Lycanthropy
A 5e Guide to the different types of Lycanthropy for players and DMs alike
Lycanthropy
Lycanthropy comes in many different forms, the most complete of which is true lycanthropy. Nonetheless, it is perhaps the least well-known. Two other types exist and these are more often featured in folklore: Pathological and cursed lycanthropy. While the true lycanthropes know three aspects of transformation, pathologic and cursed lycanthropes know but two. And while true lycanthropes have control over their forms, often causing less harm than one might expect, pathological and cursed lycanthropes don’t and can cause a lot of damage because of it. Giving all lycanthropes alike a bad name.
True lycanthropes
True Lycanthropes could be seen as simply another race, next to Dwarves, Elves, Humans, Orcs, Gnomes, Goliaths, you name it. They are nevertheless much less well known than these others races due to their bad reputation and hence their secretiveness.
They have their own society, often blending in with other humanoids, but they are never-theless never a real part of regular society.
Heritability
As the name would suggest, true lycanthropes are the core of lycanthropy. This means they carry their curse, if it can be called that, all their life. They are born with it and die with it. It cannot be cured, as this would be the same as attempting to cure an Elf of Elfness.
Most often, true lycanthropes seek out their likeness when choosing a mate, but this is not always the case. When mating with a regular instance of their race the chance of the child being a true lycanthrope is as follows:
Aspects
A true lycanthrope knows tree aspects: its regular humanoid form, a beast form and its intermediate form.
It has complete control over which form it takes and therefore does not have to fear for full moons or whatnot. This is the aspect most often confused with non-true lycan-thropes and gives these possibly peace-loving creatures a bad reputation. Of course, if an evil true lycanthrope takes its tertiary aspect once in a while and goes on a wild killing spree, such a fact would be even more gruesome. As a mere Infected might be forgiven for being overcome by animalistic
This document was made as a request from a player and friend of mine, because he felt like the (N)PC options for lycanthropes in 5th edition D&D are rather lacking and for one, I agree.
I describe a number of features of lycanthropes, their behavior, features and flaws, how they came to be and how their curse might be lifted. The changing of aspects is a core feature of the lycan-thrope and makes up a major part of the docu-ment. Perhaps the most useful and also biggest part are the player options. Here I explore some of the options one might want to consider when making lycanthropic NPCs and allowing lycanthro-pic PCs. Furthermore, I introduce two new feats that allow character progression for those that have the curse inflicted, but instead of curing it, embrace it.
As inspiration I used the 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual (MM, 2014) and RR7 – Van Richten’s Guide to Werebeasts (VRGtW, 1993). The latter is a tremendous work by Nigel Findley, Bruce Nesmith and David Wise, and can be purchased on dmsguild.com. I highly advise anyone looking for more information or inspiration to do so, as it goes into much more detail than I ever could and because it was designed for 2nd edition D&D, it is very easily converted to 5e.
instincts and a cure might be looked after, a true lycanthrope retains all mental abilities and its killing was deliberate.
Primary
The primary aspect of a true lycanthrope is its human form. Despite otherwise looking perfectly regular a few animal characteristics might creep up. Such as elongated fingernails, pointy and hairy ears, an unnaturally hairy back and others.
None of these are sufficient to suspect someone from ly-canthropy however, as many regular humans display such deficiencies as well.
Secondary
The second aspect of the true lycanthrope is its animalistic form. This too it can take at will, transforming in a bigger and stronger specimen of this animal. Since it retains its mental capabilities, the secondary aspect is also (often, though not always) smarter than regular animals.
Some considerations must be made. As the secondary aspect of a true lycanthrope is bigger and stronger than average, this still does not mean that it is the biggest and the strongest animal of that species around. Still bigger, stronger and perhaps smarter specimens might be naturally occurring.
Tertiary
The most telling, but also perhaps the most puzzling of aspects is the third: the intermediate form.
This most gruesome sin to nature is a blend of man and beast. Most often humanoid in base, the rest of the body, such as hands and feet, fur and face are that of the animal. Never-theless, the fur might be thicker in places were humans grow hair, the eyes might be those of a human and what would be a bear paw might retain opposable thumbs so it can hold things.
