Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Wereshark 

We're gonna need a bigger party.

My character got bitten by a wereshark in today's session. Next week is going to insane. Rest of the party didn't catch the significance of my failed constitution check. 🤣

The idea of a sahuagin wereshark is too funny to me. "It's like, how much more shark-like could I be and the answer is none. None more shark-like." XD

Had a character get cursed to be a wereshark once. We were crime bosses though, so it just added to my street cred.

Everybody gangsta 'til a pod of orcas come rollin' up.

"Innsmouth intensifies"

I've been waiting for a lore dive on these guys since he talked about the Sahuagin

0:54 technically, lycanthrope refers to werewolves. The correct term is therianthrope.

And just like that I'm working on a wereshark barbarian 🤣

Imagine fighting a Wereshark when it lets out a call like Aquaman and summons a swarm of cookie cutter sharks from the deeper ocean.

I think for lycanthropes that embrace the curse should have an advantage when remove curse is cast. Yet having remove curse failing to remove a curse could make for an interesting story.

I think if I was a DM for a homebrew game I'd actually try to design a quest that subverts the expectations of the players once they discover that a wereshark is involved, sharks aren't creatures that are evil by nature, they simply swim around the ocean and eat whatever fish they can catch to survive, perhaps the quest would be something like "the local nobles daughter has gone missing on this island and we think a wereshark might have took her" and when the players find the daughter they discover that the wereshark had protected her from pirates that attacked her and decided to hid the daughter somewhere safe so that she could recover from her injuries.

I put some of these as a random encounter during an Isle of dread adventure. Players got cocky until they saw these sharks swimming toward the boat, transform and start boarding...

Repeat after me: Fish are friends, not food.

Well, there's my pirate kings lieutenant. I have spent the last 4 months building the world for my first campaign and your videos have helped flesh out what the Forgotten Realms wiki lacked - so thanks!

Ever looked into a Weresharks eyes? Sorta like dolls eyes all dark and lifeless

How timely. I just turned two of the PCs in my 5e campaign into Weresharks.

Wereshark: the Buffet

I’ve been thinking of running a pirate themed campaign recently. Once again, you’re timing is uncannily impeccable. Thanks AJ!

They can communicate with _any_ shark? Everybody gangsta’ til they swim up with a trio of frilled sharks in toe.

Constantine is sweating profusely....

Been a long time since I've last played Dnd with my friend, glad that when I'm back playing the game I saw channel in the recommendation!

weresharks. I have only met one, but he was afraid of the water.

@Aj Pickett if you haven’t tread the four novels in the “Threat from the Sea” series you really need to do it. This is why I’ve wanted to play a Malenti Sorcerer, Sea Elf Priest of Deep Sashelas, or a Mermaid Bard.

Now I want to play a Wereshark pirate!

I played a wereshark as a character in a previous game... Albeit not EXACTLY a wereshark, but a Sea-scarred Skinwalker in Pathfinder, but same difference really. His name was Bruce McGill, and he was a hermit who used a trident as his main weapon. A quick note about the difference between a Skinwalker and a Lycanthrope is that a Skinwalker is a generational decedent of someone with lycanthropy... like a kid or grandkid or later... who inherited the curse rather than was inflicted by it. Due to this, they can transform at will without the need for it to be a full moon, and it cannot be removed by magic or the like. They also tend to learn about the heritage in a number of different manners, but usually around the age of puberty. For example, Fanglords (weretiger-kin) typically transform for the first time during their first sexual encounter... which becomes very awkward and/or dangerous for the other person... Whereas a Nightskulk (wererat-kin) usually manifests when they are exposed to a deadly disease, at which point their kin blood helps fight off the affliction. Bruce wasn't the smartest cookie. He was pretty much the epitome of "All brawn, no brains", but given what happened in the game, he wasn't even good at that all the time. There was one time where the party found themselves fighting a bunch of frog-like humanoids, and despite beating a bunch of them, the leader... who was only half the height of Bruce, not only managed to physically overpower Bruce in a contest of strength (both trying to push each other back), they managed to grapple and ended up suplexing him (which has become a running joke towards all my characters whenever they get into combat, especially against anything smaller than they are). Bruce got his own back though... After we (ie the other party members) captured the leader and tied it up, Bruce decided to torture them a little, standing out of sight from the other party members while cutting up the body of the frogman's deceased friends, casually eating the flesh in front of this creature, all while giving sickening grins. His canon death (in between times, as I'm currently playing a different character in a sequel game, since we shifted to 5e as the game system and I couldn't find a way to replicate Bruce) is that after the previous group parted ways, he decided that he was right to live away from people, so he found a school of Sahagin, and challenged the leader... and promptly had the entire school just swarm and kill him... Seemed like a fitting death for him.

