Question about ghouls

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Kastor785 wrote:

Appararently the ghoul can have a Predator inside their bod,similar to the vampires

Yep, and that predator is YOU. What vampires call "the Beast" is part of their personality, not some alien that sits in you until it decides it's time to break open your ribcage, jump on the table and vanish into the ventilation...

I agree. What vampires call 'The Beast' is just an aspect of the curse of Caine, which under certain conditions (fear, anger, etc.) can strip away all of the chains and restrictions that we place on the primitive, instinctual part of our brains. Psychiatrists call this the 'Lizard Brain', neurologists say it's a function of the Amygdala (part of brain that controls basic emotions & autonomic functions). Whatever you call it, vampires have much less control over this part of their psyche than humans, due to their curse.

I once read an article on one of the old Vampire sites (Sanguinus Curae, maybe?), written from the point of view of a human mage, possibly from the Order of Hermes. It theorized that a vampire's psyche is actually bound up in their vitae, and that the body they inhabit is merely a vessel for this parasitic, cursed blood. This is why the body crumbles to dust when someone is Diablerized (i.e. all of the vitae is sucked out), and also why the personality of the victim can take over the diablerist -- the older (stronger) vitae takes over the younger (weaker) vitae, writing its own master program over the existing code. This idea has some merit, although it doesn't take a few things into account (souls, etc.).

This vitae is not as strong in ghouls, of course; yet it can still lead them to do things that they would never think of doing if they were not under its influence. They get addicted to vitae, and since they don't really understand how it works, they try to recreate the feeling of drinking vitae by doing nasty stuff like drinking human blood, eating dead human flesh, etc. Hence the name, "Ghoul." Look at the stuff junkies do for crack and heroin, and carry it a step further, and you get the general idea.

Wouldn't they just get addicted then?
There are ghouls who hunt vampires for their blood afterall.

Kastor785 wrote:

okay but what if the ghoul does not see who ghouls him/her?For example a vial of blood was mixed with his/her drink?

Doesn't matter. After three drinks of the vampire's vitae, the ghoul is blood bound, even though they have never met the 'donor' (known as a Regnant). Upon first meeting, it would be like love/bromance at first sight.

If for some reason the vampire never meets the ghoul (unlikely, but possible), the ghoul would still suffer symptoms of the bond... withdrawal if the blood is withheld, possibility of frenzy, etc. In addition, ghouls often start to develop lesser versions of the donor's weakness: i.e. Brujah -> uncertain temper, Nosferatu -> new deformities or skin conditions, Malkavian -> onset of mental disorders, etc. The ghoul who has never met his regnant would be very disturbed at these unexplained changes.

There are 'masterless' ghouls who hunt vampires for their vitae, as Karavolos says. Whatever their reasons, they still have to be careful not to get bonded to the vampires they capture. Imagine capturing one, and keeping them chained in your basement to feed your addiction to vampire blood. You can't drain them and preserve the blood indefinitely, because only Tremere can do that. Even if they're staked, your affection for them grows with every drink. Are you tempted to let them go? Or does your 'love' for them become twisted and selfish, so that you keep them 'safe' from their enemies in your tender care?

Rarely, some ghouls are immune to the blood bond. Either they hunt vampires, ot they have other reasons than the blood bond to serve their master.

According to my information, in order for ghouling to work, human must suck the vitae right from the vampire's vein.

Kastor785 wrote:

so the blood inside the ghouls vein tells who is the vampire that ghould them?my question is how does a ghoul knows which vampire ghouled them and how does he/she know that what is the vampires name?
I got questions that go into deep depts.
For example, how does Heather know that i named the character Rose?

Because somebody told her that, alongside with your adress. A "friend" from chess emails, most likely.

No NPC ever calls the PC by her or his name.. I always named mine "testie" XD

I knew that under that cold exterior you are very fond of testies!

Jad.3 wrote:

I knew that under that cold exterior you are very fond of testies!

