Gremlin, Erinat

APPEARANCE

The pockets of this urchin are stuffed with worthless objects.

Erinat Gremlin CR 2

XP 600
CE Tiny fey
Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +5; Aura discordant (20 ft.)

DEFENSE

AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +2 size)
hp 19 (3d6+9)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +2
DR 5/cold iron; SR 13

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee spiked chain +6 (1d4+3)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft. (5 ft. with spiked chain)
Special Attacks lashing chains, malicious mischief
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +5)

• At will—alter self (Small humanoid child only), ghost sound (DC 12)
• 1/day—lesser confusion (DC 13), murderous command (DC 13), rage

STATISTICS

Str 14, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 9, Cha 14
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Power Attack, Skill Focus (Stealth), Toughness^B, Weapon Finesseb
Skills Acrobatics +9, Bluff +8, Perception +5, Sleight of Hand +13, Stealth +20; Racial Modifiers +4 Sleight of Hand
Languages Aklo, Common, Undercommon

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Discordant Aura (Su)

An erinat radiates an aura that imparts both gullibility and susceptibility to mental influence. Creatures within a 20-foot radius take a –2 penalty on saves against compulsion effects, and Bluff checks attempted against such creatures gain a +5 bonus. This bonus also applies on opposed Charisma checks against a charmed creature within the aura.

Lashing Chains (Ex)

Erinats have 5-foot reach when attacking on their turn with their spiked chains, though they don’t threaten adjacent squares when it is not their turn.

Malicious Mischief (Su)

A pair of erinats working together for 1 round can present an item and compel a creature to take it. This functions as beguiling gift (DC 13), but rather than using the item in the appropriate fashion, the recipient is compelled to use the item to attack a random non-gremlin creature within 30 feet, even if the recipient must use the item as an improvised weapon.

Additionally, a group of six erinats working together over the course of 1 hour can create an effect identical to malicious spite (DC 16) on any living creature. This effect functions at CL 6th, and the target creature must be either willing or helpless.

ABOUT

Environment any underground or urban
Organization solitary, pair, or mob (3–8)
Treasure standard (spiked chain, other treasure)

Erinats are obsessed with conflict and discord. They love nothing more than starting fights—the more inane and pointless the struggle, the better. Erinats change shape to appear as unfed, unwashed humanoid children as appropriate to their surroundings, allowing the gremlins to move freely through settlements (and accuse anyone who attempts to stop their malicious conduct of trying to kidnap them). Erinats don’t care who wins the fights they start; they simply wish to be entertained by the largest brawls they can arrange. The mischievous gremlins delight in creating chaos and are prone to making outrageous claims in the hope of sparking riots, aided by forcing bystanders to attack each other with random, often ridiculous objects.

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.

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, and their slight statures, all are famed for 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.

Against larger creatures, particularly humanoids (whom gremlins particularly love to torment and vex), gremlins adopt a subtler approach. Lacking the physical strength to fight even the weakest humanoid societies, they seek out urban areas where the “big folk” don’t visit often, like sewers, dumps, graveyards, and abandoned buildings. Once established in the shadows of society, the gremlins move out singly or in pairs to undo anything that can be undone. They love leaving objects, relationships, or situations looking stable to casual observation, but ready to collapse or fail spectacularly at the slightest touch, hiding nearby so they can observe the calamitous results but keeping well out of range of the disaster.

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 lairs for protection.