@@andrewhoffman7691 I understand why would you want to say this, but please no, don't do it. We are able to say (mostly) anything qe want, & religion should not be a filter for language...
One thing about the Wendigo remember is that it’s heart turn to ice when it is created, and in order to truly kill the Wendigo, that heart must be melted in a fire and it’s bones burned to a crisp for a whole night. And the entire time it is melting, the heart is still beating. In another myth, there is a whole extended family of Wendigo who are able to masquerade as just another family in a village, only showing their true forms when they secretly murder someone to feast on them, or when they enter a battle-rage. In the myth, some of their wives from outside of the family are even held like prisoners, just there to present themselves as normal, while others choose to become Wendigo too. Extra Credits covered this one in Extra Mythology, I believe. Edit: Also note that the Wendigo is very much a spirit of GREED, not gluttony as one might expect of an ever-starving cannibal. This is because it is not just eating everything it can see, but specifically and intelligently seeking out humans to eat. It is, essentially, stealing lives for its own benefit. Stories of the Wendigo were told particularly often in times of famine, and in modern-day native depictions is often correlated with capitalism or environmental destruction. And do NOT try to depicted as anything less than purely evil creatures. There is nothing redeemable or empathetic about them. Pity their cursed existence, maybe, but do not depict it as anything other than a truly evil being that needs to be put down, NOW.
@@MayHugger You should always be wary when your DM checks back with, _"Are you sure?"_ They could've investigated a bit and determined whether it was even an animal.
As a Native American from an Algonquin speaking people, there's a few things to note: First and foremost, I'm not 100% sure where the size thing came from, as the we'i'o does technically defecate since...well they still have human origins. Secondly, another key component to the we'i'o isn't just the cannibalism, but the isolation. Something I always like to tell people is that a we'i'o is less of an American Yeti, and more like Hannibal Lector. They're monstrous, not in their forms, but in just how inhuman they can be.
That's what I gleaned as well! The supernatural growth and durability might have just been misinterpretations that persisted through its appropriation into cryptid stuff.
Blackfox413, I’ve wanted to use a Wendigo in D&D but have been afraid to. How do you feel about this and cultural appropriation? I don’t want to be like the idiots who piss off the Navajo by making light of the skin walker.
@@danstadler3752 I mean I wouldn't say *I* personally care about any of it. So long as you're doing so with the understanding of what these creatures are and what the point of them is, then I'm personally okay with it. So long as you understand that these monsters are there to show the dangers of isolating oneself from society and pursuing a life of unchecked greed.
@@danstadler3752 Bro you're coming into an youtube comment section asking for a wendigo pass, really? Just do your research and portray it with fidelity or don't, the only reason you ever heard about a wendigo in the first place is because someone "culturally appropriated" and distorted it pretty heavily from its origins in the first place, hence the cryptid we have all over the internet today. Next you'll refuse to play elves because Tolkien culturally appropriated germanic paganism? lol
My DM used El Silbón as an encounter, the PCs run until his whistle faded into the distance, and then he attacked us right from between the trees. Our drunk and horny bard was the only one that died that night, the rest of the party run away while he puts the corpse in his sack.
@@zEr-ne5ri You should Google La Llorona. It’s a folktale about a woman who wanders the banks of rivers looking for her drowned children. I was terrified of her as a kid 😂
The wendigo psychosis is something that really interests me. The way I saw it describes is that someone was forced to eat a companion when stranded and unable to find food. Then they convinced themselves they had been possessed by an evil spirit to alleviate their own guilt and this belief developed into the psychosis. They gave themselves a form of insanity to escape the guilt of killing and eating their friend
Make the next encounter monster: "you are your party are making their way in through the forest, out of the corner of your eye you spot him, Shia Labeouf"
The whole deer head thing actually has no connection to the original myth, it was from a movie about the wendigo that had close to no understanding of the actual folklore and the image stuck
Germanic paganism has a forest deity that does do the whole deer head thingy, probably where it got pulled from. Pick n choose what best fits the campaign, nothing has to be exact.
@@triccele It's a D&D game. Pick and combine any folklore you like. If people get offended by you having fun with your friends using an imaginary monster, then that's on them.
@@e1357 Well, even that is not necessarily accurate. So how the deer head thing for Wendigo's started was most likely from a 2001 film called "Wendigo" created by Larry Fessenden. Apparently he got the idea of it from the Algernon Blackwood story "The Wendigo". Since then, the antlered or deer headed Wendigo (especially as a skull) has been, frankly, overused... to the point it's been placed on other monsters- like the Leshy in Witcher 3. It's just a really evocative image. This sorta image might also be a corruption or parody of the Celtic/Gaulish God Cernunnos... though, I don't really got anything to say that for sure.
I think Countless people know just how terrifying a real-life Wendigo would be. I mean, lots of Native Americans don't even like talking about it, that's how feared it is.
@@lobokujo7825 I mean when people talk about cryptids not enough people want to hunt it, given the choice between killing Bigfoot and a wendigo I would want to hunt the wendigo purely to remove it
In regards to the size capping, there was an old webcomic I read called Geist Panik. One of the main characters was a Wendigo. He didn't grow larger the more people he ate (though he was very tall and ripped), but each person he ate (alive or dead) worked as an "extra life". He is shown to receive at LEAST half a dozen mortal wounds before this is explained. Basically, for him to die, you'd have to kill him once for every person he's ate...and then once more.
One of my players is a developing wendigo so this honestly helps with getting a good idea of how to develop his slow descent into changing fully by the end of the campaign.
Wendigos aren’t cryptids. Cryptids have no ties to a religion or particular culture. Yeti, Snallygaster, jackalopes, etc are not tied to a culture in particular. Wendigos are heavily tied to the people and religion it came from, so it’s folklore
In mythology, it states that you can only kill a Wendigo by ripping out and burning its heart. If you don’t, it’ll regenerate and come back. So in DND, it can use “second wind(igo)” like the Fighter, but doing so reduce its hight. (Edit: im not sure if that’s a new thing. if you are Native American, please correct me if I’m wrong.)
I had a DM run a wendigo encounter for us once, he did it really well, and the dread of getting lost in the woods was driven home better than most attempts at horror I'd seen. Combat dragged on for ages as we were stalked through the night, and we were unable to LR either because we were afraid of an ambush, or because we were ambushed.
According to Folklore a Wendigo is not only skinny it also has big eyes akin to those of an Owl. In some depictions it's followed by a blizzard wherever it goes. The Wendigo can mimic people's voices to lure prey. It also has the oddly cat-like behavioral trait of toying with it's victims.
Hold on, did anyone else notice something. When he was going through how cryptids stealthy, he showed a picture of the moth man and the wendigo, two videos he has done. But he also showed Bigfoot and Nessie. Ladies and gentlemen I do believe we can expect to see a Bigfoot encounter video in the future.
I think it would be pretty cool to see some yokai covered for this series, like the jorogumo and kappa. Heck, maybe even a kasa obake as a wierd choice.
