Lhosk

Lhosks are jungle-dwelling hunter-gatherers that live off the rich natural resources of their jungle homes. Nimble despite their size, they roam large territories in search of food and water. Lhosks believe the world is full of spirits, both those of intelligent beings and those of objects such as rocks and trees. Lhosks also believe they were created to interpret and carry out the wishes of those spirits while guarding and protecting them.

Lhosks live in family groups run by the toughest male. They determine leaders through ritual combat. A lhosk nest includes females (half as many as there are males) and young (half as many as there are females).

A lhosk stands 6–7 feet tall and weighs approximately 1,000 pounds. It has two arms, as a normal gorilla, and eight legs. Its legs cover a roughly ten-foot diameter area and the spider portion of its body is about three feet tall.

Lhosks speak Common, and those with above-average Intelligence often speak the languages of their neighbors, most commonly Draconic, Goblin, and Orc.

Lhosks are wary of other civilized races but not particularly vicious. They prefer to use their webs to set traps and question trapped intruders. If intruders ignore their instructions or attack, they defend themselves to the death. They don’t hesitate to attack those who threaten their females and young.

A lhosk normally attacks using its Power Attack feat, taking a −4 penalty on its attack rolls and gaining a +4 bonus on damage rolls (+8 if using a spear).

Entangling Web (Ex): A lhosk can throw a web eight times per day. This is a ranged touch attack for the lhosk with a range increment of 10 feet (maximum range, 50 feet); it is effective against targets up to Huge.

A creature hit by the entangling web is entangled. An entangled creature can escape with a successful DC 17 Escape Artist check or burst free with a DC 21 Strength check. The save DCs are Dexterity-based, and the Strength check DC includes a +4 racial bonus. Both are standard actions.

Skills: A lhosk has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened.

Lhosks live in small, nomadic groups. During the day they travel, search for fruit and vegetables, and hunt. They rarely stay in any one part of their territory more than a few days before moving on to another part where there is more food. They build temporary shelters from natural materials when they stop, leaving these behind when they move on.

A lhosk patrol is generally composed entirely of males. A lhosk troop has the same composition of males, females, and young as a nest (being simply a lhosk nest moving to a new encampment).

A lhosk’s favored class is ranger, but most lhosk leaders are druids. Most lhosk choose humanoids (elves) as their favored enemy due to their many encounters with elves in the woods.