That's...
problematic, at best.
How do they figure to keep them corralled? To keep them from rising up to escape, or rebel/avenge themselves? Given that Sandpoint has no history of slave taking/keeping, they really don't have the infrastructure necessary for this to be much more than an exercise in futility. Has the Deverin character even spoken with his/her family about if they are willing to back this endeavor?
As to efficiency...
No, it really isn't. Basically, they have just turned the Goblins into slaves & the People of Sandpoint into slave holders, without determining beforehand if either party was okay with the idea. The only way to efficiently keep slaves, because that is what the Goblins now are , is by using tactics that can only be described as evil at best.
Honestly, the most efficient efforts for the PC's to pursue would be to either execute them now & take the potential alignment hit of killing helpless prisoners, or try to scare the crap out of them & let them go in the hopes that they will warn the other Goblins in the area that Sandpoint's defenders are too badass to fight against.
Of course, these are all just my opinions.
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That's...
problematic, at best.
How do they figure to keep them corralled? To keep them from rising up to escape, or rebel/avenge themselves? Given that Sandpoint has no history of slave taking/keeping, they really don't have the infrastructure necessary for this to be much more than an exercise in futility. Has the Deverin character even spoken with his/her family about if they are willing to back this endeavor?
As to efficiency...
No, it really isn't. Basically, they have just turned the Goblins into slaves & the People of Sandpoint into slave holders, without determining beforehand if either party was okay with the idea. The only way to efficiently keep slaves, because that is what the Goblins now are , is by using tactics that can only be described as evil at best.
Honestly, the most efficient efforts for the PC's to pursue would be to either execute them now & take the potential alignment hit of killing helpless prisoners, or try to scare the crap out of them & let them go in the hopes that they will warn the other Goblins in the area that Sandpoint's defenders are too badass to fight against.
Of course, these are all just my opinions.
Wholeheartedly agreed.
All I could think of when I read the OP was "My god, that sounds worse than herding cats!" Because cats won't try to to farming implements into weapons, then burn everything around them down to the ground.
And if they figure out how to get their hands on the beer, all bets are completely off.
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I disagree with the above posters. I heartily encourage PC creativity; I love being surprised by complex outcomes like this.
I agree it would be like herding cats, but that makes for excellent RP and problem-solving. Have other goblins lead a counterattack to rescue them. There's all kinds of great stuff that could emerge from this. Hilarious goblin labour disputes; protests from townspeople, etc etc.
It's only a problem if you and the players aren't having fun. If you're laughing and engaged, and comfortable moving forward the plot with this additional thing happening on the side, go for it! These unique improvised deviations from a written scenario is what makes Roleplaying so awesome, in my mind. Don't let the writing limit your imagination; it's meant as a seed to start from.
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I agree with Jason White. It sounds fun, and fun trumps verosimilitude in my opinion. Unless the issue becomes problematic to the plot (like, characters spending too much time with bookeeping stupid stuff such as the amount of crop harvested and whatever), it's a memorable thing.
As a rule of thumb: if something is going to be remembered for a lot of years, it's worth it. Your players will remember forever "that time in that game where we had a farm of goblins. Yesh... that was weird!". They are going to forget any other goblin killed by the time they are lvl 5
(This is Jason White, just changed my name to my usual - Coffee Demon. My first post here!)
Yeah, what is "kosher" is totally dependant on your personal styles at the gaming table. Pathfinder gives an extremely detailed system for skill and combat resolution, but at the end of the day there's still an infinite amount of variation, improvisation, and rules adjustments that can happen at each gaming table. The rules are agreed baselines for a DM and players to work from, and all the rest is where the storytelling happens!
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Also, remember that the real world has prisons for a reason. They're basically places where you put people to be slaves as punishment, because it's better than killing them.
Also, this sounds like a fun time - when the pcs come back to sandpoint, you can have the npcs regale the tale of 'the Goblin Revolt', and you can even
Goblins are interesting, because Pathfinder plays them as comical villians, while in reality, the way they're described makes it very easy for anyone who takes them remotely seriously to make the whole thing very tragic.
Terry Pratchet wrote some very interesting stuff with goblins in it - his goblins are pretty closely related to pathfinder goblins, except with less murder.
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Sounds like a great idea. Or, to be more specific, the player's idea is about the worst I've ever heard, but to run with it and the inevitable chaos, mayhem and fun that will be the result sounds absolutely terrific. Goblins are evil, mischievous, stupid and also likes to make stuff burn. It will all end in a wonderful disaster and lots of fun for all involved (except for the player characters themselves of course, and possibly also Sandpoint).
As soon as the goblins are locked in, in relative safety from natural predators and with a steady supply of food, I would have them multiply like rabbits (evil, sharp-toothed rabbits). There would just in a month or two be an exponential crap-load of the evil little critters, and then they would burst out of their confinements and wreak havoc. As they are wont to do. And I would constantly wage the PC's control actions against their alignments. It's one thing to kill goblins in combat (self-defense) and a whole other issue to mass murder them in cold blood.
I try to DM by the principle of "It's better to show than tell", so when my players come up with something especially harebrained I always try to run with it (as opposed to just shooting it down with a snarky "you cannot do that, it won't work"). And the folly that then plays out almost always creates great gaming moments.
Because cats won't try to to farming implements into weapons, then burn everything around them down to the ground.
True, but that's only because cats lack opposable thumbs. Thank you, evolution.
Let them do it... only to find out how terrible of an idea it is. Goblins eat and multiply and eat some more. Hungry goblins don't do work, and well fed goblins stir up trouble. They bite, scratch, eat, and burn at every chance they get. They even do it to each other. It would cost a fortune to keep these goblins fed and in the end wouldn't get much work out of them no matter how much whipping or bribing is tried.