Verrick Castaigne
Attacks & Melee
Stain: alignment-detection magic reads you as Lawful Evil — the very lie that got you exiled.
Stain: a smouldering infernal brand you cannot magically conceal.
Stain: you register as a Lawful Evil aura — already true from Fiendish Tutelage, so no new cost.
Ability Scores
Skills 11 ranks / level at Lv 6 · ★ class skill · Int drives the starred-Int rows · +6 headband ranks on Knowledge (nature)
| Skill | Abl | Rk | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★ | Acrobatics | Dex | 4 | +12 |
| ★ | Appraise | Int | — | +5 |
| ★ | Diplomacy | Int* | 6 | +14 |
| ★ | Disable Device | Int | 6 | +16 |
| ★ | Disguise | Cha | — | −1 |
| ★ | Heal | Wis | — | +0 |
| ★ | Know. (arcana) | Int | 6 | +14 |
| ★ | Know. (nature) | Int | 6 | +14 |
| Skill | Abl | Rk | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★ | Know. (planes) | Int | 6 | +14 |
| ★ | Know. (religion) | Int | 6 | +14 |
| ★ | Perception | Int | 6 | +14 |
| ★ | Perception (traps) | Int | — | +16 |
| ★ | Sense Motive | Int | 6 | +14 |
| ★ | Spellcraft | Int | 5 | +13 |
| ★ | Stealth | Dex | 6 | +16 |
| ★ | Use Magic Device | Int | 6 | +14 |
| Sleight of Hand | Dex | — | +5 |
Trained-only skills omitted unless ranked. +3 class-skill bonus applies at 1st rank. Int* = Int used via Ceaseless Observation / Student of Philosophy. Stealth includes the +2 tiefling racial. Disable Device includes +2 Trapfinding (½ level, all checks); Perception gets that same +2 only when locating traps. Inspiration adds +1d6 to any check (free on Knowledge, Linguistics, Spellcraft).
Feats & Traits
- Weapon Finesse (Lv 1 feat) — Use Dex instead of Str on attack rolls with the rapier, daggers, and other finessable light weapons.
- Fencing Grace (Lv 3 feat) — Add your Dex modifier instead of Str to rapier damage when wielding it one-handed with the off hand free. Now puts +5 Dex on every rapier hit. Requires Weapon Finesse (have it).
- Dodge (Lv 5 feat) — +1 dodge bonus to AC and CMD (lost when flat-footed). Opens the Mobility → Spring Attack line for hit-and-run.
- Reactionary (combat trait) — +2 trait bonus on initiative checks.
- Student of Philosophy (social trait) — Use Int instead of Cha on Diplomacy (to persuade) and Bluff (to lie). Turns the Cha dump into a non-issue.
Class & Racial
- Alchemy & Extracts (Investigator 1) — Prepare investigator extracts (self-only formulae); add Int to identify potions. 5× 1st + 4× 2nd per day (4/3 base at Lv 6 + Int 20 bonus).
- Inspiration (Investigator 1) — see Page 1.
- Trapfinding (Investigator 1) — +½ level on Perception to find & Disable Device on traps; can disable magical traps.
- Ceaseless Observation (Empiricist — Investigator 2) — Int replaces Wis/Cha on Perception, Sense Motive, Disable Device, UMD & gather-info Diplomacy. Replaces poison lore/resistance.
- Keen Recollection (Investigator 3) — Attempt any Knowledge check untrained.
- Trap Sense +2 (Investigator 3, +1 per 3 levels) — +2 Reflex saves and +2 dodge AC against traps; next bump at Lv 9.
- Investigator Talent: Expanded Inspiration (Investigator 3) — Use inspiration free (no use spent) on Perception, Sense Motive, Diplomacy & Heal.
- Investigator Talent: Quick Study (Investigator 5) — Begin Studied Combat as a swift action instead of a move: study + move + attack in one turn. (Redundant once Studied Combat auto-becomes swift at Lv 7 — retrain then.)
- Studied Combat / Studied Strike (Investigator 4) — see Page 1.
- Unfailing Logic (Empiricist — Investigator 4) — +2 insight on Will saves vs illusions; spend inspiration to use Int for Wis on those saves. Replaces swift alchemy.
- Fiendish Tutelage (Hellbound corruption · Mfst. 1) — see Page 1.
- Devil's Mark (Hellbound corruption · Mfst. 2) — Magic Missile SLA 2/day (auto-hit force). See Page 1.
- Passage through the Pit (Hellbound corruption · Mfst. 3) — full-round teleport 2d10×5 ft in a chosen direction; 1/hour at Mfst 3 (→ 1/min at 6, at-will at 8). Stain: reads as a Lawful Evil aura (redundant with Fiendish Tutelage). See Page 1.
