Crucian (CR 2)

Medium Humanoid
Alignment: Usually lawful evil
Initiative: -1 (Dex); Senses: low-light vision and Spot +6

AC: 21 (-1 Dex, +8 natural, +2 leather, +2 heavy shield), touch 9, flat-footed 21
Hit Dice: 3d8+9 (22 hp)
Fort +6, Ref +0, Will +3
Speed: 20 ft.
Space: 5 ft./5 ft.
Base Attack +2; Grapple +4
Attack: Warhammer +5 melee
Full Attack: Warhammer +5 melee
Damage: Warhammer 1d8+2/x3
Special Attacks: -
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 8, Con 17, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 8
Special Qualities:
Feats: Iron Will; Weapon Focus (warhammer)
Skills: Diplomacy +1, Sense Motive +6, and Spot +6
Advancement: By character class
Climate/Terrain: Warm deserts
Organization: Pair, crew (2-5 plus 50% chance for 1 4th level leader), squad (5-10 plus 1 4th-level leader plus 50% chance for 1 5th-level leader)
Treasure/Possessions: 50% coins, double goods, 50% items

Source: Sandstorm

A crablike shell covers the upper body of this otherwise humanoid form. Its shell is heavily inscribed and painted, and it wears simple equipment and clothing.

Comfortable in the brutal heat of the desert, battle-hardened crucians rely on their natural shell armor to protect them in all situations.

Crucians are humanoids that sport broad, flat shells, like desert crabs, encompassing their upper bodies in natural protection. Not content with just their shells, they often wear additional leather chaps and armlets to protect the rest of their bodies. They decorate their shells with brightly colored painted sigils, as well as deeply etched tallies of their personal triumphs on the sandy field of conflict. Most crucians prefer to wield enormous warhammers, weighted to crack even the hardest enemy shells.

Crucians are highly territorial, and they organize into small bands, each group protecting a prized water source. Crucian bands regularly raid one another's oases, which accounts for their warlike demeanor. Every twenty years or so, a leader rises among the crucians and forges the various bands into a mighty force. This crucian army strikes out into cooler lands for booty and conquest, only to fall back into the desert once the creatures have wreaked their fill of misery.

In negotiations, crucians are known to be cunning. They often employ verbal feints to draw others out and get a better read on them, and they are keenly interested in figuring out how both friends and enemies think. Crucians speak Common and Draconic. More intelligent crucians learn Sphinx, the language of the creatures that share their desert homes.

Combat

When they can, crucians prefer to attack as a solid line to prevent enemies from getting at their flanks.

Crucian Characters

Crucian characters possess the following racial traits.