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[Aseaheru]

stress. yes, stress. and yes, normal in town most of the time.

[GreatWyrmGold]

How to make werecreatures scarier: make the monster-side intelligently malicious. Instead of being naked peasants in caves most of the time, they're normal peasants most of the time. Then the moon comes, and the monster-side sneaks off, transforms, attacks some people, hides the infected ones, sneaks back in, and the peasant wakes up in town as though after being {drunk/sober}.

In other words, don't make the attacks more frequent, or make the human/dwarf side more dangerous, make it harder to locate them when they're not attacking.

Improving personality would help, but it still makes werebeasts normal peasants 90% of the time.
"You need Urist McWerecarp killed?"
"Yes!"
"Okee-dokee." {stabs the werecarp peasant in the body, tearing apart the fat and tearing apart the heart)
"That was...uh...creative."

[Bohandas]

What if instead of transforming at will and needing to kill to turn back they transformed when attacked

[Radiant_Phoenix]

Improving personality would help, but it still makes werebeasts normal peasants 90% of the time.
"You need Urist McWerecarp killed?"
"Yes!"
"Okee-dokee." {stabs the werecarp peasant in the body, tearing apart the fat and tearing apart the heart)
"That was...uh...creative."

Then you need to make it harder to identify them, so the player doesn't know who to have stabbed. (Unless your fort's passed the tipping point and is now a werecreature fort)

[Aseaheru]

What if instead of transforming at will and needing to kill to turn back they transformed when attacked

ooh! i like! but with limits? possably takes time to fully change?

[GreatWyrmGold]

What if instead of transforming at will and needing to kill to turn back they transformed when attacked

Mentioned. I came up with an identifying variable of stress, which would of course go up in a fight.

Improving personality would help, but it still makes werebeasts normal peasants 90% of the time.
"You need Urist McWerecarp killed?"
"Yes!"
"Okee-dokee." {stabs the werecarp peasant in the body, tearing apart the fat and tearing apart the heart)
"That was...uh...creative."

Then you need to make it harder to identify them, so the player doesn't know who to have stabbed. (Unless your fort's passed the tipping point and is now a werecreature fort)

Beating a werebeast shouldn't be a matter of identifying it and waiting for its "time of month" to pass.
Beating a werebeast should involve danger.

[Adrian]

I came up with an identifying variable of stress, which would of course go up in a fight.

I'm all for that so as long as that variable remains invisible to the player. Also combat damage and stress need to be proportional. For obvious reasons bruising should be less stressful than having your arm amputated.
The stress variable should also include the Patience and Willpower attributes. Perhaps Willpower could define the amount of stress necessary for the werecurse to trigger, and Patience define how fast the character becomes stressed.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I came up with an identifying variable of stress, which would of course go up in a fight.

I'm all for that so as long as that variable remains invisible to the player. Also combat damage and stress need to be proportional. For obvious reasons bruising should be less stressful than having your arm amputated.
The stress variable should also include the Patience and Willpower attributes. Perhaps Willpower could define the amount of stress necessary for the werecurse to trigger, and Patience define how fast the character becomes stressed.

Agreed on all points, although the players can currently see a dwarf's thought so hiding the dwarf's stress level would be only partly effective.

[Radiant_Phoenix]

Beating a werebeast shouldn't be a matter of identifying it and waiting for its "time of month" to pass.
Beating a werebeast should involve danger.

Why would identifying it not be dangerous?

[GreatWyrmGold]

Beating a werebeast shouldn't be a matter of identifying it and waiting for its "time of month" to pass.
Beating a werebeast should involve danger.

Why would identifying it not be dangerous?

Why couldn't you use investigative techniques to identify the werebeast?

[Adrian]

Why couldn't you use investigative techniques to identify the werebeast?

I would like to see my adventurer lop off a werecupine's arms to have it run away and then continue his search the next morning for any peasants lacking arms. But this would require revamping werecurse mechanics to have persistent injuries.

On a completely different note: I think were-adventurers need to black out and wake up naked in a pile of blood and bodyparts during their "time of the month".

[Babylon]

How to make werecreatures scarier: make the monster-side intelligently malicious. Instead of being naked peasants in caves most of the time, they're normal peasants most of the time. Then the moon comes, and the monster-side sneaks off, transforms, attacks some people, hides the infected ones, sneaks back in, and the peasant wakes up in town as though after being {drunk/sober}.

