Special Conversion Thread: Finishing off the fey
- Thread starter Shade
- Start date
Shade
Monster Junkie
Here's the last one Echohawk identified as "Unconverted Fey". And it's a doozy...
Gremlin, Type I
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
NO. APPEARING: 1-11 or more
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVE: 6"
HIT DICE: 1-4 hit points per rank
% IN LAIR: 5%
TREASURE TYPE: S, T, V, X
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral (good tendencies)
SIZE: S (12-20 inches)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: II / 61 + 1/hp
Gremlin, Type II
FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-11 or more
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVE: 6"
HIT DICE: 1-4 hit points per rank
% IN LAIR: 5%
TREASURE TYPE: S, T, V, X
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral (evil tendencies)
SIZE: S (6 inches)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: II / 61 + 1/hp
Distantly related to the pixie, sprite, leprechaun, and other members of the “wee folk”. the gremlin is a natural follower and enforcer of Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will--at the most inopportune time and in the worst possible way.
Gremlins are not native to the AD&D world; they are recent immigrants from our own real world. They first came to our attention during World War I, when they plagued Britain’s Royal Naval Air Service pilots. The poor pilots found themselves targets for such amusing gremlin jokes as drinking a plane’s fuel during reconnaissance flights, plucking wing struts until the wires snapped, and playing teeter-board on the ailerons during a student’s solo. This last resulted in a flight that seemed to be nothing but Immelmann turns and loop-de-loops.
At the time, the Allied pilots did not know what was causing their problems, but they probably blamed the other side. (It is not known if the German forces were also troubled by gremlins, but it is very probable.) It was not until 1922 that gremlins were actually “discovered”. During a routine R.A.F. flight, a pilot called the weather station at Le Bourget Field in Paris for a weather report. He was warned, “Gremlins sur la manche”. His radio then died.
Since then we have become very familiar with gremlin activities. During World War II, gremlins were blamed for overturning a Sunderland bomber while it was patrolling over the Bay of Biscay; changing the positions of the stars in the sky to confuse navigators; shorting out electrical equipment; and generally making things difficult for pilots.
There was a popular belief among airmen that the gremlins had undermined every aerodrome in England and underpinned the runways with hydraulic-jacks. A gremlin kept watch over the jacks and, when a student-pilot was about to come in for a perfect three-point landing, would pull a lever and either raise or lower the runway by 10 feet or so.
Gremlins are very technology-oriented and are fascinated by any new advances in science. Thus, they flew with the planes that dropped the first atomic bombs in 1945 and were present at every nuclear test conducted during the 1950.s. When these nuclear devices exploded, the energies released tore rifts in the space-time fabric. Some of the gremlins observing the explosions were caught in the ensuing vortices and hurled through the rifts, landing in the AD&D world.
Confused at first by the strange circumstances they found themselves in, the gremlins quickly adapted and eventually found certain gates which led back to their original world. They then organized groups of gremlins to migrate to the new world they had discovered.
Every gremlin is either chaotic neutral with good tendencies (Type I) or chaotic neutral with evil tendencies (Type II). In our world, gremlins are believed to be hybrids of the races of dwarf and sprite, with Type II gremlins also exhibiting some influence from lesser demons and imps.
Type I gremlins have been known to help humankind on occasion, at least in our world. A passage on page 466 of Vol. I of the Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend states that “Many times gremlins have banded together to assist a pilot fly home in a small percentage of the plane he was issued only a few hours before.” Type II gremlins, however, take great delight in tricks which seriously injure or even kill their victims.
A Type I gremlin stands about 12 to 20 inches in height and weighs about 17 pounds. Physically, it resembles a North American jackrabbit crossed with a bull terrier. It has been described as having the facial expression “of an A.C. 2 who has just been advised that his 48-hour pass has been cancelled” (Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary, page 465). The Type I gremlin dresses in green breeches and a red jacket, sometimes with ruffles, and wears spats and a top hat. In the AD&D world, this costume may be somewhat different.
