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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Umber Hulk
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast This article is part of a series! Click here to see the other entries.
MM3 Umber Hulks are in a similar situation to a lot of other monsters in the book. The Monster Vault would soon be released with an updated selection of basic models, and so this one features a trio of more niche variants.
The Lore
As usual, the basic lore remains the same, but this entry adds some interesting new details.
The first new bit is that umber hulks are one of the oldest species in the world! The creatures are already mentioned in certain ancient records from before the Dawn War, which makes some sages think they emerged from the raw stuff of the world before the primordials had finished creating it.
The second is that their role as the world builders of the Underdark has a dark side. Their tunnels may end up linking places that were best left isolated, like two mutually hostile settlements. This is one of the reasons why underdark civilizations tend to hunt them down. Some dwarves are also fond of chasing umber hulks as they tunnel through the earth, for they commonly pass near veins of precious metals.
Finally, these creatures are not a middle world exclusive! In ages past, small populations of them found and walked through subterranean planar portals and spread to places such as the Astral Sea or even the Abyss, and proceeded to adapt to these new environments.
The Numbers
Umber Hulks are Magical Beasts and have a ground speed of 5 and a burrow speed of 2 with Tunneling, which means their digging creates stable tunnels. They have Darkvision and Tremorsense 5 as usual.
Umber Ravager
This is a smaller and weaker relative of the basic umber hulk, so named because it’s Medium and so it’s not technically a “hulk”. They wander closer to the surface and are likely to be the first variant found by PCs who are not yet powerful enough to brave the true Underdark.
The ravager is a Level 7 Brute with 95 HP. It can attack with a claw that does light physical damage, and can be used in a claw flurry that allows it to make two attack with a single action. Its most basic psionic power is a Crushing Gaze (close blast 3 vs. Will) that deals light psychic damage and knocks targets prone. Less often it can use a Disarming Gaze (ranged 3 vs. Will, recharge 6+) as a minor action that deals no damage but causes stun (save ends).
Umber Ravagers hunt in packs, so you might see encounter groups featuring several of them. Each one will target a different PC with its Disarming Gaze as an opening move, and then focus its attacks on the stunned target. Yikes!
Abyssal Hulk
This hulk’s ancestors managed to dig their way to the Abyss, and then suffered mutations that allowed to survive there. Its bodily secretions became acidic, and its psionic powers changed to be more madness-themed. It’s also smarter and more consciously malevolent, with a Chaotic Evil alignment.
Abyssal Hulks are Level 15 Controllers with 152 HP. They fight up close with Reach 2 claws, and with a Gaze of Chaos (close blast 3 vs. Will) that deals light psychic damage and slides the targets 3 squares on a hit. After sliding, the targets make a melee basic attack against a target of the monster’s choice. It can also spray forth some Acidic Spew (close blast 5 vs. Fort) to inflict 10 ongoing acid damage (save ends) on those it hits.
As a minor action, the abyssal hulk can use a Gaze of Crushed Will (close blast 5 vs. Will) to slide targets 3 squares and inflict a -5 penalty on any saves they roll during this movement. You know when you roll a save during forced movement? When someone uses it to push you off a cliff.
So yeah, this cruel mutated almost-demon wants to alternate pushing people off cliffs with making them stab each other while singing “stop hitting yourselves!”.
Astral Hulk
Despite going to the realm of shiny light, Astral Hulks aren’t any less unpleasant than their abyssal counterparts. There are signs that they may have been engineered on purpose by some primordial for use as a weapon, because they just love to dig into astral domains and tear them up until they become free-floating debris fields. Several such domains were destroyed by astral hulks, and the people of the Astral Sea are always on watch against astral hulk infestations. Their gaze causes a pronounced lethargy on victims, and lures them closer so the creature can use its natural weapons on them.
Astral Hulks are Level 17 Soldiers with 167 HP. Their Claws damage and mark for a turn on a hit. If a marked enemy shifts, the hulk can use Entrapping Mandibles on them as an interrupt, grabbing them on a hit. Their Gaze of Lassitude (close blast 5 vs. Fortitude) deals untyped damage, pulls 4 squares, and slows (save ends). Their Gaze of Annihilation (close blast 5 vs. Fortitude) is an encounter power that does untyped damage, half on a hit, and marks everyone it hits for a turn.
