Editing Anakore

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'''Anakores''', commonly nicknamed '''Dune Freaks''', are one of the many monstrous humanoids that infest the wilderness of [[Dark Sun]]. Introduced in the original Dark Sun boxed set, alongside other Dark Sun mainstays like the [[Belgoi]] and [[Braxat]], anakores might perhaps be best described as the "molemen" of Athas; these savage humanoids have a hulking, malformed body, with a hunched spine that houses a vibration-detecting dorsal fin, ape-like elongated arms, powerful burrowing claws, small ears that are pressed tight to the sides of their bony, wedge-like heads, and sunken, beady eyes covered by clear membranes. These eyes are supersensitive to light, forcing them to avoid surfacing during the day lest they be blinded - underground or at night, however, they can see with ease.

Though capable of walking upright, anakores are much faster at burrowing through sand and loose soil, and prefer to stay below-ground. Their short but sharp teeth carry a powerful paralytic venom, and their preferred method of attack is to grab a victim, bite them, and then drag them into the dirt to suffocate once they are paralyzed; eviscerating creatures with their claws is more of a last resort.

Hovering somewhere between "dumb humanoid" and "smart animal" on the brains register (Average Int: 5-7), dune freaks pursue a meager existence as nomadic pack-dwelling predators. Omnivorous, they supplement their meagre diet of roots with the voracious consumption of literally just about anything they can eat. Except for [[kank]]s, because absolutely fucking nobody on Athas is desperate enough to eat a kank.

In 4th edition, anakores are a much weirder threat. Believed to be descended from humanoids who were corrupted by "terrors from beyond the sky", they are now [[Aberration|aberrant humanoids]], who are sometimes found alongside other aberrant creatures, such as the [[hejkin]]. It's even whispered that anakores do not reproduce naturally, but instead spare select victims from their attacks to instead bury them in weird hollows beneath the sands, where those unfortunates are transformed into new anakores.

=Playing Anakores?=
Now, you might think that a barely sapient burrowing predator is a poor choice for a playable race even in [[Dark Sun]], but the madlads who wrote the Complete Book of Athasian Humanoids disagreed. They added only a small bit of lore, noting that anakores use brawls to determine leadership and will normally expect to be made the leader of any party unless firmly put in their place. Ironically, Anakore are probably one of the easiest races to qualify for under [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] rules, even if you weren't using the custom character generation rules demanded for Dark Sun.

::Ability Score Minimum/Maximum: Strength 5/20, Dexterity 5/18, Constitution 5/20, Intelligence 5/15, Wisdom 5/20, Charisma 5/17
::Ability Score Adjustments: +1 Constitution, -1 Dexterity, -1 Intelligence, -2 Charisma (note: increase Cha by +2 when dealing with other Anakores)
::Racial Class/Level Limits: [[Fighter]] 14, [[Gladiator]] 12, [[Cleric]] 12, [[Psion]]icist Unlimited
:::Racial Thieving Skill Adjustments: N/A
::Natural Armor Class: 8
::Movement: 9, 15 when Burrowing
::Subterranean Assault: A burrowing anakore can attack foes from below, inflicting a -3 penalty to their surprise rolls and a -2 penalty to their attack rolls if they remain where the anakore initially attacked them; if the target moves, the anakore has to fully emerge to follow them, and loses their protective shield.
::Natural Weapons: An anakore attacks twice per round with its claws (1d4 damage). If an anakore hits the same target with both claws, they can follow up with a free bite attack; it inflicts no damage, but the target must save vs. paralyzations or be paralyzed for 1d4 rounds (1d2 rounds if Large, 1 round if Huge; Gargantuan creatures are too big to affect). A paralyzed target of Medium or smaller size can be dragged underground, where they take 1d4 damage per round due to suffocation.
::Sun Blindness: An anakore suffer a -2 penalty to their attack rolls when fighting in daylight, even to their burrowing attack.
::Clumsy: An anakore that attempts to boost its overland movement rate by running must make a Dexterity save each round with a -1 penalty per speed level, or else it falls over.
::Bonus Proficiency: Survival (Sandy Wastes)

In contrast, Terrors of Athas for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]] gives them this statblock instead:
::Ability Modifiers: +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, -4 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
::Size: Medium
::Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
::Speed: 30, Burrow 20
::Low-Light Vision
::Racial Hit Dice: 3 levels in Monstrous Humanoid (3d8 HD, BAB +3, Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +3).
::Racial Skills: 6 X (2 + Int modifier) skill points, racial skills are Hide and Move Silently.
::2 feats
::Weapon Proficiency: All Simple Weapons, Natural Weaponry.
::+1 Natural Armor Bonus.
::Natural Weapons: 2 Claws (1d4), 1 Bite (1d2 + Poison: DC 14 Fortitude save, 1 Temporary Strength Damage initial, 1d6 Temporary Strength Strength Damage secondary)
::+8 racial bonus to Hide checks in sandy terrain.
::Special Attacks:
:::Improved Grab (Ex): An anakore that hits with its Claw attack can start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. The anakore can then use Rend or Suffocation.
:::Rend (Ex): After hitting with a claw attack and winning a grapple check, the anakore can rip the victim's flesh to inflict 2d4+1 damage.
:::Suffocation (Ex): An anakore can use a grapple check to drag a Medium or smaller creature underground, where they are vulnerable to suffocation until they escape the grab and successfully dig themselves out with a DC 15 Strength check.
::Special Qualities:
:::Tremorsense (Ex) 60 feet
:::Light Blindness: An anakore is completely blind when within bright sunlight or the radius of a Daylight spell.
::Automatic Language: Anakore, Bonus Languages: None
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Cleric]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +2

[[Category: Dark Sun]] [[Category: Monsters]]