The Wendigo - Monster of the Week - Dungeons & Dragons [D&D]

[@masterofthedragoons]

Two things I would add is the part of the IRL myth in that the more they eat the more they grow so that a very old one could be as tall as the trees while it's squatting down on all fours just behind the players. After all with the whole "You can't see it unless you are within 25ft of it" it could be towering above the trees looking into the village & the villagers wouldn't even know. Think on that for a bit. The last thing would be I would change the creature type to be a Fey/Undead. The Wendigo Spirit being a fey with some ties to both the feywild & the plane of negative energy. With the wendigo Creature Being The possessed body/corpse of the host it's inhabiting/controlling like a puppet. The wendigo does share a lot in common with D&D ghouls you know.

[@blackout6411]

I don't know about that, I'd be more inclined to make it a demonic fey, I think the Dullahan is closer to an undead fey.

[@captainkiwi77]

It’s awesome cause I was having elves be more along the lines of native Americans. So this fits very well within my setting

[@derekc.6155]

the wendigo in pathfinder is downright terrifying. it can break down the party members from afar by chipping away at their wisdom, and if any of the party's wisdom reaches 1 they fall to the urge to kill and eat someone of their own race. if they do that they literally become a wendigo themselves

[@fathermedic3774]

I've been thinking of a potion which can transform a party member onto a wendigo like creature but when transforming they have to make a wisdom saving throw, as to not go into a bloodrage and attack everything in sight. The potion is a black Ocker like substance made from crushed human bone, the heart of a wolf, obsidian dust, human blood, nightshade, & a willing person to drink the potion

[@KevinVideo]

The wendigo is also in Pathfinder 1e, but it's a whopping CR 17. Very unnecessarily. However, it first showed up in D&D 3.5's Fiend Folio as a template, and its existence spawned a fantastic 3.5 adventure entitled, Frozen Whispers. One of its most horrifying abilities, other than casting wind walk at-will, was "Corner of the Eye": while a Wendigo stalks a victim in Wind Walk form, the victim receives a -2 penalty on all Wisdom-based skill checks. Add that to their "Maddening Whispers" 1/day (one target within 120’ takes 1d3 Wisdom damage [Will negates DC = 10 + ½ HD + Charisma modifier]), and you have an amazing horror story where one of the party members slowly goes insane. It's so Call of Cthulhu, and I love it. EDIT: And funny enough, as I'm watching the video, you mention how it has a fey feel to it. The original 3.5 version was "fey (cold)". Pathfinder says outsider, but that's likely due to the poor BAB versus good BAB and supernatural elements. I prefer fey as well.

[@garryame4008]

4e monsters have some really incredibly flavorful abilities!

[@callumn2111]

Amazing video. It really helped me in creating the creature for my own party.

[@UCSPanther20]

I think the creepiest appearing rendition I have seen of the Wendigo, is the version that appears as an emaciated humanoid with a deer skull for a head, stumps for feet that have been destroyed by frostbite and the uncanny ability to hover and even fly.

[@DungeonDad]

UCSPanther20 I think I agree, that is super scary. I love the aesthetic of the deer skull so much as well.

[@DarkDjim]

I really enjoy your videos!! Keep up this amazing work. I would like to see some more unknown low level creatures. My campaign is still pretty low level (level 4's mostly) and so I feel a bit more limited in the things I feel I can throw at my party, especially non-humanoid ones. Right now I'm going to throw Xvarts at them next session, but in the future, I wanted something possibly very strange and with neat powers that wouldn't die in 2 rounds like the poor Otyugh I threw at them this session.

[@DungeonDad]

Yeah, coming up with lowish level monsters for a party still in tier 1 is not the easiest thing in the world. Fortunately I've got a couple monsters on the way they will be good for a level 3-5 party!

[@DarkDjim]

So far I'm basically doing the Colville method of looking up every monster I intend to use on the 4e Monster Manuals and porting their abilities. But I can only do that to monsters I know, so thank you :)

[@DungeonDad]

I honestly think that is one of the most valuable tips I've ever heard as a DM. It can make lower level monsters a lot more interesting for sure.

[@Andrew-vq2zr]

This is awesome I gave my party a hook about an outpost in the woods being attacked by something but they decided to go explore other hooks first, which is good cause I haven't fully decided on what to have attacking I was leaning toward hill giants but this seems so much better thank you

[@DungeonDad]

Glad you found it useful!

