Abyss Ambulator
Posts: 1189
Joined: Friday, 28th January 2011, 21:45
An alternative Werewolf proposal
First and foremost, if anything in this proposal makes you think "Hmmm, this sounds a lot like Felids…" well, then you'd be correct in that assertion. This proposal is made with the intent of a species with similar gimmicks to replace Felids (though existing along side them could be possible too), albeit with the removal of the more controversial mechanics such as extra lives. I did a little bit of research into werewolves to get an idea for abilities before putting this together, so it is more than a "Hey, I think this would be cool! Here's some really random aptitudes and mutations that kind of go together!"
…no, that's not directed at the other werewolf proposal, by the way, but rather more at a lot of the species proposals in general I've seen on the Tavern and dev wiki.
Second, while there's lots of ways to become a werewolf, such as being bitten, sleeping in the moonlight during the summer on a certain Friday, drinking rainwater out of a wolf's footprint, or whatnot in lore, I'm going to go with the option of it being a curse. Werewolves are descending into the dungeon in search for the Orb of Zot in hopes they can break the curse. Using the curse avoids the complications of trying to come up with "spread the disease" gimmicks and the fact 99% of the stuff you meet ends up dead at your hands. Also, it's easy to say, from a flavor perspective, that the curse locks them into wereform, which neatly avoids complications arising from having two separate forms. Two forms sounds cool, but could lead either to balance issues and stepping on Vampires and Transmutation's toes (voluntary shifting) or frustrating gameplay (involuntary shifting).
Anyways….
First, werewolves are always in a quadruped form with similar restrictions as Felids (a lot of folklore says they look like large wolves sans tails).
They are a normal-sized species. (Again, larger than normal wolves)
Since they are not tiny, they can wield stuff and awkwardly bash or throw it (can enchant weapons for troves this way, which is the main reasoning behind this). If a dog can carry a baseball bat, surely a werewolf can carry a sword in its teeth. Also, with practice (aka raising Evo), they can even use wands. No weird gimmick with awkwardly evoking wands though, it'll just be reflected in their apts.
Claws and fangs mutations at Rank 2 or 3, or possibly starting at 2 and eventually becoming 3.
Fur mutations like Felids have now, but also the Thick Skin mutation growing similarly, partly to compensate for the lower EV they'd have compared to Felids and complete lack of armor. Alternatively, they could just have their own, unique Fur mutation with better AC. (Werewolves are described as being highly resistant to non-silver-related injuries and I think pretty decent natural AC is a good way to convey this without being unbalanced. Also, no damage shaving)
Possibly Fast movement 1. (Described as being faster and stronger than humans) Alternatively, the movement speed bonus could added into Bloody Frenzy below and, under normal circumstances, they have normal movement speed. Might actually be more interesting that way.
Carnivore 1 or 2 (These are former humans or other races so they can still eat other foods. Wolves and dogs will eat a lot of whatever is fed to them. However, they do prefer meat and werewolves have been described as eating the corpses of the recently deceased)
Vulnerable to silver, even with no mutations. Acquiring more mutations does not increase the damage, however. (Traditional weakness to silver, of course, even though it's more of a modern convention than a folklore one.)
Possible rMut 1. (I'm thinking that since they're cursed into their form, it might be hard to change. But giving them any inherent rMut might step on Halfling's toes and/or be unbalanced)
See or Sense Invisible (Wolves have great hearing and smell. There isn't a "Sense Invisible" mutation in the game presently, but if it were used I would imagine it'd let the player always be aware of the "invisible guy here" marker, perhaps with some inaccuracy)
Blood Frenzy mutation. A new one that sort of acts like a passive Berserk, albeit not nearly as powerful and with different trigger conditions. One thing I noticed when playing a Felid recently was that in melee, they splatter lots of blood and many fleeing foes leave trails of it. Werewolves are also typically described as pretty feral. So, rather than give them Berserkitis or lock them out of spells or some silly thing like that, they get this. When near lots of blood, likely generated from their own melee attacks (or Disintegration and Orb of Destruction), the smell drives them crazy. As long as they stay near blood, the Werewolf will have boosted attack speed, strength, and accuracy at the cost of having a little more trouble at using spells and abilities (not too significant, just enough that a player may choose to train their Spellcasting/schools, Evo, or Invo higher to negate it if they find it a concern). Once they leave the blood, they get the Exhausted status cannot frenzy again until its gone. This probably shouldn't stack with Berserk and maybe Haste or Finesse. The boost to combat abilities should be significant enough to notice, but not enough to match Berserk and Finesse.
Have above average strength and dex (again, faster and stronger than humans), but average or below average intelligence (more for balance reasons than anything else). Note, not good strength (aka Ogres), good dex (aka Spriggan), or bad int (aka Ogre, again), just above/below average. For natural stat growth, either strength or dex gets raised. Int must be chosen by the player.
They can worship any god except Zin, who hates them because they are not in their natural form. (The power of transforming into wild beasts is associated with not only witches, evil sorcerers, and those forming pacts with Satan, but also Christian saints, hence these Werewolves are not inherently good nor evil. Plus we already have four species barred from all the good gods as is and that's quite enough I believe.)
Here's the aptitudes. For non-listed ones, those are N/A since they can't be used. I'm not great at coming up with aptitudes, so if I have them kind of weird, feel free to suggest better ones.
Fighting +1
Unarmed Combat +2
Dodging +1
Stealth +2
Stabbing +1
Shields 0 (TSO and Condensation Shield)
Traps and Doors +1
Spellcasting -1
Conjurations -1
Hexes +3
Charms +1
Summonings 0
Necromancy 0
Translocations +2
Transmutation -2 or -4 (They're cursed, so I think charging their form should be hard. How hard, not sure)
Fire Magic 0
Ice Magic 0
Air Magic 0
Earth Magic 0
Poison Magic +3 (Lycanthropy is often thought of as a disease, and this is where I'm referencing that)
Invocations +1 ("Oh dear <insert god here>, please cure me of my affliction!" Seems reasonable that they'd seek a god's help.)
Evocations -2, -3, or -4 (But unlike Felids, they can use wands)
Experience 120 (No extra lives, so no reason for them to level up as slow as Felids)
HP +1 or +2 (Again, stronger than humans and tend to be resistant to harm)
Okay, so that about covers it. To summarize, they're similar to Felids, met to replace them in that niche. However, they're a bit less railroaded as they're a lot less frail in melee combat and can still use wands. The concept here also heavily draws from werewolf folklore and tradition rather than the "OMG ITS A CAT!" reasoning behind Felids. And they lose the rather controversial extra lives gimmick Felids have. Overall, at least to me and I hope to those reading this, they sound more fun and interesting than the current Felids (I do like Felids, by the way, but they have their issues).
Yes, they still have serious equipment limitations, though slightly better. Yes, that's not everyone's cup a tea I know. You've all been rather vocal about that. But we have twenty-four other species with fewer restrictions, so it's fine if we have one with some severe ones.
- For this message the author TwilightPhoenix has received thanks: 2
- Davion Fuxa, widrox