Jinkin

Jinkin

Externally hosted image

(Creature)

2E1E

Common

CE

Tiny

Fey

Gremlin

Level

1

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Images of jinkins

Source: Bestiary, pg(s). 193

Type

Fey

CR

1

Environment

Any underground or urban

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Images of jinkins

Source: Bestiary 2, pg(s). 142

Evil-tempered and mischievous in the extreme, jinkins are gremlins, a type of fey that delight in tinkering with the magic items of others. Once cursed by them, these items become very unreliable, causing annoyance and harm to the user. Jinkins are also known to worship Andirifkhu, demon princess of traps and blades.

Appearance

A jinkin resembles a humanoid that stands around two feet high and weighs about 13 pounds. In addition to their tiny reptilian scales, jinkins also have rigid spines protruding from various parts of their body. A jinkin's face looks horribly humanoid with tattered, large bat-like ears, pupil-less orange eyes, and a mouth that sports both sharp, needle-like teeth and a disturbingly manic grin.

Habitat and ecology

Like many gremlins, most jinkins live in the benighted depths of the Darklands; the few that do not are found in sewers, glacial tears, and karst formations. They make great use of the Darklands' naturally dangerous terrain, often trying to hide themselves in small, cramped spaces that give them an advantage over larger opponents. They also often set traps, delighting in trapping their victims beneath huge rockfalls or pushing them into some bottomless chasm.

They are loathed by many Darklands creatures but are particularly despised by the dwarves. Part of the reason for the dwarves' hatred may be the jinkins' unique ability to curse magic items, making them perform wildly different functions at the worst possible moment and resulting in havoc, which the jinkins find hilarious. Jinkins are strictly carnivorous. They mainly eat rodents, though there are some records of them eating humanoids, particularly goblins and drathnelars. They have even been known to engage in cannibalism.

Abilities

Being creatures of stealth, a jinkin is especially dangerous when its opponent has no idea it is coming.

A group of jinkins can curse a magical item given enough time. This curse either weakens the item and makes it unreliable, or gives it some strange new drawback.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.