This chapter details the Moonstalkers, a thieves' guild of evil lycanthropes that Dungeon Masters can use in any D&D setting as criminals, rival treasure hunters, or potential patrons. Characters who draw the Moon card from a Deck of Many Things might cross the Moonstalkers' path, since that card grants wishes that the Moonstalkers want to acquire.
The Moonstalkers
A giant rat scurries into the sewers, clutching a magic ring between its yellowed teeth. A woman with a hidden moon tattoo picks the pocket of a benevolent official at a gala. A monstrous hybrid of human and wolf follows adventurers beyond the city limits, hoping to pilfer the wizard's spellbook.
No job is too despicable for the Moonstalkers, so long as the price is right. Those who have heard of the guild believe it disbanded years ago. Only those with strong criminal ties know the Moonstalkers are still operating and how to find them.
The Moonstalker guildhall is in a large city, but enchanted doors in the guildhall access other settlements during different phases of the moon. For instance, in a Forgotten Realms campaign, you might set the guildhall in the city of Neverwinter, with the phase-based doors connecting to Waterdeep, Port Nyanzaru, Baldur's Gate, and elsewhere.
History
At the guild's inception, the Moonstalkers had three bosses: Delour, a halfling wererat; Augustus, a human werewolf; and Pyrite, a dwarf wereboar. Delour was excommunicated from a local gang for attempting to usurp leadership. When he encountered Augustus and Pyrite, similarly lost and alone, he took them in.
Delour and his new companions were determined to make a name (and fortune) for themselves. They founded a thieves' guild, turning candidates into lycanthropes upon initiation, and named this guild the Moonstalkers.
Less than a year after the guild's establishment, local officials uncovered the Moonstalkers. Many Moonstalkers died in the resulting battle, and Pyrite was disintegrated. Delour and Augustus fled with the survivors to a larger city and started anew. They've keep a low profile and have successfully rebuilt the organization stronger than before.
Current Goals
Gold motivates the Moonstalkers to perform morally bankrupt work that others won't do. Delour is eager to expand into protection rackets, gambling rings, extortion, kidnapping, arson, and murder for hire. Augustus isn't opposed to this, but he's preoccupied with personal matters.
Both bosses agree the Moonstalkers need to bolster their ranks with powerful lycanthropes in case they're discovered and raided again, and so they can seek revenge on the officials who raided their old guildhall.
Important Members
Here are some of the Moonstalkers' most powerful and respected members.
Boss Augustus
Augustus is a hulking human werewolf of few words. He shares leadership of the guild with Boss Delour and has a knack for planning heists. Guild members consider him a brutal but fair leader. Some perceptive guild members—like Kathra Bitterwind—have noticed he's become more reclusive recently, and when he does appear, he's restless.
Augustus is a natural-born lycanthrope, born to werewolf parents. His parents were slain by monster hunters when he was young, and he traveled from town to town for most of his life, fleeing whenever townsfolk discovered his true nature.
Delour and Pyrite accepted Augustus in a way he'd never experienced before. When the three of them created the Moonstalkers guild, Augustus relished his new life of crime. But over time, his passion has faded. The riches they gathered mean nothing to him now. The violence grates on him, and he no longer empathizes with Delour's fantasies of revenge. Instead, Augustus secretly longs to end his curse and integrate into society.
Only a Wish spell can end Augustus's curse. He has ordered Wanewort, a night hag, to find anyone with access to that spell and plans to offer anything in his power in exchange for undoing his curse. And if bargaining doesn't work, there's always blackmail. (See the "10" section later in this chapter for more details.)
Boss Delour
Delour the wererat is a sly trickster and consummate thief who rules the Moonstalkers alongside his friend Augustus. Delour's honeyed words and calculating mind make him dangerous. He can smile and shake someone's hand while simultaneously plotting to ruin that person.
Expanding the guild's activities beyond thievery was Delour's idea. He studies other criminal syndicates and their methods of getting rich. He considers protection rackets, smuggling, and arson to be low-hanging fruit, with extortion, kidnapping, and murder for hire being more complex challenges the guild can take on as it grows in power. His only real fear is exposure; the bigger and more active the Moonstalkers become, the more likely they are to attract the attention of law enforcement or adventurous do-gooders. The sting of the guild's flight from its first home is still fresh in Delour's mind.
