[vanishingpointe]

I'm normally pretty good at setting up interesting encounter locations, but I'm hitting a wall with this one.

I've a pack of (mostly) feral ghouls being lead by a ghoul that has had some cybersurgery to "pass" for normal. He's like the father/handler of the pack, keeping them (and himself) fed.

I need to figure out what they call "home" or their den. I'm running a Barrens game in Bargain Basement/Touristville.

And before you say it, don't you dare say "sewers".

[PiXeL01]

Anywhere would do; a derelict building, an unused cellar, parking building, anywhere basically. I have a pack living in some of the lavatubes in Puyallup.

For fun they might live in the attic of the runners' building and skitter around at night like little mice.

If they are intelligent enough (or lead by one) then they could burrow into buildings/cellars.

[Shaidar]

A Taxi garage, with you leader fronting as a Taxi Driver.

Ghoul Taxi Runner go to for quick body removal.

[LordGrizzle]

What's wrong with the sewers? My Group loves the sewers .

But if you don't like the sewers a Location where I had a Group of ghouls live was on a junk Yard in a few small huts constructed from different junkparts altough if it's a Group of ferals they would have probably taken them by force from some hobos instead of making/constructing them by themselves.

[firebug]

The main thing that should come into play when deciding where they are is "where is their hunting grounds?"

If they're too far away from the humans they hunt, they're too likely to be spotted traveling.  Especially if there's more than like, three of them.  If they're too close (like right in the middle) they'd risk being too easily found, and the handler/leader would have difficulty with the ferals trying to break free to hunt on their own (because they prey, it's just so tantalizingly close!).

So, assuming they pick on homeless and squatters in the Barrens, they'd likely also be living in a Squatter situation, maybe in a dark basement of a condemned building, behind a locked door, while the handler walks the streets, looking for the next target.  I personally like this idea because it lets you have the runners walk into what will feel like the den of a serial killer.  Disturbing, dark (they're all blind, and see astrally, why the fuck would they need light?), smells like blood and feces, and the astral there...

Depending on how the meals are "prepared", it's possible the area may even have a small background count (no higher than 2, most likely 1).  Though Street Grimoire implies the Barrens have a background count of 1 just from how violent they are at base, so it may add together.  I dunno.  Regardless, the astral would probably be full of the mindless hunger that feral ghouls feel when they need to feed.

[vanishingpointe]

Oh man, I didn't even consider the background count, thanks for the idea on that front.

I'm liking some of the stuff I see here so far. I want to avoid the sewers because the group recently had a run-in with a rat shaman who had holed up in a local storm sewer.

This particular pack usually gets fed in medical waste and "liability issues" for a local clinic. The size of the pack is expanding, so they need to expand and diversify their diet.

[firebug]

Oh man, I didn't even consider the background count, thanks for the idea on that front.

I'm liking some of the stuff I see here so far. I want to avoid the sewers because the group recently had a run-in with a rat shaman who had holed up in a local storm sewer.

This particular pack usually gets fed in medical waste and "liability issues" for a local clinic. The size of the pack is expanding, so they need to expand and diversify their diet.

So is the handler setting up "accidents" to get more people in the hospital, so he and his ghouls can feed more often?  Or did he go straight to murder?  I figure the former seems more likely if he bothered to find a way to avoid it in the first place.

This is all on the assumption that they're supposed to be antagonists.  My suggestions of a basement would still work for them feeding from a clinic most of the time.

[Shaidar]

How about a twist on the Sewer idea, Steam Tunnels instead of cold and wet you get hot and humid. Older structures particularly public use ones were heated using steam/boilers/radiators RL modern buildings are using a twist on the system by pumping heated water through tubes embedded within the floor.

[Ravensoracle]

Put the feral ghouls in a sinkhole pit in the middle of a abandoned basement floor. The pit used to be an excellent way of keeping the ghouls trapped and the leader would simply have to throw down bodies to feed them. But now they have managed to dig a small hole into the nearby maintenance tunnels of the other nearby building complexes. So the secret is out, there are feral ghouls being spotted in the area. Finding their lair means braving the traps of the leader and to avoid being thrown into the pit.

[cantrip]

What's wrong with the sewers? My Group loves the sewers .

Mine too!
Always friendly neighbors - toxic spirits, devil/demon rats, Dzoo-noo-qua, ghost gators....
Though don't TPK your group with the ghost gator -- I used the 5th edition stats from the forums and, well it was good until "CHOMP". Ewwwww!!!! Be sure they are loaded for bear (or as I like to say "loaded for bare" --- totally different gear involved!).

Sorry - got distracted - ghoul haunts -

A lot of good ideas so far, I'd add:

* run-down meat packing plant/district
* the docks area
* old morgue (or one with ties to Tamanous)
* anther stereotype - old mausoleum in a cemetery
* A mall - maybe the Body Mall <ducks>
* From the above link - Glow City would be interesting - nothing like radioactive ghouls - or a toxic ghouls mage handler....hmmmm....<takes notes...heads to drawing board...>

Okay, now I'm back on team Ghoul - next session I'm going to go for body count.