*sniffs air*

Smells like Ritual of 3rd Level to me

Claudia wrote:

No NPC ever calls the PC by her or his name.. I always named mine "testie" XD

Mostly, I use the name test for exactly that: test characters for modding.
For characters I want to play, either I use the default login-name for the haven-pc: Suckhead, or something that fits for the clan or personality I play, like Madman.

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Childe of Malkav wrote:

Claudia wrote:

No NPC ever calls the PC by her or his name.. I always named mine "testie" XD

Mostly, I use the name test for exactly that: test characters for modding.
For characters I want to play, either I use the default login-name for the haven-pc: Suckhead, or something that fits for the clan or personality I play, like Madman.

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I usually go for common American names... As the PC was Embraced in LA and so on...
Creative isn't on my character sheet, I know.

Feral wrote:

...Creative isn't on my character sheet, I know.

On mine it is, but only with blank circles, not with dots

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Childe of Malkav wrote:

Feral wrote:

...Creative isn't on my character sheet, I know.

On mine it is, but only with blank circles, not with dots

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Says the co-author of CE...

Jad.3 wrote:

According to my information, in order for ghouling to work, human must suck the vitae right from the vampire's vein.

That's for the Embrace- this prevents you from using someone's preserved vitae to create childer, and get them in trouble with the Prince.

For feeding ghouls, and establishing blood bonds, it doesn't have to be fresh from the source; although I'm sure you have to refrigerate it like normal blood, to keep it from going bad. I believe Ghouls: Fatal Addiction talks about vampires adding their vitae to still pools of water, and making all of the animals that drink there become blood bonded to them. This works great on rats and Nosferatu.

I think we need to make a distinction here. Blood bonding doesn't require a full blood point for each drink -- only after the bond is established does the ghoul require at least one full BP each month, to give them their powers and keep them from aging. If you just want someone to love you, a sip or two each time is sufficient, with another sip occasionally to prevent the bond from fading. I suppose that technically, they would still be a ghoul; but without a full BP of vitae in their body, they might not be able to use Disciplines (even Potence or Fortitude, which don't require you to spend a blood point). Up to the storyteller, I suppose. I'm sure a taste is not enough to keep you young, though.

As a side note: In 1st Edition V:tM, it stated that the three drinks of vitae had to be on 'three subsequent nights' to set up a blood bond... if the three drinks were all in the same evening, it had the same effect as one drink. However, Revised Edition V:tM wasn't that specific; it left the decision to the storyteller. I always used the 1st Edition rule though, since that made it harder to become blood bound. I don't know what V:tR says about this.

Kastor785 wrote:

so the blood inside the ghouls vein tells who is the vampire that ghould them?my question is how does a ghoul knows which vampire ghouled them and how does he/she know that what is the vampires name?

This is a supernatural thing. The vitae of the vampire inside the ghoul knows who its master is; on first sight, the ghoul would fall in love with the vampire. However, they wouldn't know the vampire's name, or anything else about them. The blood bond doesn't give you access to their history... or their character sheet.

I'm not sure why this scenario is so important to you; as I said earlier, it's unlikely that a vampire would set up a blood bond on a mortal that never sees him. The point is usually to make yourself known, so you can control the victim. It's like putting an engine in a car and letting it drive without a steering wheel... there's no direction.

2nd, Revised and else vaguely state that for a Blood Bond to happen (the three steps of it, liking, brotherly love and unconditional love), the kindred vitae should have been ingested in "three different nights". Usually, Domitors (those who give their blood) manage to have it be done as soon as pobbile, so the thralls (the bounded) would serve them faster.

Claudia wrote:

2nd, Revised and else vaguely state that for a Blood Bond to happen (the three steps of it, liking, brotherly love and unconditional love), the kindred vitae should have been ingested in "three different nights". Usually, Domitors (those who give their blood) manage to have it be done as soon as pobbile, so the thralls (the bounded) would serve them faster.

?? Never saw this in Revised Edition... not in the core rulebook, anyway. Now you're going to make me read it again, damnit! Sure it wasn't in VtR?

If I read it cover to cover and it's not in there, I'll tell Feral et al what you really put in those blood cookies...

Edit.: Okay not really because I don't know the recipe. But I'll make shit up.