I'm busy writing a mystery campaign where the players explore a desolate world after an apocalyptic event, a spooky wendigo encounter would fit right in with the atmosphere
@@fimband3855 The primordial Atropus leaving its orbit around Glyth and approaching the planet the setting is on. This caused undead to swarm and disease to spread massively, among others, causing the collapse of society under the pressure of all those things
I'd love to see a collaboration between Runesmith and Monarch's Factory because they'd come up with an amazing monster encounter if they put their heads together. ...Now I'm imagining them as the twin heads of Demogorgon and I'm terrified.
Another Great Video, dude :) I run a campaign based on my county's native folklore. I'm Filipino, And I have made my group of almost a dozen full-grown adults terrified of our native Boogeyman, the Legendary Aswang. So completely know how you feel about how much fun it is to really make lesser-known Cryptids into DnD monsters to scare your friends with. :)
One of the worst nightmares I ever had as an adult man centered around this monster. An icy pale woman with jagged teeth and hollow eyes just silently followed me through the woods during the day. And then it'd disappear out of sight and make bloodcurdling howls throughout the night when I tried to make camp. You did a great job of capturing how terrifying these myths and stories are.
Great video! I love the fact that you've done more research on the wendigo than most people have. Am Native, I grew up with stories of the Wendigo and have heard many versions from different communities and peoples. Ranging from monstrous people, to malevolent spirits that grant powers (kind of) and of course as just beasts (But I find this one primarily comes from Non-Natives who just want a cold monster). This video has one of the better interpretations I've seen, especially one that fully intends on using it as just a terrifying monster encounter. Dig a bit deeper and you can use the Wendigo for many more types of encounters than a purely combative one, they are terrifying for many reasons.
Okay first thing, I think 20 feet might be a little much for a beast of its type and feels like it ruins it's sneaky personality. I feel it should be 11 feet to 16 to help but if you want a boss encounter with one, i.e quest giver has one that has been hunting the town when they leave then you definitely could do 20+. I like the idea of it straight up devouring downed party members but one tid bit I'd like to add is that I would find it a scarier encounter to have it retreat back into the forest without being traceable so that the party will keep looking over their shoulder expecting it's return. This gives the dm some fun scenarios for when he's wanting a one off encounter or a quest where the party tries to discover a way to kill it at the villages they go to and eventually hunting it down showing how far they've come.
I designed a Wendigo that went the way of the Lich a while back as a story villain. He was originally a Diviner who could speak to the departed by consuming a mix of their marrow and bone dust made into a "pate"-like substance. He'd be able to experience the memories and thoughts of those he communed with, being able to harbor their secrets and even be able to mimic their talents. Noticing a growth in his intelligence and gaining a slowly growing knowledge of various languages and skill sets he became a traveling oracle who would offer those in mourning a chance to meet their loved ones one last time as a scam to gain power through memories. Growing old and gray, he sought a means to give himself longevity and became a Lich. This was when the bodily deformation began due to his habits, and stockpiling so many lives into his conscious slowly gave him dissociative disorder. He was later used in a RP I ran and was one of my favorite villains to play.
In my dnd campaign I had made Wendigo an individual archfey with a domain over hunger. They sent out these moths called "heralds of Wendigo" that would bite creatures, inflicting them with maddening hunger and slowly transmorphing them into a being more fit for killing and consuming. The moths would also lay larvae onto the host, which would cause the creature to give itself scars and patchy fur itching itself. Pretty much the further the transformation was the more control this archfey had through this makeshift avatar
DUDE You could make the sandman as a d&d encounter! Not the dream giver man though, I mean the version that rips out people's eyes and has a nest on the moon Love the vids btw its really nice to see how you interpret these classic stories Edit: there's actually 1991 stop-motion short called "the sandman" and I think its delightfully creepy and perfectly portrays the scary sandman version
I would like to request a video like this on the Loveland Frogman. Bonus points if you incorporate the bizarre encounter where a guy claimed it pointed a magic wand at him.
#1 super glad this is a series! #2 I'm not an indigenous person but I know speaking about the wendgio can be a little problematic as other comments have already pointed out. I think the hollywood pop-culture interpretation of it is still a super cool interpretation, but I try to add a few degrees of separation and I've come to calling something like "The King of the Forest" and lean harder into the beastial unnatural hunger of the thing
as a long time DM I can tell you that the different name thing won't likely won't work for long. I spent over 2 years trying to get the party I run games for to refer to my campaign world's race of ratmen as anything other than Skaven, they are now called Skaven. I've tried wendigo based monsters twice. Both times I insisted that they weren't wendigos, both times the party insisted on calling them wendigos anyway until I caved.
@@ludovicm5585 if you don't know what he's talking about, today mattpatt did three videos on canibilism on all three of his channels, game theory, film theory, and food theory.
@@Dumbozo_II Your explanation is way too simple and logical... i prefer the thrill to imagine you are all terrible deviant with inhumant lust, hidden behind ordinary-looking pseudo.
Or a wendigo surprise attack at the last arc of the next godzilla, after he spend the whole think crushing other monster, a wendigo is revealed to have feed on the fallen and now wanting to snack on the king itself!
this was a really great and fun video and I love the unique mechanics you gave to this monster. I even learned some new stuff about the Wendigo I did not know before. but also you did pick one of the most controversial monsters in mythology / cryptid discussions and I imagine that is going to come up a lot in the comments and there will probably be a lot of arguments ( especially about the deer skull head depiction which might have originated in a movie)
I’ve actually integrated this monster into my game. It’s a monstrous spirit that travels the Ethereal Plane looking for people to possess. When it does they become feral with an intense craving for humanoid flesh. They also gain a necrotic bite that deals piercing and necrotic damage while healing the user. It’s terror comes from the ability to pop up anywhere and anytime without warning unless you can see into the Ethereal Plane. XD
Hey so I’m not super sure on this but I think it’s considers super insensitive to depict a windego as a deer headed monster, I could be wrong so I’ll look into it more
From what I've seen, it's actually insensitive to say the name or bring it up. Apparently it's not something the tribe wanted spread and seeing/saying the name had consequences. I'm not an expert, but that is what I saw discussed by a member of the tribe (rather angrily) at length in a 5E thread about it. How accurate they were, I couldn't say.
Honestly just here to make sure that you actually respect the original legends, and make it accurate. I ain’t no snowflake, but you don’t fuck around with the old world legends. You don’t disrespect them dudes. Edit: Close enough. Not really actually what it is. But you’re at least mentioning Wendigo psychosis
The second Call of Cthulhu game I ever ran was set on Attu Island off the coast of Anchorage. The first Sanity rolls I made the players do were encounters with a Wendigo that triggered the beginning of their transformation, and most of the rest of the game was spent trying to avoid becoming one
I am so happy to see you doing American folklore creatures, I feel like not enough games use these terrifying monsters. Would love to see you do the Jersey Devil or the Chupacabra
Omg, Runesmith, you don't know how much these videos are helping me. I am making a Fallout enterpretaion of D&D 5e and I wanted to use these monsters and you are helping me easily make the Stat blocks and recreate these myths into my own setting. I know these myths aren't Fallout related but I thought it would be interesting. Just wanted to give a huge thanks for the help and amazing videos😁
I heard about these guys from a Mohawk woman in Canada. It was related to the isolated logging camps north of the Saint Lawrence River. A horrible whistle was heard on the wind before the spirit attacked. Maybe a save against being Frightened, such as with some Legendary Monsters ?
