Ogres of the Great Dungeon

The Reaper Bones 3 Kickerstarter featured not one, not two, but five different ogre miniatures. Three were included in the core set, while two were part of the "Ogre Command" add-on. I decided to paint them all in a batch, which took a while since I am a slow, slow painter.

I continue to be impressed with the quality of the sculpts in this set, and to be plagued by errant mold lines. (I think all of these figures were done by the same sculptor—maybe Tre Manor?) These models seem to be inspired by the Paizo take on ogres, compete with collections of skulls. I love all the gruesome little details, like the cowering goblin tethered to the ogress, or the incorporation of human-sized shields into their armor, or the hand sticking out of the pouch of one of the ogres.

I was pretty happy with how these came out, but once I was done I realized they looked much too clean. Ogres are pretty squalid after all, so I went back and "distressed" some of the equipment—adding brown wash to dirty up some of the leather, and some dabs of tarnished copper to create a simple rust effect on the metal. After so much work trying to keep my lines sharp and neat, it was a little painful to intentionally muck it all up. Next time I will try to have a better plan from the start.

Ogres of the Great Dungeon

Ogres, it seems, are found anywhere humans dwell. In the Far Reaches to the east, ogres serve in the halls of the frost and fire giants. In the Southern Empires, ogres live amongst the orc tribes in the wastelands. In the Far West, enslaved ogres toil for wizards and demons in their black towers. And in the North, ogres have always lurked in the darkness at the edge of civilization, even as far back as the days of lost Norumbega.

In the Great Dungeon, the lands around Black Lake are dominated by one particularly prolific and degenerate family of ogres: the Aintry Clan. These ogres are possessed of the delusion that they are not monsters at all but human: fair, freedom-loving, and heroic. And perhaps the Aintry family were indeed once human, but after untold years of unspeakable practices, they are become thoroughly corrupt and monstrous. Despite this, the members of the Aintry clan believe themselves to be persecuted by the forces of oppressive Law, driven into the wilderness where there and only there they can be free, able to maintain their family traditions in peace.

In the Great Dungeon, the Aintry Clan has finally found a home where they feel reasonably safe from prying eyes and interlopers. They have established several outposts but their main stronghold is rumored to be on the Sixth Level, where their terrible matriarch resides. The Aintrys are friendly with the ghouls, gnolls, trolls, and Orcs of the Shattered Bone; they are enemies to the Crookhorn kobolds and the Dungmarket goblins. Woe to those adventures who fall into the fell clutches of the Aintry clan: if not tortured to death or devoured such unfortunates are subject to such horrors that they are never truly whole again.

Random Ogre Encounters (3.5e)

d%	Encounter	Average EL
01–02	1 annis hag	6
03–05	2d4 gnolls	4
06–17	1d4+2 half-ogres*	5
18–22	1 hill giant	5
23–25	1 ogre barbarian	7
26–31	1d2 ogre ruffians	6
32–56	1d4 ogres	5
57–73	1d2 ogres and 1 ogre ruffian	7
74–90	1d3 ogres and 1 wardog	6
91–96	1d4+2 orogs*	4
97–00	1d2 trolls	6

* Tome of Horrors Revisited