The very act of having immunity to all non-magical non-silver attacks is essentially automatically outshining everyone else because you literally can't be damaged in almost every encounter.
That's a fair concern, but it's only really significant if you're in melee range: as a warlock, I usually play this character back from the front lines where he won't be hurt. We have enough tanky characters that in past encounters I've only rarely taken any damage. When you don't take damage normally, immunity has little impact.
It is, of course, the DM's prerogative to take it away if it does become an issue.
Sounds like a mmo perspective. Any intelligent creature isn't going to continue to attack only from the front and with any significant intelligence, a sorcerer is going to be target number one. Same tactics you guys would use. Seriously doubt you guys just leave the sorcerer along until everyone else dies. The monsters shouldn't be doing that either. Granted the lesser intelligent ones would attack whatever is in front of them.
So I do think it is a significant thing that you can do whatever you want without being hurt.
You're correct, sometimes we try to take out the biggest damage dealing opponent first. Sometimes we do the opposite and mop up the minions, aka cannon fodder, first so we can focus on the big guy without them wearing us down by inches.
Another factor, an intelligent opponent will focus on opponents who don't have resistance and only fight opponents with resistance when there isn't anyone else left if they don't have any way of overcoming that resistance. They figure out, "I'm wasting my time attacking him" and fight smart.
Werewolfs don't have resistences they have immunities.
Technically do to how d&d works it is always best to take out the weakest first because it lowers the number of attacks. Technically the entire party should attack the weakest creature up to the strongest. (the excpection being that the weak creature literally has no chance of hitting or maybe sneak attack)
Spellcasters alter this somewhat because of how they influence battle and the fact they can do massive area damage.
I'm of the opinion an intellegent creature is almost always going to go after spellcasters first because spellcasters can really change the tides of battle.
Certain monsters of sufficient level attack as if they were magical weapons. In other words a claw attack is as if they were a +1 longsword, silvered, etc.
I've often thought what if a CE character could hide their alignment and pretended to be LG until some ultimate plan was fulfilled? eg the court wizard is waiting for the princess to come of age so he can marry her, kill the sultan and take over the kingdom. It's in his interest to protect the kingdom, support the king, and keep law and order. Maybe, not everyone knows about the secret dungeon in his tower and what happens there.
So there may come a time when little Timmy is out wandering by the village to meet his girl friend and it happens to be a full moon. The rest of the party awakens and finds the character missing from his watch duties. In the distance they hear the blood curdling scream of a damsel in distress, the roar of a monster. Rushing towards the source they find a beast feasting on the bloody remains of Timmy... aka Once Upon a Time. cf Ruby.
Friendly reminder that alignment/alignment shift doesn't force any actions to be taken, nor does it impose any expectations.
Also, "it's what my character would do" isn't always a good justification for any action either.
I think it does. An evil character who goes around helping orphans, donating to the poor and never doing any evil actions is in fact not an evil character. Because a werewolf is not free to change his alignment, he must act like a chaotic evil character would act. A lawful good character who hangs out with a chaotic evil character and doesn't mind his evil actions is in fact not lawful good. Most importantly this is a curse and as such, it begs the question of whether or not a lawful good character would ever allow their friend to continue this path toward darkness and not cure them of the curse. Remember in game terms the curse is against the character's will (even if the player himself is enjoying being overpowered).
It is believable that such a character might play the fighter or rogue and use them to his own benefit. But if you really crave the power of a werewolf, it is really silly that you would try to play a cleric/paladin who can cure you in an instant.
So I do think if you are chaotic evil, there is an expectation that you act chaotic evil. I.e. you can't share the same alignment as Darth Vader and walk around being acting like Yoda, you should be acting like Darth Vader.
Vader would totally be Lawful Evil. There was never a time when Anakin/Vader wasn't a lawful character, only his good/evil alignment shifted.
Certain monsters of sufficient level attack as if they were magical weapons. In other words a claw attack is as if they were a +1 longsword, silvered, etc.
I've often thought what if a CE character could hide their alignment and pretended to be LG until some ultimate plan was fulfilled? eg the court wizard is waiting for the princess to come of age so he can marry her, kill the sultan and take over the kingdom. It's in his interest to protect the kingdom, support the king, and keep law and order. Maybe, not everyone knows about the secret dungeon in his tower and what happens there.
So there may come a time when little Timmy is out wandering by the village to meet his girl friend and it happens to be a full moon. The rest of the party awakens and finds the character missing from his watch duties. In the distance they hear the blood curdling scream of a damsel in distress, the roar of a monster. Rushing towards the source they find a beast feasting on the bloody remains of Timmy... aka Once Upon a Time. cf Ruby.
