Pimp my Ogre

[mitchewd]

I am running a Forogtten Realms campaign and I need to build a seven-Ogre troop; something along the lines of the Seven Samurai. I am looking for flavor more then crunch.

I am looking to add no more than 5 class levels or templates that make them any more than CR 8. If you are familiar with the magnificent seven or the Seven Samurai, each Ogre should be a unique, quirky personality on their own. Essentially,this should be a band of nationalist Ogres seeking to push back civilization. Please no Shrek "it's my swamp!" Comments.

One Example I have in mind is a ranger dedicated to trophy hunting like a Big game enthusiast. The game is currently influenced by the followers of Malar, the Forgotten Realms god of Beasts and the hunt. He could build elaborate traps and fire from an "elf blind" (duck blind), possibly after laying bait or decoys. He could use worgs or large dogs as a hunting pack to bait adventurers. His style of slowly tracking and picking off members of the party could build tension by terrorizing them with trophies placed in their path or with a macabre calling card.

Note that I am not looking to copy the characters from 7 Samurai. I am looking for champions from the Ogre perspective - an ogre barbarian 3 with two levels of hulking hurler fits the bill better than a Kensai or samurai build.

Thoughts/ideas?

[dascarletm]

How varied do you want them to be? My first thought was 7 Ogers all specializing in one school of blade magic in the TOB. They could even possess the weapon of legacy for each style.

That might be too close in similarity however.

[Mithril Leaf]

Well, I'm not really familiar with the Seven Samurai, but any good group of brutes needs some magic. Thus, my advice is for one of the ogres to be a primordial giant half fey (or phrenic) ogre 4 druid (or ardent, something not associated) 5. You end up right at CR 8, as per the OP. He gets a nice set of SLAs, 3rd level spells, a bonus to your SLA caster stat, +1 caster level to them, and some general nice stuff to mix it up.

[Shining Wrath]

An ogre gourmet who delights in the different flavors of PC race flesh and, e.g., knows how to mix Elf and Dwarf in the same dish and have it come out nicely flavorful.

An ogre psion whose greatest thrill is being inside the mind of a sentient being as his battle axe strikes them.

An ogre who has somehow trained his UMD skill to the point where he can wield wands with some proficiency and who will go to great lengths to kill a wand-bearing PC.


Well, I'm not really familiar with the Seven Samurai, but any good group of brutes needs some magic. Thus, my advice is for one of the ogres to be a primordial giant half fey (or phrenic) ogre 4 druid (or ardent, something not associated) 5. You end up right at CR 8, as per the OP. He gets a nice set of SLAs, 3rd level spells, a bonus to your SLA caster stat, +1 caster level to them, and some general nice stuff to mix it up.

The Magnificent Seven is a western take on the same story.

[Gildedragon]

Gotta have a charismatic ogre. Bardbarian or Marshal?

And a drunken master monk type

[Humble Master]

I always love throwing a monster who is a member of a stereotypically stupid race (like ogres) who has a ridiculously high Intelligence score and casts spells as a Wizard.

An Ogre Warblade might be interesting.

[ikosaeder]

Some Ideas:
Each Ogre has special weapon and Combat Style:
One could be two handed,
One using one handed axes for ranged combat and melee
One using a whip/spiked chain and tripping
One using a spear and shield.
One is using unarmed combat and grapple with spiked armor.
One has a heavy repeating crossbow.
One has two handed Warhammer.

Each one wears a special color.
Green, red, blue, orange, black, white, purple
Each has a different type of armor and gear.

Each has a special art of talking.
One give elongated speeches,
one uses only rimes
one uses false grammar (or is the only one with correct grammar)
one has a strong accent.
one uses a set of one liners,
one doesn't speak at all.
one starts every sentence with "Well,Well,Well"
One does not adress pc's but only prays to his god
(Gruumsh, please guide my arm, when I now behead this stupid human with thy blessed axe)

Each one leaves a characteristic mark when he kills someone:
One cuts out the eyes of his victims.
one leaves a coin on the lips of his victims
one folds the hands of the victim
one cuts a rune to the forehead or chest
One keeps a finger / Nose or head of the victims
one piles the victims clothes beside the corpse
one places some food and water at the feed of its victim.

[Fable Wright]

How about an Ogre for each of the 7 sins? Start from there, build out.