Final Impressions
If you like umber hulks, you’ll find a use for these. I like that they’re all very focused in their design intent. There’s one to introduce your players to the monster earlier, and two to make them despair after they thought they had left these things behind when they moved out of the middle world.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Tulgar
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the other.
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.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Thri-Kreen
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
Thri-Kreen got famous as one of the playable options for AD&D’s Dark Sun. This is their 4e debut. They would return as fully-supported playable characters in the 4e Dark Sun Campaign Setting, about 3 months after the publication of the MM3.
The Lore
Thri-Kreen are mostly-humanoid sapient insects, adapted to live in arid climes. They’re all over the Dark Sun setting, but even in this more generic version their preferred habitats are deserts and arid wastelands.
Thri-Kreen tradition says they were created by the great primal spirit known to them as Sand Father, and to other species as Old Grandfather. Sand Father looked at the deserts of the world and found them too empty for his taste. So he plucked a species of sand beetle from the world and made them into the first thri-kreen. Realizing that size and strength would not be enough to guarantee their survival, Sand Father also gave them the wisdom of the lizard and the cunning of the desert fox.
In the distant past, the thri-keen managed to form a large empire that spanned many of the world’s deserts, a nation known as Val-Karri. It lasted for a hundred years before it was subjugated and assimilated by the dragonborn empire of Arkhosia. The thri-kreen recovered their freedom when Arkhosia fell, and returned to a nomadic lifestyle.
Modern-day thri-kreen regard people who live outside the desert as weak, for only those tested by the sands are worthy of respect. Though they draw no maps or formal borders of their desert territories, they guard those territories fiercely and are quite harsh to interlopers who try to pass through without paying homage to them first.
As long as these protocols are observed, thri-kreen are content to leave other to their business and to go about their own. They’re very well adapted to their chosen habitat and don’t need to raid neighbors for resources or anything like that. Thri-kreen communities tend to be small and nomadic, and might go for years without meeting other sapients. They display good aptitude for primal magic and psionic powers, and are often good allies to any druids and wardens that also make the desert their home. Thri-kreen villains are usually in service to evil primal spirits, demons, or other groups who corrupt and transform the land to suit their own foul purposes.
The Numbers
Thri-kreen are Medium Natural Humanoids with a ground speed of 7 or 8 and low-light vision. Their signature ability is the Mantis Jump, an encounter power which allows it to jump a number of squares equal to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. Most stat blocks here combine martial training with minor psionic powers.
Thri-Kreen Ambusher
These are young adults who spent their childhoods learning about the land and, upon coming of age, are cast out of their tribe to survive alone for a year. They travel widely to hone their skills, and their extended periods of solitude also allow them to develop their latent psionic powers.
Ambushers are Level 6 Lurkers with 58 HP and a Speed of 8. They fight with two spears in melee and with a Mind Stab power at range. The power deals light psychic damage and dazes for a turn.
They can also use a Spinning Spears maneuver. This deals about half the damage of a basic attack, but also gives them a +5 bonus to all defenses for a turn and recharges their Psionic Boost ability. This one allows them to add extra psychic damage to a Spear or Mind Stab attack after it hits.
So yeah, this is a lurker who doesn’t hide. It will alternate boosted Spear/Mind Stab attacks with Spinning Spear. It’s still pretty good at hiding as well, which is why it’s called an Ambusher.
Thri-Kreen Scout
Scouts keep watch over their territories and can stand still for hours under the blazing sun while doing so. They warn the rest of the group when they spot an intruder, and are cautious to engage them, preparing traps in advance. If a direct fight starts, they’re frenetic combatants.
Scouts are Level 7 Skirmishers with 80 HP and Speed 8. They fight with Spears and Shuriken, and can perform Leaping Attacks to move their speed and make a stronger spear attack at any point during the move.
If hit by an attack, they can use Sudden Recoil to shift 1 square away as a reaction. If the attack bloodies them, they can shift 4 squares instead. They also have a Psionic Boost power similar to that of the Ambusher, though this one recharges automatically on a 5+.
Scouts will alternate boosted basic attacks with Leaping Attacks, and will probably have traps lying around the battlefield if they were expecting company.