My favorite encounter to date featured a Wendigo that travelled with the frequent blizzards on a mountain pass. Whenever it drew close to the party I would play an elk bugle at full volume. My all-evil party that indoctrinates everything they can, and kills everything they can't, decided for the first and only to completely avoid fighting and just hide
Having used a couple wendigos in my games the only thing I would suggest to add is have the encounter happen during a heavy blizzard, added so much terror to the encounter, especially because I went with hit and run tactics. They caught a glimpse of the hulking beast emerging from the snow fall only for it too quickly slink back out of sight. Once one of the wendigos downed a party member the second wendigo would emerge and grab the unconcious body and attempt to run off with it.
I had a wendigo as a patron for one of my players once, taking influence from Lovecraft's Ithaqua... He was a great old one pact and due to backstory stuff it made sense also it was fun to play out the dreams he had when he was trying to figure out what and who his patron was.
Depending on all the books and fanfiction written on Wendigo over the years, Wendigo can cast ice magic, create hurricanes, have a fear aura, fly, possess people, drive people insane, turn other people into wendigo, lure people into the forest, especially people attuned to nature... So you can really go wild with wendigo, but it's always gonna be a centrepiece of the quest, the big baddy, ElDrItCh hooroor.
It’s often said that you must cut out and burn the Wendigos heart after you slay it. Perhaps vulnerability to fire might be a cool way to portray this in game?
I think a Wendigo encounter would work marvelously in Call of Ctulhu, since insanity and being painfully descriptive is one of the main things. Great and inspiring video Logan!
Who knows, seeing how successful and creative Runesmith is, maybe we'll get his own spin on a monster manual full of cryptids and other lesser known myths. (Thinking Sluagh, Lamia and Lindworm among many others)
I actually threw one of these at my party after a ton of research and planning, one of the players said I have them actual nightmares the next day. Great for snow campaigns after a major famine.
I love the lore behind wendigos, and I would definitely make this encounter in my campaign if it weren't for one single factor which throws a wrench into my operations: my friend loves this channel and watches every video, especially one like this one
Please do more "Encounter" vids. I know this one was a little basic by nature of the Wendigo itself, but it's really helpful to have some new ways to think about combat and monster habits.
Thank you logan i love you. Wendigos are my favourite and as a DM (and Over the Garden Wall lover) i always wanted to make an encounter. Like always, thank you for existing.
I kind of see the Wendigo as being similar to, if not the same thing as a Vampire. Transforming from a human, craving to feed on humans, supernatural powers… and don’t forget the greed metaphor!
I really liked the DnD Beyond StatBlock you had created for the MothMan, would love to see the same for the Wendigo and any future cryptids you might cover
I did something similar to this in an online game. Used soundbytes from Specimen 8 (Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion). Got a resounding "NOPE" from the whole level 11 party, which I consider a success.
i remember helping build an encounter similar... basically late evening, sun is setting and the party is on a time crunch, they can't afford to take a safe route, or set up camp; so they're trudging through thick and frozen woodland, by the time the sun is at its reddest, the party hears a sound. like a stag being caught by wolves, but no the sounds of the hunt that would accompany that sort of thing. it gives the party some pause and they do a quick investigation check, finding a flayed to the bone carcass of a large moose half smashed in a very fresh red pile of snow. the party decides smartly that time can be made up elsewhere, and that SOMETHING is in these woods, so they set up camp. halfway through the first shift a blizzard begins to draw near and the goblin wizard standing watch notices two emeralds off in the distance, rounded and full like eyes almost, the allure of loot makes her alert another member because going off alone would be stupid. as the greedy goblin is distracted by the 'emeralds' they get pretty distanced from the camp, out of direct shouting earshot when the dm made the accompanying paladin make a perception check, and the goblin a dex save... both failed, and in an instant the goblin was gone and pained crying was heard nearby. lawful good really is a loose alignment when terror is in action, alerting the camp by screaming like a little girl the half eaten body of the goblin is dropped onto the fire that was dying due to the storm and they get a glimpse of the beast. tall as the trees, but far more spindly, with bloody and oaken skin and fur, and antlers like bare tree branches, all meshed together with snow and the most discerning feature was its disturbing long and flexible neck, and glowing eyes that shined like illuminated gems. it was a close TPK, the wizard, monk, and fighter pretty much didn't stand a chance, the druid and ranger could see the outline of the creature as it supernaturally shifted between the trees and taking shadowy strikes with its man rending claws, the paladin getting closest to death but smites and a divine blessing winning out over the undead abomination. i keep in touch with that dm, great friend of mine, the only two members still alive from that encounter is the ptsd scarred paladin turned drunken bard to 'forget' that night in the woods, and the ranger who fashioned an artifact like cloak from the beast's hide that gives him the same uncanny speed and vanishing abilities while in wooded areas, though there was concern that whatever made that creature was seeping into the ranger. the ranger has since vanished as of like 2 months ago, though for irl reasons he got married and wanted to spend time with his SO. encounter: cr 15, hp 237, ac 11 (normal attacks are at disadvantage), wood step: able to move between trees in a single stride. damage dice for claws: 4d8.
I made my version of the Wendigo come in two variants: the undead "lesser" Wendigo which devours souls until it becomes a demonic "greater" variant. Both are pretty stand-alone monsters, not really going to be encountered in groups or with other monsters, so I made sure they had the stat-block to go toe-to-toes with a group of adventurers. Action economy is the greatest downfall to any amount of tension in a fight, so they have enough attacks in a round to severely deplete a group's resources in an encounter, or straight up kill even the tankiest player character in a 1-on-1 fight; the greater variant can get upwards of 5 attacks per round with a pretty good chance of poisoning a character with a curse. The wendigo is a terrifying cryptid and I wanted the stat block to reflect that. Don't get into a fight with a wendigo; it will kill you, it will eat you, and it will make you part of it.
A Wendigo has been the BBEG of my long-term Monsterhearts 2 campaign and it's been incredibly fun and interesting. It's also been fun to research the cultural history to make sure I don't get anything wrong. It's a great creature to get inspired by!
I would want to use this is a Wild West setting, having the wendigo grow larger in CR as the party hunts it down over the course of a campaign (shorter) and because I’m a huge Eberron fan I would pair this with the upcoming Eberron threshold and have it be a Half Ogre from Droaam driven to madness by Sora kell
The series Golden Kamuy did something kinda like this with one of its arcs, it centered on a group of gold panners being haunted by the phantom of a man-eating bear and put a ton of focus on the creepy nature of one guy in particular. The twist ends up being that the group wasn't real at all, there was only ever the one guy and all the imagery of the others existed only in his mind, including the bear, which actually takes the form of a bear belt he carries on his back without being consciously aware of it. So then when he dons the bear pelt and fully loses himself, he gains freakish strength and a feral mindset, roaring and attacking any nearby people, cannibalizing anyone he kills. I think that's a really good bit of inspiration for a more humanized take on the Wendigo that plays on the themes of isolation and hunger much more directly
This is a pretty awesome encounter but I do have to say that one of the wendigos main weaknesses is fire, which wouldn't make it impossible to kill in a snowy setting but would make it really hard unless you had a fire spell.
