Wednesdays & Woes: Carrion Wolf by Mark Gedak

For this week’s Wednesdays & Woe Mark Gedak thought he would present a new horror monster for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Behold the terror of the Carrion Wolf.

Illustration by Joe Calkins

Carrion Wolf CR 6

XP 2,400

CE Medium undead

Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +15

Aura stench (10 ft. radius, Fort DC 18 negates, sickened 1d6+4 minutes)

[Defense]

AC 18 (+3 Dex, +4 natural, +1 dodge) Touch 14, Flatfooted 14

hp 75 (10d8+30)

Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +9

Defensive Abilites channel resistance +4; DR 10/silver or good

Weakness daytime death

[Offense]

Speed 40 ft.

Melee bite +13 (1d6+6 plus trip plus curse of undead lycanthropy), 2 claws +13 (1d4+4)

[Statistics]

Str 22, Dex 16, Con --, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 17

Base Atk +7; CMB +13 (+17 trip); CMD 28

Feats Cleave, Dodge, Mobility, Power Attack, Spring Attack

Skills Climb +19, Intimidate +16, Perception +15, Stealth +16

Languages Common

[Ecology]

Environment any land at night

Organization solitary or pack (2-5)

Treasure standard

[Special Abilities]

Curse of Undead Lycanthropy (Su) A carrion wolf carries a variant curse of lycanthropy that is transmitted through the carrion wolf’s bite. Any humanoid bitten by a carrion wolf must make a Fort save DC 18 or be transformed into a carrion wolf within one month.

Daytime Death (Su) When the sun rises, the carrion wolf's body dries up and whithers until only a humanoid skeleton remains. During this time it cannot be detected as undead but is considered healpless. If its remains are destroyed (0 hp) during the day, the carrion wolf will die. However, when the sun sets, if the carrion wolf has at least 1 hp remaining, it will be rejuvenate with full hit points and can prowl the night again.

The original carrion wolf was a natural lycanthrope whose human form succumbed to a ghoul attack. He died only to rise at sunset as a carrion wolf. Trapped in a savage hybrid form, the carrion wolf is neither wholly lycanthrope nor wholly undead but instead a tragic cursed transition between the two states. Carrion wolves are always hungry and prefer the recent dead to feast upon. If there isn’t a staple of fresh corpses in the area, they will kidnap lone travellers, women and child and drag them off into the woods. In the forest, their captives will be tortured and starved until the carrion wolf can no longer resist their hunger. Since the hunting habits of carrion wolves creates a large number of skeletal corpses it is often difficult to discern if a body is that fo a a victim of the carrion wolf or the carrion wolf’s daytime form.