Bortsch Khertek
Bortsch Khertek
Sheet
AC 16 · HP 92 · 30 ft.Saving throws
Skills
- AcrobaticsDEX
- Animal HandlingINT
- ArcanaINT
- AthleticsSTR
- DeceptionSTR
- HistoryINT
- InsightWIS
- IntimidationCHA
- InvestigationINT
- MedicineWIS
- NatureINT
- PerceptionWIS
- PerformanceCHA
- PersuasionCHA
- ReligionINT
- Sleight of HandDEX
- StealthDEX
- SurvivalWIS
Armor
Weapons
Tools
Languages
Features
29 featuresAction
- Action Surge
When On your turn
Take one additional action on your turn. Usable twice before a rest, but only once per turn.
- Martial Archetype: SamuraiLevel 3
Choose the Samurai archetype. When you take the Attack action, you can expend a use of Fighting Spirit to gain advantage on all weapon attack rolls until the end of the current turn. You also gain 5 temporary hit points. You can use this feature three times per long rest.
- Extra AttackLevel 5
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
- Extra Attack: Two Additional AttacksLevel 11
You can attack three times, instead of twice, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
- Extra Attack: Three Additional AttacksLevel 20
You can attack four times, instead of three, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Bonus action
- Second WindLevel 1
When On your turn when injured
As a bonus action, regain 1d10 + 20 hit points. Usable once per short or long rest.
- Fighting Spirit
When On your turn as a bonus action
Gain advantage on all weapon attack rolls for the turn and gain 5 temporary hit points. Usable three times per long rest, plus one free use regained after a short or long rest.
Reaction
- Indomitable
When When you fail a saving throw
Reroll a failed saving throw. Usable three times between long rests.
- Strength Before DeathLevel 18
When When you fail a death saving throw
When you fail a death saving throw at 0 hit points, take an entire turn immediately, then fall unconscious if still at 0 hit points. Usable once per long rest.
Always on
- Rapid StrikeLevel 15
When On your turn when you have advantage
When you miss with a weapon attack while using advantage, make one additional weapon attack as part of the same turn.
- Fighting Style: DefenseLevel 1
Choose the Defense fighting style. While wearing armor, gain a +1 bonus to AC.
- Ability Score ImprovementLevel 4
Increase two ability scores by 2, or one ability score by 2 and another by 1, or choose feats, according to the character's build.
- Ability Score ImprovementLevel 6
Increase two ability scores by 2, or choose feats, according to the character's build.
- Elegant CourtierLevel 7
Add your Wisdom modifier to any Charisma check you make to persuade or influence a humanoid. You also gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. If already proficient, gain proficiency in Intelligence or Charisma saving throws instead.
- Ability Score ImprovementLevel 8
Increase two ability scores by 2, or choose feats, according to the character's build.
- Indomitable: Two UsesLevel 9
You can use Action Surge twice before a rest, but only once on the same turn.
- Tireless SpiritLevel 10
You gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. This feature is included in Elegant Courtier and does not grant an additional proficiency.
- Ability Score ImprovementLevel 12
Increase two ability scores by 2, or choose feats, according to the character's build.
- Ability Score ImprovementLevel 14
Increase two ability scores by 2, or choose feats, according to the character's build.
- Ability Score ImprovementLevel 16
Increase two ability scores by 2, or choose feats, according to the character's build.
- Indomitable: Three UsesLevel 17
You can reroll a failed saving throw. You must use the new roll and can use this feature three times between long rests.
- Ability Score ImprovementLevel 19
Increase two ability scores by 2, or choose feats, according to the character's build.
- Ability Score IncreaseHumanIncrease all six ability scores by 1.
- AgeHumanHumans reach adulthood in their late teens and commonly live less than a century.
- AlignmentHumanHumans tend toward no particular alignment.
- SizeHumanMedium.
- SpeedHuman30 feet.
- LanguagesHumanCommon and one additional language of choice.
- Military RankSoldier
Soldiers loyal to the old regime still recognize his rank markings, while veterans and military households are inclined to offer him shelter, basic aid, or access to restricted places. This recognition is dangerous when the wrong person notices it.
Spells
Spellcasting. Bortsch Khertek casts with Wisdom (spell save DC 13, to hit with spell attacks).
