There is no overlap between the animals on that list and the ones given in the original
Less Respected Lycanthropes entry; I thought I should fix that, so that if anyone uses that table, they have a resource for that result. Throughout this entry, I'll be making the general assumption that the situation is as described above: the lycanthrope is
afflicted, rather than natural, and its animal form is of the opposite alignment as its human form. (Presumably, that means the hybrid forms are all Neutral, but it's up to you how much you want to deal with that.) I'm also going to ignore the size requirements for animal form, because it's funnier if your cursed PC turns into a regular-sized armadillo, not a “dire armadillo".
Filling out that list is going to have to be a series, because writing up five for the first entry took more time than I expected, so I'm not tackling twelve at once. I'm going to try and do six short items for this entry, and save time by only including the template, not a set of example stats.
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Werelizard.
(From the Worksop Bestiary) |
Werehyena1 (also Bultungin, Crocotta, Kaftar)
Werehyenas are almost legitimately respected. They come so close -- they turn into a pretty badass animal and everything -- but the meme of hyenas as filthy carrion-eaters kind of screws everything up for them. So instead of being respected, werehyenas are hated and feared by most communities. If someone is proven to be -- or even accused of being -- a werehyena, their presence will likely no longer be tolerated in the village. This is especially true since the afflicted person has no control over the decisions made by their hyena form.
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| Found in the Chauvet cave. |
In their afflicted form, a werehyena will gradually -- over the course of years -- develop gleaming red eyes, a nasal voice, and excessive body hair; this may be a tip-off of their true nature if the locals have the right Knowledge skills. In their hybrid form, they look like a weird Gnoll subspecies, with shorter snouts, duller fur, and more prominent manes.
When in their animal form, an evil-aligned werehyena (i.e., one whose human form is good-aligned) will often roam the streets on the hunt, or sneak into homes to kill and eat people in their beds. They may also desecrate graves, eating the corpses.
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| Hyena, from the Aberdeen Bestiary |
However, a good-aligned werehyena (i.e., one whose human form is evil-aligned) will generally just chill out, maybe undermine any evil deeds their human form is arranging, eat some carrion if it's just lying around being unhygienic, and may practice the insectivorous habits of the aardwolf.
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| Hyena, from Hugh of Fouilloy's Avarium. |
Template
- All forms:
- Add 2d8 hit dice
- +2 Wis
- +3 Fort, +3 Ref
- +2 natural armor
- +1 base attack
- Gain (2+Int modifier)x2 skill points
- Gain the feats Iron Will and Skill Focus (Perception)
- Gain low-light vision and scent
- Gain Lycanthropic Empathy and Alternate Form
- Challenge Rating +2
- Hybrid or Animal Form:
- +4 Str, +4 Dex, +4 Con
- +2 natural armor (in addition to previous +2)
- Bite attack (1d6 + trip)
- DR 5/silver
- Gain Curse of Lycanthropy
- Animal form only:
- 50ft speed
- +4 Stealth in tall grass
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From Konrad von Megenberg's Book of Nature.
I think it's supposed to depict grave-robbing, but to me it just looks like a hyena sitting in a hole and looking super proud of itself. Kinda cute, really. |
Weregecko (also Werelizard, Wereanole, Wereskink, Wereguana)
At least if you're cursed to be a werehyena, there's something tragic about that. Turning into a ravenous beast at the full moon -- that's a classic. That's got style. Turning into a small, evil lizard at the full moon -- not so much. You're practically comic relief at that point.
People afflicted with the weregecko curse will start balding soon after; over a few years, they will become as hairless as any lizard. They may also develop a dry, scaly skin texture, even in their human form. Their hybrid form is, let's be honest, kind of sad; even larger species with the weregecko curse shrink down into the Small size category as a hybrid. Really, the only benefit of the hybrid form is that it has a climb speed. (Actually, if you're a thief or a spy, it's pretty useful, come to think.) Oh, and you can totally do that thing where you detach your tail and run away.
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You look kinda like this, though. (From the Worksop Bestiary) |
In their animal form, the weregecko mostly just tries to screw up anything that the human form has going on. Since they're of opposite alignment but also, you know, pathetically tiny, they usually cultivate a set of allies their human form can't get rid of easily and just pass on information.
