Gremlin, GrimpleThis putrid-looking humanoid bears a disquieting resemblance to a half-starved, mange-ridden opossum.Grimple CR 1/3Source Bestiary 4 pg. 142, Fey Revisited pg. 15
XP 135
CN Tiny fey
Init +1; Senses low-light vision; Perception +4DefenseAC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+1 Dex, +2 size)
hp 4 (1d6+1)
Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +2
DR 2/cold ironOffenseSpeed 20 ft., climb 20 ft., fly 20 ft. (clumsy)
Melee bite +3 (1d3–4)
Ranged rock +3 (1d2–4)
Space 2-1/2 ft., Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks putrid vomit
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration –1)
At will—prestidigitation
3/day—grease (DC 9), mage hand, open/closeStatisticsStr 3, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 6
Base Atk +0; CMB –1; CMD 5
Feats Skill Focus (Stealth), Weapon FinesseB
Skills Climb +13, Fly +1, Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +5, Stealth +16, Swim +5
Languages Undercommon
SQ gremlin liceEcologyEnvironment any urban
Organization solitary, pair, mob (3–8), or infestation (9–16 plus 2–6 trained dire rats and 1–4 spider swarms)
Treasure standardSpecial AbilitiesGremlin Lice (Ex) All grimples are infested with gremlin lice. Whenever a warm-blooded creature comes in physical contact with a grimple, there is a 25% chance it contracts gremlin lice. 1d4 rounds later, the creature begins to itch. The itch proves so distracting that for the duration of the infestation, the individual takes a –1 penalty on all concentration and initiative checks. Fortunately, these annoying parasites cannot live long on non-gremlins, and only survive for 24 hours. Submersion in water or exposure to freezing temperatures also kills a gremlin lice infestation.
Putrid Vomit (Ex) Every 1d4 rounds, a grimple can spew a 30-foot line of vomit as a standard action. Treat this as a ranged touch attack with no range increment. Anyone struck must succeed at a DC 11 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based.DescriptionGrimples are filthy urban scavengers that lurk beneath the eaves of abandoned buildings, clock towers, belfries, and steeples. Sickly-looking and ragged, they shed constantly as a result of the small parasites they host. Quick climbers, grimples also have loose flaps of skin that stretch between their arms and allow them to glide short distances.
Grimples despise humans and show it by attacking drunks, unlocking stables, torturing guard dogs, and loosening hanging storefront signs so that they fall on people. This does not stop them from sometimes allying with humans and other humanoids, but such collaborations are always temporary, as a grimple is ever plotting betrayal. Although a grimple is often arrogant and overbearing, its ability to vomit at will (and propensity for doing so constantly) remains its most unappealing quality.
Voracious omnivores, grimples feast off garbage. They frequently target inns, restaurants, and other places where they can scavenge a steady supply of food.Creatures in "Gremlin" CategorySource Bestiary 2 pg. 141
Well known for their mischievous natures, their nasty senses of humor, and their destructive habits, the fey creatures known as gremlins rightfully earn their reputations as cruel pranksters and sadistic saboteurs. Ranging in size from 3 feet in height down to barely over a foot tall, numerous types of gremlins stalk the world's dark and unseen reaches, tending to linger near thin spots in reality between the Material Plane and the realms of the fey. The smaller a gremlin is, the stronger its ties to the realm of the fey remain, and the stranger and more potent its powers.
Gremlins understand that they lack physical power, and thus are usually encountered in large groups that work together to defend each other and their lair. While all gremlins share certain traits in common, such as a resistance to damage from weapons save those made of cold iron, a cruel and sadistic sense of humor, the ability to use prestidigitation to enhance their mischievous plans, and their slight statures, the single trait that gremlins are most well known for is their ability to break, curse, and otherwise ruin the works of other creatures. Gremlins take great delight in ruining and breaking things, and while each gremlin race has a particular “specialty” (be it magical auras, complex machinery, coordinated tactics, or even luck itself), all gremlins are fascinated by complex devices and intricate social constructs. Nothing pleases a gremlin more than being involved in the collapse of something complex.
Although gremlins originally hailed from the mysterious realm of the fey, they have lived upon the Material Plane for countless generations. In that time, they have become natives of this realm, both in body and soul. Yet not all gremlins have managed to retain their strange powers to disrupt and destroy—the most unfortunate gremlins are not even commonly known as gremlins at all. These bizarre creatures are known as mites. While they retain the gremlin ability to use a few spell-like abilities, mites represent to their fellow gremlins the ultimate shame and horror—a fall into pathetic self-loathing and pitiful cowardice. As a result, gremlins grow particularly sadistic and violent when presented with an opportunity to torment a tribe of mites, abandoning their more subtle methods of disrupting communities and machinery in favor of all-out war, invading mite homes and lairs with tiny knives in hand and murder on their minds. Only mite tribes that have managed to ally themselves with particularly dangerous vermin generally have any chance at all to withstand an invasion of this sort, and most tribes quickly surrender to the gremlins. In some cases, the wholesale act of surrender can cool the gremlins' rage, and the attackers simply take steps to subjugate and enslave the tribe of mites, using them from that point on as a slave class to serve their whims, but in other cases not even the mite tribe's complete surrender can save them.
Against larger creatures, particularly humanoids (whom gremlins particularly love to torment and vex), gremlins adopt a much more subtle approach. Gremlins know that they lack the physical strength to withstand a fight against even the weakest humanoid societies, and thus keep to the shadows when moving through cities and villages. Gremlins seek out regions within urban areas where the “big folk” don't bother to visit often—places like sewers, dumps, graveyards, and abandoned buildings make for perfect gremlin lairs. Once a gremlin tribe establishes itself in the shadows of a humanoid society, it begins its work. Operating in pairs or even alone, the gremlins move out into the society, seeking ways to undo anything that can be undone. If a gremlin can arrange it, it prefers to leave an object, relationship, or situation in such a condition that it may seem stable and undamaged to the casual observer, but falls apart or fails spectacularly the next time it is used or encountered. A gremlin often waits in hiding nearby so it can observe the calamitous results of its mayhem, but takes pains to be well out of reach when such a disaster occurs. Gremlins know that it's not good to be in arm's reach of an angry humanoid once it realizes it's been visited by a gremlin.
In areas where gremlin activity is well established, many societies have developed unique and clever ways to both protect themselves from gremlin-related mayhem and root out the little monsters from their lairs. One common method of dealing with gremlins is to use objects known as gremlin bells. Crafted from bronze, brass, or other semiprecious metals and measuring no more than an inch tall, gremlin bells are hung from delicate chains or silken cords over door frames and windows, or affixed to precious objects. The belief is that the presence of a gremlin bell sickens the creatures and even renders their supernatural and spell-like abilities useless. Strangely enough, many gremlins believe this as well, and even when the gremlin bells aren't magic, gremlins won't risk tinkering with most objects that seem to be warded in such a manner.
Other communities take a much more active path in ridding themselves of gremlins, training small animals like cats, dogs, falcons, or even weasels to seek out and attack gremlins on sight. Tiny trained animals can pursue gremlins into their cramped warrens with ease and, when their claws are fitted with cleverly constructed cold iron spikes, can inflict significant damage on a tribe of these creatures. Many gremlin tribes have learned from such tactics, however, and utilize trained (or not) animals in their own lairs for protection.
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