Type II gremlins, seen less frequently than their cousins, are usually decked out in aviator.s clothes, wearing black leather suction boots.
Even though individual gremlins are chaotic in behavior, gremlin society is militaristic and strictly organized. Young gremlins, or widgets, live with their parents until they become young males, known as grunts (this is also the lowest rank in the land-arm of the Gremlin Forces), or young females known as fifinellas. They are then inducted into the Gremlin Forces and assigned to whatever division suits them: land, sea, or air.
Land gremlins live in underground burrows similar to those inhabited by halflings. The entrances are concealed or camouflaged to look like the entrance to a giant rat warren or some wild animal’s burrow.
Marine gremlins have webbed feet with fins on the backs of their heels. They have a set of secondary gills which enable them to breathe underwater and live in grottos and undersea caverns.
The spandule is a species of gremlin which lives entirely in the upper reaches of the sky. Spandules either ride on the backs of large flying creatures such as rocs, or live on high mountain peaks.
Starting at the bottom of the heap, the gremlin works his way up through the ranks (see Table 1) until he either perishes in the line of duty or retires. Retired gremlins usually take the rank of Warrant Officer and become specialists.
The ultimate authority among gremlinkind is the Chief, who presides over a council of 10 of the highest-ranking gremlins. The Chief is chosen by the council members from among themselves and rules for a term of somewhere around four years; the council promotes a lower-ranking officer from among the brass to take the seat vacated by the newly-elected Chief. Re-election is possible and has occurred before; one Chief held the post for three terms before illness forced him to retire. Chiefs who are not re-elected will retire and become Inspector-Generals.
Gremlins generally work in groups of two or more, though certain individuals do like to strike out on their own. The most common grouping is the squad, which is led by one of the Sawj classes (see Table 2). The Sawj is the highest rank that nongremlins have ever seen, and a louder, meaner, more ornery and foul-mouthed being never existed. Rumors abound of the existence of Looeys, Cap.ems, Jayjeez, Teks, and other higherranking gremlins, and logic seems to dictate that these ranks exist, but only the gremlins themselves have ever seen them.
Gremlins are amazingly strong (18) for their size, easily rivaling most humans. But they tend to avoid combat, preferring trickery instead. They also have certain natural magical abilities at birth, possibly a genetic holdover from their former magical might during Earth’s younger days. They have both infravision and ultravision. They can turn invisible at will, and can feather fall whenever they wish. They have one peculiarity in this respect: they like to keep their heads pointed downward (toward the ground) when feather falling. Frequently gremlins will form chains, linking arms and feather falling as a group, much the way skydivers form patterns as they fall.
Magic resistance varies according to rank, starting from a basic resistance of 5% for grunts and civilians and increasing by 5% for every two steps in rank up to a maximum of 50% for a Jenrul.
As mentioned previously, gremlins are fascinated by technology. Upon introduction to a magic-based universe, they immediately set about learning the ways of sorcery and have become quite adept at using magic to confound and confuse the victims of their practical jokes.
As widgets, gremlins learn certain magic-user cantrips (see Table 3) which aid them in bedeviling non-gremlins. Upon joining the Forces, gremlins are taught certain higher-level spells (see Table 4) so that they might continue making life more and more miserable for others.
Gremlins are not dependent on spells to carry out their disruptive duties. Since they are able to draw on generations of mechanical and technological knowledge gleaned from gremlin and human experiments, gremlins view magic as simply a supplement, an additional aid to be used only when a task really requires it.
Gremlins find simple pranks to be the best. Some favorites are: tripping people at the top of a darkened stairwell; blowing out a party’s torches just before an encounter with a monster; giving false or inaccurate information by pretending to be the voice of a “magic” mirror or some other object; removing arrowheads from their shafts; and drinking up all the lantern oil a party may be carrying.
