Gurrash

Gator-men as they appeared in the Creature Catalog (AC9/DMR2)

Gurrash, originally known as Gator Men, are a subspecies of Lizardfolk native to the Mystara world of Dungeons & Dragons. They were first introduced to the D&D world as part of an article in Dragon Magazine #185, being the subject of one of the last parts in the story of The Voyage of the Princess Ark. This article presented them with mechanics to be playable for "Basic" Dungeons & Dragons, whilst they would later receive an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons update in two splatbooks published as part of AD&D's Odyssey line: Characters of the Savage Coast, and Orc's Head: Sourcebook.

Gurrash were originally created by the Herathian Empire, a powerful magocracy ruled by aranea, in hopes of engineering a new race of warrior-slaves to bulk up the ranks of their armies. To achieve this, they magically fused shazaks together with the alligators indigenous to the bayous and swamps of Ator. The results were... less than expected. The new gatorfolk were indeed huge, vicious and powerful, but they were dim-witted, violent-tempered, and bloodthirsty beyond the abilities of the Herathians to control. Worse, they saw their shazak relatives as tasty fodder, making them very expensive failures indeed. Ultimately, experiments to try and breed a more controllable version of the gurrash failed and the species erupted in one massive uprising, fleeing to the northern bayous after wreaking havoc in the cities of their birth.

The Herathians tried to exterminate them, even paying a handsome bounty for their dead, but after a few decades, their breeding had made them so common that no hunter was willing to risk their life in the swamps they claimed as their own. Sick and tired of the whole mess, the Herathians unleashed magically-engineered diseases and parasites to control their breeding to some extent, and then washed their hands of them entirely. The gurrash drove the native shazaks away, claiming the Bayou of Ator for themselves entirely, where they have stayed ever since. Brutal, violent and savage, they mostly keep to themselves, occasionally swarming out of the bayou in bloodthirsty hordes when their numbers grow too large, and informally trading with the wallara of the nearby grasslands, having come to the misconception that the wallara are actually spirits who serve their divine patron, Gorn.

In truth, the Immortal Gorn is better known to other races as Demogorgon. He was one of several Immortals, alongside Terra, Ka the Preserver, and Kurtulmak, who become invested in subverting the efforts of the Herathians to experiment upon their shazak slaves. Gorn is the father of the bloodlust and savagery that taints their minds, and is worshipped by them as a god of victory, bravery and death.

As their common moniker suggests, gurrash look like a humanoid alligator. Standing seven to eight feet tall, the typical healthy gurrash weighs in at close to 300 pounds, with deep green scales and eyes in toxic yellow to deep red. They wear little clothing, usually sticking to loinclothes and bandoliers, but sometimes add tunics.

As stated above, gurrash suffer from the demonic influence of Demogorgon. Whilst there are calm, controlled, reasonable, even civilized gurrash, there's always something savage lurking beneath the surface. Their culture embraces this, with monarchs ruling through fear and brutality, but are beginning to develop the concept of family and tribal unity beyond that. More enlightened gurrash tend to wander away from the bayou and end up adopting adventuring parties as new "blood kin", striving to protect them with the savage loyalty their people are known for.

Racial Stats

Basic D&D

Like all nonhuman races in Basic Dungeons & Dragons, gurrash are treated as a class more than anything, which makes them hard to follow. But, /tg/ believes in sharing that kind of obscure stuff, so here they are.

Experience & Hit Dice Table

Level -3: -63,000 XP, 1 Hit Dice

Level -2: -47,250 XP, 3 Hit Dice

Leve; -1: -31,500 XP, 5 Hit Dice

Level 0: 0 XP, 7d8 HD

Level 1: 63,000 XP, 8d8 HD

Level 2: 189,000 XP, 9d8 HD

Level 3: 441,000 XP, 0 HD

Level 4: 741,000 XP, 10d8 HD

Level 5: 1,041,000 XP, 11d8 HD

Level 6: 1,341,000 XP, 12d8 HD

Level 7: 1,641,000 XP, 0 HD

Level 8: 1,941,000 XP, 13d8 HD

Level 9: 2,241,000 XP, +2 Hit Points

Further Advancement: +300,000 XP per extra level, +2 hit points per level

Ability Score Modifiers:

Maximum Wisdom is 16 and Maximum Intelligence is 10; Strength, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma are Maximum 18.

+2 Str, -2 Wis, +1 Con, -1 Cha

Starting Int is rolled as 1d4+2

As a monstrous humanoid, modifier Charisma by -2 when dealing with humanoids of other races and by -5 when dealing with humns and demihumans

Miscellaneous:

Automatically knows how to swim.

Can stay underwater for 5 minutes without discomfort.

When 10 feet or more away from a viewer and within swamp vegetation, has a 30% chance to Hide.

Infravision

Natural Armor Class is 7 or, for more complicated version, is AC 7 at Level -3, AC 5 at Level -2, AC 4 at Level -1, and AC 3 at Level 0 and on.

Armor with an AC of 7 or worse will only improve the character's AC by 1 point.

Shields work as normal.

Armor with an AC of 6 or better use their own AC with a 1 point bonus.

A gurrash has a bite attack that deals 1d4 damage at level -3, improving to 1d6 per 2 HD, rounding down, maxing out at 6d6.

Advanced D&D

It goes without saying that gurrash were far easier to grasp as a PC race in Advanced D&D than they were in Basic.

Racial Ability Minimums and Maximums: Strength 10/18, Dexterity 3/18, Constitution 8/18, Intelligence 3/12, Wisdom 3/18, Charisma 3/16

Racial Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +1 Con, -2 Wis, -2 Cha

Class & Level Limits: Fighter 15, Wizard 6, Priest 7, Thief 9, Psionicist 7

Multiclass Options: Fighter/Priest, Fighter/Thief

Thieving Skill Adjustments: -5% Pick Pockets, -10% Open Locks, +5% Find/Remove Traps, +5% Move Silently, +5% Hide in Shadows +5% Discern Noise, -10% Read Languages

Natural Armor Class 5

Receive Swimming as a bonus proficiency

Blinding Rage: When placed in a frustrating situation or one that the gurrash does not understand, make a Wisdom save with a -2 penalty. On a success, the gurrash keeps control. On a failure, they become Enraged (as per the "Courage" effect of the level 4 wizard spell "Emotion") for 5 rounds or until the rage is countered.

Blood Rage: When a gurrash takes 8 or more damage from a single blow, make a Rage check as above. On a failure, they attack the assailant in a fury for 5 rounds, until magically calmed down, or they kill their assailant.