Pathologic Lycanthropy
Anyone or anything that is not a true lycanthrope, but does contract it, carries it with it as some sort of disease. The only wrong part about this statement is that, contrary to regular diseases, they cannot be battled by the immune system and cannot be cured by regular means.
The most common way of contracting lycanthropy is through the transmission of fluids. Either saliva that enters the bloodstream through a wound, exchange of blood, the eating of a lycanthrope or any other such contact.
This explains the likelihood of passing on lycanthropy as a female true lycanthrope: The blood one shares with the unborn child is inevitably tainted.
Aspects
In contrast to true lycanthropes, Infected only ever have two forms and have no control over which form they are in. Their primary form is the most humanoid, while the other is either animal or a hybrid. Which form they are in depends on whether or not they have recently encountered a certain trigger. Some humans transform into werewolves whenever they see a full moon, other do so only when someone they love is harmed. Even others might transform every single sunrise and sunset, doomed to spend their days as rats, but free to live their nights as regular people. Most often, these transformations are paired with searing pain. However, usually all memories of this are suppressed.
Primary
The primary aspect of the infected lycanthrope is always its most human form. Many stories go their way saying these human forms are never truly human. Instead they are necessarily tormented by disfigurements representing their more animalistic second nature.
Nevertheless, certain scholars have come forward in saying that, really, there is no scientific proof for this. After all, certain evil inclined humanoids might also see bodily changes through their wicked actions. Hence, it might be due to the actions that the Infected undertakes when transformed that the primary aspect changes and not due to the disease itself.
The most obvious changes to the humanoid form are most often instead wounds sustained while in the secondary aspect that carry over into the primary.
Secondary
The secondary aspect of an Infected always resembles either an animal form, taking after true lycanthrope’s second aspect, or a hybrid form, taking after a true lycanthrope’s tertiary aspect.
The major differences between this and those from the true lycanthrope are thusly:
- There is no telling what this secondary aspect will be, before one contracts the curse.
- As stated before, the Infected has no control over when it changes.
- There is no way of telling what the trigger will be.
- The Infected does not retain its mental capabilities in its second aspect
Instead, the person’s personality changes to incorporate traits of its animalistic side. Whatever that side may be, it is always also blended with aggression and hatred. Even if the animal resemblance is that of a shy hamster, this second aspect will kill when it gets the chance.
Cursed Lycanthropes
Apart from being a true lycanthrope or contracting lycanthropy as if it were a disease from one, one can also be cursed. These are dreadful curses - especially when one considers that the first victims are often loved ones -, bestowed by malignant gods or evil mages.
To be cursed
There are three kinds of curses possible. The first are self-induced. Whether through prayer (whoever would do such a thing) or by suppression of emotions, the person is overtaken by lycanthropy. Secondly, there are curses of vengeance. Often enough, these are spoken aloud by someone else, who curses the person for a wrongdoing. As an act of justice, the wrongdoer is then cursed with lycanthropy. So curious are the ways of the gods of justice, however, that the curser is often enough at the end of the claws of the cursed by the time the fat lady sings. The third and final way to attract lycanthro-py through a curse is magically. Especially powerful spells such as wish can inflict this curse, but a spell such as bestow curse can’t. At least not always. Because lycanthropy is such a complex and harsh curse to inflict, this can only be done with this level of magic if a higher entity, such as a divine being, agrees with the sentence and interferes to bestow the curse. However, because of its nature, only the most malign of deities would do such a thing.
Removing the Curse
The Monster Manual (MM 205) states that this curse can be removed by remove curse, but as this is quite possibly the most plain and boring iteration of a lycanthropic curse to ever disgrace an RPG, especially in the high-magic assumptions of 5e, consider not using it.
If the curse was instilled by magic, either divine or arcane, it can only be undone with similarly powerful magic, such as another wish spell. When bestowed through acts of vengeance, forgiveness or some other benign acts might function as an escape clause.
Secondary (pathological) victims might however not be so lucky. A cure might exist in tracking down the original cursed, removing that curse, and then moving down the line until the person in question is the most primary one left.
