Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Spiritwalker 08-07-07, 12:44 PM	LOUP-GAROU In times past, there were not only Lycanthropes who could walk the world as man or animal. There was another people, the people of the wolf, the Loup Garou, who once walked in Humanity’s shadow, watching over them. The People of the Wolf were charged with the protection and guardianship of the Mortal Races in ages long lost to distant memory, and for generations they did just that, the faithful hounds of whatever mysterious power had set them upon such a path. But, alas, the Loup-Garou were, despite their powers, only human, and for them all the more susceptible to the weaknesses all humans are prone. Somewhere along the path, the People of the Wolf changed, from watchers and wardens to warriors in the shadows. Their tactics became brutal in carrying out their charge, and they became judges and executioners. It became a matter of fear when wolves were heard howling in the distant hills and dark forests, for it meant that, just maybe, another man deemed a criminal by the Loup-Garou was being hunted in the dark, falling to the pack. It came to be that when the People of the Wolf were no more than an open secret, they came out, declaring themselves the next evolution of mankind and the rightful rulers of the masses. They carved out a kingdom, falling ever deeper down a path never laid out for them, a darkness and a blot on the land. After a hundred years of domination and slavery, a final act of madness – the slaying of an innocent child, triggered a revolution that swept the Reign of the Wolf from the world, and scattered the Loup Garou to the four winds. The Mortal races thought themselves safe, and time moved on, whilst the People of The Wolf, reduced to a shadow themselves, passed from history and into hiding. This humanoid appears form the shadows where you thought, only a moment before, nothing was standing, and stands blocking your path, pale in the moonlight. A shiver of something half remembered passes up your spine as its eyes glow gold in the dim light, and Two huge wolvesd appear, flanking it, and growling low in their throats. As he advances, the creature begins to change, and a howl splits the air. LOUP-GAROU Loup-Garou is an Inherited template that can be applied to any humanoid, referred to hereafter as the Base Creature. A Loup-Garou uses all of the base creatures’ statistics except as noted here. Size and Type: The size of the creature remains unchanged, Type changes to Monstrous Humanoid, and they gain the (Shapechanger) subtype. Speed: Speed remains unchanged, when in wolf form, speed increases to 50ft. Abilities: Add the following Ability Adjustments in addition to the Base Creatures’. Dex +2, Wis +2, Cha -2. Special Qualities: A Loup Garou has all of the base creatures special qualities, in addition to those noted here. Darkvision: A Loup-Garou gains darkvision out to a range of 60ft. The Loup-Garou always watched humanity from the shadows, and always struck from the dark, the mysterious powers that granted them their powers gave the people of the wolf the power to see in darkness to aid in their charge. Lowlight Vision: A Loup Garou can see twice as far as humans in torchlight, starlight, and any other conditions of poor illumination. Change Shape: A Loup Garou can assume the form of a wolf as a standard action. This ability functions like Wild Shape, but a Loup Garou does not change their physical ability scores. A Loup Garou may use this ability to qualify for feats requiring a Druids’ Wild Shape as a Prerequisite, though they may only use any abilities gained a number of times per day equal to their Wisdom bonus (if any) +1, to a minimum of once. Damage Reduction: A Loup-Garou is blessed with a resiliance to physical harm, and gains Damage Reduction 5/silver at 5th level. This bonus increases to DR 10/Silver at tenth level. However, the effects of silver weakness (see below) still apply. Silver Weakness: Any time a Loup Garou is subject to an attack with a silver weapon, she takes an additional 50% damage, and must make a DC 14 fortitude save or become Sickened for 1 minute Gaze of The Beast: The Beast shines through the eyes of a Loup Garou anytime they experience feelings of intense emotion, and their eyes shine golden. They gain a +2 to Intimidate checks, but take a -2 penalty to Diplomacy checks. Skill Bonuses: A Loup Garou gains a +4 bonus to Move Silently Checks. Track: A Loup Garou gains track as a bonus feat. CR: +1. LA: +2. Please note, the original idea for this template came from reading a book called Blood and Chocolate (not the movie, it sucked) by Annette Curtis Clous, and through spending three hours in a smelly hospital waiting room with nothing but a pad of paper for company.
Mark_Aged 08-08-07, 09:41 AM	Sweet! That is one cool template! I like that they have Silver Weakness, rather then Damage Reduction whatever/Silver.
