CHAPTER IV: Humanoids

“Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones.” - JRR Tolkien

The Hobbit

Monster Ability Scores

Tribal Spellcasters

Trooping Fey & Humanoids (Optional)

Humanoid Group Encounters

Annunakim

Batrachians

Bugbears

Centaurs

Cephaloids

Cheiropterans

Devil Rays

Gnolls

Goblins

Grimlocks

Hobgoblins

Kobolds

Lizard Men

Locathah

Mermen

Ogres

Orcs

Pech

Peikko

Sahuagin

Svartlings

Tritons

Troglodytes

Vegepygmies

Dealing with Intelligent Non-humans

Humanoid Motivations

MONSTER ABILITY SCORES

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ABBREVIATIONS

TRIBAL SPELLCASTERS

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See OSRIC for the basic rules regarding monster spellcasters (Shamans and Witchdoctors).

BLINK DOGS

Like other good-aligned creatures, Blink dogs have Clerics, as opposed to Shamans or Witchdoctors. They worship three demigods: Magda, the guardian; Roosh, demigod of loyalty; and Kakdak, the hunter. They engage in ritual food sharing among the pack. Sacrifices are buried.

Obedience, discipline and loyalty come naturally to blink dogs and they follow their religion closely. Rare clerical blink dogs tend to focus heavily on healing spells. Though few in number, blink dog Clerics can be quite powerful; there are attested cases of clerical blink dogs casting Raise Dead.

CENTAURS

Centaurs mostly worship Artemis or Hermes. They can become druids, mostly of very low level, but a few range much higher and there has been one recorded case of an exceptional centaur challenging for Great Druid status. (He was unsuccessful.) For some reason, centaur druids are able to use short bows.

As part of the rituals to celebrate the spring equinox, centaur druids ingest substantial quantities of wine laced with ivy-berries. While intoxicated with this substance, some have been known to consort intimately with horses. This is an irredeemable disgrace and the centaur-druid will always become an outcast, travelling as far as possible from their herd. Their name will never be mentioned again in centaur society.

CRABMEN

Crabmen can have Shamans of up to, and including, 3^rd-level. They have no Witchdoctors. They worship either a small pantheon of demigods, or one demigod with several aspects (sages are not sure which). They worship on the nights they spawn, which is one night a year in most climes: dozens or hundreds of crabmen will gather on the beaches to dance, mate, and spawn. At these times, possessed by religious ecstasy, they fling handfuls of silver into the sea.

CYCLOPES

Most cyclopes worship Poseidon, but there are some who follow Kronos, and a few accounts speak of a much more northerly isle where a break-away group of cyclopes worship Odin. Female cyclopes appear to be much rarer than the males.

No male spellcasting cyclopes have ever been encountered. Female cyclopes can acquire spellcasting power by an unusual means:- three cyclopes perform a dark and bloody ritual together. At the climax of this ritual each cyclops puts out her own eye. They become an inseparable coven (and the three will always be encountered together). This conjures an entity from the Abyss, as yet unidentified, who grants them a huge, magical gemstone which functions as an eye – one eye between the three of them; a gigantic black cauldron that burns on a fire of bones; a great black eldritch weaving-loom inlaid with silver runes; and immense, colossal magical powers. These cyclops-witches are called Graeae. When acting together, a coven of Graeae can cast spells as an 18^th -21^st level Magic-user (17+1d4) and a 16^th -19^th level Cleric (15+1d4). It requires all three Graeae working in unison to cast a spell.

Graeae have some trouble regaining their spells when cast. They are reticent about the details but sages believe that regaining their spells involves weaving special kinds of magical cloth on their gargantuan looms, brewing weird concoctions in their cauldrons, and anthropophagy. They also eat elves, although not for spell-regaining reasons – Graeae just think elves are tasty.