[@Shannahar]

Awesome video, I used this a few weeks ago and was so close to a TPK. I had 2 characters unconscious, the fighter and barbarian dominated and the sorcerer on 5 hp when he got the killing blow.

[@RexTenomous]

I'm glad you did a video on this; it's one of my favorite folktale monsters. I'd also maybe give it some kind of wind-walking ability, since it can do that in some of the stories. As far as Halloween one shots go, I ran one with a system called Dread. It's the one where players pull from a jenga tower and die if they knock it over; we had a blast with an "alien" rehash. I recommend turning off the lights and using glow-sticks or candles.

[@cylver3593]

The wendigo myth is pretty varied, so other versions I've seen of it have been fairly different. Really like the ability to become invisible to those outside of a 25 foot radius. Haven't heard that one before.

[@LordSephleon]

I've always loved the wendigo as an urban legend and a sort of transformative "curse" inflicted upon poor souls lost in arctic environments. My first experience with the story was actually from one of those old scary story anthologies from my childhood (I believe it was simply entitled "The Wendigo" in the first "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" book). However, I have found over the years that I've been liking the concept less and less in horror film and RPG circumstances because it's almost always too similar to the last iteration I've heard/seen. One of the best versions I'd seen was an indie film anthology that I can't quite remember the name of now (saw it back in maybe 2011 or 2012 on Netflix); the curse caused the body to lengthen/stretch to unnatural proportions, which gave the person an extremely feral and incredibly starved appearance, but the use of shadows and that "so quick you hardly saw it" thing make it that much more terrifying... well, right up until they showed it in its full glory (still awesome, but a little underwhelming). I think my personal problem is two-fold: it's difficult to really make the story new and innovative, and that after having discover H.P. Lovecraft in my first year of college (1999-2000) and having delved quite deeply into the Cthulhu Mythos, no wendigo beats out the Great Old One Ithaqua (who is heavily involved in the Call of Cthulhu campaign "Walker in the Wastes") as the quintessential example of the creature, at least in my mind. However, all that said, I'll never turn down another great classic arctic beastie for players to deal with (especially since I personally favor those areas less traveled: arctic regions, underwater, high up on mountainsides, swamps, etc.) :)

[@DungeonDad]

LordSephleon at the end of the day, you just can't beat the great old ones. I totally agree that this kind of monster has sort of been beat to death by modern pop culture. That's why I definitely prefer the fey take on things. I think these guys serve much better as malignant spirits, at least story-wise. The way you describe the afflicted person's limbs extending and whatnot is sort of exactly how I imagined this creature coming to be.

[@LordSephleon]

It was a really well-done effect, coupled with an unnatural feral look to the face and that starving, long-limbed look. I'll have to try and remember what movie that was so you can check it out. It was definitely one of the better depictions - at least in film - I'd seen of the wendigo as a cursed human. Personally, I'd make the wendigo an undead manifestation of starvation in the arctic lands (as I tend to favor the undead), but as a fey creature, that concept leads to some rather unsettling implications... ;)

[@DungeonDad]

LordSephleon you can't go worn with undead! If you happen to remember that movie let me know because I'd love to check it out.

[@remingtonsloan8331]

Great job! You put out a ton of videos the past month.

[@DungeonDad]

Remington Sloan thanks! And yes, I've been trying to push myself to make 2 videos every week! It's been going great so far!

[@patrict527]

I'm using some of these for my "Wendigo Priestess" seems to fit quite well. Thank you sir. I'm making a campaign with a cult that worships wendigos. The wendigos themselves are being used/heralded by a foreign godlike being.

[@nicirochi0]

This is amazing man. Thanks! I'll use this monster tomorrow in a Curse of Strahd table. Thanks again!

