A generally 3-foot creature with large, cold eyes, a pair of goat-like horns upon the head, a shaggy brown coat of fur, short, sharp claws, a mouth lined with needle-like teeth, cloven feet, stunted wings and a devil-like tail ending with a poisoned tip.

The Jersey Devil is a generally 3-foot tall creature. It possesses strikingly large, cold, and intelligent eyes that allow it to see in the dark and find food. The male of the species has a pair of straight and pointed goat-like horns upon the head that it uses to defend itself in battle as well as to vie with other suitors of a female of the group. It is covered from head to hoof in a medium-length, shaggy brown coat of fur, which often gives off the unmistakable odor of swamp gas - the creatures' main watering hole. Short, conical claws adorn the tips of each of the three fingers upon their hands, the opposable thumb not having a clawed tip. Upon their backs are to be found a pair of stunted and often malformed bat-like wings which, in the rare case that they are fully formed, may be used for gliding short distances. The mouth is lined with a single row of needle-like teeth, rarely exposed unless the creature is cornered and forced to defend itself. The feet are cloven with goat-like hooves and a devil-like tail protrudes from the beast's rear that often reaches a length of two feet in adults and is always barbed at the end with a mildly poisoned tip.

The creatures prefer solitude when they hunt or forage for food, which includes many of the smaller game animals (rabbits, foxes, birds, and occasionally deer) and rodents (rats, mice, and squirrels) of the typically swampy and wet areas they inhabit and any of various types of noxious plants including nightshade and monksbane that grow beside swamps. The beasts fend only for themselves but will often group together during the very earliest morning hours for protection of numbers while they sleep, which will often occur up until midday and is always done in the lofty limbs of large trees, wherever the forest is darkest.,The Jersey Devil is a generally 3-foot tall creature. It possesses strikingly large, cold, and intelligent eyes that allow it to see in the dark and find food. The male of the species has a pair of straight and pointed goat-like horns upon the head that it uses to defend itself in battle as well as to vie with other suitors of a female of the group. It is covered from head to hoof in a medium-length, shaggy brown coat of fur, which often gives off the unmistakable odor of swamp gas - the creatures' main watering hole. Short, conical claws adorn the tips of each of the three fingers upon their hands, the opposable thumb not having a clawed tip. Upon their backs are to be found a pair of stunted and often malformed bat-like wings which, in the rare case that they are fully formed, may be used for gliding short distances. The mouth is lined with a single row of needle-like teeth, rarely exposed unless the creature is cornered and forced to defend itself. The feet are cloven with goat-like hooves and a devil-like tail protrudes from the beast's rear that often reaches a length of two feet in adults and is always barbed at the end with a mildly poisoned tip.

The creatures prefer solitude when they hunt or forage for food, which includes many of the smaller game animals (rabbits, foxes, birds, and occasionally deer) and rodents (rats, mice, and squirrels) of the typically swampy and wet areas they inhabit and any of various types of noxious plants including nightshade and monksbane that grow beside swamps. The beasts fend only for themselves but will often group together during the very earliest morning hours for protection of numbers while they sleep, which will often occur up until midday and is always done in the lofty limbs of large trees, wherever the forest is darkest.

Combat
A Jersey Devil will most often not initiate attack unless it has been surprised or is feeling anxious or sick. Normally they are encountered awake and moving alone along the forest floor and will freeze or hide when they sense a possible enemy is near. Curious creatures, often they will remain in the open and let their opponents see them in full light. They emit an aura of slight fear normally causing uneasiness in the average opponent and terror in the novice. The most unsettling of their tactics is simply to stare at their opponent with their large, cold eyes, giving the opponent the feeling that it can see into the depths of their souls. It is at this point that three scenarios occur.

First, the aura of fear it pervades into the enemy will cause it to flee the area or retreat cautiously.

Second, the opponent will take the initiative and attack the silently watching Jersey Devil.

And Third, the creature will decide to attack. It should here be noted that Jersey Devils never retreat from a fight and will attack savagely until it is either killed or it kills.

The beasts move with an exceptional speed and will charge or leap at an opponent and scratch wildly with its claws to try to make the opponent back off. If the opponent does not retreat, the Jersey Devil will often bite as well, although it prefers not to do this if at all possible. If the opponent presses their attack or fights back, the beast will not hold back and will claw and bite during each attack and will strategically wait for an opening to rush in and gore the opponent with its horns, impaling it if possible. If the fight becomes desperate and the Jersey Devil is wounded, it will use its poisoned tail as a last defense before charging full-on into the enemy, keeping it occupied until the poison can take effect and kill the enemy.

Fear (Sp) The Jersey Devil can cast an innate, low-level fear spell lasting for the duration of four combat rounds.
Frightful Presence (Ex) The Jersey Devil exudes an aura of fear once within ten feet.
Poison (Ex) The Jersey Devil's barbed tail can secrete a mildly dangerous poison causing 1d6 damage per round unless the creature successfully strikes twice, in which case paralysis will set into the enemy after one full round.
Psionics (Sp) Rare among Jersey Devils, the female of the species may sometimes have a psionic skill that allows them to charm their opponents and freeze them in place before they initiate their attack.
Blind Sight (Ex) Jersey Devils can see in the dark for a radius of twenty feet but have no resistance to spells of darkness.
Camoflage (Ex) Jersey Devils are colored like the forest and may even possess the cognizance to camoflage themselves further, placing leaves and twigs in their fur to blend more easily with the forest floor.
Fast Healing (Ex) Jersey Devils possess an innate fast healing skill, healing up to 15 points of damage per round.
Sunlight Vulnerability (Ex) Jersey Devils lose 80% of their vision when exposed to sunlight and the damage inflicted by their attacks is halved because they cannot properly see their target. Poison still inflicts the same damage, however.

Society
Jersey Devils are normally solitary and fill their days looking for food. At the turn of every spring, they will gather into groups as large as thirty individuals for mating purposes only for a duration of roughly two weeks. They do not exhibit loyalty of blood and will frequently migrate between groups, which only serves to strengthen the genetic pool. Newborns stay with the mother for roughly six months after having been born, after which they are left to fend for themselves in the wild.

In the scheme of the world, the Jersey Devils play a minor role. They inhabit, and may in fact dominate, small and dark forests and may even go so far as to drive all other competitive species out. They are a danger to all who enter their forests and have been known, curiously, to sneak into villages nearby at night and have reportedly stolen human babies from their cribs, but the purpose of this act is so far undetermined. They are a creature most often spoken of only in myth, for they are rarely seen and any who do rarely survive the encounter.

This creature has not yet been play tested.
This is not a kender type creature.