DARK CREEPERS/STALKERS

For the most part, dark creepers worship the darkness itself, but there are a couple of heretical groups with rival faiths. Dark creepers can be Shamans of up to 5^th-level or Witchdoctors of up to 5^th/4^th level. Dark stalkers can be Shamans of up to 7^th-level or Witchdoctors of up to 7^th/4^th level. Neither species ever memorises Light or Dancing Lights.

Shamans of 5^th-level and higher may (20%) be able to summon 1d2 shadows to fight for them. These creatures arrive 1d3 rounds after a successful summoning.

DOPPELGANGERS

Doppelgangers worship a protean deity which may be associated with, or may actually be, Tsathoggua. They can be shamans of up to 5^th-level. They have no Witchdoctors, but a few rare individuals (<1%,c.f. Greater Dopplegangers) have the powers of an Illusionist of up to 7^th-level. Illusionist doppelgangers tend to be leaders of their kind and will typically have 1d3 doppelgangers (50%) and/or 1d3 proteans (50%) as followers (roll the chance for each creature separately).

GHOULS

When a mortal becomes a ghoul, he or she no longer ages or decays. After sufficient centuries of unlife, particularly cunning ghouls can gain the powers of a Cleric (35%) or Witch (65%). In time they can reach levels as high as 6^th. Ghouls with clerical powers do not seem to be able to turn or affect undead.

One of the major ghoulish religions seems to involve the ghoul embedding human teeth into its limbs and torso, facing outwards to make a kind of armour. A ghoul-Cleric or ghoul-Witch with enough teeth grafted into its flesh can attain an armour class as low as 3.

GRIMLOCKS

Grimlock Shamans range up to 3^rd-level. They have no Witchdoctors, lacking eyes with which to read magical writings. The name of their deity or deities is unknown, but

Grimlocks seem to revere purple worms as emissaries or aspects of the divine. Unconfirmed reports from adventuring parties suggest that Grimlock worship involves ritually feeding their captives to purple worms.

HARPIES

Harpies can be Shamans of up to 3^rd-level or Witchdoctors of up to 3^rd/2^nd level. Their religion is somehow tied up with their reproduction; harpies periodically lay eggs, but since there are no male harpies, the eggs are always infertile. Harpies can use a magical blood ceremony of some kind to fertilise them.

One account mentions a dragon-harpy: a creature with the head and breasts of a giantess and the wings, hind legs and tail of a dragon, which appeared during the course of a blood ceremony. If this being exists, it may be a harpy deity, but is more likely to be the harpy equivalent of an angel.

LAMIA

Lamia Shamans are very rare. They can range up to 7^th-level, but they do not regain their spells through rest as other species do. Instead, a lamia Shaman regains her spells by stealing Wisdom, at the rate of one point of WIS per spell level recovered.

Lamia shamans have been heard crying “Ergazzunbek!”, and sages take this to be the name of their principal deity. Whether there are other gods in the lamia pantheon, or indeed other lamia religions, is not known. Ergazzunbek appears to be a god or goddess of hunger, and his or her worship seems to involve devouring human infants alive when the moon is gibbous. The lamia prefers this if the mother is watching this anthropophagous ceremony, but unable to intervene because she is beguiled - she will be made to assist at the feast.

Such a woman will be set free shortly thereafter. She is left to herself for a year and a day, and then she will be transformed into a lamia. High priests of certain good-aligned religions are taught a secret ritual which can prevent this, but no more details are known because the priests and the affected women always refuse to speak of it.

MEDUSAE

Medusae worship Typhon or Hecate. They can become clerics or magic users, as opposed to shamans or witchdoctors. They enjoy extremely high status in Medusa society. They are weak as spellcasters, being restricted to 3rd level at maximum. Those who worship Typhon are often awarded one or more pet venomous snakes, which will be immune to petrifaction, and some of which may be giant varieties. Those who worship Hecate can sometimes invoke an effect that adventurers call “Bad hair day”, causing their head-snakes to grow much longer and more active. The effect lasts only three rounds but during that time, the medusa has 1d6 attacks per round and can attack enemies up to five feet away.

