On the floor just outside his cell door there sat an oil lamp and
Mal Addik a key ring. Mal knelt down to take them, but when he looked up
Medium Humanoid (Human), Lawful Evil
Class Ranger (lvl 1) Armor Class 16 (Scale)
Background Criminal (18 w/shield)
Occupation Sellsword Hit Points 11 (1d10+1)
Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
16 (+3) 15 (+2) 13 (+1) 11 (+0) 14 (+2) 9 (–1)
Saving Throws Strength +5, Dexterity +4
Skills Athletics +5, Deception +1, Perception +4, Stealth +4,
Survival +4, Playing Cards, Thieves’ Tools
Senses Passive Perception 14
Languages Common, Elven
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Criminal Contact. Mal has a contact in the criminal
network, and can send and receive messages to them
through various means, even over great distances.
Favored Enemy (Humans, Elves). Mal has advantage
on survival checks made when tracking his favored
enemies, as well as advantage on Intelligence
checks to recall information about them.
Natural Explorer (Grasslands). Mal may
double his proficiency bonus when making
Intelligence or Wisdom checks about his
favored terrain, as well as other benefits
listed on the following pages.
Actions
Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack
(Versatile): +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature.
Hit: 8 / 9 (1d8 / 1d10 + 3) slashing damage.
Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack +4 to
hit, range 80/320, one creature. Hit 6 (1d6
+2) piercing damage.
Overview
Once a hunter and trapper selling furs and game,
Mal began his criminal career by accident—he
was falsely accused of murder shortly after entering
a foreign city. While awaiting his turn at the gallows,
he shared a jail cell with two members of a local
thieves guild. Although they spoke the common
tongue to him, they spoke to one another in a strange
language. The night before they were to be executed,
Mal was suddenly roused from sleep. His cell mates were
conspiring. When they noticed he was awake they motioned
for him to stay silent. They spoke in whispers, “How much do you
want to live?”
Mal became suddenly frightened, thinking these thieves meant
to slit his throat. He was, however, mistaken. They explained that
their guild brothers would be unlocking their cell shortly, and, if he
so desired, he could go free as well. He was skeptical but desperate.
Sure enough, minutes later, the light from a guard’s oil lamp came
through the small barred window in the cell door. A hushed voice
echoed in the chamber just outside and one of the thieves in Mal’s
cell answered. The key in the lock chattered. It was now or never
and Mal’s cell mates didn’t waste time.
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again, the thieves were gone. He was on his own.
He crept slowly, but not very quietly, through the network of
hallways and passages for several tense minutes, trying to recall
the exact route that he was brought days earlier. It was hard to
remember as he had been badly beaten by the city guard during his
arrest, then again as he was brought to the prison and questioned.
He thought about slitting the throats of every guard he might meet
but, surprisingly, there were none on patrol. The thieves and their
guild mates’ work, he thought.
Suddenly he rounded a corner, and there was the flickering of fire
light. He crept closer as quietly as he could, discovering one of
many guard rooms. In it were several guards lying in bunks, or
sitting around a fire in the middle of the room, but there was no
sound besides the crackling of the dwindling fire. Mal approached
cautiously to find that all of the guards had been slain with a
single slice to the throat.
He quickly ransacked the room, taking any coin he could
lay his hands on, along with arms and armor. He left the oil
lamp but kept the keys, exiting the large door to the north.
Finding himself in the moonlight of the early morning,
he took a deep breath of free air. Having been spat on
by the world for attempting an honest living, Mal
turned his back on his old life and vowed to bring
down the system of “justice” which
allowed him to be jailed.
Personality Traits
“Keep your head, or lose it.” Mal is always calm
no matter what the situation. He never raises his
voice or lets his emotions control him.
Ideals
“Can’t buy drinks with reputation.”
Mal will do whatever it takes to become wealthy, even
if that means sacrificing his honor.
Bonds
“My life’s worth more than a pat on the back.”He owes his
life to the guild responsible for his release from prison, but
has no way of ever paying them back.
Flaws
“You know I’m good for it.” Mal spends all his money on
luxuries and ale and never has enough to pay off his debt.
Roleplaying Mal
Mal only speaks when he has something worth saying, and
is easily annoyed by folk who talk too much.
