LYCANTHROPY


Note that this power has not, as yet, been play-tested, so I have no idea how balanced, or otherwise, it may actually be.


Cost : 10 points

PRE-REQUISITES : Endurance of at least Chaos ranked.

The power possessed by were-creatures, such as Eric's Wier (or Wiermonken), werewolves, were-tigers and so on. It is a specialised and limited form of shapeshifting where the lycanthrope has only three possible forms - human, a specific animal and an intermediate form halfway between the human and animal forms and possessing the abilities of both (such as animal senses), albeit at a lower level.

The version of lycanthropy which is described here is most like that from Russian mythology and folklore. That is, the lycanthrope is not constrained to change at the full Moon (or whatever the equivalent may be for a given shadow) and is not in any other way linked to the lunar cycle, does not suffer from any animalistic urges while in animal form (is in no danger of 'losing themselves in the beast', does not regenerate damage any faster than normal healing, and is not especially vulnerable to silver.

The lycanthrope's animal form is essentially an Amberite-level version of whatever animal it may be, with all normal animal abilities, senses and so on. Depending on the form of the magic a lycanthrope who is also a Sorcerer may find their magics very constrained in animal form.

The intermediate form will have reduced levels of the abilities of the animal forms, but also crude hands and so on from their partially-human shape. The power as it stands must be acquired all at once. Precisely how this occurs is left for the player and GM to decide. Any infection by lycanthropy which relies on local shadow magic is unlikely to affect Amberites, and in any case will be lost upon shifting through shadow. I would personally consider it more likely that an Amberite-blooded person would acquire this power from having a parent who is also a lycanthrope, but if an alternative story works, then use it!

This power can act as a stepping stone to full shapeshifting, although it would probably be harder for the lycanthrope to learn full shapeshifting than a non-lycanthrope, because of their being closely tied to one specific form.


Variations on the Power:

It is possible that a lycanthrope may be different to that described above (perhaps more like a 'traditional' lycanthrope). In that case the following modifiers could be applied:

Note that regardless of any modifiers and so on which may be applied to power must still be learnt all at once; if one has the basic 10-point lycanthropy, one cannot suddenly 'learn' how to become invulnerable to all but silver weapons!


Back to my Amber Page.

Or go to the Pattern, Logrus, Alternatives to Logrus, Shapeshifting, Trump, or Magic Pages.