What Is That? [December CONTEST ENTRIES]

[Ishmayl-Retired]

The title of our December contest here at the CBG is called:

What Is That?

In this contest, we will provide for you an image of a new creature.  Your mission, should you decide to accept, is to describe this new creature, using standard D&D d20 rules.  By describing it, I would like all the necessary stats (think a Monster Manual entry), as well as ecology, how to play the creature as a PC, and how it can be fitted into a campaign as either a monster or a playable race.  Oh, and don't forget to name him.  The creature should be well-balanced, so look through your stats thoroughly.  I would prefer the stats to be written in the  New d20 Stat Block Format, but it isn't necessary for this.  

Without further adieu, here is the creature that you will be writing about this month.



As with the last contest, I would like three volunteers to be judges along with Eldo, brainface, and myself.  The first three to express interest will be judges.  For this contest, I would like the judges to have a pretty decent knowledge of crunch and rules, since some of the judging criteria will be based upon the creature being well-balanced.

Starting this month, we will have two separate threads per contest.  The one labeled "Contest Entries" is for entries only (as well as expressing interest for being a judge).  Please direct all discussion, comedy, and chit-chat to the Discussion Thread (labeled "Contest Discussion").

The deadline for this contest is 12:00 AM EST, Monday, January 1, 2007.

Cheers, and Good Luck!
-Ish

[Poseptune]

To make Ishmayl happy:

This is still just the rough draft, but I don't have time to prettify it.

[spoiler=The Anurad]
 
-Anurad Shaman

[spoiler=History]
When the first Anurad were first encountered deep within forests or jungles, they were thought to be descendants of ancient treants. The Anurad are actually a mix of plant and animals. Long ago a village of humans preparing to attack a nearby village, for reasons now lost in time, unknowingly chopped down a few trees from an enchanted area to make armor and shields. When the villagers donned the newly created armor many of them started to change. The wood began to cover their skin. A third of the population had succumbed to the armor. The wood had blended with their skin changing leaving nothing that would identify them as humans. Large root like spikes grew protruding from their fingers as well as other places along their skin. The Anuradâ,¬,,¢s feet became large and round like two stumps. The families and friends of those transformed, thinking they were demons, turned against them. The Anurad fled to the safety of the forest, finding a small area to live. The people of the Anuradâ,¬,,¢s original village were destroyed less than a decade later. This combined with legends of the forest being haunted left the Anurad alone for decades.  It wasnâ,¬,,¢t until small groups wanted to find new lands that they were introduced to the rest of the world.
[/spoiler]

Anurad
Anurad, 1st-Level Warrior
Medium Humanoid(Augmented)
Hit Dice: 1d8 (4 hp)
Initiative: -1
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (-1 Dex, +3 Hide Armor, +2 Heavy Wooden Shield +2 Natural Armor), touch 09, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+2
Attack: +2 Handaxe 1d6+1, or -1 Javelin 1d6 +1
Full Attack: +2 Handaxe 1d6+1, or -1 Javelin 1d6 +1
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Bark Skin, Rooted base, Low-light vision, Drink from the earth
Saves: Fort +2, Ref -1, Will +0
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 08, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 11
Skills:  Intimidate 3, Spot 2, Listen 2
Feats: Alertness
Environment: Temperate Forest, or Jungles
Organization:  Patrols (2-3), Family (5-9), Tribe (30 -350 half to three quarters noncombatants)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually true neutral
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +1

The Anurad stand about 6 feet tall and weigh about 450 pounds. Their wooden skin is usually brown, sometimes with small patches of moss. Most wear simple shrouds in shades of brown or green.

Combat:
The Anurad usually attack in groups, coordinating attacks to take down stronger foes. The Anurad are rarely found alone. After being ostracized by their former  family members the Anurad society grew close and began to fear being alone.

Bark Skin: The Anuradâ,¬,,¢s bark skin provides them with +2 Natural armor and Light Fortification (25% chance that critical or sneak attack is negated).

Rooted Base: The Anurad large round feet give them a +4 to opposed rolls against being bullrushed or tripped.

Drink from the earth: If an Anurad is standing on soil or near a water source little roots extend from its feet and dig into the ground. These roots allow the Anurad to feed off water and nutrients from the earth and can sustain her as though she has eaten a dayâ,¬,,¢s worth of rations when no food sources are available.


Anurad as characters:
The Anurad usually live in close knit families and tribes. Rarely do they leave their surroundings, but there are some that have a want to explore the world. Those that meet groups to travel with will take these members as their families.

Anurad have the following racial stats:
-   +2 Str, -2 Dex
-   Medium Size
-   Base speed 30 ft
-   Special Qualities (see above): Bark Skin, Rooted Base, Drink from the earth.
-   Languages: Common, Anurie. Bonus Languages: Terran, Elven, Gnome, Halfling
-   Favored Class: Fighter
-   Level Adjustment: +1

Fitted Anurad into your setting:
The Anurad fit well in any heavily forested or jungle areas. They are peaceful and mild tempered, but will defend their families ferociously. Banishment is one of the highest forms of punishment for the Anurad. Lone Anurad have usually done something horrible to warrant banishment, such as murder, or betrayal. Any one that knows this will usually look upon the Anurad with disgusts or fear, even the rare ones that choose to leave home.


[/spoiler]

[Captain Obvious]

Well, here's my contribution. Took a while to get around to writting it all out, but here it is.

