Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Weenie 10-20-05, 05:04 PM	Being an In-Depth Look at the Race of Maugs, of Fiend Folio fame Author's notes: The following article is written as an attempt to continue the xenobilogical exploration of the Planes of Law originally started by the Mechalich. His and Rip Van Wormer’s two previous Faces of Order articles (looking into the Formians and the Inevitables), both published at the Bone-Box Rattler, have been extremely helpful and inspiring. http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ff_gallery/tn_50149.jpg Table of Contents: Introduction (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=7550969&postcount=2) Maug Biology (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=7550969&postcount=3) - Creation - Structure - Programming - Development Maug Society (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=7550969&postcount=4) - Castes - Lands - Warfare - Belief - Art - Entertainment - External Relations Maug Armies - Composition - Grunts - Officers - Specialists - Support - Contracts Maug Equipment - Armor - Personal Weapons - Siege Weapons - Biochemical Weapons - Vehicles - Grafts Maug Supernaturalis - Arcane Magic - Divine Magic - Psionics
Weenie 10-20-05, 05:05 PM	"I fought against them during that Rigus mess. We were hauled up defending some power-forsaken burg, fortified, on high ground. We knew the foe was coming, although we didn't know exactly what they had in store for us. The day they came, we felt them before we saw them. The ground was trembling, not too strongly but rhythmically, you know? As if from marching. Then the mist cleared, and we saw them down in the valley. Ranks upon ranks of tall, gray figures carved from stone. Some armed with heavy blades, some manning slow, ugly-looking siege engines, some rolling on strange wheeled contraptions. All moving in flawless, baatezu-sharp lines, in complete silence. "'They brought golems', someone shouted. 'Worse', the CO said. 'They are golems.'" - Corp. Felix Mebble, retired soldier "Yes, I am maug, and yes, I am what some would call 'construct'. My body has been assembled on a factory line from skillfully forged metal and stone parts. My mind has been similarly constructed from complex sets of behavioral instructions according to specifications I do not fully understand. Being a non-organic entity, I do not grow tired, sick, or frightened. I do, however, think, and feel, and dream. I grow old, and even with best maintenance available, all my parts will eventually be replaced, and I will cease to exist as what I am today. "How foreign do you really find me, fleshling? " - Mover 14-B of the Fraternity of Order, independent maug [Opening: Rec. ID Span 1A21-7543-6787-2748-8730-0229] (… two, three… testing? Yeah, it’s on. Go.) Greetings, HQ. Roger Payne here, most recently of Citadel Sealt, formerly Sergeant-Major with the Inns-and-Outs (defunct). The recording you’re listening to is the product of an eight-year effort to collect, filter, interpret, filter again, misplace, locate, and assemble all the information we could find on the maug race. When you first sent me out, all I had was this definition on a piece of greasy paper: "Maug - walking, talking, blade-swinging stone statue. Humanoid, sentient construct, built for mercenary warfare. Possibly from Acheron." Eight years it took me to get from that line to where this pile of fhorge-drivel stands today. Eight long years, HQ, and what do you do in the meantime? You go and lose the whole pikin' faction! Who do I send all these reels to now? I hope you rot in the Pits, HQ. Anyway, the voices you'll be (or, rather, won't be) hearing are some of my fellow researchers and hired ears. That irritably cold, no-nonsense sound is the voice of Zerch, a Prime-born tiefling, professional lorekeeper, and a turncoat to boot. Formerly a fellow Doomguard. Can't say I blame him, really. The proud owner of the girly-like squeal is Pann_Surface, a rogue modron and sworn priest of Shaundakul. Don't ask. It talks like that ever since ... well, don't ask that either. The usually synchronized droning voices belong to Violeta, an ettin military historian from Gehenna. When they go out of sync, it means they're in disagreement on something of no importance to anyone but them. Her. Whatever. The rest will be provided in my own sweet, melodious baritone. Choke on it, HQ.
