Marrowmaw Pack

The Maddening Boogeymen of the Wulven People

Pack Description

Together with the Blackclaw pack, the Marrowmaw are another Wulven pack that excels in the art of hunting and are veritable masters of the natural forest and the terrain they inhabit...with fur that is generally lighter and whiter in hue with stripes and shades of black and brown, but also shifts and vanishes when inspected like illusory strands, the Marrowmaw are a pack made unique by the special nature of the forest they inhabit, The Marrowwood. A forest of mystery, illusion, and supernatural phenomena such that none care to venture inside for fear of their lives, the Marrowwood is said to be home to Fey, spirits, and all manner of outsiders who are to blame for the haunting, ephemeral atmosphere as well as the lethality the forest has on those who wander inside. The Marrowmaw pack, by extension, is a pack not entirely rooted within the Material plane, and one that is said to be the blessed and beloved of the Marrowwood, who welcomes them and embraces their presence like it does for no one else...their howls are said to contain the tinge of madness, and their minds are irrevocably tainted and twisted by the supernatural and the maddening. While not avoided by their Wulven kin they are nonetheless treated with superstition and caution due to their illusory and outsider nature...despite this, they are highly competent hunters and are the undisputed masters of hunting and moving stealthily despite their massive bulk, darting through the haunting trees and striking their prey silently from between the trees and bushes. Considered boogeymen by the nearby town of Cinderspire, they are things of myth and legend, and stories told to children to scare them at nighttime. However, they are Wulven highly in tune with nature and Wulven who enjoy a good fight as any other...highly secretive and not often contacted or even seen by outsiders, little is really known about the Marrowmaw pack even to their other Wulven kin. Many think they prefer the company of the Fey and the spirits over their own brethren...but they nonetheless can be found relishing their lives and decorating them with fighting, raucous joy, and other forms of entertainment...it is simply that they are a bit "off" while they do so.

Pack Mechanics

Pack Trait: Take no penalties to stealth because of size. Once a day, make emit a howl that forces all enemies within 30ft to make a will save (DC 10 + 1/2 HD + CHAMOD) or become confused for 1 round.
Having lived their entire lives darting through the maddening and ever-shifting Marrowwood, the Marrowmaw are masters of hiding despite their large bulk...and the howls they release on moonlit nights or elsewhere are said to contain a hint of the Marrowmaw's own madness within them.

Alternate Pack Traits:

Beloved of the Marrowwood: Gain the Forest Terrain as a favored terrain as per the ranger class feature. While inside such terrain, ignore all size penalties to stealth and gain a +3 to all stealth checks. Gain Knowledge Planes or Knowledge nature as a class skill. If you already them both as class skills, you get a +3 to the chosen skill instead. Replaces We Fight! We Drink! We Learn!.
The Marrowwood is an odd place...a forest spoken of by locals as being sentient, and often malicious in its rejection of those who enter it...though not the Marrowmaw. Those odd Wulven are welcomed and accepted by the capricious forest, and as such many Marrowmaw grow up from birth to adulthood living and learning the ways of the forest they call home...as well as knowledge of the planar beings, capricious Fey that dwell within its depths, and of the enigmatic forest itself that protects and hides them.

Ally to Madness: Roll twice and take the better result against any effect that would inflict a confusion or insanity effect on you, and gain a +2 on all such checks made to inflict similar effects on other creatures. By studying a creature for a full round, you can determine if they are under a confusion or insanity effect, and by taking 1d3 CON damage you can immediately end such an effect. All races they share a common language with, and all non-magical animals start one step friendlier towards them than normal. Replaces Larger than life.
While a commonly held belief, it is a misconception that Marrowmaw wulven are truly "mad". Having lived within the ephemeral Marrowwood their entire lives, they simply often become inured to the supernatural and the Fey, which often drive mortal minds to madness, and develop odd or off-putting habits often taken from their Fey and other planar friends who call the forest home. As such, many Wulven become resistant to maddening things elsewhere thanks to the things they witness as pups...so familiar are they with madness, that they can even judge whether a certain creatures lies in the sway of madness themselves.

