Jagre

A jagre is an enormous, brutish humanoid with a cruel face and a red brand, the sign of the Fanged Hand, burned into the middle of its chest. It wears armor of phase panther hide, and through that armor it can turn into a phase panther itself, complete with six legs and lashing tentacles, though its coat is usually reddish brown with dark jaguar spots.

Jagres fight bare-fisted about as often as armed. Armed ones usually (75%) swing huge obsidian-edged war clubs; the rest use ordinary clubs. It can shift to beast form at will, keeping its usual AC, HD, hit point total and saves while gaining the beast's abilities. In that shape it lashes with two tentacles for 2d4 damage each; pressed hard, it can also claw twice and bite for 1d3/1d3/1d8, though it more often flees or resumes humanoid form. Its displacement makes it seem 3 feet from its true position, so attacks against it suffer -2, and it gains +2 on saving throws in this form.

The jagres were born of a curse laid by a bloodthirsty war god on one terrible night, when common soldiers turned into orcs and the jaguar knights into ogres. The mightiest of those knights grew into especially huge ogres, and these were later transformed into jagres as a reward for their service. Now they lead the god's beast hordes in the ruined valley of a fallen city, where every creature recognizes their authority. They answer only to the beast-priest overlord who commands the valley and his inner circle of beast leaders.

All jagres are male. They recruit unusually strong, clever ogres and also sire ogre offspring on the valley's few ogresses. When such a youth matures, or an ogre is invited to join, it must obtain a phase panther hide; a ceremony then infuses ogre and pelt with thorn magic, creating a jagre. Lose the armor and it loses the power to change shape but keeps its other abilities. Some undergo a further unholy rite that fuses the armor to their flesh forever. Local phase panthers come in many colors, and each jagre picks a hide it likes. Taken from a jagre, the armor will not transform anyone else.

A jagre usually leads a company: 50% command 10 ogres, 25% lead 20 orcs, 15% a mixed band of orcs and ogres, 5% 2-5 trolls, and 5% a force of ogres, orcs and trolls together. Off-duty jagres may be met alone.

Among the strongest creatures of their land, they have no natural enemies, and they are too new to the world for their ecological effect to be known. They eat any meat but prefer humans, demihumans and humanoids. Their lairs often hold loot from the fallen city's ruins; use local valuables instead of coins, and magic items of local make, chiefly thorn-magic talismans.