<style> .phb#p1{ text-align:center; } .phb#p1:after{ display:none; } </style> <div style='margin-top:450px;'></div> # Therianthropy Rules <div style='margin-top:25px'></div> <div class='wide'> ##### And Lore, Too! ###### by S. Gennaoui </div> \pagebreakNum # Introduction Werewolves, werebears, werelions, wererats... the list goes on and on. There are plenty of therianthropes and all of them have the potential to pass along their lovely curse to unsuspecting adventurers. Which adventurer would actually view it as a curse, though? More resistances, a sweet transforming bod, and all at the low, low cost of being restrained a few nights a month! And if a few peasants happen to die in the meantime, we can just visit the local priest and have them remove this ~~privilege~~ curse! Well, I like therianthropes. And I like my players to be afraid. But I found myself disappointed by the Monster Manuals' approach to players receiving the curse. So, I did some thinking. It hurt. At the end of the <s>pain</s> thinking, though, I had come up with some more richly defined lore around therianthropes and, more importantly, I had an idea of how I could turn these curses into fun character experiences (that miiight effectively kill them). ## Therianthropy Lore ### Curse Of Despair Also known as a "blood curse," the Curse of Despair is the original progenitor of the therianthropic curses. The therianthropy curse is not willfully bestowed upon another individual. Rather, it is the universe's response to an individual's utterly broken spirit and cries of anguish. This is not simply the suffering of someone losing a loved one in a random act of violence. This is the pain and despair of having lost everything -- an entire community of friends and family, one's livelihood, one's dreams and desires all being destroyed or pushed out of reach. The Curse of Despair manifests only when the victim of this tragic loss knows of the person responsible for the cause of this horrible agony. When these conditions are met, the victim's despair causes the perpetrator to be cursed. The curse might manifest in many forms: sudden, unexplainable paralysis, terrible diseases, haunting dreams that place the perpetrator in the shoes of the original victim. The Curse of Despair is retribution for the victim and all that they have lost at the cost of their own life. In return, the perpetrator of these tragedies suffers in their own ways: exile, helplessness, psychoses... One of the manifestations of the Curse of Despair is therianthropy. The bestial nature of the perpetrator overwhelms the thin veneer of humanity that allowed them to operate within society. At the worst of times, their inner beast bursts forth causing them to be ostracized, hunted, hated, and feared by all they encounter. Often, they have an extended life span filled with this torturous existence. Many afflicted with the Curse of Despair end up taking their own cursed lives. Others end up dying old, forgotten, and alone. However, over the centuries a few of those with the Curse of Despair have been able to gain a modicum of control over the transformations as well as find partners. These partnerships gave rise to a new era of therianthropy: the Curse of Heritage. \columnbreak ### Curse Of Heritage The Curse of Heritage is the state in which most of the therianthropes in the world exist today. The Curse of Heritage can be passed to a child born to at least one therianthropic parent. Even when both parents are therianthropes, their resulting child may not necessarily be a therianthrope themselves, although it is very likely that they shall. When the child is a therianthrope, it will be the same species as one of its parents, although there seems to be no pattern in how that is determined. When only one parent is a therianthrope, the odds that a child has the Curse of Heritage are about 50/50. When the child of a mixed heritage is born with the Curse of Heritage, they will always be the same species as their therianthropic parent. Since therianthropy is still widely feared, most therianthropic families will form small, xenophobic tribes. The tribes that exist successfully often construct or embrace local legends of hauntings, ferocious animals, or other supernatural stories to discourage others from finding them. These tribes are well aware of the stigma the outside world holds, so they will use the unafflicted children to interact with the world on their behalf. Therianthropes with the Curse of Heritage have a much greater degree of control over their transformations than someone afflicted with the Curse of Despair or Curse of Transference. This is a result of generations of training, learning, meditation, and exercising control over the beast within. Children afflicted with the curse are taught the physical and mental exercises from a very early age, but each generation finds it easier to work with the Curse instead of fighting against it. As a result, the longer a tribe, or family, has lasted with the Curse, the more control they will have