!Ko Bie Len's page

My goblin paladin (the PC associated with this alias) was a criminal. But he was caught and his punishment was hard labor on a farm for twenty years.

While working the farm, he discovered a secret chamber beneath the earth that held long forgotten knowledge of a time when goblins weren't vilified and hated across the lands. A time when they were considered one of the heroes of all people.

He studied the anciet texts he found, and slowly tried to adopt the teaching of his racial ancestors.

One day, he received a letter informing him that his son was desperately ill. So, with the help of a gaurd he had befriended (a hobgoblin PC), he made his escape to try and find the cure (his motivation for going on the campaign the DM set up).

So here we have a goblin paladin with a criminal past, who is not LG because he still struggles with the teachings and ideals of what it means to be a paladin, even as he strives to become a better person.

Because he has escaped from his punishment before the completion of his sentence, he has chosen to go by a pseudonym, that of the ancient race of goblins: the !Ko Bei Lin.

(And as a player and a character, I have no idea of the texts he read was true or not, but the PC has chosen to believe they are).

What's wrong with a goblin paladin?

What, you think you humans have all the rights to morality? That everyone else must fit into your world view?

Seems awfully rigid of you to dictate what everyone else must be. As if you alone have the say in what other sentient beings can and cannot be, determining who is the "hero" and who is the "villain."

What's next, claiming by decree that all elves are evil? Well, ok - do that, and I'm on your side.

the nerve-eater of Zur-en-Aarh wrote:

Maybe Golarion just has a closer connection to the Elemental Plane of Air than Earth does? (Or maybe the inside of a red dragon works like a hot-air balloon.)

{stops eating book} Me pretty sure dragons fly same way zeppelins fly. First time me meet red dragon, me take a torch and climb down throat to see if they full of hydrogen.

Look, we discussed this at the meeting. You need to shape up if you're going to adapt to human society. We all agreed. We voted.

I know it's hard to use human slang, and to stop referencing to yourself as "me" (it's I), and using complete sentences has been a challenge even for one such as myself, but we have to try. It's the only way we don't get erradicated as a species.

Please try to remember.

Pillbug Toenibbler wrote:

Ched Greyfell wrote:

Having them playable is one thing. Having them core bugs me to no end.

So they used to be a blight on society, now suddenly they'll be in adventuring groups everywhere?

Ya know, everything I've ever heard about -- {looks around warily} ok, and everything I've read about -- Chelaxians would lead me to believe they're all evil, devil-worshiping slavers trying to create Hell 2.0 here on the Prime. And yet the rest of you Inner Sea humans haven't banded together and tried to completely exterminate them. It's almost like you are able to discern between Chelaxians that would do you harm and those who wouldn't, that you don't blame all Chelaxians for their circumstances of birth and their cruel society, and you will attempt to see beyond the common tales and "lore" about Chelaxians to judge each for their true qualities.

And yet, you humans still see all us gobbos as inherently evil, murderous lunatics. Kinda makes me think the problem isn't with us gobbos at all...

That is an extremely unfitting analogy. Chelaxians are mostly non-evil and this is common knowledge both in and out of setting. Goblins have always been portrayed as mostly evil in Golarion setting books and adventure paths.

Some choice quotes:

"Their pernicious nature makes interacting with civilized races almost impossible, so goblins tend to adventure on the fringes of civilization or in the wilds." (ARG)

"Wherever goblins travel, they leave a path of destruction and mayhem in their wake." (MC)

"Like cockroaches, once goblins gain a foothold on the fringes of society, they're extremely difficult to wipe out completely. Some communities deliberately look the other way when goblins infiltrate their refuse heaps, but a community that grows too complacent soon finds pets and even children in goblin cook pots." (MC)

"Goblins tend to view other beings as sources of food, which makes for poor relations with most civilized races....

Says the books written by humans!

Try and deny that one, goblin hater! I see through your veiled prejudice.

You have our support! Hope things get better.

How's everyone doing? Things going well?

I don't know about the rest of you, but this room reeks of white dragon, !Ko says as he looks around for the room.

He moves in to the room in a way that allows him to see what's on the other side of the table while keeping a maximum distance from it.

It's been happening to me, too.

Good catch, Mr. Arkha, !Ko says. He too, goes in the direction indicated.

Sorry for the lack of posting. Trying to finish my house so I can out it on the market by Thursday.

