[3.5/Pathfinder] Diary of a low-powered PC

[Ashiel]

Introduction
As mentioned in this post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7964304&postcount=286); I decided to run my younger brother a mini-campaign where he plays an NPC classed character using the non-elite array (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, and 8). The purpose was to play a regular fellow with high hopes and dreams.

This is a thread to detail his (mis-)adventures with his expert; as well as discuss what his character is doing. In the near future he will hopefully be joined by a few other friends of ours on our little foray into low-powered, honest to goodness mundane characters. :smallsmile:

So first let's introduce the character!

Gibby the Goblin
Gibby is a blue goblin outcast. He left his small goblin tribe, being sick of being mistreated, beaten, and generally crapped on for being different. He hates his own goblin culture, and seeks to live amongst the tall-folk and practice his trade of armor-crafting and animal-breeding and training.

Gibby is current residing in the small town of Glendalvine, working odd jobs and trying to decide where to go next, and what to do. While here, he's taking some time to train some police-dogs for the local authorities, and doing some armor crafting and repair-work on the side. Currently sleeping under a small shelter owned by an unlikely friend; a dwarven adept named Grimsby Blackwater who mixes medicines for the town (a simple alchemist).

Statistics and Features
Using the Pathfinder goblins as a reference, we ended up with the following ability adjustments: -2 strength, -2 charisma, +4 dexterity, +2 intelligence; which provides him with a net +2 bonus like the other pathfinder races. Additionally, for being a goblin he gets a +4 racial bonus to Stealth and Ride checks, and sports a 30ft speed.

He has the final ability scores of 6, 14, 9, 13, 11, 10. He's small, quick, and of keen mind; but he's still small and frail. He sports 7 hit points (d8 for expert, -1 constitution); and has the following skill modifiers: Craft (Armor) +7*, Athletics +2, Acrobatics +5, Perception +4, Stealth +13, Handle Animal +6*, and Ride +10. *: Skills marked with an asterisk have a +2 equipment bonus for masterwork tools.

He rolled 12 * 10 gold pieces for his starting gold (3d4*10gp), and made his initial purchase of 2 oxen/bison (20gp trade good animals), and some provisions. He took Animal Cohort as his first level feat, granting him a small dinosaur for a mount (2d8 HD animal, found in the Eberron book, 50ft speed). He trained each of them for hunting/fighting, and crafted them some leather barding; and uses them as pack-animals + attack animals. Humorously, all three of his animals are stronger than him in a fight. Finally, he's wearing some studded leather and carrying a heavy wooden shield (accepting the penalty for non-proficiency).

The Bison (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-lists-and-details/-h/herd-animal/bison) sport impressive stats; both for carrying capacity and combat prowess. It's like having a set of large, brutally efficient, bodyguards. :smallsmile:

First Adventure
Having trained his bison and his striding dinosaur mount, the young Gibby set out on the open road seeking fame, fortune, or just a few friends to travel the road with. What he found was trouble! Not too far from the town of Glendalvine, he spotted a highway robbery in progress. Some eighty feet away after he turned past some trees, he saw a pair of heavily armed orcs who had a human family - a father, mother, and teenage daughter - at their mercy. The orcs had killed their mule, and was likely about to do the same to them or worse. Immediately, little Gibby sprang into action!

(Winning the Initiative!) Gibby ordered his Bison, Bruno and Boris, to trample the orcs. Immediately they were off, with his dino-mount, Longfang, close behind them as they approached. He held his shield high to keep himself safe (move action to order the animals, standard action for a total defense). As quickly as it began, the fight was over as the bison trampled through the orcs like bowling pins; scattering them in different directions!

Riding up on the carnage, Gibby introduced himself to the humans in a small, squeaky voice. The humans weren't immediately welcoming to their goblinoid rescuer. He assured them, in the common tongue, he wouldn't hurt them nor planned to. He checked the orcs and found they had a small bag of platinum pieces between them (17 coins in all). He carefully tied their weapon to his bison, and offered some of the coins to the human family; insisting that he purchase their dead mule for food for his animal cohort. It was a sign of generosity that didn't go unacknowledged. He had the man hook his wagon up to Boris and gave them a lift to Glendalvine...

Upon arriving, the rescued humans vouched for Gibby, telling the guard captain about his valiant heroics. Gibby swore he would bring no trouble to the guards if he could help it, and only wanted to resupply in their town and see if their was work to be done. Glendalvine was a thorp making its way into a hamlet, and it was a growing town. The told him that most people probably wouldn't take well to his being there, let alone bring him business; as there had been a number of goblin raids over the past few months that had left everyone fairly bitter towards goblins.

Gibby was optimistic however, and made for the nearest tavern. The Shady Rest inn. He lightly tied his bison to a nearby pole - setting a bit of a slip knot incase he needed to call them - and told them to stay. He peeked in through the window to see if they allowed animals. He saw an old scruffy dog laying next to the fireplace, and decided it was okay. Stepping off his mount, he walked inside with his faithful companion in tow.

The inn went quiet as Gibby entered. A few people stared, and then a few people called out a few insults. "Get that mangy critter out of here! And the beast too!" he heard someone in the back say. Despite this, he held his tiny head high (relatively), and optimistically looked around the tavern. He eyed a dwarf - the natural enemy of his people - and figured that would be an excellent place to start making friends. :smallamused:

Gibby walked up and greeted the gray-bearded dwarf - somewhere into his third pint - with a big goblin grin. The dwarf looked at him and grumbled. "What in the nine are you doing in this town runt?" he said gripping his mug tightly. Gibby replied he was here to look for a job, and make some friends. The dwarf noted he was barking up the wrong tree. He hated goblins, and let Gibby know it. Gibby promptly agreed with the dwarf. "Goblins suck. They're mean, and they kick you. Screw goblins!" he replied to the dwarf, recalling his abuses at the hands of his normal kinfolk. The response caught the dwarf off guard, and caused him to laugh. Surely, he considered an enemy of goblins a friend, but an enemy that was a goblin?

