Petrukio
2013-03-03, 12:13 AM
I have a character that I'm playing in a Play By E-mail game, a human barbarian. Recently (as in, in the current combat we are currently playing out), he was bitten by a natural lycanthrope, a werewolf specifically. He failed the Fortitude save, which means he's infected (though, of course, he doesn't know this yet).
Now, I've been playing 3E since it came out at GenCon 2000. I knew that lycanthropy (particularly becoming a Chaotic Evil werewolf) was Bad News in D&D. But I'm not as familiar with Pathfinder, so I went and looked at the SRD (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/lycanthrope). That only confused me even more. So I went and looked directly at Bestiary I (page 196), and that only confirmed it.
The mandatory alignment change after the first voluntary form change? It's gone.
The forced change when suffering damage? That's gone too.
Heck, armor/clothing remains the same if you shift from humanoid form to hybrid form and melds (like Wild Shape) if you shift to animal form.
So I have to be missing something. What is the disadvantage to my character being a lycanthrope? He has access to healing for it, but as the group's primary front-line combatant, it seems almost like a GOOD thing. About the worst I can see is that the animal-based forms should act more like the animal proper... but wolves, like most animals, are true neutral in alignment. Not only that, but they are pack animals, and who else would be an adventurer's pack than the other party members (if he gets along with them).
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Now, I've been playing 3E since it came out at GenCon 2000. I knew that lycanthropy (particularly becoming a Chaotic Evil werewolf) was Bad News in D&D. But I'm not as familiar with Pathfinder, so I went and looked at the SRD (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/lycanthrope). That only confused me even more. So I went and looked directly at Bestiary I (page 196), and that only confirmed it.
The mandatory alignment change after the first voluntary form change? It's gone.
The forced change when suffering damage? That's gone too.
Heck, armor/clothing remains the same if you shift from humanoid form to hybrid form and melds (like Wild Shape) if you shift to animal form.
So I have to be missing something. What is the disadvantage to my character being a lycanthrope? He has access to healing for it, but as the group's primary front-line combatant, it seems almost like a GOOD thing. About the worst I can see is that the animal-based forms should act more like the animal proper... but wolves, like most animals, are true neutral in alignment. Not only that, but they are pack animals, and who else would be an adventurer's pack than the other party members (if he gets along with them).
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.