Is there any non-evil creature that could say this to the PCs?

[Jon_Dahl]

"I'm the beta male of my pack and I want to overthrow the alpha male of pack. He is evil and mistreats everyone, and I would be a better alpha than he is. I have promised my mom that I wouldn't directly challenge the alpha while she's alive, but I think that my mom will be with us for a great many years. I have some gold and magical items hidden away. If you kill or permanently drive the alpha away, I will pay you well. And don't let my mom know that I'm behind all this, all right??"

The alpha male's CR should be around 9 to 15. Or more, if necessary.

[Calthropstu]

A werebear could do it I think.

[Doctor Despair]

"I'm the beta male of my pack and I want to overthrow the alpha male of pack. He is evil and mistreats everyone, and I would be a better alpha than he is. I have promised my mom that I wouldn't directly challenge the alpha while she's alive, but I think that my mom will be with us for a great many years. I have some gold and magical items hidden away. If you kill or permanently drive the alpha away, I will pay you well. And don't let my mom know that I'm behind all this, all right??"

The alpha male's CR should be around 9 to 15. Or more, if necessary.

I mean, I'd say it's chaotic good, or chaotic neutral at worst. PCs kill evil things all the time. If the wolf believes the alpha is evil, it might even be considered good to try to arrange to kill him. Betraying trust, lying, etc. is more chaotic than evil as well.

[OldTrees1]

More detail is necessary. That description can fit any pack culture (even a pack/tribe of humans).

How about Griffons? A 19HD Griffon is CR 9.

[Jon_Dahl]

A werebear could do it I think.

Werebears are all Lawful Good. How do you explain the alpha then? And the whole scenario?

[Calthropstu]

Werebears are all Lawful Good. How do you explain the alpha then? And the whole scenario?

Helm of opposite alignment?

Besides, if there can be good succubi, there can easily be evil werebears.

[Jon_Dahl]

Helm of opposite alignment?

Besides, if there can be good succubi, there can easily be evil werebears.

No. The werebear could be evil for a little while, but not long enough to lead the pack.


A character with awareness of his condition retains his identity and does not lose control of his actions if he changes. However, each time he changes to his animal form, he must make a Will save (DC 15 + number of times he has been in animal form) or permanently assume the alignment of his animal form in all shapes

[Technetium43]

No. The werebear could be evil for a little while, but not long enough to lead the pack.

That's only for afflicted lycanthropes. Natural lycanthropes can be any alignment.

[John Longarrow]

No. The werebear could be evil for a little while, but not long enough to lead the pack.

Except that per the MM, only WereRats and WereWolves have packs. Werebears have troupes. That would make the werebear the troop leader. Go Boyscouts! The original home of lycantrhopy

[Tiri]

Werebears are all Lawful Good. How do you explain the alpha then? And the whole scenario?

They can still change alignment, and it's not as if the alpha really needs to be evil to be seen as so. Even a borderline Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral might be seen as 'evil' by certain other Lawful Good pack members.

[Crake]

As Technetium said, the alignment restrictions are only for afflicted lycanthropes, so a pack of natural lycanthropes could indeed be a while mottled mix of alignments, including a pack of generally neutral/good werewolves, with an evil alpha (maybe the alpha is actually an afflicted lycanthrope who, after being turned, joined the pack and forced his way to the top?)

[Tiri]

Well, my main point is that even if the werebears in question are afflicted, you don't have to be evil to be seen as evil.

[Vaz]

Except that per the MM, only WereRats and WereWolves have packs. Werebears have troupes. That would make the werebear the troop leader. Go Boyscouts! The original home of lycantrhopy

"Have you ever tried to have sex in a sleeping bag? It's hot and stuffy, hard to move amd you can' breathe because your Scout Master has his hand over your mouth"

Sorry, it's my favourite Scouting joke.

But JonDahl, the Monster Manual has rules for running a monster, not necessarily ALL the monsters.

One; Always doesn't mean Always. I always wash my hands when I go to the toilet. Doesn't mean I do it everytime; there are exceptions. In the same way that the Adventuring party are Exceptional to their races (who are otherwise ALWAYS commomers).

Two; the monsters you run are not always the same ones in the MM. They might have odd quirks, class levels, advanced HD, more appropriate point buys, better feats. Just because it's not mechanical doesn't mean you can't have a Were Bear. Might be a Were Bear in a pine forest like a Grizzly Bear, or one in a rainforest like a Sun Bear, or one a Frozen Ice Floe, like a Polar Bear. It might be a "pack animal"; whether it was either an entire family Lycanthropised into bear form, or simply that they are an ostracized community (Lycanthropy might be an inherited disease that only shows in certain cursed individuals) and are left as a child, Spartan like, onto the rocks below the village to die of exposure, but unbeknownst to the village, this hidden community rescue the child and raise him as one, like one giant Jungle Book adventure.

It is your role as a DM to craft the story, not.to simply regurgitate stuff from a book that some guy getting paid by the hour was told to write as a generic idea for the setting known as Genericum.

Adapt the books to your story, not the story to the books.

(Although I would say on a personal note to have baseline monsters and modify them, rather than create monsters entirely. It gives players an idea to visualize what they are facing and helps also if you create mind bending situations, suxh as when facing a creature throwing Illusions and Enchantment which target players individually. Gary the Orc Barbarian sees a giant Owlbear, while Steve the Dwarf Sorceree sees a Beholder, but Eric the Bard sees a damsel in distress, when in reality it is simply a Hag casting an illusion based on the fears/desires of the party, while simultaneously splitting the party, that kind of thing, without being too open and obvious in the metagaming 'you guys have all failed your will saves so see the following images rather than the frail ugly woman)

[Sheogoroth]

Alignment gets a little loosey-goosey as you start getting down in the int scores. Something 4-7 on the int scale could get away with it.
A tribe of intelligent beasts or Neutral Chimeras or Basilisks.