Quickling

Status
Not open for further replies.

BOZ

Creature Cataloguer
ah, Mr. popularity himself! :)

Monster Manual II

QUICKLING
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 4-16
ARMOR CLASS: -3
MOVE: 96"
HIT DICE: 1 1/2
% IN LAIR: 10%
TREASURE TYPE: O, P, Q, X
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: As dagger
SPECIALATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Save as 19th-level clerics
INTELLIGENCE: High to genius
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
SIZE: S (2' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil/nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: IV/200 + 3/hp

These small, slender, extremely fast-moving creatures are said to be a race of brownies who dabbled in magic and mysteries better left alone. Thus, legend relates, the little folk were changed into evil creatures of great maliciousness towards humans, demihumans, and other little people. They dwell in dark woodlands and wild, evil areas.

In any group of quicklings encountered there will be 1 individual of 3 hit dice strength. If more than 10 quicklings are encountered, then 2 of them will have 3 hit dice and 1 will be a 4 1/2 hit dice leader. Because of their amazing speed, quicklings have an excellent armor class. This speed also allows them 3 attacks per round with their needle-like daggers. Leaders will be 75% likely to have a poison which causes victims to fall into a drugged slumber unless a saving throw vs. poison is successfully made after each hit from these creatures' daggers.

All quicklings are able to use the following spell-like powers once per day, 1 at a time, at will: ventriloquism, forget, levitate, shatter, dig, and fire charm. They are 90% likely to be visible when moving, due to their speed. When motionless in natural cover they are totally invisible. When attacking, quicklings can be seen only as a blur. Thus, their speed and dexterity (18) allow them to save against all attack forms as if they were 19th-level clerics. It is impossible to surprise a quickling.

Quicklings speak their own language and that of brownies, pixies, and halflings. Most can speak many words of Common, although at a high pitch and too quickly to be easily understood.

The quickling race is short-lived because of their accelerated rate of motion. Mature at about 1 or 2 years of age, quicklings die between 12 and 15 years of age.



Monstrous Compendium 5 (Greyhawk)

Brownie, Quickling
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate/Forests
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Clan
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Night
DIET: Omnivore
INTELLIGENCE: High to genius (13-18)
TREASURE: O, P, Q, X
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil (neutral)

NO. APPEARING: 4-16
ARMOR CLASS: -3
MOVEMENT: 96
HIT DICE: Normal: 1 + 1-4 hp
Leaders: 3
Elders: 4
THAC0: Normal: 19
Leaders and elders: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon (1-3/1-2)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: T (2' tall)
MORALE: Elite (13-14)
XP VALUE: Normal: 2,000
Leaders: 3,000
Elders: 4,000

Although they were once much like any other race of brownies, quicklings sought out dark and dangerous magical powers. It may be that they intended to do good with their powers at one time, but the evil magic was too strong for them and they were corrupted.

Quicklings are small and slender beings. They look much like miniature elves with very sharp, feral features. Their ears are unusually large and rise to points above their heads. Their eyes are cold and cruel with a tiny spark of yellow light. Their skin is a pale blue to blue white and their hair is often silver or snowy white.

Quicklings dress in fine clothes of bright colors. They are fond of silver and black, often selecting fabrics and metals in these colors. Quicklings never wear any form of armor or cumbersome clothes.

Quicklings speak a tongue very similar to that of brownies and buckawns, but they speak very quickly. To those unfamiliar with it, their speech is nothing but a meaningless stream of noise with individual sounds and words passing so quickly that no human can follow it. If quicklings wish to communicate with other beings, they must take care to speak very slowly. Many quicklings can speak either common, pixie, or halfling, while most of them (85%) can speak true brownie.

Combat: Quicklings are far more dangerous in combat than their minute size would lead opponents to believe. This is due primarily to the great speed at which they travel and their tremendous agility. In combat, a quickling can dart about so rapidly that it attacks three times in a single round. In addition, they are visible only as blurs when moving, giving them an excellent Armor Class.

Quicklings are 100% invisible when not moving; when moving they are 90% invisible. In areas that enable them to rapidly move from cover to cover, like a forest or boulder-strewn field, they can use their speed to make their chance of inivisibility 100%. If they are ever forced to roll a saving throw to avoid damage due to a hostile action, they may do so as if they were 19th-level priests.

In combat, quicklings employ their sleek, needle-like daggers to cause 1d3 points of damage to medium-sized or smaller foes and 1d2 to larger ones. Quickling leaders (see "Habitat/Society") are 75% likely to employ poisoned blades that cause unconsciousness if the victim fails a saving throw vs. poison (must be rolled after each hit).

Quicklings have certain inherent magical powers that they can employ at will. While these are truly spells, the quicklings need not preform any sort of casting ritual to invoke them. Quicklings simply will the spell to activate and it does so. Only one may be active at any given time. Once per day they may invoke the following powers: ventriloquism, forget, levitate, shatter, dig, and fire charm.

