Phooka

Small fey, chaotic neutral

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 27 (6d6 + 6)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
10 (+0)	17 (+3)	12 (+1)	13 (+1)	15 (+2)	18 (+4)

Skills Perception +6, Stealth +5
Senses passive Perception 16
Languages Common, Sylvan
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Special Traits

• One with Nature. When a phooka is slain through violence, all plants within a 100-foot radius of where it fell die and no new ones grow naturally in that area for 1 year.
• Tree Stride. Once on its turn, the phooka can use 10 feet of its movement to step magically into one living tree within its reach and emerge from a second living tree within 60 feet of the first tree, appearing in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the second tree. Both trees must be Large or bigger.

Actions

• Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Tome of Horrors © 2018, Frog God Games, LLC; Authors: Kevin Baase, Erica Balsley, John “Pexx” Barnhouse, Christopher Bishop, Casey Christofferson, Jim Collura, Andrea Costantini, Jayson ‘Rocky’ Gardner, Zach Glazar, Meghan Greene, Scott Greene, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Ian S. Johnston, Bill Kenower, Patrick Lawinger, Rhiannon Louve, Ian McGarty, Edwin Nagy, James Patterson, Nathan Paul, Patrick N. Pilgrim, Clark Peterson, Anthony Pryor, Greg Ragland, Robert Schwalb, G. Scott Swift, Greg A. Vaughan, and Bill Webb

These small hairy creatures resemble a cross between a goblin and a child’s fuzzy play bear. They have wide set glowing golden eyes and long pointed ears like those of a donkey. They have a mouth to match their ears, complete with buck teeth.

A phooka stands about 3 feet.

Phookas are tricksters and jokesters. They revel in playing tricks on unwary travelers, leading them on merry chases or getting them lost deep in the forest. They are not necessarily malicious though some phooka do lean towards evil and murder.

A phooka’s trickery may include turning itself into an enchanted pony and offer a stranger a ride, only to lead it through brambles and thorns at top speed, or to lead travelers to enchanted springs that cause them to fall into a deep slumber and strip them of all their belongings and clothes, then leave behind clues as to where their possessions are hidden.

They are deeply attuned to nature and animals and have a bond with their natural surroundings. If slain, all plant matter within one square mile of the phooka withers and dies.

Phooka CR 3

XP 800
CN Small fey
Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +12

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 natural, +1 size)
hp 22 (5d6+5)
Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +6
DR 5/cold iron; SR 14

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +6 (1d3)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 5th)

3/day—dancing lights, ghost sound (DC 14), prestidigitation

STATISTICS

Str 10, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 18
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 15
Feats Alertness, Dodge, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +11, Bluff +12, Craft (any) +9, Escape Artist +11, Heal +4, Knowledge (nature) +6, Perception +12, Sense Motive +8, Stealth +16; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth
Languages Common, Sylvan
SQ one with nature, change shape (mountain lion or wolf, beast form I [Ed. – should be beast shape I]), tree stride

SPECIAL ABILITIES

One with Nature (Su)

When a phooka is slain through violence, all plants within a 100-foot radius of where it fell die and no new ones grow naturally in that area for 1 year.

Tree Stride (Su)

As a free action, a phooka can enter a tree and move from it to another tree with 50 feet as if by a tree stride spell. A phooka can remain inside a tree as long as it wishes. This ability otherwise resembles the spell of the same name.

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate forests
Organization solitary or gang (2-5)
Treasure standard (dagger, other treasure)

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Phooka from the Tome of Horrors Complete, Copyright 2011, Necromancer Games, Inc., published and distributed by Frog God Games; Author Scott Greene.

This small creature is covered with cat-like fur and has a wide and equally cat-like grin. Its yellow eyes are bright and intelligent. It moves with surprising speed. Most alarmingly of all, it has an elegant top-hat.

Monster Encyclopaedia I: Ravagers of the Realms
Author August Hahn, Gareth Hanrahan, Lizard
Series Monster Encyclopaedia
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2004

Phouca – or pooka, or pucks, or even the Phouca/pooka/ puck, depending on their moods – are a race of fey tricksters. While nominally loyal to the nobility of faerie, phouca are drawn to the edges of the eternal summerland, to the fields of men. They are endlessly fascinated with mortality in all its forms, from birth to death. This fascination has its roots both in the phoucas’ natural immortality and in their ability to manipulate the flow of time.

Sometimes, a phouca will aid some old widow living alone on the edge of the wildwood, doing all her housework in the blink of an eye just so it can watch her age. In other moods, a phouca will trick a party of adventurers into a death-trap just to watch them die before their time. They are mercurial creatures; one moment a phouca is a friendly, jolly scamp; in the next, it has stolen your infant child out of the cradle and led a band of hungry ogres to your door. To the phouca, consequences are largely irrelevant – they have all eternity to play, so why worry about the effects of one action out of a billion billion?

The phoucas’ prodigious ability to control time makes them very interesting test subjects to wizards and scholars. No sage has yet determined how the fey manipulate the temporal flow, but it has been suggested that they can use their own immortality as a power source; a phouca wishing to complete a day’s work in an hour draws time from its own future. The work is done in an hour but the phouca now has a debt of energy that will be paid by lazing around for a full day sometime in the future. Even if this theory has any truth in it, the phouca are not talking. They keep their secrets close.

Age Categories below Adulthood Adolescence: -2 Strength; -1 Wisdom Childhood: -2 Strength; -2 Constitution; -2 Intelligence; -2 Wisdom. Reduce the character’s size by one size category.

