Verrick Castaigne
27 w/ Barkskin + Shield
Attacks & Melee
You roll the Knowledge once, the first time you see that kind of creature. Beat the DC and the pen is bane against that creature type — not that one individual — for the rest of the fight
Type, not target. Every bane weapon in the game keys to a creature type, never to a single enemy. Illithids are aberrations, and so are beholders — so one successful check should light up every aberration in the room at once. The pen is a custom item, so confirm the reading with your GM once; after that it never needs asking again. — every attack after that uses the BANE ON rows. Miss it and you simply use the rows above. You never roll it again that fight, and it is not a separate turn — identifying a monster is a free action at most tables.
It is your normal skill bonus, nothing special: whichever Knowledge covers that creature, plus the pen's +2 to identify monsters, plus a free Inspiration d8 (Knowledge never costs a use). DC is 10 + the creature's CR.
Which Knowledge: dungeoneering → aberrations & oozes (illithids, beholders) · arcana → constructs, dragons, magical beasts · planes → outsiders (devils) · religion → undead · nature → animals, fey, plants, vermin · local → humanoids. All six Knowledges are maxed at 9 ranks — +18 with the pen on every one. There is no longer a weak ID: aberrations, constructs, dragons, fey, outsiders, undead, plants, vermin, humanoids — whatever you meet, you identify it automatically up to CR 8 (natural 1 still succeeds) and need only a 5 against a CR 13 foe. One roll per creature type and the pen is bane for the fight. Keen Recollection lets you roll any Knowledge untrained, so no creature type is ever closed to you.
aberrations: illithids, beholders · DC 10 + CR, so 18 for a CR 8 mind flayer — at +18 you cannot fail it, even on a natural 1 +18
Not yet in the formula book — worth 100 gp the moment you have it: Keen Senses, a 1st-level extract giving +2 on Perception for 90 minutes at CL 9. You have six 1st-level slots and nothing competing for the sixth. Combined with the free Inspiration d8 that puts a routine Perception check around +22, which is the difference between walking past an illithid and seeing it.
Barkskin is all-day free AC. At CL 9 it is a flat +4 natural armour for 90 minutes off one 2nd-level slot — and with the amulet exposed as a fake there is nothing to overlap with, so you get the whole thing. AC 19 → 23, and 27 with Shield up as well. Brew it every single morning. Corollary: don't upgrade the amulet, that money is already spent.
Studied Strike — free action on a successful melee hit: add +3d6 precision. Not multiplied on a crit. Once per study — using it ends Studied Combat. It does not cost you an attack: you still get both. But because it ends the study, spending it on your first attack drops the +4 off your second — so declare it on the last attack that hits. The roller now arms it on the final damage roll for exactly this reason.
Studied Defense — instead of the attack/damage bonus, take +4 insight AC vs that foe → AC 23 (31 with Barkskin and Shield up).
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
These are the scores now — the belt and headband were never real. Str 8 · Dex 19 (18 base + the Lv-8 point) · Con 14 · Int 18 · Wis 10 · Cha 8. The Lv-12 point takes Dex to 20 → +5.
