SuperDave
2014-06-29, 06:00 PM
The Common Garden Pixie (Homunculus hortus familiaris)
Designed for Crossroads: The New World (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?345327-Crossroads-II-I-m-on-a-Mammoth)
http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130114201448/spiderwick/images/2/21/Representativesprites.jpg
The creature that flutters before you on gossamer wings is humanoid in form, though its features are blended with those of both insect and plant.
Common Garden Pixie Swarm, CR 2
XP 600
CN Diminutive Fey (swarm)
Init +3; Senses Low-light vision; Perception +12
____________
Defenses
AC 20, touch 20, flat-footed 19; (+4 Size, +5 Dex, +1 Dodge)
HP 5d6 (18 hp)
Fort +0, Ref +7, Will +3
Immune critical hits, flanking, plant traits, swarm traits, weapon damage
___________
Offenses
Speed 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (good)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks distraction (DC 10)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 5; Concentration +5)
At-will – faerie fire (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/f/faerie-fire)
3/day – entangle (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/e/entangle)
___________
Statistics
Str 3 (-4), Dex 20 (+5), Con 10 (+0), Int 6 (-2), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 12 (+1)
Base Atk +0; CMB —; CMD —
Attack: Swarm (1d6)
Feats Dodge, Lightning Reflexes, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Fly: +12, Perception +12, Stealth +21, Sense Motive +5
Languages none
Special Qualities plant heritage, plant traits, swarm traits
___________
Special Abilities
Plant Heritage (Ex)
Pixies take on the characteristics of whatever plant their egg incubates in. For example: pixies which hatch from eggs laid on rosebushes have thorny protrusions on their bodies; those which emerge from eggs laid beneath the leaves of the oleander shrub are extremely poisonous; pixies hatched from cattails are can breathe water as easily as air; those who grow from milkweed are protected from predators by their bitter taste. To reflect a swarm of pixies’ plantlike heritage, choose one of the following options at creation:
Thorns - damage from the pixies’ swarm attack increases to 1d8.
Poisonous - if ingested, the subject is treated as if they had consumed belladonna (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/afflictions/poison/belladonna) (a.k.a. deadly nightshade).
Hydrophyte - gains the "Aquatic" subtype, and a Swim speed of 20 ft.
Fragrant - gains the Cloying Scent (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/monstrous-humanoids/qallupilluk) ability
Plant Traits (Ex)
Plants are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms), paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep, and stun.
Swarm Traits (Ex)
As a swarm of Diminutive creatures, a garden pixie swarm takes no damage from weapons, and is immune to critical hits and flanking.
___________
Ecology
Environment Temperate forests (esp. gardens)
Organization soirée (2-3 swarms), gala (4-5)
Treasure none
Advancement (The easiest way to advance creatures is to have them increase in size when they double their HD.)
Level Adjustment: —
Native to Wales, Ireland, and southwestern Britain, pixies are diminutive winged humanoids with a mixture of plant and insect features. Only minimally intelligent, they delight in bright colors, fast movement, and all manner of flora.
Long a staple of the oldest and grandest gardens of the British Isles, pixies were first imported to the New World by Harold Warbeck, the Lord Glomesbury, in 1587. He sent for four dozen pixies from his family’s estate, on behalf of his wife María, who greatly missed the brightly-blooming gardens of her native Spain. Little did he understand the havoc that these tiny creatures would wreak upon the unsuspecting biomes of the New World in only a few years' time, when the first handful of them escaped into the wild (but not before other colonial lords had followed his lead and imported these ecological time-bombs for the enhancement of their own gardens).
For some inscrutable reason (perhaps simply the innate perversity of the fey), pixies only seem capable of promoting growth in plants which do not have any significant nutritional or medicinal value. There have even been reported cases where pixies were imported from one area (where a particular plant is grown purely for decoration) to another area (where that plant is used medicinally), only for the prospective healers to find, to their great dismay, that the pixies’ presence had no effect whatsoever on their prized medicinal herbs, even though the same plant’s growth had been greatly accelerated by these same pixies in the other area.
Garden pixies spend most of their days flitting from flower to flower in their lord’s manse, helping and enhancing the growth and appearance of nearly every plant in their domain. They are typically kept bound within the confines of their masters lands by magic circles, walls of force, or cold-iron fences.
An adult garden pixie stands about six inches tall, and weighs about a quarter-pound. They do not understand any languages, though they do laugh frequently, and are fond of imitating human speech (even if they don’t understand what it means).
Combat
Garden pixies rarely attack intruders, though they will raise a clangorous alarum when their sleep is disturbed. They typically lash out at any nearby intruders a round of faerie fire, and then make as big a racket as they can until their master’s other guards show up (the ones who can actually do some serious damage). In most cases, the sudden light and noise are enough to frighten off any would-be thieves, but if pressed, garden pixies will swarm over their attackers, tearing at them with hundreds of tiny claws and teeth.