Weenie 10-20-05, 05:06 PM	(Zerch speaks) - From a xenobilogical standpoint, the Planes of Law bring some interesting ideas to the table. First and foremost, we have the modrons, geometrically correct and arguably alive expressions of Order. Then there are formians, the most successful and best organized insectoid race in the known multiverse. Finally, we have the inevitables, possibly self-invented and self-built groundskeepers of the planes. Each of these species has found its own ways to reach a satisfying degree of self-consciousness and reliable self-replication, while remaining mostly true to the principles that their home planes stand for. The maugs are no exception. Creation Virtually every maug is "born" on Thuldanin, Acheron. As far as we can tell, they are created artificially in an automatized process initiated and monitored by the elders of their race. These elders, called Thulkarr, are ancient and mysterious beings, possibly immortal. The maugs claim that the single goal of the Thulkarr is the continued existence and evolutionary advancement of the race, and thus each maug owes full obedience to them. The social practices of the maug race will be addressed elsewhere. The process itself is, as I said, almost completely automatized. Maug bodies are quickly assembled from previously crafted parts, and maug minds are brought into being through a little known process that my sources have referred to as ... (rustling of paper) ... cryogenic sub-encoding. But more on that later. The production is rarely tempered with, and always in accord with Thulkarr specifications. These are changed only when the current situation demands more maugs of a certain type, or when an experimental strain is to be introduced. For the most part, the hidden factories belch out regiment after regiment of warriors, with only a small percentage of “newborn” destined for a different profession, such as that of an artist, philosopher, or arcanist. A freshly made maug is considered an adult, with in-built knowledge and skills that will help him fulfill his role. Many are sent directly from the production line to the front line, and perform adequately. The concept of cognitive advancement through experience is not entirely foreign to the maug race, and such endeavors are supposedly even encouraged by the Thulkarr, but no maug may have sub-standard capabilities. There are no children, and no schools; individual development is just that - individual. Structure A standard maug's body is about nine feet tall, with an immense torso, two long, thick arms, and two comparatively short, even thicker legs. Generally humanoid, it resembles not so much a large human as a large gorilla (or a bar'lgura, for those of you not familiar with Prime primates). The head is small, with no visible neck, and facial features are simple. There is no body hair anywhere. No sexual characteristics can be seen, as all maugs are neutral in gender, even though most refer to them in the masculine form, probably because their general appearance and their great booming voices. The grayish material that makes up most of the maug frame looks like, feels like, and smells like a combination of stone and metal, and to no one's surprise, it is just that. In strength it rivals the best mundane full-body armor (but a typical maug is still issued one such suit of armor). Whatever the substance is, it is noticeably resistant to supernatural effects, both magical and psionic. The exact method of creating this arcane amalgam is, of course, known only to the Thulkarr elders, but it is assumed that it is directly related to the petrification process of the Thuldanin layer (to which, of course, every maug is effectively immune). Even though the stone is roughly cut on the outside, a maug's interior is adaptable and flowing, a true wonder of stonemasonry, gearcraft, and creative anatomy. I am not a gnome artificer, nor a dwarven golem-builder, but I am nevertheless positive that no more than a couple of other races can build such intricate hydraulic joints, or achieve such efficient weight management, and that none can do it on such a large scale! The electricity-based nervous system is also a mechanic's wet dream, although the sensory apparatus is average at most, easily bested by some implants made in Bytopia. A typical maug's vision is black and white only; some grafted specimens can see in full color, but these typically must sacrifice the default ability to see in darkness. The sheer complexity of a maug's auto-repair systems is something to think about. While it would have been relatively easy to design a partially organic automaton and assign a small degree of continuous magical healing to its living components, the maugs did not choose this approach. Instead, deviously complex routines command certain “cells” of maug “flesh” to continually perform diagnostic maintenance, and reshape themselves as required to rebuild structural gaps resulting from physical injury. Another maug can consciously assist this process in one of his fellows, much as one human can perform healing on another, by working the stone-metal “flesh” physically. However, major injuries (lost body parts and the like) cannot be remedied by this wondrous mechanical process. Of course, magical regeneration would work much faster and possibly allow the re-attachment of limbs, but this non-magical approach gets my vote for originality, if nothing else. Another amazing feature of a maug's body is the degree of its structural adaptability. Throughout the stone-metal, from the armored surface to the pressurized cooling chambers, a kind of placeholder is often left, enabling relatively easy attachment of alternate tools, weapon accessories, propulsion systems and the like. These “grafts”, as they are commonly referred to, are not exclusive to the maug race (the fiends utilize them occasionally, as well as aboleths, eye tyrants, and the illithid), but no other race that I know of has the option built-in from the start. Theoretically, graft installment and other such adaptations can only be performed at Thuldanin, under the supervision of the Thulkarr elders. However, unlike the production process itself, these adaptations have been mastered by a number of independent maugs who now provide their services to interested parties across the planes. I will provide an overview of maug grafts later in the project. Programming I admit that I am left baffled by the first-hand information we have obtained on the subject of maug internal programming. We know that, as their physical shells are being made, maug also have their minds somehow designed and manufactured. The Thulkarr, apparently, pick and choose the personality aspects and behavioral inhibitors that they think a maug should have, and throw away the others. However, the inner workings of the programming process itself are beyond me. I leave the explaining to my associate, the free modron Pann_Surface. [Pann_Surface speaks] - Look, it's quite simple, really. You set up a small number of