Special Conversion Thread: Lycanthropes and their ilk

[Cleon]

I just realized I left out the +8 racial bonus to Climb from the Werejaguar Working Draft:

Dang it, I just noticed I left the jagwere's Improved Initiative in the Werejaguar Working Draft. I need to cut that out too.

It's been corrected.

Can anyone spot any other errors that need fixing?

 

[freyar]

No, not seeing any other problems, but you always are better at finding mistakes like that.

So the priests have two differences from usual werejaguars that I see: they are evil, and they have the weird shapechanging cycle. And they can't cast while in jaguar form if I understood that, though I guess that just means they don't have the Natural Spell feat.

I'm just having a really hard time seeing more than an underbar for these. Can we leave them as a Cleon Special, or do we need to resort to dice to decide?

 

[Echohawk]

I'm just having a really hard time seeing more than an underbar for these. Can we leave them as a Cleon Special, or do we need to resort to dice to decide?

If it counts, my vote goes to the underbar option. Not because I think the priests couldn't be turned into an interesting prestige class, but because I'm a lot more interested in seeing the other 407 unconverted critters updated to 3.5 than new creatures/variants created, and the priests weren't a distinct creature in the original source material.

And I will freely confess that my OCD tendencies would dearly love to see that 407 number reduced to zero before D&D Next is released...

 

[freyar]

If it counts, my vote goes to the underbar option. Not because I think the priests couldn't be turned into an interesting prestige class, but because I'm a lot more interested in seeing the other 407 unconverted critters updated to 3.5 than new creatures/variants created, and the priests weren't a distinct creature in the original source material.

And I will freely confess that my OCD tendencies would dearly love to see that 407 number reduced to zero before D&D Next is released...

Of course your vote counts, especially when you agree with me!

 

[Cleon]

Of course your vote counts, especially when you agree with me!

Oh, very well, do it as an underbar.

I've just done a Cleon Special™ Jaguar Priest, so I don't care.

No, I wasn't joking. My Jaguar Priest template is complete, including sample Priest. It's got a bit of flavour text to add.

Oh, and it includes an outline of Emperor Cuactehmoc the 26th level cleric as a Jaguar Priest, just for giggles. Giggles like implosion and Multispelled quickened harm and quickened slay living...

...well I'd be giggling, I doubt the players' will be.

* * *

So, are we leaving it at an underbar, or doing a sample werepriest?
​

 

[freyar]

Let's leave it as an underbar, but perhaps we can fit a statblock for a sample priest into the underbar. It looks like the CC can do that.

Jaguar Priests
Some priests of Tezcatlipoca are afflicted with lycanthropy as a gift from their god. They become afflicted werejaguars with the following changes to the werejaguar template: jaguar priests are always Lawful Evil, and they have no control over their shape changing ability. They spend one week in humanoid form, one week as a hybrid, one week in jaguar form, and one week again as a hybrid before repeating the cycle. Jaguar priests never take the Natural Spell feat as it is forbidden in their religion, and, as afflicted lycanthropes, they cannot spread the curse of lycanthropy.

 

[Cleon]

Let's leave it as an underbar, but perhaps we can fit a statblock for a sample priest into the underbar. It looks like the CC can do that.

Jaguar Priests
Some priests of Tezcatlipoca are afflicted with lycanthropy as a gift from their god. They become afflicted werejaguars with the following changes to the werejaguar template: jaguar priests are always Lawful Evil, and they have no control over their shape changing ability. They spend one week in humanoid form, one week as a hybrid, one week in jaguar form, and one week again as a hybrid before repeating the cycle. Jaguar priests never take the Natural Spell feat as it is forbidden in their religion, and, as afflicted lycanthropes, they cannot spread the curse of lycanthropy.

That looks a good start, since we're just going for a standard Lycanthrope version of a cleric. It has a couple of problems, though:

"jaguar priests are always Lawful Evil"?

Ahem:

WEREJAGUAR
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-12
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 15"
HIT DICE: 5+3
% IN LAIR: 20%
TREASURE TYPE: R in lair
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-3/1-3/1-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Rake for 1-4/1-4
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Silver weapon or +1 or better weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

"Jaguar priests never take the Natural Spell feat as it is forbidden in their religion".

Natural Spell only works for wild shape, it doesn't normally allow spellcasting in an Alternate Form. I was proposing giving the Jaguar Priest the equivalent of a Natural Spell "bonus feat" that allows spell casting in Jaguar form.

Since you prefer just leaving it without spellcasting, it doesn't need that bit.

 

[freyar]

Oops, misread that or something.

The original monster is pretty clear that they don't cast in the animal form. In fact, it says,"Werejaguars can cast cleric spells any time except during the week when they are in jaguar form." So I definitely think we should leave them without casting.

Jaguar Priests
Some priests of Tezcatlipoca are afflicted with lycanthropy as a gift from their god. They become afflicted werejaguars with the following changes to the werejaguar template: jaguar priests are always Chaotic Evil, and they have no control over their shape changing ability. They spend one week in humanoid form, one week as a hybrid, one week in jaguar form, and one week again as a hybrid before repeating the cycle. As afflicted lycanthropes, they cannot spread the curse of lycanthropy.

 

[Cleon]

Oops, misread that or something.

The original monster is pretty clear that they don't cast in the animal form. In fact, it says,"Werejaguars can cast cleric spells any time except during the week when they are in jaguar form." So I definitely think we should leave them without casting.

The point I was trying to make is that standard Lycanthropes can't cast spells with or without the Natural Spell feat when in their animal Alternate Form (well, except for spells without Verbal, Somatic or Material components), so you don't need that "Jaguar priests never take the Natural Spell feat" text to replicate the original monster's inability to cast spells when in jaguar form.

It'd make more sense to add "Jaguar priests never learn the Control Shape skill, as it is forbidden in their religion" instead, rather than have the "no control over their shape changing ability" bit.

Like so:

Jaguar Priest (Template)
Some priests of Tezcatlipoca are afflicted with lycanthropy as a gift from their god. They become afflicted werejaguars with the following changes to the werejaguar template: jaguar priests are always Chaotic Evil, and their shapechanging ability goes through a 28 day cycle. They spend one week in humanoid form, one week as a hybrid, one week in jaguar form, and one week again as a hybrid before repeating the cycle. Jaguar priests never learn the Control Shape skill, as it is forbidden in their religion, and, as afflicted lycanthropes, they cannot spread the curse of lycanthropy.

 

[freyar]

Yeah, right. I was just saying that they shouldn't have something to replicate Natural Spell for lycanthropes.

That underbar looks good to me. You said you had a sample? Hint hint.