Characteristics
In all other respects, cursed lycanthropes are equal to pathologic ones, both in appearance and behavior. Consequently, all other remarks concerning these are applicable to both classes.
Changing Aspects
Transfiguration
The transformation between aspects is biologically largely the same between true and pathological lycanthropes, but the experience differs. For true lycanthropes, it is a moment of bliss, as if being reborn. For pathological lycanthropes, the experience is one of torment and pain, and the shifting of bone, muscle and sinew is experienced through every nerve in wracking detail.
Therefore, a true lycanthrope can often hold onto items and such while transforming and largely remain conscious, even talking during the transformation. A pathological lycan-thrope on the other hand briefly loses consciousness, as its personality changes and its memories are altered. Through the searing pain, it often loses grip in its limbs, dropping anything it is holding.
When it comes to clothing and armor, changing into a larger aspect might cause problems. Clothes might rip apart, leaving the creature naked, but armor might not give way, hampering mobility until removed or even damaging the lycanthrope.
Memory Loss
When changing aspects, one might suspect one aspect to not retain any memories, as if often the case in folklore: the animalistic side takes over and no sliver of humanity remains. However, this is not always the case.
As stated above, true lycanthropes don’t suffer any of these drawbacks, not only do they regain all their mental capabilities and memories after the transformation, they might even retain them during it.
Pathological lycanthropes on the other hand lose all memories of what happened when they were in their secondary aspect. At most they might remember certain aspects as hazy encounters, as if they were nightmares. Often enough, this is how the first few transformations are explained to the self. During the secondary transformation, however, the lycanthrope does retain its primary memories, even though it does lose most of its mental capabilities. A lycanthrope trying to trap itself to prove its own worst nightmares might find itself outsmarted by … itself.
Triggers
Many different types of triggers exist. Some are symbolic of transformation, death or lycanthropy, while others are physiological. Even others fit neither of these categories and might seem random.
Symbolic triggers often signify a certain change. The changing phases of the moon is the most well-known example. Meteorological events, such as the first snowfall or the changing of seasons might be triggers too. Some are much more frequent, such as every sunrise or sunset, or every time one sleeps. The nasty part of these symbolic
Transfiguration
Transforming into another aspect, whether willingly or not, takes 1 turn.
As a true lycanthrope this simply takes an action with no further repercussions, but as a pathological lycanthrope, there are side effects. The creature must succeed on a DC 25 Constitution saving throw or drop what it is holding. Furthermore, during the round that the creature is transforming, it gains no bonus to its AC from its Dexterity modifier.
Seeing a creature transform is revolting and outright scary. All creatures that are within 60 feet and can see the pathological lycanthrope that changes aspect must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. The affected creatures can repeat the saving throw at the end of its turn.
triggers is that their consequences are often omnipresent. Example given, a lycanthrope that transforms at first snowfall does so even when inside or in total darkness, unaware of this event. It might even happen when the subject is in another country if the curse is linked to a specific realm or place, even when the individual isn’t there.
Physiological triggers might be intense emotions, such as fear, anger or even, most dreadfully, love. A certain type of food might be one, such as a type of mushroom or a port sauce.
Apart from these, almost obvious, triggers, there are others though. Hearing or seeing a certain animal perhaps. This might be the lycanthropes own phenotypic animal, its most common quarry, or something entirely ran-dom. Another possibility is hearing a certain type of music or even seeing a painting from a certain master painter. One can try its best to categorize and make sense of lycanthropy, but sometimes this is a fool’s errand. These triggers prove that fact.
Diet and Bloodlust
There is much to be said about the dietary habits of both true and other lycanthropes, but let me be short. On average, a lycanthrope must consume about 20 lbs. of fresh, prefer-ably humanoid, meat per day to sate its animalistic side. This might be a lot more, up to 50 lbs., if the animal it takes after is large (such as a bear, shark or tiger) or quite a lot less, as little as 5lbs., if the animal is tiny (such as a rat, a raven or a squirrel). Lycanthropes, especially true ones, suffer greatly when they are not sated.
