Grinn

Grinn

A New Race For the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

A breed of bogeyman, grinns are tall men that live quiet lives in solemn positions in society, where their unnerving appearances are less likely to bother people. The first thing most creatures notice about grinns is their smile; a horrible permanent grimace seemingly stolen from a shark, crocodile, or similar creature. From there the comparisons move onto walking corpses, as grinns possess a deathly pallor, wide sunken eyes, and are universally emaciated. Most grinns are bald, but it isn’t underheard of to see wisps of white or grey hair. Grinns stand approximately 7 feet tall, with elongated limbs and digits.

Although they simply consider themselves bogeymen, and refer to themselves as such, grinns have come to be considered an different style of fey due to their more refined nature. Where a normal bogeyman will kill with abandon, the average grinn seems content to soak in the unease created by his presence. Part of this stems from the grinns fascination with decorum and manners. Grinns are unfailingly polite and well-mannered, which tends to surprise people expecting these monstrous creatures to be savage beasts. Due to their overly formal adherence to protocol and politeness, grinns tend to gravitate to careers where social niceties are important, such as courtiers, advisors, and lawyers. However, because they understand that most people run screaming whenever they enter a room grinns are satisfied with whatever solitary work they can find. As such grinns are often found staffing cemeteries or serving as undertakers. This of course does little to improve their reputation. As a kindness to ‘timid’ races (i.e. anyone that isn’t a bogeyman), sensitive grinns will often cover their mouths with scarves, masks, or high collars.

Grinns rarely gather in enough number to form true cities but have numerous villages that can be found in deep forests. Full of a gothic atmosphere, pointed architecture and eerily cheerful faces, no one stays long in these spooky villages. Anyone that spends an extended period of time in a grinn village can attest that they are well-mannered, but mention that a subtle undercurrent of scheming is evident. Since grinns share the fey’s devotion to following rules, grinn culture has raised following the letter of an agreement, but not the spirit, to an art form. Anyone that makes a deal with a grinn would do well to carefully watch the exact words used in the deal.

Sadly, not all grinns are eloquent masters of social decorum. Some grinns decide that the brutal mannerisms of the infamous bogeyman are more to their liking. These grinns are often referred to as ‘bogey monsters’ by their more sophisticated brothers, and it is considered a grave insult to refer to a ‘civilized’ grinn by the term. Thankfully, these savage grinns are rare, and most grinns are content to deal with others on polite terms. Particularly heroic grinns have been known to use their fearsome demeanor to torment those they deem wicked. Such grinns will seek out evil souls to frighten, either with the goal of scaring them straight or driving them into an early grave. Given that fey have a love of stories, it comes as little surprise that these heroic grinn enjoy travelling far and wide in order to find worthy targets to feed their own growing tales.

## Racial Traits:

* Ability Score (0 RP): Sometimes called ‘walking corpses’, grinns are sickly and frail, but astoundingly lithe and socially adroit despite their appearance. They gain +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, and a -2 Constitution.
* Type (2 RP): Grinn are fey.
* Size (0 RP): Grinns are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Male (0 RP): As a variant of bogeyman, all grinns are male.
* Languages (0 RP): Grinn begin play speaking Common and Sylvan. Grinns with a high Intelligence score can choose form the following list: Undercommon, Aklo, Elven
* Light Sensitivity (-1 RP): Grinns prefer to work in dim lighting, as bright lights hurt their eyes. A grinn is dazzled as long as he remains in an area of bright light.
* Low light Vision (0 RP): As fey, grinns have low-light vision, and can see twice as far as a human in areas of dim lighting.
* Darkvision (2 RP): Grinns have darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
* Duke of Nightmares (3 RP): Gifted with a fearsome mein, and born into an excessively formal culture, all grinns have certain talents ingrained into them. Grinns receive a +1 racial bonus on all Intimidate and Knowledge (nobility) checks, and these skills are always class skills for a grinn.
* Dreadful Smile (6 RP): Banking on their namesake, a grinn can attempt to frighten a creature with a simple smile. Any creature that meets the grinn’s gaze must make Will save as a free action (DC 10 + ½ grinn’s character level + Charisma modifier), or be shaken for 1 round. A target that successfully makes its save cannot be affected by that grinn’s dreadful smile for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting fear effect, and is treated as a gaze attack. A grinn can activate or deactivate this ability as a free action on his turn. A grinn that is covering it’s face cannot benefit from it’s dreadful smile ability.

RP: 12

Alternate Racial Traits:

* Son of Slaughter: Not all grinns are concerned with social niceties, with a few eschewing decorum altogether and becoming closer to their bogeyman brethren. The grinn gains 2 claw attacks, each dealing 1d4 points of damage. This replaces the Duke of Nightmares racial ability.

# Feats:

## Terrible Grimace

Honing your natural talents, you can send people running just by smiling at them

Prerequisites: Grinn, Dreadful Smile racial ability, Intimidate 7 ranks

Benefits: Your dreadful smile racial ability now causes creatures that fail their saves to become panicked for 1 round.

Normal: Your dreadful smile racial ability causes creatures that fail their saves to be shaken for 1 round.

## The Smiling Man

“It’s only a smile. Why so worried… friend?”

Prerequisites: Grinn, Terrible Grimace, Dreadful Smile racial ability, Intimidate 15 ranks

Benefits: Your dreadful smile racial ability now causes creatures that fail their saves to become paralyzed for 1 round.

Normal: Your dreadful smile racial ability causes creatures that fail their saves to be shaken for 1 round.

Childhood Terror

You have embraced the bogeyman way; terror is all that matters

Prerequisites: Grinn, Son of Slaughter racial trait, BAB +5

Benefits: Any time you strike a creature with both claw attacks in a single round, you can make a free Intimidate attempt against the creature.

Smell Their Fear

“I can taste your fear, little one, and it delights me to no end”

Prerequisites: Grinn

Benefits: The grinn gains the scent ability with a range of 30 feet, but can only detect creatures suffering from fear effects.

## Random Grinn Starting Ages

(114 - 134 years) | +6d6 years
(116 - 146 years) | +10d6 years

1 This category includes barbarians, oracles, rogues, and sorcerers.

2 This category includes bards, cavaliers, fighters, gunslingers, paladins, rangers, summoners, and witches.

3 This category includes alchemists, clerics, druids, inquisitors, magi, monks, and wizards.

## Random Grinn Height and Weight

(6 ft 7 in. - 7 ft. 8 in.) | 110 lbs. | +(2d8×5 lbs.)