Realizing that he had the dwarf intrigued, he offered to buy him a few rounds. The dwarf shook his head. Wouldn't be fitting for the dwarf to accept a drink from goblin-kin; so Gibby proposed an alternative. He went to the Bartender - who didn't trust him much either - and asked to buy the bar a few rounds. Almost offended at the prospect, the innkeeper asked where he got his coin, implying to him that it was blood money stolen from decent folks. Gibby responded simply, and without boast, that the money was taken from orcish highwaymen and he was spreading it back to the people. He convinced the barkeep to serve him, and with that he did drop a platinum coin on the counter. The barkeep was surprised, and taken aback. He could have kept the drinks flowing all night with that. Gibby winked and grinned his goblin-grin. He told the barkeep "Thanks for understanding!" and trotted back to his dwarf friend. The waitress brought the rounds, and slid a few to each table. Gibby sat in one of the seats, "Looks like you're not accepting drinks from a goblin, but drinking on the house!".

The old dwarf smiled; still obviously confused. He was beginning to like this little goblin, which made him question the quality of his drink. In the back, a disgruntled voice was heard. "Goblin bastard!" the voice called out. Gibby quickly ducked, as a pint of beer was flung over his head and across the floor. Turning to look, it was the man who insulted him when he entered. "How dare you come into our town and throw your filthy money around like you belong here!?" he demanded to know. Gibby tried to ignore him, and turned his back once more. Suddenly another pint was thrown, as Gibby ducked beneath a nearby table. The angry man exclaimed that filthy goblins killed his brother in one of their resent raids. Burnt his house down too.

Gibby tried to calm the man, and tried playing the - I hate goblins too - card, but it wasn't working. It just seemed to make the man more angry. Enough of the goblins tricks, he thought. He threw another pint from a nearby table at Gibby, who again ducked and rolled away. He stood up and commanded his mount, "Longfang, Pin!" he shouted. The swift creature lunged onto the man and dropped him to the ground, pinning him on the ground. Kicking and screaming the man struggled to little avail. "I'm not here to fight with you big guy. 'Fang, cool it." he called. His little raptor released the man, and went to move away. Angrily the man stood and kicked, only to be tossed to the floor by the creature's tail.

Gibby apologized to everyone for the trouble, and began to leave. "Don't you turn your back on me you little bastard!", the man said, grabbing a wooden plate from his table and throwing it at Gibby like a Frisbee. Gibby blocked it with his shield and shook his head, and told him it was over. The man angrily walked up to Gibby and tried to hit him. Again, Gibby ducked and stepped back quickly. The waitress told him, "Samuel, knock it off! He hasn't done anything wrong and you know it!". Furious she was taking the goblin's side, he raised a hand to slap her. Gibby kicked the man in the butt. "You don't hit a female that's not hitting you!" Gibby shouted. "You little runt!" he fumed, grabbing Gibby by his neck and picking him up. Longfang would have none of that, and grabbed the man by the back of his neck, between his teeth, and slammed the man to the floor. Unconscious and bleeding, Gibby called off his pet. He tried to help the man, but the dwarf walked up and laid his hands on him. "Leave him." he told Gibby; using minor healing magics to stabilize the man. "He asked for it."

Gibby apologized to the barkeep again for the mess and headed outside. Three town guards arrived, having heard fighting in the inn. Gibby told them that those inside could probably explain it better. From there, he sat on the front porch, looking through the window and trying to listen. He saw little more than the guards looking over the wounded man. They spoke with the dwarf, who was describing the scene with his words and his hands; then the waitress added some words, and the barkeep. They asked a few more people around the bar some questions, then hoisted the disgruntled and unconscious patron up and out of the tavern.

The senior guard didn't react harshly to Gibby when he came out of the inn. In fact, he thanked the small goblin. Everyone inside said Gibby could have ended ol' Samuel at any moment, but maintained a lot of restraint. He thanked him for that, and apologized to Gibby for the trouble; and thanked him for saving those travelers on the road, whom he heard about from his captain only a short while ago.

As the dwarf stepped out of the tavern, he spoke to Gibby. "Gibby was it?" the dwarf asked, downing the last of his beer. "Blackwater, Grimsby Blackwater, at your service. I arrived here a few months back, and I've got me a nice little alchemy shop set up. I know my way 'round a forge and was going to set one up, but decided not to bother since the townfolk here have a blacksmith. You can use my open shelter while you're in town. It's cold at night, but it'll keep the rain off." the dwarf kindly offered. Gibby grinned his goblin grin again, and quickly accepted. One friend, and many more to go he thought.

He had just begun his adventure, and already he felt like a hero. :smallsmile:

Adventure Tally
Gibby earned 400 XP for fighting the orcs, and another 200 XP from the bar fight (counting some bonus experience for the social repercussions if he had fought Samuel, putting him at a disadvantage). He earned a small amount of bonus experience for some social encounters, and rescuing the traveling commoners. His total XP award was 800 XP. To keep with the low-powered game theme, we're using the Slow Pathfinder experience chart; so Gibby needs another 2,200XP to reach 2nd level.

My brother says he can't wait! :smallsmile:

Chapter 2: Link (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7987383&postcount=15).

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NSEFc7T7g7I/RjNvgs-oFiI/AAAAAAAAALk/m8X2oTkqS-M/s400/Goblins.jpg

[Starbuck_II]

The big guys are with me using animals build, I see?

Having animals fight for you definately helps especially as an NPC. Very smart.

[Steelblood]

Where did you find the Animal Cohort feat?

[Ashiel]

Where did you find the Animal Cohort feat?

The animal cohort feat is available from the WotC site as a web-enhancement. You can find the article set here (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118x) as part of the Random Encounters line. The specific feat is available here: Wild Cohort (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a).

Wonderful feat, and a favorite of my little brother. :smallsmile:

EDIT: Also highly appreciated by one of my barbarian players in my tabletop games. He had his character take the feats mentioned in those articles for sharing Rage/Frenzy with his mount. We had a game that went from 1st to 25th level, where he and his mount would both go completely berserk; increase in size (magic tattoos), and do crazy charging stuff. :smallamused:

[Steelblood]

Excellent, thank you.

