Welcome to Monster Monday! Each week we present a new monster for Starjammer, and occasionally other games as well. This week we present the Humanbrood Pursuer, a biologically twisted human shocktrooper.
Humanbrood Pursuer CR 2 (XP 600)
This mangy humanoid wears tattered mass produced clothing. Its jaw is unnaturally distended while its bare feet are caked in dried blood.
N Medium aberration (human)
Init +2; Senses darkvision; Perception +5
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 23 (3d8+6);
Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +4
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee spear +5 (1d8+4) and bite +1 (1d6+3 plus filth fever) or bite +6
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks filth fever, running charge
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 5, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 17
Feats Endurance, RunB, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Acrobatics +6, Perception +5, Survival +5;
SQ humanbrood, persistence hunter, trainable
Gear leather armor, spear
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Filth Fever (Ex)
A humanbrood pursuer’s bite attack inflicts filth fever. The fortitude save to resist the pursuer’s filth fever is DC 13.
Humanbrood (Ex)
Humanbrood creatures are bred and altered from human stock and share many human traits and abilities. Humanbrood count as humans for the purpose of feats, abilities and prerequisites. A ranger’s favored enemy works on a humanbrood creature as if they were both an aberration and a human.
Persistent Hunter (Ex)
Humanbrood pursuers are immune to fatigue caused by hustling, but still take the nonlethal damage. They also gain a +4 racial bonus on constitution checks to resist damage and fatigue from a forced march.
Running Charge (Ex)
Humanbrood pursuers can make a single attack at the end of a run action, suffering the bonuses and penalties of both a charge and a run, gaining +2 to attack and a -2 penalty to AC. A running charge can only be made in a straight line and cannot pass over difficult terrain.
Trainable (Ex)
Humanbrood pursuers count as magical beasts with an intelligence of 2 for the purpose of handle animal and wild empathy, letting them be trained to follow tricks. Unlike normal trainable creatures however, humanbrood possess a residual intelligence which makes them more likely to resist orders and even rebel.
ECOLOGY
Environment planet surface
Organization solitary, hunting gang of 5, or unit of 12
Treasure half standard
Humans are the scourge of the galaxy, adaptable, expansionist and worst of all quick breeding, they are quickly becoming a threat to the older and more established races. While containment and even genocide are often discussed solutions to the human problem, the Zurkhan have stumbled upon another solution.
Initially developed independently by the Mi-Go and the Elder Things, the humanbrood are humans who have been biologically and magically altered to emphasize more of their destructive traits while hindering their intelligence. The original humanbrood were largely made as guardians and experiments and saw limited use.
The Zurkhan uncovered some of the original humanbrood, and turned them to more destructive applications. Breeding them in mass, the Zurkhan send out the humanbrood as expendable shock troops, using them to soften up worlds before sending in their main invasion forces. Often the Zurkhan would bombard the world to both kill off any remaining resistance and any remaining humanbrood.
The pursuers were developed by Zurkhan biologists to emphasize the human’s past as unceasing hunters. They can hunt down their prey for hours without tiring, and despite their limited frame can reach their victims with surprising bursts of speed. Poor health care and intentional design have lead to the pursuer’s mouth becoming absolutely filthy and a cesspool of disease.
The humanbrood are however imperfect servitors. Not true beasts, they possess just enough will to cause a problem to their Zurkhan masters. Rebellions and even random acts of violence are not unheard of. But perhaps the worst part of all is the singing. The humanbrood are innately curious, and although they are never trained in formal language, endlessly try to copy it, often repeating phrases at the most inopportune times.
Some Zukrhan taskmasters have begun cutting out humanbrood tongues as a short term solution, but others have found the mimicry to be a useful trait, an unsettling reminder to the brood’s prey that they are still being pursued.