And I hit a complication this weekend as my wife and kids all got a stomach bug and we're throwing up all weekend. That meant I couldn't bring over anyone to help in case they caught it, and my own work was interrupted when I had to take care of the kids.

Sorry for going off script! But I can't help but giggle at the outcome. :)

Yes, let us go. Lead the way, my friend.

Jack went ahead, right?

Upon hearing his fellow goblins' challenge, !Ko mentally prepared to set up and take charge - to bring these goblins one step closer to the true heroes they were in the past. But before he can, he friend Greg speaks up with such strength that even !Ko starts to real back.

For a moment, he's taken back to when he was a slave on the farm. The screams. The threats. The bowing as a show of respect while you bit your tongue to prevent foul words from escaping the captivity of your throat.

But when Gregor calls upon the name of !Ko as the war leader, his thoughts come rushing back and force his spine to straighten.

The words pour out as he proselytizes.

Agree with Kenzi.

One thing I'm curious about is why they stole the dragon.

Word has it they sell magic apples to the nearby village. Supposed to cure any illness or disease. Some people try to cultivate them for themselves, but as soon as the sapling gets a certain height, they disappear. No one knows why.

As for me, I'm looking for them, because my son is very ill. I'm hoping to acquire an apple to cure him.

I agree that we need to move on, Jack, !Ko says.

After they're out of the Kobold presence, !Ko says, Can we really trust a bunch of dragon worshiping Kobolds with a real live dragon? Those things are dangerous and mean.

And we should be careful with the goblin tribe. Goblins may be the traditional enemy of you humans, but these guys seems to actually have a decent trade system set up with the local village for those magic apples. They are quite possibly reasonable people to deal with. Mayhaps they could even be worthy of the ancient Goblin heroes.

I understand that this may not be the case, and if not, it's ok to work with more violent measures.

!Ko calls out from behind Greg, trying to make his voice one of the crowd without him being noticed; What do you know of the Goblin's magic apples?

!Ko follows, but only towards the back of the group - in order to make his presence less problematic.

Wait, you mean it's not like a small little dragon doll? !Ko asks, genuinely surprised that it could be something else.

It is an acceptable task.

Seeing that he's obviously the source of agitation, !Ko moves to the back of the room and tries to keep out of sight, letting the others handle this one.

Intelligence (History?): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

Just noticed I had my int save written down incorrectly. It should be +1, not +2.

I can take a look at them, Mr. Arkha, I may have seen something like that in my historical studies. But really, I'm more curious as to who might be hiding under that blanket.

It's ok, friend. We're not here to hurt you.

I think we should explore that last door before trying the locked one again, !Ko suggests.

Time Zones aren't really a big deal. Especially since you've been keeping up with the 24 hour rule while in combat.

I'm in a game with people from Australia, Brittain, Hawaii, west coast US, great lakes US, and east coast US.

No one has issues.

I assumed a short rest as well.

I am comfortable with a rest, Mr. Arkha, !Ko says politely.

I've found putting info in a spoiler with a DC/roll to be pretty effective, especially passive checks (knowledge, perception, insight, etc.).

That's always a good choice. Only works with planned checks, though.

I'm also not sure if 5e has ever resolved the creature identification thing yet. Technically, from the PHB, there isn't a roll to identify creatures. It's all DM territory.

Heat and cold? That's beneath Gregor.

Well, that was fascinating. What do you suppose they were?

In pbp games, they can really he dragged down while waiting for back and forth for a single check. Take the initiative and roll, advising the DM to add appropriate bonuses if necessary. For example:

!Ko tries to recall if there's anything he's ever heard about these guys (using history proficiency if appropriate).

Intelligence: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12

If the DM feels that a roll is even necessary, he'll use that roll. He may even decide that my proficiency applies. Or he may decide that no skill check is needed and I auto pass or auto fail.

Doing it that way helps speed up the game. You gotta be proactive.

The area is dangerous. They all know it. So !Ko has his rapier always at the ready. Using his Goblin quickness, !Ko darts in and jabs with his rapier, and then quickly darts back out.

Attack!: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 221d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Action attack, bonus action disengage, end up right where I started.

My goal was less about creating interactions for other PCs and more for creating backstory for the readers.

Not long ago I was in a conversation with someone who mentioned how they hated it when people on pbp just repeated attacks with no story interwoven. "Entertain me, damn it!" is what I remember from that conversation. They wanted a story to read regardless of whether the story was spoken by the PC or in a thought bubble.

