Ghoul (monster)

Version 0.16: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

ghoul n
HP	129-166
HD	14
XP	1547
Speed	10
AC	4
EV	10
Will	80
Attack1	30 (hit: rot)
Attack2	30 (claw: plain)
Resistances	rC+, rPois+++, rN+++, rTorm, rRot, rDrown, rWater
Vulnerabilities	Holy, Holy wrath
Habitat	Land
Intelligence	Normal
Uses	Open doors
Holiness	Undead
Size	Medium
Type	ghoul, ghoul
Flags	Eats corpses Evil No zombie

A truly horrible undead creature, a ghoul is a decayed cadaver, reanimated and accursed with a terrible hunger. It desires nothing but to feed on the flesh of the living, and will fell its victims with its vicious claws or with one of the many diseases it is host to. “In the desert I saw a creature, naked, bestial, Who, squatting upon the ground, Held his heart in his hands, And ate of it. I said, ‘Is it good, friend?’ ‘It is bitter — bitter’, he answered, ‘But I like it Because it is bitter, And because it is my heart.’” -Stephen Crane, _The Black Riders and Other Lines_. 1895.

Useful Info

One of the nastier threats in the Crypt, ghouls are similar to necrophages, but much more powerful. Their brutal melee attacks will rot even the most heavily armoured of characters, they tend to appear in packs, they can move at normal speed, and they have over twice the health of a skeletal warrior. Fortunately they have no defenses beyond their tremendous HP and the standard undead immunities.

Tips & Tricks

• Dispel Undead is an option, although it will take 4-5 casts to kill one on average. It may be better to simply use high-level Conjurations, especially if you can line the entire pack up in a hallway and hit several at once. Melee characters have a harder time of things, but can use weapons of holy wrath, choke points, and stair dancing to make the situation a little easier.
• Yredelemnul will eventually gift you allied ghouls as you worship him. These allies are durable and powerful as is, but can be made significantly deadlier if allowed to use weapons and armour. Press CTRL + T to command them to use equipment they come across (or hold * for 3 seconds, release, and then press T if playing online with certain web browsers). A band of ghouls toting crossbows or great maces is a force to be reckoned with.

History

Prior to 0.13, ghouls would inflict rot twice as often.