Farrow 5E Tactics

I've always liked the farrow - they were one of the first distinctly "nonstandard" races introduced in the original Witchfire Trilogy and I've always wanted to use them in an adventure. At first glance, they appear to be the Iron Kingdoms version of orcs, but I think you'll find that there is more to it than that...

A Farrow Warlord

It's worth noting that farrow, like many of the Iron Kingdom's "wild" races, are *neutral* as opposed to obligate evil and can sometimes be found fighting on both sides of a conflict - in fact, they're probably not that dissimilar to trollkin, except the latter seem to be more historically integrated into "civilised" society (and in particular Cygnaran society) and are considered less "bestial".

So it turns out that farrow, other than in terms of their nod to the classical appearance, are actually quite different to orcs when analysed tactically (MM, pages 244-247, Volo's 82-91, and also 183-184), although I think there's some great material in the Volo's chapter that could be readily adapted. 

Let's begin with the ability contour - unlike the standard race, a base farrow actually has the unusual CON dominant contour, although both STR and DEX come in above average. This suggests a melee preference but does this mean they are brutes, shock attackers, or skirmishers? 

The short answer is "it depends"... but for the long answer? 

Well, I'm going to step through it using Keith's analysis method.

Farrow are humanoids, and *neutral* ones at that as noted above, so they may be indifferent but have their own goals and motivations which from the flavour text is not dissimilar to other "primitive" tribal cultures with the exception that they are noted to scavenge and use firearms (and possibly other technology). Their Medium size, average movement, lack of resistances and immunities, use of basic hide armour, and standard weapons is all pretty average - sure their CON bonus bumps up their hit points, but they only a basic have 2 hit dice like a typical orc. There aren't any passive traits, bonus actions, reactions, or spellcasting to worry about fortunately so this makes them simple enough.

Their mental characteristics are likewise completely average (all 10s) so that's not a lot of help - they know when things are going wrong and when to flee but that's about as sophisticated as they get without a leader directing them. They're actually slightly smarter than orcs, but it's hard to see that as significant unless they are operating alone, which seems uncommon.

Hmmm, how about their senses and proficiencies you ask? 

Well, this is notable in that they have proficiency in Perception, but lack Stealth or darkvision, so unlike many classic humanoids they *don't* operate at night or in darkness and live above ground, not in caves. Add to this that they have proficiency in Survival and Keen Smell (advantage on Perception rolls involving smell) so this gives us a clue that they hunt and track more easily, suggesting their role as wilderness guides and occasional brigands. 

In terms of weapons, both their standard melee and ranged are weaker than orcs but their pig iron (seems like some sort of pistol from the range) is superior in terms of damage output to their club. As they lack Multiattack, it makes sense they rely on their ranged attacks in preference. 

Putting this all together suggests that when possible, farrow will usually negotiate unless they are actively hunting the group they encounter for another reason or they are easy prey to rob - they are pragmatic, but they are also ambitious, aggressive, and adept at scavenging. When combat begins, they don't hesitate to attack from near range with their guns as they have no particular expertise with ambush, so moving within negotiating distance initially gives them more options. Given their high CON, they can survive getting into melee, although they will be less effective due to the low damage output of their club and suffering disadvantage with their guns if within 5 ft. of an opponent. They are smart enough to withdraw when significantly wounded (down to 4 hit points, 30% or less) unless they are driven by a leader they fear more or believe they will be killed if they surrender based on past experiences with more "civilised" races.

I'd argue that farrow are therefore less than dangerous than orcs (no great-axes able to fell 1st level characters in one strike), but this doesn't account for their lore aspects - farrow work in organised bands led by various charismatic leaders (and champions), several of which have traits that augment their fairly basic combat effectiveness. They provide good introductory opponents with more depth than standard orcs and goblinoids, perhaps staving off the default murderhobo strategy of "kill the evil beastman and take its loot" and the potential to scale up encounters not only in terms of combat deadliness but more complex human motivations.

