Gremlin, HaniverThis small, bizarre humanoid creature has finlike wings, strange yellow skin, and tiny black eyes burning with malevolence.Haniver CR 1/2Source Bestiary 4 pg. 143, Pathfinder #25: The Bastards of Erebus pg. 76
XP 200
N Tiny fey (aquatic)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +4DefenseAC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+1 Dex, +2 size)
hp 4 (1d6+1)
Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +2
DR 2/cold iron; SR 11OffenseSpeed 10 ft., fly 20 ft. (average), swim 20 ft.
Melee bite +1 (1d3–1)
Space 2-1/2 ft., Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks misplacement
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +2)
At will—prestidigitation, ventriloquism (DC 12)
1/day—scare (DC 13)StatisticsStr 9, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 12
Base Atk +0; CMB –1; CMD 8
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Disable Device +3, Disguise +5, Fly +5, Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +13, Swim +11; Racial Modifiers +2 Disable Device, +2 Sleight of Hand
Languages Common, Sylvan
SQ amphibiousEcologyEnvironment temperate coasts
Organization solitary, pair, or swarm (4–12)
Treasure incidentalSpecial AbilitiesMisplacement (Su) Hanivers are swift and curious, possessing an uncanny ability to meddle with the possessions of any character whose square they enter. Any time a haniver succeeds at a Sleight of Hand check against a creature, it also rearranges that creature’s possessions. The next time that creature attempts to produce a weapon or item, it finds its possessions misplaced or disarranged; retrieving a stored item or drawing a weapon then requires a standard action instead of a move action (unless the haniver has stolen the item in question). After spending this standard action, the character takes mental inventory and is no longer affected by this ability.
Occasionally, hanivers replace items they’ve stolen or leave their old treasures—seashells, old fish, clumps of sand—in containers or clothing they have rooted through. They do this without any added difficultly to their Sleight of Hand checks.DescriptionHaniver gremlins haunt the stories of sailors and fishing communities, featuring prominently in parables told to naughty children by disapproving parents. A thousand such tales exist, each a variation on a common theme—the gremlins flap up from the sea, startle nasty fishermen or disobedient youths, and make off with their trinkets. Yet as is rarely the case with such tales, nearly every word of these stories—no matter how unlikely or comic— proves near to the truth. Strange, capricious fey creatures that enjoy skimming whitecaps, flipping over solitary horseshoe crabs, and suicidally teasing dolphins and sharks, hanivers endlessly indulge a mad racial curiosity. Such is their obsession that every haniver must know what is under every rock, in every basket, and beneath every hat.
Should they like what they find, they typically attempt to make off with it, clinging to their prize like a beloved heirloom until the next curiosity or shiny treasure catches their attention. Hanivers have no concept of worth, though they know much of desirability, and might hang onto an item they would otherwise discard in moments if another creature—or former owner—expresses desire for it. The gremlins don’t steal out of any sense of maliciousness, but rather out of curiosity and self ishness. The most intelligent occasionally even believe that they’re trading, and leave behind old “treasures”—often strange or natural items that barely fit the description—in place of things they’ve claimed. Regardless, folklore advises those who have something stolen by a haniver to simply abandon it rather than face the frustration of attempting to rescue it—hence the tendency of sailors to blame the hanivers whenever something goes missing.
Hanivers possess flat, leathery bodies with only a few thin bones. Most stand little more than a foot tall and 1-1/2 feet across, and weigh less than 5 pounds.Creatures in "Gremlin" CategorySource Bestiary 2 pg. 141
Well known for their mischievous natures, their nasty senses of humor, and their destructive habits, the fey creatures known as gremlins rightfully earn their reputations as cruel pranksters and sadistic saboteurs. Ranging in size from 3 feet in height down to barely over a foot tall, numerous types of gremlins stalk the world's dark and unseen reaches, tending to linger near thin spots in reality between the Material Plane and the realms of the fey. The smaller a gremlin is, the stronger its ties to the realm of the fey remain, and the stranger and more potent its powers.