Any adult gremlin, regardless of rank, can function as a 5thlevel thief, though generally the only thieving abilities gremlins make use of are moving silently, climbing walls, and picking pockets.
Gremlins do not carry treasure on their persons, and they rarely have magical items. They have no use for gold, jewels, and other such things valued by the other races, though type II gremlins sometimes use gold as a lure. Any magic items picked up are taken to Stores and looked after by the Quartermaster Gremlin. The Quartermaster, a Sawjmayjer, will refuse any attempt to requisition items, forcing gremlins to either steal from Stores (which is considered good practice for their other pranks) or do without.
Of all the other races, gremlins like humans the best. Humans in the AD&D world remind them of the humans back home: natural patsies, to use a gremlin term. Dwarves are another favorite target because of their dour disposition. However, gnomes do not seem to be plagued as much by gremlins, perhaps because gnomes and gremlins seem to share a common attitude; both enjoy a good joke at someone else’s expense. Gremlins are also fond of annoying flying creatures.
Of the different character classes, gremlins especially like bothering magic-users most, mainly because magic-users provide so many opportunities for a gremlin to ply his trade. Thieves are second in popularity for much the same reason. Clerics are third on the list. Gremlins are no respecters of religion, but are very careful not to provoke divine wrath; they do not interfere with healing and resurrection spells and the like.
Fighting men are the least preferred targets of a gremlin. Because of their own military background and the history of relations between gremlinkind and soldiers in our world, gremlins have developed a special fondness for the common warrior and easily identify with him. They are reluctant to play tricks on a fighter when another target is within easy reach. Fighters, however, are not exempt and may find themselves on the receiving end of a gremlin gag if no one else is available.
Sometimes a gremlin will “attach” himself to a character for a period of time. DMs may roll d20 at their option and, if the result matches or exceeds a character.s charisma, the gremlin “likes” the character. Then roll d8, doubling the result, to determine the number of days (2-16) the gremlin will stay with the character. At the end of this time period, the DM may choose to again roll d20 vs. charisma to determine if the gremlin will stay on longer.
During times of war, siege, and other major human and humanoid undertakings, the entire gremlin force will be mobilized to harry both sides. Such mobilization will also include all gremlin support personnel, including a medical corps using clerical healing spells granted by the gods of chaos and mischief.
DMs are advised that not all disasters and mishaps which befall an adventuring party are due to gremlins. At least half of such occurrences are the fault of player characters and/or plain bad luck. If player characters suspect gremlins, by all means the DM should let them wear themselves out looking for them, even if there’s not a gremlin within 50 miles. It makes setting up an encounter with the band of ogres lurking around the corner much easier.
Table 1: Gremlin ranks
Land / Sea / Air
Grunt / Grunt / Grunt
Buck / Pup / Flyboy
Peefsee / Seadog / Ayefcee
Corp / Peeohthree / Sawj
Sawj / Peeohtoo / Stafsawj
Sawjfustclass / Peeohfust / Tek
Massersawj / Seenyerseepeeoh / Cheefsawj
Sawjmayjer / Masserseepeeoh / Massersawj
Sekenlooey / Ansen / Sekenlooey
Looey / Jayjeez / Looey
Cap’em / Looey / Cap’em
Mayjer / Looeyseeoh / Mayjer
Looeychik / Seeoh / Looeychik
Chik / Cap’em / Chik
Brigdeer / Lowadmerl / Brigdeer
Mayjerjenrul / Highadmerl / Mayjerjenrul
Looeyjenrul / Viceadmerl / Looeyjenrul
Jenrul / Admerl / Jenrul
Chief (highest rank, held by election)
Retirement ranks:
Warrant Officer (all ranks)
Inspector General (retired Chiefs only)
Table 2: Levels of command
Name / Numbers / Leader
Squad / 11 (including one medic) / Sawj
Platoon / 40 (including five medics) / Looey
Company / 200* / Cap’em
Battalion / 500-1,200* / Looeychik
Brigade / 3,000-5,000* / Chik
Division / 10,000* / Mayjerjenrul
Corps / 15,000-20,000* / Looeyjenrul
Field Army / 25,000* / Jenrul
* - includes required support personnel.
