Ghoul (5e Fallout Campaign Setting)
Ghouls
Physical Description
Ghouls or necrotic post-humans are decrepit, rotting, zombie-like mutants. They are victims of heavy radiation poisoning which results in their skin decaying and, paradoxically, greatly extends their individual lifetime. Although they look like a walking corpse, Ghouls are in fact otherwise normal humans who have been exposed to massive amounts of radiation during the Great War and survived against all odds. The name Ghoul comes from the mythological beings that devoured flesh and also resembled Ghouls. Ghoul bodies have been changed by the radiation, their internal systems degrading causing their bodies to be less affected by damage.
History
Ghouls are humans who, by some cosmic fluke, became functionally immortal from radiation. While many ghouls are from before the war, any person can become a ghoul. However, this should never be relied on, as one’s chances of actually becoming a ghoul are astronomically low.
Society
Ghouls hold a unique place in all forms of society. In more tribal societies, they are viewed as evil creatures of the night or honored elders. More established societies view ghouls as disgusting freaks, often calling them “zombies”, leading to them often forming their own settlements. In post-post-apocalyptic societies, such as the New California Republic, ghouls retain citizenship and are treated as valuable sources of pre-war knowledge.
Ghoul Names
Ghouls follow the same naming conventions as non-irradiated humans.
Ghoul Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom and Constitution scores increase by 2 and your Charisma score decreases by 2.
Age. Ghouls do not age, though the level to which their skin has rot is typically considered a sign of maturity.
Alignment. While their old world origins draw them toward lawful alignments, they are capable of anything.
Size. Ghouls, similar to humans, vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Child of Atom. A ghoul’s rad pool is doubled.
Become Feral. Gaining rads past your rad pool does not reduce your maximum health, instead becoming negative rad pool points. When your total negative rad pool points exceeds your maximum hit points, you gain the Feral subrace.
Timeless. You are immune to the effects of Jet and can not reproduce.
Memory. You gain proficiency in History.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.
Subrace. You may choose the Marked race variant.
Feral
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength and Dexterity increase by +2. Your Charisma score becomes 5.
Bloodthirsty. Once every minute or at the beginning of your turn, you must succeed a DC 15Charisma saving throw or attack the closest creature that is not a ghoul.
Degraded Intelligence. You can not use weapons, but your unarmed strikes deal 1d6 slashing damage. You can not speak.
Marked
The following replaces your ASI and the Memory feature.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution increase by +2, your
Torn. Due to the harsh environment you’ve may lived in, your skin has toughened into a permanent callous. You gain +1 to all ACs.
Random Height and Weight
| Base Height |
Height Modifier* |
Base Weight |
Weight Modifier** |
|---|---|---|---|
| ′ '' | + | lb. | × () lb. |
|
*Height = base height + height modifier | |||
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