Will-o'-Wisp Player Characters

[pegase]

So my DM refused to let me play a non-sapient penguin druid, by virtue of it being too difficult to have my teammates handle animal checks to get me to do stuff every single time I should be doing stuff.

But apparently it's OK for me to play a will-o'-wisp, so long as I'm not any Tier I & II class. So yeah. I thought bard fit well.

I'm really too stupid to figure out how monsters-as-player-characters work, so can someone outline the will-o'-wisp for me (as a race)? What's more, is there any way I can make up for my lack of appendages in playing instruments?


----EDIT----

Also, can you think of any awesome two-syllable names for a will-o'-wisp?

[averagejoe]

Also, can you think of any awesome two-syllable names for a will-o'-wisp?

Willow. I don't see any other viable choice.

[Big Fau]

There are a few problems with this:


The real problem with playing a non-sapient character is that it's actually disallowed by the rules. Your DM had the right idea to not let you, but the wrong reason.
Will-o'-Wisps have no listed LA, and are not suit for player characters.

[Thurbane]

Yep, your DM would need to houserule an LA for the Will O Wisp for you to use it, and I was guesstimating, it would probably be quite high. Weighed agains (a rather hefty) 9 racial HD, you get:

STR -10, DEX +18, INT +4, WIS +6, CHA +2 (net +20 to stats)
Fly 50 ft (perfect maneuverability)
+9 deflection bonus to AC
Natural 2d8 touch attack
Magic immunity (basically unlimited SR)
Natural invisibility
Bonus feat: Weapon Finesse

Now compare this to, say a Pixie, who gets +4 LA (or +6 with Otto's)...I think the LA on a Will O Wisp would sit at around at least +4, unless the DM was being fairly generous...

[Dusk Eclipse]

If you are ok with homebrew I think there is a monster class for Will O wisp