Goblins, lightning storms, tall stony objects... But why?

[hymer]

Greetings playgrounders! May I have the benefit, yet again, of your creativity?

Pseudo-medieval fantasy. I have this image in my head, of a group of goblins with a bunch of prisoners of various kinds. They are in an area heavily prone to thunderstorms (Stonelands in Forgotten Realms, to be specific). Each day, they tie a prisoner on top of this tall stone structure, with the intention that they get hit by lightning (they only have so many prisoners, so only about 24 hours before a given prisoner comes down for a spell). What they want is someone, who got hit by natural lightning, and survived.
What I've yet to come up with a good idea for is the 'why'. I'd like something that isn't too self-contained (like some religious ritual just for the goblins themselves). I'd prefer something that can be a hook for another adventure. Who would like to buy someone struck by natural lightning, and for what nefarious purpose? Or who tricked the goblins, and are waiting for them to succeed? Or what cool stuff can be thought up?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[Remedy]

Tahknala, the Demigoddess of Lightning and Torture or Luck (depending on whether you'd prefer her Evil or Neutral, respectively), lost a wager with another god/demigod years ago and became unable to communicate with followers except through using a survivor of a recent natural lightning strike as a conduit. The goblins went to a place with regular lightning strikes and started tying prisoners to the places they thought most likely to have them hit by lightning, in order to find conduits for their goddess. Tahknala isn't dreaming particularly big at the moment; she simply wants to be able to communicate her commandments to the goblins and develop a clergy of her own despite her predicament. The goblins, being the only ones possessed of the knowledge of her existence and the desire to worship her, can't afford to sacrifice themselves, and thus consider it necessary to capture people and risk their lives instead for a chance to communicate with their goddess. If Tahknala is Neutral, they try to find willing volunteers wherever possible and use every magical and nonmagical precaution they know of (functional or otherwise; can't blame them for not knowing their folk remedies don't work) to make sure the volunteers don't suffer long-term injuries if they do survive. In the more likely scenario where she's Evil, well, they kidnap people they randomly deem as "suitable" (can't kidnap everyone after all) and use the minimum precautions to make sure the victim survives long enough to give out a message if that's allowed, or if they have to survive all on their own they just hoist them up without a thought. And they probably do it multiple times for survivors, or just kill them in a ritual after they've given a message from Tahknala.

Just off the top of my head.

[hymer]

@ Remedy: Very evocative ideas! Thanks!

[goto124]

Tahknala is a goblin herself right?

How clear-cut would you want the morality to be? It'll affect how the goblins are fluffed.

[hymer]

Tahknala is a goblin herself right?

How clear-cut would you want the morality to be? It'll affect how the goblins are fluffed.

If I end up picking this idea as the one that suits the campaign best, I'd have the goblins and Tahknala be clearly evil. There are a couple of paladins in the party, and they are on a heroic rescue mission of one of the prisoners. I'd like them to be free to smite right and left as they go in during a nasty thunderstorm, fighting to get access to the top before lightning strikes it and the current occupant (again?).

[Remedy]

Tahknala is a goblin herself right?

In case this question was directed at me, nah, my idea was that Tahknala was, well, a Demigoddess. Ascended or otherwise, goblin at first if such or not, not really important. A goblin got hit by lightning and survived, Tahknala made that goblin her conduit, goblins were like "oh em gee a goddess who has a reason to care about us, let's get her more conduits!" Hilarity ensues. They call her a few more times with prisoners, start to develop her clergy. Then the Paladinful party catches wind and has to save somebody who was kidnapped, so they try to stop the lightning ceremony. Works better with an actual Demigoddess rather than an unreal entity that the goblins thought was there but wasn't, simply because the OP seems to not want to deal with the potential moral pause on the players' part if the reveal happens to the goblins and they grow distraught/regretful for doing what they did for nothing. I mean, don't get me wrong, we can sit here on the boards and talk about it and come to the conclusion that there's not a real reason to give said goblins quarter just because they deluded themselves into fighting for a nonexistent evil deity, but if I were a Paladin in the heat of the moment there (or, for that matter, the player of a Paladin in the heat of said moment)? Yeah, I'd feel really uncomfortable continuing to kill those goblins.