In combat, Mal takes any opportunity that is presented to him.
“Try not to draw too much attention to yourself.”
Weapons, Armor & Items
Longsword, Shield, Shortbow, 20 Arrows, Scale Mail, Hidden
Wrist Blade, 18sp, 22cp
 Mal Addik (level 4)
Medium Humanoid (Human), Lawful Evil
Class Ranger (lvl 4) Armor Class 16 (Scale)
Background Criminal (18 w/shield)
Occupation Sellsword Hit Points 32 (4d10+4)
Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
18 (+4) 15 (+2) 13 (+1) 11 (+0) 14 (+2) 9 (–1)
Saving Throws Strength +6, Dexterity +4
Skills Athletics +6, Deception +1, Perception +4, Stealth +4,
Survival +4, Playing Cards, Thieves’ Tools
Senses Passive Perception 14
Languages Common, Elven
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Criminal Contact. Mal has a contact in the criminal network,
and can send and receive messages to them through various
means, even over great distances.
Favored Enemy (Humans, Elves). Mal has advantage on
survival checks made when tracking his favored enemies, as well
as advantage on Intelligence checks to recall information
about them.
Natural Explorer (Grasslands). Mal is particularly adept at
traversing his favored terrain and may double his proficiency
bonus when making Intelligence or Wisdom checks about
such areas. In favored terrain, difficult terrain doesn’t slow his
group’s travel, his group can’t get lost except by magical means,
he can engage in another activity such as foraging or tracking
and remain alert to danger, he can move stealthily at a normal
pace if traveling alone, finds twice as much food as normal while
foraging, and when tracking other creatures, he learns their
exact number, sizes, and how long ago they passed through
the area.
Fighting Style (Dueling). When using a melee weapon in one
hand and no other weapons, Mal deals +2 damage with it.
Spellcasting. Mal uses Wisdom as his spellcasting ability (Spell
Save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). He may cast the
following spells:
1st level, 3/day: Alarm, Cure Wounds, Hunter’s Mark
Primeval Awareness. Mal may use his action and expend
one ranger spell slot to focus on the region around him. For 1
minute per level of the spell expended he can sense whether
there are any aberrations, celestials, dragons, elementals, fey,
fiends or undead within a mile of his current location. (6 miles if
in favored terrain.)
Colossus Slayer. Once per turn, when Mal deals damage to a
creature that is below its hit point maximum, he can deal an
additional 1d8 damage.
Actions
Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack (Versatile): +6 to hit, reach 5 ft.,
one creature. Hit: 11 / 12 (1d8 / 1d10 + 6) slashing damage.
Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack +4 to hit, range 80/320, one
creature. Hit 6 (1d6 +2) piercing damage.
Weapons, Armor & Items
Longsword, Shield, Shortbow, 20 Arrows, Scale Mail, Hidden
Wrist Blade, 3gp, 18sp, 22cp
Shortcut
Mal eyed the steep, slick, clay walls on either side of the road and
the thick pine forest beyond, half-squinting through the driving
rain. The perfect spot for an ambush.
“Slow going,” shouted the leader of the militia group, “I had hoped
to be there by now.”
The self-important captain, his quilted doublet now sodden and
his shining medals now caked in mud from a fall, had been loudly
complaining to his men since they had left town. They were taking
too long. The road was too rough. The rain.
“I didn’t build the road,” Mal said sharply, “nor do I control the
weather of the world. You hired me to guide you but, if you feel
you know better, by all means lead on.”
“If memory serves, it was you who approached us. I was happy to
take my men down the West Road-“
“The West Road would take you twice as long. Rain doesn’t care
what road you take.”
The puffed-up little popinjay was getting unbearable. Mal found
himself looking up the banks again. It really is the perfect spot.
“Well, how much longer?”
Was it his imagination, or did Mal hear a twig crack above?
“Not far at all now.” Important to stay calm, don’t cause a panic.
A piercing whistle cut through the rain, and a dozen figures
appeared on the banks surrounding them, arrows nocked and
bows drawn.
The captain sputtered, looking imploringly at Mal for any kind
of guidance.
“This is where our journey ends, captain,” said Mal, taking a few
steps away from the stunned militia and signaling to his men to
loose, “should’ve taken the West Road.”
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