I'm running my first campaign and I chose Dragon Heist because it's supposedly great for first-time DMs and players. This is also the first campaign for all of my players. In the second session, two PCs contracted wererat lycanthropy. Fortunately (for me) one of those characters died later in the session. After the session ended, I decided to not tell the player about the lycanthropy so I could ponder how to move forward. I eventually decided that I would have the player roll a percentage to determine the progression of the curse which would allow me to explain to the player that it could be cured before the percentage reached 100. He rolled 000 immediately!!! I've read the dndbeyond article about roleplaying a werecreature but that seems OP for a level 2 character and I would feel bad for killing a PC for something that happened three sessions ago. His character is an extremely pretentious high-elf noble (I know high-elf nobles are already super pretentious by nature) so I think this could be a good arc for the character but I'm not quite sure how to handle it.
Let him roleplay the curse, ask him (privately) if his character choses to embrace it or reject it. If he rejects it, have him roll a Wisdom save each night (or at full moons), on a failed save becoming a wererat NPC under your control until morning. If he embraces it, let him change at will. In his wererat form, he gets the wererat's Bite attack and Keen Senses trait (Not multitrack, unless he had it already), but once he changes, have his alignment change to Lawful Evil until he turns back.
In the Forgotten Realms, lycanthropes fall under the domains of the gods Malar (god of the hunt) and Selûne (goddess of the moon), both of which have temples in Waterdeep, so you could encourage the player to seek out aid in one of those. In that case, Selûne's clerics would probably offer to cure it (if you think they should be able to), but also encourage him to embrace his curse and use it for good, while Malar's clerics would encourage him to give in to his bloodthirsty urges.
My own experience of player characters with lycanthropy:
Poorly handled - the PC just becomes super-powerful for their level and before long everyone on the party lines up to be bitten, so they can get were-creature super powers as well.
Well handled - it's a curse - the player and their character are actively looking for a way to be rid of it and the other players are glad that their characters aren't inflicted with it.
Personally, I would take control of the beast side of the were-creature as the DM and make it REALLY malignant and evil.
A PC with lycanthropy can provide some really cool roleplay, especially if you don't let the other players know to start with.
The character doesn't they are afflicted yet, right? So you can have their first transformation involve the players taking an overnight stop and then in the morning the afflicted character just isn't there. Let them play out figuring out what happened. Suitable perception/investigation can lead to the party finding out that the afflicted character seemingly just got up and left of their own free will (I don't recommend dropping hints to them being a wererat yet).
Take the player with the afflicted character aside (maybe even before the main session) and roleplay out a scene with them, where their character wakes and finds that they aren't where they expected to be - there are many places they could be - in a sewer, covered in blood, offal and excrement is a good one. Just something nasty that the character will dislike. They then have to figure out what happened and whether they want to tell the rest of the party.
The "secret" can be a very interesting part of this - do they just tell everyone straight off and ask for help, or do they keep it quiet and hope it was a one off and doesn't happen again?
There are many great werewolf movies that are based around exactly this. The classic, "American Werewolf in London" is great for that and inspiration for how a goodly character inflicted with any form of lycanthropy can become mentally tortured.
I'd second the idea of examining classic literature for ideas - Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde comes to mind, if you wanted to make this a completely split-personality Character. If you can, I'd also recommend looking at White Wolf publishing's Wraith RPG, where having a completely separated Shadow personality which hates you and is trying to destroy you is just how un-life is when you're dead.
Personally - both as DM and Player - I think Stormknight's advice is dead on: don't let the Player have access to the superpowers of the lycanthrope, make them an NPC for those periods, and role-play out the onset of the curse in a one-on-one scene.
If you go this route where you're taking control of the Character away when they succumb to the curse, then what you have is really a completely separate, and evil, NPC. You can use that to great effect!
The evil version of the Character could have their own goals, and aspirations - completely at odds with what the non-cursed persona has. You could set up the good/evil sides in conflict with one another. You might have to do some creative work if you wanted to give the cursed side their own contacts, allies, and knowledge ( where did they come from? why? Do lycanthropes recognize some concept of curse lineage where this individual is special? Is there some sort of genetic memory transmission? ), but this could open up some incredible role playing and narrative possibilities!
The Party is another tricky aspect, if you're making the cursed side a separate persona. You want to play up the evil and reprehensible side of the curse, so the Party fears being cursed themselves, but you want to forestall the Party just killing their comrade to keep the curse from spreading. I'd give the evil cursed NPC side some special knowledge ( again, how? ), privilege, ability, or some other facet that the Party needs to complete their mission, so they can't just dispatch the werecreature to protect themselves. They might hate it, but they need to work with the evil version of their comrade.
