“Unnamed Sperm Whale” © FurAffinity user “Convicted-Clown”, accessed at his gallery here

[This one is dedicated to @canwefixitnoitsfucked, who when we were roommates talked about making a werewhale character who was a reverse Moby Dick–he was hunting for the whaler who took his leg. He never played that character in any of my games, and I have no idea if he ever got to it elsewhere. I mean, the level adjustment alone would be eye-watering in the 3.5 days. I refrained from giving it some sort of sonic attack, even though logically sperm whales should have one; I hope that they do in Pathfinder 2e whenever they get around to more mundane animals.]

Lycanthrope, Werewhale
CR 14 CG Humanoid
This immense, vaguely humanoid creature has an oversized, squared off head and a thick tail ending in flukes.

Werewhales are among the rarest of lycanthropes, as only especially large giants are capable of being infected with this strain of lycanthropy. Likewise, only toothed whales such as sperm whales can be represented by werewhales—baleen whales cannot bite in order to pass on the curse. Werewhales are passionate crusaders for the natural order. They protect smaller and more passive species from the depredations of civilization, and lead ruinous assaults against those who would pollute or overharvest the waters they call home. The majestic song of a werewhale can be heard for miles; a stirring anthem to the natural world and a battlecry against exploitation. Although werewhales can survive on land indefinitely, they grow uncomfortable and restless if out of reach of the ocean.

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“Bestiary #30 - Sir Badger” © ArtStation user Ausonia, accessed at his gallery here

[I knew that I wanted my werebadger to be a dwarf or a gnome, but I settled on gnome after finding this image. Look at his little hat! My flavor text is inspired more by the European badger than the American one–the two species aren’t closely related to each other, and have pretty different behavior.]

Werebadger
CR 2 NG Humanoid (shapechanger)
This small humanoid has a striped coat, a pointed muzzle, and sharp claws on their hands and feet. Their limbs are short but sturdy.

Werebadgers are small and irascible lycanthropes known for their tenacity. They tend towards goodness more frequently than most lycanthropes, and are relatively common in gnome and dwarf communities. The doggedness of a werebadger’s personality extends to their friends and families, to which they are fiercely devoted. Most werebadgers are homebodies, spending vast amounts of time, energy and money into making their homes comfortable and safe. They tend to be gruff and impatient with strangers, but if their loyalty can be won, it will last a lifetime.

Werebadgers tend towards short and stocky builds. In their natural form, they may have a white stripe through their hair, flexible noses, or be willing and able to eat almost anything.

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“Toad” © Jerry Liao, accessed at his ArtStation page here

[The last of my Weird Weres for now. One of the mechanical peculiarities of the lycanthrope template is that it can change the creatures’ size in a hybrid form. Very tricky to make weapon users work with this. So for the weretoad, I decided to go with the rare Medium sized creature with an oversized weapon special ability in PFRPG (this was a common 3e era trick, but has been mostly jettisoned since).]

Lycanthrope, Weretoad
CR 3 CE Humanoid (shapeshifter)
This bloated, thick-skinned creature has oversized warts on its shoulders and back, and the head of a massive toad.

Weretoads are bullies and gluttons. They habitually push around those smaller and weaker than they are and have been known to eat badly wounded allies rather than allow them to recover. They are shunned from many societies for their casual cruelty and callousness, but may thrive in societies where bullying and gluttony are the norm. Ogres and ogrekin incorporate weretoads into their ranks gladly. This is partly to exploit the weretoad’s strength, but also to enjoy the mind-numbing secretions that the lycanthropes ooze from their skin glands.

In their humanoid forms, weretoads may be recognized by bulging eyes that blink often, especially when the individual swallows. They may also have warts, long fingers and toes, or wide flat faces.

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“Swamp Elder” © Harry Osborn, accessed at his deviantArt gallery here

[It’s time for more weird lycanthropes! I’m also going to include some entomothropes in here, because there’s some art I’ve found that definitely fits for people who turn into bugs.]

Lycanthrope, Werehippo
CR 6 NE Humanoid (shapechanger)
This massive humanoid has the thick skin, stumpy legs and oversized jaws of a hippopotamus. Multiple sets of tusks protrude from its jaws, and its beady eyes are rheumy with anger.

The werehippo is a violent and territorial creature, embodying the worst impulses of their animal model. Among members of their own community, werehippos are fierce and devoted, although fights for position are common among males especially. These usually are resolved by intimidation and display rather than bloody violence, but the latter certainly can erupt. Since werehippos tend to fight to the death and are incredibly belligerent, the few creatures that survive long enough to be infected with lycanthropy are often creatures with healing powers. Trolls are among the more common werehippos.

