Hey all, I'm going to be starting a Pathfinder campaign soon and one of my players is wanting to play a Natural Lycanthrope, Werewolf to be specific. Its not a problem for the setting, and the party is starting out at 3rd level.
We were confused about how to appropriately create the Lycanthrope. According to the Pathfinder Bestiary Monstrous PCs should treat their CR towards their Character Level. A werewolf by their Lycanthrope creation instructions is a CR 2 ( you add 1 to the CR of the base animal, a wolf which is a CR 1). This would at 3rd level make the werewolf a Werewolf/Ranger 1. However a couple pages later the bestiary has a CR2 werewolf that is a Werewolf Fighter 2. In addition it has the amount of feats that a normal level 2 fighter would have.
Anyone know why that is? Or the correct way for creating a PC werewolf for Pathfinder.
Hey all, I'm going to be starting a Pathfinder campaign soon and one of my players is wanting to play a Natural Lycanthrope, Werewolf to be specific. Its not a problem for the setting, and the party is starting out at 3rd level.
We were confused about how to appropriately create the Lycanthrope. According to the Pathfinder Bestiary Monstrous PCs should treat their CR towards their Character Level. A werewolf by their Lycanthrope creation instructions is a CR 2 ( you add 1 to the CR of the base animal, a wolf which is a CR 1). This would at 3rd level make the werewolf a Werewolf/Ranger 1. However a couple pages later the bestiary has a CR2 werewolf that is a Werewolf Fighter 2. In addition it has the amount of feats that a normal level 2 fighter would have.
Anyone know why that is? Or the correct way for creating a PC werewolf for Pathfinder.
I don't think it's a contradiction, it's just a matter of gauging what's equivalent for a party member versus what is a challenge for a party.
Were your player an enemy he may only be a CR 1 or he may still be a CR 2, because for an NPC you have to account for their lesser equipment, and the fact that 4 people will be fighting him at once.
But obviously, you can't just give someone a lycanthrope template for free. I'd say it's in the neighborhood of 2 levels worth of abilities, but they don't scale which may hurt him in the later game, but don't let that stop your player from playing an interesting character who can still do very well for himself.
This homebrew pathfinder version of Savage Species has the Werewolf Racial Class. That might help out a bit.
The template says its CR of the highest form, +1.
This would indicate that a third level character (coming in at CR 3) could have two class levels, and lycanthropy for any appropriate animal of CR 2 or less.
Personally, I like the character's number of hit die to match their level, so I would suggest granting him three class levels, but two of them must be NPC classes (or even animal Hit Die). It isn't RAW, but I think it is a fair tradeoff.
I look at it as the werewolf is a +1 CR template. An NPC fighter 2 would normally be CR 1, but a werewolf fighter 2 is CR 2. A PC fighter 2 (with PC wealth) is CR 2. A PC werewolf fighter 2, therefore, would be CR 3.
So if you want to play a werewolf (in my game) you will be 1 level behind the other characters. It's a nice template if you're in a low-ish game (due to DR 10/silver) but at higher levels it loses its luster.
Anyone know why that is? Or the correct way for creating a PC werewolf for Pathfinder.
I recommend taking a look at Moon's Folly from Headless Hydra Games. It has rules for lycanthrope PCs, integrating them into a party of ordinary PCs (particularly with respect to alignment), and a lycanthrope-specific feat and trait specifically designed for PC lycanthropes. Might be just what you need.
Fair disclaimer, I wrote it.