Felon said:
I'm running an encounter from the much-neglected Book of Challenges, and while I like the puzzle element, the creatures the players encounter are mephits. For those who've never taken a good look at mephits, suffice to say they are among the sorriest critters that WotC ever wasted several pages of space on. I thought I'd replace them with paraelementals instead, but I can't remember where to look for the little buggers. Anyone know off-hand?
*snicker* Mephits are indeed the sorriest little buggers ever. And you have to love them for that. There's nothing so fun as lightning mephit messengers, dust mephit gravediggers, etc. Each of them has their own particular quirk that anything not of their species finds horrifically annoying.
Take for example Seamusxanthuszenus, slayer of fiends, purveyor of death and merchant most excellent! a.k.a. 'that mephit with the hat'. He owns, rather by default, a body parts shop in Sigil known as Parts & Pieces. It was originally an exotic animal store, but his master and original owner died and Seamus took over. Understandably everything starved and he started selling off the bodies as food, magical paraphanalia, gate keys, etc. He actually, somehow made money, and managed to pay his supplier of animals enough to catch them, and to kill and dismember them for him as well. (Bladelings aren't squeemish).
Seamus is written up in the Planescape book, 'Uncaged: Faces of Sigil', in all his morose and annoying glory.
I've used him, and many, many other mephits in my games, playing each of them to their particular element and associated behavioral quirks. It's been wonderful comic relief at times, though whiny voices tend to strain the throat a bit when your PCs keep going back to the shop because they like the freaking bit part mephit.