[Oneris]

If I end up picking this idea as the one that suits the campaign best, I'd have the goblins and Tahknala be clearly evil. There are a couple of paladins in the party, and they are on a heroic rescue mission of one of the prisoners. I'd like them to be free to smite right and left as they go in during a nasty thunderstorm, fighting to get access to the top before lightning strikes it and the current occupant (again?).

With the clear understanding that wearing wet steel armor at the highest point for miles around in a thunderstorm isn't the smartest thing to do?
Could be a good opportunity to give the paladin a firsthand experience of power of the goddess, or just a chance for him to go "Eff You" right in her face before he cuts the prisoner free.

Fridge Logic: What's stopping a goblin druid with access to 3rd level spells just from Call Lightning it up whenever it feels convenient?

[hymer]

With the clear understanding that wearing wet steel armor at the highest point for miles around in a thunderstorm isn't the smartest thing to do?
Could be a good opportunity to give the paladin a firsthand experience of power of the goddess, or just a chance for him to go "Eff You" right in her face before he cuts the prisoner free.

Fridge Logic: What's stopping a goblin druid with access to 3rd level spells just from Call Lightning it up whenever it feels convenient?

I expect lightning to strike in thematically appropriate ways during the fight. Maybe a goblin gets struck and suddenly becomes more powerful than the PCs could possibly imagine.
As for fridge logic, the reason would be that it isn't natural lightning when it's summoned and controlled.

[Thrudd]

A wizard or sorceror requires some body part of a human that has survived being struck by lightning under specific circumstances for the components of a complex ritual or potion or magic item. The goblins have been hired to supply this, or are his servants or worshippers.

Adventure hook for later: find out what exactly the wizard is trying to do. Follow more of his servants trying to gather other rare/obscure components, find out where his tower is and stop him.

[hymer]

A wizard or sorceror requires some body part of a human that has survived being struck by lightning under specific circumstances for the components of a complex ritual or potion or magic item. The goblins have been hired to supply this, or are his servants or worshippers.

Adventure hook for later: find out what exactly the wizard is trying to do. Follow more of his servants trying to gather other rare/obscure components, find out where his tower is and stop him.

That makes sense. There's already a pair of shady magelings that have ping'ed on the PCs' radar, so this can tie them in neatly. Thanks!

[Draconi Redfir]

The goblins heard a myth that once in a far away land, a squirrel ate the acorn of a magic Tree and was subsequently struck by a lightning bolt. The squirrel survived, and not only developed skin as hard as bark, leaf-like fur that provided it with photosynthetic nutrition, and a limited ability to treewalk, BUT it also granted it the ability to travel between metal conduits as a living electric charge and gave it a limited amount of lightning bolt spells per day as spell-like abilities.

Securing the magic Tree was the easy part, they just took an acorn, maybe from the original Tree, planted it, and let it grow, or took a normal acorn or nut of their choice, enchanted it with everything they could think of, and planted it, etc. But the hard part was testing it. What they WANT to do is make a powerful magically-enhanced tribe of electric-tree goblins, but they wasn't to make sure the myth is true. So using the scientific method they've been capturing prisoners, feeding them nuts from the Tree, and waiting for them to get struck by lightning, trying to make them get the same special abilities as the squirrel so they know it works, and can start doing it on themselves.

what they're forgetting is that A. They keep repeating the same exact experiment multiple times with no variables, leaving the end result completely up to chance, and B. If they DO succeed, they'll have a very powerful and magically-enhanced angry prisoner to worry about before any of them can even think about getting up there themselves.

bonus points of the aformentioned magic squirrel shows up at some point.

[hymer]

Pretty funny, but not the tone I'm looking for. Thanks, though.

[NRSASD]

There is an ancient goblin prophecy foretelling of a great leader who will unite the goblin clans and usher in a year of looting and pillaging the likes of which goblins can only dream. This great leader is not a goblin but has the blood of a mighty blue dragon in their lineage, and will make themselves known to the clans by surviving a lightning storm atop the stone structure. The goblins, never a patient bunch, have decided to accelerate the process by kidnapping anyone looking vaguely draconic and strapping them to the structure.

To be honest, I really, really like Remedy's explanation, but here's another one for variety's sake.

[hymer]

@ NRSASD: Thank you! It's an interesting notion, and could be turned into a wider campaign event fairly easily. The blue dragon champion NPC could already be there, just unknown to the goblins.

To be honest, I really, really like Remedy's explanation, but here's another one for variety's sake.

