Rust Devil (3.5e Race)
Rust Devils[edit]
While they are so-called "devils," rust devils, also known as the rfwyz alyw, or "rusted ones" in the Infernal tongue, are not related to fiends at all. Rather, they are outsiders from Acheron who have made their home in the Prime Material for seeming eons now. They were originally created by the deity Gilgeam as forces for his divine-made army, outfitted with armor and bladed bodies from birth. Following the collapse of Zigguraxus due to Gilgeam's death, the rust devils fled the layer of Avalas and momentarily took up planeswalking until they found a new place to call home. Similar to other races of iron-shod Avalas, like the bladelings and goblins, rust devils are far from one's idea of the most pleasant or hospitable race. They are a people who believe themselves ultimately entitled to a better future than others due to the hardships and immense pain they claim they have been forced to endure following their exile.
Personality[edit]
Similar to bladelings, rust devils are highly suspicious of outsiders. However, having left their home before the bladelings and established their new abode, rust devils have had a longer time to acclimate to their new world and its inhabitants. Rust devils retain distrust of other creatures, particularly those of soft flesh, often called "soft ones" as borrowed from lizardfolk. Having been created as soldiers, rust devils are very much geared for tactical and emotionless thinking. They are highly observant of others to find weak points to expose if needed, and are volatile agents with outsiders. For rust devils, those other than their own are possible enemies overnight, so they stay vigilant. It is very difficult to get rust devils to fully trust a non-rust devil, and often countless battles must be fought before even a shred of camaraderie begins to show. Often times, strategic decisions made by rust devils to protect allies are mistaken for collaborative efforts or friendly defense.
Among their own or those they have truly learned to trust, rust devils are the most steadfast of allies. Rust devils do not show affection, though, in the way most would see. Despite being good friends or within the same platoon, rust devils remain rather cold. They interpret collaborative acts of battle to be the most assertive and sure sign of trust, which is how they reciprocate. Outside of that, they are seen to be awkward or non-responsive in other facets of social interaction. Banter and humorous things are often lost on them, as they don't seem to have a sense for humor or frivolous subjects. Generally, rust devils are one of few words, like the silent brooders of a party. That being said, they are not really gloomy, just always observing. Happiness and sadness are largely seen as distractions for rust devils, though they do occasionally revel in their genius or tactical success.
Physical Description[edit]
Rust devils have a humanoid shape and are of heights and builds that are taller and more tightly muscled than humans. Their body shapes will often be lithe, with very little fat, as they were styled to be durable soldiers. Their bodies are entirely hairless, instead covered with skin that is like armor. This skin is metallic in nature and turns from iron to a rusty reddish-brown color as they mature. It pricks up where the rust devil has pores, making rust devils appear spiny. These barbs liken them to bladelings. Like bladelings, these spines will grow for as long as a rust devil lives. However, they do not grow neatly, instead curving and splintering often, as they are brittle like rust. This can give rust devils the appearance of horns and other protrusions all over their body. Because of this, they will rarely wear clothing or armor unless it is fitted to allow for their comfort. Rust devils have deeply inset sockets in their face, almost like a mask. Their eyes are usually green or gold, swimming within the dark holes. Rust devils have sharp, fanged teeth, which was one of the causes for people erroneously calling them devils. There is little to no difference between males and females, save for their gonads located under the stomach.
Biology[edit]
Usually, rust devils live to be about 170 years at most, though many will die of violent causes before ever reaching close. Most die at around 70 years of age or younger. The original rust devils were created. New generations of rust devils are born. When first born, rust devils are scarcely prickly and have grey skin. As they rapidly mature, their skin takes on the rusty colors and prickly properties of rust. Their sexual organs also develop at around this time, meaning rust devils are born without dimorphism. Males and females, however, look extremely similar in all other aspects. There were once rumors that, as part of an ancient ritual, one could turn a humanoid into a rust devil. The recipe for this ritual was lost with the fall of Gilgeam, unfortunately.
