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For fun, I would say yes, but the transformation would mix with their shape changing instincts.
So you would turn into a wolf spider
The party would have to roll knowledge (nature) checks to even figure out what is wrong with you since they don't realize you turned into a different spider species.
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Mechanically? Yes, nothing about the nature of anadi stop you contracting lycanthropy.
Flavor wise? It's unstated and you could maybe make the argument that because of their innate shape shifting abilities they'd have some natural resistence to it, but even then I wouldn't personally give full immunity, and then you'd have to start giving it to other creatures who also have shape shifting abilities like kitsune. Though at the end of the day, this is a flavour decision outside of RAW so it's up to you entirely, just sent my own opinions on it.
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If they're afflicted while in their false Human form, yes.
If they are exposed in their true spider form... you'd have to ask your GM because technically nothing seems to change/remove the Humanoid Trait from the Ancestry when they are in their natural form despite the description being pretty up front and blatant that their spider form is NOT Humanoid. If they decide they lose the Humanoid Trait while they are in Spider form then they would indeed be immune since only Humanoids are afflicted with lycanthropy.
Creative Director
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Anadi are humanoids, despite the fact that they're also shapechangers. All the rules really care about for werecreature curses is if the victim is humanoid, so yup; by the rules, an anadi can become a werecreature.
That said... and to me, personally... the impactful and interesting part about were-creatures is how they distort and affect the familiar. They're most interesting and compelling (again, in my opinion) when the curse afflicts a human or a human-adjacent appearing creature. The further from human you get, the more strange and weird the result is, so once you get to things like lizardfolk or anadis getting afflicted, it starts feeling too bizarre and strange for my tastes. And then there's the weirdness that arises when you have a ysoki becoming a wererat, or a catfolk becoming a weretiger, which goes in the other direction—it doesn't really make much of a thematic difference at all.
For a PC being afflicted, that's fine—PCs are the rarest and strangest things in any campaign, after all, so them being really unusual is something that the story can almost always benefit from.
But for NPCs... I'd personally keep the werecreature curses on humanoids whose appearance is such that the unusual nature of the transformation is a thematic boon, rather than a distracting strangeness. Individual mileage will, of course, vary!
NOTE: My own take on werecreatures is VERY heavilly influenced by a mix of Fritz Leiber's stories and horror movies. As such, my tastes for werecreaturs is for them to play the role of villains or tragic figures in stories. For me, when a story needs a friendly anthropomorphic NPC, my preference will almost always be to just go for one of the many non-werecreature options available in the various bestiaries, so that I can keep the werecreature elements for stories that are about that curse directly. So... that preference certainly colors my above post!
Fear the werespider! Half man, half spider!
For a more serious statement, I would say personally that the curse does something weird to their ability to change shape, but doesn't curse them with normal lycanthropy because they already have an alternate shape and good command over it. I might make it such that they can't change at will from one form to another, and stuck in whatever form they're in when the curse would first "trigger". I might also rule that they have some sort of madness/loss of control like afflicted lycanthropes normally experience under a full moon, turning into their alternate form when the curse would normally trigger.
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A lot of good stuff here. I especially like the last two responses. And getting a personal response from James Jacobs is ALWAYS cool. JJ has always been my favorite Paizo personality cause his journey reminds me of mine (except I work in Finance instead of creative game design).
What I like about Paizo’s version of lycanthropy is that there is no upside for players. It’s a curse, not an enhancement. You don’t get 27 days of Uber character with 3 days of negative effects.
The good news is that Wrin was able to identify the issue; the bad news is I rolled it was already the full moon. So Wrin will have to lock the Anadi in a cage for the next 3 nights. Then every full moon time, the oracle will have to turn themselves in to Wrin for caging for 3 nights ala Oz from Season 3-4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.at least until they can cast 4th level spells.
As to WHAT they become every full moon? I’m leaning towards a vicious spider/wolf/human hybrid with the worst of each creature and of course a CE rage!
