Kobold Press’ Rogue’s Gallery

Kobold Press is releasing a series of NPC blog posts, written by Kelly. Each post details the NPC and includes stats for levels 1, 4, 7 and 9.

Check them out now.

5e NPC – Burkhart Zykleres

Dire Rugrat Publishing has released 5e NPCs: Nobles & Ne’er Do Wells.  With 20 pages of unique stat blocks, write-ups, and colour art, there’s plenty of NPC goodness. While all of the characters in the book are a noble and/or ne’er do well of some sort, there is plenty of variety; challenges range from 1/4 to 9.

One such NPC is Burkhart  Zykleres, an abusive aristocrat who takes credit for other people’s good ideas and flees a situation he can’t win.

More on House Zykleres can be found in Houses and Heraldry, available on DriveThruRPG.

Burkhart Zykleres

Abusive Aristocrat

You know that was my idea.”

Burkhart is the youngest son of Count Fredrick Zykleres, a lord known for his unpleasant attitude. Along with his father’s sour disposition, Burkhart shares the family’s striking blond hair and blue eyes. Charming as some found young Burkhart, his boyish good looks have long faded. Burkhart has no desire to take over the house as it would require far more time and work than he is prepared to spend. Instead, he is happy to reside in the family home, enjoying the benefits of lordship without any of the responsibility.

Burkhart is a weaselly man who eagerly avoids the consequences of his actions by blaming them on someone else. If faced with a situation he cannot talk his way out of, Burkhart runs away by whatever means necessary. He is not above disguising himself as a servant, or even killing them to take their place, if it means living another day.

Should his older brother Ambrosius have one of his occasionally insightful ideas, Burkhart deftly takes credit for it. He has become such a master at this tactic, Ambrosius often believes the idea was his brother’s. Burkhart employs the same strategy with suggestions from some of his father’s advisors, which has become increasingly frustrating for them. He has a canny knack for twisting only the successful ideas to seem like his own, and any poor ideas always appear to belong to someone else.

Burkhart discovered a young age how easy it was to coerce people to do work on his behalf, and he has long enjoyed the power he holds over servants and staff. Burkhart shows only some respect to his father, brother and their head of staff, which is more than he shows to anyone else.

His mother, Amelia Zykleres, formerly of house Stylark was a gentle woman, and a trusting one. She adored her children, and always took them at their word. Young Burkart quickly realized he could use this to his advantage, and he blamed any of his misdeeds and mishaps on staff that displeased him. His charming plump face, large blue eyes and halo of blond hair were convincing. Pieces of shattered vases were disposed of, and their disappearance was blamed on a sticky-fingered page. A filthy room was the result of a lazy maid. A kennel master who lacked discipline with the dogs was responsible for the mess in the garden. Over and over again staff were forced to take responsibility for young Burkhart’s poor behaviour. No one dared to speak up for fear they would be next. 

Amelia Zykleres died when Burkhart was a boy, and he spent much of his youth with a parade of assorted governesses. If one displeased him, he bullied them into resigning or otherwise staged a scenario that resulted in their employment being terminated. While some noble parents may have realized something was amiss, Count Fredrick Zykleres gave little thought to his children.

The only member of the house who realized what the growing boy was up to was Ximena Diguera, the housekeeper and head of staff. Ximena had long been involved with Fredrick, and had even more power over the house than a housekeeper usually would. Disinterested in anything would upset their way of life, the two developed a mutual understanding to stay out of each other’s business.

Olanna, Burkart’s new step-mother, is not much older than he is, and his only interest in her is trying to bed her. Ximena, for her part, is encouraging his attempts.


Burkhart's stat block


Nel, Temptress of the Tarn

“Come, traveller. You must be thirsty.”

This soft-faced fey creature watches over a large, clean lake. She smiles innocently at those who approach her domain. Nel has no desire to directly harm mortals. She instead encourages them to drink and bathe in the lake, where they might be transported to her mistress in the Green Realm.

fey creature in a pond

Nel once spent her days serving her mistress, an aspiring lesser fey lady. She was well regarded and respected among her kind, and one of her mistress’ favorites. Nel spent much of her time being doted on by lesser fey than herself.

Several decades ago, Nel’s rival Shara intentionally committed a grievous act against their mistress, framing Nel. The once favorite servitor could find no evidence to prove her innocence, and Nel knew better than to argue with her superior. She threw herself upon her mistress’ mercy and asked for a chance to prove her devotion. Shara had anticipated Nel’s destruction, but instead the mistress sent her favorite pet from her sight, banishing her to a lake in the mortal realm.