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| From the Bestiary of Ann Walsh. |
Template
- All forms:
- Add 1d8 hit dice
- +2 Wis
- +2 Fort, +2 Ref
- +2 natural armor
- Gain (2+Int modifier) skill points
- Gain the feats Iron Will and Weapon Finesse
- Gain low-light vision
- Gain Lycanthropic Empathy and Alternate Form
- Challenge Rating +2
- Hybrid or Animal Form:
- +4 Dex
- Reduce speed to 20ft, gain 10ft climb speed
- Reduce size to Small
- Bite attack (1d4)
- DR 5/silver
- Gain Curse of Lycanthropy
- Animal form only:
- 20ft speed, 20ft climb speed
- +8 to Acrobatics
- Reduce size to Tiny
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I guess she's mid-transformation?
(From the Breviary of Isabella of Castile) |
Weretoad
This is actually one step worse than being a weregecko. You still turn into something tiny and ineffectual -- yet evil -- but instead of getting a hybrid form that can climb walls, you get one that can jump. And instead of just going bald over the first few years you have the curse, you also develop warts. You're still comic relief, but not quite as funny, because geckos are cuter.
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| From Jacob van Maerlant's Der Naturen Bloeme |
Like the gecko, Large or Medium-sized weretoads become Small in their hybrid form. Unlike the gecko, Small-sized weretoads (i.e., halflings, gnomes, and the like) become Tiny. As a bonus, they do develop powerful hind legs for jumping, but they also get tiny and wartier. Also like the gecko, the complete ineffectiveness of the toad form means they have to cultivate useful allies to counteract their opposite-alignment human form.
Potential game suggestion: while trying to figure out how to deal with a minor villain, the PCs meet a friendly talking toad one night around the full moon. The toad is strangely knowledgeable about the villain's plans, and eager to share, but is really cagey about his identity, apparently concerned that if they knew who the toad was, they might squish him. The next day, the villain is suddenly very aware of the PCs, and is going out of his way to protect himself from them specifically.
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This one looks like it's dealing with some heavy existential issues.
(From a 15th-century copy of the Institutes of Justinian) |
Template
- All forms:
- Add 1d8 hit dice
- +2 Wis
- +2 Fort, +2 Ref
- +2 bonus to any saves against poison
- +2 natural armor
- Gain (2+Int modifier) skill points
- Gain the feats Iron Will and Skill Focus (Perception)
- Gain low-light vision and scent
- Gain Lycanthropic Empathy and Alternate Form
- Challenge Rating +2
- Hybrid or Animal Form:
- +4 Dex
- Reduce speed to 20ft
- Reduce size to Small (if already Small, reduce to Tiny)
- +4 to Jump checks
- Bite attack (1 dmg)
- DR 5/silver
- Gain Curse of Lycanthropy
- Animal form only:
- Reduce speed to 5ft
- +4 to Stealth
- Reduce size to Diminutive
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| Can't find a source for this one. |
Weremule (also Weredonkey, Wereass)
It could be worse, right? I mean, at least you're turning into a decent-sized animal instead of shrinking down to a toad. And even if your mule form is the opposite alignment, there's only so much damage one can do as a mule, other than wander around and try to kick people. Also, until you get the curse lifted, you are literally sterile as a mule.
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| From De medicina ex animalibus. |
A weremule in human form will gradually develop large ears and a stubborn disposition. In hybrid form, they're just big and hairy, with a full-on donkey head. As a slight bonus, their punches do lethal damage due to their hoof-like knuckles. In animal form, their primary strategy is just to bray the secrets of their human form at the top of their lungs, to try and screw the cursed individual over as much as possible.
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Apparently there's an actual D&D monster called an “asswere".
It's exactly what it sounds like.
(From the Tome of Horrors) |
Template
- All forms:
- Add 2d8 hit dice
- +2 Wis
- +3 Fort, +3 Ref
- +2 natural armor
- Gain (2+Int modifier)x2 skill points
- Gain the feats Iron Will, Endurance, and Run
- Gain low-light vision and scent
- Gain Lycanthropic Empathy and Alternate Form
- Challenge Rating +2
- Hybrid or Animal Form:
- +2 Str, +2 Dex, +4 Con
- 2 hoof attacks (1d3)
- DR 5/silver
- Gain Curse of Lycanthropy
- Animal form only:
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| From the Bestiaire d'amour |
Wererhino
Now we're getting somewhere, right? Being a rhino is awesome. In your human form, you're significantly tougher than you used to be. In your hybrid form, you're a juggernaut of muscle. In your animal form... well, damn, you basically have a rhinoceros that hates you showing up every month and trashing all your stuff. Okay, so it's a pain in the ass.
