Homunculus, Alchemical Servant of Twisted Will
“The homunculus—born in a flask, bound by blood—serves without question… until it learns to ask its own.”
A homunculus is a twisted facsimile of human life, rarely more than a foot tall. Its skin is hairless and leathery, often semi-translucent, with veins pulsing with alchemical ichor. Its oversized, luminous eyes shine with unnatural awareness. The limbs are long and spindly, ending in delicate clawed fingers. Some specimens possess bat-like wings, granting them a jerky, hovering movement.
Over time, a homunculus may begin to mimic the features of its creator, developing eerie facial tics, speech-like clicks, or shuddering sobs when left alone.
Behavior
Homunculi are obsessively loyal to their creators. They serve as assistants, spies, and companions, anticipating needs and protecting their masters with unsettling devotion. While some remain silent and obedient, others exhibit childlike mimicry, emotional attachment, or growing curiosity about the world.
Though physically weak, homunculi are clever and resourceful. When separated from their masters, they may become manipulative, relying on stealth and guile to achieve their goals. Prolonged isolation can lead to obsession, madness, or a warped sense of independence.
Habitat
Homunculi do not occur naturally. They remain close to their creator’s lair—typically a laboratory, arcane study, or hidden sanctum. Upon their master’s death, a homunculus may:
- Perish soon after, if no sustaining bond remains,
- Go feral, becoming territorial and unpredictable,
- Or, in rare cases, begin a grotesque imitation of its master’s life.
Feral homunculi have been found nesting in crypts or abandoned towers, building miniature kingdoms from bone, wax, and discarded trinkets.
Tactics and Abilities
Designed for subtlety rather than brute force, the homunculus excels at espionage, sabotage, and assassination. It may:
- Deliver poison directly or via food and drink,
- Spy unseen from ceilings, vents, or shadowed corners,
- Mimic voices or sounds to confuse or lure intruders,
- Sabotage arcane devices, traps, or wards.
When threatened, it strikes with venomous claws or barbed needles, aiming for eyes, ears, and soft tissue. Despite its size, it is precise and unrelenting.
Motivations
The homunculus is driven by service, observation, and preservation. However, under prolonged exposure to magic or emotional neglect, its motives can evolve:
- Twisted Loyalty: It may imprison or kill to protect its master from imagined threats.
- Identity Crisis: In the absence of a creator, it may attempt to replace them—sometimes literally—crafting masks, wearing clothing, or animating the corpse of its former master.
- Ascension Obsession: Rare, advanced homunculi may seek transformation into true humans, a goal that often requires forbidden knowledge and unspeakable acts.
Homunculus 5e
Homunculus Pathfinder
Homunculus
Tiny Construct, Usually Lawful Neutral
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (10d4 + 20)
Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover)
STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 (–3) | 16 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 12 (+1) | 14 (+2) | 8 (–1) |
Saving Throws Dex +5, Wis +4
Skills Stealth +7, Insight +4, Arcana +3, Sleight of Hand +5
Damage Resistances necrotic, psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Understands the languages of its creator but cannot speak
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2
Innate Bond
The homunculus is magically bound to its creator. It always knows the direction and distance to its master if they are on the same plane. If its creator dies, the homunculus may become unstable, feral, or autonomous, at the DM’s discretion.
Arcane Familiarity
It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
- At will: detect magic, mage hand (invisible variant, can manipulate up to 15 pounds)
Skulking Servant
The homunculus can take the Hide action as a bonus action while in dim light or darkness.
Actions
Multiattack
It makes two Needle Claw attacks, or one Needle Claw attack and one Venom Spit attack.
Needle Claw
Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 7 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 5 (2d4) poison damage and be poisoned until the end of its next turn.
Venom Spit (Recharge 5–6)
The homunculus spits a glob of corrosive venom at a creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 9 (2d8) acid damage and be blinded until the end of its next turn.
Alchemical Sabotage (1/Day)
The homunculus sabotages a magical device, trap, or alchemical object it can touch. The next time that object is activated, it malfunctions or backfires (DM’s discretion), possibly triggering a wild magic surge, arcane discharge, or poison leak.
Mimicry
The homunculus can mimic any voice or sound it has heard. A creature that hears the imitation must succeed on a DC 12 Insight check to discern it as a trick.
Reactions
Defend the Master
When a creature within 30 feet of the homunculus targets its bonded master with an attack, the homunculus can impose disadvantage on the attack roll by shrieking, darting into the attacker’s line of sight, or interfering physically—provided it can see both the attacker and its master.
Tactics
- Ambusher: Prefers to remain hidden and strike when targets are distracted.
- Disabler: Uses Venom Spit to neutralize spellcasters and Needle Claw to poison high-value targets.
- Saboteur: Prioritizes disabling magical items, traps, and support structures before combat.
- Manipulator: Uses Mimicry to isolate or confuse enemies, especially in dark or claustrophobic spaces.
Variant: Feral Homunculus (CR 5)
A homunculus left without purpose or master may become unstable and mutate.
- Hit Points: 75 (10d6 + 40)
- Spellcasting: The homunculus can cast mirror image, blur, and shatter once per day each.
