Lycanthropy for PCs

[Pbartender]

SO any suggestions on how break up into a level system (I realize you're probably going to do an article on it, but any general hints would be nice)

Assuming that the character is an afflicted lycanthrope, try this...

Give him the +2 ECL straight up (he can't start gaining new levels, until he has enough experience for two more levels). Give him the Alternate Form ability (animal only, not hybrid), and any benefits that derive from turning into that form (DR, special abilities, ability adjustments, etc...). But when in human form, he gains no benefit whatsoever (No scent, empathy, natural armor, low-light vision or +2 Wisdom).

Once he works off that +2 ECL, he now must start taking Animal HD, instead of class levels. He gains hit points, BAB, Saves, and skill points as an Animal (you can find all that in the "Improving Monsters" section of the MM) as if he'd 'multiclassed' into the Animal 'class'. Once he gains enough Animal HD to equal the type of animal that he changes into, then he gains the full benefit of the template, and can once again begin taking regular class levels.

Does that make sense?

 

[Krail Stromquism]

Bad kitty! NO bite!

Oh yeah, people are talking about the old school stuff. SS took stuff straight from the old Top Ballista, Night Howl(?) and what was the other? Wee Folk?

anyway thats what I thought when I first saw the monster levels thing.

As well as LA should really slide or lessen the higher level you get. It rarely pays of in the end (higher Levels)

The per level monster/template advancement really needs to happen.

Just think in a world gone mad what would Kings stop at to protect or take over other powers.

"It was the seventh week of the seige. Supplies were running low. I was counting the arrows I reclaimed from the bodies of my fallen comrades. Thats when the Captain of the guard entered the barracks. Four High Guardsman pulled a heavy metal cage into the middle of the hall.

The stinking beast snarled.

I looked to the Captain. His eyes were sorrowful but his face, stern. My duty was clear. I knew what I had to do. We all knew. Even as the Captain began to explain that he would not order us to this fate, that he could only ask for volunteers, I was already rolling up my sleeve to let the starving man-beast taste my flesh and infect me with its damnable curse. Its a sodliers duty I told myself as its teeth rent into my arm. A soldeirs duty.

A line formed quickly behind me."

That took up way too much space but its just to illustrate how screwed up things like seige and warfare would become when its an easy payoff.

anyhow,

Im all for the leveling idea, its far less likely to be taken advantage of.

word

 

[cptg1481]

...Another issue concerns player knowledge vs. character knowledge. If a PC gets bitten by a rat and doesnt know that he has contracted lycanthropy, the player is obviously going to find out as soon as the DM starts taking over control of the character when he transforms into a wererat for the first time. Wouldn't other members of the party be very likely to figure it out as well, since they would often be near the PC when the transformation occurred? I suppose if you could arrange for the characters to be separated at night--sleeping in different rooms in the inn, perhaps--then it might make a very interesting plot. The characters would be hearing about chaos going on at night and not know that it was one of their own! On the other hand, the players most likely would know, and that might detract from the fun.

A final question: if a PC with lycanthropy is underground when the moon comes out, does he still transform? What if the moon is out during the day?

PC/Character knowledge: We just went through this last session, when one of the PC's (I'm DM) cohorts had his first (and last, rest his soul) episode of were-ratness. The group was asleep in an inn in a room with 4 beds seperated by velveteen curtains drawn against the continuous daylight of the world they live in. They are awakened by the cohort in dire rat form when he attaked his master (rolled randomly BTW). Roused by the attaks the rest of the group closed with the creature and in three maybe four rounds killed it only to see the dire rat morph inot the beloved form of the PC's trusted cohort.

The players knew he was infected as I make all rolls in the open (my group is realy great with PC vs Character knowledge stuff). I still think that the tension was high. The one player who is a fledgling mind flayer even tried to use his extraction ablity to eat the cohorts brain. They were totally cool with his death as players and made sure to angst it up in character over the incident. They convince a local druid to bring him back via resurection later so no lasting harm to the party was done.


As for the underground part...

The effect of lunacy (not the crazy kind the kind that makes people violent when there is a full moon) and lycanthropy IMC is related to the gravitational effect of the moons orbiting the planet. I don't think that is has to do with the light of the moon at all just it's position relative to the planet it circles. This is especially important IMC since the planet itself does not spin on its axis. One side is always light and the other always dark, the exception being the 6 hours on each side equivelent to EENT and BMNT.

Hope this helps.....