Skills 11 ranks/level with favoured class (PF1: ×4 at 1st level) · ★ class skill · Int drives the starred-Int rows · no headband ranks — it was never real
| Skill | Abl | Rk | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★ | Acrobatics | Dex | 9 | +16 |
| ★ | Appraise | Int | — | +4 |
| ★ | Diplomacy | Int* | 9 | +16 |
| ★ | Disable Device | Int | 9 | +20 |
| ★ | Disguise | Cha | — | −1 |
| ★ | Heal | Wis | — | +0 |
| ★ | Know. (arcana) | Int | 9 | +16 |
| ★ | Know. (nature) | Int | 9 | +16 |
| Skill | Abl | Rk | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★ | Know. (dungeoneering) | Int | 9 | +16 |
| ★ | Know. (planes) | Int | 9 | +16 |
| ★ | Know. (religion) | Int | 9 | +16 |
| ★ | Perception | Int | 9 | +16 |
| ★ | Perception (traps) | Int | — | +20 |
| ★ | Sense Motive | Int | 9 | +16 |
| ★ | Spellcraft | Int | 9 | +16 |
| ★ | Stealth | Dex | 9 | +18 |
| ★ | Use Magic Device | Int | 9 | +16 |
| Sleight of Hand | Dex | — | +4 | |
| ★ | Linguistics | Int | 9 | +16 |
| ★ | Know. (local) | Int | 3 | +10 |
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 +4 Trapfinding (½ level, all checks); Perception gets that same +4 only when locating traps — corrected at Lv 8: the sheet had been applying +2, but Trapfinding is ½ level, not the Trap Sense number. Inspiration adds +1d8 to any check — free, costing no daily use, on Knowledge, Linguistics, Spellcraft and (via Expanded Inspiration) Perception, Sense Motive, Diplomacy and Heal. On those, always add the d8; there is no reason not to. Rank budget balanced (PF1 quadrupling). 40 at 1st level + 10/level for levels 2–9 + 9 favoured-class ranks = 129. All 129 spent. Favourite class taken as a rank every level — never hp, which is why he carries the lowest hp in the party.
Rebuilt 2026-08-03: once the phantom headband exposed the real Int as 18, the full PF1 budget was applied. All six Knowledges maxed, Disable Device / Spellcraft / Diplomacy maxed, Linguistics 1→9, Knowledge (local) started at 3.
Rebuilt under the correct PF1 budget (×4 at 1st level): 129 ranks total, all spent. All six Knowledges maxed at 9 (+18 with the pen — auto-ID on any creature type), plus Disable Device, Spellcraft, Diplomacy and Linguistics maxed, and Knowledge (local) started at 3. He carries the lowest hp in the party because favoured class went to a rank every level, never hp.
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 +4 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).
- Leadership (Lv 7 feat · house rule: Int for Cha) — By GM ruling his Int drives the score — the mastermind's reputation, not charm. Leadership score = 13 = character level 9 + Int mod +4 (before any situational reputation ±). At score 13 the table grants a cohort up to 8th level — capped at your level − 1 = 8th, so Isolde can step to Bard 8 when the GM signs off → Isolde Vane, Bard 7 (see Cohort page) — plus 10 first-level followers. Restriction: only scholars, artists, arcane casters & bards answer his name. Bard 7 is the big one: it unlocks 3rd-level bard spells, which means she can cast party-wide Haste. GM confirm on the level−1 cap.
- Iron Will (Lv 9 feat) — +2 on all Will saves. Taken over Improved Critical because six illithid Mind Blasts against a +9 Will is the thing that ends this character. Will → +11 geared, +8 stripped.
- 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, drunk as a standard action); add Int to identify potions. 6× 1st · 5× 2nd · 4× 3rd per day at Lv 9 (base 5/4/3 + Int 18 bonus slot at each of levels 1–4). The headband turning out to be a fake costs him no extract slots at all — Int 18 grants exactly what Int 20 did. Fixes a standing error: the sheet read 5/4/1 at Lv 7, but Int 20 grants a bonus slot at every castable level — it should have been 5/4/2. You've been one 3rd-level extract short since you hit 7. See the how-it-works panel below.
- Inspiration (Investigator 1) — see Page 1.
- Trapfinding (Investigator 1) — +4 (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 +3 (Investigator 3, +1 per 3 levels) — +3 Reflex saves and +3 dodge AC against traps; next bump at Lv 12.
- 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.
- Investigator Talent: Amazing Inspiration (Investigator 9) — your inspiration die becomes a d8 instead of a d6, on every check and every save you spend it on. Compounding value with no gear at all.
- Investigator Talent: Studied Defense (Investigator 7) — When you use Studied Combat you may instead take an insight bonus to AC = ½ level (+4) against the studied target, in place of the +4 to hit & damage. Turns a study into AC 28 vs your chosen foe when you need defense over offense.
