[4e] They have a "pet" goblin

[Guinea Anubis]

Ok I will try to explain this as best I can.

My players found out a Girl they got hired to track down and save had been taken by Orcs. These orcs more or less enslaved a goblin clan. The players killed all the Orcs and most of the goblins. After the orc boss was killed and most of the other orcs where dead or fighting all of the goblins that where left ran for it.

Before storming the orc camp they knocked out and tied up one of the goblin guards. They went back and untied the little guy and showed him the head of the orc boss and tryed to be really nice to him.

They asked him to come wiith them (I have no idea why but they did), they even offered to pay him 5 copper a day. Since they where being so nice to him and offering to pay him I (as the GM) said that he would take them up on the offer.

This little goblin, now being called Longnose has fast become loved by the whole party. They are teaching him how to cook. They also bought him a nice outfit/cloth and cooking gear. The players want to make a character sheet for him since the two rogues want to try to teach him how to be a rogue.

So what do you all think is the best way to deal with this new NPC/PC goblin?

[RebelRogue]

Everybody seems to find it funny, so roll with it!

[Edge of Dreams]

Work up stats for him according to the NPC rules in the DMG. If they do a good enough job teaching him, turn him into a full-fleged PC whose actions are controlled by group consensus. Just make sure you adjust encounters to match, where appropriate, and give the new guy his own fair share of the xp.

[ghost_warlock]

The problem with Longnose is that he's very accident-prone and tends to get himself into sticky situations.

Whenever your plot calls for someone to set off a room-filling-with-water puzzle trap, get themselves captured by the BBEG's minions, fall asleep while on watch, pocket the cursed item without telling anyone, or do something else that's gloriously stupid that the PCs aren't likely to do but will get the plot rolling it's Longnose who gets the ball-of-death rolling, so to speak.

V Yeah, the millstone. Longnose can still be useful, but he just has a Wis of about 4 is all.

[Stupendous_Man]

So.... the Load?

[kamikasei]

Sounds like a lark, and a hell of a case of Stockholm Syndrome.

You could try getting one of the PCs to take Leadership, and make Longnose his cohort.

[TheThan]

I had this happen to me, only the PCs didn't take him along. and I think it was a hobgoblin. He ended up being a stable boy hobgoblin for the local baron. which I believe was their patron.

[Tengu_temp]

You could try getting one of the PCs to take Leadership, and make Longnose his cohort.

Wrong edition.

I'd say there are two ways of statting the goblin: either stat him as an NPC stalker or skirmisher with extra damage when he has combat advantage against the target, or give him a full character sheet like a player should. In the second case he will be more powerful, though, and in both he should be several levels lower than players.

[kamikasei]

Wrong edition.

*headdesk*

So, it turns out I left my brain in my other pants.

I would indeed go with statting him up as if he were a PC goblin rogue. Don't put his build entirely in the players' hands, though; give him a base of abilities and then, if they're training him as a rogue, pile on rogue levels. If they say they want to give him training in particular directions, build him accordingly. But keep control of the build in your hands, so that he's an NPC and not just a weapon in the players' hands.

[YPU]

This is kind of a common thing for player, especially new players to do. Heck the pet goblin should be a DnD trope. The topic came up at my local gaming club one day and most of the DM’s had a group who have done this. Generally there are two ways this goes. One is that they quickly get bored with the goblin the other is that they get attached to him. If they start to get tired of him, have the goblin die for the plot, or sacrifice himself in some heroic way. This way he will be memorized, and if something is memorized with a smile your making good game. And of they get attachment to him, have them keep him, but take into account that he is a goblin npc. He was never cut out for adventuring and as the players grow stronger he will fall behind. The players will realize he is in danger and protect him by sending him away, or they wont and you can proceed as mentioned above.
Another note, when I had this coming along there was one thing I took into account. Goblins aren’t very civilised. They aren’t that accustomed to using the loo for instance, their beds are horrible smelly and other such practices. Have your players realize that tough he might mean right he’s not the thing to keep around in civilization. Of course you are running in danger of your players potty training the gobber. Hilarity ensues.

