Free DnD 5e Homebrew NPC
“Needle” Voss: Informant NPC for DnD 5e
A precise half-elf information broker for urban DnD 5e campaigns, built for tense tavern meetings, coded messages, quiet deals, and city intrigue that can turn ally or obstacle depending on player choices.
- Informant
- Half-Elf Urban Contact
- Neutral
- The White Mouse Tavern
Caution: For GMs Only The sections below contain Needle’s secrets, criminal ties, trust conditions, relationships, encounter hooks, and full table-use information. Players should stop here unless their GM says otherwise. Reveal Full Information
NPC at a Glance
- Role
- Informant
- Importance
- Recurring
- Status
- Alive
- Race / Type
- Half-Elf Humanoid
- Class / Level
- Rogue 7, Arcane Trickster
- Alignment
- Chaotic Neutral
- Location
- The White Mouse Tavern dead drop; rented room above Aldric’s Cobblery
- Faction
- Thorn Brotherhood
- Voice
- Low, unhurried whisper with a slight northern coastal accent
How to Use Needle at the Table
Use Needle as a recurring information broker, not as a simple combat encounter. He works best when he appears with a clear offer, a hidden cost, and enough exits to make players wonder whether they are being helped, tested, or maneuvered.
He can connect the party to guild politics, noble secrets, city rumors, stolen documents, and dangerous introductions. His trust threshold is high: the party must solve a problem for him with no guarantee of reward before he becomes a reliable asset.
Always prepare two exits for any scene involving Needle. He should never feel trapped unless that is the entire point of the encounter.
Roleplaying Needle
Personality
Needle is cold, precise, and utterly professional. He never raises his voice because volume is weakness. He speaks in measured, clipped sentences with a dry, pitch-black sense of humor.
Mannerisms
He constantly rolls a thin silver needle between his fingers, never sits with his back to a door, orders water at taverns, and counts exits within three seconds of entering any room.
Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws
Ideal: Information is the only currency that never devalues. Gold spends; knowledge endures.
Bond: He owes his life to Guildmaster Cael and secretly sends money to his younger sister Mira under the alias “Daran Wess.”
Flaw: He is pathologically paranoid, has acted preemptively against innocents, and takes unauthorized side clients that could expose him to the guild.
Combat Snapshot
Medium humanoid (half-elf), chaotic neutral. AC 15 (+1 leather armor), HP 38 (7d8+7), Speed 30 ft.
Saving Throws: DEX +7, INT +6. Skills: Acrobatics +7, Deception +5, History +6, Insight +4, Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +10.
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14. Languages: Common, Elvish, Thieves’ Cant, Undercommon.
Plot Hooks
- Quilby lets slip that Needle is seeking someone with the party’s skillset for a job that cannot involve guild members.
- An anonymous buyer gives Needle ten days: guild vault codes or “Mira learns everything.”
- A Brotherhood lieutenant is found dead, and the evidence implicates Needle. He is innocent, but the window to prove it is closing.
- Someone is using Needle’s alias for murders. It may be a frame job, or there may be a second “Needle.”
Encounter Ideas
- The party walks in on Needle mid-job in a noble’s study.
- Needle slides a note across a White Mouse table: “Don’t react. Old mill, midnight.”
- Needle is tailed by Brotherhood enforcers and needs interference while reaching Cael.
- The party finds Needle unconscious, poisoned with his own blade.
Relationships and Location
Needle uses The White Mouse Tavern as a dead drop and keeps a rented room above Aldric’s Cobblery under the alias “Daran Wess.”
Quilby “Quick” Thistledown: mutual utility through the White Mouse dead drop. Guildmaster Cael: debt, resentment, and a life saved. Mira Voss: genuine love and his one real vulnerability.
Anonymous Buyer: unknown identity, gemstone payments. Lieutenant Dask: internal threat within the Brotherhood.
Full Statblock
Show copy-ready statblock
"Needle" Voss Medium Humanoid (Half-Elf), Chaotic Neutral Armor Class 15 (+1 leather armor) Hit Points 38 (7d8+7) Speed 30 ft. STR 10 (+0) | DEX 18 (+4) | CON 12 (+1) | INT 16 (+3) | WIS 13 (+1) | CHA 14 (+2) Saving Throws DEX +7, INT +6 Skills Acrobatics +7, Deception +5, History +6, Insight +4, Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +10 Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14 Languages Common, Elvish, Thieves' Cant, Undercommon Challenge 3 (700 XP) | Proficiency Bonus +3 Sneak Attack (4d6). Once per turn, Needle deals an extra 4d6 damage when he hits with a finesse or ranged weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, or when another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it and Needle does not have disadvantage. Cunning Action. Needle can take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action as a bonus action. Uncanny Dodge. When an attacker Needle can see hits him with an attack, he can use his reaction to halve the attack's damage. Evasion. If Needle is subjected to an effect that allows a Dexterity saving throw for half damage, he takes no damage on a success and half damage on a failure. Reliable Talent. When Needle makes an ability check that uses a proficient skill or tool, rolls of 9 or lower count as 10. Mage Hand Legerdemain. Needle's mage hand is invisible and can pick locks or disarm traps. Fey Ancestry. Needle has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic cannot put him to sleep. Spellcasting. Needle's spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). Cantrips: mage hand, minor illusion, prestidigitation 1st level (4 slots): charm person, disguise self, silent image, Tasha's hideous laughter 2nd level (2 slots): invisibility, mirror image ACTIONS Multiattack. Needle makes two Shortsword attacks. Shortsword +1 "Thorn". Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6+5) piercing damage. Hand Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6+4) piercing damage. Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) piercing damage.