I came up with this recently, but wanted feedback. His name was Zivlo, a simple, if slightly disturbed little kobold. He was relatively normal, until a group of adventurers calling themselves "heroes" ransacked his clan and killed everyone but him. He saw how easily his friends and family were cleaved down by a paladin's holy blade. He saw how weak kobolds really were. It scared him. Being weak scared him. He sought a way to grow strong. Due to kobold's natural weakness, physical prowess was out of the question. After having nightmares about the incident for months, a Devil visited him in his sleep. The devil was massive, wielding a many tailed whip. He called himself "Moloch". Moloch offered little Zivlo a deal. Power for service. Zivlo was hesitant, but he was terrified of the alternative. Being hacked down by would-be heroes. He accepted, and became a warlock. He now studies dark lore of the Lower Planes and serves Moloch in his quest to reclaim his position in the Nine Hells. He is deathly afraid of paladins, and has frequent nightmares. Leave feedback below.
as it stands now. There’s a decent backstory with no context. Who is Zivlo exactly? A Kobold Warlock yes. But where does this Kobold Warlock Zivlo fit into the universe?
and are these “ “heroes” “ really heroes or are they truly “heroes”.
are the “ “heroes” “ your BBeG, or a Macguffin for Zivlo, or the actual heroes and Zivlo is the BBEG?
I love it and I think that it’s great! If I was the DM I’d sprinkle news of that group of murder hoboes in among the rest of the campaign until the kobold warlock and his friends were strong enough to face and vanquish them! That’s a great back story with lots of meat for a DM to use to build personalized encounters into a campaign for your character.
It’s a character idea. Basically I thought “What if a character was a victim of murder hobo-ing?” and I ran with it.
If that's the case, run through the murder hobo posts on the DMs only and find one that seems especially egregious that has a Paladin. Send the OP a message asking about some details about the group, particularly the BBEG murder hobo Oathbreaker Paladin (could be Vengeance or Conquest, or a UA subclass I suppose). Perhaps they've given up on the murder hoboing and could have a good redemption tale. Your kobold won't know until later.
Talk to your DM about incorporating that group into the plot: as a rival party at times and as an example at others (doesn't have to be a good or bad example or even consistent). Doesn't have to be the group's BBEG, but can still be that nemesis for your kobold.
Aww... poor Zivlo. I hope he gets a chance to get out from under his patron.
I had a Kobold Warlock idea once upon a time.
Ihk Rehk. He was training his whole life to be a cleric of Tiamat, or hopefully Kurtlmak. He's very practiced in trying to contact the divine realm. one day, as he's foraging for food, he is captured by a group of bandits. he starts pleading to the universe for salvation. a voice responds. "I can help... for a price"
Ihk Rehk will do anything to survive. the voice advices him. "there are two gnomes captured with you. I will give you power, but you must swear to save the gnomes."
"Okay, okay!" Ihk Rehk quickly agrees. Saving a couple of filthy gnomes is a small price to pay to live another day.
"Swear it..." The voice playfully chides.
"I'll do it, I'll save the gnomes."
"We have a bargain." Ihk Rehk is now free, and invisible. He quickly scampers off, frees the gnomes as well. once they are out of earshot of the bandits, Ihk Rehk snarles at them unitl they run off. but he turns around, to find another gnome, casually leaning against a tree.
"Good work," the gnome commends him.
"Who are you," snarles Ihk.
"You don't recognize my voice?" comes the smooth voice, that Ihk suddenly realizes is the one he bargained with. to the extent that Kobolds can go pale, Ihk does.
"Who are you?" Ihk demands.
"You know who I am, my loyal servant." The last bit was said with palpable sarcasm. "All your kind know me."
"Glittergold?!" snarled Ihk.
"Now, let's talk about how you will continue your mission," Garl Glittergold grinned.
"No, I did what you asked," Ihk stated firmly.
"Did you... let's see what did you agree to do for me?" Garl asked disgusting self-satisfaction.
"You wanted me to rescue those two gnomes."
"I don't think that's what we agreed to," Garl replied.
"I agreed to rescue... THE gnomes," Ihk suddenly thought he was going to be sick.
"All of them," Garl confirmed. "Any gnome you know to be in danger, you will save. My champion."
Aww... poor Zivlo. I hope he gets a chance to get out from under his patron.
I had a Kobold Warlock idea once upon a time.
