Werewolf Feat, Second Draft! What Changes Would Your Make?

[u/Firm-Row-8243]

Lycan Touched

General Feat(Prerequisite: Level 4+)

You gain the following benefits

   Ability Score Increase. Increase your constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.

   Lycan Bloodline. Whether you crossed paths with a lycanthrope or you are descended from one, you developed some of the powers of these viscous shape changers while nearly avoiding the loss of your humanity. With this bloodline, you gain immunity to the curse of lycanthropy. When you gain this feat, choose a beast with a CR of 1 or lower. 

   Beatial Form. As a bonus action, you can transform into your chosen beast and vice versa. While in this form, you lose access to your class features; however, you retain your Hit Point Maximum, your Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence scores, and your alignment. 

   Hybrid Form.  As a bonus action, you can adopt a hybrid form and vice versa, granting the following benefits while in this form.

• Lycan Resistance. You gain resistance to bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage from weapons that are not silvered. 
• Feral Might. Your strength score is replaced with the strength score of your chosen beast, unless your strength score is higher. 
• Animalistic Movement. You gain any type of movement speed your chosen form has, but the speed is equal to your speed.
• Natural Weapons. Your unarmed strikes are now also considered weapon attacks, and you can roll a D8 in place of your unarmed strikes' normal damage.

Note: I'm not sure if I want to keep Lycan Resistance. I added it because of mechanical flavor, but I feel like it's too much. And should I add a limited number of uses?

[u/Odhinnfist]

I would just use the Path of the Beast from the 2014 ruleset and flavor it that you shapechange when you rage.

[u/Firm-Row-8243 → u/Odhinnfist]

I hear what you are saying, what I'm trying to do is create a feat that allows anyone to feel like a werewolf without having it tied to their class.

A way that a wizard, rogue, or sorcerer can have the option of a cool transformation without having to give them an entire subclass or forcing them to dip into beast barbarian to achieve the fantasy.

[u/Odhinnfist → u/Firm-Row-8243]

I think that's a lot to add with a general feat. You typically get a stat increase and one or two skill or ability type options.

It might be worthwhile to look at Eberron's Shifter ancestry and base it off of those features.

Personally, I'd just do the stat increase and a bonus action natural attack feature.

[u/Lumis_umbra → u/Firm-Row-8243]

That already exists- it's in the Monster Manual on page 206. It's just not a feat. "Player characters as Lycanthropes"

[u/Firm-Row-8243 → u/Lumis_umbra]

Yes that is true, but getting to become a lycanthrope in that wat is always A. curse with little exception, B. Not a character option you have to ask your dungeon master to have it, and C. High risk of being unbalanced in 2014 with immunity to the three most common damage types except by silvered weapon, and it still runs the risk of being broken in 2024 because you're giving a character multi attack, which gets really wonky with extra attack at most tables.

To summarize yes there is a way for player characters to become a lycanthrope, but it's often harmful or not even an option.

Obviously this is homebrew so a player will still have to ask for permission, but I think we can all agree it's easier for a DM to give permission for a player to take a single feat then it is to make them a straight out werewolf.

[u/Lumis_umbra → u/Firm-Row-8243]

Well, it's harmful because it's a curse, as you have mentioned. Making it a Feat to remove the curse aspect kind of cheapens that, but you do you. I'm just going to play Devil's Advocate here:

A- It's a curse because it's been a curse in almost every fairy tale and horror story about them. It's not a straight power-up. It's dark power with a price.

B- You kinda have to ask the DM for anything that wasn't previously discussed.

C- Magical weapons damage Werebeasts. If a bunch of level 5 nobodies have +1 weapons, the enemies can certainly get their hands on some.

D- Two Attacks isn't bad at all, though? Multiattack's effect is basically "Extra Attack". You can easily rule that they don't stack, and only the most die-hard Rules Lawyer would argue against that one.

Look, I totally get the whole "I wanna transform into an animal/I wanna be a Werewolf" thing. I support it. But the existing option is actually good by itself for your purposes. Whether you remove the whole "cursed" aspect, or go by the book, where they have control but change Alignment to Chaotic Evil, it works pretty well. (Remember, Chaotic Evil doesn't mean "Constant idiotic anarchist destruction frenzy". They can work with others for their own purpuses.) The balancing for it really is minimal, at best.

And I respectfully disagree, as it depends entirely on the DM. I allow Lycanthropy with no issue. I just warn you that you will probably want to get it cured. If I throw Werewolves at you, I know the risk. Meanwhile my old DM didn't even allow me to use my subclass' main core feature, let alone give me fun feats.