Lycanthropes

[Blue Lemon]

How do you deal with Players who become Lycanthropes?
Do you let them keep their character or do you treat them as a monster?
Does their Alignment change? Do they remain in control of their action?

[Blood axe]

What kind? It should not be a benefit.

[Wizardawn]

How do you deal with Players who become Lycanthropes?
Do you let them keep their character or do you treat them as a monster?
Does their Alignment change? Do they remain in control of their action?

Time for a quest for something rare that may cure the ailment...before it is too late. Onward!!!

[Blue Lemon]

So I suppose that once the disease takes effect, the PC effectively becomes a NPC bent on killing and infecting others?
My doubt arises from the fact that a lycanthrope can choose to transform whenever it wants, so he could theoretically stay in human form indefinitely.
Does the character lose control of his action even when in human form?

[Wizardawn]

So I suppose that once the disease takes effect, the PC effectively becomes a NPC bent on killing and infecting others?

Not really...and their goal is not to run around and infect others. That just happens if they manage to let any prey escape.

My doubt arises from the fact that a lycanthrope can choose to transform whenever it wants, so he could theoretically stay in human form indefinitely.

Well...in Labyrinth Lord this is the case. If you want some D&D style insight, they can change at night whenever they want, but if there is a full moon...there is a 90% chance it is going to happen no matter what.

Does the character lose control of his action even when in human form?

As the creature...YES, in human form...NO.

Keep in mind that this is a "curse" the character gets. The group can lock him in a steel cage during a full moon if they do not want to lose their friend from the group. It also (as I mentioned prior) provides some avenues for stories and quests pertaining to the disease...but usually...one can afford the cleric to take care of it.

Labyrinth Lord is little more forgiving on the disease as an 11th cleric can cure the disease. Other similar games have it as 12th level clerics...and only within the first 3 days of infection. In other similar games, you can drink holy water to slow the effects of the disease. You can eat belladonna within the first hour and there is a 25% chance of being cured. Eating that herb will make you pass out for 1-4 days and there is a 1% you will die from eating it.

[bighara]

I have rarely (if ever) seen a PC infected. The one time it might have happened that I can recall was in 3rd edition, and the PC made their save vs. the wererat's bite (yawn ).

If I did have an infected PC in the group, I would make it simple: find a cure before the first involuntary transformation. Otherwise, the condition is permanent, and the PC is corrupted by the experience and no longer a playable character (NPC-hood). While I can understand wanting to let a player role-play it out, my experiences with things like this have been less than satisfying (characters turning everyone else into vampires, etc.).

I'm just a lazy GM, I guess.

[Dyson Logos]

I've always run it that once the disease is in full effect, the character becomes an NPC until cured.

[YamItheonly1]

I ran a campaign (read 1 session) based around a Wererat Lycanthrope, it just so happened that one of the players got infected and all that fun stuff . I let the player control their character in human form, and allowed some control (such as where to go and who to eat) when in beast form. Also turning into a beast always happened during a full moon (and there was a week of full moons )

[petespahn]

I ran a werewolf party for 2e with a clan structure ripped straight from WtA. No Wyrm stuff or anything, basically werewolf adventurers protecting and furthering the interests of the clan by adventuring and such.

I'd probably require a quest for an infected PC in LL.

Pete