Q: Lycanthropes
- Thread starter maladaar
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tarkhan bey
Mongoose
Yes, at least in the 1st Edition of the game.
Interestingly, I was reading an interview with Benecio Del Toro(?) about the upcoming remake of "The Wolfman". It suggests that many of the things that are now commonly associated with werewolves come from the original Lon Chaney Jnr version eg The Full Moon transformations and the whole Silver thing.
I don't know if thats truly the case but it would certainly explain why REH's lycanthropes don't seem to be immune to ordinary weapons.
Interestingly, I was reading an interview with Benecio Del Toro(?) about the upcoming remake of "The Wolfman". It suggests that many of the things that are now commonly associated with werewolves come from the original Lon Chaney Jnr version eg The Full Moon transformations and the whole Silver thing.
I don't know if thats truly the case but it would certainly explain why REH's lycanthropes don't seem to be immune to ordinary weapons.
VincentDarlage
Mongoose
tarkhan bey said:
That is correct. Robert E. Howard would not know of most modern lore about werewolves because he wouldn't have seen The Wolfman (1941).
Howard wrote two excellent werewolf stories, In the Forest of Villefere and Wolfshead.
Indeed, in a recent article for Signs and Portents, I offered this ability for REH werewolves based on those two stories:
Curse of the Werewolf: If a werewolf is slain as wolf, then he is slain; but if he is slain as a man, then his ghost will haunt his killer forever. Sometimes the ghost possesses the slayer and turns the slayer into a werewolf.
Both of those stories, IIRC, mention this curse, so I apply it to all REH werewolves.
However, I do find it amusing that the Players don't know regular weapons hurt them - they go scrambling to find silver and a bunch of other things that don't really need to be done when they discover a werewolf is the baddie.
the werewolf legend has many many forms, and its true to say alot of the legend we now associate with it comes from the Original Wolf Man, as stated above.
In original myth and legend there are numerous forms of were creature...the Loup Garou of France were said to be able to change into wolf form by donning the skins of a wolf during a pagan ritual. but there are numerous "tales" of how to become a werewolf, from drinking water from a wolfs paw print to sleeping out under full moon haveing smeared your body in a special salve.
as for harming them, pre 1935 there was very little mention of silver at all in any form of werewolf legend. History seems to have it that a certain werewolf was shot by a silver bullet during various re-tellings of the legend and historically it enters the urban legend from there onwards.
mistletoe, rye, ash and obviously wolfsbane all have some historical use in many folktales of lycanthropy .
Interestingly early vampire tales do contain the use of silver as a weapon against vampires though.
personally ive always found Conans view of "if it is the material plain" then it can be harmed by "good honest steel" to be very refreshing...a couple of the pastiche novels contain were creatures of wolf men, notably a were panther that heals very quickly from normal weapons but is harmed badly from its own knife...and a wolf man as part of a carnival, who, other than looking like a man-wolf exhibits no outstanding characteristics beyond great size and strength and a big set of gnashers! LOL
back to the film mytho's..the original werewolf/man was The Werewolf of London (Universal) and it has no mention of silver as a bane against them at all...only a rare flower that can halt the transformation. The poem from the original Wolf Man was "simply made up" by the writer and can also be heard in Van Helsing. As another bit of pointless trivia you never see the full change of the The Wolf Man until one of the later films..much of the change in The Wolf man are feet only.
bit off topic i know..but what can i say...i love the mythology of lycanthropes! LOL
In original myth and legend there are numerous forms of were creature...the Loup Garou of France were said to be able to change into wolf form by donning the skins of a wolf during a pagan ritual. but there are numerous "tales" of how to become a werewolf, from drinking water from a wolfs paw print to sleeping out under full moon haveing smeared your body in a special salve.
as for harming them, pre 1935 there was very little mention of silver at all in any form of werewolf legend. History seems to have it that a certain werewolf was shot by a silver bullet during various re-tellings of the legend and historically it enters the urban legend from there onwards.
mistletoe, rye, ash and obviously wolfsbane all have some historical use in many folktales of lycanthropy .
Interestingly early vampire tales do contain the use of silver as a weapon against vampires though.
personally ive always found Conans view of "if it is the material plain" then it can be harmed by "good honest steel" to be very refreshing...a couple of the pastiche novels contain were creatures of wolf men, notably a were panther that heals very quickly from normal weapons but is harmed badly from its own knife...and a wolf man as part of a carnival, who, other than looking like a man-wolf exhibits no outstanding characteristics beyond great size and strength and a big set of gnashers! LOL
back to the film mytho's..the original werewolf/man was The Werewolf of London (Universal) and it has no mention of silver as a bane against them at all...only a rare flower that can halt the transformation. The poem from the original Wolf Man was "simply made up" by the writer and can also be heard in Van Helsing. As another bit of pointless trivia you never see the full change of the The Wolf Man until one of the later films..much of the change in The Wolf man are feet only.
bit off topic i know..but what can i say...i love the mythology of lycanthropes! LOL
VincentDarlage
Mongoose
Axerules said:
Ha! Just goes to show it is hard to keep track of all the quotes out there. I would put this in the category of superstition just because the scarcity of magic or non-human weapons makes the werewolf unstoppable by PCs. Of course, having one as a major villain requiring a bane weapon would be appropriate and this quote certainly sets the stage for this as appropriate for the Hyborian age.
Most of Howard's werewolf tales, however, do not seem to have this immunity. Apparently it depends on the tale you wish to tell and the tone you want to set.
David St-Michel
Mongoose
Unless I'm mistaken, were-beasts in 2e Conan RPG aren't immune to mundane weapons. They're tough little buggers that can rip your heart out without all the gltiz and glamor of a spell, but they're not invincible.
Which would make for an interesting rumble.
Which would make for an interesting rumble.
David St-Michel said:Unless I'm mistaken, were-beasts in 2e Conan RPG aren't immune to mundane weapons. They're tough little buggers that can rip your heart out without all the gltiz and glamor of a spell, but they're not invincible.
Which would make for an interesting rumble.
That it does! The PCs in my game just recently fought some were-panthers during the events of the campaign in the Across Thunder River supplement. Though they couldn't stand up long against 2 barbarian's wielding Akbitanan greatswords and Power Attacking. They did stand up longer than the Picts though.
