Thisobald Thorm

Thisobald Thorm is a unique intelligent Undead, the master brewer of the The Waning Moon. He is the son of Ketheric Thorm.^[1]

“

Go on. Drink, make it drank, be drunk. You and I both, to our good health.

„

— Thisobald Thorm offering a drink to an adventurer.

Involvement

Thisobald stands near the bar in The Waning Moon. When approached, the closest party member will sit down at the bar. Thisobald will tend the bar, and insist that the party member sitting at the bar drink with him, and is docile unless refused, wherein he will immediately attack. After accepting, a variety of Ability Saves and Skill Checks must be succeeded. The ultimate goal is to "outdrink" him so he will burst through over-indulgence.^[2]

Taking each opportunity to use Sleight of Hand to pretend to drink, and succeeding on all of them, grants Inspiration to a character with the Charlatan background, while actually drinking and succeeding on the saving throw grants it to a character with the Outlander background. Defeating Thisobald through conversation options (whether actually drinking or not) grants Inspiration to a character with the Haunted One background.

Drinking with Thisobald

First drink

There are three phases to each round of drinking, which are the Drinking phase, Story phase, and Questions phase. In the drinking phase, the party member can choose to either drink the brew with a Constitution (DC 14) Saving Throw or avoid drinking entirely by passing a Sleight of Hand (DC 18) check:

[CONSTITUTION] Drink with the Brewer. (DC 14)
[BARBARIAN] [CONSTITUTION] CHUG THE BEER. (DC 14 )
[CLERIC] [CONSTITUTION] Whisper a prayer to your god, then drink. (DC 14 )
[MONK] [CONSTITUTION] Steady your body and mind, then drink. (DC 14 )
[SLEIGHT OF HAND] Mime drinking. (DC 18)
[ROGUE] [SLEIGHT OF HAND] Pretend to swig deeply, avoiding the liquid at the last moment. (DC 16)

If failing the Constitution Saving Throw, the party member will immediately become drunk and have a Disadvantage on all the following saving throws. If failing the Sleight of Hand check, he will notice the fraud and become hostile.

After successfully drinking or faking a drink, he will ask to tell a story using a Performance check, which is based on the events of the party's journey up to this point. Bards have Advantage on all story checks.

[DARK URGE] [PERFORMANCE] I massacred an entire Grove of Tieflings who thought me their protector. (DC 21)
[PERFORMANCE] From aboard a mind flayer vessel, I've witnessed the Hells themselves. (DC 21)
[PERFORMANCE] I gazed on nature's bounties in a verdant grove of druids. (DC 18)
[PERFORMANCE] I've seen the goblins' vile rituals with my own eyes. (DC 18)
[PERFORMANCE] A silver-tongued devil bade me feast in his lavishly appointed banquet hall. (DC 18)
[PERFORMANCE] I ascended a great tower infused with the most powerful of magic. (DC 16)
[PERFORMANCE] I explored a lost fortress buried deep in the Underdark's bowels. (DC 16)
[FIEND] [PERFORMANCE] I made a deal with a creature of purest sin and took its power as my own. (DC 16)
[ARCHFEY] [PERFORMANCE] I gained the faerie favour of a creature from another plane. (DC 16)
[GREAT OLD ONE] [PERFORMANCE] I am the favoured vessel of an unknowably ancient creature. (DC 16)

If the party fails a Performance check, there will one final chance by Thisobald to weave a better story, this time using Deception:

[DECEPTION] I slaughtered a gold dragon and collected its vast hoard. (DC 18)
[DECEPTION] I gazed upon all Faerûn from the four peaks of the Spine of the World. (DC 18)
[GITHYANKI] [DECEPTION] I walked the corpse of a dead god in the timeless Astral Plane. (DC 18)

Refusing to tell a story or failing the Deception check results in Thisobald becoming hostile.

Succeeding in either circumstance, it will be possible to ask Thisobald several questions pertaining to himself and Ketheric Thorm:

Who placed the curse on this land?
How did you become... what you are now?
What do you mean? How can I defeat Ketheric?