So I was going for a style of story aimed for the readers rather than for PC interaction.

(As for me, I've always skipped over stuff like this, but I'm intentionally going against my typical style of posting and storytelling).

How did you guys like the memory sequence I did for !Ko? It's the first time I've tried to explore character history in such a fashion on pbp.

Normally, I'm not fond of thought bubbles, since other characters can't interact with the thoughts, but I've also heard that some people like it because they want to read the story regardless of whether they can interact.

So I'm looking for input on this style of writing.

"Greg, care to open that keg up? Let's see what's inside."

There's still two other rooms in this area, right? While they're looking in the locked room, !Ko will take a quick peek in the unlocked rooms.

Yeah, it's been hit and miss for me, too.

!Ko says, Now this looks like a door you can break down without making much noise. Want to give it a try, Greg?

Let's go back and try the other door, first. If that's also an impasse, we can discuss further, !Ko suggests.

To be clear, I completely made up the ancient Goblin civilization. It's part of why I put, "so far back even elven historians have forgot." The thinking was that elves are the longest lived race, so their historians would have the furthest memory back.

I also picked the name I did because if you sound it out, one could easily see it become the word "goblin" over time.

There's number crunching? Where?

!Ko watched Jack pick the lock, the flickering torch light casting shadows short and long along the walls. He's reminded of his last job - he was in a similar position, kneeling down studying a door trying to find a way in.

"Dad?" a voice rang out.

!Ko looked back to see his son. He had followed him here. "Son, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see where you went at night; where you worked. How you fed our family. I... I didn't know you did this. I thought you said you worked at the factory." A tear fell down the boys cheek.

!Ko was at a loss for words. On one hand, he needed to keep his family fed, and it was difficult to explain the prejudice goblins felt every day. Difficult to explain why he couldn't just get a job, or that what jobs there were would never pay enough to keep food on the table. But on the other hand, he didn't want his son to grow up the same way he had to, doing what he did now.

"...I...Son, look.."

"What was that?" another voice said from the other side of the door.

"I think someone is at the door." a fourth voice said.

"Crap," thought !Ko.

Just then, the door opened and a scream filled the cool night air. A scream for the guards.

"Son! Run! Run now, as fast as you can!"

That was the last time he saw his son, as he was kneeling in front of the door trying to explain why he was robbing someone - and in doing so, revealing his position.

Greg's words interrupted his revery. "No, Greg", !Ko says gently, "Kicking down the door may be too loud and give away our position to anyone who may not want us here. Let's let Jack work; he'll see us through."

!Ko dances back in to try again, his rapier his only option. This isn't a time for daggers.

Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Then he dances back out using his bonus action to disengage.

Yes. Here.

Piercing weapons are all I got! Try again next round. :)

!Ko draws his rapier and stabs at one of the creatures.

Attack!: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 3 = 11

Then he uses his bonus action to disengage and move away, drawing the creatures out so more of his allies can attack them.

Apparently !Ko has never used a rapier before! That's what he gets for taking it without practice!

!Ko smiles at the thought of candy. My son would love some of that, he thought to himself.

Despite the memories, he let's Greg enjoy it while he moves into the room with Jack.

At Jack's mention of a potential secret door, !Ko begins to try pressing blocks in the wall in hopes of finding the proper lever to open it.

!Ko tries the door to see if it's unlocked. If it's not, he'll try to pick the lock.

You get back 50% of ammo fired by spending one minute searching the battlefield.

PHB 146 under ammunition.

!Ko looks out over the edge, but cannot see the bottom. Shall we? he asks.

Matching words to action, !Ko starts down the stairs.

Ugh. That's the worst. Feel better, man.

Dive bomb away!

Don't forget, folks, that we can only get down one at a time and it takes a round and a half. Not all of us can be down in the pit fighting.

On that note, what order are we going down? It's a 45' drop/climb, right?

As best I can tell, Kenzi is at the bottom. Nil is on the rope and will be on the ground this round or next round. Cass is up next to go on the rope, or may start this round with an Athletics check.

!Ko can get on the rope after Cass, then Sol, Guill, Jack, and finally Greg.

Jack is going ranged, while Greg is holding the rope.

Goblins are jerks, too.

I'm on a mission to correct that image. :)

There's always a conflict between everyone and the drow. Because drow are jerks.