Grain Nymph

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by James O'Rance

Grain Nymph by Cyan

Medium-sized Fey
Hit Dice: 3d6+6 (13 hp)
Initiative: +3 (Dex)
Speed: 40 ft.
AC: 13 (+3 Dex)
Attacks: None
Damage: None
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Blinding beauty, intoxication, vermin command
Special Qualities: Animal friendship, low-light vision 60 ft., SR 20
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +3
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 11, Cha 18
Skills: Animal Empathy +10, Escape Artist +8, Heal +5, Hide +9, Knowledge (Nature) +9, Listen +6, Move Silently +9, Sense Motive +6, Spot +6
Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Mobility
Climate/Terrain: Temperate and warm plains
Organisation: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: By character class

Grain nymphs are the cultivated versions of their woodland sisters. They arose when old-growth woodlands were destroyed in order to make room for farmland. The nymphs melded with the fields, offering life and bountiful harvest in the fields.

Grain nymphs are native to farmland areas. They live only in the fields of farmers who treat their fields with love and care. In return for this care, the nymph will lavish her bounty on the grain, causing it to spring full and strong. With a grain nymph in the field, a farmer can double his usual harvest. A field will never suffer the effects of drought or flooding under her care.

Grain nymphs are intoxicatingly beautiful.

Grain nymphs speak Sylvan, Ancient Elvish, and any local dialects; they can also communicate intuitively with any animal.

Combat

Grain nymphs do not fight when confronted by an enemy; rather, they attempt to lead the would-be attacker into their domain, the rows of grain. A grain nymph draws her supernatural powers from her field, which she is bound to for a period of one year (she may migrate to anew field each spring). Razing her field, setting it to the torch, or other methods of crop destruction will kill a grain nymph.

Animal Friendship (Ex): The grain nymph can call any farm animals or herd animals within a one-mile radius. All such animals will be friendly to a grain nymph, and will do anything for her—including attacking her enemies or offering their own lives. If the nymph is threatened in their presence, such animals will rush to her defense, until they are dead or the attacker is driven away. No farm animal (excluding horses trained for battle) will ever be friendly to a person who has attacked a grain nymph, for she will placed an invisible mark upon him. Nothing short of a wish or a miracle can remove this.

Blinding Beauty (Su): This ability operates continuously, affecting all humanoids within 60 feet of the grain nymph. Those who look directly at the nymph must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 15) or be blinded permanently as though by the blindness/deafness spell. The grain nymph can suppress or resume this ability as a free action.

Intoxicate (Su): The grain nymph can intoxicate any humanoid or animal in her fields, unless the character makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 15). While intoxicated, the character weaves, rather than walks, and his speech is slurred and incoherent, and his reflexes are exceedingly poor. This reduces attack rolls and Armour Class by -4, as well as Dexterity and Charisma-based checks. After 2d6 minutes, the character must make another Fortitude saving throw (DC 15) or fall into a drunken stupor from which he will not awaken for 1d6 hours. The character will also awaken after he has sustained 8 points of damage or half of his hit points, whichever is less. When he finally does awaken, the character will suffer a splitting headache and an extreme aversion to loud noises. The character will suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls, AC, and Concentration skill checks for another 1d6 hours, after which the influence of the grain nymph wears off.

Vermin Command (Sp): A grain nymph can summon swarm once per day, as though she was a 3rd-level sorcerer. Once per day she can cause all vermin within a 60-ft. radius to move away from her at their maximum speed for three minutes.

Grain Nymph Society

After each harvest, grain nymphs sink into the soil of the field to protect it from the chill of winter. After three years of protecting a field, a nymph must travel to another deserving field. If she cannot find another such field with 50 miles, she will die. Grain nymphs cannot return to a field where they have already lain until at least ten years have passed.

In some rural areas, people who desire to experience her powers of drunkenness will seek out a grain nymph. Grain nymphs are actively sought in times of festival, when the farmers offer sacrifice and make promises to keep the soil safe in exchange for her presence at a gathering.

Grain nymphs do not get along well with their woodland counterparts, who consider the grain nymphs stuck-up. The grain nymphs merely see themselves as sophisticated and cultured. They despise birds that come to their fields and steal the grain, and will drive them away by any means possible.

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