[RPG] How to modify a wolf enethe to fit the campaign

dnd-5emonster-design

I'm trying to get into DMing and my buddy who always DMs for us offered to teach me. He wants me to create a 2 hour long adventure that he and I will run through with me as the DM.

My problem is that I don't really know what I'm doing, I've got the basic story down (it takes place in a large mushroom forest which has recently been corrupted by a mysterious force which he has to track down and confront in order to free the village within that's been under siege).

I've been looking through the Monster Manual for something to fit in the forest and thought some mutated wolves would be perfect for the setting. When I say mutant wolf, all I really mean is a modified wolf with something like a large eye that is on its side, or a tentacle or two sticking out of a leg – just stuff to make it look abnormal and out of place, in addition to being a stronger wolf that can serve as a suitable fight to kinda kick off the forest venture.

How would I go about this? I have the information of the wolf up (its stats and whatnot) but I don't really know how to go about modifying it. Is there some sort of procedure I can follow?

Best Answer

For a first adventure, don’t. Don’t start modifying monsters.

In time you’ll be able to judge how tough monsters are, and what to throw at your players. There is a procedure for making and modifying monsters in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, but it requires some experience and judgement to use. But you don’t have the experience to make those judgements yet. I can tell because…

A bunch of wolves are already a challenge for a first adventure. You’ll risk killing your PCs a lot if you throw stronger wolves at them.

Just use normal wolves and describe them and their attacks as mutated. They don’t need to be stronger.