Level 15
Moving on to the high levels, Thralgar can even present a challenge to 15th-level characters. His ability to manipulate people continues to climb to new heights, and given his power level he is also able to stoop to new depths of Machiavellian wickedness. He has more spells than before, and has a force of personality easily matching that of a paladin, vampire or dragon.
Thousand-Faced Thralgar, male human Brd15: CR 15; Medium Humanoid (Human); HD 15d6; hp 55; Init +1 (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 20 (+1 Dex, +1 natural, +6 armour, +2 deflection), touch 14, flat-footed 19; Base Atk +11; Grp +10; Atk +14 melee (1d4+1/19-20, +2 dagger) or +14 ranged (1d4+1/19-20, +2 dagger); Full Atk +14/+9/+4 melee (1d4+1/19-20, +2 dagger) or +13/+8/+3 ranged (1d4-1/19-20, masterwork daggers); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA Bardic Music 15/day (countersong, fascinate, inspire competence, inspire courage +3, inspire greatness, inspire heroics, song of freedom, suggestion); SQ Bardic Knowledge +17; AL NE; SV Fort +5, Ref +10, Will +10; Str 8, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 22.
Languages: Common, Dwarf, Elf.
Skills and Feats: Balance +3, Bluff +27, Concentration +18, Diplomacy +26, Disguise +39 (+41 acting), Forgery +4, Gather Information +24, Intimidate +8, Jump +1, Listen +5, Perform (act) +24, Sense Motive +19, Spellcraft +20 (+22 when deciphering scrolls), Spot +5, Tumble +6, Use Magic Device +11 (+13 w/ scrolls); Deceitful, Dodge, Mobility, Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus (Bluff, Disguise), Weapon Finesse.
Bard Spells Known (4/6/5/4/4/3, base DC = 16 + 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, tongues; 3rd-charm monster, glibness, scrying, sculpt sound; 4th-cure critical wounds, dominate person, hold monster, locate creature; 5th-false vision, greater dispelling, mislead.
Possessions: +2 dagger, 2 masterwork daggers, +4 leather armour, ring of protection +2, amulet of natural armour +1, cloak of Charisma +4, hat of disguise, horn of goodness/evil, potion of cure moderate wounds, scroll of expeditious retreat, scroll of greater dispel magic, scroll of glibness, scroll of sculpt sound, 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), embroidered velvet eye-patch studded with semi-precious stones (50 gp), copper charm necklace (30 gp), ornate bronze ring (30 gp), 2 signet rings, 135 gp.
Thralgar's skills are advanced pretty much as before; with Spot, Listen, Tumble and Use Magic Device advanced gradually. Because of this choice, he at least has a small chance of using a wand of fireball or similar item if he gets one. In addition, he gets a +2 synergy bonus to all Spellcraft checks involving scrolls thanks to his 5 ranks in Use Magic Device.
Having 5 ranks in Tumble is another turning point too (no pun intended) - he gets +2 synergy bonuses to Balance and Jump checks, and, when fighting defensively or taking total defence standard actions, he gets +2 and +4 dodge bonuses respectively. All very useful thanks to his lack of armour.
For this stage of advancement, Thralgar's feats have a more of a defensive bent. Dodge may only have a negligible value in combat at this level -- +1 to AC isn’t that much -- but every point counts and it does allow him to take Mobility, which allows him to extract himself from melee with a little more ease; essential since this is a character who likes to live to fight another day.
Thralgar’s spellcasting ability is beginning to get quite scary now. While it’s no match for a sorcerer of equal level, he now has cure critical wounds to patch himself up and to assist when disguising himself as a cleric, and locate creature to compliment his locate object spell. On top of that, false vision and mislead help to ensure that the heroes can’t get a bead on him and greater dispelling gives him a chance of knocking out the finger of death that the wizard might try to bring to bear on him.
For the most part, his equipment list improves rather than expands. His +1 dagger is now a +2 dagger; his +2 leather armour is now +4 leather armour; his ring of protection improves a step; and the enhancement bonus of his cloak of Charisma is increased to +4, improving his bardic music, Disguise skill and other Charisma-based skills a little more. He has two more items - a horn of goodness/evil since it's a magical musical instrument and a bard ought to have at least one, and it has a good defensive use. The remaining money is spent on some more scrolls, since he might as well make use of that Scribe Scroll feat. One of his bits of jewellery was traded in to help meet the costs of them, and it was a wrench to give it up. It (sniff) belonged to his dear, silver-bearded old grandmother (sniff)…