Werewolf Chase

T
his provides an expansion to the 'Werewolves
in the Mist' opening to Curse of Strahd. I found
it rather underwhelming, the hype of the
werewolves only to reveal, 'Pranked! No
Werewolves - just Barovia.'
This free expansion gives a fast-paced
combat encounter to segue the travel into
Barovia. It's balanced for a party of 4-6 level 2 players, and
you should award the party enough XP to level 3 by the end
of it.
Starting the Fight
A fun way to start this encounter is with an 'en medias res'
opening. The party was given two horse-drawn wagons by
their quest-giver, each one capable of fitting 4 Medium-sized
creatures (two in the back, and two in the jockey's seat.) Each
wagon also had a hired coachman taking them, but you can
replace one with a party member that has proficiency in Fig 1.1 - Average cart
Vehicles(land). However, at least one cart has to have an NPC Star icons represent Draft Horses
coachman, as you'll see below. If you'd like a slower opening,
modify the text as needed, but I threw my players right into
the action, starting the adventure like this: The Threat
A Werewolf named Ivaylo Kuzivich is leading his pack of 10
A band of adventurers, drawn together by the desires of coin Wolves and 2 Dire Wolves to ambush the carts. Whether
and glory, were given a simple quest - hunt the Werewolves in Ivaylo is related to Barovia, or just happened to be there is up
the nearby woods. Unfortunately, after one particularily loud
to you.
Ivaylo sticks near the back, not fighting until the cart has
and creaky cart, a bag of food left open for bit too long, and
been stopped.
one failed perception check, things were going about as
expected - poorly.
The Fight
A short scream pierces the air, and is quickly cut short as a
large wolf jumps through the air, biting Hawford, the friendly
The wolf pack runs alongside the speeding carts. Players
with ranged weapons should be allowed to shoot at the
coachman driving the left cart, straight in the neck, and
wolves as the carts go. Players controlling the carts can
throwing him off of the cart. Hawfords lifeless body tumbles attack, but they'll have disadvantage on the attack, and
behind you as the cart keeps going at breakneck speed. Heavy disadvantage on any saves involving the cart.
breathing and howls surround you as the cart speeds ahead, On initiative counts 20 and 10 (losing ties), roll on the table
flanked on either side by savage gray wolves. With the horses to see what happens:
driving the carts showing no sign of stopping, the leftmost
Wolf Pack
cart, now riderless, begins to swerve. What do you all do?
Roll(d6) Result
1 Wolf jumps
Let's take a moment to analyze everything the party has to
their advantage right now. 2 Dire Wolf jumps
The fast pace of the cart keeps the wolves from 3 Obstacle
overwhelming them. They have to jump up on the cart, 4 Straightaway
often only one or two at at time. 5 Howl
A barrel on each cart provides one silvered dagger or five 6 Nothing
pieces of silvered ammunition per player (choose based
off of the player's primary weapon). Let the players be Check the next page to see what each encounter means:
aware of these weapons, and allow them to have picked
them up beforehand.
Each cart has a 3x2 square in the back of the cart, where
most passengers sit. There's also a 1x2 area in the front of
the cart, where the coachman drives. (see figure 1.1)
Wolf Jumps
The cart swerves for a moment as hungry gray wolves jump up
onto the carts!
1d4-1(Minimum 1) Wolves jump up onto each cart. Roll for
initiative for the wolves.
There are a total of 10 wolves. Once the players have killed
all of the wolves, refer to the 'Ivaylo Attacks!' section.
Dire Wolf Jumps
1 Dire Wolf jumps up onto each cart. Roll for initiative for
the dire wolves.
A massive dark navy wolf jumps up onto the cart and bears it's
blood stained teeth!
This encounter only takes place once. On subsequent turns,
replace this with a wolf jump encounter.
Obstacle
A large tree blocks the path the carts are directed to. Have
the players driving make a DC12 Wisdom check with
Vehicles(land) to swerve out of the way. A cart without a rider
automatically fails.
If the check only succeeds by 1 or 2, every creature on the
cart must make a DC12 Dexterity saving throw or be hurled
off of the cart, taking 3(1d6) bludgeoning damage and being
left behind.
If a cart doesn't have a jockey, have every player on the cart
make a DC14 Wisdom(Perception) check. If they succeed,
they notice the obstacle coming up, and can react to it.
If a player fails the check, the cart slams into the obstacle.
It immediately is thrown to a halt, and all characters are
chucked off of it. They're thrown 10ft forward, and take
3(1d6) bludgeoning damage.
Straightaway
The forest opens up into a natural clearing, with no trees for a
while. You have a feeling you don't need to worry about
driving, for now at least.
No obstacles seem to be in sight, for a little bit at least. After
one round, the forest closes back up, and the jockey is needed
again.
If the 'Obstacle' encounter is rolled while the players are in
a straightaway, treat it as a 'no encounter'
Howl
A bloodcurdling, snarling howl pierces the night, coming from
somewhere in the back of the pack. Your blood runs cold as
every wolf around you echoes it.
Ivaylo gives a howl, inspiring all the wolves. The howl gives
the wolves 5 temporary HP each and advantage on their next
attack.
Ivaylo Attacks!
After most of the wolves die or you feel the encounte has
gone on long enough, read them the following:
The forest path closes in, forcing the carts close to each other.
With the sides of the carts almost touching, a large wolf-
shaped form leaps up from the darkness. As it does, though,
the wolf-shaped shadow morphs into a human!
A messy, tan human with tattered clothes and bulging
muscles, he looks at you with savage brown eyes. Out of his
hands come thick claws, and he bares a set of canine teeth at
you.
"I'll rip yer throats out, mark my words!" He growls, and
poises to attack!"
Ivaylo (NE Werewolf) hops up onto the cart and attacks!
Though he seems like he's in his humanoid form, count
him as being in hybrid form. If you'd like to, keep his form,
but have him transform into true hybrid form (bipedal wolf,
rather than just human with a few wolf features) feel free!
With the carts right next to each other, players (and Ivaylo)
can hop between the carts as long as their dexterity is 10 or
higher, no check required.
Continue rolling encounters for the drive as normal,
however, replace the howl, wolf jump, and dire wolf jump
with just 'no encounter.' The only things the players should
encounter are straightaways and obstacles.
To procede with the fight, or if your players need a change
of scenery, continue with the 'Cart Crash' section below.
Cart Crash
After Ivaylo loses 20 hit points, or if the players fail the check
during the obstacle encounter, read the folllowing to the
players:
If Ivaylo reached 20 hit points and this happens naturally,
read them the following:
Suddenly, a translucent fog begins to fill the forest. Out of
nowhere, the horses suddenly stop and swerve, making a
'scream' of pure terror, but nothing is ahead!
Have each creature on the cart roll a DC17 Dexterity saving
throw or be thrown 15ft forwards, taking 3(1d6) bludgeoning
damge. Players that succeed the check are only thrown out of
the cart, and don't take any damage. Ivaylo has to make the
check too!
If the players failed the check (and the other cart opts to
swerve off the path and stop the cart), read them the
following:
The horses dodge out of the way, but they each go in a
different direction, leaving the cart in the center - heading
right towards the tree in the path! With a bang, the cart is
slammed into the tree, and you're all flung forward! As you get
up, a translucent fog fills the area.
Regardless of how it happens, the players should end up in a
clearing, with their broken carts strewn about. If Ivaylo is still
alive, read the following:
Footsteps crunch through the mist. One by one, slow and
steady, calculating. The werewolves voice pierces the eerie
silence around you.
"This is getting mighty damn hard. I haven't had to work this
hard for dinner in a while!"
You can't see him, only an occasional shadow flickering
through the fog. He growls again.
"You call yourselves 'adventurers,' right? I assume your
'noble' souls have fought all manners of demons, fiends and
undead. But tell me this - have you fought an evil that acts as a
friend moments before he devours your heart? A creature that
harbors the body of a man, but a soul of a deadly monster?"
The beast chuckles grimly.
"Well then, I assume you'd best get used to it. You're faaaar
from home, little ones."
With that, he steps through the mists again, and prepares to
finish you off.