A wereshark is basically one of my worst nightmare. Terrifying 😳

Turns into a full shark on land, suffocates.

Shorks

What about a were-dino? 🤔🤔🤔

A street sharks a fond memory.

Ah, yes. John Constantine's ex.

The Megalodon: Iakhovas, is the most fascinating d&d lore which I never knew I loved. I feel like there's more to the Paladin that slayed Iakhovas. What an amazing story.

Horrific scars, but pearly white teeth. Yarr you broke the absolute law of the sea fairing dog! We don't take kindly to dental hygiene.

My players think they are too strong for humanoids since they are at the top of the social structure with 14 levels and good loot. They think that only outsiders, undead and dragons can hurt them... Let them see

Hope to see other lycanthropes soon. I beleive the werefox has been the most unused were creature since 2nd edition.

So natural lycanthropes happen when at least one lycanthropes is the parent. But what if two different lycanthropes (say shark and wolf), in human form "meet?"

Thank you for being an endless source of inspiration for building my world and encounters. You're a legend. I'm in my second year as a DM and your work has been invaluable to the fun of my players and myself in this hobby. All the best!

You mentioned a were-house, can you do a video on those next?

Id love to make an npc chaotic nuetral ship captain, with a bad past as a pirate who is a were shark. Cold and strict but goes crazy during battle. Wild and laughing as he turns. Embracing both aspects, he is a human but he is also apart of the ocean as this apex predator. He is both the calm and the storm.

King Shark is a shark!

KING SHARK IS A SHARK!!!

They're nooo match for the STREET SHARKS! STREET SHARKS! Another great video.

When the first Fiend Folio (correction, it was the Monster Manual 2) came out I had a campaign that I put a wereshark / 8th level barbarian on a Pacific like atoll that my party needed to overcome. All at night, on the atoll, and "Predator" had just started to be shown on cable tv, so pits and snares ideas were fresh in my mind. The wereshark, when he became wounded would run into the darkened jungle to the sea and regenerate somewhat on assuming shark form. It was finally ended when 3 of my bravest players stayed on the atoll, as the rest of the party departed. They slept through the day, in shifts of course, and then sat back to back through the night waiting for the barbarian / wereshark to attack for three days. When it finally made a committed attack the players would not let it get away, or run for the sea, and finished it. Those three players made another level, and created a very fond memory for this old gamer. Great video, thanks.

This remind me of a very complicated relationship our party had with one particular capitan. Salty Jack the Pirate was so infuriating, we were fighting him several times in between adventures out of pure frustration. As if he wasnt annoying enough, he was actually a weregator, which made his escape (and us) look more stupid every time he fleed. Sometimes he betrayed us, sometimes vanished with our money, but in the end almost always we were ready to sail for another adventure with him. Now thats piracy!

Badass! Though for me i really like the idea of a good or better yet a neutral aligned lycanthrop where they are more akin to druid-like minds, the beastial connection making them see how it is in nature, for example here sharks are not just bloodthirsty for sake of being bloodthirsty, but rather they are cleaners of the oceans, attacking the weak and ill. In the wereshark here i see a doctor-like figure, still cold and blunt, but not bloodthirsty for sake of bloodthirstiness, but seeing them sniffing out an illness or weakness in some person and making it easier to identify and perhaps ridding off the ill ridden corpse. Easier than burrying it, but still has that repulsive, gore, nature-is-metal vibe to it.