SlanderPanic 08-08-07, 10:25 AM	*coripoff (http://www.white-wolf.com/werewolf/index.php)* In all seriousness, it's a pretty cool template. The history, even if slightly derivative, is unique enough to stand on its own. I have a few critiques which will hopefully be constructive, as intended. 1) Silver Weakness should be double damage rather than +50%. This serves the purpose of making the math go just a little faster and making it consistent with other vulnerabilities to certain damage types. I'd honestly rather see the loup-garoux get DR 5/silver which upgrades to DR 10/silver at a specific character level. 2) Change Shape lets you qualify for Wild feats. Because you can change shape an unlimited number of times per day, this opens up unlimited uses of those feats. This is a bad thing. How about limiting the number of changes per day, or just limiting the number of times the character can leverage his shapehanging power to use Wild feats? 3) The level adjustment is way too low. You've got darkvision, scent, low-light vision, Track, a bonus to a mental ability score, shapechanging, and immunity to humanoid-specific spells, without a whole lot to balance that out. Keep in mind that a lycanthrope gains most of these benefits and has both a higher LA and has to waste levels on animal hit dice, in addition to having more drawbacks. A +2 or +3 LA feels appropriate here. 4) The template needs the shapechanger subtype. In fact, I'd suggest keeping the original creature type and just granting the subtype.
Wrong 08-08-07, 10:40 AM	It's funny how you write loup-garou ! ;) One loup-garou, two loups-garous. And you haven't justified the darkvision ability…
Mindolin 08-08-07, 10:52 AM	You might want to change the name, since Loup Garou is simply the French version of the werewolf, with the main difference you can actually tell them apart in human form due to hairy palms and a unibrow.
Wrong 08-08-07, 12:37 PM	It's ok, there are a lot of werewolves versions, french or not. One of them is that a werewolf is someone who made a pact with Satan who gave a wolf skin in return. So the damned just has to wear the skin at full-moon to become a werewolf. There are as many werewolf versions as there are vampire versions (or elves, or ninjas :P )
Spiritwalker 08-08-07, 02:01 PM	Hey, Loup-Garou is how i always spelled it when i was a kid, but Loup-Garoux actually worked with my spell check. And I like the X. The X works. And yes, the Template was based off of a book (now made into a terrible film) called Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Clous (sp?). I did put it into the original post, but nobody replied so i edited it out 'cause i thought nobody was bothering to read the rest. Right, now down to buiseness: Slanderpanic, i based the stats off of a race called the Worghest from an article in dragon, who were +2 LA, had no weaknesses, and could also devour the soul of a humanoid opponent and cause a Death Knell effect. I lowered the adjustment after the edit, and I thought it might be weak enough to justify a +1LA. As i've gone and gimped them a little and made them a little more suseptable to silver, I think i'll keep it at +1LA, although if enough people say so, i'll remove the weakness, give them DR/5 Silver, and call it +2LA The race gained Darkvision though, and i liked it enough to keep it. As for the Change Shape feats, I thought about that while i was at work and decided draconic wildshape merrited a gimp, so I'll change the feats to usable a number of times per day equal to Wis bonus +1 (minimum 1). Silver Weakness would be too dangerous at double damage though. Silver is easy to come by, and a first to third level character would only have one HD. At double damage a silver weapon could easily kill in one blow, and that just seems a bit unfair to me. However, I did remember that the Loup-Garou from the book suffered a lot of consequences from getting silver in the blood, so I added the chance of becoming sickened instead. And as for the Shapechanger subtype, you're right, that was an oversight. I'll add it in a minute. Thanks for the crit though, any help is good help. any other help, anybody? If the template is okay, I'm going to sit down, create the character, and try to write the first chapter of her story next week.
