Lycanthropy: infection?

[Ambrosios]

This is one thing that has been bugging me since I came to this server and probally falls into the immersion category. All of my characters save one have been mauled by lycanthropes before - often to near death. But escaped, no fortitude saves to not become cursed or anything.

So, I'm curious.. is there even a script in so that fighting lycanthropes has that proper fear factor - being you don't know if one of your party members will turn the next full moon and chew your head off whilst you sleep because it was his 'watch'?

This is one of those things that ruins immersion for me. The infection is a big part of the fear that people have for lycanthropes but it appears it isn't in on this server. Everyone just gets a silver weapon, goes and attacks the lycanthropes,.. and poof no risk outside of maybe dieing? That doesn't make sense.. at least one of these crazy adventurers who cleaned out the werewolf cave(for example) should be infected.. I mean they didn't go get some belladonna or have a priest cure them etc. etc.


A simple on day X you get the werewolf polymorph and are set to hostile to everyone would work.. and will save with a DC of 25+ or some such to resist just roaming around as an effective NPC attacking anything you see would work nicely me thinks..


Probally typed a bit incoherently.. but yeah there you are.. *Wanders off to get a snack listening to rumbling belly...*

[Zero]

There may actually be something to this idea....

[Shiobhan]

Well i agree, but i would if this would be implemented also significantly decrease the number of lycantropes. The bite itself would be the danger to fear rather than the outrageous number of werecreatures.

[Ravenous]

I would love the chance/curse to become a lycan, of any kind. Since as it is now I dont fear any lycans, unless they are quite many and of the Dire Wolf variety, and I´m sure more than I feel like this.
Shio is right, make the bites infectious but cut down on the number of werebeasts. Barovia must be werebeast hunter paradise
Make the werebeasts feared again

[EO]

The issue is that in a campaign, you would fight perhaps a dozen lycanthropes maximum in the course of the adventure. Here, we slaughter them like cattle.

Perhaps in DM encounters, but even then.

[WildPirate]

an idea be a druid as a build then slowly but surely survive a fight with a lycan
  Then RP your a shape shifter nutter
 When my druid learned his level up shape shift it was the night of the moon I ran around for nearly an hour RPing the effect of the moon on him and BAM it caused him to morph into a bear Ta Da noone toke notice but thats cool I was soloing but when a MOON is up and your a shapeshifter or a sork you better take notice.
  You can RP anything just go with a NE druid and say your a Lycan
 Would be better though if that was scripted but hey you can work with anything...
 Just an idea

[Ambrosios]

The issue is that in a campaign, you would fight perhaps a dozen lycanthropes maximum in the course of the adventure. Here, we slaughter them like cattle.

Perhaps in DM encounters, but even then.

Reduce the number of lycanthropes and up the number of 'bandit' type spawns or the like. Problem solved, make the fantastic seem more fantastic that way as well - you become very numb to the big bad wolf when you fight and kill his ilk on a daily basis.

[Shiobhan]

you become very numb to the big bad wolf when you fight and kill his ilk on a daily basis.

Agreed, while Cerberus played a wererat tracking our 3 men party it was a terrible monster, scary and menacing. When you butcher them by the dozen every 50 meters or so it becomes hack and slash work like any common encounter.

[JipK]

The issue is that in a campaign, you would fight perhaps a dozen lycanthropes maximum in the course of the adventure. Here, we slaughter them like cattle.

Perhaps in DM encounters, but even then.

Reduce the number of lycanthropes and up the number of 'bandit' type spawns or the like. Problem solved, make the fantastic seem more fantastic that way as well - you become very numb to the big bad wolf when you fight and kill his ilk on a daily basis.

Yeah that'd be a nice alternative, reducing the Werewolves abit. That would also make them rare and more feared overall.

Belledonna cures lycantrophy curse, might also script something with that.

[Isu]

On another RL-server lycanthrophy was wonderfull shaped. If you were bitten you had a percentage chance to get infected. And that was no fun. Every full moon (they also had a moon-cycle system there) you had to save fortitude vs. a specific amount related to the strenght of the wercreature or you turned yourself into this wercreature. If this happened you lost control over your actions for around two minutes and could do nothing but briefly direct your PC while he was attacking and murdering everything that came under his claws.

Lycanthrophy could only be cured by beladonna and high level prayers, or if you were bitten by a higher wercreature you first had to find this source and try to cure you in his blood (that is the way it was also on the original RL-PC-Module).

This was a great system. You were really afraid of wercreatures - even if you knew you could beat them with ease. Because there was everytime a chance that you could get infected.

[Shiobhan]

On another RL-server lycanthrophy was wonderfull shaped. If you were bitten you had a percentage chance to get infected. And that was no fun. Every full moon (they also had a moon-cycle system there) you had to save fortitude vs. a specific amount related to the strenght of the wercreature or you turned yourself into this wercreature. If this happened you lost control over your actions for around two minutes and could do nothing but briefly direct your PC while he was attacking and murdering everything that came under his claws.

