Gremishkas originated in the second edition Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft campaign setting, but they fell off the radar in later editions before being revived in Ezmerelda’s Guide to Ravenloft. Originally, they were essentially just quadrupedal gremlins—malicious nuisances that took up residence in people’s cellars and caused trouble. In fifth edition, they’re still tricky and malicious, but their existence is the result of a magical accident, they have a particular animus against mages, and using magic to try to get rid of them tends to go poorly.
For those who are tired of rats in the basement, a gremishka is a good antagonist for a low-level campaign—but level 2, perhaps, rather than level 1, for a reason that will shortly become apparent. Its challenge rating is only 1/8, but it’s also not going to go looking for a fight. Its only above-average physical ability is its Dexterity, making it a shock attacker; generally, after delivering a single bite, a gremishka runs away, and it often doesn’t even bother to bite first. It’s a clever beastie, with Intelligence above humanoid average, and while it doesn’t possess much tactical flexibility, this Tiny monstrosity certainly has the wits to know (and maybe even create) various routes of escape, in order to avoid getting cornered. With 30 feet of darkvision, the gremishka is nocturnal, and given that it understands but doesn’t speak Common, I fancy that it might be fond of eavesdropping on conversations—the better to know what will really get its targets’ goat.
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