Leprechaun

Converted by: Patrick McCormick ([email protected])

                Leprechauns are a very strange and rare race in this world.  Those lucky enough to see these small creatures usually only get a short glimpse of them for a few seconds before they scurry off into hiding.  They are friendly to every non-hostile person who comes by, but their paranoid nature and greed make them nervous around small bands of unfamiliar faces.

Personality:  Leprechauns love to do nothing.  They despise any kind of physical labor and even giving directions to a lost traveler can upset their relaxed lifestyle.  They crave particular goods like gold, wine and tobacco.  Non-leprechauns think their love of gold is a silly fascination, but others believe that they collect the treasure in order to make sacrifices to their sylvan deities.

                Leprechauns also have a strange fondness of borderlines.  They like to be in places where opposites meet together or are mixed.  This also applies to times when they are the most active.  Certain examples are shorelines, twilight, and equinoxes.  The reason for this is lost to other cultures, but Leprechauns hold these borderlines with awe and respect.

Physical Description: Leprechauns stand about 2 feet tall and weight around 20 pounds.  Their skin ranges from fair to dark tan in color.  They often have coarse red or red-brown hair and their eyes are typically green, blue or gray.   Leprechauns are faerie folk, so they share some of the common features of pointed ears and fine facial features.  Male Leprechauns pride their long beards.  They wear mostly earth tones; their clothes will include many greens, browns and grays.  They reach adult hood around the age of 60 and can live for 600 or even 700 years.

                Relations:  Leprechauns get along well with elves, halflings, gnomes, and other faerie and sylvan folk.  They tend to dislike most dwarfs and humans, but are willing to give individuals a chance, especially if they had made friends with friendly races.  They find dwarfs and humans to be greedy in nature, and see them as a threat to their collections of gold.  They can’t tell the difference between half-orcs and humans.

                Alignment: Most Leprechauns follow a true neutral alignment.  They feel that every situation calls for a different judgement and don’t like to make choices before all the facts are laid out.  Some leprechauns have good tendencies though and may follow a neutral (and sometimes chaotic good).  Leprechauns despise artificial law however and will never be lawful.  The rare leprechaun, those called red caps, will have evil tendencies.  This variety of Leprechaun is extremely rare and bestial; they have no control over their own selves and being a menace to nature.

                Leprechaun Lands: Leprechauns rarely group together into settlements.  They respect the territory of other Leprechauns in the area, and will happily cross over to drink and visit.  The only times a Leprechaun will form a group or organization is for family structure.  A small number of Leprechaun couples (often 4 to 6 pairs) will settle together when they have children and raise them as a large collective family.  These settlements are often very well hidden and well protected until the children grow old enough to be set out on their own.  The adults will spread out once again to live separately after this “settling period”.

                Leprechauns will avoid human and dwarf cites and towns unless they have to.  They may visit or travel through other race settlements whose companies they enjoy, but will never stay for long.

                Religion: Leprechauns follow the same god as the gnomes.  Though, they believe the gnomes “stole” the god from them, they don’t hold it against them.  Though they can hardly help rolling their eyes or giggling whenever a fellow gnome prays.

                Language: Leprechauns speak Sylvan among their kind.  They don’t pretend to call it their own tongue though, they just developed a strong liking to the language over time.  Some old leprechauns or leprechaun scholars might know or remember the Leprechaun’s own unique language.  Those bilingual leprechauns tend to prefer speaking Sylvan because it sounds less guttural, but write in the ancient Leprechaun language because it has a strong variety to its words.

                Names: Leprechauns have no name until they are old enough to choose one.  They don’t hold value to their name as much as other races, and hold no clan or family name because of their lack of structure.  They tend to forget others’ names often and will just call them by whatever calls their attention.  If there is only one of a certain race in the vicinity they might just call them by whatever they are.  Many leprechauns take delight in the irony of calling dwarfs “Shorty”, but others fail to appreciate this subtle humor.

                Male Names: Bink, Dip, Halk, Gelp, Jink, Pip, Scat, and Wirt

                Female Names: Ahn, Cahre, Gil, and Winn

                Adventurers: Leprechauns adventure either to promote good, reduce boredom, or to find gold.

Leprechaun Racial Traits

 

· +2 Dexterity and Charisma, -2 Strength and Constitution: Leprechauns are quick and witty because of their size and charming personalities.  However, they tend to be weak and lack stability in their health.

· Small: As a small race Leprechauns get the standard +1 to AC and a +4 size bonus to their hide skill.  Their carrying limit is ¾ that of medium-sized races.

· Leprechaun base speed is 30 feet (they move much faster compared to other small races).

· Special Abilities: Leprechauns get the ability to go invisible or use ventriloquism (12th level of ability) 5 times per day as a spell-like ability.  Also, a leprechaun may create illusions as Silent Image (12th level of ability) once per day per level.

· +4 racial bonus on pickpocket checks when the item in question is small (10 pounds or less, less than 2 feet long).

· Leprechauns never engage in physical combat, and never carry weapons.  If they break their sacred oath they have a chance (DM choice) to become a red cap (evil leprechaun).  A red cap has so much rage that they lose all ability of free will, and randomly spread malice wherever they go.  PCs lose the ability to control the character if they ever succumb to being a red cap.

· Automatic Languages: Common and Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Leprechaun, Halfling, Elven, and Gnomish.

· Favored Class: Illusionist