Multiple moons and moon linked creatures?

[Border Walker]

Obviously the advice I seek is mostly for werecreatures. If a race is linked to the moon in mythology and gameplay, such as with werewolves and such being linked to the moon for things, what advice would one give for handling it in a situation where a planet has multiple moons? And when all moons are in the sky and full?

I've gotten some advice already, and the prevailing is to link certain creatures to certain moons, and when all moons in the sky, give werecreatures a bonus equal to the effects of a barbarian rage. If a player happens to be a werecreature, a suggestion given is to make the will save really hard or risk going into a frenzy of much higher proportions.

I wanted other suggestions though. Anyone has suggestions? I do plan to eventually run a campaign in this world where risk of lycanthropy contraction is high, dealing with the arrival of all three full moons for my particular world.

[MurphysParadox]

Border Walker wrote:

Obviously the advice I seek is mostly for werecreatures. If a race is linked to the moon in mythology and gameplay, such as with werewolves and such being linked to the moon for things, what advice would one give for handling it in a situation where a planet has multiple moons? And when all moons are in the sky and full?

I've gotten some advice already, and the prevailing is to link certain creatures to certain moons, and when all moons in the sky, give werecreatures a bonus equal to the effects of a barbarian rage. If a player happens to be a werecreature, a suggestion given is to make the will save really hard or risk going into a frenzy of much higher proportions.

I wanted other suggestions though. Anyone has suggestions? I do plan to eventually run a campaign in this world where risk of lycanthropy contraction is high, dealing with the arrival of all three full moons for my particular world.

That's the idea that first came to my mind.

Other options are when any moon is full, any time more than one moon is full, only when they are all full, or keep it to the original moon and make the other moons provide different effects (maybe one does extra rage, one provides extra calm, etc).

Just be prepared to have the full moon chart on a calendar somewhere so players will know the phases and how they overlap.

[LazarX]

When you have more than one Moon, none of them are that particularly special any more, are they?

One approach I might suggest would be to decouple lycanthropy from the lunar influences. Instead make it a condition that's dependent on night itself.

This means of course that nightfall becomes that much more frightening all the time.

[Lincoln Hills]

In general you'll want whichever moon determines the length of months to be the primary influence on lycanthropes, to stay closer to the general theme of the monster. Additional moons augmenting (or, more strangely, suppressing) the effect isn't a bad notion.

If you really want to fool with the assumptions, you could have the lycanthropes transform only when no moon is present (the moons are all new - a very rare event - or have not yet risen.) This'd make it harder (without a good view of the sky and/or a good Knowledge (nature) check) to predict the next time afflicted lycanthropy will return... a bit tense when there's one in the party.

[Larry Lichman]

I like the premise!

I might link different parts of the Lycanthropy curse to each moon.

Assuming the moons are different sizes, the curse can have more or less severe effects:

Largest (Dominant) Moon: Controls the transformation itself.

- When Waxing, the Lycanthrope can only transform into his Hybrid form.
- When full, the Lycanthrope can transform into any of his forms.
- When Waning, the Lycanthrope can only transform into his full animal form.
- When New, the Lycanthrope cannot transform at all.

Medium (Medial) Moon: Controls the powers and abilities attached to the transformation. (This moon has no effect on the Lycanthrope if the Dominant Moon is New, as the transformation could not occur).

- When Waxing, the powers and abilities are as indicated in the template.
- When Full, apply the Barbarian's Rage ability to the Lycantrope's stats and abilities.
- When Waning, treat the Lycanthrope's powers as if he were Fatigued.
- When New, treat the Lycanthrope as though he is Fatigued and Staggered.

Smallest (Bantam) Moon: Determines the level of control the Lycanthrope has over his actions when the transformation takes place.(This moon has no effect on the Lycanthrope if the Dominant Moon is New, as the transformation could not occur).

- When Waxing, the Lycanthrope controls his actions out of combat, but reverts to Full Moon form whenever combat occurs.
- When Full, the Lycanthrope has no control over his actions during transformation. He reacts by instinct alone based on his Alignment. Evil Lycanthropes attack anything within range, Neutral Lycanthropes attack when threatened, and Good Lycanthropes fiercely protect anything or anyone they feel attachment to. If the Lycanthrope is a PC, the GM determines his actions outside of combat.
- When Waning, the Lycanthrope controls his actions out of combat, but reverts to Full Moon form whenever combat occurs.
- When New, the Lycanthrope has full control of his actions and acts per his normal form, including Alignment and all mental attributes.

This would make it interesting for Lycanthrope hunters, as there would definitely be more benefit to hunting their prey during New or Waning Moons, and much more danger if all three were full at the same time.

[Marus]

Larry Lichman wrote:

<Clever things>

I like this very much.

Now, are there any astronomers available to help chart when which moon will be in which phase and when?

[LazarX]

Marus wrote:

Larry Lichman wrote:

<Clever things>

I like this very much.

Now, are there any astronomers available to help chart when which moon will be in which phase and when?

You don't need astronomy. Just decide what the period is and divide by 4. You'll have the intervals for each phase.

The orbit period can be any length you want.

[Border Walker]

These are all interesting ideas. I had not thought of the idea of having a moon actually be a suppressant to Lycanthropes, and will definitely consider this. Perhaps an artificial moon created through Magic just for that purpose.

Lichman, I like your idea of moons affecting different aspects of the lycanthropy itself, and may use and modify it, but I think not for a while. My current group of players is more likely to see something as complex as that as a turn off from the game than embrace it and think it new and original or interesting.

Thanks for the advice so far guys, keep it coming.