Umber Hulk
HD: d8
| Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Features |
| 1 | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Hulking Body, Heavy Burrower, +1 Str |
| 2 | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Tremorsense, Mandibles, +1 Str |
| 3 | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Confusion Glimpse, +1 Str, +1 Con |
| 4 | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Growth, Cunning Rampage, +1 Str |
| 5 | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Umber Smash, Chitinous Armor, +1 Str,+1 Con |
| 6 | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Hulk Trap, +1 Str, +1Con |
| 7 | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Confusion Gaze, Dangerous Loner, +1 Str, +1 Con |
Skills: 4+Int/Level (x4 at 1st)
Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Knowledge (any), Spot, Survival, Swim
Proficiencies: Its own natural weapons.
Features:Hulking Body: The Umber Hulk loses all other racial bonuses and gains aberration traits (basically Darkvision 60 feet). It's a medium aberration with base speed 20 feet with two claw attacks each dealing 1d6+Str mod damage. Although they don't look like it, those claws can be used to perform fine manipulation.
It also gains a bonus to Nat armor equal to its Con modifier.
Heavy Burrower: The Umber Hulk gains a burrow speed equal to its base speed, and can also burrow through solid rock at a speed of 5 feet. Either way, it can choose whether or not to leave a useable tunnel behind.
Rampage: Umber Hulks can rip through rocks and other obstacles as if they were light underbrush, rampaging continuously, leaving destruction in their wake. As a swift action, the Umber Hulk can enter a rampage for 1 round. During it, the Umber Hulk not only ignores any difficult terrain on its path, it actually destroys it, turning said squares he passes through into clear terrain. Once used, the Umber Hulk must wait 1d4 rounds before using Rampage again.
Ability Increase: The Umber Hulk gains +1 Str at every level, and +1 Con at levels 3, 5, 6, 7, for a total of +7 Str and +4 Con at level 7.
Tremorsense: At 2nd level, the Umber Hulk gains the tremorsense ability with a range of 10 feet per HD.
Mandibles: At 2nd level, the Umber Hulk can now use its mandibles as a Bite natural weapon dealing 1d8+1/2 Str mod damage.
Confusion Glimpse: They say the eyes are the gates to one's soul. If that's true, then the Umber Hulk's soul is definitely not a pretty thing to look at, able to break the sanity of all but the bravest heroes. At 3rd level, a number of times per day equal to its HD*Con mod, but no more than 1/round, the Umber Hulk can glance at a creature within 30 feet. They must be able to see each other. The target must make a Will save with DC 10+1/2 HD+Con mod or be Confused for 1 round per HD. This is a mind-affecting effect.
If he uses this as a move action, he can extend the range to 60 feet.
If he uses this as a standard action, he can extend the range to 120 feet.
If he uses this as a Fullround action, he can extend the range to 240 feet.
If the Umber Hulk has 10 HD or more, its gaze can affect even enemies immune to mind-affecting effects, but they gain a +5 bonus on their saves.
Growth: At 4th level the Umber Hulk grows a size category. If all Umber Hulk levels were taken, it grows another size category at 14 HD. With each size increase, its natural armor increases by 1.
Cunning Rampage: Despite its great bulk, an Umber Hulk is intelligent and adept at turning apparently random destruction to its advantage. At 4th level, when using Rampage, the Umber Hulk can choose to leave a path of debris behind, which provides his choice of cover, concealment, and/or counting as difficult or clear terrain.
Umber Smash: An Umber Hulk can deliver blows powerful enough to crush almost any enemy, smashing through armor and exoskeletons with ease. At 5th level, the Umber Hulk’s natural weapons ignore half the DR, Hardness, Armor or Natural Armor of its targets. The Umber Hulk must choose what to ignore at the start of each of its turns. By focusing its brute strength as a swift action, it can choose all of the previous options for 1 round.
Chitinous Armor: As it reaches its adult size, the Umber Hulk's carapace finishes solidifying and keeps strengthening as it grows older. At 5th level, its Natural Armor increases by an amount equal to 1/5 HD and half the Umber Hulk's Natural Armor now counts towards its touch AC, as it's specially smooth.
Hulk Trap: When brute force won't overcome an enemy, the Umber Hulk is more than capable of out-thinking those who assume it to be a stupid beast. At 6th level, by using their tunneling ability as a fullround action, they can create a
Camouflaged Pit Trap or a
Falling Block Trap in an adjacent position. The save DC of the Pit Trap is 10+1/2 HD+Con mod, the attack bonus of the falling block is equal to the Umber Hulk's melee bonus with its natural weapons, the search and disable DCs are both equal to 10+HD+Con mod, and the damage dealt is 1d6 per HD.
The Umber Hulk can also choose to wait inside its own Pit Trap, gaining an automatic surprise round against anyone falling inside it. However due to its rushed construction, those traps collapse by themselves in 10 minutes.
If the Umber Hulk spends 10 minutes preparing the trap, it will last 24 hours.
If the Umber Hulk spends 1 hour preparing the trap, it will last a week.
If the Umber Hulk spends 1 day preparing the trap, it will last a year.
Confusion Gaze: At 7th level, by spending 5 uses of Confusion Glimpse as a standard action, the Umber Hulk can turn it into a full-fledged gaze attack with a range of 30 feet for 1 round. At the beginning of his next round, he may spend another use as a free action to persist the effect for another round, until he runs out of uses or wishes to stop.
Dangerous Loner: Umber Hulks live solitary existences, and if cornered will wreck tremendous devastation rather than surrendering or submitting. At 7th level, 1/day as a fullround action the Umber Hulk can violently smash the ground where he stands to launch rock and debris all around in a radius up to 10 feet per HD. All creatures inside that radius must succeed on a reflex save with DC 10+1/2 HD+Con mod or be buried under a pile of rubble that deals 1d6 damage per HD. Flying creatures failing their saves fall to the ground during the process. Imprisoned creatures are covered by a 5-foot layer of debris and can't take any action but try to break free every round, which demands either an Escape Artist or Str check with DC equal to the save, 1 attempt per round. Creatures outside and adjacent to the debris can provide Aid Another to help break free. If this ability is used in an enclosed space, the save DC increases to 10+HD+Con mod. Saving negates the imprisonment and halves the damage. The Umber Hulk himself is left covered in the debris, but takes no damage and can dig his way to freedom, counting the debris as Solid Rock.
In addition, now Umber Hulk levels stack with Barbarian levels for determining Rage benefits and the number of times a Barbarian can rage per day. If the Umber Hulk is raging, he can end it to regain a use of this ability.
CommentsAh, the Umber Hulk. A truly classic D&D monster. It hits hard, it's tough, it digs, it's smarter than it looks, and then it makes you go insane if you get too close, what's not to love?
Anyway, the saga for finding "brute" abilities continues. Luckily the Umber Hulk fluff did provide some nice ideas. In particular its capstone is based on the 2e Umber Hulk that would seek to cause cave-ins if cornered.
So if you want to play a burrowing gorilla-beetle, the Umber Hulk's for you!