[Ashiel]

The big guys are with me using animals build, I see?

Having animals fight for you definately helps especially as an NPC. Very smart.

Very true. Humorously in the thread that spawned the game idea, I mentioned that simple riding dogs were better than low-point buy fighters. My little brother took it a step further, and just trained some bison to act as his super-brutes. They're faster, more heavily armored, stronger, and more durable. He rides on his mount, uses his move action to order his animals around, and uses a total defense action to try to out-last opponents.

In the 1st - 25th level game, he began as a kobold sorcerer with handle animal. He kept a small pack of riding dogs (about 3-4 plus an animal cohort riding dog) who he equipped with basic armors and such. They were incredibly strong right up through about 5th level, and even then they were a great annoyance. He later found an elephant at a dock bazaar and purchased it on the spot, and trained it to be his new war-elephant mount. :smallsmile:

Later he trained a few dire badgers to create tunnels spanning miles and miles in only a few weeks; with workers following them in their tunnels and re-enforcing and bricking the walls of the tunnels. He created an underground trade route between towns allied with his home-made population center. :smallamused:

[Ashiel]

Excellent, thank you.

You're very welcome. :smallsmile:

[Starbuck_II]

Total Defensive unless Pathfinder changed things isn't a standard action (it is your total action: full attack action).

[Beelzebub1111]

So, what's the little grot doing when he levels up? Will he eventually be able to take levels in PC classes?

[Ashiel]

Total Defensive unless Pathfinder changed things isn't a standard action (it is your total action: full attack action).

Actually, nope. Total defense is a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks. Actions in Combat. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsincombat.htm).


So, what's the little grot doing when he levels up? Will he eventually be able to take levels in PC classes?

Pretty sure he'll just be taking NPC classes, to keep within spirit of playing an average Joe type character. He'll get stat bumps, be allowed to purchase equipment, and pick up feats. Otherwise, pretty much just Adept, Aristocrat, Expert, and Warrior. :smallsmile:

[Beelzebub1111]

Actually, nope. Total defense is a standard action that Pretty sure he'll just be taking NPC classes, to keep within spirit of playing an average Joe type character. He'll get stat bumps, be allowed to purchase equipment, and pick up feats. Otherwise, pretty much just Adept, Aristocrat, Expert, and Warrior. :smallsmile:
Is there a psionic npc class? since he is a blue and all...

[Ashiel]

Is there a psionic npc class? since he is a blue and all...

Nope, not really. Unless I was to homebrew an adept-styled psionic class. He was just a blue goblin 'cause they're cool, and they're usually mistreated by their superstitious kinfolk. The intelligence bump helped a bit, but in Pathfinder he could have gotten that playing a human or half-elf (and more skill points to boot). It was just what he wanted to do. :smallsmile:

[Eldariel]

Actually, nope. Total defense is a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks. Actions in Combat. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsincombat.htm).

This is pretty darn useful for all characters with Uncanny Dodge; whenever in hostile territory, you can just move at half-speed maintaining Full Defense all the time and if you ever get surprised, you'll have a hefty AC bonus (+8 with 15 ranks in Tumble; it's also a Dodge-bonus so you get it to Touch AC too).

Of course, without Uncanny Dodge, that bonus gets eaten by flat-footedness and thus it's no use, but this is especially useful for e.g. Rogues and Barbarians.


Oh, and this should be amusing. Reminds me of that Commoner-diary over at WoTC.

[Ashiel]

This is pretty darn useful for all characters with Uncanny Dodge; whenever in hostile territory, you can just move at half-speed maintaining Full Defense all the time and if you ever get surprised, you'll have a hefty AC bonus (+8 with 15 ranks in Tumble; it's also a Dodge-bonus so you get it to Touch AC too).

Of course, without Uncanny Dodge, that bonus gets eaten by flat-footedness and thus it's no use, but this is especially useful for e.g. Rogues and Barbarians.


Oh, and this should be amusing. Reminds me of that Commoner-diary over at WoTC.
Agreed. Total defense is a very good action in combat and out of it. If you're riding on a mount, there's likely little reason not to be using it if you're not planning on attacking anyone. Rogues and barbarians walking along are, as you've noticed, doubly aided by its awesomeness. :smallsmile:

[Ashiel]

Diary Chapter 2: It's a Dirty Job, But Someone Has to Do it!
When we last left our little hero, Gibby the Goblin expert, he had just gained acceptance as a resident of the small hamlet of Glendalvine. He had been working odd jobs and training police dogs for the local guard station. After about a month and a half of working hard, Gibby was presented with his next adventure.

As he was working on a new set of chain-mail lined belts to put up for sale in his little open-roomed shop, Gibby noticed a wounded human rider entering the town on a fast moving horse. The man had an arrow lodged in one of his shoulders and was carrying a large parchment scroll. A crowd formed around this man almost immediately; and Gibby was intrigued.

Gibby made his way to the crowd but couldn't see above or around the many humans blocking his way. Try as he might to squeeze through, no one was paying attention or budging. Quickly he decided to slip underneath them. Skipping between their legs and under their feet with each step, he slipped to the other side of the crowd before fixing his hair and clothing (tumble check DC 15).

Gibby stood in awe as the man called out to the people. The Redeye orc clan was on the move from the southwest. The season's heavy rains had pushed herds of wild animals further away than usual, and the orcs were preparing raiding parties to make up for the lost food and resources. They needed someone to deliver this message to captain Serina Renald of the Sapphire Guard in the city of Grandal; across the northwestern hills and crags. The route was dangerous, and everyone knew that dangerous creatures like giants lurked in that region. No one would dare go there...

Except Gibby. Gibby pulled and tugged at the horse's blanket as the rider attempted to call upon the people to carry the message onward. He barely noticed Gibby; until Gibby whistled for his dino-mount. With the whistle, a small raptor-like lizard leaped over the crowd and next to Gibby; demanding everyone's attention. "I will take the message!" he exclaimed. Everyone was stunned. The rider questioned Gibby's ability to do so. Gibby proclaimed that he was fast, clever, and most of all - available. With little choice, the man handed him the scroll and a map to the city. It would take three days to journey there on the back of a swift horse - four days for Gibby and his mount and oxen.

