d20 Clockwork Golem Workshop Masterwork Monsters - Rise of the Ghouls.pdf - Clockwork Golem Workshop - R5700

Masterwork Monsters: Rise of the Ghouls

Almost every neophyte adventurer encounters

ghouls. They experience the terror of their first

paralysis, unable to act as the slavering undead

beast battles their comrades. They experience the

relief of feeling their muscles twitch into action

once more, before the ghouls can feast on their

flesh. Then they experience the ennui of reaching

fourth level and still being occasionally bothered

by these now-redundant sword fodder.

Ghouls get a harsh deal in d20 Fantasy. While

mindless undead such as skeletons and zombies

can still be credible threats to mid-level parties

and vampires, liches and other sentient undead are

figures of enormous power, the ghoul languishes

at the bottom of the undead food chain. While they

are a serious danger to low-level adventurers, their

threat rapidly diminishes once the mid-levels are

reached.

Rise of the Ghouls gives you new feats, abilities

and ghoulish variants, all designed to give these

overlooked and under-appreciated undead a

chance to shine. With a ghoul template to give

more diversity to the ghoulish ranks, a host of

ghoulish feats, the power of ancient hunger magic

and the exotic abilities of five new ghoul variants,

Rise of the Ghouls has all the tools you need to

help your high-level player characters remember

why ghouls where so frightening back when they

were just starting out.

A Henchman Production for Clockwork Golem Workshop

Written by Adam Windsor

Edited by Peter M. Ball

Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition

Core Books, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Dungeons & Dragons and Wizards of the Coast are

trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States

and other countries and are used with permission.

'd20 System' and the 'd20 System' logo are trademarks of

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used according to the

terms of the d20 System License version 6.0. A copy of this

License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20 .

Design Assumptions

The material presented here reflects the following assumptions about ghouls:

• Ghouls are archetypal undead, well established in both folk lore and d20 gaming.

• Ghouls should cause fear and despair. They are grave-despoiling cannibals, as horrific in

their nature and behavior as any lich or vampire.

• As horrific monsters and archetypal undead, ghouls deserve much more flexibility and

opportunity for use in d20 fantasy campaigns.

• The standard d20 fantasy rules are structured in such a way that ghouls quickly cease to be

a credible threat to adventurers, whereas zombies, skeletons, vampires and liches can be

encountered at a variety of different levels.

Masterwork Monsters: Rise of the Ghouls

Ghoulish Secrets: Ghoul Template

One of the ghoul's greatest weaknesses in the core

d20 rules is that it essentially comes in only one

variety: a two hit dice medium-sized undead with

a weak paralysis attack. Even its advancement

options are limited - it can gain one extra hit die,

but that's all.

The rules here convert ghouls into a template

that can be applied to a base creature, much like a

zombie or vampire. This makes it possible to have

ghoulish fire giants, ghoulish dragons, or even

something as simple as a ghoulish halfling, all of

which are impossible under the core rules.

Ghouls are emaciated, gray-skinned creatures

with sharp fingernails and teeth. They are often

spattered with scraps of rotting meat and dried

blood. Most ghouls lose any hair they had in life.

A living creature which becomes a ghoul also

loses its original personality, which is subsumed

into an unending hunger for raw, red meat, torn

fresh from the bodies of its victims.

Although they retain their intelligence and are

capable of subtlety and even advanced tactics in

their pursuit of pray, the ghoul's entire focus and

purpose is to feed. They are to all intents and

purposes a different, and usually far more bestial,

creature.

Exactly why ghouls are driven to eat the flesh

of living creatures is the subject of considerable

debate in academic circles. Adventurers, for some

reason, do not seem to share this curiosity. As

undead creatures, ghouls do not need to eat, a fact

born out by their ability to survive hundreds of

years in sealed tombs without any new sources of

food. Sages have posited that the desire for flesh

is a side-effect of ghoul fever, but this has not

been proven.

spindly arms ending in sharp talons and its eyes

glowing like coals in the darkness.

Ghoulish Choker

Small Undead

Hit Dice: 4d12 (26 hp)

Initiative: +6

Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 10 ft.

Armor Class: 18 (+1 size, +2 Dex, +5 natural),

touch 13, flat-footed 16

Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+6

Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d4+4)

Full Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d4+4 plus paralysis)

plus 2 tentacles +5 melee (1d3+2 plus

paralysis)

Space/Reach: 5 ft./10 ft.

