Credit: this comic
Uhhh... yeah, so I guess this is basically the only major "J" monster in D&D's history. There's a couple other minor ones but only this guy has found his way into the majority of editions. And usually in the core books, too!
I spent literally months with this post sitting in my drafts folder trying to come up with something worthwhile to say about the jackalwere, knowing that it would get an entire post to itself. Unfortunately, I really got nothing.
It's yet another iteration of the classic folklore "stranger danger" monster. It's reminiscent of lycanthropes, it borrows a lot from the Arabian ghul, yet it's not as potent as a Rakshasa or even just a doppelgänger. The art has never been great, and jackals themselves aren't very interesting (even though the word "jackal" is wonderful). Worst of all, I've never used one in a game!
I just started playing The Caverns of Thracia. Guess who guards the entrance. Some gnolls and a jackalwere. You know what that guy ended up doing? Getting sucked into a black hole I opened. Didn't even get a chance to open his mouth or swing a sword or nuthin'. He never stood a chance.
The letter J deserves better.
-Dwiz
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