Feet That Can’t Be Beat

It’s time to make another NPC for our budding home-grown universe! This one originates in a DnD 5e module, but it’s just a whisper, and we want to put this new psychopath character front and center in our campaign.

Doesn’t everyone want a little “who done it” in their campaign? Like, find that bad guy and bring him to justice! That’s the story angle we’re going for here today.

Longtime readers know we’re playing the excellent free Acquisitions Incorporated 5e module on D&D Beyond. However, we’ve added a ton of home-grown content to keep our players guessing while keeping our 3D printers printing. Besides, we just love Omin Dran and Jim Darkmagic and want them in our gaming lives whenever possible.

So, in the module,  there’s a Life in Waterdeep section, and one of the bullets is as follows: “A killer is stalking the streets of the North Ward, murdering people in broad daylight. The victims’ feet are chopped off, as if by a powerful blow with a sharp blade. Then they’re decapitated. The heads are left behind, but the feet are taken!”

And then that’s it! Ummmm – that’s how they’re gonna leave us hanging here?!

It’s not until we get to the Fissure section of the module and the specific Stomp encounter that we reviewed previously. One of the DM tips in that encounter is to have a fresh set of feet morph into the chamber. Super cool (and we did that), but that event provides more questions than answers.

So, DM Ben decided it was time for another NPC and a few corresponding home-brewed encounters for our ongoing campaign. The premise is just too good here! We’ll focus on the main NPC first and craft up some of those events in future posts.

We’re going to go with a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde sort of approach here. To most, all they see is an insanely charming, well-to-do philanthropist who loves to mingle and be single. However, he’s got some inner demons and can’t help but strike down the innocent in the most bizarre manner.

DM Ben will drop subtle hints of the assassin with our existing NPCs to keep the players guessing. So, we have to introduce our newest NPC now but then hold off on creating a crime scene encounter for a bit so it doesn’t become apparent.

In our campaign, our players have just defeated the Night Hag in The High Forest and remarkably rescued all three captured kiddos (Shamus, Adrik, and Delilah). The girl wasn’t paired with an existing NPC, so we will have her as the niece of our new Mr. Rich and Charming character.

DM Ben loves the old mini-swap trick. You have your character and corresponding miniature, but then you have another version or two ready to switch out on the gameboard. This is most common with mimics, but you can’t do it with just about any character class or monster.

So, we will have a Mr. Rich and Charming version and then a Mr. Slice and Dice version. Hence, we pulled two miniatures from our collection: one Noble Man by Cast n Play and another Pirate Swordsman by Printable Scenery.

Let’s start with our Noble Man. Once again, we called upon painter Sunrise Sven to heed the call and give us a vibe of pomp and circumstance for our new miniature. Ask, and you shall receive as he delivered excellent model details with his long, fine coat and boots. This dude just bellows the pompous life.

When the players return to Waterdeep, Delilah’s parents have tragically passed away in a street wagon accident and are directed to head over to Lord Galobax DuGalle’s estate. As thanks, he will offer to fund one addition to the group’s new Bastion.

What the group doesn’t know is this same man (who likes to keep his enemies closer) is also the infamous Crosstown Cutter! This twisted slayer is slicing off his victim’s feet left and right (see what we did there), and his attacks are only becoming more brazen and frequent.

Sunrise Sven tackled this second paint job, too, and did an especially great job on his sword and cap. A hooded mini would have been cool here, but we loved this sculpt and wanted to get it in the game! The module points to the incredible blade used to detach the feet in a single blow, and the weapon here was just so on point!

Not too shabby, though, right? We’ve got a two-faced madman hiding in plain sight in Waterdeep – gotta love that.

• Colorful Name: Lord Galobax DuGalle
• Rumored Name: The Crosstown Cutter
• Character Race: Human
• NPC Type: Prominent businessman (importer/exporter) and philanthropist.
• Painted Miniature(s): Cast n Play & Printable Scenery
• Weapon of Choice: Ornate Long Sword (with Oil of Sharpness applied)

Now we just need to find a face card and a stat block for him (probably just using Viari’s to keep it simple). Then, it’s game on!

Until next time!