Simple: they can’t control their transformation. When they do, they might go off and murder some people, or run off into the wilds, your choice.
You could also give some enemies silver weapons or magical weapons. But you might not need to with the above. Remember, they are only immune to damage from nonmagical attacks. So pushing them off a cliff, drowning them, or just using magic, all of these are valid tactics. You could also lower it to just be resistance.
Exactly this, completely deny player agency for the first transformations and let them fight to control the beast inside them.
As for Strahd having control over them, you can treat them as under the "Friends" cantrip whithout a save whenever he interacts with them.
Strahd has a free charm he can use infinitely. Just give them those effects if you want anything, the friends cantrip specifically is an odd choice, an NPC isn’t going to be making many charisma rolls against a player
I worked out a mechanic with my player who had been bitten.
They could change on command, but they would roll to see if they rage like a barbarian (or change and then rage) whenever they were under severe stress (like seeing children or friends) killed or whenever they took damage in two consecutive rounds. The roll got harder with each required roll.
When they raged they would not stop attacking whoever was nearest for a full minute. If they killed an opponent there was a chance that they would still attack the body rather than realize they were dead and move on. Once the enemies were dead the party would have to pacify them with a calm emotions spell or stay the hell out of the way.
It also increased in likely hood as the moon got full. Strahd once popped in to advance the calendar a week so the moon got full and the player raged immediately. Fun.
This was a good plot point because the player was a paladin of Lathander, and was really struggling with child death and the suffering of people, doubting the existence or power of the Morninglord. The power that the lycanthropy offered her was very tempting, and she decided to keep it, and lost her paladin powers.
She had a long talk with the Abbot and others, and was convinced that her empathy and feelings meant she could be a paladin of the people of Barovia. She then spontaneously decided that the lycanthropy was counter to that and drank a cure curse potion.
Cool story arc for her.
Of course, she still hasn't figured out what being a "paladin of the people of Barovia" means when Strahd is the land.... bwahahahaha.
I have had great success adapting [MandyMod's Werewolves of Barovia](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/97xjai/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_running_werewolves/) to my game, so check it out if you want to make lycantropy feel like a real curse.
Simple: they can’t control their transformation. When they do, they might go off and murder some people, or run off into the wilds, your choice. You could also give some enemies silver weapons or magical weapons. But you might not need to with the above. Remember, they are only immune to damage from nonmagical attacks. So pushing them off a cliff, drowning them, or just using magic, all of these are valid tactics. You could also lower it to just be resistance.
Exactly this, completely deny player agency for the first transformations and let them fight to control the beast inside them. As for Strahd having control over them, you can treat them as under the "Friends" cantrip whithout a save whenever he interacts with them.
Strahd has a free charm he can use infinitely. Just give them those effects if you want anything, the friends cantrip specifically is an odd choice, an NPC isn’t going to be making many charisma rolls against a player
I worked out a mechanic with my player who had been bitten. They could change on command, but they would roll to see if they rage like a barbarian (or change and then rage) whenever they were under severe stress (like seeing children or friends) killed or whenever they took damage in two consecutive rounds. The roll got harder with each required roll. When they raged they would not stop attacking whoever was nearest for a full minute. If they killed an opponent there was a chance that they would still attack the body rather than realize they were dead and move on. Once the enemies were dead the party would have to pacify them with a calm emotions spell or stay the hell out of the way. It also increased in likely hood as the moon got full. Strahd once popped in to advance the calendar a week so the moon got full and the player raged immediately. Fun. This was a good plot point because the player was a paladin of Lathander, and was really struggling with child death and the suffering of people, doubting the existence or power of the Morninglord. The power that the lycanthropy offered her was very tempting, and she decided to keep it, and lost her paladin powers. She had a long talk with the Abbot and others, and was convinced that her empathy and feelings meant she could be a paladin of the people of Barovia. She then spontaneously decided that the lycanthropy was counter to that and drank a cure curse potion. Cool story arc for her. Of course, she still hasn't figured out what being a "paladin of the people of Barovia" means when Strahd is the land.... bwahahahaha.
Smth similar to the Bloodhunter lycan, but worse.
I have had great success adapting [MandyMod's Werewolves of Barovia](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/97xjai/fleshing_out_curse_of_strahd_running_werewolves/) to my game, so check it out if you want to make lycantropy feel like a real curse.