basic instructions, axioms that are not to be questioned, kind of like laws in a mortal society, only not, because these do get questioned all the time, see? Then you build on that, adding layer upon layer of directives and sub-directives, what-ifs and if-thens, a what-nots, and what-have-yous. These, and this is important, can be questioned, like an Anarchist at the Barracks, only not because they don't get fed to the Wyrm later, see? Finally, like ice on top of a cherry cake, you add the learning routines. These account for ... well, learning. Adaptability. Creative reasoning in new situations. What you would call "intelligence". Without them, you might as well make a stone golem and just label it "m-a-u-g", because that's pretty much all that you'd get. Also, the learning routines introduce the unpredictability factor essential for evolution - a maug learns something important, passes it on to others, they choose to incorporate it into the next maug batch (or not), and check-mate, you've got evolution, and the rest of dominoes fall down like a house of cards. The end result after all the programming, well, it's like the modron hive mind, only not because of its lack of individual identity. Better yet, it's like a rogue modron mind, only not because of its personality quirks and randomness and creativity, see? (Zerch speaks) – There you have it. Notice how the pikin' cube neatly avoided philosophical matters regarding the nature of a maug's consciousness, the question of free will, and the possible connection between preset programming and religious worship (or lack thereof). I could address the issue myself, but I think it would be more interesting to chat up Pann_Surface again later, and see why it's uncomfortable talking about that... Development As mentioned before, a maug does not age – it’s an adult at the end of the factory line, and an adult when it is scrapped for parts. However, a maug is a self-conscious, adaptable, rational creature, and can work to improve himself as any other could. Maug "professions" are, of course, predestined up to a certain degree, by programming and specific circumstances, but the choice is ultimately theirs. Naturally, most maugs turn to the path of the warrior – a simple choice given their great strength and sturdy bodies. However, being as intelligent as an average human or bariaur, many realize the opportunities that the path of the arcanist or mentalist offer, and some even choose these paths. A maug, however, is generally not predisposed for the crafty, stealthy prowess of a thief, nor for the inspired career of a priest. In fact, I have not been able to confirm the existence of even a single maug priest in all my years of research (not counting the rogue maugs). Also worth noting is the fact that maugs very rarely pick and choose their talents, walking multiple paths at the same time. They are creatures of focus and purposefulness, slowly and steadily improving their abilities along the designated line, until the day they die. And yes, they do die. Usually in combat, of course, but a rare few manage to survive the battlefields long enough to effectively grow old. Their systems become more prone to malfunction, their recorded memories turn blurry, and their reaction times slow down. This is a very slow process - a maug's "natural" life expectancy is about thrice that of an elf - but eventually the maug will have to report to Thuldanin and receive thorough maintenance, or simply have its systems give up on him at shut down for good. And speaking of maintenance ... The final shut down and disassembling of a maug is not necessarily the end. A popular myth among the common soldier states that the Thulkarr elders somehow monitor individual achievements of each maug, looking for those that exhibit particularly original and effective behavior. These exceptional specimens are not treated differently until they return to Thuldanin for general maintenance, at which point the elders examine them closely, reevaluating their individual worth and the potential of the behavioral variant in question. If deemed useful enough for the race as a whole, the maug's physical and/or personality grid are taken apart for good, partially copied, and portions of it included in the next production batch (which is, presumably, carefully tested to see how well the new trait sets in). Now, most maugs regard this event as the greatest possible achievement, a form of immortality, and they hope to one day be found worthy to effectively sire offspring in this manner. However, some are not so sure; these few either remain silent on the subject or question the moral right of the Thulkarr elders to destroy an individual maug before his time, even if it could potentially benefit the maug race. Needless to say, this unorthodox thinking is just the type of differentiation the Thulkarr like to see... However, not being githyanki lich-queens, the elders never "encourage" a maug to report back for maintenance, followed by possible death and incorporation. They settle for waiting, aware of the fact that a maug that doesn't eventually return to Thuldanin must fall prey to Entropy, and thus remove his own selfish, rebellious strain from the "gene pool". The race benefits either way.
Weenie 10-20-05, 05:07 PM	(Payne speaks) - It's me again, HQ. This section should hold most of what I've learned by hanging around maug mobile military divisions, and by wandering their cubes in search for the Thulkarr factories. It should be screed-free by now, though you still might want to take some of it with a grain of salt, if y’know what I mean... Castes All maugs fall into one of three broad categories: Primaries, Secondaries, or Elders. There's also a fourth category which we like to misleadingly call "rogues", but these are not really a caste p'r say. A maug that any cutter might catch away from Acheron most likely belongs to the Primaries. These are the warriors of the race, coming in many varieties, but all using the basic frame, one of a 9-ft. stone giant, and adding to that. They include the common grunts fresh out the manufactures, the seasoned officers with an ongoing focus on strategies and battle tactics, and the technicos in charge of large-scale equipment, mil't'ry architecture, and personnel repairs. A typical Primary maug is a somber, silent type, not particularly cagey but not really talkative either. As far as I've been able to undark, they think and act much like any common body, both in intuition and reason, not counting their lack of bodily needs (poor sods!) and their strong ties of loyalty to the species as a whole. See, most Primaries live their short, violent lives for the good of the maug race. It's the way their minds were originally conditioned that has them set in their ways - they fight and kill for money, and then send most of what they've earned back to Thuldanin, Acheron, much like a kindly dwarf foot soldier will send his blood money home to his aging mum. I'm under the impression that this fierce loyalty doesn't