Loxo

A male and female Loxo

Loxoth (loxo is the singular) are an elephantine race in the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons. They were first introduced in the 2nd edition Forgotten Realms as non-playable monster creatures, and reappeared as a playable race in the 3.5 edition Shining South supplement. Loxoth are unique in that they have a pair of trunks, instead of a single one, each tipped with finger-like appendages. For the similar beastfolk from Magic: The Gathering, see Loxodon.

The loxoth are a nomadic culture of hunter-gatherers who occupy the plains of the Shaar and, in much smaller numbers, the Hordelands, roaming the grasslands in what you can call either "clans" or "herds"; such groups consist of 1-6 small family units (1 male, 1-3 females, 3-12 calves) accompanied by a group of 6-24 unattached males. In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, loxoth were explicitly described as originating from the Spelljammer universe; the entire species were said to be descendants of a migratory fleet of jammers that, for whatever reason, chose to settle in the plains of the Shaar on Faerun. In 3rd edition, because of Spelljammer's non-revival, this was downplayed to being only a rumor and made as nebulous as possible; loxo were stated to claim to come from another world via "Mysterious Means", rather than by spelljamming.

This Spelljammer connection was a big deal in AD&D; every herd ultimately descends from the passengers of a single ship, which is denoted by the specific geometric patterns they incorporate into their clothing, and not only does this make up an important part of their oral history, but loxoth will ultimately only choose mates who originated from the same ship. Furthermore, the ultimate figure of authority in a loxoth herd is a tunnuk, a female loxo who has become a wizard of up to 20th level; the tunnuks were responsible for fueling the spelljammers that brought the loxoth to Faerun, and as such not only are they deified as the spiritual mothers of every herd, the living tunnuk is effectively an avatar of that mother-tunnuk.

Ironically, despite how important tunnuks were to AD&D loxoth, they actually weren't detailed alongside their standard brethren in the Realms Monstrous Compendium Appendix 2 beyond a single sentence! The fact that they are wizards and, presumably, have no level cap is almost entirely speculative.

AD&D Loxoth herds are led by a "lox-fithik", or Chieftain, with the powers of a 7th level fighter, and will have 1 "fithik" (Lieutenant), who has the power of a 5th level fighter, per ever 10 adults.

AD&D loxoth are described as a patriarchal culture; aside from the tunnuks, the males dominate the political and military aspects of loxoth culture. They are also, like many beastfolk of the time, kind of primitive; male loxoth fight each other over the right to access females and will keep groups of wives - the stronger the loxo, the more wives he can keep by way of fighting off would-be rivals. Furthermore, male loxoth will, 95% of the time, go "rogue" if they see their families killed. All loxoth can enter berserk rages if they see their families threatened, but a "rogue" loxo enters a permanent berserk rage, losing 1d6 hit points a day from the strain and attacking everything he sees until he's finally dead.

The loxoth are an artistic race, working with wood, metal, and ivory from the tusks of their dead. Loxoth make their own weapons, using their strong, clumsy hands to form dirk and blunt weapons. For finer work, they use their weaker, more dexterous trunks. Ivory is always carved into religious figurines and kept as family heirlooms, while wood is shaped into various decorations. Loxoth also use their trunks to shape and sharpen shuriken and to make jewelry. Because of their physical limitations, loxoth can produce only very crude or very fine metalwork, with nothing in between. So while they can make maces and fine jewelry, swords are beyond their ability.

Loxoth eat a great amount of grass and other plant material, often as much as 100 pounds per day each. They work diligently to protect and preserve their grazing lands. They travel to different areas periodically, and plant fruit trees and grains in all the areas they frequent, so they might have a variety of food.

Loxoth use their fine artwork for trade. Those who settled in the Shaar trade with the dwarves of the Great Rift and offer them fine jewelry and occasional spellcasting in return for raw materials.

Loxo tusks are worth up to 250 gold pieces each, but stealing, buying, or trading them is considered the highest crime among the loxoth.

3rd edition lore was... basically a watered down version of this. Now declaring the plural to be loxos, it described them as a peaceful, but reclusive, race, disinterested in the struggles of good or evil - as they view it, everything has its place, but extremes can be detrimental to the survival of the herd. Whilst they will occasionally enter Shaar cities to trade their artwork, for the most part, they keep to themselves.

The one new addition to loxoth lore in 3e was the detailing of a religious aspect to their lives. Loxos venerate nature and strength, having a prevalent druidic tradition and a secondary priesthood. The worship of the druids appears to focus on an entity that must be an aspect of Hiatea, a deity of giants, but also one of nature, agriculture, hunting, and childbirth. Many loxo clerics worship their vision of Hiatea, while some favor an aspect of Iallanis (also a deity of giants) for his strength and healing ability.

Loxo Stats

Loxo were made playable in the Forgotten Realms supplement Shining South on pgs. 14-15.

+8 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, –2 Charisma. Loxos are powerful physical specimens, but their lack of contact with outsiders limits their abilities of persuasion.

Monstrous Humanoid: Loxos are not subject to spells or effects that affect only humanoids, such as charm person or dominate person.

Large: As a large creature, a loxo has a –1 penalty to Armor Class, a –1 penalty on attack rolls, a –4 penalty on Hide checks, a +4 bonus on grapple checks, and his lifting and carrying limits are double those of Medium characters.

Space/Reach: 10 feet/10 feet.

Loxo base land speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision out to 60 feet.

Racial Hit Dice: A loxo begins with five levels of monstrous humanoid, which provide him with 5d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +5, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +4.

Racial Skills: A loxo’s monstrous humanoid levels grant him skill points equal to 8 × (2 + Int modifier). Class skills include Climb, Listen, Spot, and Survival.

Racial Feats: A loxo’s monstrous humanoid levels grant him two feats.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A loxo is automatically proficient with simple weapons and light armor.

Natural Attacks: Loxos can attack with their trunks. A loxo can make single attack with one trunk (as a slam attack) that deals 1d6 points of damage, or with a full-attack action, he can make slams with both trunks. As part of a full-attack action with another weapon, a loxo can make one secondary attack using a single trunk at his highest base attack bonus –5.

Natural Armor: +4 natural armor bonus.

Berserk Rage (Ex): A loxo that sees a clan member killed or incapacitated enters a berserk rage. The loxo gains a +4 bonus to Strength, a +4 bonus to Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class. This rage lasts a number of rounds equal to 3 + the loxo’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. After the rage ends, the loxo is fatigued (–2 penalty to Strength, –2 penalty to Constitution, can’t charge or run) until the end of the encounter.

Trample (Ex): As a standard action, a loxo can trample creatures of Medium size or smaller. The loxo merely has to move over the opponents. The trample deals 1d8 (plus 1-1/2 times the loxo’s Strength bonus) points of bludgeoning damage. A trampled opponent can make an attack of opportunity with a –4 penalty against the trampling loxo or attempt a Reflex save for half damage. The DC for the Reflex save is 10 + 2 (1/2 of the loxo’s racial HD) + the loxo’s Str modifier.

Automatic Languages: Loxo. Bonus Languages: Common, regional dialects.

Favored Class: Ranger. A multiclassed loxo’s ranger class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

Level Adjustment: +2.