Night Howlers
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''Night Howlers'' is an accessory for the ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
''
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...
, published in 1992.


Contents

Players will require a copy of the ''D&D'' game '' Rules Cyclopedia'' to use this book. The ''D&D'' game presents lycanthropy as a disease player characters or NPCs can contract, rather than have Lycanthropes be a unique race. Any human
player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...
(PC) can become a werecreature. Players using lycanthropic PCs must keep two sets of statistics, one for the human form, another for the beast, using the Werecreature Character Record Sheet, a single-page form that comes with the package. The "Werewolves' Manual" provides detailed descriptions of the ''D&D'' game's ten standard were-types, outlining their restrictions and special abilities. Available types include the
weretiger A werecat (also written in a hyphenated form as were-cat) is an analog to "werewolf" for a feline therianthropic creature. Etymology Ailuranthropy comes from the Greek root words ''ailouros'' meaning "cat", and ''anthropos'', meaning "human" a ...
,
wererat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...
, wereseal,
wereshark This is a list of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd-edition monsters, an important element of that role-playing game. This list only includes monsters from official ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd Edition supplements published by TSR, Inc ...
s, and devil swine, and most special abilities are received as level advancement bonuses. The ''D&D'' rules require lycanthropy victims to assume the alignment of their beast-form, which is usually Chaotic, but ''Night Howlers'' allows a PC lycanthrope to make a
saving throw In role-playing games (RPGs) and war games, a saving throw is a roll of dice used to determine whether magic, poison, or various other types of attacks are effective against a character or monster. The term was first used in Donald F. Feathe ...
when transforming; a successful throw enables a bestial PC to retain the alignment of his human form. The book also includes role-playing tips to address the aspects of a werecreature's split personality. Normally, an infected PC automatically transforms during the full moon, but ''Night Howlers'' enables him to resist the change with a successful saving throw; conversely, he may transform voluntarily by making a Constitution check, modified by the phase of the moon, and at higher levels a lycanthrope can change into an intermediate "beast-man," combining the special abilities of both his animal and human forms. The combat section clarifies the effects of damage—an injury suffered by the active form can affect the inactive form as well—and suggests penalties for lycanthropes who don't get enough rest. "Lycanthropic Procedures" handles some of the difficult aspects of shapeshifting, such as whether a lycanthrope can transform while wearing armor, or if a lycanthrope can ride a horse. The "DM's Guide" covers the basics of converting existing characters to werecreatures, setting the tone of the game, and adapting published scenarios. A table compares the relative levels of human and werecreature characters, for help with designing balanced encounters. The "Valley of Wolves" chapter presents a setting that ties neatly into '' The Principalities of Glantri'' ''D&D'' Gazetteer. Scenario outlines are included, such as: "A-Hunting We Will Go", which illustrates the problems facing werecreatures on hunting expeditions, while "The White Wolf of Morlay" challenges the PCs to rescue a white wolf from Dame Genevieve, a magic researcher who uses lycanthropes for lab rats.


Publication history

''Night Howlers'' was published by
TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had bee ...
as a 32-page "Werewolves' Manual", a 64-page "DM's Guide", and a 32"X21" color map sheet. Design was by Ann Dupuis and editing by Jonatha Ariadne Caspian, with a cover by
Fred Fields Fred Fields is an American artist whose work has appeared largely in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game from TSR. Biography Fred Fields was born in northern Kentucky. He grew up in the small town of Burlington, Kentucky. Fie ...
and illustrations by James Crabtree.


Reception

Keith H. Eisenbeis reviewed the module in the March/April issue of ''White Wolf'' magazine. He stated that "This is an excellent product and will be interesting to use with ''Dungeons and Dragons''; it could also be adapted to other settings, especially a Ravenloft campaign." He highlighted that the details of the setting made gameplay better through various means and identified that, "There are more extensive systems for playing werewolves in other games but this is the best available for ''Dungeons and Dragons''." He rated it as a 4 out of a possible 5. In the April 1993 edition of ''
Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
'' (Issue 192),
Rick Swan Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR. His work for TSR, mostly for ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'', appeared from 1989 to 1995. Swan also wrote '' The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin' ...
was relatively positive about the game, which he felt "achieves its modest goals quite successfully, providing slick, straightforward guidelines for incorporating lycanthropic PCs into Dungeons & Dragons campaigns", but he cautioned that players would require "a high tolerance for the system's eccentricities". Swan thought that keeping track of two sets of character statistics "sounds like a chore", but the Werecreature Character Record Sheet "makes it snap". He also felt that acquiring special abilities through level advancement was "a nice touch that encourages players to stick with their lycanthropic PCs though a campaign". On the downside, Swan was not impressed with the role-playing tips that "address only the most obvious aspects of a werecreature's split personality", commenting that head writer Ann Dupuis "seems more interested in physiology than psychology, making the book less useful than it could've been". Swan called the scenarios the game's strongest material, "designed to take optimum advantage of lycanthropic characters". Swan concluded that ''Night Howlers'' "lacks the atmosphere and spectacle of the ''
Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...
'' game... but it delivers the goods to ''D&D'' game players who want to shake up their campaigns... Used judiciously, ''Night Howlers'' can produce some of the wildest ''D&D'' sessions you've ever experienced."


References

Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1992 {{D&D-stub