I have an upcoming session coming up and my players are looking to hire some help, and I plan on them teaming up with werewolves. The campaign revolves around a group that has infected the woods and trying to put an end to cities. I am looking for ways to make the werewolves sympathetic, which may prove to be a bit tricky, one of the characters back-story revolved around werewolves attacking his tribe. That character has since died however, so it should make it easier. I also am looking for reasons the werewolves would want to help this fight (other then coin of course). Also looking for a ideas for a small side quest involving the werewolves.
As DM it is up to you how you portray the werewolves and what werewolves are like in your world.
Going strictly by RAW, werewolves are chaotic evil.
"WEREWOLF A werewolf is a savage predator. In its humanoid form, a werewolf has heightened senses, a fiery temper, and a tendency to eat rare meat. Its wolf form is a fearsome predator, but its hybrid form is more terrifying by far, a furred and well-muscled humanoid body topped by a ravening wolf's head. A werewolf can wield weapons in hybrid form, though it prefers to tear foes apart with its powerful claws and bite.
Most werewolves flee civilized lands not long after becoming afflicted. Those that reject the curse fear what will happen if they remain among their friends and family. Those that embrace the curse fear discovery and the consequences of their murderous acts. In the wild, werewolves form packs that also include wolves and dire wolves."
"Evil lycanthropes hide among normal folk, emerging in animal form at night to spread terror and bloodshed, especially under a full moon.Good lycanthropes are reclusive and uncomfortable around other civilized creatures, often living alone in wilderness areas far from villages and towns. "
Werewolves are murderous killers. Even those who resist the curse can't help themselves at the time of a full moon.
That said, the monster manual has both good and evil types of lycanthropes and it would be up to the DM to decide whether that good and evil should be along the species lines of lycanthrope or should be a characteristic of each individual lycanthrope. It is your game world, if you want the possibility for good werewolves then just introduce it. However, werewolves as written are unlikely to care about woods and might not mind destroying cities since it makes more victims more easily accessible.
Revenge is a good motive for the werewolves. They might not be good guys, but this is their turf, and they'll be damned if some random eco-terrorists are going to use their woods as a headquarters. They might also be smart enough to realize that if human cities are destroyed, there will be no prey left on the full moon, and they'll be forced to turn on each other, so they'll have to make a truce...for now.
As for side quests, maybe one of the werewolves wants to be cured of lycanthropy, and the characters have to discover the cure and find some rare ingredients for a ritual. Maybe, conversely, one of the werewolves left a human spouse behind, and wants to infect them with lycanthropy so they can be together. Since the werewolf can't enter the town, the characters have to find the spouse and persuade them to come along...or warn them and help them flee the weres. Maybe the werewolves, a known public enemy, have been framed for a murder, and a local mayor is planning a great werewolf hunt. Only the werewolves know that the mayor is the real culprit, and it's up to the characters to infiltrate his manor and find proof. Bonus points if the mayor is secretly a vampire, and his manor is full of undead!
I have an upcoming session coming up and my players are looking to hire some help, and I plan on them teaming up with werewolves. The campaign revolves around a group that has infected the woods and trying to put an end to cities. I am looking for ways to make the werewolves sympathetic, which may prove to be a bit tricky, one of the characters back-story revolved around werewolves attacking his tribe. That character has since died however, so it should make it easier. I also am looking for reasons the werewolves would want to help this fight (other then coin of course). Also looking for a ideas for a small side quest involving the werewolves.
The big question is, who is the common enemy? Is it undead, an evil wizard, rogue lycanthrope? It needs to be something that is obviously worse than the wolves themselves (who might initially introduce themselves as normal humanoids).
As for a side quest, perhaps you could center a story around a defector, who doesn’t want to be a werewolf anymore. Since, it sounds like the group in your story embraces lycanthropy (or at least uses it for their own ends), the reluctant wolf would need outside help to break the curse, and then get away without being turned again. The defector is a “natural” lycanthrope, inheriting the condition from their parents, so a simple “remove curse” doesn’t work on them, you need to seek out a more exotic cure.
