Buy me a coffeeBrownie, “The Hidden Helper”
You won’t believe what a brownie does while you sleep—just don’t try giving it clothes, or it might vanish for good!
A brownie is a small, humanoid spirit, usually no taller than a child of six or seven years. It has a wiry frame covered in coarse, earth-toned hair, often described as brown or mossy green, blending with the natural shadows of a rustic home. Its features are gnarled but not grotesque—sharp eyes, long fingers, and a perpetually mischievous grin. Brownies typically go unclothed or wear ragged scraps of cloth, and legends caution against offering them garments, as doing so often drives them away.
Behaviour:
Brownies are nocturnal and elusive, preferring to work unseen in the dead of night. They are meticulous and industrious, delighting in small domestic tasks: sweeping floors, polishing shoes, mending garments, or tending livestock. Their presence is often only noticed by the mysterious completion of chores by morning. Brownies are quiet and shy but temperamental—should they feel slighted, disrespected, or over-praised, they may become offended, cease their labors, or even leave the household entirely.
Habitat:
Brownies inhabit rural homes, farms, or cottages, particularly in the Scottish Lowlands and Northern England. They are drawn to places with a rustic charm and a respectful human presence. Some tales place them near hearths, in barns, or hidden corners like the attic or root cellar. They avoid modernity and noise, preferring the gentle rhythm of traditional life.
Modus Operandi:
A brownie works silently while the household sleeps. Tasks are chosen at will, focusing on areas that appear neglected or require daily maintenance. They do not follow commands, nor do they respond to being watched. Brownies expect no payment but accept small offerings of food—commonly a saucer of milk, a bit of honey, or a slice of bread—left in an unobtrusive place. Any attempt to lavish them with attention, praise, or clothing is seen as a breach of trust and results in their disappearance.
Motivation:
A brownie’s motivation is a blend of ancient duty and quiet pleasure. They are driven by a desire to maintain harmony and order in the household, and they take pride in their secretive contributions. Folklore suggests their work is a pact of sorts—an unspoken agreement between the spirit world and the human one. When treated with discretion and respect, a brownie may serve a family for generations.
Brownie 5e
Brownie, Pathfinder
Brownie
Tiny fey, lawful good
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 7 (2d4 + 2)
Speed 25 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 (−2) | 18 (+4) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) |
Saving Throws Dex +6, Wis +4
Skills Stealth +8, Insight +4, Perception +4
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14
Languages Common, Sylvan
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Traits
- Magic Resistance. The brownie has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
- Innate Spellcasting. The brownie’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
- At will: druidcraft, minor illusion, prestidigitation, thaumaturgy
- 3/day each: color spray, dancing lights, hideous laughter, silent image
- 1/day: dimension door
- Invisible Helper. The brownie can turn invisible as a bonus action. This invisibility lasts until it attacks, casts a spell, or chooses to end it. While invisible, the brownie leaves no physical trace and cannot be tracked except by magical means.
- Master Artisan. During a short or long rest, the brownie can perform one of the following tasks:
- Repair. Mend a broken item, restoring its functionality.
- Organize. Neatly arrange belongings, granting advantage on the next ability check related to those items.
- Forage. Gather herbs or food, providing sustenance for one creature.
Actions
- Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.
- Distracting Prank (Recharge 5–6). The brownie targets one creature it can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on its next attack roll or ability check.
Tactics
Brownies avoid direct confrontation, preferring to use their magic and stealth to assist allies and confound enemies. In combat, they:
- Use invisibility to remain unseen and reposition.
- Employ silent image and minor illusion to create distractions.
- Utilize hideous laughter to incapacitate foes.
- Aid allies by repairing equipment or providing minor healing during rests.
Lore
Brownies are benevolent fey creatures that dwell in rural homes and farms. They perform household chores in secret, expecting only small offerings of food in return. Offending a brownie—such as by offering clothing or neglecting to leave food—can cause it to leave or become a mischievous boggart.
Brownie’s are Knee-high to a human, this large-headed creature has an almost manically friendly look on its expressive face.
This content is from the Paizo Core Rules.
Good-natured, helpful fey who live in communities, sometimes among humans. They make their homes in the trunks of hollow trees, small earthy burrows, and even under porches and within the crawlspaces of farmhouses. With a greenish cast to their skin they are often attired in very raggedly dressed in brown clothes that appear to be made of plants or leaves, brownies wear belts lined with pouches and tools., However they keep their armor and small bucklers on hand for emergencies. Whatever language they choose to speak is often is riddled with odd pronunciations and colloquialisms.
