Needs more werelions, wereeagles, and weremonkeys.
Also D&D werestuff are mortal. They die from damage. The original cursed lycantrope might be the one who can only be killed by silver. Depending on what "Medium level" is, "Slain only by Silver" might be too powerful.
Doppelganger:
Seems spot on. Except the description is a little too much on the evilside. Change it. I'm a stickler for stuff not matching.
EDIT: Also does anyone else always imagine the Chameleon from the Spiderman cartoons when they imagine doppelgangers? No nose!
Orzel, Halfelven son of Zel, Mystic Ranger, Bane to Dragons, Death to Undeath, Killer of Abyssals, King of the Wilds.
I do think that the archtypical Werewolf vulnerability to Silver could be handled better than it's been in the past. In 3.5, Werewolves don't really feel vulnerable to Silver, because they're equally vulnerable to fireballs and, even with thier Iron Will feat, spells that target Will. It's less that Werewolves are specifically vulnerable to Silver and more that they're specifically resilient agaisnt, of all the myriad things an adventuring party might have access to, non-silvered weapons. Werewolves are supposed to be hard to stop if you don't have silver, more than hard to stop if you don't have silver or literally any offensive magic available. I don't think spellcasters should be out cold against Werewolves, of course, but I think that things should be set up so that werewolves are just really tough in general, but if you have silvered weapons available, then you've really got them. (Or specifically anti-shapeshifter weapons and magic.) It's a really tricky thing to work out, I think.
Dwarves invented beer so they could toast to their axes. Dwarves invented axes to kill people and take their beer.
Swanmay Syndrome: Despite the percentages given in the Monster Manual, in reality 100% of groups of swans contain a Swanmay, because otherwise the DM would not have put any swans in the game.
* Arenow doppelgangers and changeling from Eberron two different races or subraces?
* I don´t like weresharks (nor werecocodriles too much).. but I love almost all werebeasts: werelions (and other felines), werehyenas, werejackals, wereravens, werebats, wereserpents..
I feel curiosity about a werehyena gnoll or un wereserpent yuan-ti.
What about the female werefox?
* I miss the other lycantrhopes, the manwolf and the loup-garou. They can interesting antagonists of shifters PCs (predators fighting for hunting zones, a classic one).
* I suggest a remake+retcon of warnden class, the skin-walker or nahual, like druid but more shapeshifter that spellcaster.
* Sometimes I imagine lycantropy curse like slave hitman, like fantasy version of the manga character "the crying freeman", possesed by a feral spirit and forced to kill some enemies of curse-caster because if he doesn´t it the curse would be activated to kill loved beings.
A secondary effect of curse would need eat sentient creature (humanoid o fay) flesh or undead vitae.. (vampire blood, ghoul brain or wraith ectoplasm for example).
* I had thought about curse like modular power. One would only a sickness like rage, it could be healed by ordinary means... but it could replaced (like adding a template) by the classic curse.
"Say me what you're showing off for, and I'll say you what you lack!" (Spanish saying)
Book 13 Anaclet 23
Confucius said: "The Superior Man is in harmony but does not follow the crowd. The inferior man follows the crowd, but is not in harmony"
I think the alignments are a bit off, IMO. I never got that werewolves are chaotic, considering they are solidly pack animals. I'd say werewolves are lawful evil, and rats are chaotic evil, if alignments are needed at all (I'm not convinced they are needed).
I am both orderly and instinctive. I value community and group identity, defining myself by the social group I am a part of. At best, I'm selfless and strong-willed; at worst, I'm unoriginal and sheepish.
It sounds like they need to pick a theory and stick with it. Either it is a curse or a blessing, but trying to have it both ways gets stupid. I realize this is a bit of a problem because they don't fall into a single neat bin culturally and people want it both ways in the game. I would suggest breaking it into two different ways of getting the same effect. For those that inherit lycanthropy or otherwise voluntarily gain it, it is a somewhat difficult to control blessing, for those infected by the cursed form it is never really controllable affliction.
I would also like to see some interesting rules for dealing with lycanthropy when a PC is infected, but for that to work it has to be setup so that it isn't always a problem. Having more then one form of lycanthropy would work very well here. Maybe there is one particular highly infectious form that requires some complex ritual and treatment to cure but is a very rare form. That insures the curing the infection doesn't randomly derail another adventure when a PC gets bitten. The common inherited or curse forms are either non-infectious or can be easily cured with magic.
As for the specific descriptions, they look fine and that looks like a good starting subset of the wide range of exotic shape sifters that D&D has had over the years. It has the big two, wererats and werewolves, along with a couple of other well known but distinctly different types.
The doppelganger is OK, but the threat level is far too low for a version that has both mind reading and near perfect duplication. It may not be a huge threat in combat, but they have always been more of a threat out of combat anyway. Doppelgangers probably need something like Threat: High (low in combat).
You could replace the aligment by the allegiance system, or changing the definition of chaos-lawful axis.
For me caothic is the behavior with people of different allegiance. A barbarian could be totally lawful for his tribue and totally caothic for the foreigners, a monk could be totally disciplinated and loyal to his monastery but chaotic behavior (like the legendary Monkey King from "Journey to the West").
* About the silver vulnerality there is a historical reason, the real beast of Gévaudan (the closest one to a werewolf in the real world) was killed by Jean Chastel, with a silver bullet made from a medal representing Virgin Mary and blessed by a priest.
Some terianthropes could be hurt by blessed weapons or divine magic.
I suggest special monster abilities could easily replaced by a modular system of creation of monster, and damage resistance and invulneralities could be changed with the right adjust of XPs value.
* Luparii could be the name of a wolf-hunter hunter or threriantrope slayer.
