Home / Delve into the Depths in the Kobold Blog / Old Hat Monsters: Tribal Hero Template

Old Hat Monsters: Tribal Hero Template

Old Hat Monsters: Tribal Hero Template

Illustration of a scene in Robert E. Howard's "Red Nails": this picture was first published in Weird Tales (July 1936, vol. 28, no. 1).“My lands are where my dead lie buried.”—Crazy Horse

Tribal cultures sometimes have a different leader in war then when in peace. The tribal chieftain template I discussed last week was for a chieftain who mostly leads primarily by speaking. The tribal hero, or war chief if you prefer, leads by action.

You can represent this by simply applying the advanced template if you want fast, easy, and boring. If, instead, you’d like to challenge your players with a template designed for guerilla warfare tactics, join me after the jump for the tribal hero (CR +2).

We’ll start with statistics. A tribal hero needs to react quickly to danger, stealthily lead an ambush or night raid, and gracefully avoid damage, so let’s go with Dexterity +4. Planning is crucial—often tribal cultures are invaded by people with better technology, magic, or both, thus the hero needs to understand these advantages and counter with the strengths of the tribe. So, Intelligence +4. That said, sometimes being a hero is simply about being more powerful then your peers: +2 Hit Dice and +1 BAB.

The tribal hero is a feared figure and capable of great stealth and feats of athletic prowess. Add +6 to Intimidation, Stealth, and Acrobatics. Catching enemies or challengers is nearly as important as striking when an enemy is disadvantaged, so add +4 to Perception and Sense Motive.

Tribal heroes gain the following feats: Precise Strike, Improved Initiative, Combat Reflexes, Poison Use, and Outflank.* Tribal heroes thrive on their home turf, so they gain 1 favored terrain and 2 favored enemies against traditional tribal enemies.**

Tribal heroes gain the following special attacks.

Count Coup: When a tribal hero hits a target in his or her favored terrain or hits a favored enemy, he or she can elect to deal no damage and daze the target for 1 round (no save.)

Sacrificial Charge: For an additional –2 to AC, a charging tribal hero can deal double damage on a charge.

Equipment: Treat the tribal hero as a player character of the same level as his or her Hit Dice. If you want to limit the reward the PCs gain, make the majority of the treasures consumable (and consume them).

*Even if the tribal hero would not normally qualify.

**You can stack the bonuses on the same favored enemy if the tribe has only one traditional enemy.

6 thoughts on “Old Hat Monsters: Tribal Hero Template”

  1. I’d be interested to see a (Kobold Press’ own) trollkin tribal hero. With their fast healing and high strength and constitution, they seem like a good fit. They also have a +9 (with their racial modifiers) Handle Animal, so perhaps that could be factored into this tribal hero.

    Hopefully, you have access to The Raven’s Call, and therefore the stats for a trollkin. Unfortunately, it’s still in the final review queue on d20pfsrd.com, so I can’t link to it.

    If the trollkin isn’t a possibility, how about the small and tenacious kobold? I always enjoy a new take on kobolds, and a tribal hero isn’t something you’d typically associate with the rather skittish kobolds.

  2. Using http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/humanoids/troblin sorry to say I do not have the Trollkin (but hey Wolfgang if you want to comp me a pdf :p )

    Troblin Tribal Hero
    TROBLIN CR 4
    XP 1200
    CE Medium humanoid (goblinoid)
    Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +2
    DEFENSE
    AC 23, touch 13, flat-footed 20 (+3 Dex, +2 natural, +6 armor, +2 shield)
    hp 40 (5d8+15); regeneration 2 (acid or fire)
    Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +1
    OFFENSE
    Speed 30 ft.
    Melee greatclub +6 (1d10+4+ Poison and possibly 1D6 when flanking), bite +1 (1d6+1) or 2 claws +6 (1d4+3), bite +6 (1d6+3)
    Tribal heroes gain the following special attacks.
    Count Coup: When a tribal hero hits a target in his or her favored terrain or hits a favored enemy, he or she can elect to deal no damage and daze the target for 1 round (no save.)
    Sacrificial Charge: For an additional –2 to AC, a charging tribal hero can deal double damage on a charge.
    TACTICS
    Troblins are a disorganized lot, and rarely engage in any sort of formal tactics or strategy. When a troblin war band encounters opponents, they simply attack with as much strength and ferocity as they can muster. Troblins are even more craven and cowardly than goblins, and a lone troblin usually runs from any combat in which it is outnumbered.
    STATISTICS
    Str 16, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 7
    Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 16
    Feats Great Fortitude, Toughness, Precise Strike, Improved Initiative, Combat Reflexes, Poison Use, and Outflank
    Skills Acrobatics +9, Intimidation +4, Perception +8, Sense Motive +4, Stealth +10,
    Languages Giant
    SQ mutation, Favored Terrain Forrest, Favored Enemies Humans, Elves
    Gear +1 greatclub of mighty cleaving, Breatplate, buckler, feather step slippers, sling, bag of bullets, 3 doses of blue, netwhinnis poison, 2 potions of cure light wounds, 1 potion of fire resistence
    SPECIAL ABILITIES
    Mutation (Ex)
    The regenerative ability of a troblin does not function as well as those of its trollish parent. Sometimes when an injured troblin regenerates, its body warps in an inexplicable fashion. A severed arm may regrow as two arms, or a scar may grow to cover the troblin’s entire body in thick skin. Further, if a troblin suffers a critical hit in melee, it has a 25% chance of gaining a mutation once it is fully healed.

