Homebrew Wendigo Species Details

Wendigos are mysterious creatures of which we know little about. These creatures have a faintly humanoid shape, with thin bodies and some similarities to a deer. They have a flimsy body and a head resembling a deer's skull, with two antlers protruding from it. There are many theories regarding the origin of these creatures, although two stand out: some claim that Wendigos form when an intelligent race commits cannibalism, and others state that Wendigos are the product of a curse placed on someone by a deity of nature. Their level of intelligence is unknown since some seem to have very little intellect while others have enough processing capacity to communicate fluently in the Common tongue. Regardless of their origin or intelligence, Wendigos have an insatiable hunger for raw meat and are feared in communities near forests, where they seem to be most common. Rumors abound that Wendigos can manipulate magical energy to blend in with other races, but no evidence supports this claim.

As a Wendigo, you barely remember anything from your past. You know you had a life before this one and the languages you spoke, but not much more. For as long as you can remember, nature has been your home, and most creatures you encounter fear your presence. However, you discovered an ability to change your appearance to that of another, and you have a strange feeling this was what you looked like before becoming a Wendigo.

Creating Your Character

At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation.

Ability Score Increases

When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can’t raise any of your scores above 20.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.

Creature Type

Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race tells you what your character’s creature type is.

Here’s a list of the game’s creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don’t have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the cure wounds spell doesn’t work on a Construct or an Undead.

Life Span

The typical life span of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race’s description.

Height and Weight

Player characters, regardless of race, typically fall into the same ranges of height and weight that humans have in our world. If you’d like to determine your character’s height or weight randomly, consult the Random Height and Weight table in the Player’s Handbook, and choose the row in the table that best represents the build you imagine for your character.

Wendigo Traits

As a wendigo, you have the following racial traits.

Creature Type

You are a Monstrosity.

Size

You are Medium.

Speed

Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Climbing

Due to your mutation, you are able to climb with ease. You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.

Horns

You have horns that you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with them, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier piercing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. If the target of this attack is the same size or smaller than you, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier or fall prone.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

Change Shape

As a bonus action, you can change your shape to mimic how you looked like before your transformation. This form only changes your appearance, not your statistics. However, if the form you adopt does not have horns or similar body parts, then you cannot use your horns attack.

Relentless Endurance

When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. Once you use this trait, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.