Skip to content
CharGen Icon
CreatePricing
Petra - AI-generated fantasy NPC

Petra

NPCs
Half-elf · Wizard, School of Enchantment · Level 20

Petra

Noble enchantress and court mediator
AC17
HP180/180
Init
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
ConditionsNone

At the table

Voice

A low, dry-edged speaking voice with a little breath caught on sibilants, shaped by salt air, formal audiences, and years of speaking over crowded rooms. Her words have the clipped certainty of someone used to being heard. When angered, she gets faster and more explicit, not softer.

Her speech is shaped by years of court negotiation and the practical rasp of travel. She favors complete sentences, exact nouns, and questions that leave room for a truthful answer. When tired, she drops ornamental phrasing and speaks with blunt coastal idiom.

Speech patterns

She asks questions that sound like invitations but are precise enough to expose what a person has avoided saying.
She uses people's names often, especially when she wants them to feel seen or cornered.
Her compliments are concrete: she praises a choice, a deed, or a detail rather than offering vague flattery.
When making a threat, she describes the likely consequence in calm, practical terms.

How to play them

Petra offers useful information and a small, verifiable favor before requesting anything significant. She makes clear when she is negotiating and when she is using magic. If a character challenges her ethically, she does not dismiss the concern; she asks what the challenger would do instead, then tests whether they mean it.

Goal

Keep her family estate out of Ysra's hands, uncover the truth behind the gallery fire, and ensure Beren can choose his own future.

Motivation

Petra wants to turn influence into protection without becoming the kind of person who decides that good intentions excuse controlling others.

Secret · GM only

Appearance

Petra is a striking, mature woman whose presence seems to arrange a room around her. Her olive skin is weathered by decades of coastal wind, with fine sun-browned lines at the eyes and a texture like well-kept leather. She moves with measured, grounded strength, placing each step as if the floor has made a promise to her. In conversation, her gaze visits doorways, hands, and reflected surfaces before settling on a face. Her unexpected detail is a tiny, meticulously folded paper bird tucked into her bodice, which she handles with the tenderness of a keepsake rather than a noble's ornament.

Clothing

A fitted plum velvet coat over a high-necked ivory blouse, with a wide belt, practical riding boots, and old gold jewelry worn without fuss. Her sleeves are cut to leave her wrists free for spellwork. A silver-headed cane is both walking aid and focus.

Body language

Petra stands squarely, shoulders relaxed, weight balanced like someone accustomed to hauling a stubborn door open. She rarely fidgets; instead she turns her cane by a quarter rotation when weighing a lie. Her eyes track the room's reflections before they track its people. When she is genuinely amused, she tips her chin down and lets the smile arrive late, as if it had to pass inspection.

Height
5 feet 10 inches
Build
Tall and powerfully built, with broad shoulders, strong forearms, and the stable carriage of a woman who has kept her own strength through age and discipline.
Eyes
Dark hazel, with gold flecks that catch candlelight.
Hair
Steel-gray with dark brown still visible beneath, worn in a thick braid pinned low at the nape.
Skin
Olive, sun-browned and weather-textured across her hands, temples, and the bridge of her nose.
Age
Seventy-two, an age she calls old enough to know better and young enough to do it anyway.
Gender
Female
Size
Medium

Distinguishing features

Her gaze checks windows, polished silver, and the faces of servants before it settles on whoever is speaking.
The weather has darkened the backs of her hands and freckled her temples, while the skin beneath her collars remains pale.
She carries a folded paper bird in her bodice and smooths one wing when she is thinking.

Personality

13 traits and drives

Petra is warm enough to make a stranger feel remembered, yet observant enough to make that same stranger wonder what she noticed. She enjoys ceremony when it helps people feel safe and despises it when it hides cruelty. In a relaxed mood she is teasing and generous; under pressure she becomes brisk, physically direct, and unwilling to waste a word. She can be tender with the vulnerable and chillingly strategic with anyone she believes is exploiting them.

Alignment
Neutral

Quirks

She folds any scrap of paper into a bird, no matter how small or unsuitable.
She taps her cane twice against a threshold before entering a room, even when she is in a hurry.
She remembers how each person takes their tea but pretends this is a coincidence.
She names the household's stray cats after famous generals, then insists the cats chose the names themselves.

