Lycanthropy ("Do you know how hard it is to get your nails done when you're shaggy?")

Many players feel that being shaggy is the only way to go. Far be it from me to disagree with them. You get shaggy by being whupped on by a werebeastie. In the original version of the game, all player lycanthropes were wereboars. One of the later patches fixed this problem. Now you will become whatever it was that gave you lycanthropy. If you get beat on by a werewolf, you will become a werewolf. If you get beat on by a wereboar, you become a wereboar.

Like vampirism, the onset of Lycanthropy is marked by a spooky dream. From the time you have this dream you have three days to get to a temple to get cured or you will become a lycanthrope.

There are some decided advantages to being shaggy.

you get 40 points added to your STR, AGI, END and SPD, to a maximum of 100.

you get 30 points added to Climbing, Critical Strike, Hand-to-Hand, Jumping, Stealth, and Swimming (it is possible to go over 100).

you're immune to Iron and Steel weapons (which is what most bad guys carry until you reach higher levels). In effect, most humanoids can't touch you while you're in wereform, except with spells.

you get the Lycanthropy spell added to your spellbook. The effect of the spell is to change you into wereform and it's a freebie to cast once per day (not once every 24 hours - once per day).

unlike vampirism, you don't die, so you won't lose your guild affiliations or ranks

(this is such sweet revenge), you can kill guards all day long while you're in wereform and it doesn't affect your legal rep in the slightest because they'll never ask you to surrender (yell, "Halt! Halt! Halt!" at me, will ya?). The reason for this is that they have to inflict damage on you before the surrender message will pop up and most guards don't have Silver or better weapons available, so they can't damage you.

you're immune to vampirism (you can't have both diseases at the same time) and other diseases, but you can be infected with a fatal disease at the same time that you are infected with Lycanthropy.

There are some severe disadvantages to being shaggy, though.

when you're shaggy (in wereform) you can't use weapons or armor and you can't access your inventory. You do get a couple of furry paws with black nails that show up in place of your weapon on the screen, though, and the whuffling sound you make while fighting is much less annoying than the vampire's noises.

no one likes you. The streets empty while you're shaggy. (It could have something to do with your breath. Have you tried MilkBone?)

you will involuntarily change to wereform during the full moon. Not good when you're trying to get something accomplished and you need to access your inventory or deal with people.

you've got to feed your appetite for the innocent every month or your hit points will drop to 4, making you fodder for the next rat you run into. That means keeping a careful eye on travel times.

there's those pesky lycanthrope-hunters to deal with. Fortunately it's only one or two episodes per year.

Lycanthropy is easier to live with than Vampirism, thanks to an artifact. The Glenmorial Witches can summon Hircine (or any Daedra Summoner at temples or the Mages Guild will do it on the proper day if you are the proper rank), who will send you on a quest to get Hircine’s Ring (it's actually a shield, but occupies a ring slot - go figure). The Ring removes most of the disadvantages of Lycanthropy. The possessor of the Ring can change form at will, will not change during the full moon, and does not have to feed every month. However, the Ring will not work for anyone who is not already a Lycanthrope.

Of course, you still can't use weapons or armor while in wereform. And Lycanthrope hunters will still be knocking at your door. And there's the funny reaction people get when you're in town and looking hairy.

OK. You've weighed the pros and cons and have decided that life without hair is no life at all, especially in a society without Rogaine. How do you go about getting shaggy?

The fastest way is to go to the Fighters Guild and keep asking for a quest until you get the quest to go kill a lycanthrope (this does not seem to work if you've been infected with vampirism - the werebeastie is a bear).

The second fastest way is to go take Cyndassa's quest (you've got to find and kill a werewolf).

The third way (and this does not seem to work very well at high levels) is to just hope you meet one in a dungeon.

The fourth way is to hang out in the wilderness until one shows up as a random encounter. I've encountered werecritters in the wilderness all over the Bay area. Just walk outside of any town and rest or loiter in front of any dungeon and you'll get one eventually.

The fifth way is to get the quest to deliver the item from a Witch Coven. The critters will come to you.

Getting rid of Lycanthropy is accomplished in much the same way as getting rid of vampirism. The hunter will offer you a chance to redeem yourself by completing the quest that will cure you. You may also take quests from witch covens until you get the quest to deliver the item to the Mages Guild. Use the item and you'll be cured. Or, if you're feeling persnickety, keep it and kill all of the werecritters that come looking for you to get the cure themselves. Since werebeasties don't carry any treasure, you've got to be feeling awfully persnickety.

On the bright side, the problem with reduced stats does not seem to affect cured lycanthropes as it does vampires. Or if it does, no one has bothered to mention it to me and it has never cropped up in one of my games.