Werelion [Lycanthrope]

As people, werelions are wiry, fast and sun-darkened, with deep, musical voices. Men grow long gold or tawny curls, tied back or tucked under a turban; women crop theirs nearly to the scalp. The lion shape keeps nothing human: an unnaturally big cat with too-bright eyes and a roar lower than any real lion's. There is no hybrid shape. They can talk with any feline, monstrous ones included, though that buys no friendship, and they prefer human company to that of true lions.

A pride hunts through stealth and misdirection, steering quarry toward hidden kin. Prides over six split into two parties, one under the matriarch and one under her chief consort, coordinating by roars in lion shape; except on full-moon nights, one party usually stays human. Every leader, plus one member in ten, has thief or ranger skills of level d6+3 (4th to 9th) in human form. Werelion mages are reported but rare, seldom past 5th level, and almost never lead.

If both front claws hit, the werelion also rakes with its hind claws for 2-8 each. In lion shape it can spring up to 60 feet out of cover. The leap counts as a charge (+2 to hit, +1 damage, -2 initiative, -1 AC) and grants the rake automatically, front claws or not.

A typical pride is one to six females with one to four males, posing as nomad herders, pilgrims, tinkers or sometimes mercenaries. A woman always rules, absolutely. Males may boast, shirk or mock the females, yet never disobey her. Litters of 1-4 cubs put everyone on edge, and the males answer any hint of danger with lethal force until weaning. Cubs can turn human within a year and mature at three, resembling 15-year-old humans. A child of a werelion and a human seems fully human until 15, when the changes begin.

Some serve lion lords. Others trade with desert centaurs or plains-edge cities, guarding caravans or scouting for armies in exchange for guaranteed hunting on prime grassland. Unlike ordinary great cats, they readily prey on people. They hate weretigers and rarely tolerate them for long.