The Wizard's Companion -- The Homunculus
An article by Lloyd Brown III from Dragon Magazine #246 and a revision of the current 3E homunculus

Product Number: Volume XXII, No. 9
Year Published:  1998

Converted from 2nd Edition to 3rd Edition D&D 
by Devin Collins, daksian@hotmail.com OR coll0116@algonquincollege.com
Last Updated: Oct 19, 2000

Summary of Conversion: I was dissatisfied with the official 3E version of the homunculus.  I disagree that the creature appropriately fits the "Construct" category among other qualms.  Therefore, I created an alternate (but very similar) version of the creature, on the premise that the homunculus is an Aberration, not a Construct.  In addition, I found the article written by Mr. Brown to be extremely helpful and I incorporated it into my own house rules.  Of course, it's a 2E article, so I've converted the pertinent parts to 3E.

BASIC STATISTICS
Tiny Aberration
Hit Dice: 2d8 (9 hp)
Initiative: +4 (Dex)
Speed: 20 ft., fly 50 ft. (good)
AC: 16 (+4 Dex, +2 size)
Attacks: Bite +7 melee
Damage: Bite 1d4-4 and poison
Face/Reach: 2.5 ft. by 2.5 ft./ 0 ft.
Special Attacks: Poison
Special Qualities: Various (see below)
Saves: As creator's upon creation
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 18, Con 10, Int as creator's, Wis 8, Cha 6.  (Note: if desired, creator can use the alternate tables provided on page 23 of the DMG)
Skills: (base) Listen +5, Move Silently +5, Spot +5, Tumble +5.  Also see below.
Feats: (base) Weapon Finesse: bite, Flyby Attack

Climate/Terrain: Any land or underground
Organization: Symbiosis/Solitary
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: as deemed by creator
Alignment: Any (as creator)
Advancement: 3-6 HD (Tiny) (See below)

Homunculi are extensions of their creators, sharing the same alignment and basic nature.  In essence, they are a variant clone of their creator, but one that is subservient, cooperative, and far less powerful than the "original".  Homunculi cannot speak, but the process of creating one links it telepathically to its creator, up to a range of 500 yards.  It can convey to its creator everything it sees or hears.  A homunculus never willingly moves beyond the range of its link, and if forcibly removed it will do everything it can to get back.  If the homunculus is destroyed, its creator suffers 1d8 points of damage/hit die.  In almost all cases, if the creator is slain, the homunculus also dies, its body swiftly melting into a pool of ichor.

A homunculus has a vaguely humanoid form.  Generally, they appear as slightly smaller, green-skinned imps, and can often be mistaken for such by the ignorant.  They stand approximately 18 inches tall with wing spans of about 2 feet.  They weigh perhaps 5 lbs.  There are, however, many variants on this basic form (described below).

COMBAT
Homunculi land on their victims and bite with their venomous fangs.
Poison (Ex): Bite, Fortitude save (DC 11); initial damage sleep for 1 minute; secondary damage sleep for 5d6 minutes.

CREATION
Creating a homunculus is an expensive, time-consuming task.  It takes a week to create, and requires alchemical substances and supplies, an alchemist, spells, the caster to be at least 7th level, a pint of the caster's blood, and the Create Wondrous Item feat.

The total gp cost depends on whether an alchemist is hired for the task.  A wizard with the Alchemy skill can attempt to do this himself.  A hired alchemist must have at least 5 ranks to accomplish this.  PCs may have any rank, but take a greater risk of failure if theirs is lower than 5.  If hiring an alchemist, the cost is 1,000 gp.  This assumes the alchemist is using his own facilities.  If the PC has his own alchemical lab, the cost is reduced to 500 gp.  If the PC is doing his own alchemy, he must spend the 500 gp on an alchemist's lab and have alchemical substances worth 140 gp (essentially, 20 gp/day).

The blood donated by the creator counts as 2 points of temporary Constitution damage, which heals back normally.  It is donated on the first day, and is used as the catalyst for the homunculus' biological form.

An Alchemy check at DC 15 is required on the first, fourth and seventh day of creation.  If any fail, the experiment fails (although, depending on the day, some of the alchemical substances can be salvaged for another try).

Each day the caster must cast the following spells: mending, mirror image, and arcane eye.  In addition, if they are choosing a variant form (see below), they must cast that spell as well.  These spells take up normal daily spell slots, but their effects are not visited as normal.  Instead they are cast directly into the mixture and absorbed.

If all the Alchemy checks are made, upon the casting of the final spell on the seventh day, the homunculus takes shape and emerges from the mixture.  The creator loses 25 experience points, or 50 if choosing a variant form.

Upon creation, the telepathic link between creator and homunculus is established.  The creator can see and hear through his creation's eyes and ears at will, and can communicate without restraint, so long as the homunculus remains within 500 yards.  This has the added bonus of functioning similarly to the Alertness bonus gained from having a familiar.  It is actually more powerful: because the link is so precise, the caster gains the Alertness feat as a bonus if his homunculus can see him.  The homunculus, in turn, gets all the Intelligence and Wisdom based skill ranks that the caster has at the time of creation.  If the creator has ranks in the base skills of the homunculus, the better set is used.  Note that in some cases, this access to skills does not give "bonus tries" to certain skill checks.  Knowledge checks, for example.  If the homunculus attempts a Knowledge check and fails, then the wizard does not know the information either.  This is something for the DM to adjucate on a case-by-case basis.

