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Sprite Racial Write-up

by Jamie Baty

Sprites are a race of tiny fey related to pixies, known for their pranks, merriment and dancing. They are perhaps the most iconic of the fey creatures.

Personality: Sprites are mischievous, graceful and whimsical. They love dancing by moonlight in fairy-rings, having various contests and games, and practical jokes. Perhaps their greatest joy is teasing the big races, particularly through the use of their curse ability. Leading travellers astray (i.e. pixie-led) is one common joke, and the other common joke is to pester someone into looking clumsy and foolish (i.e. pixie-ridden.)
When dealing with wicked being, sprites are much more harmful in their jokes and pranks. Sprites loathe evil as a great ugliness, and will take action to remove it from their midst.
Sprites are meticulously clean as a race and love water; to win the favour of local sprites, many people will leave out pails of fresh water at night for the pixies to bathe and frolic in. They are also fond of fresh cream and delicate foodstuffs.

Physical Description: Sprites are slightly smaller than pixies, rarely growing taller than 15 inches in height, and more frequently being about a foot in height. They are slimmer than pixies as well. Their faces are round with pert, upturned noses and eyes that are often squinty and crossed. They have pointy, elvish-looking ears. Sprites are usually blonde and less hairy than pixies. The wings of a sprite are green, insect-like gossamer wings. They are better flyers than pixies.
Sprites are proficient with all simple; they prefer to use magic if possible. They are not proficient with armour or shields. Outside of combat, most wear green clothing.

Relations: Sprites generally bear no ill will to the larger humanoid races, although they enjoy pranking humans and dwarves. This is meant to be mischievous rather than harmful, and sprites have a habit of looking after those that can laugh at themselves and take the pranks well.
Not surprisingly, sprites relate well to elves and other forest creature races. They tend to get along fairly well with Halflings too.
Sprites survive by living off the land and "borrowing" food from other races. Their claim that any apples left on the tree after harvest are theirs by right is an extension of this "borrowing." This can occasionally lead to misunderstandings.

Alignment: Sprites are usually neutral, and most are good as well.

Sprite Lands: Sprites are found throughout the Known World wherever the other faerie races can be found. They are also one of the most numerous faerie races. The largest grouping is in the areas of Alfheim and Darokin known as the Dreamlands.

Religion: Like most Faeries, sprites 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: Sprites speak Fairy, Sylvan, Elvish, Halfling, Gnome, and the predominant local language. They may also speak Common, Dryad, Hsiao and other local languages.

Names: Sprite names are based on natural things: male names tend to relate to insects and animals, female names are related to flora. Many also acquire nicknames. They do not use surnames or clan names, but some do garner descriptive epithets. It should be noted that some sprites prefer to differentiate themselves from pixies by choosing names similar to those of brownies, leprechauns, and sidhe.
Male Names: Cobweb, Moth, Robin
Female Names: Peaseblossom, Mustardseed, Rose
Epithets: Goodfellow, Silkenhair

Adventurers: Sprites have a great love of adventure- it gives them opportunities to trick, prank and harass mortals. They do not hesitate to adventure in defence of their homes. Their natural abilities and arcane prowess makes them excellent mages and their mischievous, easy-going attitudes generally make them fun companions.
A sprite's favoured class is sorcerer. Sprites are capable mages. They also make for good rogues and bards. Sprites are unable to use divine magic, and are never clerics, druids, paladins or other divine magic-based classes.

Sprite Racial Traits:
A sprite character exchanges its 1HD of fey for its first class level unless it chooses to advance its Fey HD.
• -6 Strength, +6 Dexterity, +4 Intelligence, +8 Charisma.
• Tiny size. +2 bonus to Armour Class, +2 bonus on attack rolls, +8 bonus on Hide checks, -8 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits 1/2 those of Medium characters.
• A sprite's base land speed is 30 feet. They have a fly speed of 70' (good).
• Low-light vision.
• Skills: Use Magic Device is always a class skill for sprites.
• Weapon Proficiency: All simple weapons.
• Special Attacks: Curse (Sp): In cooperation with at least 4 other sprites, a sprite may cast the spell bestow curse 3/day. Sprite curses tend to be mischievous rather than directly harmful. The save DC is 18 (10+ 1/2 HD + Cha modifier +4 racial bonus).
• Special Qualities: Communicate with Animals (Ex): A sprite may communicate with animals as if he were permanently under the effect of a speak with animals spell.
Faerie Traits: As a Faerie, sprites 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, Halfling, local language. Bonus Languages: Common, Dryad, Hsiao, other local languages.
• Favoured Class: Sorcerer.
• Level adjustment +1

Sprite Racial Progression
The table below gives an optional level progression for sprite players. In this system, starting ability score modifiers and other abilities are granted later or partially granted. At the end of the base progression, the sprite will be the same as if created normally. The optional advanced progression continues to develop sprite abilities rather than class abilities.

Table: Sprite Racial Progression

Class Level	HD	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Skills	Special
1st	1d6	+0	+0	+2	+2	(6+ Int Mod) x4	-6 Str, +4 Int, +2 Dex, +4 Cha; Communicate with Animals, Faerie Traits; Starting Feat.
2nd	1d6	+0	+0	+2	+2	---	+4 Dex, +4 Cha; Curse
Below are levels for advanced progression
3rd	2d6	+1	+0	+3		6+ Int Mod	Spells
4th	3d6	+1	+1	+3	+3	6+ Int Mod	Feat, +1 sorcerer spellcasting level
5th	4d6	+2	+1	+4	+4	6+ Int Mod	+1 sorcerer spellcasting level
6th	5d6	+2	+1	+4	+4	6+ Int Mod	+1 sorcerer spellcasting level
7th	6d6	+3	+2	+5	+5	6+ Int Mod	Feat, +1 sorcerer spellcasting level
8th	7d6	+3	+2	+5	+5	6+ Int Mod	+1 sorcerer spellcasting level
9th	8d6	+4	+2	+6	+6	6+ Int Mod	+1 sorcerer spellcasting level
10th	9d6	+4	+3	+6	+6	6+ Int Mod	Feat, +1 sorcerer spellcasting level

Advanced Sprite Abilities
Spells: For each additional Fey HD the sprite possesses, the sprite gains a level of sorcerer spellcasting. The sprite gains no other benefits of the sorcerer class other than spellcasting, and any spellcasting levels gained through Fey HD stack with any sorcerer levels the sprite possesses.