Fredison's page

For me, half of the fun when I dump stats is to find ways to justify them through RP. A low wis/int character rushes headfirst into traps, a low dex character keeps fumbling around... When it's integrated into a character concept that's fun for everyone at the table, even the most thoroughly min-maxed build comes to life with these little quirks.

For instance, for a one-shot evil game that I knew would involve mostly combat, I built myself a Duergar monk. As the die rolled and the racial modifier kicked in, all things told he wound up with 5 Charisma. I figured this was outstanding enough to need addressing, so I came up with this:

See, this duergar is ugly and mean-looking. No surprise there. But he also doesn't speak much. People might think "Oh, he's a monk, he took a vow of silence", but no. See, whenever he does open his mouth...

...he speaks in a high-pitched, annoying Muppet voice. Try taking THAT seriously when it tries to intimidate or charm you, I dare you!

What are YOUR negative modifier anecdotes? (A note: this thread isn't intended as a discussion of the merits and drawbacks of min-maxing, only as a place to share stories.)

Note: I was made aware of the existence of the "We Be Goblins!" Free RPG Day module right when I was in the middle of writing this, and while it really fits the sort of feel I'm going for and should be a great source of inspiration, I'll likely be going with my own idea rather than running it, if only to test out my chops at building a scenario from the ground-up.

So I'm thinking of running a goblin-based one-shot for a few friends sometime in the future. The plot would basically be an excuse for the characters to cause as much mayhem as possible, and I'm aiming for a humorous (if somewhat disturbing) tone. To get into the spirit of things, I've devised two special game mechanics I'm looking for feedback and suggestions on.

Expendable: Rather than controlling a party of adventurers, the players will control a group composed of members from a goblin tribe. Each goblin is weak (I'm thinking level 3) individually, but whenever one dies, a new character runs in to replace them the very next round, with no real penalty other than losing a turn.

Each player will have a certain number of "lives" (I'm thinking five) to spend like this. This is meant to encourage them to play recklessly, but not suicidally. To keep things simple, each character will likely be a "clone" of a pregenerated goblin from three or four archetypes.

Goblin Power: To encourage players to embrace the flavor of the bloodthirsty/mischievous critters they'll be playing, particularly "goblin-like" actions will be rewarded with Goblin Power points at the GM's discretion. These can be redeemed for useful combat boosts. Since the goal of the game would be the spectacle more than the challenge, I'm not looking to make Goblin Power rewards balanced so much as powerful, useful and entertaining.

Points would be awarded on a scale similar to this:
1/2 point: Particularly "goblin-like" (mischievous, bloodthirsty and/or chaotic evil) actions with a tactical benefit attached: Gleefully looting your fallen ally's corpse, finishing off an opponent by biting them in the face, hiding in a cupboard to set up a Sneak Attack.
1 point: Flavorful actions that don't help or hinder the group: particularly getting into "goblin roleplay", taking unnecessary (but only time- rather than resource-consuming) pains to subdue a leashed, barking dog, setting fire to a signpost because it has so many words on it.
2 points: Hijinxs that harm the group somehow: hit a teammate, rush to your death and get replaced (points transfer between characters), basically any turn-waster proposed in Classic Monsters Revisited.

Meanwhile rewards for Goblin Power could include but not be limited to:
-Summoning a Goblin Dog mount.
-Summoning a Level 1 goblin to unquestioningly obey one specific command (such as "run down this trap-filled hallway" or "steal that guy's cool hat".)
-Expanding the radius of a bomb.
-Granting a large damage bonus to a bite attack.
-Giving a very large bonus to Craft checks to cobble a weapon or tool together with garbage.
-And so forth!

So as I said, suggestions and feedback would be appreciated!