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Where wolves? There! There wolves!


Wakshaani

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So, for the moment, I was figuring on using Guild Hound stats for wolves.

 

Simple enough.

 

But in this day and age, it makes the mind turn to werewolves (Or wolfweres or just plain ol' Wolfmen) ... and that means an eyeballin' of the magic system!

 

Which is ... problematic. The core difficulty of Shapeshifting is a 10 of Tomes, made more difficult by the differential of the target's highest stat and the lowest stat of what you leave behind. In this case, a 4 Speed and a probable -2 in -something- equates to a TN of 16.

 

Yikes.

 

And that's for one round of wolfing it up.

 

For an hour, the TN is 26, or 28 for a Sunset to Sunrise time.

 

That's ... way, way too high.

 

SO!

 

How the heck do I rebuild this to be a thing that can happen? Staying simple for now, just human into a plain ol' wolf... no "Immune to non-silver weapons" no "Bear-sized war form" ... just a bog-standard grey wolf.

 

Anybody got thoughts?

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It's what I was figuring on, but it was a fairly nebulous thing without a good example to bring it down from the TN of 28 (!) ... So, things like "Only under a full moon" would be a big kick down, "Only at night" less, and some kind of at-will control would be horribly hard. Extra AP for a slow-motion change is an obvious one, and a limiter of "Only to change into a wolf" is obviously a big hit to the overall Shapechange spell, but... most mods are about -2 to -4. Making a larger one starts setting precedent which gets tricky.

 

Very fiddly for an effect. I can invoke GM handwavium, but that's always a last-ditch thing.

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Let's see...

 

Shapeshift -2 stat to +4 = 16 :tome

Increased Duration Immuto x6 for Sunrise/Sunset = 28 :tome

 

I found a horribly gamey trick:  Shapeshift is resisted by Willpower, so...

 

Reduce Resist Immuto x5 = -10 = TN18 :tome

 

So assuming near starting stats, then the character can shoot for Enchant 3 and Cunning 3 for an AV of 6 for the spell.  So right now you can successfully "wolf out" on a 12 :tome  or a 13 :tome , so we'll want to bump it down a bit more.

 

From here I think any of the other proposed TN reductions will do just fine.

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Yes, Reduced Resistance is one of the most easily abused Immutos in the book; you can build some truly obnoxiously powerful spells out of it. Last time my group played we specced out a Bury spell with Reduced Resistance taken an arbitrary number of times to fix being made to last a year, for example.

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So, hrm. Maybe a ground-up rebuild of the concept?

 

THE WEREWOLF CURSE

 

The Neverborn are shapechangers who seem to have locked on to several human fears and legends and made themselves flesh to match. One of the more common ones has been that of the Werewolf, both a native style unique to Malifaux and an infected curse that is passed along to humans. Native Malifaux werewolves are far larger, bear-like beasts that can hide in human form for a time, but invariably erupt into violence when night falls. Those few humans who are greviously injured but survive face a curse all their own, that of turning into feral beasts themselves.

 

(Stuff about Neverborn Wolfweres here.)

 

Gaining the werewolf curse is, in effect, a Manifested Power, but done somewhat differently.

 

Under the light of the Full Moon, the Fated must make a Willpower 14 test to NOT turn into a wolf at sunset.

During the New Moon, this s only a Willpower 6 test.

During any other night, this is a Willpower 10 test.

 

If a Fated character transforms due to failing a Willpower test, they become an NPC under the GM's control until they return to human.

 

To willingly turn into a wolf is always a Willpower 10 test. Once transformed, the Fated may return to normal with a Willpower 10 test or until sunrise, whichever comes first.

 

While in Wolf form, the Fated gains +1 to Might, Speed, and Resilience, but suffers -2 to Intellect, Charm, and Tenacity.

While in wolf form, the Fated gains a bite attack (Damage 1/2/3, use Pugilism as the attack) and +2/+4 to Walk and Charge.

While in wolf form, the Fated has no hands, so is limited in manipulation. Obviously, they cannot speak.

 

It should be noted that, while the Fated changes into a wolf, none of their possessions changes with them; they are simply left behind when the transformation happens. Those who change willingly can usually manage to drag most along with their teeth, but those who give in to feral impulses and change against their will are more feral and invariably leave such things behind. (If teh Fated has pneumatic limbs, this could be quite problematic indeed!)