Habits

When entering a room, she checks the exits and then the servants before she acknowledges the highest-ranking person present.
She uses humor to ease a frightened person's embarrassment, but never to soften a threat.
After using a charm spell, she asks the affected person afterward whether they remember the feeling, and listens to the answer.
She goes physically still when someone mentions the old fire, then finds a practical task for her hands.

Traits · 3

She protects people's dignity in public, then confronts them plainly in private.
She is drawn to stubborn people because she respects resistance, though she is tempted to overcome it with magic.
She enjoys good food and extravagant clothes, but distrusts anyone impressed by either.

Flaws · 3

She believes she can manage other people's choices better than they can.
She keeps information close even when sharing it would build trust.
Her pride makes her reluctant to ask for physical help, despite the strain of long travel.

Fears · 3

That the people she protects will discover she has sometimes used enchantment without asking.
That Oda's death was not an accident and Petra's delayed response gave the arsonist time to escape.
Losing her judgment to age and becoming dependent on the very people she once protected.

Wants and needs · 4

She wants the truth about the gallery fire, even if it discredits her.
She needs to trust someone with the evidence she has kept hidden.
She wants Beren to have a life that is not purchased with her guilt.
She needs to accept help without treating it as a loss of authority.

Combat

AC 17 · HP 180 · 30 ft.

Petra avoids a fair fight. She begins with mind blank or foresight when she expects danger, uses wall of force or forcecage to divide opponents, and targets enemy spellcasters with counterspell and psychic damage. She prefers to charm, restrain, or reposition foes rather than kill them. If pressed, she uses teleport to escape with an ally, then returns from a safer angle. Her high Strength is genuine, but she sees proving it in a brawl as an unnecessary expense.

Petra

Medium humanoid (half-elf), neutral
Armor Class17
Hit Points180
Speed30 ft.
Level20
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Saving ThrowsIntelligenceWisdomConstitution
SkillsArcanaDeceptionInsightPersuasionHistoryIntimidation
SensesDarkvision 60 ft.; passive Perception 16
Languages
Common,
Elvish,
Draconic,
Dwarvish
Half-elf heritage. Petra has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic cannot put her to sleep.
Fey Ancestry and Trance are represented as heritage traits; Petra needs only four hours of meditation to gain the benefits of a long rest.
Custom feature, Courtly Enchantment. Petra can cast charm person at will, but only on a creature that can hear and understand her. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw is immune to this feature for 24 hours.
Custom feature, Velvet Command. Once per turn when Petra deals psychic damage to a creature, she can force it to make a Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on its next attack roll before the end of its next turn.

Spells

Shield (level 1, abjuration). A shimmering barrier grants +5 AC until the start of Petra's next turn, including against the triggering attack.
Charm Person (level 1, enchantment). Petra magically influences a humanoid that can hear and understand her. The target makes a Wisdom saving throw and knows it was charmed when the spell ends.
Counterspell (level 3, abjuration). Petra attempts to interrupt a creature casting a spell. Higher-level spells may require an ability check.
Wall of Force (level 5, evocation). Petra creates a resilient, invisible wall that can divide a battlefield and block movement.
Forcecage (level 7, evocation). Petra attempts to trap a creature in an invisible prison of magical force.
Astral Projection (level 9, necromancy). Petra and up to eight willing creatures project their astral forms into the Astral Plane.
Foresight (level 9, divination). Petra gains extraordinary foresight for eight hours, granting advantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws, while imposing disadvantage on attacks against her.
Magnificent Mansion (level 7, conjuration). Petra creates a permanent extradimensional residence accessible through a chosen portal.
Dominate Person (level 5, enchantment). Petra attempts to magically compel a creature to follow a course of activity, subject to the spell's limitations and the target's saving throw.
Teleport (level 7, conjuration). Petra teleports herself and willing companions to a destination she knows, with the usual risk of arriving off target.
Modify Memory (level 5, enchantment). Petra attempts to shape a creature's memories, subject to its saving throw and the spell's duration.
Weird (level 9, illusion). Petra attempts to place a creature in a magically induced slumber. The spell's effect depends on the target's saving throw and the chosen duration.