- Studied Combat / Studied Strike (Investigator 4) — Studied Combat is +4 at Lv 8; Studied Strike steps to 3d6 (1d6 at 4th, +1d6 every 2 levels — 4/6/8/10/12/14). 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), CL 8 → 4 missiles; 5 missiles at Lv 9. 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, plus nine from Linguistics: Undercommon (the illithids' tongue), Aklo (aberrations, the old things under the earth), Deep Speech (beholders, mind flayers), Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Hallit, Osiriani, Sylvan. (Common + Infernal racial; four Int-bonus tongues from the tiefling list; Celestial + the nine above from 9 Linguistics ranks. A guess — swap any that don't fit the campaign.)
What extracts are: not spells — alchemical formulae he brews each morning into vials. Drinking one is a standard action and casts that spell on himself only (no verbal/somatic components, can't be counterspelled). Think free single-use potions he makes daily.
Capacity (Lv 9): 6× 1st · 5× 2nd · 4× 3rd per day (base 5/4/3 + Int bonus slot at each level), re-chosen each morning from the formula book. Three 3rd-level slots is the jump — Haste, Displacement and Heroism can all run in the same day now.
Why it's been dormant: every extract is a proactive self-buff or utility he must choose to drink — nothing fires automatically. Used well it's a whole second layer of action economy he hasn't been tapping.
When to drink what: Shield (+4 AC, open a fight) · True Strike (+20 — guarantee a Studied Strike lands) · See Invisibility / Heightened Awareness (spot hidden foes / +skill) · Cure Light Wounds · Lesser Restoration · False Life (self-heal, no wand) · Invisibility / Expeditious Retreat (reposition, flank, escape) · Comprehend Languages (read anything — the archivist's staple) · Barkskin (+3 natural armor, 80 min — brew it every morning, it replaces the amulet's +1 for a net +2 AC all day).
Identify potions: hold one for 1 round, roll Craft (alchemy)/Int as detect magic.
Vs an incorporeal foe (the ghost): See Invisibility to track it · True Strike to punch a Studied Strike through its deflection · and his Devil's Mark Magic Missile SLA (force, auto-hit, 2/day) deals full damage where his rapier is halved.
Reading magic — he has no Read Magic, and doesn't need it
Extracts have no 0-level slots, so he cannot prepare Read Magic. Instead he deciphers any scroll or glyph with a Spellcraft check (DC 20 + spell level) — he's at +15 with a free Inspiration die, so he reads all but the nastiest writings. He can only cast a scroll whose spell is on the alchemist/investigator extract list; anything else he fires with Use Magic Device (+16). He has no Detect Magic of his own, so to identify a magic item: potions he reads unaided via the Alchemy feature (above); for everything else he UMDs a wand/scroll of Detect Magic (+16), then rolls Spellcraft (DC 15 + caster level). UMD is the through-line — it's his stand-in for both Read Magic and Detect Magic.
Extracts prepared today — pick them in The Formulary on the Combat page, under Attacks & Melee (tap to tick; durations shown there). Slots: 6 × 1st · 5 × 2nd · 4 × 3rd.
