Building a Werewolf Big Bad

[MindLord]

In a campaign I'm writing, I had to go off script for a big and ended up coming up with a villain called the Moonlight King. I've decided that I want him to be a Werewolf with some kind of power over animals and a distinct cold light magic feel. A Ranger/Druid comes to mind, maybe a Nature Warden. My questions are...

1-How do I make this feasible? I could use feat suggestions and maybe other prestige classes to check out.

2-Are there better ways of getting my concept to fruition? How else do you build a werewolf with power over animals and a cold light kind of magic?

3-Give me some cool minion ideas. Obviously, there will be plenty of summoned creatures in the Big Fight. What monsters would work well with his theme up until then?

[Dosgamer]

I would recommend going straight ranger. To me, a wildshaping druid werewolf kind of defeats the purpose of having a shapeshifting werewolf, but I can see the attraction for the rest of the druid package. Still, I would go straight ranger.

I implemented a suggestion from the boards when developing my own "elite werewolf" template and that was to add DR 5/good to their 10/silver. I also gave them regeneration 5 (silver), but maybe you could modify that to regeneration 5 (good) but only during moonlit nights?

Werewolves can shapeshift into wolves and they have empathy with other wolves and dire wolves, so those make good minions. Depending on the level of ranger you go with offers other natural minions. It sounds interesting. Please post the final build when you're done. Thanks, and good luck!

[XMorsX]

Check the Skinwalkers race. It might give a good base for your villain.

What level do you want it? How much of a caster do you imagine it? Will it be its main combat tool or will it just enchance its martial ability?

[the David]

I'd second the additional wolves. How about a Cleric of a moon deity?

[Pizza Lord]

I'd be interested in trying to come up with a 'Moonlight King'. What is the level/HD range you are looking for? I might have an idea that isn't technically a werewolf though.

[XMorsX]

Actually, you could achieve both the flavor and the mechanics with a Wolf Shaman Druid. Make him a Human and give him the Lycanthrope template. Or even don't give him the template at all. You could also multicalss with some lvls of maneuver master monk for more tripping and dirty trick goodness. Or multiclass to a regular monk and take FCT (Bite) for being able to flurry with your bite. This way you could add dragon style to the mix too. Vital Strike is also staple to increase your damage when you are in a form with only one attack like a wolf.

Having wolfs and dire wolfs accompany him seems the most obvious choice.

Just tell us the lvl of your villain and the CR of the encounter or the lvls of your players when they face him.

[Baron Ulfhamr]

Don't rule out the witch class, possibly with the winter witch PrC. A winter witch has all manner of cold spells and animal summons, added to the natural wolf empathy and fighting prowess of the werewolf is a mighty foe! I had researched a large "werewarg" idea before, maybe a "were-winterwolf", to get a large hybrid with more damage output. I'll post my findings when I find them if you want

[MindLord]

And this is why I love these forums. Both the Monk and Witch ideas sound awesome, and I still really like the ranger idea. But unless I make the Moonlight King a collective role, I can only have one villain.

I want someone who can hold their own in battle. Werewolf makes that pretty easy, luckily, but he has to have some magic for buffing himself and any dire wolves that may accompany him in the final fight. After looking over spell lists for several classes, I think the Witch is the best mix between mechanics and theme. All though, I still might go Cleric if I can think of a good enough backstory and if I think the party can handle it.

The party is currently level 4 and I'll string them along until level 7 or so for the final conflict. The Moonlight King is supposedly CR 10. Both the human and animal sides have a 15 point buy each. The Hybrid gets the best of both worlds via the template. The wolf got racial bonuses added to it's stat block, so a lot of it's higher scores carried over.

"The Moonlight King"
Human Werewolf Witch 9

Human Ability Scores Animal Ability Scores Hybrid Ability Scores
Str 8 ->8 Str: 15->19 Str: 19
Dex 12->12 Dex: 14->18 Dex: 18
Con 10->10 Con: 13->19 Con: 19
Int 16->18 Int: 10->2 Int: 18
Wis 10->12 Wis: 12->16 Wis: 16
Cha 14->12 Cha: 8 ->2 Cha: 12

Skills: Spellcraft +16, Knowledge (Arcana) +16, Knowledge (Nature) +16, Stealth +13, Survival +12, Intimidate +13

Feats: Arcane Armor Training, Arcane Armor Mastery, Power Attack, Cleave, Arcane Strike, Dodge, Improved Natural Attack

Special Abilities: Misfortune Hex, Slumber Hex, Swamp Hag Hex, Ward Hex, Cackle Hex

Familiar: White Owl- +3 on sight based Perception rolls

Patron: Undecided. Will most likely be Winter. I also like Wisdom.

