Monstrous Physique — Moogle

We delve back into the realm of Final Fantasy to bring another staple of the series: moogles! These cute little creatures are just as iconic as chocobos, if not more so. Moogles are found throughout the worlds of the Final Fantasy games serving as merchants, messengers, synthesizers, keys to minigames, and even party members. With all of the different roles that moogles have served over the years, I thought it only right to stat them in a such a way to continue the tradition in Pathfinder. Thus, I present you the playable moogle!

This small, winged creature is covered in bright white fur. A small antenna tipped with a red sphere extends from the top of its head.

Moogle Troubador       CR 1/2
XP 200
Moogle bard 1
CN Small outsider (native)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception –1
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+3 armor, +3 Dex, +1 size)
hp 8 (1d8)
Fort +0, Ref +5, Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., fly 10 ft.
Melee rapier +4 (1d4/18–20)
Ranged shortbow +4 (1d4/x3)
Special Attacks bardic performance 7 rounds/day (countersong, distraction, fascinate, inspire courage +1)
Bard Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +4)
1st (2/day)—cure light wounds, hideous laughter (DC 14)
0 (at will)—dancing lights, ghost sound (DC 13), mage hand, message
STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 17
Base Atk +0; CMB –2; CMD 11 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Appraise +5, Diplomacy +7, Knowledge (engineering) +6, Knowledge (local) +5, Perform (oratory) +7, Perform (sing) +7, Spellcraft +6
Languages Common, Moogle, Sylvan
SQ bardic knowledge +1, moogle wings
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds, potion of disguise self, oils of magic weapon (2), alchemist’s fire, sunrod, tanglefoot bag, thunderstone; Other Gear studded leather, rapier, shortbow with 20 arrows, 13 gp
ECOLOGY
Environment any
Organization solitary, pair, or band (3–10)
Treasure NPC gear
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Moogle Wings (Ex) Moogles have a small pair of wings, but cannot use them to reliably fly. A moogle has a fly speed of 10 feet (average). A moogle can only fly a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum 1 round) before needing to land. A moogle constantly hovers above the ground, granting it immunity to trip combat maneuvers.

Moogles are a race of small, curious, furry creatures. The have a wiry antenna on their head which usually ends in a red, spehircal ruft of fur. These “poms” can come in all manner of shape, however, including pyramids, cubes, or even hearts. Like halflings, they rarely have any dedicated civilizations of their own and live among other races of the world. Moogles do not generally have a distinct culture, instead assimilating where they lave and taking on local customs and traditions. Moogles are experts in magic and technology. Their natural knack for quickly understanding the higher concepts of the respective traditions earn moogles a reputation of intelligence. Moogles are no more or less intelligent than other typical races, but rare are the moogles that are offended by the benign assumption. Modern moogles are usually content with simple lives as merchants or messengers, but more adventurous moogles are not uncommon. Moogles proclivity for magic leads to many moogle arcanists, bards, and sorcerers.

Moogle Characters (10 RP)
Moogles are defined by class levels—they don’t have racial Hit Dice. Moogles have the following racial traits.
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, –2 Constitution: Moogles are nimble and likable, but their bodies are soft and frail.
Native Outsider (3 RP): Moogles are outsiders with the Native subtype
Small (0 RP): Moogles are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their CMB and CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Slow Speed (–1): Moogles have a base speed of 20 feet.
Darkvision: Moogles can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Moogle Wings (3 RP): See above.
Multitalented (2 RP): Moogles choose two favored classes at first level and gain +1 hit point or +1 skill point whenever they take a level in either one of those classes.
Technological Understanding (2 RP): Moogles receive a +1 racial bonus on Knowledge (engineering) and Spellcraft checks.
Languages (1 RP): Moogles begin play knowing Common and Moogle. Moogles with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic).
Male Names: Brimmo, Kumop, Grimo, Gumo, Mog, Mogryo, Monty, Mosh, Serino, Trino.
Female Names: Atla, Kumool, Mimoza, Mois, Mopli, Mozme, Nazna, Noggy, Suzuna, Tuzna.

In Your Game

Monster Cards
A moogle sage owns a set of paintings of rare monsters and beast. Old age has slowed down the moogle’s attempts to complete the collection. The PCs must travel to the dens of the various creatures and create the last painting required for the collection.

Moogle Network
A magical message delivery network maintained by moogles malfunctions. Local moogles task the PCs with helping deliver a series of important schematics and messages to help restore the network. These deliveries bring the PCs to various locations all over the world.

Pleasing the Judge
A moogle messenger delivers a letter to the PCs. The PCs have inherited a rare set of weapons and magic items but must prove themselves before they are able to collect them. The moogle appoints itself as a referee for various absurd trials that test the PCs strength, wits, and their patience.

 

Monstrous Origins

Moogles, as mentioned above, serve as NPCs in Final Fantasy. Their variety of roles fits perfectly with the multitalented trait, which was one of the first things I though of adding for them. After that, I had to decide what type of creatures they were. Moogles are a bit too fantastical to be humanoids. They might fit as monstrous humanoids, but their curious and adorable nature made it hard to reconcile that classification. Instead, I went with outsider. The precedent was in place with aasimar and tieflings, so it was easy to justify another native outsider race. In the games, moogles are found all over the world and seem to always be using some kind of technology, such as the MogNet system. This led to their free pick of languages as well as their skill bonuses. Finally, I had to do something with the wings. Giving a playable race is always something that needs lots of consideration. Rather tahn give full fledged flight, I compromised with temporary flight. This would allow moogles to use their flight in key situations, but not completely negate or avoid certain situations. I added the trip immunity as a kind of “consolation prize” for the limited flight.

That’s it for this week! Please let me know if this excursion the world of Final Fantasy has been enjoyable. I’d love to visit other game worlds!. If you end up adding moogles into your game, you play a moogle, or you have any request for a future Monstrous Physique, please drop me a line at KnowDirection@hotmail.com. Kupo!

Luis Loza

Luis Loza is a developer at Paizo, working on the Pathfinder Lost Omens line and formerly on Campaign Setting and Player Companion lines. He's done freelance for Paizo Inc, Legendary Games, Rogue Genius Games, and more third-party publishers. His hobbies include gaming both tabletop and video, making jokes, obsessing over time travel, taking naps with Nova his cat, and walks with his wife. He is eternally plagued with a hunger for tacos. Consider checking his material on his Patreon at patreon.com/luisloza

2 Comments

  1. Andrew

    Looks good! Looks like the way you built the wings, it would also make moogles ‘invisible’ to tremorsense as well.

  2. Jordan

    Awesome! I like that they work so well as PCs and NPCs. Fits great with how they function in the games.

    Thanks for writing this one up!