Lycanthrophy could only be cured by beladonna and high level prayers, or if you were bitten by a higher wercreature you first had to find this source and try to cure you in his blood (that is the way it was also on the original RL-PC-Module).

This was a great system. You were really afraid of wercreatures - even if you knew you could beat them with ease. Because there was everytime a chance that you could get infected.

Script might be on Neverwintervault ... could take a look to see if you can find it.

[EO]

There are such scripts available, but they'd have to be tweaked a lot to fit here.

[evanyeung]

I actually put one of those scripts that I tweaked in my own module...seemed to work alright when I tested it on some of my own characters...

[Natsumi]

Any words from the DMs on this?

[Kazimir]

Personaly I thnk that it would be very interesting to try an play a cursed character.. I also feel that anything that scares the players will refect a healthy fear in the characters as well.  If there were voting on it, mine would be in favor of finding a system to make it work.

My two fang...

[Ravenous]

Even for us being able to play True Lycans from start perhaps would be excellent. Then you methodically go around and infect certain characters to add to your pack.  
Since cursed Lycans cant spread Lycanthropy as far as I remember. And Belladonna does not cure Lycanthropy(werewolfism) in Ravenloft, the curse is to strong, only by killing the originator of the curse and through strong magic and perhaps belladonna can you cure a Lycan. Dont remember exactly, was a little while since I read Van Richtens Guide to Werebeasts and the Werebeast chapter in the 3rd ed Core book.

If the oppertunity came for me to play a True lycan I would take it, even a cursed one would be a great RP oppertunity.
We have one cursed Lycan on the server I think, Michael Reldon, might be wrong though

[JironGhrad]

Evan's script worked real well... frightening was what I recall  

[Ambrosios]

Evan's script worked real well... frightening was what I recall  

So, next update..?    

Maybe?

[EO]

The issue with lycanthropy is that it'll just spread in no time to the whole playerbase and then everyone is a lycan.

[Ambrosios]

The issue with lycanthropy is that it'll just spread in no time to the whole playerbase and then everyone is a lycan.

They'll be trying to find a cure, a little DM interaction they will and it's fixed. But any way, such a script should *not* go in unless they massively tone down the number of werecreature spawns(Why on God's green earth are they so dang common any way?).

[EO]

You seem to forget one thing. It's cool to be a werewolf...

As such, people would want to be werewolves for the "coolness" factor and all.

[Ambrosios]

You seem to forget one thing. It's cool to be a werewolf...

As such, people would want to be werewolves for the "coolness" factor and all.

Oh right I forgot this was NWN and we have alot of munchkins, sorry.  

Right, being cursed is 'cool'.  

*mutters*

Any way, back on topic. Why are lycanthropes so god-awfully common any way? It kind of totally destroys the horror aspect.


*A dark road on a moon-lit night. The wind howls mournfully and something is aflight this night, wing beats can be heard..*


Bill,"Hey Tom, look more werebats!"

Tom,"Really Bill? More of them! Well, let me buff up myself so my sword is +3 and flaming then lets kill them!"

*Tom cries to 'T3H L33T G0D 0F UB3RN3SS!!! With Trickery and Magic domains, but he's a war god!'*

*Dragon Ball Z-esque transformation*

*Tom and Bill hack up the monsters after he enchants Bill's sword*

Tom,"Well, these things sure are pathetic huh Bill? Damn common to.."

Bill,"Sure are Tom, sure are.. filthy things." *Spits on a corpse*



^The above, leaving alone these made up chracters and thier apparent disturbingly high commonality on the server.. is far to common. People encountering lycanthropes every freaking week IC(or so) generally completely removes the,"Holy crap it's unknown flee for your FREAKIN' LIVES!"

[Isu]

Oh! On the former RL-server the script was like this that it was definitly not cool to be a werwolf. You feared it becoming one. Imagine the scene, one of which we sometimes had: You fight with your party against a vilian and suddenly your char turns into a werwolf with full hp and turns against your (now weak from the the fight) partymemebers. They also do not want to kill you. And sometimes it has happened that the werwolf killed his own group. Turning back to human then and finding himself in the blood of his companions. It was really scarry to become infected. And everyone tried to avoid it.

[Ambrosios]

Oh! On the former RL-server the script was like this that it was definitly not cool to be a werwolf. You feared it becoming one. Imagine the scene, one of which we sometimes had: You fight with your party against a vilian and suddenly your char turns into a werwolf with full hp and turns against your (now weak from the the fight) partymemebers. They also do not want to kill you. And sometimes it has happened that the werwolf killed his own group. Turning back to human then and finding himself in the blood of his companions. It was really scarry to become infected. And everyone tried to avoid it.

Now that sounds more like it.  

[Ravenous]

Yeah, thats the way....

But if the curse is implemented, true werewolves among players needs to be implemented as well, for several reasons..
And a skill to control shapechanging as well, Control Shapeshifting and maybe even the feat Improved Control Shape.. Lots of work I would guess.