Domovoi — Slavic Household Guardian Spirit
A watcher behind the stove, a hairy old shape glimpsed at the edge of the firelight, a hand that completes an unfinished chore and a warning that comes before disaster: the Domovoi is the spirit of the household itself — guardian, omen-bearer, trickster and fiercely possessive keeper of the family under its roof.
Game Statistics
Choose an edition below for complete Domovoi statistics. The creature retains the same core identity across all three systems: a Tiny household guardian with shapechanging, supernatural stealth, household magic and telekinesis .
Domovoi
Tiny Fey, typically Chaotic Good
Armor Class 14
Hit Points 27 (6d4 + 12)
Speed 20 ft.
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +6
Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Passive Perception 13
Languages Sylvan plus the principal language spoken by its bound household
Challenge 1 (200 XP; PB +2)
Traits
Bound Household. The Domovoi is mystically attached to one occupied dwelling, farmstead, workshop or similar household. While inside that property, it has Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) and Wisdom (Perception) checks and on Initiative rolls. It instinctively recognises regular members of the household and its domesticated animals.
Compression. The Domovoi can move through an opening at least 3 inches wide without squeezing. It cannot move through a solid or magically sealed barrier.
Household Magic. Charisma is the Domovoi’s spellcasting ability (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). It requires no Material components to cast the following spells:
- At will: Mage Hand , Mending , Prestidigitation
- 3/day each: Invisibility, Sleep
- 1/day each: Augury, Enlarge/Reduce (Reduce only)
Actions
Multiattack. The Domovoi makes two Telekinetic Hurl attacks.
Club. Melee Attack Roll: +2, reach 5 ft. Hit: 2 (1d4) Bludgeoning damage.
Telekinetic Hurl. Ranged Spell Attack: +4 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) Bludgeoning damage. To make the attack, the Domovoi magically seizes an unattended loose object weighing no more than 50 pounds within 30 feet of itself and hurls it. If no suitable object is available, it cannot use this attack.
Telekinetic Shove (Recharge 5–6). One Medium or smaller creature the Domovoi can see within 30 feet must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or be pushed or pulled up to 15 feet and have the Prone condition. The Domovoi chooses the direction of movement.
Bonus Actions
Change Shape. The Domovoi magically assumes the appearance of an ordinary cat or dog, or returns to its true form. Its game statistics do not otherwise change. The transformation ends when it dies.
Running the Domovoi
A Domovoi should rarely stand in the middle of a room trading attacks. It hides, becomes invisible, moves through tiny gaps and uses the household itself as its weapon. Crockery, firewood, stools, tools and loose objects should make the room feel dangerous even when the spirit cannot be seen.
Its CR assumes an encounter in or around the home it guards. Away from that environment, the Domovoi loses much of its positional advantage and is considerably easier to corner.
Domovoi
CR 3 • CG Tiny Fey
XP 800
Init +6; Senses low-light vision; Perception +7
Defense
AC 17, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 natural, +2 size)
hp 27 (5d6+10)
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +5
Offense
Speed 20 ft.
Melee club +4 (1d3)
Special Attacks telekinesis
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +7)
- At will— invisibility, lullaby (DC 12), mage hand , mending , prestidigitation
- 3/day— reduce person (DC 13), sleep (DC 13)
- 1/week— augury
Statistics
Str 10, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 13, Cha 15
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 13
Feats Dodge , Improved Initiative , Mobility
Skills Acrobatics +7, Bluff +8, Diplomacy +8, Handle Animal +7, Knowledge (local) +4, Perception +7, Sense Motive +7, Stealth +17
Languages Sylvan plus the principal language spoken by its bound household
SQ change shape (cat or dog; beast shape I), compression
Special Abilities
Telekinesis (Su). A Domovoi defends itself and its household through telekinesis . This functions as the spell telekinesis, usable at will, with a caster level equal to the Domovoi’s Hit Dice (normally CL 5th). A typical Domovoi has a +5 ranged attack bonus when hurling objects or creatures and can affect objects weighing up to 50 pounds. A creature the Domovoi attempts to hurl can resist with a DC 14 Will save. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Ecology
Environment any inhabited land
Organization solitary or gathering (2–6)
Treasure none
SpiralWorlds language conversion: the generic Pathfinder language “Common” is replaced by the actual language predominantly spoken by the household to which the Domovoi is attached.
Domovoi
Tiny Fey • 5 HD • CR 3
Hit Dice 5d6+10 (27 hp)
Initiative +6
Speed 20 ft.
Armor Class 17 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +2 natural, +1 dodge), touch 15, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple +2/−6
Attack club +4 melee (1d3)
Full Attack club +4 melee (1d3)
Space/Reach 2½ ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks telekinesis , spell-like abilities
Special Qualities change shape, compression, damage reduction 5/ cold iron , low-light vision, spell resistance 14
Saves Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +5
Abilities Str 10, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 13, Cha 15
Skills Bluff +10, Hide +18, Listen +9, Move Silently +10, Spot +9
Feats Dodge , Improved Initiative
Environment any inhabited land
Organization solitary or gathering (2–6)
Challenge Rating 3
Treasure none
Alignment usually chaotic good
Advancement 6–10 HD (Tiny)
Level Adjustment —
Spell-Like Abilities
Caster level 5th. Save DCs are Charisma-based.
