If you want to tie the adventuring party in knots, throw a combat encounter at them that involves a monstrous child. It’s interesting to watch as they try to figure out how to handle the situation without turning into monsters themselves.

When it comes to werewolves, there’s often an assumption that anyone afflicted with lycanthropy has no control over their actions, despite the Monster Manual saying otherwise.

For me, I tend to view that control as something that comes with experience. So, anyone recently afflicted with lycanthropy likely wouldn’t be able to resist their natural urge to transform into a werewolf during their first go beneath a full moon.

The glow of the campfire holds back the darkness of the night. From the trees just beyond the last bedroll, a small girl emerges, no older than eight. Her roughspun dress hangs in tatters, her hair matted with leaves and dirt. Pleading eyes flicker in the firelight – frightened and confused.

The girl takes an uncertain step forward, then goes rigid. Rooted to the spot where she stands, she suddenly throws her head back and howwwls at the full moon as it emerges from behind a cloud bank.

The sound is raw, primal. From the wood surrounding you, other howls rise in answer. Very close.

The girl convulses as her spine arches. A low growl escapes her throat as fur bursts from her flesh. Her fingers twist into claws, her face elongates, reshaping into a snarling muzzle as the other howls from the woods around you grows louder and closer.

As the girl transforms, the wolves that have adopted her into their pack emerge from the thickets and attack. Since the werewolf is a child, you could nerf the encounter by making her a juvenile werewolf. Simply lower her speed to that of a halfling’s as well as her hit points, armor class, and damage output. You could also make her bite less potent by lowering the saving throw DC for contracting lycanthropy.

If the party decides to help the girl, there’s an opportunity for a side quest in there, to find someone willing to cast Greater Restoration on the girl to cure her of her curse, or to search out the Place of the Unicorn – a magical grove somewhere in the lands between Phandalin and Leilon.

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