Rock Man

Rock men are cone-shaped humanoids with the appearance of granite. Devoted mountain dwellers who jealously guard their territory, rock men are fond of gems and little else.

Rock men are about 6 feet tall, with the “base” at their legs measuring about 4 feet in diameter. They have muscular-looking frames. The skin of a rock man looks like broken granite, with coloration ranging from blue-gray to purple. When they stand still, rock men look like stalagmites or rock spires. The eyes of rock men shine like gold nuggets.

Rock men speak Common and their own language, a verbose tongue that takes ten words to convey an idea that could be expressed in two in most other languages. Rock men speak in slow, rasping voices, like the sound of a boulder being slowly pushed uphill.

As long as travelers simply pass through territory claimed by rock men and do not exhibit plans to settle, mine, or otherwise poke around, the rock men are happy to let them pass.

Combat: Because of their ponderousness, rock men always lose initiative on the first round of combat. They suffer a +2 penalty to all subsequent initiative rolls.

Rock men are as strong as ogres (18/00 Strength), and attack with their two great fists, each causing 1d8+6 points of damage. They reject the notion of armor or weaponry.

When in their natural habitat of broken or mountainous terrain, the rock men's opponents suffer a 4 penalty to their surprise rolls. If opponents are keeping careful watch, the penalty drops to -2. Dwarves are more adept at recognizing rock men, and they no penalties.

Rock men are immune to all fire-based attacks. The transmute rock to mud spell inflicts 3d8 points of damage to a rock man.

When killed, a rock man crumbles into rocky debris. Anyone sifting through the debris will find the rock man's heart, which is a heart-shaped ruby worth 1d10×10 gold pieces. If a rock man sees anyone possessing one of these rubies, it will attack the owner immediately.

Habitat/Society: The rock man credo is, “take things slow; there is time enough for everything under the sun”. Rock men live for about six centuries, and as a result, are never in much of a hurry to do anything.

Rock men do not build villages. They dwell in natural caves and mountain gullies. Many spend plenty of happy hours carving intricate designs into their home caves.

A rock man cave group typically contains Zd20 rock men. Leadership is handled by a council of elders made up of 1d4+4 of the oldest rock men. Note that the term “rock man” refers to both genders.

Rock men can reproduce only once a decade, and give birth to only one offspring at a time. Rock children grow to maturity in 40 years. Like the adults, the offspring are in no particular hurry for anything.

Rock men shun weapons, clothing, and other items. They prefer instead to direct any creative urges toward the continuing beautification of the caverns in which they dwell. Some spend decades carving a slngle wall.

Due to their greatly extended lives, rock men have a different perspective on time. The concept of hours, days, or even weeks rarely occurs to rock men. Unless shown the urgency in a situation, rock men will simply refuse to be rushed.

Rock men mate for life, though it seems to take an eternity for mates to be chosen. Rock men venerate special days such as birthdays, wedding days, and significant events of their clan. The observances sometimes last as long as a week.

Ecology: The flawless rubies that serve as the hearts of rock men are eagerly sought by spellcasters and alchemists who need them to fabricate certain magical items.

Unconfirmed rumors tell that certain evil creatures use the grey sludge that passes for rock man blood as an ingredient in a magical mortar. Supposedly, bricks mortared together with this mixture will never collapse or crack.