Piru are spirits who are attracted to all manner of vice, be it alcohol, drugs, food, and sometimes gambling. They come from one of the alternate planes of existence, and as such are outsiders. They can be summoned to the prime plane of existence, but more often than not they find their way via hedonistic tendencies. The more vice, the more likely they are to be attracted.

No one knows the true form of the Piru, but those who claim to have seen it, say that it appears as a small, almost simian spirit, although the description varies from person to person – those who were lucky enough to survive the encounter that is.

The only way that the presence of these creatures can be detected is through magic, or a strange, shimmering in the air.

As stated, they are attracted to copious amounts of vice, the easiest way to attract their attention is through heavy alcohol or drug use. Many drug dens and bars attract these creatures all the time, and as such, the owners were often plagued by horrible luck, deaths of the patrons and other disasters.

Other than encountering the Outsider directly and dispatching it, the only way to really deal with these beings is to leave out alcohol, drugs or food. Sometimes this works, but more often than not it only somewhat appeases the spirit. The best way to keep the creatures from visiting horrible luck, ruin or death upon an establishment, is to leave out large amounts of all three.

Also the quality of the products left for these invisible outsiders has to be of high or even what is considered the best. They will not settle for Pilsner beer, burgers and a joint when the offering could be 100 year old Brandy, AAA Steak and cocaine.

The higher the quality of the offerings, the longer the creature will stay away. The lower the quality, it might actually anger the outsider enough to do something rash.

It has been discovered that these outsiders do not tolerate the presence of others of their type. A single establishment will only ever have one of these creatures, and it will remain at the location until it is destroyed or somehow forced to leave. Such occurrences will ensure that the establishment is free from the creatures for at least a year, as other outsiders will not risk trying to take it over, but once that year is up, then all bets are off.

These creatures are cowards by nature, and they are loath to fight, except others of their own kind. If they are somehow discovered, they will attempt to curse those who have discovered them, and then flee back to their home plane.

If this is not possible, the creatures will fight, and their touch can be quite deadly. The touch of the beings is that of deep, deep cold, and those who are touched must make a Fort save (DC 18) or gain 1d3 temporary negative levels.

Also, the creature is completely immune to any type of physical attack. The only way to harm the creature is through magic (spells) or energy attacks. Even if the weapon happens to be magical (such as a sword, dagger, melee weapon or even a ballistic weapon) no damage will be inflicted. Weapon fusions, which add an elemental type of damage, will hurt the creature, but only the magical effect will cause damage.

If someone manages to kill them, there is a very good chance that some horrific event will befall the victor sometime in the near future.

Some would believe that killing one of these creatures would bring on the wrath of others of their kind, but that is not the case. If the location they were frequenting is known, then others will wait a full year before they attempt to claim it as their own.

They cannot be bargained with, nor do they wish to speak with others. All they want is to partake in the vices.

Piru who are attracted to gambling are far more rare than the other types, although they do expect offerings to be made to them, but the offerings need to be money or other valuables such as jewellery, expensive clothing, and the like.  They can be ‘paid off’ with food, drugs and alcohol, but hard currency works the best on these versions.

Starfinder Creature Index

Chris Van Deelen is the creator and contributor to over half of the Wisdom from the Wastelands series, contributor to the Swords of Kos: Hekaton anthology, and the recently released 'Swords of Kos: The Rite'. He also wrote Creatures of the Tropical Wastelands, and 100 Oddities found in a Car. As prolific as he is, Chris Van Deelen continues to write and produce material which will be in publication soon. Not only is he a prolific content creator, he also has a wide selection of fiction and stories! If you like his work, please follow his personal author page on Facebook and on Twitter to keep up with his latest news and game content.