Marek Golonka

Hordehearts
A twist for any Pathifnder campaign

Domênico Gay (order #7343518)

 Foreword
Dear gamer!

It seems to me that many of us have some sentiment for hordes of orcs, goblins,
gnolls and other so-called „wild humanoids”. Sometimes this sentiment comes from Tolkien,
sometimes from video games like Icewind Dale – that’s my case – and sometimes simply
from the fact that they are classical low-level opponents in many fantasy RPGs.

That’s why they are evergreen monsters (pardon the pun!) but that’s also why it’s
good to come up with a fresh idea about them every now and then, especially if we want to
use these creatures in sessions for mid- or high-level characters. Hordehearts is one such
idea – this mini-supplement provides you with a description of strange creatures that can
enter a symbiosis with a wild horde, feeding on members’ emotions and vitality but also
protecting and empowering them in return.

The presence of a Hordeheart can become a twist in a typical “wild horde” adventure
both because it makes a horde more dangerous and because a Hordeheart is a cunning
being who can scheme, deceive and intrigue against our heroes.

To make Hordehearts as easy to use as can be I’ve described only the most basic
information on them as facts, leaving numerous possible interpretations where possible.
Have fun!

Marek Golonka

dualrpg.wordpress.com

Table of contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3
Origins ............................................................................................................................... 3
Within a horde.................................................................................................................... 4
What is a horde? ............................................................................................................ 4
Game statistics ...................................................................................................................... 5
Horde powers ........................................................................................................................ 6
Horde blessing ................................................................................................................... 6
Adventure ideas .................................................................................................................... 7
Acknowledgements and licenses ........................................................................................... 8

Domênico Gay (order #7343518)