Gibby nodded, and packed the scroll into his backpack - still visible behind his pointed goblin ears. He quickly went to prepare. The whole town was speaking of the brave little goblin's reckless goal; with mixtures of reverence, respect, and pity to his foolishness. As Gibby was saddling up the rest of his traveling gear - some food, rope, pots of oil, pots of water, a grappling hook (just in case) and a lot of chalk (again, just in case) - his friend Grimsby Blackwater approached him.

"Gibby..." he asked. "Why are ye doin' this lad?" the dwarf asked. He had grown father fond of Gibby in the past month and a half. Never met a goblin like him before, and likely wouldn't again. "We can just evade the orcs. We're a small community. We can rebuild. Y'donna have t' throw your life away. Why you Gibby? Why not some adventuring hero?"

Gibby shook his head. He explained that you can't just wait around for adventuring heroes. Glendalvine was now his home; and Gibby wasn't about to stand around as orcs ravaged it in their path to greener pastures. Blackwater clenched his teeth. "You're a damn fool then, goin' off to be a hero. Why you Gibby? Why should you go? Why should you risk your life when no one else will!?" his friend demanded.

Gibby nodded and climbed up onto his swift-strider. "It's like you said. No one else will.", as he pulled a small wide-brimmed hat from his saddle and placed it on his head - with his little goblin eyes gleaming red from beneath the shade. Grimbsy couldn't talk him out of going. Truly, his respect for Gibby's bravery wouldn't have let him at this point. Grim handed Gibby a potion vial. "Here, Gibby. Take this. You might need it, and I'm not gonna feel guilty if you get yourself killed out there in those hills." he said.

Gibby nodded. "Thanks Grim." he added, then led his war-bison and war-strider off into the distance. That was the last Grim thought he would see of the little fellow. Two days into the trip, Gibby caught sight of an orc scouting party. Three orcs, armed with bows and axes, were being accompanied by a large axe-wielding ogre. Both the orcs and Gibby saw each other immediately. "Urhak gosh nukol!" the orc called out from atop a hill in the distance. Gibby understood the orc, having heard orcish spoken within his goblin tribe elder circle most of his life. The orc was asking who he was, and what he was doing out here in human lands.

Gibby told them he was traveling. On a spiritual journey away from his goblin-kin. The orcs didn't care much about him, but demanded his oxen and the equipment he was carrying in exchange for letting him live. Gibby laughed at them and told 'em to shove it. With that, the orcs fired three arrows at him, peppering his wooden shield with them like decorative pieces. The ogre began charging from the distance, screaming in a combination of Giant and Orc. Gibby recognized the hungry look in as the ogre eyed his bison, and made out the one orc word he grunted as he charged. "MEAT!"

Gibb spurred his strider towards a nearby hill-cropping, pulling behind it to evade the arrows (total defense + cover). He figured he'd give the ogre a bit of what he was looking for. The commanded bison to spring into a charge and trample the ogre. The ogre slammed his axe into one of the Bison as the two began charging through him; but to little avail. The ogre was thrown to the ground and crushed under the might of the rampaging bison. As the bison charged the orcs, all three scattered. Gibby burst from his hiding place and sent one bison after an orc each, and he ran the third down.

After a bloody dispatching, Gibby tied ropes to the corpses of the orcs and the ogre and drug them up onto his bison. Their gear, and their bodies. He would claim both of them. For the most part, it looked like his trip was going to be an easy one.

That was until the morning of the fourth day. He was almost out of the rocky hilltops, but the smell of carrion flesh had attracted unwanted attention. Gibby noticed a huge shadow circling his position as he came into the valley. Looking up, he was caught off guard as a huge Wyvern swooped down and sunk its talons into his strider; throwing it to the ground bleeding and limp. Gibby ducked under his shield and screamed for the bulls to help him. Each of them began taking turns slamming into the Wyvern; preventing the beast from taking to the air.

The wyvern was ferocious. Gibby knew he would likely die. He had heard stories of Wyverns and they killed and ate adventurers and heroes for breakfast. He turtled beneath his shield and kept commanding his bison and prayed for the best. The wyvern was hellishly brutal as it tore one of his bison to pieces. Barely standing, the wounded bison gored the wyvern hard, and the other bison pinned it between the two. It was only about eighteen seconds that felt like a lifetime. The wyvern slashed and ripped violently at both of them, but the armor Gibby made for his beasts held out. Gibby's shield...didn't.

The wyvern's tail crashed into Gibby and pieced the shield like a sledgehammer with a rail-spike. The stinger stabbed through the goblin's arm, but passed strait through. Deadly poison spurted from the other side of the stinger, barely missing Gibby's veins as he ripped it back from the wounded goblin. (Gibby barely made the DC 17 fortitude save with a roll of 18 -1. Gibby suffered 6 out of 7 damage, leaving him at 1 hit point.)

Somehow, miraculously, the bulls gored the great beast down, and crushed its bones beneath their hooves and horns. As the dust settled, the broken and maimed bulls and Gibby were alive. Barely, but they were alive. His steed was nearing death quickly. Gibby couldn't bare to let his companion die. He pulled the potion Grimsby gave him, and with his still wounded arm, poured the potion into the mouth of his dinosaur companion. The potions magic restored his life; but he would be out for some time before he would be able to stand again. Gibby carefully tied his trusty steed to his bison. He wouldn't leave him behind.

Some hours later, Gibby arrived at the city bearing a white flag upon a stick. In his strong arm, he held the scroll as he rode towards the city on the back of his bison. The city guards looked over the wall and readied their arrows in caution. Gibby called to them in common. "Don't shoot!" he cried, declaring he had a message for them. A large half-giant met him at the gate. He could barely believe his eyes as the tiny goblin, battered and beaten, dismounted his bison and proudly delivered the message. Even harder to believe was the orc and ogre soldiers, and harder still, the wyvern he had tied to his bison and had drug her on the way. "Rest, food...sleep." Gibby muttered. "Captain first...Renald." he panted.