Table 3: Gremlin cantrips
Useful: Chill, Color, Dampen, Dry, Flavor, Salt, Spice, Sprout (weeds), Tie
Reversed: Curdle, Dirty, Dusty, Hairy, Knot, Ravel, Sour, Spill, Tangle, Tarnish, Wilt
Personal Affecting: Belch, Cough, Giggle, Nod, Scratch, Sneeze, Twitch, Wink, Yawn
Personal: Bee, Bug, Firefinger, Gnats, Mouse, Spider, Tweak, Unlock
Haunting: Footfall, Groan, Moan, Rattle, Tap, Thump, Whistle
Legerdemain: Change, Distract, Hide, Mute
Cantrips are minor magic spells, also referred to as zerolevel spells. Gremlins employ certain cantrips normally available to magic-users; although special cantrips also exist for illusionists, none of those are in the gremlins’ inventory. For detailed information on the gremlin cantrips listed above, see the original articles in From the Sorceror‘s Scroll, issues #59 and #60 of DRAGON® Magazine, or the reprinted articles in the Best of DRAGON® Vol. III anthology.
Table 4: Gremlin spells
First level: Dancing lights, Detect magic, Erase, Push, Ventriloquism
Second level: Audible glamer, Fools gold, Pyrotechnics, Scare, Shatter, Stinking cloud, Invisibility
Third level: Dispel magic, Gust of wind, Phantasmal force, Suggestion, Tongues (reverse)
Fourth level: Confusion, Fumble, Hallucinatory terrain
Fifth level: Teleport
Sixth level: Control weather, Move earth
Seventh level: Reverse gravity
Eighth level: Incendiary cloud, Maze, Otto’s irresistible dance
Ninth level: Time stop
See p. 26 of the Players Handbook, “Spells usable by class and level --magic-users,” for the number of spells a gremlin of a certain rank (level) is able to use. Grunts are always 1st level; jenruls and admerls are level 18.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #79 (1983).
Gremlin, Type I
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
NO. APPEARING: 1-11 or more
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVE: 6"
HIT DICE: 1-4 hit points per rank
% IN LAIR: 5%
TREASURE TYPE: S, T, V, X
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral (good tendencies)
SIZE: S (12-20 inches)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: II / 61 + 1/hp
Gremlin, Type II
FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-11 or more
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVE: 6"
HIT DICE: 1-4 hit points per rank
% IN LAIR: 5%
TREASURE TYPE: S, T, V, X
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic neutral (evil tendencies)
SIZE: S (6 inches)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: II / 61 + 1/hp
Distantly related to the pixie, sprite, leprechaun, and other members of the “wee folk”. the gremlin is a natural follower and enforcer of Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will--at the most inopportune time and in the worst possible way.
Gremlins are not native to the AD&D world; they are recent immigrants from our own real world. They first came to our attention during World War I, when they plagued Britain’s Royal Naval Air Service pilots. The poor pilots found themselves targets for such amusing gremlin jokes as drinking a plane’s fuel during reconnaissance flights, plucking wing struts until the wires snapped, and playing teeter-board on the ailerons during a student’s solo. This last resulted in a flight that seemed to be nothing but Immelmann turns and loop-de-loops.
At the time, the Allied pilots did not know what was causing their problems, but they probably blamed the other side. (It is not known if the German forces were also troubled by gremlins, but it is very probable.) It was not until 1922 that gremlins were actually “discovered”. During a routine R.A.F. flight, a pilot called the weather station at Le Bourget Field in Paris for a weather report. He was warned, “Gremlins sur la manche”. His radio then died.
Since then we have become very familiar with gremlin activities. During World War II, gremlins were blamed for overturning a Sunderland bomber while it was patrolling over the Bay of Biscay; changing the positions of the stars in the sky to confuse navigators; shorting out electrical equipment; and generally making things difficult for pilots.