Indeed, Delour never forgets a slight. He is obsessed with getting revenge on the officials who raided the original guildhall and killed Pyrite, who was like a brother to Delour. Though Delour is perfectly willing to backstab most people, he treats Augustus with utmost respect. If he discovers Augustus's plot to become human and leave the Moonstalkers, he would consider it the ultimate betrayal.
Kathra Bitterwind
The human werevulture Kathra Bitterwind (see 20 for the werevulture stat block) is the trusted lieutenant of both Boss Augustus and Boss Delour. Unlike most members, Kathra was already a lycanthrope when she joined the guild, and she quickly clawed her way to the top by proving her unwavering loyalty to its leaders.
Since the bosses spend most of their time at the Moonstalkers' guildhall, plotting and negotiating with powerful clients, most guild members spend far more time with Kathra than they do with either Delour or Augustus. She trains members and leads high-priority assignments, always expecting her accomplices to deliver the same professional precision she does. She has a short temper and no patience for new recruits, but she rarely loses her cool when it counts.
Wanewort
Wanewort the night hag performs rituals that help the guild pull off its schemes. She uses divination magic to scope out locations for future heists and casts illusions that disguise Moonstalker members. Occasionally she provides a member with a Hag Eye necklace, allowing her to see what they see so she can provide real-time guidance during a mission. She reports to the bosses, but they give her ample rein to pursue her own endeavors and delegate tasks to guild members. Wanewort has special lair actions she can use while in the Moonstalkers' guildhall (see 10).
Wanewort has ten imps as companions. They spend almost all their time in the form of house cats, not out of secrecy, but because Wanewort prefers them that way. Guild members never see her without one of these cats in her arms, twining around her legs, or following in her wake. She pampers these imp-cats like spoiled children.
Augustus has asked Wanewort to find someone who can cast the Wish spell, but he hasn't told her why. She has developed a ritual that alerts her whenever someone draws the Moon card from a Deck of Many Things, anywhere in the world. She figures this is less dangerous than contacting spellcasters powerful enough to cast the Wish spell.
Moonstalker Guildhall
Most Moonstalker dealings occur in abandoned warehouses, the homes of members, or shadowy taverns. If the bosses choose to meet with a client in the guildhall, either they're looking to impress the client or they see the client as potentially dangerous and want backup in case negotiations break down. In either case, Moonstalkers usually blindfold visitors before leading them to the guildhall.
The entrance to the guildhall is located beneath a Moonstalker-owned tavern in a large city. Moonstalkers enter a storage room through the building's back door, from which they can descend a stone staircase to the guildhall's crescent antechamber.
Wanewort has also created four magical doors that connect to other cities during different phases of the moon. Each leads to a Moonstalker-owned building in that city.
Full Moons
Every Moonstalker learns how to embrace and manage the bestial impulses of their lycanthropy as part of their training. Still, the full moon makes it difficult for many members to maintain self-control—and more importantly, to remain covert. For this reason, all Moonstalkers lock themselves in the guildhall on the night of the full moon. Many of the guildhall's walls sport long scratch marks from particularly restless nights.
Guildhall Features
The guildhall has the following features:
Guildhall Locations
The following locations are keyed to map 11.1.
1: Crescent Antechamber
The curved southeast wall of this room has one permanent door, which leads to the guildhall's tavern entrance. Across from it stands a double door guarded by two werewolves and two werevultures (see 20 for the werevulture stat block). This room's ceiling is 30 feet high.
The walls to the left and right of the entrance bear small bas-reliefs of a new moon, a waning moon, a half moon, and a waxing moon. When the moon reaches one of these phases, the corresponding symbol glows and a magic door appears beneath it, linking to a matching door in a different city. The door disappears when its phase of the moon ends.
On the nights of full moons, when all Moonstalkers lock themselves in the guildhall, most convene in this spacious chamber.