Some time later, Gibby was out of armor and sitting in a cozy keep next to a fireplace as his mount lay next to him on a large cousin. The local adepts had tended to his wounds, and bandaged his arm. Sarina Renolds, the half-giant captain of the Sapphire Guard sat at a table near him. She still could barely believe his heroism, and dumb luck. "I guess we owe you a debt of thanks. With this warning, we'll have soldiers on route to intercept the orc raiders before they get to any of the outlying villages. We owe you more than I've been authorized to reward you; but you have my thanks at the least. If I may ask, small one...why did you of all people come out here?" she asked.

Gibby leaned up from his pillow next to the fire. "Eh...Glendalvine is my home. I've never had a home where people liked me. Where I come from, if you're like me, you get kicked around a lot. Also...if I didn't, who would?" Gibby asked. Sarina smirked and placed a bag of gems on the table next to her. "Well, Master Gibby..." she said standing to return to her duties. "Where I come from, people who risk their lives for the sake of others...well we call them heroes." she said with a smile, before heading out the door. Gibby turned back to look at the fireplace. The warm glow comforted him. Something told him he might hear more of that word, and that his adventures were not yet at an end.

Adventure Tally
Gibby banked in combat in this one. While his bison almost assured his victory against the orcs and goblins, the Wyvern was far above his abilities to handle. If he had been at all smart, he would have let the Wyvern have his mount and ran off with his oxen behind him - but heroes aren't known for being smart are they? :smallwink:

Gibby earned enough experience to put him at about 4600XP. Using the slow XP chart for Pathfinder, that brings him to Expert Level 2. Now Gibby and his mounts are recovering from their journey, and resting. Being paid in a back of gems worth about 200 gold, he's quickly becoming one of the richest common-folk for a few miles at least. What adventures will Gibby be faced with next? And will Gibby ever meet some new companions? (IE - More players scheduled for the game!? :smallbiggrin:)

Find out next time on Dra...err, Diary of a low-powered PC (Z)!

[Greymane]

I gotta say: Thanks for sharing!

I've thoroughly enjoyed the installments so far, great RPing on the part of the player, and excellent story-telling by the GM. I've always had a soft-spot for adventures where everyone has an NPC class. It somehow made the adventures more real, harrowing and above all.... realistic?

Well, as realistic as a world with elves, wizards and demons can seem anyhow. :smalltongue:

I look forward to reading more!

I can't believe he survived the Wyvern. Specializing in the Handle Animal skill is simply amazing for NPCs!

[Ashiel]

I gotta say: Thanks for sharing!

I've thoroughly enjoyed the installments so far, great RPing on the part of the player, and excellent story-telling by the GM. I've always had a soft-spot for adventures where everyone has an NPC class. It somehow made the adventures more real, harrowing and above all.... realistic?

Well, as realistic as a world with elves, wizards and demons can seem anyhow. :smalltongue:

I look forward to reading more!

I can't believe he survived the Wyvern. Specializing in the Handle Animal skill is simply amazing for NPCs!

Agreed. Truthfully, I expected that he had a few options for escaping the critter. I mean, if he left his pet, the wyvern would have flown off with it. If he had attempted to grab, run, and drop some of the orc or ogre bodies, then the wyvern might have just eaten them instead.

Nope, he decides to go down swinging! Bison flank the wyvern and begin pounding for 2d6+12 gore damage. The Wyvern gets a few unlucky shots in, and somehow the AC 19 bisons manage to pull through with 1 and 4 hp left in the fight, and Gibby at a massive 1 hp as well. Normally my wyverns are pretty nasty; usually following a dive --> talon x2 hit --> grapple --> fly away, but he managed to stop him from doing that. Somehow he managed to miss with his tail every time 'cept when he attacked Gibby. :smalleek:

I love my little brother's NPC-PC. :smallbiggrin:

Also, I'm very happy you've been enjoying it. I plan to keep updating the thread whenever we run a new game. :smallsmile:

[XiaoTie]

Gibby is one helluva nice guy!

Hope you have some more awesome gaming sessions with your younger brother to share with us :D

[Ashiel]

Gibby is one helluva nice guy!

Hope you have some more awesome gaming sessions with your younger brother to share with us :D

Yeah man. When my lil' bro was like 4 or 5 (I have difficulty recalling at this point), he played in his first game of D&D. He was a fighter named Wallace Vantiel. He was your classic knightly character. He had a sword, a shield, a horse, a lance, and a will to kick some evil buttocks. He was the guy who would slay him some ogre from charging horseback, leap from his steed and engage the ogre's goblin goons, and then turn around and donate his money to the needy. He was the sort of hero who protected people because he could, and gave children rides on his warhorse around town; or gave a few hundred gold to help out an old widow with her finances.

He was in fact so unbelievably awesome and so generous, I decided to let him know exactly how much good all of his deeds were doing. I had the small hamlet steadily upgrade in wealth, community, and such. He slowly began making the small town he was protecting and helping into a Lawful Good paradise. Since he gave all his money away to those in need, the community would return him level appropriate gifts like new weapons, armor, magic enhancements, potions, and so forth.

In fact, I view his character - who was so innocently played by a small child - to be the pinnacle of what I believe a great D&D hero could be. I cannot help but be saddened to see Paladin-types be abused by people four times his age (at the time) and older. :smallfrown:

Last year we had a tabletop game that went from 1st to 25th level where he had created a kobold sorcerer lich. He has a hard time explaining his concepts (he's not that great at verbalizing his thoughts, being a kid), but his character was by far the coolest of the group. He was a kobold sorcerer (which commanded respect in his community who placed such gifted kobolds in a position of nobility) who wanted better things for his people (the non-magic kobolds were sub-class and downtrodden, and they warred with almost everyone - especially surface dwellers). He had some radical ideas, and was thrown out of his community into the cold winter mountains; where he was almost eaten by a wild dog. Found by the party's tiefling wizard (who was used to being a bit of an outcast herself), wrapped the little kobold up and offered the first kindness he would see from a top-worlder.