 

When a Fated changes from Wolf to Human form, they gain a healing flip at that time. This may only be done once per day... no flipping between forms to try and heal yourself up, you cunning wolfling! If the Fated failed a willpower roll to resist transformation, their memories of the events that happened while in wofl form are, at best, hazy, like a dream, and quickly fade upon 'waking'. Indeed, many are fully unaware, other than waking up naked in teh woods with teh fresh taste of blood in their mouths and no idea how they got here!

 

Werewolf bounties fall under the juridstiction of the Witch Hunters, and Werewolves who are discovered are put out of their misery as there is no known cure.  Rumors persist that the lead wolfhunter of the Guild has, in fact, contracted Lycanthropy himself, but these scurrilous rumors and lies are commonplace and given no value. (Speaking of bounties, wolf pelts fetch $2 bounties. While many claim to sell werewolf pelts, in truth werewolves return to human when dead and those trophies plucked from one revert once pealed away from the body; as such, an actual werewolf pelt would only be possible under very unique magical or alchemistry preservation that no one has yet uncovered, if it's even possible.)

 

****

 

Workable? Not workable? Start over?

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Casting spells as a wolf should probably be a no-go.

 

I might change the Willpower tests to Centering duels, as Willpower is intended to be more of a passive resistance than an active value. I think that Centering still gets at what you want there.

 

Otherwise it seems pretty workable.

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Centering sounds good. It'd let an experienced person slowly take control of the changes, so you can have terrified townsfolk being plagued by one of their own without knowing it, but PCs, being of sturdier stuff and Fated, can gradually learn to control it.

 

You could probably add some other features for advanced ones, or the larger, scarier Neverborn ones, like controlling wolfpacks, Armor against non-silver weapons, and so on. Heck, you could maybe even do "Advanced Werewolf" as an advanced class and dribble out powers as you went along.

 

Toss in a few minor weaknesses, like WOlvesbane, and you could make something out of it. I can probably lean into this harder when my vacation starts in a few days.

 

Who knows?

 

You could even start stitching other tales together. Werewolves that just want to live out their lives in wolf-form, not botheirng nobody, leaving behind that world of steam and coal nd hard labor for a life of chasing rabbits, wrestling with cubs, and breathing freh air. It's only when humans come around that they fight back.

 

Or you can go with the big black yellow-eyed monsters who prey on children and murdersouly run down coaches.

 

There're, like, a bajillion werewolf legends to run with, but wolves and magic both fit into teh Wild West circle solidly.

 

Vampires, not so much. High Noon's a bad place for them to be. :D

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Armor wouldn't really match the werewolves from most of the relevant stories. I'd suggest the following, as a passive (even when in human form): 1) Werewolves are automatically Resilience and Toughness 6 base, regardless of what they had before they contracted Lycanthropy. 2) Werewolves receive a Healing Flip and recover from one Critical Condition every round (resolve these as Conditions). 3) Werewolves do not die, even with all body parts Obliterated - they will use item 2 to recover. If the body is actually systematically destroyed, such as by incineration, assume the werewolf regenerates from a fragment of brain tissue from its brain stem. If the body is wholly destroyed, such as by a magical curse, then the wolf cannot regenerate and stays gone. 4) A silver weapon which deals at least 1 damage to a Werewolf reduces its Resilience AND its Toughness (minimum 0) by 1, which will last until the wound is thoroughly cleaned (at least 2 AP spent washing it) and any projectile removed (ordinarily, a TN 10 Doctor duel will suffice). Multiple blows stack. A werewolf who reaches Resilience -4 immediately dies - item 3 does not apply. Note that any "silver" damage suffices, including e.g. a silver barbed arrow dealing damage because the werewolf takes too many actions during its turn. 5) Werewolves are immune to the Poisoned condition, except for Wolfsbane, which works via both Ingestion and Injury vector on them. While Poisoned by Wolfsbane, in addition to taking the Poison damage, Werewolves lose item 2 above, but not 3 - you still need silver to put the beast down for good. 6) Werewolves are notoriously panicked by Fire. A werewolf with the Burning condition takes its current Burning tokens as a penalty on all Centering and Counter-spelling duels. Naturally, this is separate from rules for its bite, claws, scent, vision, hearing, and homicidal rage.