Phouca
Small fey (Chaotic)
Hit Dice	6d6 (21 hp)
Initiative	+3
Speed	30 ft. (6 squares)
Armour Class	16 (+1 size, +3 Dexterity, +2 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple	+3/-2
Attack	Claw +3 melee (1d4-1) or shortbow +7 ranged (1d6)
Full Attack	Claw +3 melee (1d4-1) or shortbow +7 ranged (1d6)
Space/Reach	5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks	–
Special Qualities	Damage reduction 5/cold iron, low- light vision, time manipulation
Saves	Fort +2, Ref +9, Will +8
Abilities	Strength 8, Dexterity 16, Constitution 11, Intelligence 14, Wisdom 15, Charisma 13
Skills	Balance +7, Bluff +10, Climb +4, Craft (any one) +4, Diplomacy +14, Disable Device +5, Disguise +3, Forgery +4, Gather Information +3, Hide +9, Jump +3, Listen +5, Move Silently +10, Open Lock +5, Perform (jester) +6, Sense Motive +4, Sleight of Hand +9, Spot +5, Survival +4, Tumble +8, Use Magic Device +3, Rope Use+5
Feats	Dodge, Negotiator, Stealthy
Environment	Temperate forests
Organisation	Solitary
Challenge Rating	4
Treasure	Standard
Alignment	Any chaotic
Advancement	By character class
Level Adjustment	+8

Combat

Fighting a phouca is a frustrating experience, thanks to its time-warping powers. While they find it difficult to control time around others directly, they can easily vanish using their powers. They are generally armed with small hunting bows, which they use to catch rabbits and other small woodland creatures. Phouca have even been seen
eating sprites and pixies and cavorting with Ghouls and wights; the creatures are among the darker fey.

Time Manipulation (Su): A phouca’s power to control time allows it to create any of the following effects:

Time stop: Once per day, a phouca may cast time stop.

Slow: Once per day, a phouca may cast slow (save DC 15).

Haste: Once per day, a phouca may cast haste. By making a touch attack, a phouca may attempt to artificially age a target. The victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 13); if this save is failed, the target ages 1d3 age categories. This magical age slips away after 24 hours. A character cannot be aged past venerable using this ability. This power can be used once per day and its effects can be removed using break enchantment.

By making a touch attack, a phouca may attempt to artificially reduce the age of a target. The victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 13); if this save is failed, the target’s age is reduced by 1d3 age categories. This magical age slips away after 24 hours. A character cannot be aged past childhood using this ability. This power can be used once per day and its effects can be removed using break enchantment.

Full Day’s Work: One per day, a phouca can complete a single task that would normally take one day in one round. This is essentially a variation on time stop; the phouca cannot interact with other creatures while using this ability, nor may it attack. It may not cast spells and cannot Craft magical items using this ability but can Craft non-magical items during this ‘day’.

The phouca cannot rest during the ‘day’. It may travel if it wishes. All that the phouca does during the ‘day’ must be part of a single task – a phouca could walk twenty miles to a city to deliver a message in a single round, but it could not look for another character while at the city.

Pooka

Medium Fey (Shapechanger), Chaotic Neutral

Capricious fey shapeshifters that haunt lonely roads and farmland, pookas delight in luring mortals into midnight rides, playing dangerous tricks, and vanishing into the mist before vengeance can catch them.

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Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 97 (13d8 + 39)
Speed 40 ft.; 60 ft. in horse form

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
14 (+2)	18 (+4)	16 (+3)	14 (+2)	14 (+2)	18 (+4)

Saving Throws Dex +7, Wis +5, Cha +7
Skills Deception +10, Insight +5, Perception +5, Stealth +7
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Common, Sylvan; telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +3

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Traits

Shapechanger.
The pooka magically transforms into a Large black horse, a goat, a dog, a hare, or back into its humanoid-fey form. Its game statistics remain the same in each form, except for its speed. Equipment it carries transforms with it. While in horse form, the pooka cannot speak but can communicate telepathically.

Fey Trickster.
The pooka has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) and Charisma (Deception) checks made at night or in dim light.

Magic Resistance.
The pooka has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Wild Rider.
If a creature willingly mounts the pooka while it is in horse form, the pooka can immediately use Run Riot as a bonus action.

Innate Spellcasting (Fey).
The pooka’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

At will: druidcraft, minor illusion, disguise self
3/day each: mirror image, misty step, suggestion
1/day each: confusion, major image

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Actions

Multiattack.
The pooka makes two Claw attacks (humanoid form) or two Kick attacks (horse form).

Claw.
Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 10 (1d10 + 4) slashing damage.

Kick.
Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

Bewitching Word.
The pooka magically beguiles one creature it can see within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed for 1 minute. While charmed in this way, the creature regards the pooka as a trusted guide and has disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to notice deception or danger created by the pooka. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Run Riot (Recharge 5–6).
While in horse form, the pooka moves up to its speed in a straight line. Each creature in its path must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) bludgeoning damage and falling prone on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

If a creature is riding the pooka, it automatically fails the saving throw and is thrown off at the end of the movement, landing prone in an unoccupied space within 10 feet of the pooka.

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Bonus Actions

Fey Step (3/Day).
The pooka magically teleports up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.

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Reactions

Mocking Escape.
When a creature the pooka can see hits it with an attack, the pooka halves the damage taken from the attack and teleports up to 15 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.

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Tactics

A pooka avoids fair fights whenever possible. It relies on illusion, charm, and shapeshifting to lure victims into vulnerable positions before striking or fleeing. In horse form it attempts to trick creatures into mounting it, then unleashes a chaotic Run Riot gallop through hazardous terrain. If seriously threatened, it uses mirror image, Fey Step, and its natural speed to escape while harassing pursuers with illusions and taunts.