By Paul Ingrassia
Creature Name: Dwarf-Ogre
Monster Rating: -
Combat Dice: -
Special Damage: Warrior Bonus; Normal Spite Damage
Special Abilities: Warrior Armor Bonus; Gains WIZ points by eating standard Dwarves at the rate of One Wz/Cn point of the consumed victim; Also see below for other racial abilities.
Attribute Modifiers:
STR 2 CON 2 DEX 1 INT 1 LK 0.71 CHR 1.25 WIZ 2 HT (0.67)x2 WT 2
History and Description:
When Gristlegrim carved his first Dwarves in an effort to create his own subject race, prior to bringing the Dwarves of Midgard to Trollworld, he considered them a failure. (See Ken St. Andre's essay Dwarves, found in his A Fragmentary History of Trollworld). Upon the arrival of the Midgard Dwarves, Gristlegrim went about carving a new race of Dwarves with the help of their stonemasons. His first experimental Dwarves, much more crudely fashioned, were all but forgotten and left to fend for themselves. Though largely brutish and stupid due to their lack of training, the original Dwarves managed to sneak out of Gristlegrim's caverns and survive on their own on the surface of Trollworld. They had, however, developed enough intelligence to harbor a deep jealousy and hatred for both the Midgard Dwarves and Gristlegrim's new Dwarves.
The tribe began calling themselves the First Dwarves, and settled in a hidden cavern complex deep within a dark forest. After several decades of living in seclusion, the First Dwarves had learned much in the way of stealth, ambush, and battle. They were ready for their revenge. They began a raiding campaign of bloody surprise attacks against small groups of both Midgard and Trollworld Dwarves, giving no quarter, and devouring the corpses of their dead enemies. These guerilla tactics served the First Dwarves well, for a time, but as their numbers dwindled the volume of attacks declined. Unable to reproduce on their own, they came to realize their numbers were finite. They had also started changing. Due to their cannabalistic ways, the First Dwarves were morphing into Ogres. (See Tom 'Kopf' Loney's article about T&T Ogres and Giants here) They also came to realize that their safety was at risk, as they could never survive a major assault against them with so few left. The First Dwarves decided to disband their tribe and each set out on a solitary path, an event which they refer to as The Leaving. Every ten years, the remaining First Dwarves all meet at what they call The Gathering, held in a different, secret location each decade. They have come to be called Dwarf-Ogres by the rest of Trollworld, and are considered somewhat legendary, as most folks think they are all long dead. To the Dwarves of Gristlegrim, the Dwarf-Ogres are a very rare and hated enemy to be destroyed on sight.
Some few have grown weary of their long, solitary existences and have recently struck out into the world in search of adventure. Dwarf-Ogres are always expressed in terms of Attributes instead of Monster Ratings, as each one is a unique individual from a near-dead race. They appear as huge, twisted versions of Gristlegrim's Dwarves with Ogre-like features, such as tusks, horns or claws. All Dwarf-Ogres have increased in height (use the Dwarf HT modifier of 0.67, then multiply the result by 2) as a result of becoming Ogrish. They will without question kill and devour any Gristlegrim or Midgard Dwarf on sight (increasing their Wiz by the number of the victim's Con rating, as per Tom's Ogres), and keep the skull as a trophy. If severely outmatched, the Dwarf-Ogre will try desperately to come up with a plan to destroy the Dwarves. Dwarf-Ogres are generally NPCs, but PCs are possible for solos, or extremely rarely in parties of delvers which do not include standard Dwarves. A PC Dwarf-Ogre must make a Lvl 4 SR on INT if they wish to resist this powerful racial hatred when in the presence of a standard Dwarf. They may only be Warriors. All Dwarf-Ogres automatically have an Ambush Talent based on the highest of their Dex, Int, or Luck, which includes stealthy movement, hiding, backstabbing, and other surprise tactics. They also receive the standard Talent choice granted at character creation. Most favor large crushing weapons as their main armament, such as maces, warhammers, and mauls. Many also like to carry 4' - 6' or larger swords as secondary weapons. As a rule of thumb, if a Dwarf-Ogre has twice the required STR, he may wield two-handed weapons with a single hand. Their armor is generally made up of mixed pieces and bits, they prefer to not use full suits or use shields, but most love helmets.
Author's Note: The Dwarf-Ogre kindred was inspired by the Death in the Dark Dwarven Ogre miniature I recently purchased, released by RAFM Company (pictured below), as well as Ken St. Andre's Dwarves essay and Tom Kopf Loney's Ogres and Giants Creature Feature.
Copyright 2011 Paul Ingrassia
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