In DARK•HERITAGE, the following animals are possible pack hunters that could menace a PC or group of PCs.
- Coyotes. Typically only weighing about 50 lbs. and hunting in small groups or alone, a coyote isn't likely to be a threat to any character other than a wounded solitary commoner NPC or small child, or to the livestock of anyone who happens to be a farmer who raises sheep or goats. Use SRD stats for a dog.
- Golden jackal. The Eurasian equivalent to the coyote--maybe slightly smaller, but functionaly equivalent in most respects, and frankly, it would even look really similar. Technically common in the southern area of the setting while coyotes are common in the north.
- Carolina dog or American dingo. This rare animal is probably an ancient breed of dog that went feral many, many generations ago. They weren't even discovered in America until the 1970s, and without DNA research, nobody would have suspected their antiquity. Similar to a coyote, though, in all meaningful respects. I don't know what I'd do with them other than show off my knowledge of esoteric fauna, which isn't particularly helpful in a game.
- Gray wolf. Or simply wolf. Known from both North America and Europe, large specimens of this animal--such as those in the north of both regions--can weigh over 150 lbs, but more commonly, they'll weigh closer to 120 or so. Potentially dangerous to both livestock and the characters themselves, especially when attacking in packs of about a dozen individuals and in tactically advantageous conditions. Use SRD stats for wolf.
- Dire wolf. The dire wolf is a wolf-like animal with shorter legs and stronger and larger body and jaws than the gray wolf. Common in the Pleistocene of North America and South America, it was a good 25% larger than the gray wolf (up to almost 200 lbs.), and when both existed at the same time, the dire wolf often kept the gray wolf from spreading into the same territory. Best represented by SRD stats for worg--although there's no reason to make it a magical beast instead of an animal, and its intelligence shouldn't be any higher than standard animal intelligence.
- Bone-dogs. Known in the literature as either Borophagus diversidens or Osteoborus sp., this was a dog that lived up to the end of the Pliocene and had powerful jaws more like a hyena. Fairly heavy; nearly 200 lbs., they'd look a bit like really heavy-set dingos, or feral labs with a melanistic mask or something--except with a highly domed forehead and extremely large teeth and jaws. Just here for more flavor; would be best represented by the worg stats from the SRD, with the same caveats as stated in the dire wolf entry. Like hyenas, they'd prefer large packs and open territory; just in the north, whereas hyenas occupy that same niche in the south of the setting.