Special Attacks: Improved grab, constrict 1d3+2,

ghoul fever, paralysis

Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., +2 turn

resistance, undead traits

Saves: Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +6

Abilities: Str 18, Dex 18, Con -, Int 6, Wis 17,

Cha 9

Skills: Climb +12, Hide +15, Move Silently +11

Feats: Multiattack, ghastly touch

Environment: Any

Organization: Solitary, gang (2–4), or pack (7–

12).

Challenge Rating: 3

Treasure: None

Alignment: Always chaotic evil

Advancement: 5–7 HD (Small); 8–13 HD

(Medium)

Level Adjustment: —

A ghoulish choker is an undead predator that

hungers for the flesh of the living. Merging the

stealth of the choker with the paralytic touch of

the ghoul, it is a dangerous hunter that can hold

entire communities in a grip of paralytic fear.

Sample Ghoulish Creature

This decaying corpse has flesh pulled tight across

its ropey frame. It crouches in the shadows, its

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Masterwork Monsters: Rise of the Ghouls

base creature’s statistics and special abilities

except as noted here.

Hit Dice: Drop any Hit Dice from class levels

(to a minimum of 1), add one to the number of Hit

Dice left, and raise them to d12s.

Speed: If the base creature can fly, its

maneuverability rating drops to average. If it is

currently worse than average, it does not change.

Armor Class: Natural armor bonus increases

by a number based on the ghoul's size:

Combat

Like its living counterpart, the ghoulish choker

will often perch near ceilings or the upper boughs

of trees in order to ambush its opponents. It tries

to surprise opponents whenever possible.

Constrict (Ex): A ghoulish choker deals

1d3+2 points of damage with a successful grapple

check against a Large or smaller creature.

Because it seizes its victim by the neck, a creature

in the choker’s grasp cannot speak or cast spells

with verbal components.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a

ghoulish choker must hit a Large or smaller

opponent with a tentacle attack. It can then

attempt to start a grapple as a free action without

provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the

grapple check, it establishes a hold and can

constrict. Ghoulish chokers receive a +4 racial

bonus on grapple checks, which is already

included in the statistics block.

Ghoul Fever (Su): Disease—bite, Fortitude

DC 12, incubation period 1 day, damage 1d3 Con

and 1d3 Dex. An afflicted creature of an

appropriate type which dies of ghoul fever rises as

a ghoul at the next midnight. It is not under the

control of any other ghouls, but it hungers for the

flesh of the living and behaves like a normal

ghoul in all respects.

Paralysis (Ex): Those hit by a ghoulish

choker’s bite or tentacle attacks must succeed on a

Fortitude save (DC 13) or be paralyzed for 1d4+1

rounds.

Skills: A ghoulish choker has a +8 racial bonus

on Climb checks and can always choose to take

10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened.

Tiny or smaller

Small

Medium

Large

Huge

Gargantuan

Colossal

+11

Base Attack: A ghoul has a base attack bonus

equal to 1/2 its Hit Dice.

Attacks: A ghoul retains all the natural

weapons of the base creature. A ghoul gains a bite

attack as a primary attack if it does not already

have one. All existing natural weapons are treated

as secondary attacks. If it has no other natural

weapons, it also gains two claw attacks as

secondary attacks. A ghoul loses all manufactured

weapon attacks and all manufactured weapon

proficiencies.

Damage: Natural weapons deal damage

normally. A bite or claw attack deals damage

depending on the ghoul's size (Use the base

creature's damage if it's better).

Size

Bite

Claw

Fine

Creating A Ghoul

'Ghoul' is an acquired template that can be added

to any corporeal aberration, dragon, fey, giant,

humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid or

outsider.

Size and Type: The creature’s type changes to

undead. It retains any subtypes except alignment

subtypes and subtypes that indicate kind. It does

not gain the augmented subtype. It uses all the

Diminutive

1d2

Tiny

1d3

Small

1d4

1d2

Medium

1d6

1d3

Large

1d8

1d4

Huge

2d6

1d6

Gargantuan

2d8

1d8

Colossal

4d6

2d6

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Masterwork Monsters: Rise of the Ghouls

Special Attacks: A ghoul retains all of the

base creature’s extraordinary special attacks. A

ghoul gains the following special attacks:

Ghoul Fever (Su): Disease—bite, Fortitude DC

10 + 1/2 hit dice + Charisma ability modifier,

incubation period 1 day, damage 1d3 Con and 1d3

Dex.

An afflicted creature of an appropriate type

which dies of ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the

next midnight. It is not under the control of any

other ghouls, but it hungers for the flesh of the

living and behaves like a normal ghoul in all

respects.

Paralysis (Ex): Those hit by a natural weapons

must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 hit

dice + Charisma ability modifier) or be paralyzed

for 1d4+1 rounds. Elves have immunity to this

paralysis.