Wrong 08-08-07, 04:54 PM	Hey, Loup-Garou is how i always spelled it when i was a kid, but Loup-Garoux actually worked with my spell check. And I like the X. The X works.You were right when you were a kid. Only seven french words take ending by "ou" take a "x" when plurals : bijou, caillou, chou, genou, hibou, joujou, pou. Garou is not one of them.Les noms et adjectifs en -ou suivent la règle générale sauf sept noms qui prennent un x au pluriel : bijou, caillou, chou, genou, hibou, joujou, pou. Les noms en -ail suivent cette règle, sauf quelques noms qui ont un pluriel en -aux. And more simple, the definition with an example from Emile Zola : LOUP-GAROU, substantif masculin A. Synon. de garou. "Des légendes de loups-garous, d'hommes changés en bêtes, sautant sur les épaules des passants attardés" (ZOLA, Terre, 1887, p. 72)There are examples of "loups-garoux" but in old french. Loup-garoux is false, even in old french. :teach:
Spiritwalker 08-08-07, 06:37 PM	Wrong, i wasn't looking to start an argument. I'm very sorry if you percieved it in that way. I realised Loup-Garoux was a spelling mistake, I just liked the X, esspecially when the idea of 'the next exolution of Mankind' popped into my head. Like X-men, X-Force, EXcalibur. It was a joke, and a homage to my geekiness and love of marvel comics. but what did you think of the mechanics of the template itself? I would like any constructive help offered, and the French translations are appreciated, (I flunked out of French at GCSE level). Anyway, thought of a couple of Feats for the template: Claws of the Beast: [Racial] Your body structure is different than that of a normal Loup-Garou, with bone and muscle structure in your shoulders and forearms closer in design to that of a lion, and with larger, more pronounced claws. Prerequisite: Loup-Garou, Character Level 1st, Con 13 Benefit: You gain two claw attacks, usable as secondary natural weapons while in wolf form. Each claw does 1d3 slashing damage (In the case of a medium character) on a successful hit, and has a critical range of 20. Wolf in the Shadows: [Racial] You have learned from your forebears, and improved upon their natural predaliction for the shadows, learning to blend your form with the darkness you find, and carrying it with you. Prerequisite: Loup-Garou, Character Level 3rd, Wis 14 Benefit: While in wolf form and standing in a patch of shadow, you may take a full round action to wrap the shadows around your body, concealing your form. For 1 minute thereafter, every time you move at least 10ft, you gain partial concealment. This is a supernatural ability. Wolf Who Walks the Shadows: [Racial] You have gained an affinity for shadows and the paths that they conceal. You have learned to move into the shadows to appear somewhere else close by. Prerequisite: Loup-Garou, Wolf of Shadows, Character Level 5th Benefit: Having mastered the art of wrapping shadow about you to carry it with you, you have learned to allow Shadows to carry you along their own secret paths. 1/day, while in wolf form and standing in a patch of shadow, you may teleport up to 20ft, and appear in another patch of shadow. This ability otherwise functions as the Dimension Door spell, cast by a spellcaster with a spellcasting level equal to your HD. This is a Spell-Like ability. Special: You may select this feat multiple times, each time gaining either an additional use of the ability per day, or gaining an additional 20ft onto the distance you may teleport. Arrow in The Shadows: [Racial] You have refined your affinity with shadows, and have learned to use them to guide your arrows in flight. Prerequisite: Loup-Garou, Wolf in The Shadows, Proficiancy with bow or crossbow. Benefit: As a full round action, you may attempt to fire an arrowinto a patch of shadows within 30ft of you. Roll an attack roll as normal, with the shadows using a base AC of 10. If you 'hit' the Arrow is transported through the shadows to appear in line with the exposed side of a creature in cover anywhere within the normal range of the weapon. Roll to attack as normal, but ignore up to 50% cover, and treat the opponent as flat-footed for that attack only. Special: If you have the sneak attack, sudden strike, or skirmish ability and bth the shadows and the target are within 30ft of you, then you may apply extra damage as normal. Beast of Legend: [Racial] Your abilities, and the rare nature of your alternate form, allow you to make a connection with the progenitors of your race, and allow you to assume a form that is both bigger and darker than before, at least for a limited time. Prerequisite: Loup-Garou, Character Level 5th, Claws of the Beast. Benefit: When assuming your wolf form, you may instead take a full round action to transform a number of times pers day equal to 1+ your Wis Mod (minimum once). By so doing, you gain the Powerful Build special quality and a +2 strength bonus while in Wolf form. However, a change of this nature only lasts 1 minute per character level. Normal: Changing form is a standard action, and duration is unlimited. Rejuvination of the Shifted Form: [Racial] You have learnt through constant shapechanging, to occationally increase your metabolism and heal wounds you have sustained far more quickly than an ordinary member of your species. Prerequisite: Loup-Garou, Character Level 3rd, Con 15. Benefit: For a limited amount of times per day equal to your Wis Bonus +1 (Minimum 1) you may regain lost HP as if you had rested for a night. You do not gain any other benefits of a night's sleep. Shadow Coat: [Racial] You have always existed in the shadow, and have learned to carry an inner resevoir of shadow material within your own body, which you can use to blur your appearence and hide from prying eyes. Prerequisite: Loup-Garou, Int 13, Wis 13 Benefit: By spending a full round action performing a quick meditation in an area of shadow, you can absorb a portion of shadows' cloaking power. for up to an hour after performing this right, you gain a +6 bonus to hide checks, and a further +2 to move silently checks while in Wolf form. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Character level +1. Bright light does not negate the ability, but natural daylight or the effects of a daylight spell do. This is a supernatural ability. Scent: [Racial] You have spent so long in Wolf form that your senses have changed and evolved to match the body that you wear. You have learned to sense the world through your potent nose as much as you rely on your eyes and ears. Prerequisite: Loup-Garou, Wis 14 Benefit: You gain the Scent special quality in both your base and wolf forms.