[@DragonEaterT]

Never heard of the wendigo before But it is a great concept :D Hope someday I get an oportunity to put one somewhere

[@joshorihara889]

Ive made a character that is a druid in name only, he used to be a druid for the circle of thr moon and had a bad run in with jotun with his old party and ended up eating one of fhem from necessety. 50 years later he now is part of the circle of hunger, a druid who dabbles in backhanded deals with unsavory folks. Hes all but lost his humanity at this point but puts up the facade to keep a constant stream of food, plus anyone that backstabs him gets eaten

[@kyleellis9177]

Love the Wendigo since its based on Aboriginal Canadian lore. I had an idea for a video you might like. its really hard to find creatures with slight magical effect, things like hippogriffs really arent that common, i find alot of the time my groups run into beasts instead. with the amount of sapient races in DnD i feel we should be usuing more beasts with extra effects like how elves basically look like a human but prettier and with long lives. I created the Gaffon (a housecat/pidgeon) in honor of Nerdarchy and gryphongaff. So my idea is a video or series were you take magical creatures with more minor abilites like the Dallisad which is just a deer immune to poison from creature collection 3 savage beastiary. or the frost hawk from 4th edition monster manual 2. If you have any interest in that i would be very happy, even if you just covered a few so i had more variety to add to my Magical Planets Fauna so its not so mundane. I dont only ecounter humans in DnD i should encounter more then animals in the woods behind my house.

[@DungeonDad]

Kyle Ellis that's a really interest thought. I will totally look into making something like this!

[@kyleellis9177]

That would be awesome, i love the detail you go into (and the conversions are nice i find you tune them better then i do, i kill too many players with old stuff)

[@kyleellis9177]

Also i have a fairly wide array of pdfs if your missing any and would like to take a look at a new monster manual

[@marthachampagne316]

might fit more flavorwise as a house cat/hawk... gryphons are carnovores.

[@abyssalvoid4644]

this is going to be so helpful for this upcoming Halloween.

[@ironkeepgaming1936]

I feel like the movies “Antlers” and “Pet Cemetery” are really great examples of the horror of the Wendigo.

[@GarrettPannier]

This video inspired me to start making a campaign based on Native American Mythology.

[@Dr_Dorian]

Nice. Explains one of the CryptTV monsters. 👍

[@williethenerfherder2193]

You can never go wrong with the Native American spirit of cannibalism. Funny how they were fey that could fly in 3.5.

[@johngleeman8347]

I loved the wendigo template in 3rd edition.

[@Babbleplay]

SCP universe Wendigo makes me sad. It is as savage and feral as any other version, but when alone, the only time it has a shred of sanity, (as it goes all rage fury when anyone or any creature is around), it scrawls on the cave walls how much the hunger hurts, and how much it regrets what it does when it loses control.

[@TheMightyBattleSquid]

I think, mechanically at least, this could be neat to throw out alongside a Du'Ulora. Full on Enemies abound, everyone is attacking everyone and doing extra damage while they do.

[@Joseph_memelord]

I'd say using these with a herd of the "not deer" would be amazing

[@brotquel1592]

I honestly prefer how Pathfinder portrayed the wendigo, I think it fits better with the original myths and, going by experience, makes it even more terrifying.

[@juggernaut6544]

I’d have to use it like it a evil spirit from the Fay wild that technically can’t be killed but when someone it’s possessed dies it goes to find a new person to possess

[@carlinnye8531]

this was awesome!

[@novadrake9232]

8:00 sounds like until dawn wendigo

[@TheDreamSyndicateArts]

I totally support the fey change!

[@homicidalnun3931]

We were in a cave and our party got attacked by 3 wendigos and we were separate literally almost had a heart attack

[@itscznben8728]

what’s the version you got the feeding frenzy ability from called?

[@sindriwulver7818]

hey I'm going to be creating my first character for D&D, is there any race design that can be used to resemble the wendigo spirit?

[@tristanarnold4706]

Discord notification squad!

[@darkjazz10]

Is there a way you can remake or revamp this video into the style like how you've been doing with your dragon series?

[@thedarkharlot3124]

Medusa is only one person not a race Medusa is a gorgon

[@MySerpentine]

Yeah, that's one annoying thing about D&D

[@KevinVideo]

Unfortunately, D&D already has a gorgon that petrifies, so medusa is now the race of monsters. It's weird.

[@lollolo74yo99]

Is that castelvania?

[@uglybird6125]

Hey dungeon dad how would this work on my character considering that I play as a skeleton?

[@focal-whip7596]

Question in a campaign I’m playing in I play as a wendigo would a wendigo get the drop on me Edit: custom campaign

[@monkeysue61]

i made a Wendigo home brew race .. my Wendigo has no hands and can only mimic speech .. and i made it a cleric ..

[@jackiesantos2121]

I had some Native American monsters and DMD I don't sleep do you need is like a monster from different folklore around the world