So I'm running my first campaign ever and it's in a self-created world in which, among other things, there is a sizable natural lycanthrope population. It's your basic Defeat The Evil Overlord And Save The Kingdom deal, though I've hopefully got enough twists to make it interesting. We played our first campaign last Thursday and the players seem to be enjoying it. Anyway, I'm trying to get stuff for later sessions prepared before the end of my winter break, which brings me to the matter I need advice on.
Two of the NPCs I plan to have my players encounter once they've leveled up sufficiently are a pair of lycanthrope Failed Heroes who tried defeating said Evil Overlord and got their butts righteously spanked because they were unprepared (ie didn't level up enough first.) The first of the two, Macavite, I've got mostly figured out. (He's a chaotic neutral weretiger Rogue/Bard/Arcane Trickster who is trying to become a god.) It's the second, Oengus, who I need advice on. Basically, I need to figure out what kind of werecreature the guy is.
Oengus is, as it says in the subject, a ranger/druid/nature warden. He started out as a ranger for his first four levels, did three levels of druid, and then prestiged classed into nature warden. Alignment-wise he's true neutral. His animal companion is an auroch named Oleary, his favored enemy is monstrous humanoid, and his favored terrain is the prairie. None of the pre-made lycanthrope types in the bestiaries seem to fit him--though the werebear comes closest--but I can't seem to figure out what kind of werething he should be otherwise. (Wererabbit? Weresheep? Werecow?)
So. Advice?
I'd go with werebear myself, but if you want to make something up and are considering non-predators, consider werestag (based on elk or any large sort of deer.) That goes along with the whole Horned God mythology and seems like a decent protector type.
Werebison is more of a prairie-appropriate animal, I guess.
I'd go with werebear myself, but if you want to make something up and are considering non-predators, consider werestag (based on elk or any large sort of deer.) That goes along with the whole Horned God mythology and seems like a decent protector type.
Werebison is more of a prairie-appropriate animal, I guess.
His second favored terrain is deciduous forest, so stag could work. (I'm not entirely opposed to werebears, but it might frighten the Auroch.)
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I had a campaign with lots of lycanthropes too, so I can understand how you feel.
Here are a few ideas from my own game notes:
Bat
Chimpanzee
Eagle
Fox
Kangaroo
Lion
Mole
Owl
Puma
Rabbit
Raven
Rhinoceros
Squirrel
Wolverine
That giant, ancient sloth thing in Bestiary 2 comes to mind.
The problem is, I need more information on his personality. You told what he is, not who he is. Having a wild bison as an animal companion though tells me he isn't predatory, so Lion or Puma might not be the best choice, but both would fit the prairie idea, as they can both be found in grasslands. I am tempted most by Rhinoceros to tell the truth. Who wouldn't be intimidated by even the thought that the guy can turn into a natural freight train? Yeah, put Rhino down as a first choice here.
Tell us more about his personality and habits, those are going to help you find and animal more then his class and animal companion.
I had a campaign with lots of lycanthropes too, so I can understand how you feel.
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The problem is, I need more information on his personality. You told what he is, not who he is. Having a wild bison as an animal companion though tells me he isn't predatory, so Lion or Puma might not be the best choice, but both would fit the prairie idea, as they can both be found in grasslands. I am tempted most by Rhinoceros to tell the truth. Who wouldn't be intimidated by even the thought that the guy can turn into a natural freight train? Yeah, put Rhino down as a first choice here.
Tell us more about his personality and habits, those are going to help you find and animal more then his class and animal companion.
... yeah. That probably would be more useful data than what I gave you.
Hokay. So the thing about Oengus is he really just wants to be left alone. I don't know if I'd quite call him apathetic, but... well, people sometimes react to failure in different ways, you know? And it was a pretty damning failure. Not only did he and his partner, Macavite, get righteously spanked by the Evil Overlord and barely escaped by the skin of their teeth--hell, they didn't even get past his front door due to the big old JABBERWOCK guarding it--but immediately afterwards their Mysterious Quest-Giving Old Dude showed up to berate them for going off to fight the guy before they were properly leveled, er, prepared.
So Oengus basically dealt with his failure at saving their country by withdrawing from the people. He's pretty much a hermit these days and he's got a pretty cynical view of human nature and the way the world works. Sure, they'll call you a hero, but if you try to save them and fail, you're nothing to them. Why even bother?
People suck and they're ungrateful. It's a lot easier to hide out on the prairie communing with your auroch then actually try to deal with them.
So basically, he's Eeyore and has been for the last, oh, twenty-five years or so.
(Oengus was a little more social and upbeat during his actual hero days, but even then he was kind of a stick-in-the-mud, especially compared to Macavite. Like, the serious stoic muscle guy to Macavite's Parker Lewis Ferris Bueller type. They were mercenaries before they got convinced to try giving the hero thing a try.)
ANYWAY, I hope that is enough to be helpful. I actually like your wererhino idea a lot. It feels right.