Leprechauns

[omegatiger121]

I'm getting ready to have my players encounter a charred horror. There's been a NPC leprechaun hunter named Kiawe with them for several sessions now. He hasn't taken part in any combats because of how little damage he'd do the the enemy. However, being a hunter, he's supposed to protect nature by preventing overpopulation, and—likely—a few other things. Therefor, the enemy would want him gone. Thus, I need to give him a character overview/sheet. However, there's no way to convert leprechauns into characters provided above. Should I try to convert him to something resembling a PC or just use the monster specs?

[avr]

Scroll down to the monsters as PCs bit here. It can be horribly unbalanced so be careful not to abuse it yourself.

Or if a leprechaun would likely survive the encounter just using their monster stats will be easier for sure.

[omegatiger121]

Thanks. Kiawe's, most likely, going to end up dead. He and a sample character will act as hooks to get the party into the encounter, but he'll be the one very near death.

[darkerthought7]

You can always just give monsters class levels. If you need examples of how to do this, open almost any Paizo module and look for the unique enemy characters. Maybe give him a level or two in Ranger or Druid? Oracle?

[JosMartigan]

WOW I read that as a hunter of Leprechauns.

[omegatiger121]

The core party consists of two level seven PCs and a level eight PC. We have several sample-type characters (think NPC-ish) who show up occasionally to aid those three characters, including post-conversion Kiawe. He will start with 28 HP to give him the best survival chance. He would have chosen hunter as his favored class. However, I have a few questions about his conversion to a full sample-type character. Would he end up as a Leprechaun Hunter 7 and gain levels normally thereafter? What's his final hit point total?

[avr]

Using the old rules I pointed you to a leprechaun hunter 7 would be an 8th level character. Yes, he'd gain levels normally thereafter. Exactly what his HP would be would depend on how you work out his stats - if they're the same as the monster entry then it'd be 4d6 + 7d8 + 11, up to +7 more from a favored class bonus (no max on the first HD.)

[JDLPF]

Yep, giving monsters class levels is a great way to keep them relevant into later game. Some actually mesh extremely well with their other abilities, assuming they're roughly humanoid in shape and able to benefit from equipment.

Has your leprechaun ever been shown with an actual animal companion? If not, perhaps a straight Hunter class isn't appropriate. However, giving him Ranger levels would also be quite suitable as an alternative. Ranged attacks would likely be his style with base creature stats, unless you're going Finesse melee TWF. However, ultimately it's not too important to maximise his combat ability, since he's not the star of the show. Make sure he's able to contribute slightly to a combat, but leave the true work to the players.

[RJGrady]

A leprechaun slayer or investigator maybe?

[I'm Hiding In Your Closet]

If it's any sort of help (perhaps as inspiration for homebrewed adjustments), I'd like to point out the Leprechaun unit from the computer game Age of Wonders as the best specimen I've ever seen of what an RPG leprechaun could be. They're actually top-tier units for that game due to being so inherently lucky that, while their offensive abilities are nothing special, their defensive powers are, in most ways, the best in the game.

[omegatiger121]

Thanks for the help guys.