Mark_Aged 08-08-07, 08:40 PM	All the shadow feats are way to awesome, but Claws of the Beast doesn't say what the damage is for size. If your smaller or bigger then medium, does the damage change?
cman2227 08-08-07, 09:00 PM	good template I have heard about loup-garou in a book called fool moon by Jim Butcher its book 2 of the dreadson files. They are evil in wolf form and kill every one.
Wrong 08-09-07, 07:07 AM	Stop putting an "X", heretic ! ;) I think your template is a too strong for LA +1 (monstrous humanoid type, shapechanger subtype, ability score bonus, scent, darkvision, bonus feat, opens wild shape and feat options). The silver weakness is nice but does not balance all the advantages. When you compare your template with the draconic template or LA +1 races… Arrow in the shadows should not ignore total cover, as you can't tell if the target is away or still where you saw it the last time. A mage may have a total cover from you and cast a teleport to be behind you, your feat allows to hit and sneak him when you do not know his current location. Beast of legend has a prerequisite of claws of the beast, and I suppose that the aim of the feat is to increase natural weapons damage, but powerful build can not do that. loup garoux is too funny to pronounce, I hate you !
SlanderPanic 08-09-07, 10:25 AM	I'm still going to argue that this template needs a higher level adjustment. Basing level adjustment calculations on something out of Dragon is a bit of a bad idea. As it stands, I could slap this template onto a druid of some sort and never really feel the loss of one level when compared to the wealth of special abilities I'd get in exchange. If anything, the character would be considerably more powerful than a non-LA druid of the same ECL. Frankly, the very fact that this template is perfect for the most powerful base class in the game is reason enough to slap a higher LA on it. Let's not forget, though, about scent and darkvision. I'd suggest allowing characters with this template to take Scent as a feat, rather than outright giving it to them. If you do that, in addition to the other changes you've made, +2 LA seems fair. In fact, at that point, you could give them DR 5/silver (scaling to 10/silver at 10th level and keeping the sickening effect) and +2 would still be fair. Also, to be a true loup-garou, the creature should be absolutely terrified of bullfrogs. In the presence of frogs or toads, the creature becomes panicked (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm#panicked). :P
Spiritwalker 08-09-07, 01:52 PM	you're both right, of course. The template level is too high still, even after the weakening. So +2 LA it will be. I've also made the changes you suggested, giving them DR 5 at 5th, and DR 10 at 10th, and making scent a feat choice rather than a natural benefit. The idea of giving them powerful build wasn't to give them increased damage with natural weapons, but more to make them more in tune with the Loup-Garou and Werewolves of some of my favorite books. The One i had in mind, although i can't remember the name (literally finished a nine hour shift five minutes ago) was about a Coyote Skinwalker and she described the native werewolves as being nearly twice as large as a normal wolf at the shoulder, and with muscleture like that of a lion, enabling side-swiping claw attacks. I have to admit i missed your Hyperlink the first time around Slanderpanic. No, the Loup-Garou are not based on the Garou of Werewolf the Foresaken, although I do play an Iron Master punk girl named Aryla Greyfeather sometimes. I have to admit though, that after you brought up Werewolf, i have been thinking of a magic item that I used to have as a five dot fetish named Hiakon Ur's Shadow Totem. Thought about bringing that in. The Shadow Totem of Hiakon-Ur: Price: 36,000gp (18th) Body Slot: None (Held) Caster Level: 12th Aura: Intermediate (DC 18) Conjuration Activation: - (See Text) Weight: 3lb This long length of Bone, seemingly the Femur of some large animal, seems to have been nawed at one end, whilst the joint end has been tied with dozens of strings of hair and long fur, each one bearing a sharp tooth or ivory carving of a wolf. The whole length has been