I love one thing they did in the video game Until Dawn. You play as a group of teens being terrorized by a wendigo, and at one point a group member gets bitten by the beast. You are now faced with the decision of killing the person or risking them turning into a monster later. Except that's not how wendigos work, there's actually no chance of the person turning into one just because they got bit. But your character doesn't know that, they've just seen way too many zombie movies. I would love to do something like this in a game, have the monster bite an NPC and then have another NPC freak out assuming they'll turn. This would have to be something to throw at them in the earlier levels though, definitely before they have access to Greater Restoration.
Should make it so that the wendigo can somewhat be mistaken for a tree, what with its size and spindly nature, the antlers would look like branches; someone not paying attention wouldn't notice it, especially at night or in a snow storm
A month late Runesmith. I searched far and wide for a decent Wendigo, and now you give me a good one. I guess my players just need to fight a second, stronger one than
I love the moon madness transformation angle. I really liked some of the older transformations with the burnt stumps for legs. When the transformation is about complete, the victim gets naked, runs off the nearest cliff, ITS LEGS CATCH FIRE, and it runs into the tundra sky as it completes its transformation. They gave it wind walk, cuz WHY NOT!?
I know that this myth has many variants depending which tribe you look at, but two key features that I was told were that they can take human form and that they only way to kill them is by burning the heart or else it can come back to life. Which can add a few really cool mechanics for this creature. A fire vanrablility and recovery ability that can be negated by fire damage. I think I'd also add resistance to all physical damage and immunity to cold for obvious reasons. I feel when adapting a folklore monster to dnd taking inspiration for multiple version of the same monster is something very important.
I made my own version of the Wendigo a long time ago. I myself a Native American have a deep interest in this kind of lore. While I am not Algonquin, the Wendigo remains my number one favorite monster of all time. For my encounter, my party has spent 5 days trekking through the pinewoods in the northern most part of the region. Some will have levels of exhaustion, others just generally tired. When one at random hears a voice, one that seems to know their name. No one else can hear the voice but it wants them to come look at what they found. When they go off into the darkness, the Wendigo will proceed to envoke fear into the targeted creature until it ambushed them and grabs them. Upon being in the Wendigo’s grasp it takes no time in attempting to bite and rip off a limb. The player has to succeed at least one of three strength saves or they get their limb ripped off from the joint and watch it get devoured as they now take 2d12 bleeding damage as their blood coats the snow a dark crimson. The Wendigo continues this assault until ether it dies or it’s close enough to death but can still escape. This monster is incredibly dangerous as one of its abilities can cause lingering injuries which generally I do not advocate, but in this case my campaign which I am using it in, is meant to be a very hostile environment.
Myths about the Wendigo transformed as they traveled and certain people embellished certain elements. Some even say that you can be visited in your dreams by one and you'll transform after a time. I love this. I'd love to see more based on... Maybe... Flying Heads or Water Babies?
Gave my party nightmares the other day with a shadow demon. Wasn't even the first time the fought one, just the first time they fought one at night. Willing to do it again.
I helped a friend run a wendigo in their game. If you want a creative way to kill it other than “beat it up”, have a prerequisite be to melt its heart. I’m pretty sure a wendigo’s heart freezes over in the lore, so when we decided to make it an encounter, we made it so that it revived within a minute with 30 hp unless it’s heart was melted. We hinted through a cave mural that the players needed to melt its heart, and the players realized what was up after being hunted down two or three times
Hmm, I think in a campaign. I would have the party run into this ancient wendigo. Maybe a island turtle situation where its kneeling in the sea for its antler to to hit sea level. Then later down the line have a encounter where a there new wendigo and have to solve a puzzle or something will they see it eat people behind ice and grow form 5 to 20ft. And remember what this thing can become. Then it runs away and the quest properly begins
"Wendigos can wendigrow"
Goddamn, that's a good one.
Please do not use God's name in vain. Repent and trust in Jesus Christ. God bless you!
@@andrewhoffman7691 I understand why would you want to say this, but please no, don't do it.
We are able to say (mostly) anything qe want, & religion should not be a filter for language...
I agree, that was the best line ever
I enjoyed that joke lol
@@thebookless3381 thank you absolutely thank you
One thing about the Wendigo remember is that it’s heart turn to ice when it is created, and in order to truly kill the Wendigo, that heart must be melted in a fire and it’s bones burned to a crisp for a whole night. And the entire time it is melting, the heart is still beating.
In another myth, there is a whole extended family of Wendigo who are able to masquerade as just another family in a village, only showing their true forms when they secretly murder someone to feast on them, or when they enter a battle-rage. In the myth, some of their wives from outside of the family are even held like prisoners, just there to present themselves as normal, while others choose to become Wendigo too. Extra Credits covered this one in Extra Mythology, I believe.
Edit: Also note that the Wendigo is very much a spirit of GREED, not gluttony as one might expect of an ever-starving cannibal. This is because it is not just eating everything it can see, but specifically and intelligently seeking out humans to eat. It is, essentially, stealing lives for its own benefit. Stories of the Wendigo were told particularly often in times of famine, and in modern-day native depictions is often correlated with capitalism or environmental destruction. And do NOT try to depicted as anything less than purely evil creatures. There is nothing redeemable or empathetic about them. Pity their cursed existence, maybe, but do not depict it as anything other than a truly evil being that needs to be put down, NOW.
You will wind up with bleeding hearts who try to purify or tame it, Puffin Forest style. Be prepared for angry druids when that natural 20 fails...
For my next character i shall play as Wendy the friendly Wendigo who only eats bad people.
Commenting so I can save this whole thing permanently. Love this and love the add on you provided here. Thank you
@@onyxsuccubus And you're the one who let your players still try something they had no chance of success, and punished them for it.
@@MayHugger
You should always be wary when your DM checks back with, _"Are you sure?"_
They could've investigated a bit and determined whether it was even an animal.
As a Native American from an Algonquin speaking people, there's a few things to note: First and foremost, I'm not 100% sure where the size thing came from, as the we'i'o does technically defecate since...well they still have human origins. Secondly, another key component to the we'i'o isn't just the cannibalism, but the isolation. Something I always like to tell people is that a we'i'o is less of an American Yeti, and more like Hannibal Lector. They're monstrous, not in their forms, but in just how inhuman they can be.
This adds quite a lot to the treatment in the video, thank you!
That's what I gleaned as well! The supernatural growth and durability might have just been misinterpretations that persisted through its appropriation into cryptid stuff.
Blackfox413, I’ve wanted to use a Wendigo in D&D but have been afraid to. How do you feel about this and cultural appropriation? I don’t want to be like the idiots who piss off the Navajo by making light of the skin walker.
@@danstadler3752 I mean I wouldn't say *I* personally care about any of it. So long as you're doing so with the understanding of what these creatures are and what the point of them is, then I'm personally okay with it. So long as you understand that these monsters are there to show the dangers of isolating oneself from society and pursuing a life of unchecked greed.
@@danstadler3752 Bro you're coming into an youtube comment section asking for a wendigo pass, really? Just do your research and portray it with fidelity or don't, the only reason you ever heard about a wendigo in the first place is because someone "culturally appropriated" and distorted it pretty heavily from its origins in the first place, hence the cryptid we have all over the internet today.
