OSR: Race: Crocolings

There are a lot of different kinds of People in Creation. Depending on whether national or familial power structures exist you can get wildly different species living side by side (with all the problems and benefits that brings), or isolated enclaves who loathe outsiders and anyone unlike them.

Crocolings are from one of the enclaves.

Mindraq, Jason Behnke

They aren't very bright. Some of them can work leather and wood, but they never figured out metal, geometry, or irrigation. They don't understand writing.

They love eating, and are baffled by people who kill and cook their meals. Why bother? The meal didn't want to be eaten anyway. They'll happily bargain for chickens, slaves, or adventurers with equal careless joy. They sometimes try to be cunning and "invite you to dinner", but the drooling and the cutlery belts give them away. Only the credulous would accept such an invitation, and the sum of gold that comes with it. The crocolings scrupulously pay for their meals, even if their definition of "meal" includes orphans, livestock, and pets.

Crocolings will even eat each other if they get bored. They haggle over price, but as soon as payment is made it is forgotten, to be picked up by other nearby crocolings. They lack the imagination required to worship, and are vaguely resentful of other races.

They make excellent hirelings if food is in plentiful supply. Otherwise, they'll simply wander off to go forage. "As lazy as a crocoling in winter" is a proverbial saying. They can't handle the cold. They excel as hunters, foragers, guides, and unquestioning .


What are those crocolings doing?
1. Trying to coax a ferret out of a stump.
2. Sharpening cutlery and lounging after a meal.
3. Napping near something warm.
4. Bartering with the smallest of their group. They'll make the PCs an offer.
5. Chasing a 1) child 2) dog 3) deer 4) butterfly, snapping their jaws.
6. Setting up an ambush. The PCs may be invited to join.

What makes these crocolings extra weird?
1. Too many teeth. Some of them can barely close their mouths.
2. War paint. Water soluble but brightly coloured.
3. Wizard meat. One of them accidentally ate a wizard, and the others have been poking them with sticks to try and get the spell out. It hasn't worked so far, but it's only a matter of time.
4.  Tons of little crocolings. At least twenty, maybe more. They are nearly impossible to hit unless they latch onto you and bite. Five hatchlings working together can inflict 1 damage per round.
5. Prophecy. These crocolings can see the future, but only a few seconds ahead, and they are usually too stupid and indecisive to act on this knowledge. They do get +4 Defense and Save.
6. Nets. Two crocolings, working together, will toss a huge net over any opponents or interesting-looking creatures. They will then haggle with their captives.