The base creature is noted in the GM's Toolkit to be encountered in either a group of 2d4 with a farrow warlord, or a group of 1d4 with either a farrow shaman or a farrow brute (50% chance of either) So, let's have a look at the first of their "leader types" and how their presence affects the band's behaviour.

A Note on Pig Irons

Borderlands and Beyond (pages 175-176) updates the pig iron as follows:

The crude firearms often used by farrow are built to be sturdy—not out of any sense of pride, but because the weapons are just as likely to be used to bash in a target’s skull as to shoot at it. A pig iron can be used as an improvised melee weapon; when used as a melee weapon, it is treated as a club.  

The updated stats are1d10 piercing; Firearm (60/180), magazine (1), misfire (3), special, two-handed. 

So, pig irons are actually the clubs used by farrow, which makes a bit more sense as there is utility in having the same weapon for use in melee and as a ranged attack (the Iron Kingdoms is full of combination weapons actually, however impractical they may be). From a tactics point of view, this doesn't really change anything as the ranged pig iron attack is preferable to using anyway - although the doubled range suggests a benefit from engaging at a distance and the 3 in 20 chance of a misfire make things more interesting and chaotic.

Farrow Warlord

I prefer to deal with spellcasting variants separately as they take more analysis, and I think the two farrow brutes deserve their own post, so let's take the farrow warlord next and leave the farrow shaman,  the iconic bonegrinder, and the farrow brute warbeasts for later posts (given the absence of a "warlock" NPC stat block to date). This guy is perhaps less formidable than an orc war chief perhaps in single combat, but its other traits help potentiate the effectiveness of the warband it leads under the right circumstances. Notably, they are no smarter than the average member of their race, suggesting their reputation for cunning may be more a product of luck and physical prowess.

First off, the warlord has improved STR and DEX, making it more of a classic melee brute when coupled with 4 extra hit dice (resulting in 3 times the basic farrow's hit points). AC, movement, and proficiencies remain unchanged but the slight boost in attack and damage makes some difference. Multiattack specifies two club melee attacks and a pig iron ranged attack, suggesting the pistol shot is more akin to a swashbuckling pirate captain's bonus shot between cutlass dueling but it still wins out over the relatively lackluster club attacks even if there are now two of them. This suggests they close into melee whenever possible and eat the disadvantage for firing their pig iron at less than 5 ft., but taking their third attack as a shot at a distant enemy is actually a better option. These guys *really* need a better melee weapon - given their status as leaders even a salvaged axe or standard sword would be a significant boost and you'd think the warlord would have the first pick of the spoils from brigandage.

Warlord's Prey (1/day) is essentially hunter's mark without the tracking features, which I'd argue are easy enough to add in if the individual creature is to be an ally or a low-level recurring villain. The extra 3 (1d6) damage helps, particularly given the mediocre damage of a club but choosing the right target is important and the warlord isn't actually smart enough to pick the best option reliably and once the first target is down, the benefit is lost and can't be switched to a new enemy like a player character ranger. The effect is also diluted if in melee and using the ranged attack at another, "unmarked" target. 

Now Hog Wild is a surprisingly fun option. On the surface, it seems fairly weak compared to say an orc war chief's Battle Cry (gives advantage on an attack to chosen allies within 30 feet then a bonus attack 1/day). However, its effect dramatically scales with increasing numbers of allied farrow, it can be used continuously throughout a battle, and there is no range limitation to cap the number of compatriots boosted. This is a direct action economy benefit for the whole warband and means that *any* allied farrow in the battle gains the benefit of an extra attack, although the description specifies this to the weaker club attack rather than giving a choice, which dilutes its potential somewhat. 

Overall then the presence of a warlord gives the farrow two attacks per round instead of one if in melee range if they choose to shoot with their pig iron as their main action at a near-range opponent, but use their bonus attack to club whoever has the misfortune of being in striking distance of them. The presence of multiple warlords doesn't cause additional benefit other than the warlords can grant each other an additional club attack, and if one falls the other can continue the antics and benefit.  

