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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9618075" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/6aSP0yz.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 393px" />Gremlins are fey beings with an intuitive understanding of objects, their foundations, and how to jinx others with bad luck. They thus find it easy to put their talents to destructive ends, and are more likely than not to be evil. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that this is the vast majority, and it’s often through interactions with others that they can find more productive outlets of “controlled demolitions. Thus, gremlin adventurers are more likely to be neutral or good-aligned than the average.There are many types of gremlins out there, so they differ widely in physical appearance, but they’re generally smaller than human-sized and have striking features such as glowing eyes, vibrantly-hued skin ones, and animalistic features. Gremlin societies are strongly egalitarian and communal, and they treat the community they live in as their family regardless of biological ties or the lack thereof. They do have leaders, who tend to be young upstarts who bully and trick their way into power, but many such types are eventually led astray by the others into leaving. Every gremlin subspecies has their own preferred types of destruction and cultural traits. For example, grimples seek to defy the strictures of wider society by engaging in offensive and gross-out humor, while hanivers are obsessed with examining fascinating objects to add to their collection and are the source for complaints of misplaced and lost objects. While most gremlins no longer live in the fey realms, they still have strong ties to the more nightmarish regions of that plane, and frequently worship archfey as well as deities of trickery and invention.There are five societal groups known as “crashes” which represent how gremlins choose to use their talents. The three that have 5e backgrounds are pranksters (focusing on using trickery on others for fun, ranging from good-nature jokes to enliven morale to debilitating sabotage to inconvenience another), Reckoners (focus their abilities against those who violate societal customs and laws, much in the way that folkloric monsters serve as a cautionary tale), and Tinkers (learning how things work and break down as a means of creating new inventions and innovations). The two backgroundless crashes are Destroyers (view the destruction of things as an artistic or philosophical ideal) and the Unfettered (seek to defy stereotypes of gremlins to avoid outside impositions on how they ought to act).Thoughts: The small, mischievous faerie is a well-trod fantasy archetype, although gremlins tend to not be what comes to mind in D&D in comparison to other fey. They do have a bit of overlap with goblins and kobolds due to their emphasis on trickery and sabotage, but their diversity of subspecies and means of enacting their mischievous nature helps them stand out a bit. I do feel that the crashes tend to blend together, in that their means are often the same and what really separates them are their ends.As an ancestry, gremlins predictably get a bonus to Dexterity, are Small or Tiny size depending on their subspecies/heritage, their secondary ability bonus is either freely assigned in Pathfinder or determined by subspecies in D&D, are the fey instead of humanoid type, have darkvision, and an average movement speed. In D&D they also learn the Prestidigitation cantrip plus one other cantrip from any spell list. Gremlins get a whopping eight subspecies to choose from. Heck, they aren’t even the ancestry with the most in this book! Nymphs also have eight, and the Oni have nine. Six of the gremlin subspecies are Tiny size, with the exception of Mitflits and Nuglubs which are Small.Without further ado, the gremlin subspecies are Fuath (amphibious gremlins who specialize in naval sabotage, have a swim speed and crab claw natural weapons, but suffer debuffs when in sunlight for too long), Grimple (gremlins who gain Mage Hand as a bonus cantrip), Haniver (gremlins who gain Sleight of Hand/Thievery as a bonus skill and can misplace a target’s inventory to make object interaction take much longer action-wise), Jinkins (gremlins with a fondness for traps and sabotage, gaining bonuses on Crafting and tool proficiency checks depending on system), Mitflit (gremlins looked down upon by others of their kind, gain scent in Pathfinder, or can speak to arthropods as though they shared a language and advantage on scent-based Perception checks in 5e,), Nuglub (bloodthirsty gremlins who gain a bite natural weapon attack), Pugwampi (doglike gremlins obsessed with earning the favor of gnolls, have a supernatural jinx-based attack they can do once per long rest/day that can impose disadvantage/roll twice and take the worse result on the target’s next roll or rolls depending on degree of failure),* and Vexgit (gremlins who have a mandibles natural weapon in both systems, and in 5e they also deal double damage to objects and structures).*Notably, a pugwampi’s jinx ability as well as the subspecies-neutral Unluck Aura, does not work on gremlins, gnolls, and creatures of the Animal/Beast type.Three of the subspecies gain disadvantageous traits in 5th Edition: Mitflits suffer disadvantage on saves vs fear-based effects, Vexgits have clacking exoskeletons that impose disadvantage on Stealth checks, and Pugwampis are hard of hearing so suffer disadvantage on auditory Perception checks. In Pathfinder, a gremlin can voluntarily take upon similar disadvantages in exchange for gaining a specific bonus 1st level feat, such as a mitflit gaining Vermin Ally or a Pugwampi gaining Gremlin Magic.Thoughts: Being tiny size is pretty debilitating when it comes to melee combat and campaigns that emphasize carrying capacity. For those reasons I don’t think that gremlins of that size will have much going for them when it comes to natural weapons. But for roles emphasizing stealth and agility, this is very good in helping gremlins get into places most PCs cannot reach. Some subspecies have more appealing traits than others: fuath’s sunlight sensitivity plus their aquatic emphasis makes them of limited appeal in non-seafaring campaigns, and the grimple’s mage hand cantrip isn’t attractive enough on its own to compete with the other subspecies’ features. The jinkin’s bonus proficiencies in 5e and bonus on Crafting rolls for trap and sabotage stuff in Pathfinder are the most iconic traits when one thinks “gremlin,” so I see them being the most popular. A pugwampi’s bad luck can be useful, but unless invested with the Double Jinx 8/9th level feat, its refresh rate is going to reserve it for times of utmost importance.