Auntie Ethel's Hair

Auntie Ethel's Hair is a common item that can be used to permanently increase a character's Ability Score by 1. The player character must choose which ability score the hair increases when receiving it.

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

• Surrendered by  Auntie Ethel in her Ancient Abode if reduced below 20% of her Hit Points and allowed to bargain for her life

Notes

• During the fight against  Auntie Ethel in the Overgrown Tunnel, if she is weakened (below 20% Hit Points) and has a turn to act, she begs for her life and implores the party to let her keep  Mayrina and her unborn child, offering the player character power in return. If the interacting party member passes an  DC 20 Intimidation check or  DC 20 Deception check against Auntie Ethel, it is possible to both free Mayrina and get this item, 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 her hair and also save Mayrina. Failing one check makes the other unavailable, leaving only the options to take the deal, free Mayrina, or kill Auntie Ethel. The hag:
  • Cannot offer this bargain if she is  Silenced
  • Cannot bargain for Mayrina if she is  Knocked Out
  • Does 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
• The increase to an ability score is uncapped, but takes effect before other items or bonuses which raise abilities to a capped amount. This order-of-ability-increase only applies to bonuses which raise an ability, such as from  The Mighty Cloth. The hair has no effect on abilities set to a specific number that are not native scores of the character, such as the  Gloves of Dexterity or an  Elixir of Hill Giant Strength.
• Paladins taking any deal will break their Oath.
• The label "Auntie Ethel's Boon" appears in the character's Notable Features section after consuming it.
• 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 guarantees 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 is shown, where the version (ability score) of the hair can be chosen.
  • Confirming the quest reward window, then finishing off Auntie Ethel while she is still in dialogue with another party member.
  • This method does not work in a multiplayer game.
  • It is recommended to get her Hit Points down as low as possible because there is only one chance to attack her, otherwise the out of combat character is dragged into the dialogue and she can escape.
  • This method does not leave a corpse to be looted.
• Prior to patch 7, a unique interaction could happen if playing in Honour mode when the player character was making their dialogue skill check. If any spell was used for the check, like  Guidance for example, Auntie Ethel would trigger her legendary action,  Weird Magic Surge, which would create an illusory duplicate. This action would throw the talking party member out of the dialogue and into combat once more. Even if the skill check was successful, no reward would be given and the dialogue would not trigger again. Other non-spell related effects, however, such as bardic inspiration, would still work on this check.