Homebrew Boggle Species Details
"Boggle comes and boggle goes, / Steals your rings and stamps your toes, /
Turn around the compass rose, / Where it went to, no one knows."
- Fallcrest children's rhyme
"Zzz-crack!" and a blue light announces the arrival of a boggle in your midst. Furry, feywild teleporters of some stench and suspicion, these creatures have traditionally walked a path unto themselves. But even these vexatious tricksters love frolicking with their family clan, eating plentiful food, and gazing at the shining objects they've hidden away in a hole or lair: though home for a boggle might mean a mossy riverside cave or an abandoned, stale castle tower.
Small and Mysterious
The diminutive boggles survive in a world full of larger creatures by avoiding notice lest they engage in short-lived japes. Standing about 3 feet tall, they appear relatively harmless and so have managed to survive for centuries in the shadow of empires and on the edges of wars and political strife. They are inclined to be sleight and athletic with surprising strength, weighing typically between 20 and 30 pounds.
Boggles’ first noticeable feature would be their prominent side-mounted primate/feline ears. Their skin ranges from tan to pale with a ruddy cast, and is naturally covered by short to medium hair, usually a patterned brown or sandy brown and white, rarely a creamy blonde or dark brownish black. They have black, brown, or hazel eyes. Boggle men often are slightly larger than females, but you may occasionally find one with longer ruffled beard hair or mustaches. They like to wear simple, comfortable, and practical clothes, favoring neutral earth and forest tones.
Boggle anti-social behavior practicality extends beyond their low-key dressing. They’re concerned with basic needs and simple pleasures (especially snacks), but are fascinated by shiny gems and jewels -- even shiny items of little traditional worth. Once collected, Boggles keep their coveted “treasures” locked in a chthonic den, tree hollow, or abandoned room in a building. Being of a playful, sneaky, and mischievous nature, they have a knack for finding their way into trouble but frequently will find their own way out of it again in short order, even if just teleporting physically out of harm’s way.
Behind the Scenes
Boggles are an affable and cheerful people -- but solely among their own. They cherish the bonds of family and friendship wanting naught for traditional power or renown. Even adventurers among them usually venture into the world for reasons of wanderlust, or curiosity. They love discovering new things, even simple things, such as rare delicacies and swimming holes.
Secretive Secretions
Upon command (and when nervous) boggles can excrete a viscous, nonflammable black ooze OR slippery liquid to leave a slick or puddle in pursuit of hi-jinks. Being nonflammable grants them resistance to flames and heat.
Burrowing through an Alternate Plane
Most boggles live in small, isolated communities far from the hustle or bustle of prying eyes. They have never built a kingdom of their own, but encampments of about twenty or so clan members have been recorded. To commute betwixt their hidden enclaves and explore abandoned areas, they swing through portals of their own creation, about 1 meter square, and out the other end of a 'tunnel' their own magic generates, leaving traces others of their ilk can see. They typically don’t recognize any sort of boggle nobility or royalty, instead looking to family elders to guide them. Families preserve their traditional ways despite the rise and fall of empires.
Following their Noses
Boggles usually set out on the adventurer’s path to defend their family clan, explore a wide and wonder-filled world to learn, sniff, teleport, and amass shiny objects. For them, adventuring is less a career than an opportunity or sometimes a necessity.
Boggle Names
A Boggle has a family name followed by a given name, traditionally short and onomatopoeic. Family names are often nicknames that stuck so tenaciously they have been passed down through the generations.
Male Names: Nik, Mawk, Pik, Fig, Tig, Yip, Rip, Dip, Stik
Female Names: Lil, Sil, Ril, Vau, Xau, Dau, Bau, Jas, Fas, Pas
Family Names: Tik, Tok, Nik, Grik, Crik, Lok, Grok, Mawk, Mik, Pik
Boggle Traits
Tiny and stinky, these social creatures like to stick only with smaller groups of their kind.Darkvision
Sight of up to 60' in the dark.
Teleport
Range of up to 30' in any direction so long as there is a frame for entry and exit.
Ooze
Grants immunity to fire/heat, and the ability to leave a sticky OR slippery pool or trail to encumber pursuers.
Age
A boggle reaches adulthood at the age of 7 and generally lives into the middle of their third decade.
Alignment
Most boggles are chaotic neutral. As a rule, they are playful but prone to extortion, are uncomfortable with feelings of guilt, and have no tolerance for oppression. They are also very messy and disruptive, leaning heavily on the support of their magic for survival.
Size
Halflings average about 3 feet tall and weigh about 25 pounds. Your size is Small.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 20 feet.
Languages
You can speak, read, and write Common, Halfling, Sylvan, and Spider. They write very little, so they don’t have a rich body of literature. Their oral tradition, however, is very strong. Almost all boggles speak Common to playfully torment the people in whose lands they dwell or through which they are traveling.
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