really extend to a personal level - a maug soldier will show camaraderie and devotion to a fellow maug soldier as much as a human would, but not much beyond that. The majority of Primary maugs leads this kind of life without questioning the point of it all, or wondering if there might be something better in store for them. However, the more canny ones sometimes figure out that they would do better in smaller or even mixed groups, able to take a fat commission from a body that can't afford a whole maug regiment. Now, this is not to say that these are rogue maugs, mind; the rogues I'll cover later. These bashers are still loyal to their Thuldanin superiors, and they only take some time off from standard army service to take up personal projects like this. The officers and the head command seem to approve and even encourage this kind of initiative, although they rarely send out maugs that do not come up with the idea on their own and volunteer. I'd say it's about a fifty-fifty chance that a solitary maug you meet on the planes is a loyal soldier on a solo mission or an independent rogue acting on his own. Now the Secondaries, I like to think of them as back-up maugs. They are slightly smaller in size than the Primaries, with less warfare enhancements grafted, and somewhat less agile (I think). Their roles are many - artists, bureaucrats, diplomats, non-mil't'ry architects, researchers, even philosophers. If the maugs were organic beings, the Secondaries would also be farmers, herders, or hunters, but these roles are unnecessary among the stone-faces. A Secondary maug joins the fighting forces only when reinforcements are sorely needed ASAP, and no Primary regiments are freely available; this is an extremely rare case that I have not had the chance to see. As far as mindset is concerned, the Secondaries are somewhat more friendly and outgoing than your typical Primary maug grunt. They're not halflings, not by any stretch of imagination, but they often welcome outsiders, particularly those willing to share stories. It's worth noting that maugs in general, and particularly Secondary maugs, are as honest as they are pragmatic, and usually tell a foreigner upfront what they require from him and what he can expect in return. To me this was strangely disturbing, but also refreshing as opposed to the backdoor dealing so common elsewhere. Technically, a Secondary maug is inferior in authority to any Primary, but in practice a fresh foot-soldier cannot expect a knowledgeable historian to defer to him in anything but direct mil't'ry matters. As far as reliable info goes, we have next to nothing on the Elders, or "Thulkarr", as the common maug calls them. The common chant claims that the Thulkarr are the original maugs, designed and built ages ago somewhere else; they supposedly went rogue, stole the secrets of creation, and fled to Acheron. There they worked on each other until they achieved effective immortality, and are still trying to develop into the perfect form of being, both bodily and spiritually. To further that goal, they build lesser copies of themselves, the maug, both for experimentational purposes and to hire them out and raise funds for further research... And it is quite possible that all this is nothing but screed. This info I pieced together from various maug sources - reverent soldiers, contemplative philosophers, and enraged rogues. Their stories had plenty of contradicting information, which I had to leave out to get this poorly pieced-together version. I wouldn't be surprised to find that there are no Thulkarr at all, and that maug production is an ancient and fully automatized process. But hey, don't take my word for it, HQ! Why don't you go and spend years cube-hopping looking for those phantom cubes de manufacture? Just watch out for the ragewinds... Lastly, the rogue maugs. The term is a misnomer, because it makes most bashers think of the quirky rogue modrons, banished from Mechanus forever for their differences. This has very little similarities to the way maugs do it. See, when a maug goes rogue, which happens ev'ry now and again, all that really changes in his mind is he loses the loyal, helpful, will-work-for-common-good attitude. In other words, the poor sod stops being a soldier, and becomes just a warrior. This can be spontaneous, with the rogue simply losing interest in furthering the "maug cause", but more often it is a process of intuitive realization - the rocky sod tumbles to the chant on "individuality" and "freedom of choice" and interprets it as best he can ... which is not too great, usually. Rogue maugs are usually loners and tend to avoid joining large groups (such as factions or guilds, f'r instance). Most engage in an exploratory journey across the planes, seeking to learn about themselves as they learn about the planes... or some such drivel. Irresponsible, I say. Deserting a unit for a reason is one thing, but leaving just because... I can't find the words to express my disdain. However, rogue maugs are not only tolerated by the maug race (and supposedly the Thulkarr), but a semi-secret chant claims that the high-ups even support this process of differentiation. They see it as part of growing up on a racial level, and pay close attention to the particular breed of maug that sprouted the rogue, hoping for greatness to eventually come from it. Lands As we've said earlier, the maugs are from Acheron, specifically the Thuldanin layer. They claim no specific regions as their own (no wonder, among the Cubes), but they prefer to call kip in otherwise empty areas. Those cubes that the maug adapt as their own are readily recognizable from afar: the gray surface is usually a field of square surfaces, with the central square part on each face of the cube four times the size of the others and black. Upon closer examination, it becomes obvious that the central "squares" are open gateways leading into the cube. On the inside, a body may notice that the cube is almost entirely hollowed out, apart from rectangular "beams" left to connect opposing sides, whether to enhance structural integrity or to provide additional usable space. The interior of the cube is where most maugs live, usually in neatly separated districts. The large kinesis-discs that maugs use for local transport are also stored inside the cube. The outside surface houses siege engines that can easily be realigned to become terrible defensive weapons. Depending on size, a single cube can house a maug population anywhere between a few dozen to several thousand. It is usually ruled either by the highest-ranking officer or by a council of maugs of equal authority. Also on Thuldanin, Acheron lie the secluded maug factories. Few have found ways to one of these, and fewer have made it back. Ol' Roger has, yes indeed, but I'll not record my findings here, since this isn't really what you would call a secure connection, if you catch my drift, HQ. The data will be custom-coded according to procedures twelve-A through twelve-D, and promptly forwarded. I