Wendigo

Their bones showing through the bloody fur, the wendigo is a quadrupedal creature with a deer skull for a head. Said to be the cursed soul of a lonely traveller. Some say it’s stare binds them with fear. The wendigo’s lair is riddled with bones of dead prey. It’s from these bones that the wendigo makes its spawn.

The lair of a wendigo is pitch black and is covered in blood and bones. The lair of a wendigo is usually built in a cave or cave system with one entrance. They like to prey on the surrounding wildlife, leaving the rotting carcasses around its lair.

Lair Actions.

The wendigo can magically effect its lair to aid it in combat. It is very rare for a wendigo to fight to the death if not in its lair. It will usually run or climb away. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the wendigo takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects to happen,

The wendigo covers the cave in a magical darkness (considered a level 5 spell for dispelling it with magical light). This darkness doesn’t affect the wendigo’s dark vision. The wendigo can allow any number of creatures to be immune to this effect.

The wendigo makes the ground of the cave become covered in a thin sheet of ice until next initiative count 20. This ground is considered rough terrain and creatures starting there turn on it must make a DC 17 dexterity saving throw or fall prone. The wendigo is immune to this effect thanks to its Powerful Limbs trait.

Reagonial Effects.

The wendigo’s lair has serious repercussions to the forests surrounding it. All of the following Lair effects follow through between each other. For instance the effects of unease caused by being within 4 miles will still apply while within the fog 1 mile around the lair.

within 100 ft of the lair, the vegetation grows wildly, making the area difficult terrain for anything other than the wendigo and the creatures permitted to pass. (A level 5 dispel magic will cause the vegetation to disperse for 1 hour)

Within 1 mile of the lair the air is thick with fog and the smell of dead animals. The fog can be blown away with a strong wind however the storms also caused by the lair do not do this. The smell forces characters to have disadvantage on wisdom (Perception) checks that require smell and the fog forces players to have disadvantage on wisdom (Perception) checks that require sight. (Dark vision doesn’t aid the players vision)

Within 2 miles of the lair it constantly rains heavily, however, unknown to the players until the DM decides to make it clear, the rain slowly kills the creature within them. At the end of every combat, the players must make a DC 15 constitution saving throw or gain 1 level of exhaustion. This also happens whenever the players decide to take a short or long rest. The DM can have them do this before or after letting the players use hit dice. Monsters and beasts specifically forced to aid a wendigo do not suffer from this affect, nor do any players that would manage to gain aid from a wendigo… although that’s unlikely.

Within 3 miles of the lair it constantly rains lightly. Players that enter the rain for the first time must make a DC 15 constitution saving throw or regain 1 level of exhaustion. If a character fails they must repeat the saving throw until they pass. Gaining a level of exhaustion for each fail.

Within 4 miles of the lair all creature within it have a strange sense of unease. Each member of the party may roll a DC 25 wisdom (Insight) check to determine that a wendigo is likely the cause for distress. If the players get above 15 but not 25 they determine that the distress is caused by magical means in the general direction of the lair. If you want to have the wendigo a BBEG, feel free to have the party fail this automatically, only getting the 15+ answer.