MINOTAURS

Minotaurs are associated with the Greek goddess Ariadne of the Labyrinth and, less directly, with Helios the Sun-God. They can be Shamans of up to 5^th-level, but have no Witchdoctors. Their religion involves spinning thread, usually from the hair of visitors to their labyrinths - some minotaurs seem to believe the longer their thread, the greater their chance of a rewarding afterlife. Very strong and experienced minotaurs may have long ropes made of human hair wound many times around their waists, a few (10%) of which function as Ropes of Entanglement.

OTYUGH

Most otyugh have no god and perform no worship. (There was once a small group of evil-aligned, religious otyugh in the service of Abhoth, but these have almost certainly been stamped out.) However, some of the most intelligent otyugh are capable of learning arcane magic, as proved by the archmage Copopaxos, who befriended one that took up residence in his latrine and made it his apprentice. All the spellcasting otyugh found since, and there have been several, can be trace their knowledge back to Copopaxos' first student.

Spellcasting otyugh are proper Magic-Users, not Witchdoctors. Their “spellbooks” are always carved stone tablets which can survive the disgusting conditions of the otyugh's lair. Some have ranged as high as 6^th-level of magic use.

According to otyugh legends they are native to a world orbiting a distant sun; they claim their ancestors travelled here in a vast glass cylinder. Certainly they do not seem to be related to any other known form of life. They are interested in the magic of movement and translocation, and most otyugh spellcasters dream of one day learning to Teleport back to their own world.

QUICKLINGS

Only one sage has studied the Quickling religion, and after about six months of study he was found hopelessly mad. His writings had been burned. According to his housemaid, he once told her the quicklings worship at least nineteen separate deities, some of which were not demons.

Quickling religious worship involves making drums from the trepanned skulls and tanned skins of humans and demi-humans. A quickling playing its tom-toms as it runs makes a sound vaguely reminiscent of a rattlesnake. Instead of shamans or witchdoctors, quicklings have regular Clerics (of up to 8^th-level), Witches (of up to 9^th-level) and Magic- Users (of up to 13^th-level). Mysteriously, no magic using quickling has ever managed to understand the spells Haste or Slow.

Quickling magic users are rumoured to able to make Boots of Speed, if provided with the raw materials and a colossal amount of money.

VAMPIRES

High level spellcasters may sometimes retain their abilities after becoming vampires though sheer force of will (3% chance per level), and indeed some powerful and depraved spellcasters may choose to become vampires through unspeakable rituals. Vampires may be be Illusionists, Magic Users, Witches or Clerics (always Chaotic Evil regardless of beliefs in life). Druids, Rangers, Paladins and other classes which must be of a non-evil alignment lose all class abilities and never become vampire spellcasters. Vampires never attain levels beyond those achieved in life, but despite this limitation vampire spellcasters have plenty of time to research spells and practice strategies that maximise their advantages and reduce their vulnerabilities.

It is possible for a vampire spellcaster to ensure that vampires they make retain spell abilities and indeed many of the more powerful actively choose spell-casters to serve them as accolytes - often beginning as misguided cultists in life serving the vampire in undeath. A vampire Cleric may attempt to turn the living, and if the result would be the 'Destroyed' the victims are reduced to crazed imbeciles. A vampire of above 12^th-level may summon werewolves or wererats as a normal vampire can summon rats or wolves.

WERERATS

Wererats have Shamans, Witches and Illusionists amongst their ranks. The shamen worship the forces of decay and decadence and may reach up to 5^th-level. Wererat Witches may reach 7^th-level and Illusionists as high as 9^th; though 90% of spellcasters will be of levels 1d3.

Wererat beliefs are essentially cynical and fatalistic and the preponderance of Illusionists among their spellcasters is due to their love of sowing discord and beguiling ordinary virtuous and noble persons into immoral and vile actions. They do this in order to demonstrate that such is true nature of all humanity despite vain protestaions of virtue - a view regularly expounded upon as a point of essential dogma by their clerics also.

