Deep In The Jungle Of The Forbidden Plateau...

[*Altair]

Three tents, a fire pit, and numerous tracks disturb the otherwise quiet jungle floor. Sets of muddied boot and paw-prints indicate the presence of at least 1d2+2 humanoids and one (or maybe more) beasts. Those skilled at tracking could follow the path taken from the Sigil portal to the camp. The fire pit is cold or cooling, a lack of use and excess of rain keeping it mostly out of operation. The tents appear to be stocked for an extended stay, with curiously large amounts of Belladonna.

((This is a time-lapse event, as per DM Miriel. I personally will take the day off Altair, and will be playing as normal tomorrow. Others are welcome to do as they wish. Currently involved parties are Altair, Quinn, Vyse, and rotating Mercykiller Namers as assigned by the faction. Tangentially, Trissa Vol has reasons to be interested, and by extension Aleis D'cannith. Other nature-oriented PCs that would have reason to be in the plane would be able to find the camp on a relatively simple DC. If you want to you are more than welcome to intervene in the thread. That said, I give Trissa my full express permission to engage Altair in full PVP for any reason with no need to give any warning whatsoever to myself due to prior roleplay. I will roll with however it pans out. Please give others warning if you choose to do so. Anyone spending more than the day in the Beastlands is subject to Jungle Fever as below. DM Miraie has left specific affects to affected players, however the Beastlands tends to be consistent. Single animal, with very little chance for chimerisms.

DM Use: Lycanthropy as an Affliction

When a character contracts lycanthropy through a lycanthropeÂ’s bite (see above), no symptoms appear until the first night of the next full moon. On that night, the afflicted character involuntarily assumes animal form and forgets his or her own identity, temporarily becoming an NPC. The character remains in animal form, assuming the appropriate alignment, until the next dawn.

The characterÂ’s actions during this first episode are dictated by the alignment of its animal form. The charater remembers nothing about the entire episode (or subsequent episodes) unless he succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom check, in which case he becomes aware of his lycanthropic condition.

Thereafter, the character is subject to involuntary transformation under the full moon and whenever damaged in combat. He or she feels an overwhelming rage building up and must succeed on a Control Shape check (see below) to resist changing into animal form. Any player character not yet aware of his or her lycanthropic condition temporarily becomes an NPC during an involuntary change, and acts according to the alignment of his or her animal form.

A character with awareness of his condition retains his identity and does not lose control of his actions if he changes. However, each time he changes to his animal form, he must make a Will save (DC 15 + number of times he has been in animal form) or permanently assume the alignment of his animal form in all shapes.

Once a character becomes aware of his affliction, he can now voluntarily attempt to change to animal or hybrid form, using the appropriate Control Shape check DC. An attempt is a standard action and can be made each round. Any voluntary change to animal or hybrid form immediately and permanently changes the characterÂ’s alignment to that of the appropriate lycanthrope.

Changing Form

Changing form is a standard action. If the change is involuntary, the character performs the change on his next turn following the triggering event. Changing to animal or hybrid form ruins the characterÂ’s armor and clothing (including any items worn) if the new form is larger than the characterÂ’s natural form; carried items are simply dropped. Characters can hastily doff clothing while changing, but not armor. Magic armor survives the change if it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save. An afflicted character who is not aware of his condition remains in animal form until the next dawn. An afflicted character who is aware of his or her condition (see above) can try to resume humanoid form following a change (voluntary or involuntary) with a Control Shape check, but if he fails his check, he remains in animal (or hybrid) form until the following dawn.

Curing Lycanthropy

An afflicted character who eats a sprig of belladonna (also called wolfsbane) within 1 hour of a lycanthropeÂ’s attack can attempt a DC 20 Fortitude save to shake off the affliction. If a healer administers the herb, use the characterÂ’s save bonus or the healerÂ’s Heal modifier, whichever is higher. The character gets only one chance, no matter how much belladonna is consumed. The belladonna must be reasonably fresh (picked within the last week).

