Animal Races: Clan of the Pig
This installment of the Animal Races-series clocks in at 11 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 2 pages SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let’s take a look!
The members of the pig clan may be medium (+2 Cha, -2 Dex) or small (+2 Cha, -2 Str) and have the orc subtype, normal speed (30 feet if medium, 20 feet if small), low-light vision, scent, natural armor +1 (scaling up to +2 at 10th level), a primary natural bite at 1d4 (1d3 for small pigs) and an array of 5 different racial heritages. Boar Clan nets +2 to Con and allows for Porcine Heritage to be selected as a rage power. Hippo Clan members get +2 Str and may select the Water Pig feat as a rage power. Orca Clan members get +2 to Str and may substitute a druid’s domain or animal companion to get Water Pig as a bonus feat at 1st, 2nd and every 4 levels thereafter. The Pig Clan gets +2 Dex and may choose Porcine Heritage as a rogue talent. Warthog Clan members get +2 to Con and may select Hell pig or Porcine Heritage as if they were hexes. As always, we get age, height and weight tables.
So what do these racial heritage feats unlock as racial abilities? As always in the series, the feats can be taken multiple times, with certain amounts of feats taken unlocking better abilities. Porcine Heritage lets you substitute the bite with a better gore or increase your movement by +10 feet, thereafter first unlocking damage die upgrade for the gore and then, finally, ferocity. Water Pig also sports a bite upgrade in dice-step, aforementioned fast movement and also features 20 ft. swim speed and hold breath. Once you have taken these, two further +10 ft. swim speed enhancements, bite upgrade to gore level regarding damage dice and blindsense in water become available.
Here, a peculiarity should be mentioned in case the subtype was not ample cue – this pdf is very much aware of the history of the orcs and as such, the following feats all are available for any creature with the Orc or half-orc subtype. The first would be the Hell Pig, which codifies the tiefling racial traits darkvision 60 ft., fiendish sorcery and skilled in a similar way as the above heritage feats; if you have them, you can instead choose fiendish resistance and the SPs of tieflings. The Hell Rune feat nets a witch the infernal domain’s bloodline spells as additional patron spells at the spell level of the sorceror and the Impressive Girth feat treats you as +1 size for the purpose of combat maneuvers and other size-dependent effects, though it locks you at max weight for your race AND provides a concise mechanic for the weight gain – this one covers all bases. Neat!
Now as always, the pdf also does provide some extensive take on genealogy and the way in which mythology and other creatures are perceived in the context of a world that contains them as well as a deity-write-up, this time detailing a truly despicable CE being devoted to avarice, gluttony and similar nice concepts. Also in tradition of the series, we receive an array of heraldic crests that double as traits for the diverse members of the pig clan, with bonus feats granted and balanced against drawbacks appropriate for the power-level of the respective feats. It should also be noted that one of these traits does postpone the feat it grants to 6th level – but then again, it’s Disruptive and does not require meeting the prereqs, so eating -1 to will saves may still not be a bad idea.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed no glitches. Layout adheres to the series’ elegant, printer-friendly two-column b/w-standard with thematically-fitting stock art. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for you convenience.
Eric Morton’s pig clan is great – if you remember orcs having snouts and tusks, this is a trip down memory lane. If not, you’ll still get one of the best installments in the great series: Balanced, deadly and versatile, this pdf provides a superb example for Mr. Morton’s ability to provide very concise writing that oozes flair. My final verdict will clock in at 5 stars + seal of approval.
You can get this cool, little pdf here on OBS!
Endzeitgeist out.
