Liriel Moonstone's page

So either have a former Blackjack come back (living or undead) or have the Efreeti pretend to be Blackjack?

The Efreeti is fairly self-explanatory, instead of being Trifaccia, he is Blackjack, which still has the shock of 'this guy's actually an Efreeti' while making the encounter make a but more sense, though the Efreeti still seems out of place. Meanwhile the former blackjack might be a bit more complicated, in a sense but fits better than some random Efreeti.

If I am understanding what you said, the former Blackjack sounds like they were animated as an undead or straight up brought back to life, and are somehow being controlled by Ileosa. Then, to add drama, make this former Blackjack be Cressida's father.

I have an idea. I am going to go with the former Blackjack and have them be Vencarlo's mentor, but I am playing into the idea that their resurrection didn't quite go right, Turing them part undead. To represent this, I am going to change the race from human to dhampir.

The lore behind this is that when Urgathoa reanimated Andaisin, that amount of power also spread into the surrounding area briefly. This caused the soul of the prior Blackjack to animate as an undead, but due to how the soul was near the outside of the undead-blast radius, they were not turned into a true undead (they retained all of their class levels). Since then, the former Blackjack has been going around Korvosa, trying to figure out what was going on, only to be captured by Ileosa and dominated. still need to figure out what happens if the former Blackjack is freed.

This was a random idea I came up with. Looking at the counter with Trifaccia, I am not too fond of it. The encounter just seems like filler with some random NPC who the party learns nothing about and are just supposed to defeat. I tend to dislike encounters like that, especially for a scene which is supposed to be as cool as they make it sound.

I was thinking, what if Triaccia is swapped out for Vencarlo, who Ileosa has masquerade as Blackjack? the idea is that, during Scarwall, Vencarlo gets captured by Ileosa's forces when she learns that he is Blackjack (via divination and her intelligence web). Ileosa then has Vencarlo masquerade as Blackjack, making it seem like Blackjack is supporting the crown. Then, instead of encountering Trifaccia, it is dominated Vencarlo instead.

Vencarlo will be buffed to be a suitable encounter, which I was thinking these stats:

Vencarlo Orisini / Blackjack CR 16
Male middle-aged human duelist 8 / swashbuckler (inspired blade) 1 / vigilante 7
CG / CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init: +10; Senses: Perception +19
DEFENSE
AC: 30, touch 21, flat-footed 19 (+6 armor, +8 Dex, +3 dodge, +3 deflection)
hp: 123 (8d10+7d8+55)
Fort: +7, Ref: +20, Will: +7, -5 vs Ileosa
Defensive Abilities: parry, unshakable (+7), Enhanced mobility, Grace, Elaborate defence +2,
OFFENSE
Speed: 30 ft.
Melee: +2 flaming rapier +26/+21/+16 (1d6+17/15-20 plus 1d6 fire) or mwk dagger +24/+19/+14 (1d4+14/19-20)
Ranged: mwk dagger +24/+19 (1d4+14/19-20)
Special Attacks: precise strike +7, startling appearance, Combat reflexes, Riposte
TACTICS
Before Combat: If confronted in his social identity, Vencarlo attempts to flee. If he manages to do so, then Vencarlo switches to his Blackjack identity and confronts the PC’s in a public location
During Combat: If Vencarlo goes first, he readies an action to disarm any PC that gets within his reach. If he disarms the PC, Vencarlo then focuses his attacks on the PC wearing his old Blackjack costume, making use of the time bought. If no PC wears the costume, Vencarlo instead targets the PC he disarmed, attempting to disarm if they pick their weapon up (or draw a new one), parrying as needed to avoid heavy blows. Once he manages to deal with that PC, he moves on to targeting spellcasters or healers. If any PC wields Serithtial, Vencarlo targets that PC above all others, attempting to disarm that PC and grab the weapon.
Morale: Vencarlo fights to the death while under Illeosa’s control, but if Vencarlo is freed from Illeosa’s control, he immediately surrenders to the PC’s. In the unlikely event Vencarlo manages to take Serithtial from the PC’s, he flees combat with the blade and can be found in room A52 with the false Ileosa. Serithtial can be found in room A90 in this case.
STATISTICS
Str: 11, Dex: 26, Con: 16, Int: 14, Wis: 10, Cha: 15
Base Atk: +15; CMB: +15 (+19 disarm); CMD: 33 (35 vs. disarm)
Feats: Dodge, Combat Expertise, Fencing Grace (rapier), Improved Critical (rapier), Improved Disarm, Mobility, Weapon Focus (rapier), Toughness, Critical focus, Bleeding critical
Skills: Acrobatics +29, Bluff +17, Climb +7, Craft (blades) +6, Diplomacy +8 (+12 in social identity), Disguise +10, Escape Artist +16, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (local, nobility) +10, Perception +19, Perform (dance) +7, Sense Motive +20 (+24 in social identity), Sleight of Hand +15, Stealth +24, Swim +7
Languages: Common, Elven, Varisian
SQ: deeds (derring-do, dodging panache, opportune parry and riposte), inspired panache (4), dual identity, exceptional wealth, improved reaction, inspired finesse, seamless guise, social talents (great renown[Old Korvosa], renown, safe house [Vencarlo's home], social grace [Diplomacy, Sense Motive]), vigilante specialization (avenger), vigilante talents (cunning feint, rooftop infiltrator, sure-footed), Acrobatic charge, Dominated, Geas
Gear: +2 flaming rapier, mwk daggers (12), +1 rapier, belt of dex and con +4, bracers of armor +6, ring of protection +3, Slave collar, potion of barkskin +5, potion of heroism, Blackjack costume, noble's outfit, gold signet ring (worth 250 gp)

To me, this would be a more interesting and memorable encounter than one with a random Efreeti, but what do you think? would this work for a replacement encounter, or should I stick with Trifaccia?