Gluttony- the Gourmet mentioned above.
Lust- the Psion who likes to be in the mind of people when they die.
Greed- the Ogre Spellthief (5 level for steal SLA) who wants to collect the abilities of his enemies, collecting trophies and abilities from others. Uses Dragoncrafter for blood elixers, stores stolen spells in various items, etc.
Envy- the Ogre who hoards and uses one-shot magic items.
Sloth- the blasphemous Ogre, who uses Blessing of the Godless and Dark Speech, Filthy Outburst, and Dark Whispers.
Pride- the Ogre who refuses to accept that others could be better than him at anything, and loves breaking the minds of others. (Build is Divine Mind 1+ with Corruption and Madness mantles with Reflexive Psychosis, Deformity (Madness), and Insane Defiance.)
Wrath- the serene swordsman who holds grudges, and will obsessively hunt down and kill anyone who ever slights him on his own time. Probably a Crusader/Kensai.

[mitchewd]

How varied do you want them to be? My first thought was 7 Ogers all specializing in one school of blade magic in the TOB. They could even possess the weapon of legacy for each style...

I am looking for pretty varied, like an adventuring party. Each ogre should be an individual with their own background, but brought together as a team - like the Avengers.

[mitchewd]

Well, I'm not really familiar with the Seven Samurai, but any good group of brutes needs some magic. Thus, my advice is for one of the ogres to be a primordial giant half fey (or phrenic) ogre 4 druid (or ardent, something not associated) 5. You end up right at CR 8, as per the OP. He gets a nice set of SLAs, 3rd level spells, a bonus to your SLA caster stat, +1 caster level to them, and some general nice stuff to mix it up.

what would the theme be with this? Can you come up with a backstory for the Druid? I am thinking of something Celtic with antler crowns and Wild Hunts...

[mitchewd]

An ogre gourmet who delights in the different flavors of PC race flesh and, e.g., knows how to mix Elf and Dwarf in the same dish and have it come out nicely flavorful.

An ogre psion whose greatest thrill is being inside the mind of a sentient being as his battle axe strikes them.

An ogre who has somehow trained his UMD skill to the point where he can wield wands with some proficiency and who will go to great lengths to kill a wand-bearing PC.



The Magnificent Seven is a western take on the same story.

I can see a theme something similar to the Mayans where capture and sacrifice/consumption of enemies is a sacrament...

[mitchewd]

Gotta have a charismatic ogre. Bardbarian or Marshal?

And a drunken master monk type

Think of combining the two...a much older drunk master beating the rest into shape! The master from Ninja Scroll ( anime ) comes to mind....:smallsmile:

[mitchewd]

I always love throwing a monster who is a member of a stereotypically stupid race (like ogres) who has a ridiculously high Intelligence score and casts spells as a Wizard.

An Ogre Warblade might be interesting.

What about a Fortune's Friend from Complete Scoundrel? A level of cleric ( luck domain) should be interesting...

A character modeled on Loki ( trickster / illusionist ) should be interesting...any of the Norse gods should be cool...

[mitchewd]

Some Ideas:
Each Ogre has special weapon and Combat Style:
One could be two handed,
One using one handed axes for ranged combat and melee
One using a whip/spiked chain and tripping
One using a spear and shield.
One is using unarmed combat and grapple with spiked armor.
One has a heavy repeating crossbow.
One has two handed Warhammer.

Each one wears a special color.
Green, red, blue, orange, black, white, purple
Each has a different type of armor and gear.

Each has a special art of talking.
One give elongated speeches,
one uses only rimes
one uses false grammar (or is the only one with correct grammar)
one has a strong accent.
one uses a set of one liners,
one doesn't speak at all.
one starts every sentence with "Well,Well,Well"
One does not adress pc's but only prays to his god
(Gruumsh, please guide my arm, when I now behead this stupid human with thy blessed axe)

Each one leaves a characteristic mark when he kills someone:
One cuts out the eyes of his victims.
one leaves a coin on the lips of his victims
one folds the hands of the victim
one cuts a rune to the forehead or chest
One keeps a finger / Nose or head of the victims
one piles the victims clothes beside the corpse
one places some food and water at the feed of its victim.

Interesting, I am going to add those ideas to the pile. I like traits, but I am looking for more of who the character is and why they are the way they are. The god-talker reminds me of the sniper character from Saving Private Ryan...

[mitchewd]

How about an Ogre for each of the 7 sins? Start from there, build out.

Gluttony- the Gourmet mentioned above.
Lust- the Psion who likes to be in the mind of people when they die.
Greed- the Ogre Spellthief (5 level for steal SLA) who wants to collect the abilities of his enemies, collecting trophies and abilities from others. Uses Dragoncrafter for blood elixers, stores stolen spells in various items, etc.
Envy- the Ogre who hoards and uses one-shot magic items.
Sloth- the blasphemous Ogre, who uses Blessing of the Godless and Dark Speech, Filthy Outburst, and Dark Whispers.
Pride- the Ogre who refuses to accept that others could be better than him at anything, and loves breaking the minds of others. (Build is Divine Mind 1+ with Corruption and Madness mantles with Reflexive Psychosis, Deformity (Madness), and Insane Defiance.)
Wrath- the serene swordsman who holds grudges, and will obsessively hunt down and kill anyone who ever slights him on his own time. Probably a Crusader/Kensai.