gained. In the oldest families, the elders have attained the ability to retain full mental composure even during a full moon, although the physical transformation still occurs. In contrast, young families that try to survive often end up causing damage and injury in nearby areas as a result of their uncontrolled transformations. This leads to the family being hunted in retaliation. The local towns put out bounties to hunt the therianthropes, but usually the response to these bounties comes too late to stop the family from having another generation of children. This cycle may continue for generations, with towns being periodically terrorized by therianthropic threats, until the young family is able to gain enough control to prevent the attacks... or they are fully wiped out. It is not unknown for an older family to welcome a younger family into their tribe in order to better protect themselves. Young families will occasionally seek their brethren and a sense of community, but this can lead to turf wars instead. In most cases, tribes will be composed of primarily a single species. At the same time, it's quite rare to have no species diversity. \pagebreakNum ### Curse Of Transference Now, we get to the good stuff! This is the form of the Curse most players will encounter and potentially contract in a game. The Curse of Transference is, as the name implies, transferred from a current victim of any therianthropic curse to an innocent, unsuspecting adventurer. This occurs as the result of an injury sustained from the more bestial attacks of the therianthrope. Claws, tusks, saliva are all potential routes for the curse to spread -- like a disease. An individual who contracts therianthropy in this way is not immediately affected. They feel no different (aside from the wounds they sustained), and there is no evidence that the curse transferred. Assuming they killed the offending therianthrope, the transformation from beast or beast-humanoid hybrid into a humanoid is their only indication of what might have happened. Those lucky enough to know about therianthropes are often able to realize what they might soon have in store. In the cases where help is obtained quickly, things need not get worse. However, many unfortunate souls neglect the danger they are in and soon find that the simple solution is no longer an option. Worse still, is that they begin to feel the symptoms of their new condition: constant hunger, quick to anger, denser hair growth, and even their bodies morphing towards a physiology more aligned to their therianthropic species. Contracting therianthropy through the Curse of Transference is often followed by vivid nightmares. Even those races that need not sleep, such as elves, experience these visions or hallucinations while in their trance. The speed at which these dreams occur varies from individual to individual. It ranges from one per night to one per week, at least for the cases that have been studied. The scholarly research on the topic indicates that each victim will experience five dreams before the curse has taken full hold. There are no documented cases in which a transformation occurs before the last dream. However, after the last dream, the curse will have taken full control of the individual. Those in the wild may quickly find themselves without a way to prevent the progression of the curse. Many that realize their plight will ask their companions to execute them if they become a threat to anyone. Those that are unaware or are not kept watched and chained will often turn on their companions in an unexpected transformation. It is often the individuals cursed in this way that cause the most trouble for society. The uncontrollable urges and transformations that these cursed individuals undergo leave a wake of death in their path until they are hunted down and killed. In the best of cases, they retain enough sense and sanity to be found by a therianthropic society willing to burden themselves with controlling this new member. ### Alignments It's worth mentioning that in the Monster Manual, therianthrope species each have their own moralistic tendencies. For example, the lawful good werebear that cleans up the park while transformed. For our purposes, therianthrope alignments are as varied as those that originally become therianthropes. The successful and long-lived communities of therianthropes that develop tend towards the lawful spectrum as their rules typically are in place to prevent accidents that might start a witch hunt. Interestingly, this is a stark contrast to the chaotic nature of the curse when it takes control, but "goodness" and "evilness" varies wildly and is not specific to a species. ### Cures #### Remove Curse Remove Curse has been the traditional cure for therianthropy. It cannot cure the Curse of Despair nor the Curse of Heritage. Using such a spell does have some effect, though. When used on someone who has the Curse of Heritage, it will render them unable to transform into a beast or hybrid form for a short period of time. On