A Discussion about Werewolves and CoC2 Lore

[Ranie]

Can we discuss werewolves? It isn't a verboten "race" anymore, right? Because I have an idea for a few characters that could be werewolves, but the lore surrounding werewolves makes things a bit tricky. Especially since I'm not totally sure if there's been any lore regarding werewolves in CoC yet.

I wasn't sure whether to put this in the main forum for CoC2 or in Q&A.

What I'm proposing for werewolves -- or at least something to start a discussion -- in CoC2:

• PCs probably can't be werewolves per se. At least, I'm pretty sure it'd be impossible to code for CoC2. Maybe there could be an item that gives PCs certain physical traits that make them seem like werewolves to other werewolves, like eye color changes or different body hair while wearing said item.
• The process of becoming a werewolf could take any amount of time, as an excuse for the PC not being able to become one. Like, there are 13 different rituals that must be completed at every full moon, but if there's a Blue Moon, then the process must be stopped for safety reasons. So then if a player asks a werewolf about becoming one, the NPC can say something like "Sorry, it cannot be done this year."
• Instead of monthly changes, werewolves could change every night around dusk and change back around dawn. This way the game only needs to track the hours of the day, which it already does, instead of days. Plus it would make encountering werewolves easier on players and probably be more fun generally.
• A werewolf shouldn't be the same as a lupine (which is its own race, obviously). A werewolf should be a change of state, rather than its own race per se. The cause could be a curse, but I think it should be...
• ... due to the deities from another dimension. It should be a "blessing," in a way. This is referring to the story of Thiess, in which werewolves are called "Hounds of God." Basically, the claim Thiess was making is that werewolves are blessed by God to descend into Hell and battle demons so that the demons cannot escape to Earth and torment people. What I am suggesting is that werewolves in CoC2 could be caused by a blessing from another dimension, making the original werewolves warriors sent to battle demons. Having not found any demons in Savarra (so putting their entrance to the early stages of Savarra's "Ancient History" timeframe), most of the original werewolves returned to their home dimension. Some stayed, while others passed on the blessing before returning home. Thus, the blessing/curse could remain in Savarra.
• Werewolves, originally being a warrior's blessing, would then have high physical and magic defenses while transformed. They should have low lust resistance in this state, to balance them out. Generally, a werewolf enemy encounter while not transformed should have normal defenses, imo. I'd imagine the transformation would be like a temporary (though large) stat boost/penalty. There could be generic werewolves for random enemy encounters and specialized NPCs for quests or Locations (etc.).
• Transformed werewolves are not quadrupeds. This isn't about bestiality shit. I just like werewolves. And furry sex, tbh. The bestiality shit is off the table from the highest of the higher-ups anyways, so I think it's worth mentioning these should not be feral quadrupeds but rather relatively intelligent bipedal brutes.
• Instead of becoming a rage-powered, unthinking monster, I think these werewolves should become lust-powered, relatively intelligent brutes. If we can agree on the transformation blessing/curse coming as a mutated warrior's blessing, then I think this makes sense. Plus I think it makes sense for a porn game.
• Corruption is one of the themes of this game, so I think it would make sense to say that the warrior's blessing has mutated overtime to be essentially a curse -- a polished turd if you will. Most werewolves should have relatively high corruption (less than 95 but higher than 70?). They should all probably develop addictive personalities, is what I'm saying.
• Vis a vis themes, I think werewolves could help explore the theme of "corruption of the soul," like one of the werewolves that PCs first meet is a new werewolf and players can watch them fall further into corruption as their story progresses. Or something. I think these characters could add the element of "corrupt but in a certain perspective" to the theme of corruption, though that'd be just one more lens through which to look at the theme. Like, most townsfolk think the werewolves are murderous while the reality is that their horny and keep to themselves.
• Just as spice to add to werewolf lore: Since the cycles of the moon are so important to werewolves, many of them spend a lot of time learning about astronomy. Many of the world's best astronomers could be werewolves. Just sayin'.
• I think any race should be able to become a werewolf. It should simply depend on the individual and the culture they're from. That is, it should be a voluntary process to become a werewolf. This way, there's some depth to the werewolves that are such and how they fit into Savarra's world. I think lupines would tend to see the TF as devolving or losing a part of themselves (similar to how a human may think of becoming a neanderthal), whereas wyld elves would likely reject the idea outright or find it fascinating to observe. I'd expect the most common races, in order, to become werewolves would be humans (curiosity and adventure), catfolk (mischievousness), and orcs (the "warrior's blessing" element).
• Werewolves could have their own Locations to seal themselves away during transformations. I've already started outlining for what I'm calling the Werewolves' Cloister. There could be cloisters in different regions, depending on player demand and writer wherewithal. These Locations could be quest hubs or involved in quests doled out from nearby towns, e.g., fighting rival cloisters, recruiting lone werewolves, stopping insane or criminal werewolves, collecting funds to support impoverished cloisters, destroying cloisters for a local town. The list goes on.

