Gremlin, Nuno

This withered, eyeless little creature has a mushroom cap for a head, and a stringy fungus beard frames his toothless grin.

Nuno CR 1/4

XP 100
NE Tiny fey
Init +2; Senses tremorsense 30 ft.; Perception +6

DEFENSE

AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 size)
hp 3 (1d6)
Fort +0, Ref +4, Will +4
Defensive Abilities ant affinity; DR 2/cold iron

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft., burrow 10 ft.
Melee slam +0 (1d2–2)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks nuno’s curse

STATISTICS

Str 6, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 15
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 8
Feats Ability Focus (nuno’s curse)
Skills Bluff +6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +6, Knowledge (nature) +5, Perception +6, Sense Motive +6, Stealth +14, Survival +3; Racial Modifiers +4 Knowledge (dungeoneering)
Languages Aklo, Sylvan, Terran
SQ wax locator

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Ant Affinity (Su)

Ants will never attack a nuno. A nuno can control ants and ant swarms as a druid’s wild empathy, with a +4 racial bonus on their checks. While ants are normally mindless, the nuno imparts to them a modicum of implanted intelligence, allowing nunos to train ants to perform tasks as necessary to suit the nunos’ fancies.

Nuno’s Curse (Su)

A nuno can curse any creature it touches unless the creature succeeds at a DC 14 Will save. A creature that harms the nuno, damages the nuno’s home, or steals the nuno’s belongings must also save against the curse with a –2 penalty. A creature that succeeds at its save is immune to that nuno’s curse for 24 hours. A creature under the effects of the nuno’s curse experiences horrific swelling and hair growth in a location the nuno touched or that was associated with harming the nuno (for instance, a creature’s foot if that creature kicked over the nuno’s anthill). This swelling imparts a –2 penalty to Dexterity and causes the affected area to occasionally ooze or expel black pus. The DC to remove a nuno’s curse with spells and abilities like remove curse is 10 higher than normal (24 for a typical nuno). A nuno can remove its curse as a standard action, and when a nuno dies, all its active curses end immediately. The effects of multiple nuno’s curses don’t stack. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Wax Locator (Su)

Any creature cursed by a nuno can spend 1 minute pouring molten wax into a spoon and then into a container of water, causing the wax to run in the direction of the nuno. This allows the accursed creature to find the nuno no matter where it hides and attempt to put an end to the curse.

ECOLOGY

Environment any warm land or underground
Organization solitary
Treasure standard

Nunos are fungus gremlins that live in anthills. Even young nunos appear as wizened old men, and the creatures are solitary hermits, living among ants in anthills and burrows in tropical regions. Though nunos are as spiteful as any other gremlins, they tend to keep to themselves and reserve their enmity for those who bother them—especially those who dare to harm a nuno’s anthill home.

Due to the relative difficulty of removing a nuno’s curse via magic, the best options for a creature cursed by a nuno are to slay the nuno or parley with the creature.

Since the curse could have triggered while the nuno wasn’t present, both approaches are made easier by the nuno’s wax locator ability. Though inherently grumpy, nunos are easily bribed with offerings of fruit or valuable objects, and can at times be swayed by a particularly wellconstructed argument. They can also usually be persuaded by humanoids and fey they find beautiful, though a nuno’s predilections are unpredictable at best, and they tend to loathe conventional beauty.

Nuno Ascetic

Rarely, a nuno’s isolated existence allows it to unlock secrets of reality unknown to others. These nuno ascetics still value their privacy, but they are sometimes willing to accept lavish bribes from pilgrims in exchange for sharing their wisdom. Nuno ascetics advance by class level, usually either as either monks or occult classes. They each develop a unique variation on the basic nuno’s curse, which acts as a signature of sorts. Unlike most monsters with class levels, nuno ascetics add half their class level to the DC of their nuno’s curse ability.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 5 © 2015, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Creighton Broadhurst, Robert Brookes, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Joe Homes, James Jacobs, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Ben McFarland, Jason Nelson, Thom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Wes Schneider, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Mike Shel, James L. Sutter, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.

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