Saturday, December 3, 2016

Greater and Lesser Wendigo. Winter's eternal Hunger for OSR games.

You ever give yourself?
Weendigo eats.
Must eat more, more...
never enough.
He... he takes!
Never, never gives.
You stop weendigo...
you give yourself.
You must die.
- Martha, Ravenous (1999)

Greater and Lesser Wendigo
Cursed beings, eternally hungry for blood, meat and souls.
Greater Wendigo were never human, being malignant winter spirits of hunger and cold residing  in far remote areas in the cold north, far from civilization in deep forests and high mountaintops. They are centers of cold and darkness often summoning arctic storms to mask their presence and kill all animal life in their area allowing the beast to consume their frozen corpses. When one comes down from its northern home and encounters humanity it will go on a rampage consuming the physical bodies of victims or bargaining for their souls, corrupting those it can and changing them into Lesser Wendigo. These lesser beings are far less powerful but still very deadly and can pass on a physical manifestation of the Wendigo Curse via biting.

The Greate Wendigo appears as a gigantic gaunt figure with bone white skin and frozen lifeless eyes. Lesser Wendigo are obviously once human with white skin and often showing signs of frost bite on face, fingers, and feet. Neither are dumb beasts, they are both cunning and dangerous foes consumed by an eternal need to eat and eat and eat.....


Greater Wendigo
AC: 5/14
HD: 15
HP: 66
ATTACKS: 2 bite or claw (2d6)
SAVE:  5/ F15
MOVE: 150(50) land, 360(120) flight
ALIGN: Chaotic

The  Greater Wendigo can tear a victim apart with its massive teeth and claws.  It can also regenerate 3 points of hp damage per round except for fire, magic, and wood from the ash tree.' It can see perfectly in the dark.

The creature generates a constant aura of fear with a radius equal to its current hit points in feet.
Those caught in the fear aura must make a Saving Spell (Magic) or suffer the effects of Fear found here.

A Greater Wendigo can summon and maintain a massive blizzard any time it wishes. The radius of the storm is a number of miles equal to half of the Wendigo's current hit points; as it loses life so does the storm. The Wendigo is nearly invisible inside of the storm surprising victims on a 1-4 on a 1d6. Those caught outside must make a Constitution check every full half hour exposed to the blizzard or suffer 1d6 hp damage from the arctic cold of the storm. Those making the Saving throw take half damage. The Wendigo will often snatch weakened victims into the sky where their screams can be heard by their companion. The fiend will then psychologically torture the living by hurling the frozen corpse from on high to shatter on the ground at the feet of the companions. Sometimes it will hurl the frozen corpse at individuals, vehicles, or even the rooftops of dwellings.

The Constitution check is modified by the following:
Light winter clothing: -2 bonus to the Saving throw..
Heavy winter clothing: -4 bonus plus automatically takes half damage, 0 damage if the Saving throw is made.

The Greater Wendigo preys on weakness and can deliver a curse upon susceptible victims within the confines of the storm. It can telepathically worm its way into the mind of one chosen victim per hour. The victim chosen will be weakened, wounded, sick, diseased, etc; consumed with fear, pain, and desperation and who believe they are doomed. It will promise to save them and end their pain if they surrender themselves to its will. Those who accept the offer take on the Wendigo Curse and become a Lesser Wendigo. The DM has heavy fiat here. The NPC can either choose or if the DM is unsure a Saving throw can be made to see if the bargain is made.

Lesser Wendigo
AC: 7/12
HD: 3
HP: 15
ATTACKS: 2 bite or claw (1d4)
SAVE:  15/ F3
MOVE: 120(40)
ALIGN: Chaotic

When the Wendigo Curse is accepted the victim immediately transforms into a Lesser Wendigo. Unlike a Greater Wendigo it has the ability to appear as a normal human being. When enraged, hungry, or attacking it will lose control and its true hideous nature will emerge. It will often show its true form as a psychological tactic to shock and horrify its soon to be meal.

The Lesser Wendigo can bite or claw twice per round. It is a formidable opponent taking minimum damage from all damage except fire, magic, and wood from and ash tree. It is completely immune to cold damage. It cannot fly as a Greater Wendigo can but it  can spiderclimb as per the spell and sees up to 90 feet in absolute darkness.

A Lesser Wendigo does not regenerate or heal naturally. It can only heal by eating raw flesh, gaining one hp for every two hp damage caused by its bite as it swallows the meat and blood of its victim.

Unlike a Greater Wendigo the Lesser lack the telepathic ability to pass on the Wendigo Curse. They can only attempt to pass it on curse via biting. If they choose to do this and successfully bite the victim, the victim must make a Saving throw to avoid the curse. If infected they will transform over the course of 1d6 hours. The only way the curse can be broken is by killing the Lesser Wendigo that delivered the cursed bite.



4 comments:

  1. I really like this, one of my favourite weird monsters - I recently wrote a Wendigo flavour piece aimed at Old West / Weird West games, without any stats, and this piece brings them into OSR LL and S&W very nicely. That artwork at the top of the page (Greater Wendigo) is superb. Thank you!

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  2. I'm curious to see your piece you wrote. I've done a couple of old west games with the windigo although a different version. These guys I'm actually using an a for survival Summer Camp Adventure set in winter. And I love that picture I'm fortunate to have found it

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  3. Very cool.
    My son came up with a "greater" Wendigo of sorts as well.
    http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2016/08/monstrous-mondays-wendigo-matron.html.
    It would work well with yours.

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  4. Very nice. I dig it. He did a good job on that.

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