It’s Shark Rad!

Thanks for this video AJ! When I was an age 17 DM (1989) and running a mariner heavy campaign, I had to home-brew this race. I wish I had a time machine and could nab you from now to then. I gave the players the option to pick exotic backgrounds and promised I could deliver. So, I read all the AD&D stuff I had available and used a demigod of the Sahaguin's primary god to sire the race. I made their hybrid form as massive as their shark form but more humanoid and amphibious with a "centaur" version available when they are in the water. Despite all the problems I gave them, they were still really OP. It was (in normal towns) that immunity to any nonmagical/non-silver weapons that was a really big deal. Also, I gave their humanoid form the bite boost I gave sharks. I was an avid fan of ocean life since I was in elementary school and did a lot of free time in school at its library and saw the AD&D version of any and all shark bites as really weak, giving them a HUGE damage bonus when the target is not armored at all. I also gave blood smell (if you are bleeding, you will be found) and metal/biofield detection. There was also a HUGE bonus to social reactions with Sahagun. Charm Animal (sharks only) was a cheap Mana Technique all of them had. I used a Mana Point system. They were charmed until released but the number was limited by the Charisma score allies. They can exceed that only within the limits of the Charm Animal ability. I know, it was OP (overpowered) but I thought I balanced it right and I was pretty much an AD&D child compared to us now. The infecting others who survive the bite was a fun blowback... something that I actually did right at the time. Ever since I was 14, I always did the blowback.

Yes its the street sharks!

if a storm giant was bitten by a wereshark, would the stormgiant turn into a weremegaladon? Enjoyed the video as always! edit:nevermind you answered it in the video

Ma'iq knows many things others do not.

What was the saying? "Don't go back in the water"? OH, I'm going!

MAN I'm hyped for werefrog!

The setting definitely sounds like it could be used for a Lovecraft themed campaign.

Hmm... Storm giants are far too noble and powerful to succumb to a mere wereshark bite. The most likely candidates for giant weresharks would be stone giants living in seaside cliffs and... cyclopes! Cyclopes are mainly known for favoring desolate island caves for their lairs, and are both dumb enough to wade into wereshark territory, and strong enough to fend off the attack and survive a few bites. Cyclops wereshark seems like the most likely suspect here. Easily identifiable by being a monstrous megalodon, with ONE FREAKING HUGE EYE right in the middle of its head! Ettins living in seaside caves would be another good candidate, if you wanted to do the ferocious TWO-HEADED MEGALODON WERESHARK!

The best story I heard was about a wete shark was about a player abusing the grapple rules and talking smack both in and out of game, so the GM had the rumors spread. 2 weeks later they were in a shop and a commotion happened outside. They went out and saw a wereshark wearing a martial arts robe, a black belt, hand and foot raps, calling the character's name. The player asked what he was looking for and the response was along the lines of "You Cutbait. Roll initiative."

Hey AJ, great video! The pictures are truly epic. I'm going to check out that 450 pg. book. The weapons in the video are incredible. That first one in the beginning of the video is a war pick, the second one i noticed was shaped like a fish hook. That's Maui's weapon which would be Hawaii lore (many many islands lore in that area). As always AJ great stuff man. Thanks AJ & have a great day.

Is there a wereoctopus? If so, can the two breed to make a weresharktopus?

Great topic. Been re-reading threat from the sea and loved seeing the wereshark featured.

Once had a party of lycans that went pretty well. I was a tiger, then we had a great white, tiger shark, turtle, and a pair of rats. The GM allowed us to choose our alignment within reasons as we were all natural born. Mix of a pirate campaign and an empire campaign where we chose a middle of the two. Pretty funny watching people watching people run from me just to go into the water with a pair of sharks. A lot of fun with a group and a lycan campaign always add to things mainly since your PC levels are restricted at the time of 3e.

Kudos to you for a video greatly done and appreciated!!! Weresharks remind me of Killer Shark from DC comics, especially seen from DCU animated series, Batman: Assault on Arkham - - the introduction of the Suicide Squad in the animated series. Could shark-weres (sharks turning into humans or merfolk) exist in AD&D?

