The Orang-Pendek is a cryptid from the Southeast Asian land of Sumatra; neither human nor ape but somewhere in-between, a furry ape-like figure that yet walks like a man and whose face bears an eerily human semblance. It is, in effect, one of the man-ape cryptids that have been reported around the world, part of the multidinuous lesser members of the family whose media identity is dominated by the Sasquatch and the Yeti. Unlike its more famous kinsfolk, the Orang-Pendak is actually described as quite short, with stumpy legs and long arms. It has been likened to a more humanoid gibbon - or an orangutan, although the color scheme is usually described as not matching the orangutan's iconic fiery orange coat.
Because Pathfinder loves to add obscure mythical creatures and cryptids to its game, Orang-pendeks are also a race native to Golarion. Primitive yet peaceful, they debuted in Bestiary 5, and are a branch of the sasquatch family tree native to cloud forests - high mountain tropical rainforests. There, they pursue a peaceful exixstence as hunter-gatherers, feeding predominantly through foraging but sometimes hunting with spears, clubs and bolas. They luster together into seminomadic tribes, hunting and gathering in a region until food and game becomes scarce, then moving on to the next area. Many tribes follow a regional pattern to this migration, allowing parts of the jungle to repopulate and gathering only enough substance so as not to disrupt the land’s ability to recoup the losses. They are known to train the indigenous apes of their territories to serve as hunting and guard-beasts, and whilst this may sound silly, look up reports on chimpanzee hunting troops.
They are even presented as a playable race, with the following stats:
- Ability Score Modifiers: Orang-pendaks are strong and intuitive, but not particularly clever. They gain +2 Strength and +2 Wisdom but suffer –2 Intelligence.
- Size: Orang-pendaks are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on combat maneuver checks and to CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
- Base Speed: Orang-pendaks have a base speed of 30 feet.
- Languages: Orang-pendaks begin play speaking Sasquatch. Orang-pendaks who have high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Aklo, Common, Draconic, Goblin, Grippli, Sylvan, Vanaran, and Vishkanya. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
- Forest Walker (Ex) Orang-pendaks gain a +4 bonus on Climb and Stealth checks in forests and jungles.
- Simian Empathy (Ex) Orang-pendaks gain a +4 racial bonus on Handle Animal and wild empathy checks with apes and monkeys.
- Tear Apart (Ex) Orang-pendaks have powerful upper bodies and gain a +2 racial bonus on Strength checks to break or burst an object. This bonus also applies on combat maneuver checks to sunder with their unarmed attacks.
- Low-Light Vision: Orang-pendaks can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
- Own Two Feet (Ex) Orang-pendaks are extremely unnerved whenever they are riding another creature or on a vehicle, and they take a – 2 penalty on ability checks, attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and skill checks when doing so.
|The Races of Pathfinder|
|Player's Handbook:||Dwarf - Elf - Gnome - Half-Elf - Half-Orc - Halfling - Human|
| Aasimar - Catfolk - Changeling - Dhampir - Duergar |
Drow - Fetchling - Gillman - Goblin - Grippli - Hobgoblin
Ifrit - Kitsune - Kobold - Merfolk - Nagaji - Orc - Oread
Ratfolk - Samsaran - Strix - Suli - Svirfneblin - Sylph
Tengu - Tiefling - Undine - Vanara - Vishkanya - Wayang
|Bestiaries:|| Android - Astomoi - Caligni - Deep One Hybrid - Gathlain |
Gnoll - Kasatha - Munavri - Naiad - Orang-Pendak
Reptoid - Rougarou - Shabti - Trox - Yaddithian
|Adventure Paths:||Being of Ib - Kuru|
|Inner Sea Races:|| Ghoran - Monkey Goblin - Lashunta - Skinwalker |
Syrinx - Triaxian - Wyrwood - Wyvaran
|Ultimate Wilderness:||Vine Leshy|
|Blood of the Sea:||Adaro - Cecaelia - Grindylow - Locathah - Sahuagin - Triton|
|Planar Adventures:||Aphorite - Duskwalker - Ganzi|