Thrug

Description

This is a powerful, hulking humanoid with coarse gray flesh, unkempt black hair, and massive, bulging muscles. It has a hunched back, a hanging, pear-shaped head, and a dull, listless expression upon its face.

This thrall species were bred to serve as common labor in an environment where less resilient slaves would be unlikely to survive. The thrug are simple-minded beings who need steady supervision to perform their tasks properly. They are capable of being trained to do mundane tasks repetitively, however, and once they have mastered their duty they can continue to perform the same actions for untold hours on end.

Thrug are generally humanoid in form, with wrinkled gray flesh, thin, coarse black hair, and massive, bulging muscles. Their arms are impressively powerful and dangle down well below their thick knees. The enormous legs have thighs the size of tree trunks and their feet are shaped as an elephant's. They are extremely hump-backed in posture, with a pear-shaped head hanging down below their shoulders. The face of a thrug has a dull-witted, listless expression, with three sleepy eyes, widely-spaced nostrils, and a wide, gawking mouth filled with small, crooked fangs.

The thrug have few physical requirements and are typically kept under appalling conditions by their owners. They have little need for sleep, and can be fed gruel and strips of raw meat. Thrug are inevitably hirsute, unclean, malodorous beings with few redeeming qualities besides their enormous strength and remarkable physical toughness. They can continue to labor onward in circumstances that would be lethal for a typical human.

Besides their qualities as laborers, thrug occasionally serve as sport in gladiatorial contests. Their formidable physical prowess make them impressive spectacles, even if they lack suitable combative qualities. Such battle thrall are often decorated in menacing tattoos to enhance their threatening appearance, and may be manipulated with mind-affecting magic prior to the match in order to make them fight more effectively.

Combat

Due to the careful breeding that produced this servile species, it is quite difficult to bring a thrug to a state of rage or resistance. However they are readily commanded to perform any task, including attacking an opponent. Their tactics are simplistic in the extreme, as they bear down on a foe and try to smash it and rend it limb from limb. When faced with multiple foes, a thrug will stomp and smash its way through the bodies. It can readily endure most wounds, and will withstand an impressive amount of damage before finally being brought down.

Trample (Ex): Reflex half DC 25. The save DC is Strength-based.

Trap Weapon (Ex): Unless it is paralyzed or held, whenever a thrug is successfully struck with a slashing or piercing melee weapon, the powerful surrounding muscles instinctively clamp down on the wound and have a chance to disarm the weapon. The attacker must succeed on a DC 25 Reflex save, or the weapon will be trapped and yanked out of the attacker's grasp. Creatures using natural weapons are automatically grappled if they are caught. The trapped weapon is released a round later. The save DC is Strength-based.

Wound Closure (Ex): Unless it is paralyzed or held, whenever a thrug is wounded the damage is quickly contained to prevent blood loss. The wound is sealed by the surrounding muscled within a round. This ability will automatically prevent continuing damage from a persistent wound, and will immediately stabilize the thrug when its hit points drop to between -1 and -9 inclusive.

Resiliency (Ex): *A thrug has a +4 racial bonus on saving throws against disease, poison, and sleep effects. (This bonus is not factored into the statistics above.) It continues to fight without penalty even when disabled or dying.

Servile (Ex): A thrug is affected by mind-affecting spells and abilities that normally affect a humanoid creature. It receives a -8 penalty on opposed rolls against Intimidate checks. A typical opposed roll is 1d20 + 10 + size difference modifier.

Improved Lifting: The lifting and carrying capacity of a thrug are triple those of Medium characters.

Advanced Benefits

In addition to the standard changes due to Hit Dice advancement, thrug also gain the following special benefits.

• The save DC of the trample is equal to 10 + ½ HD + Strength modifier.
• The save DC of the wound closure is equal to 10 + ½ HD + Strength modifier.
• The resiliency racial bonus is equal HD/3.
• 14–15 HD ― Fast healing improves to 3.
• 15–17 HD ― The resiliency racial bonus is +5.
• 16+ HD ― Fast healing improves to 4.
• 18 HD ― The resiliency racial bonus is +6.

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