- Tiefling Heritage (racial) — Darkvision 60 ft; resist cold/electricity/fire 5; +2 Bluff & Stealth; darkness 1/day; native outsider.
- Languages — Common, Infernal, Abyssal, Draconic, Celestial, Elven, Dwarven. (Common + Infernal racial; four Int-bonus tongues from the tiefling list; Celestial via his Linguistics rank — the planar and scholarly languages an archivist of the Concord would read.)
Next steps — Lv 5 done: Quick Study · Dodge · Passage through the Pit · Fiendish Tutelage → +4 vs devils. · Lv 6 done: Studied Strike → +2d6; BAB +4; Trap Sense +2; +1 second-level extract; 12 skill ranks. · Lv 7: 3rd-level extracts; Studied Combat auto-swift (retrain Quick Study); feat → Mobility toward Spring Attack. · next gold sink: +1 keen rapier (3,000 crafted → crit 15–20) or Cloak of Resistance +2.
Gear & Equipment Level 6 · ~16,000 gp lifetime at crafting rates (everything ½) · 5,500 gp market to spend this level
Ashen-skinned and gold-eyed, an infernal brand smouldering at his temple, Verrick still dresses like the archivist he was rather than the fiend the wards insist he is: a scholar's coat thrown over a whisper-light mithral shirt, a rapier carried like a pen that happens to kill. Every item on him is chosen, labelled, and accounted for. His belt is cinched for quickness now rather than burden — the heavy haul rides on an Ant Haul draught; the daggers are sorted by what their metal bypasses; the alchemical kit catalogues the lessons his last party paid for in blood. He travels light by method, not by poverty, and reads a room the way he once read ledgers.
Worn & Wielded
| Item | Qty | Cost | Wt | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headband of Vast Intelligence +2 | 1 | 2,000 gp | 1 lb | Int 18→20 · +1 all Int skills & extract DCs · Inspiration 8/day · grants HD ranks in one skill (Knowledge nature, now 6) |
| Mithral chain shirt | 1 | 550 gp | 12.5 lb | +4 armor · max Dex +6 · ACP 0 · counts as light |
| Rapier +1 keen | 1 | 4,160 gp | 2 lb | 1d6 · 15–20/×2 · keen doubles threat range · finesse · Dex to hit & dmg · bypasses DR/magic |
| Belt of Incredible Dexterity +2 | 1 | 2,000 gp | 1 lb | Dex 18→20 (+5): +1 hit, +1 AC, +1 Ref, +1 init, +1 Dex skills, +1 CMD |
| Ring of Protection +1 | 1 | 1,000 gp | — | +1 deflection AC (also touch & CMD) |
| Amulet of Natural Armor +1 | 1 | 1,000 gp | — | +1 natural-armor AC |
| Cloak of Resistance +2 | 1 | 2,000 gp | 1 lb | +2 to all saves · props up the weak Fort |
| Handy Haversack | 1 | 1,000 gp | 5 lb | holds ~80 lb / 8 cu ft as 5 lb · any item out as a move action — retires the Ant Haul carry tax |
| Light crossbow + 20 bolts | 1 | 18 gp | 5 lb | 1d8 · 19–20/×2 · 80 ft |
| Alchemical silver dagger | 1 | 11 gp | 1 lb | 1d4−2 · for DR/silver (lycanthropes) |
| Cold iron dagger | 1 | 2 gp | 1 lb | 1d4−1 · for DR/cold iron (fey, demons) |
| Scholar's outfit | 1 | — | — | free starting outfit |
| Heavyload Belt benched — the belt slot is the Dex belt now; sell it for ~500 or keep it, and cover hauling with the Ant Haul extract. | ||||
Adventuring Kit
| Backpack | 1 | 2 gp | 2 lb | |
| Bedroll | 1 | 1 sp | 5 lb | |
| Belt pouch | 2 | 2 gp | 1 lb | |
| Flint & steel | 1 | 1 gp | — | |
| Hemp rope, 50 ft | 1 | 1 gp | 10 lb | |
| Grappling hook | 1 | 1 gp | 4 lb | |
| Torches | 10 | 1 sp | 10 lb | 1 hr each, 20 ft bright |
| Sunrod | 2 | 4 gp | 2 lb | 6 hr each, 30 ft bright |
| Tindertwig | 5 | 5 gp | — | standard → light flame |
| Trail rations | 7 | 3.5 gp | 7 lb | |
| Waterskin | 1 | 1 gp | 4 lb | |
| Whetstone | 1 | 2 cp | 1 lb | |
| Chalk | 5 | 5 cp | — | mark passages |
Field Kit — the lessons Keth's party paid for in blood
| Masterwork thieves' tools | 1 | 50 gp | 2 lb | +2 Disable Device · needed for magic traps |
| Alchemist's fire | 4 | 40 gp | 4 lb | 1d6 fire splash · ignores all DR |
| Holy water | 4 | 50 gp | 4 lb | 2d4 vs undead · thrown · ignores DR |
| Tanglefoot bag | 2 | 50 gp | 8 lb | entangle on hit · Ref DC 15 · cork a chokepoint |
