Loup-garou [Lycanthrope]

Loup-garous are a potent breed of werewolf found in the misty dread realm, and like most true werewolves there they have three shapes. The human shape is entirely ordinary and never varies, just as each of its other shapes is always identical. As a man-wolf it is a heavily muscled, fur-covered biped about 7 feet tall, with a wolf's head, dog-like legs and a stubby tail; it can grip objects and speak in a deep, rasping voice. The wolf shape of the lowland breed is indistinguishable from a worg, while the mountain breed is bigger. The creature moves at 12 as a human, 15 as a man-wolf and 18 as a wolf, though the wolf cannot talk or use tools.

Shifting between forms takes it a full round, and its tactics depend entirely on which body it wears. The human may have any class and level, most often warrior or thief, without affecting its Hit Dice or hit points; one with no class fights as a 1st-level fighter and relies on weapons. The man-wolf has 18/00 Strength (+3 to hit, +6 damage) and either claws twice and bites, or swings a single weapon once. The wolf bites only once per round but trades power for stealth and speed: its sharp senses give foes -2 on surprise rolls, and it looks like a mere animal rather than a monster. Its mind is the same in every shape, and the lowland breed has a degree of magic resistance in all of them.

Only silver and magic can wound it. Silver does normal damage, but a magical weapon inflicts no more than its own enchantment bonus per hit, so a sword +1 deals at most 1 point, and Strength bonuses never add. A blessed weapon, or another special weapon with a bonus, deals 1 point per hit.

Lowland packs roam the domains hunting prey, humans above all. In the wilds they den in caves or ruins, but they also travel in human guise and take rooms at inns. They despise other lycanthropes, wolfweres most of all.

Their bite is the true terror. An infected human or humanoid becomes a werewolf whenever the condition is triggered, usually on the three nights of the full moon, and remains under the command of the true werewolf that infected it. In beast form the victim is a half-witted (Intelligence 2-4), frenzied animal, and needs a full turn to change either way.

This bigger variety reaches the size of a dire wolf in wolf form. It can be harmed only by gold or magical weapons, has greater magic resistance than most werewolves, and regenerates 1 hit point per turn. It is also the werewolf most likely to hunt solo.