Whenever a lycanthrope, true or not, is in its secondary or tertiary aspect, it can enter a bloodlust unwillingly when exposed to bloodshed or fresh meat and go into a rage. Whenever exposed in these aspects, it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become bloodlust. While bloodlust, it must use its action every turn to attack the nearest creature (multiple attacks if possible). It feeds ravenously on every target it kills, stopping only to defend itself. The bloodlust lasts until it has eaten its daily fill of meat, catching up if it was starving, plus a little extra. For every day it had not had its fill of fresh meat, the saving throw DC increases by 5. Certain triggers, or being in puberty as a true lycanthrope, might also increase the DC.
Character Options
There are several considerations to be made when considering lycanthropic player- and non-player characters. Of course, what beast the character has as its other half will have quite the impact, but that is largely up to the controlling player or DM and perhaps should not be part of a random table. Nevertheless, there will be a couple of examples and elements tied to specific phenotypes.
Type
So, firstly, you should consider whether or not the character in question is a true lycanthrope or not. This can have serious influences in your world and should therefore be taken seriously. If the character is a true lycanthrope, it has (or had) a family of lycanthropes of the same phenotype. At some point there must have been some sort of community hiding someplace, perhaps in plain sight.
This consideration is most important for the DM. Of course, the player can have (should have, to my mind) a lot of say in what this looks like, but in the end it is up to the DM to allow it into the world. This can spawn several (other) NPCs and backgrounds and add a whole new dynamic to certain towns or even cities in terms of who is really in charge, who is playing who and who hunts who.
On the other hand, if the character in question is not a true lycanthrope, who infected it? There must be at least one other werecreature of the same type around, or it should have been around at some point. Special importance should be given to this in terms of a cure. If it was a wound that infected the character pathologically, tracking down the source might be vital to curing the condition.
If it was however a curse, things can get even more interesting. Certain gods might be re-sponsible for this and not take very friendly to an attempted removal of the curse.
Next to these worldbuilding considerations, it can also inspire roleplay. A true lycanthrope usually has its first transformation during puberty and learns how to do so willingly. To such a creature, the human form is usually a disguise of its true self. To an Infected, the human form is often the goal and it clings to it for dear life, literally.
Race Alternative: True Lycanthrope
Because true lycanthrope PCs gain so much in terms of control over their ability, you might want to limit this feature to NPCs, as a true lycanthrope would have all its usual race features and on top of that all these extra lycanthropic abilities.
An alternative path, if you do want to allow it for PC creation, is to make true lycanthropy its own race with certain limits and without the features of the regular race. There are many ways, some more complex than others, to set this up. As an example of a rather simple excogitation, consider this:
True Lycanthrope
Your race is a hybrid between animal and man, but despite common belief, this animal side is not simply added to humanity. You are the middle. Not the best of both worlds.
Animal-Man hybrid. Choose a humanoid race and an animal, you are lycanthrope of this kind, such as a dwarf werebadger. Ability Score Increase. Your Strength or Dexte-rity score increases by 2 (depending on your animal side), and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Age. True lycanthropes live as long as the humanoid side of their being would if it were regular. You transfigure for the first few times during puberty.
Alignment. Though not set in stone, almost all true lycanthropes see themselves as better, more advanced and the predator compared to humans. In the eyes of regular humanoids, this means they often take an evil alignment.
Size. Your size in your primary aspect depends on your humanoid side, while the size of your secondary aspect depends on your animal side. In your tertiary aspect you can at most be one size larger or smaller than your primary aspect.
Speed. Your base speed is 30 feet at most. If one of your aspects is based on a slower creatures, your speed is lower.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 30 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Transfiguration. You can transform from one aspect into another willingly as an action. You can do this once per day. Once you reach 5th level, you can do it twice per day, 3 times starting at 11th level and 4 times at 16th level.
In your secondary and tertiary aspect you have natural weapons, with which you are always proficient. However, you don’t gain Multiattack in your tertiary aspect, unless you are able to make more than one attack in your primary aspect.
Need for Meat. To maintain your lycanthropic abilities, you must consume about 20 lbs. of fresh, preferably humanoid, meat per day. This amount might be more if your animal side is large (such as a bear or shark) or less if the animal is small (such as a rat or raven). For every day you fail to do so, you can transfigure once per day less.
