Tartuk Rewritten

[Devacorian]

While perusing the possibilities for rebuilding Tartuk, an idea struck me. So, after considering it for a bit, I've decided to sit down and hash out what this idea would look like. I present to you: Tartuk, the reincarnated druid.

Tartuk's Story:

In my version, Tartuk was not an evil, spite-driven gnome reborn from his people's desire to bring him back. Rather, he was a dwarven druid (reincarnated druid archetype) whose family was murdered by kobolds. He swore vengeance upon the creatures, and came to believe that it was his duty to protect the natural world from the exploitation of all "vicious little beasties." He died while successfully defending a gnome village from a group of marauding goblins. The gnomes gathered to give their protector a proper burial, and were shocked when his body crumbled to a fine dust that blew away on the wind.

Several days later, the druid was reborn in the body of a kobold. He was, at first, completely disgusted with his new form. He looked into his reflection in the pool in which he was reborn and wept—or would have, if kobolds had tear ducts.

But after some contemplation, he realized that this form was not a punishment; rather, it was an opportunity for him to continue his mission. Convinced that, upon his death, he would be reborn in the best form to defeat the evils presented to him.

After some searching, the druid found a tribe of black-scaled kobolds, descended, he was sure, from the wicked black dragon Ithuliak. With his mission first in his mind, he plunged himself into the world of the cruel reptilian devils. In doing so, he uncovered the tool of the wicked creatures' demise: a nearby nest of mites.

With a zealous glee that he could kill two birds with a single stone, the druid took for himself the kobold name Tartuk and set about pitting the kobolds and mites against each other. He cleverly used an old statuette to manipulate the kobolds, then convinced the kobolds that the statuette was stolen by their mite enemies. So began the conflict between the Sootscales and the Sycamore mites.

I wanted a far more morally grey landscape for my Sootscale kobolds. My players have themselves convinced that these kobolds are the exception to the "usually Lawful Evil" paradigm kobolds fall under. To rid them of this illusion, I have decided to play up Chief Sootscale's penchant for LE tyranny and cruelty, while showing that Tartuk is a destabilizing force that drives the tribe away from their LE tendencies.

If the PCs ally themselves to Chief Sootscale, they will have the typical kobold allies the books entail. If they ally themselves to Tartuk, however, he will try to convince them to kill Chief Sootscale and the rest of the tribe with him. This, of course, will push all of their alignments toward Evil. Should they manage to convince him to spare the tribe (a Diplomacy check on their part), they will have kobold allies with an alignment geared toward Lawful Neutral, and with Tartuk as the new chief.

Should the PCs slay Tartuk and ally with Chief Sootscale, he will return to life and swear vengeance upon them, leading to difficulties later on in the campaign. If he is slain along with the rest of the tribe (an act of genocide on the PCs' part), then he will die with thanks on his lips and, when reborn, will trouble the PCs no further. They will hear rumors from their spymaster about monster tribes tearing themselves apart in the area, and may have the chance to track down Tartuk.

[RobRendell]

I like it.

One of the things that gets a bit repetitive in the AP is the "monster tribe with one particular individual who can be removed to fix everything" (Tartuk with the Sootscales, Vesket with the Lizardfolk, arguably Sepoko with the M'botuu boggards)... changing one of those will vary it up a bit.

I also like how you've complicated the situation. The "best outcome" is not as straightforward to achieve as in the vanilla AP.