Mythic Fire Monkey

Mythic Fire Monkey CR 3/MR 1

XP 800
CN Tiny magical beast (mythic)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +4

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +1 natural, +2 size)
hp 32 (3d10+16)
Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +1

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (good)
Melee bite +8 (1d4+3), 2 slams +8 (1d3+3 plus grab)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks grab (small), grabby hands, mythic power (1/day, surge +1d6), sneak attack +1d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +3)

STATISTICS

Str 4, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 11, Cha 13
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 11
Feats Stealthy, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +11, Disable Device +8, Escape Artist +5, Fly +11, Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +8, Stealth +13; Racial Modifiers +8 Acrobatics, +4 Disable Device, +4 Sleight of Hand
Languages Common (can’t speak)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Grabby Hands (Ex)

A mythic fire monkey does not provoke attacks of opportunity when making combat maneuver checks to disarm or steal. In addition, it receives a +4 bonus on checks to disarm or steal an object from a creature. When a mythic fire monkey succeeds on a combat maneuver check to disarm or steal an object from a creature, as a swift action it may expend one use of mythic power to make an additional combat maneuver check to disarm or steal another object.

ECOLOGY

Environment warm mountains or forests
Organization individuals, troupe (3–12), flock (13–30)
Treasure Incidental (thieves’ tools, shiny trinkets, small pieces of jewelry that catch a fire monkey’s eye)

These winged monkeys sport tawny fur coats ranging from bluewhite to slate grey or even black, and some individuals have much lighter white or ivory areas around their faces and shoulders. Their wings tend to be brightly feathered. Their faces, feet, and hands are always hairless, and they groom the hair surrounding their faces outward, giving them a tattered, bearded appearance. Fire monkeys are around 18 inches long with equally long tails and a wingspan of about three feet. A few individuals have two pairs of wings; this trait grants them perfect maneuverability, but they are otherwise statistically identical to their two-winged kin.

Fire monkeys build nests high up in the canopy of wild places or thick forests, and often cluster their nests together in groups of trees. They welcome small villages of friendly humanoids within their territories, as such creatures are a ready source of useful objects and new forms of interesting food. Fire monkey troops often raid nearby civilized communities for small amounts of salt and sugar, or prepared foods for single meals, but do not otherwise cause much mischief unless provoked. Larger or hostile communities that persecute or hunt fire monkeys often suffer from numerous unexpected fires and destructive forms of larceny and sabotage. Fire monkeys have excellent memories and hold grudges against those who abuse them.

Fire monkeys are omnivores, eating fruit, nuts, insects, small mammals, crabs, and fish. Given enough time, rather than devouring their food raw, fire monkeys create elaborate dishes of their favorite foods and cook these dishes over small fires, which they light with their spark ability. Fire monkeys also enjoy trying new and exotic foods prepared by humanoid creatures, especially foods made with flour and sugar. Most fire monkeys are very adventurous eaters, though they tend not to like the taste of beef and lamb.

The fire monkey is not a real Asian mythological creature. You may find similar creatures in fantasy and fiction using the Chinese name of hsigo, but all of them appear to trace their roots to a typographical error based on the Wade-Giles word hsiao (pinyin xiao). The hsiao/xiao may refer to a long-armed ape or a four-winged bird and may have been conflated with the shan-hsiao/shanxio, which in modern Chinese refers to the African mandrill but mythologically refers to hill-dwelling spirits or imps. Those misconceptions created a chimeric beast that took several different ideas and merged them together into a nonesuch that exists only in fantasy, at best very loosely inspired by the original Chinese mythology. Whether you want to use it in your campaign depends on how strictly you want to maintain fidelity to real-world myths and legends.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Asian Monsters (PF1) © 2022, Legendary Games; Authors Jason Nelson, Robert J. Grady, Andrew Ha, Gord Henderson, Thurston Hillman, Aurélien Lainé, Jeff Lee, Alex Riggs, Loren Sieg, Mike Welham.

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