Special Conversion Thread: Lycanthropes and their ilk

[freyar]

You could almost take some of the flavor text for description. How's this?

"This tall, muscular couple approaches you warily through the tall grass. They clearly spend their time on the plains; they are darkly tanned and have long, sunbleached hair."

 

[Cleon]

You could almost take some of the flavor text for description. How's this?

"This tall, muscular couple approaches you warily through the tall grass. They clearly spend their time on the plains; they are darkly tanned and have long, sunbleached hair."

Reads too much like a quote from a schlocky romance novel to me, I'd expect it to continue "She ran her fingers through his magnificent mane and whispered 'Leon, why can't we always be like this.' "

Besides, shouldn't we describe the hybrid form? That's what we did with the Wereram conversion.

Although some of that Zakharan description could go in the main text.

How about:

A powerfully built creature with the fur, claws and magnificent head of a lion, but the limbs and figure of a humanoid. Its wiry build and sinewy muscles suggest a whiplash speed and athleticism. The being's eyes are like a lion, but far brighter.

Werelions in humanoid form possess wiry but muscular builds and are heavily tanned. Werelions have thick, tawny or yellow hair, although a few werelions have black hair. Male werelions traditionally grow their hair long, like a lion's mane, which some werelions tie back or cover with a turban. Females, or werelionesses, traditionally keep their hair short when in human form, sometimes appearing almost shaved. Both sexes usually dress like hunters in simple garments of skin and fur that are easy to remove, repair, or replace.

Werelions speak with deep and melodious voices, in lion form they have a deeper roar than mundane lions.

 

[freyar]

Well, at least I could make a living writing something!

Let's just change that run-on sentence at the end:

"Werelions speak with deep and melodious voices; in lion form, they have a deeper roar than mundane lions."

 

[Cleon]

Well, at least I could make a living writing something!

Let's just change that run-on sentence at the end:

"Werelions speak with deep and melodious voices; in lion form, they have a deeper roar than mundane lions."

Works for me, updated Working Draft.

That looks like it should do it for the regular Werelions, shall we finish off the Dire version.

Mechanically, we just need to decide where its 6 extra dire lion skill ranks go.

Hold on, that should be five extra skill ranks. (Dire Werelion = 2+0 * HD, Dire Lion = 2-1 * HD+3; equals 2*8 vs 1*11; or 16 Lion SPs for the Lycanthrope vs 11 SPs for the base animal).

2 in Hide; 1 each in Listen, Move Silently and Spot?

Base Animal: Hide 0, Listen 4, Move Silently 3, Spot 4
Were Animal: Hide 2, Listen 5, Move Silently 4, Spot 5

Since the Dire Lion has a higher Str, I'm thinking we could cut the Warrior level's Jump ranks and max-out Handle Animal and Intimidate.

Warrior: Handle Animal 4, Intimidate 4

That adds up to:

Dire Werelion: Handle Animal 4, Hide 2, Intimidate 4, Jump 0, Listen 5, Move Silently 4, Spot 5

 

[Cleon]

Well, at least I could make a living writing something!

I wouldn't give up your day job.

Although, considering the standard of some of the romance novels out their, you could probably do a better job...

 

[freyar]

New skills are fine, but are you leaving off the racial bonuses?

 

[Cleon]

New skills are fine, but are you leaving off the racial bonuses?

There is a reason it says "skill ranks" you know.

I'll fold in the racial bonuses once we agree on the ranks. Since we seem to have done so, I might as well update the Dire Werelion Working Draft.

 

[Cleon]

That just leaves Alignment for the statistical stuff, then we can settle on flavour & tactics.

Is the "Always lawful, usually evil" OK, or would you prefer "often evil"?

 

[freyar]

I think I prefer usually evil for these.

 

[Cleon]

I think I prefer usually evil for these.

Updated the Dire Werelion Working Draft.

I think we can most of the description of the regular Werelion, with some minor tweaking to reflect their evil nature.

The Al-Qadim Appendix goes to some length about their matriarchal society, I think I'll put that in a "In Zakhara" subentry.

A powerfully built creature with the fur, claws and magnificent head of a lion, but the limbs and figure of a humanoid. Its wiry build and sinewy muscles suggest a whiplash speed and athleticism. The being's eyes are like a lion, but far brighter.

Dire werelions in humanoid form possess wiry but muscular builds and are heavily tanned. Werelions have thick, tawny or yellow hair, although a few werelions have black hair. Male werelions traditionally grow their hair long, like a lion's mane, which some werelions tie back or cover with a turban. Females, or werelionesses, traditionally keep their hair short when in human form, sometimes appearing almost shaved. Both sexes usually dress like hunters in simple garments of skin and fur that are easy to remove, repair, or replace.

In lion form, dire werelions appear as preternaturally large lions with unusually bright eyes. They speak with deep and melodious voices, and have a deeper roar than a normal lion.

Dire werelions prefer humanoid company to that of animals. They sometimes strike bargains to serve humanoids as wilderness scouts or caravan guards in return for various rewards, which usually include hunting rights. Their sociability should not be relied on, for dire werelions attack humanoids far more readily than normal lions do, and many of them are man-eaters. However, werelions rarely attack people they've struck bargains with. They are creatures of their word who almost always honor a deal, unless they believe the other party has broken the terms.

The dire werelion presented here is a 1st-level human warrior and natural lycanthrope, using the following base ability scores: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8.

COMBAT

A dire werelion prefers to fight in hybrid form. They favour their claws and fangs over weapons, since they allow it to use its pounce, improved grab and rake special attacks. Dire werelions generally drive or lead their prey into ambushes, as they are masters at stealth and deception. They will run away from a losing fight. If asked, a werelion would insist such strategies are a matter of sophisticated tactics rather than cowardice, since they are proud creatures with an exaggerated sense of their own dignity.

In Zakhara
Almost all werelions in Zakhara are dire werelions. Their society is matriarchal, with each pride ruled by a werelioness whose authority is unquestioned. The male werelions may brag or be lackadaisical in their duties, but they never disobey their matriarch. Large prides of Zakharan dire werelions are usually split into two groups, one led by the matriarch and the other by her chief consort.