  3. Thanks for searching for a similar monster, Frank. That’s a close match to the trollkin, and I think the tribal hero template works well with it! I can imagine the confusion this fellow would cause when first encountered: “Is it goblin? A troll? OUCH! It did HOW much damage?”

  4. Derek I think this fills your order nicely, bonus makes a good challenge to those looking for a more bad to the bone Boggard a certain AP.

    Advanced Tribal Chieftain Boggard Hero Barbarian CR 8
    CE Medium humanoid (boggard) Barbarian 2
    Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +12
    DEFENSE
    AC 26, touch 14, flat-footed 21 (+6 armor, +3 Dex, +5 natural, Dodge +1, Shield +1)
    hp 55 (5d8+2d12+19)
    Fort +10, Ref +3, Will +5
    OFFENSE
    Speed 20 ft., swim 30 ft.
    Melee morningstar +9 (1d8+8+ 1d6 flanking and poison), tongue + 2 touch (sticky tongue)
    Ranged blowgun +8 (1D2 + poison), or small boulder (1d12+6) when hurling using lesser hurling
    Special Attacks terrifying croak, count coup, sacrificial charge
    STATISTICS
    Str 19(23), Dex 17, Con 18(24), Int 16, Wis 19, Cha 18
    Base Atk +5; CMB +9 (11); CMD +22(24)
    Feats Dodge, Toughness, Weapon Focus (morningstar), Weapon focus (blowgun), Weapon Specialization (Morningstar), Precise Strike, Improved Initiative, Combat Reflexes, Poison Use, and Outflank
    Skills Acrobatics +11 (+26 jumping), B;uff+9, Diplomacy +9, Intimidation +18, Knowledge Nature +11, Knowledge local +11, Knowledge History +11, Perception +8(+14 in swamps), Perform Oratory +12, Sense Motive +13, Survival +12, Stealth +9 (+18 in swamps), Swim +10; Racial Modifiers +16 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Perception, +8 Stealth in swamps
    Languages Boggard
    Gear: +2 Mithral Chain Shirt, Dark wood spiked buckler, +1 morningstar, mulechords, barbed net, 4 potions of firebreathing, 2 potions of bull strength, 2 tanglefoot bags, 4 doss of giant scorpion venom, 2 thunderstones, 1 cure moderate wounds (and 1 each for 5 followers)
    SQ hold breath, swamp stride, favored enemy humans, favored enemy swamp striders, favored terrain swamps, chieftain morale, rage

    SPECIAL ABILITIES
    Hold Breath (Ex)
    A boggard can hold its breath for a number of rounds equal to four times its Constitution score before it risks drowning or suffocating.
    Sticky Tongue (Ex)
    A creature hit by a boggard’s tongue attack cannot move more than 10 feet away from the boggard and takes a –2 penalty to AC as long as the tongue is attached (this penalty does not stack if multiple tongues are attached). The tongue can be removed by making an opposed Strength check as a standard action or by dealing 2 points of slashing damage to the tongue (AC 11, damage does not deplete the boggard’s actual hit points). The boggard cannot move more than 10 feet away from the target, but the boggard can release its tongue as a free action. Unlike a giant frog, a boggard cannot pull targets toward it with its tongue.
    Swamp Stride (Ex)
    A boggard can move through any sort of natural difficult terrain at its normal speed while within a swamp. Magically altered terrain affects a boggard normally.
    Terrifying Croak (Su)
    Once per hour, a boggard can, as a standard action, emit a loud and horrifying croak. Any non-boggard creature within 30 feet of the boggard must make a DC 13 Will save or become shaken for 1d4 rounds. Creatures that succeed at this save cannot be affected again by the same boggard’s croak for 24 hours. Creatures that are already shaken become frightened for 1d4 rounds instead. The save DC is Charisma-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.
    Count Coup (Ex)
    When a tribal hero hits a target in his or her favored terrain or hits a favored enemy, he or she can elect to deal no damage and daze the target for 1 round (no save.)
    Sacrificial Charge (Ex)
    For an additional –2 to AC, a charging tribal hero can deal double damage on a charge.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join the Kobold Courier and Earn Loot!

Stay informed with the newest Kobold Press news and updates delivered to your inbox weekly. Join now and receive a PDF copy of Shards of the Spellforge

Join The Kobold Courier

38878

Be like Swolbold. Stay up to date with the newest Kobold Press news and updates delivered to your inbox twice a month.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This
Scroll to Top