GhoulLegacy Content
Source Book of the Dead pg. 48You died from the necrotic disease known as ghoul fever and rose anew as a ravenous
ghoul, forever craving the flesh of sapient creatures. While you can temper your hunger with long-dead flesh stolen from ancient graves, you much prefer devouring those who are freshly dead, whether as a scavenger or because you killed the creature yourself to ensure a fresh meal.
Whether they stalk through the graveyards and crypts of Golarion or work together with other ghouls to build empires in the Darklands, ghouls care most about the consumption of dead flesh. The moment you become a ghoul, your existence focuses upon satisfying this endless craving. Ghouls who go more than a few days without feeding on freshly dead humanoid flesh find themselves in constant pain; those who go for more than a week might be driven to the edge of delirium, becoming bestial in their craving.
When you succumb to ghoul fever and become a ghoul, you don't lose your mind or memories. You keep your personality only to have it warped by the never-ending need to consume flesh. A brave warrior remains brave, but under the curse of the fever, that brave warrior's prime directive is to consume flesh. A rogue might go from finding clever ways to pick pockets to finding ways to waylay opponents and devour them.
Since most societies don't allow cannibalism, ghouls who wish to continue their old lives must satisfy their cravings in secret, finding a way to balance society's rules while feeding the constant gnawing hunger inside them. Some take up professions that allow them to secretly eat dead flesh or create dead bodies to feed upon. There are tales told of ghoul mercenary troops who satisfy their cravings and profit, while ghoul spellcasters can use their magic to procure and preserve flesh.
Ghouls who won't restrain themselves with rules of the living may join or establish ghoul societies. These caste systems base their hierarchy on how much flesh one has consumed and can provide for other ghouls. Hunger and ambition drive ghouls to rise through the ranks, which allows them to feed their hunger even more.
Additional Feats
Source Advanced Player's Guide pg. 149 2.0Some archetypes allow other feats beyond those in their entry. These are typically class feats, such as fighter feats that represent certain combat styles. The list of additional feats includes the feat's name, its level, and the page number where it appears. You can take the feat as an archetype feat of that level, meaning it counts toward the number of feats required by the archetype's dedication feat. When selected this way, a feat that normally has a class trait doesn't have that class trait.
Click here for the full rules on Additional Feats.
Legacy Content
Rare Archetype Dedication Source Book of the Dead pg. 48Archetype GhoulPrerequisites You were killed by ghoul fever.
You have succumbed to ghoul fever, dying and returning as a
ghoul, an undead cursed with a never-ending hunger for dead flesh that slowly overrides your reason and willpower until you would do anything for the meal you crave. In addition to the personality changes, your body changes as well. Your ears become pointed, and your skin grows blueish and pale. Your fingernails sharpen into claws; your teeth become razor sharp, ready to tear flesh off the bone; and your tongue grows long and pointed.
You gain the
ghoul and
undead traits and the
basic undead benefits. Your undead craving is for the flesh of dead creatures; freshly dead corpses from sapient creatures fulfill your cravings much more than non-sapient or rotted corpses, but any dead creature can stave off the hunger for at least a little while. You gain two
unarmed attacks in the
brawling weapon group. The first unarmed attack is a claw that deals 1d4 slashing damage with the
agile and
finesse traits, and the second unarmed attack is a set of jaws that deal 1d6 piercing damage and have the finesse trait.
You gain the Consume Flesh action. Satisfying your craving is difficult. Consuming Flesh temporarily satiates you. Many ghoul feats have extra abilities or functions that can be used when you are satiated, though using those abilities also causes you to lose your satiated status. You can always Consume Flesh, but eating more than a normal amount has no further effect; a ghoul's hunger is satiated, or it is not.
Consume Flesh [one-action] (
manipulate)
Requirements You are adjacent to the corpse of a Small or larger creature that died in the last hour;
Effect You devour a chunk of the corpse. You become satiated for 1 hour.