I'm not sure how well a CE character could hide their alignment. LE and NE, could, but CE seems much harder to do so.
Think of it in terms of criminal TV shows. LE is the person who lives among the people. You've hung out with them and had a good time; you never expected them to be the serial killer. NE is the "loser" loner who typically keeps to themselves, but yeah you can totally tell the person was weird enough to do something like that. CE is the person who you never see leaving their house and you aren't sure what happens in there, but you've made sure to tell your kids to avoid him. By the time the cops get to their house, they find 100 bodies in the basement and the villain wearing the skin of the latest victim.
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
Thread rez- we've discussed Lycanthropy in here, but my player has become a weretiger through a magical curse. They're neutral creatures- but do they still go on killing sprees during a full moon? The rules are very quiet about what to do with players have the curse, and it is a curse, so even if you're a werebear (NG) or tiger (N) what's the deal? At the moment I'm planning on having them hunt on full moon night- though there's three moons, so... ouch.
Thread rez- we've discussed Lycanthropy in here, but my player has become a weretiger through a magical curse. They're neutral creatures- but do they still go on killing sprees during a full moon? The rules are very quiet about what to do with players have the curse, and it is a curse, so even if you're a werebear (NG) or tiger (N) what's the deal? At the moment I'm planning on having them hunt on full moon night- though there's three moons, so... ouch.
This is open to interpretation, but I don't see the alignment having anything to do with their behavior during a full moon:
A lycanthrope can either resist its curse or embrace it. By resisting the curse, a lycanthrope retains its normal alignment and personality while in humanoid form. It lives its life as it always has, burying deep the bestial urges raging inside it. However, when the full moon rises, the curse becomes too strong to resist, transforming the individual into its beast form—or into a horrible hybrid form that combines animal and humanoid traits. When the moon wanes, the beast within can be controlled once again.
A lycanthrope during a full moon isn't in control; they're not capable of moral choices. Their normal alignment isn't relevant.
Thread rez- we've discussed Lycanthropy in here, but my player has become a weretiger through a magical curse. They're neutral creatures- but do they still go on killing sprees during a full moon? The rules are very quiet about what to do with players have the curse, and it is a curse, so even if you're a werebear (NG) or tiger (N) what's the deal? At the moment I'm planning on having them hunt on full moon night- though there's three moons, so... ouch.
Carefully read the Monster Manual section on Lycanthropy. It covers how the curse works, player characters as lycanthropes, and the disposition of weretigers.
In short, a standard weretiger during a full moon hunts based on its whims, but does not try to pass on its curse - this makes them "Neutral". The particulars of how this manifests is up to the DM, who normally takes control of the PC during this time (or at all times, if the PC surrenders their will to the curse).
Thread rez- we've discussed Lycanthropy in here, but my player has become a weretiger through a magical curse. They're neutral creatures- but do they still go on killing sprees during a full moon? The rules are very quiet about what to do with players have the curse, and it is a curse, so even if you're a werebear (NG) or tiger (N) what's the deal? At the moment I'm planning on having them hunt on full moon night- though there's three moons, so... ouch.
The beasts don't go on killing sprees because of their alignment. They go on killing sprees because it's the "nature" of that beast. Now, one would probably argue that even wolves don't go willy nilly killing people, but for the sake of the story, let's pretend that they are always aggressive because they are confused, lost, and think they have to defend themselves.
The alignment of the humanoid only comes into play when you try to figure out how they prepare for the upcoming change (assuming they know).
A werebear will most likely move away from civilization in order to not put others at risk.
A werewolf will likely put himself near civilization in order to sow chaos and death. However, they wouldn't do it recklessly, because they still value their safety. If a group of adventurers show up, maybe the werewolf locks themselves up for the next full moon until the party leaves.
The weretiger would probably just try not to be nearby when the change happens (as they don't WANT to murder people) but likely wouldn't feel TOO horrible about getting loose or maiming someone. They'd probably think along the lines of "well I couldn't control myself, and at least I tried".
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
Is the problem that the PC wants to be a werewolf and keep that? If you are willing to homebrew it, you could make it happen.
