Malicious Mischief by Kate Flack is a role playing game supplement published by Schwalb Entertainment for use with Shadow of the Demon Lord. This is part of the Monstrous Pages series of supplement that add new creatures to the system, in this case three fey.
This is a seven page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $1.99 but was obtained for free as part of a special offer. Half the first page is an illustration and about a quarter is the Credits.
The opening paragraphs briefly talk about faeries and how they can be malicious and things people do to try and prevent this from affecting them.
Next up are the three new fey, starting with Welterkin. Welterkin are small faeries that enter people’s homes when they are asleep and curse them with wens. Once these wens “mature” in 1 to 3 days, the welterkin come back to feed on them. The sores have no combat effect and in any case take too long to be dangerous in combat; when a welterkin sucks them dry is when the damage, and insanity, occurs. Welterkin can also track those they have inflicted sores on by smelling them – no game stats are given for this ability. Welterkin also use poisoned weapons and can send people to sleep.
Menhyad are female faeries that, when at rest, look like menhirs. In motion, they look like vaguely female menhirs – despite claims to the contrary. Menhyad need to remain in contact with the ground, and not worked organic material. They also have the ability to detect wealth beneath the surface.
Perooka are a halfling-sized breed of faerie that has a very high mortality rate amongst its males. As a result, the males are rarely seen and are pampered by the females. The perooka feed on hair; they will shave the head of any they find, including animals, and take the hair back to their nest.
Each of the three faeries comes with several suggestions on how to use them in game.
Malicious Mischief in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and given the length and number of creatures doesn’t need them. Navigation is okay. The text maintains a two column full colour format and appeared to be free of errors. There are also a number of colour illustrations; the welterkin and perooka appear to have illustrations but that which is possibly supposed to be a menhyad does not resemble the description. There is also some colour filler art. Presentation is good.
These three new faeries are not truly dangerous examples of the breed. The welterkin simply want to inflict people with spots and then drink them; the spots have no game effect which is a little odd. The menhyad are unlikely to threaten unless they are themselves threatened and can be a source of wealth. Perooka are interested in hair – and that’s it. If too much resistance is met, the perooka will sever heads and carry them away to shave later, but are unlikely to do more.
The adventure hooks are useful, especially as each faerie has three different ones, but these new creatures are not terribly threatening ones. They are perhaps useful for a diversion, but not really more than that. Malicious Mischief can be found by clicking here.
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