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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GnomeWorks" data-source="post: 1801508" data-attributes="member: 162">Oops, forgot to do gremlins...-----GremlinsGremlins are small creatures that have an innate affinity for technology.  They often pester places where technological advances are made, ripping devices to shreds and using tools and parts as weapons.  They are the vultures of technology, feeding off the junkyards that other races produce as they advance.   A gremlin stands at roughly three feet tall, weighing around 30 to 40 pounds.  Its eyes are black or dark brown, but shine with an unusual intelligence.  A gremlin's skin is usually a dark color, ranging from grey to brown; usually, all the members of a given tribe have roughly the same skin tone.  Gremlins often wear the discarded garb of mechanics and technologists, which is often soiled and covered in oil and soot.   Gremlins speak Gremlin and Common; those with higher intelligence often study Dwarven or Gnome so as to be able to learn more about technology.Personality: A gremlin is inherently curious about his surroundings, and often takes a rather logical outlook on life.  However, as logical as they may be, many gremlins are also slightly supertitious, especially when it comes to their technology - some of their techniques are as much luck as skill.  Their occassional lack of comprehension, however, does nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.  They are similar to goblins in their lack of understanding of privacy.Physical Description: Many gremlins are darker in color, and are often covered in a thin layer of fur that is equally dark.  Their clothing - usually ripped and ragged - is typically full of oil, soot, or ash, depending upon their immediate surroundings and what kind of technology they like to focus on.  Their eyes are slightly larger than one would expect, and they gleam with an unusual intelligence and tenacity.  Their fingers and toes are also slightly longer than normal for a race their size, which allows them to manipulate their environment easier.Relations: Gremlins are scavengers, and are usually treated as such.  They live in slums and the poorer sections of the various technological cities they find themselves in; they are rarely found anywhere else, and if they are they are usually not accepted anywhere in society.  Dwarves find them a particular nuisance, as gremlins have found that dwarves are typically good sources of technology; however, such irritation is usually good-natured, and so long as the gremlins don't get overly curious and invasive, dwarves typically don't mind.Alignment: Gremlins, though focused on an organized subject of study, are usually chaotic; their social structure alone shows this, wherein there isn't a real central power and the gremlins do as they please - however, they are not inherently cruel, and lean towards good more so than evil.Gremlin Lands: Gremlins hole themselves in the earth, typically in caverns close to the surface or in mountains near dwarven holds.  Gremlins don't have a particular homeland, or if they do, they don't speak of it.  They are typically found anywhere where technology is prospering.Religion: Most gremlins follow Jarashi, a little-known Philosophialist deity who praises ingenuity and teaches that new approaches lead one to ascension.  Some gremlins follow other deities, and most who don't follow Jarashi are elendist.Language: Gremlin is a hodge-podge of linguistics; it is a combination of basic goblin, dwarven technical terms, a small subset of gnome dealing with the categorization of knowledge and information, and assembly terminology for advanced technological concepts; given the gremlin outlook, these things have all been modified to fit the needs of the present.  Gremlin is a distinct language - knowing one or all of the base languages gives a character a barely basic vocabulary, much less any idea of gremlin grammatical structure.Names: Gremlin names are usually harsh-sounding and are often technology-related.  Tribal names, used to give a small sense of unity, are usually indicative of what kind of technology the gremlin's tribe is especially interested in.Adventures: The life of a gremlin is typically an adventure: scavenging technology, putting spare parts together in haphazard ways that may or may not explode, and running from those who guard scrapheaps.  Adventuring is just an extension of what the gremlin has been doing all his life; of course, its a much more open existence than the typical gremlin existence, so a gremlin often chooses adventuring to broaden his horizons.CombatGremlins are not normally cruel creatures, and their main goal in life is to learn as much about technology as possible.  Gremlins are not typically combative creatures, but when pressed, they can take up tools and technological parts as weapons, making them unpredictable opponents.  They also make good use of their limited knowledge of devices, placing traps and mines when and where they can to catch an opponent unawares.   Gremlins try to avoid combat if possible, but once engaged, they retreat to their advantage, luring their enemies to where the gremlins can ambush them or where they have laid a trap or mine.  If outnumbered, gremlins tend to flee a fight as soon as possible.   Weapon Familiarity: Gremlins may treat steam weapons (any new exotic weapon listed in DragonMech) as a martial weapon rather than exotic.Device Affinity (Ex): Gremlins are naturally talented in the area of technology.  All gremlins know one 1st-level device and have 2 DPs.  Gremlins do not gain bonus DPs unless they take levels in a technological class that grants them.  These DPs stack with those gained from a technological class, as does the device they automatically know.  A gremlin's student level is 1, unless he has levels in a technological class.   Disassemble (Ex): As a standard action, the gremlin can dismantle a device.  This requires an expenditure of DPs equal to the number of DPs needed to maintain the device.  Dismantling a device requires concentration, and takes 1 round per level of the device (dismantling a 0th-level device takes a standard action).  When finished, the gremlin has supplies that are worth the same amount in gp as it cost to construct the device.  These supplies can be used to build other devices.   Skills: Gremlins have a +2 racial bonus to Disable Device, Open Lock, and Repair checks.   Gremlin SocietyGremlins are often tribal, though they also incorporate elements of the society that they steal supplies from (for example, gremlins who scavenge dwarven technology will have a tribal society that mimics that of dwarves).  Their leaders are often the smartest and brightest of their number, as they are the ones that are capable of bringing new technology to the tribe; however, leadership is an obscure concept to gremlins, and often everyone's opinion is taken into account before action is taken.  Privacy is something beyond them, as is the concept of personal property: everything is available to everyone, in gremlin society.  Gremlins survive by practicing underground agriculture, eating mushrooms and various creatures, though they are not above taking food and other perishable goods on their technology raids, though this is not done maliciously.   Gremlins live where they can eke out an existence underground, usually near an opening to the surface or tunnels leading to a dwarven settlement, if possible, so as to be able to raid the nearest community of technological goods – if there is no technological society near their lair, they often move to a new location where they can scavenge.  Their lairs usually smell due to the lack of sanitation and privacy.   Gremlin bands and tribes have noncombatant young equal in number to the adults.  Young gremlins do not take part in the technological raids, though they do often study technology to a lesser extent.   The chief gremlin deity is Jarashi, who urges his worshipers to study technology and learn what they can.Gremlins as CharactersGremlin leaders tend to be technologists or gunslinger/technologists.  Gremlin clerics follow Jarashi (in the world's pantheon, Jarashi is a Philosophialist faith).  A gremlin cleric has access to two of the following domains: Chaos, Luck, Craft, or Metal.  Most gremlin spellcasters are adepts, though gremlin spellcasters are usually quite rare; they often learn spells that deal with technology.   Gremlin characters have the following racial traits.-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma.Small size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits 3/4 those of Medium characters.A gremlin's base land speed is 20 feet.Darkvision out to 60 feet.+2 racial bonus on Disable Device, Open Lock, and Repair checks.Special Qualities (see above): device affinity, disassemble.Automatic Languages: Common, Gremlin.  Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Gnome.Favored Class: Inventor.</blockquote>

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