I am a Paladin.
I have got a winterwolf as a guide in a campaign and have it under a Mark of Justice, so I can control it to some degree and make it listen to my sermons.
Any ideas/tips/thoughts on how to realistically going about converting this thing to NG or at least non-evil?
There are guidelines for redemption in the Wrath of the Righteous Players' Guide, starting on pg. 11. It's a free download.
Tummys wubs and bacon sound good too, though! ;P
Interesting, basically dog training
Getting it even to Neutral would be quite a coup
You know nothing John Snuh
Despite the higher than animal intelligence, it is a creature with a certain nature. You might get it to the point where you can control it, but breaking it of its nature would be extremely difficult. Despite the "evil" alignment, I highly doubt it sees itself as evil. I doubt it even thinks in those sorts of terms. It more than likely thinks in terms of strong vs weak, stompy vs crunchy and tasty. It comes from a world where compassion has no place. Compassion gets one killed.
It should be a tough road at best.
Despite the higher than animal intelligence, it is a creature with a certain nature. You might get it to the point where you can control it, but breaking it of its nature would be extremely difficult. Despite the "evil" alignment, I highly doubt it sees itself as evil. I doubt it even thinks in those sorts of terms. It more than likely thinks in terms of strong vs weak, stompy vs crunchy and tasty. It comes from a world where compassion has no place. Compassion gets one killed.
It should be a tough road at best.
I hear you, but evil also has a tendency towards selfishness and betrayal.
Good can produce strength through trust, teamwork, and loyalty. This is something even a 'strong survive' creature could, through time, possibly learn to appreciate.
Lead by example.
Keep it on a tight leash. Don't necessarily punish it when it does something wrong, just stop it from hurting innocents and stuff and show it the right way, and also show that these virtues can be their own strength.
But most importantly...don't treat it like a pet. It's smarter than the average Fighter, it can understand what's going on.
I would think Handle Animal checks would also need to be involved to see if you can actually "train" it, so to speak.
I would also be careful of the fact if at any point it sees a way to take you out during this conversion, it'll try. I think it's a bite the hand that feeds it type of animal (despite the tummy wubs).
Handle Animal is not the right skill for an Int 9 creature.
Diplomacy would be better suited.
Especially since a Winter Wolf is a Magical Beast, not an Animal.
Handle Animal is not the right skill for an Int 9 creature.
Diplomacy would be better suited.
Especially since a Winter Wolf is a Magical Beast, not an Animal.
Ah, very good point(s). I got lost in the zeal of tummy wubs and bacon talk.
You could also check out Champions of Purity if you are after some rules for redemption!
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The wolf has Int 9, Wis 13, Cha 10, better mental stats than some PCs. It's not an animal, and no amount of training is going to change it. A permanent change is going to require DM fiat, a cursed item, or a Wish/Miracle. You can get a short term change by having a friendly sorcerer with the serpent bloodline dominate person on it.
Evil people are people too, even if they're giant scary wolves... right?
Last time I saw a winter wolf change alignment was when a PC got into a relationship with her. It was interesting; she (the wolf) got a magic item that allowed her to shapechange into a single human form at will and he (the human) got what was basically the reverse of that, which let him shapechange into a winter wolf at will. These were not GM handouts; they paid every last gold piece for them.
It was extremely expensive and drew some ire from those who called the situation bestiality (wasn't something they talked about much to people outside the party), but the wolf did shift her alignment from LE to LN over a long period of time that the party spent treating her well; establishing that they cared for her and that they valued her presence. By the end of it all the party effectively had two shapechangers, both of whom were capable of shifting between human and giant-wolf forms as the need dictated, and the money lost on those shapechanger magic items levelled out after a while, so it was pretty worth it in the end.
Basically alignment change was facilitated not by any kind of training (which would probably be insulting to an intelligent Winter Wolf), but by treating her well and building a sense of belonging between her and the non-evil party such that she would, over time, come to sympathize and agree with the party's general morals.
Have you tried falling? It's all the rage for a Paladin lately.
Basically alignment change was facilitated not by any kind of training (which would probably be insulting to an intelligent Winter Wolf), but by treating her well and building a sense of belonging between her and the non-evil party such that she would, over time, come to sympathize and agree with the party's general morals.
This sounds about right - the winter wolf is an intelligent character and alignment change should be no more different than for any other NPC like an ork, centaur, or a harpy. Typical winter wolves are evil, but nothing requires them to be or even states they need anyone's help to change.
If I recall there is this adventure path where you get to redeem a winter wolf by having a .... noctile .... encounter with her. try that!
Evil people are people too, even if they're giant scary wolves... right?
Last time I saw a winter wolf change alignment was when a PC got into a relationship with her. It was interesting; she (the wolf) got a magic item that allowed her to shapechange into a single human form at will and he (the human) got what was basically the reverse of that, which let him shapechange into a winter wolf at will. These were not GM handouts; they paid every last gold piece for them.
It was extremely expensive and drew some ire from those who called the situation bestiality (wasn't something they talked about much to people outside the party), but the wolf did shift her alignment from LE to LN over a long period of time that the party spent treating her well; establishing that they cared for her and that they valued her presence. By the end of it all the party effectively had two shapechangers, both of whom were capable of shifting between human and giant-wolf forms as the need dictated, and the money lost on those shapechanger magic items levelled out after a while, so it was pretty worth it in the end.
Basically alignment change was facilitated not by any kind of training (which would probably be insulting to an intelligent Winter Wolf), but by treating her well and building a sense of belonging between her and the non-evil party such that she would, over time, come to sympathize and agree with the party's general morals.
This wasn't Reign of Winter, was it? Because that's exactly what can happen in the second part of the AP (mild spoilers):
The book actually goes through on how to redeem her if you want to.