Mule

A mule is the party's first ally and the one they will mourn the longest. CR 1/8, 11 HP, AC 10, walk speed 40. Beast of Burden means it counts as one size larger for carrying capacity. Hooves attack at +4 doing 1d4+2 bludgeoning. Run it as the wagon, the kit, the supply line, and occasionally as a piece of soft cover the rogue ducks behind during the bandit fight.

The mule's job is logistics. Standard carrying capacity puts a mule at roughly 420 pounds of hauled gear, and as a draft animal it can pull double that. That covers the wizard's library, the cleric's tent, the fighter's spare plate, and the rogue's collection of chalk, lockpicks, and trophies. When the party makes a roll to do something physical with the mule, the +4 Strength save is what you call for. Outside of combat, the mule is a permission slip: the party can carry the gear they actually want without the petty bookkeeping of encumbrance.

In combat, the mule does not fight unless cornered. It panics. Use a Wisdom check from whoever holds the lead rope, DC scaling with the threat. On a failure, the mule bolts at 40 feet straight ahead and the party loses the wagon for a scene. On a success, it stands. If something does close to melee range, narrate a kick for 1d4+2 bludgeoning and move on. The mule is not a fight. It is the reason the fight has stakes.

Name the mule. Players who would not blink at a dead bandit will negotiate with a kobold for a dying mule.

A mule as adversary is a stretch that requires commitment. The most plausible framing is a haunted, possessed, or polymorphed animal: a hag has cursed the village's pack mule, a necromancer's failed experiment is shambling toward town with a saddle still on, or a transmuted PC enemy is hiding in mule shape.

Run the fight as the mule's panicked aggression rather than tactical play. Speed 40 lets it kick at +4 for 1d4+2, trample anything Tiny or Small that gets behind it, and bolt away from the rogue trying to grapple. If the mule is possessed, give it Darkvision and one bonus Hooves attack, and have whoever is controlling it speak through it in a voice the party recognizes from a previous session.

The fight ends quickly because 11 HP does not last. The aftermath is the real scene. Was the mule the friendly one from the inn? Did the curse pass to whoever lands the killing blow? Is there a second mule in the same caravan waiting? Don't roll any of this on the table. Narrate one ominous thing and move on.

End the scene with the mule looking up at a player and naming them by a dead NPC's name. The mule does not need to do anything else.