Skullcrusher Ogres – The Ultimate Ogre for the Discerning Warlord



Skullcrusher Ogres from the 3rd edition Monster Manual III, who are just as strong as common Ogres but possess human-level intelligence, making them skilled soldiers. This 8-foot-tall brute resembles an ogre but looks to be more intelligent, and it stands more erect. Its armor and shield are covered in spikes, and it carries a vicious-looking morningstar.


Skullcrusher ogres are an offshoot of the ogre stock bred for war. Shorter and less brutish than typical ogres, skullcrusher ogres are nevertheless stronger and more dangerous.


Thuggish and sadistic, bellicose and rowdy, skullcrusher ogres enjoy bullying weaker creatures. Tribes often keep slaves, which in many cases are normal ogres.


Created long ago to serve as soldiers, skullcrusher ogres have naturally centered their culture on warfare, and their villages are arrayed like military encampments. Skullcrusher ogres build siege walls and other structures to defend their homes, and they train elephants for mounted combat.


An adult skullcrusher ogre stands 8 to 9 feet tall and weighs 550 to 600 pounds. The creatures’ skin color ranges from pale yellow to pale brown, and their hair tends to be black. Skullcrusher ogres wear armor during their waking hours and little clothing when sleeping.


Skullcrusher ogres speak Giant and Common.


COMBAT
Skullcrusher ogres are born fighters. They love the clangor and calamity of battle.
A skullcrusher ogre gleefully charges into combat and strikes at foes with both its morningstar and spiked shield. A skullcrusher ogre especially enjoys grappling foes and crushing them on his spiked armor. (A successful grapple check to deal damage causes 1d4+7 points of nonlethal damage plus 1d8 points of piercing damage.)
Rock Throwing (Ex): Like giants, skullcrusher ogres are accomplished rock throwers and gain a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls when throwing rocks. A skullcrusher ogre can hurl rocks of 40 to 50 pounds (Small objects) up to five range increments. The range increment is 100 feet for a skullcrusher ogre’s rocks.


SKULLCRUSHER SERGEANT
Skullcrusher warbands typically include one or more sergeants armed with bastard swords. The skullcrusher sergeant presented here had the following ability scores before racial adjustments: Str 15, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.


Combat
Skullcrusher sergeants are canny fighters. Even when confronted by a well-armored foe, a sergeant will often use its Power Attack feat, taking a –4 penalty on attack rolls to gain a +4 bonus on damage. However, it usually commands nearby allies to aid its attacks, hoping to counter the attack penalty from the Power Attack feat.


SOCIETY
Although they are as ill-tempered as their ogre brethren, skullcrusher ogres understand the importance of discipline within their fighting squads. The warband becomes their family, of sorts. Their swords and shields become their trusted companions. While lesser ogres allow fatigue, hunger, and petty greed to get the better of them, skullcrushers tirelessly rehearse battle tactics, sharpen their blades, and survey the terrain of the lands they intend to conquer, looking for tactically advantageous ground on which to fight.


A strict hierarchy governs each skullcrusher warband. The smartest and mightiest skullcrusher leads the warband until the day he falls in battle, at which point his chosen successor takes command, often claiming the weapons and trophies of her fallen predecessor. A skullcrusher must fight for her place in the chain of command, and all challenges among members of the warband are resolved through nonlethal combat. Although incapable of feeling deep love for a comrade-in-arms, a skullcrusher knows better than to take the life of an ally and wouldn’t think to deprive another skullcrusher of the chance to die a glorious death on the battlefield.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gnolls in Dungeons & Dragons

Image
Gnoll flind Physical description In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game , gnolls greatly resemble hyenas [1] . They are usually between seven and eight feet tall, weighing around 250 to 320 pounds, [2] and use armor made of horn, metal, or leather [1] . Gnolls are generally depicted in the game world as feral nomads who kill and pillage without warning [3] . Their whole bodies are covered in reddish-brown fur which becomes shorter as it surrounds their faces and clawed hands to reveal grey colored skin. Their pelts vary from mono-colored to spotted and their eyes are either yellow or black. Subraces Within the context of the Dungeons & Dragons game, one notable subrace of gnoll is the flind (alternately spelled flynd ), which is shorter, broader, and stronger than other gnolls [4] ; flinds are often found leading a tribe or settlement of gnolls [4] . Flinds use a nunchaku -like weapon called a flindbar , which consists of a pair of metal rods linked t
Read more

Frost Giants - Heavy Support

Image
A frost giant’s hair can be light blue or dirty yellow, and its eyes usually match its hair color. Frost giants dress in skins and pelts, along with any jewelry they own. Frost giant warriors add chain shirts and metal helmets decorated with horns or feathers. An adult male is about 15 feet tall and weighs about 2,800 pounds. Females are slightly shorter and lighter, but otherwise identical with males. Frost giants can live to be 250 years old. Combat Frost giants usually start combat at a distance, throwing rocks until they run out of ammunition or the opponent closes, then wading in with their enormous battleaxes. A favorite tactic is to lay an ambush by hiding buried in the snow at the top of an icy or snowy slope, where opponents will have difficulty reaching them. Rock Throwing (Ex) The range increment is 120 feet for a frost giant’s thrown rocks. Frost Giant Characters Many groups of frost giants include clerics. A frost giant cleric has access to two of the following dom
Read more

ORCS: THE BAD GUYS OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN'S MIDDLE EARTH

Image
I started doing historical reenacting in 1980, and have been involved in the Middle Ages, the American Revolution, the English Civil War, Roman (very intensely since 1991), Ancient Greek, and a couple other things on the side. (See links at bottom of page for evidence.) And now I want to be an ORC! Well, not really BE one, just assemble all the clothing and gear, an "impression", as we say in reenacting. It's only fair, since Tolkien was a big part of the reason I got into reenacting in the first place. So it's kind of like coming home again! Actually, I will be doing at least two impressions for starters. The Uruk-hai were always my heroes, and I loved the ones in the movie. But they do not match Tolkien's admittedly vague descriptions in the books. So, thought I, Do both! With my usual dedication to accuracy, I am attempting to recreate an Uruk-hai based closely on the movie, and an entirely different outfit following the books . Along the
Read more