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My campaign is eldritch and fantasy and there is a werewolf clan currently near the party. My players have said that they're immune to lycanthropy because of their PCs' races:

  • A Stone Child. He says the PC is made of stone, has no blood, and no true brain, and so can't be infected by a lycanthrope. I'm not sure how much of this is true.

  • A half dragon. She says dragon's blood can't be poisoned. I'm not sure whether that include not being able to be infected by a werewolf.

  • A Killoren. To the best of my understanding these are fey who died and then possessed a half elf, or something like that. I'm not sure what that means for being affected by lycanthropy or not.

Can any of these races be afflicted with lycanthropy?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Welcome to site. Take the tour. A question is best when its narrow, and these questions are a bit disconnected, and asking for biological feedback is something better done on a forum. The site, however, can totally help you with each of your questions separately--Can X races be lycanthropes? Are dragons immune to poison? What lore is associated with the killoren? for example are all good standalone questions. No matter what, thanks for participating and have fun. \$\endgroup\$ – Hey I Can Chan Jan 29 '16 at 21:23
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    \$\begingroup\$ I'm not sure that we'd be better off with three “Can a X be infected by a lycanthrope” questions than we would be with one “my players all say their PCs are immune to lycanthropy, is it true?” question. I'm not sure, but I've cleaned this up in the meantime and I guess we'll see how the voting goes. \$\endgroup\$ – SevenSidedDie Jan 29 '16 at 21:52
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    \$\begingroup\$ Any one of the three questions here is a good question, but not combine. \$\endgroup\$ – Tritium21 Jan 30 '16 at 4:21
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    \$\begingroup\$ Is there any reason that you are not accepting either of the answers given? I ask due to the clarity of both responses. \$\endgroup\$ – KorvinStarmast Feb 9 '16 at 3:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ Given the creative reasons for being immune given by these players, I suspect the group might be playing with a less by-the-book style than most 3.5rd edition campaigns. Or maybe you usually do play by-the-book, but your players are trying to pull a fast one without bothering to check if their characters actually are immune or not. Or maybe they are playing by-the-book, but they've chosen to describe their immunities in flavourful ways instead of just quoting rules text. I'm kinda curious, now. \$\endgroup\$ – GMJoe Feb 9 '16 at 4:54
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The only thing that determines a creature's susceptibility to Lycanthropy is creature type.

"Lycanthrope" is a template that can be added to any creature of the humanoid or giant types. There are no other requirements for the template, though one can only contract the Lycanthropy affliction from a lycanthrope within one size category of the target.

To answer your specific inquiries:

  • Stonechild - Stonechild is listed as an Outsider, and thus is immune to lycanthropy. Whether or not they're actually made of stone is both irrelevant and outside the scope of this answer.
  • Half-dragon - The half-dragon template changes the base creature's type to Dragon. Thus, no longer being a humanoid or giant even if they were originally, a half-dragon of any base race is immune to lycanthropy. Immunity to poison does not protect a creature from lycanthropy, as it's a curse, not a poison. Which is still irrelevant, because half-dragons aren't immune to poison in the first place.
  • Killoren - Killoren are considered to be of the Fey creature type. As you can probably tell by now, this means Killoren are immune to lycanthropy. The fact that they're humanoid in shape doesn't affect anything either way.

In short: All the creatures listed are immune to lycanthropy, though not necessarily for the reasons you describe.

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Under a strict interpretation of the SRD, I'd think none of those races would be susceptible to a Werewolf bite.

Any humanoid or giant hit by a werewolf’s bite attack in animal or hybrid form must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or contract lycanthropy.

The limiting factor is on the bite itself. The power only affects humanoid and giant races, and only while the werewolf is in wolf or hybrid form. Humanoid is a type of being that has looks human, is medium or small sized, and doesn't have any other types. Humans, dwarves, elves, orcs, etc. are Humanoid. Angels, demons, fae, etc. may be human-shaped, but they aren't a Humanoid type.

Now, the big caveat: This is your world (as in not Ravenloft or some other world that has firm, established rules). Pick what fits your setting. Is there something different about these werewolves? Maybe the family--and only the family--was cursed, so it is passed down genetically. Maybe they made a pact with a god or a spirit or a demon, so new members must go through a ritual to gain the power. Maybe it's an extraplanar infection, so nobody is safe.

If you do change the nature of the curse from the standard, make sure you change the CR of the werewolves to reflect it.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Are these PC races not humanoid? This answer hinges on that point, but doesn't state anything about it. \$\endgroup\$ – SevenSidedDie Jan 29 '16 at 22:28
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    \$\begingroup\$ Sorry for not clarifying that. Humanoid is a type of being that has looks human, is medium or small sized, and doesn't have any other types. Humans, dwarves, elves, orcs, etc. are Humanoid. Angels, demons, fae, etc. may be human-shaped, but they aren't a Humanoid type. \$\endgroup\$ – River-Claire Williamson Feb 8 '16 at 16:47
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    \$\begingroup\$ Great! That wasn't so much a point I was unclear on, as something of an omission in the answer that made it a bit weaker. I've edited your words into the answer in what seems like an appropriate place; take a look and make sure it still looks good? \$\endgroup\$ – SevenSidedDie Feb 8 '16 at 17:36

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