However, fresh or not, belladonna is toxic. The character must succeed on a DC 13 Fortitude save or take 1d6 points of Strength damage. One minute later, the character must succeed on a second DC 13 save or take an additional 2d6 points of Strength damage.

A remove disease or heal spell cast by a cleric of 12th level or higher also cures the affliction, provided the character receives the spell within three days of the lycanthropeÂ’s attack.

The only other way to remove the affliction is to cast remove curse or break enchantment on the character during one of the three days of the full moon. After receiving the spell, the character must succeed on a DC 20 Will save to break the curse (the caster knows if the spell works). If the save fails, the process must be repeated.

Characters undergoing this cure are often kept bound or confined in cages until the cure takes effect.

Only afflicted lycanthropes can be cured of lycanthropy.

-------------------

Jungle fever:

The Beastlands have a strange effect on visitors: as they stay there their bodies exhibit a minor change to reflect their personalities. Strong people will grow tiger fangs or the fur of a bear, agile ones get monkey-like limbs, charismatic ones start to grow cat ears and so on. How fast this happens depends on your views: Lawful people can last days before the change sets in while Chaotic people start to change after a few hours. The change is not permanent: it remains in place as long as a person stays in the Beastlands and a length of time equal to their stay as they leave the plane. ))

[*Altair]

((Additional DM materials:

Control Shape (Wis)

If you have contracted lycanthropy and are aware of your condition, you can learn Control Shape as a class skill. (If you are an afflicted lycanthrope not yet aware of your condition, you can attempt Control Shape checks untrained.) This skill determines whether you can control your shape. If you are a natural lycanthrope, you do not need this skill, since you have full control over your shape.

Check
Involuntary Change
You must make a check at moonrise each night of the full moon to resist involuntarily assuming animal form. If you are injured, you must also check for an involuntary change after accumulating enough damage to reduce your hit points by one-quarter and again after each additional one-quarter lost.
Involuntary Change Control Shape DC
Resist involuntary change 25

On a failed check, you must remain in animal form until the next dawn, when you automatically return to your base form. If you are aware of your condition, you may make one attempt to return to humanoid form (see below), but if you fail, you remain in animal form until the next dawn.
Voluntary Change

In addition, if you are aware of your condition, you may attempt to use this skill voluntarily in order to change to animal form, assume hybrid form, or return to humanoid form, regardless of the state of the moon or whether you have been injured.

Voluntary Change Control Shape DC
Return to humanoid form (full moon1) 25
Return to humanoid form (not full moon) 20
Assume hybrid form 15
Voluntary change to animal form (full moon) 15
Voluntary change to animal form (not full moon) 20

For game purposes, the full moon lasts three days every month.

Action
Voluntary changes are standard actions.

Try Again
You can check to resist an involuntary change once each time a triggering event occurs.

You can retry voluntary changes to animal form or hybrid form as often as you like. However, on a failed check to return to humanoid form, you must remain in animal or hybrid form until the next dawn, when you automatically return to humanoid form.

Special
If you are an afflicted lycanthrope, you cannot attempt a voluntary change until you become aware of your condition (see Lycanthropy as an Affliction).))

[*Altair]

As the sound of the birds change from one lively song to a more mellow one, a large wolf opens a sleepy eye. Standing up, he pads over to the nearby tents. "Quinn, Karan. You lot awake? 'Bout time t' get started."

[*Miraie]

Karan seems to be awake, crouched over a tree stump. He appears to be eating something. Bugs. He's eating bugs. Tasty!

"Right." The githzerai grunts, barely turning his head to acknowledge the speaker. He seems a bit fuzzier than the other cycle. More fur, which appears to run down along his spine and spread over his shoulders like a coat.

[*DigitalDragoon]

It is several minutes of pestering before Quinn drags himself out of his tent, a spell book still in his hand. He seems off somehow today. His ears are longer, pointed and covered in a thin coat of velvety grey fuzz. A stifled yawn reveals a bit of buck-tooth that was certainly not present when they arrived the day prior.