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If a Fated character transforms due to failing a Willpower test, they become an NPC under the GM's control until they return to human.

 

 

 

That's the only part I don't like- taking a players character away from them is a bit harsh, what are they going to do for the rest of the session? Other than that it's a nice Idea, they are still pretty balanced, and aren't any more powerful than say a Scrapper with a high Ml, critical strike and a manifested power. 

 

I think the more controlled, tougher version (not quite Quindraco's lunacy, (see what i did there;)) though that would make an interesting bad guy) would be good as a type of advanced pursuit, as they gain levels they gain more control, (stopping halfway for the classic werewolf form) or just get better at being a wolf. 

 

looking forward to seeing how you go forward with this:)

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I have to complete a freelance writing thing today, so it'll be a day or two before i can sink my teeth into this one (hah), but I'll keep fiddling with it. The advanced pursuit, in particular, could go in a couple of different ways.

 

And I still need to cook up the Neverborn "Big scary" version.

 

As for taking a PC away... yeah, it's mean, but it's one of those risk-reward things. If there's *no* downside, then it's hardly a curse, now is it? :D Plus, most groups have a few NPCs running around, helping out... somebody goes furball, they can be loaned an NPC so they can keep playing. I mean, at the very least, you have an orphaned 'guide' to help a PC group around Malifaux, right? Every player needs a session where they have to put on their best )worst!) 'Oliver' accent and follow around saying "Gub'ner" and "Oi'm no figh'ah! Oi'm just a kid, I is!" :D

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A replacement is OK if the player is OK with it I guess, as long as the PC still gets experience for the session and doesn't lose out to other characters. one query- If the session has been written to move that characters destiny step along, and they fail their test, how would you handle it?

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Not sure, as I haven't had a chance to really run with the Destiny side of things yet. I'm still reading the rules, getting my head into the setting, and laying out plots for future game-running as I assemble a group to try it out.  Adjusting a few things to fit my style, such as tweaking the background some, without yet running into certain pitfalls.

 

Like messing with someone's destiny by having them turn into a wolf and missing the session in-character. D'oh.

 

That's a feature unique to Through the Breach which I haven't had to worry about before!

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You could just drop the curse aspect entirely and leave it more along the lines of a voluntary transformation. That's on par with some of the original stories of people using enchanted wolf pelts to transform into wolves (hello Focus Object Immuto).

 

Even the more recent Hemlock Grove went that route, and it still got plenty of good story out of that choice.

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Possibly, but that goes back to teh original problem... if it's a spell with a ludicrously-high TN, the Focus won't help it enough to make it reasonable and the "At will" nature is problematic. If it's powerful and dependable, it's no good. Strong and untrustworthy, or weak and reliable, are better balances.

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If they change into a wolf, not an anthropomorphised thing, just a (big) wolf, then regardless of who's controlling it, that's going to present problems, maybe just trust your players to roll with it if they fail the curse, act more angry etc. it's a good opportunity to roleplay for them and you can toss the odd 'WP test to resist eating a baby' test at them every so often to keep them on their toes (of course they may just eat the baby anyway?) I like where youre going though so don't give up!

 

<and just a quick hint- only write very generic plot for now, until you see your players destiny you won't be able to write plot that does the system and your players justice, TTb is a bit different to every other RPG i've played due to the fact that it is genuinely all about the players, their characters and their destiny, you can fit it into an overarching story but it's much easier to do it after character generation:))

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Hah! Well done, good sir! WHile not 100% what I was after, it's certainly a darn sight closer than I would have expected! Not at all the book I'd have imagined Shapeshifter stuff in.

 

Of course, if this is more "The book for the Arcanists" and less "The big book of brass clockworks", then it'd make sense.

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Hah! Well done, good sir! WHile not 100% what I was after, it's certainly a darn sight closer than I would have expected! Not at all the book I'd have imagined Shapeshifter stuff in.

 

Of course, if this is more "The book for the Arcanists" and less "The big book of brass clockworks", then it'd make sense.

I'm guessing that as the first supplement it will be trying to fill as many strange gaps as possible....and that the title is kinda loose. The magic part of the game is one of the weakest sections in the book so expanding it some in this book is just a great idea (imho).

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