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 done: +6 HP → 58; BAB → +5; 3rd-level extracts unlocked; feat → Leadership; talent → Studied Defense. Gold (7,500 crafted): Boots of Striding & Springing · keen upgrade · +1 mithral shirt · Sipping Jacket · 2 potions. · Lv 8 (applied): +6 HP (rolled 4 + 2 Con, no FCB) → 64; BAB → +6/+1 — a second attack, the headline change; Studied Combat/Defense → +4; Studied Strike → 3d6; Inspiration 9/day; extracts → 5/5/3; Ref/Will/Fort → +15/+9/+7; CMB +5, CMD 23. No feat and no talent at 8 — both land on 1/3/5/7/9, so the next is Lv 9. Trap Sense holds at +2 (next at 9). · Lv 8 ability point: Dex 18 → 19 — dead today (all six base scores were even), live at Lv 12 when it becomes 24 → +7. · Lv 8 gold (9,000 crafted = 18,000 market): Belt of Incredible Dex +2 → +4 (6,000) · Cloak of Resistance +2 → +3 (2,500) · Barkskin formula (100) · consumable restock (191) = 8,791. 234 gp pocket. Anti-charm shopping (asked 2026-08-03): there is no cheap item that grants outright immunity to charm — that starts at mind blank, an 8th-level spell. What is affordable and works: potions of protection from evil, 50 gp each — +2 resistance on saves, and they suppress mental control by evil creatures, which is exactly what an illithid is. Buy ten and keep them in the Sipping Jacket for swift-action drinking. Next tier: a Ring of Counterspells (4,000) loaded with charm monster eats the first one cast at you each day, and a Cloak of Resistance +4 (net 7,000) lifts every save at once. Longer term, a Ring of Mind Shielding (8,000) does not stop charm but does hide the Lawful Evil aura the brand fakes — it retires the Stain that got him exiled. And at Lv 10 his 4th-level extracts open up freedom of movement, which makes grapples — the illithid Extract kill — simply fail. · Next sink: Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier (2,500 crafted) — head slot is free, +1 luck AC and 1/day negate a crit or sneak attack as an immediate action. On 64 HP in melee that's the best don't-die item at this tier. · Lv 9 (applied): +10 HP (rolled 8 + 2 Con) → 73; Fort base 2→3 (+8); feat → Iron Will (Will +11); talent → Amazing Inspiration (inspiration die is a d8); Trap Sense +3; extracts → 6/5/4; Magic Missile → 5 missiles, 5d4+5; Leadership 14 (cohort may go Bard 8, followers 15). BAB, Studied Combat (+4) and Studied Strike (3d6) all hold at 9. · Lv 9 skills: Acrobatics 5→9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) 0→1, +1 each to Perception, Sense Motive, UMD, Disable Device, Stealth, Spellcraft. · Deferred: Improved Critical (rapier) — takes the Gentleman's Blade to 15–20. First pick at Lv 11. · The Illithid Deception (Lv 9, applied): every magic item he owned was an illithid manifestation — the enchantments were illusions the whole time and are gone permanently, along with the 234 gp of coin. Dex 23 → 19, Int 20 → 18; AC 24 → 19; Fort/Ref/Will +5 / +10 / +8; speed 40 → 30; Inspiration 9 → 8; Leadership 14 → 13. The Gentleman's Blade survived — shaped like a pen, so they never took it — and it is now the only enchanted object he owns. Losses that didn't happen: extract slots hold at 6/5/4 (Int 18 grants the same bonus slots Int 20 did), Studied Combat, Studied Strike and Trapfinding are all (Ex) and were never gear, and the Magic Missile SLA is his corruption — 5 missiles, untouched.
Gear & Equipment Level 9 · ~25,000 gp of enchantment written off · what remains is worth roughly 1,600 gp
⚠ The enchantments were never real, and they are not coming back. Every magical property on this page was an illithid manifestation — an illusion he has been wearing and trusting. The physical objects are his and remain: the mithral chain shirt still gives +4 armour, max Dex +6, ACP 0, because mithral is a material and not a spell; the rapier is still masterwork; the alchemical kit, thieves' tools and formula book all work, so every extract is live. What is gone is ~25,000 gp of enhancement — belt, headband, ring, amulet, cloak, boots, haversack, jacket, keen, the scrolls, the potions, the wand — and the 234 gp of coin they took. The Gentleman's Blade is the only genuinely enchanted thing he owns. They missed it because it is shaped like a pen, and that single oversight is the reason he is still dangerous. Page 1 now shows his real numbers; there is no second set.
