Swashbuckler (Wererat)

“Lycanthropes may appear to be ordinary humanoids, but behind the veneer of humanity there is the pivotal struggle between beast and man. For most, it is a matter of time before they lose this fight and become a monstrous hybrid, half-animal and half-humanoid. Most Lycanthropes remember very little of their time transformed, often waking in strange locations, covered in blood and tattered clothes. However, as some Lycanthropes grow, they learn to balance both natures, using their curse as a gift.” – Grim Hollow

Fancy Footwork

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you learn how to land a strike and then slip away without reprisal. During your turn, if you make a melee attack against a creature, that creature can’t make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn.

Rakish Audacity

Starting at 3rd level, your confidence propels you into battle. You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Charisma modifier.

You also gain an additional way to use your Sneak Attack; you don’t need advantage on the attack roll to use your Sneak Attack against a creature if you are within 5 feet of it, no other creatures are within 5 feet of you, and you don’t have disadvantage on the attack roll. All the other rules for Sneak Attack still apply to you.

Lycan Transformations

You have been afflicted with the Curse of Lycanthropy (Wererat) during a recent encounter with a troop of wererats.  You experience dreams of scratching, squeaking and rustling of tiny feet.  You are deep in a sewer system, surrounded by rats.  As you look into the darkness ahead, you see 2 glowing red eyes approaching you.  As the eyes reach the edge of the darkness and spill into the dim light, you see a massive humanoid form, half man, half rat.  He opens his elongated snout to reveal long sharp teeth, 2 on top and 2 on the bottom.  He is salivating excessively as he approaches you.  Right as he is about to consume you, you awake!

You now begin to feel physical and mental changes in yourself.  You feel your alignment start to move towards evil, but in a law and order sort of way.  You do not wish to draw attention to yourself or your chosen group, for fear of being found out and eradicated.  You have a certain level of anxiety and paranoia about you now.  You find yourself preferring the shadows and dark corners when in mixed company.  You prefer to keep your thoughts and words to yourself more than every before.  You are always looking for a victim to recruit to your new order or someone to take a little gold off of.  

At Level 3, you become susceptible to silver objects while in Normal and Kindred Forms.  You take 1d4 damage when you come into contact with any object that is silvered (jewelry, weapons, décor and coin).

At Level 6, you feel your body start to change in major ways.  You can now transform into you Hybrid and Kindred Forms.  You are also susceptible to the Light of the Full Moon in your Normal Form.

At Level 10, you make take the Wererat Hide Feat as you become more comfortable and attuned with your curse.

Hybrid Form

Once you've reached Level 6, you gain the ability to transform into you Hybrid Form (Wererat).  A half-humanoid, half-rat like creature.  With this comes boons and flaws, they are as follows:

• You transform into a Half-Humanoid, Half-Rat Form.
• You grow up to one size larger (Maximum Large Size).
• Your gain Darkvision up to 60 feet.
• You assume 33 Temporary Hit Points, but retain your own abilities and features.
  • When your Hybrid Form reaches 0 HP, you revert to Human Form.
  • You continue with the same HP in Human Form as when you transformed, minus any additional damage that took you 0 in Hybrid Form.
• You cannot cast spells that require concentration.
• You can use weapons and equipment as normal, or absorb your armor, resetting your AC to 10 + your DEX modifier + your CON modifier.
• You roll 1d8 in place of your normal Unarmed Strike attacks.
• Your Unarmed Strike attacks are considered slashing damage instead of bludgeoning.
• You can make 2 Unarmed Strikes as an Action.
• You can substitute one Attack action to Bite.
  • If the Bite hits, you deal 1d10 + DEX modifier.
  • The bitten creature must make a CON saving throw against a DC11 or be afflicted with the Lycanthropy curse.

