Been running a Pathfinder game in an older Paizo product that I had laying around (Shackled City Campaign). The players have reached level 3, are running through Chapter 2, and just finished the were-rat encounter. Unfortunately, two of the four characters got hit with bites (and failed the accompanying Fort saves), so lycanthropy will be rearing its ugly head.
The official rules are a little light on the specifics of affliction, and wanted to get some feedback and insight on how to "officially" run this.
1) Cures.
*SRD states Belladonna is a possible cure, if taken within one hour of contraction. STR-damage poison.
*Wolfsbane is the "traditional" cure for lycanthropy, but has CON-based damage, which would make the DC15 save vs Lycanthropy a little difficult.
*No statement that you HAVE to take poison damage to get the additional save, although that is has been mentioned on various other threads I have read. No time limit has been mentioned that the poison has to be consumed to get the additional save.
*A remove disease or heal spell cast by a cleric of 12th level or higher cures the affliction, provided the character receives the spell within 3 days of the infecting lycanthrope's attack.
No real mention of methods to remove lycanthropy after the 3 days have passed, although Wish would likely do it, and other high-level spells should be possible.
2) Character options.
If the character does not know to take a cure before the disease onset, a character could be unaware of their affliction for up to 40 days (incubation period of 10 days, 30 day "months"). if a character wants to "use" this affliction, there are no real information provided on what the exact level adjustment is for the template. CR is +1, but I don't think that is the equivalent of the LA.
The closest information on a character progression is on the old Wizards website for the web-"enhancement" for Savage Species:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030912a
But this states that the full progression for an afflicted character would be 2 "levels" of were-rat, plus a single monster level of dire-rat. Yes, you get quite a bit in those three levels, but I am not absolutely certain it is worth 3 levels of a character.
Good stat-bumps, +2 all saves, several feats, but only 1d8 HP, 2+INT skill points, and no +BAB for three levels.
And if I figure Level Buy-offs, is that two buy-offs, or just one? I am assuming it is the template, not the DireRat level that could be bought off, since the DireRat comes with a HD.
The reason there is no "level adjustment" for playing a lycanthrope is that level adjustment does not exist in Pathfinder.
To be completely honest, being a lycanthrope was ridiculously powerful in D&D 3.0, partially because of the very seldom mentioned "Control Form" skill that all lycanthropes possessed as a class skill. When Paizo wrote Pathfinder, plenty of rules were added to make lycanthropy a penalty and not a very good character option; one of which is that a lycanthropic character effectively turns into an NPC when they enter animal form or hybrid form.
The other problem with keeping lycanthropy as a permanent class level bump is that your player is still ahead of their peers, and you'd either have to give your other players a very artificial bump in character level in order to compensate or your one player is going to skew the average party level, lest they dominate encounters (+4 Strength, for example, is +2 to hit and damage, the equivalent of two Fighter feats).
Because of this, my suggestion is to make a side quest around helping the player get rid of the aliment. Make it painfully clear that no matter how cool the bonuses are, it is a hindrance first and foremost. A realistic transformation would shred his clothes, possibly cause his armor to pop and bend apart, they'd probably end up dropping their equipment all around town, or at least make it child's play for a thief to steal it from a vacant room, he'd cause collateral damage wherever he or she was and over time, the townsfolk would realize who it was that was killing their sheep and spiriting away their children. Very easy to make a player want to get rid of lycanthropy.
Hmm isn't there something in pathfinder about magic armor needing a magic weapon or something to sunder or destroy it? (at work atm so no access to books) If so that would make it very hard on a lycanthrope that gets larger like a werebear.
Stack save bonuses like Bulls strength, guidance, Protection from Evil, and antitoxins. Then take the wolfsbane and roll.
Edit: All the listed options stack-
the bonuses in order (Constitution, Competence, Resistance, Alcbhemical)
Of all the were's, Rats are pretty meh so the least likely to just bring in game inbalance. Weretigers and some of the other bigg'ens can really be 'wow, I went from a 16 to a 25 str. Woot!'
OldManAlexi gives a solid breakdown. Dex is the only one that is likely to skyrocket, and again that's only when they are in Direrat/hybrid form.
Direrat is...lackluster really at any level. The Hybrid can be nice, but if you're flipping out, getting the guards called on you, have church issues, mages wanting you for some cool spell components and a slew of other social/plot issues if you get 'outted' as a were, turning into your hybrid form every five seconds isn't wise.
Not counting the 'not fully in control of your character' bit.
DR 5/Silver is pretty meh in the grand scheme of things. 2 Natural armor is nice, but at the cost?
Truth to tell, I think the biggest perk of being a Lycanthrope is the Scent ability in all forms.
Really, the question comes down to 'Is this something that enhances the role playing potential or detracts from it.' Would these be PC's that won't try to abuse the form every chance they get, but would explore wrestling with the beast within and find they explore new solutions by using rats or some other social element the came comes up with. How do they handle being outcastes? That any children they have will be inherit this curse. Would they tell lovers of it before hand?
It easily could make from a stronger party as they rally to help a friend/companion deal with a life altering issue...or it becomes a few +'s on a character sheet and a detraction.
If it's going to just be a hassle, get them cured. Maybe flip out once or something, but then they eat the 'magic cookie crunch cereal' and life's good and plot rolls on. If you run a harsher game, maybe they have to retire their characters. But really, no reason to make it something unpleasant for the group as a whole that ruins the fun of the game.
How do people play magic armor when going to hybrid form? I know a lot of people play magic armor as "magically" sizing itself for small or lage players. Do you do the same thing for changing to hybrid form? What about when in animal form? Main reason I am asking is this situation is very likely to come up sometime soon in my game once the players get to the point where they are fighting the lycanthropes so I am looking for suggestions ahead of time so I can work it into the game.
How do people play magic armor when going to hybrid form? I know a lot of people play magic armor as "magically" sizing itself for small or lage players. Do you do the same thing for changing to hybrid form? What about when in animal form? Main reason I am asking is this situation is very likely to come up sometime soon in my game once the players get to the point where they are fighting the lycanthropes so I am looking for suggestions ahead of time so I can work it into the game.
Magic armor tends to resize for most purposes. Officially, Hybrid form does not "absorb" worn items, while the beast form does. Thus, you lose armor bonuses while in beast form, but retain them while in hybrid. Your call if the player loses bonuses from items such as rings, belts, necklaces and other items that could be worn by an animal.
Whatever your decision, make sure it is made clear to players beforehand.
What about changing forms once a player realizes what he is. I know back in 3.0/3.5 afflicted characters got access to a skill they used to change shape or resist changing. Is there something like that in pathfinder? Or is it just some sort of Will save to will yourself to do it?