| Silver weapon blanch | 5 | 13 gp | — | coat a weapon → silver for 1 hit (emergency) |
| Smelling salts | 3 | 38 gp | — | standard action · re-save vs paralysis/stun for an ally |
Magic & Potions
| Item | Qty | Cost | Wt | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potion of Haste | 1 | 375 gp | — | +30 ft speed · +1 attack on a full attack · +1 dodge AC & Reflex · 5 rds (crafted) |
| Scroll of Mirror Image | 8 | 600 gp | — | fire with UMD +13 · 1d4+1 decoy images · the squishy-melee lifesaver · 75 ea (crafted) |
| Formula book | 1 | — | 3 lb | starting extracts (free) |
| Wand & potions of Cure Light Wounds dropped — the party cleric and his CLW extract cover healing. | ||||
Lv-5 buys (crafting, ½): Belt of Incred. Dex +2 (2,000) · Ring of Prot +1 (1,000) · Amulet of Nat. Armor +1 (1,000) · Mirror Image ×8 (600) · Haste (375) ≈ 4,975 of your 5,000 (4,500 + 500 pocket). ~25 left; Heavyload Belt swapped out for the Dex belt.
Lv-6 buys (crafting, ½): keen upgrade on the rapier (3,000 → crit 15–20) · Cloak of Resistance +1 → +2 (1,500) · Handy Haversack (1,000) = 5,500 of the 5,500 this level. Next sink: +2 stat belt/headband or a +1 keen bump to +2.
Carry is Str 8 (Light ≤ 26 lb), but the Handy Haversack now eats the camp-load (counts as 5 lb no matter what's inside), so the Ant Haul carry tax is gone. Combat kit alone (~22 lb) stays Light, so AC and Dex are never docked in a fight.
The Exile
He was no hero — he tripped. A junior archivist of the Concord, Verrick was carrying ledgers across the tribunal floor when a brimstone assassin lunged for Liora — a minor archon, a paladin barely past her oath. He stumbled into the blade's path by pure clumsy accident. The archon lived. The dying fiend, cheated of a celestial kill, would not leave empty-handed: it pressed its unfinished contract into the man who'd spoiled it. By dawn Verrick's skin had gone ashen, his eyes to molten gold, and a sigil smouldered at his temple and the back of his hand. Infernal whispered in a voice that sounded like his own.
The Concord's wards read him Lawful Evil — the brand's lie — and the brothers saw horns where a friend had stood. They stripped his name and cast him out. Only Liora rose at the tribunal and called it what it was: a good man, damned for a good deed. For refusing to abandon a "damned thing," her own order now keeps her at arm's length; her light is dimmed by the company she keeps, and she walks beside an outcast, shunned alongside him. Friends only — and, for that, unbreakable.
So he investigates — forbidden texts, cooling corpses, the fine print of his own contract. Somewhere is the patron who holds his soul's lien; destroying it is the only way to lift the curse and clear both their names. The brand keeps whispering, dragging him toward the Lawful Evil they already see. Liora's stubborn faith is the rope he holds. Use the Bio space for his Concord rank, the city that exiled him, and what Liora swore at the tribunal.
⛧ Lifting the Corruption — completing the contract
The Hellbound bond can't be lifted by ordinary magic (no remove curse, no cleric heal). Release requires three things, in the contract's own terms:
1 · Destroy the patron — slay the devil that holds your soul's lien, the unseen hand behind the brimstone assassin's unfinished contract.
2 · Retrieve the payment — recover the price the contract was bought with (the soul-debt / the signed instrument itself) so it can never be claimed.
3 · Atone — a formal atonement then severs the brand; fitting for a Sarenrae-sworn exile, and a rite Liora's order could be pressed to officiate.
Until then: the corruption only advances when you give in to a temptation matching your patron's portfolio and fail a Will save (DC 15 + manifestation level = DC 18 at Mfst 3). Using the gifts is free. Reach corruption stage 3 and Verrick is lost to Hell as an NPC — so this is the real win condition, not just flavor.
