Wendigo

Spiciness: 5/5

Boss Fight Difficulty: While entirely single-target damage (and thus, hard to TPK with), this creature can lure away half the party, Crowd Control them all, and get a couple easy kills if the party isn't smart about how they approach it.

Feeds about 3-5 players, level 4-11

Scales for: Number of Players, Player Level

Ingredients:

• The Wendigo (Stat block next page)

Scaling with Strategy. Unlike most encounters, which I scale by adding additional creatures or scaling the stats of the creature (if it's a solo fight), this encounter can be scaled by taking away party members (see the Preparation section for details on how). Just make sure you use an encounter building tool such as Kobold Fight Club to get the difficulty just right! 5 level 4 characters might be able to take it down, but a single level 11 would find it hard to go toe-to-toe.

A Note on Cultural Lore

As I do with every creature I work with, I did research on the Wendigo to make sure I do the mythology justice, but unlike most monsters-- this is a tale of two myths.

You see, the Algonquian People of the First Nations (Canadian Native North-Americans) created a myth of cannibalistic giants who were ravenously hungry. They were smart, vicious, nearly impossible to kill, & could talk in some stories, often taunting their prey and sometimes even keeping their victims to fatten them up. This encounter is not based on this lore, but I did want to acknowledge its existence, for reasons that will be soon apparent.

When the Europeans who came heard the tales of cannibalistic monsters that were once human-- they immediately drew parallels to werewolves, and the myths started blending. Wendigos became smaller, only slightly larger than a human. They gained animalistic features, lost some of their intelligence, and became more primal. This went on to be further changed by pop culture, such as the 2015 video game "Until Dawn". This is the version that my encounter is based on.

I feel it's important to acknowledge this distinction between these works-- as the latter is culturally appropriative in nature. If I wrote this encounter based around the First Nations version of the Wendigo, I would be doing the same thing-- writing about something I knew very little about, & those aren't my stories to tell.

That being said, if someone does want to tell that story, I'd be more than happy to help share that content, because they sound really cool. Reach out to me if you do!

Preparation

The Wendigo should not be treated as a mindless predator-- at 12 Intelligence, it's 20% smarter than your average commoner. It may be relentlessly hungry, always craving humanoid flesh, but it also savors the hunt, torturing it's intended victim. Have it silently mark its prey from the shadows, only to follow them until that character is vulnerable-- perhaps when they take their shift as the night guard during a long rest.

Using the Unnatural Speech of the Wendigo, you can cause the party to think someone needs help and lure them into an ambush, and once they're far enough from the group to not awaken their party members, use Luring Call to compel them to wander further from safety.

Things you should know

Wendigo Spirit

When a Wendigo's body dies, its spirit leaves the body. Bereft of a host, the spirit has a flying speed of 40 feet and can't speak or be attacked. The only action it can take is to attempt to possess a humanoid within 5ft of it. That creature must make a DC 15 Charisma save or become possessed by the spirit. Once the spirit uses this ability, it cannot attempt another possession until the next night, but will relentlessly follow the host it desires.

A creature possessed by the spirit becomes ravenous-- eating constantly, without hesitation. If left with no rations, they will happily turn on their friends to consume them-- and if left hungry in a cage, will even begin to consume themselves.

Despite this, they begin to lose weight, becoming lean and muscular as the curse takes effect. When the Wendigo eats the flesh of another Humanoid, the transition becomes complete, losing all of their previous stats, memories, & abilities. The Wendigo spirit consumes their soul, and there is nothing left of them.

Expelling the Spirit. While the possessed is eating, the spirit's grasp is loosened. Casting Protection Against Good & Evil while the possessed is eating allows the possessed an additional save (without advantage) to end the possession. On success, the Wendigo Spirit is expelled, and seeks out a new host.

Alternatively, legends say that the Wendigo Spirit cannot resist a sacrifice-- if one slaughters a large beast before it, and calls it by the name the Wendigo had in life, the spirit will possess the corpse of the beast, and can be restrained thusly. This is only a temporary prison, as the Wendigo will likely consume the corpse to free itself once more.

Cleansing the Spirit. The spirit may be trapped by a Magic Circle, or in a container made entirely of Silver, such as a silver version of the Iron Flask. If the spirit is held within a consecrated or holy area, it loses its strength to possess after 7 days, and moves on to the afterlife.

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Hit & Run. If the Wendigo is low on health (less than half), it will run out of sight with its 40ft movespeed and use a few turns to regenerate. This will give the party time to heal as well, but only a few rounds. Once the Prey is slain, the Wendigo is satiated, and will flee, only to recover it's HP fully and begin the hunt again. The party will have learned from its first encounter with it though, so expect them to cling to open flames.