Being cursed to hurt people and murder them sucks butt. There is a lot of cool drama to it. You could make it a quest that he has to find a way to maintain full control over his werewolf form before the next full moon. Have him visit Madam Eva perhaps, maybe do a little monster slaying, or whatever makes sense to you. Maybe this is the time to bring in the Wereravens? Have them help him in some way regain control, HOWEVER, he will NOT become the Werewolf as written in the MM. Make something up that is sensible, maybe he simply has some of his stats switch (like he becomes a dex fighter at will, but his CHA and WIS suck) and he gains the ability to make claw and bite attacks, but that is it. Flavorwise, he is still himself, but sometimes he turns into a werewolf when the moon is full. There is a lot of potential drama for the rest of the game with that in place!
This is just my 2 cents. If it doesn't fit with your game and how you like to run things, feel free to ignore it.
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DM: Adventures in Phandalin [Khessa], The Dread of Strahd[Darya], Dragons of Stormwreck Isle [Rook], Baldur's Gate Mysteries [4-Player] Player: Oona in MO's Icewind Dale Ru's Current Status
I'm running as an OathBreaker Paladin with chaotic neutral alignment and I want to contract Lycanthropy as a werewolf. The way I see it is it's pretty easy to control the outcome of your change on the first full moon. All you have to do is have your party lock you up behind reinforced bars in the jail or a dungeon and you can let loose without the fear of harming everyone else. You can do that every month until you're in full control over your Lycanthropy.
Personally, I don't like that lycanthropes are immune to nonmagical weapons in all forms. I don't terribly mind them being flat out immune, but I'd prefer that be limited only to beast or hybrid forms. If the humanoid form is immune as well, the only downside to lycanthropy is that once a month they need to tranquilize themselves. That said, the Monster Manual says immune in all forms.
Now, as to this character of yours, I think the real question is does the character want to embrace it, or does the player? If the character is good aligned, I can think of no reason why they would give in as soon as they could. If they insist on going through with it, I would emphasize that more happens than just their sheet saying CE. In addition to being evil, they should also act in a more animalistic way. They should start more conflict with party members. They should be less likely to use diplomacy whenever they are in cities (Vallaki, as I recall, had plenty of time for that). Most importantly, they should develop a preference for fighting in hybrid form (which is a big liability for spellcasters). If they go to embrace the curse, I wouldn't worry about letting them initiate transformations at will, as they get damage immunity no matter what, weapon users will be able to do better damage with the features they already have, and spellcasters will put themselves at a disadvantage by going feral since they are weakened in the area that they created the character to be good in.
I might be DMing for the first time in a few weeks, and one area of the dungeon I constructed has a number of werewolves being held prisoner who have not given in to their curse yet. Unbeknownst to them, the "lanterns" outside the prison area emit moonlight, and the prisoners are not going to be forthcoming about their condition when rescued, fearing persecution. If a fight breaks out for this reason, I plan to create a mechanic where at the start of each werewolf's turn while they are about to do something contrary to their alignment, they can attempt a Wisdom/Charisma save (maybe 13?), and on a success, they briefly regain control and can act in accordance with their alignment until the end of their next turn.
Hi everyone I have a question. If a PC gets Lycanthropy, does he get the multi-attack in humanoid form? I see that multi-attacks only work in humanoid and hybrid form only, with the exception of the werebear. I do not understand the rules with this and a PC.
Hi everyone I have a question. If a PC gets Lycanthropy, does he get the multi-attack in humanoid form? I see that multi-attacks only work in humanoid and hybrid form only, with the exception of the werebear. I do not understand the rules with this and a PC.
I think you do not get Multi-attack. The sidebar in the Monster Manual does not explicitly mention that you get Multi-attack.
Question: Can a werewolf (or any lycanthrope) be infected by another lycanthrope curse (such as weretiger) or is this where their damage immunities come into play?
Ordinarily, the curse is transmitted via bite, so unless the second lycanthrope's teeth are made of silver, that would be impossible. Even ignoring that, being a werewolf and a weretiger at the same time is just silly.
Ordinarily, the curse is transmitted via bite, so unless the second lycanthrope's teeth are made of silver, that would be impossible. Even ignoring that, being a werewolf and a weretiger at the same time is just silly.
I wasn't thinking a dual werecreature. I was thinking more along the lines of how in COS the werewolves kidnap children and if they got their hands on one of the wereraven children would they be able to change them from a wereraven to a werewolf. Your explanation reinforces my thought that it couldn't happen. Thank you.
Ordinarily, the curse is transmitted via bite, so unless the second lycanthrope's teeth are made of silver, that would be impossible. Even ignoring that, being a werewolf and a weretiger at the same time is just silly.
The bite/tusk actions have a chance to transmit the curse on every hit. They don't require damage.
