Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 8750763" data-attributes="member: 6915329">The next monster is one that has had surprisingly little traction in D&D, despite being of cultural interest and appearing in bunches of movies, TV shows, video games, and even cartoons: the wendigo. We all know this one—a cruel spirit of winter cold, famine, and cannibalism. The wendigo, of Algonquian-area mythology, appears in two issues of Dragon and in the 3e Fiend Folio (as a template), and that’s about it, as far as I can tell. I really am surprised it hasn’t shown up more. It seems like a shoo-in for a standard monster, like the banshee became.The first Dragon version is still a humanoid, but with an immunity to anything that affects people (like charm person). The second Dragon version is definitely undead, and the FF version is fey (well, more of a cruel nature spirit, but those things get lumped in with fey all the time). Real mythology is almost impossible to categorize into neat monster types, as wendigo myths seem especially unclear—it may be a physical being, or it may be an immaterial spirit; it may be specifically about cannibalism or it may be a spirit of greed in general; a person may turn into a wendigo if they spend too much time with one; a person may be possessed by one; it may have never been seen as a real creature but was always understood as a metaphor and warning about taboos. Also, while it’s often depicted with animal features like antlers, that’s apparently not part of the original myths—most of those features come via horror writers like King and Blackwood. Interestingly, only one of D&D’s wendigos (Moldvay’s) is illustrated in an animalistic way. Moldvay’s version also has an unusual note—that some wendigos may have been people who entered into a pact with evil forest spirits. Which, nowadays, suggests the fate of some warlocks.As such, this is a tough monster to convert to keep both the spirit (sorry) of the actual legend and that of the monster blocks.[ATTACH=full]259340[/ATTACH]Art by... I'm guessing Jeff EasleyWendigoThe Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #119, and The Ungrateful Dead, Dragon Magazine #138Created by Mark DeForest and Tom MoldvayWendigo resemble humanoid corpses, easy ten feet tall, with death-pale skin covered in filth, wounds, and lesions and so gaunt as to be skeletal. Their fingers, blackened with frostbite, have been worn into claws, and their eyes are empty sockets that glow with cold light. They smell of decay and rotten meat and exude an aura of freezing cold. Wendigo don’t walk; they float just above the ground, and can move like the wind.Wendigo remember very little of their former lives. They may feel flashes of emotion when they see someone they once knew, but those emotions—whether good or bad—mostly serve to draw the wendigo’s attention and with that, its hunger. Any trace of their of their personalities is gone.Unending Hunger. Almost vanishingly rare, wendigo are created when a person, trapped in harsh winter snows, resorts to cannibalism to survive—and more importantly, remains a cannibal even when other food becomes available. These acts transform the person, without them actually dying, into an undead being.As undead, wendigo are plagued with a hunger greater than even the worst ghouls and vampires. They even go so far as to eat themselves—most chew their lips off and rip chunks of flesh out of their own limbs in a desperate attempt to satisfy their cravings. Wendigos often trail drops of black, fetid blood behind them because of these self-inflicted wounds.Fears of Winter. Wendigo are creatures of winter, exemplifying the fears of famine, darkness, and freezing to death. Their terrible stare can cause those who meet it to go mad, and their howl disorients the listener and may compel them to go wandering mindlessly into the cold outdoors. If they're lucky, they die from hypothermia before they meet the wendigo's jaws.Icy Heart. A wendigo’s heart literally turns to ice and is so cold that even the wendigo itself can’t stand it—and yet, at the same time, instinctively knows to protect it. They are only active in the coldest, snowiest times of the year. The rest of the time, they exist in a state halfway between non-existence and hibernation, curled around their icy heart. Only by destroying this heart can the wendigo truly be slain.Legends and LoreWith an Arcana or Religion check, the characters can learn the following:DC 10. Wendigo are a type of winter undead created when a humanoid resorts to cannibalism to survive, even when it’s not needed.DC 15. A creature that hears the wendigo’s howl may be compelled to wander into the wilderness.DC 20. The stare of a wendigo can freeze a creature to the bone, and may even cause that creature to become infected with the wendigo’s cannibalistic hunger.Wendigo EncountersTerrain: forest, tundraCR 5-10 Wendigo; wendigo with 1-2 ghoulsCR 