Ihk Rehk. He was training his whole life to be a cleric of Tiamat, or hopefully Kurtlmak. He's very practiced in trying to contact the divine realm. one day, as he's foraging for food, he is captured by a group of bandits. he starts pleading to the universe for salvation. a voice responds. "I can help... for a price"
Ihk Rehk will do anything to survive. the voice advices him. "there are two gnomes captured with you. I will give you power, but you must swear to save the gnomes."
"Okay, okay!" Ihk Rehk quickly agrees. Saving a couple of filthy gnomes is a small price to pay to live another day.
"Swear it..." The voice playfully chides.
"I'll do it, I'll save the gnomes."
"We have a bargain." Ihk Rehk is now free, and invisible. He quickly scampers off, frees the gnomes as well. once they are out of earshot of the bandits, Ihk Rehk snarles at them unitl they run off. but he turns around, to find another gnome, casually leaning against a tree.
"Good work," the gnome commends him.
"Who are you," snarles Ihk.
"You don't recognize my voice?" comes the smooth voice, that Ihk suddenly realizes is the one he bargained with. to the extent that Kobolds can go pale, Ihk does.
"Who are you?" Ihk demands.
"You know who I am, my loyal servant." The last bit was said with palpable sarcasm. "All your kind know me."
"Glittergold?!" snarled Ihk.
"Now, let's talk about how you will continue your mission," Garl Glittergold grinned.
"No, I did what you asked," Ihk stated firmly.
"Did you... let's see what did you agree to do for me?" Garl asked disgusting self-satisfaction.
"You wanted me to rescue those two gnomes."
"I don't think that's what we agreed to," Garl replied.
"I agreed to rescue... THE gnomes," Ihk suddenly thought he was going to be sick.
"All of them," Garl confirmed. "Any gnome you know to be in danger, you will save. My champion."
From a language standpoint...
since glittergold established the number “two” when saying “there are two gnomes...” it would only reference those two from a language standpoint.
if glittergold was vague and said “there are gnomes with you.” And then “save the gnomes” from a language standpoint it would and could still reference ALL gnomes. Since no number of gnomes was explicitly stated and referenced.
I once made a Kobold Warlock who was compacted with the Raven Queen for a campaign that of course fell through the session I joined in. The premise was that he was a little gifted for a kobold, not so much that he instantly shot up to chieftain or something like that but was considered their best hunter/patrol guard pretty early on, only a few years old. One day as he was off patrolling he spotted a mass of feral undead that had wandered near their territory due to some noise of combat, some taller race (basically all of them) spellcaster was doing their best to fend them off with magic. He naturally realized that even if he was strong for a kobold, he was also just some kobold and so he ran off back to his clan in their warren and whipped up a warparty to either kill them or drive them off. By the time they got there and cleaned up the dumb undead the spellcaster was dead, but had some raven hanging out on his corpse faster than normal as well as a cool book and a walking stick a bit tall for a kobold. All of these things were taken as loot, including the raven. The raven was quite intelligent and so started to teach this random kobold some magic and told him of the multiversal struggle against undead and what he could do in it. He ended up leaving his clan and went off wandering with this raven perched on his head, a spellbook strapped to his hip, and a walking stick a good bit tall for a kobold.
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I came up with this recently, but wanted feedback. His name was Zivlo, a simple, if slightly disturbed little kobold. He was relatively normal, until a group of adventurers calling themselves "heroes" ransacked his clan and killed everyone but him. He saw how easily his friends and family were cleaved down by a paladin's holy blade. He saw how weak kobolds really were. It scared him. Being weak scared him. He sought a way to grow strong. Due to kobold's natural weakness, physical prowess was out of the question. After having nightmares about the incident for months, a Devil visited him in his sleep. The devil was massive, wielding a many tailed whip. He called himself "Moloch". Moloch offered little Zivlo a deal. Power for service. Zivlo was hesitant, but he was terrified of the alternative. Being hacked down by would-be heroes. He accepted, and became a warlock. He now studies dark lore of the Lower Planes and serves Moloch in his quest to reclaim his position in the Nine Hells. He is deathly afraid of paladins, and has frequent nightmares. Leave feedback below.
Character idea? NPC? BBEG?
as it stands now. There’s a decent backstory with no context. Who is Zivlo exactly? A Kobold Warlock yes. But where does this Kobold Warlock Zivlo fit into the universe?
and are these “ “heroes” “ really heroes or are they truly “heroes”.
are the “ “heroes” “ your BBeG, or a Macguffin for Zivlo, or the actual heroes and Zivlo is the BBEG?