Special You can't select another dedication feat until you have gained two other feats from the ghoul archetype
Legacy Content
Archetype Source Book of the Dead pg. 48Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Ghoul Dedication
When you devour corpses and satiate your hunger, you also recover from some of your wounds, your necrotized blue flesh knitting back together almost immediately as soon as you begin shoveling the chunks of dead flesh down your throat. Once every 10 minutes, when you
Consume Flesh, you regain 1d6 Hit Points for every 2 levels you have, rounded up.
Legacy Content
Archetype Source Book of the Dead pg. 49Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Ghoul Dedication
Your undead physiology allows you to leap quickly toward or away from your opponent. You
Leap. This movement doesn't trigger reactions.
If you are satiated, you can choose to end your satiation to instead
High Jump or
Long Jump without triggering reactions, as you take a quick, enormous jump before any foe can react to your movement.
Legacy Content
Archetype Source Book of the Dead pg. 49Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Ghoul Dedication
Your claws and fangs exude an infectious enzyme, related to the necrotic effects of ghoul fever, that causes a creature's wounds to heal slowly. Strike with your claw or jaws. This attack deals negative damage instead of its normal type; on a hit, the target halves any healing it receives until the start of your next turn. The target or an adjacent ally can spend two Interact actions to squeeze the enzymes from the wound and remove the effect.
If you are satiated, when you hit you can choose to end your satiation and boost your enzymes, increasing the duration to 1 minute.
Legacy Content
Archetype Source Book of the Dead pg. 49Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Ghoul Dedication
The flesh you've consumed over the course of your existence as a ghoul has made you stronger, gifting you with strange insights from the minds of the sapient creatures you've devoured and bringing you closer to a state of undead perfection. You gain the
advanced undead benefits. In addition, you gain a +5-foot status bonus to your Speed while you're satiated.
Legacy Content
Monk Source Core Rulebook pg. 160 4.0Archetype Ghoul* This version of the Guarded Movement feat is intended for use with an Archetype and has a different level for access than the
original feat.
Your guard is up, even while moving. You gain a +4 circumstance bonus to AC against reactions triggered by your movement.
There is a Remastered version
here.Legacy Content
Rogue Source Core Rulebook pg. 185 4.0Archetypes Alkenstar Agent,
Ghoul,
Knight ReclaimantTrigger An adjacent foe moves away from you, and you can reach at least one space adjacent to the foe with a Stride action.
* This version of the Reactive Pursuit feat is intended for use with an Archetype and has a different level for access than the
original feat.
You keep pace with a retreating foe. You Stride, but you must end your movement adjacent to the triggering enemy. Your move does not trigger reactions from the triggering enemy. You can use Reactive Pursuit to Burrow, Climb, Fly, or Swim instead of Stride if you have the corresponding movement type.
Legacy Content
Archetype Incapacitation Necromancy Occult Source Book of the Dead pg. 49Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Feverish Enzymes
Your enzymes can paralyze your foes rather than merely making it harder for them to heal their wounds. Strike with your claw or jaws. If you hit a living non-
elf creature, it becomes
paralyzed unless it succeeds at a Fortitude save against your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher. Regardless of the result of the save, the creature is temporarily immune to Paralyzing Slash for 24 hours. A creature that becomes paralyzed can attempt a new save to end the paralysis at the end of each of its turns, and the DC cumulatively decreases by 1 on each such save.
Legacy Content
Archetype Source Book of the Dead pg. 49Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Ghoul Dedication
Your saliva causes severe nausea and mild fever in the living, weakening them so that you can more easily finish them off. When you critically hit a creature with your jaws, the creature is
sickened 1. This is a disease effect.
If you are satiated, you can end your satiation to make the target sickened 1 on a regular hit instead.
