Ghouls: Fatal Addiction (Vampire: The Masquerade)

Awesome, basically a whole resource for Ghouls and Revenants which is amazing considering it basically acts like a Clanbook for Ghouls. I don't know about you but the Revenant stuff in the Sabbat Handbooks always lost me, but this cleared things up pretty well and had me looking at Ghouls and Revenants a whole new way!

paints a very dark picture of the relationship between thrall and domitor. really great flavor and guidelines for playing a ghoul.WAY better than the libre de ghouls.

This book gives you the right material for makeing and playing a ghoul in a game also more of the political asspect of the game.

You don't need this book to play ghouls or have them in your game. The book is based on 2nd edition, spends a lot of time talking about how little ghouls know about vamps, etc. Save your money and time by creating basic rules of your own.

All the World of Darkness games are intended for a mature audience (although inevitably some “E-V-I-L kiddos” will play it moronically). Only being mature and understanding loss can a gamer experience the realities of Vampire and personal horror. The game can be occasionally heroic and action oriented, but VtM isn’t properly stories of Vampire Super Heroes or “evil is cool” campaigns (obviously if your gaming group enjoy such settings, please continue to do it – the golden rule of gaming is to have fun; but some settings are more adequate for certain types of play). In this supplement the personal horror experience and the Faustian deal is in such a way clear that there is no way that it can remain hidden. I dare to say that this Ghoul setting is more attuned to the personal Horror experience designed for “Vampire” than the main setting with all Vampire Player Characters troupe! And here there is no doubt at all what you are; what you need to keep your power…and you will do anything at all to keep the juice coming.When I refer to the needs of mature players for this product I’m not referring to the sado-masochist art in the cover and interior illustrations. Some implications are truly terrible and monstrous, such as the possibility of Frenzying when one’s child cry incessantly; or a domestic dispute; or failing an objective at work; or being forced to deceive or even lead someone to enslavement or death. The things a Ghoul must to do to keep the godlike/demonlike being she/he adores happy will lead to inevitable repercussions with their family, job, moral values. The fact that the character is in fact ignorant of what is happening and why she/he feels and craves the way she/he does will enhance the effect of any loss that will occur due to actions of the character. And that’s why this book isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s not only for adults, but adults who are mature enough to play an Addict and see the consequences of their actions.Because that’s what Ghouls really are: addicts. And playing one can be an atrociously intense experience. This supplement by Ronni Radner and Ethan Skemp, produced in 1997 (year of the Ally) tries to bring the day to day and night to night existence of those omnipresent servants of the undead. Their physiological and psychological characteristics, their capacities and limitations are described in detail, something which was missing in the 6 first years of the game VtM (Ghouls were those servant guys with Potence 1. Period). The rules are well thought of and three main playable ramifications are provided: Vassals, Independents and Revenants. The sub-ramifications are immense, and the types of campaigns are also numerous and most of them quite rewarding.The authors also provide guidelines on how Domitors of different Clans and ages treat their Ghouls, and how they use them. Obviously those are archetypical guidelines; each character and non-player character should be individualized. There are Ghoul creation rules, evolution tables, new backgrounds, ghouling animals and supernatural creatures, overcoming blood bonds, merits and flaws and proper descriptions of four revenant families, their powers and weaknesses, Bratovitch, Grimaldi, Obertus and Zantosa, among many other subjects.The art by Vince Locke and Guy Davies is extremely adequate; almost always focusing on subjugation, both physical and mental.This supplement is truly a welcome addiction (pun intended) to the World of Darkness.

I love ghouls. When I'm the storyteller, I make sure we have ghouls in our games and I love when players are willing to take on ghouls as characters. Why? They are an interesting combination of vampire and human, a mixture of emotions, and far more powerful that most storytellers and players would like to believe. This book gives you some insights into ghouls though I've seen other passages in other "world of darkness" books which should have been included here. I was expecting a read guide to all ghouls you see so that did disappoint me greatly. The pictures are probably some of the scariest in the series and in fact have turned off one really great player from being a ghoul -- very sad because he was so talented and he had such potential as this character. I think another ghoul book perhaps modeled on the "Children of the Night" book would be a great aid. Surely there are very powerful and very important ghouls in the world of darkness too.

This book, moreso than any other recently released WoD product places emphasis on just how sick, twisted ,and screwed up the World of Darkness is. Ghouls have always gotten the shaft, but now, the storyteller has the materials at hand to properly motivate that unrepetant bloodjunkie,or some smug Ghoul player who cops a quick fix,'lives forever', and moves along. Addiction, what happens to a ghoul feeding off Malkavians or Nosferatsu, Blood Bonds, Revanents, it's all covered. If you're a newer storyteller and are choosing books to purchase, pick up the two core books and Ghouls. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECCOMENDATION.

Ghouls Fatal Addiction focuses the social interactions between ghouls and their respective domitors (masters), with special consideration of the various clan habits and the roles ghouls can play within and outside of kindred society. Unfortunately some chapters appear twice, first in the subjective view of an ghoul or vampire then described in an objective rules-style. This seems rather odd and makes reading a bit boring.Though the book has many details about the ghouls� anatomy, it lacks information on the perception of ghouls via disciplines such as Auspex, Thaumaturgy etc. Can you �see� only her or ever her domitor? Etc.If you are a vampire, always remind every ghoul, even if she loves you, might be a threat and kill you one day without warning.

Bought this because I started in a live sabbat chronicle as a human player, which became a ghoul of a Tzimisce. It helped me a lot to understand the (side) effects of being chained by blood.Ghouls are junkies in a twisted way: They are addicted to a drug and to their dealer. This provide a lot of fun and potential during a game session and one shouldn't think that "ghouls are just humans who are slaves". Characters may treat them that way, but deep inside they have a unique struggle, which neither humans or vampires can fully understand.This book has a lot of inspirations to offer. From the typical junky, to "ghouled because I want control" clercs and the inbred family workers of the sabbat: Character concepts for ghouls can be as plenty and unique as can be vampires humans and this book shows possible ways.As always with WoD and P&P books in general, one should pick what fits the most in their chronicles. It's your game, so don't be ruled by rules. For me, the lines about ghoul frenzy, derangements and the ingame observations of a kindred Ph. D. were the best parts of the book. Readers who want to know about the revenant families will be pleased, too.The artwork is quite fine, there are some really awesome pictures, but also some mediocre ones. I would say 7/10.