Old Gods of Appalachia
O Hunter's Moon bringer of light and life splitter of the night we who walk these woods ask of you this what wolf comes for us is turned back what wolf comes for us is turned to stone what wolf comes for us is shined bright visible to all let these words meet your light let your light meet these beasts let these beasts meet their ends upon our blessed blades —Protection prayer against wolves
Lupine creatures covered in black fur with a pointed snout and long bushy tail, hexenwolves usually walk upright like a human, standing nearly 7 feet (2 m) tall, but they can run on all fours, with their limbs angled sideways from their shoulders and hips like a giant horrific spider. They howl like wolves, using these calls to coordinate their hunts. Along the fringes of human settlements, they attack livestock, stealing away chickens and other small animals or downing and devouring larger ones such as cattle.
Hexenwolves are nocturnal, hunting at night and sleeping during the day. Light doesn't harm them, but hey dislike manmade lights such as street lamps and car headlights, and they might smash these things to allow themselves greater freedom to move about in the dark.
Hexenwolves never attack dogs or cats unless these creatures attack them first. Sometimes cats run along with or follow a pack of hexenwolves, taking bits of their kills, which the larger predators don't seem to mind.
The wolflike creature known as dewayo or dwayyo is very similar to a hexenwolf and might actually be the same beast.
Some folks say that hexenwolves are naturally invisible but have to take a visible form when attacking. It's possible that this is true, but it's limited to rare hexenwolves who have a specialized gift.
Magical wards repel a hexenwolf, and painting a five-pointed star on a building is thought to keep them at bay, at least for a while.
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Woods and mountains, alone or in packs of four to six
Health: 12
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (4 points)
Armor: 1
Movement: Short (see below); short when climbing
Modifications: Stealth as level 5 in natural environments
Combat: Hexenwolves make three attacks per turn, using two claws and a bite. A hexenwolf running on all fours can use its action to move a long distance and make one bite attack.
As part of another action, a hexenwolf can project its thoughts into one creature within short range that meets its gaze. The creature must succeed at an Intellect defense roll or be distracted by this mental intrusion, limiting their movement to an immediate distance each turn and hindering their Speed defense by two steps. If the hexenwolf does nothing else but use its dire gaze, the targeted creature's Intellect defense roll is hindered by two steps; if a pack is attacking, it's common for one of them to use its action this way while the rest of the pack tears the creature apart.
A hexenwolf can change the color of its fur to blend in with natural stone, earth, and plants, but this is ineffective around human-crafted materials and structures such as metal siding, wooden planks, and cement.
Interaction: Hexenwolves seem to have near-human intelligence, but they don't speak or acknowledge attempts to communicate with them. They are suspicious of food offered by humans (although they frequently scavenge human root cellars and other storage). Their natural enemies are snallygasters, and the two creatures fight to the death when they encounter each other; a victorious hexenwolf usually tears its defeated foe into bloody scraps and abandons these leavings for scavengers.
Use: Wolf howls ring out through the night, but tracks on the ground switch between bipedal like those of a human and prints that are too widely spaced for a wolf.
Connection: A character still bears the faded scar of a hexenwolf's attack from years ago. A character has a recurring nightmare of yellow eyes looking down on them from a wolflike face.
GM Intrusion: The hexenwolf exerts a dark force upon a character, cursing them (on a failed Intellect defense roll) with a strange scar-like mark and bad luck that hinders all tasks by two steps.
The hexenwolf makes a feint against the character, allowing a hidden ally to reveal itself and attack, inflicting an additional moderate wound (4 points).