Flesheaters (Epiphage)

A race of headless men with stout bodies nine foot tall at the shoulder, who unlike their Blemmyes relatives are capable of standing upright and do not knuckle-walk. Famous for their gluttonous nature the flesheaters are strictly carnivorous and have difficulty passing up any opportunity to consume fresh meat, even stopping in the middle of battle to devour a mortally wounded foe. This has led to a habit of pursuing hunting targets of opportunity over having any set migratory path through the Steppe. This frequently leads to conflict with more habitual tribes.
Their livestock are usually slower beasts capable of efficiently storing fat, as they are much slower than centaurs and unlike the iron men do not ride horses. Their herds are primarily yaks, goats, and in rare circumstances man-goats.

Parent ethnicities

• Steppe Nomads

Languages spoken

• Headless

Related Locations

• The Hundred Tyrants
• The Scalp Steppe

Epiphage (Flesh Eater)

Standard Racial Traits
• Ability Score Racial Traits: Epiphagi are strong but also simple minded, brash, and impulsive. They gain +4 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, and -2 Charisma.
• Size: Epiphagi are large creatures and thus gain a -1 size penalty to their AC, a -1 size penalty on attack rolls, a +1 bonus to their CMB and CMD, and a -4 size penalty on Stealth checks.
• Type: Epiphagi are humanoids with the headless subtype.
• Base Speed: Epiphagi have legs that are short and stubby for their overall size but still large enough to take human sized strides. They have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Languages: Epiphagi begin play speaking Headless and Steppe. Epiphagi with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic). See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Defense Racial Traits
• Headless (Ex): Epiphagi lack a head and as a result are immune to the vorpal ability, called shots to the head, and all abilities which specifically target the head. Additionally epiphagi lack head, neck, and face item slots.
Offense Racial Traits
• Reach (Ex): Despite being large sized Epiphagi have fairly short arms and as such only have 5 foot reach as a medium sized creature would.
• Natural Weapons (Ex): Epiphagi have a bite primary natural attack which deals 1d8 damage and has the grab special ability.
• Grab (Ex): If an epiphage hits a creature of up to its size with its bite attack it deals normal damage and may attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. The epiphage receives a +4 bonus to combat maneuver checks made to start and maintain a grapple.
• Swallow Whole (Ex): If an epiphage begins its turn with an opponent of at least one size category smaller than itself grappled in its mouth, it can attempt a new combat maneuver check. If it succeeds it swallows its prey and the opponent takes bite damage. Being swallowed causes a creature to take 1d6 acid damage very round plus 1d6 acid damage for every three hit dice the epiphage possesses. A swallowed creature keeps the grappled condition while the epiphage does not. A swallowed creature can try to cut its way free with any light slashing or piercing weapon, or it can just try to escape the grapple. A epiphage's stomach has an Armor Class of 10+1/2 its natural armor bonus, and a creature must deal damage to it equal to 1/10 of the epiphage's maximum hit points. If a creature cuts its way out the epiphage cannot use its swallow whole ability again until it has been healed to its maximum hit point value. If the swallowed creature escapes the grapple success puts it back in the epiphage's mouth, where it may be bitten or swallowed again.
Weakness Racial Traits
• Carnivorous Compulsion (Ex): A epiphage hungers for the chance to assault a foe unable to fight back. When a creature it threatens is unable to take actions, such as when it is dazed, stunned, or unconscious, the epiphage gains a +2 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls and gains the fast swallow universal monster ability, though it can use this ability only against creatures unable to take actions. If a epiphage has line of sight to an enemy unable to take actions, it must succeed on a DC 20 Will save or be compelled to move toward that enemy and attempt to swallow it.