• You can use your Bonus Action to make an additional Unarmed Strike.
• You can use your Bonus Action to mark a creature within 60ft of you that you can see, hear, or smell as your Prey.
  • Prey marked creatures stay marked in this way for 1 hour or until they die.
  • You get advantage on Perception, Investigation, and Survival checks related to tracking or learning about your Prey.
  • When you hit a Prey marked creature, you deal an additional 1d6 damage.
• You can only transform into Hybrid Form one time per long rest.
• When you drop to 10 HP or below in Hybrid Form, you must make a WIS saving throw of DC15.
  • Success:  You continue as you were.
  • Fail:  You enter "The Recruitment" for 1d4 rounds or until you reach 0 HP in Hybrid Form and revert back to Normal Form.
    • You must attack the nearest creature to you and attempt to afflict them with your Curse with your Bite Attack.  DC11 WIS saving throw for the creature to resist the effects of the curse.

Kindred Form

Starting at Level 6, you can now transform into your Kindred Form (Rat or Giant Rat).  You gain the following properties.  You can make this transformation at will using an Action.

• You assume all of the traits of the Kindred Form (Rat or Giant Rat).
• Your weapons and armor are absorbed into your form and rendered useless.
• You cannot cast spells that require verbal or somatic components (such as hand gestures).
• You can speak to and understand other Rats and most vermin.
• You gain a +10 on all Stealth checks made while in this form.
• You are immune to Disease and Poison.
• You can mark a creature as your Prey (Hunter's Mark).
• You cannot wield weapons.
• You immediately succeed all savings throws related to The Recruitment flaw.
• You are indistinguishable from a regular animal.
• Kindred Form ends after 1 hour, when you reach 0 HP, or you use a Bonus Action to revert forms.
• You are susceptible to silver in all forms.  If you come into physical contact with any silver object, you take 1d4 damage.

Normal Form

Starting at Level 3, while you are in Normal Form and are hit by the light of the Full Moon, you must roll a WIS saving throw against a DC20. 

• Success:  You are immune to this effect for 24 hours.
• Fail:  You instantly transform into your Hybrid Form and must roll a d20.
  • Succeed (11-20):  You avoid the sights and sounds of non-allied creatures.
  • Fail (1-10):  You enter The Recruitment:
    • You must move towards the nearest creature that you can see, hear, or smell
      (prioritizing able-bodied creatures).
    • If you end your Movement and there isn’t one within 5
      feet of you, you must use your Action to dash towards one.
    • You cannot willingly enter a group with 2 or more unfamiliar Humanoids for fear of being seen.
    • If there is a creature within 5 feet of you, and you have not used your Action, you must make a Bite Attack against it in an attempt to afflict the creature.
    • If you used your Action to attack a creature within 5 feet of you and it is still alive, you can use your Bonus Action to Bite Attack it again.
    • You continue this until you successfully hit on a Bite Attack or your Hybrid Form is exhausted.
      • You remain in Hybrid Form up to the number of hours equal to your CON modifier or until you have 0 HP, then you revert to your Normal Form. 

Additionally, if you drop below 50% of your HP, you must make WIS saving throw against DC10 or transform into your Hybrid Form.  You cannot revert back to your normal form for 1d4 rounds.

 

Panache

At 9th level, your charm becomes extraordinarily beguiling. As an action, you can make a Charisma (Persuasion) check contested by a creature’s Wisdom (Insight) check. The creature must be able to hear you, and the two of you must share a language.

If you succeed on the check and the creature is hostile to you, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against targets other than you and can’t make opportunity attacks against targets other than you. This effect lasts for 1 minute, until one of your companions attacks the target or affects it with a spell, or until you and the target are more than 60 feet apart.

If you succeed on the check and the creature isn’t hostile to you, it is charmed by you for 1 minute. While charmed, it regards you as a friendly acquaintance. This effect ends immediately if you or your companions do anything harmful to it.

Elegant Maneuver

Starting at 13th level, you can use a bonus action on your turn to gain advantage on the next Dexterity (Acrobatics) or Strength (Athletics) check you make during the same turn.

Master Duelist

Beginning at 17th level, your mastery of the blade lets you turn failure into success in combat. If you miss with an attack roll, you can roll it again with advantage. Once you do so, you can’t use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.