Rik


Climate/Terrain: Any
Frequency: Extremely Rare
Active time: Any
Intelligence: Highly Intelligent (13)
Treasure: Nil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

No. Appearing: 1-2
Armor Class: -5
Movement: 45
Hit Dice: 63
THAC0: 0
No. of Attacks: 2
Damage/Attack: 1d100+30 / 1d100+30
Special Attacks: See Below
Special Defenses: See Below
Magic Resistances: Unspecified
Size: G (40' tall)
Morale: Fanatic (18)
XP Value: 115,000

Riks were designed by the evil deities of Gaeleth to supplement their troops in the field, and to serve as quick-strike units, inflicting a maximum of damage, and then withdrawing. They were used to maximal effect during the retaliation against the Karatikans during the opening weeks of the Storm Wars, wiping out supply lines and communications depots, as well as assassinating key leaders.

They are towering humanoid giants, made entirely of some red glass. In the region of the heart, some darker, maroon-like glass resides, beneath the red glass exterior. They were fairly rare, and it is believed that only a gross of them were made during the Storm Wars. Most of them were destroyed when the god that created them, Nathel, died the first time; he was their principle animator. Many of them were requisitioned by Nabrol, Nathel's replacement, and subsequently destroyed during the later stages of the Storm Wars, either by powerful mages or clerics.

No riks are believed to still exist; if they did, Nabrol would use them as terror-weapons.

Combat: The primary weapon of a rik was sheer, brute strength. Each blow from its five foot wide fists could deal 1d100+30 points of damage, and counted as a +5 weapon.

If necessary, a rik could cast three 10d6 lightning bolts each day, and three 10d6 fireballs. It was entirely capable of making two attacks simultaneously; either an attack with one fist, and a fireball, or a fireball and a lightning bolt, or two fist attacks.

Special Abilities: A rik's primary defense was its quasi-glass body. Energy attacks such as lightning bolts, fireballs, and magic missiles dealt no damage. Instead, the rik absorbed half of such attacks to replenish its hit points; the other half of the attack was redirected through the rik's body, and then right back at the caster.

Additionally, riks had 85% magic resistance to non-energy attacks. They were immune to psionic attacks (and were rumored to fry the mind of anyone who attempted to attack them psionically).

Aiding their powerful combat repertoire, riks could plane's walk at will, hunting anyone and anything down for their masters. They could detect magic, and dispell magic, as though they were a 20th level mage, and they had permanent deitific true seeing.

Riks regenerated constantly, at the rate of 2 hit points per round. If their bodies were shattered or broken, then the individual shards could move at the rate of 15" back towards a central point, regenerating as shards or even dust accumulated.

Weakness: Because of their design construction, riks apparently took 1.5 times normal damage from acid and sonic attacks, and could not redirect these back at the caster. Of course, anyone casting these at a rik became a prime target.

It was found, early on, that if a blessing were cast on a rik, its regenerative powers weakened. One blessing would reduce its regeneration to 1 hit point per round, and two would reduce the regeneration to zero. No further blessings would affect the rik, but it aided in the destruction. Once a rik's hit points had dropped to zero, it shattered.

This fascinating application of even a 1st level priest's powers were useless, after the duration of the bless wore off -- the rik would resume regeneration. However, the 6th level priest spell transmute glass to steel, which operated under similar conditions to transmute water to dust, completely destroyed riks that had been reduced to zero hit points, provided that every scrap of the glass that made up the rik was caught within the area of effect of the spell.

Construction: Riks appear to be the epitome of glass golems, constructed with god-like intelligences either by evil priests, or archons of gods.

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