Gerringothe Thorm

Gerringothe Thorm is a unique intelligent Undead, the toll-master of the Reithwin Tollhouse. Seemingly made of gold, she is driven by endless greed and is relentless in enforcing the toll to cross the river to Moonrise Towers.

Gerringothe's greed isn't limited to just her mannerisms, as she also wields powerful abilities that are influenced by the amount of gold a character is carrying. As well, her Visages grant her coin armour, which increases her total hit points.

Involvement

When approached, Gerringothe will quickly demand gold from the party. Besides attacking her, the party can toss her some gold, though she will simply demand more. When asked for a clear price, she will demand all of the party's gold. However, if given anything short of 5.000 gold, Gerringothe will claim she was given too little and attack.

If Gerringothe Thorm is paid 5.000 gold or more, the party will receive the Signed Trade Visa which casts the unique and powerful spell Flesh to Gold, however, it is a one use item.

Dialogue

Instead of paying her, the party can instead do a variety of social Skill Checks to get past her:

• A DC 18 Persuasion check will question why she remains when she can take what gold she has and be free. She will be steadfast on her role to collect the gold in the service of the toll.
  • Another DC 21 Persuasion check, questioning how she has no one to oversee her duties.
  • A DC 21 Deception check, claiming that the local authority has decreed all the gold belongs to her now.
  • An DC 21 Intimidation check, bluntly telling her she no longer has a job.
• A DC 18 Deception check, claiming to be the new toll master to replace her.
  • Another DC 21 Deception check, claiming she's been promoted and moving to a better tollhouse.
  • A DC 21 Persuasion check, praising her work and insisting to take over.
  • An DC 21 Intimidation check, threatening her and demanding she leave.

It is necessary to pay her at least one gold piece before these options become available. If the party do not have any gold at all, all available conversation options will eventually lead to a fight.

Whichever approach is taken, succeeding will lead to her having a moment of clarity before stating she will "pay it back". Then she seemingly kills herself. The party will be fully rewarded experience as if they defeated her and all her visage minions and also get the full amount of gold magically bound to her.

Tactics

Coin Halberd
Tiny Construct
Level 7 Coin Halberd
Stats
Armour Class	12
Hit points	17
Movement speed	9 m (30 ft)
Weight	3 kg ( lb)
Initiative	+2
Ability scores
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 12 (+1) 15 (+2) 11 (+0) 1 (-5) 5 (-3) 1 (-5)
Proficiency bonus	+3
Saving throws	Str +1 Dex +2 Con 0 Int -5 Wis -3 Cha -5
Resistances
Immune	Poison, Psychic
Resistant	Bludgeoning, Slashing, Piercing
Vulnerable	Acid, Force

Despite her large appearance, Gerringothe is very fast-moving thanks to her use of Fast Hands which allows her to use Dash as a bonus action. She will use her mobility to get around, even climbing up to the ruined roof to put distance from the party and a vantage point for her Jealous Avarice spell. Also, her large amount of Hit Points makes it difficult to beat her down quickly, even more so with the support her Visages give in attacking or hindering the party. As the fight goes on though, she will begin using Combustible Coins to force the party to be on a constant move. She can also turn larger piles of gold into Coin Halberds throughout the battle.

Like most battles, preparation is key. The first step is to either put away the party's gold at camp or a secure spot nearby, since her Jealous Avarice will otherwise deal insane amounts of damage and possibly wipe out the party, if carrying a few thousand gold.

Instead of focusing on the toll master, it is better to target the Grim Visages spread throughout the building. For each one killed, she will lose 100 of her Hit Points and lose more of her powerful abilities. The piece of coin armour destroyed follows a fixed sequence each time, irrespective of which visage is killed:

1.  Coin Vambrace (L), disabling Left Coin Whip
2.  Coin Vambrace (R), disabling Right Coin Whip
3.  Coin Cuisse
4.  Coin Cuisse (R)
5.  Coin Cuirass
6.  Coin Helmet

Picking up the piles of Gold spread around the building before battle will limit the effective area of Combustible Coins and deny her opportunities to create summons. Using a high level Turn Undead when the Visages are grouped up will likely destroy a few considering their low HP. Once all of the visages are destroyed, the pitiful true form of Gerringothe can be easily finished off.

Alternatively, the party can instantly kill her by sneaking onto the roof and using Telekinesis to move her out of the next window. This is a fast and easy way to unlock the "Penny Pincher" achievement.

Notable loot

• Twist of Fortune
• 600 Gold dropped near her, if defeated through skill checks. Otherwise a stack of 100 will drop each time a layer of her armour is removed, up to six times.

Quotes

“	I REQUIRE GOLD	„
	— Gerringothe about everything

Gallery

• 

  Gerringothe's armoured model

• 

  Gerringothe's exposed model

Related literature

• Heavy Book, a teller is surprised when Gerringothe appreciates something besides "the cold clink of gold."
• Scribbled Note (Last Light Inn), a traveller during Ketheric's Shar-following days notices something is awry
• Tollhouse Ledger (Reithwin), a dwindling record of traders passing through the town
• BAN LIST, Gerringothe is listed as banned from the Waning Moon distillery

Written by Gerringothe Thorm

• Gerringothe's Logbook

External links

• Gerringothe Thorm on the Forgotten Realms Wiki