However, you want to beware the evil NPC version of the Character having too much spotlight time, as you're taking control away from the Player for those periods. You might have a sit down talk with you Player and propose that you introduce an NPC into the Party which they get to play as when their current Character is under the curse. This would mean you could play up the evil version of their Character as much as the narrative needs, but the Player still always gets to participate. The developing relationship between their old cursed Character, their new quasi-NPC Character, and the original personality of their original Character could be an interesting one!
A lot of potential here. Have fun with it, and best of luck :)
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
By the book, lycanthropes get the stat bonus and immunity to non-magical non-silvered BPS in all their forms. You can change that if you want, but be consistent if you do and apply it to all lycanthropes, not just PCs.
I'd second the idea of examining classic literature for ideas - Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde comes to mind, if you wanted to make this a completely split-personality Character. If you can, I'd also recommend looking at White Wolf publishing's Wraith RPG, where having a completely separated Shadow personality which hates you and is trying to destroy you is just how un-life is when you're dead.
Personally - both as DM and Player - I think Stormknight's advice is dead on: don't let the Player have access to the superpowers of the lycanthrope, make them an NPC for those periods, and role-play out the onset of the curse in a one-on-one scene.
If you go this route where you're taking control of the Character away when they succumb to the curse, then what you have is really a completely separate, and evil, NPC. You can use that to great effect!
The evil version of the Character could have their own goals, and aspirations - completely at odds with what the non-cursed persona has. You could set up the good/evil sides in conflict with one another. You might have to do some creative work if you wanted to give the cursed side their own contacts, allies, and knowledge ( where did they come from? why? Do lycanthropes recognize some concept of curse lineage where this individual is special? Is there some sort of genetic memory transmission? ), but this could open up some incredible role playing and narrative possibilities!
The Party is another tricky aspect, if you're making the cursed side a separate persona. You want to play up the evil and reprehensible side of the curse, so the Party fears being cursed themselves, but you want to forestall the Party just killing their comrade to keep the curse from spreading. I'd give the evil cursed NPC side some special knowledge ( again, how? ), privilege, ability, or some other facet that the Party needs to complete their mission, so they can't just dispatch the werecreature to protect themselves. They might hate it, but they need to work with the evil version of their comrade.
However, you want to beware the evil NPC version of the Character having too much spotlight time, as you're taking control away from the Player for those periods. You might have a sit down talk with you Player and propose that you introduce an NPC into the Party which they get to play as when their current Character is under the curse. This would mean you could play up the evil version of their Character as much as the narrative needs, but the Player still always gets to participate. The developing relationship between their old cursed Character, their new quasi-NPC Character, and the original personality of their original Character could be an interesting one!
A lot of potential here. Have fun with it, and best of luck :)
These are some good ideas, especially for wererat lycanthropy which may be more cunning than werewolves. Thinking of “the beast” as a separate persona, with its own goals and impulses, is usually a good way to approach it.
Going full Mr. Hyde with it may be a bit extreme, it can be as simple as “the beast doesn’t like fire”, and makes you make a Wisdom save against becoming frightened of an open flame.
In general, the beast wants three things,
to pursue pray (and perhaps trinkets in the case of wererats).
to assert dominance over challengers (especially over others of its kind).
to flee things it finds frightening (like fire, or silver).
If you want to go against these things, you’ve got to make a save.
I'm running my first campaign and I chose Dragon Heist because it's supposedly great for first-time DMs and players. This is also the first campaign for all of my players. In the second session, two PCs contracted wererat lycanthropy. Fortunately (for me) one of those characters died later in the session. After the session ended, I decided to not tell the player about the lycanthropy so I could ponder how to move forward. I eventually decided that I would have the player roll a percentage to determine the progression of the curse which would allow me to explain to the player that it could be cured before the percentage reached 100. He rolled 000 immediately!!! I've read the dndbeyond article about roleplaying a werecreature but that seems OP for a level 2 character and I would feel bad for killing a PC for something that happened three sessions ago. His character is an extremely pretentious high-elf noble (I know high-elf nobles are already super pretentious by nature) so I think this could be a good arc for the character but I'm not quite sure how to handle it.
Let him roleplay the curse, ask him (privately) if his character choses to embrace it or reject it. If he rejects it, have him roll a Wisdom save each night (or at full moons), on a failed save becoming a wererat NPC under your control until morning. If he embraces it, let him change at will. In his wererat form, he gets the wererat's Bite attack and Keen Senses trait (Not multitrack, unless he had it already), but once he changes, have his alignment change to Lawful Evil until he turns back.
