Werewolf Alpha

Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger), chaotic evil · CR 6

by Moonbriar Ferris

Werewolf Alpha
Armor Class
14
natural armor
Hit Points
105
14d8 + 42
Speed
30 ft., climb 20 ft.
  • STR +4
  • DEX +2
  • CON +3
  • INT 0
  • WIS +1
  • CHA +1
Saving Throws
Str +7, Con +6
Skills
Athletics +7, Intimidation +4, Perception +4, Stealth +5, Survival +4
Damage Immunities
Bludgeoning (nonmagical), Piercing (nonmagical), Slashing (nonmagical)
Senses
darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages
Common
Gear
Torn leathers, a silvered dagger taken from a hunter
Challenge 6 2,300 XP

Traits

  • Shapechanger. The alpha can use its action to polymorph into a Large wolf-humanoid hybrid or into a Large wolf, or back into its true human form. Its statistics, other than its size and speed, are the same in each form (speed 40 ft. as a wolf). Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is not transformed. It reverts to its human form if it dies.
  • Keen Hearing and Smell. The alpha has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell, and it can track a creature it has wounded across running water.
  • Pack Tactics. The alpha has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of its allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally is not incapacitated.
  • Silvered Wounds. The alpha ignores damage from nonmagical weapons unless they are silvered. Damage from a silvered weapon also prevents it from using Bloodscent until the end of its next turn.

Actions

  • Multiattack. The Werewolf Alpha makes three attacks: one Bite attack and two Claws attacks.
  • Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10 + 4) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with werewolf lycanthropy. Unlike a common werewolf, the alpha chooses whether the curse takes hold, and it rarely spends one on a stranger.
  • Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage. Wounds left by an alpha’s claws do not close on their own. A creature that takes damage from this attack cannot regain hit points from a short rest until the wound is treated with a DC 13 Wisdom (Medicine) check.
  • Rending Pounce (Recharge 5-6). Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d8 + 4) slashing damage. The alpha covers up to 20 feet in a single bound and lands on a creature it can see. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Bonus Actions

  • Bloodscent. The alpha moves up to its speed toward a creature it can smell that is below half its hit point maximum. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks from that creature.

Reactions

  • Answer the Howl. Trigger: An ally of the alpha within 30 feet of it is reduced to 0 hit points. The alpha moves up to half its speed toward the fallen ally and makes one Bite attack against a creature within reach. The pack answers whether the alpha wanted them to or not.

Origin Story

Every pack has a wolf that was bitten first. The alpha is the one who was bitten first and chose to stay. It remembers its human name, keeps the house it grew up in, and returns to it on the nights between full moons. That memory is what makes an alpha more dangerous than the pack it leads: it can plan, it can wait, and it knows exactly which door is unlocked.

Habitat and Ecosystem

Alphas claim territory at the edge of farmland rather than deep wilderness, close enough to a settlement to hunt it and far enough to deny it. A pack territory is usually 6 to 10 miles across and marked by clawed trees at chest height. Wolves that are not lycanthropes will not den within it.

Behavior Patterns

An alpha does not lead a charge. It sends the pack in, watches which defender is the most dangerous, and takes that one personally. It will break off a fight it is winning if the odds change, and it will come back three nights later with more wolves. Fights with an alpha almost never end at the encounter they start in.

Social Structure

A pack runs three to twelve werewolves and twice that many ordinary wolves. Rank is set by who was bitten by whom, not by strength, so an alpha’s authority survives losing a fight. Challenging an alpha means challenging every werewolf it ever turned, which is why most challenges come from outside the bloodline.

Visual Representation

In hybrid form: a Large, long-limbed wolf that stands like a person, grey through the shoulders and scarred white where silver has touched it. In human form: unremarkable, well-dressed, and known by name in at least one town. The eyes do not change between forms, which is how it is usually caught.

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