Gorax
GM's Eyes Only
Spoilers. This page is written for the GM, and players who read on will learn things their characters don't know.
A hulking, ape-like brute of Azlotl's jungles that grows stronger when it's hurt. Source: Iron Kingdoms Monsternomicon, p. 44.
What it is. Thick muscle over bone as dense as hardwood, a mane of matted hair down the spine and the backs of its long arms, huge digging claws, and a wide mouth crowded with crooked teeth and tusks. It stinks: its sweat and saliva carry the musk gorax use to know one another, and it licks its arms to keep the smell strong.
Pain makes it worse. A wound short of a killing blow drives a gorax into mounting fury, stronger and more savage with each injury, for hours afterward. An enraged gorax can tear a horse in half.
Behavior. Irritable past reason. Once roused, it sees everything as either a threat or a meal, charges the nearest target, and goes after whatever hurt it most with no thought for itself. It dens in damp caves, scraping the walls into deep, overlapping claw furrows, and drags kills home to store. Gorax eat any meat, and one that tastes people starts seeking them out.
In Tir Hathar. Azlotl's jungles. Totally primitive and ape-like: beasts, not a people, so none of IK's trained war-gorax or blood-sport history. Theria doesn't get them; its dinosaurs are enough.
Stats¶
First draft, built from WWN's baseline stat lines.
| HD | AC | Atk | Dmg | Shock | Move | ML | Inst | Skill | Save | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gorax | 5 | 14 | +6 x2 | 1d8 | 2/13 | 30' | 10 | 7 | +1 | 13+ |
- Pain-fueled. Once it has taken any damage, it gains +2 to hit and damage, and its Morale becomes 12 for the rest of the fight. The fury lasts for hours.
- Chomp. If both claws hit the same target in one Main Action, it bites that target too, for another 1d10.
- Rage. Once roused, it charges the nearest creature, then turns on whatever has hurt it most. Goading it is easy: its Instinct checks are made at a -2 penalty.
Still open: playtesting the numbers.