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Gorzhak Mesk

Orc · Fighter (Battle Master) · Level 8 · Soldier

Gorzhak Mesk

Gorzhak is patient, exacting, and unsettlingly polite.
AC18
HP76/76
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

Sheet

AC 18 · HP 76 · 30 ft.
AlignmentLawful EvilGenderMaleAge38 years old
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA

Saving throws

STRDEXCONINTWISCHA

Skills

  • AcrobaticsDEX
  • Animal HandlingSTR
  • ArcanaINT
  • AthleticsSTR
  • DeceptionCHA
  • HistoryINT
  • InsightWIS
  • IntimidationCHA
  • InvestigationINT
  • MedicineWIS
  • NatureINT
  • PerceptionWIS
  • PerformanceCHA
  • PersuasionCHA
  • ReligionINT
  • Sleight of HandDEX
  • StealthDEX
  • SurvivalWIS

Armor

All armor,
Shields

Weapons

Simple weapons,
Martial weapons

Tools

Smith's tools,
One gaming set

Languages

Common,
Orc

Features

22 features

Action

  • Ability Score Improvement, SentinelLevel 5

    You can attack twice whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Bonus action

  • Fighting Style, DefenseLevel 1

    You can use a bonus action to enter a battle rage, gaining advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws, plus resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. You can use this feature twice per long rest.

  • Action SurgeLevel 1

    As a bonus action, regain hit points equal to 1d10 + your fighter level. Once used, recharge after a short or long rest.

  • TraitOrcAggressive, as a bonus action, move up to your speed toward a hostile creature you can see or hear.

Reaction

  • Know Your EnemyLevel 6

    When a creature within your reach attacks a target other than you, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against that creature. Your opportunity attacks reduce a creature's speed to 0, and you can make opportunity attacks even when creatures Disengage.

  • Battle Master ManeuversLevel 3

    Menacing Attack lets you expend a superiority die to add 1d8 damage and potentially frighten the target. Trip Attack lets you expend a die to add 1d8 damage and potentially knock the target prone. Riposte lets you use your reaction to add 1d8 damage to a weapon attack made after a creature misses you.

Always on

  • Riposte

    When A creature misses Gorzhak with a melee attack.

    After a creature misses Gorzhak with a melee attack, he can use his reaction and expend one superiority die to make a whip attack, adding 1d8 to the damage.

  • Menacing Attack

    When Gorzhak hits a creature with the whip.

    When Gorzhak hits with the whip, he can expend one superiority die to deal an extra 1d8 damage. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of him until the end of Gorzhak's next turn.

  • Trip Attack

    When Gorzhak hits a Large or smaller creature with the whip.

    When Gorzhak hits with the whip, he can expend one superiority die to deal an extra 1d8 damage. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Strength saving throw or fall prone.

  • Sentinel's Lash

    When A creature within 10 feet provokes an opportunity attack or attacks another target.

    When a creature within Gorzhak's whip reach attacks someone other than him, or when a creature leaves his reach, he can make a whip opportunity attack. A hit reduces the creature's speed to 0 for the turn.

  • Second WindLevel 1

    While wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

  • Battle Master, Combat SuperiorityLevel 2

    On your turn, you can take one additional action. Once used, recharge after a short or long rest.

  • Student of WarLevel 3

    You learn three maneuvers and gain four superiority dice, which are d8s. You regain all expended dice after a short or long rest. Your maneuver save DC is 17.

  • Ability Score ImprovementLevel 3

    You gain proficiency with smith's tools.

  • Extra AttackLevel 4

    Increase Strength by 2, raising it to 19.

  • Ability Score ImprovementLevel 7

    After observing or interacting with a creature for at least 1 minute outside combat, you can learn whether it is superior, equal, or inferior to you regarding two chosen characteristics such as Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, armor class, current hit points, total class levels, or fighter levels.

  • Battle Master ManeuversLevel 8

    Increase Strength by 1 and Constitution by 1, raising them to 20 and 16.