Legacy Content
Archetype Source Pathfinder #184: The Ghouls Hunger pg. 79Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Ghoul Dedication
Your tongue has mutated into a lashing weapon reminiscent of
Kabriri's bone-laden
flail. You can use a free action to unhinge your lower jaw and sprout rigid bones from your tongue. You gain an
unarmed attack that deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage. Until you use an Interact action to reset your jaw and retract your tongue, you can't make a jaws Strike. Your flailtongue is in the
flail weapon group and has the
disarm,
sweep, and
trip traits.
Legacy Content
Archetype Source Book of the Dead pg. 49Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Ghoul Dedication
You have developed a capacity to store more flesh within your gaunt body to leave yourself satiated longer. If you
Consume Flesh while satiated, you become fully satiated. You stay fully satiated for 3 hours, after which you become satiated for 1 hour. If you're fully satiated when an ability would end your satiation, you cease being fully satiated but remain satiated. If you have
Grave Strength, you gain a +10-foot status bonus to your Speed when fully satiated instead of a +5-foot status bonus for being satiated.
Wall Run [one-action] Feat 10*
Legacy Content
Monk Source Core Rulebook pg. 163 4.0Archetype Ghoul* This version of the Wall Run feat is intended for use with an Archetype and has a different level for access than the
original feat.
You defy gravity, traversing vertical planes as easily as the ground. Stride up to your Speed. You must start your movement on a horizontal surface. During this movement, you can run up vertical surfaces, like walls, at your full Speed. If you end the Stride off the ground, you fall after taking your next action or when your turn ends, whichever comes first (though you can Grab an Edge, if applicable). If you have Water Step or a similar ability, Wall Run lets you run along flimsy vertical surfaces, as well as vertical liquids, such as a waterfall.
Legacy Content
Archetype Source Pathfinder #184: The Ghouls Hunger pg. 79Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Glutton for Flesh
Gorging on flesh after your stomach is full fortifies you, making you hardy enough to withstand more punishment. When you become fully satiated, you gain an amount of temporary Hit Points equal to 10 + your level.
Legacy Content
Archetype Aura Olfactory Source Book of the Dead pg. 49Archetypes Ghoul,
Zombie*
Prerequisites Ghoul Dedication* This archetype offers Corpse Stench at a different level than displayed here.
Your body exudes an overwhelming scent of decay in a 10-foot emanation, so putrid that it nauseates creates within that range. Any creature that starts its turn in the aura must succeed at a Fortitude save against your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher, or be
sickened 1 (plus slowed 1 on a critical failure). While within the aura, the creature takes a –2 circumstance penalty to saves against disease and to recover from the sickened condition. A creature that succeeds at its save is temporarily immune to Corpse Stench for 1 minute.
This Feat may contain spoilers from the Blood Lords Adventure Path
Legacy Content
Rare Archetype Divine Necromancy Occult Source Pathfinder #184: The Ghouls Hunger pg. 79Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Ghoul Dedication; worshipper of
Kabriri
You have discovered and found favor with the cult within the church of Kabriri known as the Secret Eaters. You have maggots that writhe under your skin with the power to wriggle out from between your teeth, glean secrets from those you devour, and whisper them telepathically into your mind. Once per hour when you
Consume Flesh, you can select a single Intelligence-, Wisdom-, or Charisma-based skill whose secrets you wish to uncover. You become subject to the effects of
corpse communion as if you had critically succeeded at casting the ritual: you learn a significant piece of lore, a forgotten secret, or some other tantalizing nugget of knowledge that is of immediate use to you.
Legacy Content
Archetype Source Pathfinder #184: The Ghouls Hunger pg. 80Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Ghoul Dedication; trained in
Athletics
You have elongated claws and enhanced senses, making you uncanny at digging the underground passageways needed to construct ghoul warrens and rob graves without arousing suspicion. You gain a burrow Speed of 15 feet and a
tremorsense (
imprecise) of 60 feet. You can
Burrow through any earthen matter, including rock, while moving at your full burrow Speed. When you move in this way, you can choose either to leave tunnels behind you that are large enough to allow creatures of your size or smaller to move through them or move through the ground while leaving no tunnels or signs of your passing.
