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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charles Rampant" data-source="post: 7011010" data-attributes="member: 32659">When Orcs turn away from their gods, and start worshipping the Demon Lords of the Abyss, Baphomet is likely to show favour by bestowing the Taranukk upon the tribe. This is a... mixed blessing, especially given how domineering the Tanarukk is.<img src="https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/assets/286216/Taranukk.jpg?1390255339" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The image in the book is of a Tanarukk standing still, waving its sword around, and screaming. It's nicely detailed and coloured, but not hugely exciting. There are a few different ways in which a Tanarukk might arise. As mentioned above, the tribe turning away from Gruumsh and the rest of the pantheon is one; this is apparently most likely when it is on the verge of defeat, and desperate. Alternatively, a non-Orc that gains control over the tribe - such as a local human warlord, or a Giant, such as the Frost Giant Brunvild in the Frozen Castle adventure - might do the beseeching of Baphomet, but they must be careful, lest the Tanarukk prove too much for them. The Tanarukk is also capable of breeding, and it's genetic descendants will randomly emerge as other Tanarukks, which means that it is possible for one to just emerge in an otherwise normal and pious tribe. The Tanarukk is, to be honest, completely nuts. The combination of Chaotic Evil Orcs and Chaotic Evil Demons is not one that produces a very balanced individual, and low mental stats across the board don't help either. It emerges as a CR 5 fiend, which looks mostly like an up-scaled Orc rather than a down-scaled Demon, and it is extremely simple to run. You get some Demonic resistances - Fire, Poison - and the Magic Resistance trait, as well as Orcish Aggressive. The combat routine here is a pair of attacks, which do fairly underwhelming damage to be honest; however, the Tanarukk gets a reaction to strike back at an attacker that has hit it, so it will effectively get 3 attacks a round if in melee. With a low AC of 14 and no resistances to weapon damage, the Tanarukk is relying on a decent stock of HP to keep it in the fight. Overall, this is a creature who is notable by being much simpler than the other new Orc types, and should probably be treated as a shock trooper that you can toss at the players whenever you want. They have the 'Orc' keyword under type, and so should synergize fine with other Orcs, making them excellent recipients of Clerical buffs and leadership effects.The Tanarukk is, well, fine. It's a stronger Orc with some mild Demon flavour, who does less damage than I'd hope for - even if it gets the reaction attack, it still does only barely more than the Red Fang - and yet is probably going to attract a lot of attention when it arrives. Use one if you fancy a big bruiser for your players to fight, but don't expect it to replace a Warchief or Blade as an interesting leader.</blockquote>

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