Naiad (3.5e Creature)

Naiad

CR 3

	CN Medium Fey (Aquatic)
Init/Senses	+2/Listen +9, Spot +9
AC	17, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+4 Dex, +3 natural)
hp	22 (4 HD)
Fort/Ref/Will	+3/+6/+6
Speed	30 ft. (6 squares), swim 30 ft.
Melee	masterwork short sword +5 (1d6+2/19–20)
Ranged	javelin +4 (1d6+2)
Base Atk/Grp	+2/+4
Special Actions	spell-like abilities
Spell-Like Abilities	(CL 6th): at will—augury, create water, water walk 3/day—blindness/deafness (DC 14), command (DC 13), fog cloud 1/day—summon nature's ally IV (Medium water elemental only)
Abilities	Str 14, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 18
SQ	damage reduction 5/cold iron, water dependent, wild empathy, amphibious
Feats	Combat Reflexes, Dodge
Skills	Handle Animal +11, Hide +9, Knowledge (nature) +11, Listen +9, Move Silently +9, Ride +4, Spot +9, Survival +9, Swim +17, Use Rope +2 (+4 with bindings)
Advancement	—
Water Dependent	Each naiad is mystically bound to a single body of fresh water, be it a river, a lake or a marsh, and must never stray more than 300 yards from it. Any who do become ill and die within 4d6 hours. A naiad's chosen body of water does not radiate magic.
Wild Empathy	This power works like the druid’s wild empathy class feature, except that the naiad has a +6 racial bonus on the check.
Amphibious	Naiads can breathe both air and water and spend roughly equal amount of time in both environments.
Skills	A naiad has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

The latest in aquatic fashion!

This was the place: she could recognize the pool from the wise woman's description. Almost perfectly round, crystal clear, surrounded on all sides by alder trees. When the bare-skinned creature rose from the waters, she wasn't even all that surprised. "You've come for a fortune," the creature said from between pursed purple lips. She didn't like the look on its face. "I'm not in the mood for auguries."

Close relatives of dryads but physically more imposing than their woodland sisters, naiads are fey creatures closely linked to water. Each naiad has a specific body of water that they're magically attached to: in effect, the naiad is the physical representation of that body of water. Naiad skin tone varies from turquoise to deep blue, and their hair can be yellow-red like sargasso or green like sea weed. The specific look changes depending on the body of water: a river naiad is often sleek and has a silvery sheen to her skin, lake naiads tend to be rounder and softer with a deeper hue of blue, and marsh naiads have larger eyes and long digits. The naiad of a polluted body of water grows sickly thin, pale, and hideously angry.

Combat

Naiads are more physical as well as more communal than their dryad sisters, so they tend to rush into melee more often. They begin fights by summoning a water elemental, then flank foes with the help of their elementals and each other. They use their spells cleverly on the offensive, with one or two of their numbers staying back to blind, deafen and command foes. They confront people more openly, since they aren't shy like dryads, and defend their bodies of water with a fervor.

---