Bloodlust. Whenever you are in your secondary or tertiary aspect, exposure to bloodshed or fresh meat can send you in a rage. Whenever exposed in these aspects, you must suc-ceed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become bloodlust. While bloodlust, you must use your action every turn to attack the nearest creature (multiple attacks if possible). You feed ravenously on every target you kill, stopping only to defend yourself. The bloodlust lasts until you have eaten your daily fill of meat, catching up if you were starving, plus a little extra. For every day you have not had your fill of fresh meat, the saving throw DC increases by 5. Certain triggers, or being in puberty, might also increase the DC.
Languages. You can speak, read and write Common, as well as one extra language from the community where you are holed up.
Primary Aspect
Whether a true lycanthrope or not, it’s possible that the primary aspect shows signs of the underlying bestiality.
You can roll these randomly or choose them as you want. A particular character might have none, or many, of these characteristics in its primary aspect.
| d8 | Primary Aspect Characteristics |
|---|---|
| 1 | Elongated or shorter fingers |
| 2 | Especially large feet |
| 3 | Abnormally bushy eyebrows |
| 4 | Abnormal amount of hair growth |
| 5 | Faster-growing, harder and sharper nails |
| 6 | Remnants of a tail |
| 7 | An unusual skin color |
| 8 | Suspiciously strong sense of smell, sight or hearing |
| d4 | Werebear |
|---|---|
| 1 | Abnormally hairy all over, even for women |
| 2 | A broad, flat nose with large nostrils |
| 3 | Big, wide and hairy hands |
| 4 | Thick and though nails on hands and feet |
| d4 | Wereboar |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stiff hair, especially in the neck |
| 2 | A piggish nose, accompanied by a grunting laugh |
| 3 | An unusually wide mouth |
| 4 | Elongated, sharp canines |
| d6 | Wererat |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stiff hair, especially in the neck |
| 2 | An elongated, twitchy nose |
| 3 | Especially long and thin fingers and toes |
| 4 | Patchy beard growth at best. Whisker-like moustache hairs, even in women |
| 5 | Beady, black eyes |
| 6 | Pointy and slightly hairy ears |
| d6 | Wereraven |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sometimes grow feathers instead of hair |
| 2 | Hard, scaly flesh covers feet |
| 3 | Bones are perforated. Reducing body weight by 50% |
| 4 | Long, crooked nose with fine nostrils |
| 5 | Beady, black eyes |
| 6 | No or very small ears |
Design Considerations
A couple of choices have to be made when looking to design character options, especially ones like these. Usually, it is assumed that an Infected loses all control when in its secondary aspect. However, this can be very annoying as a player. Losing control over your character isn’t always fun or good for the story, especially when it is tied to random triggers and the like.
Therefore, in these options, players retain control over their characters even in their secondary aspects. However, it is up to these players to roleplay it out in a good way. The secondary aspects have flaws, their mental ability scores and their goals change. If one or more players in question are unable to roleplay these facets with the respect and detail they deserve, consider taking away agency nevertheless, or simply not including these advanced rules.
| d6 | Weretiger |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hair in blonde, black and white colors |
| 2 | Feline-like canines |
| 3 | Elongated feet/Walks on toes |
| 4 | Elongated, sharp canines |
| 5 | Small, soft ears with a tuft of hair |
| 6 | Whisker-like moustache hairs |
| d6 | Werewolf |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stiff hair, especially in the neck |
| 2 | A very broad mouth |
| 3 | Long and sharp canines |
| 4 | A very long, strong and rough tongue |
| 5 | Pointy and hairy ears |
| 6 | Elongated feet/Sole does not touch ground while walking |
Secondary Aspect
If the character is a true lycanthrope this doesn’t matter. For non-true lycanthropes however, it’s vital to determine what their secondary aspect will be. Is it the bigger animal form, or is it the hybrid? This will determine much of what the lycanthropy entails in play.
You could do this in several ways. You could simply flip a coin. Effective and simple. However, perhaps not the most evocative. Another way is to try and determine what the source of the infection is. If it was a pathological lycanthrope with a secondary animal aspect, then the secondary aspect of this character will be the same. If it was a hybrid secondary aspect, the contrary will be true.
