Lycanthropy

Lycanthropy is an intrinsic property that appears in NetHack.

Lycanthropy is conveyed through being bitten by a werecreature – a werejackal, wererat, or werewolf, as well as eating their corpses; if you are human, eating a werecreature corpse is considered cannibalism. Being given lycanthropy from an attack abuses your constitution.

Effects

Lycanthropy transforms you into your animal form at regular intervals: during daytime hours, you have a 1/80 chance each turn to change forms, and during the night, the chance is 1/60. Quaffing a potion of holy water will cure the lycanthropy and return you to your normal form if possible; quaffing unholy water will immediately cause you to shift to your animal form. Inhaling the vapors of either potion will shift you to your normal form or animal form, respectively. Polymorphing with lycanthropy will toggle between both forms.

Summoning fellow monsters

While in animal form, using the #monster command will call for help by summoning a few monsters of the same species, the same as a NPC werecreature's skill (e.g. using #monster so as a werejackal will call jackals, coyotes and foxes). Calling for help this way requires a certain amount of power to use, and exercises wisdom when done successfully.

Strategy

Lycanthropy is generally considered undesirable; animal forms have low carrying capacity, and werewolves will destroy their shirt, cloak, and body armor when transforming to animal form. As lycanthropes are also silver-hating creatures, if a player character is given lycanthropy, they will take silver damage like other lycanthropes; additionally, they cannot handle any silver-based items in either form, and any silver items being worn or wielded will be forcibly dropped, with 1d10 points of damage dealt for each silver item. This check will also cause the player to "retouch" everything in their inventory, meaning that they may also take artifact blast damage as well if they are carrying any cross-aligned or cross-role artifacts.

Lycanthropy does have some benefits, however - it confers drain resistance while you possess it, and in animal form you have the option of summoning tame monsters. If you wear an amulet of unchanging, or have polymorph control from wearing or eating a ring of polymorph control, you may avoid transforming into your animal form as long as you are conscious and not stunned, asleep, or confused - this leaves only silver hatred in terms of adverse effects, although this will also take up a ring or amulet slot you may want to use down the line.

The monsters summoned using the #monster command are generated tame and act as normal pets. This can be used to acquire a very large number of jackals, rats, or wolves to polymorph into much better pets; at bare minimum, they can serve as temporary meatshields. Very low-level characters will have trouble using this command early on, as the animal form will have much lower maximum power.

Prevention and cure

To prevent catching lycanthropy when bitten, you can wear a ring of protection from shape changers, or reduce the chance with magic cancellation. Attacking werecreatures with ranged weapons is also wise, especially while they are in animal form. Werebane prevents lycanthropy from infecting you while wielded.

To remove lycanthrophy, you can pray to your god, as it counts as a major trouble. You can also eat a sprig of wolfsbane or quaff a potion of holy water. If none of these options are available, an amulet of unchanging or ring of polymorph control will keep the intrusive changes under control until then. You can force yourself to transform back into your normal form by letting yourself take damage; when you reach zero HP in your animal form, you transform back to normal temporarily.

Origin

The word "lycanthrope" (from ancient Greek λύκος [lýkos, "wolf"], άνθρωπος [ánthropos, "man"]) simply means "werewolf". In Dungeons & Dragons, which NetHack heavily borrows from, the term is extended to apply to all shape-shifting were-creatures.

History

The full-inventory "retouch" from being given lycanthropy was introduced in NetHack 3.6.0.

Messages

You feel feverish.

You were given lycanthropy from a werecreature's bite.

You can't handle your foo!

The player was wielding a silver weapon or wearing a silver item at the time they were given lycanthropy, and is forced to drop it.

You lack the energy to send forth a call for help!

You tried to use the #monster command while shifted to your animal form, but do not have enough power.

You feel purified.

You successfully cured yourself of lycanthropy.

Variants

SLASH'EM

SLASH'EM adds several new werecreatures (and thus more potential sources of lycanthropy). A blessed potion of amnesia can cure lycanthropy.

The lycanthrope is a new starting race in SLASH'EM that always begins with the lycanthropy intrinsic; they will always be werewolves, although they will automatically remove their armor before transforming rather than destroy it (unless it is cursed).

In addition, the doppelganger race gains intrinsic polymorph control by reaching level 9, allowing them to mitigate the side effects of lycanthropy in a manner similar to wearing the ring.