TEXT: EN World EN5IDER | Over the Next Hill: Springs of Hverfell
  EN World EN5IDER | Over the Next Hill: Springs of Hverfell
  T
  he Allies And AdversAries 
  series provides GMs with 
  NPCs that can be quickly and 
  easily inserted into any adventure or 
  ongoing campaign. Each NPC receives 
  a detailed treatment of character traits, 
  ideals, bonds, and flaws, as well as 
  game statistics, physical description, 
  backstory, and tips on how this NPC 
  may be used in play.
   Below are four homeless, 
  impoverished children who are 
  just trying to survive through the 
  winter. These urchins live in a city 
  of Dickensian cruelty and kindness, 
  and can be inserted into any city in 
  the world of your campaign, or can 
  exist as residents of any number of 
  cities. It is the eve of Winter Solstice, 
  a joyous time for merrymaking and 
  togetherness. All of these urchins are 
  hoping or praying for a miracle to 
  happen—and the player characters 
  may be that miracle. 
  Allies & Adversaries
  Winter’s
  Urchins
   
  writing Kiel Chenier
   color art Ellis Goodson
   
  editing James J. Haeck
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  
  Over the Next Hill: Springs of Hverfell | EN World EN5IDER
  Over the Next Hill: Springs of Hverfell | EN World EN5IDER
  Hope and Scales
  A young woman in rags dashes from a darkened alley 
  and collapses on the cobblestones before you. Below her 
  ratty hood, you can clearly see the horns that mark her 
  as a tiefling. Cradled in her arms is a reptilian infant 
  swaddled in a patchwork blanket.
  Statistics
  Traits: I take what I can from the rich humans of this 
  city. They are evil, thoughtless, and cruel.
  Ideal: I want to live and survive long enough to ensure 
  Scales can get back to his true parents, no matter 
  what it costs me.
  Bond: I care about this baby dragonborn more than 
  myself, and will put his needs above my own.
  Flaw: My parents were killed by the prejudiced nobility 
  and rich of this land, and cannot trust them.
  Chaotic good Medium humanoid
  Str  12 (+1) 
  Dex 14 (+2) 
  Con 9 (+0) 
  Int 10 (+0) 
  Wis 12 (+1)  
  Cha 14 (+2)
  Notes: Hope is a tiefling commoner. As a tiefling she 
  has 60 feet of Darkvision and the Hellish Resistance 
  feature.
   