Triggers
These triggers instill the secondary aspect in the pathologic lycanthrope. Some are a lot more frequently occurring than others, so consider balancing this out by choosing multiple minor ones (having multiple triggers is usually very rare) or reserving and hand-picking the more frequent ones for certain NPCs. Some triggers might also have a lasting effect, such as triggering the transformation at the start of summer, but also maintaining it all summer.
| d20 | Triggers, Symbolic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sunrise |
| 2 | Sunset |
| 3 | Midnight |
| 4 | The changing of the phases of the moon |
| 5 | A particular phase of the moon |
| 6 | An astronomical event, such as an eclipse |
| 7 | Every time one sleeps |
| 8 | Being in total darkness |
| 9 | Seeing sunlight |
| 10 | Low tide |
| 11 | High tide |
| 12 | Changing seasons |
| 13 | A particular season |
| 14 | A meteorological event, such as the first snowfall |
| 15 | Seeing a certain color, such as red or black |
| 16 | Seeing or smelling blood |
| 17 | Eating meat |
| 18 | Eating anything but meat |
| 19 | Passing through a graveyard |
| 20 | Witnessing violence |
| d12 | Triggers, Physiological |
|---|---|
| 21 | Feeling fear |
| 22 | Feeling extreme fear |
| 23 | Feeling anger |
| 24 | Feeling extreme anger |
| 25 | Feeling lonely |
| 26 | Seeing someone you love |
| 27 | A raised heartbeat |
| 28 | Being aroused |
| 29 | Being injured (<10% hp damage taken) |
| 30 | Being severely injured (>50% hp damage taken) |
| 31 | Being on the brink of death (<10% hp left) |
| 32 | Sustaining magic damage |
| d8 | Triggers, Other |
|---|---|
| 33 | Noticing your phenotypic animal |
| 34 | Noticing an animal your phenotype would normally hunt |
| 35 | Hearing a piece of music reminiscent to before you changed |
| 36 | Hearing a random piece of music |
| 37 | Seeing a particular style of painting |
| 38 | Smelling something, such as wax |
| 39 | Reading or hearing the name “Bob” |
| 40 | Noticing trade by means of money |
Flaws
My personal beef with lycanthropy in 5e is not the fact that it is too easy to get, but too easy to have (as in not very punishing) and too easy to get rid of. These flaws’ function is to flesh out the lycanthropic condition in all aspects.
| d10 | Flaws |
|---|---|
| 1 | Even in your primary aspect, food that isn’t meat doesn’t sate you. |
| 2 | Being closer to your animal side seems more natural. Anyone who is not in touch with animals displeases you. |
| 3 | You feel more comfortable in your secondary aspect and around animals of your phenotype than around humanoids. |
| 4 | Your skin is always, always, itchy when in your primary aspect. |
| 5 | Your other side scares you so that hearing or reading of/about your phenotypic animal makes you want to take out the person that mentioned it. |
| 6 | You can’t resist playing with a ball of fur or collecting glistening objects. |
| 7 | Anything that moves faster than walking pace must be chased. |
| 8 | You can no longer sleep unless naked. |
| 9 | You can no longer sleep unless under open sky. |
| 10 | As a prodigy of Malar, to hunt and destroy clerics and druids that pray to gods opposed to him is a divine duty. |
Ability Scores
This is perhaps the most technical of all subtitles and therefore the most contentious, as you, the reader, might very well disagree with my assumptions. If you do feel like a different system works better (for your table), please do feel free to change it.
True Lycanthropes
True lycanthropes retain their mental ability scores in all forms and are therefore the easiest to deal with. Simply take the animal they transform in, change the mental ability scores, and perhaps give it slightly higher physical scores, to indicate that this is a bigger, faster, and stronger individual than average.
For the hybrid forms, you can use the lycanthropes in the Monster Manual (MM 205-211), however these seem rather baseline. Especially for a PC, I suggest making a second set of physical ability scores based off the averages between the animal form and the scores the character has in its primary form, rounded down.