Some-time later (around 5th-6th level, especially when he took leadership) he built a small community that was a mixture of above and below ground housing, where he could start a community of kobolds and reptilian races like lizardfolk and troglodytes, and anyone else who wanted to live their (it was mostly for the more open minded tribal races; but he was equal opportunity :smalltongue:). I let him have double the normal followers since he didn't want a cohort from leadership.

At mid levels he longed for a way to take care of his people better, and begain the path to Lichdom. He became a very powerful immortal undead lich. It was then he returned to his original community that cast them out and delivered a "let my people go" speech. He had surpassed the kobolds who kicked him out and now liberated his old non-magical friends. However, the high-class kobolds and kobold priests declared him a heretic and fought to the death to keep things the way they were. After the aftermath, he realized that as long as the god of kobolds pushed hatred for the other races, his people would be doomed to backslide into their petty subjugated and spiteful state.

So what does he do? He decides the only logical conclusion would be to attain enough knowledge and power to seek their god out and challenge him for the right to lead his people. How freaking awesome is that!? :smalleek:

So at around 25th level, the party was actually in the process of trying to stop a conspiracy between several evil gods. They were seeking to travel to the first plane and discover the highest god and petition for a divine rank so they could directly intervene against the actions of the conspiring lesser gods; which would also have ended up with little Itriski (pronounced like It's risky spoken fast) facing off against the god of his species in a showdown for the future of their people.

Unfortunately the game was put on hiatus due to scheduling issues with some of the players, and we haven't bothered to restart the game...

But yeah, we'll definitely doing another game with Gibby; and I will post the overview of when we're done. :smallsmile:

[XiaoTie]

Now not only Gibby, but your brother (and yourself, for DMing such awesome games) seems to be one helluva nice guy :D

[The Dark Fiddler]

Dang... your brother makes good characters. How old is he now?

I have to say, I shall be following this as it combines two campaigns I've wanted to do for a while (playing as an NPC class and playing as one of the less 'civilized' races).

[Beelzebub1111]

If only my co-players could see how much fun it is to be good.

[AtwasAwamps]

If only my co-players could see how much fun it is to be good.

Tell me about it. I have a deepset need for heroic storytelling and RP, even if its a little dark. Just because you're not a nice person doesn't mean you're not a good person...and vice versa.

Meanwhile, I think the rest of the group I play in just wants to smash people.

Your brother is awesome, OP.

[The Dark Fiddler]

If only my co-players could see how much fun it is to be good.

Tell me about it as well. The campaign my group is playing right now (near ending actually) was very much annoying for me. The characters were:

Elven/Homebrewed Template for part robot Rogue/Assassin: Evil to the extreme, killing for the fun of it.
Human Crusader/Homebrewed PrC: Also evil, but less so.
Human Paladin/Blackguard: Evil to the point of insanity.
Human Ranger: Good with a violent streak... until he got mindraped, now also evil to the point of insanity.
Warforged Warblade/Eternal Blade (DM allowed, my character): Tried to be good, but ended up not participating in half the quests... and inadvertently creating an artifact soul-stealing EVIL sword.

And then in the campaign before that, my campaign, the Paladin made morally questionable choices, the Crusader slaughtered people without question, the Barbarian (same player as the Blackguard up there) was probably the only not-completely evil character but only because he kept trying to convince people to invest in his new invention, the stock market, and the Wizard who ended up turning on the rest of the party with a Prismatic Spray.

I seem to be the only person who is willing to roleplay anything not dedicated to killing anything that moves. I've accepted this unfortunate fact, but sometimes I still wish I could play in a game where we were actual knights in shining armor. I tell you what, I'd love to play with Ashiel's brother, especially his character from back when he was 4/5.

[Darklord Xavez]

I'll have to say, Ashiel, that is the best campaign I have ever heard of. EVER. I think your brother is a good player, because he doesn't believe in the hack-and-slay style of 3.5. Give him a pat on the back from me, and give yourself one too.
-Xavez

[Darklord Xavez]

Nope, not really. Unless I was to homebrew an adept-styled psionic class. He was just a blue goblin 'cause they're cool, and they're usually mistreated by their superstitious kinfolk. The intelligence bump helped a bit, but in Pathfinder he could have gotten that playing a human or half-elf (and more skill points to boot). It was just what he wanted to do. :smallsmile:
That brother of yours is a very good player compared to my friends. They are a group of power gamers who don't know how to roleplay and feel no need for a healer in the party, so I always have to play the cleric (I just switched to an arcane spellcaster recently, let's see how they feel). Your brother, on the other hand, chooses a race based on what he wants to be, not on how powerful it is. Give him another pat on the back.
-Xavez

[Ashiel]

Now not only Gibby, but your brother (and yourself, for DMing such awesome games) seems to be one helluva nice guy :D
Aww thank you XiaoTie. :smallsmile:


Dang... your brother makes good characters. How old is he now?
I have to say, I shall be following this as it combines two campaigns I've wanted to do for a while (playing as an NPC class and playing as one of the less 'civilized' races).
He's 11 years old currently. :smallredface:

If only my co-players could see how much fun it is to be good.
Your brother is awesome, OP.
I'll have to say, Ashiel, that is the best campaign I have ever heard of. EVER. I think your brother is a good player, because he doesn't believe in the hack-and-slay style of 3.5. Give him a pat on the back from me, and give yourself one too.
-Xavez
That brother of yours is a very good player compared to my friends. They are a group of power gamers who don't know how to roleplay and feel no need for a healer in the party, so I always have to play the cleric. Your brother, on the other hand, chooses a race based on what he wants to be, not on how powerful it is. Give him another pat on the back.
-Xavez

Thank you everyone. Yeah, me and my little brother are buddies. I try to be a good role-model for him. He doesn't much care what sort of character he's playing; though he prefers kobolds, goblins, orcs, and he once played a hobgoblin cleric themed for being a death-knight type undead leader; as he's really big on the whole animate dead shtick.