There was a popular belief among airmen that the gremlins had undermined every aerodrome in England and underpinned the runways with hydraulic-jacks. A gremlin kept watch over the jacks and, when a student-pilot was about to come in for a perfect three-point landing, would pull a lever and either raise or lower the runway by 10 feet or so.
Gremlins are very technology-oriented and are fascinated by any new advances in science. Thus, they flew with the planes that dropped the first atomic bombs in 1945 and were present at every nuclear test conducted during the 1950.s. When these nuclear devices exploded, the energies released tore rifts in the space-time fabric. Some of the gremlins observing the explosions were caught in the ensuing vortices and hurled through the rifts, landing in the AD&D world.
Confused at first by the strange circumstances they found themselves in, the gremlins quickly adapted and eventually found certain gates which led back to their original world. They then organized groups of gremlins to migrate to the new world they had discovered.
Every gremlin is either chaotic neutral with good tendencies (Type I) or chaotic neutral with evil tendencies (Type II). In our world, gremlins are believed to be hybrids of the races of dwarf and sprite, with Type II gremlins also exhibiting some influence from lesser demons and imps.
Type I gremlins have been known to help humankind on occasion, at least in our world. A passage on page 466 of Vol. I of the Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend states that “Many times gremlins have banded together to assist a pilot fly home in a small percentage of the plane he was issued only a few hours before.” Type II gremlins, however, take great delight in tricks which seriously injure or even kill their victims.
A Type I gremlin stands about 12 to 20 inches in height and weighs about 17 pounds. Physically, it resembles a North American jackrabbit crossed with a bull terrier. It has been described as having the facial expression “of an A.C. 2 who has just been advised that his 48-hour pass has been cancelled” (Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary, page 465). The Type I gremlin dresses in green breeches and a red jacket, sometimes with ruffles, and wears spats and a top hat. In the AD&D world, this costume may be somewhat different.
Type II gremlins, seen less frequently than their cousins, are usually decked out in aviator.s clothes, wearing black leather suction boots.
Even though individual gremlins are chaotic in behavior, gremlin society is militaristic and strictly organized. Young gremlins, or widgets, live with their parents until they become young males, known as grunts (this is also the lowest rank in the land-arm of the Gremlin Forces), or young females known as fifinellas. They are then inducted into the Gremlin Forces and assigned to whatever division suits them: land, sea, or air.
Land gremlins live in underground burrows similar to those inhabited by halflings. The entrances are concealed or camouflaged to look like the entrance to a giant rat warren or some wild animal’s burrow.
Marine gremlins have webbed feet with fins on the backs of their heels. They have a set of secondary gills which enable them to breathe underwater and live in grottos and undersea caverns.
The spandule is a species of gremlin which lives entirely in the upper reaches of the sky. Spandules either ride on the backs of large flying creatures such as rocs, or live on high mountain peaks.
Starting at the bottom of the heap, the gremlin works his way up through the ranks (see Table 1) until he either perishes in the line of duty or retires. Retired gremlins usually take the rank of Warrant Officer and become specialists.
The ultimate authority among gremlinkind is the Chief, who presides over a council of 10 of the highest-ranking gremlins. The Chief is chosen by the council members from among themselves and rules for a term of somewhere around four years; the council promotes a lower-ranking officer from among the brass to take the seat vacated by the newly-elected Chief. Re-election is possible and has occurred before; one Chief held the post for three terms before illness forced him to retire. Chiefs who are not re-elected will retire and become Inspector-Generals.
Gremlins generally work in groups of two or more, though certain individuals do like to strike out on their own. The most common grouping is the squad, which is led by one of the Sawj classes (see Table 2). The Sawj is the highest rank that nongremlins have ever seen, and a louder, meaner, more ornery and foul-mouthed being never existed. Rumors abound of the existence of Looeys, Cap.ems, Jayjeez, Teks, and other higherranking gremlins, and logic seems to dictate that these ranks exist, but only the gremlins themselves have ever seen them.
