Ghouls

Ghouls are the favorite servants of vampires the world over, although how they are treated and what purposes they serve are vastly different depending on clan and sect. A mortal who has consumed some of a vampire's blood becomes a ghoul immediately; they are affected by the Blood Bond powerfully, and most are helplessly enthralled to the vampire who supplies them with regular blood. Most ghouls become addicted to vampire blood and thus become willing servants to their supernatural masters in short order, although their treatment varies from fond indulgence to horrific abuse depending on their "owner's" morals. Ghouls retain free will and all their usual skills, and may also begin to develop Disciplines; most ghouls develop a little bit of Celerity, Fortitude and/or Potence, and with a great deal of time and instruction from their masters may also be able to learn lower levels of Auspex, Dominate, Obfuscate, or Presence. Ghouls can also succumb to Frenzy, although they are in less danger of doing so than any true vampire would be. Since there is vampire blood in their veins, ghouls stop aging at their current state and are able to heal more heinous wounds than any normal mortal could, although such gifts rely on continuing to receive a steady supply of blood; any ghoul who runs out of blood returns to their natural state immediately, which means that a ghoul who has been serving their master for a few centuries might instantly turn to dust if they were cut off from their supply for too long.

Since vampires generally create ghouls in order to have handy servants for whatever purposes they require, ghouls are considered exempt from the usual rules about mortals knowing about vampires, and most are thrust rather unceremoniously into the world of the supernatural. Camarilla and Anarch vampires tend to view ghouls as useful but ultimately disposable tools, essentially slaves with little worth as individuals; most do not bond with their ghouls, and although they get upset and demand compensation if said ghouls are injured, killed, or poached, it's usually because their property has been interfered with, not because of moral outrage. Sabbat ghouls tend to live a much shorter and more brutal life, with some used as shock troops to be mowed down in vampiric disputes, and others created on a whim and just as easily disposed of when the novelty wears off.

Human Ghouls

Human ghouls are by far the most common variety, found almost everywhere that vampires themselves make their homes. Especially among the Camarilla and Anarchs, they are ubiquitous as servants and errand-runners, and most communal gathering places for Kindred boast ghouls to take care of the place, see to any vampires' needs, and provide whatever other services might be required of them.

Mortal Aides

The classic mortal aide type of ghoul is common in the Camarilla and among the Anarchs; especially older Kindred almost always have at least one or two, and sometimes factor the number of ghouls in a Kindred's retinue into estimating their importance and status, much as servants in past centuries were considered a mark of prestige. Such ghouls typically run errands that are better entrusted to someone who knows and keeps the Kindred's secrets - for example, a message to be taken securely to another of the Kindred or their servants, or purchasing specialty items that should not become common knowledge - and act as their masters' eyes and ears, reporting anything notable they encounter. Ghouls are generally considered invisible and unimportant, so they may be able to discover things they shouldn't simply by virtue of doing an unobtrusive job in the right general area.

Some vampires with an interest in controlling the mortal world also make ghouls out of important key figures, the better to directly influence their decisions and ensure that they are loyal to no one else first. The Ventrue, in particular, tend to ghoul important CEOs and business contacts that might smooth their dealings, while the Toreador often ghoul promising artists that they wish to influence, and the Gangrel have been known to ghoul landowners in remote areas where they want to ensure that their hunting territories remain undisturbed.

Many vampires will turn someone being considered for the Embrace into a ghoul first, giving them a sort of "trial run" to see how well they cope with the expanded supernatural world (and making sure they're loyal to them long before they become a vampire is just an added bonus). Some such hopefuls remain ghouls for many years, decades, or even centuries, while others have a comparatively brief chance to see the world of the Kindred in all its dark glory before being offered the chance to join it.

A few ghouls are created as cunning traps for other vampires; since the blood of the vampire that ghouled them runs in the ghoul's veins, if another vampire were to feed from them without knowing this, they would be subject to the Blood Bond. Planting ghouls strategically in other vampires' feeding grounds is a not-unknown gambit for gaining additional leverage over other vampires, although doing so is not always successful and frequently such a gambit might end with the hapless ghoul destroyed in retaliation.

Independent Ghouls

Much to the annoyance of general vampire society, it is possible (although not very likely) for a ghoul to go rogue, becoming an independent agent who does not serve any vampiric master. Such ghouls are typically at least potentially dangerous, because in lieu of being provided blood by their master, they must find some other way to get hold of it; most trade favors and information with willing vampires, especially among the Nosferatu and Setites, in exchange for a few ounces of blood here and there, but some unable or unwilling to do so turn to outright attacking vampires in the hopes of drinking from them. Of course, no self-respecting vampire will admit to being afraid of a ghoul, and most such desperate souls aren't able to succeed for long before being put down, but once in a while a particularly skilled ghoul might succeed in wreaking considerable havoc among neonates.

There are rumors, mostly considered fairy tales, of ancient ghouls who have seen several centuries, keeping themselves alive by capturing, torturing, and slowly bleeding out young vampires to feed themselves. Few vampires believe these wild tales, but it is technically possible...

Szlachta and Vozhd

The Szlachta are war ghouls, exclusively created by the Tzimisce, who have been twisted by the powers of Vicissitude into terrifying, hulking monsters, barely discernible as having once been human. Szlachta generally have very little humanity left, having been turned into little more than bloodthirsty, shambling monsters, with most remembering very little of their human lives. They're usually gigantic, with terrible bloody bone weapons wrenched from their own bodies, and no thought in their heads except to destroy or guard at their Tzimisce masters' behest.