It's worth noting that in our games we still use the 3.0 rule that all mindless or non-sentient creatures are automatically Neutral (so skeletons and zombies aren't evil, and casting animate dead isn't either). Anything that is inherently evil (such as certain undead and mindless devils and such) simply possesses the Evil subtype (which both represents their inherently evil nature + makes them mechanically evil). This keeps things cleaner both in role-playing and mechanics. We prefer to let a character decide if their actions will be used for good or evil, not the actions themselves (IE - you could cast animate dead to call forth the fallen champions of your god to hold the line of approaching orc raiders, so that a village could evacuate - or your could use it to dominate the nearby countryside as an iron fisted tyrant).

I wouldn't get us wrong though. We're probably pretty heavy power-gamers. My players usually ask for advice on how to optimize stuff all the time; and we like crunchin' some numbers - but it's all in just representing a character we have contrived. The campaign that reached level 25 was probably "unhinged" compared to most peoples'. The group pulled out lots of off the wall tricks and crazy stunts (the tiefling wizard gnabbed the whole party +5 inherent bonuses to all their scores by making the Aladdin's Deal of wishing on their behalf).

Random Bits from our 1-25 Game

Itriski and Sorn (the party's Abjurer/Evoker themed wizard) got together and built a big air-ship the party could ride on (manned by a crew of kobold followers). I don't think there was a single encounter that went by that didn't involve Itriski polymorphing into some sort of dragon once he got Polymorph (he really loved turning into black dragons 'cause they look so cool). :smalltongue:

I think the part that makes it so enjoyable is no-one really cares how powerful someone else is (except one friend of ours, but he's really competitive with D&D for some reason, and he also doesn't come over much due to work schedule and what-not). By 20th level, the barbarian in the party could 1-shot anything but the great red and gold wyrms in the monster manual; and the Tiefling collected flesh to stone statues of the damnedest things; and the party's other wizard could melt a field of Terrasques; Itriski was an immortal lich kobold whose phylactery was essentially untouchable and was turned into a dragon half the time; and the party's Shugenja felt like he ruled the world with how fast he could heal everyone in the party (in their climactic 20th level battle at the end of a campaign arc, the Shugenja cast Mass Heal at least six times, healing no less than the entire party and a boat-load of giant summoned monsters, and was the reason the party wasn't torn to pieces).

Despite literally being god-like paragons of everything they did, no one bothered with trying to kill each other, and they tended to look at things in terms of in character goals. Itriski loved building relationships with other communities and his kobold's paradise; Sorn wanted to build an arcane academy. Tarasha (the tiefling wizard/malconvoker) found a place she belonged with her friends for the first time. The barbarian championed the revolution of an oppressed people; and so on.

It was never "Hey look what I can do 'cause I'm cooler". One of the most colorful encounters was when a group of evil wizards had balors (yep, Balors) bound to serve them as guards; wielding giant flaming vorpal glaives no less (greatswords are too usual :smalltongue:). When Sorn the wizard stepped up and reduced all of the balor and a large portion of the tower they were fighting in to pool of goo; half the party looked at him and the barbarian said "Wow...that was awesome!! Can you do that again!?" - "Only got one more of that one, and we'd best get to the bottom of this tower before I need to use it too!". The party later encountered a big custom demon who the wizard cult had just finished bringing into the world. That fight went on for at good long time, and had the spell-casters sweating it. It pretty much personified the type of support everyone gave each other throughout the game, only in combat form.

The party was ultimately out-matched by the fiend. He was massive and heavily resistant to magic (high outsider HD coupled with a HD based spell resistance meant amazing saves and a tough SR), and sported a healthy amount of DR, Fast Healing 100 (IIRC), a number of quickened spell-like abilities, at least 4-5 natural attacks which were brutal, and a variety of dirty tricks. The party was having quite the time with him. One of them tossed the barbarian a +1 life-drinking axe they found much earlier in the game (and thought it was interesting enough that they would keep it), and the Shugenja cast death ward on the barbarian; who then frenzied into the demon. After several rounds (the barbarian had difficulties hitting the demon's high AC and wasn't getting his mounted charging damage on) of level 7-8 summoned monsters, mass heal after heal, party buff and support, the kobold sorcerer jumps on the fiend in dragon form. The barbarian calls to the spellcasters to get ready to drop this puppy! He pops a blade cascade (having taken a pinch of warblade) and slams the fiend for no less than about 14 negative levels, and the three spellcasters hit the fiend with a triple-readied-action Flesh to Stone + Super Acidic Damage Spell of Doom + Banishment (which thanks to the -14 levels managed to all pierce his SR and saving throws).

That's the kind of teamwork them guys use.


Tell me about it as well. The campaign my group is playing right now (near ending actually) was very much annoying for me. The characters were:

Elven/Homebrewed Template for part robot Rogue/Assassin: Evil to the extreme, killing for the fun of it.
Human Crusader/Homebrewed PrC: Also evil, but less so.
Human Paladin/Blackguard: Evil to the point of insanity.
Human Ranger: Good with a violent streak... until he got mindraped, now also evil to the point of insanity.
Warforged Warblade/Eternal Blade (DM allowed, my character): Tried to be good, but ended up not participating in half the quests... and inadvertently creating an artifact soul-stealing EVIL sword.

And then in the campaign before that, my campaign, the Paladin made morally questionable choices, the Crusader slaughtered people without question, the Barbarian (same player as the Blackguard up there) was probably the only not-completely evil character but only because he kept trying to convince people to invest in his new invention, the stock market, and the Wizard who ended up turning on the rest of the party with a Prismatic Spray.

I seem to be the only person who is willing to roleplay anything not dedicated to killing anything that moves. I've accepted this unfortunate fact, but sometimes I still wish I could play in a game where we were actual knights in shining armor. I tell you what, I'd love to play with Ashiel's brother, especially his character from back when he was 4/5.