Blank
It’s a character idea. Basically I thought “What if a character was a victim of murder hobo-ing?” and I ran with it.
I love it and I think that it’s great! If I was the DM I’d sprinkle news of that group of murder hoboes in among the rest of the campaign until the kobold warlock and his friends were strong enough to face and vanquish them! That’s a great back story with lots of meat for a DM to use to build personalized encounters into a campaign for your character.
Professional computer geek
If that's the case, run through the murder hobo posts on the DMs only and find one that seems especially egregious that has a Paladin. Send the OP a message asking about some details about the group, particularly the BBEG murder hobo Oathbreaker Paladin (could be Vengeance or Conquest, or a UA subclass I suppose). Perhaps they've given up on the murder hoboing and could have a good redemption tale. Your kobold won't know until later.
Talk to your DM about incorporating that group into the plot: as a rival party at times and as an example at others (doesn't have to be a good or bad example or even consistent). Doesn't have to be the group's BBEG, but can still be that nemesis for your kobold.
Aww... poor Zivlo. I hope he gets a chance to get out from under his patron.
I had a Kobold Warlock idea once upon a time.
Ihk Rehk. He was training his whole life to be a cleric of Tiamat, or hopefully Kurtlmak. He's very practiced in trying to contact the divine realm. one day, as he's foraging for food, he is captured by a group of bandits. he starts pleading to the universe for salvation. a voice responds. "I can help... for a price"
Ihk Rehk will do anything to survive. the voice advices him. "there are two gnomes captured with you. I will give you power, but you must swear to save the gnomes."
"Okay, okay!" Ihk Rehk quickly agrees. Saving a couple of filthy gnomes is a small price to pay to live another day.
"Swear it..." The voice playfully chides.
"I'll do it, I'll save the gnomes."
"We have a bargain." Ihk Rehk is now free, and invisible. He quickly scampers off, frees the gnomes as well. once they are out of earshot of the bandits, Ihk Rehk snarles at them unitl they run off. but he turns around, to find another gnome, casually leaning against a tree.
"Good work," the gnome commends him.
"Who are you," snarles Ihk.
"You don't recognize my voice?" comes the smooth voice, that Ihk suddenly realizes is the one he bargained with. to the extent that Kobolds can go pale, Ihk does.
"Who are you?" Ihk demands.
"You know who I am, my loyal servant." The last bit was said with palpable sarcasm. "All your kind know me."
"Glittergold?!" snarled Ihk.
"Now, let's talk about how you will continue your mission," Garl Glittergold grinned.
"No, I did what you asked," Ihk stated firmly.
"Did you... let's see what did you agree to do for me?" Garl asked disgusting self-satisfaction.
"You wanted me to rescue those two gnomes."
"I don't think that's what we agreed to," Garl replied.
"I agreed to rescue... THE gnomes," Ihk suddenly thought he was going to be sick.
"All of them," Garl confirmed. "Any gnome you know to be in danger, you will save. My champion."
That's creative! I love it!!
Professional computer geek
From a language standpoint...
since glittergold established the number “two” when saying “there are two gnomes...” it would only reference those two from a language standpoint.
if glittergold was vague and said “there are gnomes with you.” And then “save the gnomes” from a language standpoint it would and could still reference ALL gnomes. Since no number of gnomes was explicitly stated and referenced.
Blank
Yeah, not debating the legal or linguistic terms of a fictional deal.
I once made a Kobold Warlock who was compacted with the Raven Queen for a campaign that of course fell through the session I joined in. The premise was that he was a little gifted for a kobold, not so much that he instantly shot up to chieftain or something like that but was considered their best hunter/patrol guard pretty early on, only a few years old. One day as he was off patrolling he spotted a mass of feral undead that had wandered near their territory due to some noise of combat, some taller race (basically all of them) spellcaster was doing their best to fend them off with magic. He naturally realized that even if he was strong for a kobold, he was also just some kobold and so he ran off back to his clan in their warren and whipped up a warparty to either kill them or drive them off. By the time they got there and cleaned up the dumb undead the spellcaster was dead, but had some raven hanging out on his corpse faster than normal as well as a cool book and a walking stick a bit tall for a kobold. All of these things were taken as loot, including the raven. The raven was quite intelligent and so started to teach this random kobold some magic and told him of the multiversal struggle against undead and what he could do in it. He ended up leaving his clan and went off wandering with this raven perched on his head, a spellbook strapped to his hip, and a walking stick a good bit tall for a kobold.