YETI

Only female yeti may become Shamans. They have no Witchdoctors, and the rare Shamans range only as high as 3^rd-level. They chew on owl pellets soaked in mammoth's milk, and read the future in blood spatters in the snow. They have three deities: Eagi, goddess of fire and the sun; Keagi, goddess of meat and milk; and Veagi, goddess of hunting and stealth. 3^rd-level Shamans almost always choose to learn Resist Fire.

EXPANDED DIVINE SPELL LIST FOR SHAMANS/WITCHDOCTORS

EXPANDED ARCANE SPELL LIST FOR WITCHDOCTORS

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TROOPING FEY & HUMANOIDS (OPTIONAL)

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Unlike Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, Gnomes & Halflings, the faery and humanoid races all retain to one degree or another an instinctual migratory behavior known more commonly as trooping. When the time comes, a number of faeries or humanoids will, as if charmed, wander off to join groups of others of their kind. Together, they will march for some distance, sometimes hundreds of miles, until, by mutual intuition, they will stop. In nearly every case a special event of some kind will mark the end of the troop; some end in a feast or communal dancing, others in mayhem and bloodshed.

Depending upon alignment, troops may either be friendly or hostile to outsiders encountered along the way. Good faeries may invite them to dance, while neutral or chaotic faeries may play lighthearted pranks or even cruel tricks on them. Humanoids, mostly evil, are another matter entirely. They will most probably kill or enslave anyone encountered and feast on their flesh or sacrifice them to their crude gods.

Troops are usually made up of a mixture of many different types of monsters and fight more like a mob than a disciplined army. Fey troops typically travel for less than a day and end in feasting, dancing celebrating the lunar or solar holidays, or a similar gala event. Humanoid troops are rarely for pleasure, and end in pillage and slaughter. In either case a troop may have a leader chosen from amongst the troop according to their superior rank or power.

HUMANOID GROUP ENCOUNTERS

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ANNUNAKIM (Dangerous Dungeons p.XXX)

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MISSION PARTIES

BATRACHIANS (c.v. OSRIC)

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BUGBEARS (c.v. OSRIC)

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CENTAURS (c.v. OSRIC)

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CEPHALOID (Dangerous Dungeons, p. XXX)

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LAIRS

CHEIROPTERANS (Dangerous Dungeons, p. XXX)

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DEVIL RAYS (Dangerous Dungeons, p. XXX)

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GNOLLS (c.v. OSRIC)

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GOBLINS (c.v. OSRIC)

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GRIMLOCKS (c.v. OSRIC)

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HOBGOBLINS (c.v. OSRIC)

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KOBOLDS (c.v. OSRIC)

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LIZARD MEN (c.v. OSRIC)

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LOCATHAH (c.v. OSRIC)

MERMEN (c.v. OSRIC)

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OGRES (c.v. OSRIC)

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ORCS (c.v. OSRIC)

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PECH (DANGEROUS DUNGEONS, p.XXX)

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PEIKKO (DANGEROUS DUNGEONS, p. XXX)

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SAHUAGIN (c.v. OSRIC)

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(01-95 Normal Lair)

(96-00 Princes' Lair)

SVARTLINGS (DANGEROUS DUNGEONS, pXX)

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TRITONS (c.v. OSRIC)

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TROGLODYTES (c.v. OSRIC)

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TROLLS (c.v. OSRIC)

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VEGEPYGMIES (DANGEROUS DUNGEONS, p. XXX)

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DEALING WITH INTELLIGENT NON-HUMANS

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During the course of adventuring, the player-characters will certainly want to parley or negotiate with the various creatures they encounter, and may sometimes have no other choice. The following tables are intended both to aid the GM in adjudicating these encounters and in planning future encounters.

DIRECTIONS: First, the GM should note the intelligence level of the creature as noted in the specific monster description. If the creature is semi-, low or average intelligence, roll 1d10 and consult the appropriate column on the creature demands table. Finally, assign the appropriate modifiers and motivations as listed below and roll 2d6 on the Parley, Negotiation & Bargaining table to resolve the attempt.