghoul's type of kagune. More experienced Ghouls have learned to use their kagune for unique abilities. It is speculated that the different natural weapons that a Ghoul posses, referred to as "Kagune" amongst themselves, originate from the dragon-parts used in the creation of the first Ghoul.

in general, there is four different types of kagune, depending on where it emerges out of the back.

Hardened Kagune

As an action you can equip Hardened Kagune to gain 2+ bonus to AC for the duration, or until you use a bonus action to unequip it. Whilst active all Kagune attacks deals half damage (Damage dealt cant be less than 1). The effects can be dismissed as a bonus action.

Extreme Hunger

When a Ghoul is deprived of sustenance for a longer period of time, they progressively go through several levels of hunger or starvation. A Ghoul needs to consume the flesh of a sentient humanoid to avoid the effects of starvation. You can eat to loose a level of starvation.

Ghouls can only get nourishment from the flesh of other sentient humanoid life. They prefer to consume human flesh, but it is not uncommon for them to eat other races, or even cannibalize one another. Flesh from anything other than a human is considered coarse and disgusting, but it has the merits of providing an alternative food source.