Large Undead (Shapechanger), Chaotic Evil
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 90 (12d10 + 24)
Speed 40 ft., (50 ft. in wolfbeast form)
STR
17 (+3)
DEX
14 (+2)
CON
14 (+2)
INT
8 (-1)
WIS
11 (+0)
CHA
9 (-1)
Saving Throws WIS +2
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +4
Damage Vulnerabilities Fire
Damage Resistances Cold, Lightning, Poison; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Condition Immunities Exhaustion, Paralyzed
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14
Languages Druidic, Worg
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2

Keen Hearing and Smell. The tree-vargr has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.

Pine Blood. Pine kindred count as both plant and undead for any effect related to type.

Shapechanger. The tree-vargr can use its bonus action to polymorph into a wolfbeast, or back into its true form of a manwolf, a wolf-humanoid hybrid. Its statistics, other than speed and attacks, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. If it dies it decomposes into a pile of putrescence, pine needles and bones, both animal and humanoid.

Vestigial Limbs. When in wolfbeast form, a tree-vargr can use its vestigial arms to carry one or two objects that it can hold with one hand, such as its battleaxe or a helpless Medium sized victim. It cannot use items or weapons in wolfbeast form or carry an object so bulky or heavy it requires two hands to hold.

Actions

Multiattack. The tree-vargr makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its battleaxe or claws. It can use its Howling Wail in place of its bite attack.

Battleaxe (Manwolf Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 3) slashing damage, or 14 (2d10 + 3) slashing damage if used with two hands.

Bite (Manwolf Form). Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.

Bite (Wolfbeast Form). Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 5) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage.

Howling Wail. The tree-vargr pine kindred howls a terrifying wail. Every animal, humanoid and giant within within 300 feet of the tree-vargr that can hear the wail must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the wail ends and compelled to flee in panic; acting as if they had failed a save against a suggestion spell telling them to "run in terror". The tree-vargr must take a multiattack action on its subsequent turns to continue wailing but can stop wailing at any time. The wail ends if the tree-vargr is incapacitated.
 While affected by the wail, a target ignores the wails of other pine kindred. If the target is within 300 feet of the tree-vargr, the target must move on its turn away from the kindred by the most direct route, trying to get as far away as possible. The target tries to circumvent opportunity attacks and obvious damaging terrain, such as lava or a pit.
 Whenever it takes damage, the target can repeat the saving throw. The target can also repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. If the saving throw is successful, the suggestion effect ends on it. The suggestion also ends if the target stops hearing the wail or flees outside ear shot (i.e. more than 300 feet away from the wailing kindred). A target who successfully saves is immune to the wails of any pine kindred with the same or fewer Hit Dice as the pine kindred tree-vargr they saved against, but can be affected by wail attacks from pine kindred with more Hit Dice.

Description

These horrible undead are shapechangers with blood red eyes and a furlike coat of brown-black pine needles and bodies made of mummified flesh and tree roots. Their true form is an ogre sized semi-humanoid resembling a coniferous werewolf with loose skin from its shoulders to waist resembling a short cape. Huge canine paws dangle from its shoulders and each hip, and it has a short wolflike tail.
 A tree-vargr can also assume the shape of an enormous beast resembling a lean ravening wolf. Like a bear, this wolfbeast form can rear on its hind legs for short periods. There is something disturbingly humanoid about this lupine form’s face. It has a pair of humanlike hands on stubby arms protruding from under its armpits, and two humanoid feet hanging from each side of its waist.
 Very few Pine Kindred Jarls have the knowledge, power and desire to create tree-vargr, who serve their lord as bloodthirsty warriors and terror weapons. Tree-varge are hard to control due to their insatiable love of slaughter. Unless kept on a short leash, a tree-vargr will run amok, murdering any living creature it comes across. These ravenous brutes are intelligent and can speak even in wolfbeast form, but prefer killing to conversation. A tree-vargr can use tools and weapons when in manwolf form.

A Fusion of Man and Beast. Tree-vargr are created by ritually sacrificing a powerful humanoid warrior and a Large sized carnivorous quadrupedal predator and magical combining the corpses into a hybrid shapechanging undead. Bizarrely, this gives a tree-vargr eight limbs: two pairs of full-sized functional limbs that match its current form (four legs for its wolfbeast form, two legs and two arms for its manwolf form), plus two pairs of vestigial appendages from the form it is not assuming. These vestigial limbs have hands or feet of normal size, but the rest of the limb is a short stump.

Sustained by Flesh. Unlike most undead, a tree-vargr must periodically eat raw flesh and drink fresh blood or it will fall into a torpor until awakened by having humanoid blood poured over it. It needs to devour the equivalent of a Medium sized humanoid every lunar month to stay active (or be awakened from a slumber).

Tree-Vargr Creation. Tree-vargr can be created by a secret ceremony, Pine Wolf Transformation. This Dark Druidic Mystery is similar to the Pine Kindred Initiation ceremony that produces pine kindred, but is capable of creating a single tree-vargr, a pack of resin-hounds, or both.

(Inspired by the Pine Kindred by Julian Lawrence; appeared in White Dwarf Magazine #21 (Oct/Nov 1980) as part of the Fiend Factory mini-module "One-Eye Canyon", edited by Albie Fiore.)

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Environment: ArcticForest

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