The Slayer's Guide To Ogres.pdf

The

Slayer’s Guide

Ogres

Shannon Kalvar

Contents

Credits

Editor

Ted Chang

Line Developer

Paul Tucker

Introduction 2

Physiology and Psychology 4

Habitat 9

Studio Manager

Ian Barstow

Society 12

Methods of Warfare 16

Cover Art

John Hodgson

Scenario Hooks 20

Interior Illustrations

Tony Parker

Ogre Characters 24

Production Manager

Alexander Fennell

Proof-Reading

Richard Ford

Ogre Reference List 27

Licences 32

Statistical Analyst

Steve Mulhern

Open Game Content & Copyright Information

this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. Slayer’s Guide to Ogres is

presented under the Open Game and D20 Licences. See page 32 for the text of the Open Game Licence. All text paragraphs

and tables containing game mechanics and statistics derivative of Open Game Content and the System Reference Document

are considered to be Open Game Content. All other signiﬁcant characters, names, places, items, art and text herein are

material herein, please contact Mongoose Publishing for clariﬁcation. ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are Trademarks

owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used according to the terms of the d20 System Licence version 5.0. A copy of

this Licence can be found at www.wizards.com/d20. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is

not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. Dungeons & Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are trademarks of

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and other countries and are used with Permission. Printed in China.

Mongoose Publishing

Mongoose Publishing, PO Box 1018, Swindon, SN3 1DG, United Kingdom

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Visit the Mongoose Publishing website at www.mongoosepublishing.com for additional rules and news

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

These three races represent an amalgamation of three basic

folklore creatures: the ogre (large, strong, dumb), the merrow

(a rather ugly merman from Irish legends) and the Japanese

oni (literally ogre, demon, or ﬁerce god). Ogres belong to

all cultures. Merrow, as a speciﬁc type of relatively friendly

merman, really only appear in Irish folklore. Oni come in

many shapes but the Core Rulebook III limits ogre magi to

relatively mundane forms.

instalment in the long running ‘Slayer’s Guide’

series. Each book in the series focuses on a single

monster or monstrous race from the pages of Core Rulebook

III . This allows us to explore the monster in depth, providing

details about its history, culture and physical presence that

might not be immediately obvious.

Although it is tempting to discard the folklore as irrelevant to

a gaming supplement, that lore also provides some clues to

the solutions we seek. Speciﬁcally, it points towards several

particulars that can be woven together to form a coherent

narrative. These particulars form the framework of this book.

By picking and choosing which elements ﬁt in a speciﬁc setting

the Games Master can easily add depth to his ogres. Similarly

players can create interesting ogre characters from all three

racial strains.

This book, and the others in the series, seeks to provide

the reader with a ‘ready to use’ monster template that both

entertains and intimidates the players. For Games Masters it

needs to provide a sufﬁciently setting neutral yet detail rich

description to be easily applied to any campaign. For players, it

should provide sufﬁcient information to both entice the player

to make a character of the race and bring a level of believability

to hostile encounters with them.

Organisation of

Elements

Rather than stating a single ‘truth’ about ogres, the Slayer’s

Guide to Ogres outlines a variety of possible connections

along common themes. These connections and origins are

all mutually interchangeable; although some represent rather

extreme versions of the ideas presented they all work together.

These elements are backed up with rules designed to assist

players and Games Masters in portraying ogres in a speciﬁc

light.

Why Ogres?

The most difﬁcult question this book must address, more

complex than anything to do with ﬁctional physiology or

subcultures, ﬁnds its clearest expression in the simple question:

Why ogres? Why do players want to create ogre characters?

Why do Games Masters want to use ogres as villains, minions,

or setting elements? What about them attracts attention? What

about them makes them the laughable buffoons encountered

in song and story?

The basic image of ogres, of monstrous stupid men who

can sweep cattle up in their arms, reoccurs in the folklore of

hundreds of cultures. Every single time the ogre appears, a

clever human or god appears right behind it, tricking the mighty

creature to its death. Despite its strength and cannibalistic

ways the ogre stands no chance against the tricky mind of an

alert human being.