Gremlins are amazingly strong (18) for their size, easily rivaling most humans. But they tend to avoid combat, preferring trickery instead. They also have certain natural magical abilities at birth, possibly a genetic holdover from their former magical might during Earth’s younger days. They have both infravision and ultravision. They can turn invisible at will, and can feather fall whenever they wish. They have one peculiarity in this respect: they like to keep their heads pointed downward (toward the ground) when feather falling. Frequently gremlins will form chains, linking arms and feather falling as a group, much the way skydivers form patterns as they fall.
Magic resistance varies according to rank, starting from a basic resistance of 5% for grunts and civilians and increasing by 5% for every two steps in rank up to a maximum of 50% for a Jenrul.
As mentioned previously, gremlins are fascinated by technology. Upon introduction to a magic-based universe, they immediately set about learning the ways of sorcery and have become quite adept at using magic to confound and confuse the victims of their practical jokes.
As widgets, gremlins learn certain magic-user cantrips (see Table 3) which aid them in bedeviling non-gremlins. Upon joining the Forces, gremlins are taught certain higher-level spells (see Table 4) so that they might continue making life more and more miserable for others.
Gremlins are not dependent on spells to carry out their disruptive duties. Since they are able to draw on generations of mechanical and technological knowledge gleaned from gremlin and human experiments, gremlins view magic as simply a supplement, an additional aid to be used only when a task really requires it.
Gremlins find simple pranks to be the best. Some favorites are: tripping people at the top of a darkened stairwell; blowing out a party’s torches just before an encounter with a monster; giving false or inaccurate information by pretending to be the voice of a “magic” mirror or some other object; removing arrowheads from their shafts; and drinking up all the lantern oil a party may be carrying.
Any adult gremlin, regardless of rank, can function as a 5thlevel thief, though generally the only thieving abilities gremlins make use of are moving silently, climbing walls, and picking pockets.
Gremlins do not carry treasure on their persons, and they rarely have magical items. They have no use for gold, jewels, and other such things valued by the other races, though type II gremlins sometimes use gold as a lure. Any magic items picked up are taken to Stores and looked after by the Quartermaster Gremlin. The Quartermaster, a Sawjmayjer, will refuse any attempt to requisition items, forcing gremlins to either steal from Stores (which is considered good practice for their other pranks) or do without.
Of all the other races, gremlins like humans the best. Humans in the AD&D world remind them of the humans back home: natural patsies, to use a gremlin term. Dwarves are another favorite target because of their dour disposition. However, gnomes do not seem to be plagued as much by gremlins, perhaps because gnomes and gremlins seem to share a common attitude; both enjoy a good joke at someone else’s expense. Gremlins are also fond of annoying flying creatures.
Of the different character classes, gremlins especially like bothering magic-users most, mainly because magic-users provide so many opportunities for a gremlin to ply his trade. Thieves are second in popularity for much the same reason. Clerics are third on the list. Gremlins are no respecters of religion, but are very careful not to provoke divine wrath; they do not interfere with healing and resurrection spells and the like.
Fighting men are the least preferred targets of a gremlin. Because of their own military background and the history of relations between gremlinkind and soldiers in our world, gremlins have developed a special fondness for the common warrior and easily identify with him. They are reluctant to play tricks on a fighter when another target is within easy reach. Fighters, however, are not exempt and may find themselves on the receiving end of a gremlin gag if no one else is available.
Sometimes a gremlin will “attach” himself to a character for a period of time. DMs may roll d20 at their option and, if the result matches or exceeds a character.s charisma, the gremlin “likes” the character. Then roll d8, doubling the result, to determine the number of days (2-16) the gremlin will stay with the character. At the end of this time period, the DM may choose to again roll d20 vs. charisma to determine if the gremlin will stay on longer.