guess it's safe enough to say here that I've not seen anything to imply the presence of the Thulkarr at the site. Draw your own conclusions. When off-plane, maug regiments are always highly mobile, no matter what kind of heavy gear they are rolling with. When they need to stop, they entrench the area quickly, and dig in the command center in a matter of minutes. The procedures that maugs use when setting up these off-hand mil't'ry camps are noting special in and of themselves, but the speed at which these are deployed and the coordination are a small wonder. In my time spent wandering with various maug mobile units, only once has a camp been attacked, and it was just a half-assed attempt by some crazed khaasta; it was enough to notice that the response time of maugs "at rest" is also exceptional. Occasionally, maugs engage in lasting campaigns on the Prime Material. In this case, they prefer to take control of an existing stone fortress of acceptable size and remodel it to their taste using their architectural expertise. Apparently agoraphobic when it comes to buildings, maugs usually wall in the upper surface of the fortress, regardless of whether or not an aerial attack is a threat. Hallways are expanded to accommodate for their impressive size, and wide openings are made in all walls (including roof and floor), exposing either large-scale weapons or launch pads for maug rollers. The end result looks much like an Acheron cube, but its functionality varies depending on exact circumstances. Warfare The specific details of maug mil't'ry organization will be covered in a separate section, prob'ly by Violeta. However, I'll add a few general notes here, mainly on their understanding of war, both on the racial and personal scale. The entire maug society is devoted to perfecting their collective warcraft skill. Most maugs are warriors by birth (or by design, if y'please), and they consider battle to be one of the key activities that they undertake. Unlike many mil't'ristic races, however, maugs are not passionate combatants, like the tanar'ri, nor conquest-bent tyrants, like the baatezu, not even natural expansionists, like the formians. No, the maug approach to warfare is rational, purposeful, and professional. Rational, because maugs understand that conflict is inevitable in this multiverse, where the strong feed on the weak, and the weak feed on the even weaker in order to grow strong. Even the altruists of the Upper Planes are warlike beings, their justifications inconsequential. The only logical response is to adapt, to learn, to advance until one is competent and dangerous enough that no one else would wish to do battle with him. That is the maug goal. Purposeful, because maugs understand that every conflict is a forge, either breaking body and soul or shaping them into stronger, improved forms. Through facing others in battle one measures one's own ability, improving it if victorious, or defining it as inadequate if defeated. A threat to a being's life brings out the best of that being to the surface. Waging war is a test in the ongoing project called existence. The weak are culled, but the strong grow. That is the maug goal. Professional because maugs understand the value and importance that their battle prowess have in the eyes of others. Many beings would like to present the maug war machine as a test to some other beings. The maugs have nothing against the idea, but warcraft is a not only a risky process, but also a taxing one. It strains the resources of body, soul, and state, and these expenses must be accounted for. Those weak enough that they would have the maugs kill for them obviously have other qualities - such as wealth, information, or wisdom. An acceptable exchange can usually be found, to the benefit of all sides involved. That also is the maug goal. There you have it, as learnt from a preachy maug officer mere days before he got his chest cut in half by a balor's blade. Not all maugs have such a systematically developed views on warfare, but the general attitude is shared by all, or almost all. Even the rogue maugs usually turn up as arms for hire, because there's no escaping the fact that war is what they were made for. No glory or honor. No rage or malice. Just expertly performed acts of destruction. And aren't they just so pikin' good at it... but more on that later, when the charming ettin lady takes the stand and spills her chant. Belief 'ere now, this is the subject that I've had the most trouble working on. I still don't fully understand where the maugs stand on the subjects of philosophy and theology. Maybe it's because their mindset actually does have some essential differences compared to mine. Fortunately, our good quad-framed friend is here to help us through the tight spot. Pann, if you would be so kind ... [Pann_Surface speaks] - Truly, not a complicated matter in the slightest, this one. The thing is, as one would expect, and possibly more than one, too, general tendentions in maug belief systems are preordained, as much of their mental setup is. On the whole, they are designed to be open-minded when it comes to new concepts and ideas, and to sample from each one they encounter, analyzing and rationalizing and conceptualizing and idealizing and ... um, ponderizing... but not to devote themselves to a single path of belief until it is confirmed as the "correct" one. This, as one or two would expect, presents a problem, what with most belief systems being dogmatic and often either codependent or mutually exclusive. Therefore, nominal maug worshipers of a number of powers exist. Oftentimes, a maug chooses a power associated with strength, warfare, or self-improvement. Perchance, due to technical difficulties and old debts, no maug worships a power of Acheron, much to the chagrin of goblin and orc priests. Wherefore, very few maugs choose the priestly calling. Hitherto, using importantly complicated words at the beginning of a sentence makes one sound important. Vehemently, I'll stop doing that now. Now, about non-religious forms of belief, meaning sects, factions, and the like, maugs rarely concern themselves with such things. Though their natural attitude may make them seem fit for the Fated or the Doomguard, most consider philosophical ponderings regarding the nature of the multiverse pointless and unproductive (Payne speaks) – Err, yes, well. He does get the point across, somehow. For what it's worth. I'll be taking it from here... Art I know whatcha thinking here: “What art? They’re bloody big chunks of rock that go around and kill things for jink!” Well, yes, but that don’t mean they can’t express themselves artistically, does it now? Take, f’r instance, maug architecture. Yes, it is mostly functional, and yes, it is mostly hard stone cut into square surfaces, but there’s more to it, if you look deeper. If you bother to think about the placement of arches connecting the spire-stations of a maug cube, you’ll come to the conclusion that they were placed exactly there, there, and then