Grimlock

A muscular humanoid stares with dark, eyeless sockets. It fingers a notched batleaxe and emits a low growl.
Grimlock CR 1

XP 400
NE Medium monstrous humanoid
Init+1;Senses blindsight 40 ft., scent; Perception +9

DEFENSE

AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +4 natural)
hp13 (2d10+2)
Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +2
Immune gaze attacks, visual effects
Weaknesses blind

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee battleaxe +4 (1d8+3/x3)

STATISTICS

Str 15, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 6
Base Atk+2; CMB +4; CMD 15
Feats Alertness, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Climb +7, Perception +9, Sense Motive +1, Stealth +6 (+16 in mountains and underground), Survival +4; Racial Modifier +10 to Stealth in mountains and underground
Languages Grimlock, Undercommon

Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (nature) can learn more about a Grimlock. When a character makes a successful skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs.

Knowledge (nature)

DC Result
6
Grimlocks are blind but extremely aggressive subterranean humanoids.
11
Although blind, a grimlock can see out to a range of 40 feet and has the normal chance to detect creatures beyond through hearing and smell.
16
Grimlocks rarely employ missile weapons. The best way to fight them is at range.
21 Large parties of grimlocks often possess a medusa or sorcerer leader. 

ECOLOGY
Environment underground
Organization gang (2-4), pack (10-20), tribe (10-60 plus 1 leader of 3rd-5th level per 10 adults), war party (60-100 plus 1 leader of 3rd-5th level per 10 adults plus 1 medusa leader or 1 leader of 6th-8th level).
Treasure standard

Foul, subterranean creatures, grimlocks form primitive societies and spend most of their time hunting for food, fight-ing amongst themselves or attacking other creatures for loot and pillage. When roused, grimlocks form small war parties to raid other humanoids in search of food or slaves. It is not uncommon for grimlocks to raid surface communities in the mountains or near entrances to the underdeep. It is said they prefer human meat above all others. This has led some scholars to assume grimlocks descend from surface dwellers who lost their way in the lightless depths and eventually had to resort to cannibalism to survive. Since sight was not required in such an environment, grimlocks developed other senses at the cost of their eyes.

Both genders are muscular, gray in color (hence their natural camouflage), smelly, and hard to distinguish with a casual glance. Their primitive nature means grimlocks cannot form large or complex societies. Even if they did, their natural aggressiveness would soon turn them on each other. Rarely, a powerful warlock or medusa will organize several small tribes into a larger force but only for a short time.

The blindsight ability allows a grimlock to “see” normally to a range of 40 feet. Beyond that, they treat all creatures as if they had total concealment. This means grimlocks prefer melee to ranged combat but they will make use of short-ranged missile weapons such as knives, axes, and stones. They rely on hearing and smell to detect their environment. If either sense is negated, a grimlock fights as if it had the Blind-Fight feat. A grimlock without either sense takes penalties as if it were blind.

Grimlocks with class levels are almost always barbarians, rangers or rogues, and very rarely sorcerers who usually possess the aberrant bloodline.

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Forgotten Foes © 2010 Tricky Owlbear Publishing, Inc.; Authors Mark Gedak and Stefen Styrsky.