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| From an Iranian manuscript The Benefits of Animals |
Those who suffer from the wererhino curse put on bulk very easily, and their skin thickens noticeably. They may also get a small keratinous growth on their nose. In their hybrid form, they are exactly as terrifying as you'd expect a humanoid rhinoceros to be. In their animal form, they devote much of their time to physically destroying everything their human form is trying to build, and may even hunt down their human form's allies, with messy results.
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| 16th-century woodcut by Albrecht Dürer. |
Template
- All forms:
- Add 5d8 hit dice
- +2 Wis
- +5 Fort, +4 Ref, +1 Will
- +2 natural armor
- Gain (2+Int modifier)x5 skill points
- Gain the feats Iron Will, Endurance, Great Fortitude, and Skill Focus (Perception)
- Gain scent
- Gain Lycanthropic Empathy and Alternate Form
- Challenge Rating +3
- Hybrid or Animal Form:
- +12 Str, +8 Con
- +7 natural armor (in addition to previous +2)
- Gore attack 2d6
- Special attack: powerful charge (gore, 4d6+12)
- DR 5/silver
- Gain Curse of Lycanthropy
- Animal form only:
- 40ft speed
- Increase size to Large
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| From Liber de naturis bestiarum |
Weremadillo
And we're back to Stuff It's Not Cool to Turn Into. You're a little burrowing thing with weak eyesight, which is great because at least your animal form can't wreck your stuff so much, but lame because you turn into a friggin' armadillo.
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| From Johann Daniel Meyer's Angenehmer und nützlicher Zeit-Vertreib mit Betrachtung curioser Vorstellungen allerhand kriechender, fliegender und schwimmender, auf dem Land und im Wasser sich befindender und nährender |
In their human form, weremadillos will gradually grow a longer, thinner nose, and their eyesight will weaken significantly. They may develop scaly skin on their back. In hybrid form, they are still more weak-eyed, and may be forced to rely on smell and touch to navigate at times. They have armor plating on their back, but can't really roll up properly. In hybrid form, all weremadillos are Small. In their animal form, they follow a strategy very similar to the weretoad and weregecko, but are slightly less nervous as they have natural protection available.
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| From Nicolas Monardes's Historia Medicinal |
Template
- All forms:
- Add 1d8 hit dice
- +2 Wis
- +2 Fort, +2 Ref
- +2 natural armor
- Gain (2+Int modifier)x2 skill points
- Gain the feats Iron Will, and Skill Focus (Perception)
- Gain scent
- Gain Lycanthropic Empathy and Alternate Form
- Challenge Rating +2
- -2 to all checks involving sight
- Hybrid or Animal Form:
- +4 Dex
- +2 natural armor (in addition to previous +2)
- Reduce size to Small
- Claw attack 1d2
- Special: can hold breath underwater for up to 6 minutes.
- DR 5/silver
- Gain Curse of Lycanthropy
- -2 to all checks involving sight (in addition to previous penalty)
- Animal form only:
- Gain 5ft burrow speed
- Reduce size to Tiny
- -4 to all checks involving sight (in addition to previous penalties)
- Gain the special ability Protective Ball.
- An armadillo can roll up into a ball as a swift action, increasing its natural armor bonus to +3 but decreasing its speed to 0 feet. Unrolling is a move action.
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| From Pierre Belon's Les Observations De Plusieurs Singularites et Choses Memorables Trouvée En Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie et Autres Pays Estrangèrs, Redigées Trois Livres |
People afflicted with the weregecko curse will start balding soon after; over a few years, they will become as hairless as any lizard. They may also develop a dry, scaly skin texture, even in their human form. Their hybrid form is, let's be honest, kind of sad; even larger species with the weregecko curse shrink down into the Small size category as a hybrid. Really, the only benefit of the hybrid form is that it has a climb speed. (Actually, if you're a thief or a spy, it's pretty useful, come to think.) Oh, and you can totally do that thing where you detach your tail and run away.
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