there, not because they provide the best structural support (they could’ve done that elsewhere), but because the builder was aware of the somewhat intimidating effect they would have on an observer standing over here, under the entry point, and the entirely different, calming one it would have on an observer standing down there, by the main repair branch. It’s subtle, but it’s there, and the fact hat it’s hidden from the casual eye makes a body appreciate it even more once it’s spotted. I know, HQ, I know, you don’t expect an old soldier to get all soft over some heavy masonry, but still… Anyhow, fact is, a number of secondary maugs have become known for elegant and efficient architectural solutions, and brought as much fame to their production batches as the most skillful warriors or the most individualistic rogue. Now, maug music I can’t tell you much about, though many stone-faces seem to like it. A large part of it extremely low-pitch, low-frequency, and those that can hear it all say its surprisingly soothing, quote, “often with subtle alterations in its normally heavy rhythm”, end quote. It’s performed on so-called “boom-boxes”, multi-functional instruments usually grafted to a maug’s chest cavity, and always serve an extra purpose, either as a weapon, a tool, or a mass communication device. What’s int’r’sting is: Maug poetry is kept fully separate from instrumental music. Some time back, maugs heard that other races made music and accompanied it with written word, and as most new things, they tried doing the same with their own stuff, but apparently it turned out to be a miserable failure. Nowadays, it’s explicitly forbidden to play music during poetry recitals, and vice v’rsay, to sing, chant, or speak while playing music. Not surprisingly, most maug poems are really, really long, and deal with either the search for idealized perfection, duty to a greater purpose, or glory found in martial prowess. Entertainment Now, why would a maug, a nine-foot tall maug, want to hang around a bunch of 5-ft. tall drunk tieflings, bubbing himself up? More importantly, how would one go about doing that, techn’c’lly? That was the question I asked m’self when I first saw a couple of maugs on a drinking binge… And here are the answers. First, the mechanical side – a maug can, even though he doesn’t have to, eat, drink, and rut, just as well as the rowdiest Sensate, just for the base fun of it. Maugs prefer heavy rotgut intoxicants, real industrial stuff, the kind of bub that would make a demon-touched troll share his breakfast with the crowd. They’ll eat pretty much anything, though they prefer solids; real solids, as in mineral and earth-bones. As for sexual preference, well, let’s just say that they need some creative grafts attached before visiting the bordello, and even then only the most professional of professionals will entertain them. Which brings us, nat’rally, to the motivations. Why bother? The answer may be obvious to the Sensates – to see what it’s like. See, most maugs have that aspect of in-built curiosity as well, although they don’t discuss it in polite company. They keep exploring the pleasures of the flesh (and the mind, let’s not forget the mind) to see if there’s something essential that they’re missing on a racial scale. As always, results are estimated back home during maintenance and conclusions are drawn about the direction in which to take the next development batch of maugs. On a less experimental level, maug regiments periodically stage tournaments of sorts, where individuals and groups test their combat prowess against their fellows in several disciplines. This could be seen as a routine test of a unit’s strength, but the way most maugs approach it, it’s sorta obvious that such events mean a lot to them, even to those that do not participate, and I say that classifies ’em as “entertainment”. External Relations From what’s been said so far, you could figure out the obvious – maugs relate to other races either through the jink or through the chiv. And no, you wouldn’t be wrong. Still, a few relations deserve to be mentioned specifically, even though we won’t go into detail. On Acheron, the nearest neighbors of the maug race are the petitioners of the goblin and orc pantheons, eternally at war. Over the centuries, both sides have used maug mercenaries to strike at the other, but never in great measure – this is a war on the racial scale, after all, and appearances must be kept. The maug prices for these particular groups have skyrocketed, and in the recent decades only a few hobgoblin armies can be seen maneuvering over the fields with the maug regiments. Is Gruumsh broke, or what? The rakshasa fiends, on the other hand, decidedly refuse to employ maug forces in their complex internal struggles. It looks like there have been certain incidents in the far past after which it was declared bad taste to hire the maugs. And it’s been said before, there’s few things more suicidal (in the political sense, mainly) than bad taste if you’re a rakshasa high-up. Those frowns can kill, they say. I wouldn’t rightly know, on the grounds of never having anything to do with the rakshasa, if anyone asks, ever. Who else? Yes, the rilmani of the Land… now there’s a conundrum. This is one of the very few groups in the Multiverse that the maug race simply won’t work for, at least not officially (a rogue might, out of spite if for no other reason). The chant is, the maug got burned big-big in a previous engagement on the side of the rilmani, and some kind of spectacular peel took place. Today the maug side refuses any attempted contact, not that there have been many. Baator has, on several occasions, attempted to take over the useful maug war machine, typically by trying to locate the Thulkarr elders and… influence them. Each time, the canny stone-faces pulled out some annex of an old contract, calling in a favor from some deeper authority of the Pit, and quietly trumped the overtake effort, usually with drastic consequences. Now, the overtake hasn’t been attempted from lower than Malbolge, and some are pondering the obvious question – what if a really deep baatezu high-up attempts to pull this one off? How deep do the maug contacts really go? Not all the way, surely? Of course, there’s the factions thing, too. Now, it’s the Sensates, Sinkers, Sodkillers, and Takers that have most to do with the maug, and even that’s not much. The Society of Sensation appeals to those maugs that seek to experience the world of fleshy body and fleshier mind (see “Entertainment” above). The Doomguard has worked both for and against the maug in the past few years, but I gather you know bloody well enough about that, HQ. About the same goes for the Mercykillers (Sodkillers you call them today, I hear), although they usually had contacts on a smaller scale. Finally, the Fated appreciate the open, honest, self-reliant, attitude of both the common maug and the race as a whole; most of the few non-rogue maug that have joined a faction have turned to the Fated.