Now you're talking...I may use these as secondary traits...I would like to think of them as more sympathetic champions of Ogre -kind. The characters should see them as more than monsters to kill ... I want them to be adversaries...

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Note that nonassociated class levels (anything that doesn't cater to a strong brute) only count 1/2 CR per level until you hit four levels, so you could throw on Wizard 7 or Cleric 7 or Warlock 7 and have a CR 8. For example:

Ogre Ardent 7
Str 22, Dex 12, Con 17, Int 6, Wis 16, Cha 4

Skills: Psicraft 4 ranks, Concentration 10 ranks.
Feats: Hidden Talent: Force Screen, Practiced Manifester, Improved Sunder*, Expanded Knowledge: Share Pain, Psicrystal Affinity.

Primary Mantles: Fire (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a), Freedom
Secondary Mantles: Destruction*, Physical Power
ACF: Substitute Powers (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a)

Manifester Level: 11; Powerpoints/day: 64; Powers Known:
1st - Force Screen, Vigor
2nd - Hustle, Share Pain
3rd - Dispel Psionics, Energy Burst (fire)
4th - Psionic Fly
5th - Fiery Discorporation, Psionic Freedom of Movement
6th - Psionic Disintegrate

Items (ECL 13): +1 Keen Deep Crystal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/specialMaterials.htm#crystalDeep) Large Falchion; +1 Large Mithral Breastplate; Healing Belt; Healing Belt on psicrystal; Necklace of Adaptation; Dust of Sneezing and Choking x3; Cloak of Resistance +1; 1,100 gp remaining.

Keep Share Pain on his Psicrystal, its Hardness 8 will reduce every instance of damage it takes from Share Pain regardless of the original attack's type. He keeps the psicrystal in a compartment of his armor so opponents will never have line of sight/effect to it, and cannot target it or hit it with area effects. It can use its Healing Belt to heal him for 2d8 hp 3/day. When he manifests Vigor he can share it with the psicrystal just like any other buff for a nice hp cushion.

[Lord Vukodlak]

Here's an idea for a quirk perhaps one of the ogres could be only half-ogre. kinda like how one of the seven samuari was really just a peasant but in this twist the half-ogre of the group is more civilized and well-mannered than the others. I think Half-Ogres are in races of destiny but I don't have that book on hand.

So maybe a 7th level spiked chain fighter using these ad-hoc racial mods for a half-ogre.
Half-Ogre Racial Traits
• +4 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma
• Giant: Half-ogres are creatures with the giant type.

Powerful Build: The physical stature of half-ogres lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category larger. Whenever a half-ogre is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the half-ogre is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him. A half-ogre 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. A half-ogre 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.
Darkvision: Half-ogres can see in the dark out to 60 feet.
Natural Armor: Half-ogres have +2 natural armor due to their tough, thick skin.

He tried fitting in with civilization but the regular folk treated him little differently then they'd treat a full-blood ogre. But he's not to fond his fellow ogres either whom he secretly sees as uncloth barbarians who've yet to master basic hygiene.

I'd do the build now but its late and I must sleep.

[DMVerdandi]

How to pimp your ogre.

1. Cast Dominate
2. Cast Bigby's Slapping Hand
3. Cast Geas (Go get daddy's money!)
:smallamused:

I kid!

Well, this being a small cadre of Ogres, you may want to make them into a well organized team, and that means having team roles.
Seeing as they are really hit hard by mental scores, Wisdom would be the one best focused on.

Decent classes for a 7 man cadre would be
1 crusader (Lets make him boss)
2 barbarian/crusaders (The heavies)
2 Clerics (Perhaps with trickery and orc domains)
2 Sneak attack Thugs (for the rogue flavor, without the weaknesses)

Perhaps make the clerics archers/buffers, the barbarians can gang up with the rogues and smash people up while flanking.
The crusader is there for white raven maneuvers, and can command the others to attack and such.

Have them all dress in similar outfits.
Screw animal furs and bones. That is lame...
These guys don't play around. They are a unit. All black armor with WICKED SCARY ornamentation. etchings of carnage and bloodshed on their greaves and gauntlets, jagged spikes, and a banner carried by the boss that has grummsh eating babies.