Andel, the Iconic Investigator

Playing Andel:

     You could be described as a high functioning psychopath. You do not form emotional connections with others and when people are hurt by your words or actions you feel no guilt or remorse. You have no regard for law and order, but matching wits with criminals is more of a challenge, and thus more fun, than the guard.

Character Sheet:

Andel                              CR 1/2

Gnome Investigator        XP 200

Humanoid (gnome)        TN

Init +0; Senses low-light vision, Perception +9

Defense

AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +1 size, +3 armor)

hp 10 (1d8+2)

Fortitude +3, Reflex +4, Will +2; +2 vs illusion spells or effects

Offense

Speed 20 ft.

Melee sword cane     +2 to attack     1d4+1     *2 critical

Ranged shortbow      +2 to attack     1d4         *3 critical

Special Attacks inspiration (4/day can add +1d6 to a skill check or ability check; for 2 uses can add +1d6 to attack rolls)

Investigator Formulae Known (CL 1st; concentration +5)

     1st (2/day)-crafter’s fortune, cure light wounds^*, heighten awareness^*, monkey fish, reduce person, urban grace

^*Default prepared formulae

Tactics

During Combat .

Statistics

Str 12, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 10

Base Attack +0; CMB +0; CMD 11

Feats Skill Focus (Perception)

Skills Acrobatics +5, Climb +5, Craft (alchemy) +12, Disable Device +5, Escape Artist +5, Knowledge (engineering) +8, Knowledge (local) +8, Linguistics +8, Perception +9, Sense Motive +4, Sleight of Hand +5

Languages Common, Gnome, Dwarven, Elven, Orc, Halfling, Goblin

Traits Deft Dodger,

SQ defensive training, gnome magic, hatred, weapon familiarity, trapfinding

Gear sword cane, shortbow, quiver with 20 arrows, studded leather armor, formulae book, investigator’s kit (alchemy crafting set, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, ink, inkpen, iron pot, mess kit, soap, torches [10], trail rations [5 days], and waterskin), and 9 gp.

Character Backstory:

     Born one hundred seventeen years ago, Andel was the second son to Cassius Hostilius Liberalis and Suedia Audaios Liberalia. His elder brother, Galerius, was raised to be the family heir and serve as advisor to the future head of house Hostilius, whereas his two sisters were raised to further the family’s status by eventually marrying well respected archaeologists and researchers. The tradition for second sons was for them to become archaeologists and earn prestige for their family and house, as such Cassius and Suedia did their best to push their son in that direction.

     Andel however, cared little for items dug up from the ground that long dead men made an untold number of years ago. His interest was more in the now. In finding patterns and teasing apart the connections between seemingly unrelated matters. To his parents’ disappointment, his first job was at an apothecary. There he spent his time organizing and fetching reagents at his employer’s behalf. When he got a chance, he’d talk to the customers to learn what they were using their purchases for. In his spare time, he’d try to recreate the items that the customers told him about.

     In most of his experiments, the result was wasted reagents that were deducted from his pay. But with each experiment he took meticulous notes, studying how each ingredient reacted with the others. Despite not being formally taught, Andel was learning the secrets of alchemy at an astounding rate.

     By the time that he reached fifty, a small ways into adulthood by gnome standards, Andel quit his job at the apothecary and began selling his skills as an alchemist. His family and clan names opened may doors, allowing him to make enough money producing goods for the nobility of his home city of Meresk Delas. However, as he approached his one hundredth birthday Andel found himself growing bored in dealing with nobles. On a whim, Andel began trying to determine facts about people he interacted with based on details of their clothes, behaviors, etc. To his surprise, he seemed to have a gift for both observation and deduction. He was able to spot multiple tiny details that, when taken together, told him a great deal about the person that he was observing.

     His new hobby made dealing with nobles bearable, and Andel continued providing alchemical goods to the uptight dwarves that ran the city. Soon however, even his hobby of deducing the nobles’ secrets wasn’t enough to warrant dealing with them. So once again, Andel quit his job for another, more interesting one.

     This time, Andel applied for a job with the city guard. He figured that his deductive abilities would be well received, and to an extent he was correct. The problem came with his brutal honesty and lack of caring if his coworkers were hurt or offended by his observations. If a coworker were to ask Andel his thoughts on a subject, he would provide an honest answer along with the reasons why he thought such. Emotions were never a part of those reasons.

     While Andel had a tendency of angering his coworkers, none could deny that he was good at his job. In two years he had pieced together clues that led to the dissolution of the Black Waves gang. When interrogating the leader of the gang, one Ulbrek Riptide, Andel said something that both infuriated and worried his captain and coworkers.

     Ulbrek asked Andel why he was working for the guard instead of starting up his own syndicate, as the gnome clearly had the intellect to do so. Andel’s response was that criminals were more challenging and thus interesting and fun to outwit. When confronted over this by his captain, Andel reaffirmed that he had been telling the truth. The rest of the guard was so dimwitted that he was amazed that they got any work done before he joined.

     Needless to say, Andel was briefly suspended without pay. As much as Andel’s coworkers and captain wished to fire him, nothing that he said was a punishable offense. So to their regret, Andel came back to work after a week’s suspension.

     For the next ten years, Andel continued to work for the guard, picking up some new skills here and there, until a few months before his one hundred seventeenth birthday he pushed a little too far. The new captain, the old one having retired the previous year, was having difficulty with a murder case. Andel saw that the captain was stumped, and took it upon himself to solve the case during his off hours. After a week of investigating, Andel brought in the murderer.

     The captain did not appreciate being upstaged by a middle-aged gnome in front of his new precinct. Determined not to let the guardsmen under his command believe that they could walk all over him, the young captain made a decision that both punished Andel and gave the appearance of a reward for solving a difficult case. Thus, with false cheer, he congratulated Andel with a month’s vacation time.

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