Weenie 10-20-05, 05:09 PM	Reserved: Maug Armies
Weenie 10-20-05, 05:10 PM	Reserved: Maug Equipment
Weenie 10-20-05, 05:11 PM	Reserved: Maug Supernaturalis
Weenie 10-20-05, 05:13 PM	http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ff_gallery/50149.jpg Maugs have the following character traits: - +6 Strength, no Constitution. As constructs, maugs are built for fighting and possess immense Strength, but are not actually alive and thus have no Constitution ability score. - Large Construct (Extraplanar): As Large creatures, maugs suffer a -1 size penalty on Armor Class and attack rolls, and a -4 size penalty on Hide checks, but they have a +4 size bonus on grapple checks and they can carry twice as much as a Medium creature. Maugs are always native to Acheron and have the extraplanar subtype when not on their home plane. - Maug base speed is 40 ft., but they are unable to run. - Darkvision 60 ft. - +7 natural armor bonus. - Special Attack (see Fiend Folio): Pulverize. - Special Qualities (see Fiend Folio): Construct traits, grafts, rapid repair; spell resistance equal to 12 plus the maug’s Hit Dice. - Weapon Familiarity: A maug treats the two-bladed sword as a martial weapon, rather than an exotic weapon. - Racial Hit Dice: A maug begins with 2 levels of construct, which provide 2d10+30 hit points, a base attack bonus of +1, and base saving throws bonuses of Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0. - Racial Skills: A maug’s construct levels give it skill points equal to 5 x (2 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Craft (blacksmithing, stonemasonry), Intimidate, Knowledge (architecture and engineering), Listen, Profession (siege engineer, soldier), and Spot. Also, a maug has a +4 racial bonus on Craft (stonemasonry), Knowledge (architecture and engineering), and Profession (siege engineer) checks. - Racial Feats: A maug’s construct levels give it one feat. It also gains Alertness as a bonus feat. - Automatic Languages: Maug, Planar Trade. Bonus Languages: Giant, Goblin, Orc, Infernal. - Favored Class: Fighter. - Level Adjustment +3
ripvanwormer 10-20-05, 06:37 PM	Art (not by me - from the City of Doors Initiative) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/ripvanwormer/maugcardSM.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/ripvanwormer/nethmaug.jpg
Echoes of Deception 10-20-05, 08:41 PM	But how do they get along with Inevitables, Formians and Modrons?
Wyrd Bearer 10-20-05, 09:19 PM	They only have a +6 to Strength? That gives them the base stats of Str 14, Dex 15, Con ?, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 12... which lines up with none of the normal ability arrays. The elite array is 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. So the fact that a stat is 11 (and they don't have enough HD to qualify for a +1 adjustment to an ability) means that they use a different array. I've placed then at Str +10, Dex +4, Int +2, Cha +2 (meaning they had a base stat array of Str 10, Dex 11, Con ~(10), Int 11, Wis 11, Cha 10 prior to stat adjustments). Otherwise their stats are goofed in the FF. BTW, Rip? Where is that second set of maug pics from? It looks like they were rendered within the TES Construction Set, the modder tool that came with the Morrowind game (which makes me giddy with the implications....)
ripvanwormer 10-20-05, 10:53 PM	BTW, Rip? Where is that second set of maug pics from? I'm not sure. I was combing through archive.org one day trying to get a copy of everything in the City of Doors Initiative (http://www.city-of-doors.com/) art gallery that survived, since the big, beautiful gallery it once had is now gone. I didn't come up with a lot, but I did find some maugs.
thasis 10-20-05, 11:06 PM	Totally kill. Do you have the links to the other articles? I wouldn't mind favoriting them all.
Wyrd Bearer 10-20-05, 11:08 PM	I'm not sure. I was combing through archive.org one day trying to get a copy of everything in the City of Doors Initiative (http://www.city-of-doors.com/) art gallery that survived, since the big, beautiful gallery it once had is now gone. I didn't come up with a lot, but I did find some maugs.Ewwww, Neverwinter Nights? Blah, that happy feeling just turned into one similar to when my bowels are cramping.
thasis 10-20-05, 11:23 PM	NWN is a kill game. I own the Platnium Editon. It requires to much time that I'd rather spend designing D&D stuff anywayz. I might get around to playing it thouhg *ponders*
Wyrd Bearer 10-21-05, 01:25 AM	NWN is a kill game. I own the Platnium Editon. It requires to much time that I'd rather spend designing D&D stuff anywayz. I might get around to playing it thouhg *ponders*Yeah, see, I recieved the platinum edition of the game myself. I played for two weeks and deemed it atrocious to mankind, then gave it away completely free of charge to a NWN addict. Apparently she could stand a plotless game that involves mindlessly killing things in annoying 2d combat with a pathetic sidekick (BG2 was an infinitely superior game in all ways, except for the fact it still suffered from the 2dness that nerfed enemies such as beholders and other critters that NEED flight to be effective).
Weenie 10-21-05, 02:38 AM	The elite array is 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. So the fact that a stat is 11 (and they don't have enough HD to qualify for a +1 adjustment to an ability) means that they use a different array. Otherwise their stats are goofed in the FF. Well, you could say that the ability array is Str 14, Dex 15, Con (8), Int 13, Wis 10 (no real difference), Cha 12, and the adjustment is still only Str +6. The Thulkarr are obviously min-maxers. But I'm also OK with Str 14, Dex 15, Con (10), Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 12. I know it's not a standard elite (sic) array, but I wanted to keep the adjustments as simple as possible. Besides, I like the idea of maug being human-like re ability adjustments (particularly mental ones), modified only for their size and constructness.
