A wolf in sheep's clothing... [Archive] - Wizards Community

A wolf in sheep's clothing... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Snazzomancer
11-11-07, 02:12 PM Alright, I just joined a new group and have decided to play a hobgoblin rogue (We start at second level). My alignment will probably be lawful or chaotic evil (Leaning to lawful) and I was wondering what kind of in game goals/steps my character would have to take to ensure a long, fun adventuring career.

Notes: I'm not sure what the alignment of other members will be, but they are probably good or neutral. I know there will be a few elves/humans, not sure about other races.
-Interaction w/other common races (Elves, dwarves, etc). Any clever ways to pull off disguises?
-Should I reveal my true identity to the party from the beginning, or save it for later?
-What are some possible things my character could be looking to accomplish as a "vermin"?

Thanks for helping answer any or all of these questions.
-The Snazzomancer

PS:I don't have a name for him either, so that would be nice.
Snazzomancer
11-11-07, 04:27 PM Bump.
Mad_Jack
11-11-07, 09:40 PM I think the thing you need to think about is why he's adventuring.
Hobgoblins as a race are generally lawful evil, or for a rogue possibly neutral evil. As a lawful or neutral evil humanoid, I'd suggest that your motivation for adventuring was either being tossed out of your tribe or deciding that you could advance yourself further and acquire more wealth in human society than at home. Since lawful evil is all about going along with the system and making it work to your best advantage, depending on his Intelligence the character's standard response to any remarks about his race should be along the lines of, "Why, yes, I am a hobgoblin, thank you for noticing... Care for some beef jerky?" Especially as a rogue, be all about proving how trustworthy and non-threatening you are. Shake hands and kiss babies. No matter what you actually name your character, pick a human name to go by, or at least take a human last name if your character doesn't have one. Gurat Elfkiller or Gurat of the Bloody Stump Clan doesn't give quite as much reassurance that you're not going to eat someone's baby as say, Gurat Lightbearer, y'know? If it's close enough to a human-sounding name, maybe you can even get away with claiming that "Gurat" is your language's form of "Garrett" or something like that, and have everyone call you Garrett...
I doubt there's much chance of you hiding your identity from your party since they wouldn't have much reason to let the dark shadowy figure in the hooded cloak hang out with them for too long when they never see your face or hands. Even with a high charisma, there's still not much sense in sinking ungodly amounts of skill points into disguise just so your own party doesn't kill you.
Snazzomancer
11-12-07, 06:37 AM I think the thing you need to think about is why he's adventuring.
I'd suggest that your motivation for adventuring was either being tossed out of your tribe or deciding that you could advance yourself further and acquire more wealth in human society than at home. Since lawful evil is all about going along with the system and making it work to your best advantage, depending on his Intelligence the character's standard response to any remarks about his race should be along the lines of, "Why, yes, I am a hobgoblin, thank you for noticing... Care for some beef jerky?" Especially as a rogue, be all about proving how trustworthy and non-threatening you are. Shake hands and kiss babies. No matter what you actually name your character, pick a human name to go by, or at least take a human last name if your character doesn't have one. Gurat Elfkiller or Gurat of the Bloody Stump Clan doesn't give quite as much reassurance that you're not going to eat someone's baby as say, Gurat Lightbearer, y'know? If it's close enough to a human-sounding name, maybe you can even get away with claiming that "Gurat" is your language's form of "Garrett" or something like that, and have everyone call you Garrett...
I doubt there's much chance of you hiding your identity from your party since they wouldn't have much reason to let the dark shadowy figure in the hooded cloak hang out with them for too long when they never see your face or hands. Even with a high charisma, there's still not much sense in sinking ungodly amounts of skill points into disguise just so your own party doesn't kill you.
Bold #1)I kinda figured this is where I was going
Bold #2)Maybe I wouldn't disguise myself from the party, but I doubt everyone else might be so friendly. I'm not sure if anyone would let me near their dogs if they knew I was a goblin.
KIDS
11-12-07, 12:13 PM At first I got tricked and thought that this was about the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (http://www.headinjurytheater.com/images/d&D%20beasts%20wolf%20in%20sheeps%20clothi ng.jpg) from the 30 Years of Stupid D&D Monsters article. (http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article73.htm)... :eek:

