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Brownie

by Jamie Baty

DMR2 17, PC1 27
Small Fey (Faerie)
Hit Dice: 2d6 (7 hp)
Initiative: +3 (+3 Dex)
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armour Class: 14 (+1 size, +3 Dex), touch 13, flat-footed 10
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/ -3
Attack: Small dagger +5 melee (1d3 -1)
Full Attack: Small dagger +5 melee (1d3 -1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Communicate with Animals, Faerie traits, low-light vision
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +6, Will +3
Abilities: Str 8, Dex 17, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8
Skills: Craft (any one) +4, Hide +12, Listen +3, Move Silently +8, Profession (Domestic Servant) +5, Spot +3, Use Magic Device +8
Feats: Dodge
Environment: Any forests, hills
Organisation: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 1/2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always lawful good
Advancement: by character class
Level Adjustment: +1

The brownie, a homely being of about 2 and a half feet in height, is the most common household sidheog. His name comes from the reputation of wearing brown hoods and cloaks. All known brownies have been males, and there are quite possibly no female brownies.
Most brownies are settled creatures, attached to a specific household, usually one near or in woodlands, and almost never in a town or city. They help the occupants by doing household chores, such as sweeping, cleaning, churning, and threshing, late at night. They do this without asking for anything in return; indeed it would be the height of rudeness to offer the brownie anything resembling a wage for their work.
Most households do leave out small treats as gifts for the brownies, usually based on the brownies favourite titbits: bowls of cream, and special cakes spread with honey. These little gifts, along with praise for his kind work is all that is needed to keep a brownie happy. Brownies will usually become troublesome in a household if his work is criticised or if low quality gifts are left for him. If given any item of clothing, the brownie will immediately leave- the brownie interpreting it as being paid a wage as hired help, or worse, that he is being treated as a criminal (who are often punished by having to work in a mortal household until given clothes for their work.)
Not all brownies are household guardians, though that is their best-known role. They will also guard treasures. Often people will say a little incantation and leave a gift when burying treasure, hoping a brownie will hear and take it under its protection.
Brownies speak Sylvan, Fairy, Halfling and the predominant local language. They can speak with animals as well. They may also know Common, Elven, Gnomish and other local languages.

Combat
Brownies will fight to protect the both the property and lives of those it has taken under its protection. They may use any simple weapons, and armour if proficient from class levels.

Communicate with Animals (Ex): A brownie may communicate with animals as if he were permanently under the effect of a speak with animals spell.

Faerie Traits: As a Faerie, brownies have the following traits:
• Invisibility to Mortals (Sp): All faeries may become invisible to mortals at will as a standard action. This is the same as the invisibility spell except that creatures with second sight can see the subject normally.
• Second Sight (Ex): This is the ability common to all faeries and some mortals to be able to recognise a fey creature's true form even when invisible to mortals, polymorphed or shapechanged.
• Immunity to Normal Disease (Ex): Faeries are immune to all normal diseases but may still be affected by magical diseases such as mummy rot.
• Immortality (Ex): Faeries do not grow old. Death is merely a change in the cycle of their existence in which they become reborn as another faerie (in 0-999 years time).
• Holy Aversion (Ex): Faeries take 1d4 damage from Holy Water (no splash damage) and are made uncomfortable and tend to avoid Holy Symbols, Prayers or the names of the Immortals.
• Faeries cannot normally cast divine magic but, in the unlikely event that they would look for and find an immortal willing to accept them, they could trade all of the above traits for the opportunity to become a follower of that immortal.

Skills: Brownies have a +4 racial bonus to all Use Magic Device checks.

Brownies as Characters
Brownies have a favoured class of expert. A brownie's role a guardian and helper in a household requires it to be versatile and skilled. Brownies also do well as fighters, rogues, and occasionally bards. They also may pursue the arcane arts as sorcerers and wizards. Brownies are unable to use divine magic, and are never clerics, druids, paladins or other divine magic-based classes.

Brownie Racial Traits
• -2 Str, +6 Dex, -2 Cha
• Small size. +1 bonus to Armour Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits 3/4 those of Medium characters.
• Space/Reach: 5'/5'
• Base move 30'.
• Lowlight Vision
• Racial Hit Dice: A brownie begins with two levels of fey, which provide 2d6 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +1, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +0, Ref +3, and Will +3.
• Racial Skills: A brownie's fey levels give it skill points equal to 5 × (6 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Craft (any one), Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Profession (any one), Spot, and Use magic Device.
• Racial Feats: A brownie's fey levels give it one feats.
• Proficient with simple weapons
• Special Qualities (see above): Communicate with animals, Faerie Traits.
• Brownies have a +4 racial bonus to all Use Magic Device skill checks.
• Automatic Languages: Fairy, Sylvan, Halfling, local language, communicate with animals. Bonus Languages: Common, Elven, Gnomish, and other local languages.
• Favoured Class: Expert.
• Level Adjustment: +1.