NPC
Comments from the Finger:
The finale for Hero Club‘s fantastic noir arc, It Never Sleeps, it out! If you were waiting to get on the train when all the episodes were out, now’s your chance!
Hero Club is a fantastic D&D podcast that tackles shorter stories than most, but with much higher production values. This most recent season, a noir story following magician Hank and his rock golem friend Big Charlie, was absolutely killer.
Go listen now!
For those of you who, like me, just finished listening, here’s a statblock for the protagonist Hank Blackstone, to include in your campaign.
Hank Blackstone
Hank Blackstone, private eye and magician extraordinaire, is no stranger to mysteries. His cases concern the weird and arcane, and often conclude with him and his rock golem best pal, Big Charlie, hunting down some magical abomination and sending it back to hell. Though his weapons of choice, a revolver and a deck of razor-sharp playing cards, might seem ordinary in anyone else’s hands, Hank is a crack shot, and always has some tricks up his sleeve. He’s never found without a few useful trinkets from his magic shoppe, Dante’s Inferno, and a few spells, in case things get dire.
Hank Blackstone
Medium humanoid, neutral good
Armor Class 16 (studded leather)
Hit Points 91 (14d8 + 28)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 10 (+0) DEX 18 (+4) CON 14 (+2)
INT 16 (+3) WIS 10 (+0) CHA 13 (+1)
Saving Throws Dex +8, Int +7
Skills Acrobatics +12, Arcana +7, Deception +9, Investigation +11, Perception +8, Sleight of Hand +12, Stealth +12
Senses passive Perception 18
Languages Abyssal, Common, and Infernal
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)
Cunning Action. On each of his turns, Hank can use a bonus action to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
Evasion. If Hank is subjected to an effect that allows him to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, he instead takes no damage if he succeeds on the saving throw, and only half damage if he fails.
Investigator’s Insight. Hank has advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks.
Sneak Attack (1/Turn). Hank deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage when he hits a target with a weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5 feet of one of Hank’s allies that isn’t incapacitated and Hank doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.
Deck of Many Things (1/Day). Hank draws a card from the deck of many things.
Ring of Illusions. Hank can cast the spell minor illusion (save DC 15).
ACTIONS
Multiattack. Hank makes two attacks.
Revolver. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 40/120 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (3d6) piercing damage. The revolver must be reloaded as a bonus action after 6 shots.
Throwing Cards. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.
Bowie Knife. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) piercing damage.
Old Magicks (3/Day). Hank calls upon mysterious arcana to create one of the following effects:
Become Other. Hank transforms to look like and sound like—including his equipment and apparel—a creature within his reach. Likewise, the creature appears to be him. He gains none of this creature’s traits or features. He can revert this effect as a bonus action, reverting both himself and the target creature to their original appearances.
Logical Leap. Hank teleports up to 60 feet.
Rumor Dust. No creature that interacts with Hank remembers details about him, apart from fuzzy recollections and vague events.
Visions of Beyond. One creature Hank sees within 30 feet makes a Wisdom saving throw (save DC 15) or is blinded until the beginning of his next turn.