Would Bat shark repellent work on weresharks?

And you have now inspired me to make a campaign around Ikovis and I’m so excited! Thank you!! You are an absolute legend!

Huh, and here I though my were deer was crazy.

Were going to need a bigger boat.

The description starting at 2:35 is fantastic! Love prose in vids. It's helpful too

I cant stop imagining these guying sounding like bruce from finding nemo.

a wereshark could burst through the water and just say "a!".

Ty for this video now i cant wait to play a wereshark campaign now

There's a Hawaiian myth that's pretty much this

Going to have to look at grabbing that PDF! Thanks for the heads up.

I think a wereshark is just like king shark

But can they rollerblade and fight crime?

"Shark king is a shark."

I'm putting together some thoughts on a wereshark and seawolf outcast pirate band for my Ghost of Saltmarsh campaign (maybe they're rivals?), thanks for the wonderful work, it really helped expand my thoughts on this. I loved the narrative bit at the beginning, really fleshed out their ambiance/mood and I could easily see a location like this in crabber's cove. Skip Williams' "The Sea Devils" has some great content on other sea-themed lycanthropes that could provide great content if you think your fans would enjoy your treatment of them, I know I would. Thanks again, great work.

With a GM wanting to experiment, I got to play one of these, it was fun!

I know Chult and The Isle of Dread sorta get mixed up these days thanks to the Tomb of Annihilation, but I was surprised to see no mention of their iteration from Isle of Dread!

All the sources I have seen suggest that Umberlee created them.

Imagine a fishing village with 3-5 LemonShark WereSharks. The problem? They are running, and they dont want to fight the team.. And only serve to worn the party that something "Wrong" has scared off the local Kraken overlord. And the Kraken is a proficient necromancer. With plenty of undead minions. Soo... What "thing" cound scare off something like a necromantic Kraken? Also a tribe of WereOrca?

Love this monster! Thanks AJ!

I was looking for some mention of Draga Salt-biter. He's the Darklord of the domain of Saragoss in Ravenloft, and was formerly a pirate captain of the Sea of Fallen Stars and a cleric of Umberlee. The Dark Powers cursed him to be unable to breathe air, and remain beneath the waters with the sharks that he despised.

Congrats! Out of the vast quantities of D&D monster videos I've seen, this is the 1st time I have genuinely felt uncomfortable.

King shark is a shark

I believe these were originally called Land Sharks.

Just something interesting to note about sharks; Their sense of smell is actually very weak, the reason they can track blood so effectively is because they can sense it with bioelectricity.

I remember there was a darklord in ravenloft that was a wereshark named Draga saltbiter.

Does anyone else get a image of a brutish british wereshark in there head when they frist hear wereshark?

These guys make for epic pirates. Ive had a couple cursed crews.

Very fascinating and intriguing thank you sir! 👍🏻

LOVE this video!!!!! bought like 50+ shark men gladiators from wrath of kings!!!! I want to do a sunken ship village for them eventually:)!!!

Another great video keep them coming

Yo this was a good one my guy 😎👍

Wereshark! nice! been looking forward to this one!

I'm surprised at how Umberlee used to be so gentle hearted in the past

The dungeon my players are in had a mad weretiger in a sort of observation room that I was gonna use to try and infect one of them with lycanthropy. But now the room is a large pool with an observation deck that's gonna have a mad wereshark because that sounds much cooler. Am I a bad person because I want at least one of my players to fail their saves?

great video AJ

Is there such thing as hammerhead weresharks?

I am a wereshark but I am cursed to stay in my hybrid form forever.

I've created a little bit of a main bad guy in honor of this video Captain Pickett who is a wereshark and the captain of a whaling shipalso I'm going to have to get this pirate campaign book

The first wereshark I heard of was while watching the Team 4-Star's At The Table D&D campaign. Also, could you do a video on Were-Dragons or the Ruby Dragon King Sardeyor(I probably misspelled that, but I sounded it out Sar-D-Yor)?