What to do with the goblin?

[CzarGarrett]

Here's the scenario - in the earliest adventure, the group I am DMing for managed to Charm a random goblin sorcerer (rolled a 1 on the save) and got him to fight along side of them against some of the other goblins. Later on, he started to question why he was fighting the other goblins and the party tied him up while they continued. Nuk-nuk (the goblin sorcerer), then escaped and fled into the night.

I'm thinking of having him come back in some form. However, and I may be overthinking the situation, I have far too many options and rationales, so I need some suggestions to narrow my choices.

The following are the ideas I've come up with:

1. Nuk-nuk swears vengeance and
a) goes forward with sorcery as his means of vengeance
b) forswears magic (as it screwed with his mind) and plays to the strength of goblins, IE, rogue.
c) while surviving in the wild embraces the barbarity of nature and becomes a barbarian.

2. Nuk-nuk realizes that if he fought the PCs he would have died and now he wants to help them by (DMNPC)
a) finding religion and become a cleric
b) needs to use tracking skills to find them again and develops an affinity for the woods and becomes a ranger
c) spends so much time sneaking around that he becomes a full-fledged rogue

3. As #1 above, but Nuk-nuk dies in the process and comes back as some sort of undead.

Like I said, I may be overthinking things, but what would your choice of the options be? Or is there a better option that I'm not thinking of that anyone would care to suggest?

[DJEternalDarkness]

Nuk-Nuk keeps training his sorcery level and takes over a small tribe of other goblins, starting to weed out the weak and unhelpful goblins until he has an elite strike force (GOBOFORCE) who start to track down the PCs.

Or Nuk-Nuk realizes that the PCs were actually nice to him, follows them and becomes kind of a sidekick/helper to the party LOUDLY announcing before each encounter that if the enemies surrender the party treats them well and always has food for them.

I like those honestly. I have used ex-charmed critters to harass my party in the past.

[Asmodeus' Advocate]

I say, Nuk-Nuk is an established sorcerer, having him level up as a sorcerer adds to his immediate recognizability when he returns.

Have him take iron will and improved iron will, as well as learn protection from evil to cast before their fight. I'd also have him assemble a team of mercenaries and people with personal vendettas against the PCs, and have a group of loyal (or charmed) followers collect useful magic items to help kill the PCs, accidently interacting with the party and cryptically foreshadowing Nuk-Nuk's return.

[Kifaru]

Have the goblin show up as a respected citizen in town they end up in.

I have a party that met a party of mid level goblins and mopped the floor with them, but did not kill them.

That was months ago. The party recently passed through a frontier town where the goblins are some of the most prominent citizens. One is the mayor. One is the head priest of the most prominent church. The goblins hold no particular animosity toward the party. It has been fun watching how the party has dealt with the change in station.

[AaronUnicorn]

Asmodeus' Advocate wrote:

...as well as learn protection from evil to cast before their fight.

Wouldn't Protection from Good be a better choice?

[Pillbug Toenibbler]

While on his own, could a (possibly injured,) starving, frightened, and lost Nuk-Nuk have experienced visions convincing him to retrain his sorcerer level(s) away for "barbarian" levels... only to eventually learn that the PCs had set him on his true path as a bloodrager?

[Asmodeus' Advocate]

AaronUnicorn wrote:

Asmodeus' Advocate wrote:

...as well as learn protection from evil to cast before their fight.

Wouldn't Protection from Good be a better choice?

Depends on the party. :P

But yes, my bad.

[Cevah]

Have a BBEG encounter Nuk-nuk following the party at a distance, and convince him to become an informer. Then the BBEG is well informed on party tatics, and generates a near TPK. Nuk-nuk escapes, and the party survives to adventure on.

Repeat once. This time Nuk-nuk seeks out BBEG.

Have party learn the Nuk-nuk is the source of their enemies knowledge.

Repeat one last time, this time Nuk-nuk is the BBEG.

/cevah

[Yomabo]

DJEternalDarkness wrote:

Or Nuk-Nuk realizes that the PCs were actually nice to him, follows them and becomes kind of a sidekick/helper to the party LOUDLY announcing before each encounter that if the enemies surrender the party treats them well and always has food for them.

I can only dream of this idea. Can you imagine how pissed off the rogue in the party would be when trying to be sneaky?!

Anyway, I don't know what level the party is or what kind of bloodline Nuk-Nuk had, but if you go for him being the BBEG in a series of encounters later, I would like to see him taking the Dragon Disciple route and even completely transforming into half a dragon (beyond recognition. Make sure the party doesn't know that he is Nuk-Nuk). Nuk-Nuk now goes under a different name and has hordes of minions under him. Every time he sees the party, he feels this pain inside him for the party to use him against his kin and tying him up while he was just helping the party. Every encounter he keeps mentioning these facts. Every time he almost dies, he escapes and only when the party tells them that they know that he is who he is and tell him they are sorry, he stops being the evil guy. If he knocks the party unconscious than he takes them as prisoners. Making them fight in a goblin camp against other prisoners. If the party asks him why he makes him do that than tie them up (and making it super easy to escape).

When I am DM-ing I like to make the encounters part of the storytelling and always try to make it logical. Rarely I let the answer to a problem or encounter be: "Hit it long enough until it dies." If you use Nuk-Nuk like this the party will get scared of all the other NPC's they have encountered and treated badly. And they will think twice about their actions. Or they will from now on kill all NPC's just to be sure they won't return.