[amerginsrd]

I am currently running a classic game where the it has been revealed that ghouls are actually goblinized serial killers and other types of cannibals. They have encountered the "king ghoul" ruling from the Puyallup Barrens who tells them he has been eating Human flesh since long before the Awakening. All becoming a Ghoul has done is extended his lifetime thus allowing him to continue his unnatural predilections.

Any opinions?

[Reaver]

Gonna say it for completion,

In SR, ghouls are 'created' by a virus (a strain of HMHVV, iirc). But if you want to have them be mutated/awakened canabals for your campaign, fly at it... You're just limiting your options IMHO.

[TheVanguard]

Sorry, but I have to say that your take on ghouls does not really appeal to me at first sight. It seems to take too much away without adding anything of significance. You're robbing yourself of the option to tell a story about someone who was turned into a ghoul but hates his new live, for example, or wants to make a difference like Tamir Grey. Also, the PCs won't have to fear becoming infected themselves when fighting ghouls anymore. Cannibal cabals are already covered by wendigo cults, by the way.
Furthermore, this would mean that there is a very low number of ghouls in your world, as they can't multiply via infection, and they might be hunted into extinction soon. It would also mean that either becoming a serial killer is genetically determined, or that goblinization (maybe UGE, too) can be influenced by your consciousness, what opens up quite some other can of worms.
Well, maybe the ghoul king is just crazy and feeds the characters a lot of BS. Who knows?

BTW, I've statted the ghoul king in my game, too. I made him a twisted adept with the Cannibalize and Power Bleed metamagics.

[amerginsrd]

it is possible, (and as pointed out above, necessary for survival), for ghouls to create new ghouls out of non ghouls. It is a conscious act of innate magic as opposed to biology, (again as pointed out above, what is the line between biology and magic, a can of worms I was very intentionally opening up). It is a reflection of the way some serial killers or sexual predators kidnap children and then "turn them into"  the same, through years of abusive manipulation.

In the adventure I mentioned before the group has run into a girl who's school bus was overrun by ghouls where she was "infected". A common practice of the ghouls in my game to strengthen their numbers. They hit a group of younger folk, infect them, and wait for them to run away from home or be kicked out when the transformation begins and scoop them up.

In this case, the girl is the daughter of a biological r&d guy working for Shiawase. He tried for years to find a cure for the virus and with failure came to the conclusion it was a form of goblinization. Now he is trying to cure that which the corp is really behind. After all if he can find a cure for ghoul goblinization then it wont be far from a cure for trolls, orks, . . . someday they could even "cure" the dragons.