Howling Moon

Under the spectral pallor of the Howling Moon, eerie laments suffuse the night, heralding a time of transformation for those susceptible to the lunar body's sinister influence. This eldritch orb stirs the deepest emotions and brings bestial nature within those who dwell within the accursed Luyarnha. As it rises, a chorus of pain mingles with the snarls of newly transformed beasts, sending shivers down the spines of those who bear witness to its ghastly ascent.
When the Howling Moon is visible, the following effects apply to the world.

Creatures

The Moon amplifies all sounds, echoing through the city’s madness. Whenever a creature deals thunder damage, it deals extra thunder damage equal to its proficiency bonus. In addition, all sounds can be heard from twice as far away.

Under the influence of the moon, the howl of beasts becomes untenable. All beasts gain the following ability:

Howling at the Moon (Recharge 3-6): As a bonus action, the creature uses one of the following howls: Howl of Hatred: The monster unleashes a roaring howl. Each hostile creature within 10 feet of it must succeed on a Trait DC Constitution saving throw or be knocked prone and take 1d4 thunder damage.

Howl of Healing: The monster beckons the moon for its healing properties and gains a number of temporary hit points equal to its CR (or level).

Monster CR

Trait DC

Trait Damage

≤2

10

1d4

3-4

12

1d6

5-6

14

1d8

7-8

16

1d10

9-10

18

2d6

11-12

20

2d8

13-16

22

3d6

17-20

24

3d8

21+

26

4d6

Travel

Though the moon itself may not affect travel directly, the wild beasts it unleashes upon Luyarnha certainly do. For each hour the party travels, roll a d6. On a 1 or 2, the party encounters hostile beasts. The party can attempt to skirt around the beasts and move past them with a group Stealth check against a DC equal to the highest passive Perception of the beasts they could encounter. On a failure, roll a d4 instead of a d6 for the next hour of travel. If the party fails the saving throw by 5 or more, they are immediately noticed and attacked.

Madness

The madness section of each moon refers to a Madness DC, which is indicated in the following table.

Average Party Level

Madness DC

1-4

11

5-8

13

9-12

15

13-16

17

17-20

19

21+

21

When the moon first appears, all humanoids must succeed on a Madness DC Wisdom saving throw or gain a short-term madness. Any humanoid that fails the saving throw by 5 or more gains a long-term madness instead.
In addition, the Howling Moon beckons the beast within. Whenever a roll is made on any Madness table, add +10 to the result, to a maximum of 100.

Short-Term

Whenever a character gains a short-term madness under the Howling Moon, their instincts become bestial. For the duration of the madness, they have advantage on Dexterity saving throws but lose the ability to make ranged attacks or cast spells with a range further than 5 feet, wanting to shed blood with their own two hands. Further, they have advantage on any unarmed strikes or attacks that use natural weapons.

Long-Term

If a character gains a long-term madness that turns them into a scourgeborn or beast, instead of lasting for the duration of the madness, the transformation becomes permanent, and it can be reverted only by a greater restoration or wish spell. If they transform into a beast due to this moon's influence, instead of falling under the GM's control, they retain their alignment and can identify friends, follow them, and even protect them. While transformed in this way, the first time they interact with a humanoid that they aren’t acquainted with, they must make a Wisdom saving throw against the Madness DC. On a failure, they see them as prey and immediately attack in order to devour them, stopping only if they are knocked unconscious.

Indefinite

If a character gains an indefinite madness under the Howling Moon, their mind becomes bestial, though their body may not follow. Their Intelligence and Charisma scores are each reduced to 1, and their Wisdom score is reduced to 14 (if it is higher). They can’t cast spells, activate magic items, understand language, communicate, or plan in any intelligible way. The character can, however, identify its friends, follow them, and even protect them. In addition, if the character gains a long-term or indefinite madness, they automatically roll a 100 on the percentile dice and a 10 on the d10, and the transformation becomes permanent.

Reminder: On a 96-100 on the percentile dice and an 8-10 on the d10, your body transforms into a beast or monstrosity of the GM’s choice with CR equal to half your level (rounded up). Apart from this, your transformation follows the rules of the polymorph spell, though if you are reduced to 0 hit points, you fall unconscious instead of reverting to your normal form.

Type

Metaphysical, Supernatural