They used the same illustration for "dire wolf" as just plain "wolf".  I don't know if that was intentional.  Is a 5e dire wolf just a bigger wolf?  It's fine if that's the case, but the wolf pictured in RickAJr's  comment certainly looks more like what I'd expect a 'dire' wolf to look like.  But maybe that's just old-school me. 

Incidentally, the dire wolf in that post is a mini from Pathfinder Battles "Deep Cuts" line from WizKids, a company that also does official D&D minis.  WizKids is scheduled to release another line of official D&D minis -- D&D Icons of the Realms, "Waterdeep Dragon Heist" line -- in September 2018.  That line contains a dire wolf figure that (from what I can tell) looks a bit like a mix of both.  No spikes, but definitely has it's hackles up.

I really like your approach to this of informational reveal , I am going to shamelessly "borrow" this from you. Well done!

P.S. the pic is a nice touch

What do you mean by "show, don't tell" during a first encounter?  You first said to describe, but then cautioned don't tell.  

Ideally, the idea is to not tell them a dire wolf is about to attack.  Instead, use the description of the beast when introducing and have them roll a check for knowledge (that's what I mean by show - describe the scene - show it to them in their minds).  I try to always do this when they first encounter a monster.  I keep a list of all monsters encountered by the party in the dndbeyond campaign notes.  When they come across the same monster later, I'll then state that it's a dire wolf.  I really like 5th edition and everything about it builds upon the previous systems before it, but what I'm disappointed with is the monster manual's description.  I'm always going back to my 3.5 edition book and pulling the description from there - I feel that while it might be difficult to reprint the monster manual with updated descriptions, the folks at dndbeyond could put those 3.5 edition descriptions back in - unlike a book, electronic page/space is free.  I did a whole bunch for my own prep and shared, but quite frankly, I don't have the time.  The above chart could/should be done for all monsters in the electronic version here on dndbeyond.

Happy gaming! 

Rick

I have a Half-Orc who is in the process of purchasing a Dire Wolf to be used as a mount. Is this kosher?

Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Can someone explain the attack better? What does +5 to hit mean? And the Hit: 10 (2d +3)? It looks like this thing is supposed to do like 100 damage or something

@XanderHebb099

The Creature rolls a d20 and adds the "+5" onto the value to determine a hit, e.g.: it rolls a 13, add 5 = 18 (so its hits any target with armour class 18 or less).

If it hits, you determine the done damage by rolling "2d6 +3" (the "10" is an average value if you wont do dice rolls, bc the damage range is 5-15), e.g.:
1. roll 4
2. roll 5.
4 + 5= 9 + 3 = 12.
So the wolf does 12 damage in total.

The wolf can attack anything within 5ft of it. After you roll for the attack you add 5 to the rolled number. If the new number is higher than the ac of the creature it attacked you roll two 6-sided die then add 3 to the number rolled. The number you get is the amount of damage taken.

Quote from Daien_lll >>

T... After you roll for the attack you add 5 to the rolled number. If the new number is higher than the ac of the creature it attacked you roll two...

 If the new number is equal to or higher than.

Quote from RickAJr >>

In addition, you might want to allow them a Wisdom - Survival check to know the following:

 Wisdom isn't knowing facts; Intelligence is. Intelligence (Nature) would be better.

They're good doggos

3.5 has better details on animals.  Their bodies is 9 feet long. But don't say that here

Abelhawk, but nature-based classes - ranger & druid don't use Intelligence so usually have pretty poor Nature modifiers whereas your Wizard that has spent their entire life in a library does use Int so would have good Nature which doesn't really make sense.

I like to break it up. Wisdom for behaviour and physical abilities - e.g. pack tactics. Intelligence for resistances and vulnerabilities.

I wanna ride that wolf everywhere, and give it lots of belly rubs! 

I want to ride it everywhere and give it lots of belly rubs

Paladins gain a Dire Wolf as an option for the spell, "Find Greater Steed".

"Pack Tactics" let's your dire wolf gain advantage as long as an ally is within 5ft of it...and you're riding that wolf, so advantage on all its attacks.

This means a lot of prone enemies that YOU as the rider get advantage on.

All of this is nice, but serves to just to reinforce that fact that you are riding a giant wolf into battle, which is just metal.

I literally just created a Paladin character yesterday and my DM allowed me to have a Dire Wolf as a steed option for the spell "Find Steed"! So excited! :)

i think is is just a L O R G E wolf 

I like how Shadow Mages can basically summon a freakish Shadowfell monstrosity version of this.