Pibble
Pibble is a small rock gnome with warm freckled skin, bright green eyes, and perpetually messy auburn-red hair, often smudged with soot. She looks like someone who has been too busy experimenting to care about appearances—and that impression is accurate.
She talks fast when excited or nervous—which is most of the time. Pibble approaches danger like a puzzle to be solved rather than a threat to be feared. Her curiosity is relentless; anything marked “Do Not Touch” immediately becomes fascinating. She intellectualizes fear, coping through tinkering, humor, and rapid-fire analysis.
Brilliant but reckless, she pushes forward when she senses a breakthrough, sometimes ignoring the risks. She keeps coded journals only she can decipher and even names her tools, speaking to them when stressed.
Pibble is driven by the need to understand. Knowledge, to her, should not be buried simply because it is dangerous. Beneath her restless energy lies tension—guilt, doubt, and fear—but she buries it beneath equations, theories, and motion.
Stillness makes her think.
So she rarely stays still.
Personality
Traits:
- Talks fast when excited or scared
- Endlessly curious; drawn to forbidden or dangerous things
- Treats danger like a puzzle
- Intellectualizes fear instead of expressing it emotionally
- Tinkers compulsively
- Keeps coded journals only she can decipher
- Names and speaks to her tools under stress
Ideals:
- Knowledge should never be buried because it is dangerous
- Truth is worth the risk of discovery
- Suppression of information is worse than the consequences of learning it
Bonds:
- Stole a piece of experimental research tied to the barrier
- Determined to solve the mystery of the barrier
- Maintained academic contact with a professor on the other continent
- Feels tied to her past research and its consequences
Flaws:
- Reckless when close to a breakthrough
- Terrified her research helped cause the disaster
- Masks guilt with scientific detachment
- Afraid of discovering she was responsible
Relationships
Notes
Backstory, secrets, motivations, or how they connect to the world.
Pibble
Small Humanoid (Gnome), Chaotic Neutral
Armor Class
15 (studded leather, shield)
Hit Points
10 (1d8 + 2)
Speed
30 ft.
Saving Throws
Con +4, Int +5
Skills
Arcana +5, Investigation +5, Sleight of Hand +3, Stealth +3
Senses
darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages
Common, Gnomish, Halfling
Spellcasting
Intelligence (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit). Cantrips: Shocking Grasp, Message, Mending, Prestidigitation. 1st level (2 slots): Alarm, Absorb Elements, Catapult, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, Disguise Self, Expeditious Retreat, Faerie Fire, False Life, Feather Fall, Grease, Identify, Jump, Longstrider, Purify Food and Drink, Sanctuary, Snare, Tasha's Caustic Brew.
Gnomish Cunning.
Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.
Alert.
Add +2 to Initiative rolls. Immediately after rolling, can swap Initiative with one willing ally in the same combat.
Magical Tinkering (3/Day).
Imbue a Tiny nonmagical object with one magical property: 5-ft. radius light, a 6-second recorded message, an odor or nonverbal sound, or a static visual effect with up to 25 words. Max 3 objects active at a time.
Actions
Crossbow, Light.
Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8+1 piercing damage.
Dagger.
Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 1d4+1 piercing damage.
Shocking Grasp.
Spell Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8 lightning damage. The target can't take reactions until the start of its next turn.
Bonus Actions
Tiny Clockwork Device — Activate.
Activate a previously created clockwork device by touch, producing its chosen effect.