Elemental Wisps (D&D 5e)

Most conjurers and adventurers think of the the mighty elementals that might be called forth by effects of great power and pose a threat to them. Perhaps these lesser creatures hope to grow into greater beings over the span of time much as a hatchling might become an elder wyrm, or perhaps they are cousins to these more fearsome forms, making them more akin to pseudodragons, instead. Regardless, there are more shapes and forms of raw and pure elemental spirit than the mighty...

Air Wisp

Tiny elemental, unaligned

Armor Class: 17

Hit Points: 1 (1d4-1)

Speed: - ft, 90 ft (hover)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
2 (-4)	24 (+7)	8 (-1)	6 (-2)	10 (+0)	6 (-2)

Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons, lightning, sonic

Damage Immunities: Poison

Condition Immunities: exhausting, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious

Senses: Darkvision 60 ft, Passive perception 10

Languages: Auran

Challenge: 1/4 (50 XP)

Air Form. The wisp can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. It can move through a space as narrow as a fraction of an inch wide without squeezing.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.

Hit: 1 (d4-1) bludgeoning damage

Earth Wisp

Tiny elemental, unaligned

Armor Class: 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points: 4 (1d4+2)

Speed: 20 ft, burrow 20 ft

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
12 (+1)	10 (+0)	15 (+2)	5 (-3)	10 (+0)	5 (-3)

Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities: Poison

Condition Immunities: exhausting, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious

Senses: Darkvision 60 ft, tremorsense 60 ft., Passive perception 10

Languages: Terran

Challenge: 1/4 (50 XP)

Earth Glide. The wisp can burrow through nonmagical, unworked earth and stone. While doing so, the elemental doesn’t disturb the material it moves through.

Siege Monster. The wisp deals double damage to objects and structures.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target

Hit: 4 (d6+1) bludgeoning damage

Fire Wisp

Tiny elemental, unaligned

Armor Class: 14

Hit Points: 2 (1d4)

Speed: 40 ft, climb 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
2 (-4)	19 (+4)	10 (+0)	6 (-2)	10 (+0)	7 (-2)

Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities: Poison, fire

Condition Immunities: exhausting, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious

Senses: Darkvision 60 ft, Passive perception 10

Languages: Ignian

Challenge: 1/4 (50 XP)

Fire Form. The wisp can move through a space as narrow as a fraction of an inch wide without squeezing. In addition, it can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. A creature that hits the elemental with a melee attack while within in the same square as it or touches it catches fire; until someone takes an action to douse the fire, the creature takes 3 (1d6) fire damage at the end of each of its turns. Flammable, unaccompanied objects in the same space as the wisp, including walls and ceilings on which it climbs, are also lit on fire.

Illumination. The wisp sheds bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light in an additional 5 foot radius.

Water Susceptibility. For every 5 feet the wisp moves in water, or for every gallon of water splashed on it, it takes 2 cold damage.

Touch. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft. one target.

Hit: 2 (1d4) fire damage. If the target is a creature or flammable object, it ignites. Until a creature takes an action to douse the fire, the target takes 3 (1d6) fire damage at the end of each of its turns.

Water Wisp

Tiny elemental, unaligned

Armor Class: 14 (natural armor)

Hit Points: 3 (1d4+1)

Speed: 20 ft, swim 90 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
10 (+0)	17 (+3)	12 (+1)	5 (-3)	10 (+0)	8 (-1)

Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities: Poison

Condition Immunities: exhausting, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, unconscious

Senses: Darkvision 60 ft, Passive perception 10

Languages: Aquan

Challenge: 1/4 (50 XP)

Water Form. The wisp can enter a hostile creature’s space and stop there. It can move through a space as narrow as a fraction of an inch wide without squeezing.

Freeze: If the elemental takes cold damage it partially freezes; its speed is reduced by 20 until the end of its next turn.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.

Hit: 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage.

~~*~~

When I first started this blog I anticipated it filling mostly with creatures. As a DM one of the things I've been known for is whipping a creature up out of the aether on the spot to fill a need. This ability, and my reliance on it, grew from having a particular player who had, somewhat inadvertently, managed to memorize the players handbook. This was back when AD&D was the going thing and creating a monster was not something that there were terribly great (or any, really) guidelines for. But create I did. The experience taught me a lot about balancing experiences with recognizable threats, and how they made players feel like part of a larger culture of gamers who shared these experiences, with things that were fresh and new and could surprise even the most jaded among them.

Obviously that's not the direction I've gone in so far.

There are a variety of reasons for that. Though, at some level, most boil down to "ooh, shiney." This is, in fact, the byproduct of exactly that process. I've been working on my next big, sprawling thing and one of the things I ran across is that the elemental selection in the current edition of D&D is... limited. Especially at the lower levels. The grand proliferation of demons and devils persists, as do dragons throughout their ages. Meanwhile, there are a number of different types of elementals. But gone are the essential core group, simply differentiated by size and relative power. Even outside that small window, the number of "low level" (ie; legitimate targets of the Conjure Minor Elemental spell) are pretty small.

Which is what lead to these being created.

Now, as I do far too often, these break pretty much every attempt to calculate a fitting challenge rating using the rules in the DMG. I blame that on its lack of granularity and level of raw handwaving. Meanwhile, in terms of actual combat power, I would pit any of them against any Mephit with my money comfortably on the Mephit. The one that gives me pause is the Fire Wisp, because of its various ways of lighting things on fire and dealing ongoing damage... but, ironically, that is the one which best fits at the cr 1/2 range according to the guidelines laid out and is clearly inferior to the CR 1/2 magmin.