| Hit Dice: | 1d8 (4 hp) |
| Initiative: | +5 |
| Speed: | 30 ft. (6 squares) |
| Armor Class: | 15 (+1 Dex, +4 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 14 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: | +1/+1 |
| Attack: | Claw +1 melee (1d6) or longsword +1 melee (1d8/19–20) |
| Full Attack: | Claw +1 melee (1d6) or longsword +1 melee (1d8/19–20) |
| Space/Reach: | 5 ft./5 ft. |
| Special Attacks: | Razor storm |
| Special Qualities: | Damage reduction 5/magic and bludgeoning, darkvision 60 ft., immunities, outsider traits, resistance to cold and fire 5 |
| Saves: | Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +2 |
| Abilities: | Str 11, Dex 13, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10 |
| Skills: | Bluff +4, Climb +4, Craft (weaponsmithing) +4, Hide +5, Jump +4, Knowledge (the planes) +4, Listen +4, Spot +4 |
| Feats: | Improved Initiative |
| Environment: | Any land |
| Organization: | Solitary, pair, company (3–6), or squad (11–20) |
| Challenge Rating: | 1 |
| Treasure: | None |
| Alignment: | Always lawful (usually lawful neutral or lawful evil) |
| Advancement: | By character class |
| Level Adjustment: | +2 |
Bladelings are xenophobic beings of humanoid shape. Though they hail from Acheron, most scholars believe that the race emigrated there from another plane, possibly the Nine Hells of Baator, the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna, or even some unknown metal-based plane.
A bladeling has skin of a dull metallic hue, spotted with patches of metallic spines. Its eyes gleam like shards of purple ice, and its blood is black and oily.
Bladelings speak Common, and those with high enough Intelligence scores to know an additional language usually speak Infernal as well.
Bladelings are quick to jump into battle, relying on their tough skins and natural agility to see them through any fight. They are also brave, so they usually focus their attacks on the most dangerous combatants they see.
Razor Storm (Ex): Once per day, a bladeling can expel shrapnellike bits of its skin in a 15-foot cone, dealing 2d6 points of piercing damage to any creature in the area. A Reflex save (DC 10) halves the damage. After this attack, the bladeling’s natural armor bonus drops to +2 for 24 hours.
Immunities (Ex): A bladeling takes no damage from acid, and it is immune to rust attacks despite its metallic hide.
Most bladelings live in the city of Zoronor, on Ocanthus, the fourth layer of Acheron. Some, however, wander the other layers of Acheron or even the other planes.
Bladelings are superstitious and xenophobic creatures, so it’s no surprise that they abhor intrusions into their home territory. (Of course, as residents of Ocanthus—a place of flying storms of blades—they rarely have visitors.) Their society is prone to internal strife, but they immediately band together against external dangers. Bladelings that travel the planes are reasonably amiable toward strangers, perhaps because they have picked up a degree of tolerance for other beings through constant contact. Even so, they tend not to trust anyone they do not know.
A bladeling’s favored class is fighter. Leaders are often cleric/fighters, and the race is known for its assassins as well. Bladeling clerics usually worship Hextor.
A bladeling PC’s effective character level (ECL) is equal to its class level + 1; thus, a 1st-level bladeling fighter has an ECL of 2 and is the equivalent of a 2nd-level character.
Source: Monster Manual II, page 31.