Level 5
Moving on a bit, the 5th-level heroes could have more to worry about. They're not the only ones to hone their skills to a finer degree, or to get magic items. Thousand-Faced Thralgar's career is beginning to kick off, and he's learned a trick or two. He has acquired magic items that assist his ability to imitate others, and on top of that knows spells that can help throw them off his scent.
Thousand-Faced Thralgar, male human Brd5: CR 5; Medium Humanoid (Human); HD 5d6; hp 20; Init +1 (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 13 (+1 Dex, +2 armour), touch 11, flat-footed 12; Base Atk +3; Grp +2; Atk +3 melee (1d4/19-20, +1 dagger) or +5 ranged (1d4/19-20, +1 dagger); Full Atk +3 melee (1d4/19-20, +1 dagger) or +5 ranged (1d4/19-20, +1 dagger); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA Bardic Music 5/day (countersong, fascinate, inspire competence, inspire courage +1); SQ Bardic Knowledge +7; AL NE; SV Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +5; Str 8, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 16.
Languages: Common, Dwarf, Elf.
Skills and Feats: Bluff +14, Concentration +8, Diplomacy +13, Disguise +26 (+28 acting), Forgery +4, Gather Information +11, Intimidate +5, Listen +3, Perform (act) +11, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +10, Spot +3, Tumble +3, Use Magic Device +5 (+7 w/ scrolls); Deceitful, Skill Focus (Bluff, Disguise).
Bard Spells Known (3/4/2, base DC = 13 + spell level): 0-detect magic, flare, ghost sound, light, read magic, resistance; 1st-charm person, disguise self, expeditious retreat, silent image; 2nd-detect thoughts, locate object, misdirection.
Possessions: +1 dagger, 3 daggers, leather armour, hat of disguise, 2 potions of eagle's splendour, potion of cure light wounds, artisan's outfit, entertainer's outfit, courtier's outfit, explorer's outfit, noble's outfit, peasant's outfit, scholar's outfit, traveller's outfit, elaborate silver and onyx brooch (100 gp), gold necklace (100 gp), silver and green spinel ring (50 gp), bronze and hematite ring (50 gp), embroidered velvet eye-patch studded with semi-precious stones (50 gp), 2 signet rings, 102 gp, 5 sp.
The interesting thing to note is that some of his skills have started to improve in leaps and bounds. This is due to synergy bonuses, one of my favourite features of the d20 system. Usually, to get a synergy bonus, you need 5 ranks in a skill. All the skills that we maxed out during character generation have been increased to the maximum. As for the other four low-priority skills, an extra rank has been put into each. Because Thralgar has more than 5 ranks in Bluff, he gets a +2 synergy bonus on Intimidate and Diplomacy checks. Also, and this is the important bit, he receives a +2 synergy bonus on Disguise checks when the character knows that the character is being observed and he tries to put on a convincing act. Although Thralgar's favourite weapon is persuasion rather than bullying, the synergy bonus to Intimidate checks, coupled with his high Charisma, at least gives him an edge when bullying people on the lower end of the social ladder - (Son, I've been in this man's army since before your daddy had the premature ejaculation that made you, and if you don't get that door open you're gonna wish he pulled out early!
). He'd also get a +2 synergy bonus to Sleight of Hand checks, but he can't use that skill untrained. C'est la vie.
Another useful synergy bonus comes from Spellcraft and Use Magic Device. Having 5 ranks in Spellcraft, he gets a +2 synergy bonuses to Use Magic Device skill checks involving scrolls.
Moving onto the feats, we have a tough choice. This was a tough choice - Weapon Finesse would be nice, since it'd make him just as good with As far as weapons go, he's stuck with the daggers, picking up a +1 dagger as a useful sidearm. The most useful item is the hat of disguise. This lets him alter his appearance as per the change self spell, granting him a +10 bonus to Disguise checks - noted in the statblocks since he always wears it, and means the disguise kit isn't needed. More outfits enable him to mix with almost all levels, and jewellery and a number of different signet rings complete the illusion. Potions of eagle's splendour help with most of his skills, and make saving throws against his spells more difficult. The potion of cure light wounds is useful to have since he doesn't know the spell himself.