If possible, the defector was born to/adopted and raised by the werewolf faction, otherwise he/she is a lone werewolf that joined later and became close with them. This character should impress a little of this familiarity on the party, as they travel together, and get them thinking of the wolves as individuals (without necessarily making them “nice”).
I have an upcoming session coming up and my players are looking to hire some help, and I plan on them teaming up with werewolves. The campaign revolves around a group that has infected the woods and trying to put an end to cities. I am looking for ways to make the werewolves sympathetic, which may prove to be a bit tricky, one of the characters back-story revolved around werewolves attacking his tribe. That character has since died however, so it should make it easier. I also am looking for reasons the werewolves would want to help this fight (other then coin of course). Also looking for a ideas for a small side quest involving the werewolves.
As DM it is up to you how you portray the werewolves and what werewolves are like in your world.
Going strictly by RAW, werewolves are chaotic evil.
"WEREWOLF
A werewolf is a savage predator. In its humanoid form, a werewolf has heightened senses, a fiery temper, and a tendency to eat rare meat. Its wolf form is a fearsome predator, but its hybrid form is more terrifying by far, a furred and well-muscled humanoid body topped by a ravening wolf's head. A werewolf can wield weapons in hybrid form, though it prefers to tear foes apart with its powerful claws and bite.
Most werewolves flee civilized lands not long after becoming afflicted. Those that reject the curse fear what will happen if they remain among their friends and family. Those that embrace the curse fear discovery and the consequences of their murderous acts. In the wild, werewolves form packs that also include wolves and dire wolves."
"Evil lycanthropes hide among normal folk, emerging in animal form at night to spread terror and bloodshed, especially under a full moon.Good lycanthropes are reclusive and uncomfortable around other civilized creatures, often living alone in wilderness areas far from villages and towns. "
Werewolves are murderous killers. Even those who resist the curse can't help themselves at the time of a full moon.
That said, the monster manual has both good and evil types of lycanthropes and it would be up to the DM to decide whether that good and evil should be along the species lines of lycanthrope or should be a characteristic of each individual lycanthrope. It is your game world, if you want the possibility for good werewolves then just introduce it. However, werewolves as written are unlikely to care about woods and might not mind destroying cities since it makes more victims more easily accessible.
Revenge is a good motive for the werewolves. They might not be good guys, but this is their turf, and they'll be damned if some random eco-terrorists are going to use their woods as a headquarters. They might also be smart enough to realize that if human cities are destroyed, there will be no prey left on the full moon, and they'll be forced to turn on each other, so they'll have to make a truce...for now.
As for side quests, maybe one of the werewolves wants to be cured of lycanthropy, and the characters have to discover the cure and find some rare ingredients for a ritual. Maybe, conversely, one of the werewolves left a human spouse behind, and wants to infect them with lycanthropy so they can be together. Since the werewolf can't enter the town, the characters have to find the spouse and persuade them to come along...or warn them and help them flee the weres. Maybe the werewolves, a known public enemy, have been framed for a murder, and a local mayor is planning a great werewolf hunt. Only the werewolves know that the mayor is the real culprit, and it's up to the characters to infiltrate his manor and find proof. Bonus points if the mayor is secretly a vampire, and his manor is full of undead!
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Some of the werewolves might think cities are a good thing.
The big question is, who is the common enemy? Is it undead, an evil wizard, rogue lycanthrope? It needs to be something that is obviously worse than the wolves themselves (who might initially introduce themselves as normal humanoids).
As for a side quest, perhaps you could center a story around a defector, who doesn’t want to be a werewolf anymore. Since, it sounds like the group in your story embraces lycanthropy (or at least uses it for their own ends), the reluctant wolf would need outside help to break the curse, and then get away without being turned again. The defector is a “natural” lycanthrope, inheriting the condition from their parents, so a simple “remove curse” doesn’t work on them, you need to seek out a more exotic cure.
If possible, the defector was born to/adopted and raised by the werewolf faction, otherwise he/she is a lone werewolf that joined later and became close with them. This character should impress a little of this familiarity on the party, as they travel together, and get them thinking of the wolves as individuals (without necessarily making them “nice”).