Ragewalker

Ragewalkers embody the natural forces of war and combat in the same way that a nymph embodies the beauty of nature or a dryad embodies the heart of its tree. These deadly fey emerge from a landscape torn and twisted by war, and they are nature’s response to the ravages of such battles. The ragewalker, also known as the war torn fey, exists to perpetuate combat, turning men and beast alike against one another. Insane by the standards of any but the uncaring forces of nature, ragewalkers seek the annihilation of all war through the annihilation of all who are capable of making war.

As spirits of a war-torn land, ragewalkers sometimes emerge from the sites of great battles. Ragewalkers seem somehow related to living spells or to their creation, and they have an innate ability to control and command such creatures. A ragewalker is often encountered with one or more living spells bound to it as guardians, although such relationships seem to be based more on instinct than on reason.

Ragewalkers have light gray skin, a generally humanoid build, and fair, elflike features. Few ever see their faces, distorted by bloodlust, since they are covered from head to foot in tight-fitting metal armor. The most unusual feature of a ragewalker is the cloud of weapons that spins around it in a tight orbit. Any who come close to the creature risk injury from these flying weapons. A ragewalker stands 15 feet tall and weighs 500 pounds.

Ragewalkers speak Common, Abyssal, Infernal, and Sylvan.

Ragewalkers embody ferocious combat, yet they prefer to bring about such conflict in others rather than directly engage in melee. A ragewalker uses its powerful supernatural abilities to turn its foes against one another. It then uses its spell-like abilities to divide the battlefield to its liking, isolating small groups of foes and then moving in to destroy them.

Control Living Spells (Su): A ragewalker rebukes and commands living spells in the same way that evil clerics rebuke and control undead. A ragewalker can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + its Charisma bonus (ten times per day for a typical ragewalker). A ragewalker rebukes and commands living spells as a cleric with a level equal to one-half its Hit Dice.

Grafted Armor (Ex): A ragewalker wears armor it has scavenged from countless battlefields. This armor provides significant protection in combat, but it imposes no maximum Dexterity bonus, no armor check penalty, no movement penalty, and no arcane spell failure chance. Other creatures, even other ragewalkers, cannot wear a ragewalker’s armor.

Induce Blood Frenzy (Su): Any creature coming within 10 feet of a ragewalker must make a DC 28 Will save or fly into a mindless killing frenzy. Any creature that fails its saving throw gains a +2 bonus to Strength and takes a −2 penalty to AC. Affected creatures become unable to distinguish friend from foe and must make a melee attack against the nearest creature each round (using a full attack if possible, or charging if appropriate). An affected creature is incoherent and cannot talk, cast spells, or otherwise communicate for the duration of the effect. It remains in a frenzy for a number of rounds equal to 10 minus its Wisdom bonus (minimum 1 round), even if the ragewalker is dead or no longer present.

This is a mind-affecting ability. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Repel Missiles (Su): Any time a thrown or projectile weapon is used against a ragewalker, the weapon instead turns and could strike the wielder. The attacker compares his attack roll against his own Armor Class, figuring the attack’s success and damage as if he had attacked himself.

Ranged weapons with epic enhancement bonuses are not affected by this ability.

Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day⁠—​blade barrier (DC 23), bull’s strength, greater magic weapon, wall of fire. Caster level 20th.

Note that the feats Quicken Spell-Like Ability and Empower Spell-Like Ability affect all of the ragewalker’s daily uses of blade barrier and wall of fire.

Weapon Cloud (Su): Ragewalkers are surrounded at all times by a cloud of flying, whirling weapons. This cloud deals 2d6 points of slashing damage each round to any creature adjacent to the ragewalker. Damage reduction applies to this damage.

A ragewalker is most effective when it can induce a blood frenzy in its foes, turning them against one another. The ragewalker must close to within 10 feet of its foes at the beginning of combat to induce a blood frenzy in them. Once those foes have turned on each other, the ragewalker carefully divides the battlefield with blade barriers and walls of fire. When its spell-like and supernatural abilities have done their work, it can close with its foes one at a time and rip them apart, enhancing its combat ability with bull’s strength when possible.

Prior to Combat: Scout the area to pick ideal spots to divide foes into smaller groups with blade barrier and wall of fire. Just before the fight, cast bull’s strength (adding +3 to spiked chain damage rolls and +2 to Jump checks). A ragewalker always has greater magic weapon active (included in statistics above).

Round 1: Move near the foes most likely to have poor Will saves (heavily armored warrior-types), forcing them to deal with the ragewalker’s ability to induce a blood frenzy. Use a quickened and empowered wall of fire to split a group of foes into smaller groups. Try to divide them in such a way that some of those who have succumbed to the blood frenzy are in each of the newly formed smaller groups. Use a second move action to back away from the conflict.

Round 2: Repeat round 1’s tactic.

Round 3: If some foes have not yet been exposed to the blood frenzy, move near them and repeat round 1’s tactic. If all foes have been exposed, use either blade barrier or wall of fire (quickened and empowered in either case) to isolate one unaffected foe and move so that the unaffected foe is attacked by the weapon cloud.

Round 4: If foes are unable to attack as a group, pick them off one at a time with melee attacks. If they are still able to mount a coordinated attack, use quickened and empowered blade barriers and walls of fire to cover a retreat.

Ragewalkers are often accompanied by one to three living spells. The DM can choose these from those available in his game or roll randomly once, twice, or three times on the table below.

Ragewalkers are drawn to the Mournland because of the spectacular battles waged there during the Last War, but they are also found near ancient battle sites that time and nature have all but hidden from the world. They also lurk in the ruins of castles and fortresses abandoned after the fall of the Dhakaani Empire.

If ragewalkers exist on Faerûn, they are typically found wherever living spells have formed. They might inhabit ancient Netherese ruins, regions where the millennia-old Orcgate Wars and Crown Wars once raged, and sites of more recent battles (see Chapter 6: History in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting for suggestions).