While "wolf spider" is in the name, I think something like a funnel-web or tarantula such as the "bird eating spider" would be more fitting. They're both big and look awesome. Funnel-web are particularly nightmarish looking with their gargantuan fangs
An anadi... can have the Beastkin Versatile Heritage... which comes with its own Change Shape ability... ON TOP of the anadi's own Change Shape ability.
If an anadi can also be a Beastkin, it surely can contract lycanthropy.
Now, could you MERGE the shapeshifting abilities to have a "wolf spider hybrid"? I don't think you can. A werecreature anadi would have its humanoid form, its spider form, the werecreature's animal form AND the werecreature's hybrid form, but not 2 or 3 at once ^^;
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An anadi... can have the Beastkin Versatile Heritage... which comes with its own Change Shape ability... ON TOP of the anadi's own Change Shape ability.
If an anadi can also be a Beastkin, it surely can contract lycanthropy.
Now, could you MERGE the shapeshifting abilities to have a "wolf spider hybrid"? I don't think you can. A werecreature anadi would have its humanoid form, its spider form, the werecreature's animal form AND the werecreature's hybrid form, but not 2 or 3 at once ^^;
There is a point where you just become a very confused wild order druid.
While "wolf spider" is in the name, I think something like a funnel-web or tarantula such as the "bird eating spider" would be more fitting. They're both big and look awesome. Funnel-web are particularly nightmarish looking with their gargantuan fangs
that is a matter of Personal perception
For my girlfriend the worst spiders are those with Long thin smooth limbs like black widows or orb-weaverThere is a point where you just become a very confused wild order druid.An anadi... can have the Beastkin Versatile Heritage... which comes with its own Change Shape ability... ON TOP of the anadi's own Change Shape ability.
If an anadi can also be a Beastkin, it surely can contract lycanthropy.
Now, could you MERGE the shapeshifting abilities to have a "wolf spider hybrid"? I don't think you can. A werecreature anadi would have its humanoid form, its spider form, the werecreature's animal form AND the werecreature's hybrid form, but not 2 or 3 at once ^^;
beasr Order druid is only the multiclass of the beast totem barbarian ;)
There is a point where you just become a very confused wild order druid.An anadi... can have the Beastkin Versatile Heritage... which comes with its own Change Shape ability... ON TOP of the anadi's own Change Shape ability.
If an anadi can also be a Beastkin, it surely can contract lycanthropy.
Now, could you MERGE the shapeshifting abilities to have a "wolf spider hybrid"? I don't think you can. A werecreature anadi would have its humanoid form, its spider form, the werecreature's animal form AND the werecreature's hybrid form, but not 2 or 3 at once ^^;
One's your ancestry, one's your versatile heritage, one's your class and one's an unwanted and unfortunate curse... Those are all legit.
Wanna go further?
- An Anadi can have a spider hybrid form with Hybrid Shape, but it's now redundant with the Beastkin's primary Change Shape ability unless it's another creature than a spider.
- A Beastkin can have a full animal form with a few feats, but it's now redundant with the Anadi's primary Change Shape ability unless it's another creature than a spider.
- A Wild Order Druid has access to a plethora of shapes.
Basically, you could have...
- a Spider form with the Anadi.
- a Beetle form with the Beastkin.
- an Ant form wtih lycanthropy/entrotropy (wereant).
- whatever Tiny insect with Pest Form through Wild Shape.
- A Centipede, Mantis and Scorpion form with Insect Form through Wild Shape.
- A Wasp form with Soaring Shape through Wild Shape.
that is a matter of Personal perception
For my girlfriend the worst spiders are those with Long thin smooth limbs like black widows or orb-weaver
That is what most people find the most creepy fs, my perspective is that I think a werespider should be imposing and intimidating. Werewolves are typically big ol' muscle-y boys, and the funnel Web in specific is just a big heckin' boy. I think the silhouette of such a design would be stronger and convey the feelings better than a black widow would. Which, black widows are one of my favorites. They're incredible looking and cooler looking than a funnel Web absolutely, just maybe not the right fit for this concept, but y'know
Wolf Spiders however are not very venomous, not super big (all things considered), they're fuzzy and they don't have thin long legs. They're kind of medium all around. A kind of "default spider" on all the settings. Good name for the idea, I get the impulse, I am just very fond of a funnel Web werespider now
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If the curse were to interface with an Anadi's ancestral shape-changing magic... wouldn't it be messing with their power to turn into a human? What does the bestial, horror movie super-wolf form of a human look like?
