Chest Weasel
10
|
13
13
65
65
0
2
40
20
40
120
2
Natural Weapon(s):-
Claw (2d6)
Passive Abilities:-
A New Precious
-
False Appearance
-
Object Manipulation
-
Relentless Endurance
-
Unusual Nature
Abilities:-
Inanimate Possession
At Will Spell(s):-
Divine Guidance0
-
Identify1
-
Vaulting Surge1
-
Longstrider1
-
Mending, Flawed0
-
Mending, Minor1
-
Misty Step2
-
Thunderwave1
Innate Spell(s) per Long Rest:-
Puzzling Confusion4
-
Dimension Door4
-
Enemies Everywhere2
-
Invisibility, Minor2
-
Plane Shift Self6
-
Suggestion2
You lock eyes with the Chest Weasel, a tiny trickster cloaked in whimsy. Its gaze holds a spark of impish delight, savoring the forthcoming frustration. The weasel's three-dimensional chess of pranks awaits, a mischievous challenge hidden behind those gleaming eyes.
History
Hags are known to feed on suffering, although there are stories of hags that feed on other emotions, like ambition, or fear -- but they are not the only fey beings that feed on emotions. Chest weasels feed on frustration.
These fey beings find sustenance in annoying those around them, and they do so through their ability to possess objects and bend them to their will. A chest weasel will inhabit any object it thinks it can use to create delectable frustration. When they are young, many chest weasels live in cities, possessing small objects like stones in a cobblestone street that they can raise as people walk by to trip them. When chest weasels reach maturity, they develop a taste for a more sophisticated frustration, and that’s where they get their name.
Chest weasels find that adventurers going through deadly dungeons have very low tolerance for any sort of shenanigans, which means that frustration is bubbling right below the surface, and they just need a push for it to come spewing out. The weasels possess chests, or other containers that an adventurer might look into in search of treasure, and make it their mission to annoy them as much as possible.
They make the chest incorporeal, or shift the position of the jar so that they are unable to actually inspect it, or make it so the chest produces another chest when opened, feasting all the while on the adventurers’ irritation.
But despite what their behavior might lead you to believe, chest weasels are not inherently evil, and many understand that their source of food is not a pleasant experience for those who purvey it. If properly satiated, a chest weasel will pop out of their container and thank the adventurer who has fed it, either by giving it whatever was hidden away in their container, or by helping the adventurer in their trek through the dungeon.
There are even stories of chest weasels striking deals with magic shop owners, or becoming one themselves, so that they may better cater to those they plan on feeding from later.
Hags are known to feed on suffering, although there are stories of hags that feed on other emotions, like ambition, or fear -- but they are not the only fey beings that feed on emotions. Chest weasels feed on frustration.
These fey beings find sustenance in annoying those around them, and they do so through their ability to possess objects and bend them to their will. A chest weasel will inhabit any object it thinks it can use to create delectable frustration. When they are young, many chest weasels live in cities, possessing small objects like stones in a cobblestone street that they can raise as people walk by to trip them. When chest weasels reach maturity, they develop a taste for a more sophisticated frustration, and that’s where they get their name.
Chest weasels find that adventurers going through deadly dungeons have very low tolerance for any sort of shenanigans, which means that frustration is bubbling right below the surface, and they just need a push for it to come spewing out. The weasels possess chests, or other containers that an adventurer might look into in search of treasure, and make it their mission to annoy them as much as possible.
They make the chest incorporeal, or shift the position of the jar so that they are unable to actually inspect it, or make it so the chest produces another chest when opened, feasting all the while on the adventurers’ irritation.
But despite what their behavior might lead you to believe, chest weasels are not inherently evil, and many understand that their source of food is not a pleasant experience for those who purvey it. If properly satiated, a chest weasel will pop out of their container and thank the adventurer who has fed it, either by giving it whatever was hidden away in their container, or by helping the adventurer in their trek through the dungeon.
There are even stories of chest weasels striking deals with magic shop owners, or becoming one themselves, so that they may better cater to those they plan on feeding from later.
