Special Conversion Thread: Lycanthropes and their ilk

[freyar]

Yes, on to the weapons.

Depending on which entry we go with, the pantherpaw could just be a mace (or morningstar if the claws do piercing damage) or maybe one with a +1 enhancement. The knife is probably just a dagger (given the original monster's +1 damage from Str). The scourge is more interesting. I guess we could start with a whip and add some sort of "burst" characteristic to it to represent the scarring and blinding fpr crits. But I'd base the mechanic on saves, etc.

 

[Cleon]

Yes, on to the weapons.

Depending on which entry we go with, the pantherpaw could just be a mace (or morningstar if the claws do piercing damage) or maybe one with a +1 enhancement. The knife is probably just a dagger (given the original monster's +1 damage from Str). The scourge is more interesting. I guess we could start with a whip and add some sort of "burst" characteristic to it to represent the scarring and blinding fpr crits. But I'd base the mechanic on saves, etc.

I thought we'd settled on using a kukri for the "dagger".

Claws do piercing and slashing damage, so I think we should give the "Pantherpaw" at leash one of those damage types. It should also be a 1H exotic weapon that does reasonable damage - maybe 2d4 or 1d10? The original did 2-9 damage, so it could go either way. There are a couple of 1d10 damage exotic 1H weapons in the SRD, the bastard sword and dwarven waraxe, so we have precedent. They've also both got improved criticals (19-20 for the sword, ×3 for the axe), so maybe we should consider giving the pantherpaw the same and/or a minor special ability like being able to make trip attacks?

The scourge's going to be a bit trickier - I'm leaning toward making the blinding/scarring/whatever ability a power of the Werepanther rather than something intrinsic to the weapon, to prevent PCs exploiting it.

 

[freyar]

Ah, right, a kukri is a good idea.

Well, a morningstar does piercing damage, and the "pantherpaw" sounds like it should bludgeon too. We could just add some slashing somehow if you really want. Or just boost the damage.

Hmmm. Some sort of special scourge training?

 

[Cleon]

Ah, right, a kukri is a good idea.

Well, a morningstar does piercing damage, and the "pantherpaw" sounds like it should bludgeon too. We could just add some slashing somehow if you really want. Or just boost the damage.

I'm inclined to give it all three damage types and a slightly better damage. Either 2d4 or 1d10, I'm not that bothered which.

Hmmm. Some sort of special scourge training?

Well I'd avoid the word "training". Its a special ability they gain just by virtue of their transformation, there's no indicating it's due to them learning a new weapon skill.

It'd seem easiest to list them all together in a "Panther Weapons" section.

Here's a rough draft.

Panther Weapons (Ex): Werepanthers gain proficiency in three weapons which they wield with extraordinary expertise. This expertise makes these special weapons more effective in a werepanther's hands, as described below.

Pantherpaw: Carved from jet black stone, this weapon resembles a mace with its head carved into a panther's paw with its claws extended. When wielded by a werepanther, this is a bludgeoning, piercing and slashing weapon that does 2d4 [?] damage. A werepanther can make trip attacks with a pantherpaw. If they are tripped during their trip attempt, the werepanther can drop the pantherpaw to avoid being tripped. It functions as a morningstar when used by other creatures. Weight 6 lb.

Pantherclaw: A curved dagger carved from obsidian. When wielded by a werepanther, it is a piercing and slashing weapon with the damage and critical threat range of a kukri (1d4/18-20) that can be thrown with a 10 ft. range increment. It functions as a normal dagger when used by other creatures. Weight 1 lb.

Pantherscourge: Resembling a short whip set with barbs of black stone, this light exotic weapon does 1d3 slashing damage and has a 19-20 critical range. It grants a +2 bonus on opposed attack rolls when attempting to disarm an opponent (including the roll to keep from being disarmed if the attack fails). A pantherscourge can be used to make trip attacks. If the attacker is tripped during the trip attempt, they can drop the pantherscourge to avoid being tripped. If a werepanther rolls a critical hit with a pantherscourge, the target must succeed at a DC X Reflex save or lose the sight in one eye, becoming permanently dazzled (or blinded if they lose the use of all its eyes). If the save succeeds they are merely dazzled by the wound for Y rounds. A remove blindness/deafness can heal the injury. Weight 1 lb. Price 12 gp.

 

[freyar]

Did you not want the scourge to do Cha damage also?

 

[Cleon]

Did you not want the scourge to do Cha damage also?

Charisma damage from being scarred seems rather contrary to the 3E ethos, and it'd have weird knock-on effects like make sorcerer's spells less effective.

If you really want to use it, I suppose we could do something like a circumstance penalty to Diplomacy and Leadership checks.

 

[freyar]

Nah, it's not a big deal either way. Pantherpaw damage looks ok, by the way.

 

[Cleon]

Nah, it's not a big deal either way. Pantherpaw damage looks ok, by the way.

Good, in that case we just need an X and Y for the scourge.

 

[freyar]

X=15, Y=1d4?

 

[Cleon]

X=15, Y=1d4?

DC 15 is fine, but 1d4 rounds seems a bit short. Anyone who's ever got a mote in their eye knows it takes more than a few seconds for your vision to clear and this victim's been scourged across the eye.

Maybe make it 1d4 minutes?