Any Anadi would recognise it. They're shapeshifters. They know their own.
But you don't know that this is a perversion. You don't know that this strange, too-familiar form is what a werehuman looks like.
And maybe you get talking.
And maybe you get too close.
And, just maybe... Maybe this hypothetical has gone far enough. I've already given myself the heebie-jeebies.
...Saying that, I also super like the idea of a big scary horror spider. Just thought it might be cool to explore the space of the human side being the wereform, hitting the uncanny valley a little when everyone expects a scary spider, so long as your group is okay with it.
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Here's something worth mentioning:
A target can't be under the effect of more than one polymorph effect at a time.
You cannot have both the spider and wolf shapes. The wolf shape would prevent the use of the spider shape, but NOT vice-versa, because an afflicted lycanthrope WILL feel an urge to shapeshift, regardless of its actual form.
So does that mean that the old polymorph effect prevents the new one (at least without reverting to "true" form first), or that the new one supersedes the old one? It obviously can't mean that a creature capable of assuming one form can never gain the ability to assume a different one.
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Here's something worth mentioning:
A target can't be under the effect of more than one polymorph effect at a time.You cannot have both the spider and wolf shapes. The wolf shape would prevent the use of the spider shape, but NOT vice-versa, because an afflicted lycanthrope WILL feel an urge to shapeshift, regardless of its actual form.
I don't think it's necessarily explicit in the mechanics, but lorewise the spider shape is the natural form, not the humanoid, so the wolf form would preclude the human form if anything.
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So does that mean that the old polymorph effect prevents the new one (at least without reverting to "true" form first), or that the new one supersedes the old one? It obviously can't mean that a creature capable of assuming one form can never gain the ability to assume a different one.
There are multiple schools of thought on this afaik for the instantaneous, durationless shifts of the Anadi and Beastkin, though less so the Kitsune where it's very explicit that there is one true form that they are concealing (which would be Counteracted by the curse). My reading is that, generally speaking, such characters can usually be affected by such effects, but can also use Change Shape to try to counteract a given Polymorph effect, though I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work for a curse like lycanthropy as curses can generally only be removed in specific ways.
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Werecreature :
"An afflicted werecreature may be unaware of its curse because it retains no memories of its transformations, gets no benefit from being a werecreature when not transformed, and has no conscious control over its transformation."
"Werecreatures are notorious for their murderous rampages in the deep of the night—violence that is often at odds with the afflicted’s true nature. Even an honorable town guard or priest could be a murderous werewolf without realizing it, for the werecreature’s curse leaves the afflicted with no memory of their nocturnal murder sprees."
"Curse of the Werecreature (curse, necromancy, primal) This curse affects only humanoids. Saving Throw Fortitude DC is the standard DC for the werecreature's new level – 1. On each full moon, the cursed creature must succeed at another Fortitude save or turn into the same kind of werecreature until dawn. The creature is under the GM's control and goes on a rampage for half the night before falling unconscious until dawn."
"Moon Frenzy (polymorph, primal, transmutation) When a full moon appears in the night sky, the werecreature must enter hybrid form, can't Change Shape thereafter, becomes one size larger, increases its reach by 5 feet, and increases the damage of its jaws Strike (or a similar Strike) by 2. When the moon sets or the sun rises, the werecreature returns to humanoid form and is fatigued for 2d4 hours."
So, any Humanoid, including Anadi who is afflicted as a werecreature turns into a rampaging monster in hybrid form. They are under the GM's control and they cannot Change Shape until the moon sets or the sun rises.
This holds true even for a shapechanging humanoid, whether Anadi, Kitsune or Wild Druid.