Chest Weasel Encounters
Chest weasels feed on frustration, and will emerge from their chest when they are satisfied. We propose that you tally how many times your players make explicit remarks on how frustrated they are to determine if a chest weasel has gotten enough frustration to feel content. These can be sighs, swears, screams, groans, or any other colorful expletives that your players utter during the encounter with the chest weasel.
We recommend going for 10 until the weasel is satisfied, but it’s important to tailor this number to your particular group, since not all groups are equally chatty or prone to voice their emotional states out loud.
With this in mind, here is a list of tricks that a chest weasel could pull on your party to frustrate them. Use these as they are or as a starting point for your own pranks:
The chest weasel possesses a jar full of a dense liquid, at the bottom of which you can see something shiny. The liquid is so dense that you can’t quite reach the bottom of the jar with your hand, but no matter how much of it you pour, the level of the liquid never seems to be low enough for you to grab the object.
The chest weasel possesses a chest. Opening the chest reveals a smaller chest inside. Opening this second chest reveals yet another smaller chest inside, and so on and so forth. Once they get to a chest that is the size of their palm, the chest inside it grows to the size of the original chest.
The chest weasel possesses a trunk that disappears and reappears within 30 feet of where it once was the moment any creature comes within 10 feet of it. If the players ignore it, it will follow them, appearing 30 feet ahead of them.
The chest weasel possesses a box that disappears in front of the adventurers. It turns invisible and places itself directly in the path of one of the adventurers, making them trip. The chest turns visible for just enough time that the adventurer sees what made them trip, then disappears again.
The chest weasel possesses a beautiful and delicate vase. The moment an adventurer touches it, the vase breaks into a million pieces, and an identical vase appears within 30 feet of where the original vase was located, in plain view of the party.
The chest weasel possesses a chest with a heavy padlock. Once a party member lockpicks the padlock, it opens in two pieces, revealing another padlock, this one slightly harder to lockpick. This process goes on until the chest finally opens, revealing another chest inside with an equally heavy padlock.
The chest weasel possesses a music box with a conspicuous false bottom. It’s impossible to actually reveal what is behind the false bottom, but while the party tries, a horribly strident melody plays at an extremely high volume (we suggest you perform said melody or play it from your phone or a speaker while the encounter goes on). If they close it, the sound stops for a moment, until the box opens up again, playing the deafening sound. If possible, the chest weasel will time this so that the music box opens up at the worst possible moment.
The chest weasel possesses a beautiful, covered urn. The surface is covered in an oil-like substance, so slippery that it is impossible to grab it or to open the lid. Cleaning it, whether with water, soap, or a cantrip, only makes it produce even more goo.
The chest weasel possesses a chest. The chest is impossibly heavy, and so is the lid. An extremely strong character might be able to open the lid half an inch to see that there is something glinting and golden inside, but cannot open it more than a crack before it closes again.
The chest weasel possesses an intricately painted terracotta container. Rattling it produces the unmistakable sound of metal clinking against metal, but there is absolutely no opening, lid, or even seam, making it perfectly and completely sealed and smooth. If the adventurers try to smash it open, either with a weapon or by throwing it against the ground, the container bounces against it as if made of rubber.
Fighting the Weasel
Chest weasels have not been conceived to be fought, but rather to be fun encounters in dungeons. As such, and keeping to the theme of generating frustration, a party that decides to try to kill the chest weasel is in for a particularly frustrating fight.
All of the chest weasel’s abilities are meant to generate frustration, from its extremely high AC (despite its low HP), proficiency at the two most common saving throws, damage and condition immunities, and especially its actions and features. A fight against a chest weasel should go for a long time until it is dropped to 0 HP, after which it will make use of its Cracked Shell feature and immediately dive into another object to possess, restarting the fight anew. Just when the players believe they have finally bested the creature, it will make use of its one and only use of plane shift to escape its would-be murderers.
Frustrating is the name of the game, especially for those with a penchant to murder first and ask questions later.