Blinking up at the afternoon sun streaming down through the thick leafy canopy for a moment, he turns to werewolf looking a tad perplexed. "I cannot fathom how you tell the time here....Very well. Just give me a moment." He returns from digging around the tent a short time later with a satchel of marked sensory stones, offering one to Karan to record as the experiment begins in earn.

[*Altair]

Altair swipes a stone in his teeth, as Quinn offers one to Karan. " 'Ow d'oo use vese fings?" He would turn his head this way and that, trying to get a better look at the stone, and failing. " 'Otta 'ave fumfin t' meavur wiv."

Eventually when properly instructed on the use of the stone, Altair would record one of his own to cross-reference against Karan's first shifting, one on how shape shifting would feel for a natural werewolf.

Code: Select all

The form you find yourself in is no different from that of any other human, and yet... There is a sense of weakness. As if something is lacking. It is a feeling like having your ears plugged, and trying to make out something a friend is saying. Like there is an idea on the tip of your tongue, but you can't put words to it. It is a feeling that leaves a lingering sense of frustration with yourself. But you know that it will soon change. Closing your eyes, you draw upon the power that you know is there.   There is a pulse, as if your heart beat violently, suddenly. Your senses sharpen acutely. You can smell what people are having for lunch in Cookie's restaurant, even from where you are standing. Your hearing sharpens. The smog drifting in from the Lower Ward leaves an acrid odor in your nostrils. A sense of confidence comes to you, welling up within you.  Then comes the change in shape. Skin becomes fluid, and bones pop as they shift. Despite that, it is not a feeling of pain. Better to say it feels as if there are dozens of smaller beings, crawling around inside you. It causes a faint itching on the inside of your body; a strange feeling, but one you have long become accustomed to. Fur spreads across your body, as your face stretches out into a muzzle and your ears relocate to the top of your head. A tail grows from the base of your spine to help with balance, swishing back and forth of its own accord.  As the rest of your limbs change to accommodate your new form, you feel the faint crackle of magic as your equipment's blessings (and indeed, the equipment itself) are absorbed into the shape's own. You feel a restless stirring deep in your chest, the call to hunt. Though it is not an overpowering force, you know it will remain with you until you return once more to a human shape; it will be difficult to sit still. Now everything is as it should be. You are once again a powerful hunter, ready to take on the multiverse in any shape it might take.

[*Miraie]

"So.. how do I go about this, buddy?" Karan turns the stone around, having accessed it. "Just will it happen? That simple?"

[*Altair]

((Who is Karan asking for instructions? ))

[*Miraie]

((Mr. Altair, probably! He's the resident turning expert. He seems a bit baffled even after having used the sensory stone.))

[*Altair]

((Ah, given he was looking at the stone at the time, I was confused. Assumed that's what he wanted to know how it worked.)) Altair drops the sensory stone he recorded on a barrel near the tents, and sits down besides Karan, the steady drizzle and wet mud causing his coat to get rather muddy. "Well... I c'n tell you 'ow I do it. It's like... When I'm in 'uman shape, it's this restless feelin'. Like somefin' wantin' t' get out. It migh' take you a few tries t' figger out th' feelin' I'm talkin' about. Anyway, I shut my eyes, an' try t'... pull it? Let it do wot it wants to?" He runs a muddy paw down his muzzle without thinking, as if trying to scratch his nose. Though it achieves the desired effect, a dark brown streak now stains his muzzle, like war paint.

"Wish I knew th' magic terms t' d'scribe it propah. Words'd 'elp. Also fair warnin', it might be painful f'you since you ain't exactly nat'ral. I guess if yer 'avin' problems figgerin' out th' feelin' I mean, give th' stone I jes' made a scan. Took it so we'd 'ave somefin' t' compare yer shiftin' stone to, but it might be a better way o' teachin' you than tryin' t' words it out."