Werebeast pc?

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Nox
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Werebeast pc?

Post by Nox »

Hi all,
A couple of questions about this topic:
1) is it possible to play a Werebeast (any) as pc?
2)could he retain control over himself when he transform?
3)i read the wiki an it states that, on ravenloft, a character may become able of controlling his action (limited control). How does it work? Where can I find the rules?

Is it a bad choice in general to let a player play a lycantrophe?
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Re: Werebeast pc?

Post by Deewun »

On of the Book of S books has a great writeup I've used previously to run a were-PC. Check those out!
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Re: Werebeast pc?

Post by Joël of the FoS »

Natural lycanthrope or afflicted one?

1) is it possible to play a Werebeast (any) as pc?

Yes, RL is one of the best place to do such a thing. IMC, there is a PC lycanthrope.

2)could he retain control over himself when he transform?

Yes for natural werebeasts. But their alignment isn't normally on the good side.

Normaly, no for afflicted lycanthropes. But see 3.

3)i read the wiki an it states that, on ravenloft, a character may become able of controlling his action (limited control). How does it work? Where can I find the rules?

See the Moonchild PrC, best way to enable a player to get control of his beast side.

IMC, I did cut from 5 to 3 levels, but keep in mind that level advancement IMC is slow.
Is it a bad choice in general to let a player play a lycantrophe?
Well, yes ;) unless he has a cool background story behind it, and that this background let enough room for the DM to enrich his game. If it's just a munchkin power thing, say no.

Joël
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Re: Werebeast pc?

Post by Nox »

Thank you both!

In your opinion what could be a good background/story for a lycantrophe? (this question is mostly for myself, I always wanted to play one, but I hardly find any good plot...)
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Re: Werebeast pc?

Post by IrvyneWolfe »

I had an afflicted werewolf pc in my last campaign. Mechanically it was broken, but it worked well for the story (for the record a Pathfinder werebeast is easier to balance than a 3.x one). Being infected was part of a larger downward spiral for the character however. The first time he changed he murdered a fellow clergy member and an assassin from his home sect was sent to investigate the murder. The assassin lowered his guard with an epic bluff check and sabbed him in the back with a silver short sword for a death attack.

It was a situation we still talk about today. Seeing a character spiral out of control due to contracting the dread disease (provided the player is on board for that) is a fantastic rp experience.
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Re: Werebeast pc?

Post by Dark Angel »

Nox wrote:In your opinion what could be a good background/story for a lycantrophe? (this question is mostly for myself, I always wanted to play one, but I hardly find any good plot...)
Like Joel stated above, the reason should be a better one than "because it's cool to be a werewolf". A True Lycanthrope can control their powers and readily benefit from their condition, but the 2nd edition Van Richten Guide has some pretty limiting level advancement for PC and NPC characters (most are between 3rd-5th level). Infected lycanthropes are unable to control their transformations and become DM run NPCs during this time (in my game at least). This should be terrifying for the player (and character) as they have to learn and control their environments to retain their character. Waking up to find a dear friend has been shredded by a vicious beast while covered in their own blood should be horrifying. Fearing getting damaged in combat, transforming during the fight (probable Fear Checks for enemies and allies), and becoming a liability for both sides of the combat should put the fear in a player.

I had an NPC (younger kid, about 11-12 years old) whose uncle died in the forest (players essentially were there to rescue the kid from wolves). A few adventures in I related the boy's backstory about how he grew up with his uncle in Barovia after his own family was killed in Borca by a wolf that couldn't be hurt years ago. Oh how I wish I had the picture of my players wide eyed stares upon realizing the boy just described a werewolf attack. The boy the shared how he's fine, see? The scars across his back are fully healed (draw a similarity from Denzel Washington's character in Glory) and they were ready to prepare the silvered shackles for the kid. While the scars were an exaggeration, the backstory was essentially true. Could that have been a werewolf? Yes. Could that have been the traumatized imagination of a 3-4 year old kid who watched a large wolf (or a pack of wolves that look enough alike it seems they are not being injured) kill several members of his family? Has he already turned and doesn't realize it as anything else besides bad dreams? Or is puberty the initial trigger for his condition? The unknown and always wondering about Infected Lycanthropes and the less than predictable nature of their curses should be major motivations for the players in the group to cure. If they treat it like a powerful new ally, toss a transformation that seriously injures a member of the town that the players are friends with (or one of the group if there is no one else about). That should light a fire under them to either get rid of the PC or cure their condition.
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Re: Werebeast pc?

