This book is awesome. It includes all the various tools related to lycanthropy mentioned in the description.
Do you want lore (and rules) on how to identify, hunt, and be hunted by lycanthropes (and survive)? Check. Do you want text presented from the perspective of the famous monster hunter Dr. Rudolph Van Richten as evocative notes and stories from his personal experience? Check. (And with a separate in-world version suitable for players and their characters? Genius!) Do you want more detailed rules and options for being a lycanthrope (and maybe being cured)? Check. Do you want plenty of evocative art? Check. Do you want 5e stat blocks for lycanthropes from older editions, more powerful variants of more common lycanthropes, or those of (to my knowledge) completely new phenotypes (animal types)? Check, check, check.
This wonderfully updates and expands upon content from the old 2nd-Edition Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts without flat-out copying everything from that classic. Much of the same terminology and lore is used for consistency and presented anew, but there is plenty of completely original material too. It truly feels like a newer work Van Richten may have thrown together from memory and further experiences. Sure, it may be missing werebadgers and seawolves (wereseals). But you get things like werehyenas, werecheetahs, and werewalruses (!), each with distinct features that make them stand out. And of course, classics like the werewolves and wererats as well. And multiple variants of each type.
While I consider this a must-have for any lycanthrope-heavy Ravenloft campaigns, be aware that aside from name-dropping maybe two NPCs, this is completely setting-neutral material. (Except for a sidebar regarding the multiple moons of Eberron.) This, in my mind, is a strength. Lycanthropes should be exciting and feared in every setting!
Great for those that struggle with the Beast Within! Whether in others, in themselves, or in their campaigns! Well done!
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