FURY
Salorras Paragon: Fury · Base Path: Armsman (Fighter) · OSE build: reskinned Advanced Fantasy berserker chassis A custom OSE class for the iron-drinkers — the rarest warriors of Salorras, whose rage grows so absolute that it touches the raw Iron Thread of the Fabric with no teacher, no formula, and no book; their own fury is the invocation and their own flesh the page. Played from 1st level; the character’s innate spark is part of their nature.
The furies are among the rarest sights of war in all of Salorras. They are those few fighters whose rage reaches such a pitch that it touches the raw Iron Thread of the Fabric — the thread of the hammer and the flame — without ever having passed through a mage’s library, without having been taught a single formula, without even knowing what it is their hands give birth to. Among those who understand the Fabric, the few theorists who have recorded the phenomenon name them iron-drinkers, for their very rage is the invocation, and their very flesh is the book.
Furies may be born to any blood and in any corner of Salorras — the disposition is of the spirit rather than of lineage, and no single ancestry holds it to the exclusion of others. From the eyafen and eyalen ria of Neluvia to the orcs of Uzgar, from the dwarven Brutalstrikers of Khalendianil to the humans of Asmeda, any body may carry the gift. It surfaces more often, though, in the harshest reaches of the world — where life itself demands a weapon be raised early, where battle is not a profession but a condition of survival, where rage outruns words. The jungles of Neluvia and Uzgar, the heavy clans of the Brutalstrikers on the mountain of Khalendianil, and isolated tribal villages on the edges of every civilization breed proportionally more furies than the enlightened courts and lavish universities — not because they are more “worthy” of the gift, but because the very conditions of their lives give rage the room to ripen before cultured convention can silence it. In the uncharted marches of Anseri, Gorndarat, and Vrashmadna they become the stuff of legend and song — at times glorified as heroes, at times cursed as demons, but always burned into the memory of any who saw what can break loose from inside a living person when the Fabric answers their rage raw.
In battle the fury looks nothing like a common soldier. Their eyes turn dead-white or pitch-black, their flesh swells with a muscular surge their own comrades fail to recognize, and their voice drops from a human cry into something primordial. Iron-colored sparks leap around their hands or along their blade, small lightnings race up their arms, and unsteady tongues of flame rise from their very mouth when the rage crests. Metal objects near them lose their luster and take on, for moments, a silver-brown aura as though longing to rust; in those same moments, their own open wounds close themselves, leaving behind marks like prints of rust upon the flesh.
Class Overview
Requirements: Non-Lawful alignment; minimum CON 9 Prime requisite: STR Hit Dice: 1d8 Maximum level: 14 Armour: Leather or chainmail; shields permitted Weapons: Any
Furies are untaught berserkers whose rage remakes their flesh beyond human limits and calls the Iron Thread of the Fabric as its conduit — with no teacher and no craft, only passion. A prime requisite of STR 13–15 grants +5% to experience earned; STR 16–18 grants +10%. The rage answers passion, not discipline: a fury who becomes rigidly Lawful loses the spark (see below).
The Fury
| Level | XP | Hit Dice (1d8) | THAC0 | D | W | P | B | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 1d8 | 19 [0] | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 2 | 2,250 | 2d8 | 19 [0] | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 3 | 4,500 | 3d8 | 19 [0] | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 4 | 9,000 | 4d8 | 17 [+2] | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 5 | 18,000 | 5d8 | 17 [+2] | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 6 | 36,000 | 6d8 | 17 [+2] | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 7 | 72,000 | 7d8 | 14 [+5] | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 |
| 8 | 150,000 | 8d8 | 14 [+5] | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 |
| 9 | 300,000 | 9d8 | 14 [+5] | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 |
| 10 | 450,000 | 9d8+2* | 12 [+7] | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 11 | 600,000 | 9d8+4* | 12 [+7] | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 12 | 750,000 | 9d8+6* | 12 [+7] | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 13 | 900,000 | 9d8+8* | 10 [+9] | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 |
| 14 | 1,050,000 | 9d8+10* | 10 [+9] | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 |
* Modifiers from CON no longer apply. — Saving throws: D Death/Poison · W Wands · P Paralysis/Petrify · B Breath Attacks · S Spells/Rods/Staves. The fury fights and saves as a warrior; the XP column follows the Advanced Fantasy berserker track (level 2 at 2,250) and is reconstructed pending confirmation against the printed Player’s Tome.
Class Abilities
The fury’s powers fall into two intertwined pillars — the body transformed, the raw rage that remakes their flesh beyond human limits, and the thread unbidden, the Iron Thread that this same rage calls as its conduit. They are not two disciplines but one act seen from two sides: the rage is the channel, and the thread is what passes through it.
Combat. Furies can use any weapon, and may wear leather or chainmail and bear a shield — but no rage-borne gift requires armour, and many furies scorn it.
Untaught Rage. The heart of the class. Once per day at 1st level the fury can fly into a berserk rage as a free action. While raging they gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls and 2 temporary hit points per Hit Die (lost when the rage ends), are immune to fear, and suffer a 2-point penalty to Armour Class. The rage lasts a number of rounds equal to 3 + the fury’s CON modifier (minimum 1). The fury rages one additional time per day at 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level (to a maximum of five). When the rage ends the fury is fatigued — a 2-point penalty to attack rolls and Armour Class, and no raging again — for the rest of the encounter, until they gain tireless rage at 8th level.
