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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 2489577" data-attributes="member: 20323">Well, this is the most grizzly idea I ever came up with and it utterly terrified my players (who were Sensates in a Planescape game). Steel yourself....Organ-Thief GhoulsCame from the corpses of evil-doers who died starving in the desert having been cast out of their tribes/cities. They were brought back by a mummy-lord who suffered from decrepitude. They are sightless and mute servants driving by the hunger which killed them. And of course, their most horrifying ability...Organ-thieving: On a successful grapple and hold, the ghoul attempts to suck the organs from its victim’s body. The opponent makes a DC 20 Fortitude check or loses one of their organs, as determined by a d8 roll. While the hit point damage can be healed, the other effects of this process are irreversible until first remove curse is cast. If no duration is listed by the result then it is permanent. Once an organ is stolen by a ghoul, there are two immediate recourses. First, killing the organ-thief ghoul allows recovery of the organ, ensuring that it is not taken to the elder harvesters for their dark rituals. Second, tracking down the ghoulish cabal seeking the organs and stealing them.d8.....Organ.....Result1.....An eye.....1d6 damage; -2 attack, -4 missiles, and -1 Spot2.....An ear.....1d6 damage; deaf for 1d6 rounds; -2 Balance, -2 Listen3.....Tongue.....1d6 damage; can’t speak for 1 week, -2 social rolls, 10% spell failure4.....A kidney.....2d6 damage; Kidney Infection: -1 Constitution and poison saves per day unless the victim makes a successful DC 15 Fortitude save. Effects are cumulative.5.....Liver.....2d6 damage; bleeds for 1 hp 1d10 rounds, next day victim is fatigued, after the second day the victim is exhausted permanently.6.....A lung.....2d6 damage; Short-winded: When engaging in strenuous activity, the victim suffers 1d6 subdual damage on the third round, then 2d6 on the fourth, 3d6 on the fifth, and so on. If 10 rounds are taken to rest, the victim catches his breath.7.....Intestines.....3d6 damage; can’t consume foods, and starts to waste away.8.....Stomach.....3d6 damage; Abcesses: -1 Constitution and -1 Strength per day unless the victim makes a successful DC 18 Fortitude save. Effects are cumulative. In addition, the victim can no longer consume solid foods, though they can survive on fluids. After three days of fluids the victim is fatigued. After ten days, he is exhausted.Elder HarvestersThese taller upright versions of the organ-thief ghoul are shamanic leaders. They wear gaurdy robes sewn with patches of human flesh painted with symbols of eyes and ears (sometimes these are a horrific robe of eyes). Elder Harvesters conduct dark rituals with the stolen organs the ghouls provide.RITUALSRitual of Enslavement: Requiring three organs of the target, this ritual bestows a curse upon the target if they do not accept a leaser geas, typically leading a group of commoners into an ambush. Once the deed is performed, the geas ends. If the target resists, he Ritual of the Hidden Voice: Requires a lung. The target miraculously recovers. At the time of the ritual, the elder harvester designates one of its existing rituals to hide within the returned lung. When the conditions are appropriate, the ritual’s spoken component escapes from the target’s mouth. A DC 20 Will save resists. The spoken ritual functions as if the elder harvester had performed the ritual itself.Ritual of Opening: This parody of the sacred Opening of the Mouth ritual involves imbuing an organ-flesh ghoul with a mouth and requires a living victim’s tongue. Unable to communicate in a language, the ghoul is limited to making guttural cries. The ghoul gains the Baying ability (increase its CR by +1/2):Baying: Taking a standard action, the ghoul lets forth an anguished cry affecting all within 30 feet. A DC 15 Will save avoids becoming shaken. A successful saving throw renders that person immune to all Baying attacks until one day has passed. The ghoul may repeat the cry, this time even more blood curdling than before, forcing a second save among those who failed the first one. These shaken victims become frightened if they fail the second save.Ritual of Restored Vision: Requires a pair of eyes from a single target. The target miraculously recovers after the ritual. Unbeknownst to him, the elder harvester can scry at will through the target’s eyes.Ritual of Severance: Given two nights with at least two organs of the target, the elder harvester prevents the target from healing. Not even remove curse will help him now. The target has been marked, and the organ-thief ghouls are sent to hunt him down so that the rest of his organs may be brought to Othirsis. The only way the target can heal is if they steal the canopic jar which bears their stolen organs and purify it in holy water. Of course, this means penetrating the elder harvester’s lair.Ritual of Undeath: Requires four organs from a single target. The target is cursed with the Half-Living template for three days. At the end of this time, he must make a DC 16 Fortitude save. Failure spells death, while success indicates he has been transformed into an undead organ-thief ghoul.    Half-Living [cursed templateThe Khemitians believe the soul is comprised of many parts. Some portion of your soul has been stripped from you by a necromancer or Filchers from the Deadlands. -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma (with living), +2 Charisma (with dead). Healing magic only heals ½ the indicated damage. Energy drain and death magic is only ½ effective on you, and you are completely immune to effects that trap the soul (i.e. magic jar). You can only be raised from the dead if the person/creature responsible for taking the other half of your soul is killed; even then you return as Half-Living. Using your Bluff skill, you can pass yourself off as undead, and such beings will ignore you as if you were one of their own, provided you don’t attack them; only a successful Sense Motive check on the part of an intelligent undead reveals the truth.</blockquote>

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