Scabmettler

Overview

The scabmettlers are a stoic race of warriors who use their thaumaturgical blood to create armor and other tools. The warrior-like nature of the scabmettlers lends naturally towards adventuring of almost any type, although there are not many scabmettlers to be found outside of Armada.

Physical Description
Scabmettler skin is a blanched gray, and their bodies are slightly more squat and strong than those of humans. Ritual scarification marks their faces, arms, chests, and legs; only the portion of their backs they cannot reach themselves is unmarked. When a scabmettler’s blood is exposed to air, it rapidly solidifies into an incredibly tough scab-like substance.

Scabmettlers have learned how to utilize this ability to create impressive armor protection by ritually cutting their skin, and shaping the flow of blood on their skin as it solidifies. When wearing their clot armor, scabmettlers are covered in protrusions of swiftly clotted blood up to several inches long, of black and blue and blood-brown.

The form of this blood is crystalline and spiky. Each pattern of armor is unique to the warrior who creates it; some prefer heavy armor while others prefer the speed allowed by light armor. The art of finding the perfect pattern of cuts is a deeply spiritual act which each warrior perfects meticulously. This ability is not without its drawbacks, however. Occasionally, a scabmettler’s blood will spontaneously solidify inside their bodies in a massive “all-clot” attack, which kills the scabmettler immediately.

To reduce the likelihood of this occurrence, scabmettlers drink a concoction made from an herb called Blodfrey. Blodfrey tonic is also crucial for shaping the armor of a scabmettler – without it, their blood solidifies too quickly to be molded.

Personality
As a race, the scabmettlers are not unlike most other humanoids, prone to living together in small families grouped with others of their kind. Most have a strong belief in honor and the rule of law, but their warrior natures leave many to be stern and rather cold-hearted. Scabmettlers enjoy both ritual gladiatorial combat, and the rough-and-tumble mob fighting of piracy.

They fight best in groups of their own kind, and they cooperate among themselves to take down dangerous foes. They practice a form of fighting stance called mortu crutt, or “stamp fighting,” which uses feints, sweeps, and strokes to knock down and incapacitate a foe. The use of mortu crutt can be ostentatious and elaborate during a gladiatorial contest, or quick and brutal during a boarding action. Perhaps the most celebrated day of the scabmettler calendar is Blood Day, when ritual combat contests are held.

Relations
The scabmettlers have no known nation.

Scabmettler Lands
The homeland of the scabmettlers is currently unknown, with the most likely candidate being a far-off portion of Shoteka. The highest concentration of scabmettlers in the known world is on the floating city Armada, whose citizens were all originally press-ganged from captured ships. A small number of scabmettlers have also found their way to the coasts of the Rohagi mainland and the Witchocracy.

Religion
The scabmettlers of Armada take the reverence of Croom, mythical founder of the city, more intensely than most humans do.

Language
Any original language of the scabmettlers has been forgotten at this point, and most speak Salt.

Torque & Thaumaturgy (Magic)
The only common thaumaturgy among the scabmettlers relates to healing injuries or to their scab-arts.

Racial Traits

Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Dexterity
Size: Medium: As Medium creatures, scabmettlers have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Speed: Scabmettler base land speed is 30 feet.
Languages: Salt and Ragamoll (Common)
Difficulty Level: 4 (of 9). Scabmettlers are not common

Features

Seal Wounds:
Scabmettlers are very difficult to kill with piercing or slashing attacks, as their wounds seal instantly. As such they have a natural resistance to piercing and slashing damage from non-magical sources.

Quickset Disarm:
Whenever a scabmettler is cut by a slashing or piercing weapon from a non-magical source, his blood coagulates around the weapon almost instantly, giving the scabmettler an attack of opportunity that can be used to disarm the foe. make an unarmed attack against the target; if it succeeds, the weapon is torn from its owner’s grasp and remains embedded in the scabmettler’s armor. If the attempt fails, the target may not attempt to disarm the scabmettler in return. Weapons stuck this way can later be torn free with a successful strength check (DC 15).

Clot Armor:
By carving their own flesh with skinning knives, after washing themselves with the blodfrey infusion that slows the clotting, scabmettlers can create clot armor. This grants the scabmettler a natural armor bonus. While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 +Strength + Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.