Was the Dark One a Blue?

[RolkFlameraven]

With Psionics showing up a bit more now and after trolling the forums for a bit I've notaced that he has a blue/purple cast to him so now I'm really wondering if the he was in fact a member of the Forth Goblinoid race?

[Tebryn]

No, he's a Purple.

[Kish]

With Psionics showing up a bit more now and after trolling the forums for a bit I've notaced that he has a blue/purple cast to him so now I'm really wondering if the he was in fact a member of the Forth Goblinoid race?
Pretty sure if he was, Redcloak would have known that they were using psionics in that setting without needing to track down an actually-blue (not purple) blue to confirm it.

[Demolator]

I think we can safely assume that the Dark One is at least dark, if not purple or even blue.

[Secris]

For someone who knows very little about D&D, care to share more about these Blues? Obviously blue-skinned goblinoids, and I guess have psychic powers sometimes. What else?

EDIT: And if Blues are the fourth goblinoid race, what is the third?

[Kish]

For someone who knows very little about D&D, care to share more about these Blues? Obviously blue-skinned goblinoids, and I guess have psychic powers sometimes. What else?

EDIT: And if Blues are the fourth goblinoid race, what is the third?
Not sometimes. All times. Basically, it's a goblin psion, and a goblin psion is what it is. Every blue has class levels, and all those class levels are in the same class (coincidentally the same class as Nale's dear Aunt Laurin). I remember no indication of what happens if a blue wants to multiclass.

The other three would be "goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears"--if you treat blues as a race, which I wouldn't; they're mutant goblins.

[RolkFlameraven]

Yeah, the 4th is my Pathfinder showing sorry about that.

In 3.5 they are smarter blue skinned Gobbis' who have 1 PP at birth. They make good Psi's or Wiz's.

We haven't seen or heard much of them but Bugbears are the next level up the Goblin food chain. If Redcloak gets one more minion upgrade it should be to them.

[ti'esar]

Honestly, I've wondered from time to time whether the whole thing about the Dark One being born a unique purple goblin is even true, or whether it was just something made up after his apotheosis to mythologize his life and raise him above petty racial bickering. It also could conveniently explain why someone who was supposedly out for peace would call himself such a threatening-sounding name.

I'm not actually expecting this to be proven true in the comic, but I certainly think it's more likely than the DO's mortal race being plot-relevant.

[KillianHawkeye]

Honestly, I've wondered from time to time whether the whole thing about the Dark One being born a unique purple goblin is even true, or whether it was just something made up after his apotheosis to mythologize his life and raise him above petty racial bickering. It also could conveniently explain why someone who was supposedly out for peace would call himself such a threatening-sounding name.

I'm not actually expecting this to be proven true in the comic, but I certainly think it's more likely than the DO's mortal race being plot-relevant.

I think it's actually because Rich wanted a unique goblinoid, one who didn't belong to one of the three main goblin races, because it made it easier to explain how the Dark One could unite all the goblinoid peoples into a single invasion force.

[Porthos]

The Dark One (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0704.html) (in crayon, described as 'violet' by Jirix) and a Blue (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0546.html).

As for Blues being a seperate race? Regardless of the 3.5/Pathfinder discrepancy, Gobbotopia's flag shows three stars where the goblin races are, with the Dark One looking over them. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0702.html) :smallsmile:

[RolkFlameraven]

Yes, and his star is BLUE :smallbiggrin: that's one of the things that made me ask...

I know, I saw the Blue, and some of this is that I thought that the skin pigment could be light blue to dark purple. I have no idea where I got that idea and I've looked at both the XPH and the PF books and neither have that bit so it was all in my head I think.

But still, his color is closer to a Blue then any other subtype of his kind so...

[ti'esar]

As for Blues being a seperate race? Regardless of the 3.5/Pathfinder discrepancy, Gobbotopia's flag shows three stars where the goblin races are, with the Dark One looking over them. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0702.html) :smallsmile:

Of course, there's no star for koalinths on there either.

[Pokonic]

The Dark One seems to simply be a Unique goblin with a differing skin coloration than most. Blue's are simply a goblin subspecies, while the Dark One was probably a one-off individual who was born that was because of any number of factors, most importantly that of Plotonium, the most powerful substance in the hands of a writer.


I think it's actually because Rich wanted a unique goblinoid, one who didn't belong to one of the three main goblin races, because it made it easier to explain how the Dark One could unite all the goblinoid peoples into a single invasion force.

This, pretty much.

[Vemynal]

The dark one's star looks purple on my computer

[RolkFlameraven]

Of course, there's no star for koalinths on there either.

I don't think I'd ever even hard of that race, had to Google it. Aquatic Hobo's kinda eh? Odd, seems they never made it into 3.X so shouldn't they have been in that Cave that the Flumphs escaped from?