The homunculus also gets certain feats.  They have as many feats as their Intelligence modifer.  In most cases, a homunculus will have an Intelligence score of at least 14 (to cast the arcane eye spell) and thus, have at least two feats.  If the total is less, their first choice is Weapon Finesse: bite.  If they have a greater total, their creator can choose from the following feats: Alertness, Ambidexterity, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness.

ADVANCEMENT
As stated, homunculi are a form of cloning.  Because of this, when their creators advance in level, knowledge and ability, the homunculus does not.  Essentially, they are a template of their creator when they are created.  However, their advancement is somewhat separate from their creator.

The "somewhat" qualifier is there because their advancement IS related.  For every three levels past 7th, the homunculus gains an additional hit die.  This grants them benefits as stated for Aberration advancement covered on page 13 of the Monster Manual.  Note that homunculi add their Intelligence modifier to the gained skill points/level.  They do, however, have class access to all the skills their creator has, including other class skills if the creator is multi-classed (a rogue/wizard's homunculus, for example, has regular access to all the designated rogue and wizard class skills).  Upon achieving 6 HD (their caster is a 19th level caster), the homunculus gains a bonus point to a chosen ability score and an additional feat.  This is as far as homunculi can advance without the aid of magic.

Note that this is the only non-magical way a homunculus can advance.  Wizards cannot simply create 3-6 HD homunculus without the proper levels to back them up.

THE VARIANT HOMUNCULI
Adding a single spell into the mix can greatly alter the nature of the resultant homunculi.  However, no more than one extra spell can be added to the mix without the use of extremely powerful and likely unique magic.

Note: these versions are adapted from Mr. Brown's article.  As such, I will provide a brief physical description and the statistic changes.  I do not want to get sued for plagiarism.

AXONAN – required spell: detect thoughts
Venom: weaker sleep poison (initial damage sleep 1 minute; secondary damage sleep 1d4 minutes).
Psychic Trauma (Ex): though the Axonan's venom is weaker in the duration of the sleep, it interferes with brain function and causes traumatic nightmares while the victim is asleep.  When awakened, the victim believes for the next hour that he has lost 25% of his total hit points.  If this drives him to a perceived hit point total of 0 or less, he is unconscious for that hour.
Extended Scout (Su): Axonans have a greater telepathic link than other homunculi.  As such, they can go beyond their regular link range limit 1/day for a duration of 10-60 minutes (1d6 x10 minutes).  During this time, they are still telepathically linked to their creator, no matter their distance.  As usual, however, this link is severed if either homunculus or master is on a separate plane of existence.

BOLAN – required spell: chameleon (described in article.  Invisibility may be used instead)
Venom: weak slow poison (initial damage slow 1 round; secondary damage slow 5d6 rounds)
+15 racial bonus to Hide skill
+5 racial bonus to Listen skill
10% miss chance (always active)

CARIAN – required spell: spider climb
Carians are unable to fly.
Ability score modifications: +2 Dex, -2 Wis; Strength is always 1.
+20 racial bonus to Jump skill
+19 racial bonus to Climb skill (effective score of 14 after Strength modifier) (Speed 10 ft.)
+5 racial bonus to Pick Pockets skill (accessible even if untrained)
Exchange Flyby Attack feat for Ambidexterity
Prehensile Tail (Ex): A Carian has a longer, stronger appendage than any of its other limbs.  It is adaptable as any tentacle and can use tools or wield tiny weapons (such as a dagger, whether melee or hurled).  A Carian who chooses a weapon attack with its tail forgoes its bite attack.

CHORASMIAN – required spell: feather fall
Venom: Causes deafness and blindness (separate Fortitude check for each condition) (initial damage 1 minute/secondary damage 5d6 minutes)
Superior Low-Light Vision (Ex): Chorasmians can see three times better than a human in low-light conditions.
Ability score modifications: -2 Con, +2 Cha
Dive (Ex): Chorasmians are excellent at diving and snatching items from enemy hands.  If attempting to dive, they gain a circumstance bonus of +5 to their Hide check and +10 to their Move Silently check.  If the opponent is caught flat-footed, he must make a Reflex save at a DC equal to 10 + homunculus' HD + homunculus' Dex modifier or lose the item.  If the item is greater than 5 lb in weight, the homunculus cannot hold it and drops it 1d10 feet away from the opponent.  Otherwise, it can fly away with the item.  If the opponent is not flat-footed, treat the attempt as an unarmed Disarm attempt as if the Chorasmian had the Improved Disarm feat.

GENDRASIAN – required spell: water breathing
Venom: initial damage frightened 1 round/secondary damage frightened 5d6 rounds
Gills & Lungs (Ex): Gendrasians can breathe both air and water.
Swimming (Ex): Speed of 20 ft., can comfortably go as deep as 100 feet.

MERVAN – required spell: summon swarm
Venom: initial damage 1 Constitution/secondary damage 1 Constitution
Bonus Alertness feat
See invisible (Ex): 25% chance per invisible item/creature
Ability score modifications: +2 Str, -4 Cha
+5 Natural armor

MULLAN – required spell: enlarge
No Venom
Fly manoeuverability is average
Size is upgraded to Small.
Ability score modifications: +4 Str
Bonus Toughness feat
Claw attacks: 1d2 damage each
Exchange Weapon Finesse feat for Multiattack feat.

THYMBAN – required spell: chill touch
Venom: initial damage 1 Strength/secondary damage –
Detect magic (Ex): A Thymban can detect the magic in an item (if any) 25% of the time after handling it for 10 minutes.
+10 ranks in Scrying skill (unless creator's score on creation is greater).  Thymbans can use a crystal ball.