The High Ogre Diplomat. Learning things as I go.
I’ve been listening to Stephen Glicker and Mark Seifter on the Roll for Combat channel on YouTube. They’ve had a couple of livestreams related to RPG Superstar as of late. There has been a hefty amount of advice on monster building. Glicker and Seifter’s advice has been incredibly useful so far.
Some of this stuff isn’t necessarily new to me. I’ve been creating monsters since my first AD&D Monster Manual. I like some of their advice regarding what their judges are looking for. I’m slightly terrified that Luke from DMs Lair and NoNat1s are potentially judging my work, so I want to make my entries as good as possible. (*Although Imposter Syndrome is still very much a thing.)
Here are the new stats. I’m working on making the High Ogre Ancestry more rare and aloof. Their Charisma and sorcerous bloodline are coming to the forefront of the creation at this point. The text portion of the entry are posted below.
High Ogres are large, light blue skinned humanoid in fine colorful silk robes. Often wearing a curved ceremonial sword in and ornate scabbard. In times of conflict, a lamellar hauberk will be donned over the robes. Hair is usually white or gray. Both men and women tend to wear their hair long in braids or ponytails. Earrings, piercings and tattoos are often status symbols among the intellectual, artistic and political elite in their culture. They have slightly pointed ears. Most wear a cloth or silk sash and belt with a coin purse tied on along with a small water or wine bottle.
High Ogre society places an emphasis on aesthetics over function. High Ogres often wear flowing silk robes or couture gowns. Many are also wear multiple face and body piercings along with many colorful tattoos. Many are considered beautiful, with bodies that appear as if sculpted from solid stone.
The exception to their aesthetics is their slightly curved ceremonial swords. Even diplomats are trained from an early age to be lightning fast and strike with utter ruthlessness. Their technique is to draw fast and strike hard, but luckily they are generally difficult to anger.
High Ogres are far more difficult to find than their more brutish cousins. They normally live in communities of 5-21 High Ogres. Often Orcs, Elves or some other civilized being will surround the High Ogre community and live in harmoniously with them. Family and community are important to them. They are also known among their peers for peaceful resolutions and mediation.
High Ogres are far more civilized and advanced than their brutish cousins. They pride themselves on their culture and civilization. They are normally interested in diplomacy and peaceful solutions. They typically look to other races for military solutions as they don’t have numbers, but do have wealth.
The changing face of the High Ogre.
I’ve added a lot of Charisma abilities and skills. I’ve taken the Dex down to be even with the rest of the physical stats. I mean, it’s still an Ogre to some extent.
They make use of their Charisma to have Elves and Orcs, among others, to assist them with a lot of their day-to-day needs. High Ogres are renowned for their diplomacy and mediation abilities.
I’ve also given them spells to reflect their Arcane bloodline. Sorcerers are more probably among High Ogres. I have not given them a full spread of Sorcerer spells, however. GMs might want to add or change some of their spell repertoire, but these are my suggestions. The High Ogres are more about politics, diplomacy, and mediation- the opposite of their primitive cousins.
I think Pathfinder might eventually go the same route 5E went in that spell slots on monsters are gone and all monsters have a set of spell abilities. That way there’s not as much to track and the GM doesn’t have to look up spells. My next revision might drop the spells completely. Innate spells are becoming the way to go.
I’m still going back and forth about some sort of fast melee strike in the event something does come up. They’re still Ogres, so I feel like maybe they should be able to defend themselves physically. I feel like 9th level creatures should be more diplomatic and High Ogres usually have some kind of bodyguard.
There is kind of the expectation in the back of my mind that outside of a dungeon we’re going to have more conversations amongst characters and NPCs. Intelligent monsters are going to be more chatty the farther the levels go up. You don’t become an Ancient Red Dragon by attacking everything that crosses your path blindly. Adventurers can be a serious threat at higher levels.
More to come on this creature and others. Gotta start building those contest entries. It’s getting easier to navigate.
Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it. Lots of love.
Jeff's Game Box 