Hisses and snarls emerged from the prowling creatures as they encircled the party, yellow eyes glowing in the dim light of dusk. The barbarian hefted his axe up, placing it between him and the gathering monsters, but it did little to stop the one that leapt at him. Raptor-like talons extended, it stabbed them into the young warrior's flesh. Its sinuous body wrapped around him, coiling tightly, and as it took hold, its companions followed. Snapping and snarling, they soared through the air, pouncing next to the barbarian in a flurry of fangs and fur.
The wulgs are simple creatures, but I personally think that they have a fun design, so I tried to adapt them for Monster Monday. They're predominantly designed as skirmishers and feature only a moderate attack bonus. While their jaws deal high damage, their talons are packed with a bit too much usefulness to grant a damage higher than low. The agile trait and the Grab ability packed into this attack are just too good. Once the wulg has a creature grabbed, it has two abilities to employ. Constrict is a more typical ability with moderate damage and a high DC while Savage Rake is a tiny bit more unique. There are other creatures with rake but it seems to change per creature. I originally designed this as two actions that gave two attacks without the multiple attack penalty, but it didn't fit as well into the wulg's action rotation. So instead, I reduced it to a single action and that functioned akin to Flurry of Blows though I wanted to include enfeebled to make it harder for creatures to escape the wulg's grasp.
As pack hunters, I decided to include the classic ability Pack Attack in the wulg's kit, which roughly raises each of its damage values by one step - meaning that getting dogpiled by wulg's can get real dangerous real quick. Aiding them in that regard is their Frenzied Pounce, based on the way that wulg's throw themselves at downed monsters. I added grabbed as a triggering condition as well given their ability to inflict it. Aside from representing an aspect of their in-game function, this helps wulg's close on a creature and provide Pack Attack to their companions.
Pathfinder 2e:
A lot of the abilities built into the wulg for 2e ended up being represented by universal monster abilities - they have contrict, rake, and pounce still follows a similar idea. Precise Strike fills in the role of Pack Attack, granting the wulg's extra damage when they mob a foe. I had never considered using teamwork feats for pack-type creatures, but the concept fits them surprisingly well.
Pathfinder 1e:
Blue's D&D 5e:
ENCOUNTER HOOKS
Wulgs function best when used as a team, taking advantage both of their Pack Attack/Precise Strike and, at least for their 2e version, their Frenzied Pounce. As hunters, they might stalk heroes through the tundra, pouncing when their prey appears weak. Alternatively, they could be thrown into an encounter as a third-party agent of chaos, attacking whichever appears the most vulnerable and even coming to the heroes' aid if they manage to down a larger, and therefore juicier, target.
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Have a monstrous Monday!
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