They are invisible. If you were to grab one and "feel" it, you'd discover a vaguely humanoid form, though oddly insubstantial, as though made of water. If magic is used to make them visible, they will appear as a transparent humanoid shape, with a featureless face and rippling surface.
Aerial servants are not perfectly invisible; because they are made of air, varying air density and current will cause a slight rippling effect as light passes though. This is unlikely to be casually noticed, but if you are looking for it, you need Good perception. If you lose track of it (say it is moving quickly or it ducks into shadow, or you are engaged in combat) you have to roll again to locate it again.
Aerial servants are minor air elementals. They do not require food or sleep. If anyone knows what elementals do with their time (when they aren't busy being summoned) they haven't told me... Aerial Servants are about as intelligent as a cat; they are the elemental equivalent of an animal. They cannot speak, but they can understand spoken instructions (though this may be a result of the magic, rather than any intelligence on their part).
Aerial servants are normally summoned by powerful spells which bind them to the summoner's will. They are not very intelligent anyway, but in the grip of the magic are compelled to follow whatever instructions they are given to the letter. They are typically employed as servants, spies, or assassins.
Aerial servants attack with powerful blows. They have something analogous to claws which they use to strike their foes; these claws will affect magical creatures as well as nonmagical people. They are rather direct, and aren't smart enough to really be sneaky, but it is hard to fight an opponent you can't see. When under control of a spell, they will fight until dead. However, death merely means they are released from the spell and return to their native plane.
Invisible Stalker
Characters are most likely to encounter an Aerial Servant if a wizard wants them dead. There may be any number of reasons for this, but if he sends a servant after them, it will not rest until it has accomplished its mission or dies in the attempt.
They may also summon one themselves. A aerial servant can be a useful servant, of course, but also makes a wonderful spy. Of course they'll have to find some way to communicate with it...
Finally, they might encounter these creatures if they get in the way of one (perhaps they are protecting its target), or if they find one engaged in some mission. It is also possible they could encounter one in its native environment...
Sometimes these beings will attack a good person, in order to corrupt them. If they can successfully charm such a person, they will use their abilities to give that person a moral weakness which they can further exploit. They particularly enjoy causing the embarrasing fall of well-known leaders or heroes, destroying their personal lives and credibility. They are aggressively hostile toward any person who actively or effectively campaigns against evil, and will sometimes leave their current project in order to counteract the effects of such a person and destroy him (or her).
Like all demons, a tempter is utterly evil and will always seek to cause harm and destruction; it will never willingly do a good deed, unless it causes some evil in the end. It is incredibly intelligent, and should be able to outsmart any character of lesser intelligence.
The tempter avoids direct confrontation, relying instead on its temptation ability. Almost everyone has some weakness that can be exploited, and a tempter can wreak havoc among team members. It's favorite tactic is to tempt people to fight one another, or barring that, to refuse or lose interest in cooperating. It can then pick of individuals at its leisure.
Event in a stand-up fight, it will attempt to employ trickery and deception. Even against the most noble heroes, a tempter can often exploit a fear of death, or perhaps pride or honor. It will use magic freely, preferring subtle illusions and influences (like cause a character to fumble a weapon or be distracted for a moment). It often uses subtle magics in order to reinforce its temptations. The demon will be able to magically sense those character with weak willpower and will attempt to secretly charm them first. It can use its mystical abilities while fighting; these cannot be disrupted, though they can be dispelled/countered. If it must engage in melee, it has a chilling touch which seems to drain the very life out of a person (while this ought to cause consternation, treat it as normal damage). It is also resistant to non-magical weapons.
Temptation Ability: Any evil tendencies on the character's part can be used by the demon to gain control (for example, a demon might gain +2 to charm a very lustful or bloodthirsty character). Once it has control the demon can use the weakness to influence the character. A bloodthirsty character could be incited to attack his colleagues, while a lustful character might be used to harass a member of the opposite sex, or wander off after an attractive onlooker. Sometimes a character can attempt to resist a temptation with outside help, such as a religious discipline or encouragement from a holy person or close friend. Anytime a command is successfully resisted, the character can try a willpower roll to resist being controlled. If the roll succeeds, the charm is broken. Anyone being controlled will not be bothered by the demon's presence, and will not understand the need to get rid of it.
The control also ends if the demon is killed, or releases the character, or if it is dispelled by an external entity. The demon can control any number of characters, but can only command one at a time (though some more powerful tempters can command multiple characters, even entire mobs).
The temptation mechanism lets the GM take advantage of various character faults, whether written on the character sheet or not. If the demon is invisible or otherwise undetected, it can cause problems for a long time before it is finally dealt with. This creature is exceptionally powerful, so should be used cautiously.