Wyrd Bearer 10-21-05, 11:01 AM	But I'm also OK with Str 14, Dex 15, Con (10), Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 12. I know it's not a standard elite (sic) array, but I wanted to keep the adjustments as simple as possible. Besides, I like the idea of maug being human-like re ability adjustments (particularly mental ones), modified only for their size and constructness.True, I respect your decision. Still, I suppose we'll each play our own seperate way. Now if only in FF they printed monsters who could be characters with the same conventions they do now (actually showing you exactly what traits the character would gain seperate from the stat block). By the way, I've only jumped on this thread because I am a fan of maugs myself. Trust me, I'm psyched to see someone doing all this work on a race that I only know through the FF.
ripvanwormer 10-21-05, 04:53 PM	Weenie, Your choice to use a "technological" explanation for the maugs rather than a purely fantastic one (investing them with quasi-life using elemental spirits or the spirits of Acheron's dead, for example) is interesting. It makes sense, given all the advanced technology lying around in Thuldanin, and it allows you to include ways that maugs might be upgraded each generation, which I liked.
Weenie 10-22-05, 06:17 PM	Woo-hoo! Someone's actually reading through the thing! I'm glad you like it. I'm open for creative criticism of course, and suggestions regarding the remaining chapters (semi-completed ATM) are welcome.
ripvanwormer 10-24-05, 04:27 PM	Mechalich likes it too (http://greyhawkonline.com/pitsofevil/v2/YaBB.pl?num=1130125797).
ripvanwormer 10-24-05, 04:40 PM	If the maugs were organic beings, the Secondaries would also be farmers, herders, or hunters, but these roles are redundant among the stone-faces. "Superfluous" or simply "unnecessary" would be better than "redundant" in this case. "Redundant" implies other castes already farm, herd, or hunt. Things I really like: - the bit about rakshasas and taste - the ancient problem with the rilmani - the mysterious nature of the Thulkarr - the place of the rogues. They remind me a bit of Terry Pratchett's trolls (or dwarfs) in their arts and entertainment, which makes them kinda lovable.
The Painter 10-24-05, 11:53 PM	Quite excellent, Weenie. A much needed fleshing for an interesting creature... It makes me want to work on "Faces of Order: The Hassitorum" or maybe dig through the new monster books (MMII, MMIII, and Fiend Folio) for something current, underused and interesting to write a thing on. Also, its gotta go up on Planewalker when you're done.
Echoes of Deception 10-24-05, 11:59 PM	Right. But Weenie, how do they get along with Inevitables, Formians and Modrons? Or, do you know?
Weenie 10-25-05, 08:36 AM	Right. But Weenie, how do they get along with Inevitables, Formians and Modrons? Or, do you know? Well, no, I don't. But I'd assume the following: - Modrons: Not interested. They have their own concerns, what with keeping the multiverse from falling on their heads. When they need armies, they make their own. - Inevitables: Not interested. Maugs rarely step out of line, and inevitable interventions are usually not required. And the mercenary aspect, I don't think so. Inevitables usually act on a personal basis, and don't seem the type to hire muscle. - Formians: Antagonistic. Many conflicts in the past (usually maug hired to defend from formian expansion/invasion), no known history of cooperation on either side. ... Will post the maug armies chapter in a few days. Some of the crunch is causing trouble. Rip: Nice catch on the Pterry troll similarity. Thanks for the syntaxic tip; edited.
ripvanwormer 10-26-05, 09:41 PM	Totally kill. Do you have the links to the other articles? I wouldn't mind favoriting them all. I just put up mine (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=525979). Mechalich's articles aren't online at the moment, though he has declared his intention to submit them to Planewalker.com.
ripvanwormer 12-02-05, 11:26 PM	bump (until Weenie posts this on Planewalker)
Lord Doombringer 12-03-05, 01:23 PM	Cool. Maugs are some of my favorite Fiend Folio monsters. (They also are drawn by Wayne Reynolds...yay.) I think it's cool that you're making such elaborate overviews of monsters that most people overlook. You should write for the Ecology articles in Dragon magazine! :D
Weenie 06-25-06, 04:41 AM	The whole article now published at planewalker.com; here's the link (http://www.planewalker.com/codex/entry.php?intEntryID=11116).
ArochanoX 06-25-06, 05:53 AM	Well, for working out the stat modifiers: monster manuals never use elite array as a base. They use the plain array: 11 11 11 10 10 10 (especially for big badass monsters) or non-elite array: 13 12 11 10 9 8 (especially for class level advancing low CR critters. Like elves and kobolds.). Plain array would make maugs: +10 Str, +4 Dex, +2 Int, +2 Cha. Non-elite array would make maugs (for example): +8 Str (12), +6 Dex (9), Con - (8), +0 Int (13), +0 Wis (11), +2 Cha (10) Sole ability modifier of +6 Str is not enough to describe maug's physique and mental awareness. Fiend Folio pg. 9: Abilities This line provides the creature's six ability scores in the order Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha. Except where noted otherwise, each creature is assumed to have the following array of ability scores before racial adjustments: 11, 11, 11, 10, 10, 10. To determine any creature's racial ability adjustments, subtract 10 from any even-numbered score and subtract 11 from any odd-numbered score. For example, a selkie has the following ability scores: Str 9, Dex 13, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 12. That means a selike's (yes, there's a typo in the book) racial ability adjustments are Str -2, Dex +2, Con +0, Int +2, Wis +0 and Cha +2.