Leprechaun Racial Write Up
by Jamie BatyLeprechauns are a race of diminutive fey, known for their crafting and their propensity to hide their treasures.
Personality: Leprechauns are rather unique among the faerie races as they are crafters that create a variety of items that they trade to the other faerie races.
Leprechauns are clever, good-natured, and hardworking by faerie standards. They are attracted to magic, particularly if it can be adapted to aid in crafting.
They do hoard treasure, and as human legends maintain, if they are captured, they will tell their captors the location of their hoard. However, they are under no obligation to help them retrieve it, and will look for ways to escape and complicate any efforts to retrieve it.
Physical Description: Leprechauns average about 9 inches high; they have elfin features such as pointy ears, but are rarely as delicate as sprites, pixies and the like. Otherwise their appearance varies widely: some appear young, some old; some thin, others rotund. Leprechauns known as clurachaun (they tend to wine cellars and breweries) usually appear aged and more dwarvish, though this is not always the case.
Leprechauns are proficient with all simple and martial weapons; they prefer to use longswords. They are proficient with light armour. Outside of combat, they tend to wear green clothing appropriate to their trade.
Relations: Leprechauns tend to have good relations with forest creatures and other faeries. They avoid mortals as much as possible, but don't bear them any ill will.
Since they are primarily involved with manufacturing goods, leprechauns aren't involved in the direct care of nature, but they do loathe evil creatures and those who mistreat the environment, and they will always do their best to hamper such beings.
Alignment: Leprechauns are almost always lawful, and most are good as well.
Leprechaun Lands: Leprechauns are found throughout the Known World wherever the other faerie races can be found. The largest grouping is in the areas of Alfheim and Darokin known as the Dreamlands..
Religion: Like most Faeries, leprechauns do not worship the Immortals. This doesn't mean they are not aware of them or are disrespectful of them, just they do not see them as something to worship.
Language: Leprechauns speak Sylvan, Fairy, Elven Gnomish, and the dominant local language. They can communicate with animals as well. They may also speak Common, Halfling, Dryad, and other local languages.
Names: Leprechaun names are ancient sounding and difficult to pronounce. They are linguistically related to brownie, wood imp and sidhe names. They do not use surnames or clan names.
Male Names: Colm, Glower, Iubadan, Killian, Padraig, Shamus
Female Names: Aine, Doireann, Fionnuala, Liadan, Sinead, Tierney
Adventurers: Leprechauns most often find themselves adventuring for two reasons. The first is to acquire treasure, which they are quite fond of. The second is in the pursuit of magic to aid in their crafting. They will fight to protect their homes, and will join other faeries and forest creatures if the woodlands are threatened.
A leprechaun's favoured class is expert and sorcerer. Leprechauns are excellent craftsmen and have quite the affinity for arcane magic, using it to augment their crafting. They make for good rogues, wizards, and bards as well. Some prove to be capable fighters and barbarians, although their small stature is not always suited to melee combat. Leprechauns are unable to use divine magic, and are never clerics, druids, paladins or other divine magic-based classes.
Leprechaun Racial Traits:
Leprechaun characters possess the following racial traits.
• -4 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +4 Charisma.
• Diminutive size. +4 bonus to Armour Class, +4 bonus on attack rolls, +12 bonus on Hide checks, -12 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits 1/4 those of Medium characters.
• A leprechaun's base land speed is 20 feet.
• Low-light vision.
• Skills: leprechauns have a +4 racial bonus on a Craft skill selected at creation. Use Magic Device is always a class skill for leprechauns.
• Weapon Proficiency: All simple and martial weapons.
• Armour Proficiency: All light armours, but no shields.
• Special Qualities: Communicate with Animals (Ex): A leprechaun may communicate with animals as if he were permanently under the effect of a speak with animals spell.
Faerie Traits: As a Faerie, leprechauns 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.
• Automatic Languages: Sylvan, Fairy, Elven Gnomish, local language. Bonus Languages: Common, Halfling, Dryad, other local languages.
• Favoured Class: Expert and Sorcerer.
• Level adjustment +1