Pathologic Lycanthropes
If the secondary aspect is a beast form, I would refer to the stats given in the monster manual, both for physical and mental ability scores.
If the secondary aspect is a hybrid form, however, I suggest you take the averages between the primary aspect and the animal for each individual score, rounded down. This leaves room for the feeling that the primary form of the character matters and eventual character progression.
Hit Points
Hit points are a difficult stat to manage, because it means so many things at once. While the hybrid forms can retain the primary form's hit points, the beast form is more complex. When the Lycanthrope has no control over this form, it is reasonable to say the hit points are those of the beast in the MM. However, when, while transformed, it retains its mental ability scores, it should also retain its experience in battle and have a higher hit point maximum to show this.
Class Features
Another contentious topic. Alternative to the path taken here, you might want to limit the levels lycanthropes can achieve. VRGtW (p 60) has such a list that is easily converted to 5e.
True Lycanthropes
On the one hand, as true lycanthropes are born with their condition, they have no class abilities to lose after their transformation. On the other hand, they might be inherently restricted. Certain gods might deny a wannabe lycanthropic cleric or they run the risk of failing their paladin oath due to bloodlust.
Overall, I would not restrict anything as is. Instead judging the particular campaign, interfering of the gods and how things actually play out, but the risk is always there. However, this does not mean anything goes. In their secondary aspects, it's very unlikely true lycanthropes can cast spells. In fact, due to speech limitations, certain spells might be off limits to even tertiary aspects.
As opposable thumbs are retained in the tertiary aspect, one can use items and weapons, but not so in the secondary aspect, perhaps limiting the use of certain features.
Pathologic Lycanthropes
Pathologic Lycanthropes might already have acquired certain skills prior to being infected. They might lose these abilities instantly, such as clerical powers, however this might feel very bad for the player.
Consider rather to let things take their course. When the character in question kills, maims and eats it fellows, then perhaps the gods step in, an oath is broken or loved ones abandon the character. Nevertheless, if the secondary aspect is that of an animal, spells can never be cast in this form.
Druids
Because druids, as the only real shapeshifter class in 5e, have an interesting dynamic with the lycanthropic shapeshifting, I feel like they deserve their own mention.
Druids infected with lycanthropy can suffer a gruesome fate, as they are most likely shunned and perhaps even killed by their colleagues. Although, some druidic circles dedicated to Malar might embrace an actual lycanthrope.
The Wild Shape feature does not give one complete control over the transfiguration right away. However, druids that have taken the Blessing of Malar feat can use charges of their Wild Shape feature to shape into or out of (instead of a mere bonus action to cancel) their secondary aspect, as if it were just another beast form. A druid with the Perfect Hunter feat can do the same for its tertiary aspect.
An especially powerful druid with the Blessing of Malar feat and the Beast Spells (18) feature, can cast spells while in its animal form.
Feats
To introduce character progression and eventually turn the curse into a feature, rather than simply something cool, but ultimately a disadvantage, two feats are introduced. Characters can take these just like other feats. The only requirement is that the character is a pathologic (or cursed) lycanthrope.
Blessing of Malar
(Prerequisite: pathologic or cursed lycanthrope)
Some, such as clerics of Malar himself, think this curse a blessing in disguise. To stalk, to maim, to kill … all for the glory of the hunt, the glory of Malar. What a privilege it is!
- As an action, you can shift from your primary to your secondary aspect, or the other way, willingly. You can do this twice per day.
- While in your secondary aspect, you retain your mental ability scores, however, you can still be overcome by bloodlust.
- The retention of your memories ensures your experience in battle is not lost. The amount and size of your hit dice (if bigger) in your secondary aspect increase to your character level in your primary aspect.
Perfect Hunter
(Prerequisite: pathologic or cursed lycanthrope; the Blessing of Malar feat)
Having embraced your lycanthropy thus far, you can ascend into Malar’s grace and become a true lycanthrope in all respects.
- You can no longer be triggered to unwillingly change aspects. Whenever you are in another aspect, you retain your mental ability scores.
- When you take this feat, you gain the ability to also shape into the other aspect you were missing thus far.
- In all respects, such as procreation, you count as a true lycanthrope.
