Pippit Glintsprocket, a Rock Gnome Gnome Bard — D&D 5e NPC portrait
#0168

Pippit Glintsprocket

"The Gilded"

Female (she/her) · Sprightly Adult, 92 years

Ability Scores

STR
8
-1
DEX
17
+3
CON
14
+2
INT
14
+2
WIS
10
+0
CHA
17
+3

Combat

Armor Class
16
clockwork bucklers and sapphire silks
Hit Points
59
Hit Dice: 8d8
Initiative
+3
Speed
25 ft.
Proficiency
+3
Passive Perception
13

Attacks

Clockwork Rapier+61d8 + 3 piercing
Dagger+61d4 + 3 piercing
Spell Attack+6variable

Personality

Personality

Twirls rapiers like dance partners mid-conversation, punctuates tales with explosive finger-snaps mimicking fireworks, and slips into silken hosiery swaps like wardrobe changes in a farce.

Ideal

The sharpest blade carves memories that make hearts race forever.

Bond

Her clockwork rapiers, forged from the shattered chains of her mercantile birthright— she'd dive into the Abyss to retrieve them.

Flaw

Can't resist crashing a gala or baiting a guard into a 'friendly' duel, even if pursuers are closing in.

Backstory

Pippit 'The Gilded' Glintsprocket was born into the velvet chokehold of the Mercantile Houses, her tiny hands meant for tax ledgers tallying endless copper shipments. But one starlit night, staring at her clan's star chart— an heirloom mapping trade winds and smuggling routes—she snapped. She hawked her entire inheritance to a sly rival for a pair of razor-sharp clockwork rapiers that whirred like captured storms, a lifetime supply of silken hosiery that shimmered like spilled gold, and enough coin for one glorious escape. The College of Swords became her cutlery for life's grand buffet; she duels not for justice, but because steel's clatter is the pulse of true ecstasy.

Now a wanted fugitive in three city-states—not for theft, but for 'architectural criticism' via small-scale explosions synced to deafening bardic symphonies—Pippit dances through shadows, leaving gilded chaos in her wake. Her blades spark violet as they sing, and her laughter echoes like opera in alleyways. Yet beneath the thrill lies a trade prince's cunning: she knows memories that quicken the heart are worth more than any hoard. Whispers say she's plotting a heist on the Grand Ledger Vault, not for gold, but to rewrite the ledgers in song.

Abilities & Actions

Gilded Multiattack

Pippit makes two attacks with her clockwork rapiers.

Clockwork Flourish (5/day)

When Pippit hits with a melee weapon attack as part of the Attack action, she can expend one use of Bardic Inspiration to deal an extra 1d8 damage of the weapon's type (Slashing Flourish: 1d8 slashing to target and adjacent foes; Defensive Flourish: +1d8 to AC until start of next turn; Mobile Flourish: 15 ft. push to target and bonus 10 ft. speed). Her clockwork rapiers click rhythmically, adding thunder damage equal to the Bardic die on a Slashing Flourish.

Inheritance's Edge

Pippit's clockwork rapiers, purchased with her sold mercantile inheritance (1/day), whirl in a 15-ft. cone for 4d6 slashing damage (DEX save DC 14 half) as clockwork gears explode outward, referencing her explosive escape. She then gains 10 temporary hit points from the adrenaline rush.

Starlit Inspiration (5/day)

Pippit consults her signature star chart (bonus action) to grant one creature within 60 ft. (including herself) a 1d8 Bardic Inspiration die (usable on attack rolls, saves, or checks) and advantage on the next Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, evoking her naviguide to chaotic freedoms.

DM Notes

Voice: High-pitched trill like shattering crystal, laced with operatic vibrato and rapid patter ('Darlings! Shall we waltz through the warden's folly?'). Signature gesture: Flicks a rapier to salute foes while blowing a kiss. Reacts to boredom with improvised fireworks (Prestidigitation thunderclaps), to allies with shared cheese wheels, to guards with mocking curtsies and smoke bombs. Players remember her by the silken sock left as a calling card. Deal-breaker: Handing her a ledger—she'll 'critique' it into confetti.