In their humanoid form, werehippos tend towards broad forms, large teeth and prominent ears. Some may sweat red when anxious or on the days leading up to the full moon.

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“Snake Woman” © deviantArt user CavalierdiSpade, accessed at their deviantArt here

[The reason I wanted to make this a spellcaster is due to the micro-genre of snake-cult-lady-becomes-a-snake movies, Cult of the Cobra, The Reptile and The Lair of the White Worm.]

Lycanthrope, Werecobra
CR 6 NE Humanoid
This scaled creature has lidless, staring eyes, immense fangs and a forked tongue. It is humanoid from the waist up, but its legs are little more than stubs protruding from a snake-like lower body.

Werecobras are venomous lycanthropes that assume the form of the mighty emperor cobra. Many, but not all, werecobras are members of cults worshipping nagas or gods with serpentine aspect—the outlook of these forces effects the alignment of the werecobra involved. Even good-aligned werecobras tend to be aloof and emotionally cold. Werecobras are pragmatists first and foremost, using bluff and guile to avoid conflict, then precise and deadly strikes to finish combats quickly and decisively. The bite of a werecobra carries both the curse of lycanthropy and lethal venom. Those bitten by a werecobra frequently do not survive long enough to become werecobras themselves, unless specific measures are taken to ensure they withstand envenomation. As such, the creation of new werecobras is often ritualistic and bestowed as an intentional honor rather than happening through accident.

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“Cephalid Looter” © Wizards of the Coast, by Keith Garletts. Accessed at Spiderweb Art here

[Much like the wereweasel, I actually used a version of this in game during the 3.5 era. That wereoctopus monk was a kuo-toa, which was technically cheating (kuo-toa were aberrations, making them ineligible for the lycanthrope template), but it was a memorable encounter nonetheless. It did end in the death of a character, and I suspect that this wereoctopus similarly punches a bit above its CR class. Being one of the few monsters in PFRPG to have 9 attacks below CR 10 makes giant octopus very dangerous.]

Lycanthrope, Wereoctopus
CR 9 LN Humanoid
This rubbery skinned humanoid has a bulbous head with large eyes and a parrot like beak. Its arms are tentacles, and it moves on six additional tentacles as if they were legs.

Wereoctopuses are rare lycanthropes, most common among aquatic humanoids such as merfolk and locathath. Their physical appearances are often disturbing or strange, especially to land-dwellers, but they are not inherently evil. They are most noted for their curiosity—they tend to devote themselves to solving problems, and physical and mental training. They make excellent scholars or monastic types, but are known to cause problems due to their meddling. In combat, a wereoctopus has many attacks, which they tend to spread out over multiple foes. They favor tactics that disrupt, confuse or impede enemies over outright killing them, but will fight to the death if pressed.

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Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[Talking with me during the development of her red hag, @soylent-crocodile referred to it as “a species of Starscreams”. Which is a great description, and also an accurate assessment of the palace skelm. Although it’s obvious that Grima Wormtongue is also a major influence on this PF2e monster. The fact that palace skelms and red hags are the same CR and would absolutely hate each other is the icing on the cake for me.]

Palace Skelm
CR 8 LE Monstrous Humanoid
This humanoid figure is almost human, except for the pair of gleaming antlers growing from his skull. He is dressed in fine noble’s clothing.

Palace skelms are creatures that delight in the corruption of power. They often are found among military officers and politicians, some of whom transformed into skelms in that position. Palace skelms spend their time either jockeying for power or abusing the power that they do have, treating their subordinates with casual cruelty. A palace skelm is an excellent liar, and they can even insert their words into the mouths of others. They encourage competition, jealousy and paranoia in any court they find themselves in, turning functioning governments into a den of vipers to exploit. They are ostentatious by nature, and frequently flaunt their wealth and status with finery.

Most palace skelms prefer to exert power from behind the throne, ingratiating himself to a ruler and warping their perceptions so that they only trust the skelm. Coups and political upheavals are dangerous for palace skelms, as they simultaneously allow for more opportunities to inflict suffering while increasing the risk of the skelm’s true nature being exposed, or of the skelm losing their grasp on what power they have. Palace skelms have a tendency to self-sabotage, as their interlocking schemes can spiral out of their control, and their answer to being caught in the act is usually murder.

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