[ti'esar]

I don't think I'd ever even hard of that race, had to Google it. Aquatic Hobo's kinda eh? Odd, seems they never made it into 3.X so shouldn't they have been in that Cave that the Flumphs escaped from?

I think they were in the 3.0 Fiend Folio.

Anyway, my point is just that we know there's some living "in" Gobbotopia (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0823.html), so it's more likely that the flag just represents the three "classic" goblin races rather than being a grand statement on what is and is not a goblin subtype in the world of OOTS.

[Gray Mage]

The other three would be "goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears"--if you treat blues as a race, which I wouldn't; they're mutant goblins.

According with the srd, Blues are a subrace of goblins, so, indeed, they wouldn't be a fourth race. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/blue.htm) Of course, like other things, that is dependent on the setting.

Edit: Besides, if you take Unearthed Arcana you get lots of variants, incluiding the aquatic goblins.

[skim172]

We haven't seen or heard much of them but Bugbears are the next level up the Goblin food chain. If Redcloak gets one more minion upgrade it should be to them.

And here I always thought it meant something that was minorly annoying. But apparently bugbears are rooted in old legends way back.

I had kind of always imagined them as some sort of hybrid of a bug and the Care Bears, and so they magically appear whenever matters are least convenient and annoy you - hence "bug-bear."

But that is apparently not the etymological origin. *shrug*

[KillianHawkeye]

But that is apparently not the etymological origin. *shrug*

Um... yeah, dude. The Care Bears aren't even as old as D&D is.

[littlebum2002]

He was a Blue who got sunburned

[Chronos]

Quoth ti'esar:

It also could conveniently explain why someone who was supposedly out for peace would call himself such a threatening-sounding name.
Wait, what's so threatening about the dark? Dark is when people can see clearly but many dangerous monsters can't, and when ordinary people are out and about. Daytime is when everything, including the dangerous monsters, can see, and when sensible law-abiding people are all at home in their warrens asleep, and so is inherently threatening.

[RolkFlameraven]

Wait, what's so threatening about the dark? Dark is when people can see clearly but many dangerous monsters can't, and when ordinary people are out and about. Daytime is when everything, including the dangerous monsters, can see, and when sensible law-abiding people are all at home in their warrens asleep, and so is inherently threatening.

I see what you did there :smallbiggrin:

And thanks for that pic of #823 I don't think I ever really noticed that those "Hobgobs" had webbed feet and oddly shaped ears...

More to the point with Bugbears, Goblins are odd in that the "three" types are NE, LE & CE yet all the same "kind" though they look almost nothing alike and don't normally like each other.

IF RC does get his Bugbear minions... well I don't know how he is going to get them to do anything; CE makes for a far worse army then the LE hobgobs he's got now even if they are stronger.

[Bartle]

He was a Blue who got sunburnedThis is the correct answer.

[rgrekejin]

Not sometimes. All times. Basically, it's a goblin psion, and a goblin psion is what it is. Every blue has class levels, and all those class levels are in the same class (coincidentally the same class as Nale's dear Aunt Laurin). I remember no indication of what happens if a blue wants to multiclass.

Blues aren't always Psions, that's just their favored class. It even says in the "Blues as characters" section that some Blues are Wilders rather than Psions. Granted, Blues always have 1 power point, so they're always at least potentially psionic, but they could take levels of Wizard, Druid, Fighter, or Warblade for all anyone cares. You'd just use the "Blues as characters" stats.*

*The above is, of course, only applicable in 3.5 ed D&D.

[Kish]

My mistake.

[ORione]

Here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0828.html)'s a portrait of the Dark One (5th and 11th panels). It might be easier to use for comparisons, since it's non-crayony.

[Turgon9357]

I think we can safely assume that the Dark One is at least dark, if not purple or even blue.

Exactly how dark are we talking? More of a 'sort of dark' or 'pretty dark', or perhaps even 'quite dark'?

[rgrekejin]

Exactly how dark are we talking? More of a 'sort of dark' or 'pretty dark', or perhaps even 'quite dark'?

I think we're dealing with a "darker than Frank Miller" but "not as dark as Mark Millar" type of dark.

[Bogardan_Mage]

I think they were in the 3.0 Fiend Folio.

Anyway, my point is just that we know there's some living "in" Gobbotopia (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0823.html), so it's more likely that the flag just represents the three "classic" goblin races rather than being a grand statement on what is and is not a goblin subtype in the world of OOTS.
Aquatic Hobgoblins also appear in bonus comics in Don't Split the Party, referred to merely as "Aquatic Hobgoblins" (although the Merfolk just call them "Hobgoblins")

[b_jonas]

The Dark One (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0704.html) (in crayon, described as 'violet' by Jirix) and a Blue (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0546.html).

Nice find! #546 probably indeed shows a blue psionic goblin. He has ears and fangs, so it must be a goblin.

However, there's also a non-psionic blue hobgoblin (Jirix) in srtip #832. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0832.html)