Before her banishment Nel had been on good terms with many creatures in the Green Realm. Her pleasant disposition made her easy to get along with, and she had used her position with her mistress to assist more than a few petitioners. During her time in prison in the Material Plane, Nel has been able to get word back to the Green Realm. She has called in a few favors and a one-way portal to her mistress’ court now exists at the bottom of the lake.

Nel spends her time on the mortal plane luring travellers who will appease her mistress into the lake, and pushing them through the portal. She is eager to return to her mistress and seek revenge against Shara, but dares not pass through the portal herself until she has sent 263 worthy mortals through first.

Nel does not risk endangering travel to the area by preying upon all who visit, and has let several satisfactory offerings go when the risk of exposure was too great. Nel uses whatever means necessary to draw her prey beneath the surface.

While Nel is homesick for a great many things, she misses the music more than anything else. Even when travelling alone, mortals who are able to entertain Nel for a time are not sacrificed to her mistress.

Pick up Nel (plus her sturgeon and snakeshead) and more NPCs like her, in 5e NPCs: Woodfolk and Wanderers, available now on DTRPG.

Lord Alvin Cyris

old fashioned book with a house shield of a black elk on a green and white background

We are pleased to release Houses and Heraldry.

This book sketches out ten noble houses for your campaign. Each house is laid out on one page; the top half contains the house name, its motto, a representation of their heraldic device as it would appear on a shield, and an information block detailing important personages, numbers of troops, and vassal houses. The lower portion provides enough detail about the interesting characters of the house to get your imagination going, but leaves plenty of room for you to add your own details.

The younger son of Duke Cyris is getting ready to branch out on his own. The exclusive blog content below details his family, servants and vassal houses.

Pick up your copy today on DriveThruRPG.

House Cyris

Steady On, A Dragon’s Dawn


Lord of House: Lord Alvis Cyris

Spouse: Lady Julianna Cyris (formerly Houghton)

Children: Jarle (son), Raoul (son)

Household Knights, Retainers, Servants: Hal Wainwright (butler), Fiona Wainwright (head housekeeper)

Bannermen: 425 (300 infantry [50 immediately available]; 100 archers [10 immediately available]; 25 personal guard)

Vassal Houses: House Houghton


Lord Alvis Cyris is the younger son of Duke Azin Cyris. His title is technically a courtesy title, though he does hold a small parcel of land his father his given him in the family’s duchy. The younger Lord Cyris is quickly securing relationships with other noble houses, and solidifying ones with House Drekyn, the family his mother was born to. He has recently revealed his family crest, which is an amalgamation of his father’s banner with his mother’s.

Lord Alvis Cyris
Alvis is a canny young man who aspires to lead House Cyris upon his father’s death. With his wife Julianna’s support, Alvis is gaining favor and support from his family’s vassal houses, and nobles further afield. Alvis is an accomplished duellist, and has taught his wife how to defend herself. He has a tactical mind, and understands the politics of nobility well.

Lady Julianna Cyris
Lady Cyris was born into a family with strong ties to House Drekyn. When a marriage between her and a grandson of House Drekyn was suggested, her family eagerly accepted. Lady Cyris has been well taught in arts of manipulation and subterfuge, and is eager to see her family rise to great heights. She is working closely with her husband to manufacture a series of events that would see them inherit all of House Cyris.

Jarle Cyris
A short, stocky boy nearing ten years of age, Jarle is already being groomed as the future head of the house. He is often present at his father’s meetings, listening quietly. Afterward, his father quizzes him on what was discussed, ensuring his son pays attention to every detail. He understands how to use various weapons and trains with them each day. He is also very well educated, and is encouraged to spend at least an hour of each day reading books he borrows from his grandfather’s library.

Raoul Cyris
Slighter than his older brother, Raoul is a charming eight-year-old with a cheeky smile and large blue eyes. He is quickly becoming a capable swordsman. He despises his studies, which causes them to drag on longer than he or his tutor wish them to.

Hal and Fiona Wainwright
A serious faced couple in their younger years, Hal and Fiona work as the heads of staff for Lord and Lady Cyris. Hal is the son of Herbert Wainwright, House Drekyn’s dedicated and loyal butler. While he worked for some time at the Drekyn estate, Duchess Gunnilda Cyris requested he relocate from her old family home and become the butler for her youngest son. He was honoured to do so, and arrived with his wife. The two have no children, and have been unable to conceive any. They are loyal to Lord and Lady Cyris, but also to Duchess Gunnilda Cyris and House Drekyn.