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 9/day · grants HD ranks in one skill (Knowledge nature, now 8 — matches his own 8 ranks, so it adds nothing until he stops investing there) |
| +1 mithral chain shirt | 1 | 1,050 gp | 12.5 lb | +5 armor (+4 mithral +1 enh) · max Dex +6 · ACP 0 · counts as light |
| Rapier +1 keen | 1 | 8,320 gp | 2 lb | 1d6 · 15–20/×2 · keen doubles threat range · finesse · Dex to hit & dmg · bypasses DR/magic. Now second-string: the Gentleman's Blade beats it whenever the Knowledge ID lands — but bane needs that check to succeed, and 15–20 is a real 30% threat range against anything you can't identify. Keep it as the answer to unidentifiable foes (liquidates for ~4,160 if you'd rather have the Jingasa now). |
| The Gentleman's Blade +2 | 1 | story | 2 lb | +2 mithral rapier disguised as a pen · 1d6 · 18–20/×2 · finesse · +2 to Knowledge checks to identify monsters; beat the DC and it becomes bane vs that creature (acts as +4: +2 hit, +2 dmg, +2d6). Earned by answering the riddle — "knowledge is power." |
| Belt of Incredible Dexterity +4 | 1 | 8,000 gp | 1 lb | Lv-8 upgrade (+2 → +4, 6,000). Dex 19→23 (+6): +1 hit, +1 dmg (Fencing Grace), +1 AC, +1 touch, +1 Ref, +1 init, +1 CMD, +1 Acrobatics/Stealth/SoH. +6 Dex is exactly the mithral shirt's max-Dex cap — nothing wasted. |
| 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 · do not upgrade — the Barkskin extract's +3 is the same bonus type and overwrites it |
| Cloak of Resistance +3 | 1 | 4,500 gp | 1 lb | Lv-8 upgrade (+2 → +3, 2,500). +3 to all saves · props up the weak Fort (+7) and the Will that decides whether Verrick stays a PC — corruption saves are DC 18 |
| 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 |
| Boots of Striding & Springing | 1 | 5,500 gp | 1 lb | +10 ft base land speed (→ 40 ft) · +5 competence on Acrobatics to jump · feet slot · sustained 40-ft move for a skirmisher |
| 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 |
| Lv 8: whole kit restocked to full (191 gp crafted) — fire, holy water, tanglefoot, blanch and salts all back to the counts above. | ||||
Magic & Potions
| Item | Qty | Cost | Wt | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sipping Jacket | 1 | 1,000 gp | 4 lb | holds 3 potions · draw & drink one as a swift action, 3/day · fixes the standard-action drink tax (crafted) |
| Potion of Spider Climb · Potion of Invisibility | 1 ea | 300 gp | — | loaded in the jacket for edge cases (climb / vanish) · 150 ea (crafted) |
| Scroll of Mirror Image | 8 | 600 gp | — | fire with UMD +15 · 1d4+1 decoy images · the squishy-melee lifesaver · 75 ea (crafted) |
| Formula book | 1 | — | 3 lb | starting extracts (free) |
| Barkskin formula | 1 | 100 gp | — | Lv-8 buy. 2nd-level extract, CL 8 → +3 natural armor for 80 min. Overwrites (doesn't stack with) the amulet's +1 → net +2 AC all day → AC 26. The cheapest AC on the page. |
| Potion of Haste sold (redundant — Haste is now a 3rd-level extract), +375 gp. 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 (market — no crafting feat): Cloak of Resistance +1 → +2 (3,000) · Handy Haversack (2,000) = 5,000 of the 5,500 this level; 500 gp banked toward a keen upgrade (deferred).
Lv-8 buys (crafting, ½ — 9,000 gp = 18,000 gp of market value): Belt of Incredible Dexterity +2 → +4 (6,000) · Cloak of Resistance +2 → +3 (2,500) · Barkskin formula (100) · field-kit restock (191) = 8,791. Leaves 209 + the 25 in pocket = 234 gp. Next sink: Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier (2,500 crafted) — the head slot is empty (the headband is its own slot), and 1/day negating a crit or a sneak attack as an immediate action is the best survivability buy at this tier.
⚠ Wiped out. The illithids took the 234 gp of coin, and the ~25,000 gp that was supposedly bound up in enchantment turned out to be an illusion. His entire material worth is the mithral shirt, a masterwork rapier, the alchemical kit — and a pen worth more than all of it.
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.
