Tier Level Early Modern Equipment: 3 or Low Powered Modern Equipment: 4 or Mid Powered [hider=Isaac The Ghoul] Isaac Calver DOB: 1655 Race: Human/Ghoul What is a Ghoul: Ghouls are humans routinely fed small doses of a vampire’s blood, granting them a percentage of the vampire’s power at the cost of their freedom. Gender: Male Height: 5ft 10” Weight: 80kg Ethnicity: White, English Hometown: City of Bristol Appearance: Isaac was once a handsome and some might say dashing young gent with a roughish look about him. Windswept black hair and sharp features are all that remain of those good looks, with bloodshot eyes and a grey unhealthy pallor that shouldn’t be confused with being simply pale, he has the look of a drunkard or even someone afflicted with a terrible disease. Caught looking permanently on the nasty side of thirty, despite being just twenty five when made a ghoul, Isaac makes up for his lack of natural good looks with a fine dress sense. His body shape is fairly average bordering of athletic, unchanged from the point when he became a ghoul. However, this body hides a supernatural and frightening strength. Isaac when given the choice tends to favour sharp jackets and shirts, depending on the fashion of the time. Not necessarily appearance, but Isaac has a light Bristollian accent. Physical characteristics: Though a Ghoul harbours only a small portion of the true power of a vampire, this power does scale with the relative power and age of the Ghoul’s master. Isaac’s master is a particularly old and powerful ancient, and so he has inherited a small percentage of a large volume of power. This accounts for his ability to physically overcome fledglings, the type of vampire which are most likely to cause trouble for his master and therefore warrant execution. Strength: Beyond any human man, in literal modern day terms Isaac could ‘bench’ 500kg with ease, which translates to throwing bodily adult males with one hand, and being capable of delivering incredibly devastating blows. Speed: Supernatural speed is by far the most impressive by-product of becoming a ghoul, with a particularly powerful ghoul like Isaac being capable of outrunning some of the fastest predators on the planet. Isaac can run at up to 70mph and sustain that speed for up to an hour with an acceleration to top speed of just 3 seconds. His reflexes are significantly above any humans to accommodate for this increase in speed, registering at roughly four times the fastest of human beings. Agility: As part of his inhuman reflexes, Isaac can move his body incredibly quickly, capable of avoiding almost effortlessly any blow an ordinary human could throw. He is fast enough to hear or see a gun firing and move his head or most of his body from the bullet’s path. Durability: Ghoul’s inherit their master’s supernatural durability, proving irritating to kill. They are particularly vulnerable to blades, especially to the heart, and like nearly all things decapitation ends them immediately. Isaac is exactly four times more durable than a man of comparative size for his strength (so, quite literally he would be four times more difficult to damage than whoever the world’s biggest current strong man is.) Bullets are particularly ineffective against him when fired at non-vital regions, due to his body’s dependency on vampire blood cutting off his dependency on other areas of his body. To offset his high durability, he has inherited some of the weaknesses of the vampire. Sunlight bothers him but bright lights serve to blind him and weapons targeted at blindness like flashbangs are doubly effective against him. Fire causes him double the normal amount of pain, and burns through his body as fast as an ordinary humans. Stakes, particularly wooden ones, pierce his body as easily as any ordinary human, allowing for a quick and easy kill if plunged through the heart. Any silver weaponry affects him like it would a normal human, allowing silver bullets and blades to kill him incredibly quickly, much like the silver blade through the heart of a full vampire. Holy spells and weaponry have increased effect against him like any undead, though less effect then they would have on a fully fledged vampire due to the fact that he is still part human. Endurance: Isaac can fight past pretty much any ordinary pain so long as his body is not structurally disabled. In terms of fatigue it would be unlikely for him to ever tire in a single fight, and he can fight at near peak potential for over an hour. Senses: Due to their closeness to undeath, Ghoul’s are unable to feel most forms of pain. Isaac has an incredibly high pain tolerance, and is unlikely to be debilitated by any pain other than fire and holy magic. Even a blade doesn’t bother him, though it