When my players first encountered the mites in my Kingmaker campaign, I wanted to make them memorable. And memorable I made them, if annoying. I gave them a loud, high-pitched battle cry that I demonstrated myself. My players never forgot that for the rest of the campaign, and I used it several times after that. The only monsters in that campaign they hated worse than the mites were the will-o-wisps. Because the mites were enemies of the kobold tribe, I wanted the players to hate them. However, if it were not for the kobolds, I can only guess that I would have tried to make them more likeable.
So it is my pleasure to pass that thought onto you. Below, we are presenting what we feel is the a faithful homage to the mites presented in that adventure and in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2 (even if there are a few minor changes). Please let us know if you want to see more details on this fey race. Oddly enough, by the race builder in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Race Guide, these guys are balanced with humans while kobolds are still considerably underpowered.
Mite Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, –4 Strength, –2 Intelligence: Mites quick and perceptive while physically weak and not very smart.
Fey: Mites are fey.
Small: Mites are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on their combat maneuver checks and to Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Slow Speed: Mites have a base speed of 20 feet.
Darkvision: Mites can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Mites can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Light Sensitivity: Mites are dazzled in areas of bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
Damage Reduction: Mites reduce damage taken from any source except cold iron by 2.
Vermin Empathy: Mites gain a +4 racial bonus on Handle Animal checks against creatures of the vermin type. Mites can use Handle Animal on vermin to train them to be mounts, as if they were animals. Mites can also use the Handle Animal skill on vermin swarms, as if the swarm is a single creature.
Spell-Like Abilities: Mites can cast prestidigitation at will and doom once per day. The save DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the mite’s Charisma modifier.
Hatred: Mites receive a +1 bonus on attack rolls against humanoid creatures of the dwarf and gnome subtypes because of their special training against these hated foes.
Languages: Mites begin play speaking Undercommon. Mites with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Common, Draconic, Sylvan.
What kind of characters do you want to make with these guys? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Download the Book of Heroic Races Compendium for Pathfinder at DriveThruRPG/RPGNow, d20PFSRD, and Paizo.com.
