Thursday, October 24, 2013

Soldier Bears: A B/X or LL Monster

Painfully silly Google Plus tangent riffing is a powerful force in my psyche these days. As inspired by a tangent there about today's earlier post
Soldier Bears
No. Enc.: 1d6 (3d6)
Alignment: Neutral or Chaotic (Good)
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 2+2
Attacks: 2 (claws) or 1 (polearm)
Damage: 1d4 or 1d10+1
Save: F3
Morale: 9
XP: 60

The creeping influence of the Weird has made the border cantons of the Overkingdom world-famous for their quirks and eccentricities. The chilly northern Marches of Nur are no exception and one of their sharper peculiarities is an undue fondness for military companies entirely staffed by anthropomorphic bears.

Nurian Soldier Bears are direct descendents of the mad experiments of that sadly misguided naturalist and wizard Tredvell Muyr. That he was ultimately mauled and eaten by the beast-kin he so lovingly raised from animal brutality failed to dissuade the Nurians from keeping them in service. For sure only a heart made black by jaded calcification can not be moved to great sentiment by a lumbering column of these creatures drawn up in tight parade ranks.

Soldier Bears, when the pre-hibernation wanderlust is on them, will often part from their barracks-dens for tours and adventures of the Hill Cantons. As such they can be encountered paw-fishing in local mountain creeks or taking hireling odd-job positions in the Guild of Condottieri, Linkboys,Roustabouts and Stevedores.

Though considerably smaller than their feral counterparts, Soldier Bears are fierce fighters with their much-beloved polearms, gaining a +1 to damage when employing them.

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