Poppet

Liber Mysterium

The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks  
By Timothy S. Brannan and The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks Team

Physilogy/Habitat

Poppets are small, between six and nine inches tall, each weighing less than a pound. They are made of numerous strips of cloth or leather wrapped around a central core of hair. After many combats ,older poppets – having employed their self-repair ability-are often very colourful, incorporating strips from, a variety of fabrics into their tiny frames.

Like most constructs poppets cannot speak, although they can understand any language spoken by the hair donor.

A poppet is commonly found working for a spellcaster as a servant or laboratory assistant. When employed as an assassin it is rarely seen until it is too late.

Poppet
Diminutive construct
Hit Dice	1d10 (5 hp)
Initiative	+2 (+2 Dexterity)
Speed	30 ft.
AC	18 (+4 size, +2 Dexterity, +2 natural) Touch AC: 16 (+4 size, +2 Dexterity) Flatfooted AC: 16 (+4 size, +2 natural)
Attacks	Small halberd -1 melee
Damage:	Small halberd 1 d6-1
Face/Reach	1 ft. by 1 ft./0
Special Attacks	Assassination
Special Qualities	construct, diminutive, find target, immunities, self-repair
Saves	Fort +0, Ref +2, Will+0
Abilities	Strength 8, Dexterity 15, Constitution -, Intelligence 4, Wisdom 10, Charisma 1
Climate/Terrain	Any land
Organization	Solitary or collection (2-5)
CR	1/2
Treasure	None
Alignment	Always neutral
Advancement	–

Combat

Poppets are Stealthy, relying on their size and skill at remaining concealed to avoid a straight fight. Instead, the poppet attacks its victim while she sleeps. Poppets must be armed by their creator. They can wield any weapon, even to using knives and forks if proper weapons are not available. If a poppet is discovered, it will flee unless a chance it could kill its prey within a round.

Poppets can be created and used in bunches. In general it takes half again as many poppets to make a decent as their prey’s hit dice. So a 10th level fighter be challenged to some degree by 15 poppets.

Assassination (Sp): Once per day, a poppet can attack with True Strike, gaining a +20 insight bonus to its attack. If it hits with this ability, it automatically scores a critical hit, and triples damage.

Construct: Immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, Paralysis, disease, and similar effects. Not subject to stunning, critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, energy drain, or death from massive damage.

Diminutive (Ex): While poppets have no skills, their small size makes them difficult to spot. Opponents must make a Spot check against DC 14 to notice a poppet that is using its Find Target ability.

Find Target (Sp): When ordered to find its chosen a poppet does so unerringly, as though guided by location. When it finds its target, it bides its time attacks with its assassination ability.

Immunities (Ex): Due to their peculiar construction, poppets take no damage from blunt attacks and only half damage from piercing attacks.

Self-repair (Sp): Given enough time, and access to enough cloth, a poppet can repair itself by tearing off strips of cloth and adding them to its own body. This takes one hour per hit point regained, although there must be some cloth or fabric nearby. In general, if a poppet is not killed and escapes, it will return the next day fully healed.

Poppets are a great, non-threatening way to directly attack a PC. They are not very dangerous, but they are difficult to attack, tend to scurry away after a failed attempt, and generally serve more as a disturbing nuisance. You certainly do not want to kill a PC as she sleeps with no warning, but a poppet attack implies that some- one is out to get the PC-someone who may resort to something nastier after the initial attacks fail.

Of course, poppets can succeed in killing their target. A series of mysterious murders around a city prompt an investigation. People are found dead, stabbed in their sleep, apparently by dozens of tiny knives. There is no way for a human to get in or out of the victim’s rooms. A poppet, on the other hand, can easily slip in places no normal human could gain access to.

Adventure Hook: The PCs discover an assassination attempt on a local lord when a group of poppets randomly terrorize the city. The mage who created them made too many, and was unable to control them all. The tiny golems are little more than a nuisance, but of significance to a sage. The PCs can learn from a sage what the poppets are for, and then the game’s afoot!