Special Qualities: A ghoul retains any

extraordinary special qualities of the original

creature. A ghoul gains +2 turn resistance.

Saves: Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD,

Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +1/2 HD + 2.

Abilities: A ghoul's Strength, Intelligence and

Charisma increase by +2, its Dexterity and

Wisdom increase by +4, and it has no Constitution

score.

Skills: A ghoul loses all existing skills. It gains

the normal number of skill points for an undead

creature of its hit dice and Intelligence. A ghoul's

class skills are Balance, Climb, Hide, Jump, Move

Silently, and Spot.

A ghoul retains all the base creature's racial

modifiers to skills.

Feats: A ghoul loses all existing feats, but

gains new feats based on their modified number

of hit dice. Most ghouls take Multiattack as their

first feat.

Environment: Any.

Organization: Solitary, gang (2–4), or pack

(7–12).

Challenge Rating: HD 1 or less, as base

creature +1/2; HD 2 or more, as base creature +1.

Treasure: None.

Alignment: Always chaotic evil.

Advancement: As base creature, but

maximum Hit Dice increased by one. No

advancement is possible if the base creature

ordinarily advances by character class.

Level Adjustment: —.

Lacedon

Ghouls of this type are aquatic creatures, and are

often found in sunken ruins or shipwrecks. Some

packs of lacedons prey on shipping, clambering

up the sides of vessels to kill and eat all living

creatures aboard.

Lacedons look very similar to their land-bound

cousins, except that they often have a blue or

green tinge to their skin, and usually retain some

or all of any hair they had in life.

Creating A Lacedon

'Lacedon' is an acquired template that can be

added to any creature which already possesses a

ghoul template. It uses all the base ghoul's

statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type: The ghoul gains the aquatic

subtype.

Speed: The ghoul gains a swim speed equal to

its normal land speed.

Special Attacks: A lacedon's Fever special attack

(whether ghoul fever, bloat fever or some other

variety) always creates other lacedons, rather than

normal ghouls.

Ghast

Ghasts are a stronger and more powerful form of

ghoul, known for being more cunning than their

lesser kin. In appearance and behavior they differ

little from their more common cousins, but ghasts

can be easily told apart from normal ghouls by the

foul stench that surrounds them, putrid enough to

cause sickness and distress in living creatures that

approach too close.

Unlike other forms of ghouls, which were

initially created by magic but can perpetuate

themselves through the disease they carry, the

only known way for ghasts to be created is

through spells such as create ghouls or create

undead . Some sages believe that particularly

ancient ghouls might ultimately evolve into

ghasts, or that prolonged exposure to a powerful

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Masterwork Monsters: Rise of the Ghouls

source of negative energy might also effect the

transformation, but such claims are disputed and

unproven.

same ghast’s stench for 24 hours. A delay poison

or neutralize poison spell removes the effect from

a sickened creature. Creatures with immunity to

poison are unaffected, and creatures resistant to

poison receive their normal bonus on their saving

throws.

Abilities: A ghast's Strength and Charisma

increase by +4, and its Dexterity increases by +2.

These modifiers are in addition to those already

applied for the original ghoul template.

Feats: A ghast gains Improved Natural Attack

with all its natural weapons as bonus feats. They

may also gain an extra feat from their additional

hit dice. Many Ghasts choose Toughness for this

feat.

Organization: Same as the base ghoul, but

there are rarely more than 2-4 ghasts in a group.

The remainder of any larger grouping will be

ghouls, rather than ghasts.

Challenge Rating: As base ghoul +2.

Level Adjustment: +6 (base creature is high

ghoul) or — (all other forms of ghoul)

Creating A Ghast

'Ghast' is an acquired template that can be added

to any creature that any creature which already

possesses a ghoul template. It uses all the base

ghoul's statistics and special abilities except as

noted here.

Hit Dice: Gain two additional hit dice.

Armor Class: Natural armor bonus increases

by +2.

Special Attacks: A ghast retains all of the base

ghoul's special attacks. Elves are not immune to a

ghast's paralysis attack, if it has one. A ghast also

gains the following special attack:

Stench (Ex): The stink of death and corruption

surrounding these creatures is overwhelming.

Living creatures within 10 feet must succeed on a

Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the ghast's hit dice +

the ghast's Charisma ability modifier) or be

sickened for 1d6+4 minutes. A creature that

successfully saves cannot be affected again by the

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d20 Clockwork Golem Workshop Masterwork Monsters - Rise of the Ghouls.pdf

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