someone with the Curse of Despair, while it will not stop the transformation, it will aid the victim in fighting for control during a transformation. While it's rarely enough to prevent a path of destruction, it can cause uncharacteristic pauses that may give a potential victim enough time to run and barricade themselves away, thus saving themselves. Remove Curse will help on the Curse of Transference. Caught early enough, this spell will rid a victim of the curse quite effectively. If the Curse of Transference has gained enough of a hold in the victim, it's effectiveness will be reduced. It then is only powerful enough to assist the victim in fighting off further progression of the curse. In the case where the victim of the curse has progressed to the point where they are transforming, Remove Curse will only end their transformation immediately. #### Ritual of Removal The Ritual of Removal is the only other known way for one to get rid of therianthropy. The ritual itself is not a simple process to conduct. It requires rare components, a knowledge of both arcane and religious magic, as well as training in preparing special drinks and containment glyphs. Most importantly... it is dangerous. This ritual conducted on someone with the Curse of Heritage will kill the participant. The curse and individual have bonded like a symbiote and removing one leaves an irreparable damage in the other. In contrast, the ritual can be conducted on both the Curse of Despair and Curse of Transference. At its core, the Ritual of Removal is intended to do three things: separate the Therianthropic Spirit from the victim, protect the victim, and prevent the Therianthropic Spirit from escaping into the physical world. The Ritual provides the victim a way to confront and eject the Therianthropic Spirit from their body. At that point, the victim and their allies can literally destroy the curse. \pagebreakNum The ritual overseer is responsible for creating a warding circle, in which the participant is centered. All individuals that plan to assist in defeating the physical manifestation will be inside the circle equidistantly spaced around the victim. The overseer creates the glyph around the victim first and works their way outward, including around the rest of the assistants, before completing the glyph. The overseer ends on the outside of the circle which is meant to protect the victim from the most severe physical or mental reactions which may occur during the ritual. It has a secondary effect of ensuring that the physical form of the curse does not escape on its own, but will trap all others inside as well. Should the physical manifestation of the curse triumph, it will remain trapped until the glyph is broken from the outside. After the wards are in place, the victim is given a tincture consisting of Beast's Rapport, a plant growing in the Shadowfell, and the victim's own blood. This blend is ingested and puts the victim's mind into a protected state separate from themselves. By doing so, it allows the Therianthropic Spirit to begin taking control of the "empty" body. The wards prevent a full transformation from taking effect, but it is common to see the victim begin to seize, grow and shed fur rapidly, howl, and more. As this goes on, the ritual overseer begins to usher the victim's protected mind into the victim's mindscape. Once there, the victim is on their own to rid their mindscape of the Therianthropic Spirit. If the victim is able to exorcise the Therianthropic Spirit from their body, it is given a corporeal form. While the victim is technically cured of therianthropy at this point, the Therianthropic Spirit's physical form is an unfettered form of the Curse. No longer restricted by an individuals' unconscious restraint, the Therianthropic Spirit will do what it has always done - hunt, kill, and spread its curse. If the wards have been placed correctly, the Therianthropic Spirit will not be able to escape. In this case, it will try to spread its curse to as many individuals as it can. If the wards have not been placed correctly, leaving opportunity for the Beast to escape, it will ferociously and dedicatedly attack its former fleshy prison, before escaping into the wilderness to wreak havoc. There can be some severe side effects of the ritual. The worst cases can end in the victim's death even if the Therianthropic Spirit is defeated. More common are lingering effects of a mind in repair.. these madnesses can take the form of not being able to speak, remaining weak-willed and following instructions blindly, or even perceiving themselves as being blind. These effects remain for anywhere between one and two tenday, but are signs of a traumatized body and psyche beginning to recover. ### Rumors and Legends As always, feel free to make up your own here, too! #### False! * Therianthropes, even in human form, become bloodthirsty killers * While the hybrid or beast forms of a therianthrope are bloodthirsty, an afflicted individual may take on any disposition * Therianthropy can be cured with tea made of wolfsbane * Remove curse and the ritual of removal are the only known cures * Therianthropy cannot be cured * Therianthropy can be cured by drinking the blood of another therianthrope * Therianthropy can be cured by not consuming any flesh during a transformation * Nations of therianthropes that spend their time in a beast-humanoid hybrid state and regularly participate in cannibalism * You can tell the age of a therianthrope by which species it morphs into * A therianthrope is forced to transform if touched with silver * An individual wounded by a therianthrope is beyond saving * A representation of a full moon will force a therianthrope to transform * Therianthropes of different species will fight to the death * Each therianthrope species has a specific alignment #### True! * There are therianthropic communities * Therianthropy can be transmitted through wounds * Legend of the Lawful WereLion -- a child's story about a good samaritan werelion * The adult's version of the tale describes how each transgression ends in the perpetrator's grisly death * A therianthrope is sensitive to silver. * An individual that becomes cursed is not immediately at risk of transforming * Not all therianthropic curses are created equal * Some therianthropes have learned how to control their Therianthropic Spirit \pagebreakNum ## Therianthropy Rules I'm going to focus on the first and the third types of therianthropy: Curses of Despair and Curses of Transference. Victims of the Curse of Heritage would make for fun NPCs, but since my players never start as therianthropes, I didn't expand on mechanics for players with the Curse of Heritage. The Curse of Despair and Curse of Transference will be considered the same from a rules perspective. Since a Curse of Despair is the result of great tragedy, it's unlikely that the *heroes* will become subject to therianthropy via that route, but it's conceivable. Both curses will share the same rules, though, since both share traits that we want to leverage in making the curse something to be feared and rejected: 1. The curse is new to the victim. 2. The curse is not easy to repress. 3. The curse will get worse over time. 4. The curse can be embraced at any time. ### Contracting Therianthropy The most likely way for players to contract therianthropy would be the Curse of Transference. For this, I rely on the Monster Manual rules for the therianthrope's bite/beak/tusk attacks. When the Bite hits, the target must make a (DC 8 + the therianthrope’s proficiency bonus + the therianthrope’s Constitution modifier) Constitution saving throw or be cursed with that therianthrope's form of curse. Inflicting a Curse of Despair on a player is very much at the DMs discretion. My guidelines for this would be that the NPC causing this must have suffered losses to their breaking point and nearly all must be attributable to the player's character. While tempting to use this to further plots or for a BBEG, I would caution against it as the players have little agency in protecting themselves from it - they can only attempt to get the cure. ### Incubation #### How Much Do We Know? Once a player has been cursed, the fun begins. The curse is not immediately apparent to the characters, but the players probably will think they know what's going on. Characters can discern some information with a Nature or History check: * DC 5 - Characters know the rumors and legends, but are not able to discern the truth from the myths. * DC 10 - Characters are able to discern the truth from the legends. They know about the Curse of Transference and how it is passed along. * DC 15 - Characters know that the curse is curable. DM discretion as to whether they know the cure or who can help to get it. * DC 20 - Characters know about the Curse of Despair as well as the Curse of Heritage. Even if the players don't immediately know everything about the affliction, there will be signs that the curse is taking hold as time progresses. This will allow them to infer what is happening without relying on a check. \columnbreak #### Curse Events The incubation period lasts until five Curse Events occur. Each Curse Event is representative of the victim experiencing physical changes, their mental resistance to the curse waning, and the victim being one step closer to losing their humanity. After the fifth Curse Event happens, the victim has the potential to go into a Blood Lust. Each night that a cursed individual goes to sleep, they must make a Wisdom saving throw. The DC starts at 12, but since the curse's progression is inevitable without the cure, it raises each day by 1. Although lunar transformations do not happen during the incubation period, it still strengthens the curse during that period. If a victim is making a saving throw on the preceding night of a full moon, the night of a full moon, or the night after a full moon, they must make the Wisdom saving throw at disadvantage. > ##### When is the moon out? > If you don't normally track the lunar cycle, roll a D100. > * 00-90 - Divide the total by 3 (round down). This is how many days until the next full moon. From there, consider a 30-day cycle. > * 91-99 - Reroll! On a successful save, nothing happens. On a failed save, the following Curse Events take place. The easiest mechanism of delivery for these Events is via dreams, but other character-dependent ideas might be visions, drug-induced hallucinations, or intense emotional impulses felt. 1. **The Pack Convenes** - Emphasize a feeling of community, belonging, and gathering. Things are never happier than when you're with your kind and that connection has been formed through the curse. 