[Teron]

Once he gets used to the PC's, have him find his nerve and develop an attitude. First he reminds them that his name isn't "Longnose", and then, next thing you know, he wants a share of the treasure...

[RTGoodman]

I think the best thing to do would be to just stat him as an NPC Goblin Rogue (see DMG 187-188) of their own level. Then just add an extra creature of that level to each encounter as if he were a mount or other companion. As the players level, he can gain levels also.

@YPU: Yeah, it is a pretty common trope, I guess. I was playing a very charismatic swashbuckler in a semi-silly Eberron campaign a while back who used Diplomacy on enemies to try to get them to surrender and go on their merry way, and my DM apparently didn't like it. After a session or so, we ran into two goblins and, eventually, a bugbear, all with apparently abysmal Wis and Int scores, and ALL THREE OF THEM decided they want to go with us. So for the rest of the campaign (several sessions) we had some basically useless annoying goblinoids following us around. Of course, I WAS going to take leadership and eventually become an airship pirate, so I guess they could have been a good foundation for a crew...

[chronoplasm]

Oh man, I so totally have some inspiration now.
I want to play as a Warforged with a little goblin companion and a compartment in his chest that opens up.
During battle, the goblin crawls inside the Warforged to help him fight. :)

[LibraryOgre]

Hey! I did that in Keep on the Shadowfell. His name is Splug, and he's my slave.

[Totally Guy]

You've reminded me of the time the pet goblin in our party became the BBEG.

He pointed us in the direction of treasure.

We raided the dungeon grabbed the loot and got out. Kilk the Goblin found a crown with a weak enchantment on it: When wearing the crown people know it's a real crown.

Next thing you know he finds a band of orcs and declares he's the leader. And from then on he's conquered the lands to the south and is marching north with organised orcs, which is bad.

The campaign was somewhat flawed in the we ended up with the mission objective Go North. So we arrive at a city. Ask if anyone has any reason, any reason more important than the world getting conquered in the south, to stay and we'd done the whole "You've got to get out the town" and that one never works. Then we'd go north.

[Grynning]

This reminds me of our party Warlock's disconcerting habit of turning DEAD bad guys into party tag-alongs. No, he can't animate them - he just picks a small corpse and turns it into a hand puppet. Oddly, the rest of the group finds this amusing (even though half the party is ostensibly good) and the hand puppets have obtained the title of "morale officer" (our party is based on a military model, people all have a rank).

We've gone through three morale officers now, kobold, kobold and gnome, respectively. We've at least convinced him that when they start to fall apart he has to throw them away.

Yes, I suppose that is quite a bit more morbid than the original story...I'm just used to gallows humor I guess.

[Tsotha-lanti]

Work up stats for him according to the NPC rules in the DMG. If they do a good enough job teaching him, turn him into a full-fleged PC whose actions are controlled by group consensus. Just make sure you adjust encounters to match, where appropriate, and give the new guy his own fair share of the xp.

NPCs don't get a share - they reduce the total XP value of an encounter by their own XP value. (This technically applies or horses and the like, too.)

Stat the gobbo as an NPC with the rogue template, but a few levels lower than the PCs.

[Shadow_Elf]

I say, stat him as a PC several levels lower than the PCs. You roll for him, they give him oral instructions and "program" his basic AI, but you control him. Use the Goblin stats from the back of the MM, unmoded (as they suck compared to PC races, and so are less useful) and have him take every opportunity he can to use Goblin Tactics. Make him a Dagger or SHuriken rogue who uses Goblin Tactics to avoid AoOs with his ranged weapons. Then they can give him items and treasure as they see fit. Again, if you ever need a trap triggerer etc. Just Fudge his Perception or something and make them stumble into an ambush (he is a Rogue, and so is a "reasonable" choice for advanced scout). That's what I would do. Also make him comic-relief.

