Thwirrel

Monster
Comments from the Finger: This is, perhaps, the best monster the Thumb and I have ever written. And it’s one more reason you should pledge to get your copy of Dark Matter!

Thwirrels are innately psionic, rodent-like creatures that infest ships, cities, and colonies around the galaxy, feeding on a mixture of magical energy and any food they can scavenge. Most spacers describe them as foot-long, furry creatures with ferret-like bodies, four rabbit-like ears, and long bushy tails. Not all spacers, however, notice them.

Hidden Pests. Although thwirrels are common pests in nearly every spaceport in the galaxy, a surprisingly small number of people have ever seen one directly, owing to the thwirrels’ primary method of defense. Thwirrels can use their native psionic abilities to effectively erase themselves from an observer’s senses. This is not a form of invisibility, but rather a clever manipulation of the mind to hamper a predator’s ability to notice them. Because of this, a major thwirrel infestation can go unchecked for a very long time.
The most common sign of an infestation aboard a ship is a combination of missing food and sporadic power outages. Thwirrels are scavengers, stealing food wherever they can find it. These highly intelligent creatures will use teamwork to infiltrate cargo holds and unlock doors, all while avoiding detection using their psychic camouflage. Additionally, they feed on magical energy, chewing on the wires and conduits in a ship’s engine room or draining the arcane batteries of unattended blasters. It is thought that this diet of magical energy assists their telepathic powers.
Prolific Breeders. When a small family of thwirrels comes across an abundant supply of food, they rapidly multiply, producing litters daily and exponentially growing in number. In this way, even two thwirrels hidden aboard a ship can migrate to a new colony and completely infest it. Therefore, the discovery of a thwirrel population is a time-sensitive crisis: if they are not exterminated quickly, they’ll soon be impossible to stamp out.

Thwirrel

Tiny beast, unaligned

Armor Class 12

Hit Points 2 (1d4)

Speed 35 ft.

STR 3 (-4) DEX 16 (+3) CON 10 (+0)

INT 4 (-3) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 12 (+1)

Skills Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +5, Stealth +5

Senses passive Perception 14

Languages ―

Challenge 0 (10 XP)

Energy Siphon. When the thwirrel hits a magically powered device with a bite attack, it can use its bonus action to drain some energy from the device. When it does so, the save DC for its Psychic Camouflage feature increases by 1, to a maximum of 16, for the next 24 hours. Smaller devices―such as blasters and datapads―that are affected by this feature cease to function for 1 hour. Larger devices such as automatons or Dark Matter engines only cease to function for 1 round.

Keen Hearing and Smell. The thwirrel has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.

Psychic Camouflage. The thwirrel can take the Hide action even when it is not in a heavily obscured area. Additionally, when a creature would normally see, hear, touch, or smell a thwirrel, it must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a successful save, the creature can perceive all thwirrels as normal for the next 10 minutes. On a failed save, the creature cannot see, hear, feel, or smell any thwirrels for the same duration. In either case, the saving throw must be repeated every 10 minutes, or until the creature is no longer within visual range of any thwirrels. Creatures with truesight are immune to this trait.

WEAPONS

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage.

Changelog: 8/9/18: Alignment: Unaligned