They stand barely 2 feet tall and weigh 20 pounds.
When facing danger, they rarely engage in combat, preferring instead to confound and confuse their attackers in order to buy enough time for escape. Content with honest toil and the love of their kin, they maintain a pacifist nature, only harassing creatures to run them off or punish them for an insult. Despite this nature, all brownies carry a blade. They refer to their swords with a hint of disgust, and jokingly call their blades the ‘final trick,’ using them only in the direst of consequences.
During the day, they hide away in places humans seldom go. Brownies tend to be nocturnal they come out at night and do the work that has been left undone by the servants. They make themselves responsible for the farm or house in which they live; reap, mow, thresh, herd the sheep, prevent the hens from laying away, run errands and give good counsel at need. A brownie will often become personally attached to one member of the family.
| Brownie CR 1 |
| XP 400 N Tiny fey Init +8; Senses Low-Light Vision; Perception +8 |
| DEFENSE |
| AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dexterity, +1 Dodge, +2 size) hp 4 (1d6+1) Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +4; +2 vs. illusions DR 5/cold iron; SR 12 |
| OFFENSE |
| Speed 20 ft. Melee short sword +6 (1d2-2/19-20), or shortbow +5 ranged (1d4-1/x3) Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft. Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th; Concentration +10) At will–dancing lights, mending, prestidigitation 1/day–lesser confusion (DC 14), dimension door(self only), mirror image, ventriloquism (DC 14) |
| STATISTICS |
| Strength 7, Dexterity 18, Constitution 12, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 15, Charisma 17 Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 11 Feats Dodge, Improved InitiativeB, Weapon FinesseB Skills Acrobatics +8 (+4 Jump), Bluff +7, Craft (any one) +6, Escape Artist +8, Handle Animal +4, Perception +8, Sense Motive +6, Stealth +16 (+20 in forest); Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +4 Stealth in forests Languages Common, Elven, Gnome, Sylvan +7*, |
| ECOLOGY |
| Environment temperate forests or plains Organization solitary, gang (2-5), or band (7-12) Treasure standard |
Honest to a fault, they take freely, but always repay their debt through work or leave something behind as an offering. They may eat an apple from a farmer’s orchard, but will harvest the entire tree as repayment. They might eat an entire pie left on a windowsill, only to straighten up the kitchen or wash the dishes. A brownie can share a home with a family for years and years while avoiding detection.
A family that is aware of a brownie usually finds this a beneficial relationship and leaves dishes of milk, pieces of fruit, trinkets, and sometimes even wine as gifts. In exchange, it keeps the home clean, mends clothes, repairs tools, and shoos away vermin and small predators. Bragging about having a brownie in the house is the best way to lose one. Brownies distrust foxes and fear wolves, and tend to avoid farms with dogs.
A 5th-level neutral spellcaster with the Improved Familiar feat can gain a brownie as a familiar.
Combat
They fight to defend themselves and their adopted community. With their keen senses, they are seldom surprised. They are masters of hiding, and often attack by surprise. A family of brownies typically uses confusion first to disorient their foes, followed by mirror image for defense. If the
confusions took well, brownies hang back and pepper their foes with arrows.
Section 15: Copyright Notice – Bestiary 2 Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2, © 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Wolfgang
Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Graeme Davis, Crystal Frasier, Joshua J. Frost, Tim Hitchcock, Brandon Hodge, James Jacobs, Steve Kenson, Hal MacLean, Martin Mason, Rob McCreary, Erik Mona, Jason Nelson, Patrick Renie, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Owen K.C. Stephens, James L. Sutter, Russ Taylor, and Greg A. Vaughan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
BROWNIES AS CHARACTERS
A brownie character exchanges its 1 HD of fey for its first class level. Brownie characters possess the following racial traits.
- -2 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +4 Intelligence, +6 Wisdom, +6 Charisma.
- Small size. +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits 3/4 those of Medium characters.
- A brownie’s base land speed is 30 feet.
- Low-Light Vision.
- Skills: Brownies have a +8 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks. Brownies enjoy a +2 resistance bonus to all saves. *They also have a +4 racial bonus to Bluff checks when creating a diversion to Hide.
- +2 resistance bonus to all saves.
- Special Attacks (see above): Spell-like abilities.
- Special Qualities (see above): Evasion, uncanny dodge.
- Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: , Dwarven, Elven, Gnome.
- Favored Class: Rogue.
- Level adjustment +3.