Next you'll refuse to play elves because Tolkien culturally appropriated germanic paganism? lol
"So this encounter begins with it trying to imitate the voice of someone injured"
Wendingo: Oof
Oof ow ouch, my bones.
I’m hurt I’m very very hurt
"Ahhh fuck, I can't believe you've done this"
"Oh god, my fucking knee! THAT'S MY KNEE! DAMMIT! SHIT! AAAWWWWW MAAAAANN!!!!!!
Ahhhhh I need a medic bag
Hell yeah, glad to see this might end up a series
I hope you make these after the Grim Hollow campaign too, these are lovely little videos
Same, ngl thinking of using some of these with a possible grim hollow campaign
That I will probably never run
Well, sadly, it didn’t
Hey Runesmith, can you do a bunch of classic folklore encounters? Cause I would love an encounter that captures the pure terror of La Llorona.
what?
That would be super cool.
My DM used El Silbón as an encounter, the PCs run until his whistle faded into the distance, and then he attacked us right from between the trees. Our drunk and horny bard was the only one that died that night, the rest of the party run away while he puts the corpse in his sack.
@@zEr-ne5ri You should Google La Llorona. It’s a folktale about a woman who wanders the banks of rivers looking for her drowned children. I was terrified of her as a kid 😂
@@moodyfingers7301 that sounds delightfully terrifying! I’ll have to steal this idea for sure!
The wendigo psychosis is something that really interests me. The way I saw it describes is that someone was forced to eat a companion when stranded and unable to find food. Then they convinced themselves they had been possessed by an evil spirit to alleviate their own guilt and this belief developed into the psychosis. They gave themselves a form of insanity to escape the guilt of killing and eating their friend
2:25 "Skip to 1:50 to avoid a small spoiler" *You forgot you had a sponsor in the beginning*
shoot, yes I did. sorry you now know choppy's secret.
@@Runesmith Glad to see you like One Piece
Kind of disappointed that there wasn't a stat block for this thing like there was with Mothman
i would guess that thats because of the sponsor that probably has one in their book or sth. just a wild guess on my part though
We can make the stat block ourselves.
Make the next encounter monster: "you are your party are making their way in through the forest, out of the corner of your eye you spot him, Shia Labeouf"
Hes following you, about 30 feet back. He gets down on all fours and gets into a sprint. He's gaining on you. Everyone roll initiative.
The instant I saw *him* in the thumbnail, I knew that this would be an encounter my character would die at. I have to hide this video from my DM.
The whole deer head thing actually has no connection to the original myth, it was from a movie about the wendigo that had close to no understanding of the actual folklore and the image stuck
Germanic paganism has a forest deity that does do the whole deer head thingy, probably where it got pulled from. Pick n choose what best fits the campaign, nothing has to be exact.
There are similar creatures in other native lore, most notably and also where there ice powers came from is the wechuge
@@e1357 yeah, but is better tho leave the deer head out, as is kinda rude to the people who still hold those belives.
@@triccele It's a D&D game. Pick and combine any folklore you like. If people get offended by you having fun with your friends using an imaginary monster, then that's on them.
@@e1357 Well, even that is not necessarily accurate.
So how the deer head thing for Wendigo's started was most likely from a 2001 film called "Wendigo" created by Larry Fessenden. Apparently he got the idea of it from the Algernon Blackwood story "The Wendigo". Since then, the antlered or deer headed Wendigo (especially as a skull) has been, frankly, overused... to the point it's been placed on other monsters- like the Leshy in Witcher 3. It's just a really evocative image.
This sorta image might also be a corruption or parody of the Celtic/Gaulish God Cernunnos... though, I don't really got anything to say that for sure.
Wendigo is an underatted monster, everyone knows about it but nobody thinks about how terrifying they would be irl
I think Countless people know just how terrifying a real-life Wendigo would be. I mean, lots of Native Americans don't even like talking about it, that's how feared it is.
@@lobokujo7825 I mean when people talk about cryptids not enough people want to hunt it, given the choice between killing Bigfoot and a wendigo I would want to hunt the wendigo purely to remove it
@Dio Makes sense that a VAMPIRE would talk about a Wendigo like he was a freaking expert of ‘em!
@@lobokujo7825 I only fear three things. Open Sea, Heights, and Wendigo.
Cryptids are interesting.
In regards to the size capping, there was an old webcomic I read called Geist Panik. One of the main characters was a Wendigo. He didn't grow larger the more people he ate (though he was very tall and ripped), but each person he ate (alive or dead) worked as an "extra life". He is shown to receive at LEAST half a dozen mortal wounds before this is explained. Basically, for him to die, you'd have to kill him once for every person he's ate...and then once more.
One of my players is a developing wendigo so this honestly helps with getting a good idea of how to develop his slow descent into changing fully by the end of the campaign.
Are you making a whole series out of all the famous cryptids/mythical monsters that aren't in DnD now?
i think he is
@@youtubewatcher1389 I hope so
Hope so, one on the Snow Wasset and or Kappa would be cool
@@heww5682 I mean, a Tengu would also be kinda cool
Wendigos aren’t cryptids. Cryptids have no ties to a religion or particular culture. Yeti, Snallygaster, jackalopes, etc are not tied to a culture in particular. Wendigos are heavily tied to the people and religion it came from, so it’s folklore
In mythology, it states that you can only kill a Wendigo by ripping out and burning its heart. If you don’t, it’ll regenerate and come back. So in DND, it can use “second wind(igo)” like the Fighter, but doing so reduce its hight. (Edit: im not sure if that’s a new thing. if you are Native American, please correct me if I’m wrong.)
If you are looking for ideas for the next beast, my vote is for Big Foot.
He's the fastest thing alive!
I had a DM run a wendigo encounter for us once, he did it really well, and the dread of getting lost in the woods was driven home better than most attempts at horror I'd seen. Combat dragged on for ages as we were stalked through the night, and we were unable to LR either because we were afraid of an ambush, or because we were ambushed.
According to Folklore a Wendigo is not only skinny it also has big eyes akin to those of an Owl. In some depictions it's followed by a blizzard wherever it goes. The Wendigo can mimic people's voices to lure prey. It also has the oddly cat-like behavioral trait of toying with it's victims.
A wendigo I made had the ability to cast a ritual to summon a winter storm. This storm gave it what was essentially the effects of a Haste spell.
If nothing but the wendigo can break its own bones, you could make a pretty crazy weapon out of them.
That's actually a sick idea, maybe a legendary weapon made by a wendigo?
It wouldn’t even be made into a weapon it would just be like a raw armbone
Hold on, did anyone else notice something. When he was going through how cryptids stealthy, he showed a picture of the moth man and the wendigo, two videos he has done. But he also showed Bigfoot and Nessie. Ladies and gentlemen I do believe we can expect to see a Bigfoot encounter video in the future.
I think it would be pretty cool to see some yokai covered for this series, like the jorogumo and kappa.
Heck, maybe even a kasa obake as a wierd choice.
There is an Oni in 5e, but they way they have it is pretty disappointing. It's basically just a weird ogre.
@@ZXNovaBoom I find it a bit unfortunate that the oni is basically the only yokai in dnd, especially with the sheer diversity available.