Risto, Werepanther Lycanthrope
This character should serve as an example on how to deal with ability scores, hit points and class features. Risto is a high level character, a 5 Ranger/7 Rogue (Hunter/Assassin), making him a formidable opponent when in his primary form.
Given Risto's experience, it is only right that when he transfigures, his beast form is more than just a regular panther. In fact, this beast should be of legendary power. A level 0 peasant would already be a bigger and smarter than average panther, so a 12th level hero of the realm as a werepanther should be the subject of tales for decades, if not centuries.
First things first, to illustrate a larger and more powerful panther, I took the baseline ability scores of the tiger, which is slightly stronger than the panther. Risto has taken the Blessing of Malar feat, so he retains his mental ability scores when transfigured. This will also play a key role in several other aspects of his beast form.
Not being armored, Risto's AC is a mere 12. However, being 12th level, his hit points maximum is a comfortable 90.
When it comes to skills, the panther is already proficient in Perception and Stealth, so Risto would always have those skills. That being said, Risto has Expertise in those skills as well. To me, the Expertise in these specific skills is as much mental as it is physical: paying attention to specific things and combining the raw instinct of the panther with reason. Other skills, such as the Disguise Kit or Lockpicking are virtually impossible for a panther to do, so they are not included. Sleight of Hand is situational, but not impossible.
When it comes to class features, Spellcasting is off the table for obvious reasons, no affinity with magic, no verbal components, difficulty with somatic components, you name it. I ruled out Primeval Awareness for the same reason, but arguably it might be included. Most others, like Favored Enemy, Cunning Action and Evasion all sort off line up with how a panther acts anyway, so to me they all make sense. Again, having these high mental ability scores is key to being able to use these features. The underlying instinct of the panther enhanced by the ability to reason with higher intelligence is arguably the recipe for the perfect hunter.
Perhaps the most contentious of these features, and therefore it deserves special mention, is Sneak Attack. To be able to use Sneak Attack, one needs to use a finesse or ranged weapon. Ranged weapon is out the window right away, but finesse is difficult. The tiger template obviously uses its Strength. In my opinion one should then look at nature. Cats are most well known for their agility, however, one should not underestimate a big cat's strength. This is illustrated by the tiger's ability scores. Nevertheless, when one studies how big cats fight, rather than simply pounce, they definitely look for openings and make very quick, short-range jabs, rather than long powerful swipes. This makes it more dagger-like than, say, a mace. So, even though tigers might very well use their Strength for their attack rolls, to me those Claw and Bite weapon attacks are finesse and count for Sneak Attack.
All of this combined makes for an amazing panther form. With its damage output, this creature would easily be CR
10+, but I think this is right. Reiterating my previous point, a regular peasant lycanthrope is already bigger and stronger than average. Therefore a 12th level character that takes a feat specifically to enhance this part of himself should feel very powerful. The alternative is taking away massive amounts of hit points or high damage features like Sneak Attack and will always result in making that part of the character feel lackluster.
Risto, panther form
Large beast, neutral evil
- Armor Class 12
- Hit Points 90 (12d10 + 24)
- Speed 40 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 17 (+3) 15 (+2) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 13 (+1) 11 (+0)
- Skills Perception +9 (+14 smell), Sleight of Hand +6, Stealth +10, Survival +9
- Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 19 (24 smell)
- Languages Understands Common, Elvish and Sylvan, but can't speak
Keen Smell. Risto has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Pounce. If Risto moves at least 20 ft. straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, Risto can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action.
Ranger Features. While in Panther form, Risto can make use of his favored enemy, natural explorer, extra attack, and horde breaker features.
Rogue features. While in Panther form, Risto can make use of his sneak attack, cunning action, uncanny dodge, evasion, and assassinate features.
Sneak Attack. When Risto has advantage on an attack, or another enemy of the target is within 5 ft. of it, he deals an additional 4d6 damage once per turn.
Actions
Extra Attack. Whenever Risto takes the Attack action on his turn, he can make two attacks instead of one.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d10 + 3) piercing damage
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage
Reactions
Uncanny Dodge. When hit by an attack made by an attacker you can see, you can use your Reaction to halve the damage against you.