Post by Xxsuperheroxx on Feb 19, 2023 10:16:41 GMT -6
Lycanthropy
There have been many different approaches to the disease of lycanthropy. Many are too complicated to understand or are structured so poorly that the werecreature dominates the game. Lycanthropy as a form of play character should be discouraged in AD&D.. This can be done by promoting the human attributes instead of the beast's, thus making lycanthropy undesirable (as it should be).
Some players may not realize that any damage over 50% of hit points sustained by bites in a fight with a lycanthropy may cause them to be afflicted by the disease. When this happens, it may be months after the first night of the change before the character begins to suspect that lycanthropy has taken hold of his or her being. After that first night all that will be remembered is that the character was very ill and extremely tired. In the morning the townspeople will quite possibly be combing the countryside looking for a rampaging lycanthrope. The player character may join in the search for the werebeast, not realizing that he or she is the lycanthrope. After a few months of changing, the adventurer will (or should) begin to suspect that something is wrong. On the nights before the full moon the lycanthrope will become withdrawn and a bit edgy, preferring his or her own company to that of others - including family. It may be the torn and shredded clothes he or she wakes up in or the mud and scratches on the characters arms and legs that trigger the realization that he or she may be the werebeast the townspeople are searching for. If at all possible, the DM should try to moderate the campaign so that the players don't know for several months of game time the character in now a lycanthrope.
Any human player character (humans are the only beings able to contract lycanthropy) bitten for 50% or more of his or her hit points has a 100% chance of becoming a lycanthrope of the same type that attacked him or her. If the player eats any belladonna within an hour after being bitten there is a 25% chance the disease will not manifest itself, and thus the character will not be afflicted by it> If not, then a 12th or higher level patriarch must be found to administer a cure disease within three days after being bitten. If the adventure is only able to find a patriarch of a high enough level after the initial three days, he or she may elect instead to have the priest attempt a remove curse. This spell must be performed on the player character when he or she is in wereform. The beast will need to make a monster's saving throw against magic, and while in wereform the creature will fight violently to put as much distance as it can between it and the patriarch performing the spell. If all this fails, there is still hope...
At this point, if the player wishes to remain a lycanthrope the two charts given later should be consulted in handling the lycanthrope as a player character. If the adventurer decides to be cured and the methods mentioned thus far have been unsuccessful, he or she may take refuge in a holy/unholy place such as a monastery or an abbey. There the clerics can administer to the afflicted one holy/unholy water laced with a goodly amount of wolfsbane and belladonna prepared by the spiritual methods of that particular religion. The potation is to be consumed by the victim at least twice a day from a silver chalice. No adventuring may be done by the character while he or she is being treated by the clerics. After a month or more (depending upon how advanced the disease is) the player character should be cured and somewhat poorer in the purse, as this procedure is very costly. The clerics will charge for the cost of the herbs and the holy/unholy water as well as for the services rendered. The DM may also wish to include the level of the priest as well as the adventurer into the cost of this treatment.
If the character has died in a fight with a lycanthrope and is resurrected, the disease will be 100% certain if the cleric raising the adventurer is unaware of the disease or fails to follow the proper procedure to eradicate it. The aforementioned cure will work on the werestricken adventurer who has been resurrected. The cleric can use a cure disease (if there is still time) or remove curse (if there isn't) on the dead adventurer before employing the resurrection spell. If the cleric doesn't take the above safety measure then it will be necessary to wait until the adventurer becomes a lycanthrope to try the remove curse or use the cure with the herbs and holy/unholy water.
If the character opts to remain a lycanthrope, many things will need to be taken into consideration, such as the mental anguish caused by the act of changing. Other things, like conflicting alignments between the character and his or her lycanthrope nature, and what his or her family and friends will do once they discover that their friend and loved one is the werebeast that might have been terrorizing the countryside on the nights of the full moon, will have to be determined. The more extreme the difference in the alignment of the adventurer and the beast, the more mental anguish the character will be prone to suffer. For example. a lawful good paladin is bitten by a werewolf, which is a chaotic evil creature. He doesn't discover that he has the disease until it is too late. His mental torment is great, especially when the moon is waxing full, up to the time it is full and then for several days afterward. (DM may wish to select a mental disorder from the section on INSANITY for the character to suffer from to reflect the effects of the anguish caused by the disease). The paladin, even after being cured, is no longer a paladin because he is no longer pure enough for the honored state. The DM can elect to have the gods send the paladin on a quest in order to restore him to his paladinhood, but it is not recommended.