I'm busy writing a mystery campaign where the players explore a desolate world after an apocalyptic event, a spooky wendigo encounter would fit right in with the atmosphere
What kind of apocalyptic event? Cause I am doing the same thing.
@@fimband3855 The primordial Atropus leaving its orbit around Glyth and approaching the planet the setting is on. This caused undead to swarm and disease to spread massively, among others, causing the collapse of society under the pressure of all those things
I'd love to see a collaboration between Runesmith and Monarch's Factory because they'd come up with an amazing monster encounter if they put their heads together. ...Now I'm imagining them as the twin heads of Demogorgon and I'm terrified.
Oh my good lord I WAS LITERALLY TALKING ABOUT THIS EARLIER. I can't contain my happiness for this video. Thank you so much Runesmith!
Bro I feel sorry for the poor wendigo that stalks a party of blood hunters
Blood Hunters seeing a Wendigo like "This is where the fun begins."
I vote for Katnisss Everdeane.
I'm unfamiliar with how Blood Hunters work. What makes them scary to a Wendigo?
@@MayHugger blood hunters are a class made my Matt mercer, they’re essentially Witchers who use blood magic and evil powers to fight against evil.
@@kurth3355 Gotcha. So what kind of abilities do they get?
Another Great Video, dude :)
I run a campaign based on my county's native folklore. I'm Filipino, And I have made my group of almost a dozen full-grown adults terrified of our native Boogeyman, the Legendary Aswang. So completely know how you feel about how much fun it is to really make lesser-known Cryptids into DnD monsters to scare your friends with. :)
Dude I've watched like 30 vids from this guy and the entire time I had it on 1.5 and didn't even notice. It just feels perfect at that speed.
One of the worst nightmares I ever had as an adult man centered around this monster.
An icy pale woman with jagged teeth and hollow eyes just silently followed me through the woods during the day.
And then it'd disappear out of sight and make bloodcurdling howls throughout the night when I tried to make camp.
You did a great job of capturing how terrifying these myths and stories are.
Great video! I love the fact that you've done more research on the wendigo than most people have. Am Native, I grew up with stories of the Wendigo and have heard many versions from different communities and peoples. Ranging from monstrous people, to malevolent spirits that grant powers (kind of) and of course as just beasts (But I find this one primarily comes from Non-Natives who just want a cold monster).
This video has one of the better interpretations I've seen, especially one that fully intends on using it as just a terrifying monster encounter.
Dig a bit deeper and you can use the Wendigo for many more types of encounters than a purely combative one, they are terrifying for many reasons.
Okay first thing, I think 20 feet might be a little much for a beast of its type and feels like it ruins it's sneaky personality. I feel it should be 11 feet to 16 to help but if you want a boss encounter with one, i.e quest giver has one that has been hunting the town when they leave then you definitely could do 20+. I like the idea of it straight up devouring downed party members but one tid bit I'd like to add is that I would find it a scarier encounter to have it retreat back into the forest without being traceable so that the party will keep looking over their shoulder expecting it's return. This gives the dm some fun scenarios for when he's wanting a one off encounter or a quest where the party tries to discover a way to kill it at the villages they go to and eventually hunting it down showing how far they've come.
I designed a Wendigo that went the way of the Lich a while back as a story villain. He was originally a Diviner who could speak to the departed by consuming a mix of their marrow and bone dust made into a "pate"-like substance. He'd be able to experience the memories and thoughts of those he communed with, being able to harbor their secrets and even be able to mimic their talents. Noticing a growth in his intelligence and gaining a slowly growing knowledge of various languages and skill sets he became a traveling oracle who would offer those in mourning a chance to meet their loved ones one last time as a scam to gain power through memories.
Growing old and gray, he sought a means to give himself longevity and became a Lich. This was when the bodily deformation began due to his habits, and stockpiling so many lives into his conscious slowly gave him dissociative disorder. He was later used in a RP I ran and was one of my favorite villains to play.
this is awesome, i love it
In my dnd campaign I had made Wendigo an individual archfey with a domain over hunger. They sent out these moths called "heralds of Wendigo" that would bite creatures, inflicting them with maddening hunger and slowly transmorphing them into a being more fit for killing and consuming. The moths would also lay larvae onto the host, which would cause the creature to give itself scars and patchy fur itching itself. Pretty much the further the transformation was the more control this archfey had through this makeshift avatar
More of these please. Love the unique encounters based on folklore
DUDE You could make the sandman as a d&d encounter! Not the dream giver man though, I mean the version that rips out people's eyes and has a nest on the moon
Love the vids btw its really nice to see how you interpret these classic stories
Edit: there's actually 1991 stop-motion short called "the sandman" and I think its delightfully creepy and perfectly portrays the scary sandman version
*sees Wendigo*
Welp, it was nice knowing you Runesmith.
*starts building casket for when he is cancelled into the grave*
it's not about being cancelled, naming the thing is bad enough in itself. Runesmith's about to vanish in the woods lmao
I would like to request a video like this on the Loveland Frogman. Bonus points if you incorporate the bizarre encounter where a guy claimed it pointed a magic wand at him.
we talking trouser wand?
So a bullywug wizard
#1 super glad this is a series!
#2 I'm not an indigenous person but I know speaking about the wendgio can be a little problematic as other comments have already pointed out. I think the hollywood pop-culture interpretation of it is still a super cool interpretation, but I try to add a few degrees of separation and I've come to calling something like "The King of the Forest" and lean harder into the beastial unnatural hunger of the thing
as a long time DM I can tell you that the different name thing won't likely won't work for long. I spent over 2 years trying to get the party I run games for to refer to my campaign world's race of ratmen as anything other than Skaven, they are now called Skaven. I've tried wendigo based monsters twice. Both times I insisted that they weren't wendigos, both times the party insisted on calling them wendigos anyway until I caved.
Yeah, ya don'T want to name that thing, at all (verbally or written). It attracts it, gives it like power over you or smth.
This is an amazing saga, thanks Logan
This is the 4th video in a row that came up in my notifications that's related to cannibalism... That's kinda weird.
The FBI joined the call
I see your a fellow theorist
There is a time you have to acknowledge thing about yourself...
@@ludovicm5585 if you don't know what he's talking about, today mattpatt did three videos on canibilism on all three of his channels, game theory, film theory, and food theory.
@@Dumbozo_II Your explanation is way too simple and logical... i prefer the thrill to imagine you are all terrible deviant with inhumant lust, hidden behind ordinary-looking pseudo.
What I now need to see in cinema is a giant wendigo taking on a tribe of frost giants.
I need this.
Or a wendigo surprise attack at the last arc of the next godzilla, after he spend the whole think crushing other monster, a wendigo is revealed to have feed on the fallen and now wanting to snack on the king itself!