Thri-Kreen Desert Talker
This is a primal spellcaster with powers over the desert sands. They tend to act as judges in thri-kreen communities, trying those who break their laws and customs and punishing the guilty. The most severe punishments are execution and exile to the desert, but I imagine there are smaller ones for lesser offenses.
Sand Talkers fight with their bare claws and throw shurikens, but they also have a couple of sand-bending spells for use in combat. Shifting Dune Rend (area 1 within 10 vs. Reflex) deals no damage, but knocks prone on a hit and slides 2 squares as an effect. Desert Tempest (close blast 5) deals minor physical damage, pushes 2 squares, and blinds (save ends). It recharges when the thri-kreen is bloodied.
All of this pushing around synergizes with Sand Trap, a minor action that allows it to create three of the things within 10 squares. When an enemy starts their turn in a sand trap square, they are restrained for a turn, and then the sand trap disappears. The power recharges when there are no sand traps left in the field.
Desert talkers are good for breaking up PC formations and setting things up for their allies, which is exactly what they’ll spend the first few rounds doing. Their special attacks do very little damage, but their basic ones are okay and a good choice once all the PCs are good and restrained.
Final Impression
I love thri-kreen! Whether they’re from Athas or not, I find their look extremely interesting, and I also liked that this generic version of their culture does not make them universally hostile.
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The Guns of Wolfenstein, Part 01
I’ve been playing a lot of Wolfenstein games these past few days. There’s something cathartic about unapologetically fighting Nazis. I first did it to de-stress, and then to celebrate the results of our most recent election (go Lula!).
And since I do occasionally want to post something here that’s not Let’s Read the Monster Manual, I decided to talk a bit about the various guns you use to kill Nazis in all of these games.
We’re dealing with two separate continuities here: one that starts with Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001) and another that starts with Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014). You could, if you’re so inclined, include both of them in the GURPS Infinite Worlds framework. I’d call then Wolfenstein-1 and Wolfenstein-2 respectively, though I guess Infinity might call the latter Reich-6 at first.
In this article, we’ll cover the stuff that appears in Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001), AKA the Wolfenstein-1 setting.
Game Overview
This is a flashier remake of Wolfenstein 3D, the game that more or less started the FPS genre back in 1992. It’s the first game in the franchise to have a more fleshed out story wrapped around its gameplay, with voiced dialogue and cutscenes elaborating on the simpler “you must escape the castle and kill Nazis” plot of the 1992 game.
The game takes place in a pulpier version of WWII, where the Nazis are working on a large variety of scary secret projects and the OSA (a joint Allied spy agency) is sending agents to stop them from hitting the field. The player character, as always, is William “B. J.” Blazkowicz. He gets sent along with a British agent to Castle Wolfenstein to find more about these projects, they get captured, and the game starts with Blazko’s escape attempt and moves on to thwarting those projects to the Allies can win the war.
There are two sinister things going on here: an attempt by the Thule society to resurrect ancient evil undead knights, and a mad science lab working to build cyborg supersoldiers. The final boss is, of course, a bunch of cyborg supersoldiers possessed by the spirits of ancient evil undead knights.
Historical Weapons
Wolfenstein-1 is mostly a pulpier version of WWII, so a lot of the weapons we see are historical and present on GURPS High-Tech. Though sometimes you’ll start a level with some Allied weapons issued by the OSA, the vast majority of the time you’ll be using captured German hardware.
OSA-issue weapons include the Colt M1911A1 pistol (p. HT99), the Thompson M1 submachine gun (p. HT122), and the Enfield Sten Mk IIS submachine gun (p. HT 125). The integral suppressor of the Sten works according to cinematic principles here, making it completely silent to enemies.
Interestingly enough, one of the “elite guard” units you face in the game also uses Stens, because they’re meant to be sneaky and the Sten is the only suppressed SMG in the game. The other OSA weapons are used exclusively by the player character.
German weapons include the Luger P08 pistol, (p. HT98), the ERMA MP40 SMG (p. HT 124), the Mauser Kar98K rifle (p. HT111), the Rheinmetall FG42 battle rifle (p. HT 115) and the Panzerfaust (p. HT147). The player also uses these extensively, since every enemy drops ammo for one of them.