Gremlins understand that they lack physical power, and thus are usually encountered in large groups that work together to defend each other and their lair. While all gremlins share certain traits in common, such as a resistance to damage from weapons save those made of cold iron, a cruel and sadistic sense of humor, the ability to use prestidigitation to enhance their mischievous plans, and their slight statures, the single trait that gremlins are most well known for is their ability to break, curse, and otherwise ruin the works of other creatures. Gremlins take great delight in ruining and breaking things, and while each gremlin race has a particular “specialty” (be it magical auras, complex machinery, coordinated tactics, or even luck itself), all gremlins are fascinated by complex devices and intricate social constructs. Nothing pleases a gremlin more than being involved in the collapse of something complex.
Although gremlins originally hailed from the mysterious realm of the fey, they have lived upon the Material Plane for countless generations. In that time, they have become natives of this realm, both in body and soul. Yet not all gremlins have managed to retain their strange powers to disrupt and destroy—the most unfortunate gremlins are not even commonly known as gremlins at all. These bizarre creatures are known as mites. While they retain the gremlin ability to use a few spell-like abilities, mites represent to their fellow gremlins the ultimate shame and horror—a fall into pathetic self-loathing and pitiful cowardice. As a result, gremlins grow particularly sadistic and violent when presented with an opportunity to torment a tribe of mites, abandoning their more subtle methods of disrupting communities and machinery in favor of all-out war, invading mite homes and lairs with tiny knives in hand and murder on their minds. Only mite tribes that have managed to ally themselves with particularly dangerous vermin generally have any chance at all to withstand an invasion of this sort, and most tribes quickly surrender to the gremlins. In some cases, the wholesale act of surrender can cool the gremlins' rage, and the attackers simply take steps to subjugate and enslave the tribe of mites, using them from that point on as a slave class to serve their whims, but in other cases not even the mite tribe's complete surrender can save them.
Against larger creatures, particularly humanoids (whom gremlins particularly love to torment and vex), gremlins adopt a much more subtle approach. Gremlins know that they lack the physical strength to withstand a fight against even the weakest humanoid societies, and thus keep to the shadows when moving through cities and villages. Gremlins seek out regions within urban areas where the “big folk” don't bother to visit often—places like sewers, dumps, graveyards, and abandoned buildings make for perfect gremlin lairs. Once a gremlin tribe establishes itself in the shadows of a humanoid society, it begins its work. Operating in pairs or even alone, the gremlins move out into the society, seeking ways to undo anything that can be undone. If a gremlin can arrange it, it prefers to leave an object, relationship, or situation in such a condition that it may seem stable and undamaged to the casual observer, but falls apart or fails spectacularly the next time it is used or encountered. A gremlin often waits in hiding nearby so it can observe the calamitous results of its mayhem, but takes pains to be well out of reach when such a disaster occurs. Gremlins know that it's not good to be in arm's reach of an angry humanoid once it realizes it's been visited by a gremlin.
In areas where gremlin activity is well established, many societies have developed unique and clever ways to both protect themselves from gremlin-related mayhem and root out the little monsters from their lairs. One common method of dealing with gremlins is to use objects known as gremlin bells. Crafted from bronze, brass, or other semiprecious metals and measuring no more than an inch tall, gremlin bells are hung from delicate chains or silken cords over door frames and windows, or affixed to precious objects. The belief is that the presence of a gremlin bell sickens the creatures and even renders their supernatural and spell-like abilities useless. Strangely enough, many gremlins believe this as well, and even when the gremlin bells aren't magic, gremlins won't risk tinkering with most objects that seem to be warded in such a manner.
Other communities take a much more active path in ridding themselves of gremlins, training small animals like cats, dogs, falcons, or even weasels to seek out and attack gremlins on sight. Tiny trained animals can pursue gremlins into their cramped warrens with ease and, when their claws are fitted with cleverly constructed cold iron spikes, can inflict significant damage on a tribe of these creatures. Many gremlin tribes have learned from such tactics, however, and utilize trained (or not) animals in their own lairs for protection.
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