  • TraitOrcDarkvision, you can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.
  • TraitOrcMenacing, you gain proficiency in Intimidation.
  • TraitOrcPowerful Build, you count as one size larger when determining carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
  • TraitOrcOrcish Resilience, when reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. Once used, recharge after a long rest.
  • Military RankSoldier

    You retain your military rank, contacts, and reputation among soldiers and can usually secure basic shelter, food, and assistance from military forces that recognize your former service. You can identify military ranks, organization, and equipment, and you know how to deal with soldiers and mercenaries.

Gear

11 items

Weapons

  • Whip
    A whip with a weighted leather lash, treated as a martial melee weapon with finesse and reach. It deals 1d4 slashing damage.
  • Light Crossbow
    A light crossbow with a worn sling and twenty iron bolts.

Armor

  • Shield
    A reinforced steel shield bearing a faded mountain-garrison emblem. It grants +2 AC.
  • Chain Mail
    Battered chain mail worn beneath an officer's coat. It grants AC 16.

Gear

  • 20×
    Bolts
    Iron bolts sized for the light crossbow.
  • Dungeoneer's Pack
    A pack containing a backpack, bedroll, mess kit, tinderbox, ten torches, ten days of rations, and a waterskin.
  • Military Insignia
    A bronze military insignia from the mountain garrison.
  • Trophy
    A broken enemy banner taken during the battle in which Gorzhak earned his rank.
  • Bone Dice
    A set of bone dice used to make decisions among soldiers.
  • Common Clothes
    A plain set of common clothes.

Purse

  • 10×
    Gold Pieces
    Coins saved from military pay and later contracts.

Appearance

A massive, broad-shouldered gray-green orc standing nearly seven feet tall, with a heavy jaw, flattened nose, chipped lower tusks, and a long scar running from his left temple to the corner of his mouth. His black hair is kept in a short, practical braid bound with copper wire. He wears battered chain mail beneath a dark red officer's coat, a steel-banded shield, and a cruelly maintained whip whose leather has been darkened by years of oil and blood. His presence is oppressive rather than wild, like a gatehouse that has learned to walk.

Mannerisms

Gorzhak speaks in short, complete sentences and rarely raises his voice. He tests the balance of his whip whenever entering a room, taps his shield twice before issuing an order, and refers to people by rank, trade, or usefulness rather than by name.

Personality

Gorzhak is patient, exacting, and unsettlingly polite. He studies every person in a room as if assigning them a position in a formation. He respects competence wherever he finds it, including in enemies, but his respect does not make him kind. Beneath his controlled manner is a deep fear of chaos, abandonment, and dying without leaving behind a structure strong enough to endure.

Ideals

Order. Freedom is only the name the weak give to a world where no one is strong enough to command it.

Bonds

The old mountain garrison still contains the graves of the soldiers who trusted his final order. He will not allow anyone to desecrate them, and he secretly believes his entire campaign is an attempt to prove that their deaths purchased something permanent.

Flaws

He cannot tolerate being openly disobeyed, even when obedience is clearly foolish. He confuses fear with respect and would rather destroy a useful alliance than admit that someone else found the better path.

Quirks

Counts doorways under his breath before entering.
Keeps a strip of red cloth from the old garrison wrapped around his wrist.
Offers defeated enemies water before questioning them.
Never sits with his back to an open passage.
Collects broken buckles from soldiers who died under his command.

Background

Gorzhak Mesk learned discipline before he learned mercy. He was born in a mountain garrison where orc clans, human caravan guards, and foreign mercenaries all served beneath the same iron banner. As a young soldier, he discovered that the whip was more useful than an axe in crowded passes. It could reach around shields, drag riders from saddles, and make a single disobedient man remember an order for the rest of his life. His commanders praised his control. His prisoners remembered it differently. When the garrison fell during a disputed withdrawal, Gorzhak was left behind with a handful of wounded troops and a sealed order that no longer mattered. He held the pass for three days, then marched out alone. Since then, he has gathered deserters, debtors, and broken veterans into a disciplined force of his own. He does not call himself a conqueror. He calls himself the necessary hand that closes around a failing throat. In the campaign's final fortress, he intends to make the heroes understand that every rebellion ends the same way, with someone strong enough to decide who is allowed to stand.

“He was born in a mountain garrison where orc clans, human caravan guards, and foreign mercenaries all served beneath the same iron banner.”
From their backstory
Background
Soldier

Connections

Species

Orc

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