Sweeney Todd as an NPC

[Debihuman]

Spoiler

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Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Male Humanoid (Human), Rogue 6
Hit Dice: 6d6+6 (27 hit points)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 feet
Armor Class: 15 (+3 Dex +2 Deflection), Touch 15, Flat-footed 15 (12 if immobilized)
BAB/Grapple: +4/+6
Attack: Todd’s lancet +8 melee (1d3+3/17-20/x2 plus 1 point of Con damage) [see below]
Full Attack: Todd’s lancet +8 melee (1d3+3/17-20/x2 plus 1 point of Con damage) [see below]
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Sneak Attack 3d6
Special Qualities: Evasion, Trapfinding, Trap Sense, Uncanny Dodge
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +2
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 16
Skills: Appraise +5, Balance +7, Bluff +9, Climb +2, Diplomacy +8, Intimidate +8, Escape Artist +8, Gather Information +8, Hide +7, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (Local) +5, Listen +6, Move Silently +7, Open Lock +7, Profession (Barber) +9, Sleight of Hand +7, Spot +6, Swim +8, Use Rope +7
Feats: Athletic, Great Fortitude, Quick Draw, Weapon Finesse (lancet)
Environment: Any City
Organization: Solitary (Unique) or with Mrs. Lovett
Challenge Rating: 3
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Advancement: By Class

The popularity of this story rises again with the DVD release of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The tragedy and horror as unfolds as loving husband, father and barber Sweeney Todd is falsely accused and sent to prison. After 15 years, he returns home only to find his wife has been raped and murdered by the very man who sentenced him and that their daughter is now a ward to the same judge. It is enough to drive any man insane...

Sweeney Todd is an embittered man driven by vengeance and obsession to murder and violence. Due to his unique position as a barber, Todd has great access to his victims. Although he is obsessed with killing Judge Turpin, he vents his frustration on his customers by slitting their throats when they come to his shop for a shave. His shop is conveniently located above Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop. His barber chair is equipped to allow his victims to be slid down a shoot to Mrs. Lovett’s shop where the corpses are dismembered and cooked into her meat pies, which are becoming quite popular fare…

Any victim who falls from the barber chair into the basement takes 2d6 points of falling damage.

Rarely will Todd attack unless he fears his secret has been discovered and then he will use any means available – including using impromptu weapons.

Sweeney Todd speaks Common and two other languages.

Combat

Evasion (Ex): Todd can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the rogue is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless rogue does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Sneak Attack: If Todd can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself from Todd's attack, Todd can strike a vital spot for an extra 3d6 points of damage. Any opponent sitting in Todd's barber chair awaiting a shave is automatically subject to a sneak attack.

Trap Sense (Ex): Todd's intuitive sense alerts him to danger from traps, giving him a +2 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +2 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps.

Uncanny Dodge: Todd can react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses her Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.


Possessions: Todd’s wedding band is a +2 Ring of protection giving him +2 deflection bonus to his Armor Class.

The following items were found on http://rosyrodofwonder.blogspot.com and are particularly appropriate to the character. [I recently checked the site and the blister cups have been replaced by the bleeding bowl.]

Todd's Lancet: This tiny knife pops out of a palm sized silver case engraved with a picture of a pelican. Todd only made one of these knives, enchanting it to better find veins for bleeding his patients.

The tiny blade and its innocuous looking case give the wielder a +2 circumstance bonus to Sleight of Hand checks made to conceal it or to Bluff attempts made while attacking with it.

It is a +1 magical, keen (doubles the threat range) wounding (deals 1 point of Con damage) weapon, and has the following properties: Damage: 1d3, Critical: 17-20/x2, Type: Slashing. It is a tiny weapon.

Moderate evocation; CL 10th; Purchase DC 30; Cost 16,702 gp; Weight: 1/2 lb

Todd's Blister Cups: Usually kept in a velvet lined box fitted with special forms, these three glass cups are heated by dropping burning material into them. The hot cup is then pressed against skin to draw up large blisters, supposedly drawing out infections along with the humors in the blood. Todd's cups were enchanted to better facilitate this process.

