Ogres are a widely misunderstood creature. Things that are not Ogres are often called such and Ogres are often declared to be other things. The true origin of Ogres is unknown, but most assume they are birthed by some type of monstrous mother.
The truth is far more unpleasant. Ogres are created, usually by Hags, but also by some other creatures. They are made from children.
The Manifold Ogre
An Ogre is a child twisted into a monster. They are emotionally immature, their childlike neuroses magnified and unrestrained. Ogres are driven largely by sensual pleasures*- namely food and warmth. However, they also possess those childlike desires to be loved and cared for someone stronger and wiser then they. As such, Ogres will sometimes seek out masters to act as a parental figure of sorts, such as a Hag, a Folk, a renegade Wizard, a bandit chief or really anyone who will adopt them. Ogres prefer to select monsters or villains for this role, as they know that their behavior would usually be punished by other authorities and lead to rejection. Ogres all fear rejection, and one that has been scorned too many times will usually abandon any attempt at companionship and lead a solitary life. Most of these Ogres are utterly miserable, but the ones who come to tolerate the solitude becomes Cyclopses.
However, one thing that is often not discussed about Ogres is that they come in many shapes and sizes. Ogres, like all creatures, have a soul that can influence their body. However, for an Ogre, this effect is much more pronounced due to the transformation they endured. As such, Ogres are all different. For Ogres possess not only the cruelty of children, but also their creativity.
*Ogres can also be motivated by things like cruelty or the rush of Power found in controlling people, depending on their individual sophistication. However, generally an Ogre will be motivated by their animal self/Id: they want to be warm, well-fed, and feel safe. Additionally, Ogres could be motivated by their passions, including perhaps sexual passion, depending on the Referee's individual preference and comfort level.
To create an Ogre, roll on the tables below:
This Ogre is...
1d6
1- Fat and Large.
2- Square-bodied.
3- Musclebound.
4- Thin and Tall.
5- Gaunt, with stick-like limbs.
6- Short and Broad, only about as tall as a man, but much thicker.
Its body is...
1d8
1- Partially translucent, like the Ogre was sculpted of ice and his organs were poured in through his mouth.
2- Hairless.
3- Hairless, covered in bumps and warts.
4- Hairy or covered in fur.
5- Covered in thick skin like an elephant or rhino.
6- Scaly.
7- Covered in feathers.
8- Deformed and ungainly.
The Ogre's hide is...
1d10
1- Green.
2- Brown.
3- Black.
4- Grey.
5- Blue. The shade is 1d3 [1= Sky Blue; 2= Cobalt; 3= Navy Blue.]
6- Purple. The shade is 1d3 [1= Lavender; 2= Royal Purple; 3= Indigo.]
7- Spotted. The Ogre's hide is 1d3 [1= Brown with red spots; 2= Yellow with Black spots; 3= Blue with Green spots; 4= Red with Purple spots; 4= Purple with Yellow Spots.]
8- Counter-Shaded.
9- Striped. The Ogre's hide is [1= Orange with Black stripes; 2= Red with White stripes; 3= Purple with Grey stripes; 4= Black with Blue stripes.]
10- Color-Changing. The Ogre's hide changes color 1d3 [1= Based on the Ogre's mood; 2= Based on the Ogre's health; 3= Based on the Ogre's environment.]
This Ogre also has...
1d12
1- Nothing special.
2- Horns.
3- Sharp claws on its hands.
4- A 1d4 [1= Forked; 2= Muscular; 3= Spike-Tipped; 4= Prehensile] Tail.
5- Cloven Hooves.
6- A Third Arm emerging from its 1d4 [1= Shoulder; 2= Back; 3= Abdomen; 4= Where a tail would be.]
7- A head like a 1d6 [1= Bull; 2= Pig; 3= Bird; 4= Fish; 5= Snake; 6= Ant.]
8- Chicken Feet.
9- 1d6 extra eyes randomly stuck all over its body.
10- A beak instead of a mouth.
11- Potruding teeth or fangs that poke out of its mouth.
12- A mane of thick hair or fur.
Ogre
HD 4
AC none
Atk Club (1d8) + Fist (1d6)
Mor 12
Saves 11 or less
Bully: The ogre insults, intimidates, or shoves a creature. The target must make a COG check in contest with the Ogre. If the Ogre wins the contest, the creature takes 1d6 COG damage as his mind is dragged down to the Ogre's level. Each round the Ogre takes another action to bully that creature, they automatically take the COG damage. If this COG damage ever reduces a creature's COG to 0, they run away, potentially in tears. They also gain the Conviction, "I am unworthy of what I have. I must prove that I am valuable" or "I like to pick on creatures weaker than myself", with an equal chance of each.
For purposes of Bullying, an Ogre has 15(+1) COG. For purposes of remembering things, evading traps, seeing through deceptions or paying attention to non-exciting or scary things, they have a COG of 8(-1).
Omnivore: Given enough time and ketchup, an ogre can eat anything softer than metal. They are immune to harmful effects of things they've eaten (e.g. acid, poison, green slime).
Tactics:
- Bully any nerds (Wizards, Sages, Scholars, etc)
- Try to scare off any enemies
- If they hurt you, hurt them back, more
- Grab people and throw them
- If no people can be found, throw rocks, small trees or carcasses
Ogre Plot Hooks:
1d6
1- An Ogre has marched into a village and is eating the villagers out of house and home. Anyone who does not give in to its demand for food and drink is bullied or beaten with a giant club until they agree to go along with it. Please get rid of it, we don't care how.
2- An Ogre is harassing traveling merchants and stealing their trade goods and horses, which is most unusual for an Ogre*. The only people who seem immune are the members of the local trading house, which charges expensives dues and takes a cut of the profits. Go and figure out the secret why. Secretly, the trading house bribes the Ogre to not attack them in exchange for wheels of cheese and sweetrolls, while also encouraging it to attack those who don't bear the trading house crest.
3- An Ogre is raiding the town of Bartlett! But before you arrive, the Ogre has already been driven off by a heroic stranger named Iron Kel. Then, the nearby town of Brandy Falls is attacked by an Ogre. Find out what's going on. Secretly, Iron Kel is the leader of a group of bandits who have been posing as adventurers and the Ogre is part of their group, as it sees Kel as a surrogate father. This is a great scam they've got going and none of them want to stop.
4- The towns people of Newton have finally had enough with the Witch who lives outside of town on Barrel Hill. She's gone too far and created a monster! Go kill her before she unleashes it on the town. In reality, the Witch is just a female Magic-User and the monster is an Ogre who has bullied her into becoming its "Mother". The "Witch" is too scared to act against the Ogre but the Ogre just wants someone to love it. However, it is still an Ogre and presents a serious danger to her.
5- An Ogre has walked into town and demanded "stabby guys". The Ogre refused to explain what they meant, only repeated the request. The locals figured that meant Adventurers, so they came and found you. When you get over there, the Ogre will tell you about this glorious garden overflowing with delicious foods and magical medicines. The Ogre has accidentally stumbled upon a Wood Giant's farm and wants your help to break in so the Ogre can steal watermelon sized pears from one of the Giant's trees. The Ogre can't do it themselves because it isn't sneaky enough and because it is afraid of the Giant and its servants.
6- The famous Adventurer, Nathan Oakarms, has gone missing. There is a reward for returning his bones back to his hometown. However, most of the people looking for him are actually interested in finding his weapon, the magical axe Blackrazor. Blackrazor was a magical axe that could cut through anything non-magical. Secretly, Blackrazor was also a demon weapon, a weapon made magical through the demon sealed inside it. Unbeknownst to anyone, an Ogre passing by found Blackrazor and has picked it up. The outsider trapped inside has been encouraging the Ogre to try and free it, which the Ogre has been going along with, either because it believes Blackrazor's lies, because it has no reason to refuse or because it likes Blackrazor and wants to help the demon.
*As someone with a child's understanding of the world, Ogres don't understand money usually. They like treasures and shiny objects, but coin rarely seems important to them. They might have some lying around their lairs and they might understand that people want it, but they're unlikely to care about why.
Other Varieties:
See here for a more thorough explanation.
A Cyclops is an Ogre who takes up a monastic lifestyle in order to avoid suffering as much as possible. Their eyes gradually become one eye and they gain the ability to see the future. This makes them even more grumpy, as they only see things that annoy them, and Cyclops are so very easy to annoy.
Cyclops Plot Hooks:
1d3
1- A Prophet is passing through the nearby area and it keeps messing up the Cyclops' predictions. The Cyclops and the Prophet are currently engaged in a struggle of foresight, with the each sending secret attacks toward each other, using causality as their weapon. The damage they are doing is growing. Find and stop them from fighting or decide the battle, before they end up destroying everything around them.
