Kroot Shaper

Saves: Willpower +5

Proficiencies: Command +5, Fieldcraft +6, Guile +4

Voice of the Kindred. Allied kroot within 30 feet gain +1 to Morale checks and follow the shaper's target priority.

Shaped Flesh. The shaper carries one trait eaten from a past enemy, at GM discretion: it sees normally in total darkness, gains +1 Defense from armored hide, or its melee attacks deal an extra 1d6 toxic damage.

Contract Sense. The shaper reads the battle like a ledger; it knows when the fight has stopped paying before the party does, and may open a parley mid-battle.

Shaper's Rifle. Ranged Attack: +6 to hit, range 80/240 ft., one target. Hit: 1d10 + 3 ballistic damage. In reach, the heirloom rifle-blade strikes instead: Melee Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8 + 3 slashing damage.

The Pack Turns. All allied kroot that can see or hear the shaper immediately shift their attacks to one target the shaper names.

Withdraw the Kindred. Every allied kroot within 60 feet may immediately move up to half its Movement through terrain without provoking Reactive Fire.

Morale: Fights while the contract holds; withdraws the whole pack the moment losses exceed payment, and may parley mid-battle if the party offers better terms.

Tactics: The shaper directs from the second line, turning the pack like a single knife. Play the mercenary angle — it will trade information, safe passage, or a betrayal of its T'au employers for the right price. Kill it instead, and the pack scatters into the terrain and the survivors remember.

Loot / Evidence / Hooks: An heirloom rifle-blade, the kindred's contract terms, and leverage over its T'au employers.

The shaper is the pack's leader, geneticist, and priest in one gaunt body: it decides what the kindred eats, and therefore what the kindred becomes. Its authority is absolute in the way only appetite can enforce.

Use this enemy as the command node of any kroot force and as the negotiation partner when the contract might be cheaper than the fight.

Threat Profile: Medium durability, solid personal combat, pack-wide command and morale effects, mercenary pragmatism, encounter unravels when it falls.

Voice of the Kindred. Allied kroot within 30 feet gain +1 to Morale checks and follow its target priority.

Shaped Flesh. The shaper has one trait eaten from a past enemy: night-sight, armored hide, venom, or worse, at GM discretion.

Contract Sense. Reads the battle like a ledger; the shaper knows when the fight has stopped paying before the party does.

The Pack Turns. All allied kroot immediately shift their attacks to one target the shaper names.

Shaper's Rifle. Veteran attack with an heirloom rifle-blade, at range or in reach.

Withdraw the Kindred. Orders a pack-wide retreat through terrain without provoking Reactive Fire.

Morale: Fights while the contract holds; withdraws the whole pack the moment losses exceed payment, and may parley mid-battle if the party offers better terms.

Tactics: The shaper directs from the second line, turning the pack like a single knife. Play the mercenary angle at the table — it will trade information, safe passage, or a betrayal of its T'au employers for the right price. If the party kills it instead, the pack scatters into the terrain and the survivors remember.

Full Stat Block Priority: High