A vampire's blood has great power, power that can be passed on. Long ago, the Kindred discovered that mortals who drank vampiric blood would become possessed of supernatural abilities and dark appetites. Soon it became common practice for vampires to keep certain favored servants, battening them on vitae – and blood bonding them in the process – all the better to have undying, hellishly loyal servitors – ghouls.
Most ghouls exist at the whim of their domitors (masters), serving loyally in exchange for vitae. As they are as susceptible to the blood bond as anyone, ghouls are almost without exception unfailingly devoted to their masters – and if the domitor has more than one ghoul servant, the result may be a jealous struggle between them for the domitor's favor. A ghoul's emotions run to extremes with the heady drug of vitae in his veins – such a creature often falls prey to great rages and disturbing cravings. The name "ghouls" was not chosen at random....
Vampires often make use of either human or animal ghouls as guards and muscle or generally for any menial tasks that they don´t want to burden themselves with, but still need competent and reliable servants to perform.
Many vampires choose to simply Dominate people into doing their bidding or make use of other social Disciplines, such as Presence, to make people more willing to do them favours. Although such help are generally easier to maintain than a ghoul, the absolute loyalty engendered by the blood bond keeps many vampires from entrusting any of their more vital tasks to non-ghouls.
The problem of maintaining a large entourage of ghouls is mainly the effort necessary to keep things running smoothly. Ghouls need constant vitae-infusions to remain effective and too many ghouls are sure to generate envy and hostility. A spurned ghoul can be dangerous. It is not unheard of for rogue ghouls to hold Kindred prisoners and slowly feed on their vitae or ex-lovers who decided to reward their former domitor´s betrayal with Final Death.
Most vampires choose to keep a healthy mix or normal servants and ghouls. A competent doorman or driver doesn´t need any other gifts than a steady pay and dental benefits to do his job properly. However, few elder vampires choose to go through unlife without at least one or two ghouls acting as either their majordomos; as stewards of their property or administrators of their businesses.
A vampire´s retinue of ghouls and other servants are most often reflected in her rating in the vampire-specific Retainers Background (each dot in the Background adds one major and several minor servants).
The following characteristics are shared by all ghouls:
● A ghoul does not age as long as he has Kindred blood in his system. However, once the ghoul has passed his natural lifespan, he must always have vitae in his body, or he will swiftly age to the point of death and decomposition. This decomposition might occur within days or (for very old ghouls) within minutes.
● Ghouls may use the vitae in their systems to heal themselves, as do vampires, or to increase their Physical Attributes (see Disciplines – Common powers of the Blood)in similar fashion. Ghouls soak bashing damage (see Game Rules – Creating a character – Advantages – Health) like other mortals (i. e., they do not divide net damage in half like vampires). However, while they have vitae in their bodies, they may soak lethal damage. A ghoul who does not use vitae to heal wounds heals as per mortal healing rates (see Game Rules – Creating a character – Advantages – Health).
● All ghouls learn Potence 1 within minutes of ingesting blood for the first time, and can also learn Fortitude. Most ghouls can progress no farther than the first level in a Discipline, but some can learn higher levels of Disciplines; the upper limit of a ghoul's Discipline levels is usually decreed by his domitor's generation.
● A ghoul might be capable of learning other Disciplines that his domitor knows, but the learning process is very long and arduous.
● The vampiric blood in their system affects ghouls psychologically as well as physically. They are capable of entering frenzy, although their difficulty numbers to resist are two lower.
● Some long-term ghouls eventually develop side effects resembling their domitor's clan weakness.(see Sects and Clans) For instance, a ghoul who drinks too much Nosferatu vitae may begin sprouting unsightly boils and buboes, while a Ventrue's vassal might find his dark appetites even more demanding than before.
For more information on ghouls of all stripes (including the possibility of playing ghoul characters), see Portals – Ghouls.