Heh, I hear you. It gets kind of annoying when anyone (let alone everyone) is playing some sort of insane psychopathic evil for no apparent reason. Rarely is the cool evil like the wizened lich or the Darth Sidius types the kind players tend to play. My personal pet peeve is also the players who always declare their character's neutral (or some variation thereof) because they think it somehow means it's socially acceptable to act clinically insane. :smalltongue:

Maybe I should start up an OpenRPG game for some people on Giantitp if I can find the time. It'd be fun to play with everyone sometime. :smallsmile:

[Darklord Xavez]

Thank you everyone. Yeah, me and my little brother are buddies. I try to be a good role-model for him. He doesn't much care what sort of character he's playing; though he prefers kobolds, goblins, orcs, and he once played a hobgoblin cleric themed for being a death-knight type undead leader; as he's really big on the whole animate dead shtick.

Heh, I hear you. It gets kind of annoying when anyone (let alone everyone) is playing some sort of insane psychopathic evil for no apparent reason. Rarely is the cool evil like the wizened lich or the Darth Sidius types the kind players tend to play. My personal pet peeve is also the players who always declare their character's neutral (or some variation thereof) because they think it somehow means it's socially acceptable to act clinically insane. :smalltongue:

Maybe I should start up an OpenRPG game for some people on Giantitp if I can find the time. It'd be fun to play with everyone sometime. :smallsmile:
About the last part: I like to play evil characters, but I always give them a reason to be that way. My current character's parents were killed by a group of paladins who thought that they were using evil magic and dealing with devils (they weren't). Thus, my character will hit almost any paladin he sees with a lightning bolt.
Anyways, back on track. I am currently hoping that chapter 3 will be coming soon, because I am addicted to this thread. It has inspired me to run a similar campaign with the group I described so that they can't just hack their way through every encounter. Thank you for this thread.
-Xavez
P.S. Give your brother a third pat for me.

[Ashiel]

About the last part: I like to play evil characters, but I always give them a reason to be that way. My current character's parents were killed by a group of paladins who thought that they were using evil magic and dealing with devils (they weren't). Thus, my character will hit almost any paladin he sees with a lightning bolt.
Anyways, back on track. I am currently hoping that chapter 3 will be coming soon, because I am addicted to this thread. It has inspired me to run a similar campaign with the group I described so that they can't just hack their way through every encounter. Thank you for this thread.
-Xavez
P.S. Give your brother a third pat for me.

He's got a lot of pats coming to him I think. :smallsmile:
That sounds like a good reason to me. Sounds like a much better character concept that merely having no respect for anyone, anything, or insanity. Props for that. Sounds like a cool character. :smallwink:

I had an undead priestess (she was a cleric of death & magic) whose peace-loving cult was destroyed by Paladins and Clerics who expected them to be up to evil (what with being all undead, separated from society, and what-not). She was the last of her order when the campaign started. Half of her motivation was educating people of her people's ways, and the other half was protecting the innocent from Paladin-ish zealots. :smalltongue:

Also, thank you for enjoying it so much. The 3rd installment should be coming soon. :smallbiggrin:

[Cisturn]

hey thanks i just gotta tell you that i'm really enjoying this, and it's nice to hear about a PC who doesn't want to be chaotic stupid

[The Dark Fiddler]

hey thanks i just gotta tell you that i'm really enjoying this, and it's nice to hear about a PC who doesn't want to be chaotic stupid

Not to mention it's from an 11 year old. Truly, I believe his brother is a great example of how many of us should be.

Of course, chaotic evil is fun every now and then. Just not constantly and against the character's established personality.

(Also, if you're looking for an avatar, there's a thread for that in the Arts 'n' Crafts forum. Also, Blues Brothers was a great movie.)

[Darklord Xavez]

He's got a lot of pats coming to him I think. :smallsmile:
That sounds like a good reason to me. Sounds like a much better character concept that merely having no respect for anyone, anything, or insanity. Props for that. Sounds like a cool character. :smallwink:

I had an undead priestess (she was a cleric of death & magic) whose peace-loving cult was destroyed by Paladins and Clerics who expected them to be up to evil (what with being all undead, separated from society, and what-not). She was the last of her order when the campaign started. Half of her motivation was educating people of her people's ways, and the other half was protecting the innocent from Paladin-ish zealots. :smalltongue:

Also, thank you for enjoying it so much. The 3rd installment should be coming soon. :smallbiggrin:
Thanks.
-Xavez

[blueblade]

Great thread. And he is very impressive for an 11 year old. Not trying to detract from the campaigns you guys are making, but can I ask two questions?

- How often have you fudged a roll to help him out a little?
- How much of your campaign is the two of you consciously collaborating to put together your story (in other words, are you guiding his actions at all)

But seriously, great story, pat on the back for brother, and excellent campaign concept.

[Ashiel]

Great thread. And he is very impressive for an 11 year old. Not trying to detract from the campaigns you guys are making, but can I ask two questions?

- How often have you fudged a roll to help him out a little?
- How much of your campaign is the two of you consciously collaborating to put together your story (in other words, are you guiding his actions at all)

But seriously, great story, pat on the back for brother, and excellent campaign concept.

1) I haven't fudged any rolls. I'm not really into that sort of thing.
2) Short of creating a story which unfolds a bit in front of him (IE - putting hooks like the wounded rider in the game), not really. Most of it is pretty much random; and a plot is slowly being hammered out as the game goes on. Currently orcs and ogres are the big-bads of the game.

We've not got to play for a while due to time constraints; but I appreciate the feedback. I'll try to get another post up as soon as we play.

[Dada]

I recently introduced one of my brothers to D&D. Unfortunately, the only group in the area has very evil tendencies, and are not really good roleplayers. This thread really makes me want to start another game with just him.. or maybe both my brothers.



Maybe I should start up an OpenRPG game for some people on Giantitp if I can find the time. It'd be fun to play with everyone sometime. :smallsmile:

If you ever decide to do this and needs players, send me a PM. I would love to join.

[The Glyphstone]

An 11-year old who RPs better than some people twice his age, very entertaining and impressive. Keep posting stories!

[Eliort]

Made an account just to say how awesome this thread is!:smallsmile: