Curse of the Moon -- Simple Lycanthrope Template and the Lesser Scent Ability

   One of the goals of Curse of the Moon was to address that creatures built with the standard lycanthrope template are really complex. You have to add hit dice, a bunch of abilities in all three forms, different subsets of abilities for each form, and so on ... basically the creature ends up with three radically different stat blocks and it's a lot of work. Plus you end up with a CR change and a significant LA change, which means it's difficult to build low-level lycanthrope encounters or have lycanthrope PCs.
   Then there's the problem that each lycanthrope type (werewolf, wererat, etc.) adds a different set of abilities, so it's hard to make general rules statements about the standard template. Regarding that last point, here's an example. If you create a prestige class for animal-themed characters and the top level of the class gives the creature "all the abilities of the appropriate lycanthrope", the character that likes bears makes out like a bandit (because werebears get a lot from the template) and the guy who likes rats gets very little by comparison (because wererats don't). The class is supposed to be balanced for all similar characters -- otherwise it would be like the archmage prestige class being really good for evokers but comparatively poor for transmuters.
   To fix this, I created a new lycanthrope template -- the simple lycanthrope -- that has a very small impact on the base creature's stat block, adds a few key abilities so the templated creature would still feel like how we expect a lycanthrope should, and was standardized for all werecreatures (everyone gets the same thing from the base template). This opened the door for feats granting various animal abilities (improved grapple, trip, multiple attacks, and so on) and additional werecreature abilities (bigger and smaller wereforms, celestial and wereanimal forms, and so on) as well as a monster class/racial class that lycanthropes could take if they wanted to focus on their special abilities rather than a standard class.
   There's also the problem of damage reduction--it only affects weapon attacks. Because of a how the DR game mechanic works, a lycanthrope isn't any more resistant to fire than a normal human ... but in my opinion a lycanthrope's powers should help it resist other sorts of attacks, including energy and direct-damage spells.
   To take care of this I created a new mechanic -- moon hit points -- which applies to all kinds of incoming damage, making lycanthropes tough in the face of anything, not just guys with swords.
   This web preview presents the simple lycanthrope template, the moon hit point mechanic, and a sample simple werewolf.

Simple Lycanthrope
A lycanthrope is a creature that takes the shape of an animal under the influence of the full moon. Natural lycanthropes inherit this condition from their parents; afflicted lycanthropes have it thrust upon them by the attack of another lycanthrope, but all have strong ties to the feral aspects of their personalities.
   Lycanthropes are often indistinguishable from nonlycanthropes, but natural lycanthropes and long-term afflicted ones sometimes display traits reminiscent of their animal forms even in their natural ones. For example, a wererat might have prominent teeth and a pointed nose, a wereboar might be hairy and have an underbite, a werewolf could have a widow's peak and a long face, and so on.
Creating a Simple Lycanthrope
"Simple lycanthrope" is an acquired or inherited template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature with a discernable anatomy (referred to hereafter as the base creature). Most lycanthropes are humanoids.
   A lycanthrope uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here. The base creature's normal shape is its natural form, and its animal and hybrid shapes are its wereforms.
   Size and Type: The creature gains the shapechanger and lycanthrope subtypes. Size is unchanged. The lycanthrope takes on the characteristics of some creature of the animal type--often a carnivore or omnivore such as a bear, tiger, or wolf.
   Attacks: In either of its wereforms, a lycanthrope has a bite attack. Use the values in the table below or the values for the base creature's bite damage (if any), whichever is greater. A lycanthrope in hybrid form that can wield weapons normally uses its bite as a secondary attack. A lycanthrope is proficient with all its natural weapons.