Spells: Undecided. Will definitely have at least one or two themed attack spells like chill touch or an ice storm and some buffs if I can find good ones.

Gear: Undecided. Magic Weapon, Magic Armor, Strength and Int based Items.

I'm also not sure if I want to go with Winter Witch. The archetype seems weak if you aren't going to the prestige class, but the BBEG won't be at a level to get the good stuff off the Pres. Class.

Keep those awesome suggestions coming. :D

[ecw1701]

There are 8 different werewolves with class levels like Ranger or Barbarian on the Unique Monsters list, one of them might do the job if the CR is right; if not they'll at least give you some inspiration for how to pull it off.

[Taku Ooka Nin]

Also remember to at least match the PCs action economy, if you don't then it doesn't matter how tough he is.
If he is high enough then I'd recommend going shape changing sorcerer with a PrC. Focus on natural attacks, and on magic. Use Anti-magic field on the werewolf, kill the casters, then run away, deactivate the field, and then kill the rest of the party.

Always try to send the same number of enemies at the PCs as there are PCs. For a hard encounter go for the werewolf king's CR being (APL-1), include 2 CR (APL-3) monsters with him for each PC beyond 1.

Voila! Epic boss encounter. If you want to make it so the PCs might very well lose then go with
King CR (APL)
Extras CR (APL-2)

One idea is, since they are all werewolves,
CR (APL or APL-1)King = Barbarian (Beast totem to pounce: Has leadership).
CR (APL or APL-1)Queen = Barbarian (Beast totem to pounce: Has leadership).
2x CR (APL-2 or APL-3)Royal Guards = Barbarian (Beast totem to pounce: Does not have leadership).
2x CR (APL-2 or APL-3)Royal Progenitors = Clerics (Focus on healing the Barbarians, silencing the party.)

Extras for each person beyond 4
2x CR (APL-2 or APL-3)Royal Huntsmen = Rangers (Shoot party with bows from afar.)

Reading up on Leadership the Cohort to the King and Queen, as well as their lower level followers would all be included in the King and Queen's CRs, but the gold of the King and Queen would have to be split between themselves, their cohorts, and their followers.

So, you could also have a small army of followers shooting at the PCs, as well as two extra cohorts in the battle (I recommend anything that heals, AoE heals are super-effective[Cleric anyone?] so go with that) without increasing the CR of the encounter. Due to how under geared things might become it isn't that big of a problem. Then again, if the cohorts are clerics then they don't need to be geared to be effective in their purpose.

[Baron Ulfhamr]

Might try the oracle route (with a winter patron, maybe wolf-scarred face curse), or the new shaman hybrid class (blending oracle with witch).

Thematic blurb: if he's amassing an army of wolves, wargs, and werewolves, and has a storeroom filled with confiscated silver items from the townsfolk?

[MindLord]

That's true. I have seen heavy hitters go down really fast. I could see how out numbering the party goes, emphasizing the pack mentality for the Moonlight King. Make him a level 6, level 7 with the template and stat buy. Give him a Winter Wolf bodyguard and a set of Dire Wolves/Werewolf Characters to the bother the party.

I'm also thinking that A Heavens Oracle for the King himself would fit the bill nicely. A fighter type with the necessary self buffs, Even his fire based attack is portrayed as being silvery. And since I want to portray the dull light of moon, over the cold of night I think he's getting closer to what I really want.

And Baron's Thematic Blurb just gave me a couple of ideas on how to make the PCs feel much more isolated in the small town. Well established NPCs tend to have drastic personality changes, particularly about the current expansion the town has been making into the surrounding woods. When the werewolves start nightly raids, the PCs find that all the silver and mithril weapons have been turned over the lycans.

[Ciaran Barnes]

I don't know what kind of campaign you like to run, but if I were doing this I'm sure I couldn't resist the urge to give my big, bad werewolf skill points in Disguise (and use them) and work in a woodcutter and a girl in a red cloak.

[MindLord]

I like intrigue and deception, and I can run it pretty well. I'm fairly good subversion. Making the Moonlight King and some of his minions be townsfolk will certainly happen. I just don't think he needs disguise points to do that. The party hasn't seen his humanoid face. His hybrid form's face won't help the party find him because it's too elongated and furry. But I do think he needs a Bluff skill.

And imagine the party's face if a little girl in ripped clothes and blood transformed into a werewolf and struck.