@@ludovicm5585So Godzilla vs Nergigante? I love it.
this was a really great and fun video and I love the unique mechanics you gave to this monster. I even learned some new stuff about the Wendigo I did not know before.
but also you did pick one of the most controversial monsters in mythology / cryptid discussions and I imagine that is going to come up a lot in the comments and there will probably be a lot of arguments ( especially about the deer skull head depiction which might have originated in a movie)
I’ve actually integrated this monster into my game. It’s a monstrous spirit that travels the Ethereal Plane looking for people to possess. When it does they become feral with an intense craving for humanoid flesh. They also gain a necrotic bite that deals piercing and necrotic damage while healing the user. It’s terror comes from the ability to pop up anywhere and anytime without warning unless you can see into the Ethereal Plane. XD
Hey so I’m not super sure on this but I think it’s considers super insensitive to depict a windego as a deer headed monster, I could be wrong so I’ll look into it more
From what I've seen, it's actually insensitive to say the name or bring it up. Apparently it's not something the tribe wanted spread and seeing/saying the name had consequences. I'm not an expert, but that is what I saw discussed by a member of the tribe (rather angrily) at length in a 5E thread about it. How accurate they were, I couldn't say.
I would so happy if this became a longer series. It’s giving me some really cool ideas for my upcoming campaign.
Honestly just here to make sure that you actually respect the original legends, and make it accurate. I ain’t no snowflake, but you don’t fuck around with the old world legends. You don’t disrespect them dudes.
Edit: Close enough. Not really actually what it is. But you’re at least mentioning Wendigo psychosis
The second Call of Cthulhu game I ever ran was set on Attu Island off the coast of Anchorage. The first Sanity rolls I made the players do were encounters with a Wendigo that triggered the beginning of their transformation, and most of the rest of the game was spent trying to avoid becoming one
so glad these cryptids builds are becoming a series
I am so happy to see you doing American folklore creatures, I feel like not enough games use these terrifying monsters. Would love to see you do the Jersey Devil or the Chupacabra
I remember having a wendigo encounter in my campaign "spindleshanks" was possibly the best and worst thing our DM threw at us.
I know this came out like 6 days ago, but this whole consept is so awesome, keep it up PLEASE!
I'm literally running a wendigo right now, stalking the players. This video was so perfectly timed its insane.
Omg, Runesmith, you don't know how much these videos are helping me. I am making a Fallout enterpretaion of D&D 5e and I wanted to use these monsters and you are helping me easily make the Stat blocks and recreate these myths into my own setting. I know these myths aren't Fallout related but I thought it would be interesting. Just wanted to give a huge thanks for the help and amazing videos😁
I heard about these guys from a Mohawk woman in Canada. It was related to the isolated logging camps north of the Saint Lawrence River.
A horrible whistle was heard on the wind before the spirit attacked.
Maybe a save against being Frightened, such as with some Legendary Monsters ?
My favorite encounter to date featured a Wendigo that travelled with the frequent blizzards on a mountain pass. Whenever it drew close to the party I would play an elk bugle at full volume. My all-evil party that indoctrinates everything they can, and kills everything they can't, decided for the first and only to completely avoid fighting and just hide
Me, watching this while working as a night guard on a forest construction site on Mi’kmaq land: 😶
Having used a couple wendigos in my games the only thing I would suggest to add is have the encounter happen during a heavy blizzard, added so much terror to the encounter, especially because I went with hit and run tactics. They caught a glimpse of the hulking beast emerging from the snow fall only for it too quickly slink back out of sight.
Once one of the wendigos downed a party member the second wendigo would emerge and grab the unconcious body and attempt to run off with it.
I had a wendigo as a patron for one of my players once, taking influence from Lovecraft's Ithaqua... He was a great old one pact and due to backstory stuff it made sense also it was fun to play out the dreams he had when he was trying to figure out what and who his patron was.
Depending on all the books and fanfiction written on Wendigo over the years, Wendigo can cast ice magic, create hurricanes, have a fear aura, fly, possess people, drive people insane, turn other people into wendigo, lure people into the forest, especially people attuned to nature... So you can really go wild with wendigo, but it's always gonna be a centrepiece of the quest, the big baddy, ElDrItCh hooroor.
It’s often said that you must cut out and burn the Wendigos heart after you slay it. Perhaps vulnerability to fire might be a cool way to portray this in game?
Pray for krampus. I run a krampus campaign with friends every Christmas and it's incredible, really works with dnd.
Yes Finally the most desturbing monster I have allways wanted you to cover. Thank you so much for this MASTERPIECE! Runesmith
this is exactly what i need for my game when they make their way to my snowy mountain area
I started to make a mythological system not long ago and wendigos were a part of the creatures I wanted to implement, this is really helpful
i literally just designed a high level wendigo for an upcoming campaign a few days ago! this will honestly help a lot, it gave me some good ideas
I think a Wendigo encounter would work marvelously in Call of Ctulhu, since insanity and being painfully descriptive is one of the main things. Great and inspiring video Logan!
This is actually going to be perfect for my Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign. I was also thinking of replaying Until Dawn for inspiration too
Who knows, seeing how successful and creative Runesmith is, maybe we'll get his own spin on a monster manual full of cryptids and other lesser known myths. (Thinking Sluagh, Lamia and Lindworm among many others)
I actually threw one of these at my party after a ton of research and planning, one of the players said I have them actual nightmares the next day. Great for snow campaigns after a major famine.
I love the lore behind wendigos, and I would definitely make this encounter in my campaign if it weren't for one single factor which throws a wrench into my operations: my friend loves this channel and watches every video, especially one like this one
Please do more "Encounter" vids. I know this one was a little basic by nature of the Wendigo itself, but it's really helpful to have some new ways to think about combat and monster habits.
Thank you logan i love you. Wendigos are my favourite and as a DM (and Over the Garden Wall lover) i always wanted to make an encounter. Like always, thank you for existing.
I kind of see the Wendigo as being similar to, if not the same thing as a Vampire. Transforming from a human, craving to feed on humans, supernatural powers… and don’t forget the greed metaphor!
I really liked the DnD Beyond StatBlock you had created for the MothMan, would love to see the same for the Wendigo and any future cryptids you might cover
I did something similar to this in an online game.
Used soundbytes from Specimen 8 (Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion).
Got a resounding "NOPE" from the whole level 11 party, which I consider a success.
i remember helping build an encounter similar... basically late evening, sun is setting and the party is on a time crunch, they can't afford to take a safe route, or set up camp; so they're trudging through thick and frozen woodland, by the time the sun is at its reddest, the party hears a sound. like a stag being caught by wolves, but no the sounds of the hunt that would accompany that sort of thing. it gives the party some pause and they do a quick investigation check, finding a flayed to the bone carcass of a large moose half smashed in a very fresh red pile of snow. the party decides smartly that time can be made up elsewhere, and that SOMETHING is in these woods, so they set up camp. halfway through the first shift a blizzard begins to draw near and the goblin wizard standing watch notices two emeralds off in the distance, rounded and full like eyes almost, the allure of loot makes her alert another member because going off alone would be stupid. as the greedy goblin is distracted by the 'emeralds' they get pretty distanced from the camp, out of direct shouting earshot when the dm made the accompanying paladin make a perception check, and the goblin a dex save... both failed, and in an instant the goblin was gone and pained crying was heard nearby. lawful good really is a loose alignment when terror is in action, alerting the camp by screaming like a little girl the half eaten body of the goblin is dropped onto the fire that was dying due to the storm and they get a glimpse of the beast. tall as the trees, but far more spindly, with bloody and oaken skin and fur, and antlers like bare tree branches, all meshed together with snow and the most discerning feature was its disturbing long and flexible neck, and glowing eyes that shined like illuminated gems.
it was a close TPK, the wizard, monk, and fighter pretty much didn't stand a chance, the druid and ranger could see the outline of the creature as it supernaturally shifted between the trees and taking shadowy strikes with its man rending claws, the paladin getting closest to death but smites and a divine blessing winning out over the undead abomination. i keep in touch with that dm, great friend of mine, the only two members still alive from that encounter is the ptsd scarred paladin turned drunken bard to 'forget' that night in the woods, and the ranger who fashioned an artifact like cloak from the beast's hide that gives him the same uncanny speed and vanishing abilities while in wooded areas, though there was concern that whatever made that creature was seeping into the ranger. the ranger has since vanished as of like 2 months ago, though for irl reasons he got married and wanted to spend time with his SO.
encounter: cr 15, hp 237, ac 11 (normal attacks are at disadvantage), wood step: able to move between trees in a single stride. damage dice for claws: 4d8.
Surprised that you didn't use the actual magic abilities they're know for. (aka summoning blizzards, and mind-cracking powerful illusions)
I made my version of the Wendigo come in two variants: the undead "lesser" Wendigo which devours souls until it becomes a demonic "greater" variant. Both are pretty stand-alone monsters, not really going to be encountered in groups or with other monsters, so I made sure they had the stat-block to go toe-to-toes with a group of adventurers. Action economy is the greatest downfall to any amount of tension in a fight, so they have enough attacks in a round to severely deplete a group's resources in an encounter, or straight up kill even the tankiest player character in a 1-on-1 fight; the greater variant can get upwards of 5 attacks per round with a pretty good chance of poisoning a character with a curse. The wendigo is a terrifying cryptid and I wanted the stat block to reflect that.
Don't get into a fight with a wendigo; it will kill you, it will eat you, and it will make you part of it.
A Wendigo has been the BBEG of my long-term Monsterhearts 2 campaign and it's been incredibly fun and interesting. It's also been fun to research the cultural history to make sure I don't get anything wrong. It's a great creature to get inspired by!
I would want to use this is a Wild West setting, having the wendigo grow larger in CR as the party hunts it down over the course of a campaign (shorter) and because I’m a huge Eberron fan I would pair this with the upcoming Eberron threshold and have it be a Half Ogre from Droaam driven to madness by Sora kell
The series Golden Kamuy did something kinda like this with one of its arcs, it centered on a group of gold panners being haunted by the phantom of a man-eating bear and put a ton of focus on the creepy nature of one guy in particular. The twist ends up being that the group wasn't real at all, there was only ever the one guy and all the imagery of the others existed only in his mind, including the bear, which actually takes the form of a bear belt he carries on his back without being consciously aware of it. So then when he dons the bear pelt and fully loses himself, he gains freakish strength and a feral mindset, roaring and attacking any nearby people, cannibalizing anyone he kills. I think that's a really good bit of inspiration for a more humanized take on the Wendigo that plays on the themes of isolation and hunger much more directly
This is a pretty awesome encounter but I do have to say that one of the wendigos main weaknesses is fire, which wouldn't make it impossible to kill in a snowy setting but would make it really hard unless you had a fire spell.
Logan, wouldn't also be vulnerable to fire damage, as in the myth, Wendigo's hate fire
I love one thing they did in the video game Until Dawn. You play as a group of teens being terrorized by a wendigo, and at one point a group member gets bitten by the beast. You are now faced with the decision of killing the person or risking them turning into a monster later. Except that's not how wendigos work, there's actually no chance of the person turning into one just because they got bit. But your character doesn't know that, they've just seen way too many zombie movies. I would love to do something like this in a game, have the monster bite an NPC and then have another NPC freak out assuming they'll turn. This would have to be something to throw at them in the earlier levels though, definitely before they have access to Greater Restoration.
Should make it so that the wendigo can somewhat be mistaken for a tree, what with its size and spindly nature, the antlers would look like branches; someone not paying attention wouldn't notice it, especially at night or in a snow storm
A month late Runesmith. I searched far and wide for a decent Wendigo, and now you give me a good one. I guess my players just need to fight a second, stronger one than
I love the moon madness transformation angle. I really liked some of the older transformations with the burnt stumps for legs. When the transformation is about complete, the victim gets naked, runs off the nearest cliff, ITS LEGS CATCH FIRE, and it runs into the tundra sky as it completes its transformation. They gave it wind walk, cuz WHY NOT!?
I know that this myth has many variants depending which tribe you look at, but two key features that I was told were that they can take human form and that they only way to kill them is by burning the heart or else it can come back to life. Which can add a few really cool mechanics for this creature. A fire vanrablility and recovery ability that can be negated by fire damage. I think I'd also add resistance to all physical damage and immunity to cold for obvious reasons. I feel when adapting a folklore monster to dnd taking inspiration for multiple version of the same monster is something very important.
I made my own version of the Wendigo a long time ago. I myself a Native American have a deep interest in this kind of lore. While I am not Algonquin, the Wendigo remains my number one favorite monster of all time. For my encounter, my party has spent 5 days trekking through the pinewoods in the northern most part of the region. Some will have levels of exhaustion, others just generally tired. When one at random hears a voice, one that seems to know their name. No one else can hear the voice but it wants them to come look at what they found. When they go off into the darkness, the Wendigo will proceed to envoke fear into the targeted creature until it ambushed them and grabs them. Upon being in the Wendigo’s grasp it takes no time in attempting to bite and rip off a limb. The player has to succeed at least one of three strength saves or they get their limb ripped off from the joint and watch it get devoured as they now take 2d12 bleeding damage as their blood coats the snow a dark crimson. The Wendigo continues this assault until ether it dies or it’s close enough to death but can still escape. This monster is incredibly dangerous as one of its abilities can cause lingering injuries which generally I do not advocate, but in this case my campaign which I am using it in, is meant to be a very hostile environment.
Myths about the Wendigo transformed as they traveled and certain people embellished certain elements. Some even say that you can be visited in your dreams by one and you'll transform after a time.
I love this. I'd love to see more based on... Maybe... Flying Heads or Water Babies?
It has been so long that I got withdrawal symptoms :(
I’d love for this to be a series
Gave my party nightmares the other day with a shadow demon. Wasn't even the first time the fought one, just the first time they fought one at night. Willing to do it again.
I would be completely on board with a series of this
I helped a friend run a wendigo in their game. If you want a creative way to kill it other than “beat it up”, have a prerequisite be to melt its heart. I’m pretty sure a wendigo’s heart freezes over in the lore, so when we decided to make it an encounter, we made it so that it revived within a minute with 30 hp unless it’s heart was melted. We hinted through a cave mural that the players needed to melt its heart, and the players realized what was up after being hunted down two or three times
You could legitimately run an entire (short) campaign around this.
The idea of wearing any skull animal and pelts is great to make wendigos with a lot of designs
Hmm, I think in a campaign. I would have the party run into this ancient wendigo. Maybe a island turtle situation where its kneeling in the sea for its antler to to hit sea level. Then later down the line have a encounter where a there new wendigo and have to solve a puzzle or something will they see it eat people behind ice and grow form 5 to 20ft. And remember what this thing can become. Then it runs away and the quest properly begins
Heavy eating sound made my day