Special Conversion Thread: Lycanthropes and their ilk

[Cleon]

Just noticed a few errors in the Meeka Working Draft. The Attack lines and claw entry had the wrong values for the melee attack plus the rake listed its human form damage instead of its cat form damage.

All fixed now!

 

[freyar]

Fixes sound right.

How about you take your pick of the more "normal" ones?

 

[Cleon]

Fixes sound right.

How about you take your pick of the more "normal" ones?

We haven't done any fish, cetaceans or avians lycanthropes for the CC, which makes the dolphin, eel and owl a bit more interesting than the Dog, but none of them really stand out from the others.

Oh let's just do them in alphabetical order.

That'd put the Dog first.

Its original entry is:

Weredogs: These Lawful Good creatures resemble large dogs such as mastiffs, St. Bernards, or German shepherds. Their bites do 1d6 points of damage. They have 3 hit dice +3. Weredogs appeared as a canine counter to the werewolves. They are often Good-aligned people whose personalities were so strong that they managed to alter the effects of the impending lycanthropy. Weredogs are sworn to destroy the more numerous and powerful werewolves. Unfortunately, most people still have trouble telling weredogs and werewolves apart. Consequently, those the weredog tries to help may be scared and turn against it.

Originally appeared in FR7 - Hall of Heroes (1989).

That suggests we use either the SRD Riding Dog or the CC's War Dog as the base animal.

Both would give us the Medium size and 3 HD described above, but the original's bite damage of 1d6 is lower than the War Dog in both AD&D (2d4) and our CC conversion (1d8), so I'd go for a Riding Dog.

I was thinking Human for the base creature.

Oh, and I am inclined to make the "Lawful Good and enemy of werewolves" bit an "In Faerûn" subsection. Don't see why all Weredogs need to be LG.

 

[Cleon]

Weredog Working Draft

Weredog

Weredog, Human Form
Medium Humanoid (Human, Shapechanger)
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 plus 2d8+6 (20 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (+2 natural, +4 chain shirt, +1 light shield), touch 10, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+3
Attack: Longsword +4 melee (1d8+1/19-20) or light crossbow +2 ranged (1d8/19-20)
Full Attack: Longsword +3 melee (1d8+1/19-20) or light crossbow +2 ranged (1d8/19-20)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Alternate form, dog empathy, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +2
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8
Skills: Handle Animal +3* (+7 with dogs), Jump +9, Listen +4, Ride +4, Spot +4, Survival +0, Swim +3
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Iron Will ᴮ, Track ᴮ, Weapon Focus (longsword)

Weredog, Riding Dog Form
Medium Humanoid (Human, Shapechanger)
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 plus 2d8+6 (20 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (+2 Dex, +6 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+5
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+4)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Curse of lycanthropy, trip
Special Qualities: Alternate form, dog empathy, damage reduction 10/silver, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +2
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8
Skills: Handle Animal +3* (+7 with dogs), Jump +15, Listen +4, Ride +6, Spot +4, Survival +0* (+4 track by scent), Swim +5
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Iron Will ᴮ, Track ᴮ, Weapon Focus (longsword)

Weredog, Hybrid Form
Medium Humanoid (Human, Shapechanger)
Hit Dice: 1d8+1 plus 2d8+6 (20 hp)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (+2 Dex, +6 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+5
Attack: Claw +5 melee (1d4+3); or longsword +6 melee (1d8+3/19-20)
Full Attack: 2 claws +5 melee (1d4+3) and bite +0 melee (1d6+1); or longsword +6 melee (1d8+3/19-20) and bite +0 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Curse of lycanthropy
Special Qualities: Alternate form, dog empathy, damage reduction 10/silver, low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +2
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8
Skills: Handle Animal +3* (+7 with dogs), Jump +11, Listen +4, Ride +6, Spot +4, Survival +0* (+4 track by scent), Swim +5
Feats: Alertness, Improved Initiative, Iron Will ᴮ, Track ᴮ, Weapon Focus (longsword)

Environment: Temperate plains
Organization: Solitary, pair, pack (6-10), or troupe (2-5 plus 5-8 riding dogs)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always lawful good
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +3

This lean but powerful humanoid is covered with short fur and armed with sharp claws. It has affable eyes between its canine muzzle and ears.

Weredogs in humanoid form have no distinguishing traits. Dedicated to destroying werewolves, they are easy to mistake for evil lycanthropes and may be attacked by those they seek to help.

COMBAT
In dog form, a weredog can trip opponents like a trained riding dog does. In hybrid form, a weredog will usually wield a weapon and use its bite as a secondary natural attack, though it can attack with its claws and bite.

Alternate Form (Su): A weredog can assume a bipedal hybrid form or the form of a riding dog.

Dog Empathy (Ex): Communicate with dogs, and +4 racial bonus on Charisma-based checks against dogs.

Curse of Lycanthropy (Su): Any humanoid or giant hit by a weredog’s bite attack in animal or hybrid form must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or contract lycanthropy.

Trip (Ex): A weredog in animal form that hits with a bite attack can attempt to trip the opponent (+3 check modifier) as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity.

If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the weredog.

Weredogs that only have levels in classes with the slow base attack bonus progression (i.e. commoner or wizard) are unable to make trip attacks since they lack the training in warfare a riding dog needs to use this ability.

Skills: Weredogs have a +4 racial bonus on Jump checks.

*Weredogs in hybrid or dog form have a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.

The weredog presented here is a 1st-level human warrior and natural lycanthrope, using the following base ability scores: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8.

