D&D (2024) Lycanthropes in the MM

[Micah Sweet]

I find it interesting that whenever someone laments the loss of something in 5.5, someone immediately chimes in about how that thing wasn't any good anyways, like the first person's concerns are meaningless.

 

[pukunui]

I find it interesting that whenever someone laments the loss of something in 5.5, someone immediately chimes in about how that thing wasn't any good anyways, like the first person's concerns are meaningless.

How would you allow a PC to become a lycanthrope without also becoming OP?

 

[Lazybones]

On D&D Beyond, the statblock links to the PHB glossary definition of a curse, which states "Some game effects curse a creature or an object. The effect that confers a curse defines what the curse does. Curses can be removed by the Remove Curse and Greater Restoration spells or other magic that explicitly ends curses."

Right, to me I just wonder if they are still considered a "cursed" PC after the transformation, or if they are now just a monster. The text doesn't say anything about being able to neutralize a lycanthrope by casting remove curse on it; if your interpretation of the rule is correct, then could you revert any lycanthrope back into an ordinary Humanoid by casting that spell on them?

 

[Micah Sweet]

How would you allow a PC to become a lycanthrope without also becoming OP?

I have a whole 3pp supplement for it (link below). Also, I am far less concerned with balance than a lot of folks around here seem to be.

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

 

[dave2008]

What do you think of this new approach? Personally, I would have liked something that is a nod to the classic silver vulnerability. that being said, WotC did remove the silvering of weapons from the new PHB, so I guess they really don't want that to be a thing anymore.

I'm not a fan. I preferred the regeneration that stopped when hit by a silver. That checked all the correct boxes for me.

I do like it. Silver weapons are common magic items. So for 100 gold, you can get it.
And it does extra damage against shape-changed creatures on a crit. Does not come up often, but it can help.
I would not have minded if silver weapons always do one extra damage die against shape-changed creatures..

That is a nice simple approach, but I still prefer the 2nd generation of lycanthrope theme as I noted above.

 

[dave2008]

I have a whole 3pp supplement for it (link below). Also, I am far less concerned with balance than a lot of folks around here seem to be.

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

I don't know about that 3PP product, but I agree with your 2nd statement. If a PC is going to be cursed, you take on all the buffs and nerfs of that curse. Of course lycanthropy is not much of a buff if you keep to the old only transforms / has powers on the full moon thing.

 

[Scribe]

Having so many effects that bypass death saves encourages DMs to pull punches and fudge dice, IME.

Conversely, maybe DM's should just let the game play out, and players should get used to it.

 

[pukunui]

Right, to me I just wonder if they are still considered a "cursed" PC after the transformation, or if they are now just a monster. The text doesn't say anything about being able to neutralize a lycanthrope by casting remove curse on it; if your interpretation of the rule is correct, then could you revert any lycanthrope back into an ordinary Humanoid by casting that spell on them?

Hmm. Yes, that is a good question. Personally I've long felt that the Remove Curse spell is a cop-out. No need for wolfsbane or whatever when you can just cast a spell!

It does seem like the 2024 lycanthropes don't distinguish between hereditary lycanthropy and "infected" lycanthropy.

I'm not a fan. I preferred the regeneration that stopped when hit by a silver. That checked all the correct boxes for me.

That is a nice simple approach, but I still prefer the 2nd generation of lycanthrope theme as I noted above.

I prefer that approach too ... and so it annoys me that WotC has not included any monster creation rules in 2024 because if I want to add regeneration to these new lycanthropes, how am I supposed to determine how that affects their CR?

 

[scottieboy86]

Not a fan of making choices that suck the fun and flavor out of running a monster. You need silver to effectively fight a lycanthrope, period.

 

[pukunui]

Not a fan of making choices that suck the fun and flavor out of running a monster. You need silver to effectively fight a lycanthrope, period.

I agree. I found it annoying with the 2014 versions that magic weapons could bypass the damage immunities just as effectively as silvered ones could. It meant that silvered weapons just weren't really a thing worth bothering with.