OK, so these are my attempt at expressing, in D&D terms, the first step of one of the most significant results of the Columbian Exchange (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_Exchange): the introduction of invasive species to the New World. These bad boys are the first in a two-monster set, the second being the Feral pixie (Homunculus hortus ferus) (http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080713044725/hellboy/images/8/84/ToothFairy.jpg) (the garden pixies' larger, smarter, and more aggressive cousins).
I'm not sure the XP reward is correct either, because the CR is all wonky. It's way higher than it's supposed to be, because they've got all these immunities and special traits from their plant and swarm subtypes (feral pixies will be one size category larger, so their "swarm" version won't get the weapon immunity that garden pixies have), so they're not all that dangerous, just really really hard to hit.
Having faerie fire as an at-will SLA isn't excessive, is it? What about entangle 3/day?
I feel like I might be able to throw another HD or two on these guys without drastically changing their CR, which make them less of a one-lucky-hit-kills-the-whole-swarm deal.
I wasn't sure if they should have skills or not; swarms generally don't have skills, but although they're not very intelligent, they're not mindless either. But what skills could a swarm of pixies even use effectively?
I also had an idea that pixies take on the characteristics of whatever plant their egg incubates in. I wasn't sure I wanted to add it to these guys, though, since their CR is already so high. I might make it a feature on the feral pixies instead, but it felt weird for them to spontaneously develop it in the wild when it's not present in their ancestors. Maybe it's already present in their domesticated cousins, it's just less pronounced, so it doesn't have a mechanical effect on them?
Pixies take on the characteristics of whatever plant their egg incubates in. For example: pixies which hatch from eggs laid on rosebushes have thorny protrusions on their bodies; those which emerge from eggs laid beneath the leaves of the oleander shrub are extremely poisonous; pixies hatched from cattails are can breathe water as easily as air; those who grow from milkweed are protected from predators by their bitter taste.
To reflect a swarm of pixies’ plantlike heritage, choose one of the following options:
Thorns - damage from the pixies’ swarm attack increases to 1d8.
Poisonous - if ingested, pixies deal damage as though the subject had consumed belladonna (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/afflictions/poison/belladonna) (a.k.a. deadly nightshade).
Hydrophyte - gains the "Aquatic" subtype
Fragrant - gains the Cloying Scent (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/monstrous-humanoids/qallupilluk) ability
As always, Please Examine And Critique Honestly. I'm trying to make sure that the base creature is correct, before I go adding any templates or special features to it.
Designed for Crossroads: The New World (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?345327-Crossroads-II-I-m-on-a-Mammoth)
http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130114201448/spiderwick/images/2/21/Representativesprites.jpg
The creature that flutters before you on gossamer wings is humanoid in form, though its features are blended with those of both insect and plant.
Common Garden Pixie Swarm, CR 2
XP 600
CN Diminutive Fey (swarm)
Init +3; Senses Low-light vision; Perception +12
____________
Defenses
AC 20, touch 20, flat-footed 19; (+4 Size, +5 Dex, +1 Dodge)
HP 5d6 (18 hp)
Fort +0, Ref +7, Will +3
Immune critical hits, flanking, plant traits, swarm traits, weapon damage
___________
Offenses
Speed 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (good)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks distraction (DC 10)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 5; Concentration +5)
At-will – faerie fire (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/f/faerie-fire)
3/day – entangle (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/e/entangle)
___________
Statistics
Str 3 (-4), Dex 20 (+5), Con 10 (+0), Int 6 (-2), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 12 (+1)
Base Atk +0; CMB —; CMD —
Attack: Swarm (1d6)
Feats Dodge, Lightning Reflexes, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Fly: +12, Perception +12, Stealth +21, Sense Motive +5
Languages none
Special Qualities plant heritage, plant traits, swarm traits
___________
Special Abilities
Plant Heritage (Ex)
Pixies take on the characteristics of whatever plant their egg incubates in. For example: pixies which hatch from eggs laid on rosebushes have thorny protrusions on their bodies; those which emerge from eggs laid beneath the leaves of the oleander shrub are extremely poisonous; pixies hatched from cattails are can breathe water as easily as air; those who grow from milkweed are protected from predators by their bitter taste. To reflect a swarm of pixies’ plantlike heritage, choose one of the following options at creation:
Thorns - damage from the pixies’ swarm attack increases to 1d8.
Poisonous - if ingested, the subject is treated as if they had consumed belladonna (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/afflictions/poison/belladonna) (a.k.a. deadly nightshade).
Hydrophyte - gains the "Aquatic" subtype, and a Swim speed of 20 ft.
Fragrant - gains the Cloying Scent (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/monstrous-humanoids/qallupilluk) ability
Plant Traits (Ex)
Plants are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms), paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep, and stun.
