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the trouble with lycanthropes
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<blockquote data-quote="GlassJaw" data-source="post: 5726488" data-attributes="member: 22103"><p>As Wulf mentioned in the Monster Book thread, we have been wracking our brains on lycanthropes.</p><p></p><p>I rewrote the entire section a while back but neither of us was that happy with it. Wulf has been taking a crack at it lately but neither of us has come up the silver bullet so to speak (bad pun intended). <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /></p><p></p><p>So we are hoping to crowdsource to get our creative juices flowing.</p><p></p><p>Overall, our philosophy with Trailblazer is not rules light - more like rule "efficiency". The current lycanthrope template is anything but.</p><p></p><p>The lycanthrope template is like the trifecta of d20 stat block inefficiency: it combines ability score modifiers, size changes, and additional Hit Dice, and does it across THREE stat blocks. </p><p></p><p>Our goal is to simplify that. </p><p></p><p>First off, we definitely want to reduce the template into two or even one stat block if possible. We can get close to this now by combining the animal and hybrid forms but there are some differences that would require some stat block style and formatting tweaking.</p><p></p><p>Another huge problem is the added Hit Dice. Adding Hit Dice is unique to the lycanthrope template - no other template (at least not in the SRD) adds Hit Dice. This is actually my biggest problem with lycanthropes. By adding Hit Dice, it means the base creature stat block can't be used as-is. </p><p></p><p>I've actually proposed removing the added Hit Dice altogether, which would bring lycanthropes in line with other templates. You just add the stat modifiers (and a few other things) to the base creature. This also essentially makes it work just like our Druid's wild shape ability.</p><p></p><p>These issues also brought about a "fluff" discussion between Wulf and I about what actually makes "sense" for a lycanthrope.</p><p></p><p>So without going into a lot more detail, what are your gut feelings on lycanthropes in general?</p><p>How have you used them in your own games?</p><p>How have you statted them in the past?</p><p>What do you like about the lycanthrope template?</p><p>What don't you like?</p><p>What would you like to see?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GlassJaw, post: 5726488, member: 22103"] As Wulf mentioned in the Monster Book thread, we have been wracking our brains on lycanthropes. I rewrote the entire section a while back but neither of us was that happy with it. Wulf has been taking a crack at it lately but neither of us has come up the silver bullet so to speak (bad pun intended). :p So we are hoping to crowdsource to get our creative juices flowing. Overall, our philosophy with Trailblazer is not rules light - more like rule "efficiency". The current lycanthrope template is anything but. The lycanthrope template is like the trifecta of d20 stat block inefficiency: it combines ability score modifiers, size changes, and additional Hit Dice, and does it across THREE stat blocks. Our goal is to simplify that. First off, we definitely want to reduce the template into two or even one stat block if possible. We can get close to this now by combining the animal and hybrid forms but there are some differences that would require some stat block style and formatting tweaking. Another huge problem is the added Hit Dice. Adding Hit Dice is unique to the lycanthrope template - no other template (at least not in the SRD) adds Hit Dice. This is actually my biggest problem with lycanthropes. By adding Hit Dice, it means the base creature stat block can't be used as-is. I've actually proposed removing the added Hit Dice altogether, which would bring lycanthropes in line with other templates. You just add the stat modifiers (and a few other things) to the base creature. This also essentially makes it work just like our Druid's wild shape ability. These issues also brought about a "fluff" discussion between Wulf and I about what actually makes "sense" for a lycanthrope. So without going into a lot more detail, what are your gut feelings on lycanthropes in general? How have you used them in your own games? How have you statted them in the past? What do you like about the lycanthrope template? What don't you like? What would you like to see? [/QUOTE]
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