This Feat may contain spoilers from the Blood Lords Adventure Path
Legacy Content
Rare Archetype Divine Polymorph Transmutation Source Pathfinder #184: The Ghouls Hunger pg. 80Archetype GhoulPrerequisites Secret Eater
Your secret-stealing maggots reveal how to devour more than just the flesh and secrets of a victim; you can ingest and assume their whole physical appearance. When you
Consume Flesh of a creature of your size or smaller, you can assume the physical form of the creature immediately after becoming satiated or fully satiated. Using Bodysnatcher counts as creating a disguise for the
Impersonate use of
Deception. Your transformation automatically defeats Perception DCs to determine you are a member of the ancestry or creature type into which you transformed, and you gain a +4 circumstance bonus to your Deception DC to prevent others from seeing through your disguise. You do not gain the special abilities, skills, voice, memories, or other characteristics of the creature you consumed, only their physical form. Unlike
Change Shape, Bodysnatcher can be used to gain the appearance of a specific individual whose flesh you've consumed. This effect lasts until you are no longer satiated and can only be used once per individual creature.
This Feat may contain spoilers from the Blood Lords Adventure Path
Legacy Content
Rare Archetype Conjuration Divine Teleportation Source Pathfinder #184: The Ghouls Hunger pg. 80Archetype GhoulFrequency once per day
Prerequisites Secret EaterRequirements You are standing at the bottom of an open grave adjacent to up to four willing target creatures or objects roughly the size of a creature.
The maggots inhabiting your body impart you with the knowledge to travel from grave to grave, drawing upon the mystical power of the labyrinthine network of magical warrens and tunnels that connect Everglut to the
Material Plane. You can spend 10 minutes channeling this power to transport you and all target creatures or objects that are inside the grave you are standing in to a chosen grave you are aware of (unoccupied or occupied) within 100 miles. When you target an occupied or filled grave, you and all transported creatures and objects appear scattered aboveground around the targeted grave (or belowground in adjacent tunnels or passageways if available).
This Feat may contain spoilers from the Blood Lords Adventure Path
Legacy Content
Rare Acid Archetype Divine Incapacitation Necromancy Occult Source Pathfinder #184: The Ghouls Hunger pg. 80Archetype GhoulFrequency Once per hour
Prerequisites Secret Eater
You have uncovered occult mysteries that allow you to unleash the devastating hunger of Kabriri upon your foes with a single exhalation, releasing a massive cloud of flesh-eating gas that glows with a sickly green light. You deal 7d6 acid and 7d6 negative damage to all creatures within a 30-foot cone (
basic Reflex save with a DC equal to your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher). A creature that gets a critical failure on this Reflex save is also
paralyzed for 1 round. A creature that succeeds at this save becomes temporarily immune to Breath of Hungry Death for 24 hours.
When a creature is killed using Breath of Hungry Death, its body is reduced to a smoldering pile of ash wafting with necrotic fumes. You can use a reaction to immediately inhale these fumes and become satiated or fully satiated as if you had used
Consume Flesh.
This Feat may contain spoilers from the Blood Lords Adventure Path
Legacy Content
Rare Archetype Death Divine Enchantment Flourish Mental Occult Source Pathfinder #184: The Ghouls Hunger pg. 81Archetype GhoulFrequency Once per day
Prerequisites Secret Eater
The ravenous maggots inside you become capable of exploding forth from your attacks into the wounds of an opponent, whispering telepathic words of destruction that invoke horrific flashbacks of Kabriri's transformation from
elf to
ghoul or psychic images of hundreds of maggots bursting from the victim's flesh all at once. Make a melee Strike against a target creature. If it hits, in addition to taking damage from the Strike, the target is affected by a 10th-level casting of
power word kill. If Wrath of the First Ghoul is used against a target
elf,
Leng ghoul, or worshipper of
Pharasma and does not instantly kill the creature, the target takes double damage.