Welcome to the Dog Days of Podcasting, 2022 season. This year we’re taking part by creating 30 NPCs to use with table top gaming, writing projects, or other creative endeavors. These NPCs are system agnostic, but may include minor suggestions for how to run the characters with a party of adventures and explorers. They are written with a specific genre in mind, but will include notation for how to use them within at least two other realms.
That said, let’s get started.
Today, we’re visiting The Gremlin Dragon, an NPC designed for Fantasy campaigns.
The Gremlin Dragon
XXVIII
The foliage rustled accompanied the sound of light growls and the feeling of eyes upon the party. The groundskeeper hung behind the Crusader, using her as a bulwark to what stalked them. “There!” they shouted, as something white and fast swept from the blanket of leaves. The crusader raised her shield to deflect a blow and. . . nothing. The shield lowered and the party stared at a small dragon like creature, covered in fur, scales, and a holding a bundle of seeds and a small rake?
The Gremlin Dragon is a collector, a gatherer, and a problem solver. They look for the forgotten bits and bobs of the world and preserve them in a horde of mundane plenty. And they listen while they gather, waiting to hear the words of need for a prize from their affects. Some may speak, but they mostly avoid too much contact beyond their trades. A fuzzy lump that’ll burrow around a town and then dash in leaving piles of worn tools and clumped dirt that a homeowner needed for a project. The random adventurer finds themselves the new owner of a half complete fletcher kit after the little thing finds arrows too damaged discarded in camp.
They are rarely directly negotiated with, but seem to hear all needs within the radius of their domain. While commonly found near moderate sized villages, they may occasionally be found near a lair of dungeon dwellers. The Gremlin Dragon is not a combatant although they will defend themselves if cornered. They’re often too mobile to track down to have long conversations with to do more than trade or ask for help.
In Fantasy, they are the bane and boon of a village. The little fae like creature infiltrating lives and solving needs.
In Urban Fantasy, they’re the sock eater, and can prance through the driers of homes to snag singles of footwear and leave behind odd pieces of tubberware lids that don’t match anything.
In ages of exploration, they’re the ship cat on a vessel that almost certainly doesn’t have a cat. Small trinkets and gadgets can be found in their stash under the cook’s bunk.
Asked for or not, this creature has the right prize waiting for the right need. A collector of the lost, the Gremlin Dragon will be found in the smallest cubbies of the vast world. An ally, a frustration, and a friend.
The audio portion of this episode is shared on a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Sounds and music are provided by Syrinscape’s Gator Swamp Soundset. Please see the website for individual song and sound usage. The text for this episode is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Have a good time with the character, and let me know if you use them for something.
Until tomorrow.