11-16 Wendigo with ghast and 1d4+2 ghoulsSigns1-2. Gnawed-on humanoid bones3. With a DC 20 Perception check, a drop of frozen blood.4. A terrifying howl in the distance.5. A person walking mindlessly in the wilderness, wearing inadequate clothing, seemingly unconcerned by hypothermia or frostbite. They can be awakened, but have no understanding of why they were outside.6. The remains of a fort, outpost, or traveler’s camp that has been destroyed. Within is nothing but bones and, perhaps, a ghoul.Behavior1-2. Devouring a humanoid corpse.3. In wind form, flitting about the trees.4. Stalking an individual it hopes to turn into a ghast.WendigoLarge undeadChallenge 11 (7,200 XP)AC 17 (natural armor)HP 135 (18d8+54; bloodied 67)Speed 0 ft., fly 60 ft.STR 12 (+1) DEX 20 (+5) CON 16 (+3)INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 19 (+4)Proficiency +4Maneuver DC 17Saving Throws Str +5, Dex +9, Wis +6Skills Perception +6Damage Resistances fire, damage from nonmagical weaponsDamage Immunities cold, necrotic, poisonCondition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, stunned, unconsciousSenses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 16Languages The languages it knew in lifeFrozen Aura. At the start of the wendigo’s turn, each creature within 10 feet takes 5 (1d10) cold damage. A creature that touches the wendigo or hits it with a melee attack takes 5 (1d10) cold damage.Innate Spellcasting (3/Day). The wendigo can cast wind walk (self only), requiring no components. Its spellcasting trait is Charisma.Low Ceiling. The wendigo can’t fly higher than 30 feet above the ground, or 60 feet when using its Wind Walk ability.Magic Resistance. The wendigo has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.Rejuvenation. If its heart is intact, a destroyed wendigo gains a new body during the next snow storm. The new body forms within 10 feet of the heart. The wendigo’s heart is Tiny object with AC 13, 5 hp, and is immune to all damage except for magical bludgeoning and force damage. A creature that ends its turn within 5 feet of the heart, touches it, or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 11 (2d10) cold damage.ActionsGrab. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+5) slashing damage and 7 (2d6) cold damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 17) and restrained while grappled in this way.Wandering Call (1/Day). The wendigo roars. All humanoids within a half-mile radius of the wendigo must make a DC 16 Wisdom check or be frightened for 1 minute. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the creature is charmed instead. While charmed, it is incapacitated and feels compelled to go wandering into the wilderness for 12 hours. At the end of each hour, and each time the creature takes damage or another creature uses an action to attempt to wake it, it may make a new saving throw, ending the effect on a success.Bonus ActionsHungering Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target that is grappled, restrained, or unaware of the wendigo’s presence. Hit: 9 (1d10+5) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) cold damage, and the target takes 7 (2d6) ongoing cold damage. The target may make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.Bone-Chilling Stare (Gaze). One creature the wendigo can see within 120 feet must make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw against being frightened, taking 10 (3d6) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. On a failed save, the target takes one level of strife. If the target fails the save by 5 or more, it is paralyzed until the end of the wendigo’s next turn. A target that succeeds on the saving throw is immune to this wendigo’s Bone-Chilling Stare for 24 hours. A creature that has eaten humanoid flesh at any point in its life has disadvantage on this saving throw.     If the target is reduced to 0 hit points from this damage, it is stable but unconscious for 1 hour, even if it regains hit points. Unless it is subjected to a dispel evil and good, remove curse, or similar effect during this time, it is also cursed. While cursed, it gains the Radiant Sensitivity, Paralyzing Claw, and Bite of a ghoul. although it appears normal and retains its attributes as well as its heritage and class abilities, and it has an insatiable hunger for the flesh of sentient beings. It must make a DC 10 Intelligence saving throw each time it wishes to use one of its heritage or class abilities; on a failure, the hunger is too great and it can’t use that ability. If the creature dies while cursed, it rises as a free-willed ghast the following dusk.CombatThe wendigo begins combat with its Bone-Chilling Stare, then closes in to attack with claws and bites. When bloodied, it retreats, but it uses wind walk to stalk its victim until a later time. Wendigo prefer to target individuals rather than groups.</blockquote>

Verification