Wednesday Werk: Pseudoblepas, Nerglid

In this week's Wednesday Werk, we'll look at the Pseudoblepas and the Nerglid.

The Nerglid are a race of warlike beings who wish to display their supremacy over humanoids by defeating them in combat.  They focus on humans, but will pick any mammalian humanoid race (and if those are unavailable, they'll move to reptiles).  This may have something to do with their supposed fungal ancestry, but then again, who knows?

For that matter, their fungal nature is not immediately apparent; their suits of armor come complete with face masks that resemble humans.  Their masks are made of a strange, rare metal (scholars suspect either they have an extraplanar supply or their homelands are rife with the stuff).

They show no quarter in combat, although they are intelligent, and can sometimes be convinced to avoid fighting to the death.  Although that might involve determining what they want, and nobody has quite figured out that mystery.  Yet.

As an aside to adventurers: when he isn't blathering about "microphytes" and "phagœktoplasmotic macrosciaphytes" (further information on the latter is available here), Baron Lee van Hook has promised a reward to anyone who can bring living specimens, dead remains, and strange masks to him.  Interested parties are directed to the University of the Study of the Arcane Arts and Sciences in Duchy Jepson, located on the Sorrowfell Plains.

The Nerglid use polearms in combat, typically tending toward halberds and glaives.  This particular specimen uses a halberd (or something similar enough in design to be called a halberd), to great effect.  In combat, he typically opens by savagely mauling somebody with Impale.  He then alternates between Halberd and Halberd Sweep as appropriate, typically using Halberd to menace individuals, and Halberd Sweep to menace groups.  (The Nerglid are also typically mounted on Pseudoblepas; in such a case, he uses Mounted Leap in lieu of Halberd whenever he is able.)

As noted, Nerglid are usually mounted on Pseudoblepas.  These creatures are extremely docile things that resemble a largish dinosaur with lobster claws and webbed feet.  They move primarily by hopping, like kangaroos, and tend to look rather comical.

Don't be fooled.  They are extremely vicious when mounted, and the Nerglid are adept at using their rhythmic hopping motions to inflict devastating strikes.

This specimen represents a fairly typical Pseudoblepas.  It will Claw or Tail Lash as its rider wields its halberd.  A Pseudoblepas without a rider will typically stop attacking and will move to a safe place (behind a rock, at the edge of the battlefield, basically anywhere that removes it from the main thrust of combat); if it is bloodied, it will flee.

It is possible for a player character to use a Pseudoblepas as a mount, although it is more likely that one would be obtained as war spoils rather than purchased.  The Nerglid raise them specially, and the likelihood of finding one on the open market is slim.  A Pseudoblepas whose rider is killed can probably be retrained with the application of the "Handle/Train Animal" function of the Nature skill, (Player's Handbook, pg. 186, or Rules Compendium, pg. 149), likely as part of a skill challenge.  I'd recommend a Complexity 1 skill challenge as they're fairly docile and easily trained.

Addendum: An update is available at Hereticwerks.