Imp

In earlier mythologies, was originally a close fey cousin to the Pixie. Most Imps are now more often classified as a small demon or devil that is typically portrayed as one of the bottom rungs on the fiendish ladder. Often making up for its diminutive stature and physical feebleness with cunning and ambition, imps are typically portrayed as malignant schemers, constantly searching for a way to gain power. They are often considered to be heavily involved in trying to tempt mortals to give in to corruption, and have a long traditional association with the role of familiar to a wizard, witch or warlock.

In the World Axis, they have their own patron Archdevil called Beleth, who only ever appeared in the Codex of Betrayal article in Dragon Magazine #365 for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition.

Dungeons & Dragons

5e

The Imp is the iconic low-level Devil, or Baatezu (Although for some reason they are classified as devils but not Baatezu in 3rd edition); the much-abused dogsbodies of Baator, imps ache to achieve something that will allow them to be promoted to a bigger, stronger and more intimidating form, in which they will get to be the ones doing the kicking for a change. Imps readily answer summons to serve as familiars, both in hopes of damning their master's soul to Baator (and thus taking another step towards earning a promotion) and because it will usually be a change from the abuse they get serving devils. D&D imps traditionally look like a parody of the devilish archetype; small, puny, reddish-skinned humanoids with long, rat-like tails tipped in a scorpion-like barb, stubby horns on their forehead, bat-like wings and often with goat-like legs.

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  2e

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  3e

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  4e

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  Pathfinder

Related Creatures

Quasits are the Demonic equivalent to Imps, though described as wingless and with clawed paws instead of hooves.

Mephits are imp-like Elementals.

Sacaanti are Imp-Quasit hybrids created by magically combining the two creatures. They have wings but no tail. They only appear in the Ruins of Zhentil Keep boxed set.

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Ravenloft

Ravenloft introduced two subspecies of imps that are tailor made to fuck over players:

The Assassin Imp can be summoned as a familiar and is obsessively loyal to to its master. So loyal, in fact, that it will seek out and stealthily murder anyone whom it deems to be a threat to its master. The problem is, the imp's criteria for what constitutes a "threat to its master" widens over time. So eventually it will end up killing random strangers or even other party members if they get into an argument with its master.

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The Wishing Imp is a classic monkey's paw. It grants its owner one wish per day, but the result is always twisted or perverted to be horrible in some way.

Imps of Ill-Humor

Dragon Magazine #338 introduced the Imps of Ill-Humor, a variant imp born around the ancient "humors" philosophy of bodily health. To recap that for those who aren't history buffs; this discredited medical theory, invented by Hippocrates the Greek Philosopher (because it took an absurdly long time for folks to realize that just pulling shit out of your ass isn't good science), dominated Western theories of medicine until around the 18th century, and was essentially an attempt to derive a healthcare system around Elementalism. It presupposes that the body is comprised of four fluids - choler (yellow bile) which is Warm and Dry, melancholer (black bile), which is Cool and Dry, phlegm, which is Cool and Moist, and sanguis (blood), which is Warm and Moist - whose balance affects your personality, temperament and physical condition. Too much of one "humor" is bad for you, leading to personality flaws and even illness, so removing excess humors and promoting the growth of under-leveled humors was the basis of medicine (which is why leeches and bloodletting were so commonly used as medical treatments in the medieval era- if the problem was having too much blood then you could just get rid of it, right?). The Imps of Ill-Humor are all filled with an excessive amount of one particular humor; this affects their personality and allows them to cast a specialized variant of the Contagion spell once per day, and gives them the Imbalance attack. This is a kind of poisonous tail sting where the Ill-Humored Imp injects excessive humor into its victim, causing a permanent mental change that lasts until they receive a Remove Disease or Heal spell if they fail a DC 13 Will save.

Choleric Imps are wiry, jaundice-yellow imps who spend their entire lives on the very edge of a rage-fit, flying violently berserk at the drop of a hat. Their Contagion spell manifests as Cackle Fever or the Shakes. Those affected by Choleric Imbalance immediately fly into a Rage (as per the spell) and attack blindly until they are unconscious, dead, or the last conscious creature within 30 feet. Until cured, the first time a Choleric Imbalanced character attacks or is attacked in melee, they must make another DC 13 Will save or resume raging.