Iron Spark. From the first stirring of the gift the fury is a raw conduit of the Iron Thread. At the start of each rage the fury chooses one energy of the thread — fire, lightning, or force (the flame, the thunder, and the crushing hammer). While raging, every successful melee hit deals an extra +1d6 damage of that chosen type, sparks leaping along the blade and small lightnings racing up the arm. The fury does not consciously command this; it erupts from their fury unbidden. The extra damage rises to +2d6 at 8th level, +3d6 at 12th, and +4d6 at 14th.
Storm-Veined. From 2nd level the fury draws from the same primal source an indomitable will. While raging the fury gains a +2 bonus to all saving throws against magic that charms, holds, deceives, or dominates the mind — charms, compulsions, illusions, and phantasms alike break upon the fury like waves on a sea-rock.
Fast Movement. Also from 2nd level, the fury’s stride grows swifter than a soldier’s: while wearing no armour or leather and unburdened, their movement rate increases by one step (from 120′ (40′) to 150′ (50′)).
Instincts of the Cornered Beast. From 3rd level the fury fights with the wariness of a hunted animal: they are surprised only on a roll of 1 on 1d6, and never lose their defence when caught unawares or struck from hiding (they retain any Dexterity bonus to Armour Class unless bound or helpless). From 6th level they can no longer be caught in a flanking trap — foes gain no advantage for surrounding them, and cannot slip a back-stab past their guard by position alone.
Rust-Touch. From 4th level the fury’s fury begins to gnaw at metal. While raging, with a bare-handed strike the fury can corrode a metal weapon, shield, or suit of armour that is wielded or borne: the corrosion ignores the hardness of metal — a struck weapon or shield is ruined, and a struck suit of armour loses a point of its protection with each hit. This is the corrosion that leaves enemy blades snapping in the moment they are drawn to defend.
Damage Reduction. From 5th level the fury’s transformed flesh turns harder than common skin — blows that would pierce another merely graze them. While raging the fury ignores the first 1 point of damage from every blow, rising to 2 points at 10th level.
Thread-Burst. From 5th level the fury’s manifestations grow great enough to leap beyond their reach. Once per round while raging, when the fury hits with a melee attack, they may loose a burst of the thread — either a bolt of the chosen energy that arcs to one additional creature within 10 feet, dealing it the fury’s iron spark damage; or a thunderclap that forces one creature adjacent to the struck foe to save versus Paralysis or be deafened and hurled back 5 feet for 1 round.
Rust-Breath. From 6th level the thread breaks loose from the fury’s very mouth. Once per rage the fury exhales a 15-foot cone of unstable Iron-Thread energy of their chosen type — a gout of flame, a sheet of crackling lightning, or a roaring wave of force, like the breath of a dragon. Every creature in the cone takes 1d6 damage per fury level, save versus Breath Attacks for half.
Tireless Rage. From 8th level the fury no longer suffers fatigue at the end of their rage; they rise from it as though it had never gripped them.
Greater Rust. From 10th level the corrosion spreads from a touch to an aura. Once per rage the fury can rust every metal object within a 10-foot radius: unattended metal small enough is destroyed, and each wielded or borne weapon, shield, or suit of armour is corroded as by rust-touch — a save versus Breath Attacks spares a borne item.
Frightful Presence. From 11th level the fury’s rage grows so towering that their mere presence can break the will of common foes. Whenever the fury enters a rage or charges into battle, each enemy within 30 feet with fewer Hit Dice than the fury’s level must save versus Spells or be shaken and flee for 4d6 rounds (a creature of half the fury’s level in Hit Dice or fewer that fails is instead struck with blind panic). A creature that saves is immune to that fury’s presence for one day.
War-Camp — After Reaching 9th Level. A fury is no order and keeps no school, but a name-level iron-drinker becomes a legend that draws the wild to them. Should the fury raise a war-camp or stronghold in the harsh marches, a warband of berserkers and tribal warriors — folk who have heard what breaks loose in the fury’s rage — musters to their banner, following the fury for glory and the promise of a fight rather than for wages.
Living Gate of the Thread. At 14th level the fury arrives at the deepest initiation of their art — they become a living gate of the Iron Thread, the field around them stirred by elements that civilized mages would beg for hours to control and that here erupt without command, following only the fury’s will and passion. While raging, the fury radiates the thread in a 10-foot aura: each creature that begins its turn adjacent to the fury, or that strikes the fury with a metal melee weapon, takes the fury’s iron spark damage, and any metal weapon that strikes the fury is subject to their rust-touch. In addition, once per rage the fury can loose a catastrophic eruption — a single combined release of rust-breath and thread-burst in a 20-foot radius centred on themselves. Few who reach this point ever return to their human state without carrying a piece of the Fabric in their soul for the rest of their days.
Ex-Furies
A fury who can no longer rage — who becomes rigidly Lawful, or is otherwise stripped of the spark that drinks the thread — loses every gift that flows through the rage: untaught rage, iron spark, storm-veined, rust-touch, thread-burst, rust-breath, greater rust, frightful presence, and the living gate of the thread all go silent. The purely physical hardenings remain — fast movement, the beast’s instincts, damage reduction, and tireless rage — for these are forged into the body and not borne on the rage alone. As the lore warns, few who reached the deepest initiation of the thread ever became again what they were before the first flame of rage woke inside them.