Second drink

A second round of drinking begins, this time with a Constitution (DC 16) check or a Sleight of Hand (DC 18) check:

[CONSTITUTION] Do as he says. Drink. (DC 16)
[BARBARIAN] [CONSTITUTION] AGAIN! DRINK! (DC 16 )
[CLERIC] [CONSTITUTION] As your drink, call upon your god to steady you. (DC 18 )
[MONK] [CONSTITUTION] Fortify your spirit with a silent mantra as you drink. (DC 18 )
[SLEIGHT OF HAND] Mime a sip of your drink. (DC 18)
[ROGUE] [SLEIGHT OF HAND] Take a sip, but spit out the liquour before the creature notices. (DC 16)

He will then request to tell him more stories, this time involving blood spill. Each of these stories again requires a Performance check, with Bards at Advantage as usual. The more the party explored and completed, the more choices are available:

[DARK URGE] [PERFORMANCE] I have transformed into an ancient beast. One of pure hate. (DC 21)
[PERFORMANCE] I ripped apart winged imps spawned from the fires of Avernus. (DC 21)
[PERFORMANCE] An owlbear mother lunged at me. I slaughtered it in reply. (DC 18)
[PERFORMANCE] I conquered infamous hobgoblin Dror Ragzlin and his minions. (DC 18)
[PERFORMANCE] I slayed a hideous, pustule-ridden hag. She died a gruesome death. (DC 16)
[PERFORMANCE] I challenged a daunting phase spider. Its corpse is all that remains. (DC 16)
[PERFORMANCE] A bulette made me its prey, but proved no match for me. (DC 16)
[PERFORMANCE] A towering creature rose from molten lava. I felled it with great wit and might. (DC 16)
[PERFORMANCE] I bested an inquisitor - a dreaded champion of the Lich Queen, Vlaakith. (DC 16)
[GITHYANKI] [PERFORMANCE] I bested an inquisitor - the vaunted champion of my own Queen, Vlaakith. (DC 16)

Passing the performance check allows the party to ask more questions, plus the following new questions:

How do the Thorms sustain the shadows?
What can you tell me about Ketheric?

Third drink

The final round of drinking requires Constitution (DC 18) or Sleight of Hand (DC 21) to succeed:

[CONSTITUTION] Steel yourself and drink. (DC 18)
[BARBARIAN] [CONSTITUTION] CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! (DC 18 )
[CLERIC] [CONSTITUTION] Swear eternal devotion to your divine as you knock back the drink. (DC 18 )
[MONK] [CONSTITUTION] Channel your focus to a sharpened point as you drink. (DC 18 )
[SLEIGHT OF HAND] Mime drinking. (DC 21)
[ROGUE] [SLEIGHT OF HAND] Take a drink, but hold it in your mouth instead of swallowing. (DC 18)

There is no need to tell stories or ask further questions. After the third drink, Thisobald will be unable to hold his drink and will pass away peacefully. ^[3]

Combat

Loot

Thisobald will drop several bottles of alcohol and some alchemical ingredients.

Worn Key

Gallery

Model
Dead
Early sketches by Tan Burci
Render by Nikolai Chugunov
Render by Nikolai Chugunov

Related literature

Notes

↑ Thisobald's kinship with Ketheric is not quite clear. Though Thisobald refers to Ketheric as "father", neither Ketheric nor Isobel ever acknowledge him in dialogue or otherwise. Given that Ketheric and Balthazar have desecrated the Thorm mausoleum and resurrected Isobel, it's possible that Thisobald is another resurrected relative and refers to Ketheric as father not in the familial sense, but as a religious leader or perhaps even "creator".
↑ While he mostly has the general shape of a humanoid - albeit extremely bloated - Thisobald Thorm has four legs and a tail, akin to a centaur. It is unknown whether this deformity occurred before his transformation as an undead, or afterwards.
↑ It is sometimes possible to tell Thisobald that the party killed the Mother Owlbear even if you didn't. This line seems to also be available if you talked the owlbear down using Speak with Animals and it died later on its own.

External links

Thisobald Thorm on the Forgotten Realms Wiki

Spotted an issue with this page? Leave a comment! Note that your IP address will be publicly logged unless you create an account. You can also edit the page to fix the issue. See How to Contribute to get started, and maybe join our Discord so we can coordinate our efforts.

[1] Thisobald's kinship with Ketheric is not quite clear. Though Thisobald refers to Ketheric as "father", neither Ketheric nor Isobel ever acknowledge him in dialogue or otherwise. Given that Ketheric and Balthazar have desecrated the Thorm mausoleum and resurrected Isobel, it's possible that Thisobald is another resurrected relative and refers to Ketheric as father not in the familial sense, but as a religious leader or perhaps even "creator".

[2] While he mostly has the general shape of a humanoid - albeit extremely bloated - Thisobald Thorm has four legs and a tail, akin to a centaur. It is unknown whether this deformity occurred before his transformation as an undead, or afterwards.

[3] It is sometimes possible to tell Thisobald that the party killed the Mother Owlbear even if you didn't. This line seems to also be available if you talked the owlbear down using Speak with Animals and it died later on its own.

[1]

[2]

[3]