 Introduction
There are few things more appalling to
civilized nations than an attack of a wild
horde. Be it composed of humans, orcs,
goblins or other creatures their sheer
numbers and savage ferocity can easily
destroy whole cities or even nations,
usually leaving only rubble and corpses
behind.
Such attacks are so cruel that some
people consider them to be work of
demons. In fact mortals have more cruelty
and rage than needed to create hordes
without any supernatural assistance.
Sometimes, however, there indeed are
fiendish creatures behind these violent
groups. These creatures are so-called
Hordehearts, fiends who relish in hordes’
cruelty and feed on the violent emotions
that buzz among horde members.
Hordehearts are shapeshifters able to
change into most humanoid races and
thus infiltrate ranks of almost any horde.
They bond with such groups, feeding on
their emotions to gain enhanced strength
and in return increasing the horde’s vitality
and determination. Some of them content
themselves with the role of a leech,
siphoning the horde’s might and relishing
in the power obtained that way while
others seek to influence and manipulate
the groups they join.
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Origins
Nobody knows for sure where did
Hordehearts come from. Scholars,
shamans and adventurers have created
hundreds of explanations, hypotheses and
wild speculations but none of these could
be called conclusive.
Below you’ll find some of the most
widespread and acknowledged theories
about the origins of these creatures. All,
some of none of these hypotheses might
be true.
Vengeance spirits: when a great
horde is defeated the fury of its slain
members creates a Hordeheart – maybe
naturally, maybe with the help of a
shamanistic spell that channels these
emotions. A Hordeheart born in this way
will probably want to avenge the “mother”
horde. He might reassemble the remaining
members of the horde or seek another one
and direct it against the enemies of his
“creators”.
From Hell: Hordehearts are beings
from the infernal planes who took interest
in wild hordes because of the fury they
emanate. They might be messengers from
the gods of orcs, goblins and similar
creatures or simply independent fiends
seeking destruction and discord. You
might remove the native subtype from
Hordehearts in this variant.
Literal Hordehearts: Hordehearts
might be precisely what they are called –
hearts of hordes, creatures born from
emotions experienced by the members of
such groups. They simply appear out of
nowhere one day and begin influencing
the horde. In this variant they should be
bound to their mother horde and lose the
ability to change shape.
Mad creations: Hordehearts might
have been created in a single event. For
example a powerful archmage might have
 changed other creatures (doppelgangers?
Rakshasas?) into them to subtly take
control of the wild hordes. Or maybe a sect
of shamans became Hordehearts as a part
of a bargain with a dark entity?
Within a horde
Hordehearts enter a symbiosis with
the horde simply by merging with its
members and pledging allegiance to
whatever unifies the group (see What is a
horde? sidebar).
There are many roles a Hordeheart
may take in a wild horde. Of course, being
a shapechanger, a cunning member of this
race may occupy more than one of these
positions at once.
Cannon Fodder: A Hordeheart
pretends to be a typical member of a
horde. Many of these creatures would find
such a position too ordinary but others like
to influence a horde by their mere
presence. Others still are simply too lazy
to do anything more than that.
Shaman: with his magical powers and
insight into the world of the supernatural a
Hordeheart can become a great shaman.
A fiend in such position can reveal that the
scope of his powers depend on the
horde’s size and thus encourage the horde
to expand and seek new members.
Champion: some Hordehearts
become elite warriors of a horde, pledging
their might to the chieftain or the shaman
and astonishing the entire horde with their
power and apparent immortality. Leaders
“commanding” these creatures are often
afraid that their champions will sooner or
later replace them and sometimes such
fears prove true.
Chieftain: bold Hordehearts can claim
the leadership of a horde and begin
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leading it openly as chieftains. It is a
dangerous position because chieftains are
sometimes watched by wizards and other
beings capable of piercing a Hordeheart’s
disguise. Of course such beings can
blackmail a Hordeheart instead of
revealing his true nature. After such
blackmail a Hordeheart can be dragged
into a wide web of intrigues.
What is a horde?
Defining what can be considered a horde is
important when using Hordehearts in play,
especially since their statistics depend on the size of
hordes they belong to (see Horde powers below).
Often it is easy to tell intuitively if a given group is a
horde or not but sometimes a set of questions might
become handy:
-Does this group share an allegiance to a person
(chieftain, shaman), a symbol (a flag, name etc.) or
an idea (“to pillage the Northern Kingdom!”)?
-Does it have militaristic goals, either preparing for a
war or already waging one?
-Does it differ from an army in that it relies on fury
and strength of individual members rather than
tactics during combat?
If the answer to all these questions is “yes” the
considered group surely is a horde. If not, the
judgement is up to you. Remember that, after all,
the potential for a great plot is what really matters –
if you want to create a story about a Hordeheart
who has to find a new group because an orc horde
became too organized then you may decide that in
your setting a Hordeheart can connect only to
hordes composed mostly of creatures of chaotic
alignment.
And last but not least: one could argue that
outside the times of war communities of orcs,
goblins, gnolls and similar “wild humanoids” are not
hordes but tribes that would form a horde when the
need arises but Hordehearts can connect to such
“potential” hordes just as well as to actual ones. The
only difference is that there is a much lower chance
that many of the tribe’s members will be engaged in
combat at the same time (see Horde powers below).
 day, similar to barbarian’s rage. When
Game statistics raging he gets a +4 bonus to Strength and
Constitution and a +2 bonus to Will saves
but -2 penalty co Armour Class. Unlike a
Hordeheart CR 5
barbarian a Hordeheart isn’t fatigued after
XP 1,600 (see Horde powers below) his fury. If a Hordeheart has any Horde
Usually CE Medium outsider (native, points his fury becomes stronger – its
shapechanger) duration increases by two rounds per day
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; for every Horde point and it gains
Perception +10 additional bonuses:
Defence
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16; (+1 Dex, 1 Horde point: a raging Hordeheart
+3 natural, +3 armor) begins to emit an aura of fear. All
hp 51 (6d10+18) creatures within a 30 feet radius that see
Fort +8, Ref +3, Will +7 him raging must make a DC 15 Will save
DR 5/good or be shaken with fear for 1d4 rounds.
Offense Whether the save is successful or not the
Speed 30 ft. creature becomes immune to the same
Melee greataxe +9/+4 (1d12+4, x3) Hordeheart’s dreadful fury for 24 hours.
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Special attacks dreadful fury
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th) 3 Horde points: the bonuses for a raging
Always: 3/day — rage (DC 14) Hordeheatr increase to Strength +6,
Horde 1+ (see Horde powers below): Constitution +6 and Will +3. Additionally
3/day — cure medium wounds, 1/day:
his base land speed increases by 10 feet
bestow curse (DC 16), call lightning (DC
15), greater magic weapon while raging.
Horde 3+: At will — cure light wounds,
5 Horde points: the fear aura becomes
3/day – fear (DC 16), 1/day: stoneskin
Horde 5: 3/day: mass cure light wounds, much stronger – creatures that fail the
1/day: call lightning storm (DC 17), greater save are panicked instead of shaken.
heroism
Statistics
Str 17, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 13, Wis 15,
Cha 15
Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 19
Feats Great sunder, Improved sunder,
Power attack
Skill Diplomacy +11, Disguise +11,
Intimidate +11, Knowledge (history) +10,
Perception +10, Sense motive +11,
Survival +8
Languages Common, two others
depending on the setting
SQ change shape (alter self), Horde
powers

