Wereraven

Wereravens are a species of therianthrope native to the Demiplane of Dread, and unique in that they are amongst the tiny minority of werebeasts whose default alignment is some flavor of Good. As their name suggests, they are avian shapechangers, able to assume the forms of humans, ravens (or dire ravens, in 3e), or a wing-armed humanoid raven, much like a werebat. They are most notorious for their ability to peck out eyes and permanently blind opponents, which is seriously bullshit because it requires a Regeneration or Heal spell to undo.

Whilst the wereravens are agents of good, they are smart enough to know that they are seriously outnumbered in the Ravenloft setting, and so they try to keep under the radar of the Darklords and other agents of evil. As a result, they tend to live in small family groups to further make it harder for them to be wiped out by a single retaliatory strike. Much like werebears, their shapechanging abilities are considered a gift, and transformation into a wereraven is only offered as a gift to mortals who impress them with their ability to battle the forces of darkness - sort of like a Ravenlofty version of the Swanmay. They have the ability to commune with normal ravens and magically see through their senses, so wereraven lairs - typically treetop homes hidden inside huge trees - are always surrounded by flocks of normal ravens.

There is reputedly close ties between wereravens and the Vistani, but neither race will admit it, and frankly the Vistani don't deserve it if you look at all the shit that they pull off. Wereravens have also been associated with the Ravenkin, a race of sapient giant ravens - both races were theorized in AD&D as having originated on Oerth, but wereravens are believed to have gone extinct there and now only survive in the Demiplane of Dread.

The wereraven debuted in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition, first seeing print in the Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix (1991), before being reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993) and Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendices I & II (1996). It was updated to Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition in the Denizens of Darkness/Dread splats, and then made it into Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition thanks to the adventure Curse of Strahd.

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