Phileet

Phileet

Phileet (FI-LEET) look like the type of creatures children would love to hug and keep as pets for they appear to be furry, cuddly and fun loving. Phileet appear in many different colours of the rainbow, ranging from bright red to dark violet, much like a Nic’Epona but unlike those horse bashers they can’t change their colour at will. Phileet are born one colour of the rainbow and stay that colour for the rest of their lives. With their furry wings and cute dark eyes every soft-hearted berk’d love to have a phileet as a pet, but to do so would be dangerous. Wise bloods who know this dark stay well away from them.

COMBAT: The phileet are defenders of their own tribe and can attack mercilessly to any berk that threatens its safety. They employ two claw attacks which do 1d6 points of damage. However this attack is insignificant compared with the real danger of the phileet. The home plane of the creatures is Limbo, and they derives their power from the chaotic powers of the Soup itself. Each day (or whatever passes for a day on Limbo, supposedly), a phileet can cast wizard spell level or priest spells equal to its hit dice, which means a 9 HD phileet can cast 9 levels of wizard or priest per day. Phileet can only use mage spells of the school of wild magic or priest spell from within the sphere of Chaos.

Every time a phileet cast a spell there is a 50% chance that a randomly-determined wild surge will occur within 20′ radius. The phileet themselves are immune to the effects of their wild surges but unfortunately that ain’t true for other cutters in the area. Basically, a cutter’s got to really barmy to annoy them.

In addition every phileet has an innate ability to cause a wild surge once time per day. This wild surge is selectable, the phileet can choose any wild surge from the wild surge table in Tome of Magic or anything he desires.

If two phileet band together each can cast a wild surge twice times per day making a total of four surges per day, if three phileet band they each can cause three surges a day making a total of nine surges, each member of a family of ten can cast ten surges per day making a total of one hundred surges per day!

If things are really looking bad, a phileet can planeshift twice per day. Usually this is used to planeshift from home to some other place then home again. Phileet can planeshift an extra person depending on their hit dice. A 1 HD phileet can only planeshift itself, a 2 HD phileet can carry an extra passenger, a 3 HD phileet can carry 2 extra passengers and so on. Would-be hitchhikers are advised that it’s risky to travel with a phileet, however, for there is a flat 3% chance that the passengers will shift to some other plane and be stranded there. Phileet of course are immune to this error and they know where their passengers have gone to, however they can’t offer much help until the next day. Not a pleasant experience for a bunch of cutters who are wrongly transported into Baator eh?? Xaositects seems immune to this happenstance (the DM may reduce the chance of error to 1%)

If in a particularly sneaky mood, the phileet can attempt to shift a passenger without shifting itself. For instance, a phileet could shift its friend and itself to Elysium or he could shift a pesky Baatezu to an a balor’s fortress while remaining safely in the Outlands. Of course, planeshifting doesn’t work into or out of Sigil. A target of an unwanted planeshift gets a saving throw versus spells to negate the effect.

Finally, in addition to its immunity to chaotic spell effects, phileet are also immune to all charm spells and illusions. Most berks don’t know this, but the chant goes a phileet automatically knows if a charm has been used on it. Moral of the story: if you see a phileet casting a spell, RUN!

HABITAT/SOCIETY: Though inherently chaotic, the phileet work well in a group and their organisation follows a hierarchical system. When a tribe leader steps down or gets put in the dead book, its eldest offspring takes control. Other than that one rule they appear wholly chaotic, Xaositects like them and these feelings are usually reciprocated. The same is not true for the Mercykillers and the Harmonium; phileet dislike these authoritarian figures and fling wild surges at them for maximum effect.

These creatures giggle at almost everything and everyone, they can mess with a blood’s library, kiss a Mercykiller, give a Harmonium a new hairdo or anything you can think of, they do it. Phileet also seem to understand the languages of any and all cutters they come across. Chant goes they got this gift from the powers of Limbo, but other sages reckon the phileet actually talk in tongues. They’re fickle with this gift, however, for most of the time they just make gibberish animal sounds, much to the annoyance of many a cutter who’s trying to make himself understood. Phileet have also been spotted talking to inanimate objects…some say it’s just a part of their nature but since they can understand all languages, who knows…. Phileet are excellent flyers for they are the only ones who can fly straight, backward, sideways and even upside-down, some even walk in air.

Wizards with the right dark can attempt to summon one as a familiar, the ritual is up to the DM. Actually getting one would be quite risky. It’s usually only wild mages barmy enough to try and summon them. If successful, the wizard gains the following benefits: ability to cast wild magic at his true level 3 times per day, immunity to create a wild surge once per day and gains +10 hit points when within 10′ of the phileet. The phileet in turn gains the following benefits: any save vs. spells like dismissal can be made at a +4 bonus and gains 1 HD when within the wizard.

ECOLOGY: Phileet are very protective of their young and will use all of their special abilities to harm anyone who would attempt the theft of one. Unfortunately, phileet have become something of a fashion accessory in Sigil of late, and their hides can fetch a good price in the Night Market.

Phileet are very gregarious enjoying the company of many beings, even though they end up irritating many of them (not that they care a fig) but usually they hang out with Xaositects. If a phileet is pleased with a cutter, it may invite him to its home, or it may take him anywhere it wants to if the cutter is brave enough! An berk annoying a phileet may well find himself in an inhospitable plane; the usual haunts are the Abyss or Baator, right into a fiend’s home!

Usually even fiends ignore phileet, for the chant goes there was once a tanar’ri who tried to capture a phileet for its own sick amusement, the next second the poor sod found himself blipped smack-bang into a pit fiend’s stronghold!

Source: Shizumaru and Jon Winter-Holt