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monstrousfiling2024-03-08 06:53 pm
bignightcat) wrote in monstrousfiling2024-03-08 06:53 pm
POOKA
Pooka are small-mammal-based fae tricksters, highly social and playful scavengers.
[example species: mice, rats, rabbits, hares, capybaras, squirrels, porcupines, hedgehogs, moles, shrews, tanuki]
✧ MANDATORY ✧
✦ Feeding: Blood and bone.
✦ Prominent incisors like rodents or rabbits, and/or sharp fangs.
✦ Claws on hands and feet.
✦ Animal ears and tail.
✦ Fur on the back, shoulders and arms.
✦ Stronger legs. This makes pookas faster and much better jumpers, and also allows them powerful kicks.
✦ Sharper senses. Pookas can hear and smell better than average.
✦ Weakness to iron. Snares, traps, weapons etc. made of iron burn pookas and suppress any of their magic from working.
✦ Oathkeepers. Pookas are skilled liars and skirt responsibility, but are bound to oaths they make and unable to break a promise.
✦ Shapechangers. Pookas' innate magic can express in one of two ways, player's choice of either Shapeshifting or Glamour. Regardless of magic type, there are some commonalities. Pookas must be conscious to maintain their magic, and difficulty scales - creating very complex things takes time or a lot of practice to make second nature, as does holding them over time, as opposed to simple and easy minor things. Trying to push your limits too far may lead to loss of consciousness, injury, or other penalties. Additionally, there is often some sort of minor "tell" - something about them just isn't quite right.
✧ Shapeshifting: Pookas are able to physically shapeshift and change their bodies to various degrees. This does include functional things like wings, gills, and so on, and they are not limited by mass in either direction. However, unfamiliarity with the structure or function may make it extremely risky to actually try, especially considering the scaling difficulty rule.
✧ Glamour: Pookas can project an illusion to change their outward appearance, whether that's hiding their monstrous changes, mimicking another character, or disguising themselves as an inanimate object (so long as they hold still). They are also able to cast these illusions on other people and objects, though it will wear off over time without the caster present and maintaining it.
✧ OPTIONAL ✧
✦ Travel form. Pookas may take the shape of a mundane animal to travel more quickly and stealthily at the cost of being more vulnerable.
✦ Rootless or continually-growing teeth.
✦ A shorter stature.
✦ Tracking ability. Pookas may "mark" objects or people and can follow their trails from any location. These marks fade naturally over time and must be refreshed. Each individual mark is 'distinctive' to the pooka, but they can only keep track of so many at once - and the more marks placed, the faster they tend to fade.
✦ Increased need for social contact. Pookas detest solitude and go out of their way to be around others.
✦ Thrill-seeking behavior.
✦ Vindictive nature. Pookas delight in the misfortune of others and do not take well to being slighted.
✦ Burrowing instinct. Pookas feel safest when able to make a shelter underground.
<-- Back to Bestiary
Arachne | Automaton | Demon | Faerie | Gargoyle | Harpy | Kelpie | Lich | Manticore | Mer | Minotaur | Naga | Nymph | Pooka | Seraph | Shade | Slime | Troll | Vampire | Waldgeist | Were
[example species: mice, rats, rabbits, hares, capybaras, squirrels, porcupines, hedgehogs, moles, shrews, tanuki]
✧ MANDATORY ✧
✦ Feeding: Blood and bone.
✦ Prominent incisors like rodents or rabbits, and/or sharp fangs.
✦ Claws on hands and feet.
✦ Animal ears and tail.
✦ Fur on the back, shoulders and arms.
✦ Stronger legs. This makes pookas faster and much better jumpers, and also allows them powerful kicks.
✦ Sharper senses. Pookas can hear and smell better than average.
✦ Weakness to iron. Snares, traps, weapons etc. made of iron burn pookas and suppress any of their magic from working.
✦ Oathkeepers. Pookas are skilled liars and skirt responsibility, but are bound to oaths they make and unable to break a promise.
✦ Shapechangers. Pookas' innate magic can express in one of two ways, player's choice of either Shapeshifting or Glamour. Regardless of magic type, there are some commonalities. Pookas must be conscious to maintain their magic, and difficulty scales - creating very complex things takes time or a lot of practice to make second nature, as does holding them over time, as opposed to simple and easy minor things. Trying to push your limits too far may lead to loss of consciousness, injury, or other penalties. Additionally, there is often some sort of minor "tell" - something about them just isn't quite right.
✧ Shapeshifting: Pookas are able to physically shapeshift and change their bodies to various degrees. This does include functional things like wings, gills, and so on, and they are not limited by mass in either direction. However, unfamiliarity with the structure or function may make it extremely risky to actually try, especially considering the scaling difficulty rule.
✧ Glamour: Pookas can project an illusion to change their outward appearance, whether that's hiding their monstrous changes, mimicking another character, or disguising themselves as an inanimate object (so long as they hold still). They are also able to cast these illusions on other people and objects, though it will wear off over time without the caster present and maintaining it.
✧ OPTIONAL ✧
✦ Travel form. Pookas may take the shape of a mundane animal to travel more quickly and stealthily at the cost of being more vulnerable.
✦ Rootless or continually-growing teeth.
✦ A shorter stature.
✦ Tracking ability. Pookas may "mark" objects or people and can follow their trails from any location. These marks fade naturally over time and must be refreshed. Each individual mark is 'distinctive' to the pooka, but they can only keep track of so many at once - and the more marks placed, the faster they tend to fade.
✦ Increased need for social contact. Pookas detest solitude and go out of their way to be around others.
✦ Thrill-seeking behavior.
✦ Vindictive nature. Pookas delight in the misfortune of others and do not take well to being slighted.
✦ Burrowing instinct. Pookas feel safest when able to make a shelter underground.
<-- Back to Bestiary