2- The villagers reported seeing a freakish monster nearby. Go kill it. When you meet the monster, you will find it is an Oranorn. The Oranorn has no intention of hurting anyone, it's only goal is to try and kill the Cyclops who lives near here and eat it. The Oranorn will try to manipulate any poor fools sent to kill it into doing the grunt work for it.
3- A Witch has cursed the Queen to betray her people and give birth to their destroyer. The King is distraught and needs an Oracle to tell him how this curse could be broken. Unfortunately, there are no known Prophets or Seers within the Kingdom. Well, there is the Cyclops, but no one would be foolish enough to try and ask them for help. Right?
Ettins are what happens when an Ogre eats an especially Evil person. The evil that composes that person cannot be digested by the Ogre's vice-based body, so that person remains in the swirling miasma that is the Ogre. Sometimes, this evil flowers, causing something resembling the evil person they ate to emerge from their shoulders.
The first head is always that of the original Ogre. The second head can vary.
Ettins Second-Head Personalities:
1d6
1- Bandit. The Bandit wants to steal money and target rich people. The Ogre doesn't care about money and avoids the rich because they have armed guards.
2- Serial Killer. The Serial Killer wants to kill people because he gets off on it. The Ogre doesn't think that killing for this reason is a good idea, but the Serial Killer could possibly talk them into it.
3- Cultist. The Cultist wants to help their cult and complete the evil ritual the cult is attempting to perform. The Ogre doesn't care about the cult or their goals and just wants to eat tasty things.
4- Thief. The Thief wants to find the treasure they buried near here, but can't remember exactly where it is. The Ogre is probably on board, but keeps getting distracted by tasty or pretty things.
5- Kobold. The Kobold wants to go back and help his tribe. The Ogre thinks that sounds dangerous, as the tribe previously shot at the Ogre last time.
6- Madman. The Madman wasn't mad until he was eaten, but he was a bad person. Now he is though, and he is slowly developing an entire religious system around Ettins. The Madman will encourage the Ogre to seek out and find other bad people, to eat them. If the Madman learns how, he will try to produce his own Ogres.
An Ogre Mage is what happens when an Ogre develops magical abilities. Ogre Mages, as they are still children at heart, tend to favor spells that have large, colorful and loud effects. Things like Fireball, Freeze Ray, Liquefy, etc.
Ogre Mage Plot Hooks:
1d6
1- A series of wildfires are threatening the pleasant town of Mt. Farvir. The locals blame the priest for preventing them from revering the native spirits and intruding with foreign religion, the priest and the foreigners blame the locals for insufficient respect for their God. In reality, this is no divine judgement, only an Ogre Mage who found a copy of the spell "Fireball".
2- A Troll has been seen stalking around the boundaries of a local village. Please get rid of it. The Troll is aware that this will occur, it is trying to lure adventurers here to get rid of the Ogre Mage, who is attempting to push the Troll out of its territory. The Troll would do it himself, but the Ogre Mage is too dangerous to rumble with.
3- The Wizard's daughter has been kidnapped! The Ogre Mage will only turn her over if the Wizard brings the Ogre Mage all his spellbooks. The Wizard wants to fight and though powerful, he is old and frail. Please save her.
4- A Necromancer is believed to be operating in the city, having created a massive and monstrous Undead to serve it. Try to decipher what the Necromancer's plan is and stop it, as the city authorities are baffled. It seems like the Necromancer is operating at complete random. This is because the Necromancer is an Ogre Mage who is just disturbing the dead and robbing tombs to feed his new Ghoul buddies, who think he's a riot.
5- An Ogre Mage is conducting wild magical experiments, in the hopes of impressing a Sage or Wizard, in the hopes that the latter will become his new mother/father figure. Unfortunately, the magical experiments are also having strange effects on the nearby lands. Find and put a stop to this, please, before all the cows grow three eyes and their milk makes us do the same.
6- The local children are telling stories of a magical creatures that lives in the woods and breaks into homes to steal sweets and drink milk from the cows. Folk, the adults decide. They are sending you out to negotiate with them, armed with cold iron and honey. You will find no Folk out there, only an Ogre Mage with a sweet tooth and a upset tummy (from all the sweets).
Oni are often thought to be or misidentified as Ogres, but they are related at all. Among Adventurers and natural philosophers, Oni are called 'False Ogres'. They deserve their own post, however.
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