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Finding werewolves is not a problem. Killing werewolves is nearly impossible. Capturing werewolves is a suicidal endeavor.

Killing werewolves
First, let us eliminate what clearly does not work. A head-on attack against a werewolf is akin to suicide by proxy. Werewolves are killers, even the ones who are not members of the "warrior caste" of the werewolves can pull a human apart one limb at a time. Another problem with slaying werewolves is that they are social creatures. One must always be careful when hunting werewolves because for the one you see, there could four other laying in wait. To maximize the hunter's chance for survival against the werewolf, one must not only bring the proper tools to bear, but control the battlefield as well. Never fight a werewolf in the time and place of his choosing. First we will analyze the tools of werewolf hunting, then discuss setting the stage to optimize success in the hunt.

Silver is easiest to obtain and greatest tool of the werewolf hunter. It is the bane of lupines and even its mere touch is enough to cause excrutiating pain. Weapons of silver greatly even the odds for the hunter and must be a staple in any good hunter's arsenal. Silver weapons have run the gamut from swords covered in silver, to arrows tipped with silver heads, to silver-plated bullets. A lesser known and easier to obtain solution is silver compounds. Several compounds are extremely effective and more cost effective to the frugal hunter than pure silver. Silver nitrate has proven effective in dealing with werewolves. Injected into the blood stream, a great enough quantity of silver nitrate will have toxic effects on the werewolf. Used as a splash weapon, silver nitrate can easily rob a werewolf of its superior senses sight and smell, evening the odds for mortal hunters greatly. Silver oxide as a solid can be used ground into a fine powder and used as an irritant to the distract the werewolf.

Toxic metals are dangerous to handle and use, when a dead werewolf is lying at the feet of the hunter, he will be glad that he thought to bring mercury to the fight. Even with the heightened immune systems and accelerated healing the werewolf, a large enough quantity of mercury will have the same affect in a werewolf as it does in a human. Specifically, the werewolf will suffer extensive damage throughout the nervous system, kidneys and other organs.

Fire is another familiar friend for those werewolf hunters who also hunt vampires. Fire, while deadly to the werewolf does not have the same effect on them as it does the vampire, for the werewolf can heal even from these wounds. However, the hotter the flame, the greater the damage to the lupine. The optimal compounds to inflict the maximum damage on lupines are organic solvents, as they are typically flammable and depending on volatility can ignite on contact with air. Diethyl ether is a preferrable weapon as it has a low autoignition temperature and a high heat.

Werewolves are living creatures and like all living creatures, they require food, air, water and sleep. All of these can be used to the hunter's advantage. If the hunter has access to an enclosed space in which to trap the werewolf, he would be well advised to devise a mechanism with which to fill the space with harmful gas (carbon monoxide is effective enough) to neutralize the werewolf long enough to accomplish one's goals. Drowning a werewolf is a slightly trickier, but viable alternative with proper planning, usually involving a sufficiently durable, weighted net and deep enough body of water.


Setting the stage for victory
The most favorable scenarios for hunting werewolves are those that rob the werewolf of his superior senses and physical advantages in combat. With this in mind, a hunter will want to saturate an area with intense an intense odor. Werewolves use their sense of smell in much the same way humans use their sense of sight. They perceive multiple smells and can isolate and identify smells individually. A strong enough odor will, after a fashion, “blind” the werewolf to their surroundings, tilting the battle to the hunter’s advantage.

Another technique used to even the odds against werewolves is to fight the werewolf in a small or tight space. The werewolf can shift into more lupine forms in which to do battle and this may seem unreasonable. However, the hunter should ask whether it is preferrable to battle a large wolf, a human, or a massive wolf-man beast capable of rending flesh from bone as if it were tissue paper. But this assumes that the hunter would even want to get into close enough range to fight the werewolf in close quarters combat, which is never a wise choice.

Traps are the friend of the werewolf hunter. While the werewolf is occasionally possessed of a human intellect, it is essentially an animal. Spring guns are exceptionally useful in creating “kill zones” that can be used to harry and even slay werewolves. Another ironic trap useful in the hunt the trous de loup or “wolf hole.” The trous de loup is a deep, conical pit with a spike hammered into the ground at the bottom. The pit is then covered with wicker and a light amount of soil. If the hunter is truly interested in optimizing success, he will fill an entire area with trous de loups and then flood the area to a shallow depth, thus concealing the pits more effectively and adding the risk of drowning to the werewolf’s struggle. Anti-personnel mines packed with silver covered shrapnel is particularly devastating. There are many other traps available for the hunter’s use that are not listed here.

I wrote this a few years ago when I played a short Inquisition game. There are similar notes for vampires, mages, and wraiths. There's nothing more dangerous than a patient Inquisitor with engineering skills and an expense account.

The Will of God be done and the holy charge of Brother Leopold be kept.

He only witnessed a werewolf vanish twice and theorized that either the werewolf used some shapeshifting power to escape detection, rendered itself invisible in a manner akin to vampires, mystically transported itself away as wraiths, vampires and mages have been known to do, or the werewolf tricked his mind with some power to create the illusion that it disappeared. Those possess the True Faith or holy relics can interfere with some of the werewolf's occult powers. Some of the Inquisition's Theurgists are rumored to possess holy wards and seals which can ward areas to access or egress by spirits. Still, the most reliable way for those dependent on more mundane tools is to strike hard, fast, first and last, denying the werewolf the opportunity to bring its powers to bear.