In the Forgotten Realms, lycanthropes fall under the domains of the gods Malar (god of the hunt) and Selûne (goddess of the moon), both of which have temples in Waterdeep, so you could encourage the player to seek out aid in one of those. In that case, Selûne's clerics would probably offer to cure it (if you think they should be able to), but also encourage him to embrace his curse and use it for good, while Malar's clerics would encourage him to give in to his bloodthirsty urges.
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
D&D Beyond FoundersIt's tricky.
My own experience of player characters with lycanthropy:
Personally, I would take control of the beast side of the were-creature as the DM and make it REALLY malignant and evil.
A PC with lycanthropy can provide some really cool roleplay, especially if you don't let the other players know to start with.
The character doesn't they are afflicted yet, right? So you can have their first transformation involve the players taking an overnight stop and then in the morning the afflicted character just isn't there. Let them play out figuring out what happened. Suitable perception/investigation can lead to the party finding out that the afflicted character seemingly just got up and left of their own free will (I don't recommend dropping hints to them being a wererat yet).
Take the player with the afflicted character aside (maybe even before the main session) and roleplay out a scene with them, where their character wakes and finds that they aren't where they expected to be - there are many places they could be - in a sewer, covered in blood, offal and excrement is a good one. Just something nasty that the character will dislike. They then have to figure out what happened and whether they want to tell the rest of the party.
The "secret" can be a very interesting part of this - do they just tell everyone straight off and ask for help, or do they keep it quiet and hope it was a one off and doesn't happen again?
There are many great werewolf movies that are based around exactly this. The classic, "American Werewolf in London" is great for that and inspiration for how a goodly character inflicted with any form of lycanthropy can become mentally tortured.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
I'd second the idea of examining classic literature for ideas - Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde comes to mind, if you wanted to make this a completely split-personality Character. If you can, I'd also recommend looking at White Wolf publishing's Wraith RPG, where having a completely separated Shadow personality which hates you and is trying to destroy you is just how un-life is when you're dead.
Personally - both as DM and Player - I think Stormknight's advice is dead on: don't let the Player have access to the superpowers of the lycanthrope, make them an NPC for those periods, and role-play out the onset of the curse in a one-on-one scene.
If you go this route where you're taking control of the Character away when they succumb to the curse, then what you have is really a completely separate, and evil, NPC. You can use that to great effect!
The evil version of the Character could have their own goals, and aspirations - completely at odds with what the non-cursed persona has. You could set up the good/evil sides in conflict with one another. You might have to do some creative work if you wanted to give the cursed side their own contacts, allies, and knowledge ( where did they come from? why? Do lycanthropes recognize some concept of curse lineage where this individual is special? Is there some sort of genetic memory transmission? ), but this could open up some incredible role playing and narrative possibilities!
The Party is another tricky aspect, if you're making the cursed side a separate persona. You want to play up the evil and reprehensible side of the curse, so the Party fears being cursed themselves, but you want to forestall the Party just killing their comrade to keep the curse from spreading. I'd give the evil cursed NPC side some special knowledge ( again, how? ), privilege, ability, or some other facet that the Party needs to complete their mission, so they can't just dispatch the werecreature to protect themselves. They might hate it, but they need to work with the evil version of their comrade.
However, you want to beware the evil NPC version of the Character having too much spotlight time, as you're taking control away from the Player for those periods. You might have a sit down talk with you Player and propose that you introduce an NPC into the Party which they get to play as when their current Character is under the curse. This would mean you could play up the evil version of their Character as much as the narrative needs, but the Player still always gets to participate. The developing relationship between their old cursed Character, their new quasi-NPC Character, and the original personality of their original Character could be an interesting one!
A lot of potential here. Have fun with it, and best of luck :)
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
By the book, lycanthropes get the stat bonus and immunity to non-magical non-silvered BPS in all their forms. You can change that if you want, but be consistent if you do and apply it to all lycanthropes, not just PCs.
Lycanthrophy and what happens to the PC is in the Monster Manual page 207.
D&D is a game for nerds... so I guess I'm one :p
These are some good ideas, especially for wererat lycanthropy which may be more cunning than werewolves. Thinking of “the beast” as a separate persona, with its own goals and impulses, is usually a good way to approach it.
Going full Mr. Hyde with it may be a bit extreme, it can be as simple as “the beast doesn’t like fire”, and makes you make a Wisdom save against becoming frightened of an open flame.
In general, the beast wants three things,
If you want to go against these things, you’ve got to make a save.