"Goblin King" re-imagined.

[Warlocknthewind]

So, from sun rise, to sun-set, my daughters watch the movie Labyrinth. Inevitably in the back of my head a part of my brain's been going "Huh, this really seems like D&D to me..." So I want them be the sort of "boogy men" of my world, who steal away unwanted or insubordinate children to assimilate.

My players will probably figure out what I'm modeling, but I want it on the down-low as long as possible. Literal goblins breed, and are obvious, so I want an alternate minion, but the King Himself will be a different type of creature.

The title goes with an amulet which binds to the owner, cursing/blessing their life force to be tied with the existence of the minion creatures. To gain the amulet, the previous King must be dead. If there is no King, and no heir, the minions will find the most likely candidate among the closest population, and placed it in their possession.

The Labyrinth is a portion of the underworld(dark) which follows a pattern of transportation aligned with the sun and moon, in a decade long cycle, with the shift occurring every full moon, across a continent about the size of Australia.

The current King attained his title seeking eternal life, and while this was achieved, it didn't grant the eternal youth to bring warmth to his existence. He is erratic, now unleashing his Minions with abandon, seeking either a way to regain his lost youth, or an opponent to replace him in his Hell.

So I guess to specify questions..

1: What do you think would make appropriate minions? Do they pro-create, or assimilate?

2: Are there any RAW ways to turn back the aging dial? Are they evil, dark, vile and downright naughty?

3: Just how old should I make the King? Jareth was on the older scale for coping with his mob, but not elderly by any means, and waning youth was still an aspect of his character. Middle age can come as a shock to some, I suppose..

4: How much if this is attainable in E6?

5: Any ideas for what you may have involving other encounters from the story would be greatly appreciated as well. I think ita fun to figure out these things.
Ex: Mechanical humanoid at Goblin City gates; Iron Golem, or Warforged Titan? :o

Thanks for reading, Playground!

[DrMotives]

The man you want to look for is Brain Froud. That whole movie is his thing, he designed all the creatures. His son Toby Froud played the baby in the movie. And he has big coffee table style art books, written like field guides, on not just goblins but also gnomes & fairies. He conceives gnomes as very druid-like, but he conceives fairies as both good & evil. You should look through things with the fey type, they'd be most fitting.

[Balthanon]

1: What do you think would make appropriate minions? Do they pro-create, or assimilate?

2: Are there any RAW ways to turn back the aging dial? Are they evil, dark, vile and downright naughty?

3: Just how old should I make the King? Jareth was on the older scale for coping with his mob, but not elderly by any means, and waning youth was still an aspect of his character. Middle age can come as a shock to some, I suppose..

4: How much if this is attainable in E6?

5: Any ideas for what you may have involving other encounters from the story would be greatly appreciated as well. I think ita fun to figure out these things.
Ex: Mechanical humanoid at Goblin City gates; Iron Golem, or Warforged Titan? :o

Thanks for reading, Playground!

1: Homebrew, go with Minions, capital 'M' from the Overlord game. :) (This has potential examples - http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?99432-Overlord-3-5-Base-Class.)
2: Yes, and Yes generally. The one that springs to mind first is an Epic level spell that was printed in Dragon Magazine-- Ionia's Something Something, maybe? It basically allowed you to drain the life from another creature and add it to yourself.
3: If he's going mad with it, go to venerable-- as long as you make him a spellcaster of some sort he can likely still be a credible threat. Even if he does need to get carried around by his minions like a sack of flour when something goes wrong.
4: Not much? :) You're the DM, anything is attainable. The things you're looking for are all flavor for the most part, so it isn't going to harm anything to hand wave most of them. (Then again, I've never actually played E6 either, so I'm not super familiar with it.)
5: If you're going E6, Iron Golem is going to be way overkill. The Warforged Titan is likely a better bet.

[black-jack]

1: You can use formians, although I don;t remember what book they are in. They are expert slavers and fit your fluff fairly well.

2: Steal life , an 8th level spell from Vile Darkness. That should answer the second part of your question.

3: It depends on what you're going for. Scared of reaching old age in the first place? Middle aged. Longing for youth long gone? Old. Nearing the end of life, but not being ready to go? Venerable.

4: Steal life can be obtained by scrolls, or a more sustainable schema from one of the Eberron books. E6 is difficult to apply concepts like this RAW, but if it's for story then there is no limit to the rules.

5: An Illithid cult attempts to overthrow the king and enslave his people for their own uses. Players can choose to oppose the cult as well, or if they are very desperate, side with them. At minimum, it's a good roleplay encounter.