During times of war, siege, and other major human and humanoid undertakings, the entire gremlin force will be mobilized to harry both sides. Such mobilization will also include all gremlin support personnel, including a medical corps using clerical healing spells granted by the gods of chaos and mischief.
DMs are advised that not all disasters and mishaps which befall an adventuring party are due to gremlins. At least half of such occurrences are the fault of player characters and/or plain bad luck. If player characters suspect gremlins, by all means the DM should let them wear themselves out looking for them, even if there’s not a gremlin within 50 miles. It makes setting up an encounter with the band of ogres lurking around the corner much easier.
Table 1: Gremlin ranks
Land / Sea / Air
Grunt / Grunt / Grunt
Buck / Pup / Flyboy
Peefsee / Seadog / Ayefcee
Corp / Peeohthree / Sawj
Sawj / Peeohtoo / Stafsawj
Sawjfustclass / Peeohfust / Tek
Massersawj / Seenyerseepeeoh / Cheefsawj
Sawjmayjer / Masserseepeeoh / Massersawj
Sekenlooey / Ansen / Sekenlooey
Looey / Jayjeez / Looey
Cap’em / Looey / Cap’em
Mayjer / Looeyseeoh / Mayjer
Looeychik / Seeoh / Looeychik
Chik / Cap’em / Chik
Brigdeer / Lowadmerl / Brigdeer
Mayjerjenrul / Highadmerl / Mayjerjenrul
Looeyjenrul / Viceadmerl / Looeyjenrul
Jenrul / Admerl / Jenrul
Chief (highest rank, held by election)
Retirement ranks:
Warrant Officer (all ranks)
Inspector General (retired Chiefs only)
Table 2: Levels of command
Name / Numbers / Leader
Squad / 11 (including one medic) / Sawj
Platoon / 40 (including five medics) / Looey
Company / 200* / Cap’em
Battalion / 500-1,200* / Looeychik
Brigade / 3,000-5,000* / Chik
Division / 10,000* / Mayjerjenrul
Corps / 15,000-20,000* / Looeyjenrul
Field Army / 25,000* / Jenrul
* - includes required support personnel.
Table 3: Gremlin cantrips
Useful: Chill, Color, Dampen, Dry, Flavor, Salt, Spice, Sprout (weeds), Tie
Reversed: Curdle, Dirty, Dusty, Hairy, Knot, Ravel, Sour, Spill, Tangle, Tarnish, Wilt
Personal Affecting: Belch, Cough, Giggle, Nod, Scratch, Sneeze, Twitch, Wink, Yawn
Personal: Bee, Bug, Firefinger, Gnats, Mouse, Spider, Tweak, Unlock
Haunting: Footfall, Groan, Moan, Rattle, Tap, Thump, Whistle
Legerdemain: Change, Distract, Hide, Mute
Cantrips are minor magic spells, also referred to as zerolevel spells. Gremlins employ certain cantrips normally available to magic-users; although special cantrips also exist for illusionists, none of those are in the gremlins’ inventory. For detailed information on the gremlin cantrips listed above, see the original articles in From the Sorceror‘s Scroll, issues #59 and #60 of DRAGON® Magazine, or the reprinted articles in the Best of DRAGON® Vol. III anthology.
Table 4: Gremlin spells
First level: Dancing lights, Detect magic, Erase, Push, Ventriloquism
Second level: Audible glamer, Fools gold, Pyrotechnics, Scare, Shatter, Stinking cloud, Invisibility
Third level: Dispel magic, Gust of wind, Phantasmal force, Suggestion, Tongues (reverse)
Fourth level: Confusion, Fumble, Hallucinatory terrain
Fifth level: Teleport
Sixth level: Control weather, Move earth
Seventh level: Reverse gravity
Eighth level: Incendiary cloud, Maze, Otto’s irresistible dance
Ninth level: Time stop
See p. 26 of the Players Handbook, “Spells usable by class and level --magic-users,” for the number of spells a gremlin of a certain rank (level) is able to use. Grunts are always 1st level; jenruls and admerls are level 18.
