Pygmy [Human]

Pygmies are small humans of deep jungles and remote tropical isles, pushed by taller rivals into scraps of wilderness no one else claims. They look like smaller versions of neighboring peoples, dark-skinned and dark-eyed with tightly curled black hair. A hide loincloth, its tail often left dangling behind, is usually their only garment, which explains rumors that pygmies have tails. They speak their own language and the regional trade talk.

Pygmies have the woodcraft of elves and the stealth of halflings. In home terrain they hide so well they count as invisible, though magic can still find them, and foes caught in a prepared ambush roll surprise at -4. They use spears, knives, clubs, short bows with flight arrows and traded machetes (treat as short swords), falling back on stone, bone and wood without metal. Some tribes favor blowguns with the same skill. With bows of their own making they gain +2 to hit.

Facing superior numbers they wage guerrilla war. Elf-fashion, they can move, loose one arrow and move on all in one round, and they slip through the green leaving no sign, as with pass without trace. With warning they hang nets across paths and attack while intruders cut them down, and they set snares and pits, some lined with sharpened stakes. Shields come out only when defending the village.

Their hunting poison, brewed from beetle grubs, is used only on arrows and darts. A target saves vs. poison at -2 or suffers slow, as the wizard spell, the following round, then 1-4 turns of paralysis the round after that, plenty of time to finish the kill. The venom degrades within an hour, leaving the meat safe.

They hunt and forage, keeping no crops, herds or forges; all metal arrives by trade. Bands of up to 50 build quick huts of bark and timber and move on whenever the food runs out, often rotating among a few familiar sites. Men, women and children each make up about a third. For every eight men there is a fighter (2nd-4th), the chief is a fighter (5th-8th), one or two priests (1st-8th) tend the tribe, and half of all villages include a ranger (1st-8th). Most are neutral good or neutral, and evil pygmies are rare.

Outsiders may not harm their forest. Peaceful visitors have a 75% chance of friendship; others are told to leave, and if they refuse they face not a charge but endless raiding until they go. Arriving openly with gifts for the chief all but guarantees a warm welcome, provided the guests mind their manners.

They eat almost anything: game, birds, eggs, grubs, fruit. They never kill more than they need or cut living trees. They enjoy trade with taller neighbors, swapping meat and hides for salt, cloth and metal goods.