 

[GenLang]

A campaign I'm plotting to run in a few years (when all my other more senior campaigns have played through) is an all lycanthrope campaign, probably up in the Silver Marches of FR. Probably some sort of law enforcement bent, site based, the PCs an arm of the law (and so hired because of their skills).

This started me looking at how lycanthropic stuff works for PCs, and I've come to the conclusion that probably won't surprise many. D&D just isn't the game system I want to use for that campaign.

Back when I played 2e, back when races weren't 'balanced' and everyone in my group was playing a demihuman, I had a were-housecat cleric. Trying to recreate her in 3e/r is... harsh. +3 LA, and a much less powerful animal form than my 'human' form to boot. Sure, I could houserule it down, and I could try to make balanced packages for everyone so everyone stayed at more or less the same ECL, but it doesn't feel good. It feels all jagged and bleeding edge. If someone else can pull it off, I'll admire them, but as for me, I'll be running that particular campaign in GURPS

 

[Voadam]

{Advantages and disadvantages aside, unless you're playing with a bunch of munchkins who go nuts with such things, what's wrong with suddenly acquiring power?}

Because at the minimum you're talking at least +4 LA (+3 for the template, +1 for the weakest lycanthrope -- the wererat -- having 1 animal HD).

So your group of 4 ECL 6 PCs is suddenly 3 ECL 6 characters and 1 ECL 10 character. Encounters that challenge the ECL 6 characters are a cakewalk for the ECL 10 character. Encounters that are a challenge for the ECL 10 character are murder on the ECL 6 characters. If you compromise (say, EL 8), the ECL 6 guys have a tought time and the ECL 10 guy still has an easy time. Woohoo, fun and fair.

_That_ is why sudden boosts in ECL are bad.

Unless the whole group gets transformed. Then you just have to adjust to the suddenly higher level party.

In my game it brought a couple of the weaker charachters up to speed and they have loved it.

The balance is different for physical combat characters versus spellcasters. The spellcasters are way behind where they would be as straight wizards of their ECL. This can drive them to be a bit more fighter wizard than they were before to effectively challenge CR appropriate combats.

If you go the level by level route you either have to have it apply to NPCs as well and make it not as much of a big time story threat for infected peasants, or have a gap in the story aspect for why infected people are immediately dangerous unless they are PCs.

 

[seankreynolds]

{SO any suggestions on how break up into a level system (I realize you're probably going to do an article on it, but any general hints would be nice)}

First figure out what powers the template grants independant of the animal hit dice (alternate form, natural armor bonus, Wisdom bonus, natural armor bonus, bonus feats, animal empathy, DR, etc.) and spread that over 3 levels. Then set up a separate class for the animal HD levels and spread the animal's abilities over those levels.

The 2nd article, with the half-dragon and wererat, is supposed to go live in early September. The other lycanthropes are in later articles.

 

[Galor]

at the minimum you're talking at least +4 LA (+3 for the template, +1 for the weakest lycanthrope -- the wererat -- having 1 animal HD).

Just a note: according to my copy of the [3.5] SRD, it would 'just' be a minumum of +3: +2 for lycanthrope(afflicted), +1 for wererat.
+3 (exl. HD) is for natural lycanthropy, but since the topic was sudden boosts in power, I think we can leave those out.

 

[jester47]

As the Template sits right now, I would say that the fact the character begins trading off between the player and the DM is compensated by the other abilities. Eventually the character becomes another villan, and an NPC (assumeing the lycanthrope is evil, if not what were you doing tangleing with a werebear?) So if you play it that way, the tradeoff is sort of fair as the player can eventually loose his character. Of course if you don't do this(or don't believe in it), then the leveled templates make a great idea. I gues it varies from campaign to campaign. The same situation seems to be true for vampires. That sun thing makes adventuring real hard. But then again, I would say that these templates getting applied are campaign changing events.

Aaron.

 

[jester47]

The problem that I have with Lycanthropy is that the character now has three forms you need to keep track of, and most character sheets don't have the capacity to handle that. IMC, I require a sheet for each form just to keep things straight. This also makes DM control easier. I keep the Wolf and hybrid sheets while the player keeps the regular character sheet.

Aaron.

 

[candidus_cogitens]

. . . assumeing the lycanthrope is evil . . . if not what were you doing tangleing with a werebear? . . .

One scenario I was envisioning for becoming a good-aligned lycanthrope is that first a character becomes afflicted by an evil lycanthrope and then it is learned that one possible cure for this affliction is to be bitten by a good lycanthrope. One affliction drives out the other ... provided the character makes a successful constitution save or something like that.

It would be a way of introducing lycanthropy into party without ruining a character.