Melancholic Imps are ashy gray-black in color, and easily determined by their dour expression and fatalistic worldview. Unaggressive by nature, they will prefer to talk others out of attacking them with long, pessimistic monologues, but are quick to stab someone in the back if they mistake the imp as being harmless. Their Contagion spell manifests as Blinding Sickness or Filth Fever. Those affected by Melancholic Imbalance suffer a -2 penaly on attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. This penalty lasts until cured, although whenever they are first attacked or make an attack in combat, they can repeat the DC 13 Will Save to shake off the melancholy for the encounter.

Phlegmatic Imps are green-skinned imps notorious for their laziness, their cowardice, and their narcissism. They always prefer to let others do the work, and even in combat will generally leave the bulk of the fighting to somebody else if they can. Their Contagion spell manifests as Mindfire or Slimy Doom. Those affected by Phlegmatic Imbalance become sluggish, apathetic and unresponsive, being affected by a Slow spell until cured, although whenever they are first attacked or make an attack in combat, they can repeat the DC 13 Will Save to shake off the apathy for the encounter. A haste spell will counteract phlegmatic imbalance for its duration.

Sanguine Imps are portly, crimson-skinned with a jovial, genial attitude; they'd almost be pleasant if it wasn't for their willingness to attack those who they find uninteresting in order to have fun through combat. Their Contagion spell manifests as Red Ache. Sanguine Imbalance manifests as the victim being affected by a Hideous Laughter spell for 1d4 rounds. Until cured, the first time a Sanguine Imbalanced character attacks or is attacked in melee, they must make another DC 13 Will save or again laugh helplessly for 1d4 rounds.

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  Choleric Imp

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  Melancholic Imp

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  Phlegmatic Imp

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  Sanguine Imp

3e Fiend Folio

The 3rd edition Fiend Folio details three variant imps. Bloodbag Imps have blood that heals people that drink it, making them the medics of hell, and they can also cast a curse that worsens bleeding from wounds. Euphoric Imps are living drug dispensers with venom that causes hallucinations, which they like to use on themselves. Filth Imps are outcasts from hell due to their horrible smell and often find work on the material plane using their talent for languages and codes.

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  Bloodbag, Euphoric and Filth Imps

Monstergirls

This article or section is about Monstergirls (or a monster that is frequently depicted as a Monstergirl), something that /tg/ widely considers to be the purest form of awesome. Expect PROMOTIONS! and /d/elight in equal measure, often with drawfaggotry or writefaggotry to match.

Surprisingly, imps are not too uncommon in the field of monstergirl enthusiasts. Mostly because they can easily be portrayed as being shortstack or loli succubi, at least in terms of looks. That familiar bond is also readily exploited in certain fields of erotica.

Naturally, given how important the succubus is to the world of the Monster Girl Encyclopedia, the imp is well-represented too.

The standard Imp is a simple-minded and horny minor fiend, basically like a more childish version of the succubus in looks and personality. They are readily bound to the service of mages as familiars, but a careless mage who feeds their imp too frequently will find her powers swiftly outstripping his own, resulting in the contract's reversal and their becoming the slave to the imp's own lusts.

There's also the Arch-Imp, a more powerful and cunning version of the Imp that is very hard to distinguish from the standard Imp. They are described as the impish equivalent of Lilim, and really only differ from imps in their sheer power; woe to the unwise mage who tries to take one as their familiar, for they will usually find themselves quickly overpowered.

The Devil mamono is a more high-ranking form of fiend; imp-like in its loli proportions, they are much stronger and more intelligent. Cunning, lustful and still a little malicious, they relish in corrupting others and eagerly seek out men and women alike to spread the plans of the Demon Queen.

The Pixie is a breed of Imp that has evolved to crudely mimic the Fairy of its world to better lure in unsuspecting victims.

Finally, the Gremlin mamono is a imp-like beastgirl with an innate knack for magitek. They can be considered roughly equivalent to the D&D Gnome in spirit, for they are master artificers who build all manner of perverse and sexual devices.

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