Size Base Bite Damage Fine 1 Diminutive 1 Tiny 1d2 Small 1d3 Medium 1d4 Large 1d6 Huge 1d8 Gargantuan 2d6 Colossal 3d6

   Special Attacks: A lycanthrope retains all the special attacks of the base creature. A natural lycanthrope also gains the following special attack.
   Curse of Lycanthropy (Su): Any humanoid or giant hit by the bite attack of a natural lycanthrope in wereform must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or become an afflicted lycanthrope.
   Special Qualities: A lycanthrope retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains the following special qualities.
   Animal Form: The lycanthrope looks like a normal animal of its type, except that its size category remains the same as the base creature's. Thus, a human weretiger turns into a Medium tiger, a halfling werewolf becomes a Small wolf, and a hill giant wererat becomes a Large rat. The lycanthrope cannot vocalize in animal form except to make sounds that its lycanthrope animal normally makes. It gains none of the lycanthrope animal's abilities (including alternate forms of movement) except those specifically noted in this template.*
   Hybrid Form: The lycanthrope's natural form takes on aspects of its animal form, such as fur, scales, teeth, tail, and posture. If the lycanthrope animal has wings, the lycanthrope's equivalent limbs (if any) gain appropriate winglike growths, though they still function according to their normal shape and cannot be used to fly. For example, a human werebat gains membranes in his armpits, but he cannot use them to glide or fly.* The lycanthrope can perform any actions in this form that it could in its natural form (including speaking and using equipment), except as noted below in the description of the limited actions special quality.
   Lycanthropic Rage (Su): On the three nights of the full moon, afflicted lycanthropes are forced to assume an animal or hybrid wereform (a standard action) and remain in that form until the sun comes up the next morning. An afflicted lycanthrope may resist these changes with the Control Shape skill.** The lycanthrope returns to its normal form if slain. Natural lycanthropes has full control over its shape and can assume any of its forms at any time.
   A lycanthrope in wereform has the following special qualities as a result of the lycanthropic rage. When the lycanthropic rage ends, these abilities go away as well.

• Enhanced Senses: Lycanthropes in wereform gain low-light vision, lesser scent (see below), and the Alertness feat.
  
• Limited Actions: Like a barbarian in the midst of a rage, a lycanthrope in wereform cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), the Concentration skill, or any abilities that require patience or concentration. Furthermore, it cannot cast spells or activate magic items that require a command word, a spell trigger (such as a wand), or spell completion (such as a scroll) to function. It can use any feat it has except Combat Expertise, item creation feats, and metamagic feats.*
• Moon Hit Points: The lycanthrope gains 20 moon hit points while in wereform (see below).

* Curse of the Moon has a series of feats to give simple lycanthropes their animal's enhanced ability scores, flight for flying animals, and special abilities. There's also a feat to overcome the rage-like condition and act normally when in wereform.
** The book presents a variant save-based mechanic for controlling changing shape.

Sample Simple Lycanthrope
The werewolf presented here is a 3rd-level human rogue and natural lycanthrope, using the following base ability scores: Str 14, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.
   Bartek, human simple werewolf Rog3; CR 3; Medium humanoid (lycanthrope, shapechanger); HD 3d6+3; hp 13; Init +7; Spd 30 ft.; AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14; Base Atk +2; Grp +4; Atk +6 melee (1d8+3/19-20, masterwork longsword) or +6 ranged (1d8/19-20, masterwork light crossbow with masterwork bolt); Full Atk +6 melee (1d8+3/19-20, masterwork longsword) or +6 ranged (1d8/19-20, masterwork light crossbow with masterwork bolt); Face/Reach 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.; SA curse of lycanthropy, sneak attack +2d6; SQ alternate form, evasion, lycanthrope rage, trapfinding, trap sense +1; AL N; SV Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +1; Str 14, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8 .
   Skills/Feats: Climb +8, Hide +10, Intimidate +5, Jump +8, Listen +7, Move Silently +10, Search +6, Sense Motive +7, Spot +7; Improved Initiative, Stealthy, Weapon Focus (longsword).
   Gear: Masterwork longsword, masterwork light crossbow, 25 masterwork bolts, +1 studded leather, potions of cure light wounds (2), potion of blur, potion of cat's grace, 200 gp.
   Alternate Form: Bartek may take the form of a Medium wolf or a Medium human-wolf hybrid. In either form he gains Alertness, lesser scent, and 20 moon hit points, but he is limited in what actions he can take, similar to barbarian rage. In wolf form he gains a bite attack as a primary attack (+4 melee, 1d4+3 damage). In hybrid form he gains a bite attack as a secondary attack (-1 melee, 1d4+1 damage).

