Fachan [Savage Coast]

Even next to its ogre kin the fachan looks monstrous. Its roughly man-shaped frame has a single leg socketed into the middle of its pelvis, a single arm hanging from the center of its chest, and one cyclopean eye in the middle of its face. Its hide is a flat gray, bare of hair except for a coarse black thatch up top; its lone eye is ogre-like, violet around a white pupil, and its ears are usually enormous. For all its oddity, the heavily muscled body is nimble. A fachan moves in a quick hopping run and can bound 10 feet forward or clear more than 6 feet in height. It lives about 90 years and usually speaks the tongues of nearby ogres, orcs and trolls.

Clubs and morning stars are the usual arms, with axes or swords in a few hands. A single hand rules out bows and polearms, but a fachan still swings two-handed weapons up to bastard sword size with full two-handed damage, and they add +4 to damage with any hand-held weapon. Unarmed, a fachan kicks or stamps on anything shorter than 6 feet for 2d6 per hit.

Boulders up to 40 pounds can be thrown out to 60 yards, each hit dealing 2d4+2. Its single eye gives poor depth perception, so throws suffer -2 to hit on top of the usual range penalties (-2 medium, -5 long). Fachans count as giant class, but rangers get only half their usual bonus against them because of the strange anatomy. Very alert, they are surprised only on a 1.

About one ogre birth in 400 produces a fachan. A few remain with their tribes, though most wander off to find their own kind. Fachans prey on anything except ogres and favor human and demihuman flesh, and they are viciously cruel to whoever happens to be near. Only ogres, out of thin kinship, and orcs bother getting along with them; orcs pay them to scout and stand guard for their strength and their remarkable hearing, which can pick out an approaching horseman 5 miles off. A fachan has a 10% chance of carrying a curse-gift leech.

Wizards and alchemists can turn a fachan's hearing organs into a potion of clairaudience. The hide of its hand makes one gauntlet of fachan power, which fits whichever hand the fachan had (an even chance of left or right). Its wearer's arm, hand and shoulder count as Strength 18/00 when figuring grip and damage bonuses.