Anyways, Mad-Jack has put up most of the good points. The key isn't in being secretive, it's in fooling everyone. Moreso since it's second level and hats of disguise aren't in abundance, and bluff/diplomacy can still be reasonably optimized.
One thing you need to watch out for is the motivation of your character. If your party deals with dungeons, maps, exploration and treasure and less with "save my son from the lame kobold" plots, that's superb. There's wealth, glory, skill, challenge, and you don't even need to bluff cooperating. However, if the party does holy quests or doesn't ask for any rewards or etc. while you will easily pull off a bluff check to look unfazed by that, your motivation might be getting a dent.
Snazzomancer
11-12-07, 08:18 PM Wow. That's one kooky monster. Anyways, how do I deal with going into towns or other populated areas. My charisma is 14, and since I don't know the party make-up, I may end up being the party face. One-on-one could work w/NPC's, but explaining myself to the townguard without a disguise seems like alot more trouble than it's worth. I also don't want to let on to the party my alignment (At least immeadiately...:evillaugh ). If we have a paladin I don't won't to be around when he uses his evil-dar. We play tommorow so last minute tips would be nice.
Snazzomancer
11-13-07, 08:25 PM Alright, here's a summary of our first session today:Cut a little short do to influx of new players joining (Character Creation)
-DM was caught a bit off guard (Group expanded from 4 or 5 to 8) but we still begin our first adventure
-Background Summary:My rogue has left his original tribe for various reasons (Gold, glory etc). He ends up meeting up with a healer (Another PC, homebrew class) and has been traveling with her for a bit in search of adventure work. The two of us have recently come across a town, along with other PCs there for different reasons
-Moment our characters meet outside the gate, the paldin uses his evil-dar on everyone. From what I hear him whisper to his PC buddy , he picks up my alignment and another character comes up blank.
-After some interaction with towns people, me and the healer quickly find a landowner who has problems w/local hobgoblins. (Suprise, suprise)
-Party begins to devise some plan to ambush the hobgoblins that night. I quickly excuse myself to find the hobgoblins themselves (Midday, so I have lots of time to search).

