I am planning to GM Carrion Crown in a couple of weeks. I really like the AP, and think the authors have done a brilliant job.
That said, I'm thinking on making some changes to Broken Moon, to make it more claustrophobic. And closer to the horror theme, in my eyes.
I'm trying for an isolated-in-a-cabin-in-the-woods-feel to the Ascanor storyline. We will then skip the Stairs of the Moon and move straight to Feldgrau.
Story- and XP-matters aside, here's my question: how would I create a single werewolf powerful enough to challenge a party of six level 7 PCs? What would be its immunities? Attacks? Strategy? It of course depends a lot on the individual PCs abilities, but if you were to paint a general picture? Truly grateful for all help.
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If you're thinking about a single encounter, I would be careful. By about level 7, characters are strong enough that single-enemy encounters are almost always a pushover. All it takes is one save-or-die spell, or a couple of good combat maneuvers, and it's over.
I would say that if you want your werewolf to be scary, he'll still need to have a pack. These can be wolves, dire wolves, worgs, and winter wolves with templates stuck on them to make them tougher. If it were me, I would emphasize that the werewolf combines the power and ferocity of the wolf with the intelligence and cunning of a human. I wouldn't have any of the worgs or winter wolves be intelligent or capable of speech, so that the werewolf stands out more. It also gives your PCs something else to kill, in case they start feeling bored waiting for a single boss fight.
If I were putting together the plot, my plan would go something like this:
A. PCs arrive at at Ascanor Lodge, meet residents there.
B. They go on the werewolf hunt with Kroitzker, or otherwise explore the woods. They discover the heartless corpse of the dead werewolf.
C. PCs are set upon by a massive pack of wolves. They have to fight their way back to Ascanor. Could be an interesting set piece.
D. PCs are besieged in Ascanor. They realize that the wolves are holding them there so that the werewolf -- one of the guests -- can kill them one by one.
E. The PCs try to discover who the werewolf is before all the other guests are murdered. The faster they figure it out, the more help they'll have in the final battle.
F. They figure out who it is, and there's a boss fight. The werewolf calls some of his minions from the pack outside to help him.
You could potentially keep whats-his-name the lodge master as a secondary boss, revealing that he was working with the werewolf the whole time on behalf of the WW. Or you could have him be the werewolf. Whatever feels right to you.
As for the design of the werewolf himself: I recommend adding class levels. Possibly barbarian or fighter, with the natural attack-focused archetypes. Alternatively, if you want to emphasize his cunning, maybe ranger levels, or even sorcerer. If your want an easy starting point, you could take the stats for Malthus Mordrinacht and swap feats or add archetypes to enhance his natural attacks.
That is actually a great idea. It works with the horror I had in mind and helps with the story. And the remaining werewolf is hunting the guests as a revenge for her lost mate. I think I will use a heavy blizzard as well, as has been suggested on these forums before.
Thanks a lot.
Interesting - thanks. I will look into it.
Freedom of movement seems fitting. I like the disarm silver weapons thing too. Intelligence, speed and fury is the goal. If I'm lucky, the PCs will have more than one encounter with it. Thanks.