Actions

Cane. Melee Spell Attack: to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 () bludgeoning damage. Petra's silver-headed cane is a spellcasting focus.
Spellcasting. Petra casts one spell of 1st through 9th level from her prepared spell list. Her spell save DC is 21 and her spell attack bonus is +13. Her wizard spellcasting ability is Intelligence.
The Room Remembers. Petra chooses up to three creatures she can see within 120 feet. Each target must make a Wisdom saving throw or take 27 () psychic damage and be charmed by her until the end of her next turn. A charmed target's speed becomes 0 while Petra can see it. On a successful save, a target takes half damage and is not charmed. Custom feature.

Reactions

Instinctive Charm. When a creature Petra can see within 60 feet succeeds on a saving throw against one of her enchantment spells, Petra can use her reaction to force it to reroll. The creature must use the new result. Petra can use this feature once per long rest.
Shield. When Petra is hit by an attack, she casts shield, increasing her AC by 5 until the start of her next turn, including against the triggering attack. This is a spellcasting reaction.
Counterspell. When Petra sees a creature within 60 feet casting a spell, she casts counterspell using an available spell slot.

Legendary Actions

Measured Step. Petra moves up to half her speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Needling Thought. Petra targets one creature she can see within 60 feet. It must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or take 10 () psychic damage.
Quickened Spell (costs 2 actions). Petra casts a spell of 3rd level or lower that has a casting time of one action.

Services they sell

Court introductions and mediation
Expert advice on enchantment and magical coercion
Discreet lodging at her town residence
A limited spellcasting service for allies she trusts

Rewards they can give

A private audience with Petra and an introduction to the court.
Access to the hidden passages beneath her family estate.
A tailored charm against coercive magic, if the party earns her trust.
A substantial but discreet payment for securing Beren's safety.

Equipment

  • Cane of the Quiet Room (spellcasting focus)A polished silver-headed cane that serves as her spellcasting focus and is sturdy enough to use as a club.
  • Court coat (wondrous clothing)A tailored coat with hidden inner pockets and fine protective enchantments. Its statistics are included in her AC.
  • Oda's paper bird (keepsake)A small paper bird folded from the final letter Oda wrote to her.
  • House signet (noble regalia)A signet ring bearing the crest of Petra's house, which she uses when acting in its name.

Possessions

Oda's folded paper bird
A sealed packet of letters from the night of the gallery fire
A map of hidden passages beneath the family estate
A purse of emergency gold reserved for Beren

Background

Petra was born to a half-elven noble house that valued heirs as carefully as it valued property. At nineteen, she was sent to negotiate a marriage treaty with a rival family. The negotiations ended in a midnight fire, set by a cousin who hoped to erase inconvenient witnesses. Petra dragged three people through a collapsing gallery, then used a half-learned enchantment to make the surviving arsonist confess before the court. The confession saved her family and taught her that a pleasing voice could be a weapon, but the fire also killed her closest friend, a human maid named Oda. Petra never forgave herself for having noticed the smoke too late. She spent decades studying wizardry, statecraft, and the limits of coercion, eventually becoming a powerful enchantress and the senior voice in her house. She funds the education of Oda's grandson, Beren, who believes the money comes from an anonymous benefactor. Her sister-in-law, Ysra, resents Petra's influence and is quietly arranging to sell the family estate. Petra is currently trying to stop that sale without revealing that the estate's foundations conceal evidence that could ruin several noble houses.

Role in the story

A formidable patron, political obstacle, or uneasy ally whose power is matched by an unresolved moral debt. Petra can open doors at court, but the truth she guards may destabilize the very houses she wants to reform.

“At nineteen, she was sent to negotiate a marriage treaty with a rival family.”
From their background
Faction
Senior member of House Petra's unnamed noble lineage; influential in the court, but not formally attached to its mage academy.

Known connections

Beren, grandson of Oda, receives Petra's secret financial support and thinks it comes from a distant relative.
Ysra, Petra's sister-in-law, wants to sell the ancestral estate and sees Petra as an obstacle.
Oda, Petra's childhood friend and former maid, died in the gallery fire that shaped Petra's life.
The magistrate Hadrik once accepted Petra's testimony against the arsonist and now suspects she concealed part of the truth.
Major secret · GM only
Minor secrets · GM only

Media

0 images

No images yet.

Visual sheet

Turn Petra into a sheet

A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.