Overview
Shapeshifter
AX.GHW.13.07
Shapeshifters are entities defined by transformation, beings whose physical form is not fixed, who move between states, and whose danger comes from both the capabilities of their shifted form and the concealment their shifting provides. The category is broad: it includes the Skinchanger's lupine cousins who shift through curse or infection rather than lineage pact, apex predators from indigenous traditions whose transformation is ancient and total, and entities that have so thoroughly abandoned fixed form that they are no longer recognizable as having had one.
The critical distinction: Skinchanger lineage vs. shapeshifter threats. Skinchanger player characters are not this category. They are lineage-carrier humans whose pact provides controlled transformation capacity and who are fully person in both forms. Shapeshifter threats in this category are distinct, either non-human entities, humans whose transformation was imposed through curse or infection rather than lineage pact, or apex predators whose relationship to humanity is predatory rather than social. GMs should be precise about this distinction in play; conflating Skinchanger PCs with Werewolf threats is both mechanically inaccurate and narratively significant.
Bane material, Silver: Silver is the catalog-standard bane material for this category. All shapeshifter threats are vulnerable to silver weapons; silver ammunition deals +2 damage against any entry in this category. Silver does not prevent transformation, but wounds dealt by silver resist the regenerative capacities most shapeshifters possess. The catalog declares silver as the primary bane; GMs may add wolfsbane as a secondary (imposes Hindered condition on contact for most entries rather than dealing direct damage) for settings that want additional folklore texture.
Category traits common to most shapeshifter threats:
- Vulnerable to silver weapons (+2 damage; silver wounds do not regenerate at the normal rate)
- Enhanced physical attributes in shifted form vs. human form where applicable
- Acute Scent, most entries detect by smell; a character who has masked their scent (available hunter technique) is harder to locate
- Regeneration of some degree, conventional wounds close faster than they should; silver and fire damage regenerates at normal (slow) rates
- Most are not immune to mundane weapons; they are harder to kill than humans, not impervious
Variant Rules
The Sympathetic Werewolf: As noted in the Werewolf entry, not all lycanthropes are threats. A campaign where Werewolf characters (or important NPCs) are managing their infection rather than being managed by it uses the Werewolf stat block as a baseline for what they can do in shifted form, not as a threat to be hunted. The Skinchanger community's knowledge about managing transformation is directly applicable; GMs should make this resource available to infected characters who seek it.
Skinwalker as Investigation: Skinwalker encounters work best as mysteries, the party discovers that something is wrong with a person they know before they identify what's wrong. The investigation structure (finding the gaps in the studied memory, identifying the silver-strike flicker, locating the original target) is the scenario, not the combat at the end. The combat is the resolution of the investigation.
Wendigo Winter Campaign: A Wendigo active in a remote winter location over an extended period creates a survival horror structure: the party is in the Wendigo's territory, resources are limited, the cold works against them as much as the entity does, and the Hunger Scream's Frightened effect means the worst thing that can happen is separation. Appropriate for a standalone scenario or a campaign arc break.
Plot Hooks
- A series of disappearances in a rural county has produced no bodies and no evidence, until one victim's family member, who has been quietly searching, finds something in the treeline that suggests the Wendigo has been there far longer than the current string of disappearances.
- The Alpha Werewolf the Network has been monitoring for three years has apparently gone rogue, pack members are reporting erratic behavior and one pack member is dead. The Alpha was, by all accounts, a stable and careful pack leader. Something changed, and finding out what changed is more important than the threat assessment response.
- A Doppelganger has been living as a BUA analyst for fourteen months. The analyst's original fate is unknown. The Doppelganger has been in access to a significant volume of classified supernatural incident records. The question is whether it was placed deliberately or acting independently.
- A Skinwalker has been moving through a small indigenous community for months, studying residents. Network hunters are aware of it but have been asked by community leadership not to intervene with outside methods; they have their own approach. The hunters are trying to decide whether to respect that request, and whether their threat assessment timeline allows it.
Destruction Methods Summary
| Shapeshifter | Bane | Permanent Destruction |
|---|---|---|
| Werewolf | Silver (+2 damage; wounds don't regen) | Silver through heart; decapitation in shifted form; fire |
| Wolf Pack | Silver | Destroy lead animal; silver rounds effective |
| Alpha Werewolf | Silver (persistent bleeding wounds) | Silver through heart; destroying Alpha dissolves pack bond |
| Skinwalker | Silver; true name strips shifting | Silver through heart in human form; destroy original ritual skin |
| Doppelganger | Silver (form flickers); fire | Silver through heart in any form; fire sustained |
| Wendigo | Silver (+2); Fire (double damage) | Sustained fire + silver; burn remains + scatter ash over running water |