I like it too, though it does seem to be rather local. Further hooks would have to come from the prisoners, say. There's also the idea of introducing a new demigod to Faerûn, which may not sit right. I still haven't decided on what exactly I'll do, so I'm grateful for the additional suggestion.

[VoxRationis]

With the clear understanding that wearing wet steel armor at the highest point for miles around in a thunderstorm isn't the smartest thing to do?

Well, if it's a full-body suit that touches the ground, it'll actually be fine electricity-wise, though I can't speak for heat issues. People with a steel cap but leather armor, or half-plate, will actually be worse off.

[hymer]

Well, if it's a full-body suit that touches the ground, it'll actually be fine electricity-wise, though I can't speak for heat issues. People with a steel cap but leather armor, or half-plate, will actually be worse off.

You're still going to attract more lightning strikes; though considerably protected from the current your ears are going to be ringing - at best.

I currently intend to have the lightning storm be much like a Lair effect from 5e. At the start of every round, I'll roll on a table to see what visibility and noise is like on the battlefield that round. In some cases, a save to avoid being blinded for the round, in others everything is just pitch black, and in some you get anything from good light to decentish light.

[Honest Tiefling]

Forgotten Realms has the god Talos, who is basically destruction incarnate. He's super duper into the lightning, so he could also be used as a god for the ritual. Given that Talos is a pretty powerful god that isn't just worshiped by goblins, this cell might have connections to other cells.

Also, Talos does NOT get along with other evil gods, one of which is Bane, who could easily have intentions upon the Stonelands, and the two could be fighting over the territory. If this is the case, perhaps the ritual indicates that someone could be used as a vessel for a very powerful servant of Talos to act as his proxy in the moral world to claim the Stonelands for himself.

[ExLibrisMortis]

(for 3.5) There is a PrC in Complete Divine, Stormlord, which requires exactly that - must have been struck by lightning and survived. It's for followers of Talos, of course. It's also full cleric chassis (minus some class skills perhaps), full casting, and grants nice storm- and javelin-themed abilities (including the ability to fly and walk in storms, unaffected by wind, rain, debris, thunder and so on).

Maybe the goblins just need someone to go get the MacGuffin from a permanently stormy mountaintop, so they're testing people for electricity resistance?

[VoxRationis]

Maybe the goblins just need someone to go get the MacGuffin from a permanently stormy mountaintop, so they're testing people for electricity resistance?

Wouldn't it make more sense to grab the same people and just send them up the mountaintop? They're already exposing them to a trial by fire, as it were.

[hymer]

Forgotten Realms has the god Talos, who is basically destruction incarnate. He's super duper into the lightning, so he could also be used as a god for the ritual. Given that Talos is a pretty powerful god that isn't just worshiped by goblins, this cell might have connections to other cells.

Also, Talos does NOT get along with other evil gods, one of which is Bane, who could easily have intentions upon the Stonelands, and the two could be fighting over the territory. If this is the case, perhaps the ritual indicates that someone could be used as a vessel for a very powerful servant of Talos to act as his proxy in the moral world to claim the Stonelands for himself.

I like that. I already have some as yet undiscovered Talos-worshippers trying to speed up the spread of Anauroch, so they would at least be geographically close. And a conflict with the Black Network wouldn't be far away, as they have been ominously quiet, and the PCs have uncovered one of their agents recently. Thanks!

(for 3.5) There is a PrC in Complete Divine, Stormlord, which requires exactly that - must have been struck by lightning and survived. It's for followers of Talos, of course. It's also full cleric chassis (minus some class skills perhaps), full casting, and grants nice storm- and javelin-themed abilities (including the ability to fly and walk in storms, unaffected by wind, rain, debris, thunder and so on).

Thanks for the reminder!

Maybe the goblins just need someone to go get the MacGuffin from a permanently stormy mountaintop, so they're testing people for electricity resistance?

It's an interesting image. Though I don't know of such a top or a reason for it. And it seems a strange way to go about it, as pointed out by Vox. Thank, though.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Wouldn't it make more sense to grab the same people and just send them up the mountaintop? They're already exposing them to a trial by fire, as it were.

Well, then they need to apply some sort of dominate and status effects to the target, to make sure they do as they're supposed to. That's too expensive to do to every prisoner they capture, so they do some key tests first, just to weed out the useless candidates.

Or maybe the MacGuffin requires a MacGuffin to unlock, and they only have one of those keys, so it's vital to run tests beforehand.