Illusory Claws: Any enemy you successfully injure with your natural attacks takes a -4 to all saves versus illusion spells or confusion effects for the next 24 hours. This does not stack with any other bonuses that inflict similar penalties. You can no longer become lost or lose your sense of direction, even by magical effects such as maze. Replaces Hunter’s Nose.
Where other Wulven hit with mighty blows that knock their foes unconscious, Marrowmaw possess claws and teeth that shimmer and glow with otherwordly Fey energy, and each strike weakens their foe's resistance to illusions and madness...and thanks to the maddening nature of their home and the tricksy nature of the Fey who call it home, Marrowmaw possess an innate sense of direction that prevents them from becoming lost in any circumstances...for when one has endured and survived a malicious maze made by the Fey themselves, all other misdirection becomes commonplace by comparison.

Not of this world: As the Wulven racial trait, but with the following changes: All creatures of the outsider type, as well as the Fey type, start two steps friendlier than normal. Gain Knowledge Planes as a class skill. Replaces/Modifies Larger than Life.
Living in a forest so closely tied to the Fey and the Outer Planes has inured the Marrowmaw pack to the supernatural and made them close friends with the creatures and spirits that live there...though, "friends" to such creatures is a loose concept. They nonetheless are highly familiar with the Planes and Planar topics as a result of their upbringing, and such creatures regard them better than others upon first contact.

Pack Feats:

Child of the Madwulf:
Prerequisites: "Ally to Madness" Alternate Trait, Character level 8th
Effect: You can no longer be affected by confusion or insanity effects. The +2 from "Ally to madness" becomes a +4, and gain Confusion, Lesser as a spell like ability 3/day. You may use all three at once to cast Confusion.
Widely known though not commonly understood, the Marrowmaw often believe they themselves to be closely tied to a great ancestor of theirs they call "The Madwulf". They believe this ancestor was the paragon who sired their entire pack, and fought so perfectly and so ferociously he was all but immune to the trappings of madness and insanity, as not even the most powerful of Fey could scar or warp his mind while he drew breath...and his very presence was said to inspire a tinge of confusion and even madness in those near him. In this way, some Marrowmaw strive to emulate this ancestor and take on a shard of their fabled abilities.

The Forest Lies Within:
Prerequisites: "Beloved of the Marrowwood" Alternate Trait, Character level 6th
Effect: A number of times per day equal to (1 + CONMOD, Minimum 1), you may treat all squares within a 100 foot radius of you as the forest terrain. These squares sprout foliage and trees as if a forest had grown there, which fade and wither after 24 hours have passed, at which point the squares no longer count as the forest terrain and revert to their normal terrain.
More than any other pack, the Marrowmaw are a pack closely tied to and protectors of the natural world...though, their connection is wholly different than most of their furry brethren. The Marrowmaw believe that the forest and the natural world is a sacred place, one with its own mind and will, and even when one leaves its embrace it can be carried within always...and though many laugh at them for this, few can still dare to do so when these rare Marrowmaw release their "inner forests", terraforming and transforming the nearby environment into one more closely resembling their home.

Cinderspire Boogeymen:
Prerequisites: Character level 6th
Effect: Treat your normal AC as your touch AC for the purposes of firearm attacks a number of times per day equal to (1 + CONMOD). Gain Fire Resistance 5 and a racial +2 to intimidate.
As it is the only town and bastion of Civilization in anything resembling close proximity to the Marrowwood, the village of Cinderspire is a superstitious one, and highly distrusting of the supernatural and the magical. There, the Marrowmaw are naught but boogeymen, things that go bump in the night and that abduct naughty children who stray too far outside of the village...and while the truth of these tales is dubious at best, the village residents never hesitate to fire off a shot from their blackpowder rifles at the Marrowmaw Wulven who come close...and as a result, some of these Wulven begin to adapt and learn how to better defend themselves against such weapons.

Maddening Roar:
Prerequisites: Character Level 10th
Effect: You may decide at the time of use to EITHER increase the range of your pack trait by 30ft, OR inflict confusion for 1d6 rounds instead.
Able to be heard far and wide even outside the confines of their forest home, the howls of the Marrowmaw on moonlit nights are things of terror and haunting dirge...and have become things of legend among the local populace as capable of inspiring the tinge of that peculiar Marrowwood Madness in the minds of those who hear it.