As their name implies somewhat, rust devils have similar biology to that of rust dragons and rust monsters. They are inherently attuned to sources of metal and will prefer ferrous sorts over precious tastes like gold and silver, though they will still go after them if no other sources are in their vicinity. Rust devils have bodies built to process and digest metals that have rusted. While they can eat normal food and drink, they prefer rusted metal to satiate their diets. This is believed to be the cause behind their blood, which is thick and slurry-like. They have the ability to rust metals through touch. While rust monsters have feelers, rust devils have a pair of glands under their eyes that give them excellent sense to navigate when underground. This has helped them survive living within cave systems for so long. As for their rusty, spiky skin, it is unclear if their skin was originally rusty within the acid smog of Acheron or if it began to change into rust due to their migration to a different atmosphere. Given that the names their neighbors call them imply they were previously rusty, it might have been the former.
Relations[edit]
Back in Acheron, the rust devils were sequestered within the realm of Gilgeam and used by the Untheric god to bypass the planar barrier of non-intervention. Under this god's cruel rule, the rust devils were primarily enforcers of their despot's reign, as they were created for such. Being within the same layer of Avalas as a host of goblinoids, orcs, and bladelings imported from Banehold, the rust devils served also as guards and soldiers for Gilgeam against the forces of Bane, Maglubiyet, and Gruumsh. Like bladelings, rust devils pride themselves as orderly and disciplined weapons of their god and look down upon the softer creatures of chaos like orcs and goblinoids. However, bladelings came from the layer of Ocanthus and viewed rust devils as weaker cowards, having been worn to rust by the constant mists of Zigguraxus which hide the peak of Gilgeam's realm. Rust devils despise bladelings for being narrow-minded and lacking as fierce a loyalty to their god as their own.
After the fall of Gilgeam, Zigguraxus faded away when the Untheric Pantheon fell. Rust devils were temporary planes walkers who had to find a new home. During their vagrant period, they did seek refuge in places like Sigil, the City of Doors. However, a good many of them found their way to Faerun, where most of them ultimately have settled. Their appearance is quite monstrous to most humans and elves, so rust devils are treated with the same caution, if not more, than tieflings. As a result, most rust devil communities lie outside that of populated and popular places filled with more common humanoids. However, some rust devils are able to earn the keep and trust of others by maintaining a work ethic if they seek employment within the cities. This is a fairly rare case, as rust devils are loath to depend on the lifestyles of "sheltered softies." Many just adventure on their own or with others to avoid interacting with non-rust devils.
Alignment[edit]
Having the mindset of a soldier, now without a deity leading, rust devils are highly susceptible to forms of groupthink, particularly within their own race. This is balanced out by the fact that rust devils recognized strength as the best sign in a leader. Thus, if rust devils perceive a leader to be weak, they will not hesitate to kill and expose them. Under a strong leader, rust devils organize defensively around the given rhetoric and will carry it out, no matter how heavy-handed it may be. Such, to them, is a law in the world of battle, which they do not differentiate from everyday life. To them, battle is everywhere and one must always be prepared. Those who violate the laws of battle or ignore it will be killed and left to rot in the constant war to survive. It suffices to say that rust devils are also neutral to an extent, as they merely follow this law to a tee in their ways. They do not do so to be cruel and evil, nor are they merciful and saintly in their dealings. To them, the constant battle that is life is why one cannot take moments of reprieve for granted, nor should meaningless things like "soft" emotions be indulged in.
There are those who veer off this path and come to revel in power. These tend to veer towards evil and oppression. Few are likely to be good, as a result of this rigid mindset bent on power. However, some do see their laws of battles and use of power change, perhaps shifting to a protective obligation that the strong have towards the weak. This is extremely rare in comparison to rust devils who turn towards evil.
Lands[edit]
Rust devils have since left Acheron following the death of Gilgeam. With their deity creator gone, the rust devils fell into disorder and could not retain control over the realm. Most of them fled and walked across planes to find a new home. While some settled in places like Sigil, many others found a new home in the Material Realm of Abeir-Toril. However, as such displaced outsiders, they are far from influential enough to have possession their own lands. Instead, they largely hide out in isolated areas built into caves within the sides of mountains, usually with underground caverns. These locations usually have large swaths of cleared land that they can train freely in. These territories are usually marked by scratches from their rusty bodies on stone and wood. Platoons of rust devils are usually patrolling the periphery of their territories for several hours of the day and night. They merely claim these locations, but there is often little to no outside recognition of this, which can lead to territorial spats and skirmishes where rust devils end up attacking people who wander onto their land.