Such a demon might be encountered as a guard, set by a wizard or priest. It is more likely, however, that the demon will be encountered in society. If a character does an evil deed, they might attract such a demon; they might also attract one by doing a very good deed. Perhaps they encounter an NPC who is being harassed by a tempter.
The attributes given below assume that the demon has a physical form, but is normally invisible. When invisible it is also noncorporeal, though characters may feel a sinister chill when it is nearby. In its physical form its appearance varies, though it usually looks like a normal human. Its most distinctive feature is a hypnotic gaze (anyone meeting the gaze is at -2 willpower to resist temptation). Its voice is smooth and seductive, and it fairly oozes an aura of friendship and camaraderie; you *want* to like it and pay attention to what it says...
Gargoyles are roughly humanoid in appearance; by day they are stone statues, but turn to flesh at night. Features are greatly varied, but are nearly always grotesque by human standards. Random gargoyle generator:
Gargoyles are stone by day, and flesh by night. All wounds sustained during the night are magically healed when they turn to stone; however, wounds taken during the day (while they are stone) never heal. A slain gargoyle turns to stone. If the stone form is destroyed, it can never turn back to flesh.
Gargoyles live in Clans of 5-30 individuals (5d6). Each clan selects a Haven for its lair, a safe place to shelter during the day, when they are most vulnerable. Gargoyles reproduce sexually, laying eggs. (Like adults, even the eggs turn to stone by day.) Anyone who destroyes gargoyle eggs or young will be hunted and destroyed without mercy.
Gargoyles hunt by night, feeding on flesh. They have the same motivations as any other intelligent creature.
A gargoyle whose clan has been destroyed is an Orphan. While an orphan will usually be taken in by another clan, sometimes orphans are cast out for some crime, or are unable to find a clan. These eventually become paranoid and mentally ill from isolation, and may attack without provocation.
Because of their vulnerability during the day, gargoyles greatly fear confinement, and tend to be secretive and reclusive.
All gargoyles are able to fight effectively with their natural weaponry (which varies). Gargoyles prefer to attack from above; many can fly, while others attack from lofty perches. Because of their incredible toughness and ability to fully heal at night, gargoyles are berserk fighters and give little thought to personal safety. However they will retreat when sufficiently wounded to await the day.
Some typical natural weaponry includes: bite, claw, tail-smash, wing-buffet, and body-slam. Treat each of these as 2 to 4 points of damage (including +2 due to strength and scale). Some gargoyles also use human weapons, such as swords or spears.
The origin of gargoyles is shrouded in mystery. Some say they are magically animated statues, while others believe they are a natural (if peculiar) race, perhaps related to the element earth.
Some believe that gargoyles are immune to nonmagical weaponry.
Given the nocturnal habits, gargoyles may be related to vampires and other creatures of darkness. Or not.
In some worlds, each tribe of gargoyles has specific physical features.
In some worlds they prey upon intelligent races, but in other worlds they are peaceful and only eat cattle and other animals.
Some gargoyles only turn to stone in the sunlight, and are constantly active when underground. However, magical sunlight will turn them to stone.
Orphan gargoyles sometimes lair in ruins and threaten unwary travelers. Perhaps all gargoyles are carved of stone and magically animate at night to guard their building. Or perhaps the carvings are only made in imitation of the real race, which lairs in remote mountains and deep caverns. A party might go on a quest to find such a clan, either to return an orphan to its home, to destroy them (if evil), or to obtain some knowledge or artifact. Players may make gargoyle characters; see FUDGE Gargoyles
A black cloud in the distance, up close it looks like a horde of misshapen black crows that flies as one. The demon birds vary in size from the smallest being about three inches, the largest being about a foot across. All of the evil birds have working wings but that’s where the similarities end. Some of the birds have half a beak, some a human head or other strange body part.
The M’Saff do not fit into a normal ecosystem, they exist only to kill and despoil. They travel in packs 20-120(2d6 x 10). They devour any and all life on the mortal plane. They fly as one. It is not certain whether they are truly independent beings as a lone M’Saff will die in a matter of hours.
The M’Saff are not intelligent and speak no language. There are usually 1-20 swarms of M’Saff on the world at any one time. This number changes as old swarms are killed off and new swarms are brought to the world by chance or foolish conjurers.
Their apparent motive in life is to kill and devour all that lives.
They use overwhelming numbers and swarm techniques. The combat stats assume a swarm of about twenty M'Saff.
The M’Saff are known as HellSwarm by the old human kingdoms in the crumbling lands.
Just their existence is a legend best left untold.
These are great for the tried and true “town in peril” adventure. They can also be used in the also tried and true “Stop the evil conjurer from summoning the evil demon” adventure