I'm currently rejigging Carrion Crown in anticipation of running it again at some stage, and I was looking over some of the NPCs with the idea of rebuilding them.
The first one I've rebuilt is Grine.
I've never been 100% happy with Grine, from "Trial of the Beast", as written. I'm not a huge fan of prepared casters, and I wanted to have a stab at Grine as a spontaneous caster.
The most obvious choice seemed to be the Inquisitor. When I was going through the archetypes, the "Reaper of Secrets" jumped out at me. Primarily because it's themed around Norgorber, but also because it seemed to fit Grine's secretive nature.
Rather than stick with the multiclass, I ditched his Rogue levels and just made him a Level 3 Inquisitor. It meant some rejigging of his Feats, of course. To keep using his axes (which I liked), I swapped out Skill Focus (sleight of hand) for Martial Weapon Proficiency (throwing axe). I didn't see the need in keeping his handaxe - the x3 crit rating vs the throwing axe's x2 didn't seem worth the extra feat, so I just changed him to using four throwing axes. He'll use one in melee, plus have three spares for ranged attacks.
He loses his Rogue skills, of course, but it didn't seem a huge loss, considering the extra spells and judgements from Inquisitor.
He also gains the feat "Swap Places" from Inquisitor, and with "Mind Games Tactics" from the "Reaper of Secrets" archetype, he can use it to place himself among his enemies to flank and make unexpected strikes in melee. This should set him in good stead against squishy spellcasters that have a hulking fighter bodyguard.
The only other changes were a few minor ones to skills. Class skills changed, obviously, but I mostly left the points in the "sneaky" skills so that Grine had some measure of creeping about as it seemed to fit both the archetype and the fact he's a Dark Creeper.
So without further ado, here is my modified Grine (I'll post other NPCs as I go)
Grine CR 5
XP 1,600
Male dark creeper inquisitor (reaper of secrets) of Norgorber 3 (Pathfinder Player Companion: Dirty Tactics Toolbox 17, Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 38, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 53)
NE Small humanoid (dark folk)
Init +10; Senses see in darkness; Perception +12 (+12 against single creature focused upon)
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 19, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+2 armor, +2 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 size)
hp 38 (6d8+12)
Sanity 33, threshhold 2, edge 16
Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +6
Weaknesses light blindness
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee mwk throwing axe +10 (1d4+1) or
. . unarmed strike +9 (1d2+1 nonlethal)
Ranged mwk throwing axe +10 (1d4+1)
Special Attacks judgment 1/day, sneak attack +1d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +2)
. . At will—darkness, detect magic
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +5)
. . 5/day—bleeding touch (1 round)
Inquisitor Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +5)
. . At will—detect alignment
Inquisitor (Reaper of Secrets) Spells Known (CL 3rd; concentration +5)
. . 1st (4/day)—bane (DC 13), command (DC 13), cure light wounds, shield of faith
. . 0 (at will)—bleed (DC 12), brand[APG] (DC 12), daze (DC 12), guidance, oath of anonymity, sift[APG]
. . Domain Death
--------------------
Tactics
--------------------
Before Combat Grine casts "shield of faith" and imbibes his "potion of spider climb"
During Combat Grine prefers to attack opponents in the Vats (area E4). If encountered in this room, he tries to retreat into that area to have better manouverability and options. He uses "darkness" to conceal himself to make sneak attacks with his poisoned throwing axes, and attempts to draw enemies onto the dangerous planks above the vats.
Morale If reduced to 10 hit points or fewer, Grine retreats to area E9 to collect his homunculi before escaping the factory through the tower using "spider climb".
Base Statistics Without his spells and potion, Grin's statistics are AC 17, touch 15, flat-footed 13; Skills Climb +10
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 8
Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 20
Feats Improved Initiative, Martial Weapon Proficiency (throwing axe), Swap Places[APG], Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +7, Bluff +6, Climb +18, Craft (alchemy) +7, Disable Device +4, Disguise +10, Perception +12 (+12 against single creature focused upon), Sense Motive +2 (+2 against single creature focused upon), Sleight of Hand +8, Spellcraft +7, Stealth +18; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Perception, +4 Stealth
Languages Dark Folk
SQ death throes, deceitful lore, mind-game tactics, poison use, soul-piercing gaze, track +1
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds, potion of spider climb, acid (2), antitoxin, black smear (6); Other Gear rag armour, mwk throwing axe, mwk throwing axe, mwk throwing axe, mwk throwing axe, disguise kit, iron holy symbol of Norgorber[UE], rags, spell component pouch
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Bleeding Touch (1 round, 5/day) (Sp) Melee touch attack deals 1d6 bleeding damage.
Climb (20 feet) You have a Climb speed.
Death Throes (DC 13) (Su) Blinding flash of light (10' Burst) when you die.
Deceitful Lore (Ex) Gain Wisdom modifier on Bluff and Disguise.
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Inquisitor (Reaper of Secrets) Domain (Death) Granted Powers: You can cause the living to bleed at a touch, and find comfort in the presence of the dead.
Judgment (1/day) (Su) Variable bonuses increase as the combat continues.
Light Blindness (Ex) Bright light blinds for 1 rd, then dazzled as long as remain in it.
Mind-Game Tactics (Su) Treat soul-piercing gazed creature as ally with same teamwork feats.
Poison Use (Ex) You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
See in Darkness See perfectly in darkness of any kind, including magical darkness.
Sneak Attack +1d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Soul-Piercing Gaze (Su) Stare at creature to gain insight bonus to Perception/Sense Motive vs. creature.
Swap Places You can trade places with an ally with this feat during your movement.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to Survival checks made to track.
Looks neat. I found Grine to be a little underwhelming both in story and in combat, so I support changes. Vorkstag seemed to do everything crime related and could move about better in legitimate circles, which makes me wonder what Grine did in the first place. And he's a lightweight in combat. Though, having him around did give the party a second person to extract a confession from.
I think that archetype could also be used for redoing some characters in another campaign....