Religion[edit]
The rust devils as a whole generally hold Gilgeam to a high standard in their memory. Their cruel creator god was a paragon of ruthless leadership and strong-headed thinking, which are sort of appealing traits to rust devils for a leader. In that way, they look to their gods as actual leaders more than metaphysical concepts that don't do anything. As such, they spurn overly spiritual practices and notions of karma or morality based belief systems, believing them to be impractical. Because they revere strength, some might be beholden to worship gods like Bane or Gruumsh, though these are communities of minority import. Sometimes, these faiths are seen as traitorous to their own creation. Due to the nature of most gods being either seen as weak or not a true leader, rust devils don't take up a strong faith in any particular deity or religion. Some exceptions, like Tempus or Lady of Pain do exist, but it appears rust devils have become anchored somewhat in their loyalty to Gilgeam. They just live as soldiers, as unfeeling as they can. There are some whispers of intentions among the more conservative rust devils to revive their fallen god. But with the Untheric Pantheon all but dissolved, they are hard-pressed to hope.
Language[edit]
As previously stated, rust devils actually have little to no association with the Lower Planes. They do not known the Infernal language like bladelings do, though they do know a few words. They primarily are known to have learned the Common tongue for the most part, but they are also one of the few who remember the original tongue of Untheric. When communicating in code, rust devils use the Untheric alphabet of runes and syllables, which few outside of the Old Empire remember how to decipher. Names for the rust devils still derive from Untheric, as respect for the fallen pantheon Gilgeam used to lead.
Names[edit]
Assignment to a role within their little army is akin to maturity. Rust devils mature quickly, as early as 12 years of age. Once they reach that age, they are given a role to accomplish within the army that is the collective race. After they are recognized as competent within their role, their superiors grant them a name. They have many androgynous names, though some gender-differential names do exist. All addresses include the "Gaelg" prefix instead of any patronyms. Therefore, if someone's name was Bob, addressing them would call them "Gaelg-Bob."
Androgynous Names: Chadat, Elzas, Shahurd, Aifeb, Xengrad, Zamras, Leikus
Male Names: Azzedar, Chadrezzan, Gibbur, Horat, Kassur, Numer, Samar, Ungred
Female Names: Chadra, Ilzza, Jezzara, Marune, Saldashune, Xuthra, Zeldara
Racial Traits[edit]
- +2 Constitution, −2 Intelligence. Rust devils are hardy creatures that are not raised to be mentally well-equipped, as they were intended to be soldiers.
- Outsider (Native): Rust devils appear humanoid, but their ancestry hails from that of Acheron. However, having relocated and lived in Prime for eons now, their bodies have become acclimated to their new home.
- Medium size: As Medium creatures, rust devils have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Rust Devil base land speed is 30 feet.
- Darkvision out to 60 feet.
- Racial Hit Dice: A rust devil has an 8-sided hit dice instead of its base class hit dice.
- Racial Skills: A rust devil's outsider levels give it skill points equal to its (8 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Bluff, Disguise, Listen, Move Silently, Perform, Sense Motive, and Spot.
- +3 natural armor bonus.
- Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A rust devil is automatically proficient with all simple and martial weapons.
- Touch of Rust (Ex): A rust devil that makes a successful unarmed strike causes metal armor worn by the target creature to fall to pieces and become useless immediately (Fortitude save to avoid: DC 11+1/2 rust devil HD + Constitution modifier). A rust devil can also use its unarmed strike to target a weapon or similarly sized metal object.
- Metalseeker: This ability grants a rust devil a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to locate sources of metals, such as veins of ore, metal armories, smelting refineries, and the like. Something that isn’t metal but that is disguised as metal does not count. A rust devil can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate depth underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
- +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.*Not reflected in the saving throw numbers given here.
- +2 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.*Not reflected in the saving throw numbers given here.
- Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Infernal.
- Favored Class: Barbarian. A multiclass rust devil’s Barbarian class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
- Level Adjustment: +2
Vital Statistics[edit]
| Adulthood | Simple | Moderate | Complex |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 years | +1d4 | +1d6 | +1d8 |
| Middle Age1 | Old2 | Venerable3 | Maximum Age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 years | 70 years | 80 years | +170 years | |
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 5’ 0” | +2d10 | 135 lb. | × (2d4) lb. |
| Female | 4’ 10” | +2d10 | 130 lb. | × (2d4) lb. |
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