Post by Mistmaster »

In my own hopinion, infected lychantropes should have a chance to learn to control theyr trasformation. Struggling to control it and actully turn a curse in a usefull toll is a pretty cool way to develop a character.
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Re: Werebeast pc?

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

What edition are you playing in?

The 3.5/Pathfinder rules for lycanthropes are supposedly balanced for PCs IF you follow the Level Adjustment rules. The trouble there is that in order to use the LA, you need to be starting everyone above 1st level. Or if you're already in the middle of a campaign when the PC contracts lycanthropy, you have to deal with someone being a few levels more powerful (and receiving no XP) for a while, as everyone else catches up.

IMC, I have an afflicted werebat, but it's purely a story-driver, not mechanically relevant. In other words, I ignore the increased HD (and associated feats/skills), BAB, AC, wisdom, as well as low-light vision in human form. She uses her normal stats in human form, and I just use the threat of the beast emerging as a role-play opportunity. When she transforms, she becomes an NPC, so the imbalance doesn't matter. If you do something like that, there's no real issue.

I did once play a true lycanthrope in a non-ravenloft campaign. (a LG wererat goblin, actually. He was the answer to "what does does the paladin or LG priest do when he slays a pack of 'always-evil' monsters and finds a baby one left behind?" The paladin's answer was: "They adopt him and raise him to be good.") It was a blast, and didn't seem unbalanced against the others. I had an LA of +3 and we started at 5 or 6 total levels or so. We didn't get too far, so I can't speak to what happens at upper levels. (I hear that generally speaking LA starts to break down at high levels and become a bit of a burden, as the benefits from most monster templates and base creatures are more relevant at lower levels)
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Re: Werebeast pc?

Post by Gravesguard »

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote: The 3.5/Pathfinder rules for lycanthropes are supposedly balanced for PCs IF you follow the Level Adjustment rules. The trouble there is that in order to use the LA, you need to be starting everyone above 1st level. Or if you're already in the middle of a campaign when the PC contracts lycanthropy, you have to deal with someone being a few levels more powerful (and receiving no XP) for a while, as everyone else catches up.
I've used the ghost rules for 3.5, we just put harsh roleplay limits on the character as they learned to control theme selves in their new state, and once the others caught up, we'd open them up. For a werebeast it'd be easy enough to npc their bloodless, etc.
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Re: Werebeast pc?

Post by jamesfirecat »

Nox wrote:Thank you both!

In your opinion what could be a good background/story for a lycantrophe? (this question is mostly for myself, I always wanted to play one, but I hardly find any good plot...)
I'll step up to the plate and suggest the one that I use for a natural lycanthrope fit to be a PC.

Everyone in Richemulot's smaller border town of Bon Crepe knows that the Patte family are shapeshifters, well the mother Martha and her son James at least. It'd be wrong to say that nobody cares about this... they care quite a bit, because nowhere in Richemulot is as free of rats as Bon Crepe, and everyone knows that it is because Martha and James are natural Werecats, werehousecats.

They have the utmost control of their powers and there's more than enough local game to sate their hunger for fresh meet, especially since rats keep trying to return to the town and keep falling beneath their paws. They're made to feel welcome, they're well respected and the only way they were treated different than most is the honor of having Jacqueline Renier herself visit their village so that James could swear personal loyalty to her.

Of course what matters in Richemulot is never what everyone knows, but what only a few know.

Only a few know that Jacqueline is grooming a secret weapon against her own family in general and her sister in particular to insure the succession and protection of her son Jacques should she ever not be able to insure those matters herself.

Only Jacqueline herself knows the true identity of her spy /secret weapon "Longhair" who serves her out of patriotic duty and thus is far more loyal than those who obey her from fear or blackmail.
Last edited by jamesfirecat on Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Werebeast pc?

Post by Nox »

I like your ideas!

Thanks all, you helped me a lot! :D
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