Notes
Isolde Vane
She was singing in the gallery the day the brimstone assassin lunged — the one witness who saw Verrick stumble, not strike. But when she opened her mouth to testify, the fiend's agents showed her where her mother and sister were being kept. So she said nothing, and hated herself for it, while a good man was branded and cast out. For years she played the courts and the caravans, listening for a way to pull her family loose from the pit's grip — and at last she did. Now she's found the exile again, carrying the one thing that can clear his name: the truth she watched happen. Where Liora believed on faith, Isolde knows. She fights the way she survived — from the back, lifting everyone around her with a song and a well-placed arrow.
AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+5 armor, +4 Dex, +1 natural) · Init +4 · Perception +10
hp 45 (7d8+7)
Fort +5 · Ref +11 · Will +7 (+4 vs sonic & language-dependent — Well-Versed) · save bases don't step until bard 8; the +1 is the new Cloak +2
Speed 30 ft
Ranged +1 composite longbow +11 (1d8+2/×3) within 30 ft · Rapid Shot +9/+9 · Precise Shot (fires into melee, no penalty)
Melee mwk dagger +5 (1d4−1/19–20)
Bardic Performance 20 rounds/day (standard to start, free to keep up; lingers 2 rds after she stops — Lingering Performance):
Inspire Courage +2 — allies in earshot get +2 morale to attack, weapon damage, and saves vs charm & fear · Inspire Competence +3 · Fascinate (DC 17) · Suggestion (DC 17) · Countersong · Distraction
Spells known (CL 7, concentration +11):
3rd (2/day) — HASTE — +1 attack, +1 AC, +1 Ref, +30 ft to the whole party · Dispel Magic
2nd (4/day) — Heroism · Glitterdust (DC 17, blinds & outlines invisible foes) · Mirror Image · Gallant Inspiration (immediate, +2d4 to an ally's failed roll)
1st (5/day) — Cure Light Wounds · Saving Finale · Grease (DC 16) · Timely Inspiration · Hideous Laughter (DC 16)
0 (at will) — Detect Magic · Read Magic · Prestidigitation · Light · Mage Hand · Message
Bard 7 known: 6 / 5 / 4 / 2. The new picks — Haste, Dispel Magic, Gallant Inspiration, Hideous Laughter — are suggestions; she's a GM-run NPC, so they're the GM's call.
Str 8 Dex 18 Con 12 Int 12 Wis 10 Cha 18
BAB +5 · CMB +4 · CMD 18
Feats Point-Blank Shot · Precise Shot · Rapid Shot · Lingering Performance · Deadly Aim (Lv-7 feat — suggestion; −2 to hit for +4 damage per arrow, +8/round with Rapid Shot)
Skills Perform (sing) +14 · Diplomacy +14 · Bluff +14 · Sense Motive +10 · Perception +10 · Spellcraft +11 · Stealth +10 · Knowledge (all, untrained via Bardic Knowledge +3)
SQ Bardic Knowledge +3 · Well-Versed · Versatile Performance (Sing → Bluff/Sense Motive) · Lore Master 1/day
Languages Common, Infernal, Celestial
Gear +1 mithral shirt · +1 composite longbow · mwk dagger · Cloak of Resistance +2 · Amulet of Natural Armor +1 · Efficient Quiver (60 arrows + 60 more in the long slots; draw as a free action) · Wand of Cure Light Wounds, 50 charges · 20 cold iron & 20 alchemical silver arrows · 2× potion of Cure Moderate Wounds · mwk lute · disguise kit (habit of her hidden years)
Gear value ≈ 14,200 gp at market — under a third of Verrick's, and below PC wealth-by-level for 7th (23,500). Nothing exotic: saves, one point of AC, a healing battery and an archer's quiver. The wand is the real addition — Cure Light Wounds is on her own spell list, so she uses it straight, no UMD roll, and it takes the party's healing off Verrick's extract slots entirely. Next buy if the GM wants to scale her: Headband of Alluring Charisma +2 (4,000) → Cha 20, Fascinate/Suggestion/Glitterdust to DC 18 and an extra 1st-level slot. GM's call — she's a GM-run NPC.
· Round 1: Haste (3rd, 7 rds). Whole party: +1 attack, +1 AC, +1 Reflex, +30 ft, and an extra attack on any full attack. Nothing else she owns comes close.
