Were-Weasel

Red Viper · Apr 18, 2004

Is there an official Were-Weasel template? If so what book is it in?

nikolai · Apr 18, 2004

The good news is the official rules for all were-beasts are online in the SRD:

http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monstersKtoL.html#lycanthrope

No exact rules for were-weasels are there. But look at the Creating a Lycanthope section and you can generalise from it. Strickly speaking, you can only be a were-beast when the beast is within one size category of you (Small, Medium, or Large for a human). Weasels are tiny and no good for a beast-form, but medium dire weasels are fine.

http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monstersDitoDo.html#dire-weasel

The results are nasty! +4 Str, +8 Dex & +2 Wis; a higher Dex bonus than even a were-rat. Alertness, Stealthy, Iron Will & Weapon Finesse feats. CR 4 (for level 1 human). You don't get the constitution or natural armour of a were-boar (it's CR equal), but the stealth and Dex make up for it. You also get the Attach and Blood Drain special abilities.

Attach (Ex): A dire weasel that hits with its bite attack latches onto the opponent’s body with its powerful jaws. An attached dire weasel loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and thus has an AC of 12. An attached dire weasel can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached dire weasel through grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the creature.

Blood Drain (Ex): A dire weasel drains blood for 1d4 points of Constitution damage each round it remains attached.

I'm not entirely sure how these work. Blood drain has been (rightly!) weakened since 3e. Presumably you can still make a bite attack on your turn while attached? Can you grapple while attached?

Umbran · Apr 18, 2004

nikolai said:
Presumably you can still make a bite attack on your turn while attached?

I would think not. The creature is trading a chance at doing hit point damage for a surety of doing Constitution damage. I think that also allowing a bite would be "double jeopardy".

Red Viper · Apr 19, 2004

Thanks for the help.

Richards · Apr 19, 2004

Not quite the same thing, but there's a weasel hengeyokai in the "Humanimals" article in Dragon #266. (It's a shapeshifter that takes the form of a human, a weasel, and a hybrid form combining features of the two.) Of course, issue #266 was back in the AD&D 2nd Edition days, so the article might not be a whole lot of help nowadays.

Johnathan

Red Viper · Apr 19, 2004

How does the Hybred form work? Does just the appearance change or the stats also?

nikolai · Apr 19, 2004

Red Viper said:
How does the Hybred form work? Does just the appearance change or the stats also?

A short summary (were-weasel specifics in brackets):

Hybrid form is the same size as the base animal or the base creature, whichever is larger. (Medium)
Hybrids use the base creature’s speed. (30 ft)
In hybrid form, the lycanthrope’s natural armor bonus is equal to the natural armor bonus of the base animal or the base creature, whichever is better. (+2 natural armor bonus - no change from normal or animal form)
A lycanthrope in hybrid form gains two claw attacks and a bite attack as natural weapons. These weapons deal damage based on the hybrid form’s size. A hybrid may attack with a weapon and a bite, or may attack with its natural weapons. The bite attack of a hybrid is a secondary attack. (1d4 claw, 1d6 bite)
A lycanthrope in hybrid form modifies its physical ability scores according to its kind. (+4 Str, +8 Dex)
An afflicted lycanthrope in animal or hybrid form has damage reduction 5/silver. A natural lycanthrope in animal or hybrid form has damage reduction 10/silver.
A lycanthrope’s hybrid form does not gain any special attacks of the base animal.