2: Commons
This common room is where Moonstalkers mingle, prepare for missions and receive orders. When the characters first visit, five wererats sit at a table, playing a game of cards. One hopeful initiate accompanies them: a human bandit who has yet to prove her mettle.
3: Jail
In addition to holding captives, these jail cells are used to hold Moonstalkers who become particularly feral during the full moon. As a result, the walls of these jail cells are lined with deep claw marks.
A prisoner from a rival thieves' guild (use the spy stat block) is locked in one cell; Kathra Bitterwind visits occasionally to interrogate the prisoner.
4: Audience Hall
A carpeted dais stands at the northern end of this room. Large oil paintings of the guild's three original bosses hang from the walls. The bosses use this room for important announcements and initiation ceremonies. Lower-ranking Moonstalkers don't come through this area without good reason.
Treasure
Each oil painting is worth 250 gp.
5: Study
A moonstone chandelier casts a soft, bluish-white glow over this room's oaken table and chairs. The bosses use this elegant meeting room to plan future heists and to meet with guests they wish to impress.
6: Guard Post
Two wereboars stand before the northern doors, guarding the vault. They question anyone passing toward the bosses' rooms or Wanewort's den.
The double door is locked. It can be opened with one of the keys from the bosses' rooms.
7: Icy Vault
The floor and walls of this chilly room are covered with slick ice, making them 8. Any creature unaccustomed to icy environments that moves along the floor or walls must make a DC 8 Dexterity saving throw at the end of its turn. On a failed save, the creature has the prone condition. This room's ceiling is 30 feet high.
This vault holds much of the Moonstalkers' gold and treasure, but not all of it. The bosses spread their wealth across similar vaults in the five cities they can access.
A young white dragon named Rahaskardon prowls this room. The dragon obeys the bosses and Wanewort, guarding the Moonstalkers' treasure against intruders.
Treasure
This room contains coins, gems, and art objects worth a total of 9,000 gp. It also contains two uncommon magic items, one rare magic item, and one very rare magic item of your choice.
8: Shrine to the Fallen
This room has a small shrine with a headstone memorializing Boss Pyrite and other guild members who died when the Moonstalkers' old guildhall was raided. An inscription on the headstone promises revenge in the names of both Delour and Augustus.
9: Boss Delour's Quarters
A magic hearth flickers with white, heatless flame on the south wall of this room. Paperwork full of notes and detailed schemes sits atop a desk, alongside a tiny portrait of Delour, Augustus, and Pyrite painted soon after the guild was founded.
Boss Delour (see the 10 earlier in this chapter) spends most of this time in this well-kept room. He keeps his key to 10 beneath his pillow whenever it isn't on his person.
10: Boss Augustus's Quarters
An owlbear rug stretches across this room's floor. Stuffed animal heads are mounted on the walls.
Boss Augustus (see the 10 earlier in this chapter) passes much of his time in this impressive room. He keeps his key to 10 and the key to his chest in the mouth of a mounted deer head whenever these keys aren't on his person.
Chest
A wooden chest sits beneath the bed in this room. It can be unlocked with a successful DC 18 Dexterity check using thieves' tools. It contains mementos from towns Augustus lived in before founding the Moonstalkers: worn carpenter's tools, a quilt, a tavern mug, and a locket from an admirer.
Treasure
Augustus wields a +2 Longsword. He usually takes the sword with him when he leaves the room, but if he's resting here or has left the sword behind for some reason, it's leaning against the wall near his bed.
11: Wanewort's Den
Ten imps who have adopted the form of cats of various colors strut, creep, or sleep around this 30-foot-tall, circular room. Wanewort, a night hag, spends much of her time here as well.
In addition to a cauldron and the witchy ingredients typical of a hag's lair, this room is crowded with litter boxes, scratching posts, cat trees, feather toys, hand-knit kitty clothing, and catnip.
Wanewort has access to the following lair actions while she is in the Moonstalkers' guildhall:
Treasure
A Glimmering Moonbow (see 4) sits atop a high shelf in this room.
12: Scrying Pool
A large scrying pool takes up much of this room. Wanewort uses it for her Scrying spells. Anyone who looks at the pool while Wanewort is scrying sees the same creature or location that she does. When not actively being used to scry, the pool's surface shows a reflection of the moon in its current phase.
