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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LurkAway" data-source="post: 5740285" data-attributes="member: 6685059">It would need to be introduced with caution, if at all. By nature, any roleplaying 'out of bounds' is potentially messy (like 'Should charismatic players have an advantage' thread) but this is the probably the most difficult of the lot.Mechanically and tactically, I'm sure this is the most true in 4E. Fictionally, I think teamwork was ideal in all editions (although some parties had dysfunctional squabbles, like in the Dragonlance novels, which was a plausible and often compelling narrative option).That's what happens when the game system insulates expectations so much and the mechanics are at the forefront. Isn't that what Monte's article is about; about empowering players to work outside those expectations if they would like to do so?I remember times when the DM might pass me a note with secret instructions. Perhaps my PC was privy to secret information, and so I would roleplay that. Or perhaps my PC was charmed and I had to roleplay that, despite the obvious conflict of interest. I don't recall wailing at the unfairness of it all while my world crashed down upon me. Sorry, I didn't meant to use hyperbole, and perhaps I'm being overly nostalgic for the 'old days', but I remember enjoying independent play of some sort from time to time or just knowing that it could happen, that anything might happen. I didn't need mechanical incentives to appreciate that.Anyway, I think I'm going tangential, so getting back on track...Inspired by season 2 of Misfits, here's my shot at something more compelling:Most folk know that werewolves hide in human skin in secrecy, only to be unleashed on the full moon. Indeed, this is generally true for afflicted villagers and townspeople that lead mundane lives day to day, but there is the rare rumour, whispered by warriors after a battle, of an otherwise normal soldier who turns berserk on the battlefied. Sages suspect that great stress, fear, chaos and bloodlust may momentarily awaken the beast, the lunacy of war somehow akin to the call of the moon. Unlike a lunar transformation, this may manifest as a werewolf half-emerging from the side or back of the afflicted, like some beastly conjoined twin, lashing out anyone unlucky to be standing nearby. Then suddenly the werewolf is vanished, the soldier appears whole and normal, a nightmare abruptly come and gone.EDIT: Maybe the 4E werewolf doesn't transform the human body into a wolf. Maybe the werewolf splits off or rips out of the human body. When the night is ended, it slips back into the human skin. Maybe PCs are powerful enough that they survive the transformation intact and can still act independantly (albeit weakened) of the roaming werewolf. Maybe alone, they'd be sleeping and unconscious, but can be roused by party members.Not to be disappointing, but I didn't have hard details in mind.But OK, if the group can't handle a player roleplaying his inner werewolf for just one round and treating all creatures as enemies, and if I was stuck with Stage 2 or 3, I would at least change the trigger conditions. For example, Stage 2,  attacking an ally when bloodied, is too predictable -- players will actually plan around that ("He's almost bloodied, better move out") even though the characters have no concept of when an abstraction like "bloodied" will occur or that the berserk behavior happens exactly when bloodied. So maybe it happens randomly once per encounter. Maybe it could happen at any moment of danger, including a life-threatening skill challenge or trap encounter. However the trigger, I would like it to be unpredictable enough that when it does happen, the players are just as taken aback as the PCs are in-game. Thus it's a compelling narrative and just not just a metagame tactic.</blockquote>

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