Greater Lycanthropy - a protean threat for OSR & 5th Edition

         Disease is a constant fear for the rich and the poor alike. In fantastical settings where it is possible for healing magic to treat nearly any malady, certain afflictions may still be so dire that they cannot be addressed by even the Gods. They may simply be so deadly or terrible in their effects that the victim isn't able or willing to seek out help in time. Lycanthropy falls into the latter category, an aggressive disease which changes the victim into a monster over the course of a number of weeks. While it's unlikely that the disease can spread unnoticed for long given the madness it inflicts on victims, each infected has the potential to spread it unchecked until they're killed or cured. Even if healing magic can be used to arrest or blunt the worst of the disease, it may be that like in our world where contagions eventually begin to develop resistances or even immunity to common treatments.

          Greater Lycanthropy is such an occurrence. Unlike it's lesser cousin, Greater Lycanthropy does not stop at mere changes to the subject's behavior and body; it is in many ways a creature unto itself. The disease begins similarly to normal Lycanthropy, subjects find themselves transforming under certain conditions and as they descend mentally, eventually at their own wills. As the disease progresses the subject's mind begins to suffer an internal assault, with the disease beginning to manifest in this way first as compulsive behaviors, then eventually graduating to voices and the overriding of the subject's will with that of the contagion. Unlike mere Lycanthropy, the greater version isn't spread merely through bites, any fluidic transfer - whether saliva, blood or otherwise - is enough to potentially transfer it to another. Greater Lycanthropy is significantly harder to detect due to the malevolent intelligence direct it's victims and the subtle nature of it's early effects. Sages have classified the disease into a number of strains, but all of them share the same five stages of severity.

Severity	Effects
Stage 1	Various symptoms which can include, fevers, chills, terrifying nightmares, fatigue, delirium and mental confusion. (Save vs Magic* on waking. On a failure the subject does not derive any benefit from sleep, such as regaining HP, though they still regain expended spells. The fatigue and other symptoms impose a -1 penalty on attack rolls. Upon three failures the disease progresses to the next stage.)
Stage 2	Temporary voluntary transformations begin, the subject is now stronger and healthier even without the benefits of transformation. (The victim is invigorated by their infection and gains +1 to all physical stats permanently. The subject can now transform into a horrific form based upon the strain they have been infected with. Subject gains an additional +2 to all physical stats and regains 2/HP a turn while in this form. This transformation takes 1 round to enact and lasts up to 6d10 rounds. Save vs Magic* upon transformation, on three failures the disease progresses to the next stage.)
Stage 3	Involuntary defensive transformations in response to attacks or stress, the disease begins to communicate directly with the victim via auditory and visual hallucinations. (There is now no limit to the length of the subject's transformation. The victim gains immunity to critical hits. The subject must save vs Magic* when they would normally suffer a critical hit, or when they would take 1/4 of their total HP in a single instance. After three such failures the disease progresses to the next stage.)
Stage 4	Victims can now sense and communicate telepathically with others who have been afflicted with the same strain. Sufferers begin to lose long spans of time as the disease begins to take over their mind and enact its own will. (Upon waking or taking damage, the victim must save vs Magic*. Upon failure the subject loses control of themselves for 1d8 hours as the disease takes over. On three such failures in a row, the victim moves up to the next and final stage.)
Stage 5	The victim has been completely overtaken by the affliction's alien intelligence. While their memories are still present and able to be used by the disease to imitate them, they are gone.

*: Please make a Wisdom or Charisma save at DC (11 + Stage Level) instead if using 5th edition.

         A number of strains have become apparent to sages observing victims, and while this list is by no means exhaustive, it does provide an idea as to the type of transformations which may be encountered, as well as the means by which the disease progresses and behaviors that sufferers may exhibit. There is speculation among those studying disease that the designation of Lycanthropy for the affliction is incorrect, and that while there may be similarities to the other disease in the Therian strain, the existence of the other types proves that it is a unique infection.

Name	Effects
Theria	The most familiar in nature of the commonly encountered varieties, victims of this subset of the contagion turn into variations of beasts, most commonly wolves. The guiding intelligence of this strain desires little more than to engage in wild and unrestrained debauchery and bouts of violence.
Scylla	Victims of this strain begin to dream of the ocean, of cities down in the dark depths. Their transformations allow them to survive and thrive underwater and generally resemble creatures such as fish, crustaceans and mollusks. The guiding intelligence attempts to organize its victims to build structures underneath the waves and actively seeks to infect more victims.
Windigoag	By far the most outwardly horrific of the commonly encountered strains, the poor subject of this strain begins to desperately hunger for the flesh of their own species. The physical changes from this subset of the contagion are the most subtle; sunken and reddened eyes, growth of teeth and nails into fangs and claws, and facial gangrene which causes the lips to rot away. The intelligence lurking in the disease simply wishes to consume any other sentient creature it encounters, though it is capable of great craftiness & stealth.
Hyron	The Hyron strain causes transformations which resemble eusocial insects such as bees, ants, termites and wasps. The malevolent intellect behind the disease uses its victims to establish settlements and communities in isolated and hard to reach locations. After doing so it begins to gather strange and esoteric materials in an attempt to summon an entity termed 'The True Queen.'
Daemonic	A particularly disturbing manifestation of fiendish intrusion, certain outsiders exist not as corporeal beings but instead as something akin to an infection. Transformations tend towards fiendish norms such as cloven hooves, tails, unnaturally hued skin and horns. The intelligence of the demon is typically distributed among its victims, and its goals are completely dependent upon their personality.
Eldritch	Contact with realms beyond the ken of mortal souls can bring with it the notice of the loathsome creatures which dwell in those far off spaces. Some of these creatures can use the bodies of those fools who encounter them as a vector to enter our reality. These pitiful souls find their bodies warping into unwholesome and bewildering shapes; tentacles, extra limbs, mouths and eyes or the addition of baffling and disturbing organs have all been observed. As the mind of the victim begins to degrade, the alien consciousness directs its form to bring more of its kind into the world.

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