This isn't the "main" first quest, as the PC who was supposed to introduce us to it left early. I doubt this quest will take terribly long to finish. As for my alignment, the 2 who detected it have been suspicious of me already, along with 2 other new players (Although I've done nothing yet). Otherwise, the Healer has got my back 110% and the two other players don't really care at the moment.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Snazzomancer 11-11-07, 02:12 PM	Alright, I just joined a new group and have decided to play a hobgoblin rogue (We start at second level). My alignment will probably be lawful or chaotic evil (Leaning to lawful) and I was wondering what kind of in game goals/steps my character would have to take to ensure a long, fun adventuring career. Notes: I'm not sure what the alignment of other members will be, but they are probably good or neutral. I know there will be a few elves/humans, not sure about other races. -Interaction w/other common races (Elves, dwarves, etc). Any clever ways to pull off disguises? -Should I reveal my true identity to the party from the beginning, or save it for later? -What are some possible things my character could be looking to accomplish as a "vermin"? Thanks for helping answer any or all of these questions. -The Snazzomancer PS:I don't have a name for him either, so that would be nice.
Snazzomancer 11-11-07, 04:27 PM	Bump.
Mad_Jack 11-11-07, 09:40 PM	I think the thing you need to think about is why he's adventuring. Hobgoblins as a race are generally lawful evil, or for a rogue possibly neutral evil. As a lawful or neutral evil humanoid, I'd suggest that your motivation for adventuring was either being tossed out of your tribe or deciding that you could advance yourself further and acquire more wealth in human society than at home. Since lawful evil is all about going along with the system and making it work to your best advantage, depending on his Intelligence the character's standard response to any remarks about his race should be along the lines of, "Why, yes, I am a hobgoblin, thank you for noticing... Care for some beef jerky?" Especially as a rogue, be all about proving how trustworthy and non-threatening you are. Shake hands and kiss babies. No matter what you actually name your character, pick a human name to go by, or at least take a human last name if your character doesn't have one. Gurat Elfkiller or Gurat of the Bloody Stump Clan doesn't give quite as much reassurance that you're not going to eat someone's baby as say, Gurat Lightbearer, y'know? If it's close enough to a human-sounding name, maybe you can even get away with claiming that "Gurat" is your language's form of "Garrett" or something like that, and have everyone call you Garrett... I doubt there's much chance of you hiding your identity from your party since they wouldn't have much reason to let the dark shadowy figure in the hooded cloak hang out with them for too long when they never see your face or hands. Even with a high charisma, there's still not much sense in sinking ungodly amounts of skill points into disguise just so your own party doesn't kill you.
Snazzomancer 11-12-07, 06:37 AM	I think the thing you need to think about is why he's adventuring. I'd suggest that your motivation for adventuring was either being tossed out of your tribe or deciding that you could advance yourself further and acquire more wealth in human society than at home. Since lawful evil is all about going along with the system and making it work to your best advantage, depending on his Intelligence the character's standard response to any remarks about his race should be along the lines of, "Why, yes, I am a hobgoblin, thank you for noticing... Care for some beef jerky?" Especially as a rogue, be all about proving how trustworthy and non-threatening you are. Shake hands and kiss babies. No matter what you actually name your character, pick a human name to go by, or at least take a human last name if your character doesn't have one. Gurat Elfkiller or Gurat of the Bloody Stump Clan doesn't give quite as much reassurance that you're not going to eat someone's baby as say, Gurat Lightbearer, y'know? If it's close enough to a human-sounding name, maybe you can even get away with claiming that "Gurat" is your language's form of "Garrett" or something like that, and have everyone call you Garrett... I doubt there's much chance of you hiding your identity from your party since they wouldn't have much reason to let the dark shadowy figure in the hooded cloak hang out with them for too long when they never see your face or hands. Even with a high charisma, there's still not much sense in sinking ungodly amounts of skill points into disguise just so your own party doesn't kill you. Bold #1)I kinda figured this is where I was going Bold #2)Maybe I wouldn't disguise myself from the party, but I doubt everyone else might be so friendly. I'm not sure if anyone would let me near their dogs if they knew I was a goblin.
KIDS 11-12-07, 12:13 PM	At first I got tricked and thought that this was about the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (http://www.headinjurytheater.com/images/d&D%20beasts%20wolf%20in%20sheeps%20clothi ng.jpg) from the 30 Years of Stupid D&D Monsters article. (http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article73.htm)... :eek: Anyways, Mad-Jack has put up most of the good points. The key isn't in being secretive, it's in fooling everyone. Moreso since it's second level and hats of disguise aren't in abundance, and bluff/diplomacy can still be reasonably optimized. One thing you need to watch out for is the motivation of your character. If your party deals with dungeons, maps, exploration and treasure and less with "save my son from the lame kobold" plots, that's superb. There's wealth, glory, skill, challenge, and you don't even need to bluff cooperating. However, if the party does holy quests or doesn't ask for any rewards or etc. while you will easily pull off a bluff check to look unfazed by that, your motivation might be getting a dent.
Snazzomancer 11-12-07, 08:18 PM	Wow. That's one kooky monster. Anyways, how do I deal with going into towns or other populated areas. My charisma is 14, and since I don't know the party make-up, I may end up being the party face. One-on-one could work w/NPC's, but explaining myself to the townguard without a disguise seems like alot more trouble than it's worth. I also don't want to let on to the party my alignment (At least immeadiately...:evillaugh ). If we have a paladin I don't won't to be around when he uses his evil-dar. We play tommorow so last minute tips would be nice.
Snazzomancer 11-13-07, 08:25 PM	Alright, here's a summary of our first session today:Cut a little short do to influx of new players joining (Character Creation) -DM was caught a bit off guard (Group expanded from 4 or 5 to 8) but we still begin our first adventure -Background Summary:My rogue has left his original tribe for various reasons (Gold, glory etc). He ends up meeting up with a healer (Another PC, homebrew class) and has been traveling with her for a bit in search of adventure work. The two of us have recently come across a town, along with other PCs there for different reasons -Moment our characters meet outside the gate, the paldin uses his evil-dar on everyone. From what I hear him whisper to his PC buddy , he picks up my alignment and another character comes up blank. -After some interaction with towns people, me and the healer quickly find a landowner who has problems w/local hobgoblins. (Suprise, suprise) -Party begins to devise some plan to ambush the hobgoblins that night. I quickly excuse myself to find the hobgoblins themselves (Midday, so I have lots of time to search). This isn't the "main" first quest, as the PC who was supposed to introduce us to it left early. I doubt this quest will take terribly long to finish. As for my alignment, the 2 who detected it have been suspicious of me already, along with 2 other new players (Although I've done nothing yet). Otherwise, the Healer has got my back 110% and the two other players don't really care at the moment.