No experience points may be gained by a player character while in lycanthrope form. If the character is a fighter/lycanthrope, the fighter will be able to gain levels only as a fighter, never as a lycanthrope. This applies to all classes. The only way a lycanthrope will be able to control the change from man to beast is with time measured by full moons. There will be no control of the change back into human. On the nights of a full moon all lycanthrope with less than three years experience as a werebeast will change into their wereform and remain that way from the rise of the moon till dawn.
There are factors besides the full moon that can cause the release of the werecreature in a person afflicted with lycanthropy. One common cause is stress during a melee. If the character has lost more than one-third of his or her natural hit points during the fight, there is a 50% chance that the werenature will emerge, causing the player character to be disoriented for 1 to 2 rounds 9characters with more than two years of experience as a lycanthope will not suffer this disorientation). During this time, the lycanthrope will be unable to engage in combat. He or she will also sustain damage from the change as shown on the appropriate table given below. Spells used in the vicinity of a lycanthrope such as monster summoning III-VII, conjure animals, and animal summoning III might cause the werenature to be released. It will be up to the DM to decide what spells or magic items could trigger the beast inside the afflicted adventurer. Arguments with other player characters as fear could cause the change from man to beast.
All lycanthropes will fight and do damage as described in the MONSTER MANUAL regardless of how long the character has been a lycanthrope. The diseased adventurer will eventually acquire the alignment of the lycanthrope form (if it isn't the same already) within 2 to 12 monthes.
While in wereform the character will not be interested in any of his or her belongings and will leave them where the change took place. This includes armor and weapons (except for wererats, who will carry swords).
Werebears are the most powerful form of lycanthrope. As with most lycanthropes, they will eventually flee to the woods. Once a werebear engages in combat with a creature of an alignment it will fight until it or its opponent is dead. Seventy-five percent of the time. If a monster with an evil alignment is encountered, the werebear will attack immediately.
Wereboars are the most foul-tempered of the lycanthropes. Their temperament is such that they will not join a party unless they can be the leader. If they do join one and are not the leader, they will argue bitterly with anyone who disagrees with them. This action may cause them to change into their wereform from the stress involved in the argument.
Wererats will want to live in the city near human (humans being one of their favorite foods). If a human is captured and not eaten immediately, it will probably be held for ransom. A wererat will do all it can to keep the party it is with from discovering that it is a lycanthrope. Wererats are the only lycanthropes that will carry a sword or use any kind of a weapon while in animal form. When the marching order of a party is being decided, a wererat will almost always volunteer to be in the rear.
Weretigers are usually interested only in what benefits them. They will tolerate other cats to a certain extent and perhaps even have one for a companion. In human form weretigers can be mistaken for magic-users is they have a domestic cat for an apparent familiar. For this reason many in AD&D will disguise themselves as a magic-user, possibly taking up the trade just enough to give the facade an appearance of realism. Weretigers might have no qualms about turning on their party if the party begins to behave in a manner that the weretiger finds incompatible with its desires.
Werewoves are chaotic evil and therefore very unpredictable, especially in a melee. Werewolves tend to run in packs or family units. Seldom will they join a normal party of adventurers, and if they do, once discovered as a lycanthrope they will turn and attack the party, usually choosing to do so when the adventurers are in combat with another monster.
Change Table for Lycanthropes:
This table will aid the DM in determining the percentage chances of a player character lycanthrope changing into and out of wereform. After six years of experience, lycanthropes will be able to control their changing at will.
*There is no chance for voluntarily changing out of wereform.
**There is only a 25% chance for voluntarily changing out of wereform.
Damage Table
This table shows how much damage a character takes from armor constriction (before the straps burst and falls off) during sudden change to lycanthrope form.
There have been many different approaches to the disease of lycanthropy. Many are too complicated to understand or are structured so poorly that the werecreature dominates the game. Lycanthropy as a form of play character should be discouraged in AD&D.. This can be done by promoting the human attributes instead of the beast's, thus making lycanthropy undesirable (as it should be).