- At will— invisibility, lullaby (DC 12), mage hand , mending , prestidigitation
- 3/day— reduce person (DC 13), sleep (DC 13)
- 1/week— augury
Special Abilities
Change Shape (Su). A Domovoi can assume the form of an ordinary cat or dog or return to its natural form. This functions as the 3.5e alternate form special ability. The Domovoi can remain in either form indefinitely.
Compression (Ex). A Domovoi can move through an area as small as one-quarter of its normal space without squeezing, and through still narrower openings by squeezing. It commonly uses this ability to hide behind stoves, cupboards, walls and structural timbers.
Telekinesis (Su). A Domovoi may use telekinesis at will as a 5th-level caster. A typical Domovoi has a +5 ranged attack bonus when hurling objects or creatures and can affect objects weighing up to 50 pounds. A creature hurled by the effect can resist with a DC 14 Will save. The save DC is Charisma-based.
3.5e conversion: this version is a backward conversion of the Pathfinder creature. Pathfinder CMB/CMD and consolidated skills have been removed. Its 5 racial Fey Hit Dice grant two feats and the skill block has been rebuilt using 3.5e Fey skill-point progression.
The Spirit Behind the Stove
Every old house has noises its inhabitants eventually stop hearing. Boards settle. A latch moves in the night. Ash shifts when no one is near the fire. In a house watched by a Domovoi, some of those sounds are listening back.
The Domovoi — also encountered as Domovoy, Domovyk and under related regional names — belongs to the traditions of Slavic household guardians. Its identity is tied to a particular house and to the people, animals, stores, hearth and daily life maintained beneath its roof.
It is therefore more than a wandering fairy that happens to prefer human dwellings. A Domovoi belongs to a household. In some traditions that relationship is so closely associated with ancestry that the spirit resembles an elderly member of the family or is addressed as a grandfather or house lord.
Most householders never obtain a clear view of their guardian. Descriptions vary from a tiny, heavily bearded old man to a hairy humanoid, an animal or even a supernatural likeness of somebody belonging to the family.
Rules classification: SpiralWorlds treats the Domovoi as Fey for game purposes. Within the folklore of the world, however, householders generally understand it as a domestic or ancestral guardian rather than as one member of a universal fairy species.
A Member of the Household
Guardian
A contented Domovoi watches doors, animals, children, stores and sleeping inhabitants. It may wake somebody before a fire spreads, disturb an intruder, rattle a locked door or move a dangerous object before anyone realises there is danger.
Worker
Small tasks sometimes finish themselves. A damaged garment has been roughly repaired. A misplaced tool appears beside the stove. Grain sacks are upright after a storm. Such help is practical, modest and almost never performed while watched.
Trickster
A neglected Domovoi usually begins with irritation rather than lethal violence. Keys disappear. Milk spills. Blankets are pulled away. Animals become restless. Footsteps cross an empty room. Continued offence makes the warnings harsher.
Omen-Bearer
The spirit is closely associated with the fortunes of its household. Cries, dreams, movements, touches and sudden appearances can foreshadow danger, illness, death, prosperity, visitors or upheaval.
Offerings, Respect and Offence
A family wishing to remain on good terms with its Domovoi treats it as an unseen member of the household rather than a servant. Bread, porridge, milk or other modest food may be left beside the stove or in another quiet place. The offering is less a payment than an acknowledgement that the house has another resident.
A household does not have to be perfectly peaceful to earn the spirit’s loyalty. Families quarrel, animals make messes and children break things. What provokes a Domovoi is sustained contempt for the household itself: needless destruction, cruelty toward those under its protection, mistreatment of domestic animals, deliberate waste or betrayal of hospitality.
| d6 | Sign of a Contented Domovoi | Sign of an Angered Domovoi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A lost household object appears beside the hearth. | Important keys or tools repeatedly disappear. |
| 2 | An animal calms after staring into an apparently empty corner. | Livestock refuse to enter one particular stall. |
| 3 | A broken strap, hem or wooden fitting is mysteriously repaired. | Doors unlatch and cupboards open during the night. |
| 4 | A sleeper wakes moments before real danger reaches the house. | Heavy footsteps circle the bed while everyone else sleeps. |
| 5 | The hearth catches cleanly despite damp fuel. | The stove repeatedly smokes or goes cold without obvious cause. |
| 6 | A small food offering is disturbed although no animal tracks remain. | A hairy little figure is finally seen — staring rather than hiding. |
Moving House
The Domovoi’s attachment to household and family creates a particular problem when people move. Traditions preserve the idea that the guardian can accompany the household to a new dwelling and may be formally invited to do so.
In SpiralWorlds, families who know the old customs commonly carry a small domestic object, piece of bread, old shoe, coal or ember from the former house while asking their Domovoi to follow. The precise rite varies between villages and families. What matters is that the spirit is not simply abandoned without acknowledgement.