Dreadful fury (ex) A Hordeheart can enter

a state of terrible fury for five rounds per

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 Horde powers
The true might of a Hordeheart comes
from emotions and vitality of a horde he is
attached to. This power is represented by
a system of Horde points. A Hordeheart’s
number of Horde points depend on the
number of members of the horde he’s
attached to:
Members Horde points
50-499 1 entire horde).
500-999 2
1000-1999 3 3 Horde points: DR 2/-.
2000+ 4
Hordeheart is considered to have one
Horde point more than he really has when
at least half of his horde is engaged in
combat. It’s the only way a Hordeheart can
accumulate 5 Horde points.
Horde blessing
Great hordes provide Hordehearts
with enough power to give them
something in return. Every creature
belonging to such a horde gains benefits
depending on the horde’s size:
2 Horde points: +2 enhancement bonus
to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution or
Wisdom (chosen by the Hordeheart for the
4 Horde points: ability bonus increases to
+4. Alternatively two of abilities listed
above are increased by +2.
5 Horde points: DR increases to 5/-,
Diehard as a bonus feat.

The number of Horde points a

Hordeheart has influences his power in
three ways.

-A Hordeheart gets an insight bonus to

attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks and
Armor Class equal to the number of Horde
points he has.

-Horde points increase the power of

Dreadful fury (see above).

-Two or more Horde points activate Horde

blessing that increases horde members’
powers (see below).

Horde points increase Hordeheart’s

power in many ways. That’s why his CR
and XP rating depend on the number of
Horde points accumulated:

Horde CR XP
0-1 5 1,600
2-3 6 2,400
4-5 7 3,200

Domênico Gay (order #7343518)

 Adventure ideas
A hobgoblin horde descends from
the mountains, burning and pillaging every
town they march into. A local noble sends
his army against them but it seems that
these hobgoblins are much more powerful
than typical specimens, easily defeating a
huge force of well-armored cavalry. Player
Characters are asked or hired to
investigate the secret behind their power.
The shaman of a barbarian tribe calls
upon every brave warrior in the land to join
his people and create a great wild army
that would wipe out forever the gnoll horde
occupying an important mountain range. In
fact both the shaman and the gnoll leader
are Hordehearts who want to complete a
powerful and unholy rite fueled by the
maelstrom of rage that would arise from a
battle of two Hordeheart-bound armies.
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A great group of goblins, hobgoblins
and orcs is gathering under the leadership
of a green dragon. This dragon crowns a
powerful orcish warrior as the king of this
newfound horde. Most observers consider
the orc to be the dragon’s puppet but in
fact the orc is a Hordeheart – the dragon’s
partner with equal cunning and ambitions.
Right now these two cooperate smoothly
so to defeat the horde the Player
Characters will have to discover the king’s
secret and turn him and the dragon
against each other. Given their great
ambitions it might not be so difficult…
After the defeat of a great orc horde
the elf general who defeated it can’t be
found and seems to be dead. After a few
weeks he returns, but as a changed man –
he tries to inspire xenophobia in his fellow
elves and begins to talk about wars
against neighbor nations. In fact he is a
Hordeheart born from the wrath of
defeated horde, wishing to punish the
elves not only by leading them into a lost
war but also by turning them into a
resentful militaristic people not better than
orcs.
 Acknowledgements and licenses

Author & layout design: Marek Golonka

Publisher: Avalon Games

All art included in this file is taken from Avalon Games resources. Background design taken
from Papyrus Ornament Template Copy, copyright © 2009, Tamas Baranya. Used with permission.

Pathfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and the Pathfinder Roleplaying
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LLC, and are used under the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License. See
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility for more information on the compatibility license.
Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used
under license.

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Hordehearts © 2015, Marek Golonka.

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