The Grommam are a minor[3] spacefaring race in the Spelljammer campaign setting,[4] and can be selected as a player character race.[5]
"The noise is ungodly when they're all talking at once, and they eat like there's no tomorrow. But frankly, I'm too scared to fire them now."
- Merchant captain with three grommams in his crew.[6]
Overview[]
Grommams are a race of close-knit, highly religious, and organized gorilla-like humanoids. They are generally peaceful, with a leadership made up of "director" females led by a demigod. Unmarried males form the backbone of their military forces, and more than a few become adventurers.[5]
Description[]
Grommams resemble gorilla-like humanoids with heavily muscled upper-bodies, short legs and padded grasping feet. Grommams have rich chocolate brown skin and short, rough, copper-red fur all over their bodies except on their faces, the palms of their hands, and the soles of their feet. Most grommam stand five-feet tall and have arm spans up to nine feet wide. Males weigh between 350 to 500 pounds while females weigh half as much.
Grommams communicate by using gestures and finger-sign language. Body postures, facial expressions, and a variety of vocal hoots, screams, grunts, and calls add to the basic language, called "grommish" by other races. In addition, spacefaring grommams typically learn the common trade tongue and elven.[5]
Grommams prefer to wear loose, brightly colored clothing, particularly short-sleeved kimono-like robes. They are fond of belts, arm straps, and leg straps, to which they attach weapons and tools that are tied down.[4]
Personality[]
Grommams are highly religious and organized, and most are lawful good.[4]
Combat[]
Some grommams enjoy wrestling and similar martial arts, though they prefer to use weapons in combat. Grommams can become proficient in many of the melee weapon used by other humanoid races, but have an advantage in that they are naturally ambidextrous and can wield a weapon in both hands. Chain mail is worn almost exclusively due to its light weight and flexibility, and although they can use shields, most grommam prefer to take take advantage of their ambidexterity and use a weapon in either hand.[5][4]
Society[]
Grommams make their home in forests, but enjoy the same range of climates that humans do. Because grommams spend much of their lives in trees, they have become extremely proficient at climbing and swinging. Though some have taken to building their homes in trees, most grommams live on the ground. Grommams are omnivorous, eating almost any sort of fruits, vegetables, nuts, roots, and small game animals. In wildspace they have no trouble eating the same food as other spacefaring races.
A grommam family usually consists of one adult male, 1-2 adult females, and up to 4 children. One female generally cooks, cleans, and manages the children, while the other directs all household affairs such as finances, purchases, and dealings with other grommam families. The male performs heavy labor either for the family or for a local guild or business. Several dozen related families form a clan, the basic grommam social unit, and up to 8 clans can form a house, which is led by a demigod. In most clans, only the “director” female is allowed to vote on political issues. Unmarried males form the backbone of the military forces, and more than a few become adventurers.
Grommams are a fairly young race and are strongly non-magical, and although they are capable of casting priestly spells, they have great difficulty with arcane magic (though their ability to use spelljammer helms is unaffected).[5][4]
Grommams are relatively rare in wildspace, and a few of their more notable communities include those on Solinari[7] and the Stellar Islands[8], both in Krynnspace.
Grommam religion[]
The Grommam pantheon consists mostly of demigod-level deities who openly live among the grommams themselves, serving as their rulers and advisors.[4]
Notable Grommam[]
- Ghoom Venatic was the leader of the grommam community on the Stellar Islands in Krynnspace.[9]
Signature Spelljammers[]
Grommams prefer human-designed spelljamming vessels, but alter them in a manner that makes them appear powerful and dramatic, with bright colors and wild designs. Because grommams are so adept at climbing, they make heavy use of ropes and swing bars in their rigging.[5][4]
Appendix[]
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Grommam article at the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Wiki, a wiki for official Dungeons & Dragons content from 2nd edition AD&D.
References[]
- ↑ Curtis M. Scott, CGR1 The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook, 1992, (TSR Inc.), Table 5: Age section, chapter 2: New Spacefaring Races, page 27
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Curtis M. Scott, CGR1 The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook, 1992, (TSR Inc.), Table 4: Average Height And Weight section, chapter 2: New Spacefaring Races, page 26
- ↑ Jeff Grubb. AD&D Adventures in Space; Lorebook of the Void, TSR, Inc., 1989, Major and Minor Races side bar (pp.50, 52 and 54)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Roger Moore, MC7 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix, 1990, (TSR Inc.), Grommam entry
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Curtis M. Scott, CGR1 The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook, 1992, (TSR Inc.), Grommams section, chapter 2: New Spacefaring Races, pages 18-19
- ↑ Curtis M. Scott, CGR1 The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook, 1992, (TSR Inc.), sidebar, page 18
- ↑ Jean Rabe, SJR7 Krynnspace, 1993, (TSR Inc.), Solinari section, Krynn chapter, page 41
- ↑ Jean Rabe, SJR7 Krynnspace, 1993, (TSR Inc.), Stellar Islands chapter, page 61
- ↑ Jean Rabe, SJR7 Krynnspace, 1993, (TSR Inc.), Important NPCs section, Stellar Islands chapter, pages 63-64