[3.5] Lycanthrope Template

So, you have basically two templates:

  • Werebear (human)

  • Dire

Here, werebear has a cost of the HD of the base creature, +3 for "lycanthrope". The equivalent of being a 1st level werebear is therefore 10th level - 1st level +3 (lycanthrope) +6 (bear) = 10.

And then there's "dire", which is strictly speaking for animals only. Which a lycanthrope isn't, as they're a shapechanger. Anyhow, there's several "dire" templates, and I'm unsure which you would use. There's one that doubles base HD up to +8HD extra (in this case that would be bear, +6HD), a size increase (though no changes to attributes due to size change), extra AC, extra speed, and so on.

That means that you'd get 6 HD more, but the extra benefits from the template would likely give a level adjustment of ... oh, let's say +5 or so. Giving a LA of +11 for "dire" in this case.

So your 1st level guy would be the equivalent of an epic level dude - a level 21 character. He'd have 13 HD (1st level class, 12 HD (d8) from bear and dire), and a smattering of other abilities. He'd also be Large in human form, and Huge in hybrid or bear form.

The bonus hit points due to Con is also a worrying point, as the Con score varies from human to hybrid (or bear) form. My personal way of handling that (rules are a bit fuzzy on that point, pun intended) is to roll the HP as normal, and then calculate bonus HP based on what Con the character has at any time - and keeping that separate.

/r/3d6 Thread