Maddened Thug

Maddened Thug (CR 6)

True Chaotic - Medium - Humanoid (Outsider)

Lore:	Know (Local)
12		27
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

14

Perception:
20	+10
Passive	Active

Ambush:

12+

on a d20

• Ambush Notes: Thugs are too disorganized to plan effective ambushes...although they still try.

Senses:

• Standard Senses
• Lifesense 20 ft.

Movement Types:

• Walk 30 ft.

Defense

AC

22

Man Def

22

Monster Health
81	40	9
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+9
Refl:	+4
Will:	+9

Strong Against:

Weak Against:

• Vulnerable: Interstice damage

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+10

Man Off

+10

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Thug Club +10 (2d8+6/19-20 x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)

Full Attack (Melee):

• 3x Thug Club +10 (1d8+6/19-20 x2)
  as bludgeoning (physical, common)

Standard Attack (Ranged):

• 1x Chaos Darts +10 (1d8+6/19-20 x2)
  as piercing (physical, common)
  (Increment: 30 ft.; Max Range: 150 ft.)

Full Attack (Ranged):

• 3x Chaos Darts +10 (1d8+6/19-20 x2)
  as piercing (physical, common)
  (Increment: 30 ft.; Max Range: 150 ft.)

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

18

STR

16

DEX

15

CON

8

INT

10

WIS

10

CHA

Skills:

• Intimidate: 12
• Perception: 10
• All other skills: 5 (no ranks)

Languages: Common, Gurahn'lloig (Low Aberrant)

Feats:

• Combat Reflexes (EFFECT: Monsters with this feat make up to 4 attacks of opportunity per round instead of one.)

Special Abilities

Fanatical Vengeance (Ex)

Once per encounter, whenever any Maddened creature is killed by enemy actions, any Maddened Thug who has line of sight and line of effect to the attacker who made the killing blow may choose to make an immediate action attack of opportunity against that creature. They must have an attack of opportunity available (although with Combat Reflexes, this is rarely a problem). They may make this attack with either their Thug Club or their Chaos Darts, and they must take all normal modifiers for such attacks as normal.

Maddened Thug

It is widely accepted among most intelligent creatures, at a very general level, that the world we all live in is balanced upon the surface of a much larger, darker, and far more terrible reality called the Outer Madness. Most people have little understanding of Planes, and in the minds of most people, Demons, Devils, Aberrations, and most 'weird' monsters are part of this terrifying background reality.

However, there are always those who think that 'larger and more terrible' means, 'a convenient way to get power'. As a result, all over the world, in every race, creed, and culture, civilized or not, there are those with far too much greed and far too little wisdom who seek out this Deep Darkness and pledge themselves to it. The Creeping Madness is easy to access, easy to draw upon...and insanely dangerous. A fair number of those who attempt this foolish act are consumed utterly by their very first sup of that dark well, their lives, essence, souls, and flesh consumed entire.

Many of those luckless fools do not quietly disappear, however.

Maddened Thugs are those creatures, with the Spark or without, who have reached out to the Madness, and survived. They are not lucky, but they are certainly granted power! Maddened Thugs are usually drawn from the Civilized Races, people who should have known better. It is possible that the occasional Orc, Goblin, or Gnoll will also be subsumed by the Outer Madness, and thus become Maddened Thugs, but amongst those without the Spark, this terrible transformation is not so stark, and their native 'cultures' tend to exterminate such fools quickly. Such non-civilized Thugs tend to migrate to the fold of their civilized brethren, where they are given a place...until their use comes to an end. Most Maddened Thugs are only lightly warped by their corruption, and so they can, a bit, still 'pass' as their native species, a fact they often take advantage of.

Maddened Thugs are united in their allegiance to the Devouring Madness, the True Depths that lie Outside. They are not terribly organized, but they act, vaguely and constantly, to tear down civilization, destroy all the structures of the world, material and social, for good and for ill. They lurk and plot, they poison, murder, and ruin, they steal and burn, everything. Madness Thugs will attack babes in arms just as readily as they will battle undead, and for the same reason: All things must fall to the Dark, sooner or later.

When more than one Maddened Thug meet each other, they naturally band together, as every hand in the Prime Plane is raised against them as their enemies, and you must take your allies where you can find them. Bands of Madness Thugs seem almost like cults, except that there is no Deity involved, simply the utter alien void that has subsumed these maniacs, and invests their every action.

Combat Tactics

Maddened Thugs are simple, murderous enemies. Once battle begins, they will never break away, fighting to the last maddened breath, utterly convinced they are winning. They usually try to make pack attacks, jumping their victims from ambush if they can manage it, but they are not terribly good at ambushes due to the insanity that infests them. They also tend to attack anyone they encounter, as long as they can commit their depredations with some degree of stealth. Thugs want to destroy as much of the structure of the world as they can before they are destroyed, and so they sneak and creep, attacking under cover of darkness.

Their connection to the Outside gives them the ability to detect the living, their hated foes, within a short distance. This is not terribly useful for getting around, since it is short ranged, but once they have closed into battle range, they are nigh-impossible to deter, and will frequently try to knock out lanterns and other light sources and fight in the dark.

They prefer to use their club attacks, but will throw darts of maddened darkness without hesitation if that's a better way to kill. Their Fanatical Vengeance power is a terrible surprise to whoever manages to drop one of their Dark Brothers, and they will typically use this abiity without hesitation as soon as they are able to do so...waiting to use it rarely works out well. With luck, the barrage of club strikes or darts will kill or cripple one of their enemies outright, and allow them to turn the tide of a battle.

Out of Combat

Maddened Thugs think they can blend in with civilization...but they really can't. Maddened Thugs wind up living in the wilderness, or hidden in abandoned, ruined places, acting as bandits and raiders. Maddened thugs, to be fair, will attack monstrous neighbors just as readily as they will attack the civilized, and an infestation of madness can actually drive away local orcs or goblins, as the maddened fiends kill everything they can catch. Maddened Thugs do TRY to blend in, and individually, they can be found in cities, typically cloaked and skulking around, buying weapons and poisons and food, using their savage Intimidation skill on everyone they meet, as well as sneaking in the occasional gory murder.

Surprisingly, Maddened Thugs seem to tolerate Vampire Thralls quite well, and it is not unheard of for the two types of wild-eyed beasts to work...not together, but toward similar goals. Such alliances are dark days indeed for all other creatures, and must be rooted out immediately.

Rewards

XP: 2,400

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 2,125 gp.

Weight: 60 lbs.     Volume: 2.4 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)