Tombstrider Ningel (Archaeologist)

I struck on the idea of creating NPCs for my blog mostly as a means to let these personalities stretch their legs a little and perhaps entertain a few of you.As I release NPCs, I'll be following a general format for each one. First, there is a general description, including a portrait and stat blocks. Following that is a set of roleplaying hints, ideas for involving the NPC as a recurring character, and then some ideas for building one-shot adventures, story arcs, and side quests using the NPC. In some posts, there might be some additional information related to the NPC. This will usually be additional reference material that I've collected from previous versions of Dungeons and Dragons. For example, the NPC I've created for this blog is an arcane gnome, and so I've included some information about arcane gnomes after the NPC description.

 Also, as promised, I'm including a new gadget (following the rules in my very own Epic Gnomish Invention DMsGuild supplement). These gadgets will generally be somewhat semantically related to the NPC but maybe not.

 So that's what this post will be about. Without further adieu then, I give you Tombstrider Ningel.


Tombstrider Ningel - Archaeologist

(TOMB-stride-er NIN-gell)

"That belongs in a museum."


Tombstrider (LN) is a rugged, 75-year-old, female arcane gnome willing to battle any foe and brave any trap for the chance to uncover an ancient artifact. She is an active member of the Public Society for the Collection of Old Stuff and Ancient Secrets (a scattered confederacy of libraries, universities, guilds, and other centers of learning). She relies on their financial aid to retrieve, study, and lecture about ancient treasures. While she enjoys these activities, her heart longs for the thrill of new discoveries. She lives in the basement of a library in the city center where she is essentially left to herself. That arrangement has only come under scrutiny twice since taking up residence there; both occasions were because her work followed her home intent on death and destruction.

 Tombstrider always travels with Inkspot, an eight-legged construct that resembles and performs the functions of a mobile writing desk. He (because Tombstrider thinks of the construct as a he) takes dictation and produces sketches on command. The quality for both is rather good. He can also double as a mount in a pinch. His wall-climbing abilities are not only practical but have proven a life-saver on more than one occasion.





Using Tombstrider

Ideal: The archaeological record belongs to everyone.
Bond: It’s my duty to preserve the material past for everyone to enjoy.
Flaw: When I’m not exploring dungeons or ruins, I get jittery and impatient.

 Play Tombstrider as a fearless adventurer willing to take huge risks to get what you want. While your style of exploration might be a bit barbaric and heavy handed, leaving behind a trail of destruction, you treat the object of your interest (the artifact you hunt, the tomb you explore, and so forth) with delicate attention. Your currency of choice is knowledge not gold, jewels, or other material wealth. While you don’t expect others to share your love of knowledge, you do expect and enforce a respect for it. You love Inkspot as one might love a loyal pet, the construct has been with your family for several generations and you feel a responsibility to keep him safe. He has helped you out of more than one tight spot as well.

Recurring Appearances

The party is most likely to bump into you while exploring a tomb, dungeon, or other ancient ruin of any historical interest. Above all else, you seek to preserve artifacts for the greater good, so your “allegiance” to the party can flip-flop depending on whether they are hindering you in that goal. More likes indicate a friendlier disposition. Even when the party is working against your interests, you treat it more as a game or competition. More dislikes indicate a more adverserarily disposition. Even if the party is not actively attempting to interfere with you, you will work against them. You might even decide that they are a danger to all of history at which point they must be dealt with in a more permanent manner.

 Strongly Like: artifact preservation, sharing artifacts with “the public”
Like: respect for archaeological record, straight talk, interest in history
Dislike: disrespect for archaeological record, “delicate society,” disinterest in learning
Strongly Dislike: destruction of artifacts, hoarding of artifacts for personal collections

One Off

You hire the party to protect an artifact from one of the following: a maniacal warlock who needs it for an evil ritual, a crafty thief who plans to sell it to the highest bidder, a greedy lord who wants to add it to his/her collection, a huge creature that regards the artifact as a tasty snack.

Story Arc

You hire the party to recover a set of artifacts. The artifacts are one of the following: remains of an evil creature a cult wants to revive, components to an ancient weapon a warlord wants to re-assemble, parts of a key that a destructive entity needs to escape its prison, pieces of a puzzle that lead to a magnificent treasure.

Side Quest

While adventuring, one of the following happens: the party finds you a prisoner and you hire them to rescue you, you are after an artifact in the same dungeon the party is exploring, the party finds Inkspot lingering near a recently collapsed tomb where you have been trapped, you are attempting to return an artifact to its proper resting place and need the party’s help. 

Arcane Gnomes

The arcane gnome subrace first appeared in Dragon Magazine issue 291 (January 2002). They are characterized as having a greater affinity for magic than other gnomes, preferring careers as wizards over other classes. They are smart but impatient, cutting corners to get something done quickly rather than getting it done perfectly. This, of course, can lead to mistakes and mishaps but their general disregard for safety has led many arcane gnome researchers to critical breakthroughs in the arcane arts. Arcane gnomes are also the least social of all gnome subraces, preferring a solitary life of research and intellectual stimulation in large cities (where they can remain fairly anonymous) over the mindless country frolicking of their tight-nit cousins. If you want to play an arcane gnome, the following are my thoughts on additional traits for this subrace.

 Ability score increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.

 Arcana Expert. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Arcana) check, you are considered proficient in the Arcana skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

 Cantrip: You know one cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.

Gadget: Miner’s Minion

Is a stone wall standing between you and fabulous fortunes? Is that mountain simply too darn daunting to consider climbing? Fear not! The Miner's Minion will dig right through your troubles in no time. Well, maybe not no time...but regardless of how long it takes, The Miner's Minion will get it done.

 This maniacally industrious collection of digging, excavation, and tunneling tools can grind through solid rock like a steam-fed, gear-powered umber hulk. In the space of 10 minutes, it can carve a 5ft by 5ft circular tunnel. As it moves from one five-foot section of tunnel to the next, the minion constructs a frame to help shore up the tunnel behind it. The gadget can dig and construct the supports without much oversight, but an operator must be present to push it forward (the machine doesn’t move on its own). Moreover, since the gadget has no carry capacity, it must be fed the supplies to build the supports. Given the amount of dust and smoke generated by the Minion, it’s usually a good idea to have some sort of spell or gadget to clear the air or help the operator breathe.

 The following is the stat block for this gadget, using the rules in my Epic Gnomish Inventing supplement available on the DM's Guild (link below).








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