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Hi all,

I have a campaign set in a Conan-esque sword & sorcery world and changed some of the core rules - including the magic schools - to better represent the style and feeling I want to achive. One thing I'd like to do is alter the shapeshifting spell a bit, so that the magic user does not fully transform into a chosen animal, but instead into some kind of human-animal hybrid/werebeast (still with human anatomy).

I'm struggling with balancing this and would appreciate some suggestions. Some key aspects I have in mind:

While in werebeast form:
- Transformation is not instantaneous but takes one or two rounds / minutes
- No magic possible, with the exception of some specific spells
- Immune to fear.
- No speech possible
- Not able to use weapons and tools (including armor, which gets replaced by natural armor (fur, scales etc.))
- Wits and Empathy reduced to 1, but not broken when reduced to 0. Instead, Wits 0 does prevent the ability to transform back into a human and Empathy 0 makes it impossible to differentiate friend from foe.

To balance the lack of weapons/items and make the spell worthwile, combat prowess and resilience should get improved. How would you balance this against other rank 3 spells?


Thanks in advance
Cereb.

One thing I wanted to clarify, out of curiosity — if the transformed person retains the basic human anatomy, what is it that makes him unable to wear armour?

The Hulk also retains a human anatomy, but Bruce Banners clothes don't survive the transformation... beside his pants, for obvious reasons

So in my mind, the size and body mass will change, but the magic does not create wings, additional limbs etc.

Except for his trousers, as you say...

So, the person undergoing the transformation changes radically — I mean, really radically — in size?

Playing around with a thought here, just for argument's sake...

If the person were to change into an oversize set of armour — one tailored for the demi-beast form's size — and then transformed, would he still be unable to wear it?

I'd like to let the player play around with the specifics of the transformation within set boundaries. So yeah, the beast can be a Hulk-like giant, but it doesn't have to be too radical. It just has to be enough to make the current set of armor at least super uncomfortable - also: the transformation itself is described as painfull and that the user liberates himself of any worn equipment to ease the burning pain.

If someone would create a set specifically for the werebeast, one could argue that the savage and primal animal-side of the characters mind doesn't like to "get dressed", but if the circumstances are right, I would allow it. It's nothing I personally see happening, though, so I wouldn't take it into account that much when it comes to balancing the spell. If the players really go to the pains to set this off succesfully, then they can have their "double armor"

Cool idea, anyhow — well done, mate!

I would remove the immunity to fear and the reductions to empathy/wits along with the not becoming broken. Broken Empathy can fly them into an uncontrollable rage. Broken wits can reduce them into a purely animal state. But even a were wolf should be running in fear from a lich, massive dragon, or eldritch abomination.

You could do something like... Gain a bonus against fear equal to the power level of the spell while taking damage to empathy and/or wits (divided up however the player chooses) equal to the power level of the spell to represent the animal side taking over. But flat out immunity to the basic mechanics of the game is always a bad choice.

Sounds good. I did the reduction, because I took the shapeshifting spell as a template and it does the same. I added the stuff with not becomming broken, because from 1 to 0 is a really small step, but if I ax the reduction of Wits and Empathy, this modification becomes unnecessary. What do you think would be a reasonable bonus in combat prowess to offset the negatives of the spell and make it a usefull - but not overpowered - option?

Well what are you trying to gain thats different from the base spell? The base spell lets you increase your strength by up to twice the power level of the spell based on the animal whos form you take. You gain the natural attacks of that creature. They can't talk while in animal form. And because they have no hands/the body is different weapons and armor already don't apply.

So with yours you besides describing it as a different thing entering a hybrid form what actually needs to be different?