Table of Contents
Grimalkin
- Kindred Type: Fairy
- Level 1 PC Age: 1d100 × 10 years
- Lifespan: Immortal
- Height: 2′6″ + 2d6″ (Small)
- Weight: 50 + 3d10 lbs
- Native Languages: Woldish, Mewl
Grimalkins are shape-shifting cat-fairies renowned for their magic of illusion and their love of eating rats. They can take on three different forms, described below. Grimalkins originate in the fairy realm of Catland, ruled over by the fearsome Queen Abyssinia—the Queen of All Cats. Those grimalkins who enter Dolmenwood live as wanderers and adventurers.
Further details: The Dolmenwood Player's Book provides further flavour and background information on grimalkins, including tables for backgrounds, trinkets, and personal details.
Cunning Humanoid Form—Estray
A grimalkin’s normal form is that of a humanoid cat, wearing clothing, speaking, and walking upright. A grimalkin in estray is, by all appearances, a humanoid cat, beautiful or ugly, with fur covering their little body.
Fat Moggy Form—Chester
In chester, a grimalkin resembles a normal cat in all respects—though perhaps fatter than the average mouser. A grimalkin in chester can understand language, but can only respond in wordless yowls and meows.
Fey Predator Form—Wilder
The primal, fey form of a grimalkin. A grimalkin in wilder is difficult to perceive clearly in the mortal world as more than a gleaming pair of deranged, predatory eyes beyond the throw of the lantern’s light.
Names
Grimalkin names tend to be non-gendered. Exceptions (and titles) are listed in the table with male/female variants. It is uncertain whether grimalkins choose such cutesy, whimsical names in earnest or whether they are mocking mortals by forcing them to utter such drivel. It is also not known whether the noble titles claimed by some grimalkins have any truth behind them (though, of course, the bearers of such titles swear to their authenticity).
Naming a character: Either choose a first name and surname from the table below, roll for each, or invent something in a similar vein.
Grimalkin Names
d20 | First Name | Surname |
---|---|---|
1 | Boots | Bobblewhisk |
2 | Fripple | Cottonsocks |
3 | Ginger | Flip-a-tail |
4 | Jack/Jill | Flippancy |
5 | Jaspy | Fluff-a-kin |
6 | Jasqueline | Grimalgrime |
7 | Kitty | Grinser |
8 | Little | Lickling |
9 | Lord/Lady | Milktongue |
10 | Mogget | Mogglin |
11 | Moggle | Poppletail |
12 | Monsieur/Madame | Pouncemouse |
13 | Nibbles | Pusskin |
14 | Penny | Ratbane |
15 | Poppet | Snuffle |
16 | Prince/Princess | Tailwhisk |
17 | Prissy | Tippler |
18 | Tippsy | Whippletongue |
19 | Tomkin | Whipsy |
20 | Toppsy | Whiskers |
Choosing a Class
Grimalkin adventurers are commonly bards, enchanters, hunters, or thieves. It is rare for a grimalkin to be accepted into the ranks of Dolmenwood nobility as a knight. Grimalkins cannot be clerics or friars as they have no spiritual connection with the deities of mortals.
Armour and Weapons
Armour must be tailored to grimalkins’ small size. Likewise, grimalkins cannot wield Large weapons (see Armour and Weapons).
Defensive Bonus
In melee with Large creatures, grimalkins gain a +2 Armour Class bonus, due to their small size.
Eating Giant Rodents
After spending 1 Turn devouring a freshly killed giant rodent, a grimalkin heals 1 Hit Point.
Glamours
Grimalkins possess minor magical talents known as glamours (see Fairy Magic). Each grimalkin knows a single, randomly determined glamour.
Grimalkin Skills
Grimalkins have a Skill Target of 5 for Listen.
Immortality
Grimalkins can be killed but do not die naturally. They are immune to diseases of non-magical origin. Grimalkins also cannot die of thirst or starvation, though a lack of sustenance drives them desperate and sadistic (see Hunger and Thirst).
Magic Resistance
As beings of Fairy, where magic is in the very fabric of things, grimalkins are highly resistant to magic. They gain +2 Magic Resistance (see Magic Resistance).
Shape-Shifting
A grimalkin can spend 1 Round to transform into either a fat domestic cat (chester) or a primal fey form (wilder).
Capabilities: When transformed, a grimalkin cannot use weapons, magic (e.g. glamours or spells), or any special Class capabilities (e.g. thief skills).
Equipment: All gear carried is optionally transformed with the character, reappearing when they return to humanoid form.
Chester (Unlimited Usage)
Combat: The character has Armour Class 12, Speed 30, and may make a bite and two claw attacks each Round. Each attack inflicts 1 point of damage.
Speech: The character can understand language, but can only respond in wordless yowls and meows.
Changing back: Takes 1 Round. Only possible when the grimalkin is unobserved by any other sentient being.
Wilder (Once a Day)
Entering wilder: A grimalkin may only transform into wilder when in melee and at less than half of their maximum Hit Points. On entering wilder, the character heals 2d6 Hit Points.
Near-invisible: Only the grimalkin’s deranged eyes are visible. Opponents who cannot see the invisible suffer a –2 penalty to Attack Rolls against the grimalkin. Those who can see the invisible discern a bulky feline form, 3′ high, with a leering grin and fur standing electrified on end.
Combat: The character has Armour Class 13, Speed 30, and may make a bite and two claw attacks each Round, with a +2 bonus to Attack Rolls. Each attack inflicts 1d4 damage.
Fey chaos: The grimalkin cannot distinguish friend from foe, indiscriminately attacking the nearest creature.
After 2d4 Rounds: The grimalkin instantly returns to their humanoid (estray) form.
Vulnerable to Cold iron
As fairies, cold iron weapons inflict +1 damage on grimalkins. (e.g. a cold iron shortsword would inflict 1d6+1 damage on a grimalkin, rather than the standard 1d6).