From what I have done with one of my players, is his power comes from a fusion, he and his wolf companion fuse for a limited amount of time.
You could put restrictions on it like, only at night you are a werewolf, or use it like a power he can use once or a few times daily. He does not have to be evil per say, but from one DM to another I try to put those random elements into my games, but you have to make it work not only for the player but for you. He could be a werewolf, but not get the resistances.
I looked at this too for one of my players and I told them no, I would homebrew something because in the end being able to transform with most of these options suck in the long run. You go off of the creature not the character sheet themselves so at a higher level he would still be changing into a CR lvl 2 creature. It wouldn’t be worth it without help from you.
I too was bit by a werewolf in the CoS campaign, but have been granted control of it by the Raven Queen. Now with that control, immunities only come when transformed partial or full. Transforming takes a full round is quite obvious with attacks against you at advantage. Transforming when in chainmail is not so good, entangled for 2d4 rounds. Also, your a wolf - animal intelligence with no training do to your chaotic nature. So you know good from bad, friend from foe, but you do not understand tactics and are most likely to run from "stupid" danger i.e. Fights not for food. This can be a fun twist! Just be prepared so the PC does not become overpowering.
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Werewolfs don't have resistences they have immunities.
Technically do to how d&d works it is always best to take out the weakest first because it lowers the number of attacks. Technically the entire party should attack the weakest creature up to the strongest. (the excpection being that the weak creature literally has no chance of hitting or maybe sneak attack)
Spellcasters alter this somewhat because of how they influence battle and the fact they can do massive area damage.
I'm of the opinion an intellegent creature is almost always going to go after spellcasters first because spellcasters can really change the tides of battle.
Certain monsters of sufficient level attack as if they were magical weapons. In other words a claw attack is as if they were a +1 longsword, silvered, etc.
I've often thought what if a CE character could hide their alignment and pretended to be LG until some ultimate plan was fulfilled? eg the court wizard is waiting for the princess to come of age so he can marry her, kill the sultan and take over the kingdom. It's in his interest to protect the kingdom, support the king, and keep law and order. Maybe, not everyone knows about the secret dungeon in his tower and what happens there.
So there may come a time when little Timmy is out wandering by the village to meet his girl friend and it happens to be a full moon. The rest of the party awakens and finds the character missing from his watch duties. In the distance they hear the blood curdling scream of a damsel in distress, the roar of a monster. Rushing towards the source they find a beast feasting on the bloody remains of Timmy... aka Once Upon a Time. cf Ruby.
Vader would totally be Lawful Evil. There was never a time when Anakin/Vader wasn't a lawful character, only his good/evil alignment shifted.
I'm not sure how well a CE character could hide their alignment. LE and NE, could, but CE seems much harder to do so.
Think of it in terms of criminal TV shows. LE is the person who lives among the people. You've hung out with them and had a good time; you never expected them to be the serial killer. NE is the "loser" loner who typically keeps to themselves, but yeah you can totally tell the person was weird enough to do something like that. CE is the person who you never see leaving their house and you aren't sure what happens in there, but you've made sure to tell your kids to avoid him. By the time the cops get to their house, they find 100 bodies in the basement and the villain wearing the skin of the latest victim.
Click Here to Download my Lancer Class w/ Dragoon and Legionnaire Archetypes via DM's Guild - Pay What You Want
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“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
Thread rez- we've discussed Lycanthropy in here, but my player has become a weretiger through a magical curse. They're neutral creatures- but do they still go on killing sprees during a full moon? The rules are very quiet about what to do with players have the curse, and it is a curse, so even if you're a werebear (NG) or tiger (N) what's the deal? At the moment I'm planning on having them hunt on full moon night- though there's three moons, so... ouch.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
Click Here to Download my Lancer Class w/ Dragoon and Legionnaire Archetypes via DM's Guild - Pay What You Want
Click Here to Download the Mind Flayer: Thoon Hulk converted from 4e via DM's Guild
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
Is the problem that the PC wants to be a werewolf and keep that? If you are willing to homebrew it, you could make it happen.
Being cursed to hurt people and murder them sucks butt. There is a lot of cool drama to it. You could make it a quest that he has to find a way to maintain full control over his werewolf form before the next full moon. Have him visit Madam Eva perhaps, maybe do a little monster slaying, or whatever makes sense to you. Maybe this is the time to bring in the Wereravens? Have them help him in some way regain control, HOWEVER, he will NOT become the Werewolf as written in the MM. Make something up that is sensible, maybe he simply has some of his stats switch (like he becomes a dex fighter at will, but his CHA and WIS suck) and he gains the ability to make claw and bite attacks, but that is it. Flavorwise, he is still himself, but sometimes he turns into a werewolf when the moon is full. There is a lot of potential drama for the rest of the game with that in place!