Some players may not realize that any damage over 50% of hit points sustained by bites in a fight with a lycanthropy may cause them to be afflicted by the disease. When this happens, it may be months after the first night of the change before the character begins to suspect that lycanthropy has taken hold of his or her being. After that first night all that will be remembered is that the character was very ill and extremely tired. In the morning the townspeople will quite possibly be combing the countryside looking for a rampaging lycanthrope. The player character may join in the search for the werebeast, not realizing that he or she is the lycanthrope. After a few months of changing, the adventurer will (or should) begin to suspect that something is wrong. On the nights before the full moon the lycanthrope will become withdrawn and a bit edgy, preferring his or her own company to that of others - including family. It may be the torn and shredded clothes he or she wakes up in or the mud and scratches on the characters arms and legs that trigger the realization that he or she may be the werebeast the townspeople are searching for. If at all possible, the DM should try to moderate the campaign so that the players don't know for several months of game time the character in now a lycanthrope.
Any human player character (humans are the only beings able to contract lycanthropy) bitten for 50% or more of his or her hit points has a 100% chance of becoming a lycanthrope of the same type that attacked him or her. If the player eats any belladonna within an hour after being bitten there is a 25% chance the disease will not manifest itself, and thus the character will not be afflicted by it> If not, then a 12th or higher level patriarch must be found to administer a cure disease within three days after being bitten. If the adventure is only able to find a patriarch of a high enough level after the initial three days, he or she may elect instead to have the priest attempt a remove curse. This spell must be performed on the player character when he or she is in wereform. The beast will need to make a monster's saving throw against magic, and while in wereform the creature will fight violently to put as much distance as it can between it and the patriarch performing the spell. If all this fails, there is still hope...
At this point, if the player wishes to remain a lycanthrope the two charts given later should be consulted in handling the lycanthrope as a player character. If the adventurer decides to be cured and the methods mentioned thus far have been unsuccessful, he or she may take refuge in a holy/unholy place such as a monastery or an abbey. There the clerics can administer to the afflicted one holy/unholy water laced with a goodly amount of wolfsbane and belladonna prepared by the spiritual methods of that particular religion. The potation is to be consumed by the victim at least twice a day from a silver chalice. No adventuring may be done by the character while he or she is being treated by the clerics. After a month or more (depending upon how advanced the disease is) the player character should be cured and somewhat poorer in the purse, as this procedure is very costly. The clerics will charge for the cost of the herbs and the holy/unholy water as well as for the services rendered. The DM may also wish to include the level of the priest as well as the adventurer into the cost of this treatment.
If the character has died in a fight with a lycanthrope and is resurrected, the disease will be 100% certain if the cleric raising the adventurer is unaware of the disease or fails to follow the proper procedure to eradicate it. The aforementioned cure will work on the werestricken adventurer who has been resurrected. The cleric can use a cure disease (if there is still time) or remove curse (if there isn't) on the dead adventurer before employing the resurrection spell. If the cleric doesn't take the above safety measure then it will be necessary to wait until the adventurer becomes a lycanthrope to try the remove curse or use the cure with the herbs and holy/unholy water.
If the character opts to remain a lycanthrope, many things will need to be taken into consideration, such as the mental anguish caused by the act of changing. Other things, like conflicting alignments between the character and his or her lycanthrope nature, and what his or her family and friends will do once they discover that their friend and loved one is the werebeast that might have been terrorizing the countryside on the nights of the full moon, will have to be determined. The more extreme the difference in the alignment of the adventurer and the beast, the more mental anguish the character will be prone to suffer. For example. a lawful good paladin is bitten by a werewolf, which is a chaotic evil creature. He doesn't discover that he has the disease until it is too late. His mental torment is great, especially when the moon is waxing full, up to the time it is full and then for several days afterward. (DM may wish to select a mental disorder from the section on INSANITY for the character to suffer from to reflect the effects of the anguish caused by the disease). The paladin, even after being cured, is no longer a paladin because he is no longer pure enough for the honored state. The DM can elect to have the gods send the paladin on a quest in order to restore him to his paladinhood, but it is not recommended.
No experience points may be gained by a player character while in lycanthrope form. If the character is a fighter/lycanthrope, the fighter will be able to gain levels only as a fighter, never as a lycanthrope. This applies to all classes. The only way a lycanthrope will be able to control the change from man to beast is with time measured by full moons. There will be no control of the change back into human. On the nights of a full moon all lycanthrope with less than three years experience as a werebeast will change into their wereform and remain that way from the rise of the moon till dawn.
