Lifeforms · Constructed · Any
Servitor Imps
Small, ugly, bad tempered and of limited use, yet perhaps the most common of bound demons.
General Description
Servitor imps are small ugly creatures of the demonic realms, ranging in size between one and twelve inches tall. Not actually evil or malign in any way, however they are almost universally rude, bad tempered and generally obnoxious.
Like all demonic entities they are extremely tough, but they lack the immunities to mundane weapons of their more powerful brethren. They are also incredibly strong for their size, the largest of them being quite capable of carrying a fully-grown man.
Although clearly sentient they are not particularly bright (lowest intelligence range for a sentient species) and, somewhat unusually for demonic creatures, have no magical talent whatsoever.
Origins
The exact origins of servitor imps is not at all clear, however most magi agree that they are not demons in the true sense.
There are several theories as to what they are: ranging from a demonic slave race to fallen angels, or even the primary intelligence in an alternate universe.
By far the most widely accepted theory, based largely on the fact that true demons refer to them as TichAbashKaraAll (lit. little punch bag), is that they are an artificial construct from the demonic realms designed as practice targets for young demons.
Summoning and Binding
Servitor imps are by far the safest (if you can ever use that term with demons) and easiest of demonic entities to summon and bind. The spells required are relatively simple to learn so even a novice mage can cast them with very little risk of failure. The imps themselves, although physically tough, have no magical abilities and are thus easy enough to control.
For this reason they are often bound to perform a variety of menial tasks (hence the name) and they are a common enough sight wherever magic is accepted. Also they are commonly summoned by trainee wizards as a kind practice exercise.
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Well, I must say I generally like these guys. They have nothing exceptional to them, but are well written, so make a nice generic addition to a world. There are a few things I might add:
- please don't forget to add the 'Demon' freetext
- mentioning that apprentice wizards commonly summon them just for practice makes quite a few assumptions about their world (widespread demon summoning is kinda unusual)... which is not necessarily bad, but has to be mentioned.
- at least a little special touch, something counter-intuitive would be nice - perhaps, like some creatures like sweets, they could like sour treats. Why? Nobody knows, but they could be lured and easily bribed by that.
But I must say that I love their name. :)
There are no glaring errors in the submission that I noticed, but as manfred said nothing exceptional about them, and they are generic.
These folks have some interesting details, but more could have been done with them.
Being target practice for demons is amusing.
I like it, although a bit more flesh would probably improve the post quite a bit. What this does is remind me of the imps in the dungeon keeper series of game (this is a good thing!) and it would be quite fun to walk into a dungeon filled with these guys running around on various errands.
The demonic name is ace by the way!
I could definitely see them being treated like slaves by the summoners. I Think this is why they are so rude and obnoxious. Perhaps defeating the summoner would grant the PCs a host of willing servants? (eg: Dobby in Harry Potter) who knows.
Kudos, even if it needs fleshing to tickle the top marks, a nice springboard for ideas. you've convinced me of including a modified version of these in a future game...
Having an easy to summon water downed demon in your binder could be a good think and the concept and description are simple enough to be easily intergrated, understood and played with.