Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts was an extensive anthropology book on lycanthropes and lycanthropy, primarily as they pertained to the Domains of Dread, that was written by the famed monster hunter Rudolph van Richten.[1]
Description[]
Divided into five chapters,[3] the book covered a wide variety of topics on true lycanthropes, as well as lycanthropy as either a disease or curse, with van Richten dubbing the latter two "pathologic lycanthropy" and "maledictive lycanthropy".[4] It went into great detail highlighting the similarities and differences between the three types,[5] as well as how one might remove the curse,[6] detect an infection, or become cured of the disease while in Ravenloft (as doing so was a far more difficult task there than on the Prime Material).[7] The book also detailed the differences between types of lycanthropes,[8] which Van Richten referred to in the text as "phenotypes" on account of having been introduced to the term by a sage from another world.[9] The final chapter devoted its pages to detailing how one might go about identifying, tracking, hunting down, and killing lycanthropes.[10]
In its introduction, van Richten notably detailed his first encounter with a lycanthrope at the age of 39 in the domain of Darkon, noting that up until then he had believed them to be mere legends and that three Sembians went missing trying to track down its victims.[11]
Due to van Richten's admitted difficulty with researching lycanthropes, parsing truth from mere fables and legends,[4] as well as his own biases as a monster hunter, there were some inaccuracies within the Guide to Werebeasts. For example, purporting that all lycanthropes regardless of type were evil, even though some like werebears were aligned towards good;[12] authoritatively asserting that no lycanthropes exemplifying herbivorous animals existed,[13] though werebison[14] and werestags could be found on Toril;[15] and asserting that giants were immune to lycanthropy,[16] though there were some instances of it on Toril, like the ettin werebat Sina and Mesrak.[17]
Notable Owners[]
- The Cabal of the Moon's Blood, a group of Red Wizards dedicated to studying lycanthropy,[18] owned a copy of Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts.[19]
- Kolyan Indrirovich, the burgomaster of the village of Barovia, owned a copy. His was once discovered by a pair of adventurers from Elturel.[20]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ BC stands for Barovian Calendar and is the calendar system used in the Domains of Dread. Van Richten's birth date is stated to be 671 BC on page 4 of Van Richten's Arsenal and in Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts the author states that he was "born nearly threescore years ago," meaning that the 730's are the most rough approximation that can be given for the book's creation.
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), p. 4. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), p. 90. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), p. 3. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), p. 10. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 10–20. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), p. 20. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 71–74. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 24–28. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), p. 10. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 76–88. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), p. 5. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), p. 48. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), p. 24. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, et al (1989). Hall of Heroes. (TSR, Inc), p. 36. ISBN 0-88038-711-4.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (July 1995). Volo's Guide to Cormyr. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 228. ISBN 0-7869-0151-9.
- ↑ Nigel Findley (1993). Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts. Edited by Andria Hayday. (TSR, Inc.), p. 61. ISBN 1-56076-633-6.
- ↑ Jason Nelson-Brown (August 2006). “Man Forever”. Dungeon #137 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (137)., p. 78.
- ↑ Chris Ruester (March 1998). Red Dawn. Living City (RPGA), p. 2.
- ↑ Chris Ruester (March 1998). Red Dawn. Living City (RPGA), p. 27.
- ↑ DreamForge Intertainment, Inc. (1994). Designed by Thomas J. Holmes, Christopher L. Straka. Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession. Strategic Simulations, Inc.