Redcap

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Redcaps are a race of malevolent, murderous dwarf-like sprites native to Scottish mythology. Said to prowl lonely and desolate regions, redcaps may have some eagle-like features, but universally are described as incredibly strong and swift, wearing iron boots, and murderous: they attack and kill any human they encounter, in order to soak their caps in the blood of their victims. These gore-soaked hats are the source of the redcap's magic and/or strength, and if the blood should fade from it, the redcap would lose all of its power. In their native Scotland, redcaps are also known as powrie.

Redcaps actually appeared as a player character race for Basic Dungeons & Dragons in "Tall Tales of the Wee Folk".

Redcaps also appeared as Powries in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition setting versions of Ravenloft. Here, they were a form of Arak, or "Shadow Fey", and resembled distorted, murderous, carnivorous versions of the common sprite.

Both Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition feature redcaps in their traditional guise of dwarf-like fey who seek to butcher living beings to replenish the life-giving coating of gore on their hats. The D&D 5e version was introduced in "Volo's Guide to Monsters" and was stated to spontaneously form when people are murdered in or near Feywild crossings.

In the Corona setting, the source of the Demonwars Saga novels written by R.A. Salvatore, Powrie are the native dwarves; malicious little seafaring raiders who gain strength and vitality from their enchanted hats by soaking them in blood, and who can reproduce without women by means of ritualistically burying the hearts of slain powrie under cairns of stone, causing a baby powrie to crawl out from under it in a lunar month.