Habitat/Society: When the ancestors of the quicklings began to experiment with the dark forces that eventually corrupted them, they had no idea what the effects would be. Where once they were a gentle race of woodland beings, quicklings are now savage hunters and cruel killers. They regard all other humanoids as enemies to be hunted down and killed.

Quicklings live in extended family units, in the same way as buckawns. Each group of quicklings is led by an individual who has 3 Hit Dice. Clans with more than ten members have two such leaders, as well as an elder who has 4 Hit Dice.

Quicklings dwell in places that are dark and evil. Adventurers have reported encountering them in groves of twisted and wicked looking trees, near poisoned or cursed springs, and in overgrown areas once ruled by powerful chaotic beings.

As a rule, quicklings avoid contact with the outside world except when it promotes their own evil ends. In some cases, they have been known to deal with other evil races of magical natures (like imps and quasits) or powerful evil wizards and priests. On these occasions, the combination of such forces is a great danger to all good beings in the area.

Ecology: Because of their greatly accelerated metabolism, quicklings are the shortest lived of any sylvan race. They mature less than a year after birth and are considered fully adult by the time they turn two. Old age sets in when they reach ten years and they often die before they turn 12. No known quickling has ever lived beyond 15 without the aid of powerful magic.




Monstrous Compendium Annual #2

Brownie, Quickling
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate forests
FREQUENCY: Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Clan
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Night
DIET: Omnivore
INTELLIGENCE: High to genius (13-18)
TREASURE: (O, P, Q, X)
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil (neutral)

NO. APPEARING: 4-16
ARMOR CLASS: -3
MOVEMENT: 96
HIT DICE: 1 HD + 1d4 hp (common; leaders 3 HD; elders 4 HD)
THAC0: 19 (common; leaders/elders 17)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon (S/M 1d3; L 1d2)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells, poison (leaders only)
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Invisibility; save as Pr19
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: T (2' tall)
MORALE: Elite (13-14)
XP VALUE: Normal: 2,000
Leaders: 3,000
Elders: 4,000

Although they were once much like any other race of brownie, quicklings sought out dark and dangerous magical powers. It may be that they intended to do good with their powers at one time, but the evil magic was too strong for them and they were corrupted.

Quicklings are small and slender beings, looking much like miniature elves with very sharp, feral features. Their ears are unusually large and rise to points above their heads. Quickling eyes are cold and cruel with a tiny spark of yellow light. Their skin is a pale blue to blue-white and their hair is often silver or snowy white.

Quicklings dress in fine clothes of bright colors. They are fond of silver and black, often selecting fabrics and metals in these colors. Quicklings never wear any form of armor or cumbersome clothes.

Quicklings speak a tongue very similar to that of brownies and buckawns, but they speak very quickly. To those unfamiliar with it, their speech is nothing but a meaningless stream of noise with individual sounds and words passing so quickly that no human can follow it. If quicklings wish to communicate with other beings, they must take care to speak very slowly. Many quicklings can speak either common, pixie, or halfling, while most of them (85%) can speak true brownie.

Combat: Quicklings are 100% invisible when not moving: When moving they are 90% invisible. In areas where they can move rapidly from cover to cover, like a forest or boulder-strewn field, they can use their speed to make their chance of inivisibility 100%.

Quicklings are far more dangerous in combat than their minute size would lead opponents to believe. This is due primarily to the great speed at which they travel and their tremendous agility. In combat, a quickling can dart about so rapidly that it attacks three times in a single round. In addition, they are visible only as blurs when moving, giving them an excellent Armor Class. Quicklings required to roll a saving throw to avoid damage due to a hostile action do so as if they were 19th-level priests.

In combat, quicklings employ their sleek, needle-like daggers to cause 1d3 points of damage to man-sized or smaller foes and 1d2 to larger ones. Quickling leaders are 75% likely to employ poisoned blades that cause unconsciousness if the victim fails a saving throw vs. poison (must be rolled after each hit).

Quicklings have certain inherent magical powers they can employ at will. Only one power can be active at any given time. Once per day they may invoke the following powers: ventriloquism, forget, levitate, shatter, dig, and fire charm.

Habitat/Society: When the ancestors of the quicklings began to experiment with the dark forces that eventually corrupted them, they had no idea what the effects would be. Where once they were a gentle race of woodland beings, quicklings are now savage hunters and cruel killers. They regard all other humanoids as enemies to be hunted down and killed.

Quicklings live in extended family units, in the same way as buckawns. Each group of quicklings is led by an individual of 3 Hit Dice. Clans with more than ten members have two such leaders, as well as an elder with 4 Hit Dice.

Quicklings dwell in places that are dark and evil. Adventurers have reported encountering them in groves of twisted and wicked-looking trees, near poisoned or cursed springs, and in overgrown areas once ruled by powerful chaotic beings.

As a rule, quicklings avoid contact with the outside world except when it promotes their own evil ends. In some cases, they have been known to deal with other evil races of magical nature (like imps and quasits) or powerful evil wizards and priests. On these occasions, the combination of such forces is a great danger to all good beings in the area.