When the blister cups are used on a character suffering from any natural or magical disease, they allow the character to make another save versus any one disease they are affected by (including lycanthropy). If the save is successful, the disease is cured and no longer affects the victim. Either way, the character takes 1d3 points of temporary Constitution damage each time the cups are applied.

Strong; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, remove disease; Purchase Difficulty Check 32; Cost 15,000; Weight: 5 lbs.

Todd's Bleeding Bowl: This white porcelain bowl, painted with a cornflower blue pattern, is missing a half moon section of its rim. It has a 1554 stamp on the bottom, and the mark of the Mieville China makers. Todd was fond of rigorously bleeding his patients, and employed bowls like this that could reverse the effects of a too-heroic bleeding.

When a character's blood is emptied into the bowl, it disappears within one round, seeming to be absorbed by the porcelain. That person can will his blood to come back to him at a later date.

In game terms, this means that when a person has "charged" a bowl by bleeding into it, they can heal themselves by calling the blood back to them. This is a free action that must be done on the character's turn.

The character using the bowl must charge it by sacrificing 5 hit points through a self-inflicted wound. These hit points may be healed back normally. When the character recalls their blood, they recall those five hit points. The bowl can actually absorb up to fifteen hit points, but only five can be recalled at any time.

Only a person who has bled into the bowl can call blood from it. A bowl not filled by someone else's blood can be filled the rest of the way by a different user. Both users can then call blood from the bowl. However, if one calls the blood of someone else, they must make a fort save (DC 12) or take 1d6 points of temporary constitution damage (the GM can rule that two creatures with the same blood type don't run this risk). In addition, they must make a Fort save or contract any diseases carried by the other user. A bowl with blood from a previous user still in it can be cleansed by having a cause light wounds spell cast on it, which purges 5 hp of the previous user's blood.

Weak Evocation; Caster Level: 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, cure light wounds; Cost 1,200 gp; Purchase Difficulty Check 30; Weight: 5 lbs.

Notes:
Todd has better than average stats to reflect his ability to survive prison in Australia, a shipwreck, the loss of his wife and daughter and so forth.

I debated a long time before deciding on 6th level for Todd. If he'd been a higher level, I might have been tempted to give him the Leadership feat. In that case, Mrs. Lovett could have been a cohort, but I wasn't sure I wanted that. If he'd been lower level, he wouldn't have been much of threat to his victims.

As has been pointed out, Todd technically used a cut-throat razor on his victims not a lancet. Since the only item I found for Todd was the lancet from RosyRodofWonder, I used that. Since I didn't make the item, I didn't want to step on the author's toes by changing it.

Debby

[Proven_Paradox]

I only know the man through the movie, so I may not have the whole story, but he seemed very much chaotic evil to me.

A chaotic evil character does whatever his greed, hatred, and lust for destruction drive him to do. He is hot-tempered, vicious, arbitrarily violent, and unpredictable. If he is simply out for whatever he can get, he is ruthless and brutal. If he is committed to the spread of evil and chaos, he is even worse. Thankfully, his plans are haphazard, and any groups he joins or forms are poorly organized. Typically, chaotic evil people can be made to work together only by force, and their leader lasts only as long as he can thwart attempts to topple or assassinate him.

((Emphasis added))

Todd fits that very well. Lovett was the neutral evil one.

Honestly? I'd put Todd as a level two expert, with a possible level in rogue; keep in mind that most of the people he killed would be level one or two commoners or aristocrats, and very few would have a constitution score above 12, so they'd have somewhere between 2 and 10 HP. A coup de grace from a weapon with an x3 multiplier would usually be enough to put them into the negatives, and the fall from the chair would be enough to kill them. He doesn't have to be powerful in PC terms to threaten the people he killed in the movie.

If you want to threaten PCs with a Todd-like character, this would be good though.

[Debihuman]

Actually, I was trying to make Todd as generic as possible. He could show up in any typical city encounter.