2. **The Pack Hunts** - Emphasize a feeling of unsatiated hunger. The Pack is with you, but all are ravenous and so the Hunt is on for some humanoid flesh. * Optionally, offer the choice between killing or feeding on the victim of the hunt. If the character embraces the Hunt, their next Curse Event roll is made at disadvantage. 3. **The Silver Burns** - Offer a scenario in which it is clear that a weapon is forged of silver. The weapon should eventually damage the victim, piercing them and searing with a pain far worse than anticipated. * *Event Effect*: After this Curse Event, the victim is now vulnerable to silvered weapons. 4. **The Pain Lessens** - Offer a scenario in which it is clear that an ordinary type of weapon is not doing as much damage as it ordinary would. * *Event Effect*: After this Curse Event, the victim is now resistant to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical attacks which are not silvered. When they transform into a hybrid form in a Blood Lust, these resistances become immunities. \pagebreakNum 5. **The Beast Unleashed** - Offer a scenario in which the victim is being overwhelmed, but unexpectedly transforms into a hybrid form and comes out bloody, but victorious. * *Event Effect*: After this Curse Event, the curse has taken a strong enough hold such that the character may fall into a Blood Lust and transform into a hybrid form. As each event occurs, the character is going through physical transformations as well. They are beginning to manifest traits of their were-species. More hair, pointier ears or snouts, hunched backs, a predisposition towards walking on all fours, and more can be used to emphasize to characters that something is happening. I recommend that by Curse Event 3, the physical transformations are noticeable to anyone that sees the victim. Other PCs would be able to easily make the association between transformation and therianthropy at that point, no checks required. ### Blood Lust Finally, the players have succumbed to their Curse. They are an uncontrollable, rage-filled, unstoppable monster that only wants the blood of its enemies! Wait, no, that's Barbarians. If a character makes it to this stage, they're in some dangerous waters. The Curse has taken hold quite effectively of the victim's body, but the victim's willpower continues to restrain it... most of the time. However, the victim of the curse is now a time bomb and eventually the beast inside will be set free. A Blood Lust transformation can occur in two ways: * Lunar cycle (night of the full moon, the prior night, and the subsequent night) * Combat damage (or severe emotional trauma) will trigger a Wisdom saving throw. This saving throw can only happen once per short or long rest. The DC for the Wisdom saving throw begins at 13. During a Blood Lust transformation, the following happens: * The character becomes a Hybrid version of the were-species they were cursed to become. This includes the damage immunities to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical attacks which are not silvered. * The character no longer can discern friend from foe and will try to attack the nearest available target with melee weapon attacks. If they have no weapons, they will use their Bite or Claw attacks if available. If there is a tie for nearest available target, choose randomly. * At the end of the characters turn, they may make another Wisdom saving throw to resist the Blood Lust. Use the same DC as entering the Blood Lust. At the conclusion of a Blood Lust, the following happens: * The character transforms back to their humanoid form. * The character is unconscious. * The character suffers one point of exhaustion. * The DC for the Blood Lust increases by 1. \columnbreak > ##### Resistances and Immunities > The mechanical benefits can make therianthropy appealing to some players. Below are some alternatives to consider. Choose whatever is most suitable for your table, mix and match, or make up something better! > * Full immunity (like the Monster Manual) > * Both humanoid and hybrid forms have three resistances, instead of immunities. > * Humanoid form only gets one resistance, hybrid form gets the same immunity. > * Scale the resistances/immunity by character level. Levels 1-7 have 1 resistance/immunity, levels 8-14 have 2 resistance/immunity, levels 15-20 have 3 resistance/immunity. The Blood Lust is the last remnants of the character's will power breaking down. As the DC increases, these transformations are likely to become more and more frequent. Once the DC of the Blood Lust hits 20, that character is going to have a bad time. There are two ways to resolve the result, but both should effectively be treated as a "death": 1. If the character's will power breaks down or if they acquiesced to the Therianthropic Spirit, the character transforms and runs off never to be seen again. (Or to be stopped by the party in an emotional, dramatic confrontation with their old friend.) 