Goatman
by Jamie BatySCMC
Medium Monstrous Humanoid
Hit Dice: 2d8+4 (13 hp)
Initiative: +4 (+4 Dex)
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armour Class: 16 (+4 Dex, +2 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+2
Attack: Dagger +7 melee (1d4)
Full Attack: Dagger +7 melee (1d4) or ram +2 melee (1d4 ++0)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. /5 ft.
Special Attacks: Sneak attack
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft., mountain dweller
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +3
Abilities: Str 11, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 8
Skills: Balance +13, Climb +9, Hide +4, Listen +5, Move Silently +5, Spot +5
Feats: Improved bull rush (B), Weapon finesse (B), Weapon Focus (Dagger)
Environment: Any mountains
Organisation: Solitary, Pair, String (2-5 plus 1 3rd level rogue), Patrol (5-20 plus 2-6 3rd level scouts and 1 5th level leader), or Clan (40-60 plus 13-20 3rd level scouts, 4-6 5th level leaders, 1 5th level shaman and 1 7th level patriarch )
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: by character class
Level Adjustment: +3
A cross between a man and mountain goat, this creature is native to the Black Mountains east of the City-States, but it is becoming more and more common in the Savage Baronies. Smarter than orcs but not as capable as humans, these humanoids still make natural thieves.
Goatmen look like tall, bipedal goats with human arms. They have cloven hooves and powerful lower legs, but their torsos are vaguely humanoid with slender arms jointed like those of humans. The head is that of a mountain goat, with horns growing in a tight curl on each side. Except for the arms, the entire body of a goatman is covered with short, woolly fur ranging in colour from white to black. Their hair grows long and shaggy on the head and down the back, separated into braids with decorative beads and leather strips.
Goatmen are natives of the Black Mountains that lay to the east of the City-States. They live in small communities formed around a family patriarch or matriarch, numbering anywhere from 20 to 60 members per clan.
Clans might lay claim to a particular mountain valley or summit, controlling the terrain for several miles in any direction, but they always remain ready to move should game get too scarce to feed them or a neighbouring clan too powerful to deal with. The clans are fierce rivals, often fighting over borders. In hard times, one clan might try to raid another, but generally the weaker clan moves on to a better location before this happens.
Goatmen try to live near caves, which they use for emergency shelter or a common meeting place. They build simple stone dwellings for each mated couple and their immediate family, usually with a heavy thatch roof. Goatmen raise crops but do not tend them very well; they also hunt for wild game. Occasionally a clan will keep pigs and horses for food.
Evening meals are often a community event, with the patriarch deciding who should supply food and a clan shaman leading the festivities. Goatmen play a variety of simple instruments, and their music is very enthusiastic if not exactly beautiful. They love to sing and dance and will often build up a huge bonfire to supply light for their revelry, which can last well into the night.
In the face of deprivation, the clans sometimes put their differences aside to work together. This usually results in a large raiding force that comes down out of the Black Mountains to attack farms and villages of the eastern City-States, or perhaps the nation of Hule. Currently, under the leadership of Gr'anth Mountainwalker (Rogue 9/Cleric 5), several clans are waging a merciless guerrilla war to rid the hills northwest of Zvornik of all goblins.
In large numbers, goatmen strain any environment. They overhunt regions and their farming methods leach away the soil's nutrients. They fight against any race that appears weak and, often, among themselves. The only qualities that the goatmen have to offer other races are their roguish skills.
At times, small bands of goatmen and even individuals enter the lands of the Savage Coast, seeking work, fortune, and mischief. Goatmen are rare in the Savage Baronies, and are very rare east of Renardy. Their reputation precedes them, so goatmen are not particularly welcome, except by those who are in need of such unscrupulous sorts. However, goatmen are not persecuted except in the Baronía de Narvaez where they are thought to be "spawns of fiends." Goatmen also have a natural dislike for dogs, straining relations with the lupins of Renardy.
Goatmen have a language with so many different dialects that many of them have trouble communicating with each other. However, most of them know Common, speaking with a naturally rough and hoarse voice.
Combat
Goatmen move with both speed and stealth, allowing them to appear from an unexpected direction. In a fight, goatmen rely more on Dexterity than Strength. They will manoeuvre to strike at their opponents' flanks or from behind if possible.
Goatman are proficient with simple and martial one-handed weapons, and crossbows. Goatmen favour smaller weapons such as daggers, crude short swords, clubs, and maces. A goatman cannot wield a two-handed sword or any bow other than a crossbow. However, goatmen can learn to use firearms. Very few of them possess qualms about using poison, but it is difficult for them to attain. Goatmen are not a proficient with any armour or shields.
Ramming is a natural ability of the goatman, employed in combat only if the conditions are right. Their horns are not suited for goring though incredible strong, and the thick neck muscles of a goatman allow him to absorb incredible amounts of force with no negative effect. They frequently will bull rush with their ram as part of a charge against a foe. This attack is most useful when a person is standing within a few feet from the edge of a cliff or very steep slope.
Using their fast movement and stealth, goatmen usually make a coordinated effort to take advantage of their sneak attack ability. Sometimes, a small group appears ahead of the victims to make noise and draw attention away from the goatmen coming up from behind. If victory is not assured after the first few rounds of fighting, the goatman leader will call for a retreat. A second attack will proceed much like the first, but with a stronger diversionary force. The third attack will almost always be a normal battle, with no surprises. A goatman leader will not usually commit his people to a fight unless they possess overwhelming numbers.
Sneak Attack (Ex): If a goatman can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from her attack, she can strike a vital spot for extra damage.
The goatman's attack deals extra damage any time her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the goatman flanks her target. This extra damage is 1d6, and it stacks with any sneak attack damage from class levels. Should the goatman score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied.
A goatman can sneak attack only living creatures with discernible anatomies
undead, constructs, oozes, plants, and incorporeal creatures lack vital areas to attack. Any creature that is immune to critical hits is not vulnerable to sneak attacks. The goatman must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. A goatman cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with concealment or striking the limbs of a creature whose vitals are beyond reach.
Mountain Dweller (Ex): A goatman can move an additional 10ft per round (40ft rather than 30ft) while in mountainous terrain and suffers no movement penalties while moving through such terrain. A goatman in swampy or marshy terrain has a base movement of 20ft per round.
Skills: A goatman has a +4 racial bonus to all Listen and Spot checks. They have a +8 racial bonus to all Climb and Balance checks.
The Red Curse
The Red Curse affects any goatmen who enter the Savage Coast. As they usually come in from the east, goatmen tend to have Legacies from Region 1. Because they require cinnabryl to fight off Affliction, goatmen have been known to be quite ruthless in their efforts to acquire this magical metal.
Goatmen as Characters
Goatmen are exceptional rogues and have rogue as their favoured class. There are quite a few goatman barbarians, rangers and fighters as well. Goatmen do have some bards, clerics and druids, but there are very few wizards, sorcerors and paladins among their kind. Goatman clerics may choose two of the following domains: Earth, Travel, or War.