Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast.

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The last entry in the book.

The Lore

Looks like the Raven Roost bandits have some competition! The Wolf Runners are another of the bandit gangs who prey on the Trade Road between Fallcrest and Hammerfast. They have this name because their leader, Sylish Kreed, has somehow gained the loyalty of a pack of grey and dire wolves, and has them aid the gang when they attack caravans.

Kreed presents himself as the dashing rogue type, and tries to be civil and good-humored when dealing with his victims. The gang vastly prefers to take its victims’ valuables without a fight, and to leave them alive and free to go. This both lessens the heat upon them and gives them the opportunity to rob the same people again in the future.

The counter-balance to this, however, is that Kreed is a terribly sore loser. If he ends up on the losing end of a battle, he’ll become sullen and obsessed with taking revenge on whoever beat him. He doesn’t necessarily want to kill the offender, but he won’t rest until he’s re-established his superiority.

This sort of alpha-asshole behavior and the wolves might have tipped you off to the gang’s big secret: Kreed is a werewolf, having caught lycanthropy from a bite a few years back. He can transform at will most of the time, but for three days on every full moon he loses control, changes into a wolf, and goes off to live with his pack until his rational mind returns. Kreed’s condition is not public knowledge, though I guess his gang-mates know of it.

His main lieutenant certainly does: that’s Eveni Redblade, a tiefling whom he rescued from the Dark Drake of the Moon Hills some time ago, and who as a result is completely loyal to him. Speaking of loyalty, the wolves are also loyal to Kreed personally, though they tolerate the gang and vice-versa.

Wolf Runner ambushes tend to consist of a troop of archers hidden in the woods off to both sides of the road, while Kreed and his wolf pack block the path and handle the intimidation plus melee fighting that proves necessary.

The Numbers

Other than the unusual nature of their leader and his “understanding” with those wolves, the Wolf Runners are a typical bandit gang that uses typical bandit stat blocks. The wolves are also typical, using standard stats for grey and dire wolves from the Monster Vault.

In this section, we get stats for Kreed, Eveni, and the Runners’ archers.

Wolf Runner Swiftarrow

With the wolves acting as melee muscle, many of the Runners focus on archery instead. Swiftarrows are Level 5 Artillery with 50 HP. They have decent melee and ranged attacks with a short swords and a longbow, and their Close Shot maneuver lets them make a free bow attack whenever an enemy moves adjacent to them, without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Eveni Redblade

The tiefling lieutenant is a Level 5 Skirmisher with 60 HP. She’s always On The Move, ending any slowing or immobilization effects on her at the start of her turns. She also does extra damage against targets granting combat advantage to her.

Eveni fights with a Longsword whose basic strikes let her shift 1 square before or after the attack, and she can also use Dazing Strikes (recharge 6+) that as the name implies damage and daze for a turn. Rounding out her arsenal is the default Infernal Wrath power tieflings get, which lets her do a bit of automatic fire damage to someone who hits her once per encounter.

This is a standard mobile combatant package. Eveni works best with plenty of people to set up flanks and other advantageous situations for her.

Sylish Kreed

The (wolf)man of the hour is a Level 6 Elite Skirmisher with 144 HP. He has all the werewolf signature traits, starting with Regeneration, which as usual shuts down for a turn if he takes damage from silvered weapons.

He can also Change Shape to assume human, wolf, or hybrid forms. In human or hybrid form he can use a Greatsword that provides standard basic attacks. In wolf or hybrid form, he can Claw and Bite. The claw does more damage to bloodied targets and lets Kreed shift 4 squares on a hit. The bite knocks targets prone and exposes them to werewolf moon frenzy as described in the Monster Vault. The Bloodmoon Fury ability lets him either attack twice with the sword or make a claw and a bite attack on the same action.

Final Impressions

I like the Wolf Runners a lot more than I like the lizardfolk, that’s for sure. I also think it’s interesting that the Wolf Runners have a lot of other factions to worry about even if the PCs never fight them directly.

If they really operate on the Trade Road, they’re in direct competition with the Raven Roost gang and/or the Blackfang Gnolls, both of which are a lot more murderous than themselves. If we instead move them to King’s Road, they’re going to contend with the Iron Circle in Harkenwold and possibly with the Daggerburg Goblins.

All of the Wolf Runners presented here are Unaligned, so you can easily play them as rogues with hearts of gold and have them as possible allies against an unjust lord or against some of the other factions, Robin Hood-style.