Adding a Template to an Existing PC

[oscarisamazing]

My interpretation is that the drawbacks of being a werewolf are present immediately, but gaining control over the abilities comes with the levels. IE, the 5th-level fighter would turn into a wolf on the full moon, or when injured, but would not be able to transform at will until he had leveled up enough to matter.

 

[Greenfield]

There is a Skill, detailed in the SRD and the MM (right after the section on Lycanthropy) that covers this. It's called Control Shape.

CONTROL SHAPE (WIS)
Any character who has contracted lycanthropy and is aware of his condition can learn Control Shape as a class skill. (An afflicted lycanthrope not yet aware of his condition can attempt Control Shape checks untrained.) This skill determines whether an afflicted lycanthrope can control his shape. A natural lycanthrope does not need this skill, since it has full control over its shape. Check (Involuntary Change): An afflicted character must make a check at moonrise each night of the full moon to resist involuntarily assuming animal form. An injured character must also check for an involuntary change after accumulating enough damage to reduce his hit points by one-quarter and again after each additional one-quarter lost.

Involuntary Change Control Shape DC
Resist involuntary change 25
On a failed check, the character must remain in animal form until the next dawn, when he automatically returns to his base form. A character aware of his condition may make one attempt to return to humanoid form (see below), but if he fails, he remains in animal form until the next dawn.
Retry (Involuntary Change): Check to resist an involuntary change once each time a triggering event occurs.
Check (Voluntary Change): In addition, an afflicted lycanthrope aware of his condition may attempt to use this skill voluntarily in order to change to animal form, assume hybrid form, or return to humanoid form, regardless of the state of the moon or whether he has been injured.
Involuntary Change Control Shape DC
Return to humanoid form (full moon*) 25
Return to humanoid form (not full moon) 20
Assume hybrid form 15
Voluntary change to animal form (full moon) 15
Voluntary change to animal form (not full moon) 20
* For game purposes, the full moon lasts three days every month.
Retry (Voluntary Change): A character can retry voluntary changes to animal form or hybrid form as often as he likes.
Each attempt is a standard action. However, on a failed check to return to humanoid form, the character must remain in animal or hybrid form until the next dawn, when he automatically returns to humanoid form.
Special: An afflicted lycanthrope cannot attempt a voluntary change until it becomes aware of its condition (see Lycanthropy as an Affliction).

That's how you gain control, and yes, it takes a few levels. The Affliction gives you two levels, and you could in theory spend the skill points that come from those levels on this, if you were aware of the condition.

Personally, if I fought a Werewolf and it bit me, I'd probably be aware of it.

 

[orion90000]

Focus people! Reread post 7 and quit going off on tangents. =)

 

[Greenfield]

Focus people! Reread post 7 and quit going off on tangents. =)

I responded to Post 7 in post 10.

 

[Ragmon]

Simple math how to calculate the XP needed:

ECL x 1000 = XP needed for next level/HD
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So in your case its would be:

(5 levels + 2 HD + 2 Level Adjustment) x 1000 = 9000 till next level
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It's as simple as that.

 

[orion90000]

I responded to Post 7 in post 10.

So in your opinion the time you spent as a werewolf improved your training as a fighter?

 

[Greenfield]

Well, yeah, actually. Melee combat is more or less what Werewolves do.

If you'd asked whether it improved my training as a Wizard the answer would obviously be different.

But there are two views to consider: In game rationale and out of game mechanics.

Mechanically, the character got penalized when they were hit with the werewolf affliction. All advancement stopped until they could pay off the ECL adjustment. They may have taken skills in Control Shape, for example.

Now that they're rid of it, you want to penalize them again? Act as if none of it ever happened?

In game, the character has had to learn a whole new lifestyle, learn to deal with their condition. It took a while to adapt, and a lot of hard work.

Now that they're free of the curse, they can get back to life. But they haven't forgotten what happened to them, and while the lessons they learned may not be the ones a career adventurer would normally experience, they still carried important lessons.

Looking at the whole thing abstractly, what does a Wizard learn from a battle if the enemy has an SR that the caster can't penetrate, and the entire thing is handled by the fighter types?

Bloody little, other than to carry a reserve of buffing spells for the fighters, for cases like this.

What does the Fighter learn when facing an airborne monster that never comes into weapons range? All they can do is stand back and watch the spell casters blast away.

Bloody little, other than to wish they'd invested in a magic bow, and taken some different feats.

But the DM doesn't usually withhold EXP in either scenario.

If you earned the Exp, you earned the Exp and it's yours. No place in either the Affliction nor its removal does it say anything about level loss or experience penalties.