Murlocke
Murlocke is a minor, but extremely-powerful NPC in the setting of Kern. He is a demented, frenetic, notorious tramp wandering the streets of Valysir who constantly feuds with Magicorp via his magical evocation powers. Despite his staggeringly low intelligence and self-awareness, he is much more powerful than he seems as both a 20th-level sorcerer and Kern’s current wielder of the Eye and Hand of Vecna.
Murlocke has a remarkably large appetite for both food and chaos for a tiny halfling of his size. Though he does have a cat pile in the city’s innards with items he has collected, he is a true drifter who considers the streets of Valysir to be his real home.
Murlocke
INT 6 (-2) WIS 11 (+0) CHA 30 (+10)
Legendary Resistance (3/day). If Murlocke fails a saving throw or ability check, he can choose to succeed instead.
Magic Weapons. Murlocke’s weapon attacks are counted as magical.
Halfling Luck. When Murlocke rolls a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, he can reroll the die.
Eye and Hand of Vecna. Murlocke is attuned to both artifacts. The Eye and Hand grant the following properties:
- All melee attacks made either with the hand or any weapon deal an additional 2d8 cold damage on a hit.
- Murlocke may receive premonitions of danger and, unless incapacitated, cannot be surprised.
- If Murlocke starts his turn with at least 1 hit point, he regains 25 hit points.
- Once per in-game month, Murlocke can use an action to cast the Wish spell.
Hustle. Whenever Murlocke is below 50% hit points, he can take an additional action on each of his turns for as long as he remains below 50% hit points. If he is knocked to 0 hit points after taking an additional action, he receives one additional death failure.
Flick of the Wrist. Murlocke can cast any of his known spells of 3rd level or lower that have a casting time of 1 action as a bonus action.
Psychopath. Murlocke gains expertise in the Deception skill. Additionally, once per long rest, he can choose to replace the number rolled on any Deception check with a 15, as though he had cast the Glibness spell. No matter he says on this check, any magic that determines whether or not he is telling the truth indicates that he is being truthful.
Recovery. Once per long rest, Murlocke can use a bonus action to recover five spell slots of any levels he chooses. He can only recover all five spell slots back at once and not sequentially.
Innate Spellcasting. Murlocke’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 28, +18 to hit with spell attacks). Murlocke is a Lunar Sorcerer and gains different perks depending on which Lunar Embodiment he assumes: Full Moon, New Moon, or Crescent Moon. Murlocke can innately cast the following Sorcerer spells, requiring no material components:
Metamagic. Murlocke can choose any one of the following metamagic options while using any of the above spells. All of the spells below this paragraph are not applicable for metamagic.
- Distant Spell. When Murlocke casts a spell that has a range of 5 feet or greater, he can spend 1 sorcery point to double the range of the spell.
- Empowered Spell. When Murlocke rolls damage for a spell, he can spend 1 sorcery point to reroll a number of the damage dice up to his Charisma modifier (minimum of one). You must use the new rolls.
- Heightened Spell. When Murlocke casts a spell that forces a creature to make a saving throw to resist its effects, he can spend 3 sorcery points to give one target of the spell disadvantage on its first saving throw made against the spell.
- Subtle Spell. When Murlocke casts a spell, he can spend 1 sorcery point to cast it without any somatic or verbal components.
- Transmuted Spell. When Murlocke casts a spell that deals a type of damage from the list, he can spend 1 sorcery point to change that damage type to one of the other listed types: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, Thunder.
Additional Spells. Murlocke can use an action to cast any of the following spells, granted to him by his Staff of the Magi and Eye and Hand of Vecna, respectively:
Staff of the Magi. Melee Weapon Attack: +22 to hit, one target. Hit: 16 (1d10+10) bludgeoning damage, plus 10 (2d8) Cold damage.
Hand of Vecna. If a creature has a skeleton, Murlocke can attempt to turn its bones to jelly with a touch of the Hand of Vecna. An action can be used to make a melee attack against a creature he can reach, with a +9 to hit. On a hit, the target must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or drop to 0 hit points.Change Lunar Embodiment. Murlocke switches to a different Lunar Embodiment.
Jump. Murlocke leaps to an unoccupied space he can see within 120 feet of him.
Spell. Murlocke casts any known spell of 3rd level or lower that has a casting time of 1 action.Murlocke can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Murlocke regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.
Jump. Murlocke jumps to an unoccupied space he can see within 120 feet of him.
Cantrip. Murlocke casts a single cantrip that has a casting time of 1 action.
Spell. (Costs 2 Actions). Murlocke casts a single spell with a casting time of 1 action.