Ghoul

"Hideous Review" by Brion, Gustave

A craven monster that feeds on carrion.

HD: 1
Armor: Leather
Move: Normal
Attack: Weapon or Bite (1d6)
Special: if you're bitten by a ghoul, roll a save. On failure you contract ghoul cheese which fully inoculates in 1d6 days. More under Extra.

Appearance: ghastly emaciated humanoids, no hair, row of sharp teeth, reflective eyes, armed with bones sharpened into weapons.
Voice: quiet breaths, coughs.
Smell: wet dirt, mildew.
Perception: night vision, besides that similar enough senses as humans.

Wants: to devour rotting flesh.
Personality: cautious.
Intellect: more cunning than smart.
Social: small tight knit groups, flat hierarchy.
Plural: a corterie of ghouls.

 

Reason for Fighting: protecting food stores, warding off those that trespass on their territory, hunting for food.

Tactics: sticks to shadows. Will attempt to take out any light their enemies have. Will avoid sunlight at all costs. Divide and conquer. Hit and run. Tries to blind their enemies by throwing dirt (or similar) at their eyes.

Morale: very quick to flee if things aren't in their favor. If one of their number dies they'll all run away. If they are damaged they'll run away. If exposed to sudden bright light they'll run away.

 

Reason for Speaking: If able to speak ghouls will mimic noises to distract humans and lure them into specific locations.

Environment: cave systems, sewers, graveyards, abandoned buildings. Lairs are pretty basic, mainly a place to sleep and store food, trash and bones from their victims are strewn about the place. They'll go out to a nearby secondary location to defecate.

Valuable Parts: ghoul fluids can be used by doctors to create a cure for Ghoul Cheese. 

Extra: ghoul cheese is a bacteria propagated inside the fluid of ghouls. It's used to harden the outside of a creature while breaking down and fermenting the inside into a delicious treat (for ghouls). 

    Symptoms include: coughing blood due to buildup in lungs, dehydration via diarrhea, internal organ necrosis, skin hardening, joints stiffening, bone softening, swelling due to pockets forming within muscles and swelling with blood.

    You become bedridden once it's in full effect and will last 7 days. Every day you must make a poison save, on fail your max HP is reduced by 1d6. After recovering you regain 1 lost max HP per month of rest. 

 

Author's Note.
I really love ghouls, both and concept and just how their name sounds. Nothing quite like it. A lot less paralysis and much more horrible fantasy diseases! I made the choice of giving them that as part of a frustration that it seems like diseases are an element that seems to be barely used in TTRPGs. And I figured the monster known for eating corpses would be the best fit for one.