Special Conversion Thread: Lycanthropes and their ilk

[freyar]

Ah, ok, I didn't have that info on von Kharkov, I guess. I like the trance ability, too, but I think I'd leave off the telepathic command schtick. That can be the vampirism coming through.

 

[Cleon]

Ah, ok, I didn't have that info on von Kharkov, I guess. I like the trance ability, too, but I think I'd leave off the telepathic command schtick. That can be the vampirism coming through.

In any case, it's something we don't need to worry about until we get to the Panther Lord.

 

[freyar]

OK, then, here's a draft:

Thrall Bond (Su): A panther lord has a permanent telepathic bond (as the spell, except it can't be dispelled) to all the werepanther thralls it creates. Note that the thralls are only bonded to the lord, not to each other. If a panther lord is killed, all the werepanther thralls it has created immediately fall unconscious, undergoing a magical shock that transforms them back into the people they were before becoming werepanther thralls.

 

[Cleon]

OK, then, here's a draft:

Thrall Bond (Su): A panther lord has a permanent telepathic bond (as the spell, except it can't be dispelled) to all the werepanther thralls it creates. Note that the thralls are only bonded to the lord, not to each other. If a panther lord is killed, all the werepanther thralls it has created immediately fall unconscious, undergoing a magical shock that transforms them back into the people they were before becoming werepanther thralls.

Hmm, the original monster went into "convulsions" while reverting, they didn't go unconscious. We should presumably give a duration to the convulsions too.

I'm also note entirely sure about making the communication as clear as a telepathic bond. The MCA2 version doesn't mention the Lord having any special long-range communication ability at all. I'd be fine if he could, say, enter a trance and perceive through the senses of one of his werepanthers and send telepathic messages to that thrall, but the telepathy doesn't work the other way (so the werepanther would have to speak out loud to reply to his master).

 

[freyar]

I wanted to use a condition defined in the SRD. Besides, only the Dungeon version has convulsions. The MCA2 version just says, "Upon the death of the panther lord, all werepanthers of the tribe permanently revert to their human form." That gives us whatever leeway we like. But I think the main thing is to keep the reverting thrall incapacitated. Do you prefer something like stunned or staggered?

What about using dominate person as the basis for the bond?

 

[Cleon]

I wanted to use a condition defined in the SRD. Besides, only the Dungeon version has convulsions. The MCA2 version just says, "Upon the death of the panther lord, all werepanthers of the tribe permanently revert to their human form." That gives us whatever leeway we like. But I think the main thing is to keep the reverting thrall incapacitated. Do you prefer something like stunned or staggered?

I'd prefer the reverting werepanther to be conscious during the process, so either the incapacitated or nauseated conditions would work.

What about using dominate person as the basis for the bond?

How about the werepanther is permanently charmed, but when the shaman is dream-trancing to look through the thrall's eyes they can upgrade the charm to domination (maybe allowing a Will save by the werepanther to allow it to "only" be charmed)?

 

[freyar]

I guess I'd go with stunned, in that case. And I can go with charmed/dominated. Here's a draft:

Thrall Bond (Su): A werepanther thrall is permanently charmed (as the charm monster spell) by the panther lord that created it. If the panther lord spends XX rounds concentrating on one of its werepanther thralls, the panther lord is able to dominate the thrall (as the spell) for the duration of concentration. If a panther lord is killed, all the werepanther thralls it has created immediately become stunned for XX hours (no save), undergoing a magical shock that transforms them back into the people they were before becoming werepanther thralls.

There are a couple of things to figure out, but how's that for the basic framework?

 

[Cleon]

I guess I'd go with stunned, in that case. And I can go with charmed/dominated. Here's a draft:

Thrall Bond (Su): A werepanther thrall is permanently charmed (as the charm monster spell) by the panther lord that created it. If the panther lord spends XX rounds concentrating on one of its werepanther thralls, the panther lord is able to dominate the thrall (as the spell) for the duration of concentration. If a panther lord is killed, all the werepanther thralls it has created immediately become stunned for XX hours (no save), undergoing a magical shock that transforms them back into the people they were before becoming werepanther thralls.

There are a couple of things to figure out, but how's that for the basic framework?

I wouldn't make the reversion take hours. The original Dungeon #50 adventure Felkovic’s Cat indicates it's a fairly rapid process, since "all werepanthers immediately revert" if von Kharkhov is killed. It probably makes sense to assume it doesn't take much longer than a normal lycanthropic transformation, which is a standard action.

How's this:

Thrall Bond (Su): A werepanther thrall is permanently charmed (as the charm monster spell) by the panther lord that created it. The panther lord can also dominate one of its thralls (as the spell, no save) for as long as it concentrates upon the thrall. This domination has an unlimited range if the panther lord is in its Cat Trance (see panther lord entry for details), otherwise it has a range of 90 feet. The lord can only dominate a single thrall at a time. If a panther lord is killed, all the werepanther thralls it has created go into convulsions that last for 1d3 [?] rounds (treat as being stunned), during which they permanently transform back into the people they were before becoming werepanther thralls. The victims have no clear memories of their time as werepanthers, but may suffer nightmares and flashbacks for many years.

 

[freyar]

That works for me!

 

[Cleon]

That works for me!

Updating the Werepanther Thrall Working Draft.

Okay, I guess we ought to do the Werepanther special weapons next.