carved through with runes, and when swung produces a long, low, and drawn out note, like the howl of a predator. The Shadow Totem was first created by a powerful scion of the Loup-Garou, who found himself often hunting alone and into the darkest corners of the world, taking his own personal war with the enemies of a fledgling humanity to his enemies. Yet sometimes even Hiakon faced more than he could manage alone, and so he crafted the Shadow Totem to aid him. 1/day, a Loup-Garou in human form who holds aloft the Shadow Totem and howls (A standard action that promotes attacks of opportunity) may summon a pack of shadowy spirit wolves to aid him. These wolves remain for 1 minute per point of Charisma bonus the summoner has, and have the stats of typical wolves, except as follows. Increase their AC by 4, and each natural attack that a wolf makes deals an additional 1d6 of cold damage. A summoner may bring forth a number of wolves equal to their Charisma bonus +2 (Minimum 2), which appear from any nearby shadow on the following round. Cost to Create: 18,000gp, 1200XP, 21 days.
Spiritwalker 08-09-07, 03:11 PM	Alpha Loup-Garou Tansition Level Occationally, a Leader is called for amoungst the Loup-Garou, a man or woman of singular skill and strength, these few Loup Garou are stronger, smarter, and more Charismatic than their normal brethren, and are born to be leaders. To become a Loup Garou Alpha, a character must already have the Loup-Garou template, have at least 6HD, and have the Leadership feat. They then may substitute their next character level for the following Racial level: BAB---Fort---Ref---Will---Special +0----+2----+2----+2----STR+2, CHA+2, Strength of The Pack, Face of the Pack, Forceful Will Ability Increases: A Loup-Garoux Alpha is superior to his bretheren. Increase his ability scores as shown. Strength of the Pack: A Loup Garou Alpha is a leader amoung men, and he is born to lead his pack, or at least those people he considers his pack. A Loup Garou Alpha may meditate for 24 hours on his companions, allys, friends, and family, and may designate up to four of those people as 'Pack'. As Long as those Allies are present, he recieves a morale bonus to Will Saves and Initiative equal to the number of pack members within 30ft of the Alpha. Additionally, 1/day, as a standard action that promotes attacks of opportunity an Alpha may draw on the mystical bond to grant himself a Morale Bonus to all Physical ability scores, and fast healing 1, for a number of rounds equal to the number of 'Pack' present at the time of activating this ability. Face of the Pack: an Alpha is first in all negotiations outside his pack, and his personality is usually charismatic, persuading, or unsettling. A Loup Garou Alpha gains a morale bonus to all Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive checks equal to the amount of Pack members present and within 30ft of the Alpha. Additionally, his Leadership score is treated as 2 higher for attracting a Loup-Garou cohort or follower. Forceful Will: A Loup Garou has a limited power over his own kind, and predators in general. A number of times per day equal to his Cha Mod +1 (minimum 1) an Alpha may take a standard action to expel an aura of subsurvience around him in a 30ft spread. Any hostile creature within the area must make a Will Save equal to 10+ the Alpha's HD+ his Wis Mod, or be stunned for 1d4 rounds. If they fail by 5 or more, they instead become paralyzed. Design Note: This is far from perfect, but it is also off the top of my head. Have a look and tell me what you think?
Mark_Aged 08-10-07, 08:54 AM	Forceful Will says "A number of times equal to his Cha Mod +1 (minimum 1)" So if you have CHA +2, you can only use it three times? Just three times? Not per day, just three times in a lifetime?
Spiritwalker 08-10-07, 01:35 PM	my bad, should be per day
Spiritwalker 08-11-07, 05:27 PM	Shameless Bump. Putting this back to the top for now out of dissappointment at something else. Sod's law. You right out two dozen feats and a whole new classification (Shapestrong) for Shapeshifter Druids, and the whole computer crashes...d'oh
Mark_Aged 08-13-07, 12:57 PM	ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-:bump: it!