[Ciaran Barnes]

Ok so going with having lycanthrope living as townspeople, you could give them all varying ability to blend in. Once the party is aware of the threat they should have little trouble tracking down at least one werewolf who just can't seem to hide his true nature. Of course you'll have to include a regular human that is perhaps hairy and unlikable but otherwise innocent.

[Detrius the Blue]

Just my two coppers, but you might want to take a look at Lunar oracle mystery that was added in Blood of the Moon (if you haven't already).

In any case I hope you have more success with your wolfie than I did, mine got his furry butt fried by the resident magus. Action economy truly hurts, I agree completely with giving him some backup. I will try to remember that myself next time.

[Pizza Lord]

This isn't a werewolf, per say, just a different option. Sounds like you have yours planned but maybe someone else needs an idea. This is just a typical dire wolf, advanced to 12 HD and given the Fey creature template. This version is considered an unique creature, though I suppose it could become a baseline fey creature type if you wanted more, though they should be as rare as unicorns.

The twist here is the mistaken identity plotline. This creature appears to be a werewolf and all rumors and indications are that it is one. Since werewolves are evil, it should be hunted and killed. Of course, it's not vulnerable to silver and it has some spell-like abilities that will likely confound unprepared parties before they ever get a chance to engage the creature. It may or may not actually be as challenging in a fight as a real werewolf, so take it for what it's worth or tweak it if desired. I put all the stat stuff at the very bottom.

Premise:

The location should be near a 'haunted' deep forest, the kind with ancient twisted trees where pixies and fey would not be hard to imagine lurking in the cool shadows even at noontime. This creature would be useful if the PCs hear about a large wolf roaming the wilderness. It hasn't necessarily attacked anyone just scared them off (though they might claim different). No ones sure it's a werewolf, they just suspect a very large dire wolf and offer a bounty.

As the story progresses the tales get more frightening. Perhaps one hunter tells of his arrow bouncing harmlessly off a large silver wolf ("but it was only in the moonlight, so hard to see for sure") and maybe a woodcutter shows a bandaged arm and claims it was from fighting off the beast (Really a gash from when he tripped running away). He wants the PCs to kill the beast to ward off the curse (kill the master and so forth).

A few opportunistic traders have come by, including one wererat vendor, selling all sorts of silver weapons at a 25-50% markup. They also offer herbal bags of 'wolvesbane' for protection. The wererat ran afoul of the Moonlight King while murdering a traveler and thinks it's a werewolf too, infringing on his highway hunting grounds. The Moonlight King has taken a dislike to wererats and unfortunately, anyone carrying gear with the wererat's scent like silver weapons or herbal bags will be lumped into that category.

In fact, as more and more 'monster hunters' start going into the forest (some smelling of wererat) there will be more and more encounters by NPC parties talking about scarier and scarier things driving them off. Some actually get bitten or attacked by wolves or dire wolves, causing potions and salves against lycanthropy to be hawked by merchants "They work! There hasn't been one case of the curse in the bitten since I started selling this elixir!"

The PCs shouldn't run into the Moonlight King at first (ability to teleport makes it hard to track even if they go to the witness locations where it was spotted. Have them meet up with other things, or typical wolves and dire wolves (which aren't necessarily hostile to them) or have them sent to guard herbalists gathering more healing herbs and the group stumbles upon a small sunken stone shrine deep in the woods. It's only a room or two and has a few trinkets scattered about (maybe stone pendant carved like a wolf-head, or a chipped canine tooth necklace, or a shrunken wolf-paw talisman). There might even be a faded mural of a silhouette of a man in front of the full moon with a wolf-form superimposed. Basically just an ancient faded mural about the Moonlight King but which doesn't dispel werewolf theories. Do this until a few NPC hunting parties build up the drama with their tales around the inn fireplace.

Will they kill the 'relatively innocent' Moonlight King ("All wolves are evil, man-eating beasts, right?") or uncover the wererat hiding in town, slowly robbing the townspeople and maybe secretly infecting injured hunters (they might be quarantined and locked up, but only to prevent a werewolf from escaping or getting back in, they don't expect a smaller rat creature to slip in and out).