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/kwREkPS.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 439px" />Gremlins get 38 feats in Pathfinder and 32 in D&D. The 1st level feats are overall weak and situational, such as Gremlin Magic in Pathfinder (learn Prestidigitation), Resist Drawback in 5e and Sunlight Adaptation in Pathfinder (remove gremlin’s disadvantageous subspecies trait), Speedy Sabotage (can pick locks and disable devices faster), Vengeful Anger (Mitflit, bonus on weapon damage against those who bullied or tormented them in the past), and Vermin Ally (can speak with arthropods and advantage on Charisma checks/start out as indifferent depending on system). Much of the 4th/5th level feats are subspecies-specific, such as Destructive Smash (vexgit-only, better damage against objects and constructs), Fuath Paddler (increased swim speed), and Jinkin Tinker (can curse an object with an hour’s work to not work on a flat check whose unreliability increases based on level, Pathfinder version requires other jinkin to perform it). The subspecies-neutral feats are more generic trickery stuff like Illusory Facade (can create an indefinite illusion over an object they sabotaged) and Trickster Magic/Trickster’s Alarm (cast Alarm once per day in both systems, grants Minor Illusion in 5e). At 8/9th level we start seeing some feats worth taking, such as Double Jinx (pugwampi only, lets their jinx ability be used once per short rest/hour), Demon Wings (D&D-exclusive gain fly speed for 10 minutes once per long rest),* Gremlin Lice (grimple-exclusive, infests target with lice on a melee critical hit, lice impose stupefied condition in Pathfinder and disadvantage on Dexterity-based checks and force a Wisdom save to maintain concentration on spells each round in 5e, lice duration persists for 24 hours or if submerged in water/extreme cold),  and Viscous Choke (fuath only, summons a film of suffocating water around a foe’s head once per long rest/day, lasts for 1 minute in both systems but can be wiped away by target or another creature via spending actions).*In fact, it being D&D-exclusive makes me think it’s a misprint given that demons have a feat of the same name.There are several feats that differ in terms of level prerequisites by system. Fey Skin is an 8th level feat in D&D, and in Pathfinder it’s 13th. It causes the gremlin to become vulnerable/weak to iron (cold iron specifically in Pf2e), but in exchange they gain +1 hit point per level and regain hit points equal to their level every hour in D&D or when they rest for 10 minutes in Pathfinder. Phenomenal Fin Wings are exclusive to the Haniver and grant a permanent fly speed, accessible at 13th level in Pathfinder and 16th in D&D. Misleading Hijinks lets the gremlin cast Mislead once per day/long rest, and is 12th level in D&D and 17th level in Pathfinder.The 12th/13th level feats are quite potent: Kneecapper is nuglub only and uses a reaction against a retreating opponent to damage and knock them prone. While it’s usable only once per day in Pathfinder, in 5e it has no limit on uses. Rewire Senses casts Synesthesia in Pathfinder, and in D&D it has a similar ability where it imposes disadvantage on Perception checks, reduced movement speed, and the target has to repeat the saving throw on concentration for spells if successful.* Unseen Saboteur is Pathfinder-exclusive and casts Invisibility as a 4th-level spell once per hour. Unluck Aura is an aura-based ability activated once per long rest/day that on a failed Will/Wisdom save causes creatures caught within to suffer disadvantage/roll twice and take the worst result on most rolls.*Basically disadvantage, I don’t know why they didn’t just say that.The 16th/17th level feats represent the apotheosis of a gremlin’s supernatural heritage. Gremlin’s Gate lets them Plane Shift between the Material Plane and fey plane once per long rest/twice per week. Well of Unluck changes the refresh rate of Unluck Aura to once per hour/short rest. Lodestone’s Draw is a once per long rest/day ability that curses a foe so that the gremlin’s allies gain advantage/roll twice and take the better result on their next attack roll against the target. They also ignore concealment/cover bonuses the lodestone would otherwise benefit from until the end of the gremlin’s next turn.Thoughts: Like many other feats in this book, their general usefulness and applicability increases with level. The low-level level feats are overall too situational to make use of save for very specific builds and adventure types, and 4th/5th level feats are more or less the same. Double Jinx is a standout in making the pugwampi’s signature ability more reliable in how often it can be used, and Fey Skin can be very useful in making gremlins not have to take up much party resources when it comes to healing damage. The 5e vulnerability to iron in general can be quite punishing, but in campaigns and adventures with less humanoid/equipment-using foes it is worth the weakness. For the high-level feats, Unluck Aura and Well of Unluck stand out as a clear winner for most builds, although it may be too debilitating to use if the party has one or more close-range fighters who risk getting targeted by the AoE. Lodestone’s Draw feels a bit weak in 5e given there are many ways to impose advantage on attack rolls by that level, although it’s very good in Pathfinder given that the system doesn’t have an advantage/disadvantage-equivalent mechanic. Kneecapper is a bit weak for its level in 5e, given that it loses out to Polearm Master + Sentinel for crowd control/movement denial builds, which also have reach and don’t force a saving throw from a struck target. I don’t know enough about Pathfinder 2e equivalent builds for this to judge how suitable it is as a feat in that system, unfortunately.Thoughts So Far: The options for gremlins are a bit middle-of-the-road when it comes to casting a wide net of possible features vs tightly-reinforced roles. The ancestry traits and feats are strongly pushing the character to be a scout/rogue/ type, but with a few subtle magical abilities here and there plus some subspecies-specific stuff that doesn’t really fit as strongly. The options are a bit all over the place in terms of balance and broad appeal. This, combined with the “small, mischievous trickster” archetype being an already-common playable fantasy RPG trope, rates them lower among the playable ancestries in this book.Join us next time as we become the Fighter’s best friend with Intelligent Weapons!</blockquote>

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