13: Armory
The wereboar in charge of the armory keeps it stocked with daggers, cloaks, thieves' tools, grappling hooks, and other equipment the Moonstalkers don't want to hide at their homes. The wereboar can usually be found here, maintaining this equipment.
14: Barrack
When a Moonstalker needs to spend the night at the guildhall instead of their home, they can sleep in the bunk beds at this barrack. Two werewolves and three wererats are currently sleeping here.
Using the Moonstalkers in Your Campaign
Here are some ways you can use the Moonstalkers to augment your campaign.
Antagonists and Rivals
The most direct use of the Moonstalkers is for them to steal something belonging to the characters or someone close to them. The characters might strike a deal with the guild to get their treasure back or infiltrate the guildhall to retrieve it.
Alternatively, if the characters are looking to steal something (for instance, as part of an adventure from Keys from the Golden Vault), Moonstalkers might try to secure that same item for a different employer. In this case, the Moonstalkers act as rivals trying to beat the characters to the prize. This provides an incentive for characters to move quickly and not spend too much time planning or resting.
Bargaining for a Wish
If your characters have access to the Wish spell—for example, because they've drawn the Moon card from a Deck of Many Things—Boss Augustus makes them an offer they can't refuse. The characters could also be drawn into this story if a noncombatant draws the Moon card and becomes a target for the Moonstalkers.
Wanewort's ritual tells her the name and location of anyone who draws the Moon card. She also has contacts looking for anyone who can cast the Wish spell on their own. Once she has a target, she resorts to one of three tactics:
If Augustus is confident he can best the characters in a fight, he meets them alone somewhere other than the guildhall. But if he needs backup, he meets them in the guildhall's audience hall, where Moonstalkers can rush in at a moment's notice.
Augustus explains his condition as a natural-born werewolf and asks the character to wish for the end of his curse. He might offer them riches, magic items, or favors. He explains that wishes can go wrong; by trading their wish for concrete benefits, the character can let him shoulder the risk.
The Moonstalkers have many magic items stored within their hoards. If the character with a wish demands something Augustus doesn't have, he can order the guild to steal it. If the character refuses to trade their wish, Augustus threatens to expose the character's secrets or have the character killed.
Delour might catch wind of this plan and consider it a betrayal of the Moonstalkers, himself, and Pyrite. This could spark a violent schism within the guild or prompt Delour to secretly approach the characters and attempt to use their wish for himself—probably to resurrect Pyrite or get his long-delayed revenge.
Working with the Moonstalkers
The Moonstalkers don't always do their own dirty work. When a mission is too time-consuming, challenging, or simple, the guild assigns it to other criminals or to aspiring guild members. Even if your characters aren't evil, they might find themselves working for or alongside the Moonstalkers on an odd job. Perhaps both groups have a mutual enemy. Maybe the Moonstalkers learned the characters will be delving into a particular dungeon and ask the party to retrieve a specific piece of treasure. Perhaps the Moonstalkers extort the characters or refuse to divulge key information unless the characters do their bidding. Maybe the Moonstalkers offer so much money or such enticing magic items that the characters find collaboration hard to refuse.
Joining the Guild
Those hoping for guild membership (sometimes called "crescents") must complete three jobs for the Moonstalkers to be initiated into the guild. Crescents can work together, in which case the mission counts for all of them. Each job is more difficult than the last, and the final job always requires the crescent to take a life, usually the life of a guard or witness to the crime. The Moonstalkers then reward the crescent with lycanthropy, initiating them as a full member. Here are examples of missions the Moonstalkers might assign a crescent, in order of increasing difficulty:
Crescents who complete three missions are congratulated by the bosses, who then determine what type of lycanthrope the crescents will become. With a ceremonial bite from another Moonstalker, the crescents become fully initiated guild members.
A full member of the guild doesn't have to spend all their time at the guildhall, but they do need to be ready to respond to any assignments they receive. If you're looking for inspiration for Moonstalker missions, consider using heists from Keys from the Golden Vault.