If you have an image of crazy pig men flailing around with sticks and shooting their guns in the air as they whirl around then you're well on the way there to the chaos that a farrow band can bring to a fight... and it makes a lot of sense given the warlord themselves favours a similar split target approach. Look add in some mounts and you basically have cowboys causing a ruckus as they ride into town in an old Western led by the villainous outlaw! 

Optional: Custom Variations

As noted above, the basic farrow weapons are pretty mediocre and likely reflect "wilder" and more primitive versions of the race. In the evolving Borderlands and Beyond Kickstarter backer PDF (pre-released), the various badlands raider stat blocks are detailed (B&B, pages 121-122) with the covering paragraph mentioning they are suitable for use as Nyss, farrow, bogrin, or human opponents. I'm not going to detail them in this post but will likely return to them later and post a comment on the different minor variations according to race as well as accounting for mixed-race bands. 

As a general comment they are characterised by Pack Tactics, one extra Hit Dice, improved characteristics, and better weaponry options (hand weapons inflicting 1d8, standard military rifles) - in a pinch, these can be quickly and easily added to the existing farrow stat blocks while retaining similar flavour. At a quick glance, the addition of Pack Tactics (in combination with the effects of Hog Wild) has a significant impact, turning the warband from a bunch of unruly brigands into an effective bandit force. 

But in the meantime, let's consider the basic farrow and see what we can do to provide them with slightly sharper tusks as it were - for this, I'm going to draw inspiration from the various Hordes minion forces and suggest a homebrewed farrow slaughterhouse variant, based on the fanatic farrow followers of Lord Cleaver of the Thornfall Alliance and taking. a few cues from its wargame stats to guide me.

Farrow Slaughterhousers

The Slaughterhousers are a vicious farrow assault force that lead the warbands of Thornfall Alliance acting as shock troops. They have enthusiastically embraced the rants of Lord Carver, who believes the farrow have a destiny of conquest and subjugation. Spurred on by their lord, slaughterhousers enjoy few tasks more than hacking apart humans...

Fanatics of Lord Cleaver...

This is the proposed farrow slaughterhouser stat block:

It is clear that this variant is built purely for melee - no ranged attacks and the ability to move into combat both rapidly and with deadly force. Using its bonus action (which it has no other option for other than Rampage which is a specific triggering of a similar but lesser effect) it can effectively Dash into melee and effectively move from opponent to opponent, potentially felling two weaker creatures a round although the latter effect is insufficient to trigger the benefit of Charge. Unlike most farrow, these guys don't negotiate and are too fanatical to withdraw if seriously wounded despite their similar WIS scores.

As written, the above warlord's Hog Wild trait only triggers an extra club attack from allied farrow, but it's not too hardy to rule retrospectively that this is intended to apply to all *melee* weapon attacks for its allies in general and isn't specific to the use of clubs by its warband. So adding a slaughterhouser into this mix just compounds the chaos...

Design Note: this is my first suggested variant which may well be made obsolete by a later official product, but reading the Hordes description and mechanics, it was easy to swap in a halberd aka pole cleaver while dropping the pig iron to stay consistent with the lack of ranged options. Bumping up their STR and CON makes sense and then adding a Hit Dice and half-plate like in the image converts them into more of a brute style opponent able to "shrug off wounds that would kill a lesser farrow" without calling for weapon resistances. For a shock trooper creature with associated lore, charging into combat seems a given, so adding Aggressive *and* Charge make sense, whereas Rampage (borrowed from gnolls) reflects their savagery better than say Berserk, Blood Frenzy, Rage, or Reckless. The remainder of the stat block is identical to the base creature -  I can't quite remember the name of trait that would mimic the "Finisher" ability ie. inflict extra die of damage on already wounded opponents but when I work it out I'll consider adding it back in.