How do you guys handle lycanthropy? If it can be removed by low level spells or npcs in any major city it kind of makes it no worse than an annoying rash.
From the Spellcasting Services in the PHB - "Hiring someone to cast a relatively common spell of 1st or 2nd level, such as cure wounds or identify, is easy enough in a city or town, and might cost 10 to 50 gold pieces (plus the cost of any expensive material components). Finding someone able and willing to cast a higher-level spell might involve traveling to a large city, perhaps one with a university or prominent temple. Once found, the spellcaster might ask for a service instead of payment — the kind of service that only adventurers can provide, such as retrieving a rare item from a dangerous locale or traversing a monster-infested wilderness to deliver something important to a distant settlement."
If you find that the removal of a curse lacks punch, maybe if you restricted the method of achieving the appropriate relief for the curse. Might suggest lore-crafting that you have to find and cure, or kill, the lycanthrope that infected the PC. Maybe have the party seek out the help of an "old wise-woman in the forest" for the answer to the curse. At the end of the day, if you find it unfun for the party to just find the local clergy and fling a purse of coin at them to fix their problem, change it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Absolutely agree. I was just curious of how other DMs handle it. I like the added need to kill the infector etc… that’s sort of what I’m looking for. I’m looking for interesting difficulties that common folk or players under level 6 or so wouldn’t really feel is doable. this way if they find out xyz npc is a a friendly lycan at lvl 3, we get some game play with them having to deal with it before it’s gone. Makes a nice story beat.
I handle it by the rules as stated in the Monster Manual. Other than that? A Friendly Lycan who knew they were infectious would leave the moment they were asked by anyone to leave. After all, what friendly lycan would fail to listen to some very well intended good advice, and if they didn't know, it would have been an honest mistake, so either way they would typically go back to their own kind. Roleplaying asking the friendly lycan to leave would make a nice story beat.
First, it's incurable short of divine intervention. The cured werewolf in the party was shocked to find out she's the only one in recorded history, and now she wants to learn why and find the cleric who did it.
Second, lycanthropy was actually created by the gods to help mortals combat an elder evil. In previous millennia, lycans were revered as saviors and chosen of the gods. Once the evil was sealed away and the bloodthirst continued, however, it kind of lost its shine.
I'm going to be introducing a B-story plot thread of someone experimenting on werewolves, and the party (if they chase this lead) will have to save innocent lycans from a serial killer who is trying to neutralize lycanthropy as a threat to elder evil they seek to set free. The players will also have the opportunity to willingly become lycanthropes (one of each type, kinda like Power Rangers) to combat the elder evil. I doubt many will go for it, but I think a couple would be tempted - including the cleric of the chaotic evil god who "gifted" the curse to mortals in the first place.
In my experience, people jump right into any chance you give them to acquire power, and ignore any negative consequences. If you try to enforce any of bad things, you get whined at. The standard Werewolf, which can be cured by Remove Curse, is very powerful at low levels, and if a player gains that power, they are supposed to become an NPC. Hardly anyone ever tries to get cured. With those born as a Werewolf, it can only be cured by a Wish, or Divine Intervention so a deity does the Wish for you. Good luck though. Sound interesting.
How do you guys handle lycanthropy? If it can be removed by low level spells or npcs in any major city it kind of makes it no worse than an annoying rash.
From the Spellcasting Services in the PHB - "Hiring someone to cast a relatively common spell of 1st or 2nd level, such as cure wounds or identify, is easy enough in a city or town, and might cost 10 to 50 gold pieces (plus the cost of any expensive material components). Finding someone able and willing to cast a higher-level spell might involve traveling to a large city, perhaps one with a university or prominent temple. Once found, the spellcaster might ask for a service instead of payment — the kind of service that only adventurers can provide, such as retrieving a rare item from a dangerous locale or traversing a monster-infested wilderness to deliver something important to a distant settlement."
If you find that the removal of a curse lacks punch, maybe if you restricted the method of achieving the appropriate relief for the curse. Might suggest lore-crafting that you have to find and cure, or kill, the lycanthrope that infected the PC. Maybe have the party seek out the help of an "old wise-woman in the forest" for the answer to the curse. At the end of the day, if you find it unfun for the party to just find the local clergy and fling a purse of coin at them to fix their problem, change it.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Absolutely agree. I was just curious of how other DMs handle it. I like the added need to kill the infector etc… that’s sort of what I’m looking for. I’m looking for interesting difficulties that common folk or players under level 6 or so wouldn’t really feel is doable. this way if they find out xyz npc is a a friendly lycan at lvl 3, we get some game play with them having to deal with it before it’s gone. Makes a nice story beat.
I handle it by the rules as stated in the Monster Manual. Other than that? A Friendly Lycan who knew they were infectious would leave the moment they were asked by anyone to leave. After all, what friendly lycan would fail to listen to some very well intended good advice, and if they didn't know, it would have been an honest mistake, so either way they would typically go back to their own kind. Roleplaying asking the friendly lycan to leave would make a nice story beat.
<Insert clever signature here>
Lycanthropy plays a big role in my campaign:
First, it's incurable short of divine intervention. The cured werewolf in the party was shocked to find out she's the only one in recorded history, and now she wants to learn why and find the cleric who did it.
Second, lycanthropy was actually created by the gods to help mortals combat an elder evil. In previous millennia, lycans were revered as saviors and chosen of the gods. Once the evil was sealed away and the bloodthirst continued, however, it kind of lost its shine.
I'm going to be introducing a B-story plot thread of someone experimenting on werewolves, and the party (if they chase this lead) will have to save innocent lycans from a serial killer who is trying to neutralize lycanthropy as a threat to elder evil they seek to set free. The players will also have the opportunity to willingly become lycanthropes (one of each type, kinda like Power Rangers) to combat the elder evil. I doubt many will go for it, but I think a couple would be tempted - including the cleric of the chaotic evil god who "gifted" the curse to mortals in the first place.
In my experience, people jump right into any chance you give them to acquire power, and ignore any negative consequences. If you try to enforce any of bad things, you get whined at. The standard Werewolf, which can be cured by Remove Curse, is very powerful at low levels, and if a player gains that power, they are supposed to become an NPC. Hardly anyone ever tries to get cured. With those born as a Werewolf, it can only be cured by a Wish, or Divine Intervention so a deity does the Wish for you. Good luck though. Sound interesting.
<Insert clever signature here>