  Scales is a baby dragonborn commoner but is yet 
  unable to walk. He can use his Breath Weapon as an 
  action, dealing 1d4 fire damage on a failed save and 
  half damage on a successful one. 
  Possessions: Hope carries a burlap sack containing a 
  jug of water, a number of rags, and a day’s worth of 
  stale rations.
  Physical Description
  Hope is a tiefling woman who appears no older 
  than 13. Her dark hair is oily and disheveled, and 
  she has large, amber eyes. Her horns are cracked 
  and show signs of daily brawling. She is dressed 
  in a rags that are wet from snowfall. She shivers 
  from the cold only when she thinks no one is 
  looking. 
   Scales is a baby dragonborn with tarnished 
  golden scales. Swaddled in cloth, he wears the 
  remains of his eggshell as a sort of helmet. He 
  looks somewhat malformed and smaller than a 
  newly hatched dragonborn should be, but his big 
  wide eyes and cooing squawks are nonetheless 
  adorable.
  Background
  Hope is an orphan raised on the streets of the city, 
  living the frantic and desperate life of beggar and 
  occasional thief. She believes herself to be a good 
  person; her morals only as flexible as her desire to 
  stay clothed and fed. 
   Ten days ago, Hope stumbled upon a dying 
  human woman in the streets. The woman thrust a 
  large egg into her hands, telling her to keep it safe. 
  A day later, the egg hatched and Scales was thrust 
  into her life. Since then, the two of them have 
  been pursued by a group of seven human cultists 
  in dragon masks, demanding they give up the 
  child so they might sacrifice it on the eve of the 
  upcoming Winter Solstice. Hope has been running 
  and hiding across the city streets, trying to keep 
  the baby dragonborn safe.
  Roleplaying Hope and Scales
  Hope is somewhat prickly. She speaks with the 
  rough accent of a dock worker and is quick to 
  insult others if she feels they’re not following 
  what she’s saying or treating her with respect. 
  Scales is still a baby; he’s friendly and adorable, 
  but prone to finding danger.
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Over the Next Hill: Springs of Hverfell
  EN World EN5IDER | Over the Next Hill: Springs of Hverfell
  Ketch the Clever
  A young boy with a hoarse voice calls out to you from 
  the rooftop of a nearby building. “Oi! New in town? 
  Don’t be going that way. You’ll get stopped by the 
  ruddy taxmen ye will! Follow me, why don’tcha. I 
  know all the good routes!”
  Statistics
  Traits: Ketch is wise beyond his years in terms of his 
  skill, able to effortlessly perform the actions of an 
  adult thief or rogue.
  Ideal: Skill. Every problem in life is just a chance for me 
  to test my skills and prove myself.
  Bond: I owe Saint Patches everything. She’s taught me 
  so much and looked out for me when nobody else 
  would.
  Flaw: I can’t help but pick the pockets of others, even 
  if they’re helping me.
  Chaotic neutral Small humanoid
  Notes: Ketch the Clever is a human bandit. He has 
  advantage on all Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks 
  made to pick pockets, but disadvantage on all Con-
  stitution checks and saving throws due to his poor 
  health and small body.
  Possessions: Ketch carries a set of lockpicks up his 
  sleeves, as well as a dagger, a flask of liquor, and six 
  hidden pouches containing the stolen purses of city 
  dwellers (1d10 × 10 sp in coins, trinkets, and jewelry). 
  Physical Description
  Ketch the Clever is a 10 year-old boy with pale 
  skin and sandy hair. He speaks with the voice of 
  a Dickensian urchin child asking for “More.” He 
  wears a patchwork assortment of clothes, heaped 
  in layers to both fend off the cold and conceal 
  items and coins he’s stolen from passersby. 
  Background
  Ketch is a human pickpocket and a hustler doing 
  his best to keep himself fed while collecting coins 
  for his mistress, Saint Patches the Miserly. He 
  wants the players’ help in stealing enough coin to 
  buy food for all the other orphans, but in truth he 
  needs the money to buy medicine for his mistress. 
   Ketch was born in New Aztlán* and brought to 
  this city as a younger child, where his adoptive 
  parents were killed by cut-purses on the street. 
  The small child was taken in by Saint Patches, 
  a miserly old female human thief who was the 
  head of a destroyed thieves’ guild that used street 
  urchins as decoys and pickpockets. Saint Patches 
  raised Ketch as her own son and taught him all 
  her skills in thievery and deception. 
   Now, Saint Patches has grown sick and feeble. 
  Ketch seeks to steal enough money to buy the 
  expensive medicine that might save her. 
  Roleplaying Ketch the Clever
  Ketch is a charmer. Friendly and charismatic, he 
  isn’t afraid to use his age or his impoverished 
  appearance to con player characters into loosening 
  their wallets. He lies, cheats, and outright steals 
  to get what he needs. When caught or confronted 
  he’s quick to appeal to others’ sense of morality: 
  that he’s just trying to survive and that he needs 
  the help. 
   While the player characters are in the city, Ketch 
  can be introduced by having him offer to be their 
  guide through the winding streets. He knows 
  the city like the back of his hand, and can be 
  invaluable to the players in this regard (provided 
  they’re willing to pay him).
  *  Jensen Torperzer, “Día de los Dinosaurios Muertos.” EN World 
  EN5ider, http://www.patreon.com/posts/dia-de-los-3613311
  
