Auntie Ethel's Hair

Auntie Ethel's Hair is a common item that can be used to permanently increase a character's Ability Score of your choice by 1.

Two lice still scurry around on the little flap of skin attached to this clump of matted, crusty hair.

Properties

• Consumables
• Single Use
• Rarity: Common
•  Weight: 0.2 kg / 0.4 lb
• Price: 280 gp

Effect

Consuming this piece of fey flesh grants a permanent +1 bonus to an Ability Score of your choice.

Variant	UID	UUID
Strength	QUEST_HAG_HagHair_Strength	8f6b0c08-d1b1-4ae7-ade2-da3c679ce323
Dexterity	QUEST_HAG_HagHair_Dexterity	7e3afbf6-4e1a-444e-826d-f8e0e0a8308f
Constitution	QUEST_HAG_HagHair_Constitution	d16922ba-a36b-4015-8072-27610821fb53
Intelligence	QUEST_HAG_HagHair_Intelligence	9abbab89-d29f-47c0-9ffe-f12018dd83d9
Wisdom	QUEST_HAG_HagHair_Wisdom	de2c9582-fab5-4d5e-9a81-44d67af6a681
Charisma	QUEST_HAG_HagHair_Charisma	eec5de82-c988-40e6-8f10-474d5675c550

Where to find

During the fight against Auntie Ethel in the Overgrown Tunnel, if she is weakened (below 25%^{[Needs Verification]} Hit Points) and has a turn to act, she begs for her life and implores the party to let her keep Mayrina and her baby, offering the player character power in return. If passing a DC 20 Intimidation check or DC 20 Deception check against Auntie Ethel, it will be possible to both free Mayrina and get this power, at the cost of letting Auntie Ethel go. Fighters and Barbarians instead get a DC 15 Intimidation check, with Advantage, in place of the standard Intimidation check to obtain both the power and save Mayrina.

• Auntie Ethel cannot offer this bargain if she is  Silenced.^{[Needs Verification]}
• Auntie Ethel will not bargain for Mayrina if she is  Knocked Out.
• Auntie Ethel will not bargain for Mayrina if she is fought at the Riverside Teahouse, even if her Hit Points are lowered below 20% before she teleports Mayrina to the Overgrown Tunnel.

Notes

• The increase of an ability score is uncapped, taking effect after other items/bonuses that raise abilities to a capped amount (This only applies to items that raise the ability such as The Mighty Cloth. It does not apply to items that set an ability to a specific number such as the Gloves of Dexterity or an Elixir of Hill Giant Strength)
• Paladins taking the deal will break their Oath.
• The label "Auntie Ethel's boon" appears in the character's Notable Features section after consuming it.
• A unique interaction can happen if playing in Honour mode when the player character is making their dialogue skill check. If any spell is used for the check, like  Guidance for example, Auntie Ethel will trigger her legendary action,  Weird Magic Surge, which will create an illusory duplicate. This action will throw the talking party member out of the dialogue and into combat once more. Even if the skill check is succeeded, no reward will be given and the dialogue can not trigger again. Other non-spell related effects, however, such as bardic inspiration, will still work on this check.
• It is possible to obtain Auntie Ethel's Hair, free Mayrina, and also kill Auntie Ethel by:
  • Leaving one party member hidden and out of combat, while the rest of the party whittle Auntie Ethel's Hit Points down to a range where the next hit will guarantee a kill.
  • When the dialogue is triggered, successfully intimidating or deceiving her to both give the hair and free Mayrina, but do not end the dialogue.
  • Switching to the out of combat party member. The quest reward window will be shown, where the version (ability score) of the hair can be chosen.
  • Confirming the quest reward window, then finishing off Auntie Ethel while she's still in dialogue with the other party members.
  • This method does not work in a multiplayer game.
  • It is recommended to get her Hit Points down as low as possible because there will be only one chance to attack her, otherwise the out of combat character will be dragged into the dialogue and she will escape.
  • This method might not always leave a corpse to be looted ^{[Needs Verification]}