 [spoiler=The Bogherin]
 [note] [/note] Bogherin CR 8
This large humanoid stands half again as tall as a man, and has tough light gray hide. It has a smooth head that swoops back to a point. Its feet are like tree trunks with massive blunt claw-like toes and there are sharper ones coming out at the knees, the elbows and several finger-like one at the end of each muscular arm. Itâ,¬,,¢s intimidating appearance is amplified by two long horns running through its skin, down the sides of its head and another three massive tusks emerging from its shoulders. These look to be made of different colored bone then the others â,¬' almost as if they were from another creature.

Usually N Large Monstrous Humanoid
Init +3; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Scent; Listen +13, Spot +13
Languages
--------------------------------------
AC 22, touch 12, flat-footed 19;
(+3 Dex, +10 natural, -1 size)
hp  95 (9 HD)
Fast Healing 8
Immune disease, poison
Fort +9, Ref +11, Will +12
--------------------------------------
Speed 40 ft. (8 squares); Climb 20 ft.
Melee 2 claws +15 (1d8+6)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Base Atk +9; Grp +19
Atk Options power attack, rend
Special Actions consume, ground slam
--------------------------------------
Abilities Str 23, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 13
SA rend (1d8+9), ground slam
Feats Alertness, Iron Will, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Climb +11, Jump +11, Listen +13, Spot +13
Advancement by character class; Favored Class barbarian
--------------------------------------
Rend (Ex) If a bogherin hits a single target with both claw attacks, he may immediately rend. This deals extra damage equal to a claw attack plus 1 Ã,½ times itâ,¬,,¢s strength bonus.
Ground Slam (Ex) As a full round action, a bogherin that jumps down from a height of at least 10 ft. (or reaches the necessary height with a vertical jump) can cause a shockwave in the earth nearby. All creatures within 10 of the bogherin must make a Reflex save DC 20, or fall prone. This save is constitution based.
Consume (Ex) A bogherin who has fed in the last 12 hours has a +4 racial bonus to whichever physical stat of itâ,¬,,¢s prey was highest. For example, if he ate bear flesh, he would have +4 strength for the next 12 hours. A bogherin can never have more than one of these bonuses at any one time, and the bogherin must have at least aided in the catching of whatever beast it is feeding off of. The prey must be an animal, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid or giant. A bogherin make feed and gain bonuses from other types of creatures, but only gains a +2 bonus and must make a Fortitude save with a DC of 10+the preyâ,¬,,¢s racial HD or be nauseated until the meat has passed from itâ,¬,,¢s system (12 hours).

Strategies and Tactics
A favorite tactic of bogherin is to drop from above and use their slam ability to knock their opponents down. They are deceptively good climbers despite their bulk and unwieldy feet. They use the toe-horns to dig into rock faces or trees and pull themselves up as far as they can. If their foes are lesser in number, they will frequently simply charge and attempt to tear their prey apart as quickly as possible. They are quite cunning though and tribes will set out traps and lay ambushes.

[note] Bogherin Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can research bogherin to learn more about them. When a character succeeds on a skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.
Knowledge (nature)

DC Result
18 Bogherin are perfect hunters, drawing strength from their prey and their rapid metabolism allows them to heal wounds almost immediately.
23 Bogherin are known to hunt by leaping out of trees or off cliffs, and are very cunning trap makers and ambushers.
28 Bogherin hunting grounds are characterized by star-shaped craters and small conical holes in trees and cliffs. Their rapid metabolism allows them to consciously evolve on a daily basis to gain the best qualities of their prey.
[/note]
Environment: Bogherin tend to live in temperate mountain forests, but due to their adaptive abilities, they can essentially live anywhere and will take on some of the characteristics of the other creatures that live there.

Typical Physical Characteristics: A bogherin stands 9 feet tall and weighs about 460 lbs. They have tough gray hide and make horns of varying sizes emerging from their joints. Their rapid healing allows them to augment these by piercing their skin with bones from particularly impressive prey. Some will even have whole tusks emerging from their backs like banner poles. Along with elaborate tattoos and large shawls/cloaks, these piercings help to show an individualâ,¬,,¢s place in the tribe, and tell of their exploits. Bogherin wear some clothing â,¬' mostly loincloths as well as belts and harnesses. Most Bogherin have a cloak, blanket or other large piece of cloth that is draped over the shoulders like a shawl. These shawls are often their most prized possessions although, they always seek to gain a better one whenever they have the opportunity to acquire or trade for one.

Society: Bogherin are the ultimate evolutionaries. The druid leaders of the tribes advise the others on what they should eat so that they can only absorb the strength of creatures that will improve themselves. If they eat a proper diet of a particular creature, then over time, they gain the absorbed characteristics of the creatures permanently. This form of very rapid conscious evolution allows bogherin to rapidly climb to the top of the local food chain â,¬' becoming closer to the native creatures the more they eat them. Bogherin will never eat other members of their tribe, but should two tribes meet in battle, the victors will eat the fallen and thus carry their strength on.

Alignment: Most bogherin are true neutral. They are frequently seen as vicious, but survival of the fittest is simply the core tenet of their philosophy and they see others as prey.

Bogherin with Class Levels
Most bogherin advance as barbarians or rangers, although the leaders of tribes tend to be druids. Not many bogherin use arcane magic though. Add one to their challenge rating for each class level added
Level Adjustment: +5.
[/spoiler]