  Over the Next Hill: Springs of Hverfell | EN World EN5IDER
  Over the Next Hill: Springs of Hverfell | EN World EN5IDER
  Bill Thorpe
  A grimy teen with cauliflowered ears and a bad eye 
  crosses your path. “Empty your pocketses, richbloods!” 
  he snarls. Three more urchins step in behind you, 
  blocking your escape, and their leader raises a curved 
  black dagger, pointing it at you.
  Statistics
  Traits: I take what I can when I can get it, no matter 
  who gets hurt. Winter in the city is harsh, and I aim to 
  live through this one.
  Ideal: Strength. I’ve lived on the streets this long 
  because I’m the strongest, and I’ll prove it to anyone 
  who tries to take what’s mine.
  Bond: I love only myself, but I can’t bear to be sepa-
  rated from my dagger. 
  Flaw: I tend to lose control when I get angry, and end 
  up making decisions I later regret.
  Chaotic evil Medium humanoid
  Notes: Bill Thorpe is a human thug with 19 hit points 
  (3d8 + 8) since he’s just a teenager. His magic dag-
  ger, Ripper, gives him disadvantage on all Charisma 
  rolls, but allows him to reroll damage dice showing a 
  natural result of 1. 
  Possessions: Bill Thorpe carries a wooden cudgel 
  (club) and a cruel looking black dagger (Ripper, 
  below). He wears shabby rags ill-suited for winter 
  wear. If pursued, Bill Thorpe escapes to a warehouse 
  at the base of a sloping hill in the city. On the roof is 
  his makeshift home, a lean-to set up amid the tiles of 
  the roof. It’s here that the rest of Bill Thorpe’s posses-
  sions lay: a half drunk bottle of wine, four days’ worth 
  of rations, 1d8 × 10 cp stored in a sack, and items 
  from three rolls on the Trinket table in the player’s 
  core rulebook.
  Ripper: Weapon (dagger), rare (requires attunement). 
  You gain a +2 to attack and damage rolls made with 
  this weapon, an evil dagger that urges the wielder 
  towards violence. Whenever this dagger rolls a 1 on 
  its damage die or Sneak Attack dice, you may reroll it. 
   
  Curse. The fiendish spirit of this weapon punishes 
  you with anxious thoughts when you resist its call to 
  violence, imposing disadvantage on all your Charisma 
  checks and saving throws.
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Over the Next Hill: Springs of Hverfell
  EN World EN5IDER | Over the Next Hill: Springs of Hverfell
  Physical Description
  Bill is an ugly youth of 14 years. He bears the 
  numerous scars of a life lived on the rough streets 
  of the city. His teeth are jagged and yellowed, 
  and his dark hair has been roughly shaved away 
  in spots. He moves with the predatory walk of a 
  dinosaur, bobbing forward and cocking his head 
  as he points a knife at you. 
  Background
  Born in Rivereave*, Bill Thorpe escaped his family 
  at a young age and suffered a long journey on 
  the road to find a rich uncle he’d been told was 
  living in the city. As it turned out, the uncle had 
  squandered what little fortune he’d had, and was 
  living as a drunk. He turned away young Bill 
  Thorpe, who was then forced to live on the street. 
   For the past few years Bill has been living 
  above a warehouse in the city, using its design as 
  a natural windbreak. He spends his days sleeping 
  and his nights accosting and robbing people on 
  the street, avoiding the eyes of the city watch. 
  He leads a posse of urchin children and teens, 
  robbing travelers and visiting nobles.
   About six months back, he bashed a shady 
  adventurer over the head with a rock, stealing his 
  traveling bag. Inside, he found the dagger Ripper. 
  Since then, Bill Thorpe has become attuned to the 
  cruel blade, and has slowly transformed into a 
  savage and violent creature as a result.
  Roleplaying Bill Thorpe
  Bill Thorpe is prone to act unthinkingly, lacking 
  mercy or remorse. He speaks in the broken 
  Common of a person far removed from society, 
  and will answer any perceived slight or insult 
  with violence. Observant characters should be 
  able to pick up from his nervous scratching, his 
  empty gaze, and his almost inhuman viciousness 
  that Bill Thorpe’s actions are not entirely his own. 
   Separating Thorpe from Ripper will cause him 
  to scream and clutch for it like a child. If separated 
  for more than a few moments, he will collapse to 
  the ground in a fit, rocking back and forth as if in 
  a traumatized state. 
   Bill Thorpe and his gang of 1d6 + 2 child 
  commoners appear as a random encounter 
  at night in the city. They surround the player 
  characters as they enter an alley and demand they 
  surrender their gold. While the urchin children 
  are intimidated by weapons or shows of strength, 
  Bill Thorpe fights to the death. 
  *  Scott Marcley, “The Town of Rivereave.” EN World EN5ider, http://
  www.patreon.com/posts/over-the-next-hill-3229263
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 053 - Winter S Urchins.pdf