[kirbsys]

Hey! I did that in Keep on the Shadowfell. His name is Splug, and he's my slave.

Our group did that too! We loved Splug. In combat we kept buffing him and he was doing better than some of our more useless group members.

[Doresain]

i mentally broke that one fat goblin on KotS...he became my meat shield and while i was barking orders to the party (i was a warlord) he was shooting things with his cross bow...

good times, good times indeed

[Dumbledore lives]

We did something like this once, though it wasn't a humanoid, it was a wolf. We also had a cat, though someone may have thrown him down a well to see if there was a dragon down there. There wasn't. Anyway we basically used him as a 5th PC, and we all decided what he was going to do, it worked out really well.

[Enlong]

*headdesk*

So, it turns out I left my brain in my other pants.

This is so singularly hilarious. I wish I had the room to sig this.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

My group does this. Since the start of our new campaign(3 sessions ago), e have captured and teamed up with 2 Kobolds, a Necromancer, 2 Zombie Ogres, and a Hell Hound. One of the Kobolds ran off(breaking his contract with us), one was killed by the Necro(for the lulz, apparently) who we then executed, one Ogre was destroyed by a Gelatinous Cube, one Ogre was bartered away since we weren't allowed to have him in the city, and the Hell Hound is now my mount. So, out of our 6 allies, we still have one of them, 3 have been destroyed, and 1 has run away and probably died by now. And we're good aligned.

[chiasaur11]

My group does this. Since the start of our new campaign(3 sessions ago), e have captured and teamed up with 2 Kobolds, a Necromancer, 2 Zombie Ogres, and a Hell Hound. One of the Kobolds ran off(breaking his contract with us), one was killed by the Necro(for the lulz, apparently) who we then executed, one Ogre was destroyed by a Gelatinous Cube, one Ogre was bartered away since we weren't allowed to have him in the city, and the Hell Hound is now my mount. So, out of our 6 allies, we still have one of them, 3 have been destroyed, and 1 has run away and probably died by now. And we're good aligned.

Eh, the other Kobold probably got out fine.

Moved to Lickmyorangeballshalfling probably.

[AslanCross]

If I were the party tank, I'd strap him to my back and give him a crossbow.

[LibraryOgre]

Our group did that too! We loved Splug. In combat we kept buffing him and he was doing better than some of our more useless group members.

HEY! My Splug is useless in combat! What gives, Hzurr?

[Asbestos]

This little goblin, now being called Longnose...

Is that his actual name or is the party just being jolly old racists to their new companion? If it isn't his real name I can see Longnose eventually not taking too kindly to the party, after all, look at the disregard for life they showed against his clan. His clansmen (and women) were themselves merely slaves of the evil orcs the party came to kill, would they have done such a thing had the orcs been enslaving a group of halflings? Longnose may come to think that, no, they wouldn't have. He may be uneducated, but he certainly has no racial penalty to Intelligence or Wisdom.

[SoD]

Heh, looks like this happens everywhere. My party are always recruiting NPC's, no matter who I'm DMing!

In Finland they were especially likely to recruit from NPC's. In one one-off session, the three party members recruited: an NPC cleric who'd tryed to stop drugs getting put into the drink supplies, one of the goblins who did it, and two NPC's who'd been halucenating (one thought she was the romatic girl going out with the party warrior, the other thought she was the queen who'd been kidnapped). They also tried to recruit the evil cleric in charge of the drugs, and a dwarven warrior halucenating back to the times when the goblins invaded his settlement.

[Jayngfet]

I don't think he'll put up with getting the same pay as someone with the same job in a safe town working for people who didn't kill his family and don't have the threat of death looming over him. And he probably won't take to longnose either.

[only1doug]

We had a "pet" Goblin for awhile, we liked him and treated him well, really got to trust the little fella...

we were very upset with him when he betrayed us and brought the necromancer and his legions to our camp.

Sneaky little git was very good at hiding a grudge (well we had killed all his clan) but he was better at holding our weaponry (with his lungs).