Dungeons and Dragons: Curse of Strahd Makes a Case For More…

One of the reasons TTPRGs are popular is because of the appeal of creating an original character and putting them into an imaginary world. Dungeons and Dragons has compelling pre-made campaigns for those who don't want to create a custom world and story. Some campaigns have become iconic in the community, and few are as popular as the Curse of Strahd campaign. Curse of Strahd focuses on vampires, which are one of the most popular monsters in popular culture.

Vampires have established lore in Dungeons and Dragons, making them fairly easy to integrate into a campaign as either villains, or using the dhampir lineage for players. While it's great that vampires have so much attention, another kind of monster isn't as detailed in Dungeons and Dragons despite its popularity. Lycanthropes have a ton of potential for roleplaying and as antagonists, but their lore in Dungeons and Dragons is still largely up to the DM. While there are lycanthrope variants, they're mostly designed as enemies for combat encounters, rather than being adaptable for player characters - something a module could change.

What Star Wars: KOTOR's Remake Could Learn From Modern Dungeons and Dragons

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was based on 3e, and could stand to gain a lot by adopting Dungeons and Dragons' most recent system.

Posts

By Shayna Josi

Lycanthropes in Dungeons and Dragons

Curse of Strahd borrows from gothic horror and all the themes and monsters associated with the genre. The monsters include different variants of vampires, such as vampire lords and vampire spawn, and the main villain of the campaign, Strahd, is the most iconic vampire character in Dungeons and Dragons. With an entire campaign and setting based on vampires, their lore, and stat blocks for each variant, Dungeons and Dragons has a format that should be used again. As another popular monster that has been sorely neglected in-game, lycanthropes are a perfect candidate for a Curse of Strahd-like release.

Werewolves are monsters that have their own niche of popularity among players. Unfortunately, the lore and stats surrounding lycanthropes in 5e don't meet the potential that they could, especially when compared to vampires. Lycanthropy is mentioned in Curse of Strahd, but isn't the focus on the campaign, which instead focuses on vampires.

There are a number of different types of lycanthropes. The ones listed in the 2025 Monster Manual are:

Werebear
Wereboar
Wererat
Weretiger
Werewolf

Creating a Dungeons and Dragons Lycanthrope Campaign

Unlike a lot of other media that tend to feature werewolves as the only lycanthrope, Dungeons and Dragons has several types of lycanthropes which introduce interesting storytelling opportunities and variations for character builds. For example, instead of becoming a lycanthrope that focuses on Strength, Curse of Strahd includes wereravens, which could focus more on scouting and reconnaissance, complementing a Rogue's skillset and role in the party.

A campaign that centers on lycanthropes can expand them by introducing new subclasses and lineages. Like Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, which introduces three new lineages, a lycanthrope campaign could introduce new lycanthrope lineages. Another issue for lycanthropes is how vague the lore is surrounding them, with even the 2025 Monster Manual only including a stat block for the different types. Lycanthropes need lore for how curses are carried, when the lycanthrope transforms, and society's view of them.

Many of the details around lycanthropes are left deliberately vague for the DM to decide. A lycanthropy-centered campaign could either take place in an entirely new setting, or take place in Ravenloft and center lycanthropes rather than vampires. This could give new lore to guide DMs in both Ravenloft and other campaigns, as well as guidelines for players to create their own characters affected by lycanthropy.

Image