Whenever enough new folks join the Dreamland RPG Facebook group or Discord server, I’m going to be posting new Dreamland material (the FB and/or Discord folks get to vote on what it is). In celebration of the Discord reaching 350 folks, here is a brief post on ghouls (from Arabic and Western mythology, Edward Lucas White’s “Amina,” H.P. Lovecraft’s “Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” and numerous other horror stories).
Ghouls
Ghouls are red-eyed, scavenging humanoids combining traits of humans, dogs, and rotting corpses covered in mold. They are vaguely human, but have hooved feet and tails, and sometimes go on all fours. Their powerful claws are adapted to burrowing through earth, the better to find their preferred food, long-dead corpses. On occasion, however, they eat living flesh.
Ghouls are among the creatures capable of physically traveling between Dreamland and the waking world. They dig tunnels between the worlds, to places like the Coptic cemetery of Cairo, the graveyards of Boston, and the New York subway system, where more aggressive ghouls catch human prey. Nondreamers who try to go through these tunnels from the waking world find nothing but mysterious dead ends: dreamers might pass out and enter Dreamland (while their waking body lies unconscious and helpless in the dirt), or in a few especially magical sites, might have their waking body vanish to a sort of limbo between worlds. In Dreamland, ghouls typically avoid surface graveyards, not wanting to compete with the vicious wamps. More often, they rest lazily in great caverns filled with tombs, ghoul paradises formed from collective memories of ancient graveyards now fallen to dust.
Some ghouls are intrigued by human culture, and even communicate with humans in Dreamland or the waking world. They have the most affinity to Yellow and Gray Magicians, to gravediggers and morticians, and to morbid artists who share their delight in the grotesque, dead or unclean. Living among ghouls and eating their “food” can cause some humans to become ghoul-like, and the less dog-like ghouls sometimes mate with humans, creating hybrid children with a foot in both worlds.
Arabic legend speaks of ghoulas, creatures similar to ghouls, but with the ability to disguise as humans and other magical powers. (Ghoula would typically be the feminine form of the word “ghoul”, but as with many other Arabic nouns, it’s possible the feminine form instead refers to an entirely different creature.)
FGT 3+1D6 (dangerous) SPD 1D6 PER 2+1D6 STB 1+1D6
- Stealth. Ghouls can sneak as if they had Stealth 1D6, or Stealth 1D6+2 underground.
- Smell Blood. Injured dreamers have -2 on social skills with ghouls.
- Susceptible to Loathing. Dreamers with Loathing Memories amuse ghouls. Dreamers have +1 on social skills with ghouls for each Loathing Memory they have. In a collaborative social skill challenge, the maximum bonus is +3, and the ghouls are friendliest with the dreamers with the most Loathing.
- Corruption. Humans who spend days or weeks in the presence of ghouls begin to feel cannibal urges. Dreamers must make a Wisdom (discipline) challenge of 1D6 or become Obsessed (eating human corpses). Dreamers have an additional +2 to the target number for each Loathing Memory they have, up to 1D6+6.
Rumors about Ghouls
- The king of ghouls is Mordiggian, a giant worm. Ghouls can speak to worms, and the two types of creatures are allies.
- Some ghouls can change their appearance, passing as humans, even beautiful ones. They are the basis of the legends about werewolves.
- Ghouls are related to hyenas and speak the language of hyenas.
- Ghouls are distantly related to djinn. As a result, some ghouls have the power of telekinesis or creating fire and leave sparks as they walk (which can give them away if they are in disguise). They may also have other supernatural traits such as red jewels for eyes, or teeth made of amber.
- Ghouls in some parts of Dreamland can speak Road. Like fairy-tale ogres, they often try to trick humans into being eaten, but they can also be tricked themselves.
- Ghouls embody gluttony. A human who is Hungry/Thirsty too long, or who eats human flesh, will gradually transform into a ghoul.
- Ghouls embody greed. Particularly evil and wealthy merchants or nobles will gradually transform into treasure-hoarding ghouls.
- When ghouls eat human corpses, they absorb part of their memories. As a result, they often know secrets of the dead.
- The king of ghouls is the god Anubis. Ghouls came from ancient Egypt in the waking world and are related to jackals.
- The king of ghouls is Nyogtha, a monstrous blob of black slime and lord of evil magic.
