Return to the Plane of the Apes: Gorilla & Silverback

Today's Monster Monday is part II of our month-long series about apes. This week, we're presenting the gorilla and the silverback. Gorillas are the largest of the apes, though our imaginations often inflate their size. Although gorillas are gentle, intelligent, social animals, they are also territorial. When angered or threatened, they can put their incredible strength to good use, slamming their rivals with their massive arms gouging enemies with their strong, sharp teeth.

Each troop of gorillas is led by a dominant male called a silverback, who is always the largest and strongest of the troop. Most of the time, the silverback is the only male in the troop, though sometimes he has a cadre of adult male warriors at his command, called blackbacks. Because the silverback is so important to gorilla society, and because they are physically more powerful and more dangerous than other gorillas, I thought they deserved their own stat block.

Silverback gorilla. Photo by Pierre Fidenci, via Wikimedia

You may know that the scientific name for the western gorilla is Gorilla gorilla, but do you know where the word gorilla comes from? It is a Greek translation of a Carthaginian Phoenician interpretation of an unknown West African word that may not have even referred to gorillas. According to Herodotus, around 500 BC the Carthaginian explorer Hanno the Navigator sailed down the coast of West Africa, encountering tribes of people, exploring strange islands and lakes, and founding settlements. After passing by a country devastated by forest fires or a volcano, he encountered gorillas:

On the third day after our departure thence, having sailed by those streams of fire, we arrived at a bay called the Southern Horn; at the bottom of which lay an island like the former, having a lake, and in this lake another island, full of savage people, the greater part of whom were women, whose bodies were hairy, and whom our interpreters called Gorillae. Though we pursued the men we could not seize any of them; but all fled from us, escaping over the precipices, and defending themselves with stones. Three women were however taken; but they attacked their conductors with their teeth and hands, and could not be prevailed upon to accompany us. Having killed them, we flayed them, and brought their skins with us to Carthage. 

It is open to debate whether the apes Hanno and his men encountered were gorillas or chimpanzees, or if this incident even occurred, but that is ultimately where we get the name 'gorilla'.

From our first recorded encounter with gorillas (though Hanno's was obviously far from the first encounter), our two species have had a troubled co-existance. Today we recognize the importance of protecting these gentle giants, but past humans - especially past Europeans - haven't been so charitable. In that light, gorillas can certainly serve as a formidable foe in any campaign where they are encountered.

via Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and Wikimedia

Pictured: Almost certainly not how this encounter happened

I should point out that both gorillas and chimpanzees are quadrupedal, rising to their hind legs only rarely. Chimpanzees can move a bit on their hind legs, but gorillas can only rear up. As such, I have given these apes the +4 to CMD vs trip attempts that quadrupedal creatures are entitled to, and that they were not given when they were originally statted up for Pathfinder.

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2018 Jonah Bomgaars.

This imposing, black-furred ape walks forward on its long, powerful arms, furrowing its brow and looking at you with intelligent eyes.

Ape, Gorilla           CR 3

XP 800

N Medium animal (intelligent)

Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +8

DEFENSE

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

hp 38 (4d8+20)

Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +2

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.

Melee 2 slams +7 (1d6+4)

STATISTICS

Str 19, Dex 15, Con 20, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 8

Base Atk +3; CMB +7; CMD 19 (23 vs trip)

Feats Intimidating Prowess^B, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception)

Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb+8, Intimidate +4, Perception +8

ECOLOGY

Environment warm forests

Organization solitary, pair, troop (3-12 plus one silverback and 25% infants and children)

Treasure none

This ape, larger than the others and sporting a flash of silver fur on its back, bares its sharp teeth and roars defiantly.

Ape, Silverback Gorilla           CR 4

XP 1,200

N Medium animal (intelligent)

Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +8

DEFENSE

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

hp 47 (5d8+25)

Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +2

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.

Melee 2 slams +8 (1d6+5) and bite +3 (1d6+2)

STATISTICS

Str 21, Dex 15, Con 20, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 8

Base Atk +3; CMB +8 (+10 bull rush); CMD 20 (24 vs trip)

Feats Improved Bull Rush, Intimidating Prowess^B, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception)

Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb+9, Intimidate +5, Perception +8

ECOLOGY

Environment warm forests

Organization solitary, pair, troop (3-12 plus one silverback and 25% infants and children)

Treasure none

Gorillas are black-furred, jungle-dwelling apes that can weigh up to 600 pounds. Although they range from 4 to 6 feet tall, they can only stand upright for short periods of time, and walk with both their legs and their long, powerful arms. Gorillas are intelligent animals that usually live in social groups called troops. A troop of gorillas is ruled by the largest male, the silverback, who has a harem of female gorillas and, sometimes, a small band of male followers called blackbacks. While gorillas are usually peaceful, they are fiercely territorial and their incredible strength and animal ferocity makes them a force to be reckoned with in a fight. 

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Plot Hooks and Encounter Ideas

• As the party traverses the strange jungle, they blunder into the midst of a tribe of mighty black apes, who begin to hoot and growl and pound their chests.
• Rumors from villages around the edge of the jungle point to a legendary gorilla whose fur is flecked with gold. The king has ordered an expedition to set out and bring him the gorilla alive, or bring him its pelt.
• After slaying the silverback gorilla, the party is approached by an angry druid who lambastes them for leaving the small troop defenseless against the dangerous ape-eating leopards of the area. He tells them that they are honor-bound to live amongst the apes and defend them until the druid can find another male to take up the role of silverback.

Also, if you need stats for young gorillas, use the chimpanzee stat block! It's close enough.

-your western lowland d20 despot