- Behavior: No longer serves anyone. It may attempt to replace its creator, animate corpses, or construct crude facsimiles of humanoid life.
Homunculus

This vaguely humanoid creature is about the size of a cat but looks more like a toothy, winged devil.
Homunculus CR 1
XP 400
Any alignment (same as creator)
Tiny construct
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 size)
hp 11 (2d10)
Fort +0, Ref +4, Will +1
Defensive Abilities construct traits
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (good)
Melee 1 bite +3 (1d4–1 plus poison)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 15, Con —, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 7
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 11
Feats Lightning Reflexes
Skills Fly +10, Perception +3, Stealth +12
Languages Common (cannot speak); telepathic link
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Poison (Ex)
Bite—injury; save Fort DC 13; frequency 1/minute for 60 minutes; effect sleep for 1 minute; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.
Telepathic Link (Su)
A homunculus cannot speak, but the process of creating one links it telepathically with its creator. A homunculus knows what its master knows and can convey to him or her everything it sees and hears, out to a distance of 1,500 feet.
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure none
A homunculus is a miniature servant created by a spellcaster from his own blood. They are weak combatants but make effective spies, messengers, and scouts. A homunculus’s creator determines its precise features; some are more refined looking, but most creators don’t bother to improve the creature’s appearance beyond the minimum necessary for functioning.
Homunculi are little more than tools designed to carry out assigned tasks. They are extensions of their creators, sharing the same alignment and basic nature. A homunculus never willingly travels more than a mile from its master, though it can be removed forcibly. If this occurs, the creature does everything in its power to return to this range, as it cannot communicate with its master beyond this distance. An attack that destroys a homunculus deals 2d10 points of damage to its master. If the creature’s master is slain, the homunculus goes insane—it loses its Intelligence score, all feats, and all skill ranks, and generally claims the immediate surroundings as its domain, mindlessly attacking any who intrude upon its lair.
On rare occasions, a homunculus freed from its servitude rises above its master’s original intent and becomes more than a half-insane construct guardian of a long-forgotten lair. In some cases, a homunculus might even come to see itself as the rightful heir to its master’s legacy, or even the reincarnated spirit of the master himself.
Construction
A homunculus is shaped from a mixture of clay, ash, mandrake root, spring water, and one pint of the creator’s own blood. These materials cost 50 gp. After the body is sculpted, it is animated through an extended magical ritual that requires a specially prepared laboratory or workroom, similar to an alchemist’s laboratory, and costing an additional 1,000 gp to supply. If the creator is personally constructing the creature’s body, the building and ritual can be performed together. A homunculus with more than 2 Hit Dice can be created, but each additional Hit Die adds +2,000 gp to the cost to create.
The person whose blood is used to form a homunculus’s body becomes its master; it is possible for one person to give blood for the creation, another to sculpt the base material, and another to magically animate it as a minion for the one who provided the blood.
CL 7th; Price 2,050 gp
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Craft Construct, arcane eye, mirror image, mending; Skill Craft (leather) or Craft (sculptures) DC 12; Cost 1,050 gp.
Improved Homunculi
Source Pathfinder Player Companion: Alchemy Manual
A character with the Craft Construct feat can create homunculi with new abilities in addition to those normally possessed by homunculi.
To create a homunculus with one or more improvements, the crafter must include large quantities of certain reagents (represented by the price listed for each of the improvements below) while performing the ritual to create a homunculus. For every 1,000 gp worth of additional abilities to be granted to the homunculus, the DC of the Craft check to create the homunculus increases by 1 (minimum +1).
The crafter can also add new abilities to an existing homunculus by performing a brief surgical procedure. To do so, the crafter must purchase the necessary reagents and make a successful Heal check (DC equal to the DC of the Craft check necessary to create such a homunculus from scratch).
- Acid Breath: By distilling brimstone and aqua regia, a crafter can bestow upon the homunculus the ability to spit a 15-foot-line of acid. This is a breath weapon that deals 1d6 points of acid damage per 2 Hit Dice of the homunculus. The damage from this attack can be halved with a successful Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 the homunculus’s HD). Price: +1,500 gp.
- Extra Eyes: By adding silver shavings to the homunculus, a crafter can imbue it with additional eyes, granting it the all-around vision special quality and a +4 racial bonus on Perception checks. Price: +4,000 gp.
- Spell-Like Ability: By incorporating 10 potions of the same spell in the homunculus’s creation, a crafter can imbue the homunculus with the power to use that spell once per day as a spell-like ability. Price: Total cost of the potions used.
- Spit Poison: By adding gold and realgar to the homunculus, a crafter can give it the ability to spit its poison as a ranged touch attack that deals no damage but exposes the victim to the poison’s effect as though it were a contact poison. The ability has a range of 15 feet with no range increment. Price: +6,000 gp.
- Toughened Hide: By adding diamond dust and cold iron to the homunculus, a crafter can increase its natural armor bonus to AC by 1, 2, or 3. Price: +1,000 gp (+1), +4,000 gp (+2), or +9,000 gp (+3).
- Voice: By adding dew of lunary and platinum to the homunculus, a crafter can grant it the ability to speak in a voice that sounds eerily like a diminutive version of its master’s. Price: +500 gp.