Monster Monday: Orang Pendek - The Hairy Forest Man

Lately, in my spare time, I've been doing some research for the Southeast-Asian-themed region of my campaign setting.  As a direct result of that, today's Monster Monday is the Orang Pendek, a mythical forest-man creature from the jungles of Sumatra, which I have imagined as an intelligent orangutan-like ape capable of making and using tools.

'Orangutan Attacked by Dyaks' by Joseph Wolf, via Wikimedia

I've also made a new intelligent animal subtype that allows for animals with an Intelligence higher than 2 without making them Magical Beasts, because language and tool use are not magic.

via primatology.net

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is (C)2014 Jonah Bomgaars.

Primate, Orang Pendek             CR 3

XP 800

N Medium animal (intelligent)

Init +3; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8

DEFENSE

AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +2 Natural)

hp 26 (4d8+8)

Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +2

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee stone shortspear +8 (1d6+5) and slam +3 (1d4+2), or two slams +8 (1d4+5)

Ranged stone shortspear +6 (1d6+5) 20ft.

STATISTICS

Str 20, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 4, Wis 12, Cha 7

Base Atk +3; CMB +8; CMD 21

Feats Simple Weapon Proficiency (shortspear), Skill Focus (Perception)

Skills Climb +9, Craft (weapons) -2, Perception +8, Stealth +6

Languages Orang Pendek

ECOLOGY

Environment jungle

Organization solitary, pair, patrol (3-5), or tribe (6-18)

Treasure incidental

Orang pendek are a species of forest-dwelling ape, resembling an upright-walking orangutan with greyish-black or dark brown fur.  Unlike orangutans, orang pendek spend most of their time on the ground, although they have been sighted sitting high in the trees as well.  They stand a little over four feet tall, about as high as a dwarf but not as stout.  They are a reclusive and intelligent ape species with rudimentary tool-making capabilities and a primitive language of grunts and gestures.  Little is known about them; even the tribes that live near them in the deep jungle rarely sight them, although they often blame orang pendek for the mysterious disappearances of small items or even people.  

   Orang pendek are curious, pushing them to secretly observe humans.  Although not generally hostile, orang pendek will fight to the death when cornered by what they perceive to be intruders, and have been known to kill humans who venture too close to their tribe's current hideout.  They eat fruits, insects, and meat, and some have been known to be maneaters.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You may have noticed that the orang pendek has the 'intelligent' subtype.  This is a subtype I created because I think restricting animals to Int scores of 1 or 2 is bullcrap.  Tool use is not uncommon in the animal world, and numerous animals (great apes and corvids, for the most part) have been observed selecting and modifying objects for a specific use (i.e. crafting simple tools).  The fact that some great apes in captivity can be taught sign language shows that they have the intellectual capacity for language, something impossible for a creature with an Intelligence score of 2 or less in D&D/Pathfinder.  It shouldn't be too hard to imagine, in a fantasy world, monsters of the Animal type which have limited capacity for tool-making and language without being 'Magical Beasts', as the rules state any animal with an Int score of 3+ to be.  This template can also be used for exceptional individual animals, like particularly intelligent dogs or horses.

Intelligent Subtype
Some species of animals (or exceptional individuals) have a higher intellectual capacity than most animals.  Such animals might be capable of crafting tools, solving complex problems on their own, or communicating with a rudimentary language.  This subtype can be applied to any Animal.  Intelligent animals have the following traits:

• Intelligence scores of 3-4.
• The ability to learn languages (though not necessarily to speak them), craft very simple tools, and take Weapon Proficiency and Armor Proficiency feats.
• Animals with an Intelligence score of 3 can learn a maximum of 9 tricks, and those with a score of 4 can learn a maximum of 12 tricks.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Encountering orang pendek in the jungle should be rare.  An adventurer might spot one at a distance, seemingly watching them, or they might come across some strange footprints and tufts of black fur while tracking something else.  If they get too close to orang pendek territory, the party might be on the receiving end of a couple short spears chucked out of the dense jungle.  Orang pendek tribes often inhabit jungle ruins, putting them in a position where adventurers might encounter them.

Adventurers might go in seek of the orang pendek on behalf of a local tribe which has been complaining of stolen items, culminating in the kidnapping of several children.  There may be rumours that orang pendek have developed a taste for human flesh.  Perhaps the adventurers have been hired by a wealthy collector looking to obtain specimens of this rare creature, dead or alive.

-your tool-making d20 despot