wdyt also it is so many words

For me, personally, this is not going to be my first project for actually writing something for CoC2. I'm going to start with an enemy encounter or two, then a Location depending on how I'm doing with those enemy encounters. (hint: it's sneks but magic) But I would like to eventually write something with werewolves in it, and I know I can't just plop that on Savin's desk and be like "Ta da!" I'd rather discuss the background and lore elements and how this would or could fit in with the rest of CoC2's lore. Plus we were told to tread lightly... 900 words isn't too many is it

 

[Dark67titan]

Don’t you mean cluster

 

[Ranie]

No, I mean cloister, like a place to keep themselves away from other people. I'm currently working on a history of werewolves in Savarra, which I'll link to in my writing hub thread in Event Submissions. I had hoped this thread could be a discussion place prior to writing things but idk it kinda dead.

 

[Dark67titan]

No, I mean cloister, like a place to keep themselves away from other people. I'm currently working on a history of werewolves in Savarra, which I'll link to in my writing hub thread in Event Submissions. I had hoped this thread could be a discussion place prior to writing things but idk it kinda dead.

well people currently arent interested in werewolves yet just give it time(also polished and interesting writing helps)

 

[TackyShadowGoer]

Hmmm... I think it would be more interesting seeing the humanoid werewolves i.e. meaning human faces with fangs, partial fur, etc. Mostly to just separate them from the lupine folk. And if it's possible to get a tf from this, maybe a way to acquire the blessing/curse like doing certain tasks or earning trust amongst them could help.

 

[herpaderphurr]

Werewolves are nice, so I'd like to see them in game as well.

I do have an alternative suggestion if your proposal ends up being too ambitious. It could just be a perk:

Essentially it wouldn't do anything huge combat-wise, it would just amplify strength gains as well as the effect of wolfy TFs or whatever. It would unlock scenes tagged as werewolf-only. In this respect, it would work similarly to being a CoC bimbo, in terms of how it affects stats and in terms of unlocking special scenes. So essentially, you'd only turn into your wolf form when you want to (i.e. in those special scenes).

This method of implementation is probably less complex. Then again, it relies on having enough specially-written werewolf scenes, so maybe it might not be the best idea. Well, just throwing it out there

 

[XBoxMaster131]

Maybe it could have some negative effects? Like a huge hit to your intelligence, or once it wears off you go down to like 1/10th max hp.

 

[Zavos]

Werewolves should be approched from a mechanical point, and lore should be built around that once it has been determined how PC lycanthropy (or lack) is determined. Until then, this conversation is meaningless.

 

[Ranie]

I think it makes more sense to have the PC not be a werewolf TF. The big draw to the game is TFs and having a character change from their current TF to a werewolf form periodically... seems too complicated to code and write for. It also seems like an involuntary TF, which is pretty much a no-no.

I'd suggest maybe an item that temporarily changes (i.e. only while worn) the PC to resemble a werewolf form. But not like other TFs (e.g. skin, ears, etc.)... maybe a scent or fur color. Something that doean't interfere with other TFs. If you want a wolf TF that'd be something else entirely.

 

[balitz Method]

Seems more like an idea for a one-off quest, like the player contracts the disease and has to go on a quest to cure it within X amount of days or they hit a bad end. Along the way all the points can be hit (whether they're a legitimate people or just a blight, etc.).