"Say me what you're showing off for, and I'll say you what you lack!" (Spanish saying)
Book 13 Anaclet 23
Confucius said: "The Superior Man is in harmony but does not follow the crowd. The inferior man follows the crowd, but is not in harmony"
I think the alignments are a bit off, IMO. I never got that werewolves are chaotic, considering they are solidly pack animals. I'd say werewolves are lawful evil, and rats are chaotic evil, if alignments are needed at all (I'm not convinced they are needed).
The alignments of the lycanthropes has nothing to do with their animal side, but everything how they are depicted in their more popular source material at the time of D&D creation. Werewolves in European myths were depicted as bloodthirsty monsters with no control over their animal urges. Werebears came from the Hobbit were their leader is friendly and aided the dwarves and Bilbo. Wererats is likely a D&D creation, but they have always been depicted as organized thieves and murderers who infiltrate and control the thieves' guilds from the seres of a city.
Personally I have always disliked the whole alignment part inherent to lycanthropes in the D&D universe and not just because of any modern trend to depict both werewolves and vampires in a more positive light. There are many ancient myths of shapeshifters in which they are not particularly evil, mostly they are neutral spiritual beings who are friendly towards humans who treat them with respect and very hostile to those who treat them or their environment with disrespect. So I am more inclined to stick to neutral natural/spiritual lycanthropes and evil with the cursed ones.
As for silver, I agree that in 3e and especially 4e they have made it way too easy to ignore the silver weapon requirement. Granted, it prevents people from the constant need to switch weapons. Still, I doubt that complete immunity to non-silver weapons is too extreme as well.
In regards to the doppleganger, either make them evil and stick to the description or change the description. It is not that I mind them as a force of evil. I don't care either way. It is just that right now the description seems really evil
I think the lycanthropes are great. My only concern is that they have made the creature a little too confusing. They need to bring back the concept of True lycanthropes.
"Only infected lycanthropes can be cured. To a true lycanthrope, lycanthropy is as natural as breathing, and the condition cannot be altered. True lycanthropes have complete control over their physical states; they are not affected by darkness, phases of the moon, or any of the other situations which traditionally affect infected lycanthropes."
2e had a nice little section in the MM under the general entry for lycanthrope for designing your own types of lycanthropes.
Designing New Types of Lycanthrope Described here is a process for creating variant lycanthropes, either as true lycanthropes, one-shot opponents, or for the results of a curse of lycanthropy.
Animal Type: Virtually any predator between the size of a small dog and a large bear can be the basis for a type of lycanthrope. Most (but not all) true lycanthropes are mammals; most (but not all) are carnivores. An animal type used by the DM to create a race of true lycanthropes should be a carnivorous mammal with animal Intelligence (1), or rarely, a reptile, bird, or even fish with animal Intelligence. There has never been a reliable report of a were-amphibian of any type. Induced lycanthropes, by spell or item, can be created using a wide variety of animal types, and even monstrous creatures.
Appearance: In humanoid form, the lycanthrope has subtle indications of the curse, ranging from hair color like that of the animal, to general facial type, to voice and actions. In animal form, the lycanthrope resembles a large version of the normal animal (but not so large as to be immediately noticeable). On close inspection, the animal form’s eyes show a faint spark of unnatural intelligence, and often glow red in the dark.
The lycanthrope may also have a third form, part human and part animal. This form is usually humanoid in general shape, and the body has the same covering as the animal (usually fur, sometimes scales or feathers). Facial features and body shape change somewhat, gaining more characteristics of the animal (fangs, whiskers, claws, animal leg structure, etc.). Statistics and Attributes: To determine the new lycanthrope’s statistics, extrapolate from those of the base animal and from existing lycanthrope types. If the base animal is more powerful than a wolf, the new lycanthrope should have more Hit Dice than a werewolf; if the base animal is similar to a giant rat, the new werecreature should have about the same Hit Dice as a wererat. In almost every case, the new lycanthrope should have at least 1-2 Hit Dice more than the base animal. The lycanthrope gets the same attack forms as the base animal type, such as claws, bite, tail slap, head butt, or whatever. The damage should be very similar to that caused by the base animal. Many lycanthropes associate with animals of their base type, and the werebeast should be able to dominate such a group. Armor Class depends on the base animal’s natural toughness, speed, and dexterity. The lycanthrope should have a slightly better AC than the base animal, perhaps by 1 or 2 places. Movement rate should be the same as that of the base animal, as should diet and habitat. Morale should be about one category better than that of the base animal.
The creature’s alignment tends to be an extrapolated version of the base animal’s alignment. Since most base animals are neutral, the DM must look at the animal’s tendencies. If the animal is a vicious predator and a strong fighter, the lycanthropic version is probably evil; it tries to stay out of the way of other creatures, it may be good or neutral. If the animal is very independent, the lycanthrope should be chaotic; if the animal is very methodical and has regular habits, the lycanthrope is probably lawful.
True lycanthropes share a vulnerability to silver weapons, possibly because of the metal’s mystical relationship with the moon, or the inherent qualities or powers of the metal itself. Extremely rare variants might have no such vulnerability, but instead may have developed a weakness for another precious metal (gold and copper being the most likely), or perhaps for bronze, obsidian, or even wood.
Vulnerability: Special Abilities: In addition to their abilities of shapeshifting, calling normal animals to their aid, and so forth, some lycanthropes have other special powers. These should not be rolled randomly for a new lycanthrope type, but chosen to fit with the attitude and style of the base animal. A few samples are listed below.
Thief skills, level 1-6
Charm person by gaze or voice
Regeneration (except for damage from silver weapons)