· Round 2: Heroism on Verrick (2nd, 70 min). +2 morale to every save — this is the one that answers Mind Blast, taking his Will from +8 to +10.
· Keep Inspire Courage +2 running throughout — but know that its +2 vs charm and fear is a morale bonus and so is Heroism's. They do not stack. With Heroism up, Inspire Courage is buying you +2 attack and +2 damage, not extra saves.
· Then hold — do not spend her turn. Saving Finale (1st, immediate action) lets a creature under her performance reroll a save it just failed. Against six Mind Blasts that is the single most valuable thing she does all fight. She has 5 first-level slots; keep at least two in hand. Gallant Inspiration (2nd, +2d4 to a failed roll) is the same idea for attacks and skills.
· Don't bother with Glitterdust here — mind flayers carry SR 25 and her CL is 7, so she'd need an 18+ just to land it.
· HASTE (new at Bard 7) — the biggest single swing on this page, and it costs nothing but the cohort level. Party-wide +1 attack, +1 AC, +1 Ref, +30 ft. On Verrick specifically it stacks with his own Haste extract's slot being freed for Displacement or Heroism instead.
· Inspire Courage +2 gives the whole party +2 to hit & damage and +2 on saves vs fear — the direct patch for his soft Will and the ghost-moan problem.
· Heroism stacks another +2 to attack/saves/skills on a key ally.
· Detect Magic & Read Magic at will retire his UMD-a-wand workaround for identifying items.
· Glitterdust blinds and outlines invisible/incorporeal foes — a hard counter to the ghosts he can't reliably hit.
· Archery is the steady ranged damage he lacks (his own answer is the 2/day Magic Missile).
Note: a bard does not cast Keen Edge — keen stays with the bane blade or a later Improved Critical.
Table reference, deliberately parked at the back — this is not Verrick's knowledge, it's yours. What Verrick actually knows about a creature is whatever his Knowledge check earns him at the table. Ask your GM before reading down.
Know Your Enemy — Mind Flayer
CR 8 Medium aberration · the standard converted statblock. Confirm with your GM — a 5e conversion runs different numbers (AC 15, ~71 hp, Mind Blast DC 15).
· 4 tentacles, +7 melee, 1d4+1, each with Improved Grab (free grapple, no AoO).
· Extract (Ex) — if it starts its turn with 4 tentacles attached to you, you die. No save. This is the whole threat.
· Mind Blast (Sp) — 60-ft cone, every 1d4 rounds, DC 17 Will or stunned 3d4 rounds. Stunned means the tentacles land free.
· At will: charm monster DC 17 · suggestion DC 16 · detect thoughts DC 15 · levitate · plane shift. Telepathy 100 ft — all six coordinate silently, with no line of sight.
| Their tentacle vs your AC 19 | hits on 12+ · 45% |
| Their tentacle vs your AC 27 (Barkskin + Shield) | natural 20 only · 5% |
| Mind Blast vs your Will +8 | you fail 40% |
| Mind Blast vs Will +10 (Heroism) + 2 Inspiration (d8) | you fail ~9% |
| G. Blade studied +16/+11 vs their AC 19 | 90% / 65% |
| Bane + studied +18/+13 vs their AC 19 | 95% / 75% |
| Alchemist's fire +10 vs their touch 12 | hits on a 2 |
| Your Magic Missile CL 9 vs SR 25 | 16+ · 25%. Don't rely on it. |
| Full attack + Studied Strike vs their 44 hp | ~33 then ~22 — one dead per round |
Read the table and the fight writes itself. Buffed to AC 27 their tentacles need a natural 20, which means the grapple-to-extract chain simply cannot start — and that was the only thing that could kill you outright. You hit them on a 3. You kill roughly one a round.
So the entire fight is your Will save, and Heroism plus two Inspiration takes that from 40% to about 9%.
Then close and stay closed. Mind Blast is a 60-ft cone and illithids are not immune to each other. Six of them packed around you cannot fire it without catching their own — being in the middle of them is safer than standing off, which is the opposite of what they want and the opposite of what they'll expect. Acrobatics +16 is how you get there and stay there.
