Loup du Noir

Loup du Noirs, also called Skinchangers, are a variant werewolf from the Dungeons & Dragons multiverse based on the mythological portrayal of werewolves as humans who can assume the shape of wolves by pulling enchanted wolfskins onto their bodies, kind of like a horrific version of a fursuit. Like their cousins the loup-garou, they are native to the Ravenloft setting; the Darklord Boyar Gregor Zolnik of Vorostokov was the first Loup du Noir, and the others in the setting are his children and grandchildren. Loup du Noirs first appeared in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition adventure Dark of the Moon, and were then reprinted for general consumption in the Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume One, alongside the Werebadger and Werejaguar, who had debuted in the earlier Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts.

Because Vorostokov was never reached during the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition revival of Ravenloft, these monsters have never officially appeared in any other edition.

Loup du noirs, obviously, have only two forms; human or dire wolf. They need access to their magical wolfskin to transform, and can be trapped in human form if it is destroyed. They are only vulnerable to magical, silver, and blessed weapons - however, magical weapons not made of silver or subjected to a Bless spell still only do half damage. They are immune to spells that inflict the Charm or Hold status, and resistant to all other mind-affecting spells. Whilst they retain full cognizance in wolf form, they are infused with an intense bloodlust that compels them to attack and kill anything they encounter, including friends and family - the longer they go without killing something, the harder this bloodlust gets to resist.

Due to their magical nature, loup du noirs are basically the original patient zero for many of the (actual) lycanthrope strains. In dire wolf form, their bite can infect a victim with lycanthropy, turning them into normal werewolves. Additionally, they are fertile with both humans and wolves, and can produce two separate strains of lycanthrope by breeding; offspring conceived in the loup du noir's human form will become loup du noir themselves, once they have the chance to kill a wolf and harvest its skin, whilst offspring conceived in the loup du noir's wolf form will become wolfweres.