Pick up your copy of Houses and Heraldry on DriveThruRPG.

Download a PDF copy of the above. 

Face at the Tavern: Yakub Bekril

With the release of Tangible Taverns: The Beached Mermaid comes a collection of new faces.

This shipwreck turned tavern is located just on the outskirts of a settlement. The tavern is open to the air, allowing the fresh sea breeze to blow away the stench of the salty sea dogs who frequent it. The company is seedy and there are no rooms to rent, but the food is good and few people ask any questions. 

The tavern itself has a handful of servers, Captain Ormont, and the cook named Tor. Tangible Taverns: The Beached Mermaid also includes a collection of colourful patrons ready to make an appearance while your PCs sip their ale.

Yacub Bekril

Yacub’s face is weathered and scared from countless ship battles and tavern brawls. His facial hair is neatly trimmed, and his brown hair is long, but well groomed. Like many pirates his clothes are loose and slightly tattered. He wears a patch over his left eye.

An optimist from a young age, Yacub typically has a cheerful disposition. He feels at home on the ocean and despises being away from the waves for any length of time. He has worked for countless captains on all manner of ships. While much of his life has been spent aboard pirate ships, scuttling other ships and making off with cargo, Yacub has also sailed with merchants, assisting them in seeing their cargo safely to port.

If not for Annette Cunninsgworth, Yacub might never need set foot on the shore, save to assist in restocking a ship. Whenever he finds himself in a spot of trouble, unsure of how to carry on, Yacub recalls the day he first laid eyes upon his bonnie lass.

Can your PCs discover Yacub’s dark secret?
Or will it be their undoing?

Pick up Tangible Taverns: The Beached Mermaid today.

flawed rose

Flawed Foes

Over the last year a bit we have been creating Flawed Foes. These NPCs may once have held great potential, alas, their flaws have created substantial hurdles.

5e NPCs: Flawed Foes cover

They are a fun, but flawed group of NPCs, and they have finally been collected into one of our 5e NPC collections.

You can find Flawed Foes on DriveThruRPG.

If you haven’t checked out the other offerings in this collection yet, what are you waiting for?

5e NPCs: Bullies and Brutes is a 35+ page book dedicated to colourful, unique, and competent NPCs that are (you guess it) bullies and brutes. You can check out Deloris, Human Business Mogul, here.

5e NPCs: Goblins! Goblins! Goblins! features 18 different goblins. There are over 35 pages of NPC content and while all of the characters in the book are a goblin of some sort, numerous racial variants, capabilities, motivations, and challenges (ranging from 1/2 to 12) mean your PCs will never look at goblins the same way again. You can meet Eakogs Clutternugget here.

flawed rose

Flawed Foe: Robert “Robbie” McGee


“It is important to engage in one’s pleasures, is it not?”

Robert McGee was born to an average couple in an average city. His home was small, but still fairly average for commoners; he had a reasonably warm bed and enough clothing and food to get by. His parents worked long, hard days at their import shop, which sold a variety of strongly scented herbs, overly perfumed soaps and oils, and other exotic items. Robbie spent much of his time helping out at the family shop sorting and refilling spices, the smell of which embedded itself in his clothing and made his nostrils burn.

Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

The family earned enough to get by, but it was no fortune. The McGee family ate a lot of grains flavoured with some of the herbs from the shop, as well as bread and what meat they could afford (which was often poorer cuts his mother marinated in herbs and liquid to mask the quality). Robbie and his parents worked well into the night each day and began again early the next morning. Hygiene was not a huge priority as finding time to visit the local bathhouse was difficult and costly. As a result, Robbie was teased mercilessly from a young age for his poor hygiene and strange odour. Children would chant “Stinky McGee” in his presence, and very few children ever played with the pungent adolescent.

The growing boy distanced himself those around him, assisting his parents or exploring the fields outside of town alone. Over the years Robbie learned how to turn his emotions off, deadening himself on the inside to the world around him. He passed more time than he would ever admit to his parents inspecting the carcasses of creatures he found, and even killing some wildlife, and once a stray dog, he happened upon. The cold distance with which he performed these acts is what would have troubled the McGee’s more than anything else, but the parents remained blissfully unaware of their son’s pastime.

