Lycanthrope gestalt campaign

[Corbert]

OK, I had a great (or crazy, I can’t tell which) idea about a gestalt campaign in which 1 side of the gestalt is already filled by some type of lycanthrope. The game world has several moons, so every night has at least 1 that is full. Since it’s been this way from the beginning of memory there are no infected lycanthropes, everyone has a lycanthrope bloodline, even orcs, goblins and trolls. Maybe I’ll even break the rules and apply the template to various monster races that can’t normally get it like dragons, plants and oozes (why does that Gelatinous Cube have fur?).

How would this affect society? I would think that silvered weapons are the most common. Races would have additional racial tension; “sure I’m a dwarf, a werebear dwarf, that son of an iron pyrite is a wereboar dwarf, an I hate em.”

Beyond that I’m still clueless, so I’m asking for help. How do you think this would affect different races relations with each other? How would magic be affected since everyone generally knows the strengths and weaknesses of lycanthropy?

Also, I need more lycanthrope types, I know about the werebear lycanthrope Class http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20031114a, the Entomanothrope template http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20040621a, http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20040614x, the Werewolf Template Class http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a, the Weretiger Template Class http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20031212a, the Wererat Template Class http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030912a, and the Wereboar Template Class http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20031010a.

This is only a handful, I want more. So, I’m turning to the endless creativity of ENWorlders for help. Where can I find more lycanthrope template classes? What ideas do you have for how society and race relations would develop? What magic items are out there to specifically affect lycanthropes?

 

[Nifft]

Is your goal to have everyone in the world a lycanthrope? That's frighteningly furry...

Or is it to just have the party members be lycanthropes? If this is the case, why not just have them all be the same type? Werewolf springs to mind as a good "pack" animal. They'd at least have a reason to stick together. And they'd all "wolf out" at the same time, so the whole game would change gears for everyone (not just for one guy).

I rather like that second idea.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Pyrex]

One way to go might be to say that different races tend towards different animals as their were-totem. Gnome=Badger, Goblin=Rat, Kobold=Monitor Lizard, Orc=Wolverine, Elf=Owl and so on.

 

[chakken98]

One way to go might be to say that different races tend towards different animals as their were-totem. Gnome=Badger, Goblin=Rat, Kobold=Monitor Lizard, Orc=Wolverine, Elf=Owl and so on.

I would agree with pyrex, if your going to do this you should have each race stick to a set animal, now there will be chances of odd balls that have a different animal form as well. I also believe in the conversion libiary there are a few different Were templates. As I remember gathering them up for my world that has a continent that is all lycanthropes.

 

[Pyrex]

The SRD has information for creating Lycanthrope templates for any Animal, so there's no problem there.

The trick is going to be to balance them. In a gestalt game, how do you balance a Were(Dire Boar) with a Were(Rat) or Were(Wolf)? The stat mods for the Dire Boar put the others to shame.

I'd recommend building a 20-level Werecritter class that generalized across creatures to keep things balanced.

 

[Corbert]

One way to go might be to say that different races tend towards different animals as their were-totem. Gnome=Badger, Goblin=Rat, Kobold=Monitor Lizard, Orc=Wolverine, Elf=Owl and so on.

Great idea (writes idea down ) I'm definately gonna use that, I think it will cut down on some confusion (mostly on my part).

 

[Corbert]

The SRD has information for creating Lycanthrope templates for any Animal, so there's no problem there.

The trick is going to be to balance them. In a gestalt game, how do you balance a Were(Dire Boar) with a Were(Rat) or Were(Wolf)? The stat mods for the Dire Boar put the others to shame.

I'd recommend building a 20-level Werecritter class that generalized across creatures to keep things balanced.

Ah, thanks for the template. As far as balance, I'm not sure, I only thought up the campaign idea a couple days ago, so its still very much in the development stage. As far as a 20 level class for all weres, I'm not sure that would work very well, for the same reason you brought up, the stat mods. What would go in the "dead" levels for were classes other than Were(Dire Boar)?

 

[Relique du Madde]

You might try looking at the Savage Progression series of old articles on the WoTC website since there are several lycanthrope racial class templates posted there. If you don't like those lycanthrope templates, you could always pick up a copy of the Curse of the Moon PDF by Sean K Reynolds and incorprate some of that books contents (like lycanthrope feats) into the campaign.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

Look at each race and decide a progenitor species. While a normal person of that race would have certain characteristics of that species, and those traits, mostly personality traits, would assert themselves buring certain lunar phases. However, there are certain paragons of that race, the heroes and villans mostly, that are far more powerful. Imagine all dwarves a decended from badgers, a creature that fits them well thematically (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badger). All dwarves whould have slightly large canines, males would have grey hair in a central stripe as they age, not twards the edges like humans. During their waxing moon they may get a bit more agressive. Those that exlemplify their race may have or gain bite and claw attacks, a burrow speed, natural armor, etc.

One possible starting point mechanically would be Shifters from Eberron. By taking Shifter feats and PrCs, their base creature asserts itself more fully.

Obviously a grand conjuntion of all the moons would need to produce an interesting effect, aside from transforming everyone all at the same time. Possibly a moment where these races advance even further in their evolutions.

Each moon should have a different speed at which it orbits, and some of the less powerful races should be asigned moons that wax more often.

One race could gain their power during the wanning moon, say maybe a rat. If you really wanted to go crazy, during the wanning moon, each race could de-evolve into their base animal, while gainning a hybrid form during the waxing moon.

Silver should only work against a race if the silver weapon was forged during the three waning nights of that races moon. Normal silver, for the sake of commerce if nothing else, should be safe.

Totemic and druidic religions should be more common

Thri-kreen (the ant people), should have the greatest cities. Underground or above, your option.

Halflings (the mouse people), get along with most races, but start taking over after a while due to their numbers.

Orcs could be based on wolves or wolverines, depending on what you want to do with that race.

I think basing elves on deer would be interesting.

Ogres should be based on bears. This would temper their personalities a little, but not too much.

You could get alot of use out of the more beastial races, much like Eberron does. If everyone is an animal, why not play a gnoll?

 

[monboesen]

I'll actually go against the grain and recommend that each race has lycanthropes of many animals.

To me that suggest interesting politics, conflicts and alliances that trancend the races. (Will the dwarf werewolf feel more loyal to his community of fellow dwarves or the multiracial pack of werewolves he howls with under the Wolfmoon).


Skirmishes and regular warfare between different clans of lycanthropes causing problematic relations between nations and races. (Will the human Wereboar prince of Targetia sadistic killing and eating citizens of the neighboring Gnome city Merbolos lead to offical war or just an assasination by the secret guild of werebadgers the dead gnomes belonged to).


Not really my thing, but I think a great campaign could be fashioned from stuff like that.