At this point, Ivaylo is too hungry and proud to give up. He

fights until the death. During the fight, make sure to bring up
that something strange is going on, and how the mists and
forest around them don't seem familiar at all. Once Ivaylo is
killed, read the players the following:
With the werewolf dead, you all take a survey of your
surroundings, and a sense of dread comes over you. The trees,
which were previously healthy, colorful oaks with shiny fruits
hanging from them, are now dying, dreary pines, their thin
branches clawing at the mist. A dense fog fills the area, even
covering the starless sky above. A full moon shoots up
overhead, and a distant wolves howl makes your hair stand up
on end.

The players are now in Barovia, near the Gates of Barovia.

From here, you should award the players each enough XP to
get to level 3, and continue on with Curse of Strahd!
Shameless Self Promotion
Thanks for reading this, and I hope you use it! Feel free to
contact me at the Curse of Strahd discord server
@bilboswaggins#3730 if you'd like to give feeedback, or even
share how your party went through this (I'd love to hear
about it!) Since this is a free supplement, so I'm gonna plug
my other DMsguild products that I hope you check out!
If you're running Tomb of Annihilation (which I suggest you
do, it's a great campaign), you should check out my Sinners of
Chult series, that provides a total of 8 new mini-bosses, with
their own custom minions, locations, lairs, and items! It's my
big project on DMsguild, and I'd really appreciate the support
as I come out with things for it!
Happy Playing!