Welcome to the world of ogres. Do not fail to pay attention,

or someone may eat you.

What We Know

From the Core Rulebook III we know that ogres are large,

vicious and extremely lazy. They do not work well together, nor

do they believe in bathing. Although they use some basic tactics

most ogre encounters involve running away from foes.

The same source describes two (or possibly three) races of ogre.

The common ogre stands nine to ten feet tall, smells like a dung

heap and avoids direct confrontations. The merrow resemble

their land-bound cousins but breath water and swim like ﬁsh.

Finally we have the ogre mage, a creature somehow related

to the common ogre but remarkably different; although they

share a similar physical appearance the ogre mage represents

a much greater threat than an ogre.

W elcome to the Slayer’s Guide to Ogres , the latest

INTRODUCTION

Quinlan Gray’s teeth cracked together as his back impacted against the rough pit wall. The handle of his

throwing axe bit into his hip. ‘Right. Keep your teeth closed when ﬁghting.’ He spat a wad of blood and

white shards onto the moss covered stones. ‘Lovely. Tall, strong, and it smells bad.’

Footsteps echoed around him like a hail of thunderclaps. Quinlan slid sideways, slipping between the wall

and what he hoped was a large rock. The buzzing of ﬂies and general stench suggested that his shelter

might be something else entirely.

‘Who said these things could see in the dark?’ Faint rays of light illuminated the pit ﬂoor, the sun having

touched the western sky when he started his descent. Locals claimed the creature went out to feed during

the afternoon hours. It should be out there somewhere, eating a cow.

The footsteps faded. For a moment the ﬂy’s buzz ﬁlled the space. Then, from somewhere to his left, Quinlan

heard a great sniff, followed by an almost human exhale and another sniff. He leaned forward onto the

wet, loose stone. It gave under his weight, but held enough for him to lift his head up.

The great beast stood in the last rays of the dying sun. Ruddy light cast shadows along his skin, accenting

the heavy muscles and long torso. Its comically short legs looked almost normal, bathed in shadows that

revealed the depth of their strength. With its head thrown back like that, sucking air into its snout, Quinlan

could not see its black eyes. Which was just as well.

He turned around, sliding on his back down the heap. ‘Even better. It’s snifﬁng for me.’ He groped around

for his sword. ‘Maybe I can kill it while it is distracted.’ His ﬁngers found the cool hilt of the blade he had

liberated from a goblin chieftain that summer. He took a deep breath, driving strength into his bones.

Quinlan allowed the explosion of his breath to carry him up, past the pile and the place where the creature

ﬁrst hit him. He stopped instantly, his studded leather and chain jingling like tiny bells, when he saw the

creature’s eyes on him. It reached down to its feet and picked up the log it used as a club.

The warrior shifted his weight from foot to foot. His ankles shook as they took his weight. ‘Well. Not

much chance of dodging in this shape.’ He looked at his straight sword then back at the battle-scarred log

the creature held. It roared, and echoes multiplied the sound a thousand fold. As the last reverberation

ceased, Quinlan seized his axe and tossed it. The runes in the head cut circles of light in the dark air before

it buried itself in the thing’s chest.

The creature roared again. Its irises ﬂared with unholy power. ‘Gods. Strong, fast, tough and magical…is

there anything this thing isn’t?’ Quinlan lifted his sword back to the centreline. The creature, blooded for

the ﬁrst time, bellowed once more then charged.

Quinlan rolled the creature’s swing, lashing out at its belly as he dove past. He felt a rush of heat across his

hands, then landed face ﬁrst in a pile not unlike the one he just leapt away from. Behind him, the creature

roared again. Then again, and again, each roar weaker than the last.

The mighty warrior dragged himself out of the heap, spitting foulness out past his broken teeth. He looked

around while shaking muck off his hands. The creature shuddered on the ﬂoor, loops of intestines and

blood ﬂooding the space around it.

‘Well, good. Strong, fast, tough, magical and rock stupid. That I can live with.’

One of the bits of muck rang against the stone ﬂoor. Bending down, Quinlan picked up a hard round metallic

disk. His agile ﬁngers found embossing on it, although he could not make out the design.

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