Gear
13 itemsWeapons
- HalberdA long polearm with a broad axe blade, hooked spike, and rear prong. This is his preferred weapon.
- LongswordA straight military blade kept as a backup weapon and badge of rank.
- 2×HandaxeTwo handaxes carried at the belt for throwing or close work.
- Light crossbowA light crossbow with a worn stock.
Armor
- Chain mailHeavy armor inherited from his regiment, dented and repeatedly repaired.
Gear
- 20×Crossbow boltA bundle of bolts for the light crossbow.
- Explorer's packA bedroll, mess kit, tinderbox, ten torches, ten days of rations, waterskin, and fifty feet of hempen rope.
- Insignia of rankA brass insignia of rank from the Ninth Line, hidden beneath his clothes.
- Trophy taken from a fallen enemyA broken military standard bearing the colors of his former unit.
- Set of bone diceA bone set of dice used to gamble with other soldiers.
- Common clothesPlain, durable clothes suitable for travel and labor.
- Pouch of coinsCoins saved from mercenary work and stolen during his escape.
Purse
- 10×Gold piecesStarting money retained after selecting equipment.
Appearance
A thoroughly unpleasant-looking human man with very short, dirty blonde hair, a crooked nose that healed badly, close-set gray eyes, yellowed teeth, and a permanently pinched expression. His face is weathered and pitted from years of field service, poor sleep, and inadequate washing. He is lean rather than muscular, with a compact, wiry frame and scarred hands. He wears thick, dark leather over a stained linen shirt, heavy trousers, and worn military boots. His old army coat has been cut down into a sleeveless overshirt, though he still keeps the brass insignia of his former regiment hidden beneath it.
Mannerisms
He rubs the bridge of his crooked nose whenever he lies, spits to the side before entering an unfamiliar room, and addresses almost everyone as if issuing an order. When frightened, he talks faster and insults more people. He sleeps in armor whenever possible, always positions himself facing the door, and counts exits under his breath.
Personality
Bortsch is abrasive, suspicious, and perpetually ready to interpret hesitation as insult. He speaks with the clipped precision of a drill instructor, but his discipline collapses into shouting when he feels cornered. He has a sharp eye for terrain, ambushes, and supply shortages, and he is far more observant than he wants anyone to know. He is not naturally cruel for pleasure. His cruelty is armor, habit, and an attempt to make certain that no one sees how frightened he remains.
Ideals
Strength. The world belongs to those who can force it to obey. Mercy is a luxury invented by people who have never had to stand in a killing field.
Bonds
He carries the brass insignia of the Ninth Line and secretly searches for any surviving soldier from the mountain pass. He believes that if he can find one person who forgives him, his desertion will become something other than proof of what he fears he is.
Flaws
He is a coward who would rather start a fight than admit fear. He treats women, foreigners, and people of other ancestries with open contempt, then becomes viciously defensive when anyone suggests that his beliefs are borrowed from the army that condemned him. He cannot tolerate being called a deserter, and in moments of panic he becomes reckless enough to recreate the very disaster he fled.
Quirks
Background
Bortsch Khertek was born in the border province of Ulgat, where every man was taken into the army before he was permitted to choose a trade. His father had served, his uncles had served, and his mother measured his worth by how cleanly he could fold a blanket and how quickly he obeyed an order. Bortsch learned the approved language of contempt early. Foreigners were called vermin, women were told to remain useful and silent, and any man who hesitated was treated as a coward. He absorbed all of it, repeating the army's prejudices because cruelty was safer than being noticed as weak. He became a halberdier in the Ninth Line, a unit sent to hold a mountain pass during a winter campaign that had already become a massacre. When his captain ordered the surviving soldiers to advance into an ambush, Bortsch saw the truth before the others did. He broke formation, abandoned his post, and fled into the snow. Dozens died behind him, and the military court sentenced him to death in absentia for desertion. He escaped across the frontier with a stolen coat, a cracked halberd, and the name of a dead comrade. Now he sells his skill as a mercenary, loudly insulting everyone around him so no one can hear the panic beneath his voice. He claims he deserted because the officers were incompetent. In private, he knows he ran because he wanted to live.
“Bortsch learned the approved language of contempt early.”
- Background
- Soldier
Connections
Species
Human
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