Ghouls roam the night in packs, driven by an insatiable hunger for humanoid flesh.

Devourers of Flesh

Like maggots or carrion beetles, ghouls thrive in places rank with decay and death. A ghoul haunts a place where it can gorge on dead flesh and decomposing organs. When it can't feed on the dead, it pursues living creatures and attempts to make corpses of them. Though they gain no nourishment from the corpses they devour, ghouls are driven by an unending hunger that compels them to consume. A ghoul's undead flesh never rots, and this monster can persist in a crypt or tomb for untold ages without feeding.

Abyssal Origins

Ghouls trace their origins to the Abyss. Doresain, the first of their kind, was an elf worshiper of Orcus. Turning against his own people, he feasted on humanoid flesh to honor the Demon Prince of Undeath. As a reward for his service, Orcus transformed Doresain into the first ghoul. Doresain served Orcus faithfully in the Abyss, creating ghouls from the demon lord's other servants until an incursion by Yeenoghu, the demonic Gnoll Lord, robbed Doresain of his abyssal domain. When Orcus would not intervene on his behalf, Doresain turned to the elf gods for salvation, and they took pity on him and helped him escape certain destruction. Since then, elves have been immune to the ghouls' paralytic touch.

Ghasts

Orcus sometimes infuses a ghoul with a stronger dose of abyssal energy, making a ghast. Whereas ghouls are little more than savage beasts, a ghast is cunning and can inspire a pack of ghouls to follow its commands.

Ghouls rise from the bodies of cannibals and villains with depraved hungers. They form packs out of shared voracity.

Undead monsters which eat the flesh of dead humanoids to survive

Ghouls are undead monsters which eat the flesh of dead humanoids to survive. They are vile, disgusting carrion-eaters, but are more than willing to kill for food. Those slain by ghouls will generally be stored until they begin to rot before the ghouls will actually eat them. Living creatures hit by a ghoul's bite or claw attack must save vs. Paralysis or be paralyzed for 2d8 turns. Elves are immune to this paralysis. Ghouls try to attack with surprise whenever possible, striking from behind tombstones or bursting from shallow graves; when they attack in this way, they are able to surprise opponents on 1-3 on 1d6. Like all undead, they may be Turned by Clerics and are immune to sleep, charm, and hold magics. Humanoids bitten by ghouls may be infected with ghoul fever. Each time a humanoid is bitten, there is a 5% chance of the infection being passed. The afflicted humanoid is allowed to save vs. Death Ray; if the save is failed, the humanoid dies within a day. An afflicted humanoid who dies of ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the next midnight. A humanoid who becomes a ghoul in this way retains none of the knowledge or abilities they possessed in life. The newly-risen ghoul is not

Grotesque, animalistic, undead humans that crave the flesh of the living.

Undead monsters which eat the flesh of dead humanoids to survive

Ghouls are humans, who feasting on corpses and engaging in other vileness, have become undead, or in turn were killed by another ghoul without their corpses being sanctified by a cleric. Loping through the darkness with their vague canine cast and long black marrow-licking tongues, they haunt graves and ruins, seeking the flesh of the dead and the living. Though their minds are warped by the transformation, and their general intellect stunted, they still retain a terrible cunning, and they attack in fearless packs to good effect, bringing down the living to feast on their remains. Any human or demi-human, save elves, attacked by a ghoul must make a saving throw or be paralysed for 3d4 turns. Protection from evil will keep these things at bay, unless one so protected violates the circle by attacking the ghouls. Ghouls are also said to be able travel the lands of dreams, using them as conduit to enter the waking world of men at various graveyards, and escaping without a trace. Marine ghouls are called "lacedons" and are sometimes found on ghost ships or dwelling in wrecks on the sea bed. Description: Ghouls appear as emaciated, animated corpses with sharp teeth and long fingernail