No, really. Ghouls are totally gnarly. And in thinking through Sister Garaele’s side quest this week, I came to the realization that I haven’t leaned into their true nature on the occasions where I’ve deployed them in my games.

Unless they’re under control by some outside force, ghouls are not guardians or belligerents. They’re predators. They want to eat. Their hunger is what drives them.

When a pack of wolves comes across a herd of deer, the pack isn’t intent on wiping out the herd. Their goal is to prey on a single member of the herd, isolate their quarry, and then feed.

Now apply that mindset to a pack of ghouls. They’re not looking to wipe out the party. They’re looking for a meal. And in the lead up to the battle, they’re assessing which member of the party they can incapacitate and drag off to devour.

Ghouls understand what armor does, and that their claws rend flesh, not metal. They understand that leather armor is simply tougher flesh, slightly harder to tear through. And they understand that prey wearing neither is likely the most vulnerable to their claw attack.

Their claw attack really is something. The character afflicted by their claws paralyzing effect remains paralyzed for up to a minute until they successfully make their saving throw. It’s not an effect that ends the moment the target takes damage. So a string of successive failed saving throws could result in a character being conscious while being eaten alive. Like I said. GNARLY.

If you want a little Walking Dead in your game, you want ghouls. Not zombies.

That makes initiative look a bit different, doesn’t it? The ghouls aren’t neatly lining up with each character in the party for some slug fest to see who has the most hit points remaining at the end of the combat. Instead, they’re maneuvering. They’re feinting. They’re using grapples, shove aside and help actions, overrunning the stronger members of the party to get at what they determine to be the weakest member.

Imagine the horror at your table as the players slowly come to the realization that this isn’t just some meat and potatoes combat encounter. It’s a hunt. And one character in the party is the meat, while the rest of them are the only thing standing in the way of the predators.

Changes the color of the combat, don’t you think?

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