Moon Hit Points
Moon hit points are a type of bonus hit points. When a creature gains moon hit points (normally by assuming a wereform), keep track of them separately from its normal hit points. When the creature takes damage from any source (including spell damage and energy damage such as fire), it loses moon hit points first and begins losing its normal hit points only when all of its moon hit points are gone. Silver attacks (such as those made with silver weapons, or items infused with alchemical silver, or spells from casters who have the Argent Spell feat) bypass the creature's moon hit points and deplete its normal hit points directly.
   Moon hit points cannot prevent a creature from reaching a disabled, dying, or dead condition. Thus, a creature with 0 normal hit points is disabled, a creature with -1 to -9 normal hit points is dying, and a creature with -10 or fewer normal hit points is dead, no matter how many moon hit points it has. Moon hit points count as normal hit points for the purpose of resisting nonlethal damage--that is, the creature's nonlethal damage must equal the total of its normal hit points and its moon hit points.
   Example: A 1st-level commoner with the simple lycanthrope template has 6 normal hit points and (in wereform) 20 moon hit points. A town guard with a normal spear attacks the lycanthrope while he is in wereform and deals 5 points of damage. Because the spear has no silver properties, this damage comes off the lycanthrope's moon hit points, leaving him with 6 normal hit points and 15 moon hit points. Then a cleric of Luna arrives and strikes the lycanthrope with her silver mace, dealing 7 points of damage. This damage bypasses the lycanthrope's moon hit points, reducing him to -1 normal hit point. At this point, the lycanthrope falls unconscious, even though he still has 15 moon hit points left. The cleric and the guard can continue to hit the unconscious lycanthrope, though the damage from the guard's attacks continues to come off his moon hit points until they are gone, at which point he can begin doing the lycanthrope permanent harm.
   Moon hit points remain until they are expended, or until the creature either reverts to its natural form or dies. Moon hit points carry over between transformations to wereform and are fully restored during each night of the full moon. Rest and standard cure spells such as cure light wounds do not replenish moon hit points. Thus, a lycanthrope who runs out of moon hit points might have to do without them for days or even weeks at a time. In such a case, most lycanthropes choose to lie low until the next full moon to avoid extreme vulnerability. In a way, moon hit points are like temporary hit points that go "on top of" the character's hit point total, except that silver attacks completely ignore them.
   Example: A human natural wererat fighter 1 built with the simple lycanthrope template has 10 normal hit points and 20 moon hit points in wereform when fully charged with the moon's power. On the second night of the full moon, he gets into a fight in hybrid form and loses 5 moon hit points, leaving him with 15 moon hit points and 10 normal hit points. He escapes and returns to his human form, apparently no worse for wear. If he takes wereform again any time before the next night's full moon, he has only 15 moon hit points. The third night of the full moon restores his moon hit points to 20. He then gets in another fight and loses 17 moon hit points, leaving him with only 3--though he still appears unscathed as he has 10 normal hit points. For the rest of the month, he has only 3 moon hit points upon assuming wereform (subject to further damage, of course). Knowing that he will not naturally recover any moon hit points until the first day of the next full moon, he decides to lie low for a month because he's more vulnerable than normal.

   This content is produced under version 1.0a and/or draft versions of the Open Game License and the System Reference Document by permission of Wizards of the Coast.
   Designation of Product Identity: The following items are hereby designated as Product Identity in accordance with Section 1(e) of the Open Game License, version 1.0a: The illustration of the lycanthrope.
   Designation of Open Game Content: Subject to the Designation of Product Identity above, the entirety of "Curse of the Moon: Simple Lycanthrope Template and the Lesser Scent Ability" is Open Game Content. "Curse of the Moon: Simple Lycanthrope Template" Copyright © 2005 Sean K Reynolds. All rights reserved.
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