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This is the first time I’m seeing this monster. If they appeared in previous editions, it was with a different lore.

The Lore

Once upon a time, during the days of the Dawn War, there was a certain place in the world that was a major nexus of primal power, connected to a great number of spirits. This place was annihilated by one of the many cataclysms being thrown around as weapons during that war. It was not the target - it was collateral damage. And it was a god who pulled the trigger.

The spirits of that sacred site were cast into the world, rootless and homeless. Spirits of place without a place, their rage against the gods knew no bounds. In order to survive, they cast part of their spiritual nature aside and took on material forms made of flesh, becoming the first tulgars. And then they swore to destroy the gods and their servants in revenge for what was done that day.

The tulgars would soon find out that attaining their revenge was much harder than they thought. After the Dawn War ended, the gods retreated to their domains and no longer stepped into the world. Their followers very quickly grew in number and built complex societies that were much harder to destroy than the scattered fleeting villages of the War. Many of the tulgars gave up on their oath over the ages, and now live as bitter mercenaries. Some of them, though, still keep that flame of hate going and try to find ways to accomplish their original goal.

Metaphysically, a tulgar is more or less the primal equivalent of a daeva or rakshasa. When they die, they are immediately reincarnated elsewhere in the world in a new adult body, with intact memories of their previous lives. I don’t think they can reproduce by natural means, but they have been increasing their numbers. They can sense when a primal spirit loses its home or becomes hateful of sapient mortals or their gods, and converge to the spirit’s location to convince it to join their numbers.

The Numbers

Tulgars are Medium Natural Humanoids with a ground Speed of 7 and the Forest Walk trait. Their signature ability is Unbroken Spirit, which triggers when they hit 0 HP and gives their nearest ally a “parting gift” of 10 temporary HP and a +2 to attacks, defenses, and damage that lasts for a turn.

All the stat blocks here present us with early-epic threats, which is appropriate for a people who swore vengeance on the gods and has a real shot at achieving this. It’s possible they would make good allies for the Forsaken, since they have similar goals.

Tulgar Flesh Hunter

A hunter of sapient prey, with centuries of accumulated experience. This is a Level 22 Skirmisher with 209 HP. It fights with a Spear and a Handaxe it uses as a thrown weapon. Its On the Hunt trait makes it not provoke opportunity attacks when it moves for a turn after hitting an enemy.

The flesh hunter can use Hunter’s Onslaught to make both a spear and a handaxe attack against different targets on its turn. The ranged attack doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks when used as part of this power, and the power can be used in place of a basic attack during a charge! In other words, no reason to use a single basic attack when this is available.

Additionally, flesh hunters can use a Rotting Strike (recharge 5+) to deal light damage and inflict ongoing necrotic damage on the target (save ends).

Tulgar Savage

This unfortunately named enemy is a Level 22 Minion Brute. They have a spear and a handaxe like the flesh hunter, though it does minion-scale damage. Their Critical Threat ability allows them to crit on a 19-20, and when they do they grant a free melee basic attack to an ally within 2 squares.

Oh, and they have Unbroken Spirit too, so they make a powerful contribution to their allies by dying.

Tulgar Half-Spirit

A tulgar that keeps more of its spirit side than most others. It’s a Level 23 Lurker with 116 HP, and it’s Insubstantial.

Its basic attack is a Claw that deals minor necrotic damage and immobilizes for a turn. It also turns the tulgar invisible for a turn as an effect. If it hits someone who can’t see it, the half-spirit also dazes the target for a turn, so there’s your lurker loop right there. It can also throw handaxes if no one is at hand.

When the half-spirit becomes bloodied for the first time, it Unleashes the Inner Spirit (close burst 3 vs. Fortitude), dealing necrotic damage and stunning those it hits for a turn. The half-spirit then becomes invisible for a turn and teleports 5 squares.

Tulgar Warrior

This elite combatant doesn’t care about ranged attacks, and is all about charging to melee and laying waste to armies. It’s a Level 23 Brute with 265 HP. Its Inveterate Warrior trait makes it crit on a 19-20, and deal 3d12 extra damage on a crit. That last bit might just be a codification of its greataxe’s High Crit trait, since it’s not spelled out in this stat block.

The warrior’s basic axe attacks also inflict a -2 AC penalty for a turn. Its Whirling Frenzy maneuver is an encounter power that allows it to attack everyone in a Close Burst 1, shift 3 squares and repeat the burst attack once more against anyone who wasn’t hit by the first one.

Tulgar Spirit Talker

Some tulgars retain a stronger connection to their former spirit nature and can use that to cast spells. However, the other side of that connection is still broken, and this slowly erodes their mental stability. Over time, a spirit talker might become unable to live in its community, and the others consider it a mercy to kill them so that their minds might be mended by the process of reincarnation.

Spirit Talkers are Level 24 Controllers with 225 HP. They project a Primal Barrier aura (2) that makes all spaces inside difficult terrain for creatures without phasing or forest walk. It fights with a Spear whose attacks make the target be marked by one of the tulgar’s allies within 10 squares. Its ranged basic attack is the Incite Savagery spell, which deals psychic damage and has an interesting rider. If the target doesn’t make a melee attack on its next turn, it grants combat advantage until the end of its following turn. A great power to use on primarily ranged attackers!

As a minor action the spirit talker can cast Dismissal (recharge 4+), which targets a conjuration, summoned creature, or zone within 10 squares. It attacks the Will of its creator, and on a hit it causes the target effect to end! If there’s nothing to dispel, the spirit talker can use Call Spirit Warrior to summon a tulgar minion to its side, acting right after it in initiative order.

Instead of Unbroken Spirit, the Spirit Talker has Death’s Embrace, which works the same but makes its aura stick around as a zone with the same effects until the end of the encounter.

Final Impressions

I like the lore of the tulgars here, because you can see how they might have a reason for being bitter and angry. I’ll note that the stat blocks here are all Unaligned, which means the book might agree with me. The only thing I dislike here is the use of the word “savage” in both the minion’s name and the spirit talker’s ranged attack.

You can play some tulgar groups as being vengeful against the gods and perhaps leaning more towards Evil, but you can also portray them as people who gave up on that vengeance but still can never go back to what they were, which is a very different story. Maybe some of them might be looking for a way to become full spirits again, and it might be something that brings them into alliance with the PCs or with sympathetic NPCs.