Pocket Full of NPCs for 5E D&D — The Ulfhednar

Salutations, nerds! I keep a pocket full of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons NPCs I can reach for whenever I need to stall characters or they’ve made a request I wasn’t specifically ready for. Honestly, pulling characters out of the ether is a strong point of mine but I know for a lot of people this isn’t the case. And so, Pocket Full of NPCs gives 5E D&D Dungeon Masters a variety of characters you can pull off the shelf whenever you happen to need them.

Wolf warrior for 5E D&D

Here’s the game: I’m going to give you a name, list what 5E D&D stat block you should be using plus an extra ability or two to make things feel more mechanically unique. Then we’ll touch base on what this person wants, how to make them a nuisance to the party, how to make them an ally and finally a concept for a side quest they can offer.

“Wolf warriors appear among the legends of the Indo-Europeans, Turks, Mongols, and Native American cultures. The Germanic wolf-warriors have left their trace through shields and standards that were captured by the Romans and displayed in the armilustrium in Rome. The frenzy warriors wearing the skins of wolves were called Úlfhéðnar (“wolf coat”; singular Úlfheðinn), another term associated with berserkers, mentioned in the Vatnsdæla saga, the Haraldskvæði and the Völsunga saga and are consistently referred to in the sagas as a type of berserkers. The first Norwegian king Harald Fairhair is mentioned in several sagas as followed by an elite guard of úlfhéðnar. They were said to wear the pelt of a wolf when they entered battle.” — from Wikipedia

Asgar Revnason

A human male, always accompanied by a number of wolves, he appears bedecked in furs with his long hair left wild like a mane around his pale face. His eyes are gray like a winter sky and his beard thick as are his eyebrows — save for the spot where a scar bisects one of them only narrowly sparing the eye beneath.

Although he always walks like he’s stalking prey he is neither boisterous nor arrogant. He will not hesitate to give someone his back, confident there is always a wolf to watch it. Asgar is intense and once he’s caught scent of what he’s after, he does not stop until he has his quarry.

Mechanically

Use the werewolf stat block from the free 5E D&D Basic Rules. Add Pack Tactics when he is in wolf form only. Add the following ability:

Regeneration. Asgar regains 10 hit points at the start of his turn. If he takes damage from a silvered weapon, this trait doesn’t function at the start of his next turn. He only dies if he starts his turn with 0 hit points and doesn’t Regenerate.

Asgar is CR 4 (1,100 XP).

What Drives Him

Asgar can be enticed by the more civilized world outlawing the hunting of wolves, but other than this he is driven by the same things any predator. A safe warm den, the ability to provide for his pack and the freedom for himself and his to do as they choose.

His wolves do not have names and in fact he only uses one to better interface with those rare humanoids who come through his territory. Instead, he knows his wolves by their scents and may give them nicknames like Snow or Shadow for clarity with others. If someone harms one of his wolves he will not stop until he sees them answer for the transgression. If civilization starts encroaching too close upon their hunting grounds he takes measures to beat them back before he gives ground.

In spite of all of this Asgar is not unwelcoming of visitors and if he finds someone struggling in the wilderness he’s willing to take them in for a night or two to help them recover and get back on their feet. When this happens he appears out of the trees as if by magic to guide them on a safe path for the area around his den is full of snares and pit traps.

Asgar does not consider beasts to be lesser than humans in any way and in fact considers himself as much wolf as man. As an obligate carnivore he still hunts and partakes in meat, but with a certain reverence for his prey. This applies to that which walks on two legs as well.

Asgar as an Enemy

When someone has earned his enmity Asgar can prove to be quite a ferocious foe. His ire flares particularly fierce over the killing of wolves, overhunting in his pack’s territory, disrespecting nature by overlogging or overworking the land, or offering personal insult.

Asgar is a pursuit predator. It means little to him if he loses track of his quarry for a short time as he always finds them again down the road. When Asgar appears it is always in the company of 1d6 +2 wolves who fight alongside him.

He targets the enemy he perceives to be the weakest first, and he and his wolves always focus down on this one person before moving onto the next. Often, one life is enough to satisfy him and get his point across.

However, come after Asgar in his den and the number of wolves increases to 2d6 +4 and there will be a number of traps set up in the area he and his wolves all know to avoid.

Asgar as an Ally

Although he is willing to take direction from someone who has earned his respect, he will not do anything he deems disrespectful to the natural world. Killing without a purpose. Taking more than you need from the land. Causing unnecessary harm. Treating animal companions like pets or slaves rather than members of your party. These are lines Asgar will not cross.

If you can avoid all of these pit falls, Asgar can aid a party who happens to be in his territory, though he will not leave it for them. This can mean joining them in combat for a cause he sees as just, as well as allowing them shelter in his den with his pack.

He is pack leader in the way a wild wolf would be — he regards his wolves as his pups and they regard him as their father. This, too, tends to be the case with close allies. Asgar is not a particularly aggressive man but patient, maintaining calm even in a crisis and offering a willing ear.

A Potential Side Quest

A local village pushing to expand its borders has pressed into the hunting grounds of Asgar’s pack. Ever since this encroachment started the bodies of loggers, hunters and trappers have been found partially eaten and left in the open.

Some in the village whisper there is a monster on the loose out there. The truth is Asgar and his pack are simply protecting themselves and the land from people who would disrespect it trying to tame it as they are through expansion.

You could present this scenario as a moral dilemma for your party (do they push forth and do what the town wants to collect their pay or try to broker some kind of arrangement?) or simply run him as a straightforward combat encounter.

All right! Consider this a bit of an experiment and let me know how you think it went in the comments! I’ve got a few ideas filed away for more of these if there’s an interest. Thank you for reading, and as always, stay nerdy!

*Featured image — The Werewolf Pack Leader from Magic: The Gathering’s Dungeons & Dragons Adventures in the Forgotten Realms expansion set may be a lycanthrope but come on — this amazing illustration looks perfect for the Pack Master! True to form the Werewolf Pack Leader has Pack Tactics and transforms into a more dangerous version to bring the fury to opponents! [Art by Miranda Meeks]

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