In other words, don't make the attacks more frequent, or make the human/dwarf side more dangerous, make it harder to locate them when they're not attacking.

I like this idea a lot.  I don't know if the monster would necessarially hide infected people, but they could at least sneak off to transform and turn back, rather than it being publically announced. and live as normal people, rather than naked peasants.  It seems like they are normal dwarves most of the time in fortress mode.

[Starver]

The question is, does the infected person (under their normal form) know?

If he or she does, then what is their attitude?

Regardless, does the were-beast inside have more than instinct.  And, if so, to what end?

Unknowing people might have a "Terrible hangover" incident, or just feel tired as if after a restless night.  Or might be more rested (if their were-beast mental processes don't disturb the normal-self sleep.  Sleep by the infected might indeed be needed for the were-self to even arise to the forefront).

If a person knows (is fully aware, or realises something is amiss by the regular mass of chicken-blood and feathers they wake up in the middle of (if not worse!)) then they might purposely seek to seal themselves away from the world.  Either whenever the risk period is, or by self-exiling themselves.  (This is what I assume the current cave-inhabiting were-beast naked peasants do.  I've not yet (in my latest Adventure Mode experience, where I'm trying to be a hunter of these types) tried to approach one without stealth, so they may be another type.)  If only periodically self-exiling, then they could lay themselves down for suspicions related to things that happen while they aren't in their dorm/room.  This could be legitimately their own were-beast attacks or they could even marked down with suspicion of being the vampire (who may or may not be framing them deliberately?).  More mundanely, accusations of affairs or just 'plain' illicit activities.

Of course, if a person is a sociopath they may well enjoy their odd murderous rage or other action (or appreciate what they did, even if not having "experienced" it), while another is (as above) aghast and possibly in denial.


And can he control him or herself?  (With the same mind and feelings as the host?)  Do they maintain/preserve friendships from untransformed times?  This may be some conscious effort or some 'amendment' to the instinctual behaviour (equivalent to "Hulk Smash!  But must save Rick and/or Betty first!").


And then there's the "on demand, sometimes available or compulsory at set times" argument.


There are many fictional versions that can be referenced, of course, from the American Werewolf In London through Teenwolf and the main werewolf character in Being Human (UK version, at least, in case they vastly changed the equivalent character in the US remake).  Oh, and Angua (and family, having differing attitudes to people in general) in the Discworld universe.


One way or another, discovering naked unbeastly 'victims' of were-infections in caves is a little bit of a let-down, when they're so easy to deal with in this state (still, doesn't harm my Adventurer's reputation!)  Perhaps if they can be killed while 'mortal', but can reconstitute at the next Time Of Change into their were-form and need killing again that way to make it permanent?  As well as a random metal-weakness, a random body part (heart or brain?) is the seat of the were-self and will transform into the fully-fledged were-beast.  Leave it in the cave at your peril.  (Take it with you for more peril?)  For aesthetic reasons I've tended to set a campfire in the corner of the cave I've killed vampires and werebeasts in, and leave/throw their corpse, but what if that would be a necessary thing?  (Also, what if you ate the were-creature heart/brain/whatever?)

So many thoughts, so little editing.  Oh well.

[Radiant_Phoenix]

Beating a werebeast shouldn't be a matter of identifying it and waiting for its "time of month" to pass.
Beating a werebeast should involve danger.

Why would identifying it not be dangerous?

Why couldn't you use investigative techniques to identify the werebeast?

You could, but that would take time, and require a series of attacks for you to investigate. Thus, in order to identify the werebeast, you have to expose your fort to it for a while. (also, the

Alternatively, you lock everyone in cages or something in sight of each other on the right night with a time release set for after the night is over, and the werebeast becomes obvious. In that case, the danger should be the likely strong negative emotions resulting from, "was locked in a cage across from a werecreature all day." More danger could come if it takes too long and the monster figures out what's up and secretly messes up the mechanisms, which could leave your non-were dwarves locked in cages while the monster moves from one to the next, converting or killing each one.

[Gaybarowner]

Transformation under stress would make for a pretty useful mechanic I think, the werecreatures could even have differing preferences/personalities added to reflect what it takes to calm them back down.

 Could even be uses later for other magical abilities or afflictions that can 'get out of control' when their user is particularly distraught. Or just, you know, HULK SMASH!

This all the way also a werecreature should resort to his form under complete loss knowing he is going to die so he goes out full force to make attempts to take who ever is attacking him with him even though its the exact same thing you said