Ecology: Because of their greatly accelerated metabolism, quicklings are the shortest lived of any sylvan race. They mature less than a year after birth and are considered fully adult by the age of two. Old age sets in at ten years and they often die before they turn 12. No known quickling has ever lived beyond 15 without the aid of powerful magic.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

By the conversion guidelines, they will have a speed of 240 feet. That gives them a +84 Jump modifier from speed alone! :eek:

That means, without rolling and other modifiers, that a quickling can jump 21 feet up. Beware the bouncing balls of death!

(Gleefully imagines a high-level quickling scout/dervish...)
 


Combat: Quicklings are 100% invisible when not moving: When moving they are 90% invisible. In areas where they can move rapidly from cover to cover, like a forest or boulder-strewn field, they can use their speed to make their chance of inivisibility 100%.

A variant on the natural invisibility quality?

Quicklings are far more dangerous in combat than their minute size would lead opponents to believe. This is due primarily to the great speed at which they travel and their tremendous agility. In combat, a quickling can dart about so rapidly that it attacks three times in a single round. In addition, they are visible only as blurs when moving, giving them an excellent Armor Class. Quicklings required to roll a saving throw to avoid damage due to a hostile action do so as if they were 19th-level priests.

Permanently hasted, blurred, and improved evasion?
 

Shade said:
A variant on the natural invisibility quality?
Sound good to me. Maybe it's naturally invisible when standing still, and just has Hide in Plain Sight when moving? Or maybe not. "90% invisible" indicates to me that it's possible to determine where it is, but little else. So, full concealment when moving?

Permanently hasted, blurred, and improved evasion?
Sounds appropriate to me. The "blurred" aspect can probably be folded into the "90% invisible" thing.

Also, what CR are we aiming for, here? I mean, even with low HD, this thing's going to be a nightmare to fight. Especially if it has Spring Attack...

Demiurge out.
 

demiurge1138 said:
Sound good to me. Maybe it's naturally invisible when standing still, and just has Hide in Plain Sight when moving? Or maybe not. "90% invisible" indicates to me that it's possible to determine where it is, but little else. So, full concealment when moving?

Good call on full concealment.


demiurge1138 said:
Sounds appropriate to me. The "blurred" aspect can probably be folded into the "90% invisible" thing.

Good point.

demiurge1138 said:
Also, what CR are we aiming for, here? I mean, even with low HD, this thing's going to be a nightmare to fight. Especially if it has Spring Attack...

...and just imagine the LA. Sick.

I figure we should just assign it the abilities we think it needs, then see how the CR works out. This think will be frightening, and downright awe-inspiring with the right options, like Spring Attack, as you suggested. :]

I really think we should go favored class: scout, since the recent thrend is that referencing non-core material is OK.
 

- invisible when unmoving (would Invisibility Purge work?)

- 100% concealment when moving (assuming one can actual see the thing, would True Strike negate this ability, as it negates misses due to concealment, even though this ability is not "true" concealment?)

- permanent blur (if dispelled, can resume as a free action? or not dispellable?)

- permanent haste (if dispelled, can resume as a free action? or not dispellable?)

- improved evasion

- definitely needs Spring Attack ;)
 

Some things we can mix n' match to arrive at the quickling's near-invisible nature:

Natural Invisibility (Su): This ability is constant, allowing Yan-C-Bin to remain invisible even when attacking. This ability is inherent and not subject to the invisibility purge spell. Yan-C-Bin can, as a free action, use his body to pick up dirt and debris, making himself visible. He can resume his natural invisibility as a free action.

Displacement Spell: "The subject of this spell appears to be about 2 feet away from its true location. The creature benefits from a 50% miss chance as if it had total concealment. However, unlike actual total concealment, displacement does not prevent enemies from targeting the creature normally. True seeing reveals its true location."

Displacement (Su): A light-bending glamer continually surrounds a displacer beast, making it difficult to surmise the creature's true location. Any melee or ranged attack directed at it has a 50% miss chance unless the attacker can locate the beast by some means other than sight. A true seeing effect allows the user to see the beast's position, but see invisibility has no effect.

Hide in Plain Sight (Su): A nathzarune rakshasa can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as she is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, a nathzarune rakshasa can hide itself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. It cannot, however, hide in its own shadow.
 

Another thing to consider for the quickling, from a creature from a recent Dungeon issue:

Alacrity (Su): An earthcancer centipede moves and attacks with supernatural swiftness. It has a +5 haste bonus to its Armor Class, and a +30 ft. enhancement bonus to its land speed and burrow speed. It may make two bite attacks as a standard action.
 

i'm thinking that they have a lot in common with pixies, so similar versions of their greater invisibility (only when motionless) and special arrows (sleep only) abilities should work here. i think invisibility purge would work if it works on pixies also.

blur and improved evasion are worth considering, as would HiPS/full concealment while moving. haste, on the other hand, is far less impressive in 3.5 and we may want to come up with alternatives. in fact, i was *definitely* considering alacrity (granting two extra attacks) as a replacement, when recalling our actaeon conversion. :)
 

Status
Not open for further replies.
Remove ads

Top