Villain: Captain Barrgo Dyer, head of the Civil Guard
“The Masters o’ this city have left the task of keepin the peace, an’ I’ll more n happily break yer yapping jaw rather than let any of your caterwauling trouble their ears. Am I understood, gutterskum?“
Setup: Despite presenting themselves as defenders of law and order, Captain Dyer and his “Civs” are perhaps one of the largest criminal organizations at work in the city today, squeezing the populace for coin with one hand while cracking skulls with the other.
Originally intended to be a stop-gap measure after a series of disastrous grain shortages led to riots and fires across the city’s wards, the civil guards were made a permanent fixture of city infrastructure almost twenty years ago, replacing the patchwork of neighborhood watch organizations and mutual protection pacts that dealt with crime and disruption since. Where as those groups had been loyal to their communities, the Civs were loyal only to the nobles and guilds who paid into their charter, and had no qualms about enforcing peace at spearpoint.
Taking eagerly to being a blunt instrument for uncaring overlords, Barrgo ascended up the ranks and secured his place as Captain of the Guard, and has since used his position and the resources granted to him by it to turn the city into one large protection racket. Every law enforcement agency takes bribes to look the other way on occasion, but Barrgo’s ambitions were larger: squeezing neighborhoods and individual merchants for “donations” while feeding information to his criminal contacts about who was and wasn’t under his force’s protection. He also changed the entire ecosystem of crime within the city, allowing specific illegal enterprises to pay for his lenience, while at the same time sending him after their competitors. Years of this “bidding war” have seen Barrgo become a rich man, and an unofficial kingpin of the city’s underworld, with all but the most minor crime or graft requiring his approval.
Adventure Hooks:
The Status Quo suits the Captain just fine, and he vigorously opposes any force or actor that would seek to disrupt it, even if they might have the city’s best interests at heart. Should the party go about warning the populace of a looming threat or even trying to solve a crime on their own, it’s very likely they’ll be getting a visit from a number of armored thugs intending to intimidate them into silence. This “intimidation” can escalate to full on beatings and abduction if the party crosses one of the nobles or guilds who pays into Barrgo’s charter, making him a great secondary villain alongside aristocratic antagonists to good to do their own dirtywork
While each Civil garrison has its own lockup, real troublemakers get tossed in the Shitpit: the Guard’s clandestine prison operated without the city’s oversight, and converted from an old Cistern. The party is likely to find one or all of their number in the Pit should they offend Barrgo personally, or if they happen to need the services or knowledge of someone who did.
Defeating Barrgo is easier said than done, as exposing his criminal enterprise or outright killing the man doesn’t stop the system of thuggery and corruption he’s built up around him. If the party truly wishes to abolish the Civil guard, and prevent the rise of a new Captian Dyer, they’ll need to rally the populace and petition the city’s rulers, replacing the Guard with a a system with more oversight and accountability built direclty into it.
This miniscule brass bell is in the shape of an upturned four-leaf clover whose clapper is actually a delicate flower. When rung normally, the flower silently patters side-to-side of the bell. However, when you use an action to speak the bell’s command word and ring it, it emits a sound like an invigorating jig that’s audible out to a range of 60 feet. Up to four friendly creatures of your choice that can hear the bell gain a mote of luck. Once within the next 10 minutes, when a creature with a mote of luck rolls a 1 on the d20 for an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, it can reroll the die and must use the new roll. The mote is then lost. This property of the bell can’t be used again until the next dawn. ___
✨ Patrons get huge perks! Access this and hundreds of other item cards, art files, and compendium entries when you support The Griffon’s Saddlebag on Patreon for less than $10 a month!
! Grimoire of the Green Arts Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement by a wizard) ___
This green leather book has a gilded cover and painted imagery of sage and witch hazel. The following spells are written in the book using a strange form of Druidic that’s only legible to the creature attuned to it: "conjure animals", "dominate beast", "goodberry", "pass without trace", "speak with plants", "transport via plants", and "wall of thorns". While attuned to the book, you know the "druidcraft" cantrip, and you can prepare the book’s spells as if they were wizard spells whenever you finish a long rest.
If you have the "polymorph" spell prepared while the book is on your person and cast it on yourself, you can choose to retain your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores for the duration of the spell. Once this property has been used, it can’t be used again until the next dawn. ___
✨ Patrons get huge perks! Access this and hundreds of other item cards, art files, and compendium entries when you support The Griffon’s Saddlebag on Patreon for less than $10 a month!
