A Rogue's Gallery
Welcome again to Masters and Minions, where I strive to give you interesting NPCs and encounters that can be placed easily into your game. This week’s encounter is with the skilled artist and master art thief, Ysuzan Starwhisper. Ysuzan owns an art gallery where he displays his own statues and paintings as well as many “reproductions” of great works of art. In actuality, most of the reproductions are the real thing, with fakes taking the place of the real one. Ysuzan uses scrolls of stone shape, his nearly photographic memory, and his masterful sculpting skills to create the replicas he switches for the original.
Recently the owner of one of these fakes has taken notice and has offered a reward of 10,000 gp for the safe return of his priceless statue and the apprehension of the thief who stole it. The stolen statue is worth at least 6,000 gp.
Tactics
Ysuzan starts combat off by going invisible and then attacking the frailest looking PC from behind. If brought below half his hit points, he again goes invisible and drinks a potion or two before either fleeing (if he isn’t sure he can win the fight) or continuing his surprise attacks.