2. If the character resisted until the end, their body and mind's fight against the Therianthropic Spirit wins out, but it costs them their life. There is no resurrecting the character's soul without also bringing back the Spirit. If they are resurrected, the DC of the Blood Lust is at 19. ### Cures #### Remove Curse Remove Curse is the classic cure for getting rid of therianthropy. It still has an effect in this version of therianthropy, but one must act swiftly. Anytime during Incubation and before Curse Event 3 has occurred, Remove Curse will work as written. After Curse Event 3 in Incubation, the Curse is resilient enough to withstand being wholly banished by Remove Curse. Instead, a Remove Curse spell used during this time will grant the victim advantage on their next Curse Event saving throw. After Curse Event 5, when Blood Lusts become a possibility, Remove Curse has only an instantaneous effect. If the victim is targeted by a Remove Curse spell while in a Blood Lust, the Blood Lust will immediately end. The victim suffers all of the effects of a Blood Lust concluding, except that the DC will not increase. \pagebreakNum #### Ritual of Removal Therianthropy does have a cure. The ritual to remove the therianthropy curse is dangerous and difficult to perform. It requires these, potentially difficult to obtain, components: * A shaman with knowledge of The Ritual of Removal. They prepare the tincture, the wards, and guide the victim through their mindscape. * A rare ingredient, Beast's Rapport, must be obtained for use in the tincture that separates and protects the therianthropes' humanoid mind from its Therianthropic Spirit allowing the victim to encounter the Therianthropic Spirit in their mindscape. * A fight of willpower between the victim and a mental embodiment of the therianthrope curse. * A physical fight between the party and a physical manifestation of the therianthrope curse. ##### Preparation Preparation of the Ritual of Removal can be broken down into a few components: 1. Retrieval of Beast's Rapport, a plant that grows in the Shadowfell. 2. Preparation of a tincture which is composed of Beast's Rapport, the victim's own blood, and ethanol (yes, grain alcohol) in a 1:1:10 blend. About one cup of this tincture is required. 3. Glyphs and wards must be drawn. First, around the victim who should be holding the tincture. Then outward to whoever is expecting to help fight the physical manifestation. Finally, the outer ring which will prevent the Therianthropic Spirit from fleeing. Some players may want to do these steps themselves. It would save them a considerable amount of money to do so, but they then run the risk of messing something up. Additionally, whoever is drawing the protective wards will not be able to participate in the physical confrontation without also allowing the manifestation an exit route. Should they decide to take the challenge on on their own, I recommend a DC 17 Intelligence (Medicine) ability check to create the tincture successfully. In addition, a DC 20 Intelligence (Sleight of Hand) ability check to draw the protective glyphs and wards. The sections below outline what happens on a failure. If they have a proper shaman doing these preparations, consider these checks automatically successful. ##### Containment and Eviction Once the people, glyphs, and wards are in place. The overseer instructs the victim to drink the tincture. Shortly after it's consumed, their body goes limp as they proceed into their mindscape. The overseer's voice can reach them there (an effect of the glyphs), and helps to remind the victim of their goals while in this dream-like environment. At first glance, the victim sees nothing except a thin, transparent barrier around themselves. As images begin to take shape, they find themselves surrounded by familiar settings and people from their past. A closer look reveals distortions and bestial reflections. A childhood home might be filled with wolves, for example, or their best friend might transform unexpectedly into a hybrid. As always, The Therianthropic Spirit is a predator and will not go quietly. The mental conflict leading to the eviction of the Therianthropic Spirit comes in three parts each with an associated ability check. The preparation of the tincture affects how many successes a character needs to get in order to be unharmed during this part of the ritual. If the tincture was successfully prepared, the character must succeed on two out of three checks; if the tincture was not successfully prepared they must succeed on all three checks. If the character fails to meet these requirements, the Therianthropic Spirit is still evicted, but the character will suffer a Madness after the ritual completes. For each of these sections, allow the player to be clever and change the ability check and DC accordingly. The first task for the character to complete is to either hunt down the Therianthropic Spirit with a DC 20 Wisdom (Survival) ability check or to watch and wait for the Therianthropic Spirit's inevitable attack with a DC 16 Wisdom (Perception) ability check. After finding the Therianthropic Spirit or rebuffing its assault, the Therianthropic Spirit begins to grow in size. It grows to titanic proportions and as it does so, it furiously sheds what looks like hair. It is in reality many, many therianthropes of its species and they're all charging towards the character. The second task is to either hide from this horde with a DC 22 Charisma (Deception) ability check or to retaliate in kind by orchestrating a counter attack of the characters imagination. This retaliation succeeds with a DC 15 Wisdom (Performance) or Wisdom (Intimidation) ability check. The character's final task is to drive it to the brink of the mindscape, and to force it outside, thus forcing it to take a physical form and allowing the character to reclaim control of their body. This requires a 16 Wisdom (Athletics) ability check, a 19 Wisdom (Animal Handling) ability check, or a 22 Charisma (Intimidation) ability check. ##### Destroy the Therianthropic Spirit Now, the evicted Therianthropic Spirit begins to take on a physical manifestation. The character will have reclaimed their body and the glyphs and wards will prevent negative effects for one minute. The Therianthropic Spirit's behavior here will vary depending on the state of the glyphs and wards. If the glyphs and wards were drawn correctly, the Therianthropic Spirit has no choice but to fight to the death. It will focus on cursing as many of those in the ritual as it can. A shaman acting as an overseer is very, very likely to have Remove Curse prepared and ready for this for after the ritual. If the glyphs and wards were not prepared correctly, the Therianthropic Spirit will focus on killing its previous host (an act of vengeance for being repressed), and then flee as quickly as it can. The ritual glyphs and wards are a 30 ft radius circle. Nothing in the circle may leave until the glyphs are broken from the outside, including through the use of magic. Additionally, nothing may penetrate from the outside into the circle, including magic. Links to the Therianthropic Spirit stat blocks can be found in the Quick Reference section found at the bottom of this document. \pagebreakNum ##### Ritual End At the conclusion of this ritual, the victim takes a point of exhaustion, but is otherwise free from their curse. In addition, if the character failed to meet the skill check requirements in the Containment and Eviction section, the character will suffer from a madness. Randomly select from the table below. The character is afflicted by this madness for a number of days equal to the Blood Lust DC when the ritual was started. The table of madnesses can be found in the Quick Reference section found at the bottom of this document. \pagebreakNum ## Quick Reference ### Contracting Therianthropy Follow the Monster Manual stat blocks for were-species. Generally the Bite of a therianthrope will force a player to make a Constitution saving throw (DC varies by species) to see if they become cursed. ### Character Knowledge | DC | Information Known | |:---:|:-----------------:| | 5 | Rumors and legends, but are not able to discern the truth from the myths. | | 10 | Rumors and legends, but are able to discern the truth from the legends. They know about the Curse of Transference and how it is passed along. | | 15 | Rumors and legends, but are able to discern the truth from the legends. They know about the Curse of Transference and how it is passed along. The curse is curable. <br/>DM discretion as to whether they know the cure or who can help to get it. | | 20 | Rumors and legends, but are able to discern the truth from the legends. They know about the Curse of Transference and how it is passed along. The curse is curable. The Curse of Despair and the Curse of Heritage. | ### Incubation - Curse Events * Wisdom saving throw each night. Starting DC is 12. Each night the DC increases. Each failure proceeds down the Curse Event table. * Disadvantage when the moon is full. * Each event causes character to manifest were-species traits. | Curse Event | Description | Effect | |:-----------:|:-----------:|:------:| | The Pack Convenes | Community, belonging, gathering. Relief and happiness at the new connection. | None | | The Pack Hunts | Unsatiated hunger, the Pack hunts with you. Will you partake? | If the character joins in the hunt, the next Curse Event is an automatic failure. | | The Silver Burns | Weapons of silver hurt much, much more than they did before. | Vulnerability to silvered weapons. Were-species traits easily noticeable. | | The Pain Lessens | Ordinary weapons no longer hurt as much. | Resistance to non-magical BPS. | | The Beast Unleashed | Overwhelmed in combat, but transforming into the hybrid form allows a bloody victory. | Character may fall into a Blood Lust. | ### Blood Lust * Occurs when the moon is full. * Combat damage or emotional trauma triggers a Wisdom saving throw. This saving throw can happen once per short or long rest. * Starting DC is 13. The DC increases by 1 each time a Blood Lust ends. During a Blood Lust transformation, the following happens: * The character becomes a Hybrid version of the were-species they were cursed to become. * Character attacks the nearest available target with melee weapon attacks. If they have no weapons, they will use their Bite or Claw attacks if available. If there is a tie for nearest available target, choose randomly. * At the end of the characters turn, they may make another Wisdom saving throw to resist the Blood Lust. Use the same DC as entering the Blood Lust. At the conclusion of a Blood Lust, the following happens: * The character transforms back to their humanoid form. * The character is unconscious. * The character suffers one point of exhaustion. * The DC for the Blood Lust increases by 1. ### Curse Removal * Remove Curse acts as written until Curse Event 3. * Remove Curse grants advantage on the Curse Event Wisdom saving throw between Curse Event 3 and Curse Event 5. * Remove Curse will end a Blood Lust without increasing the Blood Lust DC. * Ritual of Removal \pagebreakNum ### Ritual of Removal 1. Retrieve Beast's Rapport, a plant that grows in the Shadowfell. Prepare a tincture using Beast's Rapport with DC 17 Intelligence (Medicine) ability check. Auto success if a pro runs the show. 3. Draw the glyphs around the victim and allies. DC 20 Intelligence (Sleight of Hand) ability check. Auto success if a pro runs the show. 4. Victim drinks the tincture and has mental showdown with the Spirit. * Hunt the Therianthropic Spirit with DC 20 Wisdom (Survival) ability check or watch for its attack DC 16 Wisdom (Perception) ability check. * Therianthropic Spirit grows and sheds therianthropes. Hide from the horde with DC 22 Charisma (Deception) ability check or retaliate DC 15 Wisdom (Performance) or Wisdom (Intimidation) ability check. * Push the Therianthropic Spirit out. 16 Wisdom (Athletics) ability check, 19 Wisdom (Animal Handling) ability check, or 22 Charisma (Intimidation) ability check. 5. Victim and allies within the glyphs fight the Therianthropic Spirit. 6. Victim suffers a madness if they failed too many ability checks in the mental showdown. If the tincture was prepared improperly, any failure leads to a madness. Otherwise, one failure is permissible. | d8 | Madness | |:---:|:-----------------:| | 1 | The character experiences vivid hallucinations and has disadvantage on ability checks. | | 2 | The character does whatever anyone tells him or her to do that isn't obviously self-destructive. | | 3 | The character experiences an overpowering urge to eat something strange such as dirt, slime, or offal. | | 4 | The character suffers extreme paranoia. The character has disadvantage on Wisdom and Charisma checks. | | 5 | The character experiences uncontrollable tremors or tics, which impose disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws that involve Strength or Dexterity. | | 6 | The character suffers from partial amnesia. The character knows who he or she is and retains racial traits and class features, but doesn't recognize other people or remember anything that happened before the madness took effect. | | 7 | Whenever the character takes damage, he or she must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be affected as though he or she failed a saving throw against the confusion spell. The confusion effect lasts for 1 minute. | | 8 | If the character sees a Shapechanger, the character becomes frightened and must use his or her action and movement each round to flee from the source of the fear. | \columnbreak ### Stat Blocks * [Therianthropic Spirit (Bat)](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/438015-lycanthropic-spirit-bat "Lycanthropic Spirit (Bat)") * [Therianthropic Spirit (Bear)](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/438019-lycanthropic-spirit-bear "Lycanthropic Spirit (Bear)") * [Therianthropic Spirit (Boar)](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/438020-lycanthropic-spirit-boar "Lycanthropic Spirit (Boar)") * [Therianthropic Spirit (Rat)](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/415213-lycanthropic-spirit-rat "Lycanthropic Spirit (Rat)") * [Therianthropic Spirit (Tiger)](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/438021-lycanthropic-spirit-tiger "Lycanthropic Spirit (Tiger)") * [Therianthropic Spirit (Wolf)](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/438022-lycanthropic-spirit-wolf "Lycanthropic Spirit (Wolf)")