There are factors besides the full moon that can cause the release of the werecreature in a person afflicted with lycanthropy. One common cause is stress during a melee. If the character has lost more than one-third of his or her natural hit points during the fight, there is a 50% chance that the werenature will emerge, causing the player character to be disoriented for 1 to 2 rounds 9characters with more than two years of experience as a lycanthope will not suffer this disorientation). During this time, the lycanthrope will be unable to engage in combat. He or she will also sustain damage from the change as shown on the appropriate table given below. Spells used in the vicinity of a lycanthrope such as monster summoning III-VII, conjure animals, and animal summoning III might cause the werenature to be released. It will be up to the DM to decide what spells or magic items could trigger the beast inside the afflicted adventurer. Arguments with other player characters as fear could cause the change from man to beast.
All lycanthropes will fight and do damage as described in the MONSTER MANUAL regardless of how long the character has been a lycanthrope. The diseased adventurer will eventually acquire the alignment of the lycanthrope form (if it isn't the same already) within 2 to 12 monthes.
While in wereform the character will not be interested in any of his or her belongings and will leave them where the change took place. This includes armor and weapons (except for wererats, who will carry swords).
Werebears are the most powerful form of lycanthrope. As with most lycanthropes, they will eventually flee to the woods. Once a werebear engages in combat with a creature of an alignment it will fight until it or its opponent is dead. Seventy-five percent of the time. If a monster with an evil alignment is encountered, the werebear will attack immediately.
Wereboars are the most foul-tempered of the lycanthropes. Their temperament is such that they will not join a party unless they can be the leader. If they do join one and are not the leader, they will argue bitterly with anyone who disagrees with them. This action may cause them to change into their wereform from the stress involved in the argument.
Wererats will want to live in the city near human (humans being one of their favorite foods). If a human is captured and not eaten immediately, it will probably be held for ransom. A wererat will do all it can to keep the party it is with from discovering that it is a lycanthrope. Wererats are the only lycanthropes that will carry a sword or use any kind of a weapon while in animal form. When the marching order of a party is being decided, a wererat will almost always volunteer to be in the rear.
Weretigers are usually interested only in what benefits them. They will tolerate other cats to a certain extent and perhaps even have one for a companion. In human form weretigers can be mistaken for magic-users is they have a domestic cat for an apparent familiar. For this reason many in AD&D will disguise themselves as a magic-user, possibly taking up the trade just enough to give the facade an appearance of realism. Weretigers might have no qualms about turning on their party if the party begins to behave in a manner that the weretiger finds incompatible with its desires.
Werewoves are chaotic evil and therefore very unpredictable, especially in a melee. Werewolves tend to run in packs or family units. Seldom will they join a normal party of adventurers, and if they do, once discovered as a lycanthrope they will turn and attack the party, usually choosing to do so when the adventurers are in combat with another monster.
Change Table for Lycanthropes:
This table will aid the DM in determining the percentage chances of a player character lycanthrope changing into and out of wereform. After six years of experience, lycanthropes will be able to control their changing at will.
| Wanning Moon | 1-2 Years | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Full | 100%* | 75% | 50% | 25% |
| Half | 75%** | 25% | 15% | 5% |
| Quater | 50% | 5% | - | - |
| New Moon | 25%** | - | - | - |
| Waxing Moon | 1- 2 Years | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Quarter | 50% | - | - | - |
| Half | 75%** | 30% | 20% | 10% |
| Full | 100%* | 80% | 55% | 30% |
*There is no chance for voluntarily changing out of wereform.
**There is only a 25% chance for voluntarily changing out of wereform.
Damage Table
This table shows how much damage a character takes from armor constriction (before the straps burst and falls off) during sudden change to lycanthrope form.
| Armor Type | Werebear | Wereboar | Wererat | Weretiger | Werewolf |
| No armor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leather/Padded | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1-2 | 1 |
| Studded Leather/Ring Mail | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1 | 1-3 | 1-2 |
| Scale Mail | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 1-4 | 1-3 |
| Chain Mail | 1-4 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 2-4 | 1-4 |
| Splint Mail/Banded Mail | 2-4 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 2-5 | 2-4 |
| Plate Mail | 2-5 | 2-5 | 1-3 | 2-3 | 2-5 |