New role based on a “loup du noir” archetype, possibly called the Lycanthrope -
you start with a pelt, a new sort of cloak-slot armor that polymorphs you into a
specific type of monster when you wear it. You also are inflicted with some sort
of delayed lycanthropy - you won’t randomly polymorph into a monster like with
standard lycanthropy, but after not using a pelt for a while, you do start
feeling the urge to put one on, and if you still refuse, you are eventually
compelled to put one on. (It isn’t specified what happens if you get rid of your
pelt(s) by the time you would be compelled to wear one; possibly you just die
from insanity, or else the addiction is implemented in some other way like
continuous worsening HP damage.)
The form you get from wearing a pelt has some boosted stats from the base form -
in particular, your carrying capacity and damage would be better than the stat
blocks for the monsters suggest.
You could start with either a “default” pelt which is not very good, but can be
turned into an ideal one later, or start with a specific animal’s pelt, which
you can control with the pettype option. This role never starts with a pet.
Pelts might also work as a standalone concept or one that works with a druid,
ranger, or caveman role:
- You can obtain a pelt by using a knife to skin the corpse of some monster that
would reasonably have a pelt. This will probably be an occupation, and either
its time or success rate will vary based on your knife skill and if you have a
role-specific bonus.
- By using some sort of magic (instead of it being inherent to a role), you can
transform into the animal whose pelt you are wearing.
- Pelts confer some benefit when worn as a cloak besides the ability to
polymorph, which varies depending on the monster species, such as a boost to
damage.