Explore the world of Werewolves as we tear down the Hollywood tropes to explore the true terrors of urban lycanthropy. Discover the truth about the awakening in the Ævum Malum modern, dark urban fantasy campaign setting.
About Ævum Malum
Ævum Malum is a modern, urban dark fantasy campaign setting where hidden powers, forbidden knowledge, and living myths collide in a world held together by lies, secret societies, and the desperate effort to delay an inevitable unmaking. It was created by Adam P Campbell in 2025.
Transcript
Cold Open
You know what the scariest part about werewolves actually is? It’s not the claws. It’s not the teeth. It’s the fact that some of them have absolutely no idea they’re killing people.
Intro
Welcome to Eviliv3 Play, a celebration of my favorite tabletop role-playing games. This is a sister channel to Eviliv3. Today, we are tearing away the Hollywood myths and sinking our teeth into the raw, terrifying reality of Werewolves, the apex predators of my modern, urban dark fantasy TTRPG campaign setting, Ævum Malum.
Discussion
When most people think about werewolves, they picture the Hollywood version. A cursed man chained to the moon. A tragic monster trying to resist his violent nature. Maybe even a loyal pack running through the woods together beneath moonlight. But in Ævum Malum, none of that is true. Werewolves are not natural creatures. They are not spiritual guardians, and they certainly are not misunderstood antiheroes. They are a localized infection of the Void itself—a living curse shaped from humanity’s oldest primal fears.
Long before modern civilization, mortals survived by huddling around weak fires in endless darkness, terrified of the predators waiting just outside the light. In the mythology of Ævum Malum, those fears didn’t simply disappear. They bled into the Void, collecting and festering beyond reality itself. Eventually, the Void answered. Not with wisdom. Not with balance. But with a curse specifically engineered for slaughter. And once a mortal is infected, the transformation is horrifying.
Bones violently fracture and reform. Skin tears apart. Teeth force themselves through flesh. This is not a graceful shapeshift. It is the human body being overwritten by something ancient and predatory. Worse still, young werewolves completely lose themselves during transformation. There is no humanity left behind the eyes. No conscience. No mercy. Only instinct, violence, and the endless hunger of the Void.
If a victim survives an attack, the curse spreads to them. The wound heals physically, but spiritually, the infection remains dormant until the transformation eventually begins. And fighting one is almost impossible. Werewolves regenerate at terrifying speeds. Gunshots barely slow them down. Broken limbs snap back into place within seconds. Most injuries heal before the victim even realizes they landed a hit. Only fire, silver and wolfsbane seem capable of disrupting the curse. Fire and silver burns their flesh like acid and halts regeneration entirely, while wolfsbane acts like a toxin against the Void’s influence itself. But surviving long enough to use either weakness is another matter entirely.
What makes the curse especially tragic, however, is the effect of time. Young werewolves are completely enslaved by the moon. Every full moon forces an agonizing transformation, and afterward, most awaken with absolutely no memory of what they did. Many spend years unknowingly living double lives while entire communities disappear around them. But over decades, the curse evolves. Older werewolves slowly begin remembering fragments of their transformations. Their connection to the moon weakens. Eventually, ancient werewolves gain complete control over their changes and can transform at will. Some even transcend the traditional hybrid form altogether, becoming enormous Dire Wolves capable of tearing through entire settlements alone. The terrifying irony is that the older a werewolf becomes, the more dangerous they are—but also the more aware they become of the atrocities they have committed.
Contrary to popular myth, werewolves rarely travel in true packs. Most are territorial, paranoid, and deeply violent even toward their own kind. However, survival occasionally forces temporary alliances. These alliances create hidden dens. One such refuge is The Borderline Lodge, an isolated hunting compound hidden deep in the mountains near the Canadian border of New York. Some ancient werewolves retreat there to safely unleash their dire forms far from civilization, while newly infected fugitives hide from hunters and authorities alike. But some dens hide directly within urban society. The Rusty Bolt is one example: a violent biker bar hidden within an industrial district of the city. Loud music, criminal reputations, and constant chaos provide perfect camouflage for monsters trying to blend into human society. When people disappear nearby, authorities blame gang violence rather than supernatural predators.
But perhaps the darkest aspect of the curse is the cure itself. Every infected werewolf is spiritually tied to the one who turned them—their Master. If the Master dies, the curse instantly breaks for every surviving descendant connected to that bloodline. At first glance, this sounds merciful. It is not. The moment the curse ends, every memory returns. Every victim. Every scream. Every murder. Former werewolves suddenly relive decades of slaughter in perfect clarity all at once. Many descend immediately into complete insanity beneath the unbearable guilt. Others become something arguably even more tragic. Addicts. Some former werewolves actively seek out living carriers of the curse, begging to be infected again—not for power or immortality, but simply to escape the horror of remembering what they’ve done.
And honestly, that may be the most terrifying thing about the Void. It does not merely create monsters. Eventually, it teaches people to willingly become them.
Outro
Thank you for watching today’s Ævum Malum episode. Subscribe and ring the bell if you are new to the channel. Don’t forget to click the like button and comment to let others learn about this dark and engaging, modern urban fantasy tabletop roleplaying game campaign setting. You can join my actual plays and get $10 by signing up to StartPlaying.Games, and even pick up other ttrpg’s using my affiliate link in the description below.
Thank you Creator Patrons Aaron Hardy & D. Robert Handy, Producer Patron David Galindo, and Developer Patrons Chris Androu & Sam Ruiz!
And as always, remember that evil spelled backwards is live, so get out there and Be Evil!