I'm not the greatest with stat blocks and I made some choices just based on my own sense of balance but otherwise I geared it as a 12th-level NPC and balanced it as a CR 10 based on the Beastiary stuff. The Fey creature template had really great ability choices, I went 2 change forms, and 1 teleport but any one of those other ones would have been great choices: Spell resistance, Trackless step, Camouflage. If one seems more useful, go ahead and take it. I tried to keep to the 'established option' for making the creature but maybe don't even give it a fragile fey-looking natural form, just assume its a very rare fey creature in its own right. The fey form would be a dead giveaway that something isn't right, but the Moonlight King having the option to be flying about at great speeds when no one is the wiser might be useful at times.

For the cold light aspects you want, give thematic descriptions to all its Spell-like abilities which give off lunar or pale colors and effects. Faerie fire is a moon-like glow. Dancing lights are hovering orbs of pale light. Glitterdust is a burst of silver dust glowing faintly. Etc. Obviously encounters should be at night for best effect.

The Moonlight King has three forms. Its natural form is clearly otherworldly, possessing faerie wings and ethereal coloration. It is almost never ever found in this form except on the rarest of occasions or when encountered deep in faerie realms and courts.

'The Moonlight King':

This immense silvery wolf is the size of a horse. Its eyes shine like pale golden globes when the light catches them and its fur seems to glimmer with shedding dust motes. Graceful wings as delicate as platinum filigree curve from its shoulders and flutter as though in an ethereal breeze.
Fey Dire Wolf CR 10
CN Large Fey
Init Senses low-light vision, scent, Perception +20.
Defense
AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+4 Dex, +8 Natural, -1 Size)
hp 112 (12d8+60)
Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +5; +4 vs. mind-effecting effects.
Defensive abilities DR 10/cold iron, Resist cold 10, electricity 10.
Offense
Speed 50 ft., fly 75 ft. (good).
Melee bite +13 (2d8+6 plus trip)
Space 10 ft., Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with Lunge)
SA Vital strike, Lunge
Spell-like abilities (CL 12, Concentration +13)
3/day dancing lights
1/day confusion (DC 15), deep slumber (DC 14), entangle (DC 12), faerie fire, feeblemind (DC 16), glitterdust (DC 13), major image (DC 14).
Statistics
Str 18, Dex 19, Con 18, Int 4, Wis 12, Cha 12.
Base Atk +9, CMB +14, CMD +28 (against trip +32).
Feats (6) Run, Skill Focus (Perception), Weapon Focus (Bite), Combat Reflexes, Lunge, Vital Strike.
Skills Acrobatics +13, Bluff +5, Climb +8, Fly +14, Perception +20, Stealth 15, Survival +9, Swim +8. Racial modifiers +4 Survival when tracking by scent.
Languages Sylvan.
SQ Change shape (Su) (Large Dire wolf form, retains all abilities except wings.), (medium Wild/Sylvan elf form, alter self)
Long step (Su) (Teleport up to 120 ft as a move action. Usable once every 1d4 rounds.)
Ecology
Environment cold or temperate forests
Organization (unique) solitary or with pack of wolves (2d6) and/or dire wolves (1d3+1)
Treasure (melded into form when not in elf form. Stats adjusted for magical gear which functions while melded.)
+1 composite longbow [+3], +1 heavy mace, mw silver dagger, 20 arrows, +1 glamered mithril chainshirt, boots of elvenkind, ring of feather falling (swap this for a brooch of shielding if magic missiles are common, potion of cure light wounds x4. potion of cure moderate wounds, dust of tracelessness x2, feather token tree, feather token whip, silver-wrought moonstone circlet (700 gp).
The Moonlight King can find replacements for all magical gear within one month through travels and connections with the fae realms.

The Moonlight King's second and most favored form is that of a large, though ghostly-colored, dire wolf. This is the form it should almost always be in whenever encountered, at least until well after its determined that this is no ordinary wolf or even a werewolf. Its affinity for this shape allows it to retain all the special abilities of its natural form with the exception of its wings. In this form it prowls the woodlands: hunting, observing intruders, and engaging threats when deemed necessary.

Dire Wolf form:

This immense wolf is the size of a horse with silver-white fur and pale yellow eyes.

Statistics are the same as in its natural form, though it has no wings and thus no flight.

Its third form is a slender, regal looking sylvan elf with golden pupils which almost seem to match the shape of the moon at night, be it full, crescent, or dark like the new moon. It takes this form on the rare occasions when it wishes to converse (in Sylvan) or to lure or lead intruders astray when it doesn't wish to attack them. It also uses this form to engage in ranged combat with its bow when facing foes who might be trouble in melee. It uses its glamered armor to cloth itself in whatever garb it desires for effect.

