None of us believed the massive man, when he warned us not to try hunting for the boar. Sure, we heard about the massive feral pig, which locals were calling Porkus Magnus. But we were well armed and had done this many times before. We had a half dozen good dogs too. We’d driven six hours to get here, and weren’t leaving without giving it a go. The man, who lived in a remote homestead a few miles north, told us that if we’d be sorry if we tired, and someone might get hurt. The dogs hated him, barking wildly at him, but he just sighed calmly as he delivered his warning. We all had a good laugh after he left, but no one is laughing now.
There are many stories of hunters bringing down enormous wild hogs or boars after long and violent hunts. They then pose with the enormous creature, dub it something like “Hogzilla” or “Mega-Pork” before burying it. When biologists see the photos they rush to excavate the corpse, eager to see if this is a new species, only to find the body gone. The whole story is labeled to be a hoax and the pubic attending soon fades. In truth, these are encounters with one of the rarest of all lycanthrope, the wereboar.
Like all lycanthropes wereboars are shapechangers, shifting between a human, humanoid beast form, and that of an enormous boar or sow. In human form they tend to be large, sturdy people with thick hair. They tend to be loaners (but often not unfriendly), living apart from society, typically in remote wilderness homesteads or solitary camps. They tend to be rather intelligent people as well, their properties well maintained with many modern conveniences. Most are completely self-sufficient and established to function in harmony with nature and having little to no ecological impact. Most wereboars are never discovered, living their whole lives apart from society. It is only when people push into their territories to problems arise.
Wereboars do have tempers, and when threatened or provoked can be extremely volatile opponents. Once rumors of a massive boar circulate big game hunters, cryptozoologist, and biologists flood their territories, making conflict all but inevitable. Often the last restore if for the wereboar to fake its own death, allowing its regeneration abilities to heal them after being “killed” by hunters. Most wereboars are smart enough to realizes that dead or missing people in their territories just mean that more people, police, detectives, and possibly mythos investigators, will surely come looking into the event.
In combat wereboars are quite dangerous in their humanoid beast form, using their large frames to body slam opponents, their powerful arms to deliver punishing blows, and as a last resort their large tusks to deliver vicious gore attacks. They only use their tusks as a last resort because they are usually trying not to infect anyone with lycanthropy.
If they do infect someone they’ll often observe them. If they fall ill (meaning they are fighting off the infection), well and good. However, if the victim doesn’t become feverish, meaning they’ve contracted lycanthropy, they’ll often try to kill them before the first full moon in order to not spread their condition.
Should this fail, and a new wereboar is created, the creature who caused this takes responsibility. The new wereboar is adopted into their camp and taught how to live with their condition and survive in the wild. Once the new wereboar is able to fend for themselves they usually leave to establish their own camp. Very rarely are a mated pair of wereboars found, and weresows are seldom found. The rarest camp would contain a mated pair (possibly with more than one female) and a brood of young wereboars, living as a family.
Regeneration: in bestial form, a wereboar is incredibly hardy, regenerating 2 hit points per rounds. Wounds heal quite quickly, resulting only in thin quickly fading scars when they return to human form.
Immunity: like all lycanthropes wereboars are immune to mundane weapons. Silver and enchanted weapons inflict full damage. Silver, the lunar metal, is poisonous to lycanthropes, and if a wereboar receives a major wound from a weapon made of silver the creature dies. If fire is used, a burning wereboar loses hit points faster than it can regenerate.
Cursed: the bite and tusks of a wereboar drip with the creature’s infectious saliva, making transmission of the diseases should the target fail a luck roll. Even if they resist infection victims spend 2D4 hours suffering a high fever, dizziness, chills, cramps, and crippling headaches, starting 1D3 hours after exposure. Those who contract the illness transform into a wereboar at the next full moon. Keepers may allow for certain spells and rituals to either cure or keep the effects of the curse at bay.
Wereboars
char.
STR
CON
SIZ*
DEX
INT
POW
roll
(4D6+4) × 5
(2D6+6) × 5
(2D6+8) × 5
(2D3+5) × 5
(2D6+6) × 5
(2D6+4) × 5
average
90
65
75
45
65
55
Average Hit Points: 18
Average Damage Bonus: +1D4 / +1D6*
Average Build: 1 / 2*
Average Magic Points: 11
Move: 9 / 12*
*For giant boar: increase SIZ to (2D6+15) × 5, average 110.
Combat
Attacks per round: 1 (bite, bash, gore)
Punch and kick in human form; in giant boar form, may use its body to bash or charge into opponents, bite, or gore with tusks.
Fighting 50% (25/10), damage 1D8+DB
Gore (giant boar only) 50% (25/10), damage 1D10+DB
Dodge: 45% (22/9)
Skills
Spot Hidden (Scent) 50%, Stealth 50%, Track (Scent) 50%.
Armor: 2-point thick when in boar or semi-boar form; regenerates 1 hit point per round (see above); immune to mundane weapons (see above).
Sanity Loss: 1/1D6 Sanity points to encounter a werewolf; 1/1D4 to witness a human to wolf transformation.
