Lacedons versus Ghouls

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

What differentiates lacedons (marine form of ghouls) from ghouls?

Do ghouls need to 'breathe' (ghouls breathe air and lacedons breathe water) in order to survive as undead?

Or is it that lacedons have different anatomy than ghouls, say for underwater mobility?

Or is it strictly appearance/coloration differences?

[geneweigel]

This is from Gary's SLAYER'S GUIDE TO THE UNDEAD (D20) which adheres to things he had in mind when it could which answers some other questions about leaving bodies be (from Monastery):

Given the similarities between these three undead
species, they are covered together in one section, with
details given pertaining to all three unless otherwise
noted.
The ghoulish undead are frightful lo behold. In their
state of living death the skin has become pallid or
disgusting shades of green, grey and purple. Cursed
with an insatiable hunger for carrion, the ghoul, ghast
or lacedon seems emaciated - its skin stretched tight
over its bony frame.
The transformation into the
ghoulish state lengthens Ihe
teeth and turns normal hands
into viciously sharp claws.

SNIP

In the present time these undead can arise when one
who leads a life of debauchery dies and his soul
passes into the abyss where, after a period of demonic
torture and humiliation, it is made into a ghoul and
sent back into the world. Shipwrecked pirates are in
danger of becoming lacedons. Driven by greed and a
lust for wealth in life. feeding off the toil of honest
mariners, they become literal devourers of men upon
their death.

and about the bodies not eaten:

Most ghouls are created when a living being dies at a
ghoul's hands and is not eaten. Why some corpses are
left is uncertain. Perhaps the ghoulish undead seek to
spawn more of their kind or they are interrupted in
their feeding and the new ghoul's 'birth' is an
accident Ghasts are the most successful of ghouls,
those who have devoured many, 'lived' long and
grown in power.

[davegibsongreyhawkdm]

Dec 18, 2017 14:57:56 GMT -5 geneweigel said:

This is from Gary's SLAYER'S GUIDE TO THE UNDEAD (D20) which adheres to things he had in mind when it could which answers some other questions about leaving bodies be (from Monastery):

Given the similarities between these three undead
species, they are covered together in one section, with
details given pertaining to all three unless otherwise
noted.
The ghoulish undead are frightful lo behold. In their
state of living death the skin has become pallid or
disgusting shades of green, grey and purple. Cursed
with an insatiable hunger for carrion, the ghoul, ghast
or lacedon seems emaciated - its skin stretched tight
over its bony frame.
The transformation into the
ghoulish state lengthens Ihe
teeth and turns normal hands
into viciously sharp claws.

SNIP

In the present time these undead can arise when one
who leads a life of debauchery dies and his soul
passes into the abyss where, after a period of demonic
torture and humiliation, it is made into a ghoul and
sent back into the world. Shipwrecked pirates are in
danger of becoming lacedons. Driven by greed and a
lust for wealth in life. feeding off the toil of honest
mariners, they become literal devourers of men upon
their death.

and about the bodies not eaten:

Most ghouls are created when a living being dies at a
ghoul's hands and is not eaten. Why some corpses are
left is uncertain. Perhaps the ghoulish undead seek to
spawn more of their kind or they are interrupted in
their feeding and the new ghoul's 'birth' is an
accident Ghasts are the most successful of ghouls,
those who have devoured many, 'lived' long and
grown in power.

So, perhaps the abbot could become a ghoul while the PC party is adventuring in the DMG sample dungeon? Hmmm....