Originally appeared in Dragon Magazine #79 (1983).
Cleon
Legend
Ouch!
I remember these, they seem an awful lot of trouble for what is essentially a joke monster.
Actually they're not that hard a conversion as they first appear, since they've just got a couple of SLAs and Su abilities plus standard spellcasting.
Just have them cast spells as sorcerers with a level equal to their HD, and give a "favoured spell list".
There seems little need to do two separate conversions, since the differences between Type I and Type II gremlins is in their society and appearance.
Statwise they've got Supernatural Strength - do we want to give them the full 18 or cut it down?
An 18 Strength in AD&D gave a +1 to hit and +2 damage, so I'm tempted to cut their Strength to 14-15, which is still pretty hefty for a foot tall fey!
I'm thinking something like the following:
Gremlin
Tiny Fey (Extraplanar).
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 16, +1 natural
I remember these, they seem an awful lot of trouble for what is essentially a joke monster.
Actually they're not that hard a conversion as they first appear, since they've just got a couple of SLAs and Su abilities plus standard spellcasting.
Just have them cast spells as sorcerers with a level equal to their HD, and give a "favoured spell list".
There seems little need to do two separate conversions, since the differences between Type I and Type II gremlins is in their society and appearance.
Statwise they've got Supernatural Strength - do we want to give them the full 18 or cut it down?
An 18 Strength in AD&D gave a +1 to hit and +2 damage, so I'm tempted to cut their Strength to 14-15, which is still pretty hefty for a foot tall fey!
I'm thinking something like the following:
Gremlin
Tiny Fey (Extraplanar).
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 16, +1 natural
Cleon
Legend
At the moment, that all sounds spot on.
Come to think of it, a Dex of 18 would give them AC17, significantly higher than their listed AD&D AC. I've cut the Dexterity and NA to match its AC to the original stats, but I'd be OK raising it again - they might need a high AC when facing furious PCs!
How about this for a start, with much of it based on various Sprites:
Gremlin
Tiny fey (Extraplanar)
Hit Dice: 1d6 (3 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 20 ft (4 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (+2 size, +3 Dex), touch 15, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-6
Attack: Weapon +4 melee (X +2)
Attack: Weapon +4 melee (X +2)
Space/Reach: 2½ ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, spells
Special Qualities: Darkvision, low-light vision, spell resistance CR+X
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +5, Will +4
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 16
Skills: 28 ranks [Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Open Locks, Spot all seem appropriate]
Feats: 1
Environment: Any
Organization: solitary, squad (5-10 plus one sawj) or platoon (20-40 plus 1 looey and 4 sawjes) [didn't want to go all the way up to a field army!]
Challenge Rating: ?
Treasure: ?
Alignment: Always Chaotic, often neutral ?
Advancement: By character class (sorcerer)
Level Adjustment: +4 ?
Spells: A gremlin casts spells as a 1st-level sorcerer.
It can choose its spells known from the sorcerer list and from the lists for the Artifice, Chaos and Trickery domains. The cleric spells and domain spells are considered arcane spells for a gremlin, meaning that the creature does not need a divine focus to cast them. [I'm not sure about the Chaos domain]
Spell-Like Abilities—at will: feather fall, invisibility (self only). Caster level 8th.
Skills: Some racial bonus in Climb, Disable Device or Move Silently might go well.
Cleon
Legend
Oh, and before I forget, we had better modify the name since there's already a Gremlin in the 2E AD&D Monstrous Manual (three of which originally appeared in the MC5 Greyhawk Monstrous Compendium).
There's five different varieties of Gremlin in the MM, but they're quite different from the Dragon #79 one, being "small, winged goblinoids" without any spell abilities.
There's five different varieties of Gremlin in the MM, but they're quite different from the Dragon #79 one, being "small, winged goblinoids" without any spell abilities.
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