Monster Monday: Tomtenisse - Tiny Fey that Pack a Punch

Today's Monster Monday is the tomtenisse, also known as tomte, nisse, or tonttu, an apple-sized little gnome from Scandinavian folklore which acts as a guardian spirit for a plot of land. These little guys have incredible strength for their size, able to punch out a grown man, snap a cow's neck, or carry a one ton load above their head. Why would these helpful farm spirits ever punch a cow to death? Well, tomtenisse can also be pretty dang ornery.

In the Christmas Night by John Bauer (1913), via Wikimedia

Tomtenisse help out around the farm in unseen ways, mending things, tending to the animals, and carrying loads. All they want in return is a bowl of porridge with a pat of butter on it on a specific day. If they don't get their porridge, they can become enraged, breaking things and lashing out at nearby creatures to punish their lax master. The older the tomtenisse, the more particular it gets about how a farm is run, and the quicker it is to inflict corporal punishment. If a new farmer on the land starts putting his tools away in the wrong places, a young nisse might rearrange them all in the night or pile them against the farmer's bedroom door, while an older nisse might simply break every tool that is out of its place. If a farmhand urinates in the barn, they might grab a manure shovel and smack them in the back of the head. If someone eats the nisse's porridge, they will usually be found beaten to within an inch of their life.

In perhaps the most illustrative story of the tomtenisse, a farmer leaves the nisse his usual bowl of porridge, but accidentally puts the butter on the bottom of the porridge. The nisse, thinking the farmer forgot the butter, becomes so enraged that he leaps up and cracks the neck of the farmer's prized cow. He then eats the porridge and finds the pat of butter at the bottom. Remorseful, the nisse runs to all the neighboring farms until he finds an identical cow to bring back for the farmer.

The tomtenisse reserve their deadliest weapon for those who cross them severely: a nisse bite can leave its victim cursed to wither away and die.

The tomtenisse legend may come from a pre-Christian belief in ancestor spirits. The earliest tomtenisse lived in burial mounds, perhaps the spirit of the first farmer to clear and work the land. In the 14th century, Saint Birgitte of Vadstena warned people not to worship the tompta gudhi (the house-lot gods). In modern times, the tomtenisse remain popular as Christmas figures, and though tales remain of angry nisse beating people to a pulp, they are more commonly seen having seasonal fun on Christmas cards.

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2018 Jonah Bomgaars.

Standing only six inches high, this little man has gnomish features, a long beard, and a pointy red hat

House Spirit, Tomtenisse     CR 4

XP 1,200

CN Diminutive fey

Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +8

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +4 size)

hp 33 (6d6+12)

Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +6

DR 5/cold iron; SR 14

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee unarmed strike +12 (1d2+5) or bite +7 (1d2+2 plus nisse poison)

Special Attacks sneak attack +1d6

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6^th)

   At will – invisibility, prestidigitation, mending

   3/day – break (DC 14), expeditious retreat, sleep (DC 14)

   1/day – ant haul, locate object

STATISTICS

Str 21, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 9, Wis 13, Cha 16

Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 17

Feats Catch Off-Guard^B, Improved Unarmed Strike, Power Attack, Run, Throw Anything^B

Skills Acrobatics +7, Bluff +7, Climb +9, Craft (tools) +4, Diplomacy +8, Escape Artist +8, Handle Animal +7, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (nature) +4, Perception +8, Sense Motive +8, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +22; Racial Modifiers +4 Knowledge (local)

Languages Common

SQ compression, wild empathy +15

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Wild Empathy (Ex)

This ability works like the druid ability of the same name. The tomtenisse’s total bonus includes a +6 racial bonus.

Oversized Load (Ex)

A tomtenisse can carry loads many times larger than himself with ease. He is never encumbered by a medium or heavy load. A tomtenisse can lift a load as much as five times his maximum load above his head and carry it (up to 2,000 pounds); while doing so he loses his Dexterity bonus to AC but does not suffer penalties to his movement speed.

   The tomtenisse also gains Catch Off-Guard and Throw Anything as bonus feats, and can wield improvised weapons as if he were a Medium sized creature.

Nisse Poison (Su)

Once per week, when a tomtenisse succeeds at a bite attack, he can choose to administer a powerful cursed poison to the target. This is both a poison and a curse, and the poison cannot be removed nor can the ability damage be healed until the curse is lifted.

   Nisse Poison: bite-injury; save Fort DC 15, frequency 1/round for 6 rounds, effect 1d2 Con, cure 2 consecutive saves.

ECOLOGY

Environment any

Organization solitary

Treasure standard

A tomtenisse, also called a tomte or nisse for short, is a very small fey spirit bound to protect a plot of land. Each tomtenisse is as old as the plot of land he serves, and the older they are the more particular and fussy they can be about how the land is used or misused. They are especially judicious in maintaining a farm’s outbuildings and looking after the farm animals. In return for the work they do around the farm, they demand a specific food left as an offering, usually a bowl of porridge with a pat of butter on top. If their preferred offering is not left out for them at the time they desire it, they can grow quite cross and use their immense strength and capacity for mischief to punish their lax master. Tomtenisse are quick to anger and can hold long grudges, so it is best to stay on their good side. If they feel that their masters ask too much of them, are poor stewards of the land, or are simply bothersome, they employ a campaign of sabotage, beatings, and cruel pranks to get their revenge. But those who treat their tomtenisse well find that their farmwork is much lighter and their farm more productive with the help of these wee folk.

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Plot Hooks and Encounter Ideas

• The new owner of a farm is having troubles with the household spirits. He asks the PCs for help convincing the spirits that his new ways of doing things will make the farm more productive, but the tomtenisse in turn enlists the PCs to convince the farmer to go the traditional way. Can they find a compromise?
• A young woman is found beaten into a coma in the barn. All signs point to the tomtenisse, yet it soon becomes clear that several of the farm's human inhabitants had motive and opportunity. 
• An old farmer has grown so neglectful of his duties and responsibilities that his nisse has gone totally feral, breaking everything and assaulting anyone who passes by. Can the PCs set things aright?

-your haugkall d20 despot

Nisse by Jean-Noël Lafargue via Wikimedia