does do significant harm. Isaac can smell more acutely than any human, similar to that of a bloodhound. His sense of smell for blood is as good as the average grizzly, once blooded an opponent can almost never escape him. Isaac has acute eyesight, and can see as well as an ordinary human in daylight in near pitch black conditions. His ability to spot movement is immense, so only the most patient hunters can sneak up on him. Isaac has fairly average hearing, a trait not inherited from the master vampire. Ghoul Biology: Ghouls treacherously walk the path between life and death, with little say in the matter. Linked to the vampiric blood they are horribly addicted to, the ghoul inherits a number of benefits from their unholy curse. Ghouls are immune to the bite of lycanthrope and vampire, save for the bite of their master (which incidentally is how a fully-fledged vampire is formed.) The physical damage is still prominent, they just can’t succumb to the curse. Ghouls are resistant to disease, as their bodies are close to undead, and the vampire blood they drink is capable of fully combatting poisons and other weaponized bio-agents. On drinking vial of vampire blood disease/poison is destroyed over one-two turns depending on strength. Ghouls can live for extended periods of time, though they do still age slowly, the more powerful blood they drink the longer they can extend their lives. Ghouls are more resistant to unholy magic and cold/frost magic due to the natural resistance of undeath. Ghouls inherit a small degree of their masters commanding presence, demanding respect from fellow undead if not outright obedience. Reduces effectiveness of undead summons/passives against Isaac. Ghouls can withstand harsh environments such as irradiated land and noxious gases for significantly longer periods than ordinary humans, though not indefinitely. Ghouls gain no benefits from the drinking of ordinary human blood, but they can consume ordinary foods. All of their supernatural power comes from the routine drinking of vampire blood, long periods without cause them to revert to ordinary human form (which also tends to kill them.) The only immediate benefit to drinking vampire blood for a ghoul which pushes them past their passive bonuses is healing, in which drinking a vial of vampire blood can ramp their healing factor up by a large margin. Ordinarily a ghoul heals somewhat twice as fast as any human, on drinking vampire blood this multiplies significantly. Some examples of the healing effects of vampire blood are bullet and stab wounds healing in minutes, and otherwise mortal wounds healing in a day. The negatives to drinking the blood of a vampire, other than the obvious loss of freedom and other minor inconveniences of undeath, comes from the effect it has on the mind. Vampire blood tugs on the consciousness, driving lesser individuals to madness quite quickly. More intelligent humans can retain their humanity, though ironically it requires regular but carefully maintained dosage of blood and the addiction causes them to noticeably shake when not under its immediate effects. Drinking too much or too little has catastrophic effects. Isaac was a smart man originally, but he has been reduced to a creature with base cunning rather than true intelligence and tactics. Though probably considered above average intelligence regardless, (especially for his time) madness can tear at his judgement and cause him to grow almost feral in his attacks. This also significantly reduces his ability to resist mind-altering effects and perceive through illusion. 1st Vial: The optimum fighting condition for Isaac, after downing the first vial of cursed blood he gains the healing factor and steadies his almost constant shaking from addiction. He can still think at his most lucid, grows very resistant to disease and poison and gains more traits of undeath, including weakness to holy and fire magic and ordinary fire. 2nd Vial: Dangerous and rarely sunk to, drinking a second vial of blood in a short period of time causes the healing factor to increase significantly, but also returns the shakes (this time from adrenaline) resulting in his aim being thrown off (firearms can’t be used effectively.) His mind starts to cloud from the effects at this point, increasing the effectiveness of illusion and other perception based attacks. Holy magic and fire is more effective, but frost and unholy magics have nearly no effect. 