Behind the Dark Fist - The Marauder

On the talk of "aquatic enforcers," here's an idea I just now cooked  
up that I might just throw into Behind the Dark Fist. Let me know  
what you think.

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Vodoni Marauder

Clime/Terrain: Any Land/Water
Frequency: Rare
Organization: Pack
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Carnivorous
Intelligence: Average (8-10)
Treasure: Nil
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
#Appearing: 2-8
Armor Class: 6
Movement: 9, Sw 18
Hit Dice: 5+2
THAC0: 15
#Attacks: 3/1 or 2/1
Damage: By weapon or 1d6/1d6/1d4
Special Attacks: Blood Rage, Kick, Underwater Agility
Special Defenses: +1 or silver weapon to hit
Magic Resistance: Nil
Size: M (6' tall)
Morale: Elite (14)
XP Value: 950

The Marauder is a Vodoni troop design that has been officially  
"decommissioned," although several survivors of the culling of their  
kind exist throughout the Twelve Spheres region. They vaguely  
resemble the standard Vodoni Enforcer, being generally lupine in  
appearance save that their fur is more akin to that of a seal or sea  
lion. They also tend to be slightly fatter, having a layer of blubber  
surrounding their powerful musculature. They also possess a dorsal  
fin that juts up from their backs like that of a shark, and an extra  
set of limbs that sprout just under their humanoid arms on their  
flanks. These extra limbs are short seal-like flippers that help to  
provide maneuvering and momentum underwater, and they easy fold back  
against the Marauder's body when not in use or when the creature is  
on land. The Marauder's hands and feet are webbed and tipped with  
small, hook-like claws. Barely noticeable are a pair of gills just  
below the creature's jawline, which seal with a special membrane when  
the Marauder is on land (a similar membrane seals the Marauder's  
nostrils when it is underwater).

Combat: The Marauder fights in a style similar to the land-based  
Enforcer. When initially deployed by the Vodoni, they were outfitted  
with tridents +1 and special suits of light-weight waterproofed chain  
that bore a light enchantment (AC 4). Whole generations have passed  
since the Marauder was decommissioned, and few possess the arms of  
their employed-soldier ancestors (only 10% of Marauders are so  
armed). Most Marauders encountered today will be armored with a  
mishmash of aquatic hides (AC 6) and equiped with either mundane  
spears or reliant on their natural attacks. Marauders lucky enough to  
possess a magical weapon will always use it in favor of their claws;  
those equipped with normal spears have a 75% chance at the beginning  
of any battle to revert to their natural weapons.

A Marauder will have either three or two attacks in a round: three  
attacks if fighting with only claws and bite, but if attacking with a  
weapon it will always gain the use of a bite. If fighting underwater,  
the Marauder always gains an extra attack by making a two-legged kick  
to an enemy directly in front of him (2d6 damage). Due to their  
incredible agility in the water, they are able to dodge melee or  
missile attacks underwater. Against underwater missiles, a Marauder  
is able to dodge with a save vs. paralyzation with a +3 bonus.  
Against melee attacks, this save has only a +1 bonus.

Like the common Enforcer, a Marauder is able to enter a Blood Rage  
with a failed Wisdom check whenever it tastes blood. When underwater,  
it becomes almost certain that a Marauder will enter a Blood Rage  
within the first few rounds of combat, since it can "smell" any blood  
spilled as far out as a mile distant. In game terms, at the beginning  
of every round of underwater combat following an injury that sheds  
blood into the water, all Marauders within 1 mile must check to see  
if they go berserk.

Background: The Marauder was specially bred by Vulkaran for his  
conquest of Salzarspace. Once the Vodoni had breeched the dangerous  
sphere wall of the system, and overcome the natural magic-dead nature  
of the sphere by employing non-magical powered vessels to reach the  
world of Salzar, a force of marine troops were required to actually  
invade the planet. Existing Enforcer stock was taken and modified,  
the lycanthropy strain crossed with favorable traits of both Sea  
Wolves and Weresharks. For aesthetic reasons, most of the appearance  
traits of the Wereshark were repressed to maintain the uniform lupine  
visage of the Enforcers corps, though the evolution of the dorsal fin  
remained as it helped the creature maneuver underwater (and also  
distinguished them from the Enforcer regulars).

Within two years, a force of Marauders hundreds of thousands strong  
was ready, and they descended in droves down to the surface of  
Salzar. More kept coming, but the losses were utterly devastating.  
The tens of thousands of Marauders slain in the Battle of  
Salzarspace, and the few support ships sent down to give them  
supporting fire, yielded only a single slain Salzarian.

While Vulkaran and the Breeders were ready to fall back and consider  
Salzarspace their first military defeat, the Salzarians immediately  
surrendered. For such a long-lived and immortal race, the loss of  
even one of their huge, thousands-of-hitpoints-having members was  
almost incalculable to them. They immediately swore eternal fealty to  
Vulkaran, and pledged their support to the Empire.

Though Vulkaran was pleased with the ultimate outcome, he deemed the  
Marauder project itself an utter waste of the Empire's time and  
resources. He disbanded them, and most of the existing stock was  
exterminated. Some remnants on Salzar were simply abandoned, while  
others managed to escape to the far corners of the Empire.

The result is a breed of rogue, amphibian Enforcers that have lived  
in hiding for several generations. On Salzar, the Marauders have  
actually managed to survive quite well. They live in relative comfort  
and luxury because the Salzarians harbor an irrational fear of them  
-- after all, these droves of tiny creatures actually murdered a  
Salzarian!! Elsewhere in the Twelve Spheres, the Marauders do not  
live so well. They hide in wetlands or lake countries, generally away  
from civilized areas and certainly as far as they can get from  
pockets of civilization familiar with spelljamming.