Elven form:

Basic stuff, same stats pretty much. It is proficient with light armor but not any of its weapons, so -4 with them. Adjust AC to account for the +1 glamered mithril chainshirt and size etc.
Melee +10/+5 +1 heavy mace (1d8+7), or +10/+5 mw silver dagger (1d4+3).
Ranged +10/+5 +1 composite longbow [+3] (1d8+3)

Ecology:

Found deep in the sylvan forest, the 'Moonlight King' fills the same ecological niche as the unicorn, though more carnivorously. In fey circles, it's granted the same respect and reverence, though not necessarily from the same types of fey which might venerate unicorns. Not as intelligent as its equine counterpart, the Moonlight King makes up for this with feral cunning and faerie magic, as well being much much stronger than a typical unicorn.

As 'alpha' dire wolves, they naturally pull wolves and other dire wolves to them when desired and are able to call a pack to them with little effort (use some appropriate Children of the Night-type ability)

Though prone to chaotic pranks and tactics, the Moonlight King cares little about good or evil creatures inhabiting its territory but those who abuse or over-hunt the land (in its opinion, which varies depending on its mood, or maybe whether its a full moon) will draw its attention. An evil witch living in the woods is less likely to be bothered than a paladin forgetting to put out his campfire (though the 'punishment' for that will likely not be fatal unless there was a forest fire).

Typically, initial warnings are far from dangerous. Favored tactics include darting between trees in its dire wolf form to startle hunters or woodcutters, then teleporting to a different location and doing it again to give the impression of many dire wolves (though all a ghostly coloration). Confusion or deep slumber used on stubborn parties to get them lost, either from wandering around or waking up in a different location (major image is handy for making trails disappear or trees move around.) A masked, glowing phantom wielding a whip (whip feather token and major image or just the token) can have people believing there's an invisible ghost or specter lurking around. Just hearing thunderous whip cracks and seeing someone's rear end getting belted (nonlethal damage) over and over as they're driven out of the woods can be startling enough. Finally of course, having a pack of wolves and dire wolves howling and running around the area is pretty effective against all but the hardiest of adventurers.

This means the Moonlight King isn't likely to just come right out and attack a normal group of PCs without good reason, so the scenario really should be based on them mistakenly hunting it or doing something inappropriate to wilderness or wildlife in its territory

Combat tactics:

If forced to engage foes, the Moonlight King will use its more powerful spell-like abilities first, then move in to bite and trip opponents. A standard tactic is to move up, using Lunge to increase its reach for the round and Vital Strike for extra damage. Any other opponents moving forward trigger its Combat Reflex attacks of opportunity which trigger trip attacks on hits which hinder melee fighters.

If needed, the pack of wolves and dire wolves are also called in to cause more tripping and to flank fallen enemies.

If outmatched in melee, it will move off (teleporting if necessary though not 'tipping its paw' about that power if possible) and changing to elf form to heal with a potion or to fire from just inside the range of its bow for no range penalties (110 feet). Then hiding or Long Stepping 120 feet off (staying in bow range) and firing from a different spot to confuse foes and split up parties that try and run it down. I opted to just give it no weapon proficiencies, but if the consensus is that it would be better, then it has +4 more to hit.

It uses its entangle to keep parties separated and its glitterdust and faerie fire on hard to see enemies, which it can usually scent and pick out with its exceptional Perception.

The fact that silver weapons aren't hurting it so much might not become apparent at first. Slashing and piercing silver weapons do less damage and so it should have a good advantage against ill-informed parties. Optimally, they might realize something is wrong and try to communicate. The Moonlight King only understands Sylvan (and can only speak in elf form), so that might be really problematic and will also prevent language-dependent effects and commands from working. Add to the fact that it isn't the most intellectual conversationalist with little interest beyond what would interest a normal dire wolf and maybe a bit more on law/chaos philosophy and you could have an interesting RP session trying to sort things out.

[MindLord]

Here's a different version of the Moonlight King that I came up with while out shopping today.

Moonlight King
Human Werewolf Oracle 6

Human Ability Scores Animal Ability Scores
Str 14->14 Str 14->18(+2 Racial, +2 Template)
Dex 12->12 Dex 14->18(+4 Racial)
Con 13->13 Con 13->19(+4 Racial, +2 Template)
Int 13->10 Int 10->2 (-8 Racial)
Wis 9 ->11(+2 Template) Wis 12->16(+2 Racial, +2 Template)
Cha 14->14(+2 Racial, -2 Template) Cha 11->5 (-4 Racial, -2 Template)

Hybrid Ability Scores
Str 18
Dex 18
Con 19
Int 10
Wis 16
Cha 14

4th Level Ability Increase went into Charisma.

