How to make Lycanthropy more interesting in Dungeons and Dragons

In our current campaign, my character got bitten by a wererat and was cursed with lycanthropy. This had the potential to be cool and fun, but the rules in the Monster Manual provide only partial guidance on how to handle it. Below, I’ll share some ideas on some rules you can implement at your table.

Here are the key points we have to consider from the Monster Manual:

• A person with lycanthropy can resist the curse or embrace it
• A player character resisting the curse can retain their personality while in humanoid form – but is unable to resist during a full moon. Good character with lycanthropy may become reclusive and live alone in the wilderness.
• If a player character embraces the curse, their alignment becomes the one defined for the lycanthrope. In general this means they become “evil, opportunistic creatures.” In this case, the DM can decide this places the character under their control until the curse is lifted
• Lycanthropy can be removed with the Remove Curse spell if contracted from a bite

The main thing missing here is a mechanic we can use to measure how the character is resisting the curse. It’s too easy and boring for a player to decide they quite like being resistant to weapon damage – a trait that, rules-as-written, applies at all times – and just tell the DM they’re resisting.

Here’s a simple system I came up with to make it an actual challenge for a player to do this.

• Upon contracting lycanthropy, the DM rolls a d20. The result is the number of days until the next full moon.
• In the meantime, the DM will present situations that tempt the character to embrace their curse. Examples include stealing from a helpless villager, killing an enemy who as asked for mercy, betraying a friend for personal gain, or refusing to have the Remove Curse spell cast on them.
• If the player chooses to resist the temptation, the DM calls for a Charisma saving throw with an appropriate DC. (These should be challenging.)
• Similar to death saving throws, the player tracks the number of successes and failures. Allow, and even encourage, the other players to intervene.
• If the character achieves three successes before three failures, they are able to permanently resist the curse, except on the night of a full moon. The DM should still introduce complications for the character, such as vulnerability to certain magical effects, pursuit by monster hunters, or being feared and mistrusted by much of society.
• If the character fails three saving throws before getting three successes, the character succumbs to the evil of the curse. They are immediately placed under the DM’s control.

Hopefully, these rules can provide some guidance on what to do if a player in your group gets bitten by a werewolf. (Well, in my case, a wererat. The character’s friends ended up staging an intervention and casting Remove Curse.) If you have any changes to suggest, feel free to drop them in the comments!