Even more horrifying are the Vozhd, which while they do technically count as ghouls have long ago ceased to resemble human beings except in very brief flashes. Created only for the most serious direct offensives, Vozhd are conglomerate creatures, created from multiple ghouls blended together through Vicissitude and other unsavory arts to create an elephantine, shambling horror suitable only to be a semi-sentient biological weapon. Vozhd are nothing short of Lovecraftian, and most non-Sabbat vampires who encounter one don't get to encounter much else afterward ever again.

Revenants

Revenants are rare creatures: ghouls who breed true. Although most mortals who become ghouls are still just humans, and any children they might have are normal humans, careful and determined breeding and manipulation by vampires can cause a bloodline of ghouls over time to become so ingrained that new children are born as ghouls as well. They are similar to normal ghouls, but do not need to drink vampire blood since it runs in their veins in a small quantity already, and automatically age much more slowly (about a quarter as quickly) than a normal human should. They may also develop Disciplines like regular ghouls. Many also suffer from birth defects, psychological disorders, and odd diseases, as a result of the genetic meddling that caused them to come into being.

Revenant families tend to be insular and carefully guarded by the vampires who created them, and they inherit their servitude to their masters in their very blood. There are few such families, since the kind of genetic manipulation needed to create them is beyond most vampires and their ability to survive independent of regular doses of blood makes some vampires nervous. Members of these families usually consider themselves superior to both regular mortals and so-called "lesser" ghouls, and are fanatically loyal to the vampires they serve, with many considering this their entire purpose in existence. Most revenant families serve members of the Tzimisce, especially older and more traditional ones, although the Tremere also cultivate a few servant families, and the Ravnos are rumored to have many such hereditary ghouls among their traveling retainers.

Non-Human Ghouls

Although humans are the most common targets for ghouling, technically any living thing can be invested with a vampire's blood in order to be bound to them. Such beings are just as enamored of the vampire that ghouls them as any human being, assuming they have the consciousness to do so, and usually can develop the same powers and benefits, but some may be so different that they have difficulty functioning as well as a ghoul that was once human.

Animal Ghouls

Animal ghouls behave much like human ones: they are stronger and more powerful than they would normally be, are extremely fond of their masters and addicted to their blood, and likely to far outlive the creatures that surround them. Animals have less coherent ability to hold onto their original forms, however, and as a result many animal ghouls slowly mutate under the influence of the vampiric blood in their veins; the older an animal ghoul, the more likely that it has begun to look not quite right, or even to appear quite nightmarish to the average human being. Such mutations usually don't hurt the ghoul any, but they might make it problematic for it to appear anywhere that unwary humans might encounter it. Most animal ghouls, even if they don't seem visibly mutated, usually grow to a much larger size than is average for their species.

Ghouled animals are usually used as guards; if a 130-pound rottweiler makes a good guard for a mortal house, how much more so a 200-pound, slightly toothier-than-natural one for a vampire's haven? Dogs and wolves are popular candidates for this, as well as more fanciful guards like hawks or, rumor has it, even bears in some of the more remote northern areas. Some vampires also keep ghoul "pets" as a status symbol, showing off their power by maintaining purring supernatural housecats or uncannily intelligent parrots in their homes or entertaining spaces. While most animal ghouls are not bright enough to follow any but simple instructions, they are also often used as spies; the Nosferatu are especially fond of using rats and toads (giving rise to many an urban legend about nightmare animals in the sewers) as informants, while some traditionalists have been known to keep small colonies of ghouled bats to patrol the night sky from above.

Plant Ghouls

It is technically possible to ghoul plants, although most vampires would consider doing so to be of limited usefulness. A plant can be ghouled by introducing vampire blood into its water source; the resulting plant, much like an animal ghoul, is likely to grow to prodigious size and to develop a distinctly mutated, possibly unhealthy look (although of course it is probably much more healthy than any mortal plant could be). Since plants do not have minds or willpower of their own, they can't perform any tasks or be particularly fond of their masters, although they certainly seem happy enough to continue absorbing as much blood as they are given.

Some horticulturally-inclined vampires have been known to surround their estates with ghouled plants, especially aggressive species such as Venus flytraps or kudzu. Such plants can't guard the place, per se, but they do sometimes become so large and mobile that they present a serious risk to any would-be trespasser trying to intrude somewhere they don't belong. This is usually only done in areas where human contact is rare, in order to minimize the risk of random mortals stumbling upon a garden of horrors, but then again any hapless human who does probably won't live to tell anyone about it.

Supernatural Ghouls

Although such a thing is very rare, vampires can make ghouls out of other supernatural creatures, although the process usually does not work nearly as well and has unpredictable results. Garou are generally allergic to vampire blood, but they can occasionally be successfully ghouled - but keeping them that way is difficult since they tend to burn the blood off very quickly, and dangerous besides, as a ghouled Garou that isn't already fully bloodbound may simply try to kill and consume their would-be master. Changelings can be made into ghouls and for the most part behave similarly to human ghouls, although the deathly effects of a vampire's influence make them listless and less capable of their usual enchanting powers than they would otherwise be. If kept a ghoul long enough, some Changelings permanently lose their connection to their heritage and can never again access their long-ago powers. Mages and Hunters may also be made into ghouls, and of all magical beings are affected the same as any mortal human might be, but many of them may have access to spells or rituals that break the bloodbond to their vampiric master, so they are generally poor candidates for full control.

Attempting to ghoul a supernatural creature is usually an accident, since most vampires do not want the extra headache of the side effects of doing so, but occasionally some elders may intentionally attempt to hold such beings in their thrall in pursuit of the power they might be able to gain from doing so.