This makes relocation unusually important in play. A refugee family may have left its guardian behind. Two branches of a household may both claim the same spirit. A Domovoi may refuse to enter a purchased house because something else already lives there.
Domovoi in the World of 1454
In 1454 the Domovoi is not merely a creature of old stories. Across the Slavic lands, cottages, farms, workshops, manor houses and town dwellings can genuinely acquire household guardians.
A learned natural philosopher may describe the Domovoi as a local fey intelligence whose supernatural bond settles upon a household over generations. A village wise-woman may call it the old grandfather of the house. A farmer may care little for either explanation and simply leave bread where his own grandfather taught him to leave it.
Its magic is intimate rather than spectacular. A Domovoi knows which board creaks, where the spare key lies, which animal is restless, who normally sleeps beside the stove and whether the stranger crossing the threshold after sunset was truly invited inside.
Using a Domovoi in Play
The strongest Domovoi encounters are mysteries, negotiations or territorial confrontations rather than ordinary room fights. The important question is often not “How do we kill it?” but “Why has this house turned against us?”
Before Combat
The Domovoi watches strangers and determines whether the household genuinely regards them as guests. If threatened, it hides or becomes invisible and begins moving objects before revealing itself.
During Combat
It attacks from concealment, throws crockery, tools, stools and firewood, closes doors and forces intruders into awkward positions. It avoids remaining adjacent to armed opponents.
Morale
A Domovoi does not normally die for property alone. It fights hardest when members of its household are directly threatened and otherwise prefers to disappear into the structure rather than fight to destruction.
Negotiation
Food helps, but respect matters more. Repairing deliberate damage, returning something stolen from the house, calming mistreated livestock or winning the trust of the resident family can end the encounter without violence.
Domovoi Adventure Hooks
- The House Refuses Its New Owner. A merchant purchases an abandoned manor, but every servant flees after the furniture begins moving at night. The Domovoi insists somebody from the former household is still alive — and therefore the household has not truly ended.
- The Empty Cradle. A household spirit wakes the same family every night by dragging a wooden cradle across the floor. No child has slept in it for forty years.
- Bring Grandfather With Us. Refugees fleeing a destroyed village beg the party to recover one apparently worthless hearthstone. Their Domovoi refuses to leave without it.
- Two Spirits, One House. A marriage joins two old households. Both families bring their guardian traditions into the new dwelling and the supernatural consequences begin immediately.
- The Domovoi Saw Everything. A murder occurs inside a locked house. There are no human witnesses, but the household spirit knows who entered and has reasons of its own for refusing to speak.
- The Wrong Thing Behind the Stove. A family believes its increasingly violent Domovoi has become angry. In truth, the old guardian has vanished and something else has learned to imitate its signs.
Historical Depiction
Bilibin’s depiction captures a quality easily lost when the Domovoi becomes a generic fantasy goblin: the creature belongs inside the domestic world. Stove, floorboards, furniture, shadows and ordinary household space are part of its identity.
Domovoi FAQ
What is a Domovoi?
A Domovoi is a household guardian from Slavic folklore, associated with the home, family, stove or hearth, domestic animals and the fortunes of the household.
Is a Domovoi good or evil?
A Domovoi normally protects the household to which it is attached, but it is neither tame nor harmless. A seriously offended spirit can become troublesome, frightening and potentially dangerous.
How large is a Domovoi?
Descriptions vary, but the SpiralWorlds Domovoi is genuinely Tiny, normally around one to two feet tall. The hero illustration deliberately places it beside a full-sized domestic cat, large stove and household vessels so its scale is immediately clear.
Can a Domovoi become an animal?
Yes. Folkloric traditions allow household guardians to appear in animal forms, while the Pathfinder creature specifically possesses Change Shape into a cat or dog. The SpiralWorlds 5.5e and 3.5e versions preserve that feature.
How should a Game Master use a Domovoi?
Use it as a territorial guardian, supernatural witness, omen-bearer or source of a household mystery. Its strongest scenes involve the building, family and domestic objects it protects rather than an isolated monster waiting in a room.
Folklore, Art and Game Sources
- Encyclopedia of Religion — Slavic Religion — background on Slavic household guardians, ancestral associations and domestic religious traditions.
- Ivan Bilibin, Domovoi (1934) — public-domain historical artwork.
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 5 — House Spirit: Domovoi — source reference for the Pathfinder statistics.
- World Bestiary — complete SpiralWorlds creature catalogue.
- Slavic Monsters — regional Bestiary collection.
- Magic — SpiralWorlds spell and magical-rules reference.
Pathfinder Section 15 Copyright Notice
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 5 © 2015, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Creighton Broadhurst, Robert Brookes, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Joe Homes, James Jacobs, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Ben McFarland, Jason Nelson, Thom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Wes Schneider, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Mike Shel, James L. Sutter and Linda Zayas-Palmer.
The 5.5e / 2024 conversion, D&D 3.5e conversion, setting material, encounter guidance, adventure hooks and presentation are SpiralWorlds adaptations and original editorial material.
Videos — Domovoi in Slavic Folklore
These two videos provide different levels of coverage: a compact introduction followed by a longer bestiary-style treatment.