Types of Imp, Mephits are Fire, Ice, Lava, Mist, Smoke & Steam
Mephits are nasty little messengers created by powerful lower planes creatures. They are evil and malicious by nature and appear on the Prime Material Plane only to perform evil deeds. Six types of mephits are known: fire, ice, lava, mist, smoke, and steam. Each is created from the substance for which it is named.
Mephits appear as thin, 5-foot humanoids with wings. Their faces have exaggerated features, including hooked noses, pointed ears, wide eyes, and protruding chins. Their skin continually oozes the stuff from which they were made. Mephits speak a common mephit tongue.
Combat: In battle, mephits attack with either clawed hands or breath weapons. Damage type is variable depending on the type of mephit encountered. Mephits prefer to torture so they never kill their victims prefering to them to suffer.
Habitat/Society: Mephits love tormenting helpless creatures and bragging about their latest evil accomplishments. They wear garish, vulgar costumes in bizarre colors and outrageous designs. They give themselves pompous, impossibly long names, such as Gadenumberthal-giant-slayer-greatest-of-all-the-ice-mephits.
Mephits assume a groveling, craven, yes-master stance around their bosses. Toward victims and each other, mephits drop their humble servant persona and take on the arrogant air of a superior being. A limited camaraderie exists between mephits of the same order. Disputes between different types are often settled by a friendly game of tug-a-demihuman.
Mephits are usually assigned to deliver some message or pick to up packages on the lower planes, but occasionally they are sent to the Prime material plane. Missions on the Prime Material Plane include retrieving a particular person, delivering a special magical item, or just spreading a little mayhem (so folks don't forget the lower planes are still there).
Ecology: Mephits lead brief, troublesome lives. They are quickly created and destroyed, but they have no predetermined life span. They never eat, but must return to the substance from which they were formed to heal damage.
The most mischievous of all mephits, these fiends play terrible pranks on other mephits (such as pushing lava mephits into water and watching them harden) and on their victims.
Touching a fire mephit causes 1 point of heat damage. Their clawed hands rake for l point of damage, plus 1 hit point of heat damage per hit.
Fire mephits may use their breath weapon three times a day. It has two forms. The first is a flame jet 15 feet long and 1-foot wide. This jet automatically hits one target, of the mephit's choosing. The second form is a fan of flame covering a 120' arc directly in front of the mephit to a distance of 5 feet. Any creature in the arc suffers damage, no dodges allowed only magic serves as protection from this.
Fire mephits may also cast heat metal and magic missile (two missiles) spells each once per day.
Ice mephits are angular in form, with translucent ice-blue skin. They live on the colder lower planes and never mix with fire, lava, smoke, or steam mephits. Ice mephits are aloof and cruel, surpassing all other mephits in the fine arts of torture and wanton destruction.
In combat, ice mephits attack with two clawed hands.
Ice mephits may breathe a volley of ice shards three times per day. This volley automatically hits a single victim within 15 feet of the mephit. Damage is halved if the victim successfully dodges.
Lava mephits are the least intelligent of all mephits. They are slow on the uptake and frequently the brunt of fire mephit jokes. Lava mephits generate extreme heat that can be felt 30 feet away. Their claws are small and soft, causing little damage when they hit, but each hit inflicts an additional 1 point of heat damage. The touch of a lava mephit automatically melts or burns most materials.
Their breath weapon is a molten blob of lava usable once every three minutes. This blob automatically hits one target within 10 feet of the breathing mephit. A lava mephit may use this weapon a maximum of eight times, after that, the mephit must recharge by soaking in a lava pool for one hour. Mephits may recharge during battle, if they come in contact with lava during combat, they regenerate 2 hit points per minute. This ability is, of course, lost if the mephit is brought to 0 hit points or less, at this point the mephit is dead. These fiends may shapechange into a pool of lava 3 feet in diameter by 6 inches deep. This maneuver does not recharge the breath weapon. They may still be harmed normally when in this lava pool form.
Mist mephits fancy themselves as spies par excellence and practice this ability on other mephits. They are quick to report other mephits who show mercy or any other treasonous behavior, and they never engage in idle banter with other mephits. Mist mephits have the ability to see clearly in fog or mist. Their skin is pale green. They never engage in combat unless they are trapped. Their soft claws inflict little or no damage when they hit. Mist mephits may breathe a sickly, green ball of mist, every other round, up to three times an hour. This ball automatically envelopes one victim within 10 feet of the breathing mephit. The victim is effected like poison, choking & blinded for 4 minutes. In addition to the breath weapon, mist mephits can create a wall of fog (as the spell) once per day. They can also assume gaseous form once per day and often use this ability to spy on others or escape combat.
Smoke mephits are crude and lazy. They spend most of their time lounging around invisible, smoking pipe weed, telling bad jokes about their creators, and shirking their responsibilities.
Their breath weapon consists of a sooty ball usable every other minute, with no limit on the number of times it can be used in a day. The sooty ball automatically strikes one creature of the mephit's choice within 20 feet, causing l point of damage and blinding the victim for 1-2 minutes.
Smoke mephits may cast invisibility and dancing lights once each per day.
When a smoke mephit dies, it disappears in a flash of flame. The flash causes 1 point of damage to all creatures within 10 feet (no dodges).
Steam mephits are the self-appointed overlords of all mephits. They frequently give orders to weaker mephits. In addition to hissing steam escaping from their pores, steam mephits leave a trail of near-boiling water wherever they walk.
The hardened claws of a steam mephit cause 1 point of damage, plus 1 additional point of heat damage per touch.
Steam mephits can breath a scalding jet of water every other minute; no limit to the number of times per day this can be used. This jet has a 20-foot range and automatically hits its target.
Once per day a steam mephit may create a rainstorm of boiling water over a 20-by 20-foot area. This storm inflicts 2 points of damage to all victims caught in the area of effect. Steam mephits may also contaminate water once per day (reverse of purify water).
Unlike other mephits, who will delay an attack for as long as possible, steam mephits are ruled by their oversized egos. They will even ambush even large, well-armed parties, striking first with boiling rainstorms, then concentrating their breath weapons on the nearest wizard or priest.
