Angry Marsupial Symposium

Swamp hermits are a type of mutant ogre born to ogre or ogrekin parents.  They are smaller and physically weaker than full-blood ogres, but less prone to disabling and disfiguring mutations than ogrekin, and smarter and saner than either of their relatives.

Swamp hermits stand at the upper end of Medium size, averaging around seven feet tall for a grown man.  They have broad, heavy-boned builds laden with fat and muscle.  Swamp hermits have colorful complexions, usually in shades of green.  Most swamp hermits have superficially crude manners, but they are as intelligent as humans and can be surprisingly eloquent when they choose to have a real conversation.

Swamp hermits’ smaller size and relative lack of sadism make them easy targets in ogre families, and most swamp hermits born to ogres set off on their own as soon as they learn basic survival skills.  Some of these adolescent runaways join adventuring parties while pretending to be half-orcs.  Swamp hermits born to ogrekin have an easier time holding their own, but frequently grow frustrated with their relatives’ stupidity and depravity by young adulthood.  Swamp hermits who stay with their ogrekin families can parlay their greater intelligence and force of personality into becoming particularly dangerous leaders.

Swamp hermits are usually not evil or mindlessly violent, but they tend to be crotchety and unsociable, preferring solitude or the company of a few select companions.  While they can live comfortably in any temperate climate, many of them prefer swamps or other wetlands for their combination of abundant natural resources and forbidding nature to outsiders.  Swamp hermits tend to practice mutual “stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours” tolerance with lizardfolk and gripplis, and all but the mightiest of them give marsh giants a wide berth.  Swamp hermit adventurers favor melee classes such as barbarian, fighter, or brawler.  

Swamp hermits have big appetites to fuel their powerful bodies, and are not squeamish about taking advantage of whatever sources of food are available.  They have strong digestive systems capable of extracting maximum nutrition from a vast variety of plants and animals, albeit sometimes with noisy or odoriferous side effects.  Swamps hermits have robust and unsubtle senses of humor, and take advantage of opportunities for scatological jokes.

Because of their rarity and solitary dispositions, few swamp hermits find mates among their own kind, but the ones who do have children breed true - their offspring are always swamp hermits.

Size: Medium

Ability Scores: Strength +6, Con +4

+3 natural armor bonus

Low-light vision

+2 racial bonus to Intimidate checks.

Powerful Build: The physical stature of swamp hermits lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category larger. Whenever a swamp hermit is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the swamp hermit is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him. A swamp hermit is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect him. Additionally, a swamp hermit can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject’s size category.

Ogre Roar: As a full-round action, a swamp hermit may make an Intimidate check to demoralize opponents within thirty feet.  This is a sonic effect and relies on the swamp hermit’s ability to speak and the opponents’ ability to hear him.

Mighty Belch: 3/day, a swamp hermit may burp a 10-foot cone of stinky fumes.  All other living creatures within the cone must make a fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ HD + con mod) or be sickened for 1d6 rounds.