Fianyarr Race: Gremlin



Their sweeter than they look.
(Castlevania: Lords of Shadow)

Campaign World: Fianyarr.

Nicknames: Inventor, little wrecker, goblin.

Origins: Not all of the First were aboveground when the bridge was sundered between the world and the heavens.  The First that became the gremlins were hidden belowground in the caves and warrens below the earth and they wondered at what they found there. 

When they felt the bridge breaking, they didn't return to the surface right away and instead adapted to the tight spaces and beautiful places beneath so much rock.  By the time they had ventured to the surface, they had learned to rely on inventions to get by and had many fabulous things to show people.

Demeanor: The gremlins may be ugly but they aren't cruel.  Gremlins are inventive and creative and love talking about the endless possibilities inherent in science, philosophy and the arts.  They are capable of great patience and reliability and are often in great demand for activities that require fine craftsmanship.  Still, other than a natural inventive and creative streak, there are as much difference between any two gremlins as there can be between members of the other races.

Rumors: Other races know that gremlins are far more interested in talking to people, especially people who are highly intelligent or otherwise strange and bizarre, than killing them.  In fact, they're probably the least warlike of all the mortal races though they are perfectly capable of protecting themselves.  It's also known that they no longer keep to the caves and have spread out to pretty much every corner of the globe.  Other societies often do try to find gremlin guides if they do have reason to explore the caves, however.

In other lands, gremlins are judged by their admittedly unattractive and rather frightening appearances.  People react to them like monsters and, in some cases, that has led them to become monsters in defense of themselves considering all that which had come before.  This isn't always the case, however, as sometimes the gremlins hide themselves away using a variety of contraptions and the other races don't even know they are there.

Racial Abilities

Attribute Bonus: +1 to Intelligence and Dexterity.

Small Size: -1 Size (which also affects Health and Speed) as they are rarely taller than four feet.

Weakness: Gremlins take a -1 penalty to their Persuasion and Socialize rolls with the other races as their ugly and rather suspicious looking appearances cause people to doubt their words on an instinctive nature.  Besides which, gremlins have a particular smell which, while not particularly unpleasant, is musky enough that it bothers people.

Inventive Genius
The gremlin can spend a point of Glamour to gain an 9-again on Crafts and Science rolls involving mechanisms and devices (Changeling Inventors Kith: Victorian Lost page 22).

Heatvision
Gremlins can spend a point of Glamour to see heat signatures for a single scene (Changeling custom kith).
Tappingspeak
So much time spent underground have caused the gremlins to put a lot of effort into learning how to send and notice coded messages passed through vibrations in the ground.  A gremlin may spend a Glamour to send such a coded message which is automatically received by the target who knows the code (Changeling Miner Kith: Winter Masques 96).

Gremlinising Touch
A Gremlin can spend a point of Glamour once per day while touching a device to negate any equipment penalties for a single scene.  This can also be used on weapons to ignore any penalties caused by poor design or shoddy materials (Changeling Gremlin Kith: Winter Masques page 110).

Racially Restricted Merit
(* to *****) Spelunking: Gremlins' experience in caves means that they have adapted to its depths and its darkness and thus it is so much easier for them to learn this movement style and may purchase it at the regular (2x cost) rather than the restricted (4x cost) for those of other races.  If this merit is also provided by the gremlin's class, they may purchase each dot as though it were 1 experience point cheaper (thus the cost of the first dot would be 1xp and the 2nd dot would be 3xp).