The FG42 is the signature weapon of the other “elite guard” unit in the game, and has the scope described in its High-Tech entry. It’s also possible to find a suppressor for the Luger and a variable-power scope for the Mauser, which you can stat up using the generic rules in p. HT 156 and p. HT 158.
You can occasionally also find a few MG42 machine gun (p. HT 134) emplacements in the game. There is also a flamethrower similar to the M2-2 (p. HT179), though this is probably the German equivalent rather than the American version in the book.
Grenades also see use, with most of them being the German Stielhandgranate 24, and the rest American AMC Mk II models. Both are on p. HT190-191.
Fictional Weapons
There’s a lot of pulpy arms research going on here on both sides, so we also get to see some weapons that don’t exist in reality. We’ll cover these in a bit more detail.
Snooper Rifle
This is a prototype sniper rifle issued to Blazkowicz by the OSA early in the second mission of the game. You also find captured rifles later on while breaking into one of the games’ many secret lab facilities.
The Snooper is the most down-to-earth of the experimental weapons here, being an exaggerated version of the M3 Carbine (p. HT113). Even the fancy infrared sight is real! The biggest changes are the addition of a cinematic integral suppressor that makes the gun completely silent, and making the infrared sight more advanced than it really was. The one in the game has variable magnification and requires no external batteries.
Venom Machine Gun
This is the first entirely fictional weapon we encounter in the game, and the second most unrealistic one. It’s a portable, six-barreled, belt-fed minigun. It has relatively short barrels, a shoulder stock and rifle-style grips. There’s an in-game document that describes it as firing 7.92mm saboted armor piercing rounds, but the ammo for it is labeled as “12.7mm” in game. You first find the Venom as a prototype in one of the secret labs that make up the game’s levels, and after that it starts appearing in the hands of some enemy human soldiers. Most of the cyborg supersoldiers you meet towards the end of the game also carry one.
We’ll need custom stats for this one! Let’s go with the assumption that it fires 7.92mm ammo, to make it minimally plausible for it to be portable. To make it a little easier on the user, we can further say it fires the 7.92x33mm Kurz round, instead of the longer 7.92x57mm Mauser round from the Kar98K.
The in-game Venom takes up to 500 rounds. These would probably be in a disintegrating belt inside a metal can that can be worn as a backpack. The whole thing weights around 16kg, more than the weapon itself. More reasonable 200 and 100 round belts with their smaller containers might weight in at 8 and 4kg respectively.
We’ll actually base the stats for it on the Minigun from page 138 of GURPS Ultra-Tech, making the Venom a TL 7+2 weapon. The one on the table fires APDS ammo, which is also TL 7+2 in this caliber, and has a 500-round belt.
TL Weapon Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl 7+2 Venom 6d+2(2) pi- 4 1000/4000 15kg/16kg 25! 500(5) 15M -7 2 The Venom requires Guns (LMG) to operate, or Guns (Longarm) with the Burst-Fire technique if using the alternate gun skill rules from Pyramid #3/65.
Tesla Gun
The weapon used by the advanced cyborg supersoldiers you meet at the very end of the game. Unlike the Venom this doesn’t bear even the tiniest resemblance to any real gun. Pull the trigger and it fires a stream of lightning until you release it or until it runs out of charge.
The Tesla Gun draws power from a superscience backpack battery equivalent to a TL 9 D cell, but four times heavier. Its damage follows the same rules as the Lightning spell: metal armor only provides DR 1, and the target must make a HT roll with a penalty of -1 for every 2 points of injury taken from it. Failure means they’re stunned, and must attempt an HT roll every turn in order to recover.
TL Weapon Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl 7+2^ Tesla Gun 4d+2 burn sur 6 600/1900 35kg/10kg 10 50 (5) 18M -8 1 The Tesla Gun requires Gunner (Beam) to operate, even when carried.
How much for these fancy guns?
You’ll notice that I ommitted any price information for the Venom and the Tesla Gun above. That’s because in Wolfenstein-1 they’re secret prototypes with very limited production runs. You don’t buy them, you pry them from the hands of dead Nazi assholes.
If you want to use them on a different setting where they are available for purchase, use the following costs:
Name Cost Venom MG $12.500 Venom Ammo (100-round belt, APDS) $180 Venom Ammo (100-round belt, solid) $60 Tesla Gun $60.000 Tesla Battery $400 These are for a setting with a tech level of 7+2. If you’re in a “plain” TL9 setting you might want to use the Minigun and Semi-Portable Electrolaser from Ultra-tech, which have slightly better stats.
If your setting is like Wolfenstein-1, where the overall TL is a plain 7 and these are secret superscience prototypes, multiply all prices by 4.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Tannarukk
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the other.
This one feels like an AD&D 2nd Edition creation, as that’s when they renamed demons as “ta’nari”.
The Lore
Tannarukk are engineered hybrids of orc and demon DNA, the product of rituals performed by demon lords or ambitious mortal spellcasters. These rituals are effectively a mass-production process, as they involve pulsing vats and can create dozens of the creatures at once. In most cases they’re immediately put to work as soldiers and weapons of war, though they’re extremely difficult to keep under control unless they get “enough” opportunity to commit violence. As you might expect, that’s a tall order.
The few free tannarukk bands that exist tend to seek work as mercenaries. Free or not, they can most often be found in the Astral Sea or Elemental Chaos, usually fighting something. They do sometimes show up in the middle world, and they love it because few warriors there can match their skill and resilience in combat.
The Numbers
Tannarukks are Medium Elemental Humanoids with the Demon and Orc keywords. They have Darkvision and Speed 6, along with Resist Fire 5. Their signature trait is Indomitable Fury, which kicks in when they drop to 0 HP for the first time in the fight. It makes them stay at 1 HP instead and gives them +2 to attacks and +4 to damage until the end of the encounter.
This means the PCs should make sure each Tannarukk in the encounter stays down by hitting it again before it can get a chance to take more actions. If they don’t, they’re going to take more damage; if they do, that’s one attack that didn’t go to a healthier monster.
Tannarukk Marauder
Most tannarukks conform to this stat block, which is your basic enthusiastic axe murderer. Marauders wear hide and wield a greataxe, and can also thrown handaxes at those they can’t quite reach.
Their Nimble Reaction trait gives them +4 AC against opportunity attacks, which is good because their signature move relies on fishing for them: Brutal Rampage allows them to move their speed and make a greataxe attack at any point during the move. This attack gains a +5 damage bonus for each opportunity attack made against the marauder during the move (but before the attack). The opportunity attacks don’t need to hit, they just need to happen.
Tannarukk Steel Warrior
This is a bigger tannarukk that received better training and had armor riveted to its hide. It’s a Level 18 Soldier with 177 HP. Its armor counts as plate, and it wields a shield and a Longsword, plus a Crossbow for ranged attacks.
The sword marks for a turn, and the warrior can make free attacks against enemies that ignore the mark. It can also be used in a special attack named Burning Cage (recharge 5+). This melee attack targets Reflex and does heavy fire damage. The target takes a further 5 fire damage every time it enters a square during its turn (save ends).
Tannarukk Flame Speaker
This is a tannarukk spellcaster whose power relies on a connection to the abyssal flames that go into their production ritual. It’s level 17 Artillery with 129 HP and resist 10 fire, a bit higher than usual for them.
The flame speaker fights with a Staff in melee, and with fire bolts at range. It can also shoot a fire barrage (recharge 5+) that targets up to three creatures but does a bit less damage than the basic bolt.
Once per encounter, the flame speaker can summon Winds of Fire, an area burst attack that deals fire damage and creates a zone that lasts for the rest of the encounter. Anyone starting their turn inside takes 10 fire damage and is pulled 1 square towards the zone’s origin square.
In addition to Indomitable Fury, the flame speaker also has Avenging Fire, which triggers when it hits 0 HP for the second time. It deals some automatic fire damage to the triggering enemy.
Final Impressions
These stat blocks take up a lot of space on the book, but they’re simpler than they look. Each one has a solid gimmick and appropriate base stats. I guess tannarukks are meant to be regular enemies for upper paragon PCs - stronger than minions, but you’ll still meet a lot of them.
Lore-wise, I’m not sure I like them. They’re more or less D&D’s take on the Uruk-Hai, I guess, but there are a lot more opponents at this level range that feel cooler and less potentially problematic.
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