Lord Havelock Vetinari

## Description

Lord Havelock Vetinari, a scion from an extremely wealthy family, is the current Patrician of Onkh-Morpark, the chairman of the Council of 116 and the de facto tyrant over the city. Despite being technically a dictator, Lord Vetinari does not exercise the despotic rule that characterised some of his predecessors. Vetinari is the archetype of a benevolent dictator, in a chilly, inscrutable way. He tends to be very permissible of anything that does not endanger the prosperity of his city and has rarely, if ever, been known to have innocent people just dragged off to dungeons without a trial: The notable exception to this rule are mime artists, whom Vetinari despises.

While he is just as unpopular as those that came before him, Lord Vetinari is very much sane, of sound mind and judgment, and very much still alive. He has achieved this by ensuring that even though all power-wielding groups in the city dislike him, they dislike each other even more. They all realize their current heights of power and influence are largely due to Vetinari and any who would move against the Patrician would find themselves beset on all sides by the others to preserve that status quo. For example, Lord Downey of the Assassin's Guild has famously set the price of an attempt on Vetinari's life at 10 million gold pieces, at least. Vetinari also carefully arranges matters so that a reality which includes him as Patrician is slightly better than one which does not.

He is known to have received some Assassin training, some say from Downey himself, but the greater reasons for the Patrician's continued rule include his mastery of diplomacy and manipulation, his distant and menacing air, and his everpresent calmness and composure. Vetinari's rule over the city seems to be cemented by the general acknowledgement that very little goes on in the city that Vetinari does not know about. Thus, when a visitor stands in audience with the Patrician, they can be assured that *Vetinari* knows exactly why they're there, even if the *visitor* does not.

But, Vetinari's greatest claim to fame is turning the city from a rundown hive of scum and villainy into the economical juggernaut that it is today. It was through his efforts that the Merchant Guild opened its First Bank headquarters in the city and his loans to Logan Stronginthearm and Saxton Hale allowed their fledgling companies to grow into the main arms suppliers for half the armed forces in Aldarun.

Lord Vetinari is a tall, thin human man in his later forties or early fifties and dresses all in dusty black, including a black skullcap. He has a pencil-thin ring beard and is known to wear a set of silvered pince-nez reading glasses. His appearance has been likened to that of a predatory flamingo, if one existed.

## Stats

### Special Abilities

* **Slippery Mind(Ex)**: If you fail your saving throw against an enchantment; you can attempt another save one round later. You can only do this once per effect.
* **Death Attack**: If you study your victim for 3 rounds; attack that target within another 3 rounds; then make a sneak attack with a melee weapon that successfully deals damage; you can paralyze or kill the target if they fail a Fortitude save (DC 19).
* **Poison Use**: You do not risk accidentally poisoning yourself when applying poison to a blade.
* **Cover Identity(Ex)**: You have 2 cover identities; while in such an identity, you gain a +4 circumstance bonus to Disguise, and a +2 circumstance bonus to Bluff and Gather Information.
* **Undetectable Alignment(Ex)**: As the spell, continually active.
* **Quick Change(Ex)**: You can don a disguise in one-tenth the normal time (1d3 minutes), and don or remove armor in one-half the normal time.
* **Nystul's Magic Aura(Sp)**: You can use Nystul's magic aura at will, with a caster level of 15.
* **Scrying Defense(Ex)**: You gain +5 to Will saves against divination (scrying) spells, as well as to Spot checks to notice scrying sensors.
* **Dispel Scrying(Su)**: 9/day, you can dispel a scrying sensor as if using greater dispel magic, with a caster level of 15.

### Spells

**Spells known**: (CL 3)

* 1st (4/day, Save DC 17): Ghost Sound, Obscuring Mist, Vigilant Slumber
* 2nd (2/day, Save DC 18): Alter Self, Pass Without Trace