Swarm Traits (Ex)
As a swarm of Diminutive creatures, a garden pixie swarm takes no damage from weapons, and is immune to critical hits and flanking.
___________
Ecology
Environment Temperate forests (esp. gardens)
Organization soirée (2-3 swarms), gala (4-5)
Treasure none
Advancement (The easiest way to advance creatures is to have them increase in size when they double their HD.)
Level Adjustment: —
Native to Wales, Ireland, and southwestern Britain, pixies are diminutive winged humanoids with a mixture of plant and insect features. Only minimally intelligent, they delight in bright colors, fast movement, and all manner of flora.
Long a staple of the oldest and grandest gardens of the British Isles, pixies were first imported to the New World by Harold Warbeck, the Lord Glomesbury, in 1587. He sent for four dozen pixies from his family’s estate, on behalf of his wife María, who greatly missed the brightly-blooming gardens of her native Spain. Little did he understand the havoc that these tiny creatures would wreak upon the unsuspecting biomes of the New World in only a few years' time, when the first handful of them escaped into the wild (but not before other colonial lords had followed his lead and imported these ecological time-bombs for the enhancement of their own gardens).
For some inscrutable reason (perhaps simply the innate perversity of the fey), pixies only seem capable of promoting growth in plants which do not have any significant nutritional or medicinal value. There have even been reported cases where pixies were imported from one area (where a particular plant is grown purely for decoration) to another area (where that plant is used medicinally), only for the prospective healers to find, to their great dismay, that the pixies’ presence had no effect whatsoever on their prized medicinal herbs, even though the same plant’s growth had been greatly accelerated by these same pixies in the other area.
Garden pixies spend most of their days flitting from flower to flower in their lord’s manse, helping and enhancing the growth and appearance of nearly every plant in their domain. They are typically kept bound within the confines of their masters lands by magic circles, walls of force, or cold-iron fences.
An adult garden pixie stands about six inches tall, and weighs about a quarter-pound. They do not understand any languages, though they do laugh frequently, and are fond of imitating human speech (even if they don’t understand what it means).
Combat
Garden pixies rarely attack intruders, though they will raise a clangorous alarum when their sleep is disturbed. They typically lash out at any nearby intruders a round of faerie fire, and then make as big a racket as they can until their master’s other guards show up (the ones who can actually do some serious damage). In most cases, the sudden light and noise are enough to frighten off any would-be thieves, but if pressed, garden pixies will swarm over their attackers, tearing at them with hundreds of tiny claws and teeth.
OK, so these are my attempt at expressing, in D&D terms, the first step of one of the most significant results of the Columbian Exchange (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_Exchange): the introduction of invasive species to the New World. These bad boys are the first in a two-monster set, the second being the Feral pixie (Homunculus hortus ferus) (http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080713044725/hellboy/images/8/84/ToothFairy.jpg) (the garden pixies' larger, smarter, and more aggressive cousins).
I'm not sure the XP reward is correct either, because the CR is all wonky. It's way higher than it's supposed to be, because they've got all these immunities and special traits from their plant and swarm subtypes (feral pixies will be one size category larger, so their "swarm" version won't get the weapon immunity that garden pixies have), so they're not all that dangerous, just really really hard to hit.
Having faerie fire as an at-will SLA isn't excessive, is it? What about entangle 3/day?
I feel like I might be able to throw another HD or two on these guys without drastically changing their CR, which make them less of a one-lucky-hit-kills-the-whole-swarm deal.
I wasn't sure if they should have skills or not; swarms generally don't have skills, but although they're not very intelligent, they're not mindless either. But what skills could a swarm of pixies even use effectively?
I also had an idea that pixies take on the characteristics of whatever plant their egg incubates in. I wasn't sure I wanted to add it to these guys, though, since their CR is already so high. I might make it a feature on the feral pixies instead, but it felt weird for them to spontaneously develop it in the wild when it's not present in their ancestors. Maybe it's already present in their domesticated cousins, it's just less pronounced, so it doesn't have a mechanical effect on them?
Pixies take on the characteristics of whatever plant their egg incubates in. For example: pixies which hatch from eggs laid on rosebushes have thorny protrusions on their bodies; those which emerge from eggs laid beneath the leaves of the oleander shrub are extremely poisonous; pixies hatched from cattails are can breathe water as easily as air; those who grow from milkweed are protected from predators by their bitter taste.
To reflect a swarm of pixies’ plantlike heritage, choose one of the following options:
Thorns - damage from the pixies’ swarm attack increases to 1d8.
Poisonous - if ingested, pixies deal damage as though the subject had consumed belladonna (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/afflictions/poison/belladonna) (a.k.a. deadly nightshade).
Hydrophyte - gains the "Aquatic" subtype
Fragrant - gains the Cloying Scent (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/monstrous-humanoids/qallupilluk) ability
As always, Please Examine And Critique Honestly. I'm trying to make sure that the base creature is correct, before I go adding any templates or special features to it.