The Werebat

Werebats are brutal creatures that live in temperate deserts or near the entrances of caves. Affliction with this form of lycanthropy only happens often, since werebats are vicious and attack most creatures that they find. Afflicted werebats usually head for caverns were they plague underground races such as Gnomes and Dwarves. They sometimes come into the services of Drow or (rarely) mind flayers use them as scouts. Recently, Vampires have been known to use them as guardians of their layers for the daytime

A character that chooses to keep his lycanthropic curse can progress in the werehyena template class to gain werebat abilities. This template class may also be used by natural werehyenas who wish to start play at lower levels and develop their powers, or for characters who somehow acquire this form of lycanthropy from another source.

Table SC-1: the Werebat template class

Level

Special

1st	+1	Wis +2, natural armor +2, alternate form (dire bat), low-light vision, shapechanger sub-type, werebat feat (Alertness)
2nd	+1	Alternate form (hybrid), bat empathy, damage reduction (5/silver), werebat feats (Iron Will, Stealthy)
3rd	+2	Curse of lycanthropy, damage reduction (10/silver)

Werebat Template Class Features

All of the following are class features of the werebat template class.

Ability Score Changes: the indicated ability score increases or decreases by the amount noted. These changes are cumulative.

Natural Armor Improvements: At 1st level, the werebat's natural armor bonus increases by +2. A character that does not normally have a natural armor bonus (such as a human) is considered to have an initial natural armor bonus of +0 for the purpose of this ability. Thus, a human's natural armor bonus would increase to +2 at 1st level. These changes are cumulative.

Alternate Form (Su): At 1st level, the werebat can take the form of a dire bat, and he undergoes this change involuntarily on the nights of the full moon or in times of stress, as described in the Monster Manual. Unless the werehyena is a natural lycanthrope, he does not automatically have control over this ability and must attempt a Control Shape check to intentionally change form or to resist an involuntary change. For an afflicted lycanthrope, Control Shape is a class skill for all classes as well as racial Hit Dice, if any. Natural lycanthropes have full control over when they change shape and do not need to take ranks in this skill. Changing form is a standard action that can be attempted once per round.

A werebat character that is aware of his condition retains his identity and does not lose control of his actions when he changes. Each time he involuntarily changes to his animal form, however, he must make a Will save (DC 15 + number of times he has been in animal form) or permanently assume the alignment of his lycanthrope kind (neutral evil for werebats) in all forms. Any voluntary change to dire bat or hybrid form immediately and permanently changes the character's alignment to neutral evil. See Alignments for Lycanthropes for explanation.

Until the character has taken one or more optional levels in the dire bat animal class (see Bat Abilities, below), changing shape to dire bat form does not give him the abilities of a dire bat -- he simply is able to take that creature's shape, as if he had a perfect disguise. Since this ability is of limited use, most characters taking levels in the werebat template class choose to take levels of the dire bat class as well in order to gain the full abilities of their animal forms.

At 2nd level, the werebat can assume a hybrid form -- a shape between his humanoid and his dire bat forms. As with the dire bat form, this change is purely cosmetic unless the character has taken the dire bat class to gain the appropriate abilities.

Low-Light Vision (Ex): A 1st-level werebat gains low-light vision.

Shapechanger Subtype (Ex): At 1st level, the werebat gains the shapechanger subtype.

Werebat Bonus Feats: At 1st and 2nd level, the werebat gains the feats indicated on Table SC-1 as bonus feats, assuming that he doesn't already have them. If the werehyena does not meet the prerequisites (if any) for a bonus feat, he gains the feat but cannot use it until he does meet the prerequisites.

Bat Empathy (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a werebat in any form can communicate and empathize with normal or dire bats. This ability gives him a +4 racial bonus on checks made to influence the attitude of normal or dire bats. It also allows the communication of simple concepts and (if the animal is friendly) commands, such as "friend," "foe," "flee," and "attack."

Curse of Lycanthropy (Su): At 3rd level, a natural werebat can infect other creatures with lycanthropy. Any humanoid or giant hit by the bite attack of a werebat in animal or hybrid form must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or contract lycanthropy. Afflicted lycanthropes do not transmit lycanthropy.

Damage Reduction (Ex): At 2nd level, the werebat gains damage reduction 5/silver. At 3rd level, a natural lycanthrope gains damage reduction 10/silver. An afflicted lycanthrope's damage reduction does not improve beyond 5/silver.

Table SC-2: The Dire Bat (Lycanthrope) class

Class Level

Hit Dice

Base Attack Bonus

Fort. Save

Ref. Save

Will. Save

Skills

Special

1st	1d8	+ 0	+1	+2	+1	2 +Int. Mod	Str + 2, Dex + 2, natural armor +2 , dire bat abilities , bite
2nd	2d8	+ 1	+2	+3	+2	2 +Int. Mod	Str +2, Dex + 2, Con +2, natural armor +2, scent
3rd	3d8	+ 2	+3	+4	+3	2 +Int. Mod	Str + 2, Dex + 4, Con +2, natural armor +2, blind sense
4th	4d8	+ 3	+4	+4	+4	2 +Int Mod	Dex + 4, Con +4, natural armor +1, large

Ability Score Changes: The indicated ability score increases or decreases by the amount noted. These changes are cumulative.

Natural Armor Improvements: At 1st level, the character's natural armor bonus increases by +2. A character that does not normally have a natural armor bonus (such as a human) is considered to have an initial natural armor bonus of +0 for the purpose of this ability. Thus, a human's natural armor bonus would increase to +2 at 1st level. These changes are cumulative.

Dire Bat Abilities (Ex): Upon taking a level in the dire bat animal class, the character gains the animal's Hit Dice (in all forms), base attack bonus (in all forms), base saving throw bonuses (in all forms), ability score modifiers (in hybrid and animal forms), skill points (in all forms), and natural armor bonus (in hybrid and animal forms), as well as the special abilities indicated on Table SC-2. Class skills for the hyena racial Hit Dice are In hyena form, the werebat’s speed changes to 20 feet and flying speed is 40ft. In all forms, gains a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Listen checks. These bonuses are lost if its blind sense is negated.

Class skills for the dire bat racial Hit Dice are Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot.

Bite: the dire bat animal class gives the werebat a bite attack in his animal and hybrid forms. The bite is a natural weapon that deals 1d6 points of damage .

Scent (Ex): As a 1st-level hyena, a werebat in any form gains the scent ability.

Large (Ex): When a werebat reaches 4th level in the dire bat class, his animal and hybrid forms become Large size. In either of those forms, he takes a -1 penalty to AC and attack rolls because of his size, and his Space/Reach changes to 10 ft. /5 ft. His bite damage increases to 1d8 points, His ability scores change as indicated on Table SC-2.