Orc Wardrummer
Orc Wardrummer (Leader Role) (CR 8)
Orc wardrummers aren't some timid nerd-orc who spent all his time in band practice, put on eye-liner and hung out with all the music theatre orcs. No, orc wardrummers are the orcs who decided that swinging an axe around in combat and hiding behind a shield was too boring, and decided he'd rather be the loudest, most obvious target on the field of battle, because LET THEM COME! These are the orcs who proudly proclaim the arrival of their tribe, and beat the dirge of their enemies, laughing as the battle swirls around them. They are the veterans of many battles, often proudly wearing scars or even missing eyes or limbs. They've chosen a path of tremendous honor and almost certain death, but a death that comes from facing his enemies head-on in battle, not slowly rotting in some village hut surrounded by weaklings and invalids.
Wardrummers aren't completely defenseless, of course. They swing their mighty drumsticks as much at passing enemies as at their drum. After all, an enemy is just leather waiting to be stretched.
The drum itself is usually a prized treasure of the tribe, and if it is ever lost or taken by enemies, the recovery efforts will be aggressive and swift. They typically resemble a snare drum, around 2' in diameter, and attached to the drummer by an elaborate leather harness and worn directly in front of the orc's waist. The drumsticks are often thigh bones or other trophies taken from particularly strong enemies.
A single tribe may have a few wardrummers, but they are never attached to the same unit. Instead, they are spread among the strongest raiding parties to declare the honor and pride of the tribe. Orc wardrummers are nearly always in the company of a large group of Orc Centurions, and frequently an Orc Warlord. The sound of orc drums rightly inspires fear in anyone who knows that they mean.
GENERAL
CR 8 Hit Dice 12
XP 9,600 (Leader role included)
CE Medium Humanoid (Orc)
Init +4; Senses Low-Light 120 ft., Perception +12
DEFENSE
AC 27, touch 17, flat-footed 21 (+5 armor, +6 dex, +5 natural, +1 deflection)
hp 250 (Leader role included)
Fort +11, Ref +7, Will +7
Aura: -
SR: -
Special Defenses: -
Immunities: Fear and fear-based attacks
Weaknesses: -
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Single Melee Drumstick +14 (2d8+2/19-20x2)
Full Melee 2x Drumstick +14 (2d8+2/19-20x2)
Ranged -
Special Attacks Wardrums, Shouted Orders, Bull Rush
Action Points 0
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 14, Con 21, Int 13, Wis 9, Cha 17
Base Atk +8; CMB +13; CMD 23 (includes Imp. Bull Rush)
Feats Improved Bull Rush (Effect: does not provoke AOO's from target of bull rush)
Skills Perform (Drums) +12, Perform (Oratory) +12
Languages Giant, Common
SPECIAL ABILITIES
- Wardrums (Ex, Stance)
Once per round as a swift action, the Orc Wardrummer may initiate a performance stance using his war drum. As with all stances, this may be sustained each round as a free action, but it is disrupted if the wardrummer is knocked prone, or given a status condition which reduces the number of actions he may take in a given round. Once disrupted, the stance can be restarted with a new swift action, assuming the disrupting condition is no longer present on the orc.
While performing on his war drum, any orc within 100 feet of the wardrummer gains a +2 morale bonus to all to-hit and damage rolls for every 5 full hit dice of the receiving orc (drop fractions). (Thus, a CR 10 Orc Centurion, which has 15 hit dice, receives a +6 morale bonus to all to-hit and damage rolls.) Furthermore, any orc minion within 100 feet of the wardrummer requires two hits to kill instead of only one.
These effects immediately end if the stance is disrupted or the wardrummer is slain.
- Shouted Orders (Ex)
Once per round as a swift action, the Orc Wardrummer may shout an order to another orc within 30 feet of him. That orc may immediately take a standard action for free. In the unlikely event that multiple wardrummers are present, this ability may be used on the same target orc multiple times, though it may never be combined to grant a full-attack action.
- Bull Rush (Ex)
Once per round as part of a move action, the Orc Wardrummer may make a bull rush against any creature whose square it can reach during the move. This is resolved in all ways as a normal bull rush attack, except that the Wardrummer may still take a swift and standard action after performing the bull rush. Because the Wardrummer has the improved bull rush feat, he does not provoke attacks of opportunity from the target of his bull rush (though he can provoke by moving out of the threatened squares of other creatures during the bull rush).
TREASURE
sell value of approximately 6,500 gp (Leader role included)
COMBAT TACTICS
Wardrummers are probably the bravest orcs you can find. They have no fear, and they court death in battle. They make targets of themselves, bull rush into the middle of their enemies, and cackle madly the whole time.
At the start of any battle, the wardrummer will begin his War Drums stance. He will sustain this throughout the fight unless prevented from doing so. Even if his stance is disrupted, he will re-initiate the War Drums stance as soon as possible.
Each round, he will use Bull Rush to close with his foes, and then strike them with his Drumstick. If he is surrounded, he will stand where he is and make full attacks, but otherwise, he wants to go where ever the battle is hottest. He won't target the fringe squishy characters (wizards, etc.), as there isn't as much glory in that as there is in exchanging blows with the biggest opponent on the battlefield, or better still, trading blows with lots of foes!
Any round after the first, the Wardrummer will use Shouted Orders to give one of his comrades a free attack. (The first round, he's used up his swift action to start up War Drums.)
Wardrummers are easily the biggest threat on the battlefield, even if there's an Orc Warlord present, because of the buff that War Drums provides. A party would be wise to single him out and take him down as fast as they can. And the orc wardrummer would have it no other way!