If Todd's victims are alive after he uses his knife, they take 2d6 points of falling damage as they drop from the barber's chair into the basement. I'll add that to my previous post.

I wasn't sure if Todd was the chaotic one or if it should be Mrs. Lovett. You make a good case for it being Todd since he's killing out of obsession. Lovett is in it for profit. I'll fix that too.


Debby

[Khatoblepas]

This is pretty awesome! I greatly approve, but...

Attack: Todd’s lancet +8 melee (1d3+3/17-20/x2)
Full Attack: Todd’s lancet +8 melee (1d3+3/17-20/x2)

I believe Sweeney has always used a cut-throat razor, not a lancet. Even in his inception in the 1800's, it's always been that razor. He's a barber, after all. Shaving is what he does. I'd personally use the Gnome Quickrazor and flavor it as a cut throat. Spinning it on the fingers and whatnot.

Skills: Appraise +5, Balance +7, Bluff +9, Climb +2, Diplomacy +8, Intimidate +8, Escape Artist +8, Gather Information +8, Hide +7, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (Local) +5, Listen +6, Move Silently +7, Open Lock +7, Profession (Barber) +9, Sleight of Hand +7, Spot +6, Swim +8, Use Rope +7

And where's his Perform (sing) skill? ;) You can't have Sweeney without a little priest.

[Lord_Gareth]

I had Todd pinned down as a 5 Expert/1 Assasin. He used Death Attack with that razor - ever notice he spends time studying his victims? - and if they somehow make the save or don't die immediately, he drops them into the basement for Lovett to finish off.

[elliott20]

hehe, I used to LIVE on Fleet st...

[Debihuman]

This is pretty awesome! I greatly approve, but...



I believe Sweeney has always used a cut-throat razor, not a lancet. Even in his inception in the 1800's, it's always been that razor. He's a barber, after all. Shaving is what he does. I'd personally use the Gnome Quickrazor and flavor it as a cut throat. Spinning it on the fingers and whatnot.



And where's his Perform (sing) skill? ;) You can't have Sweeney without a little priest.

Technically, yes Todd used a cut-throat razor but I didn't have the stats for it. I found the lancet and used that. I didn't want to rename the item since I'm not the author so I used it as is. That said, there's no reason for you not to rename the lancet as a razor and use the same stats. If you know of any stats for a cut-throat razor, please let me know and I'll change the entry.

As for Todd spontaneously breaking out in song...it works for a musical but it's gonna be tough doing that in game. If he went around singing about his exploits, don't you think he'd be noticed more or be deemed a lunatic and thrown in an asylum? Of course, he can be played that way, but I tried to do better than make him a cariacture of a villain.

[Khatoblepas]

Technically, yes Todd used a cut-throat razor but I didn't have the stats for it. I found the lancet and used that. I didn't want to rename the item since I'm not the author so I used it as is. That said, there's no reason for you not to rename the lancet as a razor and use the same stats. If you know of any stats for a cut-throat razor, please let me know and I'll change the entry.

Personally, I'd use a kukri for the stats, and maybe keep the lancet bluff/sleight of hand bonus. That way, the crit range will be 15-20. Take away Athletic (he didn't really have any athletic skill, he was more a hardy person) and give him... hmm.. Telling Blow for his 6th level feat? It triggers sneak attack on a crit, and this guy should be critting a lot, considering how sharp razors are ;). And I believe Weapon Finesse is no longer a single weapon feat. :o

As for Todd spontaneously breaking out in song...it works for a musical but it's gonna be tough doing that in game. If he went around singing about his exploits, don't you think he'd be noticed more or be deemed a lunatic and thrown in an asylum? Of course, he can be played that way, but I tried to do better than make him a cariacture of a villain.

Well, Todd didn't really sing in public at all. Any singing going on was either done in private or an advertisement. And I was kidding, anyway ;) I love little jokes inside stat blocks.
Anyway, nice work :)

[Obscurejones]

Thank you.

I can now push my obsession with musical theater onto my players without having to do any work my self.