Chaos Imp

Chaos imps hail from the plane of raw chaos. They are monkeylike and seldom over two feet tall, and beyond that nothing about them holds still: ears and noses may be huge, tiny or mismatched, and their faces change on a whim. Travelers often mistake them for gremlins, mites, mephits or similar nuisances, and the truth usually comes out only after the damage is done.

They have no interest in fighting anyone. What they want is to infest gear by merging with nonliving objects. This works only on inanimate matter from outside their home plane; things with a mind or spirit, like iron golems or thinking swords, are immune. A tree shaped from chaos-stuff by a traveler's will is useless to them, while an ordinary sword +1 brought from elsewhere is fair game. They always sense which matter is stable and choose it.

Sturdy things such as armor, shields, blades, pots and spikes appeal more than flimsy cloaks, boots or scrolls, and magic items most of all. A round of touch infests a mundane object. A magic item resists with a save of 14, which improves by 1 for each plus or additional power. The imp then flows into the object like water, changing nothing about its weight, shape, density, function or magic. An infested item gives off no magical aura unless it already had one and behaves normally while on the chaos plane.

They prefer stealth, slipping into gear while the party is busy. If discovered, the whole group swarms one victim, some distracting while others merge. They cannot physically hurt anyone, yet fighting them is perilous, since any weapon that strikes an imp risks infestation; that brief contact allows the item a base save of 10.

Once inside, the imp can transform its host object whenever it likes, keeping only its rough mass. A fighter reaching for his blade might pull out a bowl of pudding or a shed snakeskin. Unless the bearer holds the item's form steady with his will, as he would on the chaos plane, it changes without warning. The imp can also talk from inside it.

There are two cures. Destroying the item expels the imp, so drinking an infested potion sends it bursting out of the flask. Alternatively, casting banishment, dismissal, abjure or animate object on each object drives the imp out, though it immediately tries to enter the closest object. A dispel magic expels every imp in its area. Once freed of them, get far away fast.

On their plane they lurk in nests that look like inert bubbles, taking shape only when a host comes near. They seem to arise spontaneously, with no known means of breeding. Off the plane, an evicted imp with nothing else to enter eventually fades away.

Clever and mischievous, they want two things. One is escape, possible only inside an object, so they lie dormant in infested gear until they think they have left. Seasoned travelers try to fool them by imposing the image of another plane on the chaos around them; this requires a willpower check, and the DM secretly rolls a second check with the same skill to see if the imps are convinced. If so, they reveal themselves in 3d6 turns. The other is spreading confusion, perhaps on behalf of the powers of chaos.

Some find a use for them anyway. Fiends, pranksters and certain planar factions, especially a faction of revolutionaries and another of chaos-worshiping philosophers, enjoy giving infested 'gifts' to their foes.