Lycanthropy (for PCs) without the hassle of alignment issues

[candidus_cogitens]

I have come up with a way of removing the alignment mess from lycanthropy so that a PC who contracts the disease can still maintain posession of his senses. As a DM, I am reluctant to do anything that would take control of the PC out of the hands of the player, and equally reluctant to force a player to change alignment. So, what I came up with was this:

Curse of the Predator
Whenever an afflicted character assumes animal or hybrid form, voluntarily or involuntarily, he feels an overwhelming appetite for human flesh. If he has not slain and fed upon a human before dawn, he is considerably weakened by his unsated hunger. He suffers one point of Constitution damage per hour for d4-1 hours.

Along with this, I would remove the whole business of a PC being unaware of his lycanthropy at first, as well as the idea of changing alignment to match that of the particular type of lycanthrope he has become.

My main concern, in doing this is that the curse may be too burdensome. The con damage was intended to make it very difficult for a PC to avoid the grim side of lycanthropy. At the same time, I want to make it fair to the player, so that if he does contract the disease, it doesn't doom his character.

So basically, it's a balance issue. Is this balanced or not? If not, any ideas on how to achieve the effect I desire in a more balanced way?

 

[Nifft]

How about 1d4 points of Wisdom damage per night that the lycanthrope fails to feed?

That way, it's clear that it's a mental (or spiritual) battle, and his physical strength remains high should he decide to go hunting. Also, Wisdom damage is far less fatal than Con damage.

-- N

 

[candidus_cogitens]

How about 1d4 points of Wisdom damage per night that the lycanthrope fails to feed?

That way, it's clear that it's a mental (or spiritual) battle, and his physical strength remains high should he decide to go hunting. Also, Wisdom damage is far less fatal than Con damage.

-- N

That's a usable idea! I like it a lot. The damage is substantial enough that it would hurt, but not so crippling that the PC couldn't once in a while skip a meal.

Thanks Nifft.