In Faerûn
Some weredogs in Faerûn do not carry the curse of lycanthropy. These "blessed" weredogs have powers dedicated to fighting evil wolves. Most blessed werewolves are natural lycanthropes descended from a few secretive families. They are able to use a magical ritual to transform others into acquired template blessed weredogs, but are very particular about the candidates they are willing to let join their cause. The founders of the blessed weredog families were werewolves, or infected victims of werewolves, who somehow overcame the curse of lycanthropy. The exact cause of these founders' transformation into blessed weredog is unclear, but appears to be some combination of the freak supernatural forces released by the Crisis of the Gods and having a personality so strongly good it overcomes the evil nature of a werewolf's curse.

Blessing of Canethropy (Su): A natural Faerûnian weredog can grant a willing good-aligned humanoid the acquired template of a Faerûn weredog. If the recipient already has a lycanthrope template (i.e. werewolf), the weredog template replaces their existing lycanthrope template. The two parties must maintain physical contact for a minute under the light of the full moon, after which the recipient must succeed at a DC 15 Will save to acquire the template. If a recipient fails the Will save they must wait for another full moon before they can try again.

Wolfbane (Su): A Faerûnian weredog's natural weapons, as well as any weapons it wields, gain a +2 circumstance bonus to attack rolls against wolf-like or canine creatures that have an evil alignment (such as a werewolf, winter wolf, or worg). A successful hit also deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against the foe.

Originally appeared in FR7 - Hall of Heroes (1989)


Skill Ranks:
Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Listen 2, Ride 4, Spot 2, Swim 2

 

[Cleon]

Weredog

Okay, the above is pretty much the SRD Werewolf with a few stat changes since there aren't many mechanical differences between a Wolf and Riding Dog.

I left the Working Draft with the same equipment as a Werewolf but would be OK changing it if you'd prefer. Oh, and I also included its sword in its Hybrid form's Full Attack unlike the SRD Werewolf - although the Werewolf Lord uses weapons in hybrid form.

Any preferences for the Feats?

The Werewolf has Improved Initiative, Stealthy and Weapon Focus (bite) as well as its two bonus feats.

How about Alertness, Improved Initiative and Weapon Focus (longsword)?

That just leaves skills.

A Riding Dog has 2 SPs in Listen and Spot and 1 SP in Swim.

Maybe Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Listen 2, Ride 4, Spot 2, Swim 2?

 

[Cleon]

Dire Sheep Working Draft

While reviewing the existing Lycanthrope conversions I noticed I'd forgotten to post the final version of the base animal we used for the Weresheep, so here it is:

Sheep, Dire
Large Animal
Hit Dice: 4d8+16 (34 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 13 (-1 size, +4 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+12
Attack: Gore +8 melee (1d8+7) or bite +7 melee (1d6+7)
Full Attack: Gore +8 melee (1d8+7) or bite +7 melee (1d6+7)
Space/Reach 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Powerful charge, stampede
Special Qualities: Low-light vision
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +4
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 11, Con 18, Int 1, Wis 11, Cha 4
Skills: Listen +5, Spot +6
Feats: Alertness, Weapon Focus (gore)
Environment: Temperate mountains, hills, and plains
Organization: Solitary, flock (2-8 plus 50% noncombatants) or herd (2-8 plus 10-100 giant sheep plus 50% noncombatants)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 5-8 HD (Large); 9-12 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment: —

This massive sheep is larger than a horse, with spectacular curled horns.

Dire sheep are larger more ferocious relatives of giant sheep. They sometimes live in mixed herds with their lesser cousins, in which case they are often mistaken for giant rams as male and female dire sheep both have huge spiral horns.

A dire sheep is 10 to 12 feet long, stands about 6 feet at the shoulder and weighs 2000 to 3000 pounds.

COMBAT
Dire sheep are far more aggressive than giant sheep. They usually flee creatures that appear to be powerful predators but often charge opponents they believe are threatening them or other members of their flock. Dire sheep are willing to defend their flock to the death.

Powerful Charge (Ex): When a dire sheep charges, its gore attack deals 2d8+10 points of damage.

Stampede (Ex): A frightened flock of dire sheep flees as a group in a random direction (but always away from the perceived source of danger). They literally run over anything of Large size or smaller that gets in their way, dealing 1d12 points of damage for each five sheep in the flock (Reflex DC 17 half). The save DC is Strength-based.

 

[freyar]

I like the weredog with trip and the blue text. That works for me. And so do your suggested feats and skills. However, I'd like to keep them always LG. As "man's best friend," that's a sensible "thematic" alignment for a weredog, I think. And if a werebear is always LG, I don't know why a weredog can't be.

 

[Cleon]

I like the weredog with trip and the blue text. That works for me. And so do your suggested feats and skills. However, I'd like to keep them always LG. As "man's best friend," that's a sensible "thematic" alignment for a weredog, I think. And if a werebear is always LG, I don't know why a weredog can't be.

I have no objection to making them LG like the original. Lycanthropes tend to follow folklore ideas of animals rather than what they're really like, after all.

Updating Weredog Working Draft.

 

[Cleon]

Updating Weredog Working Draft.

I guess that just leaves the tactics and flavour text.

Might as well put the bits about werewolves in there.

 

[freyar]

Maybe we can base tactics on the werewolf?

Tactics: In dog form, a weredog can trip opponents like a trained riding dog. In hybrid form, a weredog can wield a weapon and use its bite as a secondary natural attack, though it will often attack only with claws.