This is just my 2 cents. If it doesn't fit with your game and how you like to run things, feel free to ignore it.
DM: Adventures in Phandalin [Khessa], The Dread of Strahd [Darya], Dragons of Stormwreck Isle [Rook], Baldur's Gate Mysteries [4-Player]
Player: Oona in MO's Icewind Dale
Ru's Current Status
I'm running as an OathBreaker Paladin with chaotic neutral alignment and I want to contract Lycanthropy as a werewolf. The way I see it is it's pretty easy to control the outcome of your change on the first full moon. All you have to do is have your party lock you up behind reinforced bars in the jail or a dungeon and you can let loose without the fear of harming everyone else. You can do that every month until you're in full control over your Lycanthropy.
Personally, I don't like that lycanthropes are immune to nonmagical weapons in all forms. I don't terribly mind them being flat out immune, but I'd prefer that be limited only to beast or hybrid forms. If the humanoid form is immune as well, the only downside to lycanthropy is that once a month they need to tranquilize themselves. That said, the Monster Manual says immune in all forms.
Now, as to this character of yours, I think the real question is does the character want to embrace it, or does the player? If the character is good aligned, I can think of no reason why they would give in as soon as they could. If they insist on going through with it, I would emphasize that more happens than just their sheet saying CE. In addition to being evil, they should also act in a more animalistic way. They should start more conflict with party members. They should be less likely to use diplomacy whenever they are in cities (Vallaki, as I recall, had plenty of time for that). Most importantly, they should develop a preference for fighting in hybrid form (which is a big liability for spellcasters). If they go to embrace the curse, I wouldn't worry about letting them initiate transformations at will, as they get damage immunity no matter what, weapon users will be able to do better damage with the features they already have, and spellcasters will put themselves at a disadvantage by going feral since they are weakened in the area that they created the character to be good in.
I might be DMing for the first time in a few weeks, and one area of the dungeon I constructed has a number of werewolves being held prisoner who have not given in to their curse yet. Unbeknownst to them, the "lanterns" outside the prison area emit moonlight, and the prisoners are not going to be forthcoming about their condition when rescued, fearing persecution. If a fight breaks out for this reason, I plan to create a mechanic where at the start of each werewolf's turn while they are about to do something contrary to their alignment, they can attempt a Wisdom/Charisma save (maybe 13?), and on a success, they briefly regain control and can act in accordance with their alignment until the end of their next turn.
Its in the monster manual
Hi everyone I have a question. If a PC gets Lycanthropy, does he get the multi-attack in humanoid form? I see that multi-attacks only work in humanoid and hybrid form only, with the exception of the werebear. I do not understand the rules with this and a PC.
Question: Can a werewolf (or any lycanthrope) be infected by another lycanthrope curse (such as weretiger) or is this where their damage immunities come into play?
Ordinarily, the curse is transmitted via bite, so unless the second lycanthrope's teeth are made of silver, that would be impossible. Even ignoring that, being a werewolf and a weretiger at the same time is just silly.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
First campaign, congrats.
From what I have done with one of my players, is his power comes from a fusion, he and his wolf companion fuse for a limited amount of time.
You could put restrictions on it like, only at night you are a werewolf, or use it like a power he can use once or a few times daily. He does not have to be evil per say, but from one DM to another I try to put those random elements into my games, but you have to make it work not only for the player but for you. He could be a werewolf, but not get the resistances.
I looked at this too for one of my players and I told them no, I would homebrew something because in the end being able to transform with most of these options suck in the long run. You go off of the creature not the character sheet themselves so at a higher level he would still be changing into a CR lvl 2 creature. It wouldn’t be worth it without help from you.
I too was bit by a werewolf in the CoS campaign, but have been granted control of it by the Raven Queen. Now with that control, immunities only come when transformed partial or full. Transforming takes a full round is quite obvious with attacks against you at advantage. Transforming when in chainmail is not so good, entangled for 2d4 rounds. Also, your a wolf - animal intelligence with no training do to your chaotic nature. So you know good from bad, friend from foe, but you do not understand tactics and are most likely to run from "stupid" danger i.e. Fights not for food. This can be a fun twist! Just be prepared so the PC does not become overpowering.