Grumpkin (Oroshnik)
Hit Dice: 1d8+5 (9hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 20ft., Fly 30ft. (clumsy) flight is on page 20 of the 3.5e DMG
Armor Class: 17 (+2 size, +1 natural, +4 armor) touch 12, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: �6
Attack: Longspear +3 melee (1d4+1), or net +2 ranged touch (small, tiny, or diminutive target only, entangled)
Full Attack: Longspear +3 melee (1d4+1), or net +2 ranged touch (small, tiny, or diminutive target only, entangled)
Space/Reach: 2.5/2 ft. (1/4), 5ft. with a reach weapon
Special Attacks: Grumpkin traits
Special Qualities: Grumpkin traits, low-light vision
Saves: Fort +4 (+6 vs. disease), Ref +0, Will +1
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Handle animal +2, hide +7, listen +1, spot +1
Feats: Toughness
Environment: Temperate mountains or forests
Organization: Scout, squad (2-4), flight (5-10)
Challenge Rating: 1/2
Treasure: Half standard
Alignment: Usually lawful neutral
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +0
This stony-skinned creature stands just two feet tall. Ribbed, bee-like wings
stand out from its shoulderblades. It wears piecemeal armour covering most of
one side of its body, leaving the muscled arm carrying a barbed spear free. It
also carries a weighted net, but despite the weapons it seems to be trying to
scowl you to death.
Dour creatures that can trace their lineage back to the elemental plane of earth,
grumpkins are not your average, fun-loving fey.
Oroshnik (OH-rowsh-NICK)-grumpkin to the other races-are a fit, quiet race of
potters, farmers, and herbalists. They have drooping, lined faces and umber- or
clay-coloured skin with a texture like sandstone. Their average height is 1'8"-2'2",
but their dense construction contributes to an average weight of 45lbs. When
unfolded, their wings are nearly 4-feet long, and are fragile in comparison to their
bodies. That is just fine with the grumpkins, as they seldom fly. Flying is usually a
tool for making war, and a grumpkin unfolding its wings is akin to warriors
drawing blades. If a job can be done on the solid ground, that is how a grumpkin
will do it. Besides, when compared to most other winged creatures, Grumpkins
are clumsy flyers. Should a healthy grumpkin lose its wings, they regrow over the
course of 1d3 weeks.
Like dwarves, grumpkins have close ties to the earth. Like gnomes, they have
close ties to nature. They make their homes in the trees of ancient forests, or
they carve caves into cliffs. Their communities are ruled over by a clan or tribe
matriarch, but otherwise all their people are equal. They are friends of many
natural creatures, and it's common for rabbits, bears, or even monstrous insects
to share a territory with Grumpkins. Despite their somewhat rude natures,
grumpkins get on well with most other races, even the savage humanoids, and
they are able to withstand a great deal of cultural difference even as they
grumble. Most grumpkins are uncomfortable around creatures native to, or
related to, the elemental plane of air.
Grumpkins are strong, serious, and loyal to their friends (if not vocal about their
loyalty). What they are not is gregarious. Grumpkin "celebrations" are forums for
public complaint, where the one who grumbles longest about the most perceived
issues is usually the life of the party. Their meals of roots and spices are hardy,
nutritious, and often difficult for the other common races to embrace. Fortunately,
it's difficult to insult a grumpkin chef.
In war, grumpkins favor nets, spears, slings, and any other weapons that allow
them to threaten their enemies without entering their squares. Usually a war
party will start combat by throwing nets over prey from the air and then landing,
using their Condense ability to anchor the prey while the rest of the flight stabs it
to death. They are grim and fearless fighters, and strong for their size. While they
are seldom roused to fight, grumpkins always make a difference in battle, landing
at faltering points to help hold a line, or even using their condense abilities while
on the wing to plummet through small ships or wagons like living cannonballs.
Grumpkins speak terran and common, but are as likely to communicate with
grumbling and gestures as with intelligible words.
Combat
way for their allies to achieve victory. They have little to no interest in personal
glory, and hold few ideals about battlefield honor, often counting on going
unnoticed until their longspears set to receive a charge drive home.
Grumpkin Traits (Ex):
Grumpkin possess the following racial traits.- +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex, -2 Cha. Grumpkin are physically hardy and
observant, but ponderous and irretrievably grumpy and apathetic.
- Tiny size. Grumpkins do not threaten squares around them without
reach weapons, and up to four grumpkins (or other tiny-sized
creatures) can occupy the same square. Gear for tiny creatures costs
half as much as medium-sized gear, and weighs one-tenth as much. A
grumpkin's carrying capacity is one-half that of a medium-sized
creature with the same strength score.
- A grumpkin's base land speed is 20 feet, and their insectile wings allow
them to fly at a speed of 30ft. A grumpkin can only fly if it is carrying
less than its light load.
- Condense: As a move action once per day a grumpkin can alter its
body chemistry to make its flesh much more dense than normal. This
ability lasts for one minute and provides the grumpkin with a hardness
of 5 (effectively damage reduction to physical attack forms), a +2
enhancement to its strength score, a +2 bonus to resist being tripped
or bull-rushed, and a +2 bonus to grapple checks. Finally, it multiplies
the grumpkin's weight by a factor of 8. During this time the grumpkin
can not fly, charge, or run. This ability is dismissible, but if dismissed it
is still used up for the day.
- Weapon Familiarity: Grumpkins treat nets of all kinds as martial
weapons, rather than exotic weapons.
- +1 racial bonus to natural armor.
- +1 racial bonus on attack rolls with spears, shortspears, longspears,
glaives, guisarmes, ranseurs, lances, and similar polearms.
- +2 racial bonus on saves vs. disease.
- +2 racial bonus on saves vs. earth spells and effects.
- +2 racial bonus on knowledge: nature and knowledge: the planes checks.
- Fey Blood: For all effects related to race, a grumpkin is considered fey.
- Automatic Languages: Common and Terran. Bonus Languages:
Sylvan, undercommon, ignan, aquan,
- Favoured Class: Druid*
The grumpkin warrior presented here had the following ability scores before
racial adjustments: Str 13, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 8.
