Supplement II Lycanthropy

[cometaryorbit]

Supplement II says "Any warm-blooded creature has the potential to become a were-creature if it lives through an attack by any lycanthrope that bites it. " And interestingly "Another aspect of lycanthropy is that men who are bitten by an animal will assume that animal’s form, but retain human direction and intelligence. The reverse is true if an animal is the victim."

I guess that means that a normal animal bitten by a were gains the human form, e.g. a horse bitten by a werewolf will become a werehorse rather than a werewolf?

It has interesting implications for fantastic creatures too - would a griffon bitten by a lycanthrope become a weregriffon?

And what happens if the creature is not clearly "man-like" or "animal-like" - e.g. a centaur or minotaur? Does it gain the animal form or the human one?

[hamurai]

My interpretation is: If a werewolf bites a wolf, it will become a werewolf with animal intelligence (whereas humans bitten will retain their human intelligence).

Jun 28, 2021 18:27:31 GMT -6 cometaryorbit said:

I guess that means that a normal animal bitten by a were gains the human form, e.g. a horse bitten by a werewolf will become a werehorse rather than a werewolf?

It has interesting implications for fantastic creatures too - would a griffon bitten by a lycanthrope become a weregriffon?

And what happens if the creature is not clearly "man-like" or "animal-like" - e.g. a centaur or minotaur? Does it gain the animal form or the human one?

My guts say, the horse won't be affected. If I were to use lycanthropy like you propose it's meant, maybe the horse will be a werewolf. So, a horse transforming into a wolf. (Will it get a horse/wolf hybrid form?)

I don't think fantastic creatures would be affected by lycanthropy at all. I wouldn't say they're animals in the first place.

Centaurs, minotaurs etc. are probably not affected, but they might just become a "normal" werecreature. Therefore, a minotaur will transform into a wolf (maybe a horned one?) and probably have a similar hybrid form.

[Deleted]

A minotaur might or might not qualify as an animal, but it's "a warm-blooded creature", isn't it?

[cometaryorbit]

Jun 28, 2021 23:30:20 GMT -6 hamurai said:

My guts say, the horse won't be affected.

In any other version of D&D - and indeed pretty much any other fantasy - I'd agree. But "any warm-blooded creature" does seem to mean that it would work.

I agree that it means that an animal that becomes a werewolf retains its animal intelligence, not the human one; but "the reverse" could also imply that an animal gains the human form in the same way a human bitten would gain an animal form...

[tombowings]

Seeing as the word "were" or "wer" meant man in Old English (e.g. were and wife), in my game, the disease is only transmitting to humans and only males show symptoms of the disease, though females can be carriers.