3rd Vial: Never ventured to, it is presumed that a third vial of blood would drive Isaac feral, increasing the positive and negative effects to the point where he would discard weaponry and attack with physical ferocity. Though he would be near unstoppable in close combat, he could easily be dispatched with traps or careful planning in this state. The effect of a vial of blood lasts between 1-2 turns (my posts) depending on how quickly it needs to be burned through to heal the ghoul's wounds. The exception to this is the shakes stopping after a single vial, this tends to last for an entire battle or until a second vial is consumed, due to its links with the addiction over the immediate effects of drinking blood. Learned Skills: Considering the relative inaccuracy of his weapons, Isaac is a formidable shot, especially when his hands stop shaking. Isaac is a fairly competent duelist, though he obviously makes up for some lack of talent with an abundance of physical advantages. Isaac can ride a horse with some skill, and move quickly through uneven terrain. He has developed the art of moving stealthily, especially since becoming a ghoul. Isaac is excellent at fighting dirty, a useful trait when combatting enemies stronger or more skilled than himself. The equipment Isaac carries depends upon the time period he is fighting in, early modern accounts for medieval opponents up until the turn of the 20th century. I'll probably add more specific loadouts when required, because I'm lazy. Modern day accounts for any battle in modern times. [hider=Early Modern equipment] One nasty trait of supernatural abilities is a smug superiority complex which causes Isaac to forsake any armour, despite his strength probably allowing him to wear it with little encumbrance. Weapons: Silver-Steel Mortuary Sword, double edged blade of 100 cm long with a basket hilt, passed down from his father. Somehow forged with a small measure of silver in the steel, unsure how or why, useful in the vampiric world. Queen Anne Flintlock pistol (x2): Simple one-shot pistol, takes ages to reload so Isaac carries two with him ready-loaded, unreliable and slow to fire, but known to cause large gruesome wounds at medium-range. Weapons belt: Simple leather belt with a sheath for a sword and two pistol holsters. Three metallic vials: Filled with the blood of a master vampire, carried across his person (one in belt, two in coat pockets.) Wooden stake, carried in belt. [/hider] [hider=Modern Equipment] Kevlar Vest: In the modern day, Vampires have grown to fear the technology of man, and even foolhardy ghouls tend to wear a Kevlar Vest, no one wants to feel the final death from a silver tipped bullet shot from a rifle a mile away. Armoured Gloves: Made from stab-proof material, armoured gloves are of use to the physically powerful Ghoul for dealing with incredibly sharp weaponry without losing fingers. 9mm Glock 17 pistol (X2): Semi automatic death dealers, carried on weapon holsters attached to each hip. Lupara Shotgun: Sawed off double barrelled shotgun, large spread and short range but deadly in close quarters. 12" Combat Knife: Steel with a touch of silver, perfect for those close range kills on vampires. Incendiary Grenade (2x): Made illegally from copies stolen during WW2, white phosphorous grenades cause an eruption of burning fire when the grenade hits a surface with a lethal radius of roughly eight feet. Isaac hates these weapons, but they are by far the most effective way to kill a vampire. Frag Grenade (2x): Probably the most useful weapon to the Ghoul, ordinary Frag grenades are particularly effective against soft fleshy targets that don't wear effective armour, like most vampires. These have been modified to explode on contact as well as the six second timer. Three metal canisters of blood: Filled with Vampiric blood, same effect as above. [/hider] Backstory: Though much of Isaac’s past life is unknown, it’s likely he was the son of a roundhead/parliamentarian officer during the English civil war due to the sword he carries. He has had some rudimentary form of education, and was intelligent enough. At some point he fell into extreme debt and like any wannabe adventurer took to the life of a highwayman. At some point he attempted to rob an affluent nobleman travelling by carriage at night, and on opening the door thrust his sword through his victim’s chest, effectively pinning him to the carriage. What made this an unusual occurrence was the man’s lack of any obvious discomfort from this, something which instantly transfixed the young highwayman. Unknown to him, the vampire he had skewered was a powerful ancient, who none the less was in some danger as he recognised the sword penetrating awfully close to his heart had some silver in it. To avoid an embarrassing death at the hands of a young upstart human, he tricked Isaac into drinking his blood, thinking he would gain the vampire’s powers. Instead he became enslaved, and though he hated the blood and the master with every fibre of his being he served him none-the-less. [/hider]