Skills: Bluff +8, Intimidate +12, Survival +11 (+3 in Animal or Hybrid Form), Perception +11 (+13 in Animal or Hybrid Form), Knowledge (Nature) +6, Spellcraft +9

Feats: Improved Natural Attack (Bite), Intimidating Prowess, Weapon Focus (Bite), Dazzling Display

Spells: 0-Enhanced Diplomacy, Guidance, Light, Resistance, Bleed, Detect Magic, Read Magic
1(7/day)-Command, Doom, Shield of Faith, Obscuring Mist, Color Spray
2(6/day)-Protection from Good-Communal, Eagle's Splendor, Hypnotic Pattern
3-(3/day)Dispel Magic, Daylight

Curse: Tongues

Revelations: Awesome Display, Spray of Shooting Stars

What do you guys think of this? He'll be assissted by a Winter Wolf and probably a mix of 4 Werewolf Characters and Advanced Dire Wolves.

[XMorsX]

A Heavens Oracle makes for a powerful build that can incapasitate the whole group with his color sprays. I like it but it may frustate your players.

Give a shot in a lunar mystery Oracle, it is very thematic and potentialy powerful.

Here is a nice lunar oracle build that solves the problem of casting wile using the Form of the Beast mystery. Take a Wolf as an animal companion, unless you decide that you would rather be a weretiger.

[MindLord]

I took another look at Color Spray and yeah. I thought it dropped off after 4th level like sleep and mostly planned on using hypnotic pattern. Didn't even realize he could take a whole party out basically single handed. I did look at Lunar, and I like the blinding Moonbeam and the Animal Companion.

The Beast Shape is interesting. It kinda defeats the purpose of being a lycan, though. Do you think spamming the rage spell works out better? The King could use it on the Animal Companinon and a couple other low level minions. The Winter Wolf would still be around to breath weapon the party as well.

[XMorsX]

With the particular build that goes for a deaf /escew materials oracle, beast shape works better because it actually lets you cast while transformed. So it definately works better than rage. You could also make the big boss a high lvl oracle without the lycanthrope template, this will also make him unique among his wolf and lycanthrope pack.

[Titania, the Summer Queen]

Oooh, a half orc scarred witchdoctor werewolf !

[krevon]

Dotting this for later review....good stuff guys!

[MindLord]

XMorsX wrote:

With the particular build that goes for a deaf /escew materials oracle, beast shape works better because it actually lets you cast while transformed. So it definately works better than rage. You could also make the big boss a high lvl oracle without the lycanthrope template, this will also make him unique among his wolf and lycanthrope pack.

That is true. The build I have up can't cast in Wolf form, but since he'll probably be fighting in hybrid form, I don't think it makes much of a difference. There isn't anything his Wolf form can do that Hybrid can't, except run really well. And unfortunately, he'll be far to low level for the ad hoc werewolf ability.

[Titania, the Summer Queen]

Give him the animal lord template as well.

[Dustyboy]

my recommendation was simply

Apply werewolf template to a huntmaster cavalier 4/x mooncaller, wolf totem druid (Allow them to stack)

he'd be pretty strong

but I like the oracle one too XD

[MindLord]

Animal Lord is a good idea. I might use it somewhere else. Unfortunately, the fight will be too low level for the template to apply. At least as far as RAW is concerned.

Also, how effective is following the EXP budget in the Core Rulebook? If you used a character with an Animal Companion, would you count it as a separate monster for XP purposes? I don't want to go overboard with the minions. But want a good number.

So far it's
Moonlight King, Werewolf Oracle 6, CR 7 3200XP
Winter Wolf, CR 5 1600XP
Advanced Dire Wolf, CR 4, 1200XP
Werewolf Ranger 3, CR 4, 1200XP
Werewolf Ranger 3, CR 4, 1200XP
Advanced Dire Wolf, CR 4, 1200XP
Total CR 10, XP 9600

[XMorsX]

You could put some additional monsters, working towards a CR 11 encounter. Just make sure they have actually good battlefield control in order to handle their number disadvantage.

[MindLord]

You mean make sure the party has good battlefield control right?

As for more monster, I might give the Oracle and the Rangers Animal Companions (Beastmaster Rangers of course. No use having level 1 animal companions running around.) It will pad out the numbers while theoretically still being CR10.

[Losobal]

Good stuff, but yeah, normal rules for a BBEG apply, the less the party can Focus Fire on it, the better.