Fantasy Monster: Faerie Contractors

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Faerie Contractors

A bunch of stocky figure resembling gnomes in matching work outfits. They have weird, dusty hair covered with caps, and many of them seem to keep a hand-made cigarette butt in the corner of mouth.

CR 3; XP 800
N Small Fey

Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +10

Defense
AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +2 Dex, +1 size)
hp 33 (6d6+12)
Fort +4; Ref +7; Will +6

Defensive Abilities half damage from falling, falling objects, and construction accidents; DR 5/cold iron

Weakness susceptible to sleep

Offense
Speed 20 ft.

Melee handy tool +6 or +4/+4/+4 (1d4+3, ×3)

Ranged thrown tool +6 (1d4+3, ×3)

Special Attacks frenzied flurry

Statistics
Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 11
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 16

Feats Endurance, Skill Focus (Craft [carpentry of stonemasonry]), Skill Focus (Profession [builder])

Skills Climb +11, Craft (carpenter or stonemasonry) +13, Knowledge (engineering) +7, Perception +10, Profession (builder) +10, Sleight Of Hand +11, Stealth +11

Languages Common, Sylvan

SQ unpredictable workload

Ecology
Environment rural, urban, underground
Organization crew (3–20)
Treasure standard

Special Abilities

Frenzied Flurry (Ex) Faerie contractors can lash with their tools at anyone interrupting their work with an amazing speed, making three attacks with –2 penalty each as a full attack.

Susceptible To Sleep Faerie contractors are prone to taking naps when the fancy hits them. Almost always at least one of contractors is dozing somewhere out of sight. Each faerie contractor counts as a single HD creature for purpose of being affected by sleep spell and they suffer –4 penalty to saving throws against sleep effects.

Unpredictable Workload (Su) The speed of construction done by crew of faerie contractors is extremally erratic, as if the very fabric of the world could not decide if it wants to help or hinder them – accidents happen (though they never hurt contractors) that slow things down while happy coincidences.

D20	Effect
1	The work continues forever – the very site of constuction becomes a breach of Fey Otherworld into the material world
2-5	The work is unnaturally extended, taking (7 minus the die result) times as much
6-15	The work takes the usual amount of time, beneficial and hindering incidents balancing each other
16-19	The work time is unnaturally short, being divided by (die result minus 14)
20	The work takes a single night – and the construction sight becomes a weak spot touched by the Otherworld

Faerie contractors are gnome-like fey that build things – usually because someone made a deal, either directly with their foreman, or indirectly with a greater faerie entity that holds authority over them, though occasionally they come from their own initiative to repay a perceived debt or are compelled by greater force (though they are extremally grumpy and often engaging in malicious compliance if coerced without adequate compensation).

They never do mining work, though, noting it would violate guild and union regulations.

While faerie contractors are competent when they focus on the work, they tend to be erratic and unpredictable, pedantic and over-literal, lazy and irreverent, somehow mixing and balancing chaotic and ordered aspects of their nature. They are also hard to discern between each other, with any distinguishing traits seemingly switching between individuals at moments notice (though it might be faerie contractors deliberately messing up with others).