When Robbie grew older he decided to leave town. Taking a supply of goods from the shop, the youngest McGee thought he might have some luck as a traveling merchant. He knew his parents would need him in the coming years, but Robbie wished to see life outside his hometown, and secretly also wondered if he might be able to move the business somewhere else. With his parents’ blessing, Robbie set out.

What Robbie came to find was that there was indeed a market for goods such as his family’s out on the road. In a very short time, Robbie sold the majority of what he had set off with, and, having noticed the eager faces of many potential patrons, had done so at a higher cost than his parents normally charged in the shop. The days were just as long, and time on the road perhaps less pleasant than in town, but Robbie enjoyed the solitary nature of it.

Pleased with his progress, his bags near empty of their goods, and his pockets laden with coin, Robbie found lodgings at a nearby inn and decided to treat himself. Rather than order the least expensive food items available, Robbie decided to savour his success with a strong glass of ale and a meat and cheese platter. The smoked meat was delicious in the way so many roasts of his youth had not been, but it was the cheese with its strong flavours and unusual texture that delighted Robbie.

After enjoying much of the tavern fare Robbie stepped outside to the back ally to relieve himself. Here he inadvertently found himself listening to the end of a negotiation between two parties. One, a well-dressed man with a hood pulled low, was bartering with the other, a poorly dressed half-orc with several knives at his belt. From what he could gather, the half-orc was trying to increase the rate of services he was offering, and the human was frustrated by this. At Robbie’s appearance the half-orc appraised him, scowled, and looked back to the human stating if he changed his mind, he knew where to find his services. The half-orc rounded the ally toward the main street and the human looked in Robbie’s direction. A brief conversation ensued where the human became frustrated with Robbie for interrupting his business deal. While not always the canniest of people when it comes to people’s emotions and motivations, Robbie quickly determined less than reputable dealings were transpiring in the ally. Robbie cared very little for anyone but his parents, but he was distantly curious, full of satisfaction from his job well done, and emboldened by the copious amounts of food and drink he celebrated with, and so somehow, he convinced the man he might be able to help. That evening Robbie walked away with the first job in his new career.

The execution was easy; he simply slipped into the house via a window, dispassionately murdered the woman, and left the scene. Robbie found his ability to feel so little for so many, to be so distant from everything around him, was a huge asset in this line of work. The fee was substantial, and the work even easier than travelling with a large volume of goods and speaking with people long enough to convince them to purchase said goods. Robbie wanted to return to his parents; he wanted to help them with their business. He also wanted to do this.

That night, after he returned to the inn, his blade wiped clean on some discarded clothing, Robbie felt ill. At first concerned he had been poisoned, and then perhaps cursed, and so the next morning Robbie made his way home. Travel was slow at first, but as the days passed and Robbie ate the rations procured some days prior, the pain began to subside.

Feeling intrigued with the possibilities of completing more jobs like the one he recently done, Robbie returned home with the funds he had received the goods he left with. His condition cleared up while he resumed living with his parents, dining on seasoned meat and vast quantities of rice and other grains. He told his parents of the success of travelling with the goods, and the three of them agreed that for as long as Robbie wished to, this would be a good business practice. Within a few days Robbie set off once again, travelling here and there and peddling his wares, but he also kept his ear out and made contact with a few less than savoury people in the various places he visited. Before long Robbie had built himself a reputation with the “right” people, and had begun a second business of sorts – a hired hitman.

All the while the traveling merchant found himself obsessed with cheese and other delicious milk products, seeking out more varietie s in each town he came across, and enjoying it with every meal he could. Along with his new-found love of cheese, Robbie discovered something else about himself: his body had trouble digesting the milk protein. The malodorous man, who was used to the foul looks of those around him, realized he hadn’t been poisoned that first night, not exactly at any rate: from what he could tell his new favorite food caused him minor gut pain, and the most flatulent of farts.

For some time now, Robbie has travelled from town to town, completing jobs for those need to simplify their lives or have messages sent and peddling his parent’s wares, all the while indulging in the fare that causes him (and those around him) such anguish.

NPC: Shades the Blade (Blade Slinging Mercenary Goblin)



Shades the Blade

Blade Slinging Mercenary Goblin



Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games








flawed rose

Flawed Foe: Nigel Ralston






Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games










Open Game License


So Many Goblins….


Moar Goblins






But I digress.




Eakogs Clutternugget



Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games







