Monster Monday: Basajaun, the Basque Sasquatch. Basquatch.

Today's Monster Monday entry is the basajaun - or 'Lord of the Forest' - a hairy forest man of Basque mythology that lives in forest or mountain villages tending crops and sheep.  Long ago, according to the myth, humans stole the secret of agriculture from the basajaunak (plural of basajaun).

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The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is (C)2013 Jonah Bomgaars.
Basajaun      CR 4

XP 1,200

N Large humanoid (giant)

Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +6

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+4 Dex, +4 nat., -1 size)

hp 37 (5d8+15)

Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +3

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee large battleaxe +9 (2d6+9)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Ranged large javelin +7 (1d8+6) 30ft.

Special Attacks Storm Bellow

STATISTICS

Str 22, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 12

Base Atk +3; CMB +10; CMD 24

Feats Nimble Moves, Acrobatic Steps, Skill Focus (perception)

Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +13, Craft (tools) +10, Handle Animal +8, Heal +9, Profession (farmer) +9, Survival +9; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Acrobatics when jumping

Languages Basajaun

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Storm Bellow (Su)

Four or more basajaunak working together can use their powerful, throaty bellows to change the weather.  This functions as control weather, and any basajaun with levels in druid who participates in the bellowing doubles the duration and increases the radius of effect to 3 miles, as usual.            

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate forest, hills, mountains

Organization solitary, pair, party (3-6), village (7-30 and one 3rd level druid, plus 25% children), tribe (31-100, one 3rd level bard, one 7th level druid, plus 25% children)

Treasure standard (large battleaxe, 3 large javelins, mundane tools, other treasure)

Basajaunak are nine-foot tall, primitive-looking humanoids covered with a thick coat of dark red hair.  Despite their barbaric appearance, they are quite intelligent, living in small, isolated farming villages together, complete with a mill and blacksmith.  According to some ancient legends, humans stole the secrets of agriculture and tool-making from the basajaunak.  A basajaun will rarely attack on sight; they are timid creatures who prefer to stay away from the outside world.  Most contact with them comes indirectly, via the loud bellow of a basajaun echoing through the hills, warning of a coming storm. 

   Basajaunak usually use their storm-bellow ability to make the weather more suitable to their agriculture, though the civilized people living near basajaun settlements know it better as a storm warning because the basajaunak also use this ability to summon storms when humans approach too closely to their village. 

   Basajunak are also known for the megaliths they have erected in their territories since ancient times. 

A female basajaun is called a basandere. 

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There are a lot of 'hairy forest man' myths from around the world, but what caught by attention about the basajaunak was that they were more advanced than humans.  Basajaunak apparently mastered agriculture, building, saws, and mills (give or take a few technologies, depending on who you ask) before humans did.  Crafty humans tricked the basajaunak by smuggling grain seeds away in their boots and learning how and when to plant by eavesdropping on basajaun songs.  

Basajaunak are also the guardians of shepherds because their bellows warn of coming storms.  I decided to make this a bit more interesting in gameplay terms by making it so that basajaun howls actually cause storms.  It fits really well with the idea that basajaunak are gentle, secretive folk - they use storms to keep wandering shepherds from stumbling into their villages.  The shepherds just think the howls warn them of the storms, not realizing that the storms themselves are also a warning.  

Other than that, basajaunak are not typical monsters.  A party may have a combat encounter with them if they storm into their village, corner one or two in the forest, or steal something from them: basajaunak are described as gentle, though quite strong and willing to fight if they are deceived - a blow from one of their axes could split a tree asunder.  I think these monsters have the most potential in a prehistoric campaign, where their comparatively advanced technology, mysterious standing stones, and secretive culture could make for some interesting plot-hooks and encounters.  

-your hirsute d20 despot.