So... I'm trying to put together a Template for a Werewolf for an Urban Fantasy setting for Genesys and I'm having a mental block trying to come up with a way to model the classic Werewolf invulnerability to non-silver weapons. I'm probably over thinking it but would like to see if anyone else has any ideas.

My initial idea was to just give them a very high soak to normal weapons, but give them no soak for Silver. Do you think that would work or is there a better way to model it?

There are some examples from the CRB of letting certain kinds of weapons have a lower Crit rating against their intended target. That would make the werewolf vulnerable to most damage, but especially vulnerable to silver weapons (which would perhaps treat its Crit rating as 1 or 2).

If you want to make him invulnerable to anything but silver, that's a different proposition. Your idea of high Soak for non-silver would work. Or you could just make it narrative: Silver harms him, nothing else does. End of story.

You could also do Rapid Regeneration.

When taking damage from non-silvered weapons this creature heals xx number of wounds per round.

You could say criticals are reduced by 50 or more to get what you want out of it.

That’s more in line with what I think of a werewolf’s “invulnerability “.

I like ESP77's idea.

Plus your players aren't in an impossible fight if they don't have silver; just a very long and tough fight.,

I'll second ESP77 and Tear44. The first thing that came to mind was super regeneration. regains x hit points and heals x # of crits a round. Wether you let the lethal threats kill it permenantly without silver is up to you but it should make for an exciting fight and a good 'ahh s**t moment' as they see broken limbs and wounds closing up like something form the movies!

I might include fire as a vulnerability as well. Give them an out if they don’t have silver and it still fits with the classic werewolf.

You could also create a new weapon quality for your game.

• Silvered - Weapons with the Silvered quality do normal damage to werewolves and other lycanthropes.

Then, include a special ability for the werewolf.

• Lycanthropic Invulnerability - As lycanthropes, werewolves are invulnerable to mundane attacks, and only take damage from magic attacks, silvered weapons, and magic weapons.

I'd give werewolves regeneration 3/round against non-silver weapons, and give them double their Soak against non-silver weapons. Silver weapons get Pierce 5 and wounds must be healed normally. If you want silver to be especially perilous, give it Vicious 3 as well.

You might consider having them take strain instead of wounds from non-silver attacks (after soak, etc. is applied). Just make sure to always track strain for the NPCs.

Or just deal with it narratively.

For things like this, it depends on the type of game you want to run and, ultimately, who the PCs are supposed to be.

Are the PCs supposed to be already-competent monster hunter types? It's more fitting to say the werewolf is "Impervious to personal-scale damage from non-silvered weapons" and assume the PC always bring silvered ammo/blades. Then, use Despair/Destiny Points to go "Oh No! you're out of silvered ammo! Better use one of your Extra Reloads to stay in the fight!" or "You threw your silver dagger and it fell right down the sewer grate! Your only hope might be to drop that massive chandelier on the werewolf!" This fits a more Underworld style action-focused game, where the 'heroes' are usually on equal footing with the monsters, and any lack of prep on their part is there solely to spice up the action scenes.

If the PCs are supposed to be ordinary people who have to scrap together gear and defenses against a monstrous threat, keep the impervious idea but treat a confrontation with a monstrous enemy that they are unprepared for like I treat a confrontation with Vader: It's not a combat encounter, it's a modified chase scene where the goal is to get out alive and attacks "just slow it down" to give you breathing room. Then let the players use Destiny Points/Triumph to find a lucky bit of silver they can sharpen up and do real damage with. In this case, getting the necessary toolsto defeat the monster is a side quest that requires some Knowledge/Streetwise/Mechanics checks and some expenditure of money to find the necessary materials and build working weapons out of them. This fits a more BTVS type theme, where the usual flow of a "monster of the week" plot goes like this: 1-Weird Thing Happens. 2-Find out what monster is causing it. 3-Scene where the heroes escape the monster while investigating it b/c they don't have what they need to stop it. 4-Group smartperson researches the monster and the heroes return to vanquish it.

It's all about theme, yo.

I kind of like given the werewolf a high soak and saying silvered weapons ignore soak.

Thanks for the input everyone - Some great ideas here.

Take a look at the nano-swarm (page 188). They have a swarm ability that halves damage received (before applying soak) unless it's from a weapon with either the Blast or Burn qualities. You could do the same for were-creatures: half damage (before soak) except from silver weapons.

On 1/12/2018 at 6:13 PM, Simon Retold said:

You could also create a new weapon quality for your game.

• Silvered - Weapons with the Silvered quality do normal damage to werewolves and other lycanthropes.

Then, include a special ability for the werewolf.

• Lycanthropic Invulnerability - As lycanthropes, werewolves are invulnerable to mundane attacks, and only take damage from magic attacks, silvered weapons, and magic weapons.

This is the way I'd do it. Increased soak, quick regeneration, lower crit ratings; those are all mechanical solutions to a narrative one. You can explain all of those into the narrative of "The Lycanthrope is only hurt by silver/magic/fire attacks". It's less bookkeeping, it speeds up the narrative, and keeps the game moving.