Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Zardnaar 09-24-03, 04:46 AM	One of the BBEG in my game is a Hobgoblin. He was raised as a more or less slave buy humans and given an education. He is a Aristocrat15/Fighter4 and is currently engaged in training up the goblinoid legions and finishing off a few dissenting tribes. I've loosly based him off Grand Admiral Thrawn from Star Wars- he has alot of knowledge ranks, leadership feat etc. I imagine him to be decptive, intelligent, and brilliant. He is also in posession of a portal network. The PCs think that he is going to march south next year in summer. Instead he is going to use the portal network to bypass the PCs area of the campaign. In my next session the PCs are going to get captured and taken to him. The PCs are basically scouts for the elves, humans and Dwarves who have heard rumors of a goblin great one uniting the tribes. Severel decimated Orc tribes of refugees are also a problem/clue. Anyway theres a storm brewing and Notas (the Hobgoblin BBEG) has knowledge the PCs want. He is planning on telling them but weaving a deception in with the truth. Basicaly the PCs are pawns. Any one have any ideas for story hooks, or personality traits I can give him? The PCs have also "adopted" a goblin captive- Grud the Mighty (exp1 max ranks and skill focus in fisherman and some ranks in swim, hide, move silently)
Morka 09-25-03, 02:59 PM	I'm not sure to understand all your story... Is the BBEG want to tell them that he get a portal network but pass this for a lie? Or will he tell them that he and his troop will walk south, but in reality they will take the portal network? I have some ideas to develop this: - Grud the Mighty is either a spy for Notas the BBEG (telling all that he learn to a awaken salmon everytime he passes near a river), or he is the descendant of a powerful goblin leader, and in truth he is a real menace to Notas. - The PCs might want to negociate with some orc refugees to organized a guerilla against Notas. Shamans of Luthic might be interested in opportunities to protect their ground at any price. On the other hand, tribes lead by a shaman of Baghtru will want to crush everyone. - Could Notas still be the lieutenant of the human who raised him? This way, there should be another BBEG behind the scene. - Think about a mid-level villain who failed to capture the PC, but gain some ranks in Notas' army because he is creative. This could as well be Grud if you keep my first idea. Edit: More ideas: - Notas should have developed high class tastes: instead of drinking beer and eating fresh meet like most goblins, he should drink Porto & cheese from an exotic land. Since he doesn't want his portal network be discovered, the merchants take the long road. They could be intercepted by the PCs.
Zardnaar 09-26-03, 01:53 AM	Notas wants to keep his portal network a secret. He is gong to capture the PCs and tell them complete lies so they return and report the wrong imformation. While the surrounding nations prepare for invasion his army enters a portal and hit the main human empire from withen. There is a largish nation of orcs nearby with some abyssal bloodlines. They're not organised enough though and they're currently occupying one of the PC Dwarves ancestral home.
Morka 09-26-03, 02:14 PM	Duplicating the Amiral Thrawn fascinate me! However, it is difficult to translate it to the BBEG, since all the informations we have on Amiral Thrawn are interaction between him and his men, which is not available to the PC (unless they are prisonners or spying him - do you have a PC who can scry on the BBEG?). However, here is some other ideas... - There should be a major neutral entity (a tribe of giants, a dragon, a Centaur druid with many animals companions, or some orc refugees...). The PCs try to have this neutral entity fight against Noras, but in time they turn to be WITH Noras. That represent when Thrawn recuperate a lost float under the nose of Skywalker. - The portal network is not completed yet. Noras should need some high level magic user to complete this. An old CN elven archwizard passionnated with portals who past too much time on other planes. (C'Baoth the Mad Jedi). This wizard may want to have the wizard PC as an apprentice. - A LE bodyguard. Each time a soldat need to be corrected, it is the bodyguard who do it. A werelion or wemic could be a good idea here. I would like to play this campaign!
Obi-Wan Quixote 09-26-03, 02:39 PM	A couple things: Refined tastes As an aristocrat of that high a level, Notas is going to have lots of refined tastes. Give him a hobby of some sort along with a maxed-out Knowledge skill. For example, perhaps he collects dragon figurines, fine wines, or ancient orcish weapons. Maybe he likes to hunt and/or falcon. Flunkies Can you take Leadership more than once? In 3.0, IIRC, you could. Give him Leadership two or three times. Some of the excess followers should be his personal retinue. Perhaps a short troglodyte is filing Notas' toes while he talks to the PCs while another, perhaps a really short kobold behind a very large desk, is scribbling notes on a scroll. Limited Appearances Let the PCs encounter Notas once, and only once, toward the beginning of the campaign. After that, they should not encounter him again, but they should sense his hand behind virtually every piece of ill fortune they encounter. Etiquette Notas should be unfailingly polite and urbane. Speak in a high-class British accent. Also, use a cane as a prop. Magnaminity Hobgoblins respect strength, but if they only followed leaders who kill the competition, hobgoblins wouldn't be much of a threat. Notas should have a combination of ruthlessness and mercy that blend into a very pragmatic streak. Does this help at all?
Zardnaar 09-26-03, 04:34 PM	The portal network is complete as its an ancient. Some of the portals no longer work though. Notas has his base of operations in an ancient city and has been digging around in ancient ruins retrieving items of interest. He is a bit short in magical power only having his personal cohort as a level 17 or 18 wizard. He does ave lots of assassins and ranger type special forces though. The PCs have heard rumors of 2 dragons, 1 red and 1 green and have seen a gray/silver one fly over. the ancient race that created the portals is virtually extinct. However the last survivors of that race are have woken up from stasis and are scouting the surrounding land. If he ends up attacking the elven homeland I'm debating on whether or not the Drow would send a trio or so of higher level wizards to help him out. Generally I want to keep them out of it though.