The Curse of Lycanthropy
The following rules describe the curse of Lanthropy, and can be applied to any type of were-creature. They can be used as a suppliment for a player character, or as the basis of a monster as appropriate.
Unlike some Lycanthropy systems, this makes no distinction as to what type of Lycanthrope you are. As such, it can be flavoured to suit most needs: from werewolf to wereboar.
Contamination
When a creature that is not a Lycanthrope is hit by the unarmed strike of a transformed Lycnathrope, the creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw of a DC equal to 8 + the Lycanthrope's Proficiency bonus + the Lycanthrope's Constitution modifier. On a failiure, the creature contracts Lycanthropy.
If the creature has the Remove Curse spell cast on it before it finishes its next long rest, it is cured of Lycanthropy. However, after taking a long rest, Lycanthropy can only be removed magic such as the Greater Restoration spell or greater.
Alteration
Regardless as to if they are currently transformed or not, all Lycanthropes are altered by their curse:
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They have some tell that can reveal their nature to discerning eyes, such as excessive hair or a taste for raw meat.
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They have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to hear or to smell.
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They cannot be resistant or immune to attacks made with silver or silvered weapons, and take a d6 fire damage when they start their turn in contact with silver.
Transformation
When a Lycanthrope...
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is damaged by a critical hit
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is reduced to 5 hit points or less
or
- takes more than half of their maximum hit points from the end of one of their turns to the start of their next
... they must make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or transform. They can choose to fail this roll. If they are under the light of the full moon, they automatically fail.
When they transform, they gain a number of temporary hit points equal to their maximum hit points. While they have these temporary hit points, they gain the beast creature type and they count as a shapechanger. If they have 0 hit points when they tranform, they gain 1 hit point. Lastly, they gain the traits listed on the next page.
If they revert to their true form for any reason, they lose all temporary hit points. When they lose all their temporary hit points, they revert to their true form.
When they revert to their true form, they gain a level of exhaustion, and cannot transform again until they finish a long rest.
The Traits of the Transformed
You have natural weapons with which you can make unarmed strikes:
- You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of these unarmed strikes.
- They deal a d10 of either Slashing or Bludgeoning damage, which increases to 2d10 at 11th level and 3d10 at 17th level.
- When you reach 5th level, you can attack twice with these whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
- When you take the Attack action on your turn and attack with your unarmed strikes, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.
You are immune to non-magical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from weapons that are not silvered, and are vulnerable to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from silvered weapons.
You are immune to the Frightened condition.
You cannot benefit from armor, and attacks made with weapons other than your natural weapons have disadvantage.
Your AC is equal to 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier.
You cannot cast spells or concentrate on spells.
You cannot speak.
Finally, you must make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw at the start of each of your turns. On a failure, you move closer to and take all possible unarmed attacks against the closest creature to you:
- That you can see, smell or hear
- That is not a player character
- Prioritising helpless or incapacitated creatures
The Full Moon
While you are transformed and start your turn under the light of the full moon:
- Your number of temporary hit points increases by five unless you have been damaged by silver since the start of your last turn.
- Your unarmed strikes deal an additional d10 damage until the start of your next turn or until you are not under the light of the full moon.
- The DC of the Wisdom saving throw that you must make at the start of each of your turns increases to 20, and you ignore the "that is not a player character" clause when selecting your target.
Don't forget
to love
eachother
A big thanks to my weekly D&D groups for playtesting